A/N: WARNING! THROWING TOFU-FLAVORED JELLY DOUGHNUTS AT UNSUSPECTING DARK DRAGONS IS HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH AND THE HEALTH OF ANYONE NEAR ENOUGH TO YOU TO BE SUSPECTED OF THE ACTION! PLEASE PELT JELLY DOUGHNUTS IN THE PRESENCE OF A TRAINED PROFESSIONAL AND TRY TO AVOID BEINGS WITH SHORT TEMPERS AND LOTS OF POWER. THANK YOU!
XP
"Is…is she?" Beast Boy swallowed hard, staring shakily at the form in Malorek's arms. The silver-haired dragon didn't respond, he simply stared at Raven, a dead look in his eyes, as though the only thing keeping him from dying himself was the hope that it was only a dream.
"Almost…she's almost…but not quite." Zacroma said, everyone turned to stare at her.
"What can we do?" Malorek exclaimed, coming to her, desperately.
Zacroma shuddered and shook her head, "Nothing, we can do nothing, but ask." She answered.
"A-ask?" He questioned, trembling.
"Raven…may not want to…to come back." She answered, taking a step back and looking away from Raven.
"I've said it before, and I'll likely say it again, but WHAT IS GOING ON?" Blackfire suddenly burst out. "What was all of that? Who was that-that creature, thing, dark angel whatever! Since when did Ms. Dark-&-Depressing have wings like that? And what the heck was that woman talking about, 'you can't run', honestly, and I know for a fact that Raven's mother was the human one, not the demon-dark angel-whatever!" She ranted.
"SHUT UP!" Malorek roared suddenly, causing Blackfire to freeze with a small squeak at the look in his eye, "None of this concerns you, woman, you don't have to understand anything, so just shut up and let us speak!" He ordered, so severely that everyone stared at him. He was shaking, almost violently, and holding Raven close to him as he turned to Zacroma. "How," He said in a far calmer voice, "How do we ask her to come back?" He whispered.
Zacroma took a deep breath and stepped forward, she could hardly bear to look at Raven, her clothing torn and ripped so that much of her skin was exposed, and her skin bearing those horrible burns from Yulazrielle's chains. Likely she'll have them forever, Zacroma shuddered, but came closer anyway. She gestured for Malorek to lay her down, and then took his hand, placing her other over Raven's eyes. She closed her own and began to whisper a prayer.
XD
It was dark, quiet, and peaceful. She was laying down on soft grass, with flowers popping out of it here and there. There was a tree over her, protecting her from whatever sky there was above. It was a big tree, it stretched its branches out widely, it seemed to offer her a soothing cool and a comforting warmth at the same time. She closed her eyes, a smile playing on her lips. It was so nice, like she had her own little garden, for she could sense more flowers and bushes around this tree. How nice, so sweet, the fragrance, the grass, everything was perfect. It was like heaven.
"Raven…" Whispered a soft, familiar voice. Raven rolled over and tried to ignore it. "Raven…please, please, come back, come back…"
"But, it's so nice here." Raven whispered, fingering one of her flowers. She remembered it, it was one of the flowers she'd always tried to grow, the snap-dragon. They were always so beautiful, but only lasted a day. But here they would last forever. She smiled to herself.
"Please, please come back, we'll miss you, we need you Raven." The voice begged, it sounded tearful.
"No you don't," Raven answered, "I've done what I meant to do. I was born for a purpose that wasn't my own, I have defied this purpose, I have overcome that which I feared the most, that which haunted me all my life. She will not come back, it was only through me that she was able to appear before the Time of Judgment, she wanted to use me to alter the course of history, to change what was foretold. But she can't do that anymore. So you're safe from her. I'm no longer needed."
"But we love you Raven! We love you, we don't want to go on without you! Please, please don't leave us! Think of Arella, think of your friends, think of Malorek!" Zacroma's voice began to sob.
Raven paused a moment, "…Malorek?" She murmured.
"Raven," Said a new voice, "Don't go, please, don't leave me, not again. We need you Raven, I need you! Don't leave, please, please…"
"I can't…" Raven curled up into a ball, "I can't go back. I can't…"
"Why? Why can't you come back?"
"How, how am I suppose to live with myself from here on? How can I live, knowing what I am, what I was? I can't, I can't…"
"…Raven, remember what I said?"
"What?"
