Teen Titans: The Only Way

Chapter Fifteen: I wish I had been able to say 'Goodbye........'

Disclaimer: You know the drill. And if you don't, then check out the top of the other fourteen chapters.

A/N: I decided it would be a bit easier for this chapter to try something a little different. So, I went ahead and wrote this chappie in different POVs, which are designated at the beginning of each new section, of course. So, just bear with me and give me some feedback on this writing style. To be quite frank, I didn't decide to do this, I actually started writing it and I kept slipping into first person point of view and, instead of going back and changing it, I decided to just keep it that way and try and make it work. Hope it's not too confusing, considering the rest of the chapters are all in third person. Gotta love me!

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Cori's POV

Raven and I entered into the portal, neither of us knowing what terrors and hardships lay ahead of us. Passing between Azareth and Trigon's demonic dimension was quite quick and did not phase us as it was somewhat similar to our process of shadow-hopping. In less than five minutes we had crossed over into Trigon's lair and were overwhelmed as a foul stench invaded our nasal cavities; it stunk of death and decay, mixed with blood and heat in the large cavernous dungeon-like pit. It was semi-dark inside and it took Raven and I a few seconds for our eyes to adjust and, when they did, Raven was absolutely sure she was in the deepest, darkest, most evil bowel of Hell.

The lair had an eerie reddish tint to the lights and ground beneath us, creating ominous shadows on the wall and making me feel as though I was looking at everything through a thin veil of blood. I tugged on Raven's hand and began to make our way through this barren wasteland our father called his home. Sharp jagged rocks sprung up from everywhere and I was sure I saw a dark red stain on the tips of quite a few, indicating that father used those rocks for more than decoration. We didn't really know where we were going, so we stayed on the faint path and continued to search for a clue as to where father might reside in this Hell hole.

I could taste the fear in the back of my throat and I could feel it pulsing in waves off of my sister. Neither of us were scared about the battle, but we were more fearful of what would happen to the other in the end. We walked for another thirty minutes before we came across a large entranceway to a cave; it was then that I realized we had not come across any of our father's minions and I began to frantically search around for signs of where they could be. Raven noticed my sudden halt and nervously turned around to see what had captivated my interest.

"Cori?" Raven whispered fearfully. "Cori, what is it? Is someone here? Have they found us already? What's wrong?"

I blanched at her tone and gently squeezed her hand for reassurance. "It's alright Rae," I whispered. "Nothing's wrong.....well, yet anyway. I was just noticing that it seems awfully quiet around here. I mean, for a demonic lair, it certainly lacks the noise quality I thought would surely accompany it. Haven't you noticed it?"

Raven looked around and then back to me. "Yes," she murmured. "I suppose I did but I thought nothing of it. To be honest, the noise factor wasn't exactly high up on my lists of worries coming here. Although, it does seem a little ominous, doesn't it?"

"I just wonder where they all could be," I nodded. "I don't think they knew we were coming; Azar only decided it was time a few hours ago, I'm sure."

Raven merely lowered her hood to try and get a better read for our situation as she ventured closer to the large entranceway we were heading into. She hid behind a large crop of rocks and peered over the tops, looking into the giant cave for any signs of father's legion. I silently chastised my twin for going ahead without me and rushed quietly over to hide alongside her. As my dark eyes scanned over the ground I became even more confused as I saw only a few minor demons scuttling about below us, seemingly nonplused to who was watching them.

"I don't think they know we're here," Raven whispered harshly. "And I think that's why."

I looked over to where she had raised her hand and pointed and immediately I felt my blood begin to boil at the sight. Slumped over on a large black throne was our father, Trigon the Terrible, his four yellow eyes wide open and staring off into the distance to my left.

"I don't get it," I shook my head. "They don't know we're here because Trigon is bored and spaced out?"

Raven glared at me and, for some reason, I suddenly knew what it felt like to be one of our teammates when they felt like shrinking at our hard stares. I shook the feeling off and came back to reality as Raven huffed at me.

"No," she hissed. "It's not because he's bored and spaced out! Just be quiet a second and you'll hear it."

I closed my eyes and stilled my breathing for a moment as I strained my ears to try and listen to what she was getting at. After a few minutes I was beginning to think my sister had finally cracked and was hearing things when suddenly, my eyes flew open and my head snapped up as I heard it too. It was faint and almost nonexistent, but I chalked that up to the fact we were rather far away. I listened for a moment longer before I turned my head to look back at Raven, who was watching me with a small smirk on her face.

