Chapter 10: Warning

Pounding… There was a slow rhythm, a steady beat… felt so close, but sounded so distant… in her chest… Dove groaned softly, slowly registering the dull aches in her body, realizing the sound was her own heart… She shifted in hopes of finding a position to ease the pain, and the sound of rustling blankets met her ears.

Faintly confused, she lifted her eyelids, just a bit…

The fading golden light of the sunset was casting its glow over the room – her room… "How…?"

"Dove?"

That was Raven's voice.

Dove tested her arms, then lifted herself up, rubbing her head softly. Then she turned to her sister.

"Are you okay?"

Dove nodded, just once.

"I found you after four hours. What happened?"

Dove blinked, still trying to get a hold of what was happening now… "I…" Exhaustion. She felt exhaustion. And… weak… but she could speak. "I don't know…" She took a soft breath, clearing the confusion, another breath to make it easier to think… now she remembered… "I – I was walking, and –" She closed her eyes and shook her head. The faintest anxiety arose in her mind, what exactly had happened, what did she do…? And why…? She shivered, and she decided to skip the details. She didn't feel any threat now, it was probably just – just a phase… and she couldn't bear Raven's disapproval, not now… "I felt their deaths… Raven, it still hurts…" She lifted her eyes to Raven's, confused and hoping for understanding.

Raven was silent for a moment. "Death is a complicated sensation," she explained. "When the soul breaks away from a weak body, or sick, or pained, in empathy death can feel like… peace. It's almost blissful, relief… It feels like a chilling quiet, but there is a sense of pleasure, a sense of freedom… but when the death comes too suddenly, when the soul is forced to break away before its time, there is pain, a moment of shock and fear…"

Dove blinked, then she nodded.

"Either way, death is a strong empathetic sensation. The way your mother sheltered you, I'm guessing you've never been exposed to it, and it might take some getting used to."

Dove nodded. "I understand…" She looked down at her hands, lying on her legs, the hands that – She clasped them uneasily and forced those thoughts away. "Does it hurt less when you're used to it?"

"Not necessarily, but it's less shocking. Are you sure you're okay?"

Dove was slightly startled, only for a moment. Then she shrugged. Raven would know if she was lying, or at least hiding something… "I'm… confused. All the emotions – I-I don't know what to do about them…"

Raven blinked, and Dove held her gaze on Raven's uneasily. Her eyes were piercing, so steady, like she was looking into Dove's soul… "Are you sure that's all?" she asked, her tone so gentle it startled Dove.

"I'm just afraid of what will happen when I completely lose control of myself," Dove admitted, her voice so quiet she could barely hear herself. She opened her mouth - then quickly shut it. She would stop there… that way she wouldn't have to lie… she didn't want to lie, especially to Raven…

After a moment, Raven nodded. "You should be afraid of that."

Her tone was still so much softer than she expected…

Dove just nodded weakly.

Raven's eyes were held still, almost waiting for Dove to go on… She waited for another moment. Then she began, her tone back to its normal self, "You may be letting your control slip, but at least you're looking ahead."

Dove faked a small embarrassed smile. Truthfully, she didn't even feel like she could smile, it sort of surprised her…

"You should probably get some rest," Raven told her, her tone suggesting that it was more than a suggestion.

Dove nodded. "Yeah…"

It seemed today's earlier storm hadn't quite worn itself out.

Though the rain had stopped, the twilight skies were still overcast, the air still heavy with the threat of rain.

Dove blinked up worriedly, her robe just faintly tinged with a fearful brown. Once Raven had left her room, she began trying to sort it out… Now she was standing on the island. Raven had told her to rest, but she could only toss and turn in her bed, unable to ease the slight nerves and keep her body or her mind still. She couldn't have slept; she was too anxious. So she had crept through the tower, sneaking out so no one was sure where she was. That way she couldn't be interrupted as she thought…

Twice. It happened twice today. And as desperately as she tried, she couldn't figure out how. It just snuck up on her, taken her by surprise. There was no warning, no reason, no - Wait. It happened because she was… curious…? She wanted to know… what was it…? She threaded her hand through her hair and bowed her head. It was all so unclear… she couldn't really remember…

She closed her eyes, desperately sifting her memories for what had happened. The memory was… hardly there. That could just be her exhaustion… Thinking wasn't easy, even with deep breathing and a weak attempt to focus her mind. But she had to figure out what was going on. Or else… She shuddered, remembering the sound of her own laughter as she reveled in what she was doing.

…it was giving her a headache…

She sighed in resignment and began rubbing her temples, shifting her weight uneasily. For now she would just have to lie down, recover, and keep a careful watch on her emotions. For now, she would have to forget what had happened… It was the only way she could heal.

Thunder echoed in the distance, and Dove groaned.

Great… just what I need.

She had stayed in bed all day yesterday, on Raven's command, and she had spent most of that time sleeping - or unconscious, she wasn't sure which. But she knew that today around noon, Raven had come in, coached her through meditation, and told her that she seemed strong enough to get up. Dove certainly felt strong enough, and she readily agreed - besides a restlessness from being in bed all day, hunger was gnawing at her and she was more than ready for lunch. Food sounded like a great idea.

But an even greater relief was found when she realized she could keep her robe from straying from white - or at least mostly. Regardless, she felt better knowing she was in control of her mind. That way she was less likely to fall into an unexpected turn of mood. Though she still distantly wondered how and why she had switched moods so suddenly in those few incidents…

But now that streak of control was definitely threatened.

