String of Memory
Part Four
The girls were in one room, the boys were in another. The men found the fit incredibly tight, but the girls went to sleep almost immediately. Beast King wasn't thinking about sleep even though he had claims to the only bed in the room. Neither Cyborg, Robotman nor Negative Man required a mattress for rejuvenation; indeed they had all fallen sleep haphazardly on the floor. Mento had taken a lean inside the ceil of the window, his arms crossed, his head bowed down.
Beast King laid on his back with his head on his hands. His green eyes were wandering, but he didn't really see anything. He didn't exactly know why he was awake. His mind was clear, the first time it had been in a long time considering all that had happened recently.
The Brotherhood of Evil was withdrawing its forces. No, withdrawing was the wrong word, General Immortis was strategically reorganizing his powers to execute The Brain's world wide intention. Thirteen young heroes in all were missing: Wildebeest, Kole, Hot Spot, Melvin's team, Kid Flash, Argent, and a few others that the Titans had never met, but the last to disappear was one that they were familiar with. Starfire had sent a transmission that Red Star had failed to respond to her last communication. But there was no time to check on him, The Doom Patrol could only assume that Red Star was within the enemy stronghold…
The stronghold they were going to attack within a few hours.
It had come down to a vote between the nine of them: Sinora, Beast King, Omicron, Cyborg, Mento, Elasti-girl, Bumble Bee, Negative Man and Robotman. Four had wanted to go, four had wanted to wait and Beast King had the deciding vote.
Celine's network had given them all the information they needed, but it also gave Elasti-girl, Bumble Bee, Cyborg and the Omicron worry. Mento, Robotman and Negative Man didn't want to waste the opportunity and Sinora wanted the Brotherhood of Evil stopped immediately. So the two sides were deadlocked, weighing out the pros and cons until Negative Man asked Beast King for his opinion.
Beast King sighed from his bed, thinking what he had thought those hours ago when he had been asked: what he thought didn't matter, it was what he did that made him a man.
There were thirteen young heroes captured, a slew more in hiding and many more that were far from safe.
The man inside him needed to make them safe.
…
Arella had received every one of Robin's letters.
She would have told Raven about them, but from what she knew about dimensional communications her daughter wasn't expecting the letters and exposing her to them might upset her… and Arella didn't want to upset Raven: for the last couple of weeks Raven had been happy.
The birth of Raven's baby was painless. Arella knew from experience that most babies resisted birth. Her granddaughter seemed to be ready to do her part. Arella had been at Raven's bedside to coach her. Jinx sat outside as did the Azar Sabrah tu Water. The mid-wife simply waited, Arella was doing much of her work.
Arella had been prepared for intensive labor. Raven's birth had been a terrible ordeal. But with Raven's child it was a pain, a push and surprise. It was a girl, she was small, but had powerful lungs. She cried from the moment she was delivered to the moment she was given to Raven to nurse. The baby was born with a full head of black hair and Raven's eyes. Raven sighed as she took in the contrast of her skin and her child's. The tiny girl had pink skin, like a full blooded human baby. Somehow the baby's demonic presence was suppressed.
Sabrah and Jinx had entered the birthing room the moment they heard the child cry and the Azar frowned when Arella gave the child directly to Raven, even though the correct custom was for the Azar to read her life before she was nursed. Arella knew it; Raven knew it and Sabrah tu Water did nothing about it.
The baby did not become tired after she had satisfied her hunger. Her purple eyes were wide open, but unfocused due to her new age. Raven could see into the small girl's face, saw every inch of the little girl. She was beautiful. She didn't look, even with her unnaturally pigmented eyes, like anything other than a perfect baby girl. Raven brushed her daughter's brow gently.
The Azar Sabrah stood over Raven's head, becoming the third person to touch the tiny life when she should have been the second. The midwife cleared out, but Jinx and Arella kept close from the other side of the bed. Sabrah's green eyes flittered from the quiet infant to her quiet mother and saw what was to be seen: the child's name.
"Schala tu…"
"Akane." Raven whispered.
And so, the granddaughter of Demon King Legend was born: Schala tu Akane.
In days Akane was sitting up straight and in a month she was crawling across the bed so fast, more than twice Raven had to dive to keep the little girl from toppling over the edge. Arella could see the way her daughter smiled and loved her child. She kept her close, told her stories and satisfied the small girl's curiosity: she never left Akane to want for her attention or affection.
It was the opposite way that most demon sires were raised.
Raven treated Akane gently, cautious and loving, ready to protect her in any instance. But she was always prepared for the moment when Akane showed the first signs of her unfortunate powers. She was always looking, but never for a moment was hard or fearful: she treated Akane as a child she wanted and with the complexion of no demon heritage; Raven could treat Akane as Robin's daughter.
