A/N: One day little red riding hood was going to her grandma's house to give her grandma some cookies when she happened upon the Big Bad Wolf who wanted to eat the cookies himself. He asked her for them in a sweet and kind voice, but then Little Red Riding hood screamed and ran all the way to Grandma's house, raving about talking wolves. Now the wolf had taken a short cut to get to grandma's house, and had broken in, and stuffed Grandma into her closet, having to gag her because then she started screaming about talking wolves walking on their hind legs. The wolf then donned grandma's clothes, and when Little Red Riding hood came, told her to come in using his sweetest voice. Upon coming in, Little Red Riding hood immediately saw the wolf wearing her grandma's clothing, and then busted out into matrix moves, throwing the wolf out the window he had broken. Then the wolf was arrested for breaking and entering, and also kidnapping grandma. Little Red Riding Hood was fined for deliberately harming an endangered species, but then got out of it after promising to Agent Smith that she'd help him find Neo. And Grandma had to be put in the hospital for damage to her heart, and then in a mental ward because she kept raving about a talking wolf that stuffed her into her own closet. She then woke up out of the Matrix but was too old to survive getting flushed. The end.

Okay I have no idea where that came from, please don't ask.

XP

This I sat engaged in guessing, but no syllable expressing
To the fowl whose fiery eyes now burned into my bosom's core;
This and more I sat divining, with my head at ease reclining
On the cushion's velvet violet lining that the lamp-light gloated o'er,
But whose velvet violet lining with the lamp-light gloating o'er,
She shall press, ah, nevermore!

The Raven, By Edgar Allan Poe

XD

She wasn't normal by far, but it was, I suppose, better than how she had been, even if it seemed like a complete change. She was now forming words, but not just words, complete sentences, intellectual sentences. She was no child, I had seen children, I had watched children grow up, I was still a child myself. She did not smile, she did not laugh, she did not even want to play very much. She spoke only when she had something to say, and spent most of her time reading.

Mother was delighted, of course. This change was a good thing. But most others were now frightened even more than before, but they didn't say anything because they themselves had been feared the same way, and this was a sanctuary for people like them, people like her.

Mother tried to make me play with her, but I refused, I was scared still. I avoided her whenever it was physically possible, but that meant I was avoiding my mother as well. She kept spending so much time with Her. I don't know what she did, and I don't care. Things were much better before she came.

"Why did you write this?"

"What are you doing reading my diary? Get out of my room!"

"But why, sister, why? All I ever wanted was to be your family, I've tried and tried, and yet you still fear me, why? Why?"

"Don't call me that! We aren't sisters, we never were! Just because Mother adopted you doesn't make you my sister! I would never be sisters with a tainted wretch like you. Get out of my room, get out of my life! Burn in hell for all I care, just leave! Everything was fine until you came around! And we were much better off when you left, you should have just stayed there! Leave us alone! I hate you!"

"All I wanted…was to be someone…you would call…your sister…"

"Die."

Raven screamed.

Almost immediately she heard cries of panic around her as she gasped for breath, forcing down the next scream, and clutched her middle which was burning like no tomorrow. She stilled herself in time to hear someone shout, "Raven! Oh friend Raven you are alive!" with sobs in their voice.

There was a scramble, and a slight tug of war because everyone seemed to want to hold her close and/or weep with relief. And by everyone I mean Arella, Malchior, and Rorek. "I won't be if you people don't back off!" Raven gasped out, barely able to breath. All but Arella, who seemed to have won in holding Raven in her arms, moved back to give her some space.

"We, we thought you were dead! You, you stopped breathing and," Zacroma babbled.

"It was awful! When Robin was forced to spear you with that sword, none of us expected it to really hurt you, but then you screamed and…" Beast Boy trailed off, swallowing his own sobs.

"Sir Malchior and Sir Rorek were able to break free, they attacked Judora at the same time," Starfire injected.

"They took her by surprise," Robin came in.

"Our combined power was enough to defeat her, she had to teleport away, but then…" Rorek said, trailing off.

"We brought you back here, you were still breathing but, you stopped…" Malchior told her.

"But you're alive! You're alive, oh Raven!" Arella cried, sobbing still uncontrollably with relief.

"Don't do that to us!" Exclaimed Daniel's voice.

