Not much to say here. Just really glad you guys are liking it! (NOTE: For Raven's story to make more sense, go read my other fanfic "The Smell of Victory", specifically the "Having A Wonderful Time" chapter)
Beast Boy scanned the area of what was once Azarath. The sky was heavy with a dull, dreary gray overcast that hung thickly in the air, blocking out any attempts at sunlight.
"This is where she grew up..." he thought to himself. He glanced over at her to see if he could read her facial expression, but like always, it was blank and void. She had grabbed his hand though and was squeezing it hard, hinting at the emotional distress she was in to be back home.
"So...where is the temple?" the changeling asked softly. A breeze ushered past the two Titans, slightly chilling Beast Boy yet Raven seemed unmoved by it, the gentle wind pushing her fading violet locks back slightly as she just stared straight ahead.
"It's on the other side of Azarath." she finally said. "We need to get moving before Dominic shows up." Her voice was empty, yet sounded different from her normal emotionless tone, as if she wasn't repressing her emotions anymore, but more to the extent she had no emotions to begin with. She started to walk briskly, her footsteps echoing across the deserted city, letting go of Beast Boy's hand.
"Rae, wait! If Dominic was stripped of his holy blood, how can he get in here?" Beast Boy asked.
Raven stopped, her back turned to him. She didn't bother to turn around to speak to him, instead just kept looking straight ahead as she replied. "He drank my blood first, remember? He has enough holy blood in him to get through the gate. We're wasting time." she said flatly and continued walking at a brisk pace.
The changeling hurried to catch up with her, finally matching her brisk pace stride for stride. He dangled his hand down to see if she would grab it again, as he was too nervous to make the move himself, and much to his relief she hurriedly grabbed it, squeezing it tightly.
"This place used to be so beautiful..." she said. "I remember when I was young looking at these buildings and thinking they could touch the sky. That if I were to climb to the top, I could play in the clouds and be an angel, like my mother was, and soar through the sky." As she finished, Beast Boy could feel the grip on his hand tighten. He wanted to say something, but couldn't find the words to ease her pain.
"Rae...I...I have to ask you something..." Beast Boy finally croaked. The words didn't feel like his own, like someone was speaking for him. He felt distanced from himself, like he was watching the action unfold from a television. Raven just merely cocked a curious eyebrow in response to his question, that being her only response.
"I...I've always wondered something and...and if you wanna kill me or breakup with me...I'd understand, but there's just one thing about your past that doesn't add up..." he said, his knees shaking slightly, expecting at any moment for Raven to smite him. "How did...uhhh...your Mom...how did she..."
"You're curious how Trigon impregnated my mother?" she asked, the bluntness of the question catching the changeling off guard. "Uhh...yeah...that." was all he manged to say in reply.
Raven nodded, as if she understood and eased off his hand a bit, but still didn't let go.
"Trigon has many physical forms, the most common of which is the one you saw inside my mind and when he...used me as a portal." she said, the last part coming out slightly slower than the rest. Even though it had been a couple of years since that fateful day, the wounds still scarred the empath's tender soul. "When my mother first arrived at the newly created Azarath, she was lonely as her only love in life had been cast out of Heaven. Trigon was a demon created by Lucifer himself using the darkest of magics to be the ultimate warrior for his army."
"But why your Mom?"
"Patience Gar, I'm getting to that." she said simply. "Trigon wanted an heir, someone he would bring up to follow in his footsteps should he be slain. But no mortal was capable of bearing his seed, no, he needed something stronger. An angel. My mother."
She paused to close her eyes, her grip increasing on Beast Boy's hand, yet her face was still calm and serene.
"He managed to magically disguise himself as a normal man who had injured himself in an accident and needed medical attention. One night he frantically knocked on her door begging for help...my mother felt sympathy for him and reached out to heal him and it was then she sensed his demon aura. By then it was too late...he got what he wanted."
"So...what happened to him then? He got banished right?"
"Right." Raven said cooly with a slight nod. "Mother eventually made her way to the temple to warn them, with the monks then casting his soul into Hell."
"But...he got out?"
"One of the monks, named Simon, became obsessed with Trigon. It was Simon who founded the followers of Scath so they could worship him in secret. After years of study, he finally found a way to break the seal and release Trigon from Hell."
She took a deep breath as this part was the hardest to talk about.
