A/N: DUN, DUN, DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!
XP
"Terra, you have to fight it! Come on!" Raven heard Beast Boy cry, she spun around. Beast Boy was in his elvin form, and Terra flying after him with a huge stake made of earth above her. "Terra, Zacroma, Raven, I'm sorry." Raven heard Beast Boy murmer, before she moved in to act.
Wordlessly she cast the spell, the snake let go of Terra's neck and shrieked with an otherworldly voice as it fell, ashes, and turned into dirt. Terra was only able to catch a glimpse of Raven before she teleported into another room, her heart pounding, wondering if she'd done that right, praying that Terra only had a glimpse of her white cloak.
She ended up in a huge room filled with rock and lava, Slade was dodging away from Robin, who's hands held the sword Raven had made for him. She flew into the shadows, hoping that she wouldn't be seen. "What's the matter Slade! Scared of my little knife? How does it feel when the rolls have switched and I have the advantage over you?" He taunted scathingly. Slade whirled around and hit him with a blast of fire. Raven had to force herself to keep from crying out as Robin simply stood there blocking it, all the while Slade was shooting right at him. The next thing she knew, Slade had knocked the sword from Robin's hands, and the terrain was beginning to take effect on him. Raven began to whisper her spell as quietly and swiftly as she could.
"You lat your guard down. Got too cocky, that was always your weekness." Said Slade, "Goodbye, Robin." He said, hand raised to finish Robin off with another fireball. Raven's spell flew at Slade, a movement that caught his eye just in time for him to let out a cry of surprise, but not enough to dodge. It engulfed him, and destroyed his body, leaving only a melted metal shell.
Robin was opening his eyes again to look around, Raven swiftly teleported into the hall that was the exit from the room. "White cloth?" She heard Robin murmur. "Whoever you are, thanks." He said. For a moment, Raven stared at the door, wondering if he'd see it, but doubted it. So she kicked it hard, causing it to open up. She teleported herself before it was finished.
For a moment, Raven could only stare at the place where Zacroma had been transported to. It looked like a construction sight made entirely out of glass, which was understandable, as anything metal would be to Zacroma's strength. She looked down, Zacroma was narrowly avoiding all the attacks by stray objects and the structures themselves. And she fell, Jinx, Mammoth, and Gizmo preparing to finish her off against their will, Raven moved forward, hoping no one would see her, and heard Zacroma say something under her breath before she opened the crystal bottle and poured its liquid onto her head. Zacroma looked up, but Raven was fast and she teleported to another area, hiding low to the ground in the shadows as Zacroma began to scream.
Raven watched, her eyes burning, as the half-angel's wings tore themselves free of her back, tears of blood were falling from Zacroma's eyes as she screamed in agony, I similar agony to that which Raven herself had experienced in drinking the water. A purity so great it was painful. She turned white, her clothes, her hair, even her skin lost its tan, and the light that came from her was blinding, more than blinding, Raven had to shield herself with her cloak. It was like being too close to the sun, a sun whose light shone with every color, the light of the First God.
Raven fought to keep herself where she was, the snakes that had been controlling the H.I.V.E. members had been destroyed in the blast, and now they were approaching her cautiously. "Z-Zee?" Gizmo hailed.
"Zacroma…" Mammoth said.
"Don't come any closer!" A thousand voices echoed from Zacroma's mouth.
"What happened to you? Who did this?" Jinx asked.
"Please, if you can, leave! I don't know, how much longer, I can hold it back. GO!" Raven took this as her cue, in spite of the agony it was to get too close, she was somewhat protected by the memory of such pain, Raven reached out her hand behind Zacroma and pressed it to her back. Their energies seemed to draw each other, entangle, and then sooth. The light began to fade, but before it did Raven was gone, there was one thing left to do.
