CHAPTER 16: Divinity
Mark opened his eyes, and was presented with a scene even more bizarre then the one he had experienced when he first woke up in his bed. This scene, however, was not utterly depressing, but what it lacked in dreariness, it made up for in sheer eccentricity. It was surreal. Raven and Trigon were simply frozen in mid-fight. Raven was motionless in mid-air, her hands extended in an attempt to attack her demonic father once again. Trigon was standing on the ground, his hood now flung off him, revealing snow-white hair that fell down to his waist, and two short horns that protruded from his skull. His grey cloak appeared to be flapping in the air, but it was unclear whether it hung in mid-air due to a sudden movement he had made, or because of a sudden shift in the wind. His face was frozen in an ugly grimace, which stopped just shy of being regarded as a sadistic smile. At least a dozen fireballs were heading towards Raven, but they too were frozen in mid-air.
Raven still had her hood upon her head, casting an eerie aura upon her face. She seemed almost angelic, her heart and mind ready to slay the Demon that had wormed its way into our world, and who was also her father. Now however, her actions had slowed to the point of stopping entirely, putting her mission on hold for the time being.
"What happened? Why are they not moving?"
"Your fight as two is over. It is time you became what you were born to be."
"Mark..." The voice, it seemed, real. Where it came from, however, he had no idea.
"Who are you?" Mark asked timidly, making no effort to hide the weariness in his voice.
"The two will become one, Mark. The two will become one, in order to defeat this Demon." The voice belonged to a female, Mark surmised. It was slow and comforting, almost like a lullaby.
"What are you talking about?" Mark asked exasperatedly.
"Just trust me." A character bathed in brilliant light appeared from behind Raven's still form, approaching Mark with the grace of an angel. She seemed to be floating effortlessly, hovering just above a world that remained in stark contrast to her beautiful form.
"Do not despair. You will defeat him. I will help you, for it is your destiny."
As the figure approached, Mark was able to see her features much more clearly. She was an amazing woman. Her flowing blonde hair fell down to her petit waist, and her dazzling emerald green eyes rivaled Starfire's. Her skin radiated a golden energy, and she halted in front of Mark. She extended a small hand, and gazed at Mark as she continued.
"Take my hand, for I will assist you."
Mark was unable to reply. He was still in awe at her dazzling beauty coupled with her honey sweet voice, and he was simply speechless.
He looked at her auriferous hand, and with a final sigh he took it.
"Please, let this be the end."
The feminine figure shone with limitless energy, and traveled up his arm and into his very soul through his open hand. Mark was no longer weary, he no longer felt despaired and hopeless. He was channeling a being more divine then himself, and the time had come to banish Trigon for good.
"You will defeat him, I will help you. Trust me..."
Like an old steam locomotive picking up speed, time once again resumed its course. Excruciatingly slow at first, but it quickened, and before long it had reached its normality.
Mark saw Raven dodging her father's fireballs desperately whilst launching numerous livid energy bolts of her own. It was clear to both Mark and Trigon, however, that she was tiring.
With a roar Trigon launched a massive pillar of fire towards Raven, the sheer size of it simply stunned her and she remained motionless, like a deer staring down a pair of headlights.
Mark lifted his hand and shot a small beam of energy of his own, except his traveled at a directly perpendicular direction then Trigon's. It struck the pillar of fire and simply kept traveling, pushing the fire away from its intended target and extinguishing it rather harmlessly on the wall of an abandoned office building.
Trigon's eyes widened for a split second, before narrowing in pure hatred.
"So, you decided to come back for more." Trigon spat. Mark didn't bother replying.
He approached Raven slowly, his eyes flaming white and his hair in its brightened state for a final time. He extended his hand; much like the mysterious woman did, and uttered four simple words.
"Do you trust me?"
Raven simply nodded.
She did.
Raven took his hand, and the world around them stopped.
"They were alike...Crow and Raven. They had many amazing abilities.
They were spiritually profound.
They had achieved a level of thinking alike higher then that of brother and sister, of husband and wife.
They were one. But whether they had realized that was uncertain.
Much like how Larry the Titan was Robin's alter ego from a parallel dimension, so was Raven and Crow alike."
"It's finally over." Mark whispered, and he closed his eyes momentarily, before turning to face Trigon.
"This madness has gone far enough, Trigon. It's time to end this, now."
"What are you talking about?" Trigon scoffed. He had seen the changes that had overcome both Mark and Raven, however, and deep in the back of his soulless mind, a slight doubt flickered for a mere iota of a second.
"I will end this, do not worry, Marcus." Trigon said confidently, his yellow eyes burning.
Mark didn't reply. He turned to Raven once more, and smiled.
She smiled back.
Mark opened his mouth and uttered an incantation that had not been spoken in Trigon's lifetime.
"Azerath Duo Creo Unus Fundo Filius Diabolus!"
His voice echoed resolutely amongst the shadows, and for a second, Trigon began to laugh. It was then, however, that he felt it; another presence, something infinitely more powerful then himself.
A black spherical shield enveloped the two, and a brilliant light began to glow from the inside. It was faint to begin with, but it soon brightened to the point of turning the shield yellow. The pressure from the inside was all too much for the obsidian shield, and pure white cracks began to appear on its smooth surface, releasing beams of light from inside.
A strong wind had picked up, and before long it created a howling vortex around the cracking black sphere that contained the pair.
The pair, however, was no longer a pair anymore
The two had become one, in order to defeat the son of Satan.
With a hollow 'whoosh', the vortex of howling wind evaporated into the air, revealing a small figure dressed in a grey cloak and hood. The figure floated forward, the hood casting a shadow, concealing the color of its eyes and the expression on its face.
"What? No. No it's not pos-." Trigon began, but he was cut off abruptly by the grey clothed figure.
"Silence." It said simply. With a raised arm the figure muttered a final incantation.
"Ego Pello Pepulli Pulsum Tu".
"This is impossible! It's just not conceivable! How can you-." Trigon started, but he was unable to finish his statement. His skin and cloak started to darken, black spots appearing on their surface and spreading like ink all over his body.
Trigon strained to speak, to fight off the blackness that enveloped him, but it was no use. He could no longer see the strange figure standing in front of him, calm and resolute. All he could see was black, and with a horrifying yell, he felt himself being torn apart as he was banished from this physical plane.
"Noo!" Piece by piece, molecule by molecule, he was being torn apart, sickeningly ironic to how he managed to dispatch most of the other Titans. He could feel the pain, the excruciating agony, and he was for once powerless to stop it. The curse was older then the planet he walked on, and more powerful then the servants of Satan.
"The one must become two, for the energy it creates can tear the fabric of time and space..."
With a silent grace, the figured lowered itself to the ground, its padded feet disturbing not even a speck of dirt. It made no sound, no action, to betray its feelings towards a world torn. It simply gazed at the ruins, its black cloak flapping in the wind.
No sound emerged from the figure as it crumpled to its knees, and a light began to emerge from its body.
No sound emerged from the figure's lips, as a massive explosion occurred within every cell of its body.
No sound emerged from the lips of Mark and Raven, as they lay unconscious on the rubble beneath them.
The wind howled its haunting wail, and for the first time since he woke up, Mark was finally at peace.