Yeah, uh, sorry it has taken me so long to update... It was a little bit of this and a little bit of that, but the main reasons are that for some reason I've been unable to submit anything until today... maybe the connection I was trying to use (it was at school through a firewall). Also my laptop is having issues, namely the AC/DC cord that I use to plug it in is ripping... I won't bore you with all of my other excuses-uh, reasons-so I'll stop here and let you read the latest chapter.
"What's the matter, Raven, you seem disappointed to see me." Timothy said sarcastically, giving a light chuckle. "Am I not what you expected?"
"No... No, you are not Timothy." Raven replied, her expression one of disgust. "Timothy is not evil, but you are pure evil."
"It takes one to know one, I believe the term is." Timothy replied his smile fading slightly. "From one dark entity to another... But, you are right, Raven, I am not 'Timothy'." He spat the name as though it were poison. "That is but a name which you gave a child. I am something far superior, far greater. The power which I hold can and has destroyed entire universes." He laughed, turning his back to her. "I've finally regained what had been taken from me, and more."
Timothy walked into the darkness a little. "And you, Raven, are capable of much more."
"Really?" Raven asked, skepticism filling her voice. "And what would that be?"
"Your power over darkness, your ability to detect people's thoughts, your ability to control time itself... These are but droplets of a vast pool of power." He turned to face Raven again. "And do you know what is holding you back?"
Raven wasn't liking where this was going, and she wasn't interested in power, but to prevent Timothy from doing anything else she replied, "What?"
"Your fear." Timothy replied. "You are afraid of your own shadow, Raven. You are afraid of what your emotions do to you. These hold you back, these and... your friends." Timothy moved closer to Raven his smile returning. "Relinquish your bonds of friendship with the titans, join me and I will teach you how to master your powers."
"And if I say no?"
"Oh, did you think I was giving you a choice?" Timothy sneered.
Timothy raised his right arm and pointed it at Raven. Around his arm the darkness grew thicker and suddenly a violent wind pushed into Raven. She felt herself falling back, cold darkness seeping over her body. As she fell to the ground her mind became calm, blank... then, slowly thoughts of darkness began to pool into her mind. The thoughts, though poisonous, began to excite her. At each malicious thought Raven began to feel a little more relaxed and a little more invigorated.
"Take my hand." Timothy said from above her.
It was like watching a movie, or watching someone from a distance. She took his hand and rose to her feet. Timothy put his left arm around her waist and waved his right arm. The darkness around them lessened and a pool of color appeared. The pool rippled and Raven could see the other titans running through the empty halls of the museum.
"Let's have a little fun..." Timothy said as the image rippled and Beast Boy and Terra appeared.
---
Beast Boy could hear Terra running behind him; could feel her hand in his, and could hear her heavy breathing as they ran down the empty hall. They hadn't yet found any sign of Timothy, or anyone else for that matter. Ever since they had separated from the other titans they'd been alone.
Beast Boy quickly changed into a dog and sniffed the air and floor but his sensitive nose could only pick up his and Terra's sent.
"Anything?" Terra asked as he became human again.
"No, nothing." Beast Boy replied. "I mean really nothing. All I could sense was you."
"So..."
"So places usually have many scents but here there are none."
"Oh," Terra replied. She didn't get it, but, then, neither did Beast Boy.
"Come on, let's keep looking." He said and they began moving again.
"Beast Boy, wait, what's that?" Terra asked as she stopped.
Beast Boy turned around and watched as some kind of golem morphed out of the wall. The golem was twice the size of either Beast Boy or Terra and appeared to be made out of stone. Terra raised her hands and tried to take control of the stone but as the golden energy spread around the stone it was blocked and absorbed by shadow.
"I can't control it." Terra said.
"Then we will have to do this the hard way." Beast Boy said becoming a velociraptor.
Beast Boy charged as Terra picked up any rock she could find. Together they attacked the golem, knocking it back a few steps. Then, as Beast Boy moved to bite the golem it thrust its fist into his throat. The darkness around the golem moved around Beast Boy and he began moving wildly. As the golem crumbled Beast Boy fell to the ground becoming human again.
"Beast Boy!" Terra yelled running to him.