"He, h-h-he's," I stuttered, trying to muffle the laughter that had welled up inside of me. "He's....snoring....!"

"Yep," Raven said. "Our wonderful father is asleep; that's why no one is doing anything. Azar was right, by not planning a time to come down here, we have the upper edge here. We just might be able to sneak up on him and his little cronies and take him down."

I had totally zoned out on Raven's strategical planning as I was quite enthralled with how his eyes moved back and forth across the room like he was surveying everything at the same time that low, deep snores were coming from the back of his throat. I, for some reason, found that little triviality completely entertaining and I was consumed by the weird talent. I was pulled, though, from my meaningless thoughts moments later by my twin desperately whispering my name.

"Cori!" Raven droned, a little louder as she pinched my arm.

"OW!" I said under hushed breath. "What was that for?!"

Raven merely glared at me. "Keep it down will you? Besides, I didn't pinch you that hard, you baby. Now, will you stop daydreaming about Charlie and focus on our task?"

"I was not daydreaming about Charlie," I muttered, rubbing my now bruised arm. "I was thinking about something else, actually. Like....are you sure Trigon is asleep? I mean, I know he's snoring and all, but what about his eyes? I've never seen someone's eyes stay like that when they are supposed to be sleeping."

Raven just sat there and stared at me and I almost thought she had been frozen or something, but she would blink every few minutes or so.

"Are you serious?" she asked, her infamous monotone returning as her eyebrow arched over her eye. "You've never seen that before? And you call yourself a half-demon! I do that all the time."

"You do?" I asked. "Really? I didn't even know we could. I never had a reason to try it. Why do you use that trick?"

She shrugged and returned to watching the demons below us. "It's the only way to keep Beast Boy and Starfire from bugging me all the time. I get tired after meditating or training and sometimes I just like to take a nap. But when I retreat to my room, they all get confrontational and want me to come out and I can never get any rest. So I bring out a book and curl up on the couch and they leave me alone while I nap; they think I'm awake because my eyes are moving back and forth as if I'm reading. I thank the gods that they never think to check what page I'm on or try and talk to me.

"I never had a reason to use it until one time Starfire got scared by a mouse in the hallway and threw a starbolt at it, hitting an electrical socket. She burnt down part of my room and, until they could repair it, I slept on the couch in the living room and I trained myself to keep my eyes open all night so Beast Boy wouldn't think twice about coming in and playing some stupid trick on me. I don't know why I'm explaining this to you, it really isn't the time or place to be doing this."

I smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know," I said. "But it's nice to get to know a little bit about you, regardless of whatever our current situation might be."

Raven just smiled at me and then turned back to the scene below us. I immediately turned my thoughts to the battle looming ahead of us and grew serious as I joined her in trying to form some sort of plan as how to go about this. We stayed like this for a little while, neither of us moving or saying anything, just thinking of ways to destroy the wretched creature we were forced to call our father.

"So, should we try and exterminate all the little buggy demons first and hope he doesn't wake up?" I offered, breaking the heavy silence. "Or do we just bypass the little toads and go straight for the big one?"

"I'm not sure," Raven answered, scrunching her brow in concentration. "Whatever we decide to do, we need to do it fast and we need to agree on it. We've been here for almost an hour already and we don't know how much longer until things start to get busy around here."

"Right," I agreed, staying perfectly still as I felt a pinch in my neck. "I'm sure whatever path we take is going to be clear in about, oh, just a few seconds."

Raven didn't look to me as she answered, still consumed in observing the battlefield. "A few seconds?" she asked. "What makes you say that?"

"Because," I said, gulping and mentally tapping on her shoulder to get her to look. "I haven't even seen him yet, but this guy behind me with the big spear shoved in my neck is giving off majorly pissed vibes."

Raven's eyes widened as she turned around and came face to face with a scythe pointed at her neck and a huge, ugly blue demon glaring at her. We stayed still for a moment, unsure of what their plans for us were. They seemed wary of us, not knowing who or even what we were and so they hesitated in doing anything with us. A moment's hesitation was all we needed though as we communicated back and forth via our telepathy and decided to get rid of these uglies before they could announce our arrival to Trigon.

We attacked swiftly and quietly, using our powers to knock them out as our hands kept them from screaming. They were down in mere seconds and, lucky for us, they had not brought any friends with them and we were once again unnoticed. Without words we finally decided we would no longer waste any time and we began to look for the best way to get down below undetected. We no longer cared who we fought first and now we didn't care either if we had a plan; we were here to fight and were damned if we weren't going to fly by the seat of our pants, er, leotards.