The thunder brought on an uneasy and faded gray in her cloak. Though the sound was low and distant, it was still there, and its signal was clear: the storm was finally coming back. She watched the skies, looking up from her dinner uneasily. The clouds were dark, heavy… and judging by the way the seagulls wavered in the air, a strong wind was present as well.

Dove's anxiety didn't go unnoticed.

"Dove, are you okay?" Robin asked.

"Yes, you appear quite ill of ease," Starfire added, concern thick in her voice.

"I don't like thunder," Dove replied softly, her eyes held still on the clouds.

"It sounds like the storm's still pretty far away," Cyborg tried comforting her, and Dove bowed her head with her eyes closed, setting down her fork.

"But it's still coming," she sighed. "I… I think I lost my appetite." She stood and glanced at the window once more, then turned towards the door.

"Are you going to be okay?" Raven asked, knowing that look in Dove's eyes. She was afraid.

Dove nodded. "Yeah… Yes, I-I think…"

Lightning flickered between the clouds, and Dove winced, trying to brace herself against the coming thunder. She swallowed, the thunder sounded, and she closed her eyes with a shaky breath. "I'm going to my room," she announced, and she left, her steps light and nervous.

Once she made it there, she sat on the bed with her head in her hands. Deep breaths, she reminded herself, deep breaths… She straightened her back. Her heart rate was just a little bit higher than normal, barely noticeable, and the nerves were fragile, light… easy enough to ease with her breathing…

In, in… out… In… out… She took in as much air as she could and still be comfortable, conscious enough of the fact that her nerves wanted to restrict her diaphragm -

Soft thunder met her ears, but she choked off the nerves, they were so small, the thunder was so soft… She held her breath for a second, clearing her mind, and exhaled, returning to the even, gentle, rhythmatic breath.

It's only thunder, she tried comforting herself - then she bit her lip. Just breathe, in, out, in, out, stop thinking, stop worrying…

Well, at least there was one thing she completely mastered in her training.

In… … out… … It was nearly meditation, but she wasn't trying to slip away, her only goal now was to calm down… It was amazing what something so simple as breathing could do…

Feeling a bit more stable, she took a few more breaths before opening her eyes and standing.

I have to be logical about this, she thought, not from her logical side's influence but because she knew that giving in to her emotions could only lead to disaster. She walked over to her bedside table, opened the cabinet beneath, and pulled out the wooden hand mirror. The edges were decorated to look like wings and the handle flared out at the bottom, giving it the shape of a tail. It felt smooth and even to her hand, a good sign.

Being careful not to gaze into her reflection, she set it on the table and propped it up with an extra pillow so the reflective surface could be seen from her bed. Then she nodded.

A little extra warning couldn't hurt…

Now if something unusual began happening, she could see it in the mirror before it got out of hand.

A flash of light brightened her room, and she looked towards the window. The thunder made her wince. She sighed, feeling the nerves come back, only this time they were fuller, more slippery. She couldn't get a hold of them, let alone stop them…

Rain began pattering softly against the glass, and she actually heard a gust of wind blow past. She sat on the bed and glanced around the room, her robe showing the faintest darkening.

So that plan didn't work, she thought, wishing it was otherwise. She closed her eyes and tried breathing again, trying to breathe slow and deep despite the fear –

The rain thickened, the wind hurling it against the window as thunder crossed the sky yet again.

Dove tightened her eyes and bent a bit into herself – she couldn't help it, couldn't breathe deeply enough to stop to fear…

Calm down, please, she begged herself, and she looked around her room… Hoping to distract her mind, Dove took the book from beside the bed and began reading. It helped, a little…

The rain was almost soothing when the wind faded, a gentle rhythm, soft, nothing like the sounds she feared so much…

She felt the nerves ebb just a bit, down, but still not as calm as she was when she tried to breathe before… her heart was still beating stronger than it should, and she couldn't really relax…

Come on, come on, she pleaded, grappling for control –

Lightning lit the room again, and she jumped before the thunder even began. And when it did, she felt her fear rise and spike.

NO, she nearly cried out. She knew she really needed the fear to lessen, she closed her eyes and tried breathing as deeply as her anxiety would allow, and she knew she really should distract her mind before she loses control, if she couldn't control the fear itself…

She turned back to the book and read each word carefully, not eagerly and absent-mindedly as she usually would, now really trying to focus and fall into the pages… imagine it vividly, distract her mind, "see" what was happening in the story…

The wind was hammering the rain against the window again, making it hard for her to imagine much at all.

Then she saw the flicker of lightning reflected on the mirror, and she glanced at the object nervously. Thunder crashed, sooner and sounding much closer than she thought it would.

Shaking, Dove swallowed and stood up, crossed her room to the shelf, then she took a lamp, set it on her bedside table, and turned it on. She found comfort in its soft golden glow, it reminded her so much of Azarath, of sweeter times…

She sighed and sat down on the bed, pulling her blanket up a bit higher and picking up her book –

Another flash of lightning flared in the clouds, bright enough to brighten her room even with the lamp for just a second, and thunder took its place. The sound was immensely loud, sending hot terror cursing through Dove's body as it seemed to threatened to tear the very skies apart.

Then she gasped; the light from the lamp was replaced by a near-total darkness that engulfed the entire space of the room.

Dove turned to the window, suddenly desperate – the only light out there was Jump City's tiny fireflies, the lights on the widows and signs and traffic lights – none of which even pinpricked their way into her room. And this darkness was just completely unnatural.

Where in Azar's name are those generators? she wondered, her fear spiraling into panic and out of control.

