Disclaimer: Nothing from Teen Titans is mine
So this chapter is the end of the first arc of this story. The next couple will go into detail about Raven's past. Also, I do have the end of this story planned out (probably around 10-11 chapters down the road? Give or take a couple), and I do plan to finish. Soon-ish. Hopefully. Anyway...
Warning: this chapter is heavy on gore and a little (little) less on psychological trauma.
The first scene is also somewhat of a drabble, spoken straight from the mind of you know who (hint: not me). Also, I recommend reading this at night (surprise surprise) because (at least for me) it just feels better that way. And finally, you know who makes some more arguments about morality, philosophy, and the like in this chapter. Feel free to pick apart her arguments at your own leisure.
"Speech"
Thoughts/Telepathic speech/Demonic speech
Breathe in. Breathe out.
...
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
...
The air is cold. The night is silent. It is quiet, for once.
Sleep calls, like the feminine voice of death, whispering softly from afar. Exhaustion? Fatigue. Enervation. Consciousness fades, just barely, and all sense of self-awareness crumbles beneath oblivion's slow crawl. The air is pregnant with sensation. There is a soft voice, not the lullaby that a mother sings to her child, but a demon's song, insidious, hateful, looming in the crepuscular blackness. There is a foul stench, rotting flesh and decaying bones, bodies writhing with maggots. The softest touch caresses the skin, but no pleasure can be drawn; it is like the point of a blade, barely cutting into the skin and drawing blood, not deep enough to be painful, but close enough to convey that sensation. That sensation.
All at once, he is aware. He is aware, despite his fading consciousness, that whatever darkness lies within the awaiting arms of sleep, it will be far worse than the predicament he is currently in. The encroaching torpor veils hidden sensations, the sinister ravens, creeping about behind the range of his sight. Yet it is not all. There is something else. It is as if he is staring forward, into a long, dark hallway, and there is but a single door at the end. It is closed, but there is the faintest light behind it. Behind... behind it, he knows... he knows what lies in wait. It lies in wait, in the misty realm of sleep, behind that door.
He knows that if it opens and he is claimed, it will all be over. All the suffering, his own, the suffering of his once friends, the suffering of millions and billions... nothing can compare to what lies in wait. Black filth begets shameless corruption. The innocent cry out; the wicked silence their voices. Insanity laps at his heels and the insidious whisper rings in his ears. It is all suddenly so cold, so cold, and yet it is burning. It is a burning fire, searing his flesh, melting it straight off his bones - the pain is unimaginable - he screams... and all at once, it comes rushing in.
He can hear it. He can feel it.
Sleep closes in, and in the realm of nightmares, hell manifests itself into the physical plane. It is there.
The air is rife with the stench of burnt flesh and pollution. Outside, bodies line the streets; nobody bothers to clear them away. The streets are stained with blood... the sky is dyed crimson. Eternal night is cast over the land, whether it is by the clouds, or smog, or by the work of some other force. People kill one another without a second thought... no, they take pleasure in it... it is the pleasure in making other suffer, crushing them into oblivion for one's own gain. The debased, depraved fools reek of despicable decadence. It is there, in front of his eyes.
They are humans. They crush and kill one another for their own gains. They fight for their own beliefs, not considering those of others, not wondering whether it is right or not. They blindly follow their vicious gods - manifestations of their personal demons - and kill, and kill, and kill. The usurper overthrows the oppressor. And takes on the mantle of tyrant. And in complement, there exists the fear in the dictator, the hero, who has risen by grinding the skulls of the weaker ones into the ground. It is fear, because power is not easily gotten, but easily lost. It is fear that that power is meaningless.
The sky rains blood. He is silent as he watches.
A man walks down the street. As he passes an alley, two people jump out, beat him senseless, then strip him of everything and walk away. A police car stops by hours later, but only briefly... they do not even bother removing him from the ground. It is pointless.
