A/N: In response to Yukinna's review (I'm putting it here because), yeah, you're probably right on that. But my theory is that Raven has to have some way of letting out her emotions so that they don't just explode inside of her. Writing stuff always sooths me so I figure writing a letter to her mother is one way of getting it out (And besides, she's having a few, ahem, problems with her emotions right now (snickers)). I know she has Nevermore, but I started writing this before realizing she had it. In fact I started writing this before I knew very much about Teen Titans at all it seems. (Grins nervously) heheh...Ahem, as for her powers...yeah, I guess I'm not using some of her original powers much, but, in my opinion, why move objects to smack your opponent silly when you can just send a thousand volts of pure lightening through them and have even better results? :D Anyway, thanks for reviewing, I really appreciate it!

PS: Yeah, I wrote most of this chapter before the review so there's gonna be another letter.

Dear Mother,

Things have gotten more complex since the last letter I sent. I know it's hardly been two days, but it feels like enough has happened to fill two months.

I just don't know what's true anymore, don't ask me why but I reopened Malchior's book, and he's lead me to believe that Rorek lied to me again. But, the thing is, I thought at first that maybe it was Malchior who was the liar but...some of the things he told me make sense, and some things that have happened don't quite fit with what Rorek's been leading me to believe.

I'm confused, whom can I trust? Can I trust either of them? Malchior says that they are two parts of the same soul, and they were originally a 'gray' dragon. Have you heard of that before? I haven't. Supposedly it's a dragon who's darkness and light are in complete equilibrium. Supposedly, they were separated by an enchantress a long time ago, and the reason they were sealed in the book and jewel was because they caused so much devastation while fighting with each other.

I don't know who to believe. Malchior is evil, he betrayed me, he used me, and has the nerve to claim that he's changed. But Rorek's lied before, and now more than ever do I feel like he's hiding something. In fact I have the feeling that they're both hiding something. But I don't know who's telling the truth. Maybe Rorek was merely leaving out a few things he thought I didn't have to know, and then Malchior took advantage of that and came up with a believable lie.

So, I was wondering, could I borrow the Libra? I really think I need it right now. I don't think I can trust myself to take any sort of action unless I have something foolproof. Rorek can fool my empathy, in fact he has explained to me how to do it and was trying to teach it to me. And Malchior's still a book, I can't really use empathy on him now can I? Besides, if Rorek can do that, then Malchior most likely can as well.

I guess I'll give them both the benefit of the doubt for now, but don't worry, I won't be trusting either of them until I know exactly what's going on. I hope to hear from you soon, if only for your advice.

Forever till eternity, Raven.

"So, have you confronted Rorek yet?" Asked Malchior.

"No, because I still don't know if you're telling me the truth or not." She answered. She took a bottle of black sand with a tiny opening and used it to draw a rune on the surface of the wine she was using. It stayed there for a moment, and then dissolved completely.

"Is that why you're putting a barrier around your room?" He questioned. Raven put some rose petals into an apothecary bowl and began to grind them rapidly.

"Right now I don't know if I can trust either of you, but I am going to find out one way or another. And during that time I want to be able to talk to you outside of this room, and that means putting the same blocking spells up around the walls of my own room so Rorek can't sense you." She told him. She sprinkled the moist dust of the rose petals into the bowl and watched them turn the wine violet. She opened up a small box beside her, which contained an assortment of pouches in organized rows. She picked one out and fingered it. She frowned and put it back, picking up another one. Crystal dust was a good substitute for several other gems in small spells, if you're not too picky about the results, and it was extremely easy to get. It had worked well in place of her jade dust several times, but was she willing to chance it?

Either way, she really needed to get her stores back up. She'd just use the rest of her jade dust. Besides, jade was less expensive than some stones. She opened the pouch she had first handled and then poured what little was still in there into the bowl.

"Also," She added, "I have reason to believe someone is trying to spy on me."

"Really? And just who would this be? And why?" Malchior questioned.

"His name's Balegor, a new enemy." She answered, getting up to take some boiling water from her small cauldron. "Another lunatic, but he's still a sorcerer nonetheless, and hardly human." She told him. She held her cup over the bowl and slowly poured a small stream of the water into it. The jade dust began to swirl around the stream, consuming it until she had poured all of it into the bowl, which didn't look any more full than it had previously. "So far he's escaped every time we defeat him, and he's not even that powerful. But he can use ancient magics, so we have reason to believe that he's working for someone." She explained, setting up a few candles around the bowl.

"So why would he be spying on you?" He asked as she began to light them in order of color.

"He claims that I will become his bride. He is a bungling idiot in my opinion." She answered. The color of the solution began to swirl and clear so that it appeared to be water.

"And he isn't dead yet?" Malchior asked with a slight growl.

