Disclaimer: I know I forget about this damn thing constantly, but I own no part of the Teen Titans or any other DC character or concept. The only thing of this story that belongs to me is my own characters, the plot, and the world I established.
Chapter III: The Ghost of You
Within a hall with black marble floors and stark white walls reaching up to the high ceiling, was a young girl, appearing to be around the age of seven. She was happily walking along, the opium flowers in her hands bouncing with every step she took. The girl nearly tripped, causing her white hair to spill over her face before she pushed it away, continuing her aimless journey through the house she lived in. Turning the corner, she came to find that there were only two ways to go. She was familiar with the left, knowing that it was the way to the dining room and other parts of the house that she frequented. Then there was the left, which she had been advised by her mother to never go towards that end of their home. She looked down the hallway in curiosity, the overwhelming yearning to find out what lie hidden in the mysterious hall. Against her better judgment, she quickly began to walk down the hallway, looking around constantly to make sure that no one would see her. Throughout the hall, all she really found was locked doors and the occasional potted plant on a black wooden stand. Then, she saw a shadowy figure that acted as the personal staff of the house walk out of a room. She quickly ducked behind a stand, hiding from the servant as they walked out of one of the rooms, leaving the door slightly ajar. As the servant walked away, she quickly tiptoed over to the door, pushing it open before she closed it behind her.
Once she turned around, she found an entirely white room. It almost seemed like nothing was inside of it all excluding a jet black curtain that hung from the ceiling, hiding a section of the room form the girl. Once again, curiosity gripped her, causing her to approach the fabric and slowly pushing it to the side to see what it was hiding. The light seemed to be near nonexistent behind the curtain, but the girl could still make out what appeared to be silver bars. "Hello?" she said, thinking there was some kind of animal that her mother was hiding from her as a gift.
For a second, she didn't get any answer from whatever was inside of the cage, not even a growl or whimper that could come from a creature. She tried again, repeating the same word in a soft whisper, but still there was no immediate response. Then, what the young girl thought was the black floor of the cage begun to move, revealing to be a mere cover. As it continued to shift, the girl saw a shape that appeared to be human raise itself to a sitting position, long black hair hanging from their head that had previously covered the dark blue pillows that rested on the floor of the cage. The person's hair moved away from their face, revealing their feminine appearance that looked similar to the girl's. The white haired gasped, seeing how much the girl in the caged looked liked her. Her childish mind thought it was a trick of a mirror before the girl inside of the cage wrapped her pale fingers around the silver bars.
Working up the courage, she finally tried speaking to the girl, "hello" she said. The girl remained silent for a few moments, yet, eventually she recuperated the greeting in a whisper. "my name is Jezebel, but I like Belle better, what's your name?" the girl asked, a bright smile on her face as she looked at the girl with a wide smile on her face.
The girl looked at Jezebel with a look of confusion, "Name?" she softly questioned, "I don't think I have one, does darling count?" she asked.
"No silly" Belle replied, "I mean a real name, like mine" she said, only get a shake of the girl's head in return, "that's weird, everyone has the name" she said, thinking to herself, "I know, how about I call you Pandora, that's a pretty name right?" she asked, to which the girl responded to with a shrug of her shoulders. Then, the girl looked behind her as she heard her named being called by one of the servants, "I'm sorry" she stated sadly, "I need to go, but I'll come back as soon as I can, okay?" she said in a questioning manner, a question that was answered by another shrug. "I'll be back, I promise" the girl yelled before running out of the room, shutting the door behind her, leaving the other girl in the dark.
XXX
With Jezebel leading the two sorceresses, they were soon taken to a large building erected completely of stone, the edifice stood tall, reaching as high as a standard church would, with gargoyles sitting at the edges, their faces sculpted into horrific grins. As the women walked towards the building, the occasional flying beast could be seen landing in a grassy field behind it, walking into a stable when the person on the back of the creature would leave it. Upon entering it, Raven was met with the sight of different sorts of people walking around the large building, seeing warriors in bulky armor with intimidating blades and blunt weapons strapped to their waist or back, as well as cloaked men and women, some with staffs that proved them to be a mage of some sort or other.
Upon further observation, it became apparent that the large room was a business, with people trading some sort of gold currency amongst each other, "What is this place?" Raven asked, finding it very curious, watching some people yelling to speak to their associates over the bustling noise.
"This is where people go to so that they can either enter into the coliseum, or to watch the fights that go on in them" she said, looking at the woman as she moved forward to a horned woman behind a desk, speaking to her briefly before she returned with three slips of paper, "there, and now we are actually going to go see the fights" she stated.