When she reappeared in the room with the many demons, Malorek had just finished killing off the last of them, and Raven flew down beside him with the crystal bottle and the piece of white cloth in her hands. "I think it was here." She said, placing them in an estimated spot, and backing away. "It'll be a while, a few minutes maybe. I'm not sure." She said. "We'll have to do this right, I remember breaking the spell that was going to use you as a sacrifice, and then I was flung into the circle with Judora looming over me with an hourglass in her hand, casting the time spell. What do you remember?" She asked.
"I remember coming out of a trance, I saw the battle, but I saw you being grabbed by the demon, I scrambled after you, just when Judora had already activated the portal, she was about to stop me, but something distracted her from the spell and I was able to get to you." He answered.
"I saw a white cloak as I fell, so it must be me." Raven said. "Alright, can you cast the invisibility spell now? I think it would be best to enter with the others, or enter as they do and simply phase through the wall." She told him.
"Right." Malorek took her hand and closed his eyes, concentrating. She felt a soothing cool, like ice spread from his hand and crawl it's way up her arm, spreading out in all directions, up her neck, down her torso, through her other arm, and down her legs to her feet and even the tips of her hair. When she looked down, she could only see maybe a shadow of herself, and the same of Malorek as well. "Don't worry," He said, "We're completely invisible to others, don't let go of my hand though, or the spell will be broken." He told her.
"Right," She nodded, "Let's watch from above, less chance of being run into, right?"
"Right." He responded, and the two rose into the air, waiting for the Titans and Raven's past self to come through the hallway.
They didn't have too much longer to wait, Raven's past self came through, a fierce determined look in her eyes, but then she stopped abruptly, so abruptly that Chire'ni ran into her, letting out a string of words in her own language that sounded suspiciously like swearwords. Zacroma gasped, and Blachfire exclaimed, "What the heck?"
They stared at it, and then the other Raven's eyes found the bottle and she gasped, running over and picking it up. "I don't' believe it." She breathed, "It's the bottle, the one in my dreams!" She exclaimed.
Zacroma bent down and picked up the white cloth that the other Raven had left beside the bottle, "You're going to need that, I think." She said, handing it to the past Raven.
"Okay what is going on?" Blackfire exclaimed.
"We'll let you know as soon as we do. But I think our white clothed friend is the one who killed off all the demons." Robin answered her. Raven chanced a glance at Malorek, but his expression was hidden in the inability to see his face properly, still, she knew there was a look of amused irony there.
"Alright," The other Raven put up the cloth and bottle, "Let's go." She said, and they ran, their footsteps echoing while Raven and Malorek flew after them, silently and invisible, but still someone, who'd taken to the are, crained her neck around to glance behind her. For a moment Zacroma looked as though she could see them, but she turned her attention back towards the two doors, which were soon blasted open by the past Raven.
Heart beating fast, the future Raven phased through the wall with Malorek, but they stayed there, watching, and waiting as the familiar scene unfolded before them.
Judora, her hands in the air, was standing before the alter where something was shimmering, two bodies, had just become one as the past Raven yelled, "Azerath, Metriom, Zynthos!" But it was deflected by the barrier the snake had crafted. Smoothly, Judora slipped out of the casting, her snake taking her place, and turned to face them, her face an expression of shock at the sight of them all there so soon, "How—" She began, but she was cut off, Raven charged and the others came in as well.
The battle began, Raven dodged around the summoned demons straight for Judora, power was building up, and she shouted, "Necronom, Hesbureck, Mortix!" The blast was so powerful it knocked Judora out of the way, smashing her barrier so that she could concentrate on the snake, blasting it aside and taking its place in order to undo the spell.
Raven waited, breathless with anticipation, having to force herself to simply watch as her past self unwound the spell, and then was grabbed and tossed by a demon into Judora's circle. She watched as the other Malorek ripped himself off the alter, stared around briefly, and then shot after where Judora was just about to send Raven to the future.
