X

So it Begins

A mere two days later, the Titans were in the meeting room. Robin had gotten hold of all the computer equipment from Slade's base, and Cyborg worked the last two days nearly straight trying to piece together hardware and information supposedly fried by Raven and Starfire's E.M.P. field. Both Robin and Cyborg went over the findings, trying to reassemble what they had.

It really wasn't as much as the team had wanted, but it was quite a lot of information and more than previously expected. There was a trail of chronological entries demonstrating a steady research into a lot of the Titans' history. Most of it seemed to post-date their last encounter with Terra and Slade. If Slade truly was involved, then he had never left the city. For the past six months, he had been preparing for…something. The question was precisely what.

The startling part to be revealed was the extensive amount of study on Raven. Even the dark Titan herself was a little taken aback by it. Details seemed to stem from translated literature taken from Raven's personal library. There were many references to Azarath history and sketchy details on the language, more than likely the start of the translation legend they had found pertaining to the one scroll. A further note indicated the tracking of a target carrying an 'object of interest.' The target in question was most likely Zerrich. It was followed by an indication of obtaining the said object successfully. No details as to how could be found.

The next bit of information recovered was a tiny piece of transcript with the word 'Firnusium' clearly showing. Another part of the text included the words 'enter,' 'locate' and a broken ghost imprint of a word the team assumed to be 'acquire.'

"Enter…" Beast Boy said slowly as the rest of the team settled on the probable latter word. "Was he trying to enter the portal?"

"Enter this world of fire demons?" Cyborg scoffed. "That man musta been hangin' around lava flows for too long after our last skirmish."

"It could mean enter the realm itself," Robin said, "or it could be talking about a demon entering ours. We can't tell for sure with this information."

"We do know there's a lot more going on than we thought," Raven said, grimly.

"There was one last reference we found," Robin added. "Some parts I couldn't piece together, but there's some heavy talk about the ritual either being on time or performed for the right amount of time."

Raven nodded. "There are some rituals which take days to prepare or days to perform. Success in the spell means that Slade, or whoever, knew about what atmosphere was required."

"Oh, and get this," Cyborg continued, "a lot of the files that were scrambled were done so from some auto-encryption. They tried to purge themselves when the E.M.P. went off…by design. I'm thinkin' Slade left to do this ritual, then he set up his base to erase itself if anything happened. It'd explain why he left everything open, for both us and Chang to find."

"How come it didn't set off when Chang found it?" Starfire queried.

"Dunno," Cyborg shrugged. "Chang's crafty. Lot more than we give him credit for. Hell, I think he even built that little army we dismantled using blueprints from Slade's computers. Even if all he did was modify 'em, that was some effort."

"And a little help from the scroll he finished translating," Raven muttered.

"Thing was, the purge program eventually set off when the explosion fired."

"So why was so much of this stuff recovered?" Beast Boy asked.

"Because, funny enough, the E.M.P. messed with the purging of some of the files," Robin filled in.

"But…" Starfire began, "…I do not understand why Slade would not return to his base after so late a time. How much time do these rituals require?"

"I don't remember," Raven answered. "I know the incantation for the spell, not the setup. But I'm fairly certain it wasn't that long."

"Ugh," Beast Boy sighed. "More questions."

"And no answers for them," Starfire finished.

Raven considered for a moment one possibility. "There might be one source. Robin, if you could accompany me..."

Without waiting for a response, Raven got up from the meeting table and started her way out to the corridor. There was someone in particular she wanted to speak with.

-

-

"I've done some studying," Zerrich cocked his head to the side as he answered Raven's question. The room was, once again, sealed with just the two of them inside. The unnatural light of the encased fluorescent tubes gave an eerie look about the room as they stood by the door.

"I need to know the ritual surrounding the incantation of the Firnusium," Raven stated. "I was hoping you might have read that book."

Zerrich looked confused. "The Firnusium? Where'd this subject come from?"

"From a dark cave under the city. Someone tried to invoke the realm of the Flame Demons. Nothing's come of it that I can tell, but I don't like it one bit."

