A/N: ALL HAIL DA POWAH OF DA SPORKS YO!
XP
It took a while, but eventually everything was explained well enough. There were parts that sparked a lot of interest, such as Daniel, Michael, and Shade's roll in everything, and then there was Chire'ni, who was rather silent when hearing about her own future self. Raven didn't like telling them about The Demon, and she even left out the part where Malorek had to kill her demon self. That was a little too personal to discuss and wasn't particularly relevant either.
Finally, though, questions had been answered about that, and it was time to consider the one thing that was on practically everyone's mind: A vacation.
"We need it." Robin said flatly, everyone agreed, save Daniel, Shade, and Michael.
"Yeah, you do." Daniel said, "We, however, need to get back home, we got kidnapped at a rather inopportune time, though I won't go into detail. Still, thanks for letting us stay, see ya." He said, getting up. The two others nodded and followed his lead.
"Bye, and, thanks." Raven told them.
"Heh, twas nothing, no seriously. Agh, I'm getting a headache. Later!" He answered. Everyone bid them goodbye and they too were seen flying out the window, Michael being carried by the other two, back towards the city.
"I have a job to get back to, believe it or not." Chire'ni told them. "I've already missed one night with no explanations, my employers are not going to be happy." She said.
"Tell them the Teen Titans have invited you to the beach, and that you deserve some time off because you helped save the world, yo!" Cyborg told her. Chire'ni chuckled.
"I may do that." She said.
"Can I come too?" Terra, who was sitting next to a very nervous Beast Boy, asked sheepishly. Zacroma, who was on the other side of Beast Boy, craned her neck around to give Terra an "I will smite you where you stand" look.
"Ah…sure." Robin said awkwardly, "We have an extra room." He murmured.
"Two." Malorek corrected, smirking.
"One. You're not relocating your living quarters to my room." Raven informed him.
"Awwwwww." He wined, causing both Chire'ni and Zacroma (in spite of her current 'Die B8888, Beast Boy is MINE!' train of thought) to start laughing.
"We'll talk more about it later, when things have settled down." Robin said.
"In that case, can I see you privately, Velduil?" Chire'ni asked, standing up. She gave Raven a look that said, all too plainly, it wasn't she whom Raven needed to talk to.
Raven took a deep breath and nodded, getting up to follow her.
XD
Chire'ni had wrapped up Val'hilran's neck, where two puncture wounds still bled slightly, but the woman was only barely alive, Raven could sense it. She pulled the desk chair of Malorek's room up to the bed, Chire'ni had left and closed the door. After all, while Val'hilran was her aunt by blood, she and Avelona had had a far stronger relationship. For a moment, Raven just sat there, staring at the woman whose face was only now recognizable, who had, for so long, been her enemy. Then she took a deep breath and let it out.
"Val? Val, can you hear me? It's me." She said softly.
Eyes twitched, and opened slowly. They weren't slits like Judora's had been, they were shaped just like Chire'ni's, but they were still red, completely red. They'd always been red though, even though her sister had had blue, green-rimmed eyes, Val'hilran's eyes were completely red, though Raven couldn't quite remember why.
The drow looked at Raven blearily, recognition in her eyes, her expression became soft and she gave Raven a week smile, "Ah, Avalona," She whispered, "My, how long have I been asleep?" She asked, her voice croaky, yet still familiar.
"Over a thousand years." Raven answered.
"Really?" She chuckled, "I certainly feel it, then. And you, you don't look a day older. Tell me, is that handsome young dragon still enamored with you?" She asked.
"He proposed to me." Raven answered, showing her the ring.
Val'hilran's eyes widened, "Really? And you've accepted have you? Oh, Avelona, I'm so happy for you." She closed her eyes, smiling dreamily, "It's good that even someone as tormented as you can still find love. I remember feeling so jealous of your mother when she found Chire'ni's father. She loved him till the day he died, and he her. But I…" She sighed, and opened her eyes again. "I'm sure you've wondered why my eyes have always been red like this." She murmured, "And why I stayed with your mother, who was shunned by the rest of our clan for her ways.
