A/N: Sorry about the lateness of this chapter but school was hell! I think it was national torture Amber week and no one clued me in on it. Chemistry tests, history tests, driver's ed tests and not to mention the onnneeee trig test I failed…yeahhh so if you guys hear from me soon count it a miracle. However, I'll try to get the next chapter up really soon, it'll have to be during school though…right now I'm at the library and if I had time I would respond to the reviews but I don't so I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
Disclaimer: You Starfire/Robin and Raven/BB fans are soooooo lucky that I so do not own that show….so damn lucky. -
Hell's Fury: The Beginning
Chapter five: Renewing Acquaintances
By: Amber Myst
A displaced little girl
Wept years in silence
And whispered wishes you'd materialize
She pressed on night and day
To keep on living
And tried to many ways
To keep her soul alive
Mariah Carey
Thunder rumbled up above in the dark, bloated sky, the clouds threatening the citizens of Jump City with the promise that any minute now, it would erupt and exact a ferocious vengeance. Behind the black, churning clouds, lighting flitted across the sky, highlighting the night briefly with its incandescence glow. Birds wheeled and cried out, looking for shelter from the storm they knew would soon descend and wreak havoc.
A stagnant, quiescent feeling that always accompanied the falling of rain, permeated through the city, creating a feeling of tranquility and stillness. A lull in the rush of everyday life encompassed the city, as every person not inside, made his or her way there. The atmospheric pressure and moisture in the air only served to further exemplified the sensation. Soon the floodgates could no longer be retained. The downpour started as a soft drizzle tapping lightly against the city, before becoming a furious torrent of cold, stinging rain and whipping wind. Not a soul was left out in the elements to buffer against the tempest.
As the squall beat upon the darkened windows of an old warehouse, a scream of denial could be heard, then another scream of anguish and rage, closely followed by maniacally laughter. The events taking place inside the warehouse seemed to be the only thing that could rival the fury and the intensity of the raging storm within Jump city.
As the Teen Titans trapped with a blazing inferno struggled with their seemingly inescapable fate, one struggled with something of a completely different matter. Raven was no longer aware of the world around her, as she was in a forlorn place…her mind perhaps, she didn't know.
She examined the barren wasteland in front of her. The ground was reddish dirt, crack and dry; clouds of dust emitted from even the lightest of her footsteps. The sky was an angry red, seeming to burn and no sun was visible in the sky. As she look around at the barren wasteland, she noted several burnt, stunted trees, the only vegetation that existed; although she had no idea how it was possible due to the severe heat and lack of moisture.
Suddenly a soft rustling of feathers could be heard and the next noise that reached her ears was a soft whooshing, the almost indescribable sound of a thousand wings in motion. Raven eyes darted around wildly searching for the familiar sound, although she could find nothing. Soft caws could be heard next, soon becoming a crescendo of cries, growing louder and louder in their intensity until it was a thunderous roar.
Raven clasped her hands tightly over her now bleeding ears, the sound almost deafening. She wanted desperately to close her eyes, but she was determined to find out where the clamor was coming from.
Soon a black cloud appeared on the horizon, blotting out the red sky. It rushed steadily closer, the noise also rising as it did so. After a few seconds, Raven could make out spots of angry red amongst the inky black.
Raven gasped as she realized what the sable mass was…. thousands of screeching ravens, each one possessing four demonic eyes.
The ravens seemed to know that she had recognized them, for they surged forward at an incredible speed and before she could react, the mass of feathered creatures had engulfed her. The burgeoning mass of birds, pecked angrily at Raven as she fell to her knees and tried her best to fend off the attack. Beaks rented clothing and claws lacerated flesh in its bid to get to the tainted blood that flowed through her veins.
At first it seemed that time had stopped, the thunderous noise stopped, the ripping and tearing stopped, all movement stopped completely. She wanted to open her eyes but she was afraid that the sudden lull in movement was a trap to lure her into opening her eyes. She kept picturing a raven furiously clawing her eyes out.
After a second or too she realized that time did indeed stop and her lips twisted up wryly. 'This time, it was not me!'
Suddenly, a blinding light appeared, the ravens screaming in pain and anger as they melted into shadows and was repealed by the brilliant illumination, gradually disappearing into nothing.
When cool hands cupped her face, Raven opened her violet eyes, blinking several times as her eyes took the time needed adjusted to the light. Fingers caressed her cheeks, her nose, her forehead and then her lips. Raven didn't feel any repulsion at the fact that this person was now touching her. In fact, she had the opposite reaction to the calming and peaceful effect of the touches. A passiveness and serenity passed over her, a feeling she remembered from when she was younger…a feeling, she hadn't felt since she was ten. A soft sigh passed through her lips. Her sight finally cleared and her eyes filled with tears when they recognized the person standing above her framed in a golden halo of what appeared to be celestial light.
