Hope you like this chapter. After this, there are only two more chapters with the team in the cult, in case you're getting tired of it. I could use some ideas for both missions and fluff for the team, to be honest I'm running out of inspiration for them. But I'm determined to make it to the end of the story, it just might take a little longer than I thought. I will be doing a chapter on the Lantern Corps, that will probably be in year four. Also, updates might not be as regular because I'm starting college and I need to figure things out, but I don't want to abandon this fic, so I'll figure it out. Enjoy, and PLEASE REVIEW! I can't tell you how much your reviews mean to me!
That night, the four teens trudged into the dormitory where they and two hundred other people slept. They pulled off their shoes and robes and laid on their bunks, keeping their masks on. They updated the team in the bioship of what they had learned, and had just settled in to get a few hours sleep when the door opened and Cas walked straight to Mallory's bunk and shook her shoulder.
"Havu, wake up, sister," he said. Mallory looked at him and he pulled her to her feet. "Kobra has asked to see you. Hurry, sister, we mustn't keep him waiting!"
Mallory pulled on her robe and sighed. "Oh, Heaven FORBID we keep him waiting," she said sarcastically.
Wally let out a snort that he covered as a snore and replied, "have fun."
"Be careful," Robin cautioned her.
"Yeah, no kidding," she said as she left the room.
Cas brought her further down in the catacombs than she'd ever been before and through several doors before knocking on one.
"Enter," Kobra said from within. Cas opened the door and ushered Mallory in. "Ah, Havu. Come in."
Cas stood by the door, and Malory took a few steps towards the man, who was sitting on an elevated chair.
"I trust that you've humbled yourself," Kobra said.
Mallory ducked her head and said, "Yes, great Kobra. I am ready to do anything for your cause." What she was ready for was to leave the cult and go home, but she kept her growing frustrations to herself.
Kobra smiled. "Good. As you know, I have chosen you for a special purpose. What I didn't tell you is what that purpose is."
Mallory looked at him, focusing on keeping her face blank as she waited for him to get to the point.
"I have my plans to take my rightful place as this world's ruler finished. All I am lacking is one small piece to the puzzle, a partner to help me conquer and rule beside me."
Mallory's stomach churned as she waited for Kobra to continue.
"I have selected the one I want, the Egyptian goddess Wadjet. I will need a body for her to possess, and you have shown characteristics that match her personality. I have chosen you to provide the body."
A stab of fear mingled with the relief that he didn't want her as a bride. "If I may ask, how will she take control of my body?" Mallory asked carefully.
"I have a ritual that will awaken her and call her to your body."
Mallory took a breath, then said, "I will do anything, great Kobra. I look forward to uniting you with your bride."
"You will be brought to a chamber to prepare for the ritual."
Mallory nodded. "How long do I have?" she asked, still careful of her tone.
"Caspian will tell me when he thinks you are ready."
Kobra walked away and Cas ushered Mallory back out the door. "Well, sister, I told you Kobra would like your spirit," he said happily.
Mallory mustered a smile, but her mind was spinning. "Guys?" she said.
"What is it?" Megan asked.
"We need to think about leaving soon. Kobra wants a goddess to possess my body, and I'm not too crazy about being pushed out."
"That's his big plan?" Robin asked.
"Well, it's part of it. He said he's done with his plan, and this is the last piece of it."
"Can you get away easily?" Artemis asked.
Mallory glanced at Cas. "No, not easily. I'm going to be under constant guard and Cas is going to be with me, getting me ready to be possessed."
"Well, you would need to stay anyway," Robin told her.
"Why?" she asked with surprise and irritation.
"Because we don't know the whole plan. If you leave, they'll just get another girl to take your place. You need to stay and find a way to stop the plan. In the meantime I'll keep looking for the plans so we can shut this cult down for good."
"Thanks a lot," she grumbled. "I swear, Robin, if I get possessed because of you you're the first one I'm coming for."
He scoffed playfully. "Yeah, right. You won't have any say in it, it'll be the goddess, and she doesn't have any grudges against me."
Mallory rolled her eyes and walked into her new room ahead of Cas. There was a four poster bed, a three way mirror, and a table with a hairbrush and some hair ties.
"We'll begin your preparation tomorrow. Get some sleep. You'll need it." With that, Cas shut the door behind him, and she heard a lock click.
"I'm locked in. Now I'd have to use my powers to get out."
"Don't worry. They're not going to do anything until the ritual," Robin assured her.
"How do you know they don't need a dead body for it?" she asked, not really worried about it but just wanting to argue with him.
"Because I know how these work. I've seen it before. They need you alive and well, or the spirit will be in as bad of shape as the host."
Mallory sat on the edge of the bed. It was more comfortable than the bunk she'd been in. "You would have to be an expert on possession," she muttered.
"Mallory, if you get into a spot, you can get out of it if you need to," Artemis told her.
"In an emergency," Robin added.
Mallory stared at her reflection in the mirror. With the robe and mask, she could barely recognize herself. She pulled them off and sighed. Her hair was still black. She hadn't used her powers in almost three weeks, and it was taking a toll on her. It got harder every day, and seeing her black hair only reminded her of the growing tension inside of her. She hadn't told the team that she was going to have to let some fire out, but she would have to soon. She curled up on her side, hugging herself.
