Dischord Nostra
Part Three
ºHis fingers still burned despite the kiss placed on them gently by a doting, strong and tender girlfriend. The mature warrior moved to finish righting the charred remains of Starfire's desk. He had always thought that this room was the most vibrant; not just because of the gentle purple and pink colors, or the delicate sounds the fabrics made when the window was open and the breeze flowed through, or even the scent, that unmistakable scent, that he inhaled like the oxygen he desperately needed to breathe. It was the sight that went on in that room, the vibrant color that lived in the eyes of the woman who slept there, thought there, dreamt there.
Aqualad tried not to let his eyes wander to her, but they did and he looked at her as she tried to make some sort of order of operations: turn bookshelf back over, finish sweeping the glass, separate what was salvageable… keep busy… try not to think… and for his beautiful Blackfire, it seemed to work.
Aqualad was finding it hard to concentrate, just like everyone else. They had returned to the tower less than three days ago and in some places the wreckage was still smoldering. The team was in varying states of disabled: some were physically, some mentally, but all of them were emotionally crippled by what had happened, by what had begun. Aqualad was doing his best to be strong for as many of them as he could, but he found sometimes he could barely hold himself up. And the others weren't fairing much better.
Starfire and Cyborg hadn't left the medic room in those almost three days and Speedy spent enough time there, walking in and checking, that he might have sat there and waited with the Tameranian princess and the half-machine fighter. The Titan archer wasn't getting much done, his hands were scratched up and he was close to being beside himself with worry.
D'ucel was suffering from the sadness running through the tower, but he and Bumble Bee were able to deal with their injuries and keep moving, just like he and Blackfire were. Aqualad swallowed shallowly and allowed his eyes to fall on the beautiful woman working through the wreckage of her bedroom. Blackfire had been the first to move and clear the tragedy from their immediate attention, though it would take much longer than almost three days to erase the damage from their nightmares.
It wasn't the time to be romantic, but Aqualad swore he could watch his lovely Blackfire move for the rest of his life. The way her hair fell down her back, how her toes pointed as she stepped, the way her face could hold a frown that looked more like the beginnings of a smile rather than the end point of a sour pout. The natural slant of her wonderful blue eyes were lower than usual in her sad sort of concentration, and as much as he wanted to be able to tear away all the things that made her sad, that sadness was something that was apart of Komand'r til Tameran Sixth, and her ability to forge through all the pain she had known made her something of a light, some sort of entity just shy of angel in his eyes, something just short of an angel in his arms… she was someone he could hold and console and be delicate with and at the same time know that he could lean on her when he swore he was about to break.
"Yardarg."
"Time." Aqualad translated immediately, falling into their game so readily that he hadn't even noticed what had started. She had been teaching him Tameranian for some time. Since she regained her memory she had been piecing him into the language of her birth. It had started that night on Tameran when she watched the Bructhorg, holding his injured hand, from the edge of his medical bed. The first word he had ever learned was "Grunh'vul", which meant promise and his first sensical sentence was "Vord yark yaod purom hatc." It had been difficult to say but meant the worlds to Blackfire when he finally pushed them out. "The hope lies in tomorrow never yesterday."
Aqualad turned to look at Blackfire as she sobbed quietly, her hands moving to gather the largest fraction of a destroyed snow globe. The strong woman warrior sank to her knees, one hand covering her mouth as the other kept its fingers just far enough from the shattered edge to avoid being cut. Aqualad frowned deeply, before leaving his task and kneeling down beside Blackfire as the weight of everything she was trying to fight off finally took hold of her heart.
Her arms were shaking in rhythm with her tears, the blue eyed girl wasn't meant for such desperation, she had cried enough in her childhood to satisfy a lifetime, but it seemed that she was a sufferer in this life. Aqualad had to do his part to mend that rip in her fragile heart.
Once, when Blackfire had no recollection of who she was and why she was, Aqualad had told her the most famous legend in all of Atlantis. The lesson was a simple one, as simple as there was a story to tell. All there was to be known in the world was the promise of the unknown. The only true testament to the possibility of happiness was what came new every single day. The past held uncertainty, the past held pain, the past held fear and the past held a part of the heart, but the future held hope: the most powerful of all forces, more powerful than love even, because hope was the potential for love, for happiness, for every single beautiful thing there was to have.
When he had first whispered "Vord yark yaod purom hatc", it had sounded as poetic as a car horn, but it had made her cry and made her smile and a smile was something she desperately needed.
"Vord yark yaod purom hatc." Aqualad whispered, finding her hands with his and wrapping around them; taking on the bowl shape hers had. Her fingers weren't trembling like her arms were, she was trying so hard not to bring more damage with her movements; her alien strength could easily ruin what was left of his gift to her.
"Vor'mhal"
Aqualad shook his head in the negative. He didn't know the word. She seemed to think, as if she didn't want to tell him what the word meant. Blackfire had never been hesitant with him, not as far as her educating him on her, she had been reserved and anxious and thrown to tears when her memories came back, but that night on Tameran she had did her best to tell him all her truths and one of the things she promised to do was never to hide again. But she was close now to doing that thing she promised never to do and Aqualad wouldn't blame her. Instead he sat behind her and ran his thumb over the top of hers and waited.
"Repair." She said finally as if she realized he wasn't going to figure it out on his own and he wasn't going to move until he understood. But he still didn't move to let her go, instead he held her tighter.
"Vor'mhal. Repair." Aqualad repeated.
"Use it in a sentence."
"Toward---" Blackfire reached up and pinched his cheeks together. "Toard" She corrected. Aqualad nodded. "Toard brot h'urd grot vor'mhal ignod."
Blackfire half smiled, half frowned and kissed Aqualad's cheek. His thumb ran over hers. "We will," Blackfire replied. "We will repair our hearts and minds…"º
…
Red was his color, whether it was bright and flamboyant or smooth, dark leather. It was distinct, it was his signature color and she thought it was so cool. But her eyes weren't trained on Arsenal; she could only see him from her peripheral vision. His fingers were tightening and relaxing in a quick cycle, adjusting his grip to minimize the slippage resulting from his sweat, the movement of his fingers drew the friction that he relied on to exercise his talent.
On the other side of her vision the second female redhead of Titans' Tower kept her scouter locked forward, the sight was sharp and the hold was steady. Celine was looking forward, her stance keeping her feet spread apart to balance the weight of her massive weapon. Her bottom lip was caught between her teeth; it was a nasty habit because it contradicted the fierce glare that spun in her dark brown eyes.