"Here? How does anyone else on this planet come to the notion of invok…hell, how does anyone here even know of the Firnusium?"

"Because an arch enemy of ours raided our Tower six months ago and stole varying items of interest. One of them was my book on the subject." Raven closed her eyes, opened them back up and looked to Zerrich. "You know what I am. You've been learning what you can about me, so I know you've done some research into…into demons in general. If you know anything at all-"

"I've researched some things on the Firnusium," Zerrich interrupted.

Raven didn't know if she wanted to thank Azar out loud or sigh in relief. She instead remained neutral, except for the slight widening of her eyes. "Do you remember the circumstances necessary for opening a portal to the realm?"

"Tectonic shifting plays a role if I remember. The spell requires a…particular site. A place that maybe gives off the right kind of energy, or something relating to tectonic alignment."

"When I was in the cave, I felt cold. No one else seemed to be affected. I couldn't tell if it was something that came from some ritual or if it was a natural energy in the air."

"And what about earth movement in the area?"

"We have earthquakes regularly in Jump City, but there haven't been any big ones lately."

"The shifting doesn't have to be huge, just precise. When do you think this incantation took place?"

"We don't know for sure. We're guessing about a month ago, or more. About the time one of our local villains uncovered that base you found for us."

Zerrich nodded. "Okay. You have a single moon. A full moon would have an increase in gravitational effects."

"But would that be enough?" Raven queried.

"No. There would have to be other spells involved. They wouldn't have to be in the same location to enhance the primary ritual. I can think of some easy ones."

Tectonic enhancement spells. Possible others. Raven had been searching for augmentation rituals that could have played a roll, but she certainly didn't know all of them. There could have easily been ones she had missed. "Zerrich, I'd like you to look over the information with me."

"And then you'll throw me back in here when you're done?"

Raven paused. Zerrich had not put up much of a fight the last couple of days. He'd been given food, a bed as well as accessible facilities. However, the fact still remained; what exactly were they going to do with him in the near future? He still hadn't answered the question regarding his true reason for arriving on Earth. To his credit, he hadn't simply come up with some fabrication just to answer the question. Still, it didn't mean he hadn't fabricated any of his other answers to date.

Raven turned to the door, hitting the speaker button. "Robin, open up." She turned back to Zerrich as the blast panels on the other side of the door hissed open. "You're going to stay right beside me. You aren't going to go anywhere else but where I go, and I would recommend you not make any quick movements."

"Such as sinking through the floor?" Zerrich quipped.

"I'm not kidding. I really had to fight like hell to keep you out of jail this last time. And I still don't know why…"

The main door slid open, and Raven walked with Zerrich into the sealed hall. When the door closed behind her, the corridor opened up to reveal Robin on the other side. He gaped wide-eyed for all of a half-instant before his hand grabbed at his belt instinctively. He took nothing out, but he continued to stare at Raven incredulously.

"It's all right, Robin," Raven said, coolly.

"What the hell is this?" Robin half growled.

"He's studied some of the same books I have. And he knows about the Firnusium. I'm taking him up to see what information we've scratched together. Besides, he might be able to explain some other parts of the ritual I can't remember or don't know about."

"You could have said something before waltzing out," Robin retorted. "I don't like this."

"I think we're all painted into a corner, this time," Raven said. "I don't think we have any other choice."

Robin kept his face in a grimace as he relaxed his posture. He looked directly at Zerrich. "Don't give me any more reason to throw you in jail, not after all this."

Zerrich simply looked back at Robin. "I don't recall giving you a reason in the first place."

Raven couldn't help but look over her shoulder. Zerrich was pushing it. When Robin got thickheaded, and it happened often enough, his decisions stuck. Zerrich's eyes, however, were locked with Robin's and ignoring Raven altogether.

"If you asked me, I'd say our battle in the warehouse already warrants a good enough reason," Robin answered.

"You attacked first. I had no choice but to fight back."

"Enough," Raven said, calmly, though her voice had a stern enough tone to indicate she was serious.

Robin simply kept his eyes on Zerrich. "Just watch what you do."

"I'll leave that to you," Zerrich retorted as Raven began walking to the next corridor. Robin followed closely behind.

