Chapter 7: Trigon's Daughter
"Titans, let's go get Raven!" Robin told his teammates as soon as he got to the Living Room. 'Again.' Starfire jumped for joy.
"Oh, thank you, Robin!"
"She was ready to look for Raven herself if you still said 'no.'" Cyborg told him.
"Dude, I thought we decided that Raven didn't really like us," Beast Boy protested.
"Hey man, she saved my life. Let's get the T-ship." They all went as quickly as they could and sat in their assigned places. One seat remained empty.
"Beast Boy, you track Raven's signal," Robin said as soon as he got his headphones on. He looked over to see if Beast Boy had heard. The shape shifter gave him a thumbs-up. Robin flipped a few switches to get the power going. Everyone's screens and buttons lit up. "Main power online." Beast Boy got right to work.
"Oxygen tanks are at maximum," Starfire informed them. Beast Boy's eyes were fixed on his screen.
"Twin-turbo hydro-jet engine'll get us anywhere," Cyborg said happily. Then, the green boy got an odd look on his face.
"Uh, guys? I can't get Raven's signal," he stated.
"What do you mean?" Robin growled.
"I can't get Raven's signal," he repeated.
"Lemme see that!" Cyborg demanded. He opened up his pod and rushed over to Beast Boy's. Beast Boy stepped out so that Cyborg could take a look. The mechanical expert pushed a few buttons and flipped a few switches, but he didn't get anything either. "Okay, there is nothin' wrong with the T-ship!"
"If we cannot locate Raven," Starfire began, "then how are we to save her?" There was a short pause.
"We don't." Robin flipped the switches back to their original positions and the T-ship shut down.
"Robin!"
"We can't, Starfire! The universe is huge! Besides, she'll be back…whether she wants to or not." Robin stepped out of his pod and headed down. The other Titans followed him.
"Nuh-uh. She's gotta stay with Trigon and he said he'd stay away from us," Beast Boy argued.
"No, he didn't."
Raven was walking down a new passageway – again. There were a few windows along the way, but there were not any doors. She only continued because she wondered what would be at the end. It seemed to go on forever. She kept herself occupied by thinking of how to destroy Trigon. Was there a way to kill a demon? Raven thought about what happened in the city. …she encased the birdarang in black energy… Finally, he threw his birdarang, which cut Trigon along his side… Before the small wound was completely sealed up, Raven saw what seemed to be orange matter swarming around inside of him. She started to walk faster. Now, she had some sort of plan and was even more determined to get back to Earth. Suddenly, her foot bumped into something solid and before she could do anything, the rest of her body followed, ending with her face.
"Ow!" She rubbed her stinging nose with one hand and stretched out the other to touch whatever was in front of her. Her hand pressed up against a flat surface. Raven could not tell what the wall was made of. It was not glass. It felt slimy, but when she pulled her hand away and looked at it, there was not anything on it. "What is this?" she asked herself quietly and eyed the space in front of her curiously.With her powers, she searched for a lock, any kind of lock, but could not find one. This made her even more determined to get through. 'Whatever's behind this wall must be important!' She pressed up against the wall and tried to phase through it, but couldn't. She tried again. She pressed up against the wall and concentrated even harder. She could feel her hands start to go through. Then, she felt something wrap around her legs and an electrical surge run through her body. "AAH!" Raven fell backwards to the ground. She turned over on her stomach and followed the cord to the feet of the person responsible. Before she could look up and see whom it was, another electrical surge hit her and left her unconscious.
"We must do something!" Starfire exclaimed.
"We'll just have to wait until she comes back," Robin stated.
"But it could be too late by then!"
Robin jumped up angrily. "Don't you think I know that!" He started pacing around. "There's nothing we can do! We don't know where she is or how to find her!"
"Stop yelling at her!" Beast Boy folded his arms. "It's not her fault! Take it out on something else!" Robin looked over at Cyborg, Beast Boy and finally, Starfire.
"Sorry." Then, Robin saw something tall open and close out of the corner of his eye.
"I know where she is," said a familiar voice. The four Titans whipped their heads around and saw Raven's mother. She did not have a mother growing up and she knew she would regret it if she did not act like a mother for her own daughter – for Raven.
"How did you get in here?"
Arella muttered something under her breath and waved her hand behind her. The tall thing Robin had seen only seconds before appeared out of nowhere. It looked like some sort of doorway. "I can take you to her."
"Guys?" The other Titans nodded their head in approval. "Lets go." They followed Arella into the doorway onto small yellow platforms that made paths in the vast space. It looked like there was a black sky above them with a myriad of stars. The teens didn't say anything for a while. They kept turning their heads in every direction to see what was there. Along the paths, there was an occasional doorway.
Arella hated complete silence, so she told the Titans everything she knew about Trigon. She had studied witchcraft while she was young. Anything magical fascinated her. She borrowed many books from the library about it and bought others from the bookstore. Every night, she would practice spells and incantations. One day, Trigon knocked on her door, saying his car had broken down, but he had introduced himself as David. When she first saw him, he didn't seem demon-like at all. He was the most handsome man she had ever seen. He had dark wavy hair and sapphire eyes. Arella fell in love with him instantly. Occasionally, they would practice casting spells together. She thought that he cared for her, so they got married. Arella was perfectly happy until Trigon's reflection in the mirror showed her what he truly was. She then learned that he had been raised up by a cult and that he had picked her to be his bride before she even knew who he was. Trigon did not care for Arella at all. As soon as he was done with her, he threw her back down to Earth.
