Death and Taxes
by Concolor44
. . .
. . .
. . .
Author's Note: Yes, I'm back. Not even dead or anything. Life's just been weird, plus I've been on a "Frozen" kick, as most of you know. But the other day my Muse gave me a really cute little Rae/Jinx story, so I went ahead and wrote it. It ties in nicely with this one, so I simply had to finish it (as I've been promising since forever). Ergo, without further ado, here is the penultimate chapter of "Death and Taxes". The next and last one is practically writing itself even now.
. . .
. . .
. . .
Chapter Four
. . .
. . .
. . .
The Eighth Circle
Raven scanned the long piece of parchment. "An impressive list, Glitch."
"Thank you, Dread Lady."
"Mark, please, that I didn't say I liked it. Just that it seems quite comprehensive." She pointed to one item. "When is this meeting supposed to happen?"
"Whenever it is convenient for you, Dread Lady."
"So these are Hell's elite, then."
"Indeed, Dread Lady, most of them."
"Most? Does that mean we're missing some?"
"Ah … well, Duchess Pugsive is currently bound in a mystic jewel and being forced to aid a sorcerer in one of the alternate planes. Count Krrretch and Count Rippempart made an unfortunate wager and are imprisoned in a tome of eldritch poisons until a forty-year-old human virgin touches the book with bare skin …"
"They'll be there a while," muttered Cyborg.
"Hrumph. Baroness Aylmunt had an unfortunate encounter with an archangel and got banished. Not sure when she'll be back. Countess-"
Raven held up a hand. "I get the idea. So everyone with an asterisk beside her or his name isn't available for comment."
"Not at this time, no. Sorry."
"We'll get by."
Terra jumped in with, "Those are cool names. Do all demons have cool names?"
Glitch pretended she wasn't there. Raven nudged him with her elbow. He gave a long-suffering sigh and answered, "No, not all demons have names. Most, in fact, do not. A name has to be earned. Nameless imps, devils, fiends, daemons, gremlins, goblins and what not are all basically interchangeable, and frankly not worth a damn."
Giving Raven a significant look, Terra pointed out that the president of her fan club had a name.
"Succubi," responded Glitch sourly, "and incubi for that matter, are an exception. They require names for their work."
"Fine. Great." Raven had a different agenda. "Let's go ahead and get this meeting out of the way. I need to know what all these … my, uh, subjects look like."
"Very good, Dread Lady. Would you prefer to use your palace, or create a new venue?"
Her ears perked up. "Palace?"
"Of course. Everything your progenitor owned is now yours."
"Heh. Sure. Let's go see this palace. I'm curious as to what dear ol' Dad thought royal grandeur should look like."
In just a shade more time than it takes to tell, the small company stood in front of a truly gargantuan construction.
Victor whistled. Terra reached over and closed Gar's mouth for him. Starfire flew up … and up … and up … and eventually got to the … roof? She pulled out her Titan communicator. "Robin?" She wasn't sure the electronics would work here – and maybe they wouldn't out of line of sight – but Robin picked up in seconds. "Yeah, Star? What do you see?"
"There is a … well … it is a … city."
"Say again?"
"Someone – possibly the Trigon – has erected what appears to be a small city on top of this, um, palace. No really tall buildings that I can see, but it covers … several square kilometers I would think."
Raven shrugged. "The place certainly looks big enough for one." Turning to Glitch, she asked, "What's with the city?"
"Servants' quarters."
She fought down a smirk. "Servants' quarters?"
"Yes, Dread Lady."
"On top of the palace."
"One of his few rather practical ideas. They would act as a first line of defense – or at least a sort of cushion – in case of an aerial attack. Not shock troops, as the saying goes, but-"
"I get it." She mused a bit on what sort of attack Trigon could possibly have worried about. Maybe one of the other Circles? Gesturing toward the colossal main doors, she asked, "You know your way around in there?"
"Absolutely! I wouldn't be much help to the sovereign if I got lost in his palace, now would I?"
"A valid point." She floated up to the doors, shortly accompanied by Starfire, which opened at her approach. "Huh. Guess it recognizes me."
