Title: Azarath
Rating: T
Summary: There are few things worse than being completely new to a high school meant to create superheroes when you don't know anything about being a superhero, but being sent to your homeland because your powers are out of control definitely beats Freshman Friday.

It's finally done, it's finally done! I'm doing a jig right now! Not really, I'm actually typing out this author's note!

Alright, in my opinion, it's so much better in the beginning than in the end... probably because by the time I was halfway through, I was rushing to see where it would end and how it would take me there. However, I'm trying to be a little better about editing, I promise! So hopefully it's a little better. ^^

I really hope you enjoy this! I must warn you, though: Raven's personality is quite manipulated in this. I've always seen a different Raven than everyone else saw, and it definitely shows. Also, I'm envisioning a girl who is a little different than the Raven we see in the show. Trigon isn't a curse, really; not in this fic. I thought it would take too much away from the plot of this first installment, because things with her powers could become a little more complicated. Basically, she has the ability to release Trigon... but in this fic, I've made it so that he's pretty well contained. He won't be an extremely important part in this series. I don't mention how it works in the story, but if you would like more information to truly understand and the backstory I've imagined in my head, feel free to ask! ^^

Alright, enjoy! ^^ I will also include an explanation of certain things at the end, because I know I don't like to explain everything in stories. I have to force myself to, actually. But anyway, here you go! (also before I forget I'll be updating every Sunday)


Chapter One

Off the shores of Jump City's unnamed beach is an island, large and, for the most part, left alone by the wildlife and the government. This island hasn't been given an 'official' name, but those who are true Jump City dwellers have dubbed it The Hive, after the extraordinary school located there. A bright yellow dome in the center of a far-off body of land in the middle of an ocean is hard to miss, and as a certain half-demon beauty stared into the distance from her position in the sand, she couldn't ignore the way the light bounced off the dome's glass walls and into her vision. If anything had the potential to ruin today, it was that particular light, blinding her eyes. Stupid sun.

Today was her first day of school, of real school. For the past fifteen years of her life, Raven had been home schooled in Azarath, a beautiful place but not a very welcoming one; few were willing to open up their homes or their friendships to a girl strictly raised by the leader of Azarath and her oldest friend Arella. It had taken months of logic and convincing for Azar and Arella to send her to Hive for more training.

She had traveled here alone, and she wanted to take a few minutes to stare at her new home. The Hive wasn't a simple high school; it was a boarding school, so to speak, with roommates, dormitories, and an entire island to itself. Most students opted to stay for the summer, to train even further in hopes of graduating at the top of their class, perfecting their skills, and hopefully becoming a hero worthy of Justice League entry sooner rather than later.

Because that was what Hive was created for: to create potential superheroes, to create potential Justice League members.

That was exactly what Raven desperately wanted. She wanted to be a hero.

"Well, here goes nothing," Raven muttered to herself, getting up from her spot on the beach and heading towards the port.


"Did you just grab my ass? You totally did! Pervert!"

"I want to go home..."

"Duude, personal space! Ever heard of it?"

"I heard Batman was going to be teaching a freshman class this year!"

"Mom? Mom? Can you hear me? Mom?"

Too many noises. Raven resisted the urge to cover her ears and yell at everyone to shut their mouths. Azarath was peaceful, understanding of quiet and prone to silent communication. They were a people of spirituality and emotional balance, as opposed to this loud chatter and emotional outbursts. She had never been exposed to such turmoil before, caught in the middle of a bustling crowd of new Hive freshmen, jostled and shoved as everyone tried to get to the auditorium at the same time.

She wasn't alone in her irritation. "This is insane," the boy next to her grumbled. Someone bumped into him, and he shoved the perpetrator back angrily. "Watch it!" he exclaimed.

The other boy widened his eyes and took a step back – into another girl, Raven noticed with a small smirk. "Sorry, man," he stammered. Unable to help himself, he blurted out, "Aren't you already a super-"

"Superhero's sidekick? Yeah," the boy next to Raven interrupted curtly, ending the short conversation by turning his head sharply away to stare straight ahead as he marched on. He walked on in silence, keeping a steady pace beside Raven whether he realized it or not. Raven couldn't help but study him from the corner of her eye. Dark hair, a mask over his eyes, and a uniform that was a little bright on the eyes.