She swallowed and closed her eyes as she pulled her knees up to her chest and clasped her arms around them, wondering where the part of her mind that embraced darkness had disappeared to. And then she suddenly remembered the lights going out during dinner, before she left… they had been running – the generators just went out.

"Oh Azar…" Her voice came out small, tense, and timid, very much reflecting the fact that she was near tears. Then she felt the electric release of energy, and the lamp crashed against the floor right beside her.

Dove yelped and jumped, her eyes wide open as she blinked into the blackness. She couldn't see anything, it was as if a black curtain had settled over her eyes. She leaned over hesitantly and glanced downward –

She immediately resumed her position on the bed; when she tried seeing anywhere into the darkness an overwhelming vertigo fell into her, and she felt a sudden lightheadedness. So she closed her eyes against it, muttering prayers for it to all just fade away, get the lights on, she needed someone to come in with a candle –

"Raven!" Her eyes shot open, and, trying to ignore the dizziness, she stepped gingerly off the bed. Once her feet were on the solid ground, a wave of calm suddenly settled over her. Balance suddenly seemed possible.

She stepped lightly, carefully forward, holding a hand against the wall to guide her and the other held in front of her. When she met the wall, she had to pry the automatic door open, groaning slightly with the effort – reinforced titanium was heavy. But finally she managed to get it open far enough for her to pass through. She looked through the threshold.

And then she whimpered softly. With no windows, the hallway seemed twice as dark as her room. She sighed, and holding her hands in front of her, she stepped warily and timidly past the door. She was glad that the thunder wasn't audible behind the thick walls, but she couldn't see anything at all… the darkness seemed too deep to be hiding anything solid, it was dizzying… she had to close her eyes and walk slowly with a shoulder against the wall.

Though she knew the way to Raven's room, she had certainly gone there for help enough times, she still had to stop at each wall and ponder, remind herself where she was and which way to go… Titans' Tower was ten times as confusing when it was impossible to see where you were.

After one final turn, she took a few more careful steps, imagining the distance, and when she felt the door she ran her fingers lightly over the letters inscribed. Finally she found the door she was looking for. She carefully pushed the door open, trying to keep it as silent as possible.

Raven meditating above her bed, about a dozen candles flickering gently around the room.

Dove bit her lip. She felt a bit guilty about interrupting; she knew that whenever Raven sensed her, it wasn't pleasant…

Raven opened one eye halfway and looked up at her, keeping her head leveled and only moving her eye to acknowledge Dove's presence.

"Uh… the lights went out…" Dove told her, her voice timid and her robe slightly shaded gray.

Raven closed her eye. "I hadn't noticed."

Dove stayed in the threshold and nodded uncomfortably. She blinked around the room, noticing that the window was covered up – she wondered if Raven liked the rain or not but didn't want to bother her again… and yet she had to. She swallowed. "I'm getting too afraid again…"

Raven sighed. "What – "

A crash of thunder cut her off.

Dove winced. "That," she replied, fidgeting with her now-brownish robe.

"Have you tried meditating?"

"Raven, you know I can't meditate when I get this afraid!" Her voice was airy, breathless, and her heart was thudding against her ribs as she shivered where she was, looking out the window with a sudden sense of terror...

And Raven could sense exactly how afraid Dove was getting. She couldn't help wondering why the storms couldn't wait... it would have been so much better if they waited until Dove had a better - much better control over her emotions.

"Raven...?" Dove asked softly, looking towards her sister but her eyes kept flickering to the window nervously. "Can you help me...?" Her voice was small, timid... she didn't want Raven to think she relied entirely on her... she didn't want Raven to think she was completely helpless... even though, when it came to thunder, she really was... "I-I don't know if I can control my powers with this going on..." Her voice came out rough, tight, like she could barely speak past her fear.

Dove's tension was all too obvious, in her body language if not her empathy. And with how fragile Dove's mind was, it seemed all too obvious to Raven that confronting the fear wasn't going to help Dove… and if that was the case, their only option was to turn her mind away from it, distract her.

She stood and met her sister at the threshold - and she couldn't help noticing how darkly colored Dove's robe was. "There's more to your powers than just energies."

Dove tore her eyes from the window and hesitantly met Raven's gaze. Though fear still showed clearly on her face, a slight fascination found its way into her mind. All her life, that had been the one thing her mother worried about with her powers, the energies and what they could do. But if there was more… "How… how much…?"

"A lot more than you know."

"What do you mean…? It's not – I don't… I mean, I know about the telepathy and levitation, but…"

"That might not be all you can do," Raven told her, piecing together each phrase carefully, not wanting to trigger any more fear in Dove's mind, that was the last thing they needed… She narrowly avoided mentioning how great the potential power was, but that would only frighten her. No, she would have to tread lightly with her words…

Dove blinked up at Raven, and waited for her to go on…

"You've been able to glimpse another's memories…" She had to keep switching subjects if she wanted to keep Dove's mind from the fear. "Maybe you have the ability to project your soul-self as well."

The slight fading in her robe's color assured her it was working. It was still a murky brown, but at least she was a little distracted.

As Raven led the pair to her bed, Dove told her, her voice still soft and a little tense but no longer sounding like she was choking on her own words, "My mother mentioned it once, she asked Arella something about a black mass of energy and she told her what it was..."

"How long ago did that happen?"

Dove shrugged, then closed her eyes and thought... "I think I was... almost seven...?"

Raven nodded; that would mean she was about nine...

"But I thought you said your soul-self had a form." Dove blinked up at Raven again.

