Disclaimer: Teen Titans isn't mine

"Speech"

Thoughts


Daybreak

She sensed dawn approach, right at the brink of the shift in light, from the pale colors of the night to the warm carmine of the day, right at the brink when it was dark, when everything still seemed murky and dreamlike, but slowly faded into the glowing daylight. Her senses creeped back upon her, inching into her mind, gradually returning, and she became aware of another body closer to her own.

Jinx shifted a little. The other person's skin was a little cold, and she seemed to feel it too, for she pressed in closer to Jinx's body, like a little animal seeking warmth. The smooth muscles shifted, and she felt a leg cross over her own. Raven...

She reached a hand down and dragged them gently through Raven's tangled violet locks, feeling the silky hair slip through her fingers. Raven mumbled something under her breath and turned, breathing lightly onto Jinx's bare shoulder. The pinkette blinked, then smiled a little, running a finger down Raven's back. First time I've ever seen her asleep. It's funny. She looks so vulnerable and harmless right now...

"Appearances are deceptive," Raven murmured, leaning in a little, trying to steal some of Jinx's warmth.

"You're awake."

Raven nodded, breathing lightly. "Are you getting up?"

"I was going to, but if you want me to stay here-"

"That would be nice."

Jinx blushed, grinning. She does like me after all. Maybe she isn't as emotionless as she seems... She felt a hand press to her lower back and suddenly everything was very warm, drowsiness closing about her. Was that Raven telling her to go back to sleep? Well, she didn't mind. It really was very comfortable, pressed against the other girl's warm body, curled up in a relaxed position... her pink irises disappeared as sleep overtook her, soft sunlight streaming into her room fading back into the obliviousness of dreams, dreams filled with violet eyed ravens flying about in the moonlit sky.


When she woke up again, Raven was gone and the pale night had returned. Still a little drowsy, she got up and dressed, slipping on a white robe in the dim light from the sliver of silver that was the moon, the slightest line of white in the sky, nearing the pure darkness of the new moon that would arrive in a couple days. Moving silently out of her room, she left the building and went out into the dark night, wondering where Raven had gone.

The snow seemed dark underneath her feet, a blanket of glistening grey; she got the feeling that it matched Raven's mood more so than merely reflected the light cast down upon it. There was something about the tension in the air that gave it away, an impression of the sorceress's... not exactly fear, but worry, perhaps? Raven rarely got worried about anything - that would have been a sign that she cared about anything, which she didn't, usually not. But then again, the mere fact that she had come to merely cuddle and spent the whole night, and then let herself appear so vulnerable... there was something off about her.

I mean, I always thought that that side of her was there... but she usually never shows it. I wonder why she chose now, of all times.

Tonight there appeared to be no ravens as she entered the woods. It was a rather odd night, but sometimes they didn't seem to enjoy coming out when there was no moonlight. Something about the pure, raw darkness was disturbing, though Raven seemed to be fine with it.

Can't say I'm used to it quite yet, though. Jinx looked around, pink eyes darting back and forth. To her, even as a sorceress whose powers were based on chaos, the sheer darkness always held a little element of fear. It wasn't the type of overwhelming fear that froze one in her tracks, no, it was the type that made one hesitate a little, look twice at something that might have been there, a subconscious fear that was buried in the back of one's mind, but still there.

It wasn't a problem for creatures of darkness, though. Raven practically thrived in it, as Jinx recalled.

A little too much, maybe. She frowned. It was odd. Once a month, during the new moon, Raven would usually inexplicably disappear for a couple days. There appeared to be no reason for it, though once when Jinx had caught sight of her deep in the forest, during the new moon, when it was completely dark, there had been something that appeared inhuman about her form. Of course, the darkness hid it well, so it was hard to tell anything, but - I swore I saw four eyes, not just two. She shuddered. The thought that Raven was not just human was not something she wanted to contemplate.

She ventured deeper into the forest, deeper than she normally went. There were sections of dense woods in the center that she normally avoided due to the sheer darkness - to reach the hills on the other side, she usually went around the extremely crowded area of forest, simply because they always had this eerie feeling to them. Indeed, as she approached, there was almost a demonic feel to the air.

But there's nothing here, of course. She blinked, then breathed out deeply, quelling her fear. Or is there?

Normally, the forests were quite peaceful. Tranquil at both night and day, the only things breaking the solitude were various animals, deer, birds, small mammals - and occasionally the ravens, which a normal person might find a bit unsettling, but she had long grown used to them.