"Haven't been able to kill him. And besides, we don't want them dead, just defeated and out of our hair." Raven answered, completely unfazed by Malchior's reactions. She waited for the jade dust to start gathering at the center of the water's surface and then stirred it clockwise with a long silver spoon. The collection of jade began to turn into a single, very small, jewel, which began to soak up the water and enlarged as she stirred. Finally the jewel was the size of her fist and no more moisture was left in the bowl.

"It's going to take a lot more effort making sure he stays locked up than it would to just kill him." Malchior pointed out as Raven dipped candle wax from each candle onto the jewel.

"Well, that's your way. We prefer to operate differently. Besides, if we kill anyone who seems humanoid we could get arrested for murder ourselves. The economy is a lot different now than it was in your time." She answered.

"How irritating, of course, it's not like any normal man could hope to arrest you." He said.

Raven rolled her eyes, "It's not whether we get caught or not, it's the principal of the matter." She said with an exasperated sigh.

"Whatever you say, Love. Hm, what's that? That doesn't look like the same spell placed on this room." He said.

"It isn't. I figured if I was going to diminish my stores any more, it might as well be on something I can carry around with me or move." She said, picking up the smooth jewel after the wax turned it dark violet. She examined it, the rune she had poured into the bowl previously was inside of it in black. It wasn't as big as she had wanted, but then if she had had more jade dust it would have helped.

"Clever. Where will you put it?" He asked.

"Under the mattress of my bed." She answered.

"Are you sure that will be comfortable? It's a rather large jewel." He asked.

"Number one, I am not a dainty princess who can feel a pea under ten mattresses, and two, the mattresses of this time are a little more functional than the ones of yours." She told him.

He chuckled slightly, "Of course." He said. "But what will you do if Rorek ever finds out that you're keeping a secret from him now?"

"Simple, I intend to tell him before he finds out. I'm not going to be stupid and leave you out in the open for him to find in case he decides to invade my privacy, again. This is just a precaution in case I don't want to lock myself in this room just to speak with you." She told him as she wrapped the jewel up in a cloth.

"It is rather cramped in here." He sighed. Raven began cleaning up everything, using magic to put the instruments and ingredients back into their place within her other closet. "You know, it would be easier to merely put a null spell upon my book, you could take me with you everywhere and Rorek would never notice. I could teach it to you. Besides, it's not like he would remember what this book looks like after a thousand years." He told her.

Raven raised an eyebrow at him, "More dark magic, Malchior? I don't think so. The fact that I've decided to talk to you again does not mean I fully trust you." She told him flatly.

"My, you are quite the puzzle, Love." He said.

"Oh am I the puzzle now? As far as I can tell, figuring you and Rorek out has been the most complicated 'puzzle' I have ever known existed."

Raven might have looked tired the next morning, but she felt exhausted. True to his word, Malchior had not invaded her dreams, but she'd had such a hard time getting to sleep that night that there was little dreaming involved period. And of course, the only thing she could recall of any of them was a white shirt.

It was late in the morning, so everyone was up. Robin was the one who did a morning shift, so currently he was getting ready for it, and by getting ready he was standing there in his black body suit talking about his teammates.

"No seriously, yesterday she actually got on Crystal's nerves, and Crystal almost never gets upset about anything. See, first she somehow tied this string of rubber chickens together, and she used them as a rope to swing across the rafters. Nearly got herself seriously hurt, and landed on Crystal. She blew a major gasket and is currently not speaking to Lura." He was saying.

"This Crystal and Lura seem like very interesting girls." Said Starfire. At the subtle tone of her voice Raven decided to vacate the premises immediately and went directly to the kitchen.

"Whoa, dude, you like beat, Rae!" Beast Boy exclaimed, swallowing his current mouthful of cold pizza.

"I didn't get much sleep." She answered with a small yawn. She then went to the fridge and decided on some yogurt for breakfast.

"Maybe you should go back to sleep." Rorek suggested.

"I will if I'm not needed until tonight." She answered.

"Wait a minute Rae! Remember when you said you'd watch that movie with us?!" Beast Boy exclaimed.

"What movie?" Cyborg asked. Beast Boy elbowed him in his metallic ribs, which did more damage to BB than it did to Cyborg. "Oh riiiiight! That movie!" He exclaimed, nodding knowingly.

"Oh, right. Didn't I say that a while ago? It can't wait another day?" Raven asked.

"Nope! See, we're gonna trick everyone else into the entertainment room because today is Cy's day off, and we can watch it during his usual work period." Beast Boy said.

"But until then I'm free?" She questioned.

"Yeah, go on back to bed. You look beat." Cyborg said.