The other set of dark brown eyes, the ones that belonged to the other woman in their line of late arrivers, her eyes were staring straight ahead and nothing in her mouth, brow or sweat gave away anything but the cruel intention that was flooding through her blood.
Terra's eyes were shifting from eye to eye, not turning her head and angered that she could see almost all the Titans, but Akane and her daughter were out of sight. The warrior waves seemed to have stopped, the Titans had stopped, everything had stopped except the treacherous beat of her heart. It made her palms sweat, it made her throat dry and if not for the boundless self-certainty she possessed in her superiority, she might have been afraid. But her body didn't match the sentiment of her mind. Numbers had never been in her favor, but she had done just fine with what she had.
Terra was on the balls of her feet, the heels of her boots tapping the cave floor. Celine had her Firefly trained in the center of her eye, Arsenal's bolt ready to dash at her move and Sakura had a glare that rivaled Raven's best. Raven can't beat me… Sakura, you should have stayed sleeping, you haven't got a chance…
"I admire your stupidity, I really do Sakura. To stay alive for a few days longer, all you had to do was stay away… but instead you rushed forward to your demise… is that the business you had in mind? Because I have something planned too. It starts with R and ends with destruction."
"R-destruction?"¹ Sakura raised her eye brow. Arsenal checked his grip and Celine steadied her feet.
Terra smirked. "Exactly." The earth trembled under their feet as the feral yellow took masked the natural sinister blue of the geomancer's eyes. Akane's eyes widened, her fingers gripping the slack figure of Dischord Nostra as the earth around her rumbled. Her gold power had been seeping into the mind stripped aeromorph. With the touch of the girl, skin to skin contact with the other tragic Transient, it hadn't taken Akane long to figure out what was happening, but finding out how to stop is was much more difficult.
Nightwing tumbled backwards, his waist pivoted in a way that most couldn't make their body turn. His toes were pointed, his hips snapped firmly with each tumble, moving to the side as a chasm was ripped around Terra Nostra, Dischord and Akane. He landed in a forced spider crouch, his fingers seeping into the destructive element at Terra's command.
Jinx tumbled similarly, her front somersault catapulted her over a rising spike of the earth and onto an uneven platform that was strong enough to hold her weight, but not much more and probably not much longer. Her cat eyes scanned; there was something more going on, something more than this Terra exercising her will over the land. Something was coming, something dark and something with a distinct intention: to destroy.
"Ahh!" At once their eyes were drawn to the same place as a short cry was torn from Akane as Dischord up kicked and knocked the half-demon girl to the floor. Akane fell to her side and watched Dischord leap forward as a chasm ripped between the land separating Akane and Terra Nostra. Over the rumble of the world Akane could see that Dischord did not have the gift of flight, instead she used a funnel of wind to move her away from Akane and back to Terra. Her eyes would be locked on Dischord only until Terra Nostra gave her something else to see.
The Titans who could fly did, those that couldn't waited. Akane had been trained to encounter dark energies, but Dischord's power wasn't dark. The wind at Dischord's command tunneled into a tornado with the intention to bare down on Akane at its focus. Akane's purple eyes stretched wide as the aero tip of the whirlwind sharpened and thrust at her, by natural instinct her fearful eyes snapped closed. The air didn't rush out of her, the blow didn't connect. Akane opened her eyes to find herself caught in the protective cradle of Nightwing's arms. The earth beneath them rumbled and in his arms, Akane could see that the geomancer's dance was far from over. Akane raised her hand swiftly and generated a barrier to protect herself and Nightwing from the stone hand that hammered downwards.
"Ike!"
Time hadn't calmed her skill. Her shoulder shifted, her body still remembered how to adjust for the weight. Her wrist tossed to the fore, the distinct flex snapped the hiraikotsu forward, the destructive weapon hammered a new song, revenge a sharp chord to be struck on the wind…
Except the wind refused to obey. A pulse of wind rocketed the giant boomerang off course. Sakura frowned, turning her eyes just enough to watch where the weapon went, seeing the pretty redheaded Tameranian princess chase after it; while keeping her attention firmly on the geomorph that she was personally going to eliminate. Her fist tightened, beside her Celine dug her heel into the ground and unleashed another round of sonic shots.
"Laa!" The flurry of boulders dashed and pivoted around the light blue sonic energy. Some were skimmed but they all moved to crash into the three-piece that had interrupted their master's game. Arsenal let loose with his might. His sharp arrows crashed into the boulders that Celine's shots couldn't stop. Terra sneered. Arsenal strung another bolt and Sakura's hands took on a distinctly powerful glow, the Holy energy intense in contrast to the darkness slowly pooling in the battle field.
Her speed was good, but fluid motion wasn't the same as expertise. She ran forward, gaining momentum before launching a dive kick to take out Terra's legs. Her skin against the earth was just too fast to generate a burn before the blow lashed out. Terra leapfrogged perfectly vertical over Sakura's sweep. She landed and turned just in time to watch Sakura cut her forward momentum by spinning on her forearm. Her bent limb created the friction to pivot her hips and get back to her feet. Terra turned fiercely, her leg jutting out in a spin. Sakura blocked raising a shield with her right arm, the left dropping back and shooting forward with a blast of Holy that threw Terra across the battle field. Before Sakura could think to stalk forward and continue her attack, a column of wind struck her from the side and hurled her easily forty feet away. Her body slammed into Raven's. Immediately the women up kicked to their feet. Raven threw her hands down and erected a barrier to stop the further onslaught of mastered wind.
Dischord landed in the same place she had knocked Sakura from, her eyes turned to the two women pulling themselves up. Her face would turn back to where Terra had landed, but instead of seeing and rescuing her mother, she danced between golden arrows unleashed in rapid succession. A knockout arrow connected and knocked the aeromorph to her backside.
"Hiya!" Nightwing turned smoothly, his outlashing bo-staff hammered into a flame solider. His masked eyes pivoted with his body movement and watched Arsenal draw another bow to strike Dischord. He gasped and with instinct he didn't know he had, he drew an exploding disk and hurled it to land a few feet in front of Arsenal. The smoke kicked up, the agile archer leapt backwards, his masked eyes turning to Nightwing with shock.
"What are you doing?" Arsenal asked.
"Don't hurt her!" Nightwing yelled.
Arsenal's brow ticked, but his confusion was replaced with surprise when on his left and right, and at Nightwing's left and right, a earth golem rose from the earth. With a similar uppercut, Arsenal and Nightwing were hurled into the air, their bodies striking each others before tumbling toward the ground. Bumble Bee swooped in and used all her strength to keep the pair from smashing head first into the cave floor. Terra's eyes remained a light in devious yellow, her hands clenched in tight fists as her golems chased Tempest and Celine. Foxfire's eye beams crashed against them and erupted two before a blizzard of blackbolts struck out at Terra, knocking her to the ground.