Now. A voice inside Raven's head said, and she acted. Judora turned, attempting to keep Malorek from following Raven, "Oh no you—" The other Raven came in, for a brief moment there were two Ravens at the same time, but the other Raven was beginning to fall through the circle, Malorek going after her, and future Raven sent a blast at Judora which only distracted her enough to look, and there she saw Raven coming after her, "What?" She gasped, Raven flew around her, and sent a blast of pure energy at her, the back of her cloak exposed to the now closing hole in the ground.
"Necronam, Hesbureck, Mortix!" Raven cried, sending her power all throughout the battle field, attacking the demons who still fought with her friends and allies.
"Argenteus, Cendere, Spiritus!" Malorek's voice came in, their powers began to mingle, creating a force that shielded their friends and eradicated all the demons, twisting about each other, the silver flames cradling the myriad colors of Raven's energy, soon silencing the battle field, all eyes on Raven and Judora.
Judora staggered backwards, her snake slithering to meet her from where Raven had thrown it, "But, but, no, how, I just, I just," She stammered, staring with shock in her eye. "How," She gasped, "How!"
"Raven? Dude…ah…what happened?" Beast Boy asked.
"Why is her hair even longer?" Blackfire demanded as Judora's snake began to curl around her waist.
"We'll explain everything later." Malorek told them, stepping forward.
"It's over Judora," Raven said as she began to gather power about her, her hair and cape raising with the energy. "You've lost, you failed once more! And this time, this time you won't get away!" She snarled.
Judora stared at her in disbelief and fear, backing away as Raven prepared the final attack, but then something happened that made her stop and stare. Judora spluttered, her eyes began to bulge and she clutched her middle, the snake was squeezing her.
"What—what are you doing?" Judora gasped, trying to tug the snake off of her, "No, no I can still—" She cried out and fell to her knees and hands, her scream stopped suddenly, and she began to shake before them, an odd sound coming from her. And when she raised her head to look at Raven, the expression made her step back, a familiar fear clutched at her heart.
Judora was laughing, but it wasn't her usual laugh, no, it was in a slightly horse voice, a voice of one being squeezed to death, but there was something more there, a glint in her eye and a twisted smile on her face, her eyes bulging, but though the madness was there, there was also a cool, calculative air about her. "Well, done, Raven, well done." She said, standing to her feet, "It was only a matter of time, you do struggle so admirably. What a failure, what a failure." She said, and she was looking at her own hands.
"What, what's going on!" Someone yelled, possibly Terra, Raven didn't look to see, her eyes were glued to Judora, her snake was obviously still squeezing her, but her movements were smooth, and her air…different, like the Judora Raven had seen in the future, the one who she'd threatened and turned on her with a hiss that had terrified Raven.
Judora chuckled, but her eyes didn't leave Raven, she was staring at her with something close to hunger, longing, Raven took a step back, trying her best not to let her fear show, "You know, she fought, day and night she fought. Ever since she saw you, ever since she knew, she fought. She fights even now, how annoying it's been, how hard it was to twist her mind. She must have loved you very much. What a failure." Judora repeated, and as she spoke something began to happen, it was as though her skin itself had begun to melt off, its color dripping to the floor and disappearing, leaving behind a coal black color. "But it was useless, once I am called, I cannot be banished. And she called me, she called me with such rage in her heart." Raven's eyes widened as Judora's hair began to lose its color as well, becoming…white. "But then, no one really knows they have been calling me until I come. And I came, because I knew, I knew she would lead my to you." Judora fell to her knees and the ground, let to slam into the hard stone as though she were nothing more than a rag doll. Her colors finally changed, Chire'ni let out a gasp, and Raven's hand went to her mouth.
A face she recognized, a face she knew, looked up at her, red eyes brimming with tears, an expression of fear and anguish. The snake continued to squeeze, raising itself above her.
"You…" Raven breathed, too stunned to do anything else, to shocked to move.
