Note: I'd like to thank everyone for all the nice reviews. I appreciated them. Here's Raven's turn. Truth be told, Raven is my favorite character. The first episode I ever saw of Teen Titans was Birthmark and I automatically identified with Raven. Once again, I incorporated some comic book history, but I've never read the comics, and obviously made some changes. Raven's history in the cartoon is one of the most expanded upon, so, I'm not horribly worried. Beast Boy is next.
Angela needed
a place to sleep. She was so cold, so hungry, and so lonely. But she
couldn't go back. She was tired of the beatings. Had they even
noticed she was gone? Probably not. She saw a church. It was a place
she knew was safe, even if it did remind her of her parents.
She
knocked on the vast doors.
An old man opened them immediately.
"Welcome," he said solemnly. "Are you looking for a place to
stay?"
She blushed and nodded.
"Come in and find a
room…"
Slowly, Angela followed him; with no idea her life was
about to change forever.
Raven
(Roth?)
Female
Eyes: Violet
Hair: Violet
Skin
tone: Pale grey
Weighs: eight pounds, nine ounces
Born: August
12
Parents: Angela Roth (aka Arella and Trigon the
Terrible
Abilities: Empathic and telekinetic powers
Threat:
Major
Possibities of destruction: Limitless
Azarath.
She was inside everyone and everything. All hearts, animal, human alike, pumping blood to veins, creating life…she could feel it flow…in the warm darkness, she was lost.
Metrion.
All the feelings, under her control…she was everywhere…yet nowhere. Blood equals life. The flow can be stopped so easily…and goodbye. Stilled blood, another person gone…every second she felt someone die…she could hear their tears from far away.
Zinthos.
Some people felt insignificant. She had never had that pleasure…to think what she did didn't affect anything. She was half demon. Even with her father murdered at her own hand, what she did mattered. She had to watch every move. She could feel the world rippling…blood spilling…life. Death. Whatever was in between. She had seen a lot of blood in her time…a lot of hate…a lot of love, too. Horror at spilled blood…laughter…indifference. She tried to be indifferent. She tried.
Everything was blood.
"Raven?"
Back to earth, demon girl…
"What."
"It's Beast Boy."
"I know."
"Oh. Well, you weren't looking at me."
"I don't have to. What's the problem?"
"Um, the problem is, you've been in here all day. And you haven't stayed in here all day in like, forever.
"Really?" Raven spun around in midair, her legs still crossed in meditation. The clock read four. "I have been in here a while. Just got lost in meditation. What do you want?"
"Ummmm…nothing…there's just no one to hang out with."
"Where's Robin?"
"Obsessing over villains."
"Starfire?"
"At the mall with Silkie."
"Cyborg?"
"Working on his car. He won't let me near it."
"Smart boy. Beast Boy, do you always have to be around people?"
"Well, yeah." Beast Boy walked around her room, sidestepping her magic mirror nervously. He walked over to her bookshelf. "Wow. Books. You could start your own library."
His eyes wandered over to a small box. "What's this?" He picked it up and opened it, revealing a shining red necklace. "Whoa."
"Beast Boy!" Raven got up quickly and was over there in a second. "That's MINE!" She grabbed it from him.
"Sorry."
"Don't go pawing around my stuff! You'd think you'd learn your lesson…"
"Yeah, I know. What does it do?"
"Nothing."
"Really? No magic stuff?"
"Nope," she recapped the box.
"Then why is it in a box?"
Raven hesitated for a second. "It was my mothers."
"Oh."
"He will
need a portal to get here…I do not know how to create one."
"Never
mind. We will build the army on earth, and perhaps that will be
sufficient."
The voices sounded quietly from behind a cold
office door in the Church of Blood.
"We must do Trigon's
bidding. He needs a portal," the old man who had let Angela in was
talking to another, but within a second, he had transformed him into
a demon. "I grow tired of taking on this human form."
"As
do I," said the second man. "Contact Trigon. Ask him for
instructions. Be sure to tell him that we have five new
recruits."
The other man left. The demon transformed back into
an old man, and bought out a strange metal plate. He sifted some
powder into it and began muttering a spell. Suddenly, there was a
loud moaning. He tried to ignore it. But it continued, getting louder
and louder.
The demon-man swore. "I hate being the nice old
priest."
He left the room, forgetting to lock the door…
"Raven?"
She was staring at the box. She looked up at Beast Boy.
"So, do you wanna hang out?"
Raven continued to stare at him.
"I'm sorry I touched your stuff. Would you hang out with me if we went to the library?"