Tempest froze at Celine's command and a sonic shot whizzed over his head and crumbled the body of the golem. The rest began to crumble as well, from pink waves to golden energy pulling them apart. Beast King intercepted an attack aimed at Raven's back, his stampeding ram smashed through the flame solider. The quick witted morph reverted to his human form and checked on Raven. Over her shoulder he could see Dischord moving.
The aeromorph stalked forward after landing a pair of pointed high kicks, one catching and repelling Cyborg and the other blocked by Jinx. The pink haired half demoness let out a short battle cry as she unleashed her echo shots. The pink bars of energy cut through the ground and kicked up dust. The golden band around Dischord's forehead glimmered through the filth and shined when a controlled wisp of wind cleared the aeromorph's sight… to see Jinx diving in. Jinx's claws sunk into the earth as Dischord jumped back and avoided the strike. The black clad daughter of Doomgaze looked up in time to see Dischord approach, but could do nothing about it. Dischord somersaulted forward, her outstretched hands landing on Jinx's shoulders, grabbing the material of her cowl. With a wrench of her upper body, Dischord finished her somersault; her momentum carried her arms forward in an over head throw, sending Jinx to slam into the ground twenty feet away.
A shot of Holy skimmed Dischord just barely, the aeromorph took to the air with the wind beneath her. Sakura stared up at her and braced her feet when the blond fighter made a rapid descent. Dischord's hands reached out fiercely, and Sakura's pushed forward to meet. Their fingers locked, Dischord's momentum pushing them backwards until their weight tipped and Sakura fell to her back. Sakura pistoned her hips sharply so her body rolled rather than land with a solid thud. The roll reversed their positions, the half-Japanese fighter straddled Dischord's stomach as their hands fought for dominance.
Arsenal rolled in time to avoid the swipe of a flame monster, his arrows dashing out to smash through warrior bodies that stalked his team. His head turned sharply when he heard Sakura gasp.
Sakura didn't understand what she was seeing, but it was obvious before she could put words to it. Those eyes, the eyes that stared up at her from an enemy with no emotion in her face, those eyes were the eyes of her mother, of her brother. Underneath the shine of a thin crown, she saw Dear Brother's brown eyes as clearly as if she were looking at her younger sibling. And she saw, too, the crown, that thin slip of metal was exactly the same as she remembered it five years ago when she had tried to rescue Tetris.
She's being controlled. Sakura risked moving a hand from Dischord's grasp and shrouded the free digits in Holy. Her fingers fanned out and grabbed. Her digits slid between Dischord's flat forehead and the thin spiral of her band crown.
The reaction was explosive, literally. The second her fingers came in contract with Dischord's garb, the Holy power surged and escaped. The backlash took Sakura by surprise and hurled her body ten feet away. Her back throbbed with the impact. She groaned and rolled her neck, taking her eyes back to Dischord…
Who was totally unaffected. The aeromorph back rolled smoothly, getting to her feet and a fighting stance of her bone akido style. Sakura got to her feet as well.
"Sakura! Catch!" Starfire's voice trailed to inaudible as the alien powerhouse hurled the hiraikotsu back to its rightful owner. Sakura pivoted; her hand shot out and grabbed the handle. The excess energy behind Starfire's throw made Sakura twist in a full circle before she gained control of the weapon's momentum. Her arm slung back, her shoulder crossed taunt, her fingers ready to release.
Washu beat her to it.
The flame demons dispersed immediately. Underneath the grip of his fingers Tempest watched his opponent crumble into nothing. He turned a surprised eye to his companions and their oppositions collapsed as well. Celine dropped her charged Firefly to her side, no longer needing to purge a shot to rescue Bumble Bee. Beast King turned beside her, his green eyes waving as he saw what was happening. The ground beneath them was expelling a dark grey energy; it was waving out of the cracks and faults of the floor like the treacherous slither of a snake. Beast King grabbed Celine and leapt them both to safety as the energy took form and coiled out to strike. Those that could fly did, grabbing onto any of their teammates who couldn't.
Terra turned a back flip before pulling a stone to ride to the side of Dischord. The geomorph watched, too, as the menacing grey energy wove out from beneath the earth. The black platform held Raven, Jinx, Akane, Sakura and Nightwing a few feet from Dischord's profile, staring down they could see the grey energy whirling behind her before collecting into a physical mass.
Starfire gripped Cyborg's arm fiercely as they witnessed the introduction of the two highest members of the Slade Syndicate. The four piece stood in a formation more sinister than they had seen in a long time. They hadn't changed in the year, but there was no way to tell with Slade and with Washu it didn't matter, time wasn't hindrance for his existence, but it was a hindrance for his plan.
"Terra, when you said a complication had arisen; you didn't say what a wonderful surprise it was… All the Titans together, I thought I'd never see the day." Slade said, his eye traveling from face to face.
Terra flicked a strand of hair from her face. "If I have my way, you never will again."
"Patience, patience dear child. There's plenty of time to play your game later."
Nightwing clenched his fight tightly. "We're at the endgame! And you're going down!" Nightwing made to leap from the platform, but Raven's hand stopped him. The masked fighter turned to the woman he loved, confusion and anger in his face. Raven could see past Nightwing's profile to Washu's devious glare. Her purple eyes closed slowly and Nightwing turned his head to follow her gaze.
"He took your energy before; staying back is the only thing that will stop him from doing it again." She had meant her voice to be a whisper, but her voice traveled to the waiting ears of the Syndicate. Raven tightened her jaw as they watched Washu's cruel mouth twist into a menacing leer.
"If I'm to be honest, another steal would satisfy me greatly. The energy of the Titans' leader is a remarkable toy: it allows for the creation of marvelous playthings." Washu's hand found Dischord's chin, but his eyes were trained on the Titans on Raven's platform. Akane was kneeling on her hands and knees, her eye flipping from Dischord's face to Nightwing's. She knew without being told that the Syndicate was in front of her: the society that was the opposition to the future of mankind was before her, she tried not to be afraid.
She had never seen color so dark, if it could be called color at all. The grey energy was still flooding the ground around them, the color the most vial where it spilled from Washu's body. She knitted her eyebrow. I'll try to neutralize it, that I will.
"Get away from her!" Nightwing shouted. This time it was Sakura's hand that stopped him from leaping off.