"I had trouble forming my soul-self when I was young."

"When did it first work...?" Her eyes were still fearful but her tone hinted at interest.

Knowing the question Dove was side-stepping, Raven replied, "Younger than you are now."

Dove felt a slight blush come over her. "Um... okay. But... still...?"

"I was... about thirteen, and the first time was when I had first met my – our father face-to-face."

Dove's eyes suddenly widened. "You mean you - you actually met him?" she squeaked, totally overtaken by the story.

Raven's expression showed a bit of uncertainty. "I told you before, didn't I?"

Dove's expression revealed confusion. "Huh...?"

"After I healed from that… sickness."

Dove blinked, her face blank for only a moment - then her memory returned and she let out a small noise of recognition. "Oh." She shifted uneasily. How could she have forgotten such an amazing and rare moment, when Raven actually told her a bit about her past...? "I... don't know how I forgot..." She bowed her head, suddenly desolate, and... almost ashamed...

A loud resonance of thunder tore her from her reverie, and she whimpered as a white bolt of energy flashed through the air.

As she had done so many times in the past, Raven let loose a bolt of her own energy, leading it to collide with Dove's, overtake it, and send both energies to nonexistence.

"Do I have to put up the shield again?" Raven asked, her tone a bit impatient.

"I hope not," Dove replied softly, knowing that Raven was growing annoyed with her inability to control her fear...

A softer round of thunder sounded, and still Dove felt another bit of energy stray away from her. Every moment her control grew weaker, she felt it slipping from her grasp every time she heard it...

Raven watched that bolt fade on its own. "Holding up a shield is exhausting."

"I'm sorry," Dove whimpered, not knowing what else to say.

Raven watched her for a moment, and then she turned her head to the window. Whenever lightning lit the sky, she would ready herself, and if Dove let any energies loose, she would strike up a small wall of energy and intercept the energy before it did any damage. She really did wish Dove hadn't chosen her room to lose control in...

Raven's method worked, until a flare of lightning came, and the thunder came with it. Caught off guard by the light and the sound at once, Dove yelped, and a few of the candles shot away from her, each encased in a wild cocoon of white energy.

Raven tensed as Dove threw herself against her body in a desperate motion of fear. Almost as if Raven could protect her from herself.

Raven let out a breath. She wanted to pry Dove from her body - she didn't like being touched, let alone held onto - but the fear, the desperation she sensed... Dove was huddling against her like a frightened child. And once the shock faded, Raven could hear... She was sobbing.

"Dove..."

"Raven, that hurt," she whimpered helplessly.

"Think about it as another reason you need to keep yourself under control," Raven advised softly.

"But... why did it hurt...?"

"The strength of your emotions. The more you feel, the more energy you release."

Dove moaned softly, weakly, completely unsure of herself. If the energies kept going the way they were, getting stronger and stronger each time they got away from her - and her fear slipping through her fingers faster and faster... how long until she really hurt herself...? "Raven, this is getting really really bad," she murmured, her voice hardly more than a quiet whimper.

Raven nodded. "I know."

Dove looked up at her, her expression begging, pleading... "Please don't make me stay here... Raven, I-I can't handle it anymore!" The fear of her own powers rose with the already existing fear of the thunder, and she cried out and huddled against Raven as yet another ray of energy crackled around her.

Raven bit back the urge to tell Dove she hadn't had a handle on her powers since the moment she walked in. Then she let out a sigh of frustration, trying to make it take her nerves with it. Then she stood, telling Dove to stand as well.

Dove felt faintly confused but didn't bother asking. She simply followed her sister's lead, and once they were standing, Raven kept Dove steady with a hand on her shoulders and led them to the door, Dove caught in a shaky daze.

Dove huddled against Raven and whimpered, hiding her face in her arms as one last crash of thunder sounded, just before they turned into the hall, and then the storm was behind them.

Dove was still feeling a numb exhaustion from the level of her fear as they walked down the final flight of stairs into the basement.

And Raven could still sense it. The fear still hadn't let her go, she should have been able to calm down once they were away from the window, away from the storm…

"You should meditate."

Dove nodded weakly. She let out a breath, taking the position where she was and trying to clear her mind, ground herself, let all the feeling go… She tried to open her mouth, to chant the words, but the remnants of the fear held her body in a tense trance, and she couldn't persuade her throat to relax anyways… She focused on her breathing.

Raven stood, waiting with something akin to impatience for Dove's body to relax. "Make sure you're letting yourself be calm."

Dove swallowed. "I'll try…" Her voice was soft, hardly there…

With all the energy she had involuntarily sent out, it was no wonder she could hardly hold her head up… She's exhausted, Raven told herself. "Relax, Dove."

Taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Dove nodded and embraced the calm emptiness that was slowly but surely coming over her mind.

"I'm going to leave, see how you handle it alone… I can't watch you forever."

Dove nodded silently, then resumed position and continued the breathing.

"And make sure you meditate tomorrow as well."

Dove nodded. "And the day after that, and so on..." Her voice trailed off.

Raven nodded her approval; that tone meant she had managed to get the fear to back off. She was getting back to neutrality.

Dove only managed to keep that neutrality for two days.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos."

It was always so calm here, nothing around but the peacefulness… calm, empty, black… all she needed…

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos."

…in meditation, her only way to escape the fears of what her emotions could do if she ever let them go…

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos."

She was alone, in the only place where she knew no one could hurt her and she could hurt no one.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos."