-

-

"I didn't agree to any of that," Robin said harshly to Raven.

The team had mostly dispersed after the meeting. What information Zerrich and Raven could cobble together gave Cyborg a little more research work, but for the most part it seemed the two mages were going to be the ones doing most of the looking up. Cyborg stayed with Zerrich as they left the meeting room. Robin, on the other hand, had been leaning against the far wall. He'd maintained that look of disgust the entire time Zerrich had been in the room. Raven sat at one of the table's far chairs, wanting to discuss Zerrich with Robin after everyone had left just as much as Robin did. It was time for Raven to go to bat once again.

"He's been cooperative since he's been here," Raven answered one of Robin's points. "If we keep him locked up, I don't think there will be any more information he'll be willing to give us."

"And what if he takes advantage?" Robin presented in a hushed tone. "What if leaving him out on his own has greater consequences?"

Raven sighed, quietly. "I'll take responsibi-"

"I don't care who takes responsibility. I don't want it to happen. Period."

Raven stood up, walking over to Robin. "I think we're dealing with something much bigger than Zerrich. If anything is going to happen, I doubt it'll be from him." She looked at Robin for a moment before continuing. "He saved your life. In the warehouse while we fought Slade's sentinel drone. He pushed you out of the way of its blast. I saw it. You realized the same thing when you saw the hole in the wall."

Both were quiet for a long time. It gave both Titans the opportunity to reflect on the circumstances as well as the past couple of days. Raven could fully understand Robin's need for caution. However, it was just as she'd said earlier. The team was in a corner, and possible ways out were limited.

"I want to know," Robin said slowly, "what you think he wants."

Raven understood his question. Robin wasn't going to accept I don't know this time. He wanted some kind of answer, straight out or best guess. Raven sighed. "I think…he knows something. Something that's going to happen."

"What kind of something? Do you think he knew about these fire demons?"

Raven shook her head. "I don't think he knew about them. I'm not sure if he even knows just what's going to happen. But I think he's trying to keep ahead of it."

"And he thinks you're involved," Robin finished.

"Somehow," Raven confirmed. "Right now, we need to find out what Slade, or whoever they are, was doing invoking the Firnusium. Zerrich can help. And I think he can help greater if he doesn't feel…imprisoned."

Again, there was a pause. Raven watched as Robin thought it over. His face was more relaxed than before, even though it still held most of the previous look to it. "He gets limited access to the Tower. And I expect him to be with you wherever he goes. At least for now."

Raven simply nodded before pulling her hood over her face and walking for the door. She stopped in the doorway after it slid open. "Thanks," she said simply before walking out.

-

-

Raven opened the door to her room and took a few steps in before turning her head over her shoulder. "You can come in."

Zerrich walked in slowly behind her, taking in the furnishings. "This is your room?"

"Feel privileged. I rarely let anyone into my room."

Zerrich smirked as he looked around. "It's interesting, especially looking at the rest of the Tower. It's like back home, but…not."

Raven went straight to her bookshelf. She really didn't feel like commenting on the décor of her room. "We've got work. It'll be faster with two of us searching."

Raven reached with her mind to a set of editions on the shelf, floating them away from their respective places and into a neat stack in the middle of the room. She reached out again for another set, stacking them closer to Zerrich. With Zerrich's help, at least they knew where to start looking.

"These are all the books," Raven finally said, sitting with her legs crossed in front of her stack. She began hovering in place and looked back over to Zerrich. "You're sure of the reference?"

"You saw it just as I did," Zerrich answered.

"There wasn't much of a symbol," Raven deadpanned. "It could have been anything."

"It was the sign for 'messenger.' Demon summoning. I'm pretty sure of it. Anyway, it's a place to look."

Raven turned her head back to her stack. They were looking for the match to a partial symbol scrambled in with another ghost image from Slade's recovered computer data. They could only hope that a match was possible, that they hadn't been mistaken. Raven's hands went out in front of her. The first three editions floated from their place and hovered two just off to her sides and one in the center. The pages turned as her mind directed. Zerrich had two books on the floor in front of him. The pages turned a slight blue as his fingers danced above the open tomes. He would take to pointing ever so slightly at the page, then flicking his finger lightly over. The parchment turned over of its own accord before returning to its normal faded beige color.

