A/N: You guys are lucky to have gotten this chapter today, I didn't get anything written out the other day and it was a rush to get this finished up last night. So BE THANKFUL! Lol, j/k!
XP
"I get it now, the knife, the dreams, how some of them didn't make sense with what we thought. And also, why and how I was born again. It was you, when you killed Avelona, you sent her to the realm where the demons and other dark entities were banished, didn't you?" Raven asked quietly, tears were still streaming down her eyes, the remains of what happened over a thousand years ago, seeping through her soul. Her eyes were shaded by her bangs, she couldn't look at this woman, this woman who, again, she had wished to be friends with, family even. The woman who's eyes were the same as the ones in her dreams. The cruel, accusing, eyes, those filled with both fear and resentment, of judgment.
"Yes." Chire'ni answered, not a trace of emotion in her voice. "And yet you somehow managed to return, didn't you? How?" She asked evenly.
Raven looked up and glared furiously at her, "Couldn't have just flat out killed me could you!" She nearly yelled, "No, I deserved something worse, didn't I! A lifetime of nothing but healing and a war against demons and creatures of evil, and I couldn't have been given a simple death! You want to know why I'm still here! BECAUSE YOU PUT ME IN THE SAME DIMENSION AS TRIGON!" She shrieked, pulling on her hair. "The embodiment of Satan himself, I had banished him to that realm, I don't remember any of it, but I know it happened! And only so that he could use me, me as his Chosen! It wasn't just a coincidence, it wasn't fate playing some cruel joke, it was you!" Tears were burning her cheeks now, flowing freely as she realized that everything, everything she'd had to go through, all of the painful ordeals that lead her to completely suppress her emotions, her father continuously tormenting her, the creature inside of her always fighting to get out, the continuous reminder that if she screwed up just once it was the end of everything, it was all thanks to her.
And she'd do it all over again.
Raven wiped away her tears and swallowed the sobs that were fighting to be released. She could see her friends faces flashing through her mind, and none as clear as Malchior and Rorek. She loved them, she loved them all so dearly, and they cared about her so much. It was selfish and stupid to wish that none of it had happened, to focus so much on the bad that she overlooked the good. No, she wasn't going to be like that, she wasn't going to blame Chire'ni for this.
"Oh, silly me, I've been all wrong." Chire'ni simpered, her voice dripping with sarcasm and resentment, "Oh Avelona, can you ever forgive me for being so thoughtless? How could I have ever doubted you even after you killed Val'hilran?" She said, her voice becoming a low growl.
Raven blinked and stared at her, "Who?" The name sounded familiar but…
"You don't even remember her." She spat, "My aunt, the sister of my mother! She was brought back to us from the surface, and her neck was punctured, the teeth marks matched yours exactly. I should know, with how many times I watched you take blood from Mother! You clamed to be purified, but how could that be when you were still in need of blood! I imagine you took some from those you healed as payment up on the surface. Did she try to stop you or something? Did she get in your way! Or is that just what you do to family?"
"I…I killed her?" Raven murmered, looking down at her hands. Was she wrong in this?
"They called you the 'White Magus', but there was nothing white about you! You were never even a proper child, you never smiled, you never laughed, only now that you're a demon do I see you doing either! You were a true monster when you came to us, and we should have killed you from the start! It was only after you killed off an army of surface-dwellers that you regained sanity, had your fill of bloodshed after that I suppose. At least for a while it seemed. I wonder how many other people you killed that were never discovered."
"…White Magus…that was me? I was…" she swallowed hard, "No, it, it can't…I didn't…I…" She dug her fingers into her scalp, pulling at her hair as she did. "No…" She whispered, falling to her knees.
It was her, not Judora, her. She had been the one, the one who had separated Malchior and Rorek, it was her. But, but why? Why would she do that? "She was always fairly…dark. She was only called the White Magus because she liked to wear white a lot, but she really wasn't the kind that smiled much. I can't really remember her very well anymore, I don't even remember her name." Rorek's voice came to her.