"Remember, I said there was nothing, nothing you could have done, nothing you could have been that would keep me from loving you. I couldn't give a crap about who you're mother was as Avelona, I could care even less about your father! No one is going to care, Raven, no one is going to care what you are. And neither should you. You're important to us, not because of your power or your wisdom, but because we love you, I love you. Come back, Raven, please."
Raven's eyes began to water and she tried to hide from the voice in her hair, "But I…I don't…I can't…" She sniffed. She didn't want to leave this place, this peace, but…Malorek. He would be hurt and…and she didn't want to lose him, she wanted to be with him, but she didn't want to leave.
Suddenly, there was a shout, "Malorek? MALOREK NO! DON'T!" Zacroma shrieked. And then Raven felt an arm wrap around her shoulders, and a cool dread gripped her in the chest as she rolled around to find Malorek laying in the grass beside her.
"What…what are you doing here? Malorek you can't stay!" She exclaimed, but Malorek simple pulled her into a tight embrace.
"Yes I can, it's easy, I simply don't go back and eventually my soul will completely separate from my body, just like yours." He answered calmly.
"But, no, no Malorek, don't die! You don't have to stay here just because of me!" Raven cried out.
"Raven, I'm not going back without you." He told her, forcing her to look into his eyes.
"But…"
"If you stay, then so will I. You can't ask me to leave, Raven, I'm not going to do that." He said, then he brought her up and pressed his lips to hers, his tongue swept into her mouth for a moment before he drew back, "I know you're tired, I know you don't feel that you have a roll to play anymore, but think of the people you'll be leaving behind. Think of your friends, Beast Boy, Cyborg, Robin, Starfire, Zacroma, think of Chire'ni. She still needs you, Raven, I need you. Please come back, come back with me." He whispered, and then he pressed his lips to her chest where her heart would be.
Raven wrapped an arm around Malorek, and he picked her up. When she gave him no resistance, he then turned away from the tree, away from the garden, and back, back into their bodies.
XD
Malorek was holding her when she opened her eyes, his eyes were smiling with relief, and there was a cheer as the rest of the Titans soon realized that she was alive. Raven wrapped an arm around Malorek's neck and held herself closer to him, "Let's go home." She breathed.
"My thoughts exactly." He responded. "I'll do it." He said, "Everyone grab a hold of me, I'm going to teleport us all back to the T-Tower." He told them.
They did so, and the next moment everyone was back in the living room, where Shade, Daniel, and Michael were all waiting. They stood up, but were forced to sit back down by Robin in order to be fully healed by Zacroma. Malorek let out a sigh, "We will explain everything that happened in the morning, for now, why don't we all get some sleep." He suggested.
"Good idea." Beast Boy said, "But uh…" He looked around at the five new additions, "We're kinda short on room space…Dude, what the heck?" He exclaimed, suddenly realizing the fact that there were six new additions instead of five. Chire'ni was holding Val'hilran in her arms.
"Don't worry, she's alive, but only just. She'll be dead soon enough, but I think there's something she has to say to Raven before she will let herself die. It can wait till morning, however. Until then, she can stay in whatever room I stay in." She answered.
Robin looked a bit wary at this, but nodded, "Alright," He said.
"We can just sleep here in the living room, no biggie." Daniel told them.
"Blackfire can stay in my room!" Starfire exclaimed, much to Blackfire's annoyance. But she, with a slightly wary glance at Malorek, she didn't argue.
"Fine." She grumbled.
"I'll stay with Beast Boy." Terra said, smiling and taking the Changeling's arm. Beast Boy's eyes widened as Zacroma twitched and stalked over to them.
"Ah, excuse me? No you won't!" She snapped angrily.
"Ah, Terra…there's something I have to tell you…" Beast Boy said, awkwardly prying her off his arm.
"Well, we do have an extra room because now we have Malorek instead of both Malchior and Rorek." Cyborg pointed out.
"Two extra, if that's the case. Val'hilran and I will stay in the one Malchior use to occupy." Chire'ni said, "The other can have Rorek's."
"But, we still have Malorek." Cyborg said, turning to her.
Chire'ni raised an eyebrow, "Heh, you're so cute when you're naive" She told him smirking. Cyborg's face flushed crimson, though whether this was out of realization of what Chire'ni had implied, or the fact that she had called him 'cute' it was hard to tell.
"Let's go." Raven whispered, Malorek agreed and decided to simply teleport them both into her room.