"I was still a youth when it happened, I attended a school for Yathrin and was to become a priestess. A friend, and rival, of mine had suddenly appeared in class one day with red eyes, and we all knew what that meant. She'd summoned a demon, but the spell had gone wrong and the demon ended up possessing her, but it wasn't like that. She was sentient, she still talked and acted almost normally, except with an air of power and, perhaps, danger surrounding her. We soon found out that her power had increased drastically, that, rather than summoning a demon and making a mistake, she'd summoned the demon into her body on purpose, she was still in control, however. We saw that, and soon many of us, myself included, went to her in order to discover how she'd done it. She rounded us up, and then she 'tainted' us all.
"I know what a human tainting means, but this was different. These demons we drow summon are lesser demons, comparatively, the idea was to absorb these creatures so that they would increased our power drastically. However, she had tricked us, the demon in her fooled us into thinking that she was still sane, and she attempted to destroy us all during the process of tainting, herself included. I was the only one to survive, but I might as well have died.
"Ah the pain, the torment, I was in constant agony as I walked, as I spoke, I discovered that causing another pain relieved my own, so I began to torture slaves, but it wasn't enough for me. One day I nearly killed one of my sisters, and it was discovered just how unstable I really was. I was shunned, completely and utterly, beaten down, though I felt little physical pain, and tossed away. I was close to losing myself entirely to the demon within, and then your mother came to me. She found me, offered me her hand, took me to her fortress even though I myself had been one of those who'd oppressed her. She helped me to regain myself, and though the demon could not be exorcised, she taught me how to fight it, even to control it.
"Eventually I was able to gain back my standing in the clan, most of my sisters were wary of me still, but my mother saw my power and the control I had and accepted me. I tried to fight for Allira'shinade, but mother wouldn't hear of it.
"When the humans came to destroy my world, rather than stand with my clan and fight, I chose to help your mother and her charges escape. I abandoned my own mother as she had once abandoned me, but I still felt a cool resentment towards those who had destroyed us. This anger grew in me, it fed the demon inside of me, granting me more power as I was still in control, but not as much as I thought I was.
"When I found you, saw you possessed and tainted like I once was, you reminded me so much of myself, I brought you into the underground fortress we had built, I wanted to adopt you but, wisely in my opinion, Allira'shinade refused and took you in herself. Still, I stayed close to you, I loved you like my own daughter, but I could not let go of my hatred for the humans we were forced to deal with in getting supplies to the underground.
"And then the snake appeared, you'll remember when we were traveling abroad, your dragon following us all the while, though we pretended we didn't know he was." Val'hilran smiled dreamily in remembrance, but then it faded again as she continued, "I disappeared then, I'm sure you found my absence natural at first, as we often parted only to meet with each other again later, and then I imagine you began to look for me." She sighed, "I was such a fool, all that time…The snake came to me, told me it could give me even more power, said I would be able to destroy the humans who killed my people. And I accepted its offer, but the price was very high. My original body had to be destroyed and then remade, the snake did all of that within the blink of an eye, and before I knew it I was Judora." Her face twisted in pain, "I lost almost complete control of myself, the demon inside me had merged with a part of the snake that had become my familiar, tainting me far more severely than I could ever have thought possible. I don't remember much of what happened, I just know that there was something, something horrible I did to you." She turned and looked at Raven with a pained expression on her face, "I was a fool, Avelona, all that time I thought it was the humans who destroyed my people, but it wasn't. The demon within me clouded my vision so that I couldn't see what was truly happening. More and more of my kind were tainting themselves as I had done, without my knowledge I became a figure head, and soon there was an epidemic. I don't know all of what happened, history will probably say that an army of surface dwellers came down to lay siege to the drow, but the drow had already been destroyed from the inside by their own lust for power long before any surface army came."
Val'hilran let out a deep sigh and looked back at Raven, "I don't expect you to forgive me, I don't remember what I did, but I know it must have been tremendous." She closed her eyes, "I doubt that Lolth will accept me, but perhaps there is an odd sort of peace in utter oblivion." She said, Raven could hear her breathing becoming shallow and slow.
"I forgive you." She said swiftly, hoping that Val'hilran heard her before she died.