Hiding behind rocks and using our shadow-hopping abilities, we were able to make it down the path without being seen and we gave each other one last look before we stepped out onto the path. Most of the demons were a couple hundred feet away from us and we figured we would not be noticed for a little bit longer while we managed to get closer to the throne. I was closest to the gravel path and I was the first to set foot onto the rocky terrain; no sooner had I done that, a low chuckle rang in my ears and I became frozen for a moment, wishing the voice to be quiet.

I looked up ahead of me and I instantly wished that I hadn't; rising up from his throne, rubbing the sleep from his four unnatural eyes, was one of the Devil's own kinsmen. Trigon laughed again as he stood up fully and focused all eyes on me, and even his little minions had stopped whatever they were doing. Raven was still hidden behind the rocks and I prayed she would stay there for a little while longer.

"Well, well, well," Trigon chuckled. "If it isn't my eldest daughter, Corvidia. It's been a long time hasn't it, my dear?"

"Not long enough unfortunately," I spat, narrowing my eyes at him.

He laughed again and began to cross the floor closer to me. "Ah, such spite!" He exclaimed. "I absolutely love it. I must say, though, daughter you turned out rather.....small.... I expected more out of my eldest."

"What can I say?" I asked, growling at his insults. "It must be the human in me."

"Yes, it must be," he answered, stopping to cross his arms and stare at me. "But I can forgive you for the minor indiscretion. Tell me, Corvidia, have you come here to finally join your old man? Are you ready to take your place amongst the demon royalty you were born into? The title of Princess of Darkness is up for grabs between you and your sister, Raven; And to be perfectly honest, your sister seems to have way more darkness in her and I believe she might desire the position more than you would."

I merely smirked at the giant and clenched my fists, ignoring Raven's pleas in my head to be careful. "Actually, Father," I said. "I'm not here to claim my throne, in fact I'm here to fight for it."

"So you wish to challenge your sister?" he asked. "Well, if that is the case then you must go and fetch her from that pathetic planet. She is not here yet, despite my many attempts to bring her here."

I laughed dryly. "Oh no, Trigon," I said sweetly. "You misunderstand me. I didn't come here to challenge Raven for the throne; I came here to fight you for your throne."

"Oh really?" Trigon said disbelievingly. "You came to challenge me for the Underworld? You and what army?"

"Oh, I don't need an army," I stated, standing up straight and, hopefully, striking worry into that heartless chest of his. "Because I've got the one thing with me that you can't possibly defeat."

"And just what might that be?" he sneered.

"That would be me," Raven simply said, walking out from behind the rocks and causing our father to look a little unsettled.

"Raven," he stated, fidgeting slightly, thinking we could not see his obvious discomfort.

"Hello Daddy Dearest," Raven replied, smirking and coming to stand next to me. "Aren't you happy to see me?"

The large red demon just glared hatefully at us as he finally realized our true intentions for venturing into his feared domain after so long.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Robin woke up to the sun's bright rays flooding his room and he instantly felt cold, despite the apparent warmth spread throughout his room. He rolled onto his other side, away from the ostensible sunshine and just stayed there for a moment. As Robin lay on his side, he suddenly realized that the 'sunlight' he was feeling was not really warm and that he only now was facing the window, whereas before he had been facing the hallway. He slowly opened his eyes and saw that the window was indeed facing him now and there was no sunlight streaming in.

He remembered Raven mentioning something about the sun when they first arrived here in Azareth— apparently, the sun hasn't risen ever since Trigon first attacked all those years ago, when he was looking for his demonic heiresses. Robin sat up still thinking about Raven as he turned to look for the source of the light he had just seen a moment ago. The light was none other than the brightness shining in through the open door from the hallway. It was then that he finally noticed Raven was no longer with him and he instantly felt lonely and cold as he missed her already.

She must have had an early training session this morning, he thought, getting out of bed to get ready. Strange though, she never leaves the door open or the hallway light on.... She must have woken up late or been in a hurry or something.

It took him only twenty minutes to shower and get changed and, when he was done, he decided to head downstairs to get some food. When he got there, Cyborg was already up and eating, so he joined him, the two of them thoroughly enjoying the incredible Azarethian dishes. Unfortunately, the quiet breakfast was soon to be drastically interrupted.

"ROBIN!"

Robin jumped as he heard his name being yelled down the stairs and watched as Speedy bolted into the room.

"Speedy!" he exclaimed. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Where is she?" he demanded, gripping onto Robin's shoulders. "Where did she go? When I went to bed she was there and then, when I woke up, she was gone! What happened to her? Did she and Raven leave already?"