A pimp sits in his whore house, reeking of arrogance and utter stupidity. His 'slaves' are scattered about him, bruised and beaten as he rapes them one by one, taunting them as he defiles their bodies. They have no family, they have no friends. No money, nothing belongs to them. As if it matters. He thrusts into one of them as the others rise behind him, their chains clanking briefly as they close in. He does not even have a chance to scream.
She steps beside him, her face impassive, as she watches.
A woman carves up her husband on a chopping board, plucking his unmoving, unfocused eyes from his head and tossing them aside. She looks desperately up into the air for a moment, then opens her mouth and digs in. Behind her, her kids are crying.
Outside of an apartment building, a line of heads is hung from a balcony, lit from within their hollowed skulls by dim candlelight. The landlord steps outside for a moment, humming to himself as he breathes in the filthy city air. And then he is promptly run over by a truck.
It is senseless, senseless violence. Or if not that, it is crushing the mind and soul of others, until life is a burden and death is a blessing. These are the people he fights to save. These are his people. He is one of them.
What hope is there? What point is there in fighting?
In the end, everything is meaningless. Death is the only arbitrator, and it is the only thing dealt fairly to all. It is only a matter of how much one suffers before death claims the soul and consigns it to peaceful oblivion.
In the end, everyone is doomed.
His eyes flutter open briefly and he catches a glimpse of pale, emaciated flesh, just briefly, before the images overwhelm him again. Again, he lives through it all, seeing and feeling everything. Feeling the flesh carved from him, a hundred, a thousand times over. He is tortured day and night, magnified for each person still out there in his city, feeling all the hurt, and all the terror. It does fester before exploding; no, it hits him all at once and slowly, his mind begins to grow numb. His body jerks around, as if struck by dozens of invisible blows, and his wide, unfocused eyes stare off into the distance, locking in place on a single point, where a pair of amethyst eyes meets his own.
Even through the maelstrom of sensation tearing him to shreds, it strikes him that her eyes are the darkest shade of mauve at this time, the glowing midnight violet, but not crimson. He can make out her face - gaunt and expressionless - but the dark lines around her eyes speak far more than her words do. He knows... he knows that she can feel it all too. But there is no helping it. Life is cruel.
It tears loose from his lips as a scream, just briefly, before his own awareness slowly comes back. His breath comes in rapid pulses and sweat pours down his face. He moves to wipe it away, but then realizes he is still chained to the ground and is still completely helpless.
Someone is nearby. He catches a glimpse again - it is clearly a girl, clearly one missing the majority of her clothing, and flesh, it seems - then breathes out in a light hiss.
"Star-fir-"
A foot comes stomping down on his... delicate parts. She promptly sits down on him, black eyes lit with a wild gleam.
"'Sup?"
Robin's voice trembles slightly. "Terra."
She smiles wickedly, revealing a set of very black, very sharp fangs. Her cheeks appear to be no more than skin attached to bones; her completely emaciated form seems to have no flesh left on it at all. She is like a skeleton, only barely covered with skin.
"What the hell happened to you-"
She slaps him, hard, then digs her fingernails into his cheek, drawing out a scream. "Shut the fuck up. You did this to me!"
"Te-rra- I-" Robin screams again as she digs her other hand into another, very sensitive part of his body. He feels the blood spurt out and the volume of his screams heighten, but there seems to be no one else who can hear them.
"You left me there! You fucking locked me in there!" Her voice is hoarse, and low, a mixture of growls and very demonic tones. "Do you have any idea what being in that blackness is like? Huh? Do you?"
"I- I-"
She slaps him again, scraping off a chunk of skin with her fingernails. "Answer me!"
His screams echo out, but she muffles them with a knee to his mouth, then stares straight into his eyes. His own, azure irises lock onto her utterly black ones, and he realizes that he is staring straight into the abyss; whatever the blackness had done, it had completely consumed her.
Her lips tilt up into a smile again, and he realizes now that her skin isn't just pale - it is completely white.
"You left me there," she is speaking normally again, how her voice should sound. "Shouldn't a good leader try to save all of his teammates? Not just his girlfriend." She shakes her head, sounding oddly bemused.