Raven sat back in her chair and stared out into space, she didn't move for a while.
XD
Chire'ni was leaning against the wall, a ways away from the door to Malchior's room. Strong, ebony arms crossed over an ample chest that was shown off by her armor, along with her graceful curves. A cascade of pure, snow-white hair fell down the shoulders and back of a face whose eyes were closed in deep thought, her elegantly long ears poking out of it rather cutely. She was hot, very hot, different, yes, but that only made her seem all the more exotic. Cyborg took a deep breath and walked up to her.
"So, ah, is Raven—?" He asked, She looked up and nodded. "I'm kinda confused," he admitted, scratching his head, "Exactly who's this Val-whatever person? Is she a relative of yours or something? Is that how you know her?" he asked.
"Heh, I'm surprised the question didn't come up much sooner. Yes, Val'hilran is my mother's sister." Chire'ni let out a sigh, "We thought she was dead, we even had her body, puncture wounds in her neck. I thought it'd been Avelona, but now I knew, it was that snake." She shook her head, "But then, Val'hilran was never one to be completely trusted, one of the reasons mother wouldn't allow her to adopt Avelona herself like she wanted."
"Rrrrrright, so, ah, if she's your aunt, then…"
"Then shouldn't I be in there talking to her?" Chire'ni finished, "No, frankly, because I never had much of a relationship with my aunt, not like how Avelona had. And in any case, her crimes as a Tainted were against Raven, not me." She explained.
"Yeah, that makes sense." Cyborg agreed. There was a small pause, in which Chire'ni was staring off into space with her blue, green-rimed eyes, and Cyborg couldn't help but stare at her.
Dang, he never knew Raven had such a hot sister…
Dude! Cyborg exclaimed to himself mentally, Where the heck did that come from! Snap out of it man, she's not even the same race as you are! He ordered himself.
But then, neither were Raven and Malorek.
Bad idea, she use to be an enemy man!
So did Malchior.
She's scary, and she likes spiders!
She's hot and could probably crush a bowling ball with her bear hands.
Shut up!
No.
Cyborg shook his head, he needed help. "So ah, what are you going to do now?" He asked.
"Mmm, I don't know." Chire'ni answered, considering, "Perhaps go back home, try to lead a normal life with the time I've been given." She said.
"Won't you at least come by to visit Raven?" Cyborg asked in slight surprise.
Chire'ni sighed, "I don't know," She said, running her fingers through her hair in thought, "I don't feel I deserve the forgiveness both Raven and her dragon have already shown me. What right do I have to a sister like her, after all? My entire life I shunned her and she only showed me love, but I was too blind to see it. I've lived my life with a spot of anger still etched deep into my soul, but now that this anger and hatred has left, I don't know how to live with myself anymore." She told him. Then she stopped, seeming to catch herself, and gave him a wry smile, "My apologies, you probably don't care much for listening to a woman's rambling." She said.
"Aw, heck, I don't mind." Cyborg said, putting a hand behind his head, "You sound like you need someone to talk to. I don't know much of what happened, but, you know, maybe it's better that way. Maybe you need someone who's outside all of this to talk to. And I may be a mere pathetic male but I can at least listen." He told her.
For a moment Chire'ni just stared at him, and then her lips broke into a grin and she started to chuckle.
Just then the door opened, and out came Raven, hood over her head with a rather subdued air. The two looked at her, "Hey Rae," Cyborg said, for lack of something better.
"I've burned the body." She told them, "I'll ask Zacroma to make an urn for the ashes." She said.
Chire'ni looked at Raven, and then let out a deep sigh, shaking her head, "I don't see how you can forgive her so easily, nor do I understand how you can forgive me either." She said, "But then, you never were the type to hold grudges."
"In the end, it just doesn't seem important." Raven responded. "By the way," She then pulled out a small piece of folded paper from the space jewel on her belt and held it out to Chire'ni, "Your future self wrote this and told me to give it to you. Whatever it is, I promise I didn't read it. She seemed to think it was important." She said.
"Right," Chire'ni took the note with some trepidation. There was an awkward pause in which Cyborg felt it best to sneak away and let the two talk things out on their own. Chire'ni glanced back as he retreated around the corner. "His name is Cyborg, right?" She asked.