"Ok, I'll keep you guys posted," she said tiredly.
Her fingers went to her neck out of habit, looking for the glass figure, but they came back empty. Mallory's head sank into the pillow, and she felt sleep tugging at her consciousness. The last thing she thought before she fell asleep was how much she wished she had her necklace.
"You must learn complete acceptance," Cas told her as he brought her to an empty room to train her. "If you resist the spirit, the entire ritual will be compromised."
Mallory nodded and stood in the middle of the room. "Ok, well, how do I prepare for it?" She asked.
She saw the punch coming a mile away and unconsciously threw up a hand to block it. The punch turned to a slap on the face that left a red mark.
"Acceptance is the key. You see the motion, you know it will bring pain, and you let it come." Cas said firmly.
Mallory touched her stinging cheek and sighed. So getting beat up, that was how. She was going to kill Robin when they got out of this.
Another punch came, and she squinted her eyes and tensed her face. Again, the punch turned to a slap and Cash yelled at her.
This went on for ten minutes before Mallory was finally able to let him punch her without tensing up at all. She expected him to pull the punch, but it hit her full force on the jaw and she ended up on the floor, holding the new bruise in her hand.
"You must learn to deal with pain, inward and outward," he said as an explanation.
Mallory sighed and got to her feet. She could deal with pain. He punched her again and she forced herself to stand there and take it, to stay on her feet as he punched her face, stomach, arms, back, kicked her legs.
She couldn't keep track of how long she had to stand there and be beaten up, but finally, she collapsed on the floor and Cas said, "You have done well, Havu. We will move on to meditation."
He sat her down cross-legged in the middle of the floor and said, "the key to meditation is to let your mind go blank. Let the thoughts pass as they will. I want you to tell me what comes to your mind."
Mallory closed her eyes and tried to let her mind go blank, but all she could think about was that she was openly bleeding in three spots and every inch of her was sore. Not to mention the fact that she was exhausted from keeping her fire at bay through the "training session". All she wanted to do was go back home and sleep for two days straight, then go on patrol.
"I'm not seeing anything," she told Cas, opening her eyes.
He looked at her critically, then sighed. "Very well, we will continue with this tomorrow. Make no mistake, sister, you are making great progress, even in just one day. Great Kobra will be able to proceed sooner than he had hoped, thanks to you."
She didn't have the energy to think of something to say. She stumbled after him as he led her back to her room. A flash of movement caught her eye, and when she turned to see what it was, she saw Robin stand at the end of a line of guards.
When he saw her, his eyes widened, then narrowed. Mallory turned away. Despite what had happened to her that day, she was still extremely worried about her friend. The fact that she'd been able to spot him joining the line when she was only half conscious meant he was starting to get careless. She just hoped that he wouldn't take any unnecessary risks.
For three days, Mallory stayed off the link and went through constant training exercises with Cas that mostly included him harming her in some way and her having to have no reaction to it. He shocked her, hit her, held her head under water, and held fire really close to her. That part hurt the worst because she had to fight the temptation to blow the flames into his face. She was also afraid that the flames would get on her hair and turn it back to red, which was good because it gave her a normal look, being afraid of fire being so close.
The third night, Cas was bringing her to her room. He practically had to prop her up and go slow so she wouldn't fall. Wally, Zatanna, and Robin were standing guard in the hallway, and they all had concerned looks on their faces. When she got back to her room, Megan reached out to her.
"Mallory, are you alright?" she asked.
"I'm fine," Mallory replied.
"No, you're not," Wally said, furious. "You should have told us what was going on. You didn't have to go through all that."
Mallory sighed. "Yeah, well, Robin had a point. We didn't know very much about the plan, and they would have just gotten another poor girl to fill in. Cas told me today that he thinks I'm ready, so the ritual will be in three days."
"I'm sorry, Mallory. I didn't think the cult would hurt you before the ritual," Robin said quietly.
"Yeah, well, you're not always right, Rob. Look where that got us."
"Wally, calm down. I'll be fine in a few days. Robin, did you find anything about Kobra's plans? They haven't told me anything except my part in it."
"No, nothing. I should find it soon, though. I'm running out of places to look."
"You need to get out of there before the ritual," Conner said. "Mallory doesn't need to go through that when she's in such bad condition, and when we don't want it to succeed."
"Agreed," Robin said. "I just have a few more rooms to search. We'll leave tomorrow night. We'll meet outside Mallory's room and go from there."
"Wouldn't it be less conspicuous if you slipped out one by one?" Artemis asked.
"Well, yeah, but then if one of us runs into a snag, there's no one around to help," Robin explained.
"All right. I should be able to clear us a path once I get out of here," Mallory said.
"We'll worry about that when the time comes. Do you have to train tomorrow?" Zatanna asked.
"No, Cas told me that I was staying in my room to rest and heal," Mallory replied.
"Good, then maybe they won't notice that you're gone right away," Robin pointed out.
Mallory could still sense Wally's anger at their predicament, but she didn't say anything. Everything she thought to say would only have made him more mad.
"All right, then. We'll be back at the cave soon," Robin said, and they stopped talking. Mallory rolled onto her side and fell asleep quickly, dreaming about snakes and robins and fire.
Ok, now tell me what you like (or don't) about the story.