They'd had no problems believing that the White Magus could have become the Black Magus Judora, could it be that…that Avelona really wasn't all that good? That she'd actually been…that she had been exactly as Chire'ni seemed to believe?
"HOW!" Chire'ni's voice suddenly boomed, jerking Raven back to the present. She was looming over her, an odd expression on her face, "How! How is it that you show remorse now! That you can shed tears and feel regret, even though you're a demon in blood!" She shrieked, pulling at her own hair.
"Because I'm not Avelona!" Raven suddenly cried out, standing back up as she did. "I'm not her, I don't want to be her, I'll never be her! The only thing in common between us is our soul, that's it! I refuse to have any more to do with her!" She yelled.
Chire'ni's teeth clenched, "Alright, you can just keep deluding yourself with that if you want. It isn't going to make any difference because you die here, once and for all, Avelona." She hissed.
"Bring it on." Raven challenged, her eyes glowing with white energy as she summoned her magic. "Azarath, Metriom, Zynthos!" She chanted, unleashing a powerful force at Chire'ni.
"Mana Shield!" She defended, forcing the attack to part and move away from her, knocking over a few shelves and causing several chemicals to combine on the floor. The dark elf charged, her movements swift and inhumanly graceful. She slashed at Raven with her dagger, but Raven pulled up her own shield and flew out of the way before Chire'ni could do anything to get past it.
Raven landed on the alter in the middle of the room, but jumped right back off as Chire'ni shouted, "Mana Arrow!" Shooting a blast of powerful energy at her. She landed again, this time with her back to the door, but she wasn't about to run through it.
"Sanguineus Factus Spiritus, Factus Cendere!" Raven cried, sending a torrent of flames towards her enemy. Chire'ni tried to pull up a shield again, but it didn't work very well this time. She cried out as shoots of the flames hit her, and was thrown back by the force all the way into the other wall.
"Power of mana, I bid thee come! Grant your power unto my blade so that I may vanquish this evil." Chire'ni chanted, raising her dagger to the ceiling.
"Azarath, Metriom, Zynthos!" Raven cried, putting all her force into creating a barrier in front of her, but something told her it wasn't going to be enough.
"Give me the power that rises from the shell of darkness to shatter malevolence!"
"RAVEN!" A voice suddenly cried from behind. Raven turned her head, and her heart stopped. Malchior pushed himself directly in front of her, prepared to take the blast himself.
"You wish to die with her? So be it!" Chire'ni hissed, her blade was glowing violet and red, brimming with a power that shook the room and could no doubt defeat a dragon."Virtual Star Embryology!"
"NO!" A voice screamed.
The spell was released, full force towards them. It filled the room with a blinding light, but Raven couldn't look away, her eyes were glued to what was happening in front of her, only vaguely aware that Rorek had pulled her into his arms and was also shielding her with his body.
Surely, it might have killed them all, or at least severely hurt them far beyond being able to defend themselves. But it didn't. Raven felt nothing, Rorek was unharmed, and so was Malchior.
But Zacroma lay on the floor, several limbs bent in the wrong direction, blood gushing from huge cuts as well as parts where both skin and muscle had been torn to ribbons. She wasn't moving.
Malchior fell down and picked her up, "What the f# was that!" He demanded, a note of panic in his voice, "Wh-why'd you do that you idiot? I could have, I could have handled that blast on my own!" He yelled.
Zacroma looked up at him, her eyes blurry and brimming with tears, "No, you couldn't have." She whispered, "You would have died too."
"But why, why!" He exclaimed.
She was whispering so quietly, only he could hear her. She said something, and then her head lolled to the side and her eyes closed. Malchior stared at her, his eyes wide with terror.
