Author's Notes

Remastered as of January 20, 2014.

Now, let's continue the story.

Raven suddenly awoke in the comfort of her room. She was just asleep, it was just a very bad dream. That didn't make the nightmare any less torturous for her - seeing her friends humiliate and hurt her in front of the entire city was a curse. Raven knew this was an omen of things to come, a bad one. One she hoped wouldn't come true. Eventually, they were going to find out the secret that she had been keeping from them for four years. Question was: how would they find out?

The day at the Tower was spent with specifically one purpose - finding out what the hell Slade was up to, trying to figure out what that mark on his head was. Cyborg checked every database across the globe for a similar shape. It was disappointing to him when nothing came as a result - it matched no symbol in the modern databases. Starfire browsed through her extraterrestrial archives in search of the symbol. She found a symbol that looked close to what it was, but that just wasn't it.

"Pourshavuejc" was all Starfire had to say.

Beast Boy and Robin spent most of the day watching the security feed from their fight with Slade from the other night - the one where he had returned and first bore that mark. They watched it over 300 times in one day, and had no such luck figuring out what it was. Raven, on the other hand, got unlucky when one of her books had the symbol in it - the Mark of Skaath. Raven could only dread what that meant, and she knew it wasn't good.

After that (and having been unsuccessful with identifying the symbol from other Titans), Robin knocked on the door and Raven popped up, her hood up.

Robin asked, "Uh, any luck finding the symbol?"

Raven lied, "No, it's not in any of my books."

"Are you okay, Raven? You look well, a little paler."

"It's nothing. I just haven't been able to meditate lately."

"Look, I know that Slade scared you, but we'll find out why he was after you."

"Slade doesn't concern me. Now, I have to try to meditate."

With that, Raven closed the door on Robin, leaving him to walk away. Something didn't quite add up in Robin's head and suspicions began to grow.

Raven went to meditating, hoping to relax her mind. However, she was greeted by an unwelcome visitor as her mind was flooded with visions of the future that she would be responsible for. The voice said, "Tick tock Raven. Time is running out."

Raven turned around, searching for the familiar monotonic voice, yelling out, "I'm not afraid of you!"

Suddenly, the voice, who unsurprisingly was Slade, popped up right behind her, saying "Silly girl. I'm not the one to be afraid of. You know that" as he advanced on the half-demon.

Raven jumped away from Slade, calmly landing on the ground as her father's voice boomed around her, "What you have concealed you shall become!"

Fireballs soon proceeded to form around Raven, heading towards her, but she managed to block them from impacting with black energy shields. Raven cried out, "It's a lie! I won't let this happen. I'll find a way."

Slade walked through the inferno, heading towards Raven, calmly replying, "Your optimism is really adorable, but you're forgetting one thing, Raven."

Images of the desolate world she was prophesized to create soon popped up - sights of Titans Tower little more than a stone slab and her friends, the other Titans, whose flesh had turned to stone. He continued, "This is what you were born to do. You were sent here to destroy the Earth."

Slade soon vanished as the infernal visions soon disappeared, leaving a hazy purple and black environment. Raven kept turning until she saw the infernal eyes of Trigon the Terrible. The voice screeched, "Your destiny will be fulfilled! The portal must be opened!"

With that remark, Raven was suddenly awoken from her meditation, panting heavily after the particularly intense vision shown to her. What Raven soon did not realize was that one of her books happened to be blown out of the room during her meditation. And who so happened to find the book before Raven?"

Beast Boy, who saw the book fly out, went over to get it. Unfortunately for Raven, the book that left her room was the book that she wanted none of the Titans to see - the one with the Mark of Skaath.

Beast Boy chose to wait out to return the book by reading the book. About halfway through, he saw what Raven did not want him to see, and immediately rushed to Robin's room. Beast Boy knocked loudly on Robin's door. "Robin, open up!"

Robin opened his door, and he was a little groggy. "What is it Beast Boy? What could be this important?"

"I found it." Robin was immediately shocked and awoken.

Beast Boy showed the book to Robin, and the page where he saw the Mark of Skaath. "It's the Mark of Skaath. It signifies that the bearer is under the employ of Trigon the Terrible."

Robin could only mutter "Dear Lord. This is not good at all. Where did you find it?"

Beast Boy replied (slightly sheepishly), "It came out of Raven's room. She didn't notice it."

Robin then said "Raven lied to us."

Then the alarm beeped, but not the normal alarm, the Slade alarm.

The Titans rushed out to an abandoned block of the city, which Slade was currently in the process of destroying with his fire powers. Slade gleefully commented "I do love my job."

Robin then said to Slade, "Vandalism? That's a new low Slade, even for you. Stop what you're doing now."

Slade added, "The Teen Titans. I can't deal with you quite yet."

Robin yelled, "You'll stop what you're doing and we'll deal with you NOW."

Slade just replied, "You can't always have what you want, Robin."

Slade then unleashed his pyrokinesis on the Titans, who all luckily avoided the blasts but Slade proved to be quite persistent, quickly taking out Starfire with a crane, trapping Beast Boy underneath slabs of stone, and attracting Cyborg to a magnet. Then, it came down to Slade versus Robin, a very intense matchup.

Robin asked, "What are you doing Slade? Why are you working for Trigon?"

Slade replied, "I take it your little bird never told you about the Mark of Skaath. If she did, she would have told you what Trigon was planning."