The drow opened her mouth, "Avelona!" She gasped, "Avelona, run, run, please, I can't—I can't hold her any more. You must run, you don't know—she's," Val'hilran, the one Chire'ni had sworn that Avelona had killed, the aunt that had wanted to adopt her, to be her mother. She let out a scream as her back began to rip open. "RUN!" She shrieked, but Raven couldn't moved. It was as though she were frozen on the spot, no one else could move either, no one else could speak, to think, all they knew was what was happening before them.
Darkness, deeper than anything they could have imagined, a black that went beyond simple color rose from Val'hilran, it mingled with the snake, as though a shadow were merging back into its true body, and it began to twist and expand, it's form changing. Zacroma let out a piercing, terrified scream.
A head could be distinguished by the red eyes that glowed from it, something like folded wings curved up around it, the form seemed armless, but something trailed from the blackness beneath it, chains. The chains spread out along the ground, changing it, turning the walls and ceiling into something else, or was it transporting them to somewhere else?
They were on a rocky landscape, malevolent figures and structures could be seen in the distance, no suns, but there were stars, and the light was adequate. Raven looked around, the others had been transported a good ways away, still within hearing range, but there was a wall that kept them from Raven and Judora…or whatever this thing was.
Raven backed away even farther as the shape became distinguishable. A woman's body, clothed in a shoulderless dress that fell to the ground in waves of darkness, her hair was long and straight, black and reached down so long that it seemed indistinguishable from her dress itself. Her skin was blue-gray, a color of death, her eyes were completely black with red slits for pupils and a black fire seemed to come from them, her lips were bloodless, and her teeth were pointed into fangs, as her ears were long, though much longer than the drow she'd come from. She had three wings, all of them black and broken, tattered, ripped up and molting, rotting horribly. But she was bound, around each wing, her arms folded in front of her shackled around her, and on down her dress in chains, chains that trailed along the blackness, twisting and turning of their own free will. Rusty chains, iron gray and thick.
She smiled at Raven, who felt her body freeze with a familiar fear, but this was much worse, it was as though she'd simply been a little scared before, simply dreading something, but yet comforted by the fact that her true fear had yet to make an appearance. But this, this was her true fear, the thing that caused her ears to ring, her body to shudder, and her mind to scream only one thing at her: Run.
But she couldn't run, there was nowhere to run, she couldn't get away, she had to fight. She always fought, but why was such a prospect now so terrifying?
XD
"RAVEN!" Robin exclaimed, banging on the wall, Malorek doing his own to try and break it down. They didn't seem to hear them, either that, or Raven was simply to terrified to pay attention. The fear in her eyes was almost more frightening than the woman who stood before her, but none of the Titans were willing to let Raven fight on her own.
Except, maybe, one.
Zacroma fell to her knees, staring with a look of utter horror on her face at the woman, she was shaking violently, and it looked as though she were silently screaming. "What, what is it, Zacroma?" Beast Boy asked, everyone turned to her.
"It's…I don't, believe it…" She let out, chocking on her own terror, "A, a Dark Angel, one of the Fallen…we've been fighting, against, a Fallen Angel all this time…how…why…" She lowered her head and continued to shake, "It's over," She sobbed, "It's over, we're only mortals, earthly beings, we can't possibly hope to defeat her…" She whispered.
"Val'hilran…" Chire'ni murmured, staring at the body not too far from her position.
XD
Raven swallowed hard, fighting with herself, to regain her voice, "Who…are you?" She whispered, taking yet another step back.
The woman smirked, "I am the serpent who tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden, I am the demon who possessed Judas in the garden of Gethsemane, I was the first of the Fallen to join Lucifer, I craft the chains of the Fiery Pit to bind and torment, I am the angel who guards over the end of existence, I am Jezebel, I am Judora, I am Yulazrielle." She had two voices, one was deep and smooth, it echoed in Raven's mind moments after it had been used, and the other was harsh and sharp, the one that Raven had heard from Val'hilran's mouth.