"T-air-ah... rah-un!" Beast Boy managed to say, obviously struggling to control himself. "I can't stop-" he stopped mid sentence and picked himself up. Beast Boy turned to face Terra, his eyes emanating shadow fire. Slowly he morphed into a raptor again, but this time, to her horror, he began chasing after Terra.
---
As the golem crumbled and Beast Boy became human again he turned to smile at Terra. "That wasn't so hard." He said laughing.
"Beast Boy! H-elp!" Terra gasped.
Beast Boy opened his eyes and saw another golem, different than the first, gripping Terra around the neck. From its hands a cold dark light was spreading across her body. The shadow moved slowly and where it passed stone remained. Terra desperately tried to reach out to Beast Boy but the shadow was moving to fast and her arms froze in place. As the shadow finished moving along her body, taking her head last, she cried out, "I'm sorry!"
"Terra! NO!" Beast Boy yelled as he ran to her, but as he neared her the statue she had become began to move.
"R-ru-run Bea-st bo-y..."
Terra lunged at Beast Boy and knocked him to the ground. Beast Boy raised his arms to block her next attack; then morphed into a hummingbird attempting to escape. Terra grabbed two marble tiles and smacked them into Beast Boy, knocking him to the ground. Beast Boy became human again, nearly unconscious. As his eyes closed he watched as Terra grabbed him and started dragging him somewhere.
---
Raven watched in idle horror as the image moved to Starfire and Robin. They had begun fighting, each in their own illusion. As Starfire threw a starbolt at Robin, it hit, and Robin flew backward into a wall, blood dripping from his wounds, Raven cringed inwardly. She could feel herself smile on the outside, the ripples of maddened joy running through her, but this was simply because of the spell that Timothy had placed her under.
Glancing over, Raven saw the childish grin on Timothy's wicked face. He was enjoying the titans destroy each other, or, more importantly, destroy their loved ones. It was sick, pure madness. Raven felt sick, she felt worse than she had ever felt before.
"It's been so long..." Timothy laughed. "They took my powers away, ripped them from me and left me for dead... Boy, were they surprised when I came back." He laughed again. "And now look at me, I've taken full control of him. The absolute power of all existence at my fingertips!"
Timothy turned to Raven. "See, I knew you would enjoy it." He smiled. "You just needed to be awakened."
Raven absently turned back to the image of her friends being torn apart. She silently wished she could stop, yell out, turn away... anything, just to make the agony disappear. She had no control over her body. It was like a dream, or a nightmare. All she could do was watch through her eyes and feel Timothy controlling her. Slowly, she could feel herself loosing more control, her will fading.
"And to think, he and his sister once managed to defeat me." Timothy laughed. "I hate to admit it, but back then we were even in power. If I hadn't tried to kill him... but it isn't important now." He turned to Raven again. "You will have to kill them you know." He said as though to sooth her. "In the end, if you want to end this suffering, you will have to kill them."
At those words Raven felt herself slip even further. She wouldn't, she couldn't kill her friends... the only family she ever had. The ones she loved... If... if she did she knew it would be all over, she would die inwardly and Timothy would finally get what he wanted. At the thought Raven felt a deep hatred begin to burn within her. The emotion flooded past her grip on consciousness and into Timothy's control.
"Then..." he replied, "you will do it now."
Raven felt her rage being replaced with terror as she shifted into the hall where Terra and Beast Boy were killing one another. She fought with all her power to stop herself as she threw jagged spears of her shadow at Terra. As her shadow hit and pierced Terra's skin Terra fell to the ground. Beast Boy turned and saw her.
"Raven, what have you done?" He yelled. "Why? Raven, why?"
Raven stepped forward looking down at him as she stood over Beast Boy. She raised her right hand, bringing shadow around it. Beast Boy looked up at her, tears streaming down his eyes. He didn't struggle, or even try to move as she attacked, his last words were the simple question, "Why, Raven, why?"
Inside Raven wept and begged for forgiveness. She couldn't stop herself, she knew she had to, had to fight against Timothy, but she also knew it wasn't possible. She was loosing her mind with each struggle, slowly she lost more and more of herself. At this rate she would slip into a deep sleep and in that comatose state she would die...
Outside she ripped Cyborg apart and moved on to Starfire. It was quick but painful, for the both of them. Finally, as she lifted Robin by the throat, tears and blood falling to the floor, Raven knew this was it. As she finished the last Titan off she slipped into complete darkness. Her last thoughts before she lost consciousness were, 'I am sorry everyone, my weakness has killed us all..."