"Shortly after, some priests came and took me to Azarath. They took care of me and Azar, our main leader, took care of Raven after she was born." She saw the confused looks on the Titans' faces. "Azar taught her how to control her powers. We're getting close to the doorway that leads to Trigon's world."
Raven woke up in her room. Trigon didn't want her to see whatever was behind that wall. She grabbed her communicator and tried calling Robin, but she didn't get a signal. It wouldn't even turn on for her. She threw it across the room in annoyance. Then, she figured that neither he, nor any of the other Titans would want to talk to her anyway. Her friends hated her, the people of Azarath wouldn't help her and even her own mother had told her to just deal with it. 'I will see whatever's behind that wall. I just have to be more careful.' She walked over to her door and opened it, only to find Trigon standing just outside.
"Going somewhere?" he growled. Raven didn't say anything, just avoided his gaze. She saw that he was holding something in his hand. "I want you to wear these instead," he commanded. He forced a bundle of red clothing into her arms.
"I like my blue clothes," she said in her usual monotone voice. Trigon narrowed his eyes.
"You will wear these," he growled. Raven glared at him for several seconds. "I will visit you again shortly, but right now, I must teach a lesson to a rebellious planet." He shut the door behind him. Raven threw the red bundle down. There was no way she was going to wear that stuff. She closed her eyes and concentrated. After a while, she couldn't sense anyone nearby. So, she left her room and searched for the "never-ending" passageway. She didn't want to be heard, so she flew the whole way. Soon after she turned a corner, she bumped into her father. He was holding a scepter. With the back of his hand, he slapped Raven across the face. The blow knocked her to the ground.
"You will learn to not disobey me," he said angrily. The whole right side of Raven's face was stinging with pain.
"Get away from me!" Raven tried to force him back with her telekinesis, but he wouldn't be moved.
"Whom are you fighting me for?" he inquired. "Your dead mother?" Raven's eyes widened. 'No!'
"She's not dead," she said defiantly.
"Your friends?"
"She's not dead." She refused to believe it.
"They only tolerated you."
"She's not dead!" she shouted. Trigon lifted her up with his own telekinesis and brought her closer to him. Her body glowed a fiery orange.
"I killed her myself." He narrowed his eyes as he began to squeeze her body together – not enough to kill her, but enough for it to be painful. Raven felt her lungs being crushed and she gasped for air. She concentrated her powers on breaking free. Trigon stopped applying the pressure and thrust her into the nearest wall.
"There's no use fighting!" he told her. "You're hated and alone! Now that your friends know who you are, they will try to kill you to defend their planet." Her head was pounding; the rest of her body was throbbing.
"Someone on Azarath even tried to kill you after you were born, but I wouldn't let him."
"You're lying!" she said through gritted teeth. Though, she knew it was the truth.
"No, you're naive. Your own mother practically abandoned you at birth and you think she did it out of love," he sneered.
(Flashback…)
Raven was eight-years-old. She had an adorable face, even when she didn't smile, and her hair reached down to her shoulders. She was on her way to Arella's room. She had to know something. When she got there, the door was wide open, but Raven knocked anyway. Arella was sitting on her bed, reading a book.
"Come in."
Raven walked over to the bed. "Mother?" Arella jerked up from her book and looked at the girl beside her.
"What did you call me?" she asked softly.
"I know you're my mother." Raven looked at Arella with pleading eyes. "Why did Azar take care of me instead of you? …Didn't you want me?"
" A-Azar said it w-would be best," Arella stammered.
"But why?"
"I don't want to talk about this, Raven." Arella got off her bed andstarted pushing her daughter towards the door.
"But mother!" With one last push, Raven stumbled out of the room and the door was shut behind her. She heard a click and knew that the door had been locked. Raven clenched her small fists and pounded on the door. "Mother!" she whimpered. "Mother, please!"
(End of Flashback…)
"She just didn't want to deal with you." He thrustRaven into another wall andclosed her eyes tightly.
"That's – not – true!" She mustered all of her power together and sent off a black magical blast that released her from Trigon. "Shut up!" she screamed. When she opened her eyes, she had four of them on her face and they were red. Trigon had accomplished his goal. He began waving his scepter in a wide circle. Raven didn't have time to do anything.
"Avkepaz eenslav!" he shouted. A dark bird forcefully came out of Raven's body and became surrounded by the red bolt of energy that was shot from Trigon's scepter. Raven bent over and clutched her stomach.
"AAAH!" When her soul-self returned, Raven stood there, breathing in deeply. Then, she slowly straightened herself, appearing to be unaffected. But she had been changed. Trigon finally took over his daughter.
Author's Note: Yay -The Titans are gonna save Raven! Boo - She's gonna be evil when they get there! Well, whatcha gonna do? I'll tell you - review please! :D