Her heart tightened, she was several yards from the Fallen, but that didn't erase the need to step back even farther. "Why…" She uttered, "Why…"
Yulazrielle moved forward, and Raven stopped, unable to go back any more. She looked down and saw a set of shackles around her ankles, tying her to the dark angel as she seemed to glide closer, "Why have I come here? Why have I appeared before the Time of Judgment? Why did I possess the drow you once saw as family? Why, why do I torment you? Why have I singled you out? Why do you fear me so?" Raven struggled against the chains on her ankles, but it wasn't as though they simply held her there by their presence, she couldn't move her feet, they were stuck to the ground, completely paralyzed, and she struggled, moving as though trying to get them out of the ground itself.
"N-Necronam—" Raven tried, but Yulazrielle drew an arm from across her chest, the chains followed, and a shackle found its way upon Raven's neck, sucking the words out of her throat. A finger, long and bone-like, touched it's claw-like nail to the jewel upon Raven's forehead. Raven froze completely, her eyes glued to Yulazrielle's face.
"You know, Dear Child, you know the answer to all of those questions." She whispered. "You've run for so long, but now it's time to stop running. You have tried so hard, I know, you were but a child but you struggled so much, your blood moved against you and you couldn't bear it. So you ran, you created many demons whose sole purpose was to destroy your mind, you tried to destroy your self in the process, knowing, fearing, and screaming. Constantly screaming, twisting and turning, running for so long. But you could never truly forget, no matter how hard you tried. You know what I speak of, don't you?"
The words came from Raven's mouth of their own accord, "Avelona's secret…"
"You're name is Raven, they gave you that name, but it is Raven. It is your secret, the secret tied with your memories, with the form you were born with." Yulazrielle's hand went down from the jewel and she cupped Raven's face in her hands, coming close to her, looking at her in a way that Raven didn't want to name, couldn't name. But it was there, it wouldn't go away. "There is no need to run, there is no need to be afraid, come into my arms, let me embrace you with my chains, and let the fire reveal your true form." Yulazrielle wrapped both arms around Raven, her chains coming around her, shackles finding her wrists, the chains themselves wrapping around her arms, legs, torso, everywhere.
Raven screamed, she screamed like she had the other night, when she'd had the nightmare, the nightmare about that voice, about these very chains. She screamed as the chains themselves bit deeply into her flesh, as they burned, searing pain all over her body, beneath her flesh, into her blood and heart. She began to scream even more loudly, a pain that she had never known before, something she couldn't name, couldn't describe but utter agony was coursing through her, it was like fire, but no fire had ever felt like this.
Yulazrielle's arms released her, and the dark angel glided away, letting Raven fall to the ground, still screaming, the chains continued to dig into her flesh. She could see flashes of things across her vision, a burning image, she could see Yulazrielle, Yulazrielle was holding her, clutching her, wrapping her in chains. She saw someone else, someone that lay upon the ground, broken, a man, wings destroyed, covered with dirt and oil, hair torn from his head, skin the color of death, white robes tattered and tainted with blood and dirt.
Raven could feel her skin beginning to melt away, feel something deep inside of her ripping away at her flesh, reaching out, pushing away her body in order to become her body. Her cloak was destroyed, and something was tearing itself out of her back in two places, two, no, four.
Her body began to grow, shaping into that of a woman rather than a girl, her hair falling, becoming even longer, and something was growing from her back.
The first set of wings were like crystallized light, they stretched high and mighty, transparent and prismic, each individual strand on a feather made of a crystal. The light that came from them was almost blinding, but it dimmed as the second set appeared, broken, bent, ugly, they were black as Yulazrielle's and they hurt, it was a pain to bear them, agony to allow them any form of movement. The chains shied away from the crystal pair, but wrapped tightly around the other, causing more pain to shoot through her body.