---
"Perfect." Timothy said turning to face Slade. "I should thank you for releasing me, but that wouldn't be like me. You wanted ultimate power, Slade, but all you've released is your own death. Twice now you have helped those who do nothing for you in return. You must feel utterly betrayed."
Slade stood, unmoving, as Timothy talked to him. Ever since he had released the darkness within Timothy he had been like this. Slade had once thought he could control the dark power, but now he knew he was wrong. Once again he had made a mistake, but this time it would be his last.
Timothy moved his right arm towards Slade, palm facing Slade's body. "Good bye, Slade." Timothy said as chaotic dark flame flashed through Slade incinerating him.
Raven reappeared, blood dripping from her. Her expression was a mix between a dull, dead expression and one of lustful joy. She walked over to Timothy and he moved his left arm around her waist, holding her to him. "Raven, now that all good has been killed within you, I may release you from this spell." He brought his right arm up to her head and lightly touched her with his index finger. The darkness which had surrounded her faded and was replaced with a new darkness, Raven's darkness.
Raven laughed a wicked joyful chuckle and said, "Thank you. Now I am released from that weakness."
"I know dear, I know." Timothy said. "Now, will you join me?"
"Of course, one dark soul needs another." Raven said.
"Good, good." Timothy said, taking her chin in his hand. He bent down as she rose up and their lips met...
---
Deep within the shell that Raven had become Raven's mind and soul wept. She had just killed all of her friends, the ones she had grown to love; the ones who had pulled her out of her shell. Now they were gone, everything was gone. She had no reason to be any more. If Timothy desired her body so much he could have it, but her soul he would never have.
As she floated through the endless darkness the misery within her slowly began to fade. Slowly light began to appear around Raven and as she fell further the light began to take shape. Slowly colors formed, the colors formed into shapes, and finally the shapes came together to form an image.
Raven lightly landed on the soft grass of a small hill. As she looked around her she noticed that she was once again within her dream world. The mountain peaks were just visible through the clouds beyond the small forest that rimmed the grassy field. The small brook gently flowed out of the calm pool at the bottom of the hill. Behind her the tree stood, its leaves gently rustling in the leaves.
"I always thought this was something that Timothy had created." Raven said to herself.
Ah, but you were wrong child. This world is your 'inner world'. The voice was within her head. It created its words not simply with sounds but with images and emotions as well. I never brought you out of your own mind, you invited me in. But this time I must apologies for I have entered without your permission.
"Where are you?" Raven asked, her eyes narrowing.
I am at the edge of this world awaiting your invitation. The voice said. I shall not continue inward until I have that permission.
"Then I will not give it to you." Raven said. "Not after what you have done to me... after what you forced me to do."
Child, that was not me, nor was it the one you call Timothy. The one who controlled you is another entity which 'Timothy' had taken it upon himself to seal away. He had managed but because of Slade the magics within his body became unbalanced and the seal was broken. The voice told her.
"And why should I believe you?" Raven snapped.
The bubble which 'Timothy' created can only be penetrated from the outside, or by a specific force from within. An ethereal object created by 'Timothy' himself which alone holds the power to seal the darkness away. The voice replied. Because of the bubble that 'Timothy' created the one who this task would normally fall upon is incapable of entering this area. You alone have the power necessary to do this task. I beg of you, dear Raven, please allow me in to give the item to you and teach you how to use it.
"And if I say no?" Raven asked.
Then your friends are truly lost, evil will win, and eventually brake free, and all of existence will be thrown into chaos.
"My friends are dead."
There you are wrong, child. You did not kill your friends, you merely mortally wounded them. Even now they fight for their lives, not simply because of their wounds but because it gives the evil entity pleasure to watch them suffer. Again, Raven, I beg you to allow me in. If I do anything, anything at all, to loose your trust you need but tell me to leave and I will be forced out of this world.
"Ok... under those conditions I will allow you inward." Raven said. "Now, show me how to kill this evil."
At the edge of the woods a small hound-like creature appeared. It appeared to be a wolf at first glance, except the proportions were off, and... well, it looked like Beast Boy would, green. The hound approached Raven, its tail between its legs. As soon as it was ten feet from her it stopped and lowered its head to the ground.
