Disclaimer: Teen Titans isn't mine
"Speech"
Thoughts/"Demon Speech"
New Moon
It was the darkest and longest night of the year, the air impossibly heavy, inky black, as a shroud cast over everything, weighing down with some demonic power, death itself nipping at the heels of the living. The darkness was nigh opaque, and even the colored lights from the glowing bugs glimmering around Avalon barely penetrated the black veil. It was on this night, and this night alone that it became most apparent that Avalon was not part of the normal mortal world; it was something else entirely. Maybe it was even hellish, though that was rather opposite to what it normally seemed to be, but certainly a little more... perturbed than it should have been for just a dark night… definitely more eerie. Something's off.
It's normally like this. Jinx frowned. Okay, not this bad. Something's really off. She shivered. The atmosphere's often a reflection of what Raven's feeling. So I wonder... I mean, sometimes I wonder if she's even human. Or something else... It was a possibility. The thought had crossed her mind that Raven might have been... a demon... at least in part. Or if not a demon, then something dark, not necessarily evil - evil was hard to define anyway - but very dark. It was maybe sometimes reflected in the atmosphere. Like now.
She closed her eyes. Raven doesn't hate me. Does she?
There's no way she'd hate me. She's the one who took me in when I had nowhere else to go. And I mean, she always worries about my safety, and she always tries to protect me - I mean, yeah, she doesn't show it much, but still.
And then her expression went blank. Though yesterday... she drew a deep, shuddering breath. She almost seemed like she was going to kill me. I've never seen her like that before. She was so frightening… Raven... She pursed her lips together. You worry me so much. And scare me so much. She clutched her chest. How am I supposed to feel about you? How do I feel about you? Ugh. I know I shouldn't judge, but it's just... why does she have to be so moody all the time? I just wish that...
Jinx sighed, looking out of the window at the darkness. If only you would try to let me understand you better. She stared for a long while, out into the endless depths of the void, hardly daring to breathe, feeling the atmosphere press down on her, oppressive, hostile. It felt markedly of Raven's aura. The feeling was so distinctly of Raven, yet one that she had never felt before, never so utterly... demonic. Okay, maybe it's not that bad. But it's just weird. Takes some time to get used to. Jinx looked outside again, and suddenly there was an enormous surge of energy, completely overwhelming all of her senses with its sheer potency. She tried to fight it off, but her vain resilience was like a paper wall against an ocean. She squeezed her eyes shut, gasping for air. Maybe I was wrong...
The feeling faded slowly, leaving behind a terrible sense of dread in her. She rose, shivering, and out of the corner of her eye, saw red. No, orange? There was an odd glow in the darkness - she could not tell exactly what it was - but it flickered back and forth, like some devilish creature dancing in the shadows. And then it grew larger, closer perhaps, multiplying, casting the shadows of roughly human-like figures on the ground. Lights from torches. Who would they be?
She moved over to the door and opened it a sliver, peeking outside. As the people drew closer, it became apparent that they were knights, and as they came ever closer, she could make out three of them leading the rest of them - one who didn't wear a helmet but a mask instead, a large one in blue armor, and a rather small one following him. If she remembered correctly... the Titans. Her eyes narrowed. Following the three of them, there were many other knights, all in ranks, probably a block of about a hundred of them from what she could see. And friends. This could be trouble...
She gasped as the masked one approached, looking suspiciously at the door that seemed ever so slightly ajar. She ducked back into the shadows, making sure none of the light from the torches could reach her and waited for him to leave. Unfortunately, it was the last thing on his mind.
"I know you're in here, witch! Show yourself!"
Jinx remained silent, holding her breath. After another few moments, the masked hero gave off a noise of frustration and banged on the door. "Get out here! You have eluded judgment long enough!"
There were another few moments of silence. Gritting his teeth, the masked knight thrust the door open and the light from his torch revealed the rather shaken, disheveled, pink-haired girl crouched in the corner, staring at him with wide eyes. Beneath the mask, his eyes hardened.
"You again."
"Richard-"
"Silence, Sir Garfield. And do not worry. I shall not harm her, unless she should choose to resist-"
"Nobody would go with you willingly," Jinx muttered.
Richard's eyes flashed dangerously. "My patience-"
"Does not exist," Jinx replied quickly, getting up and facing him, forcing a smirk onto her face, despite the fear burning at her heart.
He drew his sword. "Very well. Looks like we do things the hard way. I should have thought that you would have learned your lesson the last time-" Richard broke off as Jinx darted forward, delivering a swift kick to the shin before backing away.