Actually, she did need some new books.
"All right, fine."
"Woo HOO!" He cheered and bounced out the door.
Raven carefully put the box down and followed him, making sure to roll her eyes.
Angela heard
the moaning too. She opened her door and crept out quietly. She saw
the office door was open and the light was on. She knocked carefully
on the door.
"Sir? Did you know that-"?
The door
opened more under the pressure of her knock and she gasped at what
she saw.
Projected, as if holographically, from a strange metal
plate, was the face of the most beautiful man she had ever seen. He
had black hair, and gold flecked eyes.
"Angela…" the
man called. "Angela…"
Angela came forward, as if under a
trance.
"Angela…place your hands on this plate."
She
did…
"Say these words…"
He was so
beautiful…
"Azarath…"
"Azarath…"
"Metrion…"
"Metrion…"
"Zinthos…"
"Zinthos…"
In
a flash, she was gone…a rushing sensation…white light…and she
was next to the beautiful man on a red cloud…
"Where
are we?" She breathed.
"In a prison…but thanks to
you, my dear, it will not be a prison for long…"
The
gold-flecked eyes turned red. "Foolish woman! When I plant my seed
in you, I shall have my portal…"
"What…what are
you doing…wait…stop…NO!"
Raven reentered her room after dinner. She would have to remember never to go with Beast Boy to the library again. What had she been THINKING? Libraries were quiet and Beast Boy was…not. If they hadn't been superheroes, the librarians would have kicked them out.
She sat down on the bed, allowing herself a smile. She had gotten some good books. As she placed them on her desk, she noticed the box still sitting on her shelf. After a moment's hesitation, she got up and got it. Back on her bed, she carefully picked up the red jewel, seeing her reflection shining in it. She hadn't looked at this thing since she'd put it away…more than a year ago.
"Mother…" she murmured softly, biting her lip.
Her mother was dead. She couldn't ever be sure, but she had guessed as much. The message her mother had left her at Azarath told her all she needed to know…Azarath was gone. And so was Arella. She remembered the feeling of shocked grief, like being stabbed in the stomach…anger…but not as bad as it should have been. Her relationship with her mother had been…distant to say the best. She cared much more for her friends. Besides, as a master of emotion, grief was something she had to accept…control…not be lost to. She could remember being angry at her mother…for dying…for not being able to help…for leaving that message…and believing her. Believing that she had started with Trigon and she would end with Trigon. Anger at him. At Slade. The desires to draw blood…the desire to protect her friends.
The anger was gone now. Her mother had been wrong. The world had not ended forever. She had defeated her father…she had destroyed him. She had saved her friends. She had not been able to save Arella.
Sorry.
I wish I could turn back time…help you…now that I know I could have all along…If only you had contacted me…
I couldn't save you.
But you were wrong.
It was not hopeless. Something could be done.
You were wrong. I killed him. I saved my friends.
You were wrong.
So. There.
You said it was a circle…that is started with him, it would end with him. But in reality, it started with me, it ended with me. You were lost. So was I. But I found myself…when you looked at me, I know what you saw. I know. Yet, you loved me. You really did. You just couldn't. Get. Past. Him.
Her whole life had been about her father…a slow building up to her sixteenth birthday. The fear, the hatred, the pain…all because of him. But she had killed him. And now they were both gone. Her whole life…had been them. Gone. No more haunting prophetic dreams, no more looking into her mother's sad eyes…just her and her friends…and her courage. Who would have thought?
The jewel was as red as her father's skin…it gleamed like his eyes.
She remembered the first time she met him…
Five-year-old Raven woke up with a start. She rubbed her head sleepily, looking around. All was quiet in Azarath. What had woken her?
She climbed softly out of her starched white bed, but stumbled on the end of her robes. She grimaced. She hated those robes. When she was old enough, she was going to make something more comfortable to wear, like a leotard.
She could hear a whispering…a faint, faint whispering in the distance.
"Raven…"
She padded out the door and into the village. She rarely got to go outside, and was seizing the opportunity to do so.
"Hello?" She whispered.
"Ah…daughter…"
"Mother? Is that you?" Raven called, confused.
"Your mother is gone. Everyone is gone. Just like they will be when you destroy the world."
Raven's stomach contracted. She had known even then she was destined to end the world, though at that age she hadn't been able to fully grasp the concept, she knew destroying the world was very, very, bad, and something she didn't want to do.
"No…they can't be. Who…who are you?"