I humble myself in your presence and apologize for the misfortune that we have caused. The voice said. For this reason, and for the divine respect that we hold for you, I appear to you now in my truest and weakest form.
"I thought you were human." Raven replied looking down at the dog.
No, only my three brothers and sister are human. The voice said. I am the first of my species; the father if you will. It was from me that the rest, including the evil we fight, were spawned from.
"Spawned?" Raven questioned.
In a manner of speaking, yes. But that is a part of my history that is unimportant right now. The voice said. If I may, I shall return to my human form.
"Are you asking my permission?" Raven asked. "Why do respect me?"
For the same reason that Robin does. The voice said. Even though you were born to do horrible things you chose to use the power given to you to do good. It would have been so easy for you to allow the darkness to consume you and for you to become evil, but you chose kindness over wickedness. That is something that deserves respect, especially for one of your power.
"Thank you, I guess." Raven replied. "You may become human, if you want."
The dog shimmered, as if liquefying, and began to grow. Slowly the shape of a man appeared from the liquid form of the dog. Then, as his features straightened out clothes threaded themselves around his body and once again Timothy stood before her. And yet he was different. The Timothy in the physical world had always been different from the Timothy in her dreams but this one was still more different than the other two. First, where the other Timothys had had a left eye that was a light green surrounding a dark brown and a right eye that was a dark green surrounded by a thin ring of light brown, but this man's eyes were pure green, dark green just around the pupil, pine green around that and light green around the edges. His hair, though still blond, had more of a tint of green than before, and his clothes had green around every edge of the fabric.
"Who are you?" Raven asked.
"I am known as -Aris (pronounced air-e-us)" He replied. "I am one of five 'siblings'. We started as one mind but over time split into two, then three and so forth. Because the original's name couldn't be used for each of us, and certainly not the sister, we created new names. But, again, this is history which you do not need to know as of now."
"You said you were going to show me how to kill Timothy." Raven said. "How?"
"No, not kill, and not 'Timothy'. You must balance the magics within his body and force the malice entity back into its dormancy." He replied. "I will teach you how to do this. To begin bring out the book that we gave you earlier."
Raven, startled that she still had the book, bulled it out and opened it. Once she had it opened -Aris continued. "If you turn to the end of the book you will find a compartment that is meant to hold a deck of cards." Raven closed the book and reopened it from the end. There, just before the hardcover binding, was a wooden compartment. In the center of the compartment was a space that appeared to be meant for, as -Aris had said, a deck of cards. The cards would be longer than playing cards. "Now place your two forefingers, middle and index, on the center of the final card."
"But the cards aren't there." Raven objected.
"Then place them where the final card would be." Raven moved her hand to where she thought the final card would be and placed her fingers as -Aris had said. "Now, move your hand up and around as though you were gripping a sward."
"Uh, don't you mean sword." Raven asked.
"Oh, forgive me, sometimes I misspell that word. I do hope you will understand if I do it again." He replied, slightly surprised. "Please, continue." As Raven pulled her hand away she felt something cool and solid move out with it. She moved her hand around and gripped the handle and pulled the sword out the rest of the way. "You may return the book if you wish."
The sword was unlike any she had seen before. From the handle to the tip of the blade spells and incantations appeared to be etched in a pattern or image into the sword. The handle was wrapped in some kind of thread in diamond shapes to the hilt, where the thread came out in three long pieces of cloth, which also had spells on them. The cross guard was made of two wings, or rather four, two feathered angelic wings and two flesh demonic wings. The blade itself was a mix between European and Japanese style, and as stated before thousands of archaic symbols were etched along the blade.
"Impressive." Raven said holding the sword out.
"This is the sword that 'Timothy' had attempted to bring out when he fought against Slade, but he didn't manage the attempt. When he was very young 'Timothy' began creating this sword, but it wasn't until he began his travels that he truly managed to manifest it." -Aris lifted his right arm, hand out, palm towards the ground. Slowly the ground began to lift and a tall slab of stone appeared. "The sword is capable of cutting anything, but the one who wields it must know how to use it. For example, try slicing through this stone."
Raven lifted the sword with both hands, adjusted the angle of the blade and swung at the stone. With a horrible clang the sword cut a few inches into the stone and stopped. Raven, worried about the blade, pulled the sword out of the stone, but it was completely undamaged.
