Raven muffled a scream as the blood continued to pour from the gashes she drew into her flesh. Each stab tore her apart, but her mind pushed her forward and she continued with her insane act. The cold touch of the blade seemed to wash away a bit her fear, but its icy feel brought about a tugging within her heart.

As she moved the bloody dagger to her legs, the symbols on her arms and upper body having been traced, she felt a wave of perplexity wash over her soul. She was at a sudden loss for the motivation behind her actions. What was she doing? What would drawing the blood from these marks do? What had driven her to even do this? Though she questioned the path of her blade, the empath continued to stab each cryptic symbol with burning hatred.

Slowly, she stood, catching herself as she stumbled forward on weak legs. Her hands pressed themselves against the reflective surface of her mirror, her bloody palms staining portions of it red. Sapphire eyes looked up and gazed into the red orbs of the raven that adorned the top of her mirror; the bird seemed to match perfectly with her weapon of sacrifice.

As her eyes fell to look directly into the surface of what was before her, her face became distorted in deep anger. She looked at the dark lines below her eyes, her lack of sleep allowing her fatigue to show through, and the blood that stained her skin did nothing to calm her nerves. The picture she gazed into, she concluded, was one she abhorred.

"What have I become?" Raven whispered softly as her voice began to break in the presence of unshed tears. "My God…look at me! Why must I be this? Why am I such a filthy, disgusting…"

She could not finish her words for the ending of her sentence came when her gaze became fixed on the mocking symbol that glowed on her forehead. Feeling something snap within her subconscious, the half demon gripped the dagger tighter in her right hand, ignoring the surge of pain that flew up her arm, and thrust its point in the mirror.

To her surprise the glass did not fall apart instantly, instead it simply cracked and the slices grew slowly across the surface. As Raven continued to look at herself, she saw an image she was sure she would never forget. Staring back at her was something she feared more than her father. It was fear itself. Her reflection began to morph before her very eyes and when it finished, it was none other than the image of the sorceress, but much older, as young, long-haired adult. The girl appeared to have tears streaming down from her right eye and her left orb was the image of her father as it split in two and turned crimson.

Raven threw the dagger to the ground and covered her right eye, watching closely as her reflection did the same to the left, hiding the eerie glow of her demonic soul. Her left hand reached forward, its fingers grazing the mirror, touching the image of her human side's hand. As the dark girl tried to decipher the vision she was living, a sudden hit of sense jarred her thoughts.

Before her very eyes was the blood from within her. The crying girl was her human half, the part of her she declared weak, the part of her that feared would cause her to falter, and the red eyes that glared at her were none other than a symbol of her demon blood that brought her nothing but pain and haunted her every dream. Her fingers fell from the mirror, leaving a train of blood behind and as the truth behind the image became clear to her, the mirror finally shattered.

Bending to the floor, the shaken girl lifted the dagger once more, contemplating whether or not she should carve the mark on her forehead as well. She raised the blade to eye level and was suddenly shocked to see in its reflective surface silent tears streaming down her stained cheeks. There was a ghastly image of fear and guilt ridden within her face, which brought her to question what she was about to do.

"What's the matter, Raven? Have you finally accepted your fear?"

The Titan jumped to her feet, the distant voice having caught her off guard. Though she tried to keep her balance, the burning pain in her legs overtook her strength and chained her to the floor as she collapsed in the mess of her cape and spilling blood. She had just enough power to lift her head and meet eyes with the intruder.

Slade.

"Lost your will to stand, have you? Pity, I always thought you would put up more of a fight," the masked man laughed. "Why so angry? I'm not the one who's brought you this pain. If I remember correctly, I believe it was you who dragged that dagger down your body."

"W-what do you want?" Raven managed to say as she suppressed her pain, ignoring the feel of blood seeping out between her clenched teeth and down her chin.

Slade let a shallow laugh echo from his mask as her knelt down in front of the defeated girl. Grasping the fallen dagger, he traced to demon mark painted around her chakra stone, taking pleasure in seeing her face grow dark in anguish. He drew his face closer to her so that the open slits at the bottom of his shielded face were near her ear.