Here, though, there was a sense of something else in the air, breaking the solitude, not in the way the animals or the ravens did - no, it felt like some malignant specter stalking around in the gloom, just barely hidden, but ready to strike at any moment. It made her feel like she had to watch her back.

Even physically, the trees in this area were taller and older, perhaps many times older than even Raven was, their black trunks reaching up and spreading out into dense branches, lined with black leaves that did not fall, even during the winter. Their gnarled bark carved out bizarre shapes in the darkness, perturbed images that formed disturbing sights that were not really there.

She couldn't explain why she was here. She hadn't ever come here before because it had seemed so terrifying, and even Raven had told her to stay away from the "Demon's Grove" as she called it. But nonetheless, she was here, the fear in the back of her mind growing ever so slightly as she ventured further in.

It was pitch black - only her glowing pink irises that were wholly abnormal, like those of a cat, gave her any vision at all. She spun around as the wind stirred up, howling above her through the tree branches, creating footstep-like sounds in the leaves on the ground, very realistic footstep sounds, that seemed as if they were not just the product of the wind, but something else - get a hold of yourself. There's nothing here. There's nothing here. There's -

"Jinx..." A soft voice cried out.

The pinkette froze, breath sticking in her throat. I have to get out of here.

"No. Don't go. Don't go... don't go..." The voice echoed, then multiplied into a chorus of soft, feminine sounds. "Stay... stay... stay..."

She closed her eyes, not daring to breathe, not daring to look. But then her eyes flew open as she felt something land on her shoulder, and turned her head very slightly.

A raven... just a raven... she almost breathed a sigh of relief, but then her eyes widened as she noted that it had four eyes, four glowing crimson eyes that gleamed with a slightly more malicious quality to them than the normal sanguine eyes of the nocturnal ravens.

"Welcome..." It opened its beak, the soft noise emitting from it, like the wail of some sort of lost soul. "Welcome... welcome... welcome..."

They gathered about her, like a murder of crows, but these were still ravens, she thought, though much more... aggressive, malevolent than usual... it wasn't the soft voices that they spoke in - had she ever even heard them speak before? - rather, it was in their eyes, in their threatening poses, in the fact that their beaks were not really beaks anymore, but had jagged edges to them, like miniature fangs-

They drew yet closer, yet more threatening, sanguine eyes positively glowing with malice, jagged beaks opening, as if they meant to bite her, grinning savagely, closing in all around her-

Jinx drew back, terrified, then stepped aside as one of the ravens flashed forward, sharp beak aimed to tear through her leg. She resisted the urge to scream and her eyes glowed pink, warningly, tensely, trying to ward them off. The ravens were not impressed in the slightest. Like a pack of demons eyeing their prey, they circled her, wailing mockingly.

"Will you be our friend?" "Why do you hate us so?" "Do we scare you that much, human?"

She drew back, tripping in the darkness, landing hard on the leaf covered ground, then gasped as worms began crawling up her arms and legs, slimy, mud covered worms that weren't worms at all, once she saw their red eyes, their four red eyes, and gaping jaws, sinking down into her skin, drawing blood - but not normal, human red blood - no, it was black blood, bubbling and thick, like tar, definitely not her own blood at all.

She shook them off and got up quickly, fighting down her panic, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart.

"Poor girl. You do not belong here."

"Let me leave," she whispered. "Please, just let me get out of here-"

"You were the one who promised to listen to us." "You promised to banish our solitude." "You said you would not forsake us-"

"You're not the same... you're definitely not the same..." she held her hands to her head, closing her eyes. "You're demons-"

"And if we are?" "Why does it matter to you?" "Why do you judge us so?" "What appears to be a monster might be naught but a lost soul."

"But-"

"Poor, misguided girl. You know nothing of the truth but you seek to judge." The ravens' voices were harsh, guttural, but as she listened more closely, there was an even darker undertone to them that left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Jinx opened her eyes a sliver, then drew back as she saw the sheer rage emanating from the demon-like birds. Scarlet eyes, blazing as if with fire, burned at her with a fervent heat... she turned pale and nearly collapsed, stepping back again... she collided straight into a body, probably someone shorter than her, probably a female, and probably human, though she dared not look. The ravens' eyes narrowed and they dispersed, vanishing into the darkness, as a pair of hands turned her around.

