I have to admit that I was rather pleased to see how many reviews this story got… a little unexpected, but definitely pleased. I give my gratitude to everyone who has taken the time to read and review my story and hope that you'll continue to be somewhat faithful.
Also, I have created a C2 community, "Of the Darkness", for Raven/Malchior fics. Please email me at if you are interested in submitting your story to the archives.
Enjoy the next installment!
Kree
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There must have been circles under her eyes. Of course, she would not will herself to look into the mirror and see the hideous sight of her dreary face, but she knew of their existence. Splashing some water into her face and hastily brushing her hair in the middle of her room, she opened the door to her room with a wave of the hand, strolling out into the hallway.
The corrider was brightly lit by small, electric lights, though it was still early in the morning. She could hear voices in the central room where the kitchen was located. Apparently, most of her friends were already up. There was a strong scent of sausages in the air: apparently, she concluded, Beast Boy was not cooking this morning. Her deduction proved to be correct as she caught sight of Beast Boy heading out of his room. Dragging his feet into the passageway, his shoulders were stooped in his weariness. His mop of viridian hair had not been brushed, strands of hair going every which way and that. There were slits on his face in place of eyes, for his morning eyes were too used to the dark. He yawned, throwing his arms up high into the air and then finally noticed the violet haired girl walking past his bedroom.
"Hey Raven!" a sudden enthusiasm erupted from his empty shell and all of a sudden, he looked very energetic. "Dude, were you talking to someone on the phone last night? You woke me up at like two in the morning!"
She let two seconds of panic escape. However, those two seconds were all she needed to conjure a quick, believable lie in her own grim language. "Beast Boy, you know very well what a useless device the telephone is to me and how valuable my rest is to my meditation," she retorted, and then feigned the best "Raven" fear she could possibly muster in her expression. "Oh dear God, have I been sleeptalking? You didn't hear what I said, right?"
"No, no, of course not," Beast Boy said quickly. "No doubt you're scared cause I might have heard you talking about what a cute funny guy I was, right?"
Raven blinked once with a mystical stare. "Beast Boy, don't push it," she said monotonously, continuing her stride down the hallway. Beast Boy began a series of incompetent chatterings but she easily blocked out the noise with the memories of the unusual night.
"Raven," his voice was just as beautiful as she remembered it. Only now, she could realize his true incentives buried deep in the inflection of his words. There were his coal black eyes, staring back at her from its position in the torn page. "I did not think your delicate fingers would ever handle my pages again. To what do I owe this honor?"
She bit her lip before she would answer him. "Honestly, I didn't think I'd have to look at these horrible pages ever again, but there are questions I must have answered. One of them includes why I am opening this book again."
"Well, I could certainly not answer that, my dear, for it is a question that plagues me at the present time, as I have expressed earlier."
"Malchior." Her voice was hard as she spoke his name with venom on her tongue. "I have thought of you and only you ever since I set you free. I have wasted a month over you and for what purpose? What have I to gain from your presence in my mind? I have not been able to meditate properly without speaking your name every few minutes!" she exclaimed angrily, hoping that the others would not wake up to the sound of her voice. If they knew she was talking to him...
"I'm flattered," he said simply, in a tone she found quite tantalizing.
"Why can't I stop thinking of you? I know what you are. I know what you did to me. So why can't I forget you?" She grit her teeth in infuriation, gazing deeply into the eyes of the one who had wounded her so greatly.
"Raven, how would I know of such a thing? You expect me to answer what I have no knowledge of."
"I will find these answers for myself by talking to you," she declared. "Every night, twice a day, every time I find myself in this room, however long it will take me to realize how worthless you really are so I can erase you from my head forever."
"You mean I can expect your company frequently now? Splendid! Raven, you spoil me." His delighted voice surprised her, driving her into uneasiness. She was not expecting him to be this happy.
"My company is hardly benediction to your cause, Malchior," she said stiffly. "Surely you must know that when my hatred for you can grow no larger, I will burn your pages, one by one, and watch the flames devour your life."
"My dear, this is hardly considered a life at all. To burn my pages would mean freedom from this terrible prison. Conversations with an intelligent girl such as yourself would only help pass the time more quickly and even provide me with amusement."
Intelligent. He had called her intelligent. Of course, her immediate instinct was to shake it off, interpret it as a device of deception. He was lying. Just as he had lied to her before. She would not let him fool her. She would not believe the wonderful things he would tell her. "Malchior, flattery will not work on me as it did previously. You have nothing to gain by pushing pretty words into my ears; I will not release you from this book."
