Raven was undisturbed by the darkness around here while she meditated. The room she was in was filled with a condensed energy, more than six times more powerful than the energy that had affected Robin. The key to her disobedience of the darkness was her strong confidence in her friends, that she knew would do anything to save her, as she would for them.
Dark Raven materialized in the room, blending well with the darkness so that only her four red eyes could be seen. "How is it?" she asked, angrily. "How does it feel to be surrounded in shrouds of darkness? I spent my entire life sealed in here because of you. Now you will suffer as I suffered."
She pushed her and sent her into the deep darkness, deeper and deeper departing into darkness.
The first image she saw was of her mother, Arella, mourning the loss of her beloved. He was a handsome, charming man that died protecting her from a fire. Tears fell, as she could not accept that he was truly gone, but her teams seemed to evaporate when she saw him, she saw her husband smiling, standing at the door. She saw him trapped in the fires, but he was here. What she wanted to believe became the truth; thus, Raven was born.
Raven, as a child, loved learning to use her magic. Every morning she would quickly don her white robe and listen eagerly as her father taught her to control her powers. Her father told her she was a talented child, with a gift no other child had. "You are my gem," he would tell her. That made her feel special.
Soon she was an expert of the Azarath craft, although from time to time she would lose control and something dangerous would happen, like the breaking of flower vases. But her father always encouraged her, telling her it was okay to lose control every now and then, and she believed him, even though it seemed to scare some people, including her mother.
She loved her mother too. Her mother was kind, beautiful, and elegant. She loved to watch her feed pigeons, because she seemed so picturesque and natural. Everyone was terribly happy that her mother and father were reunited, at first, but eventually gossip began to spread like incessant sparks, telling tales of Scath and prophecies. People were suspicious of her father, but she did not believe them. Father made her happy; father made her mother happy.
Her family was idealistic, giving her comfort, security, friendship, and love, but all that ended when a mysterious man came to take her away.
"You can't!" Arella protested. "She's my child!"
"You can't deny the truth," he said gruffly. "You know that she is the gem of the prophecy. You know your husband is dead. She is destined to become Trigon's portal; we must end it now!"
"No! Our life is perfect. Don't ruin it! You don't think I know my own husband?"
"He isn't your husband! He's playing tricks with your fantasies!"
The scuffle escalated when she was knocked off her feet, crashing through a table and breaking a vase. The noise caused pigeons to ascend and shout warning cries.
"Don't hurt mother!" Raven cried, allowing pure rage to dictate her actions. Her rage produced energy, and an aura hand emerged from her stomach, and began to choke the mysterious man that had hurt mother.
He suffered extreme pain, feeling the air gush from his body. It could have been worse if Arella hadn't cuddled her child from behind, calming her young heart. When Raven saw what she had done to that man that had only hurt her mother gently and never meant any harm, tears began to flow from her. It was then that Arella reluctantly accepted the truth.
That night, while Raven was sleeping, Arella quietly materialized in her room and held her cautiously, not to wake her. She used her telekinesis to open and shut the door silently, and stepped into the dark night. Everything was silent; all were asleep.
Arella entered a cathedral, where she silently prayed for her child's safety before placing her on a pedestal. A group of monks materialized and surrounded her. One of the monks, the one that had visited earlier, took off his blue hood and spoke with Arella:
"Thank you for bringing the child here. You can feel at ease, as we have no intention of hurting her. We believe that with the proper treatment we can guide her in the way of the light and teach her to seal her dark side. Everything you've been through, was an unfair burden."
Arella only nodded in sad, painful acknowledgement. Every step she took, she would turn her head to take another last look at her child's face, then wipe her tears away.
The monks of Azarath were kind people; they treated Raven well, but it wasn't the same as her family. As promised, they taught Raven to suppress her dark side, and with it, all of her other emotions. Emotions were what caused her to lose control and hurt that man, on that day; therefore, she willingly donned a blue cloak and hid away her feelings. Never again did she break another vase or hurt another innocent flower. Yet, even though she meditated everyday, she could not help but miss her family.
When she was fifteen, she heard the monks talking in secret about something.
"We must tell her," one said urgently, "Trigon is on his way here. I fear without proper knowledge she will not be able to resist!"
"Do not fear," another answered, "our barrier is impenetrable from the outside. Not even Trigon could break it!"
Raven transformed her soul into a raven, and let it fly through the ceiling of the cathedral to see the outside work. She was forbidden from doing so, though the monks never gave her a reason. It was as though they believed natural light was lethal for her. Still, she had never disobeyed, until now. There was something in her telling her to do things, and she listened.
Raven saw her father, the same father she had cherished throughout her childhood, approach the church. He tried to open the door, but he could not get in. She wanted to see him, oh! how she wanted to see him again.
The door opened slightly, and true happiness began to fill her heart for the first time ever since the monks trained her, but the door was resealed as the monks bound their spiritual energy together and closed their eyes in deep concentration.
Indeed, the barrier was impenetrable from the outside, but Raven found no difficulty and breaking it from the inside. Before she could call out to her father, the monks frantically attacked him. She tried to get them to stop, until she saw. The monks' energy had weakened her father enough that he could no longer continue his current form; his true form was revealed: Trigon.
Raven stared at her enormous father in terror. All the comfort, security, friendship, and love he had once given her was replaced by a unbelievable fear. Trigon roared and hurled flames at the monks, instantly felling them.
Turning his attention to Raven, he chuckled, "Why so surprised? Didn't anyone tell you? Then I will inform you of your true destiny, the true reason why you exist! The gem was born of Evil's fire; the gem shall be his portal. He comes to claim, He comes to sire, the end of all things mortal! Don't you understand yet? You are my gem, Raven. It will begin on your sixteenth birthday. You will be the portal that allows me to take over the entire world!"