"Dischord is a product of my creation. I am entitled to her more so than her… father." Nightwing's shoulder tensed under Sakura's hold. Something was burning in his skin; she could feel it through his uniform. What was dark in the Titans' history that she wasn't a part of was slowly being revealed in spotlight. It did nothing to calm the rage in her blood; indeed, like in her brother, it was creating a new fire.
Washu seemed amused with what he saw. "I must admit, your energy astounded me. I was rather reluctant to let it go. It was a shame that Red X did not possess the same integrity of energy as the original he mimicked. If Red X would have been your exact double, I'd still have a resource to marvel… what opportunity I've been afforded to take more."
Washu's hand waved and in the same way, the same exact spell, he made to take Nightwing's life force.
But this time it was different, this time there was Holy to protect him. Sakura was more than fast enough to generate a barrier that protected them. The thieving grey ribbon of energy bounced off of the silver barrier. Akane's eyes widened at the sight of it. Jinx frowned and kept her hex tight in her fingers. She wouldn't be fooled: no matter what Washu appeared to be doing for his own personal fun, he still had a goal and whether the Titans realized it or not, that goal was his number one objective.
Washu sneered as again his power was blocked by Holy. With her guard up, he wouldn't be able to exercise his control: he would have to get her to lose her concentration and with it, her life. He could see already that the knowledge of Dischord's progeny had upset her. He wouldn't be able to attack her mind, until he attacked her heart.
Raven tried not to let her eyes betray her awareness. She could see it through her peripheral vision; strong gold energy was slipping over the edges of Washu's grey matter as Washu concentrated on the Holy before him and not the Hope around him. She didn't want Washu to see Akane; didn't want him to say her name with his vial tongue; didn't want him to come after her, even though she knew he had, he would, and he could.
Sakura kept her powers steady as venom began to drip from the villains that cost her five years of her life.
"Sakura, are you feeling rested?" Slade asked. "You're a remarkably gifted girl Sakura, just like your brother. You have phenomenal power, but you do lack timing."
"Your sleep should have lasted another day, so you could survive to witness the Earth crumble."
"Can't say I'm sorry to disappoint you." Sakura sneered.
"It matters not, you injudicious puppet. The end of days is here. I will get the Transient daughter of Lethe and I will have the life energy I desire and Jericho will see his begotten tyro become a slave to Doomgaze."
"Azarath Faeridos Rex!"
D'ucel lifted Arsenal higher from the ground when a tremendous wave of golden magic toppled over the sea of dark power. It pushed like flowing water. The shimmering power swallowed everything under it, Akane's hands waved to catch every trace of dark magic. The black haired demoness met Washu eye to eye as she floated to the ground, her physical presence removing the last of his sinister will.
"I will not allow you to hurt my family, that I will not!" Akane's eyes had never taken a glow before, never in the months where her power was malleable under her will. But it seemed, when extreme circumstances rose, when the influence of her blood battled the sweetness of her good nature, the power within her reacted fiercely. Her eyes were hidden behind the fierce white glow, just like her mother's took when she fought the rage of her nature. Raven's mouth tightened, Jinx's hand stopped her from jumping down to assist.
Washu's dark eyes trailed over the face of his goal, setting every inch of her to memory, but his eyes took infinite care in detailing the mark of Scath on her forehead and the infinite symbol of Trigon's rule on the palm of her outstretched hand. Slade rubbed his jaw. Terra crossed her arms over her chest.
"That's Akane: Raven's Transient."
"Only a Transient would have power that impressive." Washu replied. "Impressive, but not enough to stop the inevitable… is she Astarte? Lethe?"
Jinx twisted her lip; Raven's eyes became a light in white. The scattered mass of Titans stared out at the scene before them. Behind the white shield of Sakura's Holy, Starfire released Cyborg as Blackfire did the same with Tempest. Celine and Beast King's feet touched down the same time as Foxfire and Arsenal's. They stood in an arching bow behind the most powerful of their team: behind Raven and Nightwing, Jinx and Sakura and behind Akane as she stood in front of the direct opposition of her future.
Washu stared forward, relishing the impulses of energy the Transient girl was unconsciously pushing forward. This was the energy his master craved and it was truly magnificent and it was rivaled only by his own and the power of the other Transient girl he had designed.
"Come, daughter of Lethe. Come meet the destruction you were bred for."
"Nori Enzaii Schala tu Akane Brota Gera Nes!"
"Schala?" Washu seemed to think for a moment. Slade crossed his arms over his chest and Dischord remained completely still. "Understand whelp, you will do as I command. Your life will end and the Demon Kings will rule again."
"It is no decision to make, this will come to pass. Your efforts are futile. Come Akane, you have a world of work ahead of you." Slade gestured for her to come.
"And don't worry about the Titans, they'll all meet a similar fate soon enough." Terra added.
Washu's hand wove out to strike a blow aimed at Raven's daughter. The reaction was immediate. The silver energy disappeared, retracted back to its mistress. In slow motion it seemed, the rate of their movement seemed slower than the friction they generated. Nightwing, Sakura, Jinx and Raven dove forward at the same time, Jinx came from the left, Sakura from the right, Nightwing took the bottom apex and Raven commanded the top. They attacked downward, their formation a diamond of great powers: Holy, Dark, Hexery and strength of will. Nightwing pulled his weapon back as Raven's curse words came to her lips, Jinx's fingers outstretched, Sakura's hands generated a ball of energy…
And not a single blow was landed.
The shattering grey wave struck them all. With one swipe, Washu's grey matter cut through the air and cut them down. In solid succession they landed. Jinx slammed back first into the ground, Sakura landed not inches away, holding her side. Nightwing landed on his backside, when Raven's body slammed into his chest, the pair were laid out in a capital T formation, Nightwing still on his back, Raven on her front, her hair falling into the ground, the strands unable to hide the pain in her face.
The Titans stood surprised again by the awesome display of Washu's power. The years hadn't made him any less of a monster. His powers had grown and with the Earth, the Wind and mind of Slade behind him, they were each forced to wonder if they had the might to stand against him.
Except Akane… who believed they did… believed they had to.
"Azarath Faeridos Rex!"
The golden ray of energy struck the Slade Syndicate successfully. Slade was thrown back, Terra was knocked to the ground and Washu let out a terrible roar when the gold power struck his body. As Slade and Terra struggled to pull themselves up, Nightwing did the same. Akane's power calmed and past the fading gold, Nightwing could see Washu turning a hand to his right, where Dischord stood, where Terra was pulling herself to stand.
"Dischord. Maelstrom." Washu commanded.
None of the Titans had their faces turned to Terra except Beast King, but even he couldn't be sure over the rolling wind if that short scowl on her face had been real or a figment of his imagination.