It hurt, it hurt so much, the blood that ran through her veins was like liquid fire and ice at once, both fighting with each other, combating, struggling. The eye on her right bore an irradiant disk of silver and gold, while the one on her left was black with a red slit for the pupil, both burned with fires of their own spectrum, ripping at her sockets so that tears of blood flowed from them. She grabbed them in her hands which were white a snow, but almost gray at the same time. Her fingers were long and delicate, but with claw-like nails at the ends.
"No…" Raven moaned, the jewel on her forehead was burning brightly, a fierce red that she couldn't see. All she could see was Yulazrielle, and the angel, nameless, fallen, and utterly broken. "You…you killed…"
"Killed? No, no no no, I did not kill him, I did much worse than that." Yulazrielle took Raven's face in her hand and forced her to look into her face, "You're father called me, Raven, and I answered. One does not know that they call me until I come, and when I come, I cannot be banished. What happened to him was his own doing. To love as humans love is forbidden to an angel, to love human is not allowed, but me, me, Raven. To love a Fallen as a human would love a human, what happened to your father was his own doing. The result, your birth, was to mark his shame forever. You saw him, and you saw me, and you fled, you ran from me. And oh, Raven, I have never known of such pain, never known how a mother feels when she loses a child. I did then, I have constantly, it is an entirely new pain, a pain that I am not fond of." She then pulled Raven to her feet and held her close, "Forget your father, Child, forget his foolishness, it no longer matters to us. Come to me, Raven, be one with me, forget the flesh you bore from reincarnation, remember only your true self, and stay with me, forever."
Avelona's secret, she was half Fallen Angel, half Arch Angel, she'd crafted herself human flesh, created those demons that possessed her in order to destroy her own mind. She tied her soul to her body so that she might, one day, be able to kill herself, or at the very least forget. Forget what she'd seen, forget what she knew, forget what she was. Avelona, the White Magus, the greatest sorceress of all time, was not human, had never been, could never even hope to be. She was a creature born of light and darkness, a forbidden mix that had cost her father everything, and more. But why, why? What was the purpose? The point? Why had she been spared? Why did she live? Why was her soul allowed to be formed within the womb of a Fallen Angel? Why….why…
Something inside of Raven seemed to click, something that hardened her posture, something that gave her strength. "You," She whispered, "You seduced him, you did it on purpose, you gave birth to me, on purpose, so you could become one with me. So you could tap into the power of the First God. You don't want me because you're my mother, you want me because I have power. You don't love me, you never did, you just want the power, you want to alter what's been foretold." She said, there was no more fear, there was no more running. There was no point, this was how it was, she couldn't run any more, Yulazrielle was right, she had to stand and face it. Fear was replaced with another emotion, an emotion that gave her power to stand strong. Anger. Not rage, pure, justified anger.
Yulazrielle's arms tightened around Raven as she began to work, attempting to pull Raven into her, but the barrier would not let her, "Oh Raven, you will insist upon turning me into the villain, you will insist that I cannot possibly feel anything resembling human emotion. As I said, your father called me, he was undone by his own wish, his own wanting. Power? No…No, I want you Raven, you, my child, my daughter. I love you, I do so love you, but my love is different from that which you have witnessed thus far. No more running, come to me," She whispered, "Come to me, come to me. Be one with me."
Raven opened her mouth and uttered a single, solitary word, "No."
Something broke free, fire, white and pure flowed from her being and burned away the chains, forcing Yulazrielle back with a cry of fury, her chains no longer able to get near Raven. The second set of wings, the black and torn wings were being drawn into her back, both eyes were burning with white fire, and her hair began to rise, separate locks like tendrils seemed to lift and move of their own accord, her power flowing through them, making them almost like extra limbs, something that she always did, something that was so familiar to her she did it automatically.
And there was a voice, a voice deep inside of her mind, coming from her own thoughts, Repeat after me. It said. I, Raven, call upon those entities subject to me.