Mother wasn't here to protect her anymore… she had to protect herself…

Mother… A familiar image began forming in her mind, obscuring the neutral darkness, an image of Alerina stepping into the room, her hood raised, her eyes closed, her empathy aching and miserable…

Dove's mind absorbed in the meditation and her most conscious self sleeping, she let herself slip into the memory, a smooth gentle transition that her stilled mind barely noticed.

"Mother, what's wrong?"

Alerina lifted her eyes just a bit, raising them to look into her daughter's eyes… she tried to smile but she couldn't. She simply couldn't.

Dove blinked, old enough to understand that Alerina was upset. Without a word, she blinked again, her young concerned eyes searching her mother for just a moment more before she made eye contact and looked into her mother's soul. The static flared, the bridge fell into place, and though they were uneven, faded, Dove could see glimpses of images from her mother's mind. She gave in to the pull, and she lost herself in her mother's memory.

Walking out of a gathered meditation, Alerina stepped through another arched threshold with light, gentle steps, holding herself with the calmly alert expression that she always carried when in Azarathean commonplaces. She always felt much safer to know when someone was coming her way; if someone were to startle her, a thousand and one worrying thoughts would arise and she would not be able to calm herself enough to keep the other from suspicion.

She heard the faintest echo of a voice, and she felt a vague curiosity overcome her. The echo was soft, quiet, not clear and sharp as even an echo of normal conversation would be. She lightened her step even more than before, and following the source, she stepped through the temple with her hood lowered.

When the whispers grew clear enough to make out words, Alerina slowed and stepped more cautiously. She stood as close to the wall as possible and tilted her head, listening…

There was a man's voice, and a woman's reply. Not voices she knew - but that wasn't surprising. She barely knew anyone else by name, let alone their voices.

One of the words jerked her to listen intently.

" - and Raven can…"

Raven! She angled herself against the golden wall, and with alert eyes and an intent posture, she listened.

The man's voice was quiet, indistinct. But the woman's reply was rushed, anxious, and her voice came out much louder than she intended. "But it simply isn't natural! There is always threat around her, danger, and power that we could not even hope to stop. I tell you, she is terrifying!"

A quiet need to defend the child, and her own daughter as well, arose in Alerina's mind. She turned the corner and walked into the hall, cautiously leaving a couple of feet between herself and the pair.

They both turned her way, the man's open mouth revealing his surprise in subtlety and the woman's gasp making hers obvious.

"Raven was not sired by an angel," she reminded them in a soft voice.

"Surely you are not defending the demon," the woman asked, her tone almost accusing.

"Not the demon, but the child."

"The child is the demon."

"She is not a demon! Half demon, perhaps, but she is human as well. You must forgive her for her heritage. It was never her choice."

"Her choice or not, she destroyed the Temple," the monk stated firmly.

"But that was not Raven's doing!" Alerina urged, almost pleaded, suddenly feeling a desperation choking her throat, her voice coming strained and her eyes showing something akin to fear. "Surely you are not shunning a child."

"She is no ordinary child," he replied icily, his eyes cold and hard. "Her mother may have been human, but her soul is nothing more than eternal darkness."

"That is not true!" Alerina cried, her voice cracking and her vision blurred as a wave of hopeless desire fell over her. "Raven is – "

"Simply not like us," the woman cut in, and Alerina let her words die off. "Raven is far too different for us to embrace her."

"You can't hold her accountable - " Alerina whispered –

"But if she was never born, our beloved Azarath would still be as glorious as Azar's initial vision!" He tossed his hand out, gesturing towards the cracks in the marble columns, the darkened skies, the pieces of architecture lost in the quaking on the day of Raven's birth.

"There were repairs – " Alerina countered, and her words were smothered yet again.

"Nothing can repair what she will bring."

His words sliced right through the mother's conscious, a sudden uncertainty that cut deep into her heart and lay a heavy burden upon her chest… would her own daughter bring destruction as well…? "She has the ability to heal," she reminded them, the tension in her voice thickening with her oncoming tears, "and she knows of your true feelings. Every bit of hate you feel, she is subjected to. She can feel your fears, your pain, and she is expected to counter not only her own emotions, but yours as well. Can you feel no remorse for placing such a burden upon her shoulders? Azar, she is so young…" She bowed her head and placed her hand over her mouth, and she tried to swallow a sob. "You are all so cold to her," she whispered. "You lose sight of her humanity to the shadow of her heritage." A shudder cascaded down her spine, and she was barely able to hide the fluttering fear arising within her as she realized that her own daughter would meet the same fate if ever they knew… "We should protect her and bring her into our arms, not cast her away… Even Azar said…"

"Perhaps Azar is strong enough to stand living with the death of us all," the man further argued, "but I am none too fond of the notion."

"But she is not the reason – Tr – her father…" Suddenly fighting to lock out vivid and painful memories, she snapped her eyes closed and bit her lip. "She is still a child, still human, and she has done nothing to deserve such hate, only existing. And you hold her life against her?"

The other two hesitated, all three recalling a single incident…

"I… feel Juris may have been right, that we may have been safer without her," the woman mused, almost nervous.

Alerina gasped and stepped back in disbelief. "You would feel that it is right to kill a child, simply for being different?"

"No!" the woman defended hurriedly, "but we are not safe in her presence!"

"How can you be so accepting of a hellbringer among harmony?" the man asked, and Alerina gripped the edge of her robe in fisted hands as he continued. "She is never going to be able to become one of us. And she will never belong here."

