"Hey." Raven opened an eye to see Jane lowering herself to sit on the roof next to her.

"Hi. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Raven asked as she closed her eyes and returned to meditating.

"I just wanted to talk. If you're busy I can come back later."

Raven sighed, then opened her eyes and looked at Jane. "No, that's okay. I've been trying to meditate, but it's like there's a brick wall in my head that I can't get through."

"Have you tried sinus medicine?" Jane offered. When a corner of Raven's mouth pulled down and one of her eyebrows went up, Jane smirked. "You and Daria are so much alike it's creepy. But in a cool way," she added.

"Yeah," Raven looked away, "alike." She seemed to ponder something for a moment, then looked back at Jane and asked, "You two are friends, right?"

"She's my first and best friend in the whole world," Jane replied without hesitation.

"I've never had a sister before," the teen told her. "What's she like. When she's not trying to kill me, I mean."

Jane grinned at her. "I'm afraid that's normal for siblings, Raven."

"Wonderful."

Daria shook her head as she watched Cyborg lovingly rubbed a coat of wax onto the shiny car. "Men and their cars," she said aloud.

"Oh, hey, Daria," he said, turning at the sound of her voice. "What brings you down here?"

"Um," she shrugged, "no reason. Just looking around. In the neighborhood."

Leaning on the car, he smirked and said, "You bored or curious?"

"Uh," Daria looked at the floor, "curious."

"Okay." Tossing the rag in his hand on top of a small pile of them, he picked up a towel and wiped his hands. "So, why'd you come to me?"

"It would be too awkward with Raven," Daria admitted. "Beast Boy would ramble on for hours, Starfire would be unintelligible and Robin would act like I was trying to get state secrets."

"Amazing how well you've gotten to know us in such a short time," Cyborg told her with a grin. "I won't betray any trusts, you know."

"No betrayals," Jane told Raven. "But because you're her new sister, I'll waive my usual three question limit."

"Does she have a lot of friends?" Daria asked. "I mean, my other sister, Quinn, is a social goddess. She's always been popular, and now she's starting to have some success with her own design company. But does Raven go out much?"

"Raven spends her time in her room," was the reply. "Too much to be healthy, I think. But she's happier with books than she is with most people. Probably because we tend to think too loud."

"So she's a telepath?"

"To some degree. I think." Cyborg thought. "Maybe she's an empath. Whatever, she can get bummed if there's too many people around too long."

"Does Daria have a lot of friends?"

"Not really." Jane placed a hand to her chest, "There's me, and a couple of people she met in college. Oh, and Jodie, this girl we knew from high school. I'd say maybe six at most." Jane leaned her head to one side slightly, "Daria and I have always been outcasts from the regular pecking order. She's the unfashionable cynic and I'm the 'weird art chick.' Some people would collapse under the stigma, but we've always thrived on it."

"What about guys?" Raven cringed, "Sorry, that's not -"

"She's had one boyfriend, Raven," Jane said, suddenly very serious. "Tom Sloane was his name. I'd been dating him first, but we were about to break up. At first, she hated the guy, but over time he kinda grew on her. Quite a lot in fact." Jane smirked, "You wouldn't think it, but Daria's got hormones just like everybody else. That's why she kissed him."

"Wait," Raven's eyes widened, "you mean she kissed him before you broke up?"

"Yep. Of course, Daria being Daria, she told me about it the next day." Jane shrugged, "If there's one thing about Daria that has not and never will change, it's her honesty. If you're honest, no matter how bad what you have to say is, she'll respect you for it."

"Honesty." Raven nodded. Smirking slightly, she said, "So telling her I'm really a boy would be good?"

Jane laughed, "And Beast Boy was telling me you had no sense of humor."

"Is she happy here, Cyborg?" Daria asked as they left the elevator.

"As happy as she'll let herself be," he replied. "You see, her powers work off of her emotions. But I guess you'd know that."

"Hmm, yeah, mine are, uh, were the same way."

"So you see why she keeps them bottled up."

"Yeah, that makes sense." Daria bit her lip. As much as I've improved, I've still been keeping myself in check emotionally my entire life. Except that one time with Tom.

"Earth to Daria," Cyborg cut into her train of thought.

"Excuse me?"

"I was asking what your plans are, now?"

"Oh. Well, I guess Jane and I will had back to Boston. With my powers gone anyway, I might as well get back to my life." She shrugged, "What there is of it, anyway."

"Make sense."

"So you two are sharing an apartment?"

"Yeah, now that Daria's out of college." Oh, crap, I've set myself up for the question.

"So why weren't you before?"

"I hate this question," Jane admitted. "You see, Daria found the apartment before I arrived. But, uh," she looked away, "I got really into working out and martial arts and stuff. Between my schoolwork and me working out all the time, I was just making too much noise for Daria to study." Jane frowned, "I ended up chasing her out of the apartment she'd found for us."

"But you're still friends," Raven observed.

"Freakin' friends," Jane corrected. "It's from a song my brother wrote. Now I have a question, what are you going to do now?"

"Excuse me?"