"Yeah." Raven answered, "Listen, Chire'ni, I…I'm not entirely sure about all of this, these emotions. I remember seeing you as Avelona, back when her demons had full control over her, I remember there was something about you that just drew me and I don't know what. I don't really know why Avelona wanted so badly for you to be family to her, but…well, we were friends before it all happened. When we met in that bar, remember? You think, maybe, we could start back from there?" She asked.
"We could," Chire'ni considered, musing, "Or we could skip all that and be sisters now." She suggested, "How does that sound?"
Raven smiled, "Sounds good to me." She said.
Chire'ni smirked, "Oh, and, by the way, don't think I can't see the ring on your finger. That illusion may work on your human friends, but my eyes are not so easily fooled." She said, causing Raven to flush as she snatched her left hand to better examine it. "Nice, very nice," She mused, "Appropriate too. But when are you going to tell everyone else?" She asked.
"When things settle down." Raven sighed. "We still have Terra to deal with, though if Zacroma has her way there'll be nothing left to deal with."
"I see, you'll have to explain this to me because I'm rather lost…"
XD
"ZACROMA!" Raven yelled, causing the entire tower to tremble. With her voice. Raven waited, her foot tapping angrilly as Zacroma walked in with an innocent look on her face.
"You bellowed?" She asked sweetly.
Raven glared at her and pointed at the ceiling, "Terra appears to have been chained to the ceiling with duct tape over her mouth. Now, who among us would have the power to, not only manipulate metal so well as to have the chains molded into the ceiling without messing with the electronics, and also to completely nullify Terra's ability to manipulate earth so that she would neither have had the ability to fight back, nor free herself or alert us of trouble with a small tremor?" She asked leeringly.
"Hmmmm, Malorek, maybe? He is a gray dragon after all." Zacroma answered pleasantly.
"What would Malorek have against Terra?" Raven asked.
"Maybe she tried to flirt with him, the dirty little slu—"
"ZACROMA!" Raven exclaimed.
"Oh fine." Zacroma pouted, levitating up and putting her hand up on the ceiling, calling all the chains to her blue gem, and leaving Terra to hit the ground face forward. Or she would have had Raven not been prepared to cushion her fall.
"Zacroma, don't you think you're going a little far—" Raven began, but then Terra ripped the duct tape from her mouth and interrupted.
"Beast Boy is mine, b8888!" Terra yelled, "I was here first, he liked me first, so back off!" Raven sighed.
"HA! You don't deserve Beast Boy, you betrayed the Titans to Slade! He wouldn't touch you with a ten-foot pole!" Zacroma came back.
"Oooooh, you're going to regret that!" Terra snarled.
"Ha! Says the girl who couldn't cause a tremor if her life depended on it! I could take your power away permanently if I wanted to!" Zacroma came back, causing Terra to pale. Raven groaned.
"I believe the children need a time out." Chire'ni said calmly, approaching the two girls and placing a hand on each shoulder. Both became very quiet and rather pale at the sight of her. Chire'ni held heir shoulders firmly and closed her eyes, "Power of mana…" She murmured, and the next thing Raven knew both Terra and Zacroma were 5-year-olds!
"AIEEEEE! HOW DID YOU DO THAT!" Zacroma demanded in a high pitched voice.
"Yeah, how did you do that?" Raven asked, her eyes widened, "I didn't know you could shapechange others as well."
"Well, it requires a certain amount of concentration and effort, and there's also the fact that it's not permanent and will ware off, at the very most, by tonight, notice I only made them children and didn't attempt to turn them into driders, which would undoubtedly have disturbed them quite a lot." She answered, sounding proud of herself.
"I'm glad you didn't." Zacroma said, cringing. Terra appeared too frightened and shocked to even speak.
"How did you get their clothes to shrink as well?" Raven asked.
"Lots and lots of practice accompanied by many decades of boredom." Chire'ni answered.
"I see." Raven mused.
"What's with all the yell—ing?" Cyborg stopped abruptly and stared at the chibified teens. He pointed, "Huh?"