The two searched through Raven's set of tomes for a good two hours, interrupted twice by the team to see if everything was okay. One of the checks, of course, was from Robin.

"He just doesn't trust me," Zerrich stated with a sarcastic sigh.

"We've already been through this," Raven retorted, lowering one of her books back down while levitating another in its place. "You've told us nothing of your intentions, and nothing about what you want with me."

"It isn't his business," Zerrich shot over his shoulder.

Raven turned her head up from the book she was reading. "I don't think it makes any difference. You still haven't told me what you really want. People usually ask for help by now if that's what they're after."

There was no response after that. Raven had to fight the urge to turn around and demand an answer. She closed her eyes and calmed herself, taking a breath before opening her eyes again…

"This is it," Zerrich said.

"What?" Raven placed her legs to the ground, the tomes around her slowly settling to the floor. She walked over to Zerrich, looking over his shoulder.

"This is the symbol. This is the one from the image. You can see the curl on the lower left. The embroidery is pretty close; the coloring matches…"

"What does it say?" Raven asked.

"Plenty. It talks of summoning messengers to either receive or send word between realms. It's only a small reference; I found it by accident after following the legend indicator from this paragraph about…"

"Does it list any other referrals?"

Zerrich searched the lower legend on the next page. "Well now, this is interesting. 'Referendum: Edition XII, Section 41, page four-hundred, seven under Firnusium.' Edition twelve…do we have that one out…"

"No," Raven sighed. "That's the edition I'm missing. The one that was stolen."

They paused a moment. Zerrich turned back to the tome in his hands. "Okay. There are three other references. One of them also for book twelve. The other two are editions fifteen and seventeen."

Raven kneeled down next to Zerrich. "Tell me the page numbers."

-

-

Air. It was fresh coming off the ocean in such a strong breeze. Freshening was a better word. Raven let it blast across her face while the sun finished setting on the horizon. The few remaining beads of sweat slid to the sides of her forehead and lightly matted the line of hair next to her eyes. She had to concentrate hard to get her heartbeat to settle down. Adding to the remedy, Raven took a deep breath as well.

She needed the air. It helped her to breathe, to calm down, to not feel so suffocated. She had never let her books, her studies, feel as if they were trying to crush her alive. However, with every fact her and Zerrich connected with Slade's computer data, the worse it seemed to get. Sometimes, it was made worse when the possibilities were numerous, and each one a danger. The thing of it was, when Raven put them together in her mind, it seemed to always spell out the same thing.

Perhaps it was because she was paranoid. Maybe she was seeing it as the result of trying far too hard to ignore it—the result being that she could think of nothing else but. She was not convincing herself of that at all at the moment. She closed her eyes, running the connections through her mind once more. At least, the ones that stood out. The portal to the Firnusium had been accessed. The partial symbol found in the recovered archives seemed to most likely mean "messenger," though it still looked as though it could mean something else. Even without the book on the flame demons, there were still references in other texts to a messenger within the realm. That led to the discovery as to why the Demons never traversed to Earth. The one responsible for opening the portal hadn't done so to let the Demons through, but to travel through to the realm of the Firnusium itself. It was just as Beast Boy had said, though even he had been guessing.

The thought alone of someone going to the realm of the Firnusium had Raven wide-eyed when the theorem was presented. Going over some of the details of the ritual again—with the best of Zerrich's recollection added—showed much to support the theory. What followed was the explanation as to why Slade's base had been abandoned for so long…the caster of the spell had been in the other realm for weeks. That was where the wild speculation began. Had they gotten out alive? Had they accomplished what they had set out to? Zerrich's account of the man with the limp, the one Zerrich followed to the Hardware store front, showed that at least one man involved was here and not trapped in the realm of the Firnusium. However, it only meant something if there was only ever one person involved. What if this was a group or cult?

