4.
Unknown Location
Unknown Date
Unknown Time
With a splash, Cissie landed up to mid-calf in water among broken slabs of stone. Broken statues, pottery, furniture, and other items poked out of the surface of the still liquid. Nothing else made noise beside the group of teens who found their way into a flooded area of the temple. Light shone in through narrow rectangular openings where grass could be seen, meaning they were one floor below where they entered.
"Yeah, I don't think Raven's down here." Looking around with a flash light, Cissie tried to make out what she could in the darkened areas of the flooded hallway.
"Well, I can tell you one thing," Kyle said as he had a line of light shoot into the water. "This water, as stagnant as it should be considering how everything looks to be decades old, is still fresh. It's drinkable."
"How can water that old still be good? Shouldn't it be, like, holding bacteria or evaporated by now?"
"That's the weird thing. The stones should be eroding. Moss should be growing on them. It's like the water was just now put here. Plus, we're still not hungry or thirsty. It's just weird."
"So what do you think this place is?" Garfield asked.
"Hallway," Terra answered as Cissie hopped from broken statue to broken statue. "Maybe leading to an underground shrine? This place looks like it's been sealed off towards the end. Might as well go-"
"Agh!"
"Cissie!"
Landing on a piece of stone just under the water, Cissie barely had time to come to a stop when the object she landed on gave way, falling through the floor and creating a large hole where she fell through along with the water flooding the hall. The three remaining teens rushed to where the archer dropped from sight, all the while fighting to maintain their footing so as not to slip and fall with her.
"Cissie!" Flying above the rapid flowing water, Kyle created a green barrier around the rushing liquid and put a temporary stop to the flow. "Cis!"
Ready to dive out of the hole if he had to, Garfield was just about to morph into a falcon when he and the others saw a bolt from the blonde's crossbow embedded into the rock just under the hole. Some ten to fifteen feet down hung Cissie, both hands on the handle of her weapon as she looked up, a soaking wet mess.
"I am NOT falling in a circle again today!" Flipping a switch, Cissie zipped upwards as her line was reeled in. Once at the top, she was helped by Terra who brought her in the rest of the way then sealed the hole with the ground lying on the outside of the hole.
"Man, the floor's thin around here," Terra said as she finished pulling her fellow blonde up.
"Coulda fooled me," Cissie said.
Floors above the water treading teens, Raven sat beside a large window in the library. The windowsill was just wide enough to hold her as she sat with her knees drawn up to her chest. Her hood and cloak lay on a nearby table where a folded piece of parchment paper sat.
Floating just above the ground, the woman who found Raven landed beside the young girl. Holding out her hand, she gave the teen a saucer with a teacup sitting on top with a piping hot liquid inside.
"Chamomile tea with illumnous herbs. Calms the body and the spirit."
"Illumnous herbs?" Raven asked as she took the cup.
"A plant that only grows here. It must be harvested from the glowing vine growing throughout Azerath. It was your mother's favorite."
Lowering her tea, which had a creamy texture to it, Raven looked up at the woman who was now sitting across from her. "What happened? What happened to Azerath? I read in my books it was a paradise, but it's just, nothing."
Wiping her mouth with a cloth napkin, the woman placed her tea on her lap. "Azerath was beautiful. Words could not describe the living paradise that once existed. Upon the discovery of your mother, we sought to bring her here. We could feel she would have a daughter and knew she could bring an end to her father's will. We taught her in our ways, trained her in our majicks, and succeeded in calming her spirit to crave life, not death."
A smile spread on the woman's face as she looked at Raven. "The day you were born, you did not cry. You simply looked at the world around you with large, wondrous eyes and ignored everyone present, save for your mother. The first sound you made was when you were in her arms. Never had she looked so peaceful or proud as she did when she held you. But some good things must come to an end. Not all, but some."
"Trigon attacked you. Didn't he?" Raven asked.
"Yes. Shortly after your birth, he arrived in Azerath. We aided your mother in fleeing our temple, protecting her as well as we could, but he was too powerful. Man gave their lives, becoming martyrs as they sought to save you and your mother's life. We finally made it to this temple, our library and arts center, one of many. It was here where we found the spells to save you, sending you away so that you may survive to end Trigon's demonic reign."
Taking a sip of her still steaming tea, the woman went on. "We found a place beyond our realm, one with gods among men that we believed could hold their own against Trigon. With a pain filled heart, Angela agreed to let you go as she could not survive in such a world, no pure blooded Azrathean could. And the reason your mother could not follow was because of her connection to Trigon. He kept her here, making sure she could not escape him. It took all of her love to see you to Earth, knowing she would ever be with you again. And in those last moments, after she held you, the last of our people perished. Trigon had destroyed our home by possessing Azratheans to attack others, leaving what you see as the only part of Azerath, left me as the sole survivor. He claims he was being merciful."
Placing her tea on the windowsill, Raven moved to where the woman was sitting with her legs over the edge. "How did she die? You said she knew what I was doing and left me the books I have. And how is this place still existing?"
"Your mother, she watched you from a spell, one she created herself to watch over you. But it had a price. Majick takes personal energy, this spell and transporting the chosen books to you took a large amount of that energy. With her last breath, she made sure you had everything you may need to grow in your abilities. As for this library temple, it is frozen in time."