"Terra," he whispers. "I didn't-"
Her hand clenches tightly around his family jewels and twists. His voice breaks off in a howl.
"Liar." Her voice is quiet, eerily and serenely calm. "You filthy liar."
Robin's eyes dart around. "Jinx! Jinx, or the demon! Whoever you are-"
She slaps him again. "You think they're the ones doing this, huh? You think I'm not real? That I'm just an illusion? I'm not even a real person to you, huh. I'm just nothing more than dirt on your shoe, huh, Robin. So that's how it was. No wonder you did that to me."
Robin looks up slowly, mouth trembling. "I didn't-"
"Do shit, yeah," she finishes his sentence for him. "None of us can do shit. Still, pretty dick move of you to be such a selfish prick."
"I just want-"
"To get out of here, yeah. So do I. Ever think of that, huh? We're in a living hell, yeah? Let's just jump from one to another, huh." Her eyes flash with a maniacal light. "You're more important than me, right?"
He bites his lip. "We're-"
"Oh, you don't need to say it," she leans in, whispering. "We all know that you're the most important person here. You're the one most worth saving, right? You're totally worth more than me."
"But I-" he bites back another scream as she twists further.
"Who the fuck cares. We're all worthless anyway, right? Right?"
...
Her eyes flash and suddenly, she snarls, black fangs leaning in very close. Her breath smells like rotting flesh. "Answer me!" She shakes him, slamming his head against the metal floor.
"Y-yes. Yes, we're worthless." It is a struggle to stay conscious, but falling asleep at this point is not an option.
"Then why did you do it?" Her voice is soft again. "Why, Robin?"
"I-"
"Or, let me guess. You're just a sexist pig. You think men are better than women, so-"
"N-no! R-remember, I took Starfire-"
Terra's eyes flash again, and suddenly she is all smiles. "Yes. Yes you did." She sits back slightly. And begins twisting again.
Robin screams and squirms, but she is merciless.
"Stop! Stop! Terra-!" He breaks off as she twists further and further, until his body can take no more and she actually tears it off, grinning wickedly as the blood spurts out and runs all over his legs.
Over the sounds of his own screams, he can still hear her talking to him, just barely, although the words do not really register on his mind.
"Hey. Hey, don't cry. Shh... shh..." her voice is placating, calm and smooth like a mother speaks to her child. Her eyes, however...
He continues screaming, even as she rakes her fingernails across his chest, drawing blood, trying to gain his attention. He thrashes around beneath her body, but despite the fact that she is nothing but skin and bone, he lacks the strength to break free. The pain is too much... it is utterly overwhelming. Even so, he opens his eyes, compelled to stare into her own, the soulless pools of black beneath her curtains of faded, waxen hair.
She hisses, leaning in closer. Licking her lips, she leans down and kisses him. Robin's eyes widen as her throat suddenly swells and a bunch of writhing creatures come rising up, passing from her body into his own. He tries to scream, but she bites down, drawing blood as the slimy, filthy things slide down his throat. The muffled noises of his screams suddenly turn into gurgles and sounds of choking; tears stream down his face, but she is utterly, utterly merciless.
It is an eternity before she lifts her lips, and it takes even longer for the foul taste of the maggots to leave his mouth. And worse, he can feel them slithering around down his esophagus and in his stomach, the macabre, wiggling sensations almost worse than the sharp pain of his missing... parts. Yet even all that fades and becomes meaningless as the sensations from before return. At once, he loses awareness of his own hurts, and the awful terrors than the people out in the city experience come back. Perhaps it is not consciously so, but part of him realizes it - that the people out there suffer like this on a daily basis, and there is no hope of stopping it. These are the people whom he is "saving". The ones tortured and beaten down to the point where life is nothing but misery.
Robin screams again, but this time, it is of a whole other cause. Whereas before it had been just the own hurt inflicted upon his body, now the pain of millions resonates through him. All of it rushes through his blood at once, and now he understands it like he has never before. There is simply no hope. Absolutely no hope at all.
Above, a mirthless pair of amethysts watches.