Jinx gasped as she saw four crimson eyes flash at her for a moment, but it must have been her imagination for they were gone in a second, replaced by, thankfully, only two violet ones.

"Raven?"

"I told you never to come here," she hissed darkly, with a little more force than she normally spoke with.

There was a furrow to her brows and a tightness around her mouth that gave away her irritation - no, for Raven, that much was pure anger, cold rage, but Raven was always quite dangerous while furious, even if she didn't blow up like most people did.

"S-sorry," she stammered. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." she broke off, shaking, collapsing to her knees, putting her hands over her face.

Raven blinked, slightly taken aback by the intense fear emanating from the other girl, then started forward and caught the girl before she fell entirely, sinking down to the ground with the pinkette, ignoring the fact that they were both getting very muddy.

"What's wrong?" Raven asked quietly, though she really didn't need to ask at all. Of course, she knew perfectly well what was wrong.

"T-the demons..."

For some reason, Raven seemed to turn pale as well. She turned away, eyes dulling and lips curving down. She seemed a bit… sad?

"They are still the same ravens you saw," Raven voice was low and soft. "Though their true nature becomes more apparent during the new moon." As does mine. "What do you think of them?"

"They're terrifying."

Raven paused, biting her lip. "I... see. They are... demons... after all..."

Jinx moved her hands away from her face, fear fading in the face of the sorceress's odd behavior. "Raven... it's my turn to ask you, I guess. Is something wrong?"

She shook her head. Jinx raised an eyebrow.

"You've seen them like this before, haven't you? Isn't that why this is called the Demon's Grove? Because they're actually demons-"

"No."

"Then why?"

"You don't want to know." Jinx opened her mouth, but Raven cut her off. "And I refuse to tell you. Please, go. I have no wish to be seen right now. Nor do they."

"But-"

Raven's eyes blazed crimson for a moment and Jinx felt the terror overwhelm her again, turning her skin a shade of pure white, eyes glimmering, body tensing up, heart beating rapidly. And then it was gone. Raven turned away.

"Raven-"

"Go!" She shouted - no, growled - and though she was turned away, Jinx fancied that her eyes had multiplied into four again.

The pinkette didn't need to be told twice. She hurried away, leaving the darkness behind as she made it back to the colored spires of the cathedral-castle, breathing heavily, not knowing what to think.


"Sir Richard... you are leaving already?"

The masked knight turned to look at the foreign princess, who was staring at him with rather doleful eyes. He nodded curtly.

"I must. There is... a task that I must attend to, a very important task. Sirs Roy and Garth and Lady Karen have sent me word that someone has reappeared, someone that our green friend has also seemed to have met. I will have to go investigate."

"But, Richard..."

He smiled slightly. "Worry not, Lady Kori. We will send as many men as we can to help your country and a contingent of our best to guard you on your way back."

"Richard, that is not what I worry about. I am not leaving."

He blinked. "You aren't?"

"No. Father ordered me to stay here until it is safe to go back. He believes that these... creatures will not be sated merely by attacking Tamaran."

"So they're coming here too?"

"Perhaps, I do not know for sure."

Richard grimaced, running a hand through his hair. "Sorceresses, creatures that aren't human, and now the threat of invasion. What next?"

"I did not say that the invaders of Tamaran were not human, but..."

"You said that they didn't look human."

Kori nodded, a contemplative look on her face. "Their skin was a color I had never seen before. A pale red, Richard. It was the color of hmmm... blood," she thought for a moment, wondering how to describe them. "They fight like barbarians and disregard all life, even their own. They do not seem to care whether they die in battle, only relishing the fight itself. They seem like demons."

Richard paled, then took a deep breath. "I've heard of legends that speak of a demon lord that managed to make himself a body that resembles that of a mortal being. Apparently he had a child, a powerful child - a half demon daughter. I wonder..."

"But that is merely a legend, is it not?"

"I should hope so. Regardless, after I... deal with this situation, we'll figure out a way to beat these demons," he looked at her reassuringly. "Do not fear, Lady Kori. We would all gladly sacrifice our lives to save your people."

"Oh thank you, Sir Richard, but you must also look after you own people as well. These demons show no mercy. They are evil creatures that must be destroyed before they destroy us."

"Speaking of evil creatures," Richard muttered. "I'm going to destroy one, myself. Hopefully." He looked up at Kori again, smiling a little. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Sirs Roy and Garth can assist you in whatever you might need. Ladies Karen and Terra might also be able to help you. Well, I'll be going then."

