Eclipso {Young Justice/Aqualight}

:08:

This chapter formally introduces the Tower of Pandemonium, which quickly became my new favorite character.

Kiran paced the Tower of Pandemonium as she waited for Klarion to return. He'd disappeared to "take care of matters" what felt like hours ago, insisting that the next part of their lesson would continue when he returned.

The narrow library tower felt small and confining. Though it stretched on forever and ever, containing every book every written (or so Klarion had bragged), Kiran feared getting lost should she try to search for something to distract her from the anxiety that felt as if it were physically scratching at her back. Every shadow seemed to be Teekl, darting in and out of the elegant furniture and ancient books, watching Kiran with glowing red eyes. Klarion had, of course, taken the familiar with him. He was unable to do anything without the beast draped around his shoulders.

Feet tired, she huddled in one of the red velvet armchairs, nothing to warm her shivering body except for her thin shawl. 

Breathe. Her mother's voice commanded her, echoing in her head and off the infinite shelves of books. Kiran made herself sit up straight and inhale deeply, holding for a moment before exhaling. Once, twice, and then a third time before she could see clearly.

She could do this, she had to.

She stood up and lightly pushed off her right foot, floating up to a particular shelf that had caught her eye, looking for a distraction. 

There was no rhyme or reason to the books. Nothing alphabetical, chronological, not even the Dewey decimal system used at public libraries. Books slid back and forth to accommodate those that appeared and disappeared, rearranging themselves at will. Twilight had even made its subtle reappearance next to a leather-bound book with the words fading from the parchment. The library of the Tower of Pandemonium seemed to be attuned to its master's preferences. Namely, chaos.

Intrigued, Kiran tugged the mysterious, worn book from its spot on the shelf. It was small enough to fit in her purse, the one she left back home. Perfect for sitting down with a cozy fire and a plate of cookies. 

As Kiran returned to the floor, A fireplace blossomed into existence, shoving a few shelves of books out of the way, and a tray fell from nothingness onto the corner table, followed by a shower of snickerdoodles, and a floating tea set which offered her honey and lemon along with a fresh mug of tea.

Kiran scrutinized the food for a moment, before deciding to make the most of her time in the Chaos dimension. She settled back into her chair, high-backed and ebony horns curving off the top, mimicking Klarion's hairstyle. The cookie was warm, so was the tea, and the fire prompted her to untuck her legs.

Her only problem was the book. It was much like the library it came from, words fading in and out. The words that remained visible shifted through caligraphy style so fast it was impossible to read them.

"Is every book gonna be like this?" She asked, voice dripping with disgust. She was about to slam the book shut and see if she could find Twilight again- or anything to pass the time, really- when she spotted a magnifying glass on the tea tray, almost blending in with the cookies.

She shrugged and held it up to the book, and to her bemusement, some of the words stayed still. Others took a while to behave, but when viewed through the magical magnifying glass, the book was far more legible.

It was about magic, of course, but Kiran was slightly surprised to find that rather than instructing one in how to perform magic, this book provided a history of infamous dark magic. Klarion, of course, was a prominent figure, being an immortal Lord of Chaos, along with his eternal rival, Doctor Fate. Kiran mentally cheered on Fate in all his endeavors, whether it was against Klarion or some other demonic magician. For some reason, Donna and Bette despised him, and Dawn and Hank hated talking about him, or even pretending he existed. But Kiran didn't quite understand their motivations, and she needed to feel like the good guys were going to win this one.

And then she found something interesting.

"Aside from the necessity of his familiar, Klarion's chaotic nature makes it impossible to work with him unless he is tricked into a blood bond with one who summons him."

"Then...why is he working with the Light?" Kiran whispered to herself. She pressed the glass farther down the page, searching for answers.

"The first and only known incident of this is in the case of the Lady Eclipso, Host of the Night."

The fire flickered as she read.

"Unlike Klarion, Eclipso harnesses herself to the mortal plane through a host body, usually unwitting, that is teetering on the edge of mental and physical capability, and therefore is not able to fight away her control.

"In 342 BCE, Klarion became captivated with the beauty of a young woman, Selene, named for the moon goddess she served with a vow of chastity. Eclipso's spirit also craved this woman for use as a host for her connection with the night. With their shared interest, Eclipso and Klarion struck a deal. Klarion would torment Selene to the point she would be susceptible to Eclipso's power, and Afterwards, the two would be together, and the world would be powerless against the combined might of Night and Chaos.

"But Eclipso had no intention of keeping their bargain."

"Hey Sunshine! Where are ya?" A poof, and tiny red sparks rained down on Kiran's head for a brief moment as Klarion hollared for her from above.

Eagle had to be rubbing off on her. She chucked the book into the fire, confident she'd find it later. After all, Twilight had appeared when Teekl had eviscerated it, but that had been magical fire. Then again, this was magical fire too, since it lit on command, right?

"I thought you weren't a book burner, Sunshine?" Klarion teased.

She shrugged and leaned back into her chair, "It got boring."

Teekl growled suspiciously.

"Shut up, you dumb cat," Klarion said. He bowed gallantly, offering a hand to Klarion. "If you'll join me, my dear, we have an urgent meeting with an up-and-coming member of the Light, and I want to see if he and his men have failed the very important task I set before them.

Kiran didn't like the wicked grin he flashed a moment before she took his hand, but as they disappeared through the swirling red portal, she hoped that this meant that she would finally get to meet Aqualad.