Chapter 7 Deal With the Devil

If there was one surefire way to ruin Raven's mood, it would be by putting her in the same room as her father, Trigon the Terrible. Even though she met his gaze with apathy and annoyance, in truth, looking into his four red eyes still sent chills down her spine. Frosty fear froze over her heart, which she covered up with an ambivalent expression.

"Oh, really?" She raised an eyebrow, another way to cover up her fear. She wanted herself to look bigger than she actually was, intimidating enough to go toe to toe with him.

Trigon giggled like a high school girl. "Oh, dear sweet Rae rae." He grinned at her, his eyes glowing yellow. "Why don't you fork over that demonic energy resting inside before it consumes what's left of your humanity?"

That actually caused Raven's demeanor to crack the tiniest bit. He really did know. He really was aware of the crack in the gem. While this made sense (Trigon had always been astutely aware of what happens in the life of his one and only, soul-eating daughter), it did not bring her any form of comfort. Quite the opposite. While her father might be aware of the crack in the gem, that didn't mean he was interested in helping her. If anything, he was interested in using her.

This was what caused Raven to shudder.

"Not a flying chance." She turned away from the mirror. Her fear had not gone away; it had only increased. It was eating away at her soul, gnawing on the crust of her heart while trying to get to the core. She needed to do something about the fear, otherwise her emotions would get out of control. So, she sat cross legged down on the ground, taking deep breaths and ignoring her father's gaze eagerly and maliciously drilling into her back.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos…"

"Aww!" Trigon swooned. "I remember teaching you that phrase! It was so much fun." He sniffed. "Although, you're doing it wrong. The chant is supposed to release your inner demon. Not suppress it."

Raven bit her lip, doing her best to not blow up like a volcano. "I am not going to indulge in that part of myself."

Trigon sighed. "That's something I never got about you, Raven. Why are you so determined to deny your roots?"

Raven turned around, facing the demon with as much courage as she could muster. "Because! My roots are evil! They're bad!"

Trigon…surprisingly looked a little hurt by that assessment. "You didn't think that when you were younger. You used to love going out to do "evil" stuff; destroy universes, torture demons, enslave civilizations." Trigon made a sad, puppy dog like expression. "What happened to you since then?"

"What happened was that I grew up!" Raven shouted. "There's more to life than destroying everything! Protecting everyone! Saving cities! Forming friendships!" She almost shed a tear. That last one in particular was one that she valued immensely. "I will fight my dark side for the rest of my life if it means that I can experience happiness, and others can experience happiness with me." She narrowed her gaze at Trigon, her demonic eyes opening once again. "Not that you would ever understand what it's like to…"

She never finished that sentence. A murky purplish black overtook her vision. She screamed, trying to reach her hands up to her face. The demon…her inner demon…it was…

"NOOO!"

Trigon laughed. "I told you that your demonic power will consume you!" A flash of red light shot through the black, allowing Raven to see again. She put her hand to her chest, trying to get her breathing under control. It was then that she saw that her father's hand was glowing red. He was the one who had subdued the beast. The only question left in Raven's mind was…

"Why did you do that?"

Trigon sighed. "Because, believe it or not Raven, I care about you. I hate to see you doing this to yourself. The day you sealed your demon away in that cursed gem…it still breaks my heart. Especially knowing that you can never overcome it."

Raven raised an eyebrow. Trigon? Caring about her/ Yeah right. The only thing that he truly cared about was his own empty heart.

"So, I came to put your mind at ease." Trigon's eyes sparkled as he grinned at the shadowy sorceress. "I wish to offer you a deal!"

There was a pause. "What kind of deal?"

"Well, I was thinking…what if I remove the demon from you?" He backed up, allowing Raven to get a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror. Except…it was different. The skin wasn't as chalky. The hair was not styled in her typical bob, but rather, a nice shoulder length cut. She wore a hoodie, a hoodie that actually allowed the world to see her face when the hood was pulled up. Her eyes were blue as opposed to violet.

At first, Raven was taken aback, so much so that she had to look down at herself to make sure she hadn't shifted forms. When the shock wore off, however, she had to admit that…seeing herself like that was…kind of nice. She smiled at her reflection, and it smiled back. She waved her hand, and the reflection waved back at her. It all felt natural. Normal, even.

"Does this look good to you or what?" Trigon's voice echoed in the back of her mind. "You, just a normal human girl. You can have normal friends. You can live a normal life. You will never have to worry about your demonic side consuming you again, because…well, what demonic side? You'll be able to express your emotions as freely as you wish. And best of all…you'll never hear from me again."

Raven blinked. Oh wow. Never having to deal with Trigon again? Never having to hear his evil voice whispering to her, not having the burden of carrying his DNA inside half of her being? Now that sounded awesome! Sure, all the other stuff he mentioned seemed good, but that? That took the cake.

"Yes," Trigon whispered. The level of excitement in his voice was rising. "This life can be yours, Raven. All you have to is say the word, and I can make it a reality."

Raven smiled. A normal life. No demonic whispers in her mind, no demonic father breathing down her back, no demonic powers causing her to…wait. What exactly would happen to her powers? While not having them was certainly appealing to her, she knew that the demonic energy inside her had to go somewhere.

Suddenly, she recoiled. She backed away from the mirror, looking at the once appealing human version of her in terror. "If I give up my powers…that means you get control of them!"

Trigon paused before reappearing in the mirror. He chuckled and scratched the back of his head in a sheepish manner. "Well, if we're splitting hairs…"

Raven shook her head. "I'm not giving up my powers. I wouldn't do that. You…you would destroy the world with them!"

Trigon sighed. "I suppose that's true. The desire would just be too tempting." He shook his head. "Curses, plans foiled again."

Raven narrowed her gaze into a sharpened glare. "So yeah. The answer is no." She turned and floated toward her door. "I think we're done here."

Trigon laughed. "Done? Oh no sweetie; we are far from done. Your gem is still cracked."

"Yeah, so?" Raven asked without turning around.

"So…your inner demon isn't going to magically stop fighting to break your will just because you had a little chat with me. If anything…it will just get stronger."

That caused Raven to stop. "St..tronger?"

"Of course! You're dealing with strong emotions, which activate your powers, which the demon ultimately feeds off of. The more you use your powers…well, the more likely you are to become the one thing you fear more than anything else." Trigon grinned wickedly. "I guess you could say what you have concealed…you shall become."

Raven's eyes grew wide. He…he was right. She didn't even think about that. It seemed that her becoming consumed by her demon half was inevitable. She supposed she had to give her powers to him.

Oh, what was she saying? No! She would never do that! She couldn't do that! She was Raven! She didn't let the odds bother her! She created them! She took the odds and crafted them into what she needed them to be! What the good of the world needed to be!

She turned back to her father. "No."

Trigon blinked. "No?"

"If I can't use my powers…well then, I just won't! I will shut them out just like everything else! Will it be horrible? Sure! But at least…" She grabbed her hood off of her bed and strapped it on, pulling her hood up. "The world will be safe."

Trigon smirked. "So, you're telling me you aren't going to use your powers? Riiiiggght."

Raven squinted at him. "Where there's a will, there's a way." With that, she left the room.

AN: Hey, everyone. So yeah; this scene was one of my biggest problems with the original movie. On top of being too short…the fact that Raven not knowing the purpose of her gem didn't make a lot of sense to me. Having Trigon explain the purpose of the gem she had worn on her forehead for most if not all of her life felt…wrong to me. So, I decided to change this scene into something that I hope you all like better.

Anyway, chapter 8 will be out soon. Have a good day!