Outside of her tremendous rate of growth, Akane appeared to be a normal little girl. Raven held her, nursed her, loved her despite the stares and ever present worry in her head. Arella could see in nights, especially those just after Akane's birth that Raven constantly looked at things that reminded her of her old life. She would often talk to the tiny child, whose eyes moved to follow every motion of her mother's voice: she talked about the planet Earth, the wealth of colors she had seen, how she had friends that Akane would meet some day; how she'd love Akane forever and how there was someone waiting on Earth to love her as well.
Arella never missed it when Raven put Akane down to sleep for the night because she did it the same way every time. She laid the girl in her bassinet, which would need to be replaced with a crib in a day or two, the girl was growing much too fast to be comfortable in it for much longer, then Raven kissed her sweet forehead, making sure she was tucked in securely.
Then Raven would pull on her bed robe and sit on the edge of her bed and open a music box that she kept on the stand beside her bed. The music it played was surprisingly gentle, as to not take away from the display of lights it produced. The colors rebounded off her purple irises painting soft blues and reds across her skin. It made her eyes look so sad. Sometimes she'd whisper to it, as if she were talking to a whole being, other times she'd close it and go directly to sleep, but usually she watched it until her eyes couldn't get any sadder, then closed the box and laid it down on her stand before taking up a damaged stuff rabbit and clutching it to her stomach. That routine she had been doing before Akane was born. Whenever she held that stuffed rabbit, she wouldn't cry.
Arella had dared to ask Raven the significance of the tattered plushy. It was an ugly thing, burned and stitched up to hold one of its ears in place. Raven didn't answer and still went to bed with it every night. Raven hadn't brought much with her when she had come to Azarath. She brought her birthrights, a music box, a small album of photos and a gift that wasn't opened, because it wasn't addressed to her.
Raven was a good mother and so was Arella and like a good mother, Arella made it her business to understand the heart of her child. Raven was rubbing her thumb over the tattered fur of her most valued possession. Arella sat beside Raven, her hand touching Raven's wrist. It didn't still the motion there, she hadn't intended it to.
"Raven."
"Yes?"
"What will you do when it happens?"
"I'll train her." Raven replied.
"To do what?"
"To be stronger than her prophecy." Raven replied.
"Then you will let them look?" Arella asked.
Raven's hands faltered. "I will let them look, only when she shows power."
"You showed power when you were four years old." Arella told her.
The way Akane was growing, that would be within months. Raven nodded.
"Are you prepared for what they'll see in her life course?"
Raven shook her head in the negative. "I'm going to lie to her about whatever they find… just like you did to me… I'm sorry about before, when I said all those terrible things about you lying to me."
"I know." Arella pushed a lock of hair behind Raven's ear. Her daughter had always had a sense of beauty that was mostly unappreciated due to the disposition she was forced to adopt. When the girl smiled it was the most beautiful thing in the world to behold. Her eyes remained the same wide shape her whole life, big and round from the day she was born.
"I wish there were another way to protect her instead of lies." Raven whispered. The baby hiccupped in her sleep. Raven stood up and checked on the infant. In her sleep her thumb had found her mouth. Raven watched her breathe, letting her own breath go with the visible exhale of Akane. Raven leaned forward gently and kissed her daughter's temple. "I love you." She whispered with her lips still touching the sleeping child's skin.
There was no doubt in all of Azarath that Raven loved her daughter. Arella could see it when Raven bathed the tiny girl in water that was just right, how she nursed her at the very moment she felt hunger, she'd play with her, talk to her, always show the little girl she was loved. When Raven left her home, Akane was always safely cradled against her; her purple eyes wide and loving when she looked down at the child; and harsh and often fierce when she took in the sight of anyone who looked with ill regard onto her baby.
Katora had made the mistake, exactly once, to voice her distain for Akane's life where Raven could hear her. Raven had been sitting outside with Akane. The little girl was basking in what was to be considered sunlight, watching her mother as Raven spun a crystal with her power, a silent spell producing a gently display of light that made Akane's young eyes widen in delight and absolute awe. The only color the girl ever saw was that which Raven produced and Raven made sure that Akane saw something every day to keep her promise to Robin.
Katora was only a few feet away when Akane had clapped her hands in delight; the little girl's laughter was music to Raven's ears: a retched chord to Katora. Arella saw Raven's movement from her kitchen and immediately ran outside to divert Akane's attention when her mother made to approach Katora. Raven's brown dress rustled until she came to a stop, her eyes locked on Katora's. Katora didn't look intimidated; she would change her disposition when Raven slapped her, her nail cutting her cheek. Raven could have used her powers, could have smote Katora where she stood, could have turned her home to rubble. Instead, Raven had used her body, matched Katora inch for inch as women, both of the mothers of daughters with great legacy. And every time they clashed, Raven stood up and Katora backed down. It was a dance that tired Raven, but she was always prepared to match that dance step.
Until Schala tu Akane added a new step to that waltz.
