RavenOfNight: No apology needed, in fact I should be apologizing. Comcast took down my internet so I have been unable to post...
yumemiruhana: Lol, well thank you for all your reviews. I am glad you like this story- i try!
Dark Shadows: No, I didn't forget you! After I posted my internet went out- I had no way to email you... but I did it this time!
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Dawn came, a cold, gray sky greeted their waking eyes.
"You used a spell!" The first words out of Raven's mouth was an accusation.
"You were weary I merely helped you to sleep." Celeste's soft voice replied.
"How long have we been out?" Robin demanded.
"Only a few hours." She answered.
"He will have found us by now, damn you!" Raven whispered hotly, as a rock blew up behind her.
Celeste stood up from the fallen rubble she had been laying on. "Trigon cannot find you as long as I am here."
"How do you know that? How can you be sure? He is an interdenominational demon thingy!" Beast Boy yelled.
"Trigon is an inter-dimensional demon, yes; one of the strongest. But I know him; He will not find you as long as I am with you." Her smooth voice carried a sense of calm and mystery.
"And how exactly do you know him? I mean, you can't really have a conversation over a cup of tea with a demon." Cyborg pointed out.
"How I know him is irrelevant, besides your friend is half-demon. Would you say that you cannot talk to her over a cup of tea?"
She is tactful, I will give her that. She is too good at manipulating people though! Robin thought in wary silence.
"Raven is Raven! Besides, I can't talk to her half the time!" BB exclaimed as the person in question glared at him.
"Why not?" The words seemed rushed for her usual rhythm.
"Well..." The changeling sensed that he was touching a tender subject.
"I am different from them, strange. I keep my emotions in place, let logic guide me; Not an easy person to talk to." Raven admitted and Beast Boy blushed as he looked down.
Celeste remained silent after that, her hidden violet eyes probing the teen in front of her.
What has he done to you my little raven?
"We don't have anymore time to talk. For some reason Trigon wasn't able to kill Raven..." Robin's eyes never left the dark cloak of her rescuer. "And I am not wasting that chance. We have to fight him."
"But-" Starfire began. Robin had already begun to stride off into the gray gloom.
"Robin, wait." Raven's rational voice halted him as the other's ran up. "You can't fight Trigon, he is too powerful. We need a plan."
"Well then what do you propose?" Robin snapped.
"Arguing isn't going to get us anywhere." She replied.
"Neither is cold logic!" Boy Wonder yelled. "Look at these people! They are dead, frozen and all because of us! We have a duty to protect them, no matter what!"
"Hey, man calm down." Cyborg interrupted. " If we don't have a plan we are going to get killed out there, and that isn't going to help anybody."
"You know how to kill him, don't you?" Robin wheeled suddenly behind to look at Celeste.
Inside the swishing cloak a battle raged between heart and mind. Her mind told her to say yes, years of planning could not go to waste. Trigon had to be defeated. Yet her heart told her to lie. These people were her daughter's friends; twice the family she had ever been...
"You cannot defeat him." Guilt won.
"But you can?" Raven read-between-the-lines.
She looked away, even though they could not see her. "Perhaps, but now is not the time."
"Then when?" Beast Boy demanded. "You see these people. You may not care about them, but we do. We have to save them!"
Celeste pulled up the cloak just to reveal a pale arm. "Do you see that." Her voice calm as she showed him a long, pink scar along her arm. "I have that because I care about these people, and Azerath, and all the worlds." The dark eyes met green ones for a short moment.
"Accuse me of treason, of cruelty, of sadism and ignorance... but never selfishness. I have given to much and come to far." Those words would haunt him on nights to come.
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A/N- Short one to get ready for a really long one. Hope you enjoy!