She sighed and slipped out of his arms, testing her legs with his help, and finding them sturdy enough to use. She looked down at herself, and clenched her teeth. She still had furious red burns all over her arms, legs, and waist. There were lines around her neck, wrist, and ankles where the shackles had been, most of which would be covered, had her costume not been ripped into barely modest shreds.
Malorek wrapped his arms around her from behind and placed a kiss on her neck where the burn mark was, he licked it a few times, and said, "It shouldn't be too hard to hide them."
"They'll never leave." Raven murmured.
"What does it matter? Don't think of where they came from, think of how much more…interesting you look with scares in the shape of chains wrapping around your body. Don't put shame to them, look at them proudly, as the marks of your victory. Think about it, you faced the Fallen Angel Yulazrielle, and won. They don't have to be ugly unless you make them that way." He told her.
Raven let out a deep sigh and smiled at him, "Yeah, you're right." She said, and she turned around to kiss him deeply.
He kissed her back, slow and deliberately at first, and then she felt him messing with something behind her. The next moment she heard the sound of his gauntlets hitting the floor, and his bear hands began to trail up and down her waist, sending shivers up her back. He pulled her closer, and his fingers began to trail along the indention of her spine, causing her to breathe in sharply through her nose, her back arched to make the indent more pronounced. He leaned in, his tongue moving into her mouth and tasting her greedily, possessively. So sweet, he could hardly get enough.
They were on her bed before they realized what was happening, Malorek had once again shed his armor and the top of his body suite with a single spell. His lips had finally left hers and they trailed down her neck, kissing the burn mark that was there, and then down along the chain. He stopped where she still had clothing, but started up again on her middle, causing her to gasp, and then a small moan escaped her lips as his lips found her belly button and he began to swirl his tongue around the inside of it. She squirmed slightly, shivering as his hands held her hips in place. He blew, making her to gasp once more, and then his tongue trailed around that area, going back inside once again, causing her to let out a small 'oh', and shudder.
But just then, Raven's door suddenly opened, "Raven, I'm begging you, can I stay in—" Blackfire stopped abruptly and stared at the pair of them, her eyes wide as lollipops. "Oh, my—"
"DO YOU MIND!" Malorek bellowed menacingly, his eyes were blazing red and his teeth seemed to have grown points to them.
"I guess that's a no." She said, and she closed the door, still looking stunned. Raven waved a hand and her door bolted itself shut.
"Well, now that the moment is completely ruined." Malorek grumbled irritably.
"We'll be getting that a lot, you know that. It's the downside to living with a lot of other people." Raven sighed, resting back on her pillows. It was only then that she suddenly realized she'd been holding Malorek with more than just her arms. Tendrils of her long hair fell limp across the bed to add to the exasperation she was feeling. "Okay," She muttered, "I really must insist this time around, I need a hair cut." She said.
Malorek looked like she'd just shot him, "What! No you don't!" He exclaimed, "Look at how useful it is! You can pick things up with it, you can hold things with it, you can even strangle people or hold them upside down by their ankles with it!" He exclaimed desperately.
Raven paused, "I seem to remember doing that a lot…" She muttered.
"'Woe be to the fools who doth dare trifle with milady's hair.'" Malorek said, chuckling. "Also, if you remember, you found a way of gathering it to your scalp for when you wanted it out of the way, without the use of magic pins and hair clasps." He told her.
Raven pursed her lips and considered. The next moment each tendril of hair began to curl up, coming towards her head where they pressed themselves there, making it look as though she had it all pinned back save the two long locks in front of her face. "Oh, well, that's handy." She murmured.
"Great, so, now that you've decided not to cut your hair," He said, and then he ran his fingers into her scalp, undoing the magic that bound the huge amount of hair there and forcing it all back out.
"Hey!" Raven exclaimed, but he silenced her with a kiss.
"Is it so bad that I love your hair the way it is?" He whispered, running his fingers through her long locks. Raven felt a blush creep to her cheeks, even though it was silly. Still, the way he'd said that made her heart start to beat swiftly, and she was suddenly feeling a bit self-conscious about the fact that she might as well be on the beach with how little she was wearing. He wrapped his arms around her form and looked at her, "Raven, is that a blush?" He asked, smiling at her.
Raven leered at him, "No, it's a sunburn." She snapped back.