"I'll say this much," Zerrich said from behind Raven, "whoever from this planet decided to go to that dimension was either very prepared, or very dumb."

Zerrich had come up on the roof with Raven almost automatically. They both simply stood there at the edge of the Tower's roof, overlooking the bay. Raven took in a slow breath, letting it out against the ocean breeze. She didn't answer him, didn't need to. While everyone was hoping for 'dumb,' the possibility of 'prepared' was going to have everyone on edge for the while.

"I hear your friend, Cyborg, is going back to that cavern," Zerrich started again, his voice much closer than when he last spoke. He had moved, and Raven hadn't heard his steps through the wind. "He's going to dig through some area he said had been filled in? See if it leads anywhere."

"It's been too long," Raven said. "Whatever evidence would have been there, it probably isn't there anymore."

"Maybe. Still, they might have left something behind."

Raven closed her eyes. She was reluctant to ask the question, mostly because of her fear that Zerrich might answer truthfully. A truth she wasn't sure she could take. Just thinking about it made her heart race, and she had to take time again to calm herself down. There was no point in keeping it in any longer. She took another cleansing breath, forcing herself to say it out loud, whether she wanted to or not. Her eyes remained closed as she opened her lips.

"It's my father," she whispered against the wind. "Isn't it?"

Zerrich didn't answer, and at first Raven wondered if the wind had swallowed her words whole. Then, she felt his presence closer behind her, just off her left shoulder. His reluctance to answer was suddenly an answer in itself.

"You're here because my…my father is coming," Raven finished. She looked to her left, though not up at Zerrich. "That was the vision you had. That's who you saw."

"The vision I had," Zerrich began, "was not focused on any one being. And…I kept telling myself it was nothing but a dream. Except, I keep finding myself in battle against it. The vision never leaves my thoughts for long."

Raven turned her head back towards the evening ocean. "What did you see?"

"I saw Azarath burning. I saw the Great City plummeted into the lands below…completely destroyed. What magnificent towers remained were on fire, burning from the inside out and becoming the same blackened husks of towers already ruined. The rest of the land was also burning. Desmoth, Siirtai…even as far away as the towns on the Fintalu Mountains…all engulfed in smoke and flame. The skies were darkened, though by smoke or evening I could not tell. There was no sign of what caused it. But, there was one thing. Even with the darkness in the sky, a shadow still cast across the ruins. Its shape was of something…powerful. Something more terrible than…"

It was Zerrich's turn to take a breath and collect himself. Raven didn't say a word, letting Zerrich compose his mind before he continued. "Afterwards, I took to finding what it was I had seen. Though I never saw it directly, the shape of its silhouette stuck in my mind. I looked through every scripture I could find before I came to the old story of…of Trigon.

"That's when I remembered you. I remembered the story of a young girl with a dark half who had only recently within the last fifteen years joined our people. We had heard, had known, whom she was related to. She had stayed until maybe two or three years ago and fled for reasons we could only speculate on."

"My people…" Raven began before correcting herself, "our people seemed to know what was coming when I was there. They seemed almost accepting of it…of me. I didn't want any harm to come to them. If I was going to be responsible for their destruction, then I knew what I needed to do. I left my home. I left hoping that my father would never find me and leave Azarath alone."

"It practically infuriated me," Zerrich continued, "once I knew what I'd seen. It was a vision of what Trigon would do if left unchecked. I tried to address the Elders. They didn't dismiss me as I thought they would. They acknowledged my vision, said they already knew of it. Then they told me, every single one that I spoke with, that they would not prepare against him. Because it isn't our way." Zerrich had to bite back the ends of his words. "The words, 'It is not our way,' will probably anger me every time I ever hear them again. I finally went to one last Elder. The one with the young girl I had saved on my pilgrimage. Just like the others, he told me he would do nothing to stop the terrible from happening. If destiny had meant for Azarath to fall, then that's what would come to pass. I pleaded with him, begged for his help. He seemed to understand my plight. He simply felt far too bound to his beliefs."

Raven turned around, understanding what he was trying to say. "He gave you the scrolls instead. He's a Pacifist. He couldn't do what you asked of him. But it didn't mean he couldn't do something."