"Released from his prison, Trigon unleashed havoc on Azarath, making sure he took the monks out first and with them out of the way, he laid waste to the entire city, saving my mother for last. Before she died she managed to muster enough strength to banish him with a blood seal..."
"What's a blood seal?" Beast Boy interrupted.
Raven let out a big defeated sigh. As much as she loved him, he had the attention span of a gnat.
"A blood seal is...like a curse. Mother managed to banish Trigon back to Hell, but used her own blood to seal the 'gate', so to speak. It's...because of this that he used me to free himself. A curse closed by a blood seal can only be opened by the same blood that closed it." Beast Boy's eyes widened at this, it all suddenly making sense.
"So that's why he needed you! Because you have, like..the same blood as your Mom?"
"Exactly. And now...now he's gone. For good. When I finally realized I was in control of my own fate...at the moment all of the lost souls of Azarath flew into me and I had the power I needed to end him forever." she added defiantly, her grip loosening again.
"It's official..." Beast Boy said smiling "My girlfriend kicks butt!"
"Suckup." she said grinning, pretending the compliment annoyed her, but knowing full well she enjoyed it.
The two continued their brisk walk when suddenly Raven stopped abruptly at the ruins of a small stone and wood house. The walls had been leveled, with black char and soot covering everything in thick coats and large demonic foot prints dotted the landscape. This little cottage seemed to have taken the worse of Trigon's wrath. Raven slowly made her way past what Beast Boy guessed was the front yard, into the ruins of the house.
"Rae wait..." the changeling objected. "I thought we were in a hurry..."
Raven didn't respond, but instead, with a hushed sense of awe, ran her hand in a gentle glide over the burnt husk of what used to be a dinner table. Her pale fingers covered in a dark ash she did not bother to remove. Beast Boy quickly ran over to her, the jade skinned prankster finding it kind of creepy standing in the middle of the abandoned street by himself. "Dude, Rae...what is this place?" he asked.
"It's...just like I remember it..." she said softly, her attention now focused on a small bed in the corner of the room, with her eyes carrying a soft, almost mournful reflection. She sat on the edge of the bed and traced her fingers over the dirty silk sheets and bit her bottom lip, as many painful memories came flooding back.
"Dude, what is this place?" he asked, but again she didn't give an answer. "It seems so small now..." was all she said. Confused, Beast Boy looked around the room for something to gain his quickly fading interest and upon glancing down at the floor, found a small rag doll.
The doll in question was under a foot long, with muddy yarn for hair that at one point had been a bright golden blond. The dress looked like it was hand sewn from old bed sheets and was caked in dirt and soot, the eyes of the doll were two violet buttons sewn on, with the left eye hanging loose. The mouth was merely a curved line etched in by ink, a crude, yet happy smile on it's face.
Beast Boy held the doll in front of him with a curious glance, inspecting it from head to toe. "I wonder who this belonged to..." he said with a slight mocking tone, confused how anyone could entertain themselves without a GameStation 720 or even an old school GameBlaster 2600.
"Her name is Miss Sally...and she's mine." Raven said, her voice cold and heavy. Beast Boy felt the color draining from his face as he timidly put the doll on what was left of the dinner table. "I'm sorry..." he said quietly.
"This...was my mother's house. I lived here till I was 5 and had to go to the temple with the other children." she said, before adding "You seem surprised I had a doll."
Beast Boy shrugged, not wanting to get himself into any more hot water. "Well...I mean...Rae...you gotta admit...you don't seem like the dollie type.."
Raven nodded and sat up from the bed, dusting the soot and grime off her cloak. "We need to be leaving." she said flatly. "We wasted too much time here and we need to get to the temple. The blood we drank will only last us for so long..."
"Right Rae! Let's boogey!" Beast Boy said and making his back into the street, morphed into a horse for Raven to take a ride.
"Shame you didn't turn into a donkey or else I would have a made about you being an ass..." she said with a sly grin. Beast Boy just snorted in irritation, as he lowered himself closer to the ground for her to ride on. She climbed aboard and grabbed his mane for balance. "Alright Green Stallion..." she said sarcastically. "...keep following the cobblestone road straight ahead and we'll reach the temple." Beast Boy reared his hooves in the air, strictly to show off to her, and galloped at a steady pace.
Behind them, making his way out from behind some rubble of another destroyed building, emerged Dominic. "That's right, dear Raven..." he sneered "...just a few short moments and you and I shall be together...forever."