Disclaimer: Teen Titans isn't mine
"Speech"
Thoughts
"Another attack," Victor pulled out a map and spread it out on the large, round table in the Titans' conference room. "If you look, they seem to be making a path inland. A straight path, not spreading out at all. They have a destination in mind."
Richard frowned and folded his arms over his chest. "Yes. In fact, if you trace this path out, look at where it goes."
Victor looked at the map and followed the line with his finger, and his eyes widened. "Avalon. Home of the sorceresses."
"Or what's left of them," the masked knight grimaced. "I knew she was connected to them somehow. To think that she might be commanding them. All the more reason to go back-"
"Not yet, hot shot. She just proved to us that we can't take her down so easily. And we still don't know for sure whether they are connected to her." The dark skinned man looked at his friend, who was very quiet, staring at the map with such intensity that he thought that he would burn through it. Well, in his mind, he knows. "Richard, calm down and think about this rationally-"
"I am thinking about this rationally."
"Dude-"
Richard raised an eyebrow. "I know that she might not be connected to them, but there's a very high chance that she is. Regardless of whatever the situation is, we have to stop these invaders. Are Karen, Roy, and Garth back yet?"
"Not yet. Should be soon."
"Good. We'll need to figure out what to do. I don't want to fight these guys head on without at least knowing something about them. And Victor."
"Yes?"
"I'm not crazy yet. Not that obsessed."
The dark skinned man smiled. "Gotcha. I'll tell you when the others get back."
A piercing scream brought her out of her sleep and she got up immediately, sensing danger all about. Scorching wind blasted everywhere, carrying the scent of metal and blood, bearing with it the feeling of fire. They're in trouble. I should go help.
...will I even be able to? I'll have to try, at least...
Pink energy flared at her fingertips as she worked her way carefully through the forest, watching in case something snuck up behind her. She approached a nearby village and the stench of burning flesh reached her nose, the terrible smell of scorched fat, creating the awful image of incinerated corpses, rotting in pools of dried blood and mud... she tried not to puke and pinched her nose, moving forward.
She froze in place. What the hell are these things?
From her angle, they appeared to be giant, humanoid figures made of pure, crimson fire, though in place of legs they had long tails and their arms ended in tendrils rather than hands. Upon closer inspection, she could see eyes in their triangular heads, eyes that reminded her strikingly of Raven's eyes when she went all demonic...
They appeared fast and powerful, incinerating anything that came near, slithering about and grabbing people, burning them alive, then casting their blackened corpses to the ground, still smoking, before continuing onward. Jinx turned away and collapsed to all fours, hurling up stomach acid and bile, the sight of pure, raw destruction a little too much for her to handle. She hurled once, raised her head, then hurled again before gather her wits and standing. Gotta help... gotta help... She forced her roiling innards to stay still.
Jinx took careful aim and let loose a single bolt of pink energy at one of the creatures and frowned as it just passed through the thing, leaving it unharmed. She quickly moved through the forest, hidden, making sure that they couldn't get a bearing on her location, then fired a hex at the thing, smiling a little as it made solid contact. For a few moments, nothing happened. The creature moved about, as if wondering if the attack did anything. Then, it just happened to move over a patch of thin ice and dropped halfway through the ground, stuck in a frozen crevice filled with icy water. It thrashed around for a bit, then suddenly the fire died away and nothing was left of the creature but ashes.
Jinx grinned. A moment later, a wave of hexes spread out and struck dozens of the fire creatures, causing all sorts of strange things to happen; some were buried under piles of snow falling from rooftops, while others were pierced through by falling icicles and disappeared. The remaining ones milled about confusedly, if not a frightened by the unseen assault, then at least they were disturbed from their destruction of the village.
Several more of them vanished soon after more hexes hit them and now they were visibly thrown into disarray, some even turning tail and fleeing, unwilling to be destroyed. The pinkette smirked, satisfied, and moved from her hiding place, toward the village.
And then she made a small noise of surprise and jumped aside, barely landing on her feet, as a wave of fire passed right by her nose.
"Well, well, what do we have here? I was hoping to find a rat, but looks like I stumbled upon a little kitty instead."
Jinx's eyes narrowed.