"Hey." Terra's voice breaks the unending shrieks. "I'm not that bad at kissing, am I? I'm-" suddenly, she is gone in a flash of green light.
A starbolt flies out of nowhere, blasting the girl back and out of the darkness, Starfire tears forward, grabbing Robin quickly and wrapping him in her arms.
"R-Robin," she croaks, and faintly, he realizes that she is not unwounded either. "W-what is happening..?"
Somehow, the sound of her voice is somewhat placating, enough so that he at least regains some sense of himself amidst the chaotic emotions being fed to him. Just the barest sense, but it is enough.
"I... don't... know." He is somewhat surprised - but then again, not really - at how weak his voice is.
Starfire shakes her head, tears of blood dripping from her empty eyes. And then she flies straight into a wall. They drop to the ground in a tangled heap of limbs, then groan slightly, barely stirring. That is, until they spot the violet eyes gleaming at them from the darkness. A faint light appears and two figures become visible; one of them has its hood up, looking very much like an angel of death, while the other has its hair up into a pair of horns.
Robin feels his breath catch in his throat, and as the hooded one draws nearer, Starfire freezes as well. The violet eyes turn, sharing a brief glance with pink ones, before their owner moves forward.
Raven bends down and cups Robin's face gently. "I shared a little bit of their pain with you. Just a bit." Her eyes are as dark as ever. "While I cannot impart true empathy upon others, I can give you a tiny sense of what really goes on in your city at night."
She kneels, drawing her hand down toward the bloody wound at the base of his abdomen. "Don't you relish it? You certainly must. These are the people you save, hero. You have suffered as much as them. Now you know what they live through, when you prolong their lives. And you are telling me that you are doing 'good'." Her voice is still soft and surprisingly evocative.
She stands again. Behind him, Starfire whimpers as the hood turns and the demoness moves to leave.
"Wait," the alien princess reaches out with a hand. "If what you say is true..." she pauses as Raven turns back.
"I am not a liar. I showed you both a tiny bit of your people's emotions. Just a bit."
Starfire takes a deep breath, trying to stop the tide of emotion from overwhelming her. "T-then... if you feel c-completely... h-how are-"
"How do I still retain any sense of myself? How am I not completely overwhelmed by it? Well..." Raven turns yet again, locking gazes with the pinkette. "I don't know." Her voice drops to a whisper.
And she is gone. Jinx bites her lip for a moment before briefly glancing at the two heroes.
"You two might wanna get outta here before that psycho comes back."
"But I thought-"
"Hey man," she shrugs. "We said two of ya could live for now. But it's up to you to find the way out." She flashes them a pearly smile, though it doesn't reach her eyes. "Still, if you want to stay..."
Jinx disappears as well, but as she vanishes, her pink eyes are replaced by a pair of demented black ones. Robin gasps, frozen in place as their former teammate advances, but Starfire is quick to react. She wraps an arm around him and punches her way through a wall, turning another corridor and flying up a flight of stairs.
"Star-fire..."
"Hush."
"Star... maybe... isn't it time we just... give up?"
The alien princess grits her teeth, tears streaming freely down her face. She doesn't reply.
"Rae!" Jinx runs across the roof of Titan's Tower toward the small girl sitting over the ledge.
The demoness's hood is up, and though it usually is when she is working with powerful magic, Jinx has a feeling that Raven is also trying to hide something.
"Rae, what the hell was that?"
The violet haired girl holds a hand to her head, as if in pain.
"Are you hurt? We can stop this-"
"I'm fine." A pale hand comes up, stopping the pinkette from touching her. I've kept this in for too long. "Talk after. Okay?"
A pair of pink slits narrows. "You're acting weird again. If I didn't know better - well, actually I don't - anyway, you kinda seem... bipolar."
Raven shrugs. "I could be."
"Aww, babe. Do you feel-"
"Like I said. Talk after. There's a right time for this, and there's a wrong time. Business first. We're going to end them-"
"I don't give a shit about that." Jinx steps forward, sitting next to the other girl. "We've already broke 'em. You saw the looks on their faces. 'sides, even if we didn't, it doesn't matter. You've been the only real friend I've had like... ever. I've never really had a friend before this. Not gonna let you feel down just 'cuz of me."