The aeromorph pulled the wind beneath her, made it lift her like a throne into the highest atmosphere of the cave of Segii. Rolling between the throwing winds were bands of grey energy, dark energy that didn't belong to the girl.
The wind howled, the entire atmosphere was at Dischord's command. Blackfire looked around worriedly; she swore she could see the demonic power of Washu seeping into the wind that pulled her hair into the air. Starfire reached out and grabbed Bumble Bee as the lightweight fighter was nearly lifted from the ground.
The wind picked up, the cyclone of wind power came crashing down from every direction, but aimed similarly, aimed at the enemies of the Slade Syndicate: at the dark bird, at the Titans' leader, Schala tu Akane, the hex artist, the cybernetic fighter, the trio of Tameranians, the Omicron and her partner, the Holy wielder, the archer, the aquamorph and the king of beasts.
It moved swiftly, striking down like the hammer of Thor, the wind swarmed in claps that struck the ground and ripped it apart. Akane crossed her arms in front of her face, the wind moving against her body, her heels dragged against the earth. The white glow of her eyes faded, over the cross of her arms she looked up into the face of the aeromorph generating the attack. Her face was calm, absolutely the same as it had been when this all started, before any of them realized what she was, who she was, and what she could do.
Jinx gasped and turned quickly, grabbing Raven and throwing them away from the epicenter of the attack. Sakura grabbed Nightwing's collar and pulled him back as well.
That left Akane to do the work.
The Titans watched Akane's gold energy fight through Dischord's power. The slender girl gritted her teeth as the wind hammered at her as she expelled a beam of her own power. She didn't want to hurt Dischord, but before they could save her, they'd have to overcome her. Akane's hands were both raised up, her fingers ticking to force her power forward. Dischord's face didn't change when the golden might was only inches in front of her. But Washu did increase his power.
Akane groaned and dropped to her knee as the backlash of Washu's influence struck around her. The purple eyed girl couldn't spare concentration to see if her friends, her family was safe. Behind her, Raven anxiously waited. She knew Akane was strong enough, she had seen it and she had prepared her for something much stronger in magnitude… but not for anything like this. Raven could see how Nightwing was watching, could see the worry in his face: his heart was tied into this more ways than she could calculate. And hers was as well.
"Azarath Faeridos Rex!"
Raven watched Akane grit her teeth as she fought her energy the last inches to Dischord's body. Dischord absorbed the blow, registering no pain as her body was knocked several feet higher into the atmosphere. The wind beneath her tunneled to keep her lifted, maintaining her levitation was automatic it seemed, it didn't require her concentration.
The grey of Washu's power dispersed and Akane's energy met Dischord's head on. The Transient daughters' powers clashed a few feet from Dischord's body. But after seconds of struggling, it was obvious that Akane wasn't gaining any ground. The black haired Transient daughter pinched her left eye closed as Dischord continued, even without the aid of Washu, to keep her energy at bay.
Jinx's face was pinched tightly; the hex she had prepared was torn to shreds by her own anxiety. She could see her niece, all that was left of her brother Laseri, fighting and losing against another power, a power a part of demon force responsible for her birth, responsible for her brother's death… This can't be happening… why isn't she stronger? All our powers, all our strengths… how did Washu make something strong enough to stand against that? How can I hope to beat Dischord, if the sum of my powers and Raven's cannot?
"This is bad." Bumble Bee said. They could all see how Akane couldn't keep up with Dischord Nostra.
"If Washu interferes again…" Starfire began.
"We've got to help!" Beast King said.
"There's nothing we can do if the Syndicate has the girl's back." Cyborg replied.
"Yes there is." Celine pulled her Firefly atop her shoulder, the red scouter gleamed, yellow letters spinning and settling on the frame. "Everyone get down! This is going to be flashy!"
It happened so quickly, it would remain a mystery if everyone understood what happened. Raven turned her head just in time to see an amazing white light soar over her shoulder and up past Akane's head. The energy maintained its beam form even as it twisted like a living thing. The energy force crashed into the apex of where Akane's energy met Dischord's.
The reaction catapulted an amazing light in every direction: blinding Dischord, forcing Terra to raise an arm to protect her eyes. The atmosphere shuddered with the power. The Transient energy circled and fanned out, eventually losing its concentration and spreading the blinding white light.
Washu leered, pushing his own energy into the cave of Segii. The grey washed over the white, dissipating the amplification energy that had flooded the arena.² The air cleared of all energy, Washu's energy retreating. In the air, Dischord floated, her eyes looked to the left, then to the right and saw what Slade saw.
Nothing.
The Titans had escaped.
…
ºHappiness was the most complex of all of Raven's emotions because it embodied the greatest range of what could be "happy": affection, attraction (though not lust), amusement, whimsy, but not love, hope or joy. Those were three separate functions with powers much too strong to be combined in any way, shape, or form... they were also the three youngest of her manifestations of characters. BravE coaxed the talents of Raven's newer sides to the best of her abilities, but they mostly spent their time in hiding until a situation arose where they absolutely had to be involved.
Right now, BravE was doing her best just to maintain the entity of HappinesS, because Raven was feeling everything but happy.
There was no way for Robin to know the internal struggles in her psyche. She hadn't told him and there were just some things that their delicate bond didn't afford him. He laid his friend, his companion, his teammate, on her bed at the far end of her room. He pulled her blanket to her chest and carefully rolled her to make sure she wasn't lying on her hair. When her eyes were closed it was hard to tell anything with the girl who used to be referred to as the Titans' glower child. Her eyes told more than a scowl or a smile, her eyes could be black, they could be purple, they could be sad, they could be clear and they could never lie.
But the truth wasn't hidden from any of them, especially not Robin. He had held her at the moment, he had touched her body and saw her eyes and knew to some degree that what he had feared had come true.
To some degree, they had made a mistake.
Robin touched her face, touched her arm, then left her to sleep alone. She wouldn't want to see him right away, she wouldn't want to see anyone for a little bit of time and because he respected her, he would give her that time alone.
The door closed behind him and it took all of his power not to lean back on the door. Raven was in her room and he was pretty sure he knew where everyone else was. Blackfire and Aqualad were together; Sakura was in her room; Bumble Bee was on her way to meet Hot Spot for something akin to a date; Cyborg, Beast Boy and Celine were in the medic room and Starfire was standing right in front of him.
"How is she?" Starfire asked.
"Tired." Robin said, unwilling to go any further.
"Understood. Raven has done a very… difficult thing."