It certainly wasn't human. The creature was big, maybe a couple feet taller than she was, with reddish skin and white hair, but it was not necessarily unfathomable that a human would take that appearance. No, it was the fact that the thing had four eyes that made it seem demonic, and the fact that it had black claws in place of fingers, and the fact that it reminded her, again, of Raven-
Jinx felt her pulse rise and she gulped. "Um, hi?"
The creature snorted. "You're an odd one. Listen, girl. It is merely out of the mercy of our king that I am letting you live-"
Her eyes flashed pink. "I don't need anyone's mercy. Or help." Energy sparkled in her hands and she tensed. "And don't think I'll go easy on you either."
It started to say something, but then was forced to back away as Jinx attacked, sending pink energy at it. Growling, it retaliated with blasts of crimson flame that did not go out even when they missed her and made contact with the snow.
Jinx frowned. "What kind of fire is that?"
"Hellfire, young sorceress. I would have thought you would have knowledge of such things."
"So... you're... a demon?"
He grinned, showing off all of his sharp, pointed teeth. "Correct."
Raven. Jinx turned away. "I don't want to fight you."
A dark, dangerous laugh. "And who was the feisty one a moment ago?"
Jinx grimaced. "You reminded me of someone. So I can't fight you."
"And all those people? You will just let me kill them?"
"I-" What do I do? Ugh. "Can't you just leave everyone alone?"
The demon smiled wickedly, claws glowing with sanguine fire. "Your soul... in payment."
"I..." And then she sensed something from him. A hint of... deceit?
Her eyes burned with pink energy again. "Liar," she hissed.
The demon's eyes shifted. "Why would you want to save the lives of those petty mortals anyway? They are so worthless-"
"Don't you have better things to do than to be destroying everything in sight?"
"Not really. Why are you defending them? If anything, you should welcome me. If they are still there, they will hunt you and destroy you. I am sure that you understand this."
Jinx let out a long, low hiss. "You wouldn't understand how I feel. If we have to fight-"
"Then let us fight," the demon growled back, sending the fire forward again.
Jinx dodged aside gracefully and retaliated but missed; the demon was fairly fast as well. They dueled back and forth, trading blows, but took care to dodge each other's magical attacks, knowing that a single hit might be fatal. Wrist to wrist, she fended off his claws and kicked the demon back, throwing a hex at him, but he rolled aside and tripped her. Fire sprung up around her - she leapt back before they could surround her, then swiftly countered, sending another hex through the fire, hoping to get him while he was blinded.
And then gave off a slight yelp as she sensed him right behind her. Out of sheer instinct, she wheeled around and instantly attacking, pink light pulsing right below the demon's chest. He grunted, then collapsed to the ground, unable to move, coughing up a little blood.
"Lucky hit," he gasped, looking at her with hatred. "Right in a pressure point..."
Jinx's eyes glowed pink. "More like bad luck," she muttered. "When you can move again, get out of here. And don't come back-"
"Just finish the job, girl. You won."
"I'm not like you. I won't kill you-"
"Do it," he snarled, eyes glowing.
"Why?"
The demon's eyes closed. "Fine. If you won't, I will." Fire began to burn around him, engulfing his body. Jinx started forward, shocked, holding a hand out, but the fire rose up and blocked her.
"Wait!" She cried out, frustrated, but it was too late and when the fire cleared his body was gone.
She clutched her chest. For some reason, though he had been an enemy, she couldn't help but feel a little sad. She sighed and sat back, looking at the blackened ground for a long while, then turned away and set out for the village.
"No survivors. What do you make of it, Richard?"
The knight remained silent for a few moments, frowning deeply. He stared at the burnt village for a long while, not moving, hardly even breathing, his face stony and inscrutable.
"Richard?"
He looked on for a few minutes, then finally turned. "Go get the others, Roy. We have to get moving. These invaders are faster than I expected."
"Will you be okay?"
"I'm fine."
"You don't look like it-"
"I'm fine. Go."
"Right. Onto the next spot?"
Richard nodded curtly and turned away as the other man left. Back toward the village, toward the people they had failed, because they were too slow... he grimaced and looked down at a puddle, startled when he saw his own face looking back at him, looking much older than he had remembered it to be. The wearying years of looking after this country, I suppose. Or perhaps just these past few weeks. With Raven reemerging and these invaders... he gritted his teeth. This had been the fifth village raided without them being able to lift a finger to help. Whatever these things were, it appeared that they could even outrun horses.
