Raven was not afraid of her inner beings. As they were a part of her, they had all the logic she did and understood that if harm came to her, it was coming to them, too, and therefore refrained from harming her. That said, when an insane, red-eyed, fanged woman was snarling in your face, there was likely to be more than a bit of intimidation on your side. Which made sense – every aspect of Raven's anger was geared towards a frightening appearance, but the fact that it was one of her emotions' looks causing her heartbeat to quicken was not acceptable on her part. She resolved to spend more time around the red-cloaked form of herself to null any remainders of the feeling.
"Is there something you want to discuss?" she said testily, then shook her head (trying to hide her thoughts was pointless; the person standing in front of her was her thoughts) to dispel the beginnings of irritation that the woman in front of her was inciting.
"You called me." Answered the being, hands curling into fists as if incensed at her own gall. "I am the manifestation of your powers and the best source of information you have."
Raven sighed, trying to calm her irritation, "My power has grown from the miasma. I need to know how much so that I can control it accordingly."
The four-eyed woman snorted, "You know that's not how you find out."
Raven bristled and charged magic into her hands, releasing all limits she had on it. In here, there was nothing she could harm, and thus no need to take precautions. Her red-robed doppelganger smirked and mimicked her movements, pushing her back a few feet with her own energy. It was exhilarating – the power inside her flowed like a burst dam and Raven easily forced out more and more, watching her other self grimace and attempt to reinforce her attack with strenuous movements, and allowed herself to ease up on the power when the twin was up at the edge of the floating stone island.
Taking the opportunity, her other self released an unexpected amount of power that overpowered Raven's unprepared beam of shadow and launched her back, out into the black space. Another island formed as Raven flew towards it, flipping in the air with the aid of her levitation and landing on her feet to stare and her red-clad self incredulously. The uncouth twin scowled and began walking towards her, a stone pathway forming between them as she walked.
"See, that's what I hate about you – me," the demonic girl said, "You always hold back. You don't need to, you know – if our father's hold on us hasn't disappeared completely after our defeat of him on Earth, this – " she raised her arm, referring to Trigon's magic, " – would have fixed any other problems. He doesn't want his realm messed up because you can't handle yourself. You have issues."
Raven raised a brow and her other self made an annoyed sound in the back of her throat, unappreciative of the blue-cloaked girl's noticing the 'I-am-you' mistake. "If I did not hold back – "
"Then Malchior would have been on the fucking ground and not beating the shit out of you. It's my body, too, and you're doing a damn good job of messing it up." The mirror image's hand came up to rest on her hip and, as if to prove a point (probably to prove a point; neither she nor her other selves were for dramatics), the cloak came up and displayed the purplish marks on her leg.
Raven sighed, "Is that what you're trying to kill me for?" This time it was the original rolling her eyes at the expectant expression on her mirror image's face at the age-old 'I'm-not-trying-to-kill-you-that-would-be-stupid' argument. "You know what I mean."
"That's part of it," her four-eyed self replied with surprising civility.
"What's the other part?"
"Malchior is bound to you via agreement between two countries. It's a marriage. You belong to him, he belongs to you."
"Yeah, I got that." Raven scowled, "So?"
"So, why are you letting your property fool around with every other female in the castle?" Her demon side said like it was obvious.
Raven stared. And stared. "I'm sorry, I don't understand what you just said."
"He is about the only thing of yours in the castle. By letting everyone have a piece of him, you're pretty much saying 'Walk all over me, I like it,'" the twin said with increasing irritation, "No-one will acknowledge your power if – "
" – No. Just no." Raven said, looking at her other self, "One, I am not about to start talking to him about his love life. He can go have affairs with whomever he wants; I don't care – "
" – I – !"
"Two," Raven thundered, "It's better everyone keeps wondering about me, isn't it? If they know how weak I am from underexposure to miasma from the get-go and I still have this thing on me," she lifted the arm where her father had placed the magic on her, "We're screwed. We won't be able to use our power against Trigon and with the kingdom looking to abandon him and join Lord Bane, I'm thinking he'll want to use me as an example of what will happen to those who leave him."
"I'm so glad you aren't attempting to escape, daughter," her red-cloaked self hissed in her father's voice, "It makes everything so much easier."
"Y-You?" she said, puzzled, "But how…?"
"Your trance was too deep for your servants to break, and as the only one with access to your mind, I had to be called to fetch you. The first dance of the bride and groom is an example of the families' breeding, after all." She would have laughed at the undoubtedly sour tone of voice had she not been wondering why he'd appeared as her anger while in her mind. He seemed able to sense her amusement, though, and her four-eyed face scowled in response, "Leave your mindscape immediately; your groom has been kept waiting for nearly half an hour." With that, she could feel her father's presence leave her red double.
Concentrating slightly, Raven opened her eyes and found herself nearly face-to-face with Adrian. She yelped and her body levitated back a few feet in response.
"Your Highness!" He said with apparent relief, "We were worried." Behind him, Elimona nodded her agreement.
"Sorry." She got up.
"I am, too," Malchior said, sarcasm evident, "I should have made sure my trivial needs didn't conflict with your infinitely more important schedule."
Raven glared, "Will you stop?" Was it just the alcohol, or was he nicer to her last night that he was being now? And who let him in her room, anyway?
Shrugging at the looks he was getting from both her and her servants, he walked out to where they'd be practicing. With a huff of indignation, Raven followed.
…
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A/N: Why do none of you have accounts? I can't PM you if you don't have accounts! Geez! WDR – Adrian was never physically described, but he has dark hair and an average skin tone. He looks like every other bishounen. AF – I can't promise jealousy, but he'll be getting protective way, way later. As is, he's just annoyed he has to be around her.
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