A/N: No, you're right. I did die.
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Raven allowed herself to relax and reclined onto her bed.
The dance lesson had been less stressful than she'd anticipated. No matter the fact that she didn't like to dance with others, or, in fact, at all, it seemed her natural ability to avoid tripping and/or stepping on things that she didn't mean to step on (namely, Malchior's feet) had come into play, and they'd nailed nearly the entire first half of the dance. At her display of what Raven hoped was grace, Malchior was silent, never looking her in the eye despite the fact that they'd been near enough that her bust would occasionally graze his chest when she moved forwards. Attempts at conversation had been discouraged, too, as their instructor required incredible focus from the two of them. She wasn't usually one for interrupting quiet, but his apparent upset at her existence was enough to get her to want to talk to him.
But that wasn't the most pressing issue right now. She had a good load of other things to deal with, like attempting another conversation with her red self and contacting the Titans. The first was relatively easy to do, especially since 'night' was coming (there was no change in the outside of the castle) and she'd have a good eight hours to speak to her anger and get some sleep. The second, however…
She tinkered with the T-communicator that she'd brought with her out of habit. As she'd expected, it didn't work down here, but it would still provide a useful element if she was going to use magic, which was looking more and more probable. After her lesson, she'd spoken with Elimona about communication with Earth and the blonde she-demon had replied with the assurance that anything she wanted to send to Earth could be sent by either of her servants using her father's power, but that it would require she be comfortable with her father knowing near-every detail of any letters that she sent. That left the possibility of a spell.
She'd never really used spells for inter-realm communication, and whenever she used them for inter-realm travel it hadn't worked well. Nearly every object in her room held magical value of some sort, however, and her large, pentagonal vanity mirror was no exception – it served as an answer to almost all communication problems, and was her best way of getting into contact with her mother and the monks. Raven rolled over onto her stomach and looked at the obscene gilded monstrosity that hung serenely on the wall. A scan of the room in which she was currently residing told her that nothing except the belt she'd brought with her was magical, and that left her with the hefty task of altering the mirror on her own.
Her original mirror had been a gift, so her knowledge of creating communication devices was restricted to the fact that any reflective surface would likely work, that it required a lot of concentration and – Raven looked at her T-com – an object or person relative to where it was contacting. Which meant, Raven thought with a sigh, that she'd be sneaking around the castle after 'lights out' looking for the library, since her schedule for tomorrow was even busier than today's (according to Adrian) and she wouldn't have time to do any studying during the day.
Raven groaned and stood on aching muscles. She may as well begin looking for the required books now. Starting tomorrow would mean a longer period of time in which Robin would likely decide the Titans needed to come to her rescue. Oh, how she hated these situations. With some stretching of sore limbs, she slipped out the door and began exploring.
[-M-]
Being a person who regularly dealt with and controlled shadows, Raven was very used to them and the dark in general. As a rule, she could notice things in the dark that others couldn't: every detail of the coat on the chair across the room was privy to her, and so the boogeyman leering in the corner was never some creature her mind had created, but just that - a coat on a chair. This ability was something she was thankful for, as it had helped the Titans more than once when someone chose to be 'sneaky' and attempt to escape whilst they were distracted. It was useful in putting aside childish notions about the dark and the 'monsters' that lived in it.
But after she'd seen the third couple pressed quietly into the dark corners in the hallway (the lights in the castle were dimmed at night, probably to give some indication of the time), she was forced to change her opinion of her powers. At times, they were just plain annoying; she would not have minded ignorance concerning the activities of so-and-so when she was looking for books. Raven considered turning around and ruining the evening for all by asking directions of the two in the middle of a tryst, but reconsidered when she saw light shining under the crack of a door up ahead.
Increasing her speed in an attempt to get away from the image of the two she'd just seen, she turned to the fairly small wood entance and knocked.
"Enter," called Malchior.
She grimaced. Not the person she'd hoped to meet. Especially when she was this irascible, what with having endured his frigid company all of today. Footsteps sounded from inside and the door swung open to reveal an less-than enthused Malchior. She'd been standing there too long.
"Well?"
She had a death wish. "Well, what?"
He scowled brilliantly, "Well, why are you knocking on the door to my study at eleven-o'-clock?"
She huffed, "I was looking for the library."
"Farther down the hall," he said, and shut the door.
Raven pursed her lips, not deigning to thank him and continued onwards. When she reached the expansive room, (which really was more of a dumping ground for books than a place to keep them organized) she paused. Judging by the many precarious piles of tattered and decidedly outdated-looking volumes, she had quite a ways to go. Swallowing what was sure to be an annoyed mutter, she began her search.
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A/N: Feel free to accuse this of being a filler, but I needed to get Raven communicating with the other Titans again. Getting rid of them altogether is just unrealistic. WDR – No idea what color Adrian's eyes are. Gray, maybe?
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