He slammed a fist into a nearby tree. But maybe if I had gotten my head out of my ass a bit earlier and thought to help these people instead of pursuing my own, selfish wants... He took a deep breath. It wasn't just his selfish wants. Raven did need to be brought down, but because she did not pose quite an immediate threat, not like these invaders did, he should not have wasted time and let many good men die trying to fight her. I should not have let my emotions rule me. I thought I vowed never to let that happen!
He rubbed his temples, muttering to himself. Though, we don't know if she is involved or not. So in the end, we shall have to see. Kill the mistress and her lackeys will scatter. But we do not know if she is truly the mistress or not... but I am so sure that she must be!
Richard looked up as he heard the sound of a few horses galloping, then mounted his own, knowing that the others would be moving on by now. A signal that he should follow, but his eyes remained glued to the devastated village, to the scorched corpses scattered all about...
He tore his gaze away. Brooding over it won't help. I need to do what I can for those still alive. There will be time to mourn the dead later. As long as I do not join them, myself. He patted the mane of his horse and redirected him with the reins, tapping his sides lightly to signal him to begin moving. The dark haired horse looked at his master, seemingly aware of the troubled cloud surrounding his mind, then began galloping west and slightly north, along the path of destruction that the demons had created, toward the fabled island of Avalon.
The mists parted, just a sliver, but enough to let a shadowy figure through. The fog around him grew denser as he passed through the marshes and for a while, he lost all sense of where he was, relying on pure instinct to guide him. Though, he noted, that would be enough. He knew the path too well to get lost.
The mist lightened a bit and he could see the white shores, the snow glistening with color in the sunset, and in the distance, the light reflected off of several colored spires, the muted hues of crimson and violet the only things adorning the black, cathedral-like building.
The air around him did not even stir as he stepped onto the land, though the snow around his feet melted rapidly from the great heat he emitted, something which even he could not suppress. It was something that gave him away before he would have preferred to be found; as one might have thought, he was usually the one who liked making the first move. But, I suppose it is her territory so that is impossible.
He moved toward the forest and sat against a nearby tree as he sensed a bundle of confused emotions suddenly stir, suddenly blaze with anger, with ire - he couldn't have expected any less, could he? - and it did not take long for her to come storming out of the dark building, looking around wildly for a moment, then finding her target leaned casually against a tree, eyes closed as if he were asleep.
He couldn't see her face under her hood, but judging by her height and the bit of violet hair that protruded from her hood, and her slightly greyish skin, he knew who she was.
"Raven," he muttered, voice a deep, low rumble. "I see you have grown since we last saw each other. You are almost your mother's height."
"Trigon," she hissed back, an aura of darkness flaring around her. "Leave."
He was silent for a while, sitting there, eyes still closed. He drew long, deep breaths and noted her shallow, flustered breathing - she was clearly agitated and he also noted that she didn't seem like the type of person who showed emotion easily. He wasn't, her mother wasn't, and she was, perhaps to an extreme, more than either of them.
"You did not think I would just leave because you told me to, did you?"
"No, I didn't," Raven growled. "But it now gives me an excuse to use force."
Darkness spread out rapidly, engulfing him, but then she found herself thrown back as he repelled it, seemingly effortlessly, just by raising his hand. And then he stood, facing her, and though Raven usually wasn't one to be intimidated by appearances, he did frighten her a bit.
A demon lord, he could change his size at will to a certain extent, but even naturally he was a couple heads taller than her, and though it was hard to tell beneath the dark, hooded robe that he wore, she knew that he was very well muscled, physically dozens of times stronger than any human could hope to be. But that alone would not have frightened her.
It was the eyes, the four glowing crimson eyes, but more than that, the aura that he gave off - raw heat, sheer power, pure darkness - no, not that either. She felt a bead of sweat run down her face and fought to keep herself from shaking.
It was the fact that her body, against her will, somehow seemed to be excited by the power he emitted. Of course, she knew that Trigon knew what she was feeling, but she had to keep up appearances.
