AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Finally a break from school!
I watched Disney's Maleficent today. It's a meaningful movie that teaches a lot of values.
Maleficent sparked up the idea for this Fanfic. If you are the type that listens to music while reading, try All Of Me by John Legend.
So there you go... hope you forgive me for the grammatical mistakes here and there...
RAVEN
The evil queens are the princesses that were never saved.
She is the daughter of the demon lord and a mortal, the evil produce of Trigon and Arella. She is the gem. She is the portal. She is the feared. She is the outcast.
Before the portal is borne, Arella travelled to Azarath, a land of monks and pacifists, to seek help. Soon, the portal is birthed. Unlike her father, she has pale skin and human eyes. Her eyes are amethyst. They are full of life, and sparkled with wonder. The most prominent of all, is her wings. It is not the scaly, red, webbed wings demons have. Instead, she has the wings of birds. The feathers are soft and silky. Though black, they glisten under the intensity of the sun.
She is named after the bird that she resembled so much.
She is Raven.
It is a pity that Arella died of dystocia, or she would have been proud of her daughter. Azar, the chief monk, taught Raven to control her emotions and instilled humanity and morals in her. Even though Raven is ostracized by many of the people in Azarath, she still keep her head up; for she believe that she can overcome her destiny.
Wrath, avarice, pride, sloth, lust, envy, gluttony are the seven deadly sins of men. What she does not understand the most is avarice. Men are never satisfied. Raven learned that human greed is a fearful thing. Once, she trusted a man with her heart, despite being warned against it. He was a thief, a Robin Hood or so he claimed. She thought he was true to her. She thought. And thus, the thief who sought to steal gems, stole something far more precious.
"You're bleeding."
Raven huffed.
"Here, let me have a look at it," Robin motioned towards her back. "It's nothing," Raven brushed his hands away.
"I'm sure it's something," he paused. "Aren't you able to heal yourself under normal circumstances? Well, from the fact that you're not able to stop the bleeding, there's something seriously wrong with you."
"I'm fine," she mumbled.
"It seems pretty serious. And judging from how hard you fought Slade a while ago…" the leader trailed, and then getting straight to his point, "Just let me have a look at it."
"Is this an order?" Raven challenged.
"Why yes."
They had a staring contest until Raven finally sighed and closed her eyes. She was too exhausted to fight. Robin smirked, knowing he had won.
"I need you to unzip your leotard," Robin instructed.
Raven squinted at him, "What?"
Robin immediately flushed and held up both of his hands in defeat, "Hey! We're doing business here! I swear I bear no ill intentions towards you. Totally."
"I see no need to," Raven eyed him.
"Then I have no choice but to send you to the hospital, since you are not willing to let me access you."
Raven glared hard at him. She hates the hospital. She does not like close contact with strangers.
"Do you trust me?" Robin asked quietly.
Defeated, Raven pulled down her zipper halfway down her back. She felt her leader's cool palms touching her skin. It was awkward. But she ignored. After all, it's business. She shut her eyes, shutting out the tingling sensation she felt on her skin.
Robin pressed his hands gently, feeling for the broken ribs sticking out abnormally. His hand moved lower until his fingers touched something.
Raven tensed up, her eyes wide.
Robin inspected the two long streaks running down her porcelain back. They were scars. But they seemed too old, too deep, too symmetrical. He could not decipher what that was.
Just as he was about to open his mouth, Raven used her powers to zip up her leotard. "Don't even ask." She stood from the infirmary bed and stride towards the door, "This has gone too far."
That night, Robin found her at the rooftop. She seemed to have sense his presence because she suddenly straightened her back, as tense as ever.
Robin started, "It's cold up here."
"Cold helps me to keep my emotions in check," was her reply.
"You don't have to bottle things up, you know," Robin creased his brow in concern.
"Same goes to you," never once did she turned back to look at him.
Robin clenched his teeth. She was right; he never told the team his feelings, he never even told them his true identity.
Robin approached her, "Which is why I'm telling you now."
He sat on the edge of the platform and casually swung his legs so that they dangle freely from the roof. "I'm Dick Grayson. You know, I was an acrobat, my whole family were. We worked in Haley Circus happily, until that fateful day when my parents… Well… They were sort of murdered. We were known as the Flying Graysons. My parents were performing a trick and the rope snapped."
Robin paused and gazed at the city he sworn to protect. "Then Batman found me and there you go." He motioned to himself, "I took on the Robin persona, and became Batman's sidekick."
Raven stood still as she closed her eyes, enjoying the silence and the feel of the breeze caressing her hair. Robin broke the silence and spoke meekly, "That day… That day you entered my mind, I think you've already know my past."
