17 - Candles
"So you need to go back?"
They've managed to get to a shelter, buried under a set of rubble the fire demons had accidentally left in a stable place. Vivio was rubbing her hands as Raven's magic stuttered to heal her. It faltered and fumbled, but it was working, which was more than it had when they'd met. It was more than Raven had managed… ever in her memory. Without something exploding, or dying, or not happening at all.
But no… she knows she can do magic. She knows she has very powerful magic. But it's his magic, not her own.
Or it… it was. She didn't know what it was now.
She had, she must have had magic. Magic that didn't belong to you didn't agree with you, magic that should never have been hers because she shouldn't have been alive at all, but for that purpose.
And yet here she was. And yet here she was.
"Yes," Raven finally said. "Yeah, I have to go. People need me. My friends need me."
Robin glanced at her with no small amount of gratitude. She smiles back, shaking with nerves that not even deep breathing could stop.
Vivio swallowed. Her eyes watered and wavered and then she nodded, determination in her young expression. For a moment, Robin cannot help but think of himself with Bruce Wayne. He wonders what Batman is doing now.
"Let's contact my mothers then!"
No, it's a little different. She loves and depends on them with no shame, whatsoever.
They do and much to Robin's surprise, within hours, people gather in the place where he'd fallen. Around them, mages continue to work, taking down fire demons and setting up barriers. The city is deserted now, for the most part so it's quiet.
Raven watches silently. There's no hope nor despair in her face, only a quiet resignation of guilt as if it being her fault doesn't matter much but means almost everything.
"How did they defeat Trigon the first time?" He couldn't really remember her explanations, only her despair, only her awareness.
"They didn't."Raven shakes her head. "They sealed him, connecting that seal to Azarath. He's been trying to come through with his children ever since. They've died first, usually."
"Because they maintain the seal?" Someone is listening, Robin cannot recognize who.
Raven shakes her head. "He tries to break the seal, all the time. Emotional regulation and meditation are important because of that, but also because the closer he gets to winning, the harder it is to tell who you are. So most of the babies died. He didn't do this intentionally with me. It just became a fact of life that I would undo the seal because there wasn't anyone else left. So I did."
"Raven," Robin says, as firmly as he can muster because he is swimming in anger. "He abused you to that point. That's not your fault. You took actions guided out of fear and hopelessness. We, no one should have expected that you keep doing that horrible task your whole life."
Raven's jaw sets in a familiar stubborn frown, that as a child looks like a pout. Robin grins weakly at the sight of it. "Still happened, I know. But we all gotta do better."
"Nobody's perfect," agrees the cheerful, steady voice of the redhead, Nanoha, as she arrived, decked out in white and shining pink.
Though she has plenty of serenity, something about that smile makes Robin think of Starfire. That is not a comforting thought.
Judging by the way Raven looks much more relaxed, Robin can't help but suspect that may be what's helping right now.