Robin repeatedly threw punches at Slade, who calmly avoided them before dishing out some punishment of his own, quickly knowing back Robin, who unleashed his bo-staff. Slade had no difficulty chopping it in two with a flame-charged hand. Slade threw Robin to the side, knocking him into some garbage cans.

Slade then flew away to the old library, watching as his fire claimed many of the buildings in the area - almost all of them meant for demolition. However, a black burst of energy sent Slade crashing into the ground. Raven popped up, completely hooded.

Raven said "What do you want from me Slade?"

Slade calmly said "To deliver a message. All a messenger wants is for their message to be heard. Tick tock Raven, time is running out. I can guarantee you that your friends will soon know the truth, in fact within the next hour. The question remains, will you spare their pain by telling it yourself, or will I have to tell them? They will find out."

Slade then stomped his foot, revealing massive Marks of Skaath on the columns of the old library. Slade vanished before the other Titans could see him, having been distracted by the enormous Mark of Skaath made by the fire unleashed on the buildings.

Cyborg noted that the library was from before the city was built, which made Raven hesitant about going in - knowing that they would certainly learn the truth she had desperately tried to ferry from them.

Unfortunately for her in Robin's stubbornness, the Titans went in.

The Titans continued through the library, reaching the ancient temple hidden beneath the library. When Raven, the last Titan, walked through the red marks suddenly covered her entire body, including the Mark of Skaath on her forehead. Dozens of ghostly demons soon came awake, chanting "The gem was born of evil's fire. The gem shall be his portal. He comes to claim, he comes to sire. The end of all things mortal."

Robin turned around to see Raven and the infernal markings, before she could cover them up. Robin yelled, "Raven. What are you hiding now?"

Raven attempts to fly away from Robin, but she is suddenly shocked by an electric birdarang quickly thrown at her.

"What does Trigon want with you? I know about the Mark of Skaath, it was in one of your books."

Raven replied, "I'm guessing Beast Boy found the book that flew out of my room. I sensed it was missing after my meditation."

Beast Boy said, with obvious anxiety in his mouth, "That is pretty much it."

Robin demanded, "We know you lied to us, we know that you know the truth. And we will find it out one way or another. Either you tell us, or we go further."

Raven said, "You wouldn't want to go down there. Trust me, it's only a trap. Only horror lies beyond the passageway."

Cyborg then walked up to Raven, while he examined what the ghostly demons had said. Cyborg asked, "What does this mean?"

Robin said, "It means that Trigon is coming, and the gem is how he gets here. We have to destroy that gem, one way or another. Titans, let's go. Including you, Raven."

Raven could only think one thing: Damn. However, she continued along with Robin and the others, hoping they wouldn't find out the truth.

The Titans reached the heart of the temple, where the Gem of Skaath should be located, without much difficulty - Raven's presence forced the ghostly demon guards to stand down as they navigated the long, dark corridors.

The Titans immediately noticed that there was a massive hand in the center of the room surrounded by Raven-like statues. Robin knew it could not be coincidence. The Titans ran up to the hand only to see Slade there.

Raven said, "Told you it was a trap."

Slade calmly added, "Titans, how nice is it for you to be here."

Robin defiantly asked, "Slade, where is the gem?"

Slade simply stated, "Here."

Robin yelled out, "It said it would be in the heart of the temple - and that would mean on the hand in the light. Well, do you see a gem in there?"

Slade said, "That is where the gem will be upon Trigon's arrival. But now, the gem has just arrived. I take it you have just finished realizing that you have had the gem this whole time."

The other Titans looked at Raven with anxiety, the red marks now glowing wildly. Slade smirked from beneath his mask.

Robin could only say, "Raven. You're the gem. You're Trigon's portal into Earth. Why didn't you tell us?"

Slade said, "Because why would anybody be friends with the person destined to destroy the world?"

Starfire asked, "Destroy the world? Raven was only supposed to"

Slade cut her off, simply stating, "The process that brings Trigon to Earth will involve its ultimate destruction. As I told Raven back on her birthday, skies will burn, flesh will turn to stone, the sun will set on your world, never to rise again."

Beast Boy was shocked when he said, "Trigon will rule our afterlife, we will turn to stone, everyone on Earth."

Robin immediately asked, "Raven. Why? Why are you Trigon's portal?"

Cyborg began thinking. Gears were grinding in his head and soon clicked together. Cyborg could not believe what he had just surmised, no matter how true it was.

Beast Boy asked, "Cy, are you thinking what I think you're thinking?"

Cyborg said, "Yes. Trigon is Raven's father."

Slade then began clapping, which the Titans could not determine to be sarcastic or genuine. "Excellent work, Cyborg. Top of your class."

Robin began looking angrily at Raven. "You didn't tell us this until now?"

Slade then added, "I told Raven you would know within an hour of my attack. And looks like it has been an hour since you saw the library. If I were you, I would make the next few days count. In exactly seven days, the end is here."

A portal of fire then emerged from right beneath Slade. Slade began to fly right through it.

"And Raven, my dear. You shouldn't fear me. Your friends on the other hand, you really should be fearing them."

Slade vanished, and instantly afterwards, Raven was knocked unconscious by Robin.

"Let's get her back to the tower. We need to keep her contained at all costs. The world isn't ending."