"Whoa Speedy, calm down," Robin said comfortingly, forcing him to sit down. "Everything's all right; they're probably just training. Usually when I wake up Raven's gone already. I'm sure they haven't left yet— they surely would have said 'Goodbye' then."

"Are you sure?" Speedy asked, his face clearly wrought with worry. "I mean, Cori didn't mention anything about a training session this morning. And she was unusually quiet when we went to bed last night. Besides, I could have sworn she wasn't there when I woke up for a split second around five this morning."

"Five o'clock and she wasn't there?" Robin asked, starting to fret. "Are you sure? They never leave until at least seven for training. I'm sure it is probably just us overreacting; Cy here didn't notice anything when he was up at six and I haven't seen or heard anything out of the ordinary. Well, besides Raven leaving the door open and a light in the hallway on, but that's nothing to get all worked up over."

Cyborg stopped eating for a moment and stared concernedly at his leader. "Raven left a light on? And a door open? That sure don't sound like Dark Girl; she's usually pretty cautious about that stuff, ya know? Also, we all know how she likes her rooms nice and dark."

Robin was about to make a comment when Terra and Starfire came down the stairs, chatting away while BB and Aqualad trudged down behind them, looking awful. The two girls just rolled their eyes at their zombie-like boyfriends and sat down at one end of the table, letting the boys take the side opposite of them, next to Robin and Speedy. Upon sitting down, BB's head lolled back and forth and then finally crashed onto the table, earning him confused glares from the other Titans. Aqualad merely let his head fall back against the chair as he shut his eyes and tried to sleep, but to no avail.

"Whoa," Cy laughed. "What happened to you two? Rough night or something?"

Aqualad opened one eye up and turned his head to look at his metal friend, making Cy look at though he were tilted to the one side. He shook his head and forced himself to sit up completely and make proper conversation.

"I know what's wrong with me," he said slowly. "And I can only imagine the same is wrong with him. Man, all I want to do is crash right now. After all that racket last night I couldn't fall back asleep and now it's catching up."

"Racket?" Robin questioned, raising an eyebrow. "What racket? We didn't hear anything."

"Yes Male Companion Aqualad," Starfire said innocently, giving her boyfriend a compassionate, worried look. "I did not hear any noise of sports equipment last night. And you and I were both occupying the same living quarters."

"I'm sure you guys didn't hear anything," Aqualad responded, nudging BB awake; he was damned if the little green elf was going to get some sleep and let him explain everything. "But Beast Boy and I did. Don't forget, we both have super sensitive hearing because of our animal communicative abilities."

"Yeah," Beast Boy groaned, propping himself up on his elbows. "What he said....Ya know, this is the one and only time I have ever truly hated my wondrous gift. I just wanna know who was making all that noise anyway. I'd love to give them a piece of my mind."

BB's head slammed back down and Terra stretched across the table to rub his shoulders a bit. Starfire got up and began to cuddle up close to Aqualad in an attempt to make him feel better and to convey her sympathy.

"Well, what kind of noise was it?" Speedy asked. "And when did you hear it?"

Aqualad yawned and it took him a few minutes to get reoriented enough to reply. "Well," he said. "It was sometime around two, maybe three, definitely no later than four or so. And it was a loud mess of a noise. It almost sounded like large pieces of metal and cloth just swishing and banging and clanking and banging and smashing and..... smashing...... and..... swishi..........."

Before he could finish, his eyes rolled upwards and he was out, face first on top of the table. Star quietly lifted him up and excused herself to go and place him back in bed. Robin's mask widened a bit as Speedy asked BB if he could remember anything else about the noise. All the shape-shifter could remember was that the entire time the racket sounded as if it were in a pattern, a sort of steady beat almost. After that, Terra managed to coax BB out of his seat and helped him back upstairs to get him some well-needed rest.

Before Speedy or Cyborg could comment on the strangeness, Robin was out of his chair in a flash and making his way out of their quarters and heading in the direction of Azar's temple. Speedy quickly jumped up and followed, leaving Cy, who was looking rather unconcerned and dazed, to finish his breakfast. It took him a few minutes to catch up to the rampaging superhero and he was still confused as to why he had left in such a huff.

"Yo Rob, what's up?" he said, out of breath. "I mean, why did you just get up and leave like that? What's going on?"

Robin's lip just curled and his eyes narrowed. "The only people in Azareth," he growled. "Who have any metal or anything of the sort in their uniforms are the Temple Guards. The same guards who are supposed to aid Raven and Cori in Trigon's lair, should they need the help."