"Have a safe journey, friend."


"You're sure about this, aren't you?" Garfield asked the masked hero, careful to keep his tone light and conversational.

Richard nodded. "Even if she is not the one who killed my parents, we are duty bound as Titans to bring all people tainted with the devil's mark to justice. Even if they have done no harm, remaining within the devil's clutches will do them no good in the end."

"But the church-"

"Is duty bound by the will of God to cleanse these individuals by any means necessary. It may not be pleasant, but they are doing them a service. Medicine is never taken easily, but the soul feels better after the pain has passed."

"You mean after they are dead."

"If that is what it takes, then yes. Tell me, Sir Garfield, have you ever thought of what lies past this life?"

"Me? No, not really. Takes too much thought to think about those things."

"I see. But could you imagine, burning in the most agonizing pain possible in the depths of Hell for all eternity, tormented by Satan and by the absence of God's sheltering light, in terrible agony, misery, forever, without a moment of reprieve... can you imagine that, then tell me that a moment of pain is not worth it to avert such a fate? We only have these peoples' best interests at heart, Sir Garfield."

"If you say so."

"Sir Victor can confirm my words."

"I can," the blue armored knight replied. "And it is not as bad as you may think. There are those who have willingly given themselves to the house of God and were cleansed quickly, without much sacrifice, and were able to live their lives out in the peace of God's great land."

"Well, I mean, it's not like you give them any choice in the matter-" he broke off as Richard looked at him sharply.

"It is not our place to question God, Sir Garfield. That would be blasphemy. As tiny mortals, we know nothing compared to the greatness of the One. We can only do what He tells us to do, and nothing more. For He is perfect and to question His words is to reject perfection."

"Dude, I know that. But God's also forgiving, right? He'll still not condemn you to Hell if you've done good things with sorcery and what not, even if it's supposed to be the devil's taint-"

"There is nothing good that can come of those powers. Learn this well, Sir Garfield. Now lead us on."

"I'm just asking you, are you sure you want to go through with this? Revenge seems like-"

"It is not about revenge, Sir Garfield. We Titans are above such petty motives. This is for her own good as well as laying the spirits of my parents to rest."

The green skinned knight sighed. "Fine. But I can't guarantee that I can lead you through the mists. I just got lucky last time."

"Then may that luck be with us again. Onward!"


She sensed something different. Of course, she wasn't as good as Raven as sensing things, but spending a few years with the other girl had at least taught her the basics of that skill. Which was exactly why she knew that there was someone, no, not just one, but three people coming through the frozen marshes, wandering through the mists.

That's weird. Usually it's just one person getting lost, and nobody ever comes here during the winter. That means either it's like a woman and her kids randomly wandering around here, or...

Jinx frowned, scratching her head. But who would come here purposefully? Like, nobody even knows about us. At least, I think nobody does... "Hmm," her voice was a soft hum in the air. "Guess I'll go check it out."

She headed toward the frozen marshes, watching her breath puff out in the dark air. The moonlight was nearly gone, casting a nearly impenetrable shadow over everything, though she could still see fairly well due to her unique eyes - and even if she couldn't, there were many areas of Avalon lit with balls of floating, colored lights of various shades, randomly floating about here and there, gracing the darkness with pockets of pale colors.

As she passed by, they circled around her, like airy, ethereal creatures, dancing in vague patterns across her vision. They followed her for some time, then suddenly all dispersed around her, shining a large area around her in multicolored light, illuminating the small buildings around her and the castle behind her. She frowned as she sensed the three people approach, apparently having made it through the marshes safely. She tensed as she heard their voices.

"... see, told you we'd make it safely."

"Yeah, right. You were the one who had doubts about us getting through in the first place-"

"I did not."

"Yes you did."

"Pff. I clearly remember you saying it was all luck that got you through the first time."

"No, man, it was totally my knightly skills that got me through."

"Quiet, both of you," another voice hissed. "I don't like the feel of this place."

"What's wrong with it? Last time I was here, it seemed pretty nice."

"It's too dark. There's hardly any light here."

"What are you talking about? I can see light ahead."

A slight pause. "Artificial light. What sorcery is this?"

"Um, sorcery so that they can see when it's dark out I guess? Practical stuff, you know-"

"Come now, Sir Garfield. You do not really believe that a sorceress would prefer light to darkness, do you?"

"I suppose not."