"Your powers are gone. At least for a while." Jane shrugged, then asked, "Why not take a break? Come back to Boston with us."

"Leave here?" Raven looked nervous.

"Just until your powers come back. I mean, you're not like Robin, after all. You can't go out there without your powers or you'd just be a target." Like I was, she silently added.

"I, I hadn't thought about that."

"It'd give you and Daria a chance to bond."

Scowling, the girl said, "I'll have to think about that."

"Jane, are you corrupting my sister?" The two turned to see Daria stepping onto the roof.

"Nah," Jane waved a hand as she stood, "I'll leave that to your other sister."

"Other sister?" Raven stood and looked at Daria.

"Quinn."

"You better hope your powers come back or she'll give you a makeover you won't believe," Jane told her, smirking. Looking at Daria, she said, "I've invited your youngest sib, here, to join us in Boston until her powers return."

"Boston?" Behind her glasses, Daria's eyes widened. "Uh, I hadn't thought of that."

"It's okay if you don't want me to go," Raven told her. "I hadn't really decided yet, anyway."

"No," Daria shook her head, "no, that's okay. I just hadn't thought about it."

"We've got the room," Jane reminded her.

"If we can get your weights out of the way."

"Hey, I went to one of those all-in-one machines. They're a lot quieter."

"I wish I'd known about that when I wasn't sleeping," Daria said, frowning slightly.

"So you're sleeping okay, now?" Raven asked.

"As long as I don't turn my back on Jane, I'm fine." Smirking, she added, "Otherwise I wake up with a headache and a lump on the back of my head."

"Now, now, Morgendorffer," Jane told her, "you know offing family members is bad karma."

"What about annoying best friends?" Daria asked, glancing at the edge of the roof.

"You're going where?" Beast Boy gaped at Raven.

"Boston," she calmly replied. "Daria and Jane have offered me a room so I can get to know my sister while my powers are gone."

"But, but," Beast Boy stammered before saying, "but what if they don't come back?"

"Look," Robin cut him off, "it's Raven's decision. With her powers gone, she's not going to be able to defend herself in the field." He looked at her, "No offense, Raven, but you've not trained to fight like I have."

"None taken," she answered. "You're right, if I were to go with you now, I'd be a liability. And staying here while you're out there would drive me crazy." Glancing over, she added, "And that's Beast Boy's job."

"That's right," he said with a nod. Then, he scowled at her, "Hey, wait a minute."

"But we will miss you, friend Raven," Starfire said, sounding sad.

"Hey, it's only until my powers return. Besides," she went on, "I think I'll like having an older sister. And I'd really like the chance to find out."

"Star's right," Cyborg said, reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder. "We'll miss you. But you and Robin are right, too. If you can't go on missions with us, there's no reason for you to be stuck here. Go have fun with your sister."

"Yeah," Robin added, "we'll hold down the fort until you get back."

"I'm not saying that he's not a great guy," Jane said as she opened the door to the apartment. "I'm just saying that it's weird that he won't take his mask off long enough to see you off at the airport."

"He's protecting his secret identity," Raven explained as she followed Jane in. The two women each set down a suitcase as Daria brought up the rear.

"You said most of this isn't clothes?" she asked her sister, changing the subject of conversation for the past hour.

"I don't have a lot of normal clothes," Raven replied. "Most of this is stuff I wanted to keep Beast Boy from bothering."

"Underwear and stuff?"

"No, Jane," Raven glared at her, "he's not a pervert. He's just very curious."

"Hey, I'm just kidding." Jane scowled, "You did bring underwear, though, right?"

"Jane!" Daria and Raven snapped.

"Fine! Fine!" Jane continued with her bag, "I'll dump this in her room then I'm going to take a shower."

"Your friend is very weird," Raven told Daria.

"I heard that!"

"Yes," Daria replied, "she is."

"I'm not deaf!"

The siblings smirked at each other.

Stepping quietly, Daria entered the living room. I was right, she thought, that was Raven I was hearing. Raven was sitting cross-legged in the floor with her hands resting on her knees.

"Azarath, Metrion Zinthos," she repeated. As usual in the morning, Raven was wearing a black tank top and running shorts. Hearing a sound, she opened her eyes and looked to her right where Daria was sitting on the floor next to her. "Hey."

"Hey," Daria replied. "You had breakfast?"

"Not yet." Raising an eyebrow, Raven asked, "You want me to cook?"

"Are you kidding?" Daria looked mildly panicked. "The only person I've ever seen who was a worse cook than you is my Dad."

"Oh?" Despite herself, Raven was intrigued by Daria's family. The fact that she had grown up in a comparatively normal home made Raven both jealous and curious. She had already bugged her older sister with repeated questions about Lawndale and Highland, with each tidbit of knowledge only fueling the fire for more.

"Now don't start," Daria scowled at her.

"I was just going to ask how much of a cook your mother was," Raven admitted.

"She was okay, although she mostly did pre-cooked meals." Shrugging, she said, "There's a reason why I don't eat lasagna."

"I see."

"But she had a problem with getting the sugar and salt confused." Raising an eyebrow, she added, "I never could figure out why."