Raven finished off her yogert and then left the kitchen with a 'bye'. Robin was just leaving for work, and Starfire looked a little irritated, well, looking irritated the Starfire way. Which was to put on a slight glower and stick out your lip in a pout. Apparently Robin had not said what she had wanted to hear. Fortunately for Raven, she didn't notice her going back up the stairs or she might have stopped her in order to have another 'girl friend' session in honor of her newest irk.

Raven hadn't entered her room for two minutes when there was a knock on her door. "Yes?" She asked, dreading it to be Starfire.

Thankfully it wasn't, it was Rorek. "It's me," His voice said, "Um, can I..." He paused a moment, "Come in?" He finished.

Raven looked at the door, almost confused at his tone, and then she went to open it. "Sure..." She said, allowing him entry. Anything she didn't want him to find was in her secret closet.

"I know you're tired, but I was wondering if we could, you know..." He trailed off for a moment. Raven stared at his side, her eyes wide, "Talk." He finished. Had she breathed a sigh of relief? Gods she hoped not.

"I suppose, anything in particular on your mind?" She asked, now this seemed to hold significance. They could talk about magical theory and contrasting philosophies at any time of the day, it wasn't like anyone else could really understand what they were saying exactly, and they had little need to be alone during these times.

Rorek turned fully to Raven, "I, I know I probably shouldn't be asking this but, I want to know if you'd be willing to give me the enchanted book back." He said.

She'd been wondering when he'd confront her with this, and it seemed fairly obvious now that he was most afraid of her talking to Malchior, with good reason she suspected, he wouldn't have wanted her to know he'd lied to her again. Or he might be afraid of the lies Malchior would fill in her head. All in all, she still couldn't trust him. She took a deep breath, preparing herself for what was bound to come, and said, "Rorek, I'm sorry but, I can't." She told him.

Rorek blinked in confusion, "Why not? I mean, I thought you would want to be rid of it and—" He stopped abruptly, and saw the look in her eyes, "You've spoken to him, haven't you? Raven why—"

"Why? You want to know why?" Her expression became hard, "Because some things didn't make sense to me. If you knew Malchior would be released, why didn't you just release him from the book himself and then finish it then and there instead of having to seal yourself away as well?! And the fact that if the book is destroyed so are you? That just doesn't seem possible, especially the part where you told me he'd still be alive if you were killed. It also doesn't make sense that a dragon with enough evil to create another being entirely through the cleansing process would even wish to cleanse himself. And now that I think about it, it seems unlikely that the process wouldn't be without extra backup jewels in case the darkness is too great for one.

"I don't know that all he told me is true, and don't get the wrong idea that I trust him again, because I don't, not hardly. But the things he told me made a lot of sense, and if you have another explanation then I would like to hear it. But I am getting very tired of all these lies and all of these secrets. I decided to trust you, I decided to bear my soul and tell you about my origins, the least you could do was to tell me the full truth!" She said. And in spite of the anger on her face and in her voice, she was able to keep control over her emotions. Perhaps it would have been worse if she had waited any longer than this.

She was almost expecting him to come back at her for going behind his back and speaking to Malchior, perhaps because she'd begun to see him slightly differently, as someone who would keep lying to her just to keep her around. But he didn't, instead he merely hung his head in shame and didn't say anything for a while. "I'm sorry." He finally whispered. "I thought...it would be more simple this way. That maybe I could put the past behind me, start anew, and even become a true Crystal Dragon eventually. I, didn't want to involve you in my problems. I guess it's a little late for that." He said.

"It was my problem from the beginning, starting with Malchior's betrayal. Why do you keep lying to me? Do I really seem like the kind of person who would think less of you because of your past or your origins?!" She asked.

"I know, I know, Raven! And I'm sorry, I really am, there is no excuse for it. I just thought things would be more simple, easier to live with..." He said, his eyes pleading with her to understand.

"If it was black and white, right?" She finished for him. He just nodded, his eyes turned to the floor. "So, tell me the real story, and no lies this time." She said.

Red Sun rising
Drown without inhaling
Within, the dark holds hard
Red Sun rising
Curtain falling
Higher than hope my cure lies

Raven stopped her new stereo without moving from her place on her bed. The other day had been very...off. Not bad or irritating, just off. She'd escaped Cyborg and Beast Boy's movie another time, mostly because Robin had shut himself up in the workout room to think and speaking to Starfire would probably result in cooked flesh. Beast Boy had knocked on her door to tell her it was a no go, and that they would try again that weekend.

He didn't wait for a response before leaving, which was good because she and Rorek currently had their tongues in each other's mouths. She couldn't help but blush in remembrance, and then she shook it off. Why did she have to be so embarrassed with having a relationship, period? She still wasn't that willing to let the other's know about it, even though Beast Boy and Cyborg could have probably guessed, I mean, they may be stupid, but they're not that stupid. Especially not Cyborg.