"I've come to reveal your secret."

Beast Boy lunged forward, sweat pouring down his face as he heaved out heavy breaths. The sound of smashing glass merged with the subtle whispers of Slade's dark voice was enough to throw the boy into a world of terror.

"Was that a dream?" he spoke softly.

Before he was able to answer his own question, the sound of Raven's pained speech filled his ears. A sudden panic twisted his heart and in an instant, the Titan was on his feet, racing out of his room and down the ice cold hallway, wobbling slightly as he managed to throw on his boots in mid flight.

The dark grey door came into view and as Beast Boy tried to stop, his boots screeched against the floor and he soon lost his balance. Disregarding his humiliating charge of heroism, the green boy jumped to his feet and pressed his ear against the door.

"No!" he heard Raven shout just above a whisper and at hearing her voice, the changeling could feel the agony within her.

"You knew it would happen one day. You knew you couldn't keep it from them forever," Slade's menacing voice mocked behind the walls. "It's time they see your true face."

Beast Boy couldn't stand it any longer. That villain was tearing the poor girl apart and he would not allow it to continue. Without even bothering with the code pad on the wall, the boy transformed into a rhino and knocked down the thick door with his prominent horn. It seemed almost planned, for when the door gave way, it flew straight into Slade and knocked the evil apparition far from the helpless girl before him.

"Get away from her!"

Raven's shocked orbs flew from Slade's mangled body to where Beast Boy stood, now in human form with his eyes burning red with fury. She tried to lift herself, but a ghastly pain strangled her slowly, causing her face to fall and a broken scream to escape her blood covered lips. The empath cursed herself as she felt her companion's anger be replaced by concern and from that, she knew his guard was down.

"You're a fool!"

Beast Boy turned toward the sound only to see Slade's gloved fist collide with his face. The Titan could feel a trail of blood seep from the corner of his lips and yet he could not sense the sting of pain that should have been racking his mind. His breath slowed to what sounded like deep growls as he pushed himself from the floor.

"I'm a fool? You're the one who broke in here! You're the one who didn't think anyone would notice! Well, I've got news for you, Slade," the green boy spat as he barred his fangs. "I'm gonna tear you apart!"

The villain's eye widened, but before he could manage to summon his fiery energy, the young warrior had already pinned him to the ground, vengeance boiling in his emerald pools. Slade merely laughed as he took pleasure in seeing how insane he had driven the boy who now appeared as nothing more than a beast.

"Don't laugh. Don't laugh!" Beast Boy shouted as he let his rage take over his body.

Slowly, the seemingly harmless boy began to grow, his fangs reaching below his chin, eyes growing white, and his body became covered in fur. A deadly howl escaped the monster's lungs and its familiar call trapped Raven's fading attention. The dark girl was not sure whether she should rejoice or damn her hope as her eyes became fixed on the image of the creature her green friend had tried so hard to suppress. What the boy had labeled his "Beast Within" had finally broken loose.

It became clear to Raven that her friend no longer had control of himself as she watched his thick claws tear at Slade's uniform. Though she found it odd that no blood sprayed from the victim's body, her mind was far more concerned for Beast Boy than the inner working's of Slade's reborn shell. Ignoring the screams of her bloody form, Raven called upon her powers and propelled herself forward, smacking right into the crazed beast.

"S-stop it," she whispered, blood flying from her lips. "Please! Enough!"

It was as if the girl's voice had become a light, for as she let the words escape her mouth, the boy became calm. He was suddenly aware of her arms around his neck as his form began to morph back to normal, his mind becoming soothed by the feel of the sorceress' breath across his ear. Beast Boy turned his head to the side and gazed at his fallen friend, taking in the horrid image of her face as it was stained in red and scarred with hollow eyes. He was not forced to bare witness to the sight for very long, for Raven lost the remains of her strength and let her head fall, trying with all that her will could sustain to keep her from slipping into unconsciousness.

A pang of realization hit him. Where was Slade? The boy's eyes darted to the floor beneath him. Nothing. He soon became frantic, turning his head around from side to side, desperate to find the image of their lost enemy and yet all was in vain. Slade was gone.