It was true, really. It seemed like most sorceresses did perfectly fine in the dark, though that in of itself was not a bad thing. Not that most people understood, of course. Anyone affiliated with darkness was automatically evil, by most standards.

"I see someone. On your guards, you two. We do not know whether or not she will be hostile-"

"Oh, hi!" Garfield glanced at the girl's pixie face and pink hair and remembered who she was. "What's up, Jinx? Haven't seen you in a while-"

Richard slapped his hand to his face as Garfield rushed forward to greet her, though he noted that she didn't seem too happy to see him.

"What are you doing here? And why have you brought... them?"

"Well, uh-"

Jinx rolled her eyes. "I can guess at why they're here. Something about purifying all magic wielders, right?"

Richard walked up to her with Victor following behind. "That's right, girl. You know the law of the land, correct?"

The pinkette smirked, eyes narrowing a little. "I don't. Enlighten me."

The masked hero frowned. "You're lying to me."

"No, not at all. I really don't know the law. Why don't you tell me?"

He scowled, then nodded curtly. "By the decree of the church, and through it, God, all beings that wield unnatural or harmful powers are to be cleansed by the church so that they might not cause harm to the good citizens of our country and so that their souls might be saved from being cast into Hell."

"But I haven't hurt anyone-"

"That matters not. Those are the terms of the church and we obey, for those are the words of God."

"But you said harmful powers-"

"All magic is harmful. There will be no discussion. You shall come with us."

Jinx raised an eyebrow. "But what if I don't have powers?"

Richard sighed, his patience beginning to wear thin. Wait, what patience? "Then you shall be brought to the church on account of living in a place where powerful sorcery does exist. This place used to house many witches and is sure to have some residue of their powers.'

"But I don't want to go."

"It is not your choice."

"What if I refuse?"

Richard gritted his teeth and popped his sword out of its sheath slightly, grasping the hilt. "Then we shall take you by force-"

"Whoa, calm down dude," Garfield stepped in front of him. "She's not a witch or anything. She's pretty kind and willing to be helpful-"

"That is not for you to decide, Sir Garfield. The church will determine her fate. Now, step aside."

"But-"

"Step aside, young knight. I merely asked you to lead me here, not to question my every move."

The green knight sighed and stood aside, looking at Jinx sadly. She glared at him, then turned back to Richard, muscles tensing as he drew his sword.

"One last chance. I'd rather not have to fight this, you know."

"Neither would I. Maybe you could just, like, leave and not try to kill me or anything?"

"No."

Jinx sighed. "Oh well. It was worth a shot- hey!" She dodged a sword thrust, finding him practically on top of her already.

She tried to summon up her energy, but his attacks were too quick, forcing her to focus on dodging rather than counter attacking. She feigned an attack, then darted to the side and managed to release a few hexbolts at him, but he dodged them all, throwing his sword at her, then running up as it missed, grazing her with a kick. Jinx moved back as he went to grab his sword and released more pink light at him, but again he was faster and managed to catch up to her, sending a flurry of sword strikes at her again. She kicked at his leg, sending him off balance momentarily, then drew back, escaping with a single gash on her right arm. She bit her lip.

This guy's ridiculously fast. Gotta slow him down somehow.

Again, he moved toward her, shifting sideways as she countered with her powers, sweeping up with his sword, and as that missed, kicking at her legs. She predicted the movement and jumped, but then took a punch to the stomach as he dropped his sword and attacked again. She felt pain shoot through her body, but managed to send out another hexbolt, striking him straight in the chest as she flew back, managing to land on her feet. Lucky. He had to attack too quickly that time, so that punch didn't have too much power behind it. She clutched her stomach, watching as he frowned, wondering why her attack had seemingly done nothing to him.

"What did you do?" He muttered. "That was even weaker than a child's blow. Surely you cannot possibly so weak."

"Now you're just being cocky," she snickered, sticking her tongue out at him.

He glowered at her and started forward again, but then stumbled as his chest plate came undone, sending him flying face forward into the ground. She seized the opportunity and attacked as he tried getting up, sending a knee at his face. He blocked her with his hand, feeling pain shoot through his arm, but at least prevented any serious damage. With his other hand, he swept forward with a sword again, forcing her back, then got up, casting aside his chest plate entirely and watching her darkly. What was that? She didn't even strike me there. That can only mean that her power is not based on pure force... no, this is some sort of trickery. Yes, devils do not always use force. They are masters of deceit as well. He studied her carefully, waiting for her to attack again. Perhaps I will have to let her strike me once more. I must figure out what her sorcery does.