"Can we stop by the hospital, by the way? I think I've had about ten heart attacks tonight." Asked Michael.

Raven let out a raspy laugh and got up, using Malchior's offered hand as a support. "Where's the boy?" She asked.

"Here." Shade answered. The little boy, now wearing a white cloak, was still clung to Shade, but when he saw Raven he ran over and latched onto her instead. She patted his head.

"I have to turn back into a demon. Both to heal this wound, and so I can remove his memories as I promised." Raven told them.

"You can't!" Zacroma exclaimed, "The transformations take energy from you, if you do it twice in one night you might—"

"They take energy yes, but energy that I regain completely after only one priest's blood. I can do it, fairly easily now because I've been wounded badly." Raven explained, letting go of Malchior's shoulder and motioning for him to move back. "I need you to stand over there now, this'll only take a moment." She told the boy kindly. He looked up at her, eyes still filled with tears of his past horror, and nodded dumbly.

The blood still coming from Raven's middle began to draw itself back into her, surrounding her from the inside, changing her skin white, her hair black, and her wardrobe black. It only took a few moments for the wound to heal itself, and the boy was back by her side at that point, looking up at her with hopeful eyes. "As I promised, this will all be a bad dream that you will forget the moment you wake up." She told him, pressing her fingers to his temples.

His eyes rolled back, and he slumped into Raven's arms, now unconscious. Raven wrapped him up more securely in her cloak, and then handed him back to Shade.

"Need a donor?" Asked Daniel, extending his wrist to her.

Raven smiled at him, "Yes, thank you." She said, and she gently sank her teeth into his wrist, taking only enough blood that she wouldn't pass out after transforming back.

"Let's go home, I just want to pretend the world no longer exists." Beast Boy wined tiredly.

"We all do, but we have to get the boy back home, and we don't know where he lives." Robin said.

Raven placed her hand on the boy's head, closed her eyes, and focused a moment. "We do now. I will take care of him. You three go home and sleep for the entire day. I'll contact you when everything has settled down, and we can discuss whether or not you want to keep those powers." She said, taking the boy back into her own arms.

"Are you sure? If you just gave me the directions I could do it." Shade offered.

"No, you three have been through enough. Go home." She ordered.

They all gave her thankful looks, then Shade and Daniel took to the air, carrying Michael between them.

Raven turned to the rest, "I'll just come back when I'm done." She said, de-transforming. "Don't wait up for me. Mom, you can sleep in my room, I'll take the couch. Alright?" No one was willing to argue, they just nodded as she flew into the air, the boy still in her arms.

She wanted to sleep, she wanted very badly to land on top of one of the buildings and collapse onto the ground. But she couldn't, not yet.

Soon she arrived at a very nice looking estate. If she'd been more awake, she would have admired the yard, all the huge bushes cut into animals, and the fountains carved with ethereal beings. The house was huge too, it seemed the boy's family was extremely rich. Raven sighed to herself, rich boys' parents were always stereotypically neglectful, she could only pray that this wasn't the case with his family. After the night's trauma, even though most of it was erased when she took away the memory, he was going to need a lot of care and attention from now on.

Raven rang the doorbell, according to the lights, there were probably a good many people still awake. Sure enough, an immaculate butler opened the door and looked down his nose at her, "Yee—GOOD GOD!" He suddenly gasped, seeing the boy in her arms. "Master Vincent! Someone, wake Mr. Gray! Do it now! Tell him someone has found his son!" He cried. "Please, please come in, young lady." He said to Raven, bowing as she stepped onto the large foyer.

"Thank you." She said when a plump, tear stricken nurse swept in and took young Vincent from her arms. She massaged them tenderly; it was no easy task carrying a boy over the city. Though she was surprised she'd managed it. It was probably her demon form leaking into her, giving her strength. Not that she was complaining.

"Please sit down." Said the butler, showing her to the large, very richly furnished living room. "The master will be with you as soon as possible." He said.

Raven took a seat gratefully. She laid back and closed her eyes, so tired. But she couldn't sleep yet, she had to tell the boy's parents what had happened, and she had to tell them what they were going to have to do now. She never did like handling the public, even though it was her specialty due to her natural empathic abilities.