Like Christmas lights, four blazing red eyes appeared in the sky. Raven gasped and stepped back.
"I am your father, Trigon the Terrible…"
"No…" Raven knew her father was imprisoned, and that he was supposed to be the one to make her end the world.
"I finally see what you look like. You remind me of your mother…weak…female…another pawn. You will bow down to me…"
"I'm not weak," Raven said. "Stop it…"
"You will come to me, little girl…"
Red lightning shot out toward Raven. She screamed and jumped out of the way. She thrust out her hands and a bolt of black power broke through the lightening. Gasping, the child stared at her hands. She had already begun training with Azar, Azarath's spiritual leader, but she had never been able to so something like that before.
"So you have power of your own…this only makes you a stronger vessel…you will SERVE ME!"
The two lightning bolts struck again, wrapping around her arms like rope.
"Stop!" Raven cried in terror as the red streams on light slowly dragged her towards her father's narrowed eyes. "Stop!" Her body blazed with black fire as she struggled. "STOOOOP!"
Raven woke up screaming, her bed bucking like crazy, crackling with the same black power she had used before…the walls were cracking around her and so was the ceiling, her power spreading like a virus around the room. Her nursemaid, Gayla and Azar rushed in. "Raven, it's all right!"
"I-I-I…saw…him…" Raven croaked, her lips rippling under the room's pressure.
Gayla gasped, but Azar assured her, "It was only a vision! I felt him contact you, but he's still in our prison!"
Slowly, Raven's power retracted back into her body, and she sat, still and shaking. She could feel him leaving her head. As he left, his horrible gravelly voice a whisper once more, she heard him say something she had only heard once, the prophecy that foretold her destiny, a person on the streets of Azarath had whispered it as she was passing by.
"The gem was born in evil's fire
The gem will be his portal
He comes to claim, He comes to sire…
The end of all things mortal."
From that point on, the dreams had happened yearly…they were different, some more terrifying than others, some showing her what she would become, some simply Trigon talking to her…but they all carried the same message…the prophecy would happen. She would serve him.
Everyone around her seemed to agree…even her mother, even Azar. They told her the prophecy was absolute, that there was nothing she could do about it. They loved her anyway…but as an empath, she could always feel their fear. Pulsing, growing, swelling…and she hated it. She did not want to end the world. She wanted a choice. She wanted to be free. But she was never free. She always felt the chains of the prophecy, growing heavier and heavier…
One day, when she was nine, in a training session with Azar, she broke down.
"Control your emotions, Raven. Focus your anger…do not let is control you…calm…not hysterical…good…good…. block…block…now throw…good! Excellent work, Raven. I think we've done enough combat work for today. But…perhaps another exercise."
"What?" Raven asked, wiping sweat off her brow as her eyes stopped glowing and power disappeared from her fingers. She had been practicing shielding and lifting heavy objects for combat uses all day with Azar.
The white haired mystic smiled down at Raven and suddenly, morphed into her father. Towering over her, the white haired, red skinned demon looked terrifying.
"What the-?" Raven cried.
"Control your emotions, Raven…" Azar's voice floated out from nowhere.
With a wave of her hand, everything around her was a wasteland…bodies littered the ground…
"Azar…stop it…"
Shaking, she looked down at the ground and saw Azar's body. She screamed, covering her eyes. As she stepped back, she tripped. Flat on the damp ground she looked around and saw her mothers body.
"NO!"
"This is how it will end!"
"SHUT…UP!" Raven screamed, she pounded on the ground. Black cracks snaked up the sky and the illusion shattered, leaving Raven alone with Azar, tears streaming silently down her face.
"Raven!" Azar rushed forward, stopping just short of touching her. The shock in the old woman's eyes was obvious; she had never seen Raven cry before.
"I…don't…want…to…do it… I…don't want …to…" Raven gasped, tears falling fast on her cloak.
"I know…"Azar muttered. "I'm sorry. You weren't ready for that. I shouldn't have shown it to you. I just thought…after all those dreams…you'd be used to it…"
Raven shook her head.
"Are…are you sure the prophecy is absolute?"
Azar nodded sadly. "I'm afraid so."
"Why, Azar? Why is he doing this?"
Azar knew Raven was referring to her father.
"Trigon is the result of all the expunged evils of Azarath. It is…in his nature."
"So, that naturally means I'm evil," Raven said it as a statement, not a question, but Azar shook her head.
"No, it just means you are trapped."
Carefully, Azar put her arm around her pupil, and let the girl cry, for once.