Glitch was right there at her elbow. "Again, Dread Lady, everything that was his is now yours. That includes all the spells and perks, cantrips and conditions that go along with being … well, you."
Nipping up the rest of her group and carrying them inside with her, she stopped several meters past the doors and looked around. "Okay. Now I get it."
Richard nodded. "Yep. Makes sense when you think about it."
Victor's human eye widened. "Of course!"
Star and Terra and Gar all looked at each other. The shape-shifter cleared his throat. "What's 'of course'?"
"The palace is huge because Trigon was huge. Remember?"
Gar smacked his forehead as the two girls got 'Oh, that's right!' expressions. "Yeah! He was using an office building as a chair!"
"So, Glitch. May I assume that my sire maintained his rather impressive bulk while here?"
"That would be true, Dread Lady."
"Well, then. I suppose all the rooms are going to be some forty or fifty times as large as I need them to be."
"If that is your wish."
She gave him a narrow stare at that statement, and almost asked him what he meant by it, but filed it away for later. There was a lot to learn. "Tell you what. Why don't you show us to the throne room and then round up the troops. As soon as you've got everyone ready, bring 'em in and we'll get this meeting started. And hopefully, very soon concluded."
"As you wish, Dread Lady." He conducted them through six or seven kilometers of hallways and torture booths and exhibition rooms (the contents of some causing the Titans to lose what little remained of their appetites) and finally came into a truly awe-inspiring chamber. The vaulted ceiling stretched up almost out of sight. Columns of living fire made a picket down each side, and the floor was a terrazzo of bones in black hellstone. At the far (far … FAR) end stood Trigon's throne, easily visible despite the distance. Raven whisked them down the great room and stopped in front of it. They all stared. Cyborg adjusted a few sensors in his left arm and then asked, haltingly, "Is that … a ruby?"
"That's what it looks like," answered Raven. Catching Glitch's eye, she passed on the question.
"Yes. Carved from a single ruby, the largest such stone in all the dimensions Trigon was aware of."
"He certainly didn't skimp on the shock value."
"No, Dread Lady."
"Not very practical for me, though. I'll look like a flea on a saddle."
"Only if that is your wish, Dread Lady."
"There you go again. Just what exactly do you mean by that?"
"You are in control of the Eighth Circle. That extends to the size or shape or composition of any portion of it."
"… Huh." She thought that over, then held out a hand toward the throne. It quickly shrank to a more manageable size. With a grin, she seated herself. "Okay! Let's get this show on the road."
"Very good, Dread Lady." He vanished.
"Damn, Rae!" said Terra. She started a measured applause, and the rest of the Titans joined in.
Nightwing walked up to the new Queen of Hell, a bemused grin on his face. "Wow. And I thought you were powerful before."
"I think it's just this place. Well, that, and the way things work in the infernal realms. I seriously doubt this level of control will be … available to … to me … back …" She shook her head. Shook it again. "What is that sound?"
The rest of the Titans looked at each other. As far as they could tell, their voices had been the only sounds since they arrived. Nightwing asked, "What's it sound like?"
Raven wasn't paying attention to him. "... music … so … beautiful …"
Terra moved up to the throne. "Rae? You okay?" She tried to lay a hand on the half-demon's arm, but something repulsed her attempt. "Whoa! Hey, 'Wing, somethin's wrong!"
Whatever the mystic field was, it was getting bigger. They found themselves pushed away. Ten paces.
Twenty.
Farther.
Now they could all feel a subsonic rumbling in the floor. Raven's throne began to glow, a soft, pulsating luminescence that reflected off the nearer walls.
Starfire flew up to try to get above the throne, but apparently the force field went all the way to the ceiling. A haze came into being, rippling and swirling, and hot winds blew around the colossal room. The alien princess was forced to land. The Titans withdrew another fifty meters or so.
"Richard, what can we do? What is happening to Raven?"