He moved forward again, purposely leaving his right side open as he slashed at her. As he expected, another hexbolt landed on his right leg, but in return, he grazed her left arm with his sword. Jinx winced and drew back, clutching the bleeding wound. Richard watched her carefully again, then took a tentative step forward. As he expected, the leather straps on the back of his shin guard came undone, and he nearly lost his balance at the sudden shift in weight. He looked up as he redid the bonds, thinking carefully.

"Your name is Jinx, correct?"

"... why are you asking me something like that?"

He smirked. "It has something to do with your powers, doesn't it? Your energy bolts have nothing to do with harming your enemies directly. I'm guessing that instead, they 'jinx' whatever they hit, causing bad luck to happen to their targets."

She blinked. "Well aren't you the detective. Yeah, that's what they do. I could even completely screw up your body if I wanted to. But I'm not that mean."

"As I thought," he said softly, ignoring her. "Such powers. A true mark of the devil's influence. Sir Victor, we must subdue her quickly and bring her to a holy place where she may be cleansed. I fear that if we do not hurry, it may be too late."

"Let's try to avoid hurting her too much, though. It will do no good if she is physically wounded to the point of death."

"Yes, of course," Richard muttered quickly. "Though in the end, this is to save her soul, not her body."

Victor nodded and pulled some strange, cannon like weapon off of his back. Richard glanced at him, then attacked the pink haired girl, but his attacks followed a noticeably different pattern than before - more feigned moves, leaving wider gaps of space instead of the close ranged strikes that he had done earlier. And then, as he left a particularly large gap, Victor pressed a button on his cannon, sending out a blast of blue light that slammed into the girl's body, sending her flying back to land in a heap on the ground. She rose slowly, breathing heavily, then stopped as she noticed the sword pointed at her throat. She closed her eyes.

"What... the hell... was that?" She gasped. "And I thought I was supposed to be the sorceress-"

"A machine that Sir Victor built. Not sorcery. Now, do I have to knock you unconscious, or will you come with us?"

Jinx frowned, then kicked Richard's knee before he could react, moving back and dodging another blast of blue light. "Not a chance," she muttered. "I'm not even a threat to you. Why are you so hellbent on getting me purified or whatnot?"

"It's for your own good," Richard hissed. "You may not like it, but in the end you will be grateful."

"Yeah, right-" she broke off as he threw his sword at her again, slicing through her robe, then grabbed both of her wrists and pinned her against the ground.

She kicked upward between his legs and grinned as she produced a rather satisfying grunt from the knight. But then a flash of blue light slammed into her side and she felt pain paralyze her momentarily again, everything disappearing into blank whiteness. Slowly, as her vision returned, she gained a blurred image of a masked knight standing over her.

"Do not worry," he murmured. "This won't hurt at all."

"Wanna bet?" A dark voice growled out of nowhere.

Suddenly darkness engulfed the entire area and threw the two knights back, hammering them into the ground. As it faded, a hooded figure could be spotted bending over the pink haired girl laying on the ground, touching her face gently.

"Jinx," her voice trembled a little.

"Raven, I-"

"Do not speak. Here, I shall take you somewhere safe." Darkness spread again and the pink haired girl disappeared.

Raven turned to look at the two knights, a faint crimson light burning in her eyes. She noted the anger radiating off of the one with the mask, then her brows furrowed as she recognized who he was, her own fury boiling up.

"You have made a grave error, Titan," Raven hissed in a very demonic voice. "Leave, before I make you."

Garfield's eyes widened. "Holy crap."

Richard grimaced. "I told you. Sorceresses are marked with the devil's taint. This one happens to be particularly evil." His face darkened. "I know from experience."

"How foolish," Raven growled, eyes glowing yet more sanguine than ever. Her voice, no longer smooth, had an odd tone to it, as if it were many voices speaking at once, in low female tones, though the harsh edge made them sound very non-human, as if she were something else entirely. "I gave you the opportunity to escape, yet you still wish to fight."

"You killed my parents," Richard whispered. "Of course I'd fight."

Raven turned away, melding into the shadows. "I did," she admitted softly. "It was not something I was proud of."

Richard gritted his teeth and drew his sword. "Proud or not, it was something that you did. I saw it with my own eyes-"

"From afar, did you not?"

