Chap. 9

The Little Bird's Secret

(lyrics from Jeff Buckley)

I heard there was a secret chord
that David played and it pleased the Lord
But you don't really care for music, do you?

"I thought I could expect a challenge from you." Trigon sneered as he drove his foot down into Brett's back. "You, the great Elemental Knights, the most powerful of them all. But no. You've been softened by them. The humans. It's what always happens. We could have had the world. Yes we. We're both monsters, 'Stalker." He said, as he lifted the bat's head up. "The only real difference is that I choose to accept it. You just pretend to. I know what goes on in your heart. You don't protect them just because you want to. You want their acceptance, the acceptance of small, pitiful creatures that destroy themselves for the most meaningless reasons." Sneering, Trigon looked right into the bat's face. "You even made a wife out of one of them didn't you? Well, now you will she the destruction that she would brought on herself, that all her kind would have, if not for your failure."
Well it goes like this :
The fourth, the fifth, the minor fall and the major lift
The baffled king composing Hallelujah

With that, Trigon dropped Brett and made his way over to Sara. The fox was huddled on the ground, clutching her broken leg. Clenching her teeth against the pain, she looked up at Trigon and hissed, "We will be avenged, you son of a bitch."
"Perhaps." The demon said nonchantly. "But why would they succeed where you have failed?" Reaching down, he wrapped his hand around her head and brought her up to his height. Behind him, Brett tried to drag his broken form towards the demon, as if he still had a chance to stop him. "I must admit, you are persistent." The demon said. "I shall grant you a mercy then. Her death shall be quick, and yours shall follow it. A pity that your friends have not earned this." Brett seemed to hear this, but he continued to move, his broken arm hanging lifelessly from his shoulder. Smiling, Trigon turned back to Sara. Raising his fee hand, he gathered up the demonfire that was his birthright. His hand glowing fiercely he prepared to bring it down on the fox's face. But before he could, Sara's hand went up and a dark cloud appeared before. It seeped into his eyes, blinding him and causing extreme pain. Crying out in frustration, he dropped Sara and both hands went to his face, trying to rub out the irritant. "What did you do to me? I shall kill you for that!" Trigon howled.

Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah...

Sara gave no answer to the demon. She only wiped the last of the dirt from her hand, and dragged herself over to her husband. "Brett, you have to get up!" She urged, shaking him as best she could. "I can't walk on my own, you've got to help me!" Somehow the words of his wife seemed to get through to him. Slowly, Brett pushed himself up to his feet. With his good arm, he reached down and helped Sara pull herself up. Then, leaning her on his side, away from his bad arm, the two of them managed to limp over to the maze behind the pile of books. According to Beast Boy and Cyborg, there was no way in or out save the main entrance, and that closed once some one had entered the maze. Brett only hoped that was still true. Once they entered, the door did indeed closed behind them, leaving them trapped, but also with a few minutes respite from Trigon.

Well your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrough ya

Gently, the bat laid Sara down against the wall of the maze. Then, he himself collapsed, exhausted from his effort and loss of blood. Yet he managed to bring his head up long enough to croak out, "I'm sorry." "This isn't your fault." Sara answered. "Yes it is." He muttered. "I was the one who got tricked." "Brett, we don't know that…" "What else could this be!" he cried, with surprising strength in his voice. "This was his plan, to drag us into this fight, without our powers and let him pick off the beings that pose the most threat to him. All he needed was someone stupid enough to fall for it, and that had to be me. Now we're going to die because….."

She tied you to her kitchen chair
She broke your throne and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

"Because you loved a scared little girl enough that you would risk you own death for the slightest chance of saving her." Sara replied. "Because you wanted to help her. Brett you don't have anything to be ashamed of." "Oh? I dragged you into it didn't I? I dragged you into this mess, and you're going to die because of me. Twice I've led you to death." "Brett, listen to me. I chose to help you now, just like I did before. Even if this was a trick, you made it real. You made us believe in it, solely because you felt love." "And what did it get us?" "One last piece of hope. One last chance to save someone we cared about, a chance we might still have. Brett, look at me. I'm bruised, bloodied, with only one good leg, broken ribs, and I still think there's a chance. But we never would have gotten this far, if you hadn't believed. You have to keep believing. Maybe we will die. But if so, we will die together, knowing we did everything we thought we could."