"I, Raven, call upon those entities subject to me," Raven began, listening to this voice as her power multiplied by the minute, "Reveal yourselves to me, let your strength become mine. Let my happiness be your happiness, my sorrow also your sorrow." She said, she felt something begin to pulse within her, something that forced away the darkness, overcoming it, eating it and rising inside of her, "To those who stand before us, to those who dare challenge our might. Our mind, our bodies become one, let the spirits of the earth and the sky hear our song, let them tremble before our might." Her crystal wings spread out, and the earth beneath them did tremble as she was lifted into the air.
"RAVEN!" Yulazrielle screamed, a sea of darkness welled up from her, a giant tilde wave was thrown at Raven, filled with rage and hatred.
"Let the darkness be engulfed, let all that stand before us be thrown into oblivion, by the power you and I possess. Rites of Tribulation!" Power, burning, invigorating power coursed through her, summoned from beyond the planes of reality. It banished her fear, banished her rage, all that was left was anger, pure and untainted, righteous fury, she took to the air and came down upon the wave of darkness, parting it with her fist, directed at Yulazrielle.
The dark angel dodged out of the way, slipping to another part of the battle field like a snake. The power that had been exerted settled, but Raven was still coursing, her body burning with white fire, the marks from Yulazrielle's chains still red, but faded in the fire that cradled her. Raven turned and shot after the dark angel, who met her, their hands met and they clashed, pushing against each other, both powers conflicting, struggling, Raven fought for dominance, but it was hard to tell who had the upper hand, in spite of Yulazrielle's expression of effort.
"You cannot defeat me child!" She hissed, the rock around them was being destroyed, blasted up into the air causing a crater to form emanating from their struggle.
"Watch me." Raven came back defiantly.
They were blasted apart by their own energies, but neither stopped their attack. Yulazrielle's chains shot after Raven, but they could no longer touch her, so Raven touched them, grabbing hold of several, "Necronam, Hesbureck, Mortix!" She cried, sending a blinding white power through the chains towards Yulazrielle herself, forcing her to take the attack. She shrieked and sent her own wave of power through the chains, but Raven had let go and moved into the air away from Yulazrielle.
The battle became brutal, claws were used, Yulazrielle had taken to the sky as well, her three wings beating the air desperately, as though it were painful to fly, but this pain did not show itself on her face. Her shrieks were punctuated by Raven's own shouts. Fists, legs, even wings were used in the struggle. Raven sent arrow after arrow at Yulazrielle, infused, still, with the light waters of The Cross, but soon she knew, she knew that it would not be enough. She was only half-angel, and though her dark angel half gave her body the strength to wield both powers, half of her was the same as Yulazrielle, and that half was fighting against her as well, from the inside it began to burn with the purity she was trying to force her body to accept completely, fighting against it, forcing it away.
Soon it would be over, soon she would no longer be able to fight. She had to do something, something desperate, but…what…
She knew what, she knew, but the price would be very high. Very high indeed.
Raven and Yulazrielle at last broke from each other, standing far away, staring at the other, both panting in some way or shape, studying the other. Raven stood up straight, her wings spread out wide, and she did the same with her arms and closed her eyes, "Our father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name." She began, and as she spoke, the earth began to tremble, her voice began to sound like thunder, and Yulazrielle's eyes widened.
"You fool." She said calmly, "You will destroy yourself! What are you thinking? He will not answer a prayer from you, if only to smite you where you stand!" She shrieked, but Raven ignored her.
"Thy kingdom come, they will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who've sinned against us,"
The darkness around Yulazrielle was becoming less and less with every syllable, Raven's light was beginning to press upon her even at a distance, the wall she'd created to keep the other Titans out of the way shattered, but rather than move in to help, Zacroma stepped forward and created another barrier, one that circled around all of them, including the limp form of Val'hilran.
"Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." Raven finished.