A few days after that encounter, Raven's mother came for one of her weekly visits. Arella lived in a different house than Raven, working in the temple, while Azar raised Raven, teaching her empathy and how to control her powers. Despite pacifistic beliefs, some of the guards of Azarath knew some hand to hand combat, and reluctantly taught Raven those skills as well, knowing she needed to know how to defend herself in all ways possible. So her mother only visited her on Wednesdays, usually for the afternoon. Azar would usually make Raven demonstrate what she had learned.
"Try to get through Raven's shield, Arella," Azar said with a touch of pride. "Go on, you can even use that lamp."
Arella tapped against the shield with the lamp, then gave it a harder nudge. "Wow…how…nice."
"Give it a good swing," Azar urged.
"It won't hurt me," Raven said. "Really."
Reluctantly her mother swung the lamp with all her strength at Raven, but the object bounced right off the shield.
"Wow, strong!" Arella smiled at her daughter, putting the lamp down.
"Azar, one of the citizens is having a vision," an Azarath clergyman called, poking his head in a doorway.
"Excuse me," Azar said diplomatically.
After Azar left, there was an awkward silence in the room. Raven got up and peered out her window, into the whiteness.
"Azar tells me…you haven't been feeling your best lately."
"I'm fine. My emotions are under control," Raven said in her best "blank" voice.
There was a short silence.
"I'm…sorry, Raven," her mother sighed.
Raven was surprised. "For what?"
"I was such a fool…I let this happen. And I gave birth to you, into the worst situation possible. It's all my fault."
"For giving birth to me?" Raven didn't know whether to feel angry about this.
"For giving you this life. I wish I could stop it somehow…"
Arella stared into Raven's eyes. She was a beautiful woman, with blue eyes...hair so black it was almost purple…but she looked so sad. Raven could feel her emotions…a deep despair…the usual fear.
"Sit next to me," Arella said.
Raven sat next to her mother on her bed.
"You know I love you, no matter what?" Her mother asked.
Raven nodded.
"I want you to have this," Arella held out the red necklace. "It's mine. I was wearing it when you were born."
Raven took it, unsure of how to feel about that. "Thank you."
"You were beautiful. Despite the ugliness that brought you here, you were always beautiful," Arella said. "And you always will be."
Raven assumed this was the part where they were supposed to hug, and steeled herself for it. But the hug never came. Arella got up, and left.
Raven looked down at the necklace. It reflected her now, as it did then…beautiful? Her mother was the only one who'd ever called her that. Besides Malchior that is. She glared at the trunk that confined the book. He was thumping against the wood as he always did this time of day. She kicked it. "I don't know how the Brotherhood of Evil got you out of this thing, but believe me, you're back in for good this time. So shut up."
She turned back to her examination of the jewel. Had her mother lied to her, just like Malchior? The answer was probably yes, especially considering what she had heard her say on Raven's last night on Azarath…
Azar was dead. She had died of old age, though Raven knew the rumor around Azarath was that she had done it. It was because Azar had died in a combat session with her. It had been just like normal, Azar teaching her magic, and when Raven was practicing her whip move, Azar had suddenly started clutching her heart and choking. Within seconds she was dead…Raven wondered if she had been the cause. After all, she remembered feeling strange that day.
So grief draped over Raven like a heavy raincoat when she got back from Azar's funeral. Not to mention, two weeks from now was her fifteenth birthday. That meant, in a year, it would begin. The thought chilled Raven to the bone.
As Raven glided into the spacious building, she saw something glint on the table. She took a closer look. It was a knife. Raven was surprised. She had never seen a weapon in Azarath before. She wondered where it had come from. She picked it up and saw her pale countenance staring back at her in the shiny point.
And a thought occurred to her. A horrible thought. It was so not…her. But she did not let go of the knife…she slowly backed away, her heart pounding. She backed all the way into her room. She sat on her bed, starch white, like the rest of the room. She always felt like a mental patient in here. And the thought she was mulling over did not help.
I don't want to do it.
So you're going to sacrifice the whole world for you own selfish desires?
I am not weak. I am not some sad little girl who's so cowardly she's going to take her own life, because she can't deal-
This isn't about you! It's about everyone. Everyone you love. You are the portal. So what if the prophecy is absolute? If you're dead, none of it will happen.
There has to be another way!
There isn't. You're going to die as the portal anyway. This is the only way to stop him.
But-
This is not about you! This is about the WORLD! You could save them. Save them all. All it would take is one stab.