Surprise flits across the other girl's face for a moment; she withdraws deeper into her hood. "It's not because of you. I will admit that doing this is somewhat taxing, but..."
"But what? C'mon Rae. You don't think I'm shittin' you, right? Not after everything... not after everything you know. I wouldn't say that you're my friend if I didn't mean it. Not after-"
"I know." Raven's eyes grow darker and darker. "I know, I know..." her voice is breathless and husky. She shakes her head. Raven opens her mouth for a moment, then closes it, biting her lip.
"What? Oh, right, you're not the sappy type," Jinx's lips tilt up briefly. "Well, it's okay. Come on, just say it. You know you wanna."
"And what is it that I want to say?" Raven's lips twist as well - it is half a smirk and half a grimace.
"Oh, well... hmm. Uhh... somethin' 'bout feelings and stuff?"
"Very specific."
"Fine. Stuff 'bout friendship or something. Trust? I dunno."
"Better."
It is silent for a moment.
"What, you don't trust me?"
"No."
Jinx frowns, peering beneath the hood, then grins. Raven is smirking for sure now. She leans back, smiling.
"So we are friends. For real. Damn. And here I was thinkin' you didn't do this kind of stuff."
"I don't. Not ever since-" Raven frowns, chewing on her lip.
"Yes?"
"It's... complicated."
Jinx rolls her eyes. "Right. Totally. You promised me you'd tell me what happened to ya-"
"I did. But I'm afraid it's too complicated and your puny mind won't be able to handle it."
"That's just an excus- hey!"
Raven turns; her eyes seem to be a tiny bit lighter now. "After."
"You promise?"
"Pinky swear." Raven holds up her hand.
Jinx smiles widely. "Didn't know you knew 'bout that. Okay. After."
"Star, she's catching up."
His voice is flat and lifeless to her ears. He sounds hurt, yet numb, completely withdrawn, completely lost. It would break her heart, if she could even muster up the courage to feel anything anymore. It is only out of habit that she can still fly, nothing more than that. Joy, rage, sorrow... even to someone like her, the numbness is a safe haven. A spark, a mere spark lighting up the emotion, and she knows that she will be utterly crushed. As if she were not already.
"Which way shall we go?"
"I don't know."
She remains silent at that, flying through the halls randomly. They are both acutely aware of the demented husk of a girl that had once been their teammate, and even more aware of the inky blackness slowly creeping toward them; it is precisely that which drives them to keep moving. If only brief contact had turned Terra into such a monster...
"Robin?"
"Yes?"
Her breath catches in her throat. She is injured as well - perhaps not as badly as he, but not unwounded either. She is certainly the tougher one of them, but the lingering pain in her flesh still hampers her movement. First the beating she had received from Raven, and then a second from Jinx... no, it was not just the beatings. If it were just that, it would have been fine. It was-
"Never mind," she gasps; for the first time, her voice weakens in front of him.
A tiny voice in the back of his mind screams at him to comfort her; the rest of him doesn't even bother. "Okay th-" right as the words leave his mouth, they collide into another wall.
Bruised and beaten, Starfire rises to her feet and slams her body against it, breaking through the steel after a few strikes. Robin is less resilient; he lays on the ground for another few moments - a few moments that they do not have. Hurriedly, she grabs him and begins flying again before he has recovered. Behind them, Terra's dark eyes glint with a mixture of confusion, anticipation, and wild glee.
Yet even as she flies forward, her muscles scream in protest. Tamaranians it seems, still have a limit to their endurance. She feels tired, oh so very tired, exhausted past the point of breaking, crushed past the point of any possible emotion. All her body wants to do is shut down and give up. She is inclined to agree with it, except for the small problem of the thing behind them. If not for that...