She only had to wait a few minutes before Mr. Gray burst into the room, Mrs. Gray skirting behind him in a relieved sort of panic. "Where is he? Where's Vincent!" She cried.

The nurse brought him in and laid him on the couch. She'd put pajamas on him, and another servant came in with Raven's white cloak, folded neatly. Raven stood up while Mrs. Gray wept over her son, and went over to them. "He's been through a very traumatic experience." She said grimly, finally drawing attention to herself. "He'll have no memories of what happened, but that doesn't mean he won't feel the after effects. In truth, memories can never fully be taken, only suppressed. I took as much as I could and suppressed the rest, but he may still remember eventually. Bits and pieces, but they'll be enough. I suggest getting him a psychologist and a psychiatrist as soon as you can, and pay close attention to his dreams, especially if he wakes up screaming. If all goes well, he need never remember anything at all and he'll grow up, never knowing any of this happened." She told them.

They stared at her. "W-what did happen?" Mr. Gray whispered.

Raven shook her head, "Something no child should ever have to go through. I'd rather you not know, so that nothing you let slip will trigger anything. Just know that I will personally make sure it never happens again, to any child." She told them.

They nodded numbly, both with terrified looks on their faces, but they were prepared to leave it be. "Mr. Dowell, get my checkbook." Mr. Gray ordered.

Raven blinked, "Oh please, I didn't do this for a reward. Spend that money on your son, he'll need it." She said.

"No," Mr. Gray said firmly, taking the checkbook from the butler and pulling out a pen, "I promised a 10,000 dollar reward to whoever found my son, and I always keep my promises. You've done more than just find him, so you well deserve 11,000." He said, writing it out.

"I won't take it." Raven said with a sigh as she put her cloak back around her shoulders. "I don't need it, give it to charity or something." She tried, but he forced the paper into her hand.

"You are charity. By supporting the Teen Titans, I'll be supporting all of Jump City. You deserve this." He insisted. "And I won't take no for an answer."

Raven was too tired to argue. But she still tried, "I'd have done this if you were dirt poor and couldn't afford to give me a cookie, I don't need the money." She insisted. But then sighed at the determined look on his face, "Alright, alright, you win." She pocketed the check. "I'm going home, pardon my sudden exit but I'm really tired." She explained.

"No, of course." Said Mrs. Gray. "But won't you come back and have dinner with us sometime?" She begged.

"I'll think about it." Raven promised. She was too exhausted to say no, and with the last of her power she teleported herself into the living room of the T-Tower. In the long run, it was better than flying back.

She decided to just pull off her cloak and belt and sleep on the couch as she was. Eyes half closed, she let the items fall on the side, and was about to slump onto the couch, when a pair of familiar arms wrapped around her shoulders, and pulled her down so that now she was on the couch, on top of Malchior.

Raven sighed, "Why am I not surprised?" She asked groggily.

"Probably because you think I'm Malchior right now." The owner answered. Raven's eyes widened.

"Rorek!" She exclaimed, now much more awake than she had been when she'd teleported.

Rorek gave a small laugh, "Yeah, I know, I'm a little surprised myself. I think Malchior and I merged a bit more because I have the urge to start kissing your neck." He said.

"A mixed blessing then." She said yawning. "Oh well, I'm too tired to care." She said, turning herself around so that she could lie on him in a more comfortable position, for the both of them. She rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes, feeling his arms wrapped securely around her form.

XD

"You know, normally I would be saying something along the lines of, 'You're suppose to be in a bed, and without clothes too.' But as it's my woman who's lying on top of you, I think I'll stick with beating you to a pulp."

"Malchior, you are this close to becoming black and blue." Raven growled groggily, only opening one eye to glare at him. "I don't belong to either of you, and seeing as you've done worse than this several times, you really have no right to strangle Rorek over it." She said. "Now go back to bed, it's not even noon yet." She told him, closing her eyes back. So far Rorek hadn't waken up yet, which was a good thing as she didn't want to move just yet.

"But, but, I wanted to do that." Malchior wined immaturely.

"Back to bed now." She ordered, turning her head so that she wasn't facing him. "It's too early for this."

Malchior grumbled something incoherent, but left anyways, though very grumpy and reluctantly.