Robin nodded in agreement. Starfire's green eyes took in every inch of his face. She had seen worried before, she had seen regret, frustration and anxiety on the handsome face of her best friend, but what she saw now she could not define. She did not attempt to. She had always misread Robin, even though he was her best friend. He understood her better than she did him and she wanted to correct that, but there was someone else that Starfire desperately needed to understand first.
"I must go attend to my sister. I shall see you later." Starfire said and walked away before Robin responded one way or another.
He didn't watch her go; he should have told her that she was heading the wrong way: that Blackfire was on the beach with Aqualad and not in the room that the Tameranian sisters were sharing. But he didn't. Instead he went to join the room with the most people in it. He didn't want to go in, but he had to, he couldn't be satisfied to just see it through the observation window. He held his breath. He went inside.
Beast Boy was holding his breath. He was taking up space more than he was helping, but his role couldn't be accomplished until she was awake. So he stood and waited, within arm's reach of Celine, nearly ready to pass her any tool she asked for, as long as he knew what it was.
"He was good." Celine said, running her fingers over the expended neural interface. The craftsmanship was impressive and from that impressiveness she found it was frightening that a scientific mind could be so cruel. But then again the best minds were usually victim to that specific brand of psychosis that born such horrible science. Her red clad eye scanned the network of matrixes. She found what she was looking for and looked up to her companions. Her eyes found Beast Boy's who was worried and rightly so. His sad green eyes met hers as she took a tool from his handle. "But I'm better." She said and got to work.
It was a delicate process that took nearly six hours during which Celine was exceptionally careful with every stitch and snip. She didn't draw blood and she barely pulled skin. Between Cyborg's scan and her own level of genius, she moved efficiently, methodically and thoroughly to remove all the stigma of a failed apprentice.
Celine finished fifteen minutes before she woke up. Beast Boy turned to Celine as Cyborg and Robin left to destroy every physical piece of evidence of betrayal. Beast Boy's eyes wavered, he was so close to tears that Celine thought it best to leave him alone so he could cry as hard as he needed. Just because she didn't cry, didn't mean he didn't have the right to. She had made it all of three steps when Beast Boy grabbed and held her tightly, his body shaking in the force of the hug.
The redheaded engineer looked down at the shorter Titan; the green haired morph was beside himself in relief. "Thank you, Celine. Thank you, for everything you've done."
Celine patted the younger boy on his back twice. "I'm glad that I could help."
"You've done more than help, Celine. I don't think I'll ever be able to tell you how much I appreciate everything you are."
"That kind of thing you don't need to put in words, Beast Boy. If you---"
"Beast Boy?"
He turned so suddenly he nearly knocked Celine over. He didn't think to apologize, he didn't think at all. He had heard her speak: she said his name. He turned around and saw her eyes, she was awake and those eyes were only for him.
"Terra."
Celine got to walk away without Beast Boy noticing, making sure, as she passed, that the monitoring devices were on. With that done the redheaded engineer left the room. Celine wouldn't remember in the future exactly where she went, what path she took or the answer to a lot of "why" questions she asked herself before she found her bedroom and collapsed on the floor. Sakura stared at her. Loberos licked her hand and whined.
"Omicron, what's your damage?" Sakura asked.
Celine laid on her back and stared up at the ceiling. Loberos dropped his chin onto her flat stomach. Her high heeled boot rubbed against the carpet and Celine decided not to answer her roommate. The room they were staying in didn't belong to them originally. At first it was the homestead of a particular geomorph who had came, saw and conquered the Titans in a very short amount of time. In an equally short amount of time, Celine and Sakura came, saw and rooted amongst the Titans. They had randomly decided to paint the room to match their sensibilities: Sakura's half was proud and detailed, Celine's side was clean and warm. They fit together, they belonged where they were.
Over the next two days, Celine introduced herself to Terra and tended her as kindly as she was capable of. Sometimes she tended to Terra and talked to her, was so very delicate with her, mindful of her tests. She always made sure the girl was taken care of and did her best to make up for the fact that she was one of two Titans that ever came to see her.
Celine talked to Terra Nostra, discovered they had the same middle name, the same favorite color and same favorite ice cream flavor. They didn't have much more in common besides those things, except of course for Beast Boy, whom they both had invested an important friendship in. The magnitude of which would separate their personalities into two distinct avenues.º
…
Beast King waited for the cue and pressed the silver button the same time Arsenal did. Three of them watched the force field erect from the floor to the ceiling. Celine crossed her arms over her chest.
"It's generated from some of Sakura's powers, so it should block anything metaphysical, like Washu's power… I didn't know what else to prepare for, so I don't know what it will hold up against." Celine admitted.
Arsenal dusted the knees of his dark leather pants. "Probably won't be necessary. These guys don't chase. They like to lay in waiting."
Beast King agreed and Celine frowned. "How are you holding up Beast King?" She asked.
"About as good as everyone else I guess."
Which was to say, not too well.
The Titans had fled after Celine unleashed her diversion technique, the team running deeper into the Cave of Segii. There really wasn't any other place to go. The Cave of Segii continued for at least another two hours or so. They were putting off that two hour journey for just long enough for the Titans to gather themselves from what they had just witnessed.
Cyborg sat in front of Jinx and wrapped her wrist gently. The half demoness flexed her fingers, all her nails were broken, one had splintered and cut skin. It hurt, but it was the least of her worries.
Tempest rolled his shoulder when Akane lifted her hand. "You're alright, that you are."
"Yeah, thanks Akane." Tempest replied.
The purple eyed girl turned her head to the rest of her companions. "Does anyone else require healing?"
No one answered her. Raven turned her head from her own hands and looked up at her daughter. She didn't know if her face betrayed her worry. She couldn't think about worry now, but it was all there was to do.
"Akane, come sit down. Everyone come sit down." Raven said.
The collective eye lay focused in the space between them, where Sakura had dropped her weapon. It was hard to feel the relief of seeing their friend okay when they were concerned for a different girl.
"The girl is a Transient?" Celine asked. "She's like Akane?"
Raven nodded. "There's no mistaking energy like that."
"Then it's the same thing that happened to you?" Cyborg asked.
Raven didn't answer. Akane fidgeted her hands. To her left, Nightwing clenched his eyes closed. He could feel every thin hair on his arms and legs; he could feel sweat generating at his brow.
"Terra has employed the skills of Washu to make a Transient daughter."
"Nightwing's daughter." Starfire clarified.
Celine and Arsenal blanched similarly. Sakura's knuckles cracked fiercely. Nightwing's did the same. Tempest ran a glove clad hand through his dark tress.
"That energy he stole five years ago." Tempest recalled.