"ZACROMA!" Raven suddenly screamed, the next moment kneeling over the girl as well. She began using her own nails and teeth to open up a wound in her skin in desperation. The next moment, she transformed, and almost instantly began lapping up the blood so that she could use it to heal the body in front of her.
Halfway into the process, she was already starting to pant and sweat, but she refused to give up. If Zacroma could hold on a little bit longer…
Malchior thrust his wrist in front of her and she instantly bit down gratefully. She could feel his power giving her more strength to continue, she was almost done. She drank a little more from Malchior than she really meant to, but it was necessary. After finishing with Zacroma's body, praying that it would start to breath, she needed it in order to round upon Chire'ni.
"You!" She raged stalking towards the black-skinned woman, who had collapsed in exhaustion and was having to use the alter for support. "How dare you! This fight is between you and me, you have no right to hurt my friends!" She shrieked.
"I-I didn't mean t-to!" She exclaimed, staring up at Raven with a familiar look of fear in her eyes.
"Shut up!" She roared, "You didn't care! As long as you got what you wanted it didn't matter who got in the way! You're only saying that because Zacroma directed the entire force of the spell onto her and therefore didn't even scratch the rest of us! You disgusting piece of filth, you claim that I'm the monster here, well from our point of view you're the one who's the monster!" Raven cried, advancing on the woman, but suddenly finding herself being held back by none other than Rorek. "What are you doing!" She demanded.
"Raven, don't kill her, please." He said.
"WHAT!"
"Listen, she has nothing to do with the Blood Clan, and she's probably the last of her race as well. I don't understand all of this, but I know that if you kill her now you'll only be sinking to her level. She isn't an evil creature, so there are other ways of solving this. You'll regret it once you've transformed back, trust me!" He pleaded.
"How can you say that!" Raven hissed, "She tried to kill us all and almost succeeded in killing Zacroma!" She yelled
"Raven, let it go! Look, Zacroma needs to get back to the Tower now, and Malchior as well. We can sort this out later." Rorek said, turning her around so he could face her.
Raven looked behind him, Malchior was panting heavily, watching but unable to get up from his kneeling position. Zacroma was laying down in front of him, very pale, but breathing. She turned back to Chire'ni, who was pulling herself back onto her feet, staring at them all apprehensively. She tried to look Raven squarely in the eye, but was unable to keep the fear inside from showing. Raven glared at her, "If she dies, so do you." She snarled.
"This isn't over." The woman said evenly.
"No, it isn't." Answered Raven as she walked back over to the other two. She gathered Zacroma into her arms, giving the girl the last of her strength before she had to transform back, and let Rorek teleport them all back to the Tower.
XD
It took a long time for the Tower to settle down, not that Raven was awake for most of the chaos that must have ensued. It was Rorek who had to contact the other Titans (who'd been running around Valley Park frantically trying to find them all), and it was he who had to handle what little of an explanation he could give as Malchior had been in no condition to do much more than sit there and watch, Zacroma was just recovering from a near-death experience, and Raven had no strength left to even be conscious.
When she awoke, however, it was rather quiet, though it felt as though it shouldn't be. She seemed to remember hearing a drone of loud panicky voices for a while, but now they were gone, or still. Her eyes fluttered open, and she saw, turning her head over to a sideways angle, her friends gathered around the living room, all looking grim and, a few of them, scared. Robin was the first to notice she was awake, and at first it seemed the drone was about to come back, "Raven! What ha—"
"Shut up." Malchior's voice boomed, loudly and forcefully, yet quiet at the same time somehow. Raven could feel his hand stroking her head gently, and gradually came to realize she had been sleeping with her head on his lap, and someone else, Rorek, had the rest of her torso on his lap and was holding her hands in his.
"What…happened?" She asked, having to maneuver a bit in order to get up off the two of them. Thankfully Rorek was able to help her. "Never mind, don't answer that." She said, before either of them could respond.
"Raven…do you know what happened?" Asked Robin.
