Chapter Eight: Ciaran.

A/N: Deepest apologies for the late chapter. Also I wish to apologize most regrettably for the declining quality of the past few chapters. I will not make excuses or give useless reasons, but apologize and try to do better. I hope this chapter will make up for everything.

'Hello Raven.' His voice was smooth, well modulated, with a light Scottish twang, fitting his appearance perfectly. 'I have been waiting for you.'

'Who are you?' Robin demanded. 'And how do you know Raven?'

'Ciaran. I see you have not changed your ways.' Raven replied evenly. 'What do you plan on doing now?' she continued evenly.

'My plan is you, my dear. I have heard of your growing powers and of the prophecy of power surrounding your birth. I have come to ask you to join me in my quest for knowledge.' Ciaran replied in a voice that suggested he was bestowing a great honor upon Raven.

'Fool. Do you not know that my father stalks my every move? Through him I am to bring about the destruction of the world and all who live in it regardless. Besides, I know you of old, the extent of your cruelty, and the dark waves you have unleashed on innocent lives, condemning them to a fate worse than death only to further your quest for knowledge.'

'My dear, much as I regret to say it, you are wrong. Let me correct you. With your power, you can change your destiny, fate is never written in stone; it is only the irretrievable past. You have that power within you, to change your present and eventually your future. All it takes is belief and the confidence to back up that belief and it will come to pass. You can, in modern parlance, stray away from the road life has built for you and build a new one, and you can rewrite the chapters in your story. All of us have that power within us, it is the power that we are born and die with. But you my dear are special. You not only have the power of change within you, but the power to change an entire prophecy, the future of an entire world encased in that slender body.

However, power is not merely strength of will, but an outward force to be reckoned with. That is what is shared by you and me. It is so much more than what others have, it is the strength to be more than them, and that is what sets us apart from them we are more, we are a people apart. Use that power that you have inside you. The prophecy of power surrounding your birth can be harnessed into infinite strength. And it is all within you.'

He said his speech so enthusiastically and sincerely, as if by his words alone, he could persuade her to give up all that she had worked for, and to join him

'Never. I have pledged to use my powers only for the good of those around me. I will not let it. This power in me may be born of shadows, but I will remain in the light and do good, for that is my pledge and my penance.' Raven said stubbornly.

'What you call good and evil does not even exist when it comes to power. It simply is. It is a force of beauty, for you alone. It is contained within you, for you alone, in a place where no one can ever take it away, but is constantly there, for your use, whenever you wish, to do as you see fit. It is a force of possibility that is sometimes infinite. Open yourself up to it, feel it open and bloom within you. Open up and feel it run through you like, silk, let it flow through your veins like quicksilver, and fill your senses like the headiest of wine, and the intoxicating touch of a lover, all at once. That is true power. The feeling that there is no other like you, that you are above them all that you can do things, achieve things beyond their capabilities or wildest dreams, and that there is no one like you. You are special, and gifted like no other.'

'Ciaran, please. Listen to me. My accursed father has placed his mark on you. He has stolen away your soul, and means to posses you, by means of getting into this world, to conquer and rule it. It is my father who is increasing you obsession with power. Please, let it go before his influence consumes you completely beyond salvation. Let your lust for power go. '

'You lie. Those who have power seek to increase it. That is the way of things. The strong take from the weak and the powerful excise their power over others. It is the way of the universe, and has been so since time began. I will have felt another mark upon me, more so my spirit. There is none of the sort. All you seek to do is terrify me with tales of possession and seek to imprison to suppress those who are like you.

Do you not see? How do you decide what is good and bad? What you consider to be evil was decided by a group of narrow minded bureaucrats with only thoughts of their own power in mind. What you have is the power to change all that. You have the power to choose what is good and bad, not some puffed out fool. '

'No I am content with what I have and what I follow. I seek nothing of the sort. I am telling the truth. You do not know my father. I do. He is subtle, and cloaks his desires and will with the wildest dreams of the one he seeks to control. He is a master of illusions and lies. Please. I seek only to save you.'

'Again I do not believe you. it is impossible to place such a mark of influence on me. I would have felt it. I plead with you once again to join me, for together we would be such a team as no one has ever seen. With your powers and mine, we would be unmatchable. No one would touch us, cross us. No one would dare.'

'No.'

'is that your final word?'

'It is.'

At her words, Ciaran shook his head sadly. 'Raven, raven, so young and so naive. Your head still filled with ideals and the thought of a perfect world. I will have to destroy you, you know. Your power is just too strong not to be allied to mine. You have a destiny to fulfill and it is only through me that you can fulfill it. The destiny to be the dark ruler of this earth. .'

And with that, he began walking backwards into the fire, letting the flames engulf him. His last words burning into Ravens mind. 'This is not our last meeting, my dear, we will meet again, and there, I will give you one last chance. Know that your choice then will decide the fate of those whom you hold dear. Choose wisely. People are too transient to ever be sacrificed for in the wake of what people like us seek.'