They jumped at the scraping sound of her watery laugh as she shifted beneath Slade's grip, and they gasped at the white mass of hair that all but hid her scowling, wrinkled face.
She shuddered as she struggled to gather enough breath to speak. "Tell us, warrior… tell the rest. Tell… tell it true." She rolled her gaze up to Slade's glare. "What? I have nothing left… no power…unbind my hands…"
"No," Slade barked. He nodded at Sian. "Keep going."
"The child took over as Azar Noush when the father died fighting a battle against Trigon. Vowing revenge for her father's death, she was mortally wounded a few years later. Azar came to her side before she died. The daughter begged Azar Ath to allow her to be the Arjh-no-ree, the resident soul of the rings-"
"So that's what that means!" Gar said. "Finally!"
"-and to carry out the scheme to destroy the demon once and for all. Azar Ath agreed, reluctantly. As her daughter slipped into death's embrace, she performed the ritual to place Azar Noush in the rings."
Arjh-no-ree, Raven thought as she finally dared to look hard at the lump of rage huddled between her cousin and Slade Wilson. That's what this being called me. Azar Noush. Arjh-no-ree. The names swirled round and round in her head as Sian continued her story.
"Azar Ath had found the correct bloodline, but not the right person within it, or the right time. A potential mother had to be someone who could be drawn into Trigon's orbit. The soul of Azar's daughter sojourned many years within the rings. Finally, one of that bloodline, Angela Roth, was seduced by Trigon as part of a cult ceremony on Earth."
"Angela. My cousin." Charlie frowned as he spoke. "She always felt the need to belong somewhere. We should have tried… tried something. But you make it sound like she was pushed, somehow."
"For once, I agree with you, Chuck," Slade said. "I teamed up with Arella for a while. Tough lady."
"I do not know how she found her way to Trigon, or if she was led to him, only that she did find him. She conceived the child that Azar deemed right for her plans. Azar then sent Coman to bring her to Azarath. Not only did this protect the young mother from Trigon's enemies, but it made her child available for the ritual to transfer the Arjh-no-ree from the rings into the child's body. They gave Angela a new name: Arella, the messenger angel."
"My mother," Raven said softly.
"My mother," the creature wailed. "Azar was your mother, you thief. Arella was mine."
Sian bit her lip until the demon's keening faded. "They assumed that the child would be soulless, being the spawn of Trigon, and that it would be an empty vessel."
"But they were wrong," said Charlie, and he gazed down at the whimpering body.
"You took my life from me," she cried back in a hoarse whisper. "You possessed me. You are the demon."
"Don't listen to her Rave," Gar said. But she could feel that he wasn't entirely convinced it was a lie. Was he slipping away from her?
Raven felt the sudden seeds of pity germinate within her cousin. Was he still her cousin, if Sian's story was true? Or was her newfound family slipping away? Thunder Horse's spirit, too, seemed to sag in sorrow as the story continued. A blend of fear and anger flared behind Raven's eyes.
If Thunder Horse knew what I knew, he would not pity her, she thought as her fists clenched in burning anger. If he knew what I have suffered over the years, what she did, what she made me do… destroying the wedding of Koriand'r and Dick… Gar and the seeds of Trigon…all that suffering…
"Indeed," Sian continued, "the child had a soul of her own. Connected to Trigon's power, yes, but definitely a separate soul. During her birth, Azar conducted the ritual that would transfer the Arjh-no-ree from the rings to the emerging infant's body… and their two souls collided."
Raven shuddered as the realization hit her. "The earthquake. There was a quake in Azarath when I was born. I always thought… I thought it was nature herself rejecting me."
"No, Raven," Gar said, "it wasn't, hun. I've never thought that."
"No, my lady," Sian said softly. "It was not even rejecting her. It was a natural reaction. The shockwave of energy released as the souls merged generated a quake that nearly destroyed Azarath."
"Did Azar realize what had happened?" Raven asked. "Did she know there were two of us in that body?"
"I believe so. Azar took the child from Arella to raise, never telling Arella that her infant's body contained the soul of Azar's own deceased daughter."
Sian's every word pelted Raven, hailstone syllable after hailstone syllable, chipping away at the very root of her identity. Everything she had ever believed about herself - that she was a demon, that she was the spawn of evil, that she wasn't wanted - splintered, then shattered the way she had destroyed the emotional wall that had held Thunder Horse captive for so long. She shivered as she met Gar's green eyes, which were drowning in confusion and worry.
"Yes," Thunder Horse said, as if he could read her thoughts. "This will set you free. We need to set her free. There is a path we can take. A better one."
I am Arella's child, her memories told her. I am Trigon's child.
Gar was calling her name, trying to shake her out of her now-silent reverie.
No, I am Azar's child. I am the child of two Azars.
I am a pacifist. I believe in peace… No. I am a warrior…
Thunder Horse's spirit called over the roars of memory. "This one's body is aging because it is not her own. She possesses it, but not fully. But I can help her, if you will help me."
As he spoke, fleeting images rippled through her mind's eye, of her prior life. The proud face of her father. Her real father. A younger face of her teacher, her Azar Ath… and of the desperate plan they had woven to rid the universe of Trigon forever. The plan, and the ritual to bind soul to body, taught to her by her own Azar, as clear now as if she had just completed the lesson.
I am Azar. The thought emerged from the depths of the memories flooding back, memories of vibrant worlds melted into empty husks by Trigon, memories so sharp and bitter that it was a wonder her soul could ever have forgotten them. Over and over again, he and his minions had ripped apart everything she had ever loved… even, yes, the beloved father Azar Noush… and now it threatened her friends, her beloved Garfield. I am Azar Noush, and I must protect my people.
And this nightmare ends. Now.
She wrenched free of Gar's grip and marched over to the fallen demon. She pushed aside the protests of her friends, left behind Gar's begging her to come back to him…
But Thunder Horse beckoned her towards him. "Let's end this together, Dawn Child. Someplace safe. Back at the beginning. Back at the Starting Point."
Raven, shouldering Charlie aside, reached for Thunder Horse's ghostly hand as she landed on top of her dark double. The three of them disappeared into a black patch of midnight smoke.