…
She kept her mind occupied with memories, all of which involving her friends. Starfire had a lot of memories; most of them highlighted moments where friends rejoiced greatly in each others company. Perhaps her fondest memory took place in the earliest stages of her friendships of Earth.
She had accompanied her friends to a thing called the supermarket. While she understood the concept of a market, the powers it warranted to deserve the title of super were lost on her.
She understood when encountered the entrance of the Mart of Value. Beast Boy and Cyborg had to all but hold her hand to keep her from flying around Mart of Value in a flurry of joyous energy. She encountered Robin at a free sample stand and he handed her a mini hotdog on a tooth pick. He made the mistake of not telling her not to eat the toothpick, but it didn't seem to bother the pretty Tameranian at all.
"That was most enjoyable! What is it called?"
"That's a hotdog Star."
"Hot… dog?" Starfire turned stark white. "You mean the friendly furry companions of earth persons are also for consumption?" Starfire nearly screeched.
"No, no! It's not the same thing. They just call it that. Here, have another one." Robin handed her the skewered meat, and took one for himself, this time placing a dollop of mustard at the end of it. Starfire watched him cautiously, her narrowed green eyes regarding him and the skewered meat warily.
"Go ahead Star." Robin said, finishing his.
"You are sure it is not composed of the Fidos or Rovers, as they are called?"
"I promise Star. Here, try this one with mustard."
He made an action that would change Starfire's life forever. She ate the mustarded link and her taste buds exploded in euphoria. Robin watched with one eyebrow raised, Starfire leaping and bounding, praising the glorious taste of mustard to anyone who was close enough and even to those who were at a safe distance.
"Please tell me friend, is this mustard only to accompany the eating of the hotdogs?"
"No, Star. You can put it on anything you want." Robin replied; glad that the hotdog eating crisis was averted.
The Boy Wonder really needed to be more careful with his word choice.
…
Beat, Beat, Heartbeat…
She knew it was coming when there was no way it could be known.
Akane was the first person to ever find flowers in Azarath. She had to look for them, got plenty dirty, but the girl found them. By the calendar she was three months old, but by vision she was four years old and growing.
The milestones of Akane's life had passed in rapid succession: her first steps, her first words, potty training and she had already read her first children's fable. The small girl had a cautious and light voice, filled with the wonderment of childhood that she would lose in weeks.
Raven had gone from carrying Akane, to holding her hand as she toddled, to chasing after the girl when something inspired her to run.
Schala tu Akane had been inspired to run that afternoon. When Raven caught up to her, she had to kneel down in the dirt as well to see what had give Akane a reason to stop. The small girl smiled up at her mother and pointed with her small fingers.
"Look mommy. Look how pretty!"
Not as pretty as… "They are."¹
Raven took a closer look at the stunted blossoms that were distinctly out of place. Snapdragons? Raven hid her surprise when her daughter began to trace the tiny petals with her fingers. "I'll pick them for Auntie Astarte, that I will." The small girl declared, securing one blossom by the steam.
Beat, Beat, Heartbeat…
"Schala, wait."
The purple eyed girl frowned and looked up at her mother. Her mother only called her Schala when she was in trouble, which was to say not often. Raven watched her daughter frown and she shook her head.
"Sweetheart, they are still very small. We can come back in a few days and if they're bigger we'll pick them."
"I think they are ready now, that I do."
She couldn't hide her surprise when Akane gently grasped the blossom again and pulled the flower free.
Beat, Beat, Heartbeat…
And it came so simply from a touch, something reacted and Schala tu Akane for the first time exercised her demonic heritage. The ground beneath the small girl was thrown about in the efflux of energy. The weak snapdragons were ripped from the ground and Raven was surprised enough that when the energy struck her, she was thrown back six feet. She pulled herself off her side and stared as Schala's black hair was thrown almost straight into the air, her fists clenched, her face straining. Her energy washed over the land around her in a circle expanding outward. The sparkling gold color pulled a tear from Raven's eye.
Raven leapt to her feet, her heart torn at the sight of her daughter, struggling, unsure of what was happening to her. Raven swallowed hard.
"AZARATH METRION ZINTHOS!" Raven's black energy flooded over the gold energy borne from her daughter. Raven's superior control pushed and contained Akane's power, dispelling it and gently calming the girl who produced it.
When Akane collapsed from exhaustion, Raven caught her and held her close. Akane's eyes darted back in forth in terror when she came to; her mother was holding her and her mother was crying.
Akane reached a slender soft hand to touch Raven's tear soaked cheek. Raven closed her worried eyes before opening them and seeing a monk from the temple approach. Her fingers gripped Akane tightly, her irises wavered in fear.
"Mommy… what was that?" Akane asked.
The first step in the end of the world…²
End of Part Four
A/N
¹This is the same vision Raven had in Say Your Name Part Three. Again, it's showing how she's programmed for most of the events in her life. This was foreshadowing for the beginning of the end.
²I use this quote a bit, but it's all a matter of perspective.