Raven hunched over, resting her head against her hands which were propped up on her knees. "Yes." She answered. "We've been wrong, this entire time. We were wrong about the diary entries, wrong about Avelona, and wrong about Judora."
"What! How, I mean, what brought this, how do you know?" Rorek stammered.
"Who was that drow, and what connection did she have to you?" Malchior smoothed.
"Drow?" Nearly everyone questioned.
"Uh, what's a 'drow'?" Asked Beast Boy.
"Wait! Where's Zacroma, is she alright!" Raven asked, suddenly realizing that she wasn't in the room.
"She should be just fine, we took her up to her room and Malchior was able to get a potion down her throat, so she's alright." Robin said. "Now, again, what's a drow?"
"Well, they're not exactly the most…known of races. For starters, they're the descendants of dark elves who became a society and race all their own. During a period of the world's near-destruction, (one of them anyways, there were several) the Dark Elves retreated from the surface and made their home underground, where they became an entirely new culture and society. Their bodies adapted to the living conditions, turning their skin from dark to coal black and their hair from normal to white. To those who knew about them, they weren't the most…popular of races. Violent by nature, and with a rather cruel social ladder, they took anyone who wandered into their society and made them into a slave. They didn't like many other races much, especially their cousins the elves. I'm not entirely certain how it happened, but they obtained their own goddess as well, I think her name was Lolth, yeah, that was it. Also, their culture was a strict matriarchy, as in the females were in charge and the males were just there to look pretty. Or at least, that's how it was in some circles, others I think they allowed the male a chance to prove himself, but you never had a clan leader that was male. This didn't give them very good relations with a lot of other races as, obviously, the predominant one, human, has a completely switched view of the gender thing." Malchior explained. "Now, for my question." He turned back to Raven.
Raven took a deep breath, and then let it out slowly, not looking at Malchior, or anyone for that matter. How was she suppose to tell them? Could she tell them? She knew she had to, it was vital information but…what would happen afterwards? What would they think of her? She didn't know, she didn't even know what she thought of her. It was easy enough to shout out that she wasn't Avelona, it was a completely different matter to believe it. It was odd, she never really thought of herself as Avelona, but during that time she didn't really think it was bad. Then she had thought Avelona was some great champion of good. She didn't mind that, she didn't mind it at all, in fact she almost felt proud of it in some strange, twisted way. But now…she didn't know what to think.
"Raven?" Robin's voice asked with concern, just as Rorek put his hand on her shoulder.
Raven looked up, they were all staring at her with worried looks, but Rorek had an expression of understanding in it. "Raven, whatever it is, whatever happened between you and that drow, and whatever you say, it changes nothing. Especially if it has something to do with Avelona. We're not going to think any differently of you just because of her." He told her plainly.
"Yeah, Rae, I mean, what do we care if there was something wrong that happened in the past? You're Raven, not Avelona." Cyborg interjected, arousing a murmur of agreement.
Raven took another deep breath, found the words, and began, "For starters, Judora was not the adopted sister in the diary entries, it was Avelona." She said.
"What!" They exclaimed.
"But I thought Avelona—" Rorek started, but Raven raised her hand for silence.
"That drow, her name is Chire'ni, also known as Shenira." She told them.
"Spider lady?" Beast Boy goggled.
"Yes. Those entries, they were hers, those things she said were her words, about Avelona. It was Avelona who was constantly trying to win her kinship. It was she who…who killed Avelona." She said, her hand coming to her stomach on instinct. "The knife, the pain, it was Avelona's pain all along, it was her emotions coursing through me during those nightmares, not Judora's. And it was Chire'ni's doing, she's the one with the blue, green-rimmed eyes." She said.
"Drow eyes." Malchior murmured. "Usually drows have both their pupils and their irises different colors like blue, purple, green, and even yellow sometimes." He mused.
"O-okay so, so…so Avelona's the one who…had all the demons?" Asked Beast Boy nervously.