"Waaaaa, Cyborg! Chire'ni turned me into a kid!" Zacroma wined, running over to him.
"What am I suppose to do about it!" Cyborg exclaimed, Chire'ni just laughed while Raven sighed, exasperated.
"This is just too weird." Terra moaned, "First demons, darkangels, and now this!" She exclaimed.
"So leave!" Zacroma said, spinning around, and then she gave Terra an evil smirk, "Before I decide to tell you why I'm able to nullify your power!" She said, Terra's eyes widened and she swallowed hard.
"Zacroma." Raven sighed in exasperation. Something must have transpired between the two girls, something that definitely revolved around their individual claims over Beast Boy, but, Raven imagined, Terra may very well have indirectly touched a nerve of Zacroma's, and the half-angel was neither going to explain what that nerve was, nor forgive Terra for her ignorance. For Raven seriously doubted Terra would have purposely said something to really hurt Zacroma, no matter how much of a feud they were having over Beast Boy. "Okay, I'm just not going to get involved in this." She grumbled, deciding that now would be a good time to leave the room and get something to eat.
"Pssst, Raven," a voice whispered, Raven looked around the hall to see Beast Boy, who'd apparently been a fly or something, come out from one of the shadows, looking around warily, "Do you know where Zacroma and Terra are by any chance?" He asked.
"They're currently in one of the training rooms. Beast Boy you can't let this go on. I'm really surprised at Zacroma's behavior towards Terra, and it has to stop before things get serious." Raven told him sternly.
Beast Boy sighed miserably, "I know, I know, Terra said something to Zacroma that…well, I know Terra didn't mean it the way Zacroma took it, but she's not listening to a word I say! I'd better not repeat it, but I can't seem to understand why Zacroma's so upset. What am I suppose to do?" He asked. "I love them both, yes, but Terra…more like a sister, to be honest. So I don't want to hurt her feelings." He explained.
"Feelings are going to be hurt, Beast Boy, Zacroma's if you wait for too long. You have to talk to Terra and explain the circumstances to her. If she and Zacroma can't patch things up, I'm afraid Terra may have to leave." Raven told him. Beast Boy's shoulders drooped and he sighed.
"Yeah, you're right." He muttered, though he didn't sound very keen on the idea, understandably.
"The best thing is just to say it and get it over with." Raven told him.
"Right, well, I think I'll wait a bit longer just to think about how I'm going to say this…" Beast Boy muttered, "You think I should talk to Malorek?" He asked.
"He'll just tell you the same thing I did." Raven answered.
Beast Boy drooped slightly, "Right, okay, fine." He muttered, and he morphed himself back into a fly, buzzing on down the hall. Whether he was going to find the two girls, or to find another place to hide, she wasn't sure.
Raven entered the kitchen, finding Robin was also there, shuffling through the refrigerator for something to eat as well. "We need to get some more groceries." He muttered, not even glancing up to see who'd walked in.
"Why? We still have plenty of Raisin Bran." Raven answered, opening the cabinets to find a few boxes still there.
"You can't eat that stuff for lunch and dinner every day though." Robin muttered.
"Yeah, you need to get some sheep in your diet. It's good for the heart after all." Malorek said, walking into the kitchen.
'Sheep?' both Raven and Robin mouthed wordlessly. "Ah, Malchi-er-Malorek, sorry, I don't think that many stores stock sheep meat." Robin said.
"Oh that's okay, just direct me to the nearest farm, I promise to be on tomorrow's headline." Malorek said, his eyes twinkling with a grin.
Robin snorted and started laughing while Raven just sweatdropped and sighed. "By the way Robin, I think Starfire's looking for you, something about biki—whatever, shopping for the vacation you promised." Malorek said.
Robin's eyes widened while Raven raised an eyebrow, "Bikini shopping? She wants to go bikini shopping? What happened to her old set?" Raven asked irritably.
"Well, you know Starfire…" Robin said, his face rather red as he walked past Malorek to see what she wanted.
"What's 'bikini shopping'?" Malorek asked, "I'm afraid I'm not familiar with the term."