"Power in itself is neither good nor evil on any terms. No, in fact, good and evil are merely terms the mortal mind uses to limit the scope of the vast universe to a smaller world which they can understand. This is why mortals fear power - it is beyond their understanding, and thus must be evil. It lies outside the scope of their imagination..."
"I know this," Raven hissed. "But senseless destruction is not the way-"
Trigon's eyes flew wide. "Senseless destruction? You have been around humans far too long, my daughter. Far, far too long."
Her eyes narrowed. Now I get it, Jinx. I wish I had seen it early, but I was blind. I was... a fool. But at least I get it now. We have to be above it. "You would not understand, being the demon you are-"
"As are you. Being a demon in itself is not bad either-"
"No, it's the traits that come with being a demon. Anger, rage, insanity-"
"Ah yes, and yet here I stand, a full demon, far calmer than you are right now, even with only half your blood that of demonkind-"
Raven gritted her teeth. "I don't have time to argue with you-"
"We have all the time in the world, daughter. I know just as well as you do that we are both ageless."
"The rest of the world isn't."
"Time flows differently here. Ah Raven," Trigon smirked very slightly. "Do you not even have time to spend a single hour in a thousand years to talk to your old man?"
She rolled her eyes. "As if you could ensnare me like that. I know your games, Trigon."
He sat back. "You never understood. Neither did your mother; I suppose I cannot blame you. I wish no harm on you-"
"You want to use me."
"I don't want anything from you. I am perfectly capable of doing everything I need to do by myself."
"Then why are you here?"
"I merely wished to speak to you-"
"Lies!"
He smirked again. "Now why would I lie to you?"
"To use me! You want my power for yourself!"
"For what reason?"
Raven's eyes flashed crimson. "How should I know? There could be a thousand reasons. Destroying an enemy demon lord, absorbing the powers that I have but you do not-"
Trigon laughed, a low, dark laugh. "You don't trust me and you don't intend to let me gain your trust."
"You murdered my mother."
Trigon looked away. "I did regret that, you know. I let my anger cloud my judgment-"
Raven hissed again. "Not a single sincere word out of your lips."
The demon lord faced her again, eyes glowing. "If you think me so evil, I would first have you tell me what 'evil' is."
"By all mortal standards-"
"You are evil as well."
Raven's teeth clenched together, mouth twisted in some sort of odd grimace. "By my standards-"
"Can you say that you are one hundred percent correct in your standards? Do you never doubt yourself? Can you say, definitively, that you know what is right for everyone and wrong for everyone?"
"What a loaded question. Of course I can't-"
"Then tell me, why do you think I am evil?"
Raven's eyes blazed crimson and she leapt at him, darkness flaring around her, but he caught both of her wrists before she could strike him and held her in place, still snarling, eyes glowing with power.
"There doesn't have to be a reason for everything!"
"True, sometimes instinct cannot be denied. There are many things beyond the grasp of reason. Though, I still cannot understand why you hate me so."
"You think I could feel anything for you besides loathing?"
She wrenched her wrists out of his grasp and took a couple steps back, still seething, but slightly calmer. The crimson faded from her eyes. She cast a frown as Trigon stepped forward, the snow melting away around his feet as he approached. Below him, the grass was a pale green, oddly not catching fire as she had thought it would when he passed over it.
"It is not senseless destruction," he said, watching her gaze carefully. "I do not destroy where I do not have to."
"You are dispelling the cold," Raven muttered a little unhappily. "And melting the snow."
Trigon smirked. Of course winter would be Raven's favorite season. "Spring is coming," he replied curtly. "Even I cannot change that."
Raven looked up at the forest above him, carefully at the tree branches, where tiny buds were beginning to break through the bark. She grimaced and turned away from him, disgruntled. Why does he not seem threatening at all? Why is he just standing there, talking to me? What is he up to?
"I'm not up to anything, like I said."
Raven turned back. "You're reading my mind."
"You're not bothering to hide your thoughts-"
"Quit playing with me!" She snarled back at him. "There's no way you'd come here just to have a nice, long talk with your daughter. That's just-"
"Not what demons do? How would you know? Do you know any other demons?"
"I-"
"I used to talk with your mother like this all the time-"
Raven's eyes flooded with crimson again. "Don't you dare mention her in front of me, you monster. You were the one who killed her-"
"Correction. She killed herself, trying to contain me-"
"You would have! The outcome was the same! You forced her! Don't even try to deny it."