"How can you be so cruel?" the mother asked softly as she took another step back, desperately wanting to but somehow afraid to leave the conversation, evade the desolate frustration and painful sympathy she felt for both sisters… and the man's hard stare only amplified that ache… She closed her eyes, tossed her hood over her head, and gulped back a sob as she turned and ran from the temple with such a heaviness in her heart…

Her eyes. The man suddenly recognized those eyes, the deep blue shade of Azarath's twilit sky. "Magena." He had heard that the exiled woman's daughter had come back to her birthplace, but he had never seen the young woman himself, until now. His gaze held firm as he spoke, his voice echoing to his companion, "She has her mother's…"

"Strength?" the woman offered.

"No. Something more like… rebellion. Stubbornness. She is a… fighter."

Is it such a sin, to want to reach out to one so pained and embrace her? Alerina wondered sincerely as she turned from the halls and exited the great emblazoned doors, her gait not slowing to a walk until she passed through the threshold. They don't understand, she told herself, they have no sympathy… People once so caring have turned bitter in the presence of Raven, their hearts soured and changed, and so afraid…

It was nowhere near the first time she had heard such accusations shot towards Raven like poisonous darts of venomous fear. All across the monolith, Azaratheans chattered uneasily about the child held within the temple, under Azar's care. Raven was the end of peace, the end of Azarath, the end of their lives. Even the few she did meet who embraced Raven as another member of their society and not an outsider always seemed to have either an edginess about them or a tired smile upon their face. Raven was an enigma, the very definition of the word. Such confusion she aroused… and people tended to transpose confusion into fear. And there is little room for sympathy in a fearful heart.

Dove coughed, choking on a tiny sob.

Her emotions made her hold on the connection too slippery, and she lost contact. For a moment her mind was lost, and a sense of panic flared - then jerked her back to her own soul.

She blinked herself back to her home, her vision still blurry – but this time, it was her own tears.

"Dove…" Alerina looked down at her daughter, her pained affection showing through on her face though she tried to hide it from the little empath. She didn't want her to be hurt by this… but Dove still had tears in her eyes and she was still looking up at her mother with a pleading expression. Alerina gave in to both of their desires, and she kneeled in front of her and wrapped her arms around her daughter, holding her close ever so gently and laying her head on Dove's shoulder, making their cheeks touch.

Dove fell into the embrace eagerly, and she nestled herself in her mother's arms, her mind spinning weakly with pain. "Why do we have to be so different?" she asked softly, referring to herself and Raven. "They never talk about anyone else in Azarath like that…"

Alerina had asked herself the same question many, many times, but she knew the answer all too well. "They are afraid. They fear your powers, because they know how strong they are." And they hate you, Alerina thought, nearly sobbing as the words crossed her mind. Alerina forced herself to skip the reason for that, Dove was too young, too fragile to sear her with the truth about her heritage just yet… the child knew who her father was, and the fear of her own powers was enough for her to bear without the pain of knowing why she would be so hated… "They are afraid you are going to hurt them. Well, they fear that of Raven, but they would be so afraid of you too if they ever found out…"

Dove's eyes went wide with fear. "I'm not really going to hurt people, am I?" Her horror at the thought made her voice high and squeaky at the end, and she buried her head in her mother's robe.

"No, Dove, no," Alerina told her, sealing the promise with a squeeze...

And then a new voice echoed through the memory, deep, resounding, distant and echoing as if far-off but confident in tone. "The woman was not a prophet."

Dove's eyes tightened in confusion for just a moment; the memory faded, was replaced by a sheer blackness that enveloped her mind. Silently, Dove wondered to herself…

The voice began again, the voice of her father – suddenly it was so much closer, sounding as if spoken past a barricade but it was there, so close nonetheless. "Your mother's influence is thinning."

A quiet need took hold of her mind, and Dove tightened her eyes in concentration.

"I am gaining strength. You fight me, but you cannot deny the inevitable - "

Dove began pushing against the voice, setting up mental blockades and forcing herself to ignore it, she felt it pulsing against her mental barriers but persisted, determined -

"- and the moment you let your guard down, your control will go with it!"

- and telling herself that he was trying to tear away her confidence. No, maybe she had fallen into that state of mind before, but there was no way she would let herself be taken over. No, no, she simply wouldn't believe it.

Ignore him.

She grit her teeth and shut away the voice, bringing her mind to forcing the voice and all else within her mind to be silent. She told herself to focus on meditation… fall back into the silence… back into the peace… the peace that was so hard to attain anywhere else.

It was happening again. Only this time, it was different.

It wasn't like she was asleep, the world seen through the foggy filter of an emotion as she watched calmly in a dream-like state – it was more like spikes of emotion, piercing the unclear filter and suddenly making everything seem so vivid, so real.

Dove was in the living room watching everyone go about their daily routines, and every single one of their sensed emanations was seeping into her. Thoughtful focus from Robin's investigation sent her mind into a curious and logical state; her robe became such a vivid yellow it seemed to glow. Victory and determined will from Beast Boy caused a smile to erupt on her face, her robe altered to deep emerald green, and with Cyborg's annoyance it flickered to orange. Even the subtlest sense of tension emanating from Raven's reading sent her mind off on its tangent; her robe flared a dull and eager form of pink. Dull but distinct excitement flooded through her.

Every time she turned her eyes to one of the Titans, a new wave of empathy washed over her, changing her mindset each second and her robe changing to match.

It felt chaotic.

And Dove suddenly realized how unstable she felt. Incredibly unstable. It felt like she could fall into an emotion, any emotion that came at any time – A sudden sense of nervousness shot her robe to a deep brown.