Raven let out a relaxing sigh. She could feel Rorek's bare chest, rising and falling with his breathing, could hear his heart beating at a constant rate. His arms had stayed around her throughout the night, which seemed to have given her a few very calming dreams about someone, probably him, but she couldn't remember that well. She was about to doze off again, but Rorek shifted, his arms giving her a little squeeze.

She raised her head and met his crystal blue eyes. They smiled to each other, "Sleep well?" Rorek asked.

"Yeah, much better actually." She answered. "Though Malchior woke me up a few moments ago." She answered grumpily.

"Oh so that was him? Hm, surprised he didn't start pounding my face in." Rorek chuckled.

"He was about to, but I made him go back to bed." She said, bringing her arms around to hug herself closer to him, rather than push herself up.

Apparently encouraged by this, Rorek brought her up a bit so he could kiss her, first lightly, and then when she didn't appear to mind at the moment, a little more passionately. There was a difference, a big difference. Rorek was much more confidante now, he pushed in a lot more than he use to, and even began moving his hands up and down her waist and back. And while she wouldn't admit it aloud, Raven couldn't help but feel this was a definite improvement. Especially since she knew he would stop the moment she gave him any sign that he was going a little too far.

But, predictably, their kiss just had to be interrupted, again. "Ahem!" Coughed a voice that made every synapse of Raven's brain switch on in instant warning.

"M-mother!" Raven gasped, practically leaping off Rorek, whose eyes were wide and his face a deep crimson color. He swiftly summoned the rest of his wardrobe, and was looking deeply ashamed. "Um, I can explain." She said to Arella's severe face.

But the woman's expression broke into a grin as she burst out into a fit of laughter, "It's okay Raven!" She exclaimed. "Don't look so alarmed, I completely understand. But the look on your face was priceless dear!" She said.

Raven visibly relaxed and gave her mother an incredulous look. "Don't do that to me!" She exclaimed, pulling at her hair.

"I'm sorry, but I had to get my bit in before I left again. Don't look so ashamed, Rorek! From what I understand you're far better than your counterpart." She said.

"Er, well, ah," Rorek fumbled, not knowing how to respond to that, so he just kept his eyes on his hands.

"Wait, leave? Aren't you going to stay for a while?" Raven asked, looking surprised. "I mean, you came all this way…"

But Arella smiled, "I'll stay for a day or two, but, as you yourself implied, it wouldn't be a good idea for my presence to be known. No one recognized me because of the hoods, but if anyone did I'd become a danger to you. In fact, I should probably leave tomorrow at the latest. But I promise I'll come and visit when all of this had cleared away. Just keep sending me letters so I know what's going on." She said.

"Al, alright." Raven sighed. That was right, Judora escaped again, she was still at large. And even though a lot of the Blood Clan had been slaughtered, that didn't mean there wasn't enough left for her to have desired rituals preformed. But now Balegor was dead, they had no Brother Blood for the time being. That, at least, was an improvement. But if Judora knew Raven's mother was here…well, it would be bad to say the least.

Arella put her hands on her daughter's shoulders, causing the girl to look up curiously. "Here, when everything is said and done and all of this has been settled, we can spend the rest of the day together, just you and me. If that's not a problem anyway." She said.

Raven sighed. Likely, when everything was taken care of for the time being, there'd be very little of the day left to spend with her mother. But a little time was better than none, so she nodded.

"Alright, so why don't you fill me in on what's been going on, you know, what you didn't put in your letters, and we can go from there." Arella suggested.

Raven nodded and forced herself to smile a bit. Rorek, getting the hint, slipped out of the living room to leave them alone so Raven could spill her guts out to her mother.

XD

By the time Raven had finished, all the Titans were up and congregated in the kitchen, eating their breakfast, practically like zombies. Raven couldn't help but notice that Malchior and Rorek both had been tied up with iron chains and gagged with, what could be none other than, wads of Beast Boy's stinky socks, of which they were fairly certain Malchior was not going to swallow, and were glaring at each other.

Arella, upon seeing this, tried to suppress her giggles, and failed miserably.

"Too tired to deal with them, so I tied them up, and Beast Boy gagged them." Zacroma explained, looking as though she were still only half awake. Beast Boy was currently snoring, his head beside his bowl of cerial, while he was still holding the spoon that was inside it, and Cyborg looked like he would have given anything for a brand new battery. The only one who seemed awake at all was Starfire, and even she didn't have her usual energetic air about her. Robin was currently washing out his bowl, and Raven had to remind him that scrubbing a bowl with a spoon wasn't going to work.