"Ah my dear, ignorant daughter. How little you truly know."
Raven's eyes narrowed. "If you had regretted any of it, I would have sensed at least a little remorse from you. But there is nothing at all. You're just hollow."
"Perhaps I do not want you in my mind."
"And why would that be?"
Trigon's eyes flickered. He withdrew a little. "Would you like someone in your mind?" He countered.
"I don't block them out completely." Actually, I sort of did. Something I've gotta work on... "But you are. You're hiding something."
Trigon didn't reply. He merely withdrew into the shadows, as if to hide himself from her sight. Raven gritted her teeth and her powers flew forward, past the barrier he tried to stop them with, straight into his mind...
There was a confusing jumble of images; she saw fire, lots of fire, then fading, a mass of corpses, littering the ground, a solitary figure, looking coldly at them, then walking away, a much smaller, hooded person following behind him - herself?
She was thrown back and landed on the ground, trembling with the power surging up in her body. Trigon grimaced and looked darkly as a huge bolt of dark energy came at him. He dodged it, retaliating with his own fire, which missed its mark as well.
"I knew it," Raven growled, and four red eyes could be seen in the darkness beneath her hood. "You were going to use me."
"It was a possibility. Not necessarily definite."
"You've only given me another reason to not trust you. Leave."
"You're not giving me a chance to be trusted."
"Given our history, given all those you have betrayed, what makes you think I would trust you? All you are is a harbinger of destruction. I am nothing like you."
Darkness flared up again, missing, the fire that flew back also missing, and they traded blows back and forth, neither able to land a hit on the other. Raven hissed, and this time, black tendrils tore out of the ground toward the demon lord's body, latching onto his limbs, but he merely stood there, resisting their pulls, sending his own fire back down the length of the magic, nearly reaching Raven before she cut off her sorcery and took a step back.
"You're holding back. Or you've grown weaker..."
Trigon shook his head. "Rest assured, I have no qualms about killing you."
Crimson flame rained down from the sky, crashing against a dark barrier before reaching her body. She winced - it was like trying to hold off a rain of blows from a bear with just her bare arms, but somehow she managed to guard against the powerful flame and remain looking relatively calm at that.
"So much for wanting me on his side," she hissed. "If I'm not with him, I'm against him. Can't just let me live in peace."
"Demons are known to be possessive... and selfish. Are you any different?"
I... no. I'm not. Jinx... Raven closed her eyes. I was so selfish. I can't say that I'm any different from you. "But that doesn't make it a good thing," she growled, temper flaring up again.
Fire burst from beneath Trigon's feet, tearing through his body, but he merely chuckled and swept it away. "You won't be burning me with my own sorcery, daughter-"
He broke off as an elbow made contact with his nose and a knee rocketed up into his stomach; instinctively, he clenched up and guarded, blocking the force of her blows slightly so that he was only left with a red mark across his face and a throbbing pain in his abdomen. Growling, now clearly angered, he struck back, missed, then took a couple steps back as more fire rose out of the ground, obscuring his vision.
He felt something make contact with the back of his knee and barely reacted in time, bending his legs a little to absorb the impact of the blow, countering where he thought she should be, but meeting nothing but thin air. Clearly annoyed, he brought his hands together and dispelled the fire in a great wave of darkness, clearing the area and revealing that Raven was nowhere to be seen.
The demon grimaced and tried to sense her instead, knowing that she could hide in the darkness very well, but she could also hide her emotions and powers very well as well, it seemed, because he could not figure out where she was at all...
He spun around, only to meet a fist in his face and he staggered backward, vision filled with bright light. He felt the air shift as she drew near again and lashed out, feeling his claws graze her skin, and then shook his head, waiting for the world to come back in focus.
"I hadn't thought you would engage me in physical combat," he growled. "To most, that would be a death wish."
"The best attack is the one most unexpected," Raven replied smoothly, though he noted that she sounded a little hurt.
Scanning the darkness in the surrounding area carefully, he found that she was nowhere nearby. So she is hiding in the forest. "Seems that you still cannot fight me on even terms."