He chuckled, "And what a beautiful sunburn it is." He murmured, kissing each of her cheeks, and then recapturing her mouth in his own.
They kissed passionately for a few minutes, the heat seemed to be growing once more, but then Malorek pulled away and looked at her, his expression sober. "Raven…There's something I've been meaning to ask you, for a while now, actually." He said in a very serious voice.
"W-what?" Raven panted, her heart sinking. What was so important for him to know now that he couldn't wait until the morning? Did it have something to do with Avelona?
"Will you marry me?" He asked.
For a moment, Raven simply stared at him, her mind went almost completely blank, not registering what he had asked, and certainly unable to comprehend the beautiful diamond ring he had in his hand, which looked to be just the right size for a particular finger on her left hand.
"It doesn't have to be soon," He went on, "But, eventually, someday…maybe?"
Raven suddenly launched herself at him, completely turning the tables so that now she was on top of him, their lips connected in a fury of passion and joy, and it was a while before they stopped.
"So…I guess that's a yes?" Malorek murmured when Raven finally pulled away, he was slightly dazed, it was kinda cute actually.
"Gimmi." Raven said, snatching the ring from his hand and putting it on her finger. It was beautiful, the band was small, perfect, but so detailed. It resembled a dragon wrapped around her finger with a diamond in its mouth, and it was a single diamond, but it had been chiseled and shaped into a rose. It looked as though it had been made for her, not too big, and not too small. Perfect, absolutely perfect. And to add to the effect, the dragon's eye happened to be an amethyst. She grinned at Malorek. "You were preparing to give this to me as Avelona, weren't you?" She asked.
Malorek blushed, "Honestly? Yes. So I've been meaning to give it to you for a very long time now. I had a dwarf cast it for me, though I had to do the rose myself. You…like it?" He asked.
"You're…kidding, right?" Raven asked, her mouth twitching.
"Soooo, that would be a yes?" He questioned, smirking slightly.
"That would be a 'kiss me you fool'." She answered, and then she launched herself back on top of him and began to do just that.
XD
(A/N: Warning, while there is no Lemon as I have time and time again told you that I do NOT write lemons, there is mentioning, trace amounts of non-explicit nudity, sexual innuendo, and slightly inappropriate funneh. You are warned, not that most of you care I'm guessing. Xb)
Morning peeked through her curtains, but barely. Still, it was enough that Raven could tell it was morning, or rather it was long past morning, even though the entire tower still slumbered. Perhaps fitfully, but they slept still. Raven's eyes fluttered open, but then she closed them again and snuggled closer to the warm body that had its arms wrapped securely around her form.
Malorek squeezed her softly, "Did you sleep well?" He whispered.
Raven smiled, "Better than I have in a long time." She answered.
"No nightmares?"
"No."
"Good." He angled his head down and captured her lips up in his.
Raven sighed and sat up, automatically bringing the covers over her form in an effort to be modest, in spit of the fact that there was no need, not any more. "Is it over? All of this, Avelona, Judora, everything, is it over? Or is there something else in the back of our memories waiting to take shape and attack us?" She asked.
"Love, what could possibly be worse than facing down one of the Fallen Angels? Trigon may have been the Messiah of Lucifer, but Yulazrielle was the first to fall. She was, by far, the greatest enemy any of us has ever faced, though you were the only one to face her." Malorek answered.
Raven nodded, "It was only right." She sighed, "Avelona, I, we have been running, fighting to get away from her all our lives. But now, now I'm free. I'm not free of what I was made into, but I'm free of her, and the purpose she gave me." She said, looking at one of her hands, her normal pale skin color greeted her there, as did the burn around her wrist and the chain marks trailing up her arm. But they weren't ugly, no, they marked her victory, she was proud of them.
Malorek wrapped an arm around her middle and pulled her up into his lap, pushing her hair out of the way and nibbling her neck. He pulled down the blanket, causing her to blush slightly. She knew it was silly, but she still felt…slightly self-conscious, shy, even, in spite of the passion they'd shared the night before. "Ah, Love," He sighed, "We've waited so long, worked so hard, but now, now we can finally be together, forever." He whispered, an arm coming around to cover her, but she only sighed into his embrace.
"I love you." She whispered, an arm of her own coming around to caress his neck, her hair seemed to wrap them both up in a cocoon-like embrace of its own free will. She twisted her neck around and he bent down to capture her lips once more.