For a moment, Brett was silent. Then he said, "So does this mean that if I believe in something and still screw up, I get a free pass?" Sara gave a brief smile and said, "Not concerning the toilet seat." Brett managed to smile back, and then he asked, "So what do we do?" "Trigon said that we weren't strong enough to get our powers in here. What does that mean?" Sara asked. "In mind-battles, perception is everything. He's the stronger presence here, so he's clouding our belief in our abilities. I thought that since this wasn't his actual mind, we would have an equal chance, but he controls it as well as his own. If we could break his belief, it might give us the edge."

"But how do we do that?" Sara asked, spreading her arms out on the floor. Suddenly, she stopped. Reaching to her left side, the fox pulled something out of the shadow of the maze. Cradling it in both of her hands, she looked at it more closely. It was the stuffed raven doll that had been in the empath's room before. "What is that doing here?" Brett asked. Slowly, he reached over with his good hand to touch it. But when he did, a surge of power seemed to rock through the two Knights. Again they had the feeling of being separated from their bodies, even though they were already in mind-state. The world seemed to spin around them and rearrange it self. But finally, it came to a stop.

Baby I've been here before
I've seen this room and I've walked this floor
I used to live alone before I knew ya

"What just happened?" Brett asked as he tried to shake off the effects of the trip. "I have no idea." Sara answered. "But whatever it was, it seems to have fixed my leg." Brett looked at his wife and saw that all the traces of the battle were gone. Her leg was re-aligned and the blood and bruises were gone. Gingerly, he flexed his own arm, which was free of pain as well. Slowly the two of them got to their feet and began to look around them. The maze had vanished. They were now in a room filled with bookcases. There were some magical devices as well. But then, they saw a statue that told them instantly where they were. The statue had two faces, one smiling, one crying.

"We're in Raven's room." Brett whispered. "What are we doing here?" Before either of them could give an answer, they heard Starfire's voice say, "Are you sure you are all right, Raven?" Both Knights whirled around, to see Star and the Raven they had known sitting on her bed. The empath's face seemed frustrated as she answered, "I'm fine. Please stop asking me, Star." "Rae?" Sara called out. But neither girl gave any kind of response. "Why can't they hear us?" she asked Brett. "I think this is a memory. We can't affect it at all." Brett answered. "But I don't know why we're seeing it."

I've seen your flag on the marble arch
But love is not a victory march
It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Starfire continued to ask. "Please Raven, you do not usually have such a problem meditating. Something must be troubling you." Raven sighed and said, "All right, but I don't want you to tell anyone." Star nodded, and put all her attention on Raven. "You remember how we went to the Shadow Temple and saw our worst fears?" "Yes." "Well, what I saw was this demon, that I had fought in Azarath. He was controlling me, turning me into his creature. When Brett told me how to beat him, I kept imagining him dead but nothing happened. Then this black cloud started to cover him and then it killed him. It came over me and washed away his touch. I didn't know what it was, but then there was this pair of red eyes. Then after we beat the demon, Impa told me that it was the being that I wanted to be my father."

"But who do we know who has red eyes… Oh." Star said, her hands flying to her mouth in realization. Raven nodded, and in the background, Brett's mouth fell open. "You wish that Brett had been your father?" "Yes. I've asked myself that a hundred times and I always get the same answer. I… it's just… he gets it. He understands how I am, and he makes it seem okay. I feel.. safe when I'm around him, like none of my problems exist. He and Sara always listen to me, and act like all their efforts should be put towards helping me. And Sara… God, she just makes me happy. It's so hard for anyone to do that. I can't believe how badly I treated her before. But she just keeps trying, and she's… such a loving person. She always wants to make me feel joyful and she always lets me talk with her. I actually had to stop myself from calling her Mom, and I haven't thought of Arella since I left Azarath." Both Knights could feel tears start to fall down their checks, but they kept listening.

"Why do you not tell them this?" Star asked. "It would make them incredibly happy." "I can't Star. I don't deserve it." "But why?" "Because I'm supposed to do horrible things one day. What if I can't stop it? What if they love me and I destroy them?" "But you don't know if that will happen." "And I can't let it. I won't shame them and let them waste their love on me. I can't." At that, both the Knights, lost in their emotions, began to reach out, as if to touch and comfort her. But then the images began to dissipate around them, and they felt themselves begin to break apart again…

Suddenly, they were back inside the maze, inside their broken bodies once again. But this time, they gave no mind to the pain. "I had no idea." Brett whispered. "I didn't know she cared so much." "Dear God, and to be ashamed of it." Sara added. But before either of them could say another word, the wall behind them shattered, and the hands of Trigon reached out and grabbed them. Pulling them through the maze, his blazing face was pressed right to theirs' and he roared, "Time to die!"