"Are you trying to goad me into coming out?" Raven's voice echoed everywhere, almost like the voice of the wind itself. "I will not be fooled by a demon's tongue, neither in taunting me nor when it tries to win me over with honeyed words."
"How little you understand," Trigon muttered. "I was not trying to win you over at all. I knew that Arella had already biased you against me."
"You were trying to manipulate me," Raven hissed. "And you know it too."
"Into doing what? Helping me? I hardly need your aid in anything. These petty mortals had lost the means to fight me long ago."
"You're after something. I said a few things earlier-"
"Such nonsense. I merely wished to speak to you. You were the one who decided to be combative."
Raven's eyes narrowed. "I asked you to leave. If you really only wanted to talk to me, you would have left peacefully."
"Such is not the nature of demons, dear daughter. You know it too. Would you have stopped at something you wanted, just because someone told you to?"
No... I wouldn't have... Every time, I ignored her and did whatever pleased me, whatever pleased my anger. I would have left those people to die, I killed all those men... I have been blinded by my anger so much and thus ignored the pleas and cries of everyone around me... Jinx...
But how could I admit such a thing... to him? There would be no end to his gloating. I just wish that I was not so prideful.
"That doesn't make it right."
"Pah, what is 'right' and 'wrong' in this world has no meaning. To each his own. Right and wrong depend on the individual; the universe's laws are beyond our grasp. If I feel that there is something I want, or something I must do, nothing will stop me. If I deem you mine," he growled harshly, "then I will stop at nothing to make you mine."
"So the true word comes out at last."
"It was hypothetical."
"Oh, really? You honestly expect me to believe that? After you said you had no qualms about killing me? Your logic is so inconsistent."
"I thought you were the one who disparaged reason."
"I said sometimes."
"Who is the inconsistent one now?" Trigon sneered. "Like father, like daughter, it seems."
"I am nothing like you! At least I don't go around murdering people I don't like!"
"Really now? I find that very hard to believe. The air is still filled with the smell of blood, and not your blood. No, there was a battle here, and recently. Much blood must have been shed, if I can still sense it now."
Raven gritted her teeth. "Are we just going to talk all day?"
The demon lord smirked. "Ah yes. Like mother, like daughter as well. Whenever she could not win an argument, she would change the subject. Face it, dear Raven, we really are not so different after all. Even your stubborn streak is very similar to mine-"
She fought down the anger boiling inside of her, willing herself to stay calm. "You just want me to be like you so you fail to see that I am my own person. If you cannot see that we are different, I have nothing more to say to you."
The coldness of her response startled him for a moment. Raven sensed his surprise and smiled very slightly; to her, it was a small victory in itself. Evidently, he had nothing to say back to her and judging from the anger on his face, the demon lord meant business now.
She tensed and withdrew further into the forest, clutching her side sometimes, where a shallow wound could be seen through the tear in her dark clothing. He followed unknowingly. Raven knew that he could not sense her, but he seemed to have a general idea of where she was at all times- hell, he seemed to have a general idea of what she was thinking and feeling. Perhaps he knows me better than I thought he did. The idea of that frightened her in itself.
She looked up at the familiar sight of the ravens staring down at her from their perches on the highest tree branches, and suddenly fear tore through her as it never had before, paralyzing her completely. Her eyes flew wide open, breath stuck in her throat, and as faint moonlight streamed through the tree branches, she caught sight of Trigon right below her, freezing in place like a small animal caught in a trap.
He smirked as he saw the fear on her face. "Not so confident now, are we?"
Fire rocketed toward her and she still did not move, eyes wide and frightened. Above her, the ravens cried out. They flew downward, eyes glowing various colors, blocking the blow and encircling the sorceress. Trigon frowned, attacking again, but the ravens easily fended off the blow, milling around Raven's body, their soft cries echoing through the air.
Raven... Raven... She looked away. Her face was a mixture of unrestrained emotion. She clenched her hands into fists, trembling, and summoned up her own powers. Stand aside! This is my fight!
The dark birds blocking her from Trigon's view suddenly flew up, revealing an intense beam of dark power aimed right for the demon lord's chest. It struck him full on, sending him into the ground with a terrible cry of pain, then split apart and chained his limbs to the ground, stopping his movements. She jumped down, clothes streaming about her like wings, giving her the appearance of a dark angel in the dim light. Moving over to the demon, she stared down at him coldly.