Zerrich nodded. "Assisting one in doing what you might not believe in still makes you responsible. But, at the very least, he understood what I was trying to do. Regardless, in the end he called it a gift for saving his daughter. I guess it was meant to hide his understanding and simply call it payment for what he felt he owed me. I used them to gain what knowledge I could, but I already knew it was futile. No matter how hard I trained on my own, there was no way I was going to defeat Trigon. I remembered you again."

"Why?" Raven asked simply.

"You're the daughter of Trigon," Zerrich said, simply. "If there was any hope, anyone who could possibly defeat him, it could have been found in Trigon's own blood. And, even if it was for a short time…you were one of us."

Raven looked up at Zerrich. "Why didn't you tell me this to begin with?"

"I had to know. I had to know what you had become. You left without giving reason to anyone. At least, if you had, it was kept secret by those that knew you. The rest of us only had the stories told to go by. Had you left because you were afraid of what you might become? Had you been banished because you had already become what we feared? I had to know what happened first. Even after I had determined you hadn't changed, there were still other questions. What if there was a mental trigger? Something you weren't aware of that would turn you into the thing you have tried to run from all this time? Even when I studied you while under the scroll's spell, I couldn't be certain of that. There may yet be something that awakens the demon inside you…"

"Stop it!" Raven turned away, her hair flaring for a moment before she could concentrate on her emotions. It was too much to hear, even if she knew it was coming. Her breathing had increased all over again. Slowly, her body and mind began to recover, but she was still shaken. She then became aware that Zerrich had walked back over to her again.

Zerrich sighed. "I have a bad habit of being…rather blunt sometimes. I wasn't trying to…"

"It's not your fault," Raven answered. "It's just overwhelming. I did try to run from it. I convinced myself I could get away. I wanted so badly for my father not to find me, and for everyone that I knew to be safe. I lied to myself. And now, Azarath might be in danger. He's going to destroy it…all because of me."

A hand rested on Raven's shoulder. "It hasn't happened yet. I've also read that he's been repelled in the past. Currently trapped in another dimension. And he has yet to find you. He is devastating, but not unstoppable."

"How do we stop him? What can we do?"

Zerrich let his hand drop back down to his side. "I was actually hoping you could have told me."

Raven turned around. "Me?"

"As I'd said, if anyone was going to know how to defeat Trigon, I had hoped it would be you. I was hoping you would show me what you knew. I've been looking for the instructor with all the secrets I suppose you could say. I've been looking…for a mentor."

Raven didn't make a move, didn't make a single expression. Internally, she almost wanted to laugh. "All this time, you just wanted…for me to teach you what I know? What else can I teach you?"

Zerrich struggled with his words for a moment. "I guess I was expecting something…more."

"Gee, thanks," Raven deadpanned.

"I don't mean to offend. I simply came into this with the understanding that, well…you're—"

"The daughter of Trigon," Raven finished. She lowered her head. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I doubt I have the kind of power you're looking for."

"I have a hard time ruling out your potential. I'm thinking it's simply a matter of discovering how to tap it. And safely, understanding your…"

Raven looked up again. "Burden?"

"Bloodline," Zerrich chose to say instead.

Raven was in heavy doubt. It was all too much at once. "I don't know. I can't even think straight right now."

"Raven," Zerrich started, "I just want to save my home. I've come all this way, learned so much. And here we are, on this planet, and some very peculiar events are happening which I believe are connected." Zerrich looked directly at Raven's eyes. "And so do you. If we don't know what to do, then we need to find out what can be done. Otherwise, it might be Earth, Azarath and who knows where else. Maybe it never stops unless we stop it here."

Raven's eyes looked away from Zerrich for a moment. There really was no other choice. "Of course I'll do whatever I can. None of this would be happening if it weren't for me. I just don't know where to begin."

"This is no one's fault. It is what it is. And, as for figuring out what to do, I think our first step is to tell your friends."

Raven looked back up at Zerrich and nodded. "Okay. It's a start."

The two of them turned and walked back inside the Tower, not knowing exactly how to proceed next.