And then there was a knock on the door. The two of them twitched.
"Raven? Robin has sent me to wake you up, also, it seems sir Malorek is missing." Starfire called, and then she let out a small squeak.
"You and your dragon might want to get dressed before someone decides to open your door without knocking." Chire'ni's voice came through the door.
"They did, last night. But we locked the door so that shouldn't be a problem." Malorek said. Chire'ni let out a chuckle.
"Sir Malorek! It is very inappropriate for you to be in Raven's room like this!" Starfire exclaimed. The two looked at each other and held back their laughter.
"Yes, I'm sure they realize that. I'm also sure that the things they've been doing in there are even more inappropriate, now lets let them have a bit of privacy while they dress themselves, or each other." Chire'ni said. This time Raven blushed, feeling rather embarrassed at this.
"There's an idea! Thanks." Malorek called.
"You!" Raven exclaimed, slapping him, but he only grinned and Chire'ni let out another burst of laughter.
"I do not under—" Starfire began, but it seemed Chire'ni was moving her away from the door, still laughing on down the corridor.
Malorek grinned at Raven, "Can I—?"
"No." Raven said flatly, and Malorek sighed.
"Can't blame me for trying." He said as she pealed away his arms and her own hair, which she then called into her scalp once again. It felt much better staying there, and the forelocks that reached down her chest seemed to give the style a nice touch.
She used magic to dress herself in one of her extra costumes, and turned only to see Malorek giving her a rather pathetic pouty look, with bottom lip sticking out and everything. Raven sweatdropped, "No." She repeated.
"Awwww, but Looooove, I don't feel like getting all that armor back on all by myself." He wined.
"Then you can just walk around naked for the rest of the day." Raven responded.
"Mmm, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" He asked. SMACK! "Now you have to admit you walked right into that one." He pointed out, a nice blistering red hand mark on his cheek.
"GET DRESSED!" Raven ordered, her face burning with embarrassment.
XD
"Morning." Raven greeted, but the rest of the titans only grunted, even Starfire looked as though she were about to doze off again, much to Blackfire's relieved pleasure. Robin looked up and nodded, then blinked.
"Uh, what happened to your hair?" He asked. Suddenly Zacroma pirked up, her eyes wide.
"AIIIIIIIII! NOOOO, I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU CUT IT! WHY?" She demanded, waking everyone up with that.
"Owe," Chire'ni hissed, clasping her hands to her ears, "Must you be so loud!" She demanded irritably.
"Zacroma, I didn't cut it, see look." Raven answered and she let her hair come back out from her scalp, its tendril's floating around her rather lazily, but they were floating nonetheless. It was hard to explain why or how, but for some reason it seemed to take more of an effort to let them fall down about her shoulders like normal hair than to allow her power to flow through them and turn them into extra limbs. "It's something I remembered from Avelona's spells, she had hair this long and would bring it into her scalp like this," She retracted her hair while everyone watched, "For when she didn't want to mess with it." She explained. "Why I seem to have to make it move around like it does, I'm not sure."
"It's because of your power," Chire'ni answered calmly, having been the only one in the room, aside from Malorek, who didn't seem shocked, or amazed at Raven's hair. "Avelona had a lot of power, and letting her hair grow long while putting power into it was a way that kept it from building up too much." She explained.
"That makes sense." Raven said, sitting down on the couch next to Chire'ni, Malorek stood beside her.
"Okay, well, at least you didn't cut it." Zacroma said, looking relieved. Raven rolled her eyes.
"Right, well, first thing's first." Robin said, calling attention back to him, "What, exactly, happened?" He asked Raven, "I could have sworn there was a time during that battle when there were two Ravens, one of you had fallen into a trap set by Judora, and the other attacked her. Then, suddenly, we have Malorek Rechior rather than Malchior and Rorek."
"Um, could we have a heads up on a few other things as well? We're not sure what's going on." Daniel asked, Michael and Shade both nodded in agreement.
"I would like to know who, exactly, that Judora woman was, and also who that Yulazri-whatever was suppose to be." Blackfire pointed out. "I'd also like to know what the heck happened to Raven and why she looks so different, also what the heck it was that she turned into, and what the heck that thing she summoned to kill Yulazri-whatever."