The name left her mouth breathlessly. "Mother…" She looked the same as Raven remembered when she was younger. Her ebony-blue hair seemed to glow as it cascaded down her back in loose curls and her blue eyes shone brilliantly at her with tenderness and warmth. She wore flowing, dark blue robes laced in gold and had a delicately wrought circlet of silver adorning the crown of her head.
"My dearest Raven." Arella Roth tearfully smiled down at her daughter with an expression of love and devotion. She dropped to her knees and enveloped Raven into an almost suffocating hug, one that Raven didn't mind in the least and reciprocated with all her strengthen. "How I have missed you."
Tears pricked at Raven's eyes and she sobbed quietly into her mother's neck as she clung desperately to her, her arms wrapped tightly around Arella's waist. "I thought you were dead!" Raven didn't question if the woman now holding her was truly her mother, she could feel deep down in her heart that she was and the knowledge nearly floored her. Especially since she had thought her mother perished when she was younger. Her already frayed and frazzled emotions could take no more abuse as she sobbed in her mother's arms, becoming undone.
Arella just held her trembling child as she cried, and a few tears escaped even her own eyes as she stroked Raven's soft hair gently. After the shaking stopped and the sobs quieted down, Arella tilted her only daughter's face upwards and looked gently into her glazed violet eyes. "Raven…I never died. I had to give up my life on Azarath and you to safeguard your father and make sure he never returned to this dimension to torment you." After Trigon's last attack on Azarath in an attempt to get to Raven, they managed to banish Trigon to another dimension, Arella acting as the gatekeeper.
Raven shook with suppressed sobs. Her mother gave up everything to protect her from her father and so many people had died.
"We thought it would have been better to just let you think that Trigon had killed me after that last battle on Azarath." Tears slipped down her mother's cheeks. "But, I'm failing. He's getting stronger day by day, and I can no longer stop him from doing so."
"Mother…what can I do to stop him?" Raven asked her determinedly. She wasn't going to allow Trigon to hurt her mother anymore. She was the of the few things Raven loved to the point of insanity and when Raven had first thought she had lost her, her powers ripped through Azarath with a vengeance. That was when the Azarathians thought it would be better for Raven to be raised on earth. Azarath had taken so much damage fending off Trigon in the first place; Raven's 'help' was not assuaging the already extensive, expensive damage.
Arella shook her head firmly. "No dearest, I don't want you to confront him right now, he's too powerful. Only with the help of your friends can you even think to banish him." Her hands skimmed Raven's forehead and the 'S' like marked burned briefly before disappearing completely. "He has already marked you, his influence has become even stronger."
Raven's arms tightened around her mother's waist. "Do…do you remember the prophecy that was declared the day I was born? That I would destroy the world?"
Skies will burn, flesh shall turn to stone. The sun will set on your world, never to rise again.
Arella could feel the torment and the pain her daughter was going through as she asked that question. "Dearest, what you saw was only a vision of the future, but that doesn't have to be the future. The future is never written, and while you did receive a vision of it, it was only a possible future."
Raven looked up, her eyes blurring with tears. "So…what you're saying is it can change?"
Arella nodded, stroking her hair in a soothing manner, as she did when Raven was a child.
Raven shook her head in confusion. "But…the prophecy…don't they always come true?"
Arella nodded again and Raven trembled. "I…I don't understand!" Her grip on her mother tightened with that declaration. "Help me understand." She whispered desperately.
"The prophecy could have been interpreted wrong and can be partially deceptive, which I believe is the case." An intense look of concentration crossed Arella's face and a split second later, her blue eyes widened in horror. "Raven, you must go back now!"
Raven shook her head feverishly before burying her tear-streaked face in her mother's collarbone. "I don't want to. I just found you after seven years…I can't leave you now!"
Arella held Raven away from her firmly but gently as she stared into cloudy eyes. So much like hers…but so different. "You must, you're friends will die if you don't. Robin will die if you don't."
Raven's eyes widened, as she interpreted the meaning behind her mother's last sentence. "How, how did you know about Robin."
She smiled as she toyed with a silky strand of Raven's violet hair. "I am always watching over you Raven, even though I not with you in the flesh. You will always be my heart, and were my heart is, I am." She ran her fingers over her daughter's face tenderly as she cleared it of all signs of moisture, placing a soft kiss on her lips. "Now you must return quickly. And when you do you must enter your mind…willingly. You were given that mirror to help keep your emotions in check, not to ignore them. Besides, there you will find some of your answers."