Suddenly, her awareness blacks out for a moment and she crashes to the ground. She whimpers again, drawing deep, shuddering breaths as waves of terror crash into her. Like electricity, it runs through her body, causing the alien girl to writhe on the ground - her groans slowly turn to shrieks as Terra draws closer. A moment passes, but it feels like an eternity. She looks up and all she can see is those black, satanic eyes, glinting with delight. Somehow, it is worse seeing it on the face of an old teammate than that of the demon; it is worse, knowing that that could be her if she cannot muster the will to take flight again.
Abruptly, Robin's face appears above hers, and she can sense it, though she is still as eyeless as ever.
"Starfire. Star, we gotta get moving." Robin pushes at her desperately, crawling forward.
His touch is enough; she still fails to regain any sense of her own body, but it responds perfunctorily, crawling alongside his. They inch forward through the crepuscular blackness, anxiously clawing at the steel beneath their palms in an effort to get away from the soulless monster behind them. Yet, even with all their frenzied movements, she draws closer. The slow plod of her feet and incoherent mutterings beneath her breath resonate through the hall, and both their breaths quicken as they feel their muscles ache in protest.
"Keep... moving," Robin grits his teeth. "Don't let her-" he gasps as he feels something brush up against his leg, and kicks back violently. "Go... go!"
They shuffle forward even faster, scraping skin straight off of their elbows and knees, but that little pain is nothing compared to what they have endured. Blood is everywhere on the floor - they know it, from the slippery, somewhat sticky sensation - but there is no time to worry about that either. A flight of stairs emerges right in front of them and Starfire reaches it first, panting as she begins climbing on all fours. Robin follows swiftly after, and then Terra's skeletal face appears a moment later.
"Star, move faster!" Robin sobs, trying to avoid looking back at the horrifying expression on the fallen Titan's face.
"Robin," Starfire whispers, completely delirious. "What is-" A shriek cuts her off.
Robin screams as he feels Terra's sharp fangs bite into his ankle, holding him in place. He flounders around, but feels his body weaken with each passing second as she drains the life from him.
"Star, please! Please... help... me..." the sheer desperation in his voice somehow catches her attention and she realizes the predicament he is in.
A starbolt flies out into the black, making contact with the blonde girl. Terra's eyes shift and she growls; it doesn't seem like the attack hurt her at all.
"Hurry!"
Starfire bites her lip, head spinning wildly. "R-Robin. I-I am sorry."
"Just- aaragh!" Terra begins working her way further up, tearing the flesh straight from his body with her jagged teeth.
Another starbolt flies out, this time aimed slightly higher. The condensed energy is extremely powerful - it slices straight through Robin's leg at the knee, severing it from his body completely. Terra's deadened eyes flit with surprise as Robin's other foot comes up to kick her back. The momentary distraction is enough; she is sent flying back down to the base of the staircase as the two heroes scramble up past another doorway.
It takes a tremendous, tremendous effort, but they combine their strength and shove the door shut before examining their surroundings.
"Well done."
They are on the roof; the owner of the voice is sitting off to one side, her hood covering her face. A black tendril rises from the shadows around her and darts toward them. Robin flinches as it makes contact with the stump of his left leg - the one that Starfire had cut off - and begins to stem the bleeding.
"As promised, we will leave you alone for some time. You may use it-"
"Just put us out of our misery!" Robin screams at her as the blackness withdraws itself.
Raven snorts. "If you wanted to die so badly, why did you try to escape."
"You know why," Starfire replies this time, her voice husky. "You turned our friend into a monster."
"Not like she wasn't already. Not like any of you weren't. After all, weren't you the ones who threw Jinx in jail, betrayed her, and left her to rot in that hell of a city that you made?"
Silence.
"Well, hey," another voice sounds from above them. Jinx smirks right in Robin's face, then cartwheels away. "If you wanna die so bad, why not kill yourself? Unless you're too chicken to."
Silence.
Jinx shrugs. "Oh well. Whatevs. Like she said, do whatever you like. But don't worry, we'll come to finish the job."
"Just do it now!" He begs her, tears pooling at the sides of his eyes. "Please!"
"No can do, big boy. Got a date with miss grumpy over here." Jinx turns, meeting Raven's eyes. "See ya later!"