At this, Jinx interrupted, looking at the woman as she stopped her, "wait… how is going to watch some sort of fight going to help us find your sister?" she asked, hoping that the reason wasn't what she thought it was, even though she was sure it was.
"because, she's participating in it" Jezebel stated, moving past the woman as she walked back outside, seeming to appear slightly saddened by admitting such a thing, letting out a sigh, looking towards the two while her cloak melted into her black wings. "We are going to fly straight up, that's where the coliseum is" she said.
Raven looked into the sky, seeing only slightly dark clouds, "what do you mean its straight up, there are only clouds?" she asked, looking at her lover with a confused stare, waiting for her to explain further, which the woman didn't as she flapped her wings, flying straight up and taking off towards a large accumulation of clouds a bit to the distance of the other ones. With a sigh, the hero looked towards Jinx, picking her up by the waist before she floated after the woman, following her in order to see what she was talking about. After several moments, the hero noticed that the gathering of Vapors seemed to be completely unmoving, other masses of the gasses even moving around it. Then, following the winged woman's lead, the two sorceresses flew through it, their vision being over taken with nothing but the dull grey smoke before it cleared.
Like an eye of the storm, the clouds parted, allowing all three women to see again. Their reclaimed sight gave them the clear view of massive structures that were only a short distance to them. There were a multitude of the structures, floating in a circular pattern over the largest. As they ascended, it became apparent that these floating massive of stone were buildings, ones made of smooth, tan stone that formed into long stands that held cheering people who were looking down at the largest of the suspended structures. It was a long, wide platform, a slightly deformed battle ground that housed near nothing excluding a few weapons that were imbedded into its surface, most likely from battle.
"What… is this place?" Jinx asked, looking around at the area, being put onto one of the stands surfaces that Raven landed on after Jezebel had landed. "I mean, this is… well… it's amazing" she said, looking around.
"This, this is our coliseum" she answered, looking down as the slips of paper in her hand lit on fire, burning away to show that the purchaser had arrived. "Where warriors and mages, and anything in between come here to wage battle, either on each other, or a creature, single handedly or in groups" she said, looking at all the damage that the arena had suffered from the previous carnage wreaked upon it. "As you can probably imagine… I don't exactly come here often, mainly… because I don't enjoy the carnage here as others do"
This is where Raven moved forward, looking around as she took in all that she was seeing, "I see" she said, looking at all the people in the stands circling the arena, all anticipating what was to come next, "so, your sister participates in this, I can't imagine why, she seems so calm and collected" she said, excluding those few times when she saw the woman angry.
Jezebel was silent, not answering her lover as she moved to sit down, "this... place is where warriors come to prove their mettle, or… to settle scores with other ones" she stated, "and given my sister's current… state of mind, lots of people have scores to settle with her" she said, looking around before Raven witnessed a change in the arena.
Towards the center of the massive space, two dark portals opened up, each across from each other, separated by a slightly outlined circle, to Raven's left, a large, hand came out of the portal, leading to the rest of the body which was soon to be revealed as a large, muscular male, a horned, golden helmet on his head, leaving his face completely covered, though his chest was not the same, instead, it was bare, the tattoos of warriors waging war marked on his back until the rest was hidden by the slight cloak that hung off his waist, leading to the thick greaves on his legs. He then let out a roar, raising her large sword, ablaze with searing flames. This action seemed to make the crowd cheer in approval, the air filled with their cries of excitement. On the other side of a circle, a woman raised from the ground, her black hair covering her shoulders as she stood, still, chains covering her body while she breathed softly.
Her appearance caused Raven to not recognize the woman at first, but both Jinx's reaction of leaning forward more, and the threatening axe in the woman's hand soon made Raven realize who it was, the odd girl she came to know as Pandora, her lover's sister. Her arrival seemed to make the crowd make less than joyous responses as the man had received, most sitting in silence while some let out gasps, making it clear that there was no true order that was given to anyone about who was going to be fighting.
The air itself seem to still around Raven, brought upon by the silence throughout the once enthusiastic crowd, that now waited for one of the two warriors to take action. It was then that the male warrior let out a long cry, announcing that he would have the woman's head before he started dashing towards the woman, both hands on his blade while he let out a mighty cry. Though the man was now rushing towards Pandora, Raven noted that she still made no attempt at a movement, not even so much as a glance in the direction of her attacker. It was then that he thrust his blade forward, the tip going to the woman's stomach.
