RavenOfNight: Tried not to make you wait as long...
Dark Shadows: Well, it would be a VERY long story, and probably not a vey pleasent one. Raven has enough to worry about realizing that the woman she thinks her mother is happens to truly be... shutting up now.
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A scream; familiar, harrowing, desperate... afraid.
Celeste jolted from a restless sleep as the sound split her ears.
"Is that..." Beast Boy trailed off, not wanting to believe.
"Someone is screaming." Starfire commented nervously.
"It could be a trap." Raven said.
Celeste was already on her feet, every sense trained to were the sound had come from.
It came again, this time more defined, a child was screaming. She began sprinting.
"Wait, it could be a..." Cyborg's words were lost as the cloak billowed against the wind, her long legs striding across the bare earth.
"We have to follow her." Raven whispered slowly.
"What? And die?" BB exclaimed.
"She saved me, I don't know why or how but she saved me." The teen's voice was getting louder. "She is our only chance to defeat Trigon. We can't lose her!"
The truth of Raven's words added strength to their limbs as they ran flat out after her far, dark form.
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As she ran, reason began to catch up with her. If she was seen... if he found her... or the gem... Yet if that was who she thought it was... She was not willing to chance loosing them. Compromising, Celeste focused on the beat of her footsteps, and those far behind her. The rhythmic thud of the ground, the faint song of the wind, the warm waft of air stroking her cheek.
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"Hold on to each other, and do not scream. I will come for you." Celeste's light voice whispered to the teens following her in the wind.
Robin froze.
"Did you..." Cyborg asked, uncertain.
"It was her, she is using a form of telepathy." Raven spoke quickly. She had used telepathy enough to know the excruciating focus one needed. It was to long and hard to send petty messages. Celeste was urgent, too so to halt.
"She could be lying." BB said hotly.
"We don't have a choice, and besides she saved friend Raven." Starfire whispered.
"Fine... just stay alert, and no noise." Robin grudgingly commanded.
They linked hands, into a chain from black, to tan, to green, to blue, and finally a pale alabaster.
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Celeste felt the varying forms of power linking up, like pale shadows of color in her mind, growing brighter. She had to do it now, or else Trigon would find them.
These... children contain more power then they know. She thought, then slowly corrected herself. No, these heroes...
Her mind locked onto the color, and yet stayed very conscience of the beat of her own form, striking the ground, pulsing heart, steady breath... the melody of life. Finally, Celeste called upon it. From the deep recesses of memory, she found the words. Her mouth formed the syllables as her soul grouped at the shadows running through her blood, running through her very core. She gripped them and poured the shadows into her words.
Shadows of old, shadows of time.
No evil or good, nor definite line.
From the darkness in my soul,
Let it complete my light.
Mother moon, Sister night
Protect your own with cloaking arms.
The darkness came, it fell over everything she was focused on, from her own dark form to the linking teens following her. It shadowed them, into impossible blackness.
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"Robin," Starfire called as softly as her fear would let her, hardly keeping hysteria out of her voice. The glowing orbs in her hand did not dispel the darkness, but rather seemed to draw it. Starfire swallowed hard, choking back a cry.
Do not scream. Celeste's soothing voice played in her head. What if it is a trap though?
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Celeste kept walking through the imposing darkness that had become her friend over the years. She could see through the blackness, for it is only fear that truly blinds you. She sensed depth, and a faint light that didn't break through her shadow. She was part of the darkness, merging with it as the sun meets the wind. Her inner peace was disrupted by familiar voices.
"No one else could come through! How is it that you came here, tell me or you shall die a thousand deaths before you cry for an end."
Trigon. Her pace sped up.
"Do what you want, if it must, this knowledge will die a thousand deaths in me."
Desparos. She was running.
A crackling sound reached her ears as the feeling of pain, blood, and fire washed over her senses.
"No, no! Let him go! Mistress!"
"Adena!" She whispered as her feet flew across the ground, abandoning precaution. Her cloak fell to the ground, and her hair rippled with the wind as she charged forward.
As Celeste's concentration broke, the shadows vanished.
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"Starf-" The call rocketing out of Robin's mouth stopped abruptly as he saw her, holding his hand.
"Robin!" She sobbed, hugging him.
"I couldn't feel anything!" Beast Boy said hoarsely.
"Not to mention you couldn't see anything." Cyborg whispered.
"Look." The words croaked out of Raven's mouth, her throat dry.
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Time froze for a moment. There sat Trigon, crushing Desparos in his clawed hands. Adena lay on the ground, no noise coming from her open mouth as tears still ran down her face. Celeste stood, like a deer between the spotlights. Her cloak had fallen off in the flight, leaving her contrasting form bright in the gray world around her.
Farther off, the Teen Titans watched, stunned.
Then, everything came crashing down.
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Celeste moved first.
"Azerath Metrion Zinthos!" The familiar phrase sped out of her mouth, and a wall of flames scorched the demon lord's hand.
Trigon roared more in furry than in pain, and promptly dropped Desparos. Though his vision danced with stars from loss of blood and lack of oxygen, he managed to catch his fall, and took no time in running straight toward his mistress with the conscience thought of a lion protecting his pride.
Adena, still to frozen to move, sat for another moment. Suddenly, Celeste had her wrists, and was leading her away in a speed that her feet hardly touched the ground.
"You!" Trigon spoke like thunder."You are imprisoned!"
A stream of fire ripped at her cheek at his words.
"You should have killed me." That was all she said before darting back to the titans, calling the shadows once again.
Then there was darkness.
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Robin struggled as something pulled him through the shadows. He could not see his movement, but unlike Starfire had been, this presence was burning and easy to feel.
"Get off!" He struggled to fight a captor that he knew nothing more then a vague wisp of feeling.
Then came voices, whispers from far away.
And there was light.
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Robin's eyes took a moment to adjust from the undefined depths to the gray twilight his world had become.
"I have him." The person holding him said suddenly.
Robin had never seen the man before tonight, but he knew it was the person Trigon had been crushing. His bronze skin was bloodied, and thick chest heaved with the effort of breathing.
"Let him go." Celeste commanded without authority, but it was obeyed with no question.
She looked him over, insuring Robin was unscathed. As her dark violet eyes inspected him, he was reminded of Raven. A lot like Raven.
Her skin had the same pallid color as someone who has not spent much time in the sun, and her hair contrasted in the same way. Still, there were subtle differences. Raven had dark, purple hair. Celeste's hair looked more blue, until the faint light shimmered off it with a purple hue. Though their eyes were the same color, the woman's shone with a soothing light, while Raven had little emotion. Still... perhaps the girl had not yet learned how to replace one emotion with another.
Insured that Robin was fine, she went over to the stranger. Without a word, her pale fingers traced across his skin, healing the wounds and even with a stiff grunt, his ribs snapped together. The crimson eyes fell on her as she spoke.
"Desparos, you didn't have to come." Celeste began.
"And let you go on this suicide mission?" He demanded. "I saw what was in your eyes when you saw the girl."
She remained silent as she wiped the blood off with a torn piece of cloth.
"This was never about him was it... it was about her wasn't it? Celeste?" Desparos held her chin up, looking into her eyes.
"It was about your daughter."
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A/N: Hope you all enjoyed it. A lot of POV's, so I hope it wasn't confusing! Next Up: Raven has a few... questions for her mother.