Speedy just stopped dead in his tracks and stood there, his mouth hanging open. "Wait," he breathed. "You mean...... Cori .....she might have left already? Without saying Goodbye? Why would she do that?"

"I don't know," Robin grunted, curling his fists in anger and frustration. "And that's what I intend to find out. If anyone knows anything, it would Azar. I sure hope she got some rest last night because I got a bone to pick with her, big time."

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Raven's POV

I flew backwards to avoid being hit as Trigon swung an angry fist at me, fear consuming him and making him act irrational. He went into a blind fury as he realized we had come to overthrow him and destroy his rule. He knew that if both of us were alive and together that meant some trouble for him. He knew this was even worse though, because he realized we wouldn't even have attempted to confront him until we both had mastered our emotions and powers to a high degree. And because he knew that, he was fighting with an unholy rage, determined to take at least one of us out before we could do any real damage.

He swung his scepter at me yet again and I teleported away next to Cori. He was really beginning to piss me off by going after me more than Cori and I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out why he was doing that. Well, that was until I remembered his earlier words and I decided it was because he figured I was the more dangerous of us two. Whether I was right or not, I didn't care; I was more interested in staying alive at all costs so that I could work together with Cori to bring him down.

While Trigon was distracted with me, Cori did everything in her powers to throw whatever damaging objects at him she could, smashing rocks and smaller demons against his backside. Finally she struck a nerve as he was leaning in to get me and she took ahold of his own scepter and clanged it upside his head, knocking him back a few feet. He fell back, dazed and confused, turning around to just stare at her as she hovered in the air, using his minor downfall to throw a cascade of objects at his face. The various objects pelted him in the face and before he could block himself, a jagged stalagmite rammed its way through the debris and placed itself deep in one of his eye sockets.

Trigon roared with a deafening mixture of pain and anger as he staggered about, clutching at his broken eyeball as black blood seeped out and spattered against the floor. I merely backed away from his random steps but Cori simply raised her cape and created a shield against whatever was coming her way. Trigon, in his haste to rid himself of the intense pain, did not see her and tripped over her small body and fell onto the ground with a loud crash. I looked up to see Cori's silver cape slightly sprinkled with numerous blotches of black blood, but she didn't look perturbed in the least as she mentally summoned me over by her side.

I obeyed and teleported quickly next to her, reveling in the fallen mess that was considered our horrible and most-feared demon father, Trigon. He was crawling around on the ground, writhing in pain, looking for some way to regain the upper hand. He managed to crawl over to a small cluster of rocks and raise himself up back to his towering stature. He muttered some ancient words and I watched as a small black portal appeared over by his face and engulfed it, causing him to sigh in relief. When his powers disappeared he was just standing there and smirking at us, his lower left eye magically sealed but I could see the powers swirling about beneath the lid, working to fix it.

He suddenly started to laugh, peering down at us with his other three good eyes and mocking us to try that again. I didn't bother looking over at Cori, but I knew my face showed some form of surprise, fear, and outright anger. I thought we had easily taken an advantage and I cursed myself for believing something so small could ever disrupt the infamous Trigon the Terrible. I shook my head as he continued to laugh, ashamed that my emotions were already starting to get the best of me here, making my training over the fast few weeks seeming to be in vain.

"Did you really expect to gain the upper hand in the battle so early?" he asked, throwing his head back with another fit of laughter. "Honestly daughters, distracting me and merely gouging my eye out? I expected better out of the potential future Queens of the Darkness. Tsk, tsk, tsk. It must be that human side of you sticking out again; oh well, it must simply be time for me to remove it!"

He growled as he unleashed a wave of magic upon us and we were caught off-guard; I was knocked onto my back a few feet and Cori was sent clear across the cave and into the wall. I heard a small 'oof' as she landed and I desperately hoped that she was all right. I righted myself quickly, said my familiar chant, and tossed whatever I could at the taunting demon. My silent prayers were soon answered as I felt Cori by my side again as she sent out a wave of her powers, causing a ripple effect as they moved across the ground towards our father. A large dust cloud rose with it and neither or us could see if it hit him, but as the air cleared we both took a sharp intake of breath as the area was empty and we could not find him.