Only then did the woman move, though it was only to the side, moving away from the blade that near skewered her. Now, with a slight tear and a small amount of blood leaking from her side, The woman then looked towards the man, the axe in her hands making a swift strike for him, which he managed to avoid with a minor cut to his shoulder, making him growl before he came at her. Then came a few moments of the man making horizontal slashes of the woman, most of which were avoided. Though, Raven noticed that the woman was fighting with the speed she showed during the few fights she had with her. Because before, the woman was tactful and precise with her movements, but now, she was lazily moving at best, allowing the man's blade to cut into her.
It wasn't till the blade made a significant gash that she seemed to wake up from whatever trance like state she was in. Then the scene before the Titan turned violent, starting with Pandora slamming the blunt end of the axe into his unprotected stomach, causing the man to lurch forward in pain. In this time frame, she dropped her axe, grabbing the chain connecting to it before she leapt over the man, letting the chain rest against his shoulder before she whipped it, making it wrap around his neck before pulled back harshly. It didn't take long for Raven to realize that the woman's intent was to strangle the man. She, along with the rest of the crowed then watched as the chained woman looked at the back of his head, her hand forming into her signature icy talons, plunging them into his back.
Raven watched this, seeing the look of horror on Jinx's face, and then the look of sorrow on Belle's. Her attention was then brought back to the man as he let out a loud grunt, being lifted to the air with the talons still firmly into his back, tearing his flesh slightly as blood began to seep from his mouth. Within seconds, he was thrown off the woman's claws, soaring though the air before Pandora pulled back on the chain, resulting in a strangled grunt, followed by a snapping noise. Then, it was over; the man was dead on the floor while the chained woman came towards him, pulling her chain from his neck before she began to walk away again. The crowd then exploded in cheers, deafening the violet haired woman while she watched Pandora pick up the horrific axe. Raven looked straight at the woman, Unsure of what to do at what she just witnessed.
Questions aroused in her mind as she watched the woman move towards the dark, water like portal that opened up exactly where she had risen from, allowing her to suddenly disappear, leaving the body of the man that was soon engulfed in the same portal, leaving the his blood as the only proof that he died in the arena. Raven then turned towards the white haired woman, wanting to ask questions about what she just witnessed. Though Jinx had managed to ask before the violet haired woman had managed to open her mouth. "W-What did we just witness?" she asked, the question seeming to make the woman tense up.
"A battle, I thought this was obvious" she answered, looking around as the crowd still cheered at the bloodshed they witnessed. "I told you that that was the reason this place existed" she added, looking towards the pink haired woman.
"Yes… but… she killed him" Raven stated, still looking at the blood, just as stricken with confusion as Jinx, though she didn't appear to be as shocked.
She didn't respond to Raven at first, merely sighing before she looked at the woman. "Yes… that happens here a lot" she said, "here in the arena, you fight until your opponent can no longer fight, this doesn't mean you have to kill them, but it is expected that one would kill their enemies" she said, "and I'm telling you this… because if you want to manage to get to my sister, then we need to join in on the fighting as well" she stated, looking at the women
Jinx was the first to respond to this, "Wait… why?" she questioned, looking at Jezebel with a glare, "I don't want to fight for the purposes of entertaining others" she stated angrily.
"I understand that, but this is the only way to get in, and we don't have time to argue about this, because if we don't join into the fights soon, then we won't be qualified to join the full blown competition" she stated, looking at Raven and Jinx both. "If you don't join, then you won't be able to get close to her"
Raven looked at her lover, gauging her expression, which still showed a profound sorrow, and now a tinge of anger at the thought of joining the competition. She then looked towards Jinx, who was biting her nail in irritation as she looked at the field, watching two more warriors arrive on it before they started to battle with each other as well. "Jinx, she's your friend, you can decide what its worth to save her" Raven stated, knowing she couldn't decide what to do for the woman.
After a few minutes, Jinx turned towards Raven, letting out a long sigh before she nodded, "alright… if we must, then lets join this… horrific game" she stated, looking at Jezebel, who nodded, though her expression didn't hold any amount of emotion other than displeasure. "Fine, then come with me" she said, her wings forming again before she flew off towards one of the larger structures, the building seeming more like a temple than anything else, leaving Raven to pick up Jinx to follow the woman so that they may join in on the blood sport that went on in the arena.
A/N: Well, another short chapter pushed out (shorter than my usual work anyway) and I am sorry that I took so long with this, I honestly stopped for so long that I thought that I was going to abandon it. Though, a few days ago, I was looking at my old work and found this, and I saw in my head what I wanted to do, and started writing. Though I will make no promises, I hope that I will write more, though I recently got a job (my fist one ever) so, I am not sure if I will have as much free time as usual. By the by, I have been working on my fight scenes, trying to improve them due to them being my weak points. So any criticism to them would be appreciated.