"I saw you strike them down."

"But you know nothing of the circumstances."

"I can guess. My parents were Titans as well. They probably knew that you were a sorceress and-"

"No, that's not it," Raven whispered. "If that was all, I would have merely ignored them."

"Then what?"

Suddenly the air about the dark sorceress stirred and hundreds of crimson eyes appeared behind her, in groups of two pairs, four to a raven, their dark shapes bristling, merely outlines, merely shadows. One of them flew forward and alighted on her shoulder, and Raven turned, running a finger gently down the raven's back.

"They tried to destroy one of my birds. This very one, in fact," she muttered, a harsh grating sound to her voice. And then she closed her eyes, sighing. "Though in hindsight, I should have realized that they were incapable of doing so. I overreacted."

Richard looked at the raven, staring into its cerise eyes. It looked back at him, and suddenly he knew that it was aware of him, who he was, of everything that seemed to be going through him, as if it could read his mind. No, he was positive that it was looking into his mind - there was no doubt about that. Shivering, he drew back a little.

"That's not just a bird."

"What gave it away?" Raven snickered slightly. "Of course it's not just a bird."

Richard's brows furrowed. "Another demon."

Raven did not respond. The dark bird on her shoulder spread its wings and flew back into the darkness, and a moment later, all of the crimson eyes disappeared, leaving them alone again. The sorceress's own eyes opened, a strange mix of mauve and claret, her grey skin slightly tinted a light maroon... or was that just his imagination?

Her face seemed smooth, unperturbed, but when he looked into her eyes, there was a storm of movement, a tempest of a myriad of colors flying around everywhere, unbound chaos. Even though her body was melded nearly perfectly into the dim light around them, he fancied that she was tense, though for what reason he knew not.

Abruptly, she spoke again, her voice surprisingly gentle. "You are lucky. Normally at this time of month..." her voice trailed off, her eyes half lidded, mere glimmers of blood-lavender. "Regardless, my... friend..." she hesitated slightly. What was Jinx to her? She shook her head, banishing that thought for the moment. "She would not want me to harm you. So leave, please," the word came out of her a little strained.

"It's going to take more than that, sorceress," Richard muttered. "My parents' deaths shall not go unpunished that easily. Be glad that I am still doing you a favor and trying to redeem your perhaps unredeemable soul."

Raven hissed darkly, crimson flooding over the violet in her eyes. "Seems like this requires some force, then."

"Not on my watch," Victor grumbled from beside Richard and let another blast of blue light fly forward.

A pure black void spread out instantly and engulfed it, then sent it back at him, magnified several times in power. In an intense flash of energy, both knights were knocked back, then quickly bound to the ground by tendrils of dark power. Fire erupted around them, scorching them with radiating heat alone, encroaching upon their bodies slowly. They struggled furiously for a few moments, but the darkness binding them did not give way - on the contrary, it pressed into them so tightly that it began to cut into their bodies.

"Wait!" Garfield said suddenly, running forward toward the sorceress. "You're... not going to kill them, are you?"

"I have every right to," she growled. "And to destroy you where you stand too."

"But-"

"Be silent, little green one."

"But Jinx-"

Raven's eyes suddenly blazed with fire and for a moment, he swore he could see two more eyes open beneath the hood. "Do not speak of her. Say her name again and I swear, I shall rip your tongue out from your mouth."

He paled and drew back. "Yes, ma'am. Mistress. Great Goddess-"

"Enough flattery. Now, take your petty friends and leave before I decide to annihilate you."

The dark energy and fire disappeared and Richard and Victor got up slowly, feeling their bruised muscles protest. A muscle twitched in Richard's jaw as he caught sight of Raven, or at least her outline, in the dim light of the moon, but realizing that they were completely outmatched, sheathed his sword and sulked away with Garfield and Victor following behind him, both of them looking at Raven rather frightfully, warily, unsure of what exactly she was.

You don't need to know. None of you do. Not even you, Jinx. Because if you did... Raven looked about as a flock of dark birds gathered around her, staring at her with their dual pairs of cerise eyes. She returned the look, mouth set in a hard, melancholic line, and underneath the hood, a second pair of eyes opened as well. We are alone, aren't we? Inevitably, I manage to drive everyone else away. She sighed. Even those whom I hold most dear. That is why... I cannot allow myself to feel anything. That way... at least nothing will hurt.

She drew back into the darkness, ravens following behind her.