Raven nodded, "And Chire'ni was the one who hated demons above all." She said.
"But wasn't Avelona the one who fought to destroy demons?" Asked Robin.
"She probably did that out of hatred for the ones that possessed her. You'd think being mentally tortured by demons, one would learn to hate them with a passion." Rorek answered.
But Raven shook her head and sighed, "I don't know…something…something tells me that, maybe, maybe Avelona…wasn't as good as we thought she was. Maybe it's just the things she was famous for, were things she did, to cover up…" She trailed, remembering Chire'ni's accusing eyes, remembering her words. She'd killed Chire'ni's aunt. She'd been in need of blood from the beginning. Had she secretly been taking lives beneath the mask of some holy woman? Doubts began to plague her mind once again.
"Raven? What…what do you mean?" Asked Rorek.
"Avelona…was the White Magus." She choked, her head bowed and her eyes shaded by her hair. "Avelona had been possessed by demons, she was insane at the beginning, and had only regained her sanity once she had utterly eradicated an army come to destroy the sanctuary Chire'ni lived in. She'd needed to drink blood before then, what if she was unable to stop? What if she'd gone to the surface in order to get more blood?" She asked.
"Raven, why, why do you think that?" Malchior asked carefully.
"Because…She said…she said that I, no, that Avelona, that she killed someone, she killed Chire'ni's aunt, and even though there were marks on the body that matched the one's Avelona's teeth made, it seemed only she knew it was her, Avelona. What if Avelona used the whole demon-slayer thing as a cover up for her own demonic activities, what if she'd just—"
"Even if she had," Malchior interrupted, so forcefully Raven had to look up at him, "It would not have been her fault. Being possessed by one demon is enough to drive anyone insane, but being constantly possessed by several, and still hold on to sanity is a feat that, it seems, only Avelona was able to accomplish. If she had done any more blood-sucking, it was during a period in which she was unable to suppress herself." He said, looking at Raven with a stubborn expression. Raven's insides swelled with a feeling of immense gratitude.
Rorek nodded his agreement, "If you're going by Chire'ni's assumptions, it's probably not very accurate. She sounds like she would have suspected Avelona of demonic activities, even if her aunt hadn't been bitten. And also, it could very well have been another demon too, so who's to say it was really Avelona at all? That woman's obsessed with complete purity, she'd see any little slipup as an excuse not to trust Avelona." He said.
"Okay, back up a bit, I am confused." Beast Boy said.
"So what else is new?" Malchior snorted.
Beast Boy glared at him, "No, I mean to say, isn't Chire'ni a drow? And aren't drows, I dunno, evil themselves? I mean, if they came from dark elves and just sort of became worse as I understand," He asked.
"Even a dark race like the drow had their own semblance of holiness. Just because they have different views about certain things, well, like the value of life for instance, doesn't make them exactly evil. Chire'ni's actually an example of the rare occasion when a drow child is able to keep a semblance of innocence. She was able to keep the mentality that, so long as Raven died, it didn't matter who died with her, up until the part where Zacroma almost got killed. I don't think she really meant for anyone but Raven to get hurt, and looked positively terrified when Raven was about to kill her for it. The drow are a proud race, most wouldn't have shown an ounce of fear towards Raven, even though they knew she was about to kill them. They'd have continued throwing insults and scathing remarks, especially after Rorek convinced Raven not to go through with it. To me, it seemed as though Chire'ni, though she's over 1,000 years old, is still a child, lacking the drow's version of a 'proper' upbringing." Malchior explained.
"Okay, so she's a religious nut, and yet she wasn't exactly brought up the right way. How's that suppose to work if, logically, she wouldn't have been taught religion in the first place!" Cyborg demanded.