Ired, he raised his sword to strike, but as he did so, darkness enveloped it and tore it from his grasp, casting it aside. From behind Jinx, another figure appeared, one that seemed to be physically smaller than the pinkette, but with a terrifying aura about her.
Within the darkness, dark shapes stirred about, perturbing the darkness with their jagged forms. Crimson eyes, in clusters of two pairs each, opened and in the perturbed void around the dark figure, serrated beaks opened, filling the room with haunted calls that sounded like half growls, half bird calls.
A pair of violet eyes flew open, and all around, there was the rustle of wings as hundreds of bird-like creatures... raven-like creatures began fluttering about, filling the air with the distinct sense of excitation... danger, and warning. And tension - distinct, disturbed tension.
The violet eyes glanced around and with a frightful cry, the ravens scattered, flying quickly past the unwelcome intruders, and out back into the lightless night, perching on their posts in the trees, waiting in anticipation.
Jinx shifted nervously. "Raven-"
"Get out of my house," the sorceress growled, eyes glowing a dangerous shade of crimson beneath her hood.
The masked hero scowled, retrieving his sword and eyeing her warily. She seemed... different. Yes, that was very apparent. But what was the difference... he backed away a little, troubled by the bloodlust in her eyes. Yes, that was it. Before, she was calm, coldly stubborn. Now, that had shifted to a sense of utter destruction, burning hot anger. And the fact that they were in her home, her domain, where there were so many unknown factors, was not helping.
"Let's talk about this outside," he murmured, and to his surprise, both sorceresses followed him without argument as they moved toward the marshes.
Outside, even the light of the torches was greatly dimmed. The knights shifted about uncomfortably and many of the cast suspicious glances at the hooded figure following Richard, sensing that she was vaguely connected to the demonic feeling about them. And when they stopped, it only became more apparent how many of them looked at her with distaste, as if she were subhuman, something to be reviled, purged. Raven's eyes narrowed.
"Leave."
"Not until I get what I came for. And this time-"
"You think numbers matter?"
Richard drew back, surprised at the animalistic growl that came over her voice.
"Demon," he muttered, though his voice shook slightly - Raven could practically taste the fear radiating off of him.
Beneath her hood, two eyes split into four, though it was hard to tell in the dim light. She turned, not wanting to show them - no, actually I don't care about them - not wanting to show Jinx her face, and withdrew into the shadows, a mere outline in the darkness.
"Not denying it?"
"I am what I am," she murmured, softly, though still with a harsh edge to her voice.
Behind her, Jinx paled. "Raven," she whispered.
The sorceress did not respond. Richard snorted. "A masterful deceiver. You even manipulate other sorceresses to your own will. Truly the queen of scum."
Jinx glared at him, then turned back to the hooded girl. "Raven-"
"We'll talk about it later."
"But-"
"Look around. I don't think this is the time for us to be having a heart to heart conversation."
"Raven-"
"Not now," she hissed, turning around again, this time the four eyes very apparent as they glowed in the darkness.
Both Garfield and Victor gasped, and Richard merely had a smug "I told you so" expression on his face. Jinx grew even paler and moved behind the other sorceress, struggling to keep her face calm, as if she had known Raven was part demon all along. But her hands shook as she clutched at Raven's cloak, terror rising off of her in waves.
"One last warning. Leave."
"Not a chance. Not now that we have a real demon right before us. The chance of a lifetime - to take down one of the devil's own servants..."
"Try me," Raven snarled, revealing her pointed teeth and slightly reddish skin.
"Knights!" Richard responded, and there was a loud clamor as dozens of swords were unsheathed. He looked at her, lips curved very slightly. "No mercy this time, demoness. Not now, since you are not even human. We shall purge you from this land and cast your carcass upon the cross of the Almighty!"
"Come then! Fight me! We shall see if your pitiful mortal blades can even scratch my skin!"
Richard drew his own sword and tensing, jumped forward, slashing at Raven's midsection. Darkness engulfed her and blocked the blow, then thrust him back, tearing through armor, flesh, and nearly bone in a single stroke. Richard sat up and gritted his teeth, clutching his ribs, feeling pain shoot through his body.
"Titans, go!"
With a cry, the other knights rushed forward, brandishing their swords, and even as several of them were thrown back by tendrils of crepuscule, the others charged forward fearlessly, bearing down on their foe. Raven's eyes narrowed and she surrounded herself with a barrier of energy, blocking the blows raining down on her, then expanded her barrier, forcing them back.
"One against a hundred. Hardly fair play, knight."