Beast King rubbed the back of his head. "But Nightwing isn't a demon."
Jinx shook her head. "No, he's not, but it doesn't matter. A Transient is an energy sire between a virgin and a source – demon, human, angel it makes no difference."
Nightwing stood up, his fists clenched as he stared across the circle of Titans to the half demoness who so nonchalantly verified his paternity. "It does make a difference! That girl isn't X's daughter, she's mine!"
Akane's wide eyes rose to Nightwing's profile. Her hand touched his arm gently. The simple touch was enough to make him look down at her. His masked eyes saw Raven's eyes in the face of her daughter, just like he saw his eyes in his daughter.
"We will save her, that we will."
Nightwing's fist shook at his side. Fox and Starfire felt uneasy in the pit of their stomachs and Raven's eyes wavered back and forth as Nightwing's blood boiled beneath his skin. Akane saw then, a wound on Nightwing's hip. "Otou… you didn't say you required healing."
The young demon fraction raised a hand to touch the injury and was only slightly hurt when Nightwing stormed off as if repelled by her touch. The Titans watched him go, to stand alone in a corner of their safeguard away from their collective circle. With Nightwing removed, Akane could see straight to the eyes of her mother.
"He doesn't like me?"
"Of course he does… he has a lot to think about." Raven replied. Raven got up and followed behind Nightwing, but Akane remained behind, reaching under her mage's sleeve to gently finger the dream catcher around her wrist.
"We all do." Sakura stated.
"I thought things were bad before." Cyborg admitted. "Between Trigon, Slade, Washu, Terra… we're facing something huge and we've got to be ready."
"We're strong enough to do it," Arsenal decided, "We just need to have the heart to do it."
Celine ran an uneasy hand through her dark red tresses. Her thoughts were similar to most of the others; focused on the actions of the most dangerous of the Slade Syndicate: Terra Nostra. "She created another human being to get her revenge."
"Terra's no different than Slade." Tempest decided.
Beast King turned his head to the side. His arms crossed firmly over his chest as he steeled his heart. "I wouldn't be surprised if she made the plan herself."
Starfire would see the way Celine's eyes wavered, but would say nothing.
Cyborg rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. "And both times he used "Robin" as his base… This stinks of Slade… Red X is gone, but another part of his failed apprentice is causing damage."
"They lose a member of their syndicate and they replace it like a broken grogmac." Starfire posited.
"And they'll do the same with Dischord when they're done with her." Tempest stated.
Blackfire frowned. "Her name is Choris… Terra said so…"
Bumble Bee, Sakura and Celine bit their lower lips. Their eyes shifted from those whom the name Choris meant something, to those whom it obviously did not. One who did spoke up, cementing what they all knew to be true.
"For everything she is… we can't just pretend she's just another villain…" Bumble Bee said.
Celine nodded. "So now we have a rescue mission."
Most of the others nodded in agreement. Jinx shook her head in the negative.
"Our mission is the same. To stop the end of the world, Akane has to best the Yiken Stone. Running won't do us any good."
Beast King looked back at her squarely. "No one plans on running."
"We'll save Choris and we'll defeat Slade, Washu and Terra." Arsenal declared, his fingers trailed down his bow, catching the grip firmly, the moisture seemed to disappear with his concentration. In truth, he was just ignoring it because his focus was somewhere else.
In the center of their circle Sakura's weapon laid perfectly still. Sakura's eyes were on it, while Arsenal's eyes were on her.
"I'm going to annihilate Terra… Any chance she had for compassion is gone. But not for Choris… My brother's daughter… Choris is being controlled by a slave crown, the same one he used to control Tetris… my Holy can't break it."
Akane's voice cut in the despairing silence. Her gold energy wrapped around the hiraikotsu then pulled away. Sakura turned her attention to the young half-demon girl's face. "Perhaps Hope can."
Akane stood up and went to join her parents.
Nightwing sat only because Raven forced him to. His bruised right hand was locked between Raven's as she healed the abused joints. If she had waited any longer to stop him, either he was going to punch a hole through the cave wall, break his hand or both. She didn't want either.
"How could this have happened? How could she, how could any of them do this, any of this?" Nightwing asked.
"The machinations of evil are the cruelest when they involve the hearts of their adversaries. They knew that and they used it. But they won't go unpunished."
"But she's my… I… I can't fight her." Nightwing replied.
"I can."
Nightwing and Raven turned their heads and saw Akane standing above them, her right hand rested over her heart. Nightwing could see the barest glimmer of the trinket that bonded him to her.
"If the Syndicate is as evil as I fear to believe, they will use her to make us submit to Trigon's will. But I won't give up without a fight, Otou-sama. Neither will you, that you will not."
Raven's hands tightened around Nightwing's as his feet pushed against the ground to shift his hips, butting his back against the wall. Nightwing had no choice put to look up into Akane's eyes as she kneeled down beside him so she was on his left, Raven on his right. Akane took his left hand and held it. Nightwing closed his eyes.
"A year ago, I was ready to be a father to you… and now I have two daughters to protect."
"We're not going to let Terra get away with what she's done and I won't let her hurt Choris." Raven said softly. She had heard it too, what Terra had named Nightwing's daughter… the girl that was rightfully Raven's, rightfully a part of her family. "Nobody messes with my kids."³
A sob wracked Nightwing's body. A single powerful shudder ran through the entirety of his nervous system. His hands clenched Raven's and Akane's and the two purple eyed women gripped his hands back. Raven steadied Nightwing's breathing and let him fall asleep between them. They laid him on his side gently, Raven curled up at his front, Akane at his back and laid there to rest peacefully, if only for an hour or two.
Akane felt Nightwing's heartbeat through his strong back. She could feel the throb with every exhale. There was no shaking the unsettling feeling she felt. What worried Akane more than who Choris was was what Choris was: stronger than Akane. And that was the truth. Whether or not Washu assisted would only shift the battle more in Choris' favor, but the scale had already tipped that way, if Akane was to assume that what they had seen was the aeromorph's full power. Akane's own energy was a dangerous force, it could heal, it could destroy, it could defend… but the most important of those things was defense.
The blood of Demon Kings soared through her. She was so close to the Yiken stone she could feel the power of Trigon resonating in her, acting on every cell born from his legacy. It hurt on the inside, it stole her concentration and that was what made her less than fit to fight the forces that stood against her: but that didn't mean she wouldn't fight.