"She still had her mother, remember." Raven said, "The one who adopted Avelona. She probably wasn't the typical drow herself, so she may have only given her daughter a basic background of their culture, and then allowed her to form her own beliefs from that. It would make sense, especially since the place they lived housed people who were unwanted by the surface. Chire'ni's mother wouldn't have the same beliefs as her own mother if she accepted and treated the mentally ill and housed all races."
"Alright, so, she's a little warped herself, why does she want to kill Raven though? I mean, surely she knows Raven's not exactly the same, and besides, she's purified herself!" Beast Boy asked.
"You think it's a usual occurrence for a half-demon to purify themselves? And even if I explained it all to her, you think she'd listen? If she refused to have an open mind about Avelona, she's not going to give me any special treatment either. In fact, she'll be less likely to listen because of that." Raven answered.
There was a pause, "Um, can we go back to the, y'know, evil villains now? The ones who don't have relatively sound reasons for their actions?" Cyborg asked.
"Poor Chire'ni! She must be so confused, how may we help her?" Starfire burst out.
"Um, by rubbing in the fact that she almost killed a half angel?" Beast Boy suggested.
"Idiot, that wouldn't make any difference. Angel's are the holy messengers of the First God, the one human's worship, or are suppose to anyways. Completely opposing religion. To her, Zacroma would be just another race." Malchior snorted.
"Great, so now what? Do we have another enemy to deal with, or do we try and talk sense into her?" Robin asked.
"Neither sounds very appealing." Rorek said, with a rather pained expression on his face.
"I don't fancy having a drow for an enemy, they can be extremely vicious and cunning at the same time, also powerful. Who knows what she might have up her sleeve. On the other hand, talking sense into her will be like, well, not pulling teeth, exactly, because that's actually possible." Malchior elaborated.
"So what do we do?" Asked Robin, "You all know a lot more about this than we do, should we take a course of action or—?"
"Um, there's no we involved in this." Raven imputed, "It's bad enough that you guys had to be drawn into the whole thing with Judora, but Chire'ni isn't as powerful, in spite of that stunt she pulled and somehow managed to call forth the power of her goddess, doubt she'll be able to do that again for a few weeks, nor as problematic, as Judora, so you guys need to stay out of it. Had that been anyone but Zacroma, there would have been a death. Now that I know Chire'ni is able to use a spell that powerful, I'll know not to hold back next time, and I won't give her the chance to use it again." She said with a slight glower.
"I guess the reason you hadn't defeated her already was because you were trying to make her see reason?" Robin questioned.
"For a while, and then during the battle I couldn't bring myself to really hurt her. I don't know why, frankly it seems stupid and completely irrational, but for some reason Avelona loved Chire'ni, a lot, and even after Chire'ni betrayed and killed her, she, I, have still been holding on to that emotion. But she went too far, and I'm not going to make the same mistake again." Raven told them.
Robin held her eyes for a moment, and she could tell he was doing some serious thinking, but then he sighed, "Alright, this is your business, we have no input on how you chose to handle it. But you do know that you can count on us for help if you need it, alright?" He asked.
Raven nodded, giving him a grateful smile, "Alright." She said.
"Well," Robin looked over at Starfire, Beast Boy, and Cyborg, "Um, we're going to go check on Zacroma." He said, getting up to leave. Beast Boy got up swiftly and practically lead the way.
"We are?" Asked Cyborg.
"Yes, come." Starfire answered, ushering him towards the door.
The three watched them disappear, and then Malchior said, "Wow, that was discrete."
Raven blinked, and looked at him, suddenly realizing that he was now on the other side of her instead of Rorek. "How did you—?"
"It's real easy to teleport when it's a short distance and you can see where you're going." He answered. He then sighed, "I guess this is when we talk about the whole 'White Magus' thing." He muttered. Raven lowered her head. "And how this entire thing's a piece of crap." Raven looked up.
"Avona." Rorek suddenly said, "That was her name, the name she gave us at first, but we kept using it even after she revealed her 'real' name. That's whey 'Avelona' wasn't a familiar name."