It wasn't like she hadn't considered it before, as a solution. It had been a quick fleeting thought; she had made herself forget as soon as it appeared. She had just never had a weapon, a way. For all her darkness, she was not…like that. Life was a cycle, like everything else, a test. To disrupt that cycle before it could be over was foolish. Unless…unless…you could save everyone else by doing it.
In your case, this IS the only solution.
She did not want to do it. But she had to. She pointed the blade toward herself, bracing for the pain.
You have to do it…
She closed her eyes.
You have to…
Brought the blade closer…
You…
Suddenly, her eyes snapped open, as if someone had forced them. In the reflection of the blade, she saw four red eyes.
You stupid insignificant child! You WILL NOT DEFY ME! His voice pounded in her head like thunder. She screamed and the knife spun around in her hands so it was pointing away from her.
Her mother came sprinting into the room. "Raven!"
Suddenly her head filled with a red steam and an unquenchable anger rose…a desire to hurt…kill…a satisfaction at the thought of seeing her mothers blood…spilling like a waterfall…waves upon waves…everyone dying…such a sweet, sweet picture…the feeling flooded her veins. She was intoxicated by evil.
Through the red film, she saw her mother. She saw the knife.
"Hello, Angela."
Her power snaked up and consumed the knife and it was rushing point first towards Arella. Her mother screamed and ran. The knife struck the wall hard where she had been, then dislodged itself, and kept going after her like a crazed bird. It stabbed the walls multiple times as her mother ran and dodged, screaming like a banshee. Raven could feel her father inside her, writhing like an insect. She felt frustration at her mother's evasive maneuvers. kill kill KILL!
Finally, through her anger she thought to make a black hand snake out and catch her mother. The knife's quivering point was poised at her mother's throat.
Just as she was about to stab her mother let out one last terrified scream.
"RaaaaVEEEEEEEN!"
Raven…
Raven.
RAVEN.
It broke through everything and she realized she had been struggling against the power all along. She tried desperately to wrench herself free for the red film. And with a groan, a horrible groan, she screamed "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" and wrenching her hands together made the knife crumple into a ball.
Her mother fell to the floor but the evil was still inside her, like poison.
"Mo…ther…" she gasped, her eyes flashing red…like traffic lights…like blood…
Her mother was crying and shaking.
The clergy of Azarath was there. The bed was flying around out of control, smashing around, shards of the knife quivering in midair.
They all attempted to hold her down as she thrashed around.
"NooooooooOOOOO! You fools! You will not resist. You can not confine Trigon the TERRIBLE!" His voice came out of her mouth rattling, shaking…
"Raven! Snap out of it! This is not you!
"Kill me," She pleaded. "Kill me…"
They must have granted her wish, because what she saw next was darkness.
When Raven woke up, she was strapped to the bed like a mental patient. Her head pounded horribly, but she still thought that it was really stupid; after all, she could just undo the straps with her powers.
She did this, and got up shakily. She felt the icy horror of what she had done in her veins. She heard voices in the next room.
Her mother. And their magistrate, Coman.
She leaned toward the door.
"I'm…so scared…" her mother sobbed. "So…"
"Shhh…I know…"
"What she did…he…it's all true…it's so hard to believe…she tried to kill me…"
"She wasn't herself…"
"It's…s-so hard to love her sometimes…"
Raven felt a sensation familiar to being punched in the stomach.
"You don't mean that…"
"Y-Yes…every t-time I look at her, Coman…I see him."
Raven stepped back slowly from the door.
"H-he's inside her…Sh-she's really going to do it…destroy the world…sh-she might kill…kill us all. All…of us…in Azarath…I can't help it, Coman! I'm afraid she's just like him!"
Raven had heard enough. Must control your emotions. Must not cry. She took a deep breath. She let it out.
Her mother was right.
Her note was short.
I'm sorry, mother.
I love you,
Raven.
That night, she left Azarath forever
But you were wrong.
I am not him.
I am me.
Raven.
You were wrong.
But I'm still sorry.
Her friends were all she had now.
They are my family.
This is my home.
The past still clung to her, like the remnants of a spider web.
She still looked like her mother.
She still had the heritage of her father.
And the necklace still gleamed.
Raven didn't know how long she sat on her bed, staring at the necklace.
Suddenly, the jewel cracked.
"What the-?" Raven exclaimed…then just as sudden, two fiery hands reached up and pulled Raven away.
Raven was falling. Falling. Through white.
BAM! She hit the floor with a thunderous crash. White restraints, streams of light similar to the ones Mad Mod had imprisoned her with that one time, snaked up around her hands and ankles.