"Well, as to that, I think I can answer most of those." Zacroma said pleasantly, "Judora…well, Judora was apparently a drow that Raven, as Avelona, knew, whom Yulazrielle Tainted/possessed by becoming the serpent that was Judora's familiar, Shinigami. Yulazrielle is a dark angel, the first to follow Lucifer into hell, and the crafter of the chains that bind and torment, as she told us all. What happened to Raven, well, she nearly got absorbed by Yulazrielle, that's what happened. Raven looks so different because, one, she's been cleansed of her father's evil, and two, she's apparently acquiring more and more of Avelona's characteristics. Raven turned into Avelona, who, apparently, was the daughter of Yulazrielle and a Nameless Arch Angel. And the thing Raven summoned was one of the Seraphim, but it didn't kill Yulazrielle, it banished her. You can't exactly kill something that basks in death itself. Or that is already dead for that matter." She explained.
Blackfire stared at her, "Oooookayyy, so, who is Avelona?" She asked. "Raven's evil twin or something?"
"No, Raven is Avelona reincarnated. Avelona was once the greatest sorceress in the entire cosmos, probably the greatest of all time." Zacroma answered.
"And now, I think, we know why." Raven said coolly. There was a small pause at that.
"So, ah," Beast Boy came up, "I'm a bit confused, was Avelona half-demon, half-angel or what?" He asked.
"No." Raven all but hissed, her fists clenched and her eyes hidden beneath her forelocks, "That in itself, it's bad, worse than being a half-angel, yes, but this is a Fallen angel, darkness deeper than the blackest pitch, these are the creatures who created the demons, they are the same creatures as Lucifer himself, Satan, in other words, but they serve him as his own band of arch-angels while he tries to play god. The Nameless Arch Angel who fathered Avelona is nameless now, and forever, because of that crime. Not only did he indulge in human pleasures, but he did so with one of Lucifer's own. Yulazrielle came to him because he called her, you heard her say it, and then I was born, born only to give her power. Myself as Avelona wasn't human, she was never human. She crafted herself a human body, entered the human realms, and yes, created those demons who possessed her herself, using them to destroy her mind. She couldn't stand being what she was, she couldn't stand remembering. That's what Avelona's secret was, that's what she was hiding." Raven looked at Malorek, "I heard her, in my nightmares, I heard Yulazrielle when the Death Wraith attacked. She said I couldn't pretend it didn't happen, she was referring to what happened to the Archangel after I was born. She said I couldn't keep it from happening, then she was referring to our merging, where she would take Avelona's power for herself and Lucifer. She said I couldn't forget what I was, she was referring to the fact that I, as Avelona, was half dark angel, half Archangel." She explained, and then she looked back down at her hands, staring at them. "This body, it's still half demon, half human, but my mind and soul know another body, and just as I can transform into Dark Raven, a full demoness, I can also transform into Avelona." She then leaned back and sighed, looking at all their expressions, "To be honest, I almost wish I could to back to being regular Raven." She admitted.
"Yeah, you're not the only one! I'm suppose to hate you people, and it's not very comforting knowing that I'm up against the most powerful being in the cosmos!" Blackfire exclaimed.
"Ah, don't think I would go quite that far," Raven began.
"Isn't it though? Perhaps you should give up now and save yourself future embarrassment." Malorek suggested smugly.
Blackfire sweatdropped, "You know, I haven't heard your story yet, since when were two people suddenly one person? From what I can tell first you were Malchior, then Rorek, and now some freakish combination of the two." She jabbed.
"That'd take a lot longer to explain, and as you've just admitted to being an 'enemy', it's really none of your business. In fact, you shouldn't even be here at all. So why don't you go crawl back under whatever rock you came out of." He snarled, causing her to jump, suddenly looking a bit frightened.
"Malorek." Raven chided, and then she looked at Blackfire, "Listen, Blackfire, why don't you consider changing sides, rather than stay our enemy?" She asked.
Blackfire gave Raven an incredulous look, "Excuse me? What the heck makes you think I'm going to suddenly join you're little 'super hero' gang all of the sudden?" She demanded.
"Oh, but, Blackfire, we would be most—" Starfire began, but Raven held up a hand to silence her.