A good question. By now they could barely see her through the brilliant mist around her. Now it was shot through with streaks and explosions of vibrant colors: green and yellow and blue and red and …
Nightwing's grip tightened on Starfire's hand. "Star … I think those are her Emotions."
In less than a minute the light show had become so intense that none of them could bear to keep their eyes open. Cyborg recorded it on his remote sensors, but a later examination showed that the photo-cell had simply overloaded.
The rumbling under their feet grew stronger, the deep thrumming forcing them to hands and knees (except for Starfire, who hovered just above them, scanning every direction for some enemy to fight). Each of the fiery columns in the long rows that ran the length of the room began spinning in place, pulsing in time with the light from the throne and roaring like blast furnaces.
There was a long, shattering scream, louder by far than everything else they'd experienced … and then it all just … stopped.
Gar blinked and shot a glance toward the throne, which glinted and sparked as if under a hundred floodlights. Raven stood right in front of it.
Her cloak was white.
"Yo. Hey, 'Wing. Look."
The five heroes wasted no time in joining their resident magic-user, but once near her, none of them could think of anything to say.
She was glowing with a steady, livid light. When she opened her eyes, they shone with even greater intensity. Mumbling something under her breath that none of the others could make out, she slowly raised her arms up, hands spread wide.
Lightning jumped from her fingertips to the walls and ceiling. The others took a long jump back. And then Raven laughed.
It wasn't the muted chuckle she would sometimes let slip over one of Gar's jokes. It wasn't the simple smirk she tried to suppress when they'd clean some super-criminal's clock for him. It wasn't the quiet, contented giggle that she'd let loose on two occasions when dangling her toes in the water off their dock. No. This laugh was long and loud and relieved and as full of life as anything they'd ever heard.
Starfire flew up and floated in front of her. "Dear Raven … are you the okay?"
To everyone's utter astonishment, Raven leaped forward and grabbed the startled alien in a tight hug, spinning the two of them around and around in the air. Then she released her and took a few long, swooping turns around the room, finally coming to ground in front of the group. Her smile was wide and genuine and gleeful. "This is so freakin' cool!"
Nightwing stepped forward a pace. "I'd say you are okay, then … yes?"
"Yes! Oh, YES! So much … so full." She hugged herself and laughed again. Her friends traded bemused grins.
Zipping back over to the throne, Raven studied it briefly, then altered its shape to a more comfortable, form-fitting style, and sat. She gestured them all closer. Five similar chairs appeared and she invited them all to have a seat.
"Raven," said Gar, "what happened?"
"Completeness, that's what. My sundered Emotions are no longer separate. I'm … whole. Whole again." Her next laugh was bright, crisp, and filled with so much promise.
"… Did the throne do it?"
"I think the throne was a catalyst. Glitch said that everything in this plane basically belonged to me and was mine to do with as I wished. Apparently that applied as well to my Emotions. I've wanted them rejoined ever since I kicked dear ol' Dad's scaly red arse. I didn't know how to do it myself, and he destroyed Azarath so I couldn't very well ask the monks." She patted the arm of the throne. "So, yeah. You could say that. Really, it only unlocked what I already had."
"So … you're even more powerful now?"
"Bet on it, Green Bean."
Her turn of phrase made Terra grin. "You can access all your Emotions now!"
"Access, hell! I'm freakin' bathing in 'em!"
Glitch took that juncture to make his reappearance. "Dread Lady, I have assembled … my word." He squinted at her, drew back in shock, and said, "You've already achieved Unity!"
"That's a good word for it. Thanks!"
"Ah … we were planning to have the investment ceremony after the meeting. We wanted to prepare you … but you have already … and you seem perfectly whole … are you quite certain that you are unharmed?
"I'm just about as unharmed as it's possible for a sentient being to be."
"Most astounding. In terms of power, it would seem, you truly are your father's daughter."
"That's our Raven!" said Terra.
Raven crossed her legs and grinned at Glitch. "Bring 'em all in. You said before that Trigon liked to make changes. Well, Bub, I've got a few I want to make.
. . .
. . .
. . .
Author's Note: Heh. Armed and dangerous.
Reviews = Love!