Chapter 6: Melissa

The darkness simply caused the well-built figure to emanate a menacing aura as it leant casually on a dull gray, rusted street lamppost, its warming yellow luminescence bathing the street in a vibrant shine, but avoiding the figure entirely, as if the yellow rays seemed afraid to illuminate him. He remained motionless, his grey robe fluttering pathetically in the small breeze that blew in the early hours of the morning. With a slight sigh towards the future events that still remained hazy in Demetrus' mind, he closed his eyes as he slunk into the shadows and allowed the darkness to envelop him as he disappeared.

A disgraced yet powerful figure entered the elegant boardroom with the fury of Cerberus unleashed. His face was contorted in rage and anger as his fellow partners looked upon him with great trepidation and anxiety. Chronis was not the one to lose his temper, and the fact that he was now angrier then anyone in that room could ever be frightened them even more. With a silent grace he lowered himself into his seat and remained silent, still seething in fury. Everyone that sat at the overwhelming mahogany table cautiously gazed at Chronis in silence as they awaited his next move. For a moment the only sound that could be heard were his angry huffs at the end of the polished table, but before long realization dawned upon him and he lifted his head to address his 'business' partners.

"We have a problem."

"Was it worth waking us up at three in the morning? What were you doing so early Chronis?"

Only three other men in this world had the ability to talk to Chronis like that and escape with their heads still attached to their necks. The one that had spoken was named Firac'ti'a.

Murmurs of approval rippled through the otherwise silent boardroom, and an elderly gentleman with thinning white hair and soulless blue eyes that lay behind black framed glasses raised his voice to be heard yet again.

"What kind of problem?"

Chronis banged his fist on the table to get everyone's attention. It worked, and everyone ceased talking. For the time being, anyway.

"There is a third party involved."

"Surely we can rid ourselves of this… this third party?"

Chronis glared at the balding man, and spoke a simple two words.

"It's Demetrus."

Silence befell the boardroom once again, and everyone who had been trying to have their voices heard moments ago simply slunk back into their seats and looked forlornly towards Chronis. The atmosphere in the intimidating carpeted room switched from annoyance to melancholy in a heartbeat.

Everyone had heard of Demetrus.

The one who defied Heaven to protect his subjects.

The one who had been sent to protect Alexander The Great himself, but defied his orders and protected Alexander from the Reaper when he was thirty-three years old.

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INTERLUDE: Death, or something like it.

"You will not take him."

"You dare defy what is to be inevitable?"

"You will not take him!"

I do not know why I stood against the force of death that had manifested itself into a humanoid form. Perhaps it was my pride towards my long-lost heritage of the Hellenic race. Perhaps I was just foolish and blind, I would never know.

"Do you not understand my role in this world? There is nothing, nothing that can stand against me. I do not say this out of arrogance, but out of experience. Child, by willingly planting yourself between me and my subject, you have forfeited your right of passage into the kingdom of Heaven, and your immunity to me. Step aside or I will claim you as well."

"Alexander is destined for great things! Why take him at such a young age?"

"Everyone has a purpose, a meaning to their existence. Alexander has outlived his purpose, and if he were to remain on this physical plane, it would bring about the imbalance of both our worlds."

"He only wishes for good! He is an honest, decent man who spreads the word of God!"

My pleas were meaningless. You cannot bargain with the Reaper.

"He is also an alcoholic, a wife-beater and a homosexual. But these are the choices he made, and I was not sent here to claim him because of these petty matters. Come, child. I will show you what would become of this planet if I were to allow him to continue existing in this realm."

At that moment, my eyes finally opened. I was witnessing The Butterfly Effect. Such a small change in history, and I saw barbarians rampaging across Asia. I saw The Mongols successfully invade Japan. I saw Attila the Hun demolish what remained of the Coliseum. I saw Alexander go insane; losing his mind the further he progressed into Asia. I saw Adolph Hitler twist Europe into his own sick ideals. I saw… death. Always there, cold, calculating, emotionless.

I saw things that should never have been, and I conceded.

"Now do you see child? Stand aside, and allow me to take my subject."

I saw, and I wept.

END INTERLUDE

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Demetrus was no angel, yet he was no demon either. He still received assignments from the agents of Heaven, and offers from the servants of Hell, as they believed that they could turn him to the darkness.

The balding man stood silently for a moment as he contemplated this drastic change in events. He ran a wrinkled hand through his wispy white hair before finally speaking up again.

"Demetrus? Why would Demetrus bother himself with these teenagers?" He scoffed, trying to convince himself more-so then the others.

"Why don't you ask me that?" An arrogant voice emanated from a previously overlooked corner of the room. Everyone's head snapped towards the source of the voice, and a familiar grey cloaked, powerful yet casual figure appeared, this time lacking the brilliant flash of light that first accompanied him and almost blinded Chronis.

"Hope I'm not crashing the party. I'm just warning you all that if you so much as lay a finger on any of the Titans, I will turn you all into ash."

"You have no authority in this room, you clipped angel!" Chronis spat.

Demetrus' face contorted in anger and hatred as he withdrew his curved sword and lunged at Chronis, gripping his head and exposing his neck as he placed his sharpened blade upon it.