Raven glanced up from the pages, sensing the violent eruption of emotions within her mind. "Dove," she called, her voice urgent –

Her call barely met Dove's ears; she was caught up in the flood of empathy, and realizing what could happen if she didn't get away, she jumped up and began striding across the room.

"Dove, what's going on?" Raven asked sharply, her voice so serious it was almost threatening.

Dove turned to her, laughed nervously and backed towards the door. "Nothing, nothing – I-I just need to meditate."

When the automatic doors swished open, she turned and hurried through them, crossing into the hallway as quickly as she could. "What in Azar's name is wrong with me?"

The minute she arrived in her room, she stepped with swift determination to her bedside table and picked up the mirror – and she immediately knew something was wrong. The frame no longer looked polished and smooth; when she held it, the handle felt wild, electric, chaotic.

She focused on the glass, looked into her own eyes and looked into her reflection… Three seconds' wait, and then the black, red, and blue vortex tore open on the glass, and she closed her eyes as she willed herself to be transitioned smoothly.

The vortex took her in and she focused her mind on arriving safely. She ignored the sensation of being pulled in a million directions at once just before the portal dropped her to the ground.

She stood. And she was nearly knocked off her feet by a gust of wind rushing past.

The winds were blowing from every direction, one gust left, another right, and left again, then a gust strong enough to send her stumbling forward , caught completely off guard and still trying to recover her footing.

Dove yelped. A softer current rolled against her right side, and Dove took advantage of the semi-stability and braced her feet against the ground. She leaned forward into the gales and closed her eyes tightly, her expression determined as she plowed onward. It was chaos here, and she had to get to the bottom of it. And she had a feeling she knew just where to look.

The winds lurched against her back, suddenly jerking her forward and forcing her hood over her eyes. She let out a note of surprise, then stopped to grab her cloak so it wouldn't catch the wind and send her toppling forward, or offer resistance when she was walking headlong into the wind. Another shift in current, and she put her foot out and began again, watching the ground in front of her with focused determination –

Dove was caught completely off-guard when she suddenly felt a spike of joy and her robe flared pink – She hastily shoved it aside and forced herself calm, realizing she must have stepped through –

When she looked up, the arc was still in the distance, and the scenery hadn't changed at all. She was still in the part of her that was – or at least should have been – neutral.

Her uncertainty gave rise to a feeling of confusion, which quickly became a sense of anxiety. Her robe darkened to brown and she began frantically wondering how bad it was –

She shook her head, grabbing control of her mind and wrestling the emotions down. The determined expression set on her face once more, she glanced ahead in the path and began debating how far she was from where all this should be happening… the emotions were everywhere, she suddenly felt them within her and she fought to keep them down, tried to figure out why – but then she realized that this wasn't a normal change in mental state. She could sense something disturbed, something changing… some unfamiliar energies –

Dove gasped softly as Trigon's voice echoed on a gust of wind, making the gust sound rough and gravelly, and a chuckle somehow resounded in the current as it wrapped its way around her body.

"Where are you?" Dove demanded, her robe pulsating between green, brown, yellow, brown again… She could feel all the emotions pounding, fighting to be free, like birds in a cage…

His voice echoed through the air, this time in actual words: "Let them be free! After all…" The four eyes appeared in the sky and the air becomes tense with dark energy. "What's the worst that can happen?"

His image formed in around the eyes, dark and terrible and almost overpowering.

Dove gasped sharply and fought the urge to run; I have to stand my ground, she couldn't give up, not now! Fighting back the streak of fear, she met his gaze and stared up at him with her expression showing nothing more than her fierce defiance, her stance steady on the ground and her hands clutched in ready fists.

"You know you want to let them go. Your pacifist desires are telling you to give up the fight. Let yourself relax. It would be so much easier to just let me take control…"

"That's not gonna happen," Dove growled, her stance making it obvious that she wasn't letting up. "I won't let you take me."

The demon seemed unaffected by her tone and the threat she tried to pour into her every word. "You have evaded me thrice, but you will never overcome my influence. I will never surrender, I will claim you as my own… I have much more power than you do, more than you can conceive. I have brought countless dimensions to their knees, and you shall be no different."

"Bow down and stare in wonder." The sarcasm dripped from her voice in sharp, unfamiliarly icy shards.

The demon chuckled. "You are confident. Feisty. Just like your sister."

Dove gasped, taking to the air and firing a ray towards him in a desperate attempt to stop this before it went too far. Every time he spoke, the threat of her fear had become so much clearer, she had to struggle within herself to keep his voice from eroding her control and letting herself wince… but suddenly the fear won out. The one thing she had always feared was him knowing, knowing that she was Raven's sister, and if he truly found out he could exploit his influence over her and take her as her own, she wouldn't stand a chance - ! She let out a note of exertion and fired a beam of energies towards his chest. "I won't let you take me, I'll knock you out of your miserable existence!"

"Who will knock who out of existence?" Trigon took his hand and flicked his wrist, effortlessly taking her colorless energy and turning it black laced with red. And then he turned it against her.

As she dodged the rays desperately, he asked her, "Did you honestly think that your mother's weak spells could protect you forever? Such weak, pathetic magic. That woman was barely strong enough to protect herself." Another beam shot towards his daughter, this time his own.

Dove blocked it with a confident, determined expression. "To the pits of Aziamoth with you!" She fired, her robe flaring a deep, emerald green.

"I see you still have little control over your emotions."

Dove's eyes widened a bit, she knew he could exploit that…!

