Well folks, I'm not even bother saying I'm sorry for updating this so infrequently. However, I am going to tell you that I'm almost done this! There will be two, maybe three chapters after this, and that's it! I know now exactly where I'm going with this, as you may be able to guess. Thank you all for staying with me for this long, and I hope you enjoy!

Also, I listened to Allegri's Miserere mei, Deus while writing this, which made it all the more epic and heartbreaking, for me at least.

Chapter Nine: A Helping Hand

Raven awoke slowly, her eyelids leaden and her mind in a blur. She felt so weak, barely able to move or even make a sound. However, when she opened her eyes and saw the concerned faces of her friends once more looking down at her, and the previous events came rushing back to her, she found the strength to react.

Robin, Cyborg, Starfire, and Beastboy watched in horror as Raven, who had opened her eyes to look at them, starting crying. This was something that rarely happened, but had been occurring with alarming frequency in the past few days. Normally, Robin would have asked what had happened, but Beastboy had given them a pretty clear idea. They knew that the last thing Raven needed was the thought that they were accusing her. So, Robin asked the only question he could think of.

"Why?"

Raven didn't look at them, preferring instead to stare at the ceiling. "It was the vision." Her voice was soft and husky. "You all were killed because of me. I couldn't let that happen."

"You could have told us," Cyborg said quietly. "We could have helped you."

"I did tell you," Raven answered, still addressing the ceiling. "Just not everything. I couldn't."

"Wasn't there any other way you could have dealt with it?" Beastboy asked. "I mean, you don't even know how or when any of that will happen."

"I know that it will happen soon."

"How?"

Raven finally looked at him, her eyes large and pleading. "Because I tried to kill myself with the very knife that kills you. Now it's tasted blood. I've ruined everything."

The others exchanged worried looks. "What do you mean, tasted blood?" Robin asked nervously.

"Oh, you think I have a normal dagger in my bedroom?" Raven smiled humorlessly. "That knife has never been used before. It was given to me in Azarath, as a way to escape before the prophecy came true. I should have used it then, but I didn't. When it tastes blood, it is awakened, and will remain so until it drains someone's life force. Once that is done, it will sleep once more."

"So, what you're saying is," Beastboy said slowly. "As well as having a prophecy looming over our heads, we also have a magical dagger trying to kill us all?"

"Don't be an idiot." Raven sighed. "It won't animate on its own. It will call to you, and try to make you kill yourself or someone else. I can move it to another dimension, which is the only way to keep us safe, but I don't know how my powers will react to anything right now."

"Isn't there any other way?" Robin asked. "You said yourself that your powers might be dangerous."

"I did," Raven amended. "But would you prefer that one of us go on a killing spree?"

XXX

In the end, it was obvious that they had no choice. Cyborg was chosen to go get the knife, as his robot programming might help him resist the urge that the dagger put forth. However, even as he returned to the med wing, his eyes were fixed on the dagger with a strange expression on his face. The fact that the blade still glistened with Raven's blood did not help at all. Cy put the weapon down in front of Raven, nodding in response to Robin, asking him anxiously if he was okay. The dagger was casting its spell to all of them, but as a group they were able to help each other.

Raven placed her hands over the object, wincing as the movement pulled at the stitches on her wrists. She took in a deep breath, wondering if there was any chance in hell she could convince her friends to leave the room. She wouldn't kill herself, though she still thought it would be best. She was just worried that her powers would have a dangerous effect when used, especially with this dark force, and she wanted to keep her friends as safe as possible. Raven glanced at Robin, but he shook his head firmly in response to her silent question.

"We're staying."

With hands glowing with power, Raven began to speak in Latin. Her eyes shone white, and she struggled to stay focused. She could feel the familiar void of her powers, but there was something else, something she couldn't control. Raven began to panic as the void to another dimension opened before her. She was too out of it to even register which one it was. All she knew was that the dagger was calling to her, and through her, her powers were rising. She couldn't do it; she was losing control! Raven gasped as her power suddenly surged to life of its own accord, encasing her body in a black glow and circling the dagger with tendrils of dark magic.

Robin dragged Starfire out of the way as a black wave of power nearly hit her. They had known that it was dangerous to let Raven use her powers, but this was worse than what they had feared. Raven's eyes were slowly turning a reflective black, her power raging rampant around the room. All the electronics were blinking on and off and the lights exploded. Still weak from lost blood, Raven couldn't stop the flow of dark magic that the dagger pulled from her. She, as well as the others in the room, knew that she couldn't hold on much longer.

Black magic was swirling around her, circling the portal to another dimension, and causing the dagger to float in the air before her. Every part of Raven's powers was begin affected, and her already weakened body could not cope. She flipped between her solid form and her soul self, heard snippets of her friends' thoughts and felt their emotions, and tried to stop levitating. Everything was slipping from her grasp, and any control she had over her powers was fading and gone.

That was when a hand placed itself firmly on her shoulder, scaring her enough to send a heart monitor flying across the room. She forced her eyes to see clearly, and was shocked to see Beastboy's worried eyes staring back at her.

"What are you doing?" she yelled, trying to push him away. "You'll be killed!"

"No, I won't." His voice was surprisingly soft and calming. "You won't let me."

Raven felt a few tears fall from her eyes as the stress her body was under became too much. "I can't!"

"You can. I trust you."

Raven sobbed and shook her head, her muscles shaking from tension and her powers still raging around them. She closed her eyes, trying to find something to give her strength. She found it, not in herself, but in the thin pair of arms which wrapped themselves around her. Her eyes shot open, and she looked at Beastboy's trusting eyes. After an indeterminable amount of time, she closed her eyes again, and reached deep within herself, right to her very soul, from which the power flowed. Instead of trying to stop it by force, she simply let the warmth she felt from Beastboy's embrace flow into her center.

Slowly, ever so slowly, her powers calmed. Raven opened her eyes to see the dagger set safely on a stone in the other dimension. She breathed a sigh of relief, the last of her powers falling silent.

"You did it," Beastboy breathed, his voice heavy with relief. "Sort of."

Raven frowned at this, and turned to look at him. It took her a moment to realize that something wasn't right. Behind him, there were not the white walls of the med wing, but a deep red sky. Her head snapped around, taking in Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg, all looking around at the barren landscape that surrounded them.

"Oops."