But was she herself willing to admit she had one? Maybe, she wasn't so sure.

Rorek's story fit with Malchior's well enough that it seemed to be the truth this time. So why did she still feel like there was something neither of them were telling her?

Raven rolled onto her side and stared out her window. It was late, she'd gotten back from work an hour ago, where she had been asked out 8 times by 5 goths. She turned them all down, of course, but had a mind to wonder if she was carrying around some sort of sign. For goodness sake, she wasn't that pretty! Okay, maybe she was in a certain way. It was just that Starfire had always seemed the main focus of many a male who had hardly even glimpsed at her. Though they were a little more punky/preppy than any of the customers in Alabaster's.

Raven yawned, she was tired, but she couldn't seem to get much sleep. She rolled over again with a sigh, dreading another night like the last one. Only this time she had confronted Rorek and everything was out in the open. Well, between the two of them at least. But she was still mad at him, and she was irritated with Malchior. She was also irritated with herself for getting involved.

Rorek had asked for the book again after their lip-locking session, which did not end well. She wasn't going to let him have it, though she wasn't entirely sure why. Maybe she was afraid of what Malchior would tell him, and maybe she was still clinging to what once was. But this wasn't an argument where Rorek was very willing to back down.

In the end, Rorek had stalked out of her room, both of them angry and upset. He was mad at her because he thought she was still infatuated with Malchior and was being unfaithful to him. And she was angry at him for suggesting it.

It was a mess, a big mess. And she had the unfortunate pleasure of being smack dab in the middle.

BWEEEP BWEEEEP BWEEEEEEP!

Oh lovely. Raven got up and, used magic to change, she then flew out of her room and on to the living room.

Nothing, a big fat nothing.

They had gone to the site, Cyborg riding his hover board and Robin riding Beast Boy, apparently Starfire was still irritated at him. Best not to ask.

But when they had gotten there, all they found was the empty parking lot of an abandoned church building. It was the parking lot that the distress call had come from, and nothing was happening there, so one could only assume the danger had probably migrated into the church.

"Should we go in?" Asked Cyborg, "Or assume it was a false alarm?"

"We can't take any chances." Robin said, jumping down from Beast Boy.

"But, dude, we can't go in there! It's too spooky!" BB exclaimed.

"Suck it up, man, this isn't a horror movie!" Cyborg exclaimed.

"Actually," Both Raven and Rorek began.

"Abandoned churches are sometimes used as sites of dark rituals by cults. Good energies turned evil type of spells, and churches are usually direct sources of good energy. It's spooky because of the evil aura surrounding it, and night always exposes hidden evil. It is very possible this is a trap." Raven said.

Rorek nodded his agreement, "There is a very dark aura surrounding this building, I don't think it would be a good idea to enter." He said.

"So what do we do?" Robin asked.

"Purify it, force the evil to come out and combat us on our own terms." Raven answered.

"Oh that really won't be necessary." Said a raspy, inhuman voice from the church. Suddenly the front double doors flew open. It felt like a forceful wave of raging water had hit them from behind and was carrying them into the church, as if gravity and their individual abilities to fly or resist didn't matter. They heard the doors slam shut and then, darkness.

A/N: MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!! ANOTHER CLIFHANGER!!!! And you wanna know how to get the next chapter out soon? Review! Aren't I just so evil? :D

Hm...I drew a romantic picture between Raven and Rorek...it isn't finished yet but...(Looks at picture, then back at readers) This is one of those times when I say, "Holy crap, did I draw that?!?!?!" If anyone I knew saw it I would be so embarrassed....

Ahem, reply time!!!

TheDarkAzar: Um, I'm replying now? Eheheh...Well...some reviews I just don't have replies for, y'know? Hm....let's see...ah! Here you are! Actually, taking over the world would have the repercussions of having a certain immortal dragon slayer on my tail (CoughDr.EvansCough), so, I'm taking over Saturn instead, once I figure out a way of keeping Yume alive there (Kittens and Saturn's atmosphere don't mix). And also my best friend, Lady Hex, is all human, so I'm stuck here until she can come along and help me take over. But you'll let me know how taking over earth goes, okidoki?

Pixie1011: You know what? I think I will write a sequel, I already have one thought out! I just need some more plot for it...well, for now you get this!

Zoicytes-Shadow: Alrighty then! There's another who wishith for a sequel! I shalt go about your request...as soon as this is finished!

Twilight Shards: GLEE! Make sure you tell me your SN when you do! E-mail me! You'll find it on my author page.

Hmm, seems a lot of people are getting annoyed at how I spell Raven's power chant, (Grins evilly) :D heheheheh.