The demoness bows her head, hiding her face from view as she spreads her cloak. Darkness flares up for a moment, then the pair is instantly gone.
A few minutes later, as dawn finally breaks over the endless night, a black aircraft can be spotted flying toward the Titan's tower. It lands gently on the root and a masked figure steps out, studying the motionless figures of the heroes on the roof.
...
From their vantage point, it is easy to see the caped hero gather the bodies into his arms and carry them back to his ship. Jinx stares at Raven curiously; for a moment, it seems like the demoness means to stop him from leaving, but as the ship begins to fly away, it is clear that her violet haired friend is thinking of something else. Raven is unusually still and silent, almost frighteningly so.
Jinx draws closer, looking under the hood, then flinches as two pairs of crimson eyes greet her. The demoness hisses softly, prompting the human girl to blanch and draw back. She flinches as Raven turns toward her; something about the expressionless mask over Raven's face is terrifying. Jinx whimpers and backs away; Raven does not back down. Tendrils of blackness spread out around her, blotting out the sky, dyeing the black heavens a sickly crimson color. Jinx pales even more and tries to back up, but her back hits a wall and she realizes that she is at the edge of the roof, with Raven continuing to advance on her. Pink eyes shimmer with fear; the dreadful crimson ones are strangely blank and disturbed. The tendrils close in and Jinx whimpers again; this time, the sound gets through and Raven freezes in place, her eyes glassy and unfocused.
The violet haired girl stares for another moment, then shakes her head slowly, realizing the effect she is having on the other girl. She closes her eyes, and as they open again, they are, thankfully, a pair of amethysts, sparkling with some hidden emotion.
Jinx lets out a low breath. "You scared me. I was..." her voice shakes. "Rae-"
Raven's mouth twists. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean- you know I won't- I wouldn't hurt you. Not like that. Not after-" she takes a deep breath. "Not after what I've been through. And knowing what you've been through-"
The pinkette sighs, breathing a little more slowly. "Well, I thought I was gonna be dinner for a moment," she croaks out. "Sheesh, Rae, what was that? I thought," she trembles a little. "I thought you were gonna treat me like the rest of-"
"No," Raven's voice comes out a little more forcefully than she would like; she grimaces and tries again. "No. Yes, yes, you're a human. Humans are generally scum. I get that. But you're not like them. Just because I'm okay with completely crushing them doesn't mean I'm okay with you getting hurt again. Especially not by me. Jinx, I-"
"That's the other thing." The pinkette's eyes narrow. "You seemed like you weren't completely okay with 'crushing them'."
The demoness shrinks back, surprised. "You... I mean, uh-"
"Yes, I could totally tell."
Raven shivers, slumping down toward the ground. She holds her head again, as if hurt, and doesn't even notice as her hood falls away. "I just... it's hard to explain."
Jinx opens her mouth, then stops. Part of her is still afraid - part of her is a little angry - 'cause why would she help me if she doesn't even want to? I thought... I thought she was on my side! And now she's having second thoughts? Oh gods, don't tell me. She's really plannin' to-
"I'm not." Raven snaps. "Trust me. I'm not-"
"How'm I supposed to trust you? I don't even know what you think half the time. I don't know what you've been through. I mean, yeah, I know you don't wanna kill me... yet. But I-"
Raven looks up. "You're scared of being abandoned again."
The pinkette's eyes flash; they both know that this is the real issue.
This time, Raven moves forward, stopping within an arm's length of the other girl. "You're not like the other humans. You're not self-righteous like them. Yes, you are a bit self-important, but the same goes for me, or for pretty much anyone. No, what it is is..." Her voice trails off for a moment. "You're not scum. You're not a hero, but you're not the type of trash that lives out here either. You don't actively try to torture anyone-"
"'cept for my ol' buddies."
"Right. Besides them. But that's for a reason, right?" Raven looks down. "But you're not a hero either. I hate heroes."