"Shouldn't I have been able to cut through the rock?" Raven asked.
"No, not yet. First you need to learn to wield the sword, and then you will need to learn to use it with your own power. After that I may teach you how to cut through solid stone."
So, under the guidance of -Aris Raven began training to use the sword. They started with the basics, mostly swings and blocks, but as Raven showed her skill they moved on to more advanced moves. After a couple of hours Raven was able to cleanly slice through multiple poles in one swing of the sword.
"Good, you are progressing well. We can now begin using your power." -Aris said. "Hold the sword up and begin focusing your energy into the hilt. You should notice that as the energy leaves your body and enters the sword it begins to spread out on its own. It will move through the center of the sword first and then it will begin moving along the blade and out of the sword."
As -Aris spoke Raven had been doing as he said; now she was noticing a dark flame beginning to move alone the edge of the blade. She focused harder and the flame rapidly grew.
"Good, now, try swinging the sword."
Raven did and was astonished at how light the sword had become. She felt as though she could easily hold it out with one hand now. She swung a number of times and watched as the dark flame trailed behind the blade.
"Ok, now, if you focus your energy into the blade itself and swing down in one direction releasing the energy you may be surprised at what happens."
Raven did and as she swung down the flame extended out of the blade, through the air, and into the ground. When she lifted the sword again and looked where she had swung she noticed a cut that expanded through the ground. -Aris moved over to the cut and waved his hand from one end on and the cut faded.
"Good. Now, if we practice with this for a while you should be able to move onto the next step."
"What do you mean by we?" Raven asked.
-Aris extended his right arm outward in front of him and slowly began moving it to the right. Another sword began to materialize out of his hand, this one almost exactly the same as the one Raven was holding. Holding it in one hand he leveled it with Raven's sword.
"Shall we begin?" he asked.
"You can't be serious." Raven said. "I can't beat you."
"I don't expect you to, and I won't be using my full strength. All we need to do is practice sword 'play' for a short amount of time and increase your experience with the sword. As you learn to utilize your power with the sword you will find that you are better able to move with it. Finally, when we succeed you will be able to cut nearly anything."
"What exactly do you mean by that?" Raven asked
"You will understand when we get to that point." -Aris said. "Shall we begin?"
They raised their swords and metal collided with metal. They sparred, and dueled, and slowly Raven began to loose track of time. After what seemed like days Raven suddenly stopped and looked around. The world around them had changed, the weather was pleasant, flowers were blooming, and Raven noticed that the tree on the hill had changed. It was no longer the oak it had once been but was now a cherry tree, though it had not yet bloomed yet.
"So you have noticed the change, have you?" -Aris asked. "Your inner world has been changing for quite some time now, as has your skills. You still have the abilities you came in here with but now you have become faster and stronger. Your magics are no longer simply based around the shadow magic you had once used."
"How?" Raven asked. "How did this change? Was it you?"
"In part, but you have done most of the work." -Aris answered. "Your love for your friends drove you to become stronger, all I did was give you the method to do so. By utilizing your power with the sword you have helped inspire this change within yourself. You have increased your range of abilities, and for the better. Now, let us return to the stone."
Moments later they were standing next to the stone. Raven raised the sword and swung into the stone. The sword moved directly through the stone and the top half slid off the bottom. Raven looked at the stone in astonishment; then she looked at the sword. Now, instead of the shadow that had been around it in the beginning, there was a cool white light emanating from the blade.
"Congratulations." -Aris said. "Now we can move onto the next step."
"But I cut the stone." Raven objected. "I thought..."
"True. You cut the stone, but you are still stuck within this world. We must bring you to a level where you can escape and take your body back. Once you have achieved that our training will be done, unless you choose to continue with it." -Aris said. "Now, before we move on there is something you should know about the sword. It was, in part, modeled off of a type of sword which is found in another universe. These swords have names, and, in essence, souls. Each sword starts out as a relatively normal Japanese style sword, but once activated by its owner it changes form."
"Ok... so then does this sword do the same?"
"Sort of. It is not the exact same because those swords can only be used by the person who they belong to. This one allows the user to find and create their own. In other words you don't have to be a shinnigami to use it." -Aris told her. "Basically we need you to be able to call the sword's name, then, at some point, you will create your own sword."
"What is its name?" Raven asked.
"For that I have a small story..."