⭐️ Eternal Shadow 🌙 Damian wayne ~~~~complete

Chapter 6: Shifting Shadows and Stolen Light

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The room was cold. The kind of cold that didn't come from a cracked window or forgotten thermostat... but from something deeper. It clawed at her skin, tugged at her pulse. And then—
A scream.
Her own.

Marceline shot up in bed, her pale skin ghostly in the low moonlight pouring through the wide window of her room. Her chest heaved as if the nightmare had its hands still clenched around her throat. The sheets clung to her skin, damp with sweat, and strands of pitch-black hair framed her face like dark ink on untouched snow.

Her heart pounded so loudly, she didn't notice the figure that rushed through her door until a soft, familiar voice spoke.

"Marceline... it's alright... I'm here."

Kory.

The warm glow of Kory's eyes was the first thing that grounded her, the subtle scent of summer rain clinging to the woman's presence a familiar, quiet comfort. Kory crossed the room in seconds, sitting down beside her without hesitation, wrapping her arms around Mars' trembling frame. The touch was warm... so achingly warm.

"I-it was them again... but... this time it wasn't just them," Marceline whispered, voice cracking like fragile glass. "It was you... all of you. And I couldn't stop it."

Kory didn't rush her, didn't hush the words like they were childish nonsense. She listened. And that's what Mars had always loved about her.

"I hate how they stay in my head," Marceline murmured, curling closer into Kory's arms like she could outrun the shadows by pressing close enough to the light.

Kory brushed a strand of damp hair from her face. "They only stay... because you are strong enough to have survived them. You fight them every day, even when you sleep. And you always win, Marceline."

A broken sound slipped from Mars' throat — not quite a sob, not quite a laugh — but something caught between. "You sound like Dick."

"I raised Dick," Kory smiled, a little sad and a little proud. "Of course I do."

They sat like that for a while — the room silent but for the heavy rhythm of Mars' breathing slowly settling. Kory hummed something soft, something in a language older than the stars. It tugged at Marceline's chest, soothing parts of her that hadn't known how to ask for comfort.

Meanwhile...

Damian's eyes snapped open in his room down the hall.

The air had shifted. Not in a way most would notice — but he wasn't most. There was a crackle in the dark, like the shadows themselves were restless. A pulse beneath the quiet.

He rose from his bed without hesitation, bare feet silent on the floor. No weapons, no gear... not this time. He moved like a predator, shadows barely stirring as he slipped into the hallway.

He knew where it came from. He'd learned to trace those shifts, follow the tremors in the world around him. And it always, always led to her.

Marceline Dawn.

The girl made of frost and shadow. The one who barely spoke unless necessary. The one the others called 'little sister'... though to Damian, she was still an enigma. A contradiction. And infuriatingly capable.

He didn't know what drew him to her room tonight — maybe duty, maybe curiosity... or maybe that tug in his chest he refused to name.

Damian paused outside her door.

He could hear Kory's voice, low and soothing, and something inside him eased a fraction. His fist clenched. He told himself it was just strategy — understanding your teammates, knowing their weaknesses... but deep down, something else shifted.

He stood there for a long minute, debating whether to knock, say something, or leave. In the end... his hand brushed the door frame, almost absentmindedly.

"Stop lurking, Damian," Kory called softly without turning.

He scowled. "I wasn't lurking."

Kory just smiled, her hand still cradling Marceline's pale one. "Come in."

Damian hesitated — then stepped inside. His gaze flickered to Marceline. She looked... different. Not the guarded, sharp-eyed girl she was during training or missions. She looked small. Fragile.

It made something cold and heavy settle in his stomach.

"Another nightmare," Kory explained gently.

"I gathered," Damian replied. He crossed his arms, leaning against the wall, pretending disinterest while his sharp gaze didn't leave Mars.

Marceline gave a small, humorless smile. "You worried, Robin?"

"I don't waste time worrying about you."

Her lips twitched. "Sure you don't."

The faintest spark of tension curled in the air between them. Not hostile... but sharp-edged. The others called it frenemies. Damian called it complicated.

"You should sleep," he said gruffly, looking away.

"I'll try."

Kory squeezed Mars' hand once more before rising. "I'll make tea... the kind you like."

"Thanks, Kory."

Kory brushed Damian's shoulder lightly as she passed. "Be good."

Left alone for a beat, the room felt heavier.

"You didn't have to come," Mars murmured.

Damian shrugged. "I didn't. And yet, here we are."

A small silence.

Then Mars shifted under the covers, her voice softer now. "They... hurt you too, didn't they?"

His jaw tightened. "Not your concern."

But it was. For both of them.

And neither said it.

"I won't break," she whispered, mostly to herself.

"I know," he replied, just as quietly.

And then, as if the moment hadn't happened, he pushed off the wall. "Get some sleep, Eclipse. We train tomorrow."

She snorted, the sound almost light. "Looking forward to wiping the floor with you, Robin."

His smirk was sharp. "Dream on."

And then he was gone — the door shutting behind him with a soft click.

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