She had no idea who he was.

The two ended sitting beside each other in the auditorium; Raven noticed that everyone seemed to think the two were already acquainted because of how they had walked in together, but this strange boy hadn't noticed. In fact, he seemed oblivious to everyone else around him. No, that wasn't it; he was trying to ignore everything, and therefore, had blocked out these little unimportant details.

You could call Raven perceptive; she would just remind you she's an empath. This is second nature to her. Even when she doesn't try to pick up on people's emotions, she does. It's why being in that crowd of students had overwhelmed her so extremely; everyone's panic had become a part of her, too.

Right now, the freshmen were whispering amongst themselves; most of them seemed to be friends, having traveled together or at least trained together for some time.

"Don't you kind of miss everyone?"

"Do you remember that time we totally kicked the Jester's butt?!"

"Man, what would Cassie say if she knew we were here?"

"See that girl two rows ahead of us? I call dibs!"

"When is this going to start already?"

Raven turned to the boy sitting to her left, the boy who was apparently a superhero's sidekick. He was the one who had asked about the assembly starting, arms crossed over his chest, slumped slightly in his chair. He clearly didn't want to be here.

"Not sure," she replied in monotone. He seemed surprised that she had answered, but he kept the conversation going, apparently unwilling to be the one who drop out first. He must be one of those stubborn fellows.

"Well, it better start soon, because I'm getting restless." He stretched his arms out behind him and locked his fingers behind his head, peeking out at her. "I'm Robin; haven't seen you around before."

"I'm new," Raven deadpanned.

"Obviously, we're freshmen." Robin laughed, surprising Raven; he didn't look like the playful type, especially after the way he had treated that boy earlier. "Where are you from?" he asked amiably.

"Azarath," Raven answered. She wasn't used to talking with people her own age; all her life, she'd been surrounded by her elders, speaking simply when spoken to, as was the way of most Azarathian children. You wouldn't find many disrespectful toddlers there, and a rebellious teenager was extremely rare. They were trained to find inner peace through open communication and gentle gestures, not through searching for their own opinions and experimenting with new ideas and illegal substances.

"Azarath, huh?" Robin straightened and brought his hands out from behind his head. "What brings you here?" he asked, holding out a hand and gesturing to the large black, yellow, and gray auditorium they were in. "Azarath's a pretty far place to travel from, a whole different dimension, even for a school like Hive."

"Well," Raven said slowly, "I thought it would be worth it."

Robin continued to fire question after question, keeping the conversation going with a smile on his face until Raven relaxed and began talking freely with him, even chuckling a few times despite herself. He seemed pleased that he could elicit a smile from her, as if he already knew that she was unused to expressing her emotions. It wasn't that she was unused to it, necessarily; it was more like she had too much self-control to really 'relax' with her feelings. Emotions were scary. With her powers and her heritage, her inner demon could spring forth at any moment of vulnerability and destroy the entire world.

Emotion was, for Raven, a weakness.

"But don't you think that Dante's take on hell is so limi-hey!" Robin suddenly cut off his next question when the lights suddenly dimmed, erasing his face from her vision – and probably hers from his, Raven assumed. The spotlight shone on the stage in front of them, and all the students quieted, save for Robin. "We were still talking about-"

"Shhh," Raven shushed her new friend.

A man came into the spotlight and took the microphone waiting for him, smiling as the spotlight focused on him. "Welcome, students!" he spoke into the microphone. The students burst into applause, excited now that the assembly had finally started. Robin looked at Raven as he clapped halfheartedly, rolling his eyes at the overdone enthusiasm of the freshmen. Raven chuckled.

"Settle down, settle down. I know you are all excited for your Hive experience to start, but there are some more serious matters to attend to. You are all freshmen, and you are all going to be facing an incredibly difficult year. This is why this assembly is held on your first day each year: for you to get the information you need."