"Anything to take you down," Richard hissed back, forcing himself to his feet, pain still etched on his face. "And I highly doubt you would fight fairly, demoness. All you know are lies and deceit."
Raven closed her eyes, focusing inward. "How wrong... how foolish. The fool who does not know he is a fool is the biggest idiot of all."
Richard's eyes narrowed and he attacked again, sidestepping a tendril of darkness and slashing at her neck, but she caught his blade with a bare hand - no, claw - and wrenched the sword from his grasp. Another swift movement and she grabbed both of his wrists, paralyzing his body. A moment later, the ground around her began trembling and cracks appeared in the frozen soil.
"Sunder..."
Fire burst from the ground, searing the air with tremendous heat. Richard gritted his teeth, trying to bear the pain that surged through him as the sorceress's claws clenched around his arms. Glancing around, he saw the fire take shape, roughly human in figure, slowly materializing into what seemed to be clones of the demoness herself. Behind him, the other knights began rushing forward again, but more fire surged upward, blocking their paths before disappearing, the ground sealing itself up again.
And then she released him, staggering backward, retreating into the darkness. He reached for his sword, but another claw grabbed at his arm, wrenching it backward, forcing him to face its owner. He gasped – it was a perfect clone of her, wearing a crimson colored cloak, grinning almost wickedly as she kept bending his arm back.
"Richard!" A flash of blue light forced the Raven-clone to move aside and release him.
The other knights moved forward to guard their fallen leader, dragging him back to safety before looking at the crimson cloaked sorceress before them.
It was still for several moments; nobody was sure what to make of the situation. The air was tense, almost crackling with destruction, raw power, and even if the fire was gone, there was still a scorching heat that made the darkness seem like it was burning. Then, several more Raven-clones appeared from the darkness, all wearing cloaks tinted different hues of red, all looking darkly at the knights, emanating auras of rage, fury, anger, power...
"A little more fair, don't you think?" Raven's voice came out of the darkness, and a moment later, her body followed.
She turned to glance at the pink haired girl beside her, noting the fear on her face, then closed her eyes, turning away. Jinx opened her mouth, but found that no words would come out. She bit her lip in frustration and moved forward, but fire blocked her path, warning her to stay back, she knew, and so she sat, looking miserably onward as the Raven-clones advanced toward the knights.
"What new sorcery is this..."
"It's called letting loose. Restraining one's emotions for so long does have certain repercussions."
Suddenly, fire materialized from the darkness, burning everywhere, scorching everything, and cries of pain emerged from the inferno of heat as flame began burning through armor. Richard's eyes widened and he thrust forward, but one of the clones blocked his path, grabbing his sword with her claws and holding him in place. Behind him, the fire lessened slightly.
With a mighty surge of strength, he spun around and landed a kick on the clone's abdomen, sending her back, then wrenched his sword from her grasp, throwing it at her like a javelin. Instantly, the fire behind him disappeared and focused on the trajectory of his blade, flaring up and incinerating the sword completely. Several other knights joined him momentarily and they charged forward, seizing the opportunity as the sorceress seemed vulnerable. The clones drew back into the darkness, fading away, then reappeared behind them, fire lancing out from their hands... and leaving Raven completely open. Richard rushed forward and kicked at Raven's feet, only managing to graze a shin, then sent an elbow at her chin, but met only thin air.
And then fire burst out again, scorching through armor and flesh alike, felling the knights one by one before they could even reach her. Richard tensed and attacked again, hoping to break her concentration, hoping that that would stop the fire from destroying all of them. But she was surprisingly fast for a someone untrained in hand to hand combat and he found that he could not even touch her. Brows furrowing, he turned his attention to the other sorceress, shifting slightly as if he were going to move toward her instead, and then instantly the fire faded. An elbow made contact with his shoulder and he winced as pain shot through his arm, but he managed to counter through pure reflex, pushing her back into the darkness where she did not reappear. He heaved a sigh of relief and looked back, worry coming over his face as he noticed that only Victor and Garfield were getting up.
"No..." he whispered, rushing back, but was forced to move aside as light burst from beside him.
He looked back at the clones, who were glaring at him with such intensity that he thought they might have been trying to destroy him with sheer hatred. His gaze shifted and he noted that the sorceress herself was clutching her head, seemingly in pain, her face an empty void beneath her hood. His brows furrowed.
"Give it up. Looks like whatever you did is hurting you too-"
Raven snarled, letting out another blast of fire, but Richard dodged aside. As the fire ended, Victor retaliated from behind him, charging up his cannon and firing it straight at the sorceress. Darkness blocked it, then tore forward and pinned the knight to the ground, squeezing him tightly until his bones were at their breaking point.