"Yeah, tell me about it. Everyone expects you to be like a saint or sumthin'. Gotta abide by that moral code 'n stuff, gotta be all happy and virtuous, and all that crap all the time. Set an example for the kids, that kinda stuff. It's gross. Makes me feel like I'm not even a real person anymore." She breathes out lightly. "So, does this mean you don't think I'm trash?"
"It means that we're friends, just like I said earlier. You don't need to be afraid of me. I was just... distracted for a moment."
"We're friends, huh. Whew, okay. Okay, okay." Relief spreads, but then she glances over, catching a slight hint of nervousness on Raven's face. "Is something wrong?"
Silence. The violet haired girl chews on her lip while her friend looks at her expectantly.
"Come on, Rae. Talk. Please?"
The demoness nods slowly. "If this were a different universe..." her voice trails off and she stares at her hands. "If things had turned out a little differently, I might disagree. Given my powers - being able to feel everyone else's pain... I might have ended up playing the hero."
Jinx's lips twitch slightly. "So does that mean I gotta kill ya now?"
They look at each other; the pinkette's lips continue twitching and the demoness rolls her eyes. "If you're trying to scare me, you'll have to at least keep a straight face. You know full well we're both too far along this path to go back. Not that I'd want to."
"I was totally keeping a straight face. I got a great poker face!"
"Right." Raven's voice is still flat, but less disturbed than before.
Jinx studies her face for another moment, then sighs. "So that's what it was, huh. You caused 'em so much pain that even you felt it. Even though you normally can deal with it."
"Something like that."
"You're still hiding stuff from me."
"Yes, well-"
"Rae, you told me you'd tell me everything!"
"I said nothing like that-"
"Okay fine, but come on! You can't keep me waiting like this, or else, or else... I, uh..."
"Or else what?" Raven's eyes darken.
"Or else I'll put rotten coffee beans into your tea."
Raven snorts, but at the same time, her eyes grow yet darker. "Like I'd let you do something like that." She raises an eyebrow as Jinx stares at her strangely. "Yes?"
It is quiet for a moment before the pinkette reaches forward. "Ohhhhh. I get it now."
"You get what?"
"Your eyes get darker when you're tired. Riightt?"
"Pff," Raven looks away, but in the brightening dawn, it is easy to see the dark circles under her eyes.
"Wow. Can't believe I didn't notice until now. Oops, sorry. Prolly should let ya sleep, 'specially since you went crazy with the magic tonight."
Raven shrugs, stifling a yawn. "I... thought you want to know what happened to me."
"I guess... but aren't you like... exhausted?"
"And you were the one being so pushy a moment ago..."
Jinx grins. "Sorry. Was just kinda scared. And annoyed. You know, you keep hiding stuff from me."
"I'm well aware... and you don't look very sorry at all." The demoness suppresses another yawn, forcing her eyelids to stay open.
"This is my sorry face."
"... liar." Raven's voice comes out a little softer than she thinks it should.
"Me? A liar? Why, I would never!" Jinx grins, leaning in further.
Raven's eyes are completely black now. She sways a little as the pinkette gets even closer and touches her cheek.
"Hey. Hey, you okay?" The other girl's voice sounds more distant than it should. "No need to act tough right now, Rae. If you gotta sleep, you gotta sleep."
"I'm... fine."
Jinx shoves Raven back, straddling her abdomen. "Who's the liar now, huh?" A smirk crosses her face briefly, then quickly turns to concern. "Hey. Hey, let's go to bed, 'kay? I'm tired too. We can sort all this out later. 'Kay?"
"O-okay," the violet haired girl closes her eyes and engulfs them both in her soulself.
The pair phases through a couple buildings before arriving at their hideout. It carries them a little further, toward a bedroom and deposits the pinkette on the mattress first. Raven follows swiftly after, landing face first into a pillow and doesn't even bother turning over. Jinx grins and turns her over, patting her hair gently before snuggling in against the other girl's body and letting sleep claim her.
A/N: I think it might be beneficial to set aside a bit more bonding time for Jinx and Raven after we get into Raven's past, but it'll also slow down the pace of the story a bit. If any of you has any preference either way, please do let me know.