I am the last source of existence and yet, I still see her in my mind, haunting me, loving me...

Chapter Eight: The Awakening

" Raven, are ok?" asked the worried Ami, " what happened to you?"

Raven glance at her, showing a disgusted look on his once, emotionless face.

" Such a strange creature," responded Raven calmly, " but to give an answer to your question, I am fine."

Ami is confused by Raven's words and looks at her sister, who in turn, looks back at the frightened Dawn, who tries to gain her composure. Raven looks around the room with a curious gaze as Dawn calls over Ami and Amy.

" Dawn, what's with him?" asked Ami, who notices Raven touching the walls.

" I don't know," replied Dawn quietly, " maybe you guys should go check on the manager and..."

" Why?" answered Amy.

" The manager is taking a long time and it'll give me a chance to apologize."

" Is that really the reason?"

Amy stares into Dawn's eyes as if she is looking for something. Suddenly, Ami grabs her sister's arm and pulls her out the room, nodding with a smile to Dawn.

" Hey, Ami," shouted Amy, " what are you..."

" We'll be right back," said Ami to Dawn, " and good luck."

Dawn waited for Ami and Amy to be further down the hall before closing the door, leaving her and Raven alone. Dawn slowly approaches Raven, when she hears him start laughing.

" What's so funny?"

" You creatures are..."

" Are your sisters behind this?"

" Sisters?"

Raven's laughter stops.

" THEY LIVE!" shouted the enraged Raven as the walls begun to shake and the floor begun to quake violently.

Dawn looks around the room, a feeling of dread fills her entire being as everything slowly decomposes. Strange markings begins to glow upon Raven's body, fading in and out as his right eye changes from the color red to blue.

" I KILLED THEM!" screamed Raven in a ominous voice, " I KILLED ALL OF THEM!"

' Not again, Raven,' thought Dawn sadly, 'please, not again.'

Amy and her sister are accompany the manager and a few of his workers back to the room, when they see lights flickering up ahead.

" Hey,boss," said the worker curiously, " what's with the lights?"

The worker walks up to one of the lights and as he touches it, the bulb bursts and the worker decomposes into dust, hitting the carpet floor below. Ami lets out a loud scream as one after another, the other workers and even the manager decompose into dust.

Dawn hears Ami's scream from outside and she turns toward the door and then back at Raven with two red eyes lock on his, tears slowly run down her face.

" I WON'T LET YOU, RAVEN!"

With a gesture of Dawn's hands, a shock wave is sent towards him, nailing him directly in the abdominal region, which sends him flying into the wall behind him. Dawn starts breathing heavily as she falls to her knees, crying.

' I'm so sorry...'

Dawn looks at the hole in the wall for any signs of life as she hears the door slowly open behind her. She glances at it, when a frighten Ami peeks her head inside.

" D-dawn," stuttered the scared Ami.

Dawn gets back on her feet and makes her way to the door. Ami runs to her as Amy makes her way in too. Dawn forces a grin, when she hears a familiar voice in her head.

' So, you're alive too, Totoshi?'

Dawn's eyes widen and her lips twitch to try to get out the words to warn her friends, but it's too late and both are frozen in place as if they are frozen in time.

" That was your favorite trick," said Dawn, who glance at the hole in the wall.

Suddenly, her entire body was viciously pulled by some unknown force towards the hole, where Raven was seen waiting with his right hand extended forward. Dawn flies right into his hand, which he tightens on contact. She begins gasping for air as he slowly lifts her upward.

" I thought I kill you," said Raven calmly.

" I can say the same to you," gasped Dawn.

" You, like the others," responded Raven, who brought Dawn closer, "were never capable of such a task."

Raven throws Dawn to the ground, who starts to cough over and over.

" You can't possibly be hurt from that, Totoshi?"

Dawn looks at Raven with a sadden expression as she gets up.

" I'm not the same as before, Raven."

Raven begins to sniff the air, showing a look of disgust as he looks at Dawn and then the Wong sisters.

" So, you're nothing but a filthy human now?"

" Not human," answered Dawn sadly, " I am a fallen now."

" A fallen?"

" Yeah," responded Dawn, " after you killed me, I attempted to reincarnate myself through what our race created."

' Then the Gods were created,' thought Raven to himself, 'even though I killed everyone.'

" I'm surprise you haven't kill me already,"

Raven looks at Ami and Dawn takes notices.