"And I did not expect you to. Raven, I speak the truth when I called you intelligent. The women of my age were nothing more than empty headed cream puffs. You could compare the many of the male intellectuals of my era. I have found our conversations quite intriguing and I have enjoyed them."
She refused to respond to him. There: more compliments. He was telling her that he liked talking to her and that he had found her interesting. She could not believe that he had given up all hope in escaping the book in which he was trapped in, nor would she accept this so called truth he was explaining. What were the motives, the stimulating plot hatching behind those black eyes?
"Malchior you have broken me beyond repair with your words of praise and approbation. You lied to me and broke my heart. I will not fall for your tricks again," she stammered, her voice hovering between the top and bottom of her throat.
"My sweet Raven." How could he call her that? How, after everything that had happened, could he continue to torment her with his charming personality? "I am sorry, truly sorry for what I said when I held you in my fist as a dragon..." he began. Did he honestly expect her to believe that. She could have laughed out loud in her disbelief had he not continued speaking. "But I must admit that I am not sorry for what I did to deceive you. You must have known that I had no other option. I've been trapped in a book for over a thousand years. What girl, in her right mind, would let a terrible dragon into the world? I had to make you believe that I was good man. I had to make you admire me. How else could I leave a world worse than death?"
"Then maybe you could have learned something from being stuck in the pages of a book for a thousand years," she hissed. "Maybe you could have learned that world domination just isn't worth it Then you wouldn't have to lie to me."
"Raven." Was that pain in his voice? "People hate darkness because they can't understand it. They're afraid of what they cannot comprehend. And if they fear, they can only hate. I am a very dark man. Am I evil? Yes, perhaps to many. But I thought you understood darkness. I thought you understood me. I guess I was wrong."
She could only repress her rage for so long. The red cloaked emotion was taking over her body, thrusting her into a fire of violent emotions. "You are evil! You are an evil I don't need in my life, but your stench continues to linger in my life. You see that?" she pointed to the dresser under her mirror. There, on the empty, dark brown surface, was a single paper rose: the paper rose he had given to her the first night they had ever met. "I can't burn it, I can't tear up, or even throw it away. But I will be able to one day, and I will enflame that stupid, paper rose and the memory of you so that you will never torment me again."
She began to panic: there was something wet, something pushing behind her irises and trying to break out into the open. Her head immediately jerked to the side so that the shadows sheltered her face. During that entire month, there had many times where she wanted to cry into her bed, releasing the tensions pulling at her heart. However, the knowledge of Malchior's inhabitants in her chest kept her from sobbing. She was never alone in her room and she did not want him to hear her cry. Not after what he had said to her before.
"I see now..." his voice trailed off into quietude. "My worth is in that paper rose. As of now, I am somehow agonizing you and until you find the reasons why, my life will be kept alive. But it will blaze in less than a moment for that is all it takes to destroy me. My, my, Raven. It's a wonder you don't understand me. I have come to figure you out very extensively."
"You do not understand me! You can never understand me!" She dropped her face into her delicate hands, slender fingers slowly spreading apart. "Look..." she trembled, her voice failing her at certain syllables. "Look what you have done to me."
"Like I said before. I had no other choice. I am sympathetic to your state but I have no regrets," he said coldly, his words a frigid mist searing the skin on her face.
She slammed the book and hurled it violently into the open chest. With the wave of her hand, the fire subsided and she threw herself into the comforts of her bed. Her pillows had been waiting a month for her tears, the blankets stretching out their arms to console the broken teenage girl. Her heart was a hysterical wreck, raging against her body like a mustang until it exploded... exploded into the mess of melancholy that overwhelmed her now. Malchior was listening, she was sure of that, but she didn't care. All she could do was cry.
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All right, I'll admit it wasn't as long as I hope it'd be, but it's still the beginning of the story. Bear with me. The next chapter, or the third one will be a normal length.
Anyways, thanks again to the reviewers. You guys never fail to make me feel happy.
Plz review!
Kree
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Okay, this is an updated message to the reviewer, Amscray, and any others who are/will question the whole Malchior dragon thing. Yes, I have watched the episode. I know he is the dragon. I'm just giving him a history in this story where he was/is a man. The next chapter is where you will find out more about that.
Kree