"How much longer do you think you can hold it back, daughter? I am a part of you, a part that you can never run away from." He fired, his beams becoming less frivolous and more aimed.

"No – NO! I won't let you take over! This is my mind, my life, and I'm not going to let you tear it apart like I'm some sort of plaything!"

"You seem to think you have some sort of choice in the matter."

"Haven't you tormented me enough? You already destroyed my home, you killed my mother and my best friend, what more could you take away from me?" Dove was nearing tears as she evaded his blast yet again.

"It's not what I can take away. It's what you will destroy yourself."

"Myself…?" She turned back to him and stopped, hovering in place quite a distance from his mouth.

And yet, when he spoke with such final, quiet seriousness, she heard his words all too clearly. "You can't even hold your own mind together. What hope do you have against me? Continue to struggle and everything you know will fall apart."

Though she felt a bit of unease rise within her, Dove was able to keep both her reply and her gaze steady as she spoke. "You can't know that for sure. You think you have all the power but it's not true – it's unjustified vanity, most humans didn't even know what you are."

He replied simply, "Earth's inhabitants are ignorant and naïve – as are you to believe you can overpower me."

"I don't believe, I know." Her voice came out cold and hard, her confidence actually managing to mask the smallest bit of pure fear rising within her.

Trigon fired another ray, meeting her unspoken challenge without a thought.

Fierce determination siding with her fear, Dove shot upward in the air to dodge it and fired her own rays, two dozen at a time and all aimed in their wild course towards his body.

And Trigon blocked it too easily with his wristbands, hardly having to think of the motion.

Dove blinked her wide eyes, hatred and desperation welling inside of her as she watched every single beam be deflected, her energies were too weak… but no, she wouldn't give up, she would never give up, I will NOT let him take me! And she gathered her energies in a frantic attempt to make it stop, groaning with exertion as she felt the hatred pulsing inside her, felt the nerves giving rise to total fear as she realized exactly how much hate she was carrying in her soul, but she used the emotions as fuel for the impossible – she gathered the energies, forcing them to retrace themselves within her soul and not be released, not allowing them to escape, and she projected the one form of energy that she had been totally unable to use through all her training with Raven.

It was a crackling mass of black electricity, it had a wild form about it, its eyes glowing red with energies and the air in the space dropped at least five degrees as it manifested, but it was her soul-self. And she let out a primal yell as she sent it charging forward –

"Who are you to defy me?"

And then he fired the rays from his eyes, the energies striking the astral form like a bolt of lightning.

And there was a pain like no other.

"Azar help me, NOOOOOO!"

Her cry echoed through the silent infinity, accompanied only by the cruel, thunderous laughter as her father tore her soul apart at the seams, ripping it to shreds at the most sensitive parts of her mind he could find, exploiting her guilt and regret, taking advantage of her fear, using her helpless desolation for his own gain.

He was forcing her to feel the emotions.

"No, no - ! AGH!"

Tears were building in her eyes, the pain was too terrible!, and as frantically as she tried, she couldn't stop them, cut the flow of emotions – She was straining against the red energies but could barely even breathe, incoherently begging for him to let her go, the emotions were too strong – She tried summoning any kind of energy she could, but the help wouldn't come, she couldn't reign in any energy –

Her powers began destroying things, jerky electric pulses of emotion escaping with every desperate breath, and she began to gasp but a sob overtook her, and energies enveloped four of the vertical structures at a time and left them crumbling to the ground. She tried weakly to stop it, but another bolt of electricity charged through her, and she let out another gasp of pain as it struck the ground in front of the arch and sent a fracture streaking through the rock, tearing the ground in two. Energies began flickering in every direction, left, right, towards the sky and towards the ground, leaving destruction everywhere they came and destroying everything in their path. And there was absolutely nothing she could do to stop it.

"It is your own emotions that are tearing your mind apart."

Dove sobbed helplessly, she knew he was right – She could feel the pain stinging and the powers rippling violently inside her, a monsoon of wild and unkempt energies lashing out every possible moment, their presence was searing her and leaving a sharp and horribly empty feeling every time they manifested…

Triumph thick and clear in his voice, Trigon called out, "You cannot stop me!"

Suddenly Dove remembered something Raven once told her and the fear jolted through her like white-hot electricity, forcing her to cry out in one last desperate attempt to save herself, "Let me go, please, stop the feelings, they're going to tear me apart - !"

"As you wish." And he let her fall to the ground, smiling his cruel smile as she yelped and landed on her back, making painful contact with the ground.

Dove was left shivering with pain and gasping as she breathed, every single time she tried to take in a breath, it pierced her lungs like a flaming sword… Her entire body ached, and a sharp pain echoed through her back from the landing… she couldn't even open her eyes and look around, she didn't want to, didn't want to see… she could sense him, feel the ground shaking violently as he approached… She shuddered as she felt him, she actually felt him…

"Your arrogance will not be tolerated. You will learn your place, even if I must nearly destroy you in the process."

"Please… don't…"

Her voice was saturated in fear as she frantically fought for a way to ease the pain – …

That was exactly what he wanted to hear. The fear in her voice meant he was finally getting through to her. He smiled, speaking quietly as if he was sharing some deep, dark secret. "I am nothing more than a part of you."

"NO!"

She screamed as he hit her with another beam, it seared her but it somehow gave her an electric feeling that transformed the numb fear to frantic desperation, and she stumbled backwards at the surge of energies suddenly tearing through her. She gathered her strength, screamed "AZARATH METRION ZINTHOS!" and she fled for her life.

"You cannot hide!" he called after her as she ran away…