"No, think about it, Blackfire. Think about what you've seen. You can't tell me it didn't frighten you, that it didn't shake you up. I know better. You've seen true evil, Blackfire, you've seen what can happen to those who call Yulazrielle, and you don't know that you call her until she comes, and when she does she cannot be banished so easily, or at all. I'm not saying that you should join us, per say, but that you shouldn't be so hasty to cause harm or hurt others for your own personal gain. I'm not saying that Yulazrielle will come to you, she chooses who she comes to very selectively, finding those in which she can do the most damage, but think about it. That's the path that you're on right now, is that really what you want to become? Do you want to be like Yulazrielle, like Judora, the Blood Clan? You can say that you're on your own side, that you're our enemy not their allies, but in the end that's what it boils down to, in the end you will have to chose." Raven told her.
Silence greeted these words, and it seemed all eyes were on Blackfire, whose face seemed to have gone slightly red, her mouth opening and closing as though she didn't know how to respond. Her expression was twisted into one of both irritation and consideration, also, Raven could see something working beneath her eyes, knew that what she'd said had sunk into her mind. But Blackfire stood up, "Screw you all." She muttered under her breath, and then she swept out of the living room, no doubt heading for the door. Sure enough, the next thing they saw was Blackfire outside the living room window, shooting up into the sky and out of the earth's atmosphere.
"Oh…" Starfire sighed, sounding disappointed.
"Ah, who cares anyway?" Robin said, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Okay," Said Beast Boy, "There's still something I don't quite get, so, what's the big deal is with 'Avelona's Secret'." He said, "I mean, what's so bad about being half-ultimat-demon-person, and half-archangel?" He demanded.
Raven took a deep breath and let it out slowly, she knew it wasn't just Beast Boy, most of the others seemed interested in hearing this as well, "Look," She began, "An archangel is a favored of the First God, they're powerful, pure, they follow His laws rigidly. To indulge themselves in human pleasures is a great and terrible sin. To done human skin and appear in the realms of man is, in fact, a practice used frequently. You see angels coming to earth a lot in history, even nowadays they do it, you just never know when they're around or if they're a certain person or not. They're indistinguishable from someone else in the crowd because they don actual human bodies. Nowadays they do, use to they didn't have to have complete human forms to walk the earth. Still, that being said, it is possible for an angel to loose sight of his or her true purpose and become tied to earthly things. They can get involved with a woman, or man, of earth because their mortal bodies distract them, and then they fall, they become broken. The true Fallen angels are those who followed Lucifer to hell. They are at the opposite end of the spectrum, pure evil where archangels are pure good. It is forbidden for an angel to become involved with a human, worse with a demon, and much worse with the Fallen. I've already explained this." She said.
"Yeah, you explained all of that, but that doesn't explain why Avelona was ashamed of it! She didn't make her father fall in love with a Fallen angel! She didn't—" But Raven lifted her hand.
"Beast Boy, that wasn't love. What the Nameless Archangel felt was lust, lust to know what was on the other side, lust to know what a human knows, what a demon knows. He called Yulazrielle to him, but there was no love, not a single bit. Yulazrielle is not a creature you can love. As for Avelona," Raven sighed and leaned back, "I suppose you wouldn't fully understand what it's like, most of you wouldn't," She glanced at Zacroma, and the two shared a knowing look.
"What what's like?" Beast Boy pressed on, as no one else seemed inclined to do it.
"What it's like, being a half-breed." Malorek answered soberly. "You have to understand, generally, half-breeds are almost always viewed with contempt, with any race, with any culture, bonding with an…outsider is never seen as a good idea. It's taboo, and being a half-breed makes one a mark of that taboo. You're never fully accepted into either side as a half-breed, shunned by both, and sometimes rejected by others. You're a mark of your parent's rebellion against the social laws of your culture or race. And in those days the children were treated as guilty of their parents' sins. Raven, as half-demon, is only respected by her demon fellows because of the purpose she was born for and because of the unusual circumstances of her birth. If it was known that the White Magus was half Fallen Angel, half Archangel, well, let's just say she wouldn't have had very much popularity, neither with humans, fey, or anything else. She would be feared rather than revered and respected, it wouldn't have been information taken lightly. Very few people would have wanted anything to do with her, most would simply not understand and try to destroy her. In fact I'm willing to bet that the mere knowledge of a creature like that walking the earth in flesh and blood would unsettle anyone who heard of it." He explained.
"Avelona had reason to keep this a secret," Raven added, "but it was more than how society would see her, this went deep, on a very personal level for her. She saw, when she was born, what her birth, what the result, had done to her father. A being, the purest of the pure, lay broken, ugly, and utterly destroyed, worse than dead, because of his own mistakes. She was a mark of this mistake, she was a creature born of two completely opposing sides, forbidden, twisted and obscure. This knowledge would have tormented her, and Yulazrielle would not have helped matters much either." She said. "Do you understand now?" She asked Beast Boy.
