Ten
Gifts and Surprises
Crescent's POV
"Wake up!" Raven yelled, pushing my half awake form around.
"Stop," I groaned as I feebly pushed her away. I slowly sat up and stretched. "What is it?" I asked, and then the previous days events came back to mind. "Oh, right, training…"
"Yeah, training," Raven snapped and pulled me up.
"OK what's the deal with this whole training thing?" I asked.
"Our powers are fuelled by emotion, but that doesn't mean you should let rage take over. I often have to meditate to concentrate my powers," Raven explained. "So, sit down cross-legged."
I did, and she sat down with me. "Close your eyes and breathe deeply. Clear your mind of all thoughts except your mantra."
"What's my mantra?" I inquired.
"Seek it out within your mind," Raven answered mystically.
"But you just said to clear my mind of all thoughts," I replied.
"Yes, well, now you have to seek your mantra out. Think of three words that will help you," Raven replied. "For instance, mine is Azarath Metrion Zinthos."
"OK," I mumbled and closed my eyes, trying to think of three words that would help me. I must have sat there for an hour in the silence, but nothing came to mind. I sighed and was about to give up when a small voice in the back of my head said:
'Try something that has Karaz in it.'
'Huh?'
'Karaz…'
Suddenly, three words flowed into my thought stream… they were perfect. "Karazon Racashaus Endere…"
Raven froze. I looked up at her. "What?" I inquired.
"Those words… that was Trigon's mantra once," Raven replied.
"What does that mean?"
Raven scrutinized me. "Umm…"
"Our mother's powers were given to me, that means Trigon's powers were given to you," Raven said.
"Oh… so what can I do?"
"Great things," a voice said.
We looked back and I gasped.
My—I mean our mother stood before us. She was wearing a long white dress and had a sparkling aura around her.
"Mom?" I whispered.
"Yes, dear child, it is I," she answered.
"Why did you leave?" we asked at the same time.
"To protect you both from Trigon," she answered. "Now come closer, my children."
Slowly we approached our mother. She put her hand on Raven's face and looked straight into Raven's amethyst eyes. "Dear Raven, you not wield your powers as you should."
"What?"
"Your powers do not stem from darkness, but from light. When you fight do not look for the darkness within you, seek out the light. I give you this gift, the Gift of Love. With it you will find the Light and wield it always. Your mantra is not one of evil, it is of light. You are the Yang, and so I bestow upon you this medallion," our mother touched Raven's neck and a necklace appeared. The Yang symbol was the pendant and it hung from a simple piece of string. "Go forth and give light to a world that does not have it."
She turned to me.
"You, Dear Crescent, are the Darkness."
"Wait, mom… I don't get it! I was just an ordinary girl, now I'm expected to master these powers? I'm not ready!" I cried.
"You have been ready for your entire life," my mother smiled gently at me. "Have courage, and take strength from those around you.
"You are the Darkness, the seed of Trigon, but remember, that Dark cannot exist without Light… they balance each other. Therefore, you must be the Darkness that balances with the light. When they combine they are invincible. Remember though, that the Dark is harder to wield than the Light. Thus, I bestow upon you the Gift of Strength. You are the Yin, the shadow in the night; therefore I give you this medallion," she put her fingers on my neck this time.
I felt a strange tingling run throughout my body as the Yin necklace formed around my neck and suddenly I felt infinite power coursing through my body that threatened to consume me.
"Fight the urge to let darkness overcome you," Azara said quietly.
Fight. I have strength! I closed my eyes and muttered my mantra as if I had been doing it forever and I felt the urging to destroy everything recede to the back of my soul.
"When the time is right, you will find mastery in all that you do. Now, you have a visitor." Azara smiled softly and vanished.
"Hey! What happened to your cloak?" I asked Raven.
"What? Nothing," she looked down. Her cloak had turned pure white. "Weird… hey what about your clothes!"
"Huh?" I asked and looked down. "Whoa," I scratched my head. I was wearing a short red dress and a red cloak. "Weirdness to the extreme… but I like it," I laughed. "Now what was she talking about a visitor or something?"
We turned around and saw Rorek coming back from one of his scouts and dragging a girl behind him.
"Who the hell is that?" Raven whispered.
"It's… it's… Malefica!" I exclaimed.
Raven narrowed her eyes. "Oh my god you're right! Why the heck would he bring her!" she growled.
Raven's POV
Rorek grew closer to us with Malefica in tail. There was a warm feeling within me, which I supposed was from Arella's gift. I found it slightly strange that our clothes had changed, but I supposed it was apart of the whole Yin Yang thing…
"We have a new friend," Rorek said as he approached us.
"Why did you bring her here?" Crescent spat.
"Because," Malefica looked up at us. Her face was cut and dirty and fatigue saturated her eyes. "I can help."
"We don't need your help," I hissed.
"On the contrary, you do," Malefica snapped. "You see, I'm the only one who knows where the Book of Azar is being kept."
"You told her!" I exclaimed.
Rorek nodded. "It was necessary. She has been betrayed by Trigon and she wishes to destroy him." Malefica looked up at Rorek and smiled.
"But just yesterday you were trying to kill us!" Crescent exclaimed.
"Yes but… what happened to your clothes?" Malefica inquired.
"None of your beeswax!" Crescent jeered.
"Fine. Rorek, it appears I am not wanted here. But just so you know, your friends only have a few more hours to live," Malefica did something I never would have expected… she kissed Rorek on the cheek. I raised my eyebrows at him and he shrugged. She turned around as if to go.
"What do you mean?" I shook my surprise.
"In a few hours those manacles on your friends will activate and they'll die," Malefica shrugged. "But you don't want my help and I have the key, so I guess you'll just have to live knowing that you let your friends die when you could have saved them."
"Wait!" I cried. "Fine, you can help us. But what do you want?"
"My reason are my own," Malefica shrugged. "Now, we must strike today."
"Fine… Raven can I talk to you?" Crescent asked.
I nodded and followed her. "I don't trust her," Crescent said immediately.
"I don't either… but Rorek does," I looked over at them. They were talking and holding hands. "And we have to trust his judgment," I sighed. "However twisted it may be."
"Fine, but I'm keeping my eyes on her. If she does anything I don't like she's getting some serious Yin smackdown laid on her," Crescent smiled. "Now let's get back to meditating before our… mission."
We sat down next to each other, closed our eyes and began chanting.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos."
"Karazon Racashaus Endere."
A/N: I am so sorry I haven't updated in sooo long but I've been having a TT writer's block! AAAH! Well anyway I hope you enjoyed and please review… you can shout at me for not updating sooner if you wish lol. Well I'll try to update soon. :) SoR.