"Try me, knight. Nothing you do can harm me."
Richard gritted his teeth, then turned, looking at the pink haired girl off to one corner, looking at Raven with wide, frightful eyes. "Maybe I can't hurt you. But I know I can-"
Suddenly tendrils of flame erupted from beneath him and encircled his body, holding him in place, scorching the flesh where the flame touched. His eyes rolled back in his head as heat swept through him in waves, though through sheer force of will, he still kept silent.
"You think I would hesitate to kill you?"
"Wait!" The smallish knight - the only one left standing, the only one who didn't seem to have any ill will toward her - ran forward. "Please. We'll leave now. Please, just let us go. We won't bother you again-"
"Who... said... you could... make the decisions..." Richard gasped out.
"Dude! We're getting our asses kicked!"
"All... evildoers-" He broke off as the flames intensified, glowing white hot as they burned him.
"Looks like he still doesn't want to give up."
"Please," he got on his knees and put his hands on the ground. "I'm begging you. I - we made a mistake in coming here-"
"You think they'd show me mercy? You think they have ever shown mercy?"
"I... err-"
"There is no mercy!"
"Please! Wait!" Garfield noted the look of pure fury in the sorceress's eyes and moved forward to stop her, but then was overwhelmed as darkness flooded everywhere.
There was the sound of choking, then faint gasping, then a tiny cry of pain, and then silence...
"Raven!"
The darkness faded immediately. The sorceress stood there, very still, a pair of arms wrapped around her.
"Raven, please. We don't have to kill them. I know you're angry, but-"
Suddenly, fire burned up around her and Jinx drew back, burnt slightly, tears welling up in her eyes. Raven turned with blazing eyes. "If you know I'm angry, then don't tell me to spare them. They all deserve to die."
"I know, but-"
"But what?"
Jinx shrunk back, skin faintly singed. "We could be better than them."
Raven's brows furrowed. "Yes, that's it. Because they aren't the noble knights they are supposed to be, we should be noble in their stead. That would be the right thing to do."
"Rae-"
Raven's eyes flared with light and fire burst everywhere again, tearing through several of the knights' fallen forms, incinerating them. Jinx's eyes widened and she moved forward again, aghast.
"Raven, please don't do this. Please-" she drew back as the heat around the dark sorceress's body burned her again.
Jinx clutched her hand, feeling her eyes water at the pain shooting through her.
"You should not be here right now," Raven hissed. "You do not need to soil your eyes with the deaths of these maggots."
Jinx bit her lip and squeezed her eyes tightly shut, trying to fight down the words that wanted to spill out of her mouth. But as several more of the knights' bodies disappeared in the fire, she could bear it no longer.
"Then maybe I should leave," she whispered softly. "If you're just going to hurt people with your powers, there's no point in me staying here anymore."
The fire faltered. Jinx looked under Raven's hood, at the four crimson eyes, at the perturbed expression on the other girl's face. She was fighting with herself, it appeared, unsure of what to do...
"Raven?"
The sorceress did not respond, her face a mixture of odd expressions, hatred evident in her eyes, but suddenly masked by fear, by emptiness... Raven turned away, clutching her head, retreating into the darkness, where at least she could be alone, coldly distant, feeling nothing...
"You should not be here," she whispered, more to herself than Jinx. "I should not have found you. I shouldn't..."
Jinx looked at her sadly, then turned as well, toward the marshes, where a path lay to her back to the outside world of mortals. She sighed, rubbing her burnt hand. "I guess that's it then. I guess you don't want me. You even hurt me," Jinx muttered. "So, whatever. I'm going to go."
She began walking down the frozen path, suddenly acutely aware of what was behind her, mostly Raven, still crouched over, fighting with herself. Do I really want to do this?
She took another look back, but Raven did not look up, did not acknowledge her, evidently lost in her own thoughts. She turned away again and made her way away from the darkness behind her.
There was only deathly silence.
Stillness, for what seemed to be the longest time, reigned over the darkness. Perhaps it was a long while, but time already had no meaning to her, so that did not matter. There was only numbness again, her physical form faded into naught but a frozen spirit.
And then it struck her. She turned and looked toward the marshes, where Jinx had gone.
"Wait!"
Her cry echoed back at her. Too late. Raven let out her breath in a slow stream, slumping down.
"Um..." the small knight said slowly, uncertainly. "What about us-"
"Leave!"
"Right, ma'am," he said hastily and backed away.
Raven took a few deep breaths, then stormed past him toward the forest, back toward darkness, and solitude.