I turned around to look for him and my breath was stolen as he teleported behind us and used his scepter as a golf club, knocking me to the other side of his lair where he first discovered us. "Fools!" he yelled as he moved again, faster this time and attacked Cori. I watched helplessly as the two battled for a few minutes, and I struggled to will my body back into shape. I was almost healed and up again when Trigon caught my sister from the side and backhanded her, sending her flying into the area of his throne. I cried out in pain for her as her leg was impaled upon a spike protruding from the top of his throne and she was pinned there for a moment.

I could hear her cries of anguish in the back of my head as a new wave of rage filled me and I could feel myself losing control as I rose up from the ground and rushed at him, sending out every chant I could remember. He merely grinned and knew that my emotions would be easy to defeat, allowing me to get a few hits in before he enshrouded me in his demon energy and sent me crashing through the nearby wall, burying my body in a good four feet of crushed debris. I groaned under the weight and pain as I tried to use my feeble powers to help myself out. I silently prayed to the Gods I don't even know if I believed in anymore to help us in any way possible and I sent out a mental cry to see if Cori was still alive and conscious wherever she was. I suddenly wished that I was back in Jump City, or even Azareth, with Robin's arms securely wrapped around me, keeping me safe. It was also at that moment, that I wish I had been able to say 'Goodbye........'

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Robin rapped his hands against the door to the temple as he waited for someone to come open it and let him in. Charlie had stopped quite a ways behind him but he had obviously shaken his self out of whatever stupor he had been in and was now beside Robin, eagerly awaiting to find out what had happened to their loved ones. Finally after about ten minutes or so, a guard came to the door to see what they wanted. After Robin made his plea to see Azar the guard merely laughed in his face and shut the door, claiming that no mere outsider was going to get in to see Azar in her temple. This infuriated Robin and Charlie to no end and so they continued to pound on the door, demanding access.

"Ya know what?" Robin said, trying to size up the door. "I think we're going about this all wrong Charlie. I mean, we are Titans and no closed door has ever stopped us from getting what we want before. I say we just go ahead and do what we normally do in these circumstances."

"In any other occasion I would have to disagree Robin," Charlie said, nodding in agreement. "But I think we might be entitled to break the rules, considering the special parameters this time."

The two boys lined themselves up and, with a silent count of three, lunged at the large oaken doors and kicked them in, splintering the wood in all directions and even pelting a few nearby guards with the debris. They landed gracefully on their feet and they half expected to be engaged in a battle, so they were surprised when the guards merely glared at them and stood in place.

"Oh yeah," Robin said, scratching his head. "I forgot the Azarethian people don't really believe in violence and fighting and whatnot, that's why the demons have such free reign on the their land during an attack."

"But still," Charlie chimed in. "That doesn't explain why they aren't even reprimanding us or something..."

"That is because I asked them to remain where they were," a smooth voice wafted from the dark corridor to the side of them.

An older woman stepped from the shadows and Charlie thought she was absolutely beautiful. She walked over to them with an incredible amount of grace, something the boys had only seen before in a smaller magnitude with their girlfriends. Her waist-length gray and white streaked hair was twisted up this morning into an elaborate bun and her long, flowing, white robes trailed behind, floating as if they had their own personal wind.

"We have some questions we need to ask of you Azar," Robin said, forgetting formalities with his newfound friend. "I apologize for the door but I think you know why we did that. Not to mention, why we even came here in such a huff in the first place."

"Of course I know," Azar replied calmly, turning slightly to extend her hand and lead them into another room. "And if you please would follow me, I will explain everything..... You should be quite grateful, normally I would not permit outsiders into my chambers, but unfortunately a situation has arisen and I feel this is the only thing to keep my thoughts from straying to the worst."

She began to lead them down the twisting hallways in complete silence as her words kept the boys thinking about their cryptic meaning. After a few minutes they came upon her meditation room and they all took a place upon the elegant pillows situated in random positions across the room. It was still quite awhile until anyone said anything, mostly because Robin and Charlie dared not speak until Azar had begun herself. They sat in silence as Azar did a quick bout of meditating to clear her mind and replenish the mental link she had previously been engaged in.

"You see my dears," Azar began suddenly, startling the two boys. "I did not inform you of Raven and Cori's departure because I wanted to keep their mission under wraps as much as possible. One must try and have the upper hand when dealing with Trigon and by using an unexpected attack, I believe we might have had the advantage. Even Raven and Cori themselves did not know that they would be leaving so soon, although I do suspect they knew something was amiss at the feast last night. Those girls are quite intuitive, always have been. They left quite some time before the sun rose this morning and they have been in Trigon's lair for almost six hours now."