"After all these years, you still care about nothing but yourself."
"I did warn you that I would kill you without remorse."
Raven's eyes glimmered. "Just like you killed my mother. You don't regret a thing, do you? Are you truly incapable of saying anything but lies?"
Trigon was silent for a couple moments. And then he broke free of the bonds and rose up, grabbing Raven by the throat and forcing her back, slamming her into a tree. She felt something inside her break, but managed to keep silent, though the pain was evident in her eyes. She clenched her teeth together, tasting blood. The demon sneered at her.
"You fool. Had you kept your distance, I would have had no way of taking you down. Thinking I was caught was a big mistake."
He slammed her into the tree again and her face contorted; she coughed out a mouthful of blood, then cried out when he slammed her against the tree once more. She felt several more bones break, and sunk to the ground as he released her, closing her eyes. He listened to her labored breathing for a couple moments, then formed crimson fire between his hands. Instinctively, she blocked the blast with a shield as the ravens above her swooped downward.
There was a flash of mixed colors.
"Miserable creatures-" Trigon growled in pain as they swarmed around him, forcing him back, away from the wounded sorceress.
Raven's eyes opened again and darkness spread. She was granted another growl of pain - the demon lord retreated, not visibly wounded, though Raven sensed that he was in agony from the unexpected assault.
"Why did you try to kill me?" She whispered. "Just because you said that you wouldn't mind-"
"Because you have proven to be as worthless as the mortals who reside in this world," Trigon replied, voice a little strained.
Raven sat up as the birds flocked around her, healing the damage done to her body. "Just because I disagree with you..."
"Given the chance, you would kill me without a second thought."
The violet haired girl froze. I would. Wouldn't I? Isn't it only natural that he would eliminate me first, then? To preserve his own life... She shook her head. "Same to you. You already proved that when you killed Arella... and everyone else."
"They were practically begging to be killed. It was not unprovoked."
"Stop trying to justify it! Murder is murder. The outcome is the same, justified or not-"
"As you said, same to you."
She froze again, then bit her lip. That's true, isn't it? Those knights, the village that I abandoned, that man's parents... I'm not guiltless either. "But," she said softly. "At least I know when I make mistakes..." It's just... I have trouble admitting them. She closed her eyes. I'm sorry, Jinx. You were right... I'll try not to fall prey to my anger again...
"Who is this person you keep thinking about?"
Raven's eyes narrowed. "None of your business."
There was a dark chuckle from behind her and Raven turned, barely raising a shield in time to block the fire blast. From out of the flash of light, the massive figure emerged, walking toward her.
"You see, we seem to be at an impasse here. I cannot do any lasting harm to you, and neither you to me."
Raven's eyes widened. "So you're going to use her as a hostage. Or bait."
"Sharp girl."
Her eyes flashed crimson. "You wouldn't dare-"
"You really doubt that I would do that?"
"You think I'd let you do something like that?" Suddenly her eyes split into four and her voice turned into a demonic rasp.
She rushed forward at an impossible speed, tearing into the demon lord's body. And then he disappeared into a mass of black energy which separated into long chains, wrapping themselves around her wrists and ankles, digging deep into the ground and holding her in place. Her demonic features faded - she struggled to break free as the real Trigon approached her, still on guard, but with a victorious smile on his face.
"Falling prey to your anger. You criticize me for the same thing, but fail to solve that problem in yourself."
Raven squirmed around, but the chains of dark energy held firm, holding her successfully in place. Finally, she gave up and looked up, hatred etched on her face. Around her, the ravens began gathering again, eyes blazing crimson.
"Don't think this will be enough for you to kill me-"
"Oh, it's not, not here in your domain with your little birds to help you. Here you are nigh invincible."
Raven hissed, struggling again, desperately trying to break free of the chains as she saw him turn and leave. "No! Wait! Trigon, stop!"
Trigon turned back. "And who's going to stop me? You?"
"I swear-"
"Or perhaps you could join me in my endeavor, daughter, and make life simple for yourself."
"You wish." I would lose her either way, if I did that.
"Your funeral," he muttered darkly, and turned away again.