Raven whispered, her voice so soft, so gentle, like her words may break in the wind, "Yes, I knew."
Raven finally looked at Robin. "If this," she meant the conversation, "Is about the scars, you'd be wasting your time."
Robin spoke sincerely, "I just wanted you to know that you have friends, you have us, the Titans. You have me. You can always tell us anything."
Raven bit her lip and left.
Ever since the talk on the rooftop, Robin was determined to make Raven feel welcomed. He wanted to make her feel happy. He hated how Raven always shut them out and keeping things to herself.
As time passed, he noticed Raven become tenser.
The previous week, the team had just defeated Doctor Light. Instead of celebrating their victory, Raven retreated to her room. Lately, Raven had been staying in her room for long hours. In the middle of the night, he often hear her crying in her room. He hated that.
Then there was the time Raven finally told the truth, about her heritage and her demonic father. When she fully reaches adulthood at 21, she will become the portal for Trigon to overtake Earth.
Robin found her up on the roof that night after the confession. He stood beside her silently while she gazed at the bright city lights.
Raven's voice cracked, "All demons have wings."
"I had wings once. They were strong." Raven's eyes lit up, enjoying the wonderful memories she still kept, "They could carry me above the clouds and into the headwinds, and they never faltered. Not even once." Her voice broke as she looked down to her feet, "But they were stolen from me."
Robin frowned.
"His name was Malchior. He was an orphaned peasant. Because he was poor, he sought to steal. One day, he tread upon my village. We became good friends, because he was one of the few who weren't afraid of me. Soon, friendship became something more."
"Then why'd he do such a thing to you?" Robin looked into her eyes.
Raven felt so ashamed, she looked away. "Because he wanted to be king."
She explained, "Azarath is a big place. Beyond the borders where monks control, beyond the land where I grew up, lived a very vain king. He was so afraid of my powers, of what I am capable of, that he was willing to succeed his throne to whoever who brought my head to him. Malchior couldn't bear to kill me, so he sawed off my wings instead."
Raven had tears welled up in her eyes. She had to force her tears from not spilling out. She hated people to see her cry. She has always thought that emotions are weak. Therefore, she seldom smiles or laughs or cries when people are around. "He did this to me so he could be king..."
Robin pulled her tight. Raven hates physical contact. But this time, she let Robin hug her. She needs the hug. She needs somewhere safe, someone to confide in so badly. And so she freed herself of the tears she's been holding, freed herself of the burden she's been carrying.
Robin smoothed her hair and whispered strings and strings of "it's okay" in her ears. But she knew it isn't.
Robin pushed Raven away gently so he could look her in the eye. He cupped her cheeks and wiped her tears away carefully, "You've got me. I promise I wouldn't hurt you like Malchior did."
"Don't make promises you can't keep," Raven whispered.
"Do you trust me?"
And so Raven trusted her. It was perhaps because of this that she always protects Robin first in a battle. Or it was the reason that when attending to Robin's injuries, she always pays extra attention.
Making Raven happy became Robin's first priority. It was the only reason that he softened up, becoming less formal with everyone, especially to Raven.
Occasional smiles became deliberate sneak glances. Friendly greetings evolved into goodnight kisses. Rooftop conversation turned into sweet nothings.
Love began to bloom.
But that didn't last long. The Titans fell apart a few years later. Raven, torn apart by her only friends, returned to Azarath.
Years later, Raven came back to Earth. Who knew, things changed more drastically then she had expected. Robin became Nightwing. He married Starfire and had a daughter. Oh, how depressed she became. After several prompts by Red Hood, she succumbed to the dark side. She murdered many people, tortured countless.
People may look down on her for stooping so low. But what could she do? She needs to feed her pain. Men only know how to deceive. Men are not capable of true love. Malchior ripped her heart into pieces. Robin glued it back but shattered it again.
She is the daughter of the demon lord and a mortal, the evil produce of Trigon and Arella. She is the gem. She is the portal. She is broken. She is lost.
She is Raven.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
I was quite satisfied with this story. Because not only did I fit in a little bit of Disney's Maleficent in, I also cropped in 2 crucial RxR episodes. So in case you didn't catch it, the first rooftop conversation happened after Haunted. About the part defeating Doctor Light was in The End Part One. And I also tied in the 7 deadly sins. In the comics, all of Trigon's descendants each represents one sin. Just so you know, Raven represents the sin of pride.
The ending of this Fic was kind of like a reflection I did about Maleficent. It's like everyone had a reason why they did things. Before Disney's Maleficent was created, I have always thought all evil queens and witches are borne with an evil heart. But Disney's Maleficent made me realized otherwise. So next time, we shall stand in people's shoes before we condemn them of all the bad deeds they've done.
Why am I talking all these? Oh gosh...