"Sorta, but I still don't see what the big deal is!" he exclaimed, as though, for all the world, Raven was acting racist or something, "So far as I've heard, they're still the same thing, angels. Just opposite ends of the spectrum! I mean, isn't Malorek like a connection between opposite ends! Wouldn't you get a Gray Dragon if a Crystal Dragon and Ebony Dragon mated or something? I don't understand!"
Raven, Malorek, and Zacroma stared at him. "Beast Boy, I am going to say this once, and I'm going to say it slowly, I, am, fey. I am a creature of magic, magic. It's not the same." Malorek told him.
"Okay, now I'm confused as well," Robin admitted, "Beast Boy has a point, what's the difference between a Dragon and an Angel in this particular sense?" He asked.
"What's the difference! EVERYTHING!" Malorek exclaimed, as though this should be completely obvious.
"Alright, remember what I told you about the mystical beings dying out by order of the First God? And that all other gods had to leave the earth as well? Okay, Angels, Dark angels, and Demons are all creatures under the jurisdiction of the First God. Technically everything is under His jurisdiction, but these are the creatures that no other god could touch. They're separate from the fey and mythical beings like dragons and elves. In essence, they don't even exist on the same plane of reality. With the fey, the greatest power is balance between those entities we call 'good' and 'evil'. For fey where there is good, there must be evil, where there is evil, there must be good. That's why a Gray Dragon is the most powerful dragon next to the deities, because they're balanced. But with the Angels, it's nothing like that. There is no balance, there is no 'in between', you are either good or you are evil, you can't be both, not with the angels. Mixing these two is…well, forbidden. Like the greatest of sins an Angel could perform. The Nameless Archangel was broken for his crime, and Yulazrielle…I believe she was punished with her chains. Punished for attempting to defy what was set, attempting to use a child in order to get her hands on the power of the First God. Now do you understand?" Raven asked.
"…oh." Beast boy said simply, and Raven sighed.
"There's really nothing we can say to help you understand the severity of such a thing happening." Zacroma said, "Words fail to describe it, fact of the matter is that Avelona was a walking impossibility. She should never have been allowed to be conceived, she was only born because of Yulazrielle's interference, I believe. Avelona knew this, she knew what she was, and was horrified by the very thought." Zacroma shook her head, "Like I said, we can't really describe it, but Avelona trying to destroy herself, to, at the very least, destroy the memory with demons of her own creation, it was completely understandable. The act of someone who truly couldn't handle the very thought of what she was. It's like blocking out the memory of, say, killing your parents. Say you loved your parents and you miss them a lot, and then you suddenly remember that you killed them. Only multiply that by about a hundred. Avelona herself wasn't responsible for her birth, how could she be? But she had every reason to be ashamed." She explained.
"Rrrrrright," Beast Boy said, though he still looked a bit confused.
"I think I get it, I don't get the, 'horror' I guess that you're trying to describe, but I understand all the same." Robin said, and Starfire nodded her agreement, along with Cyborg.
"Now, though, I think it's time you explained to us what happened, all of it." Chire'ni said, before anyone else could get off topic.
"Right." Raven breathed, "Well, I suppose I should start at the beginning, the beginning for us anyway. Where Malorek and I were sent through Judora's trap, and into the future…"
XP
A/N: Right, I hadn't initially planed on them doing it, but a friend insisted Xb. Anyway, THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER! You probably guessed that by the less-than satisfactory ending, but there you go. Not much more to say here, except that I've got a deviantart account (woot!), and also I DREW A FANART OF MALCHIOR SCARFLESS YO! Anyone who wants to see it go here: http/rhea-hiryuu. And you can also check out some of the other stuff I've done, but you don't have to. What you HAVE to see is this one flash cartoon I have in my Favorites, it's called 'Happy Pill', and IT IS SO FRIGG'N FUNNY, I COULDN'T STOP LAUGHING YOU HAVE TO SEE IT! Okay, I'm done.
I don't have anything to say to the reviews, really, I'm lost for comments. It's odd. So I'll just say this: Heheh, glad you were all shocked and I haven't lost my touch! .
Ja ne