"Go ahead! Kill me! Break the contract, then in exactly six days all Hell will break loose. Literally." Chronis said smugly, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down his throat with every syllable spoken. Demetrus could have easily sliced his jugular, spilling what little blood that ran in this Demon's veins and killing him once and for all, but he knew that Chronis' words had merit, so he simply scowled and pushed him away, walking back into the corner of the room he had been moments ago.

"Somehow Chronis, I think Hell is going to break loose regardless. I'll be watching you. All of you, mark my words." With that warning he disappeared into the shadows.

"You are nothing! You are A Fallen Angel! Nothing better then Lucifer himself! DO YOU HEAR ME!" Chronis screamed angrily into the air, whirling around to spot any sign of Demetrus. He found none, and he slowly relaxed his hands, as they were tensed into fists so tightly his knuckles had turned a pasty white.

There was more silence, before Chronis cleared his throat as he adjusted his tie and spoke up.

"Do you see our problem now?" He stated.

"Let us not concern ourselves with such matters at the present time. There are more pressing issues to attend to. Such as the presence of the European girl." A heavily South-African accented voice spoke through a dark face and a row of pearly white teeth.

"You are quite correct, as always. Yes, Melissa, she is on her way to the tower as we speak. She wishes to join the Titans, but Robin will refuse. Mark however, will not, and will persuade Robin to allow her to try herself out. He will be smitten by her beauty, in the same way as that Beast-Boy was with the traitor Terra. Her future is uncertain, but I am sure that we can convince her to see the darkness and work for us. She will most likely be a valuable asset, but a disposable one at best." Chronis spoke slowly and clearly, describing the above scenario with absolutely no emotion.

"That is all well and good, but how could be possibly convince her to join us?"

"She is confused, vulnerable, helpless at the present time. She can be easily manipulated to our cause. There is no need to intercept her at the moment, let her meet the Titans first."

A few of the demons and their imps expressed concern regarding this decision, but decided not to voice their opinion.

"Very well. Now what about Ragnarus?"

"Bah! That bumbling fool has no idea we are even gathered in this city. It was by sheer coincidence he showed up at the same time we did." Chronis said angrily.

"I do not like putting such an occurrence to mere coincidence, Chroni't'r. He must be eliminated. We will put this off no longer! He has killed three of our brothers already, I do not wish to lose any more." The balding man spoke up once again, his face angered.

"Yes, but it took him three thousand five hundred years to accomplish this. In six days, the rest of our brethren will be released, and we will mourn for our losses no longer!"

There was a slight murmur of approval, accompanied by plenty of nodding as this fact sunk in.

"The coming of The Cross is almost at hand, and I must prepare. Farewell, dear brothers and fellow comrades." Chronis said calmly, stood up and walked out of the room.

Robin paced the living room restlessly, shutting out all external disturbances as he thought about all the events that had occurred and lead up to this point in time.

They are connected somehow… I know it.

First there was Hale. The agent who had managed to break in and break out of the Titan's Tower.

Hale. Who was he? Why was he after a book, of all things?

Next, there was Ragnarus. The Demon-character, who ruthlessly dispatched Psyche, according to Mark and Beast-Boy.

Why did he have the characteristics of a modern-day Demon? If he really is a Demon, why did he fight and destroy Psyche? Aren't Demons evil?

Thirdly, there was Chronis. The character who had somehow managed to…

…Slow time. That's impossible, but both Mark and Raven strongly believe that that is indeed what had happened. How can he slow time? How does his presence in Jump City affect all the other occurrences?

Why do I have a feeling that one of us is going to get killed?

There was a knock. Yet another knock on the Tower's front door. Robin broke free of his train of thought and switched on the entrance camera. He was taking no chances this time, and he pressed the intercom button as he spoke.

"Who is it?"

A bubbly, feminine, tanned face spoke from the other side, her dark, curly hair bobbed as she chewed on gum and spoke.

"Hi! I'm Melissa!" She said cheerily, waving into the camera and grinning playfully.

"And you want…what?" Robin snapped, clearly in no mood to talk to someone who was in a much better mood then he was.

"Um… Food and water? Please?" She said again, flashing another smile.

"Do you have a watch?" Robin asked bluntly.

"Yeah… Why?" She inquired cautiously.

"Can you please tell me what time it is?" Robin asked, the sarcasm clearly evident in his voice.

"Um… ok let me check. It's… 3.43 am!" Melissa replied, evidently not recognizing Robin's tone of voice.

Robin sighed exasperatedly and asked Melissa to stay where she was as he proceeded towards the front door. He reached the door and opened it, revealing a girl in her mid to late teens, with a dark blue top with a turtleneck collar that was extended to its full length, protecting her neck and chin area from the biting cold wind that occupied the island. She wore black jeans that complimented her fit form and her jovial curls swayed in the breeze and obscured her view, hiding a set of deep hazel eyes. Robin couldn't help but grin slightly at her joyful disposition. It reminded him of Starfire, but he could tell that although she may have been a lot of things, naïve was certainly not one of them. Robin stepped lightly to one side and beckoned for her to come in.

Melissa entered and gazed in wonderment at the high walls and luxurious furniture, soaking every detail in as she advanced into the kitchen and living area.

Robin scratched his head slightly and cocked it to one side as he examined the newcomer more thoroughly. He didn't know what to think anymore, and with a final shrug he followed and directed her to the rest of the Titans.