"It's the preppy female version of swimsuit shopping." Raven answered with a sweatdrop. "Swimsuits are clothes made especially for swimming, you'll probably need a male set anyway, so I'm afraid we will have to go shopping." She said.
"Ah, I see," Malorek mused, and then he looked at Raven through his cascade of silver hair, a mischievous glint in his eyes, "And, exactly, how much clothing do these swimsuits require?" he asked in a would-be casual voice.
"Not much less than my leotard." Raven answered flatly, eyebrow twitching.
"Awwwwww." He wined, coming over to pull Raven in an embrace with her back up against him.
"Alright now Malchior, behave." She ordered, her hands on his to make sure they didn't do anything untoward.
"Hey, is it my fault you're the most beautiful woman in the world?" He asked, nibbling on her ear.
"Yes, because I'm not the most beautiful woman in the world." She answered. "It's all a matter of opinion."
"You are," Malorek insisted holding her close and nuzzling her neck, "Humans just don't have very good taste. Though I suppose I should be grateful, if they did know what true beauty looked like I would be hard pressed to fight the entire male population for you. Not that I wouldn't welcome the challenge, it'd just get annoying after a while." He murmured.
"Mmm, you are a sweet-talker aren't you?" Raven muttered, but she felt herself melting into his embrace all the same.
"Yes, but only for the woman I love." He whispered as she craned her neck around and he bent over to meet her lips.
He had to be the most beautiful creature on the face of the earth, but his loyalty to her was almost unbelievable. She loved him so much, she couldn't be happier than she was now. Judora was gone, the worst of their surprises had been dominated, she was free of her father, and they were engaged. What more could she possibly ask for save a little more privacy?
But still, there was something in the back of her mind, something that was beginning to make itself known during their time of peace, something that had been bothering her for a time but she'd simply tried to ignore it.
Would their love be allowed?
XP
A/N: DON'T WORRY! That last statement will be explained in the next chapter, if you're confused. Some of you probably aren't, but there you go. Next chapter should be the last one, SO DON'T LEAVE YET! Also, I've decided that if I do do a trilogy of some sort, it will only, only be a collection of shorts. I probably won't be writing out their vacation in the ending, so I might do that for one of the shorts. Also thinking about doing interviews, bloopers, and pairing one-shots You know, Zacroma/Beast Boy, Robin/Starfire, Raven/Malorek, You-know-who/you-know-who, Judora/Slade (JUST KIDDING! Lol), this is mostly because doing another entire, 'season' I guess, would just be kinda monotonous. I mean, how much worse can a bad-guy get than a Fallen Angel, without bringing in Satan himself! Also, I'm out of material. There'd be very little in the infamous surprises department, and there's only so many times I can twist everything around and say, 'oops! Nope, that's not how it was, this is how it really was!', before I start stretching things. I'm glad that so many people like my stories, but any more after this will just be random stuff, shorties, and one-shots bunched into a single 'fanfic'. (Though I'm thinking about putting the vacation in its own fic, if only so I can use, Spell V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N as the title. You like? Or am I stretching the wordplay a bit? .) I'm also thinking about just doing other Mal/Rae/Ror one-shot fanfics or shorties that have nothing to do with Spellbinder, just to do something new. So, never fear! It is most likely I won't stop writing for too long.
Trenin: Really? You think so? I didn't overdo it or anything like that? AWESOME! I was hoping Blackfire wouldn't come off very OOC, I may have taken liberties with her speech though, she is suppose to talk a bit like Starfire, . oh well.
Thermopolis: Read the first paragraph of the A/N for answer.
FallenDarkAngel99: AUGH! NO EVIL FLUFFIES PLEASE, ANYTHING BUT THE EVIL FLUFFIES! I'M WRITING I'M WRITING!
Lea Cat: I will not doubt your words, many have died from e-mail overload, LOOK I'M UPDATING! HAVE MERCY!
Evilsangel: They're embarrassing, how would it look, after all, if someone I knew personally read my fanfic and told my parents? HUH! And once my dad actually went and read one of my fanfics himself, it was only Between Worlds, but still! Aside from that, I just won't. Doesn't that suck:P
Well, that's all I had to say, ja ne!