"We only thought Judora might have been her, because she called herself the Black Magus, now I think it was just her way of trying to get on Avona's nerves." Malchior added.
"So, Judora was the rival, but…what happened?" Raven asked. "Why did I—did she…separate you?" She asked.
"Judora said she had warped our minds once, well, it would make sense. You see, dragons are completely monogamous, only one mate at a time, and that's it. No ifs ands or buts, dragon males especially. If we have a woman that we're in love with, all other females become as meaningless as though they were males. If we were in love with you, er, Avona, the only way Judora could have even got us to look at her would be to put some powerful mind spell on us." Malchior explained.
"But, why separate you? Why not do something else like kill you or something?" Raven asked.
"What, do you think so lowly of her now that you think she didn't really love us back?" Rorek questioned, "She might not have been very loving,"
"Or any fun in bed for that matter." SMACK! "Okay yeah, I deserved that one."
"Back on the subject," Rorek coughed pointedly, "Anyway, the point is that if she didn't love us back, we wouldn't have been able to continue loving her."
"Another dragon thing I guess?" Raven asked.
"Yes. We can't have one-sided relationships, not for long anyway. But in separating us, well, it was an excellent way to get revenge." He answered.
"Also, she might have found that one of us loved her still." Malchior added.
"Or Judora was still in control of us and she left us as our weaker selves." Rorek pointed out.
"And that…might have been when she went back to the underground society, in a vulnerable state, and why…why she didn't even defend herself as Chire'ni killed her. She'd lost all will to live, and Chire'ni's betrayal was the last straw." Raven said, sighing.
"But, initially, we could have had a nice, quiet life together if Judora hadn't reared her ugly face." Rorek muttered, slipping his arm around her shoulders. Noticing this, Malchior wrapped his own arm around her waist.
"Wait, Judora!" Raven exclaimed, "If she's not, if she's not the adopted sister in this, who is she? And why did she say she was like family to me!"
They both seemed to jerk into a realization, "Yeah, we over looked that because, because we thought Judora was the one who kept trying to get Avelona to love her, but she had nothing to do with all that." Rorek said.
"And she said she didn't hate Avelona so…well, if she didn't hate her, why the h# did she practically ruin our lives!" Malchior demanded.
"Maybe she was jealous and wanted you for herself?" Raven suggested. "But then…even if that were true, why would so do that to 'familly' if she doesn't hate Avelona?"
"Well, let's remember that she is tainted, and was probably warped to begin with. Also, we don't know where Avelona came from, and you probably won't have any memories before she, well, regained sanity. It's likely that Judora was Avelona's sibling, but in blood. Only somehow she knew and Avelona didn't, or maybe she did and didn't care because, so far as she was concerned, Chire'ni was her sister. That might have made Judora a little bitter to begin with, and since she was, most likely, neither completely human nor sane, a family tie would be something to hang over Avelona's head." Malchior added.
"So she didn't hate Avelona, but, well, we know how she is now." Raven muttered.
"Exactly." Rorek agreed.
Raven let out a sigh and slumped against the back of the couch, "Having to deal with the two of you was bad enough already, who's bright idea was it to add in an entire past life and a couple of villains tied to it?" She asked. (A/N: Uuuuuuh…Hitler! Yeah, it's all Hitler's fault, blame him!)
"I'm sorry Rorek can be so frustrating at times, but there's nothing I can do." Malchior said complacently.
Raven sweatdropped and Rorek glared at him, "I'm not even going to dignify that with a retort." He said.
"Ah, but you just di—oh wait, that was a response, not a retort, darn you." Malchor grumbled.
"I think it's about time to go to bed." Raven said, getting up and stretching.
"Good idea! Let's go." Malchior said, slipping his hand back around her waist as he got up as well.
"In separate beds." She said irritably.
"Oh but what's the fun in that?" He asked seductively, nibbling on her ear a bit. Raven was about to sucker punch him when, BAM! Rorek got to him first.