" What made you a fallen?" asked Raven curiously.

Dawn is taken aback by his question, but strangely smiles.

" To make a long story short," answered Dawn eagerly, "I disagreed with the creation of the humans."

Raven starts to laugh as Dawn does so as well. Dawn looks in Raven's eyes and slowly approaches him. Raven's laughter starts to fade as a look of caution appears on his face.

" You were always..."

Suddenly, Dawn hugs Raven and begins to cry. Raven glances at her as his eyes begin to water.

" A hypocrite," answered the crying Dawn, "I know."

" Why?"

" What do you mean?"

" You sided with everyone to killed me and yet, you showed nothing but kindness to me since we were little."

Raven pushes Dawn away, who lowers her head without a single word said.

" No words of love,"

Raven points towards Ami and then to Amy. Dawn glances at them as Raven appears next to them in a blink of a eye.

" Do you know what I am thinking, Totoshi?"

" Yeah," responded Dawn in a serious tone, " I won't let it happen."

Raven starts laughing arrogantly as he places his hand against Ami's left cheek.

" You weren't able to before," answered Raven as Ami started to decompose, " and your words won't reach me this time."

" NO! DON'T!" cried Dawn frantically.

Raven licks his lips as he removes his hand from Ami's cheek, which turn to dust with the rest of her body. Dawn cries out, falling to her knees as Raven continues laughing.

" How fragile these humans are, Totoshi," laughed Raven insanely, "I'm guessing you are as fragile too."

" SHE WAS OUR FRIEND!"

" Our friend?"

"Don't you remember anything that happened?"

" Of course he wouldn't..."

Both Dawn and Raven turn towards the door, gazing upon Eden and Rain, who look back at them with eerie smiles.

" The Raven that you knew and see before you are totally different," responded Rain happily.

" What do you mean by that?" asked Dawn angrily.

" ENOUGH!" shouted Raven as he made his way to his sisters.

" What's wrong, little brother?" asked Eden, who extended her arms to him, "aren't you..."

" SILENCE!"

Without warning, both of Eden's arms are ripped off, shocking both Rain and Dawn. Eden looks down at her arms as Rain rushed to her side.

" I'm glad you're here," said Raven calmly, " for it shall start with you."

Dawn runs in front of him with her arms held high, gazing into Raven's empty eyes with fear.

" Leave them be, Raven."

" You're fragments to me that need to be erase."

" DON'T KILL THEM!"

" SHUT YOUR MOUTH!"

Dawn is sent flying through the door when Rain sees an opening and appears behind him. She quickly places her hands against his head as Eden nods in approval.

Dawn grabs her head when she hears Raven cry out in pain. She gets up and heads back into the room where she finds Raven unconscious on the ground with Rain and Eden, who seem to have reattached her arms, standing over him. Dawn also notices Ami has returned and rushes to her.

" We thank you for delaying him," said Rain calmly, " we didn't expect this reaction from him."

" What did you do to him and what did you mean earlier?"

" We seal him away for now," responded Eden seriously, " we'll leave him to you."

" That answers one question and the other..."

Eden smiles and fades from sight as does Rain. Leaving Dawn and the Wong sisters alone with Raven, who starts to get up.

" Dawn, is Raven alright?" asked the worried Ami.

Dawn smiles and hugs her as Amy looks on in confusion. Dawn's eyes go back to normal as Raven stands up. Dawn glances at him as a scared look appears on his face. Amy approaches him, but he quickly backs away from her.

" Raven, it's us," said Amy softly, " your friends."

" My friends?" responded Raven cautiously, " what are friends?

Dawn, Ami, and Amy look at each other with worried looks on their faces as footsteps are heard outside the room.

" Should we have told her about next time?" asked Rain, who looked back toward the room.

" Are you that worried?"

" I mean, SHE won't be the one to awake him."

" That's what makes it interesting, dear sister."

Rain smiles and nods as her and Eden vanish from the hallway.

" The one who will awaken him will also awaken his heart."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

" You did great for your first day, Rei."

" Thanks, Mr. Ogata," responded Rei happily, "I'll see you tomorrow."

Rei grabbed her backpack and was heading out the door as Mr. Ogata swept the floor.

" By the way, Rei," asked Mr. Ogata curiously, " who was that guy you personally took care of?"

Rei starts blushing and quickly runs out the door.