"Beast Boy, you must wake up now or your puffy lumps will get soggy." Starfire said, poking her friend in the shoulder.

"But I don't wanna ride the giant snake mommy, I wanna go hiking on Jupiter…" He mumbled.

"I'd laugh, but I don't have the energy." Cyborg muttered, stuffing another spoonful into his mouth.

"But there's spiders on mars…" Beast Boy muttered.

"Beast Boy, there's a spider on your leg." Raven said.

"AAAAAHHH!" he yelled, shooting up into the ceiling where he turned into a giant spider himself so he could stick. This had two effects. First, it woke everyone up, second, it had them all laughing hysterically. Save Malchior and Rorek, who were still bound and gagged. "Very funny." Beast Boy grumbled, falling back onto his seat in his usual form. But at least he was awake as well.

Eventually, everyone got their breakfast and then settled themselves down in the living room, even Malchior and Rorek behaved as they went over the last nights events.

"Raven, Malchior told us about your dreams, how you've been having them for a while, and a good many of the fine details I think. So, as I'm sure you told them to your mother as well, we can just skip all of that." Robin said.

Raven sighed in relief, "Good. Look, I'm sorry we didn't tell you, but when we decided we probably should, it never came up." She explained.

"It's okay, but you should have at least asked me. I know I could have given you a better foundation for them." Zacroma said. "Your dreams, when you hear people talking? It's not about codes and such, these people are, were, or will be, real people saying these things. And when you see something, these blue, green rimmed eyes for instance, they're real eyes. It isn't all just symbolism and such." She told them.

Arella nodded, "Human dreams are like that, but they aren't as vivid as yours, especially the ones that cause you pain and strong emotion. These are real events, fuddled maybe, but those diary entries, they probably are, real diary entries." She said.

"By the way," Rorek came up, he looked at Raven, but then looked away, "It…it's…well, how do I put this…? Raven, is Avelona reincarnated. I, I saw a book in Judora's study. It had a picture of Trigon, and a picture of Avelona. They look almost exactly alike. Especially their eyes." He said.

"So? Raven's mother has the same eyes, they could be descendants." Malchior came up.

"No, listen to me." Rorek said, shifting uncomfortably. "When I saw that picture I…I had, well, memories came to me, like they did to Raven. I remembered when I had first seen this Avelona, I remembered when we were one, when we saw her. Everything about her, those thoughts we had, I had the same about Raven."

"Wait, you mean…?" Raven began, her eyes widening.

"I think, I know what happened, what made Judora turn from the White Magus, into the Black Magus." Rorek said, nodding to her. "He told you, about our connection with her right?" He asked.

Everyone looked at each other, and only Arella understood.

"No, because it doesn't really matter, does it?" Malchior asked through clenched teeth.

"It does." Rorek said. "You remember when we mentioned the White Magus, correct?" Everyone nodded, "Well,"

"They don't need to know that!" Malchior hissed, but Rorek ignored him.

"The White Magus use to be our lover." Rorek answered loudly, pointedly defying Malchior. "But apparently when her rival, Avelona, showed up, we fell in love with her instead. And that's what got her angry enough to split us up." He said.

"That might have been part of it." Raven came up. Everyone looked at her. Her expression was grim and thoughtful. "I had another dream, when you all thought I was dead. I read another of those diary entries, and then I heard two people talking. One of them was Judora, and one of them was Avelona. But, well, to be honest, it was Avelona who sounded more like the bad guy." She explained.

"What!" They all exclaimed.

"Judora was adopted by Avelona's mother, and Avelona was always afraid and resentful of her, hating her because of the demons Judora was possessed by. She loathed the demons to a point that she refused to consider Judora her family at all, even though it seemed Judora had continuously tried to become her sister. I think Avelona tried to kill her, and then they became rivals, but the rolls were switched because Judora, knowing that Avelona would forever hate her, became bitter and cold. She eventually summoned a demon to transfuse with her body, tainting herself far more than anyone else has because of the demons already possessing her, and used this to wedge a war with her sister." Raven explained.