"But I don't understand," Charlie interrupted. "Why didn't you at least tell us? I mean, I have all the faith in the world in Cori and Raven, but I would have at least liked to have said Good bye or something! Wish them luck and let them know that we're going to be here for them no matter what. Why couldn't you have at least granted us that courtesy?"

"I understand your concerns and frustrations Charles," Azar said. "But what I did was for the best; I know that neither you or the girls were entirely happy with my decision and I can live with that, especially if it saves their lives in the end. The last thing I needed was for Raven and Cori to be distracted by thoughts of any sweet Goodbyes or anything like that while they were fighting. I can assure you that did not sit well with myself either, but I had to do it, for the sake of the girls and our people."

"Azar?" Robin finally spoke up. "Why did you agree to see us? You mentioned something earlier about a new situation; I was just wondering, does it have something to do with the twins?"

Azar was silent for a moment, pondering her response. "Yes, dear Robin, it does. I have kept a mental link open with Cori so that I may know when they have accomplished their task and I have witnessed a terrible turn of events in return." She paused and, noticing the looks of fear on the boys' faces, she continued. "It is nothing too serious yet, but the battle did take a turn for the worse, I'm afraid. Raven and Cori were doing quite well in their fighting, but unfortunately Trigon has pulled some dirty tricks and now the battle is not looking good for a victory. My mental link with Cori was severed just a few moments before you young men arrived and I have desperately been trying to replenish the connection."

"What exactly does that mean, Azar?" Robin questioned, worry written all over his handsome features. "Does losing the link mean something horrible has happened?"

Azar simply smiled slightly. "It could mean many things my child. It could be something as easy as Cori disabling the connection herself or that something worse has happened. She might be hurt or she even might have failed in her quest...."

"Failed in her quest?!" Charlie yelled, gripping the pillow he was sitting on. "Failed in her quest? What? Are you trying to tell me that she might have died?!"

"That is a possibility," Azar replied calmly. "Although I do believe I have a greater insight to those girls than they think I do, and I honestly cannot imagine Cori has perished. I merely believe she was injured greatly for the moment and the link was severed while she was unconscious."

Charlie just sat there and said nothing, but his shoulder sagged a little and his breathing came more relaxed. Robin just thought about everything that Azar had told them and was trying to place how everything fit together.

"So what do we do now?" He finally asked.

"We wait...." Azar responded, closing her catlike eyes and trying to reconnect to Cori's mind.

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Cori's POV

I felt the link between myself and Azar tear as the first wave of pain washed over me and I momentarily blacked out. The anguish was near unbearable and I could hardly keep my eyes and mind open. When I had finally healed myself enough and lowered my body and leg off of the throne, I found Raven being hurled across the floor into a wall and buried. I quickly said a few ancient Azarethian chants and my body healed at a faster rate as my father gloated over Raven's hidden body, unaware that I had regained consciousness.

Before he could notice that I was awake, I worked fast to contact Azar and let her know I was alright and I was sorry for scaring her like that. She replied warmly back that I was not to worry about it, it was understandable; also, she mentioned that Robin and Charlie now knew we had gone and were patiently waiting for us to return. When we finished our conversation I felt a deep pang in my heart and I fought hard the urge to cry. I sent out a mental message to Rae to see if she was okay and it was almost a few minutes before she got control enough of her emotions to reply and tell me everything was fine.

I connected my mind and powers to hers since I was fully recharged now and I helped her to teleport away from under the debris. Lucky for us, Trigon never even sensed anything was amiss and was still rubbing in his 'victory' to the pile of rubble at his feet. Raven and I stayed on the ground for awhile, neither of us moving an inch until we were sure it was safe for us to attack and we were in good enough shape to fight once more.

Raven, I thought to her, not wanting to break the silence. I think I know what we have to do to defeat him.

Why do I get the feeling that we're thinking the same thing? She droned back.

I chuckled in my head. I believe it might be that human 'twin connection empathy' thing going on here; I hear it's quite a common occurrence between mortal children.

Uh huh, sure, she thought back.

You are incredibly pessimistic, you know that? I tossed out at her. But anyway, do you think you're healed enough to finally end this?

It took her a moment to respond as she pondered her physical and mental state. Yeah.... I think I am....

Good, I thought. I say we get his attention first because a sneak attack is the coward's way out.

Alright, she answered. How do you want to handle this then?

Just follow my lead, I thought. Take my hand too. And never under any circumstances, let go. Do you understand?

She nodded in affirmation as her hand flew to mine and gripped it tightly. I could feel our powers already mingling together and I hoped that everything would go as it was supposed to; Fate was the ruler of all that happened tonight and so far, things were going exactly the way I had expected them to.