Raven smiled tearfully, a feeling of completeness she had lost all hope of retaining again, making itself known once more since she was younger. "Alright mother," She paused slightly before adding. "I love you."
"I love you, too." At that admission of love, she place her fingers gently on Raven's temples and immediately Raven disappeared.
Arella remained, still on her knees as she glanced up at the angry sky. "Be safe, my dearest."
Raven awoke with a gasp, her body felt curiously weak, and suddenly she remembered everything: Slade, her mother…HER FRIENDS! She struggled to lift her head and when she did, she saw the precarious situation her friends were in. She watched with horror as the flames closed in more and more.
"NOOO!" A scream rang out, and she didn't even register it as her own her as she unsteadily brought herself to her feet. "I won't let you or my father hurt anyone else I care about!" She staggered slightly as she tried to regain her balance on weak legs.
A chorus of relieved 'Ravens' rang out as her friends saw that she was still alive.
Slade stopped toying with the other Titans and turned to Raven with a hideous quality to his voice. "Seems you've forgotten your place just that quickly." He turned towards her and delivered a quick, crushing blow to her stomach.
Raven's mouth opened in a soundless shriek, the air forced from her body as she fell to her knees clutching her stomach. She wheezed, the pain ripping through her abdomen with every tortured gasp for breath. Normally, she would have shaken it off, but in her weakened condition it felt as if a steel girder had collided with her stomach.
"RAVEN!"
Slade laughed before placing his foot on her chest and pushing—hard.
She fell over backwards with a soft cry, and unbeknown to the laughing Slade, her eyes began to glow red.
Slade turned back towards the horrified, and concerned titans before curling in fingers inward again, not stopping this time. Before the walls could close in completely, burning the titans, a black raven materialized from the floor and with wild cry it engulfed the titans and flew upwards through the flames and from the building.
Slade watched with surprise as they escaped, not bothering to pursue them. The message had been delivered; Raven knew that she could never truly be rid of him as long as she belonged to him. But just the fact that Raven summoned enough strength to transport her friends and herself after his assault on her was just amazing. 'So she still has some spirit left in her after all.' He chuckled darkly before vanishing.
After all, victory will be all the more sweeter.
Raven, still as her soul self, continued to fly her friends to safety as the rain beat down on her. She was so tired. As she was flying over the water that surrounded their island home she began to drop, quickly losing altitude as she fell into a nosedive. 'Focus, RAVEN!'
She suddenly pulled her just in time, her wings skimming the dark, turbulent waters below her. She swayed back and forth, all her energy concentrated in just keeping awake. With the added load, she felt fatigue winning, but she pushed it back forcefully with her determination to keep her friends safe. She had to, her friends were the world to her.
The waves splashed against from below and the rain beat down upon her from above with heavy raindrops, battering her weary body even more. 'I just want to sleep…and never awaken again.' The thought weighed heavily in her mind. One seemed to urge this on and the other protested against it ardently.
Raven listened to the other voice…but only because it sounded familiar. Soon she spotted a dark shape looming in the distance. The T tower. With a spurt of energy she didn't knew she possessed she quickened her flight approaching the tower more quickly. She knew she wouldn't last much longer. She barely reached the rocky terrain of the shore before she blacked out crashing onto it, still going as fast as she possibly could. She skidded to a stop, creating a trench twenty feet long.
The dark tentacles surrounding the other bewildered titans retracted, retreating back to its source. Raven had unconsciously released them before she skidded to a stop, thinking of their welfare even when she wasn't aware. They looked around disconcerted, still reeling from their unexpected escape. Rain poured down on them, running down their bodies in rivulets. Thunder boomed, and lighting streaked across the sky, finally awakening the titans from their stupor.
"Raven!" Robin scurried over to her quickly, his soaking wet hair, constructing his vision and the lightening blinding him, as he scrambled over jagged rocks to reach his fallen comrade. The others followed quickly, their concern for their friend also evident in every movement and thought.
When Robin reached Raven's broken and bloodied body he fell to his knees numbly. He stared at her with glazed eyes, blood welling from the wounds on her body, only to be washed away by the relentless rain.
He was suppose to take protect her…he promised her he would and he had failed.
He gathered her to him as her body was outlined in a black aura and barely found the strength in his trembling legs to stand. He turned towards the other arriving titans, his face blank. "We have to get her to the med lab," he said hollowly, as he walked to the tower mechanically, not sparing his concerned friends another glance.
Sooo…. there you guys go! Thanks for waiting so patiently and please enjoy!
Spread your wings and fly…Butterfly