"Yes, yes it makes sense!" Rorek said. Now everyone looked at him. "When I was fighting Judora, I asked her why she hated Avelona so much. She said, 'I don't hate her, I never hated her, we're family after all'. And also, something else she said…" Rorek took a deep breath, "She said that, she'd warped our minds once, mine and Malchior's, and that she could do it again. I think, I think she made us believe we were in love with her at first, because we were a gray dragon and the most powerful of them all. She wanted that power. But when Avelona showed up, the spell must have been broken because we became really attracted to her instead. Judora must have split us up out of spite." He explained.

"Um, I have a headache now. So is Judora the good guy, or the bad guy, because I'm pretty sure she's the bad guy?" Beast Boy asked.

"She's the bad guy, but it isn't exactly her fault that she is. She was possessed by demons already, and it might have been better if Avelona had not been so cruel to her either." Raven answered frowning.

"I think I understand. So all of this is tied to the past, but you three can't remember all of it. Yet I'm sure she knows every detail, and is just relishing in the fact that you don't." Zacroma insurted.

The three of them sighed and nodded. Robin caught Raven's eye and he said, "Everything's just been happening to you, hasn't it? And I though I had it bad with Slade."

Raven couldn't help but smile.

"Uh, okay, now here's a question," Beast Boy said, "What's with all this 'Zira' stuff? I thought your name was Zacroma."

Raven suddenly choked on nothing, "W-what!" She cried, staring at Zacroma, who was starting to sweat guiltily. There was a pause, in which Raven was merely gawking at Zacroma for a moment, apparently frozen in disbelief, "You're Zira!" She finally shrieked.

"Um…Yeah?" Zacroma piped, looking small and all the more guilty.

"But who's Zira!" Beast Boy cried.

"ARE YOU INSANE?" Raven suddenly exploded, standing up. "How could you, why didn't you tell—What were you thinking! You—you, how could you be Zira and not even tell me! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA JUST HOW CLOSE YOU'VE COME TO DESTROYING, NOT JUST YOURSELF, BUT THE ENTIRE WORLD!" She roared, looming over Zacroma, who looked even more nervous and scared than she had with Arella, and with good reason.

"Hey! Raven back off, what are you yelling for! She hasn't done anything but help us, why are you berating her!" Beast Boy demanded, coming to stand in front of Zacroma protectively.

"Show them Zira." Arella ordered. Zacroma paled and regarded Arella with a terrified look. "Do it." She said firmly, before Zacroma could answer.

Looking as though she were about to start crying, Zacroma shakily stood up, and turned her back to everyone. Raven fell onto the couch and clutched her head in her hands. Zacroma then pulled her shirt up, enough to expose the whole of her back to them.

Everyone gasped, save Raven and Arella. On each shoulder blade, was a long, symmetrical, and ugly scar.

"I see," Said Malchior calmly. "You're half angel, aren't you?"

XP

A/N: Um, I think we've already established the fact that I am, in fact, evil. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Kage no ni yoru: Okay good, few! But yeah, I knew you were kidding so I didn't really think you were lesbo or anything. And there's nothing wrong with fluff, but when it makes you want to puke it's kind of bad. And what I'm talking about is the "Oh Raven, I love you so much!" "Oh Malchior/Rorek, I love you too! (Kissy kissy smooch)" yeah, that's what I see as puke-worthy. So we might have different opinions on that. And I don't have a problem putting in a little heat (as it is plane) but sex, well, it's just too personal a thing to write about, y'know? Feels like you're intruding a little too much and really have no business being there. So yeah. Hope you liked the chapter!

LivingImpared: You don't have problems, Malchior's hot, what girl wouldn't like him?

Storm Front: Oh boy! Well, I hope you do good on your test. And I didn't update right after you pressed the button (obviously) But at least I updated the same night! And yeah, we'll be seeing more of Arella, but not much, sorry. However I'll probably bring her back later on so cross your fingers!

Well, that's all I have to say there, because you guys are falling down on the job out there. REVIEW DARN IT! Or else I might start to get depressed and think you all got bored of my story and lose my drive, (sniff). Motivation makes the chapters come out faster, and there's nothing more motivating than a few nice reviews, as you all should know. So preeeeeeeess the buuuuuuttoooooon. You know you want to.

Ja ne!