Letting his mind forget the dark menace, Beast Boy turned his attention to his bleeding friend. He brought down his left shoulder, carefully catching Raven as she fell in front of him. As he cradled her fragile form in his lap, his face paled. Her entire body was drenched in blood.

"Raven! What the Hell happened?"

The empath could not summon the words to speak, her throat tightening with an unmanageable sense of pain, and yet her voice was no longer needed. Pale sunlight filtered through the dark room's window, casting an eerie glow on a misplaced item lying upon the floor. Beast Boy reached for it, lifting its cool surface to his face and let the horror sink into his skin. His eyes became full with disbelief as he stared at the image of a dagger.

"You…"

"N-no," Raven managed to cough out. "It's not what you think."

"Not what I think? Then what is it, Rae? This thing is covered in blood and so are you! What else could it be?"

"I…I don't know…"

Beast Boy's eyes flashed. The dark Titan below him flinched inwardly at the sight, her hazy mind unable to tell if his emotions were steering toward anger or concern.

"Don't give me that, Rae!" he whispered as his voice broke. The changeling brought her into a tight embrace, careful not to place his hands on any of her gashes. "Why?"

As she lay helpless in his arms, Raven let a sigh graze against her savior's neck, feeling his body shudder at the touch. She closed her eyes, but she was forced to reopen them when she noticed a constant shaking rippling through the boy's from. Before she could manage any words of concern, Raven felt a cold touch of water on her back. He was crying.

"Why would you try to kill yourself? I don't get it, Raven! Tell me why!"

The girl winced as he moved her, his tear-flooded eyes stabbing at her damaged face. "I told you…it's not what you think." The words came as a challenge for her, but she pressed on. "I can't die like this. It's impossible."

"I don't understand…"

"I'm a half demon, Beast Boy….I can't bleed to death. My body…creates blood four times faster than humans…so any lost blood is easily replaced."

The green boy shook his head. "Then why would even bother to do this?"

Raven leaned her head against Beast Boy's chest, no longer grasping the will to stay conscious without support. As the sound of his steady heart beat helped to deafen her pain, she raised her left hand to touch his face, her bloody fingers drifting his head down in her direction.

"I thought I could make it all go away…I thought I could cut those…damn symbols out of…my flesh for good….but I was wrong. It was all…just a trap. Slade had planned this…from the moment…he left that…dagger behind."

"Raven, please! Stop talking in riddles," the young Titan begged as his minded struggled with her broken speech. "Symbols? What symb- oh my God! When they left – when Robin and Starfire left – that thing on your forehead really was a mark!" He pushed her body away from him as if he had been burned, but the dark girl soon realized he had only let go of her in order to gaze upon the red painted mess she had become. "All of these things – they were all symbols like Slade's?"

Beast Boy's heart shattered as he watched her head nod slowly, crying out with her as tears streamed down to merge with the bloody rivers across her cheeks. Though he had so many more questions he longed to ask her, the boy could not find the strength to speak. He simply embraced the girl tightly, crying with her as his mind screamed out for her pain and his confusion. His grip only tightened as he felt her soul finally give in and fall away, her body collapsing in the presence of darkness which carried her to a much needed rest.

A/N: Okay, I'm back! Originally this chapter was going to be much longer, but I really like this ending. So that means there will be two chapters dedicated to Beast Boy, Raven, and Cyborg (he shows up in the next chapter). dodges flying food Sorry! You have to realize Robin and Starfire are pretty beaten up so they'll be unconscious for a while. That gives me time to move things along with Raven. I promise you'll see a lot more of Robin and Starfire starting in Chapter 14.

If there are a lot of spelling and gramatical errors, please tell me and I'll take down the chapter to fix them. I'm stupid and forgot to give this to my editor (bittersweetbeats). Also, I just saw The End Parts 1-3 (jaw dropping awesome!) because I'm a cheat and I downloaded them from Canada, so I might be brave and incorporate some of that into the story if I plan to bring this little tale of mine to the point where Trigon enters the scene. I still haven't really decided where in the Trigon/Raven Arc this story is going to end.