Raven's Eyes
Raining Dreams
A/N: Well. I'm actually writing a second chapter. Go me. It took a while, but I /did/ write a second chapter. School took over my life, all that. Yay for college classes In reality, this has been done for oh, a month now. I just forgot I had it written. By the way. I live off of reviews, you see. I'm some weird little review vampire, and reviews make me write. So review.
Disclaimer: Okay, so my world domination plans for this week were foiled due to a lack of avacados and cacti. I still don't own Teen Titans. But I will! Eventually!
Chapter Two:
Age Ten
Calm. Cool. Tranquil. No emotions to blind oneself. No emotions to make the bad things happen. No emotions. No emotions at all. Just silence and stillness... "Azarath, metrion, zinthos... Azarath, metrion, zinthos..." whispered the ten-year-old form of Raven. Her violet hair cascaded down her back, long and loose. Her skin, from lack of sun, had began to turn a pale grey, and the gem implanted in her forehead five years ago was now as much a part of her as her fingers and toes.
"Trigon, no! She isn't ready yet!"
"You are letting feelings blind you, Arella. She is my heir, not your child. She was born to bring the apocolypse, not to be raised as some human's daughter. She is ready and you know it."
She was levitating a few inches off the ground, doing her daily meditation to keep her powers in check. "Azarath, metrion, zinthos..." she said, her eyes slowly opening to let the cold, twisted, dark world of Azarath in. She was breifly filled with child-like wonder. It never ceased to amaze her that, after meditating for a long time, she forgot what the world looked like and it was all new when she finally pulled herself out of the small trance. She watched a small flock of demonic birds fly past her, getting to her feet and starting down the path to an oh too familiar place: Her father, Trigon's, palace.
"She can't control herself yet, Trigon! Give me another year or two, and she'll be ready then!"
"I am not a fool, Arella, and I grow impatient."
Technically, as his heir, it was sort of Raven's palace too, but she never thought of it that way. She and her mother lived in a small house away from the massive building of red stone. She had started to see Trigon more and more frequently, but she still couldn't quite see him as a parental figure. That would always rest with Arella, although her mother too sometimes seemed reluctant to rear the girl.
"I know you're not! Just... a week! Give me one week to prepare her for her destiny! She's only a little girl, Trigon! You can't just send her out there without giving her some warning!"
Raven hummed a nameless tune her mother often sang to calm her when her emotions flared. She didn't know any words that went with the tune, nor where her mother had heard it. She simply knew it was lovely and she liked it. The palace came into sight and she sighed. Why had she agreed last month to come today? She didn't even want to see him. She didn't really ever want to see him. He was so very... irritating? Raven never could quite find the word to describe why she loathed her father so. All she knew was that she despised her visits with him with ever fiber of her small being. The doors slid begrudgingly open for the girl and she entered, her feet making small tats as she walked down the long hallway to her father's throne room.
"Very well, Arella. One week." she heard his voice growl. It made the hair on the back of Raven's neck stand on end. Raven stopped as her mother started quickly out. Arella grabbed Raven's wrist dragging her along. Raven opened her mouth breifly to inquire what was going on, but decided against it almost instantly. Her mother knew what she was doing when it involved dealing with her father. She stumbled a bit in trying to match her mother's pace, and was nearly out of breath with the effort by the time they got home. Her mother paced breifly, sighing and looking distressed. Raven sat on her bed, watching.
"Mommy, what's going on? Why are you so upset?" the child asked, following Arella with her eyes.
"Nothing, Raven, nothing at all. Listen, you need to sleep now."
"Sleep?" Raven inquired, looking around. "Mommy, it's the middle of the day. Why do I need to sleep now?" Days were measured in Azarath by the movements of an eclipse-like sun. Arella closed her eyes, hand one her forehead.
"Raven. Don't argue. Go to sleep now. I'll awaken you when you are ready." Raven stared for several moments, before nodding weakly.
"Yes, Mommy." she said quietly, retreating to her bedroom and shutting the door. It was night before Raven was awoken.
The girl yawned, sitting up. "Is it morning...?" Her mother shook her head no and made a shushing noise. Arella was clad in a black cloak with the hood up, her broach (red with a sillouette of a flame on it) securing the neck.
"Be quiet." Arella said very quietly. "Put this on." She held out a dark navy cloak, like her own, with Raven's broach. Red, with, what else, a raven on it. Raven stared, before nodding quietly, pulling the fabric over herself, tucking her long violet locks into her collar before pulling the hood over her head.
"What's going on?"
"I'll tell you later. Be very quet and follow me. We're leaving."
"Leaving?"
"Don't ask questions, Raven. Shush." Arella rose and motioned for Raven to follow. They exited their small home and began walking down the seemingly endless stone walkways of Azarath. After a long, long time, the shadows of arches became visible. "We're almost there, darling. Hold on just a bit longer." Raven nodded quietly, following her mother like an obediant puppy. It was always best to obey her mother's orders; she often knew what she was doing. The two had nearly reached the first arch when the ground rumbled. There was an angry howl and Trigon slammed onto the path, blocking their way.
"Arella!" he boomed. "How dare you try to take my heir! How dare you take me for a fool." Arella placed a hand in front of a very frightened Raven.
"I couldn't leave her to you, Trigon. She's your heir, but she's my daughter. And I'm not going to let you hurt her!"
"Then perhaps I should just kill you?" Trigon said, an unnerving calmness and eveness in his voice. There was a moment of silence before, with a massive red hand, the demon swatted Arella into the surrounding abyss. Raven watched in horror as her mother disappeared into the blackness with a horrible scream. It was just like that. Not massive fight. Her mother had just been killed with a single swat of her father's massive hand. The scream stopped abruptly, and tears welled into the ten-year-old's eyes.
"M...mommy...?" she uttered, eyes wide. "Mommy?" she called again, more loudly this time, eyes fixated on the abyss. Raven fell to her knees. "MOMMY!" she screamed, tears streaming down her cheeks. She continued to scream this word until she was silenced by another noise. A low noise. A laugh. Trigun chuckled.
"Calling to the dead does not bring them back, daughter." he chided. Raven's head whipped around, and a new emotion filled her. One she hadn't really ever felt before. Hatrid.
"You." she hissed, getting to her feet. "You killed my mommy." The child began to advance upon him. "You killed my mommy." she repeated. "You need to die now too." she said, matching his even voice from before. The world shuddered a second time and Raven's eyes began to glow with a black light, if that was even what it could be called. Her mouth thinned in rage and one of the sparse trees that lined the walkway uprooted as if it were a toothpick. With incredible speed and force, it went ramming into the demon. He didn't move. Rather, he continued to laugh.
Raven's attention turned to what was behind him. That arch. It had been what her mother was leading her to. "Get out of my way." she snapped.
"Out of your way? I think not." he boomed. Before Trigon had time to react, Raven had extended a hand and was now levitating him in the air.
"I said get out of my way." she said, her voice growing louder and more fierce with every word. With a forceful gesture, she sent him hovering over the abyss and she quietly walked towards the arch. She stopped just before it, looking to him as her emotions began to slowly die down.
"I will never be your heir." she said coldly, before the barrier she'd had around him faded, leaving him to fall and die. Of course, demons don't die that easily. But Raven wouldn't know that for some time. She stepped quietly through the arch, leaving Azarath and walking straight into a brand new life.