"Back off! I'm going to be in Raven's room this time." He exclaimed. Raven stared, her eyes wide.
"You've had her several times, it's my turn!" Malchior responded, coming back at Rorek with a punch of his own, which he dodged.
"Since when did you care about 'turns'!" Rorek demanded, lunging at his darker half.
"Since I wasn't gett'n any!" He answered as they started to brawl on the floor.
"Okay, right now neither of you are getting anything because I'm tired and I want to go to bed, without there being someone else occupying it as well. So stop fighting, this is ridiculous!" Raven exclaimed.
They stopped, looking guilty, and stood up. "Er, right, sorry. I'll just go on to bed too." Rorek said, walking over to the door.
"Thank you." Raven huffed following him, Malchior coming behind her.
But there was something in the back of her mind, something nagging at her for some reason, though it didn't exactly seem important…but then… "Hey, Malchior?" She said, turning around suddenly.
"Yes?" He asked, blinking.
"Did Zacroma…well, when she passed out, what did Zacroma say? I couldn't exactly hear it, was it, important?" Raven asked, feeling a bit worried.
Malchior blinked, "Oh," He said, shifting a bit uncomfortably, "No she said…she said 'goodbye'." He answered, looking somewhat, almost, scared.
"Oh. So she…didn't expect, to live I guess…" Raven looked down, bitting her lip. "Okay, well goodnight." She said, going on.
"No, Raven wait!" Malchior said, stopping her. "I'm sorry, but she…she said," He bit his lip, then gave her a frighteningly helpless look, forcing the words out, "She said, 'I love you.'"
XP
A/N: Okay whoa, I don't think even I saw that one coming (mutters something about the characters running away with her). I dunno, cliffhangers just seem like the appropriate places to leave chapters, so you guys keep coming back for more, haha!
I'm InTeReStInG: So, no pressure huh? Heheheh, um, I did kinda read one of your stories, but I just didn't have time to read more than one chapter. Your style reminds me of how mine was a while back, ahhhh, that brings back so many memories, most of which involve my character aggravating a hot bishi to no end…er, okay I'll stop there.
FlameTalon: Thanks a lot! My dream is to become an author one day, but my problem is actually finishing a story. However I think that once I've finished this (and I will finish it or else), I'll have some experience and might actually get there. As for my writing, lots of essay writing classes and reading books while studying the author's writing style helps. Aspiring to a certain level as well, I'm currently shooting for J.K. Rowling because she is the goddess of the writing world. An impossible goal, I know, but certainly one worth aiming for.
Pandora Kattalikis: Hm? Looks like you got confused, Chire'ni's a completely different person apart from Judora, as you have discovered. A new character, who's a little confused. So yeah.
Bb fan: (Heheh, your funny) You have a problem with my writing style? (Evil grin as Spellbinder/fire fans begin to glare maliciously), And yes, eventually the cliffhangers will stop, because the story will come to a nice close, EVENTUALLY! I'm getting to it okay! There's still a lot of loose ends to tie up, if you haven't already noticed. So yeah, have fun on the flagpole, lol!
Troubled-ego: Sorry the battle wasn't too big of one, but I just don't have the ability to write out long drawn out fighting scenes, it irritates me to no end, and yes there should be action, but not so much you get bored. You can't do that in writing, you have to smooth it all out enough that you're fighting, but it's still interesting until the end. Long drawn out battles make people yawn when it's in writing and not on TV. But don't worry, the final battle with Judora will be very big, and interesting. Heheh.
Welp, that's about all I have to say. Thanks for all the wonderful reviews you guys! You're really helping me along here, it's great! I LOVE YOU GUYS! Ja ne
PS: I get all my info on drow from here: an online manga, but they're so big and popular, I'm thinking most of their interperitationsare probably correct. I also got a little off the Forgotten Realms series, so yeah, if you were wondering...