She looked around. Where was she? Destroyed, burnt buildings on a white expanse…she gave a sharp gasp. She was in the ruins of Azarath.
An old man stepped over her. She struggled against the restraints.
"I don't know who you are, and why you bought me here, but you had better RELEASE ME!" she growled.
Another man stepped forward. "I knew she would be feisty."
Feisty. Why did people always say that when she screamed at them to let her go? She'd show them feisty…
"Who are you?" she cried. "How did you get in the tower?
"No defenses for magic, my dear," the taller man said.
"Are you sure this is the right one?"
"Well, unless we got the wrong gray skinned female who resides in Titans Tower, yes. Are you the daughter of Trigon the Terrible?"
"What does it matter to you?" Raven snapped.
"Oh, it matters," the man leaned forward, and touched her skin with his pointer finger. The mark of Skath suddenly popped up all over her, glowing as menacingly as ever. She gasped as he took his finger away and the markings faded.
"She is the one."
"How did you do that? Who are you?" she asked again.
The two men smiled and morphed into demons. These demons were pitch black, like a black hole with yellow eyes.
"Disciples of Trigon," one hissed.
"And we plan to use you to resurrect him."
"WHAT?"
"You may have killed our master, but we can use you to bring him back. We have been awaiting this chance ever since his defeat."
"I will not do what you want."
"You don't have a choice."
"And how many times have I heard that one?" Raven snapped.
"Face it. You are restrained. It will be hours before your friends realize you are gone. There is nothing you can do."
Raven stared angrily at the demons.
"Did I mention this spell requires your death?" the first demon said, taking out a long knife.
Raven's eyes widened as the evil being knelt down, ready to stab her in the heart. Realizing her bonds left room for movement, she crashed her skull directly into his forehead, sending him reeling and screaming back.
"You don't know much about Azarath, do you?" Raven said dryly, and leaning as far over as she possibly could, and pounded her fist on an oddly shaped groove in the ground three times.
"Defenses," Raven said, "are required when you are the prison guards of gods."
A force field swelled around the two immediately and Raven's restraints were broken.
"That's an added bonus," Raven said getting up and rubbing her wrists. Her head was definitely throbbing.
The demons blasted themselves out of the forcefeild and a fight ensued. Raven used her advantage of having broken rubble around to fling at them and shielded herself from their attacks. One demon managed to grab her by the wrist and she felt something dig into her skin, cut her…she cried out in pain and with a mighty "Azarath Metrion ZINTHOS!" blasted them both back against the wall. Now they were bound in her powers, as they had bound her.
"Looks like that little plan didn't go to well," Raven said standing over them, breathing heavily.
"Actually," one of the demons said, and he morphed back into a tall old man. "It went perfectly."
Raven woke up with a start, letting out a strangled half scream half gasp.
It took her a second to realize where she was. In her room…. on her bed.
It was just a dream.
She saw shards of cracked jewel scattered all over her bed. Her mother's necklace.
You must have cracked it somehow…when you fell asleep.
She felt an odd sense of grief as she gathered up the necklace. It was broken. Smashed. Fractured. Just like it's wearer.
She was shaking. She couldn't put it back together.
Even though she had defeated him, Trigon still haunted her dreams. He haunted her life. She just couldn't forget…the darkness would not leave.
She was pathetic.
He was still her biggest nightmare. She was still her biggest failure.
And herself? She was the product of rape.
She was the spawn of a demon and a beaten woman.
Her very powers were that of darkness.
And she could never escape that.
Never.
"Why can't you both just die?" She asked aloud. "Why can't you leave me alone? Why can't you just DIE?"
No answer.
She shoved the necklace in a drawer. Red. Like blood. It was only blood.
It was just a dream.
She was going to see what the others were doing.
It was just a dream.
It would be a while before she noticed that the mark of Skath had been sloppily gouged into her wrist.
End note: Okay. Just need to say a few things. Before anyone asks, there will not be any continuation on the ending (the whole cliffhanger thing with the demons and Trigon's resurrection) in this story. I might write another story involving that plot. I might not. It's more of a metaphor, and a cool ending to Raven's bit, than anything else. The "Azarath Metrion Zinthos" thing with Trigon surprised you didn't it? I just thought it would be some cool irony. It shows Raven's relation to Trigon. That spell, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos" I figure, is a spell that calls on the power of Azarath, so naturally Trigon would use it to summon Arella to his prison-where he is bound by the power of Azarath. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it.