"You may call me Headmaster. I am, obviously, your Headmaster. Duh." He smiled, and the students laughed politely. He sobered once the chuckling had ceased, and the entire auditorium shifted forward slightly, paying close attention to what he would say next.

"Like I said, you'll be facing an incredibly difficult year. This first year is for you. You will get to know yourself in ways that you have never imagined. You will test your strengths and weaknesses, and chances are, you'll beat yourself up for the failures you are bound to have this first year. You will learn that no hero is perfect; it is why sidekicks exist, for all of you sidekicks in the audience."

Raven glanced at Robin, who hadn't reacted at all to Headmaster's comment, save for the slightest rueful twist of the mouth.

"You will train harder than you have ever trained in your entire life. You will be sore every day, and your professors won't even care; they'll make you work even harder because they think you're slacking off. They will never stop pushing; in fact, they will push harder each day, demanding that you step it up. You will get frustrated, and angry, and you will want to go home."

He paused, and the students held their breaths collectively, waiting for what was coming. "But you will not." He looked around the entire auditorium, as if making eye contact with every freshmen in the auditorium. "You will stay, because everyone who comes to Hive is looking for more than a spot on the Justice League. Each one of you are skilled, but you didn't come here just to get better at what you do, did you?" He chuckled, as if the very notion of going to school to learn was foolish.

"No," he said, any trace of his chuckle gone. "You are here because you have always challenged yourself. You are here because you are determined to be greater than average. You are here because you don't like sitting on the sidelines. You don't want to watch the world change; you are here because you want to be part of the change. You are here because you are the change."

Raven had to admit, the speech was powerful. She was immediately lifted, and she could sense that Robin was beginning to warm up to Hive, as well.

"You will make close friendships this year. You must. About a year from now, you will choose a team of talented individuals, and that team will stick with you for the next three years on. You will train with them, suffer with them, fail with them, win with them, and live with them. You will be inseparable, and completely in sync, as a team ought to be. Once you graduate, you will have a choice: to go solo and fight crime, to stay with your team and fight crime... or to not fight crime at all."

The students looked at each other, confusion evident in their expressions. How could anyone come to Hive and give up on fighting for justice after they graduated? Headmaster seemed to guess at their thoughts and chuckled into the mic. "There are five scholarships available at Hive. Two are given to the top two teams of Hive, both of them worth $100,000. Another two are given to the top two individuals of Hive, worth $50,000. And the fifth is given to whoever the Board sees fit, whether that be a team or an individual, worth $1,000,000."

The students looked at each other and gaped, gasped, widened their eyes; the crowd erupted into whispers, each freshman already planning on winning a scholarship. Robin leaned back in his seat and smiled confidently. Raven glanced at him from the corner of her eye, knowing what he was thinking: he already looked forward to winning that $1,000,000 scholarship himself. She already knew him well enough to know that he was stubborn, competitive, and strong in character.

What original traits to find in a teenage male.

"These scholarships are clearly nothing to joke about. They are always a source of competition in our students... and sometimes, the competition becomes too great of a burden on some students." His tone became grave and a little regretful. "Some have decided that without the scholarship, a life as a hero is worthless. Some lose sight of the goal. I ask of you all that you will not have a single student who ends up this way. I ask that all of you will remain genuine, strong, and wise. Remember this day. Remember that there is more to a life of heroism than a silly scholarship from a high school. Remember that it is not what happens in here that matters... it is what happens out there."

He paused as the students reflected over the serious matter, and then beamed at the students. "But regardless of where you end up, Hive will always support you. The choice will be yours."

Headmaster paused, and suddenly winked at them. "The choice is always yours."


AAAAND there we go! ^^ Chapter one, finished. Phew ~

Hm, there isn't much for me to explain in this fic. Ah, well. Also, the Jester is completely made up. It sounds like the Joker and reminds me of Harley Quinn, but it rolls off the tongue so nicely, right?

Alright, hope you guys enjoyed!