It was as though all the power that she had summoned was being stripped from her, taken, and given, to feed the creature that raised itself from within the thick waves of power that were emanating from Raven, white fire surrounded it, but it was beginning to take shape. Six wings from it's back, two covered his face, and two his feet while the last pair flew at Yulazrielle, who stared at it with fear in her eyes and a silent scream of terror on her lips. As it came after her, it opened its wings, and Yulazrielle's eyes began to rip and tear, bleeding profusely for she could not look at it. The creature engulfed her, wrapping all three wings around her form, and then it disappeared. Taking Yulazrielle back to hell, back to where she belonged.
She'd won, she had defeated her, finally, after all this time, after all the running, all the struggling, she had faced that which she had feared above all else, and she had won. But, at what cost?
Raven's knees found the ground, which turned into the cool stone of Judora's hideout. She just had time to extend her hands and catch herself before the rest of her body slammed into the ground. She felt her wings draw themselves back into her skin, felt her body shrink back into that of a teenager, her skin became normal, her eyes their usual blue-violet. Her long tendrils of hair fell about her, limp with the lack of power that usually flowed through them.
The world was going dark, she could hear voices, feel a pair of arms picking her up, but she could neither recognize these voices, nor could she see the faces. She was losing sense of her body, soon she wouldn't be there anymore.
It was over, her life, her purpose, to rid herself of the evil that plagued her. She'd done it, finally, she'd done it.
And now she could rest in peace, finally in peace.
XP
A/N: Few! So, did that shock you? Or are you all so use to my antics that you were expecting something like this? Yes? No? . In any case, I hope I didn't disappoint! At first I thought of having a battle between the titans and just Judora, and then when they killed the snake Judora would turn into Val'hilran and talk to Raven, making everything all sad and traumatic. Also that Avelona's secret would be a bit more simple, that she was simply half-demon, half-angel, and her mother cast her upon the earth with all those demons possessing her in hopes that she'd be destroyed. BUT! I thought this was more dramatic, especially tying Judora to Avelona in such a way that the quote, "Oh, I don't hate her, I never did. We're like family after all." From chapter 12 would have a lot more meaning and substance than simply the fact that Val'hilran had been Avelona's adopted aunt. Don't worry, though, the talk between Raven and Val'hilran will still take place to explain why Val'hilran called Yulazrielle and how Yulazrielle was able to possess/taint a drow.
Also, a few of you might be confused about the Judora that you've all come to know and hate and how she fits in as both Val'hilran and Yulazrielle. But I'll explain that later within a chapter. Also, I'd like to make it perfectly clear right here and now that Yulazrielle is completely and utterly FICTIONAL! As in she has no biblical substance whatsoever, neither her name, nor her supposed 'being' is mentioned. I know it was Satan who possessed the snake to tempt Eve, and Judas, well, never actually says whether Judas was actually possessed or not, form what I remember. All I'm saying here is DON'T ARGUE FACTS WITH ME NOW BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT'S CALLED ARTISTIC LICENSE! This will not have been the first time I tweaked things up for the sake of the story. Just work with me, K? Because I really don't feel like getting, "But there was no 'First of the Fallen'! Nor is there a 'chainmaker-whatever' Dark angel!" reviews. Artistic license people, artistic license. Literature is a tool of chaos, deal with it.
Yeah, I'm kinda tired at the moment, can you tell? Still, I hope most of you were able to enjoy the actual story without paying too much attention to stupid things like FACTS. (Grumble grumble) Anyway, I'm sorry but if I'm going to get this chapter up today I can't respond to reviews. It's Monday, and Mondays kill me due to the 3-hour class I have to go to in about 30 minutes.
Ja
PS: NO RAVEN'S NOT GOING TO DIE! DO NOT EVEN ASK ME THAT BECAUSE YOU KNOW THE ANSWER AND I'M SAYING THIS BECAUSE I KNOW YOU'RE GOING TO ASK ME! Heheh, okay, I'm done.