"How, how is that possible?"
"It is what happens when he enters a realm. Trigon not only controls people, he creates an area around him that steadily expands, creating a place where time does not exist. Everyone's life is determined by him. A person lives and dies according to his will. And yet, the strong are forced to serve him until he has become strong enough."
"Strong enough?" Jumping to her feet, Raven stood in front of the woman. "He's not strong?"
"It takes a great deal of energy for him to enter a realm. That is why he needs a herald, to supply the energy and give their life for him. Seeing as you're still alive, he failed in taking yours to fee him."
"Before we came here, before Trigon arrived on Earth, there was a man wielding a dagger that absorbed my spell. I tried to destroy it but it gathered everything I used and stabbed me. After that, Trigon appeared in the city."
"A false herald." Standing, the woman made her way to a nearby bookshelf and pulled a brown and gold tome from the top shelf and flipped it open. "Trigon needs the power of his offspring to successfully enter a realm. His sons have all given their lives to allow him to do so."
Running her fingers through the book's pages, the woman stopped on a passage. "There may be a way to stop him."
Pausing, the woman turned to look back at the young girl and developed a small smile. "But there's something else you will need if you are to stand against Tigon, my dear."
(-)
"Remember to check the corners." Rounding a set of stairs, Kyle reminded Cissie, who had her crossbow leading the way with a slasher in her other hand. The other half of her longbow was sheathed in her quiver.
Guarding the rear of the group, the young Green Lantern had his ring trained like a rifle held downward as he made his way up the steps. Since leaving the flooded hallway downstairs, the group had picked the opening farthest from the temple's entrance. This one was not as bad as it seemed. Torn tapestries decorated the walls between long vertical windows with overly melted candles bleeding over their holders to create a wax mess on the floor.
"Remember, if you see a well dressed, pale skinned man, shoot him in the heart, Cis," Terra whispered.
"Oh yeah, I just bet the blood sucker's waiting around a corner for fresh teenage blood," Cissie told her. "We're at the top."
Leaving the spiral set of stone stairs, the teenagers entered a large hallway stretching left and right. Large windows let in the outdoor light and broken furniture littered the corridor. Ivory white chandeliers hung from the ceiling, useless as the candles they once held were burned out some time ago. However; the plant from outside had made it's way to the second floor of the temple, giving the group the idea it would be the only source of light after dark within the building.
"Looks like the maid's been on an extended vacation." Running his hand along a table, Garfield picked up a thick layer of dust. "Stuff's like dirt from how long its been covered."
"Hey, door open." Alerting the others, Cissie holstered her crossbow and drew the second slasher from her quiver. Meeting the ends of the dual wield weapons, she pressed a switch to activate the automatic re-string feature, then snapped them into place where they would form her longbow once again. The entire process took only a second with how much she had practiced the procedure.
"Kyle, take point," Garfield ordered. "Cissie, take position on the other side of the hallway to give him cover if he needs it. Terra, stay here and be ready to make a distraction while I take position above the door for an ambush."
Taking their assigned positions, the team quickly got ready to move into the open room.
With his back to the wall, Kyle donned his Green Lantern attire and turned back to see if the others were ready. Terra was kneeling beside the wall a few yards from him with her bicep curled while making a fist. She had several busted bricks ready to go and if necessary, have the ceiling collapse, since it was made of stone. Cissie had already re-donned her mask and took aim at the door with two arrows held against her bow and one pulled back. Looking up, the young Lantern saw Beast Boy in the form of a lizard, ready to drop down for an ambush.
Attaching his lantern battery to his belt, Kyle charged his ring up to deliver a shot with his other hand counting down to five. As the others got ready, Lantern had his ring glow a bit brighter then spun around the corner of the door, ready to fire a barrage of energy blasts when his jaw dropped and he lowered his arm.
"It's Raven!" he exclaimed as he ran into the room.
"Raven?" Dropping her stones, Terra ran after Lantern with Arrowette between them. Beast Boy had already morphed back into his human-like self and flipped off the wall after the two girls.
Looking up from the large table her cloak lay on, Raven was surprised to see her friends rush up to her and quickly moved the book she was reading to the side. "Garfield? Cissie? What are you-"
"We've been looking for you," Terra told her.
"What happened?" Kyle asked as he depowered. "I had you in a small crevice while we fought a dragon and-"
"A dragon?" Raven asked.
"Some sort of, shadow, unkillable, yet squish-able dragon."
"Where did you go?" Arrowette asked as she removed her mask.
"I woke up here, with a woman and," turning back, Raven looked around to find she was alone. "Wait, where is she?"
"Where's who?" Garfield asked.
"The, the woman who was right here. She was sitting beside me showing me something about Trigon and you came in, then-"
"Wait, what's that on your head?" Terra asked.
"My...head?"
Looking at what Terra indicated, the others tried to make out something on the girl's forehead. Sparkling a bright red, like a ruby, the object was in the shape of a four pointed diamond. Reaching up, Raven ran her finger tips over the small foreign object on her head. Moving away from the others, she swiftly made her way to a nearby window and used the reflection to see what they were all looking at. Sure enough, she saw the red diamond object sitting in the middle of her forehead, matching the one the woman from earlier wore.