Raven looked at his retreating back for a few moments, then sat down with a heavy sigh, closing her eyes. And then opened them. Can't sit here idly now. Jinx is in danger. I have to go help her. Once I break free... the ravens began pecking at the chains, slowly chipping away at the magic. Please, be safe until I get there. Please be safe... please be safe...
The village had been left mostly unscathed - mostly thanks to her efforts - and so Jinx thought that she might at least deserve a little rest from journeying around Camelot and maybe spend the night in a proper bed for once. Of course, that meant not revealing that she had any unnatural powers...
There was something that felt innately wrong about hiding who she really was. It made her feel like a fugitive, a criminal hiding from the law, which she really was, since for some reason anyone with any weird powers was supposed to be a heretic, but... it's not like I mean anyone harm...
She shook her head. They wouldn't understand that. Maybe the kids would - they seemed to have a better sense of people - but the adults... they were too biased in their views to see past anything besides the fact that she was just different. She shook her head again. Might as well stop thinking. Just gotta relax a bit...
She looked up and found herself in front of an inn and walked inside, looking around.
It was mostly empty; people were still hiding because of the attack, she supposed, and most of them probably weren't sure that it was over yet. Hell, I'm not even sure it's over. That was just one demon... and a whole bunch of other dudes that he made, but yeah. I wonder how many there are... she suddenly felt scared. What if there's a whole army of them? Oh god, there'd be no way to fight them off. They'd destroy everything... she stared at her hands, feeling very weak. I wish I wasn't so useless. If only I was stronger, I could at least save these people. Even if they don't appreciate it. Ugh. Life would be so much easier if at least someone knew you were doing something good. Even if it's just a little.
I wish you were here, Raven...
"You look tired, lass."
Jinx looked up and realized she had been staring off into empty space. "Yeah. I could use a drink... or two."
The innkeeper looked at her oddly. "Aren't you a little young to be drinking?"
She shrugged. "Dunno. It's not like I have anyone to tell me not to do it."
"You don't have parents?"
She shook her head. "They, uh, died when I was young."
"Oh, you poor thing. Here, have a drink on the house," the man brought out a mug and filled it with ale, then set it in front of her.
She murmured her thanks and sipped at it, occasionally making eye contact with the man. When she finished, he filled her mug again and when she moved to get money to pay him, he refused and leaned in close.
"And this one's for saving our village," he whispered.
She froze. "You saw? Oh god. Please, please don't turn me in-"
He shook his head. "Relax, don't worry. I know that a lot of people don't like you sorceress folk, but around here, we don't judge like that."
It took her a moment to process the words and when she finally understood what he had said, she smiled, closing her eyes. "Thanks. You don't know how much it means-" she broke off, taking a deep breath. "It's just, helping people and them having them try to kill you..."
"I hear it's pretty rough."
Jinx nodded slowly. "It's awful. I mean, I was pretty lucky. My friend-" is she even still my friend? "- really got the worst of it. That's probably why she doesn't like people..."
"You have a friend? Well bring 'er in-"
The pink haired girl smiled sadly. "We had a fight," she sighed. "She probably hates me now, too."
"Oh-" the man broke off into awkward silence.
She realized that he was trying to find words to console her. "It's fine. It's not that bad."
"But you look terrible-"
"I just need to sleep, and I'll be fine. You got any open rooms?"
"There's one on the third floor, at the very far end of the hall, on the right. Here's the key."
"Thanks," she murmured. "How much?"
"You saved us," he repeated. "The least I can do is give you somewhere to sleep for a night."
"But-"
He raised an eyebrow and she grinned.
"Guess I'm just not used to being thanked. But thanks."
"Don't mention it."
Jinx smiled at him again and got up, ascending the stairs to the third floor. Down the hall, to the right, into a nice, cozy room with a small window that gave her a view of the village in the moonlight. She looked at the peaceful scene for a few minutes, then turned, undressing and pulling on a nightgown...
Suddenly she felt as if something was behind her and wheeled about sharply, heart beating quickly, but it was just the wind blowing through the open window. Frowning, she closed it and lay down on the bed, drawing the blankets about her. That's odd. I could've sworn that that felt like another demon... whatever. Must've been my imagination.
She closed her eyes, exhaustion winning out over instinct, and fell asleep quickly.