If Washu's confidence surpassed his sensibility, she would encounter Dischord Nostra without aid from the full demon. It was what she hoped for, because that was the only way to ensure that her friends, her family, wasn't hurt attempting to assist her. The truth was that the fight that was coming was her own. No matter how much her mother wished it wasn't so, not matter what the Titans wanted, it was only Akane's Transient abilities that would seal the Yiken stone. Her success would depend greatly on the amount of power she put into the rescue of Choris…
Even though she knew it hadn't happened, Akane felt it in her bones that Nightwing had moved in his sleep. The unease in his mind couldn't be calmed by sleep… it could only be calmed when Choris was where she belonged. Akane touched her forehead to the upper swell of his back.
We will save my sister, Otou-sama. I'll protect her. I promise, that I do.
…
For fifteen minutes Celine sat by herself at the western cave wall that served as one of the boundaries of their safeguard. Her Firefly cannon laid at her side, her right boot was crossed over the other, her hands were folded in her lap. She was looking out at the silver-white force field that was erected through her engineering, feeling absolutely no satisfaction in her mastery of science.
Starfire came and sat beside her, the poor energy transmitting from the other female Titan redhead bothered her and even though she didn't need to ask what caused Celine's distress, she did.
"It isn't something I can put to words truthfully. I'm not sure what I feel or think anymore."
"To be truthful, Celine, I do not believe you."
"Nobody ever does."
"You are very much like I was in the beginning of my friendships with the Titans." Starfire said. "I was social, but I was also isolated."
"You're a stranger in a strange land, Starfire; it's not the same thing."
"Uncertainty is a strange land no matter where you are from. You have done your best to make yourself an emotional island, my friend. What did you wish to accomplish?"
"If I knew that, Starfire, I'd have all the answers." Celine replied.
Starfire said nothing. She continued to kneel where she was. The green eyed Tameranian princess waited.
"The truth is, Starfire, I'm feeling regret… despite everything I told Beast King, I wish I never succeeded in saving Terra's life."
"Terra has done… many unspeakable things, but none of those things are a fault of yours."
"That's what I want to believe, but when I think about the last few years, when I think about this," Celine touched the scar on the left side of her forehead, "I wish I was anyone but myself… for the last five years this person hasn't felt right in my skin. Colonel⁴ Celine Marie Keelin-Fletcher, she isn't who I want to be. I'd be anyone else but me."
"Do you wish to be her?" Starfire asked. No qualification was necessary. They only referred to one person as her: when they couldn't bear to say her name.
"Not for who she is, no."
"Then for her name?"
"No. There's nothing about her that I want to be associated with."
"Except..."
Celine forced an exhale. Starfire let her eyes travel to follow Celine's sight. They could see how the team was resting, or at least calming their unease. Arensal and Sakura sat across from each other, their foreheads touching, their eyes closed. For five years they had been denied the feeling of each other, in the deepest sense of the word "close", and the only had a few hours to savor it before the fight that would change their lives was coming. Even after years of being locked away heart and mind, their souls could connect just by a mutual touch.
Tempest and Blackfire were lying together. Blackfire's head rested on Tempest's shoulder and Tempest kept an arm wrapped around his fiancée. Both Celine and Starfire smiled at the display.
Cyborg and Jinx were too far away to clearly see exactly what they were doing together: whether talking gently, touching each other's faces or declaring desire for a more intimate friendship. Celine's eyes skipped before Starfire's and lingered where Star's would not. Raven's arm draped from Nightwing's waist to Akane's shoulder, her thumb running slowly over the exposed skin of Akane's upper arm. Raven was most likely awake and feeling some mix of unease and happiness to have the two most important people in her life in her arms.
The female Titan redheads crossed gazes where Beast King and Foxfire sat back to back. Beast King's head was bowed down, his arms crossed over his chest, his mouth in a straight line. Celine noticed the slight shake in his eyebrow, it was his look of concentration, it hadn't changed in the five and a half years she had known him. While Celine's brown eyes traced Beast King's face, Starfire's gaze watched D'ucel. The Tameranian Foxfire never bowed his head, his shoulders were always pulled back and his blue eyes never wavered, even in his uncertainty, distress or woe. His gaze was perfectly straight, what he saw, Starfire did not know: it would be a lie to say that she did not wish to.
When Starfire's eyes moved to Bumble Bee's figure, she saw that Celine's eyes had not. It was no small secret, to the sensitive females of Titans' Tower that Beast King mattered dearly to Celine, to what magnitude Celine would not volunteer. The confusion of the heart Celine felt was akin to what Starfire felt, but their difference was magnitude. Starfire knew how much and to what degree she felt the distress of being lonely, with Celine it was much more difficult to tell.
"His heart is not mine to volunteer… but I wish you the best." Starfire whispered gently.
Celine blinked slowly. Her brown eyes moved from Beast King and Foxfire out to the barrier on her left. "Starfire."
"Yes?"
"Is D'ucel his Tameranian name or his translated name?"
"It is his name from the language of Tameran. As my name is Koriand'r, his is D'ucel."
"What's his translated name?" Celine asked.
"His name… does not translate. If it were to be another word, it is Ph'yzzon⁵. It means seeing."
"I suppose that means he can see what is right in front of his face?"
Starfire knitted her brow, but did not get the opportunity to voice her question. Beast King and Foxfire came and stood before the two redheads.
"As fascinating as whatever it was that you were talking about was, maybe you two should get some rest. Who knows when we'll have to move out?" Beast King suggested.
Foxfire nodded his head in agreement. Starfire shook her head in the negative. "I am not tired."
"Neither am I." Celine replied. Beast King took a seat at her feet and D'ucel sat took the lotus position inches away from the feet of Koriand'r. Foxfire said nothing; Starfire said nothing and Beast King waited. "Besides," Celine continued. "The upcoming battle isn't ours."
"Yes it is," Beast Kind disagreed. "It's all of ours. They're going to need us to stand strong, whether or not we actually fight. Its one of the things that comes with being---"
"Family." Celine finished.
End of Chapter Fourteen
A/N
¹R destruction, "our destruction"
²Not unlike the amplification system she used to free Terra in Chapter Six.
³One of Raven's best lines from Season Five: one that really strikes home about her feelings about the future. If Nightwing sees Raven's daughter is his, then by association, Raven sees Nightwing's daughter as hers.
⁴ It was brought to my attention that I mixed up the ranking order for my military system. If Celine is a General and her father is a Colonel, she's actually outranking him. Doesn't really matter as far as the story goes, but it bothered at least one reviewer and for that, I made the correction.
⁵ Oh canon.
Dischord fights with the Akido fighting styles of Nina and Anna Williams from Tekken 5: which is to say, very dangerous stuff. The move she used on Jinx was Nina's overhead throw.