"You think I could meet them some time?" As soon as the words were out of her mouth, Raven wanted to take them back. How can you explain that we're sisters? 'Hi, Mom, Dad, I'd like to introduce you to the sister you don't know about. The one the demon who possessed Dad sired with another woman.'

"Uh," Daria removed her glasses and looked at them, "I'd like to. Just to see Quinn's reaction."

"I'm sorry I said anything," Raven told her. "There's no way to explain how we're sisters that they'd believe."

"I'm still not sure there's a way that I believe," Daria grumbled. "It's only been a month, after all."

A sound from behind them caused the siblings to look over to where Jane was stumbling into the room. "Coffee," she droned as she continued on into the kitchen.

"I made some earlier," Raven told Daria. "It's probably too weak for her, though."

"She has ways to boost the stuff," Daria told her. "Now, I have a question I've been dying to ask you."

"Shoot," Raven said, rising to her feet and sitting on the couch.

As she rose to join Raven, Daria asked, "Those words, 'Azarath Metrion Zinthos," what do they mean?"

"Well," Raven told her, "Azarath is where I was born and raised. It's a place dedicated to peace and safety. No violence or crime ever happened there. It's a city of magic. Or, it was. You see, Trigon destroyed it and almost everyone there."

"Wonderful way he has with people," Daria commented.

"Yeah. Well, my mother and a few others are all that survived. They've been rebuilding, but the process is slow. I use Azarath to remind me of peace and calm. Now, Zinthos," she continued, "from what I've learned over the years, is the name of the dimension where he originated. It's a terrible place of fire and destruction. I use it to remind myself of the consequences if I fail."

"And Metrion?"

"It's my middle name," Raven admitted.

"Your name is Raven Metrion Roth?" Daria blinked. "I thought Jane Coyote Lane was odd."

"Beats Moon Unit," Raven reminded her.

"Good point. But why your middle name?"

"To remind myself that I'm stuck between the light and the dark." Raven looked down, "I've always had that prophecy hanging over my head. That mantra was my way of reminding myself that I'm trapped between two opposing forces and that I'm the one making the call." Looking at Daria, she added, "I was fooling myself. I did exactly what Trigon wanted me to do."

"And you beat him, don't forget that." Now it was Daria's turn to look away. "You did what I couldn't."

"I knew what I was from childhood. And I was never held up and flame-whipped."

"I should have found a way to stop myself from trying to kill you," Daria grumbled. "I -"

"You did," Raven reminded her. "Once you had the chance to get your bearings, you came back and destroyed him."

Daria's head jerked around to stare at her sister. "I didn't destroy him. I just swept him out of my mind like everyone else."

"Wait," Raven's face began to pale, "you mean Trigon wasn't destroyed?"

"That's a problem, then?"

"If he wasn't destroyed," she sat back and stared, "then he's still out there."

"Where could he go?"

"I don't know." Raven stood and moved toward the phone, "I need to tell the Titans about this."

Brother Charmis looked up when he noticed his shadow had seemed to double for a second. As if, for a moment, the sun had been doubled. Using the distraction as an excuse to pull the cloth from his pocket and wipe the sweat from his face, he glanced around him.

The ruins of what had once been a beautiful city looked better now that they had removed most of the wreckage. The remains of the buildings that still stood, however, bore silent testimony to the ravages that Trigon had heaped upon Azarath. Now, the few believers remaining were trying to rebuild their city.

Charmis' thoughts were cut short when a scream cut through the air. Following the sound, Charmis charged around the corner in time to see the fiery minions of Trigon carrying a figure through a portal that had opened in the air.

"Arella!" he cried out. "Azar protect you," he whispered as he watched the portal close. So, he thought as others ran up, Trigon has reclaimed his wife. May your death be swift, Sister Arella.

"Jake said he'd be down here," Helen Morgendorffer muttered as she came down the stairs. Starting toward the kitchen, she stopped as the phone began to ring. Being closer to the one on the coffee table, she reached down and picked it up. "Hello?"

"Mom?" Daria leaned back on the sofa as she said, "It's me."

"Daria!" Helen smiled as she said, "It's so nice to hear from you. How have you been?"

"Um, okay, I guess," she replied. If you don't count finding out I'm half-demon. Aloud, she asked, "How are you and Dad?"

"Oh," Helen idly wandered over to the window, "we're fine. You coming in for a few days now that classes are done?"

"Uh, yeah. But I need to settle things with work first."

"Well, sweety, you just let us know. We miss you, you know."

"Yeah, well I miss you, too. Um, Mom, you mind if I bring a guest home with me?"

"You know Jane is always welcome," Helen reminded her.

"Well, actually, I was referring to someone else. She's a friend who's parents don't live around here."

"Really?" Helen was torn between being happy that her daughter had made a new friend and worry that it was a stranger she had never met. "What's her name?" Helen waited, but got no response. "Daria?"

"There will be no response." The smoking remains of the phone landed on the carpet next to her. Turning, Helen could only stare at the figure now approaching.

Her scream was abruptly silenced.