And Fate will have it end the same way as well, I mused to myself. No matter how hard I wish it to change; I just don't know how I am going to be able to carry on without her.....

Raven and I levitated off of the ground and floated over behind Trigon, our hands still together and our minds melded as well. Trigon turned around as he felt the growing power of his only daughters. We stared him down as he smirked at us and crossed his arms over his chest.

"So," he bellowed. "You two think you can rise back up and take me down? Well, if this is what it takes to make you fear and respect me, then by all means: please, let us begin this dance once more as I break you time and time again."

"I don't think so Father," I spat out at him as my eyes began to glow a bright white. "I believe it's time to end your tyranny once and for all!"

"Yes Trigon," Raven sneered. "Say. Your. Prayers."

We rose up high in the air, hands joined and eyes blazing pure white as we ascended higher and higher, leveling ourselves out with the top of Trigon's face. He roared with laughter but he soon stopped and grew serious as his attempts to bring us back to the ground were thwarted. Every time he tried to shoot his magic at us, a shield formed, courtesy of myself, and the blasts were deflected to the walls around the lair. The walls started crumbling down and the ceiling was even beginning to shake. Trigon was slowly but surely becoming quite scared as he could not touch his only heiresses and the air around him was getting thinner and thinner by the minute.

I raised my right hand as I became totally enshrouded in our black magic and yelled out my last hope, "AZARETH!"

Raven copied my movements with her left hand and screamed for all she was worth, "METRION!"

My hand tightened around Raven's as we raised our entwined hands up above our heads, black magic swirling around everywhere, and we shouted out our final chant, "ZINTHOS!"

We threw our hands in front of us as the magic poured out of us and into Trigon, flooding his own black soul and throwing the entire room into complete darkness. I screamed as I felt my own body on fire, feeling as if I was being ripped apart from the inside. I felt rather than heard my sister's cries of torment as her hand held mine in a death grip, neither of us wanting to let go and break the ancient magic we had called upon to help destroy our father. My body began to convulse as our father's cries seemed to diminish slightly and I could no longer see him; actually, I couldn't see anything save for the bright spots swimming around my vision as I screwed my eyes shut in pain. Suddenly, I heard Raven's screams in my head as her body went limp next to mine and I could no longer sense her presence.

I used the last of my energy to close the mental link with Azar; I'm sorry, I offered her. I don't want you sharing my burden. I just can't go on like this any longer.

I tried my hardest to flow my remaining energy into her and I prayed to the Heavens that Trigon was already defeated as I felt my own power slowly draining from me. I began to fall to the ground, mine and Raven's hands still held tight. I let out one last breath as the total darkness consumed me and I didn't feel anything anymore.

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The trio in Azar's meditation room had been sitting for close to two hours when suddenly Azar's eyes bolted open and she yelled out in desperation. She clutched her chest as she tried to slow her erratic breathing down and Robin and Charlie eyed her nervously.

"Azar?" Charlie asked quietly. "Are you all right? Are the girls okay? What's going on?"

Azar just stood up and rushed out into the hallway, the boys right on her heel, realizing that something serious had happened. They listened intently as she ordered the Temple guards to ready their equipment and to make sure they had what they needed for the retrieval mission. When she was done she turned swiftly around, ignoring the boys, as she swept out of the room and out of her temple, heading towards a place Robin had only been to once before.

"Azar!" Robin demanded, running by her side. "Where are we going? What's happened? Is everything all right? Are Raven and Cori all right? Azar? Damn it! Just answer me, please!"

"I don't know what has happened," she replied hurriedly. "But we are going to visit Arella and get her to open the portal into Trigon's lair at once so my guards can go and return with the girls."

"But what's wrong?" Charlie asked, worried. "Did Cori tell you they were ready to come back already?"

"No Charles," she responded. "I lost my connection with Cori. She closed it on me. I don't know what has happened to them. I don't even know if they're still alive......"

The boys fought hard to keep their emotions in check as they silently followed Azar into Arella's resting place as they waited patiently to find out the fate of their only loves.

A/N: Whew! I did it! I finally posted the next chapter! I think that there will be one more chapter after this one and then this will finally be done and I can then devote more time to my other fics and maybe even some new ones as well! ;) I hope I didn't completely mess all you people up with my switching Point of Views. I honestly did have a purpose for doing it and I hope it wasn't too confusing. Well, I hope everyone enjoyed this chappie, it took quite a long time to get it all out. Review please and let me know whatcha think!