Who: Raven and Regina What: Meeting for some power demonstration. When: Sometime last week, before Raven became a portal and beastbirds starting flying around~ Where: Her high school, then an open field. Rating/Warnings: Low Status: Complete!
If there was something that struck Regina odd about the entire situation, it was the girl’s age. High school. In her eyes, Raven was practically still a damn baby. It was the first time she heard of someone so young getting the shitty end of the stick when it came to Orange County’s ruthless life-trolling, and something about it left an awful taste on her mouth.
As discussed and expected, Regina arrived the moment students began filtering out of the building, signifying their glorious release from the school day. Parked across the street from the entrance, she waited outside the vehicle wrapped snug in a winter coat (because winter in Orange County now felt like winter back at the East Coast, and it was a load of horseshit), hands tucked into her pockets. She already informed the girl the make of her car, the color, all the little details of her location, and waited with some impatience.
Not that Raven was late (Regina was always punctual, always early), but it was due to the sheer anxiety of it all. What the hell was this little girl, exactly, to wield demon powers and get stuck in some prophecy?
Raven really didn’t know why she was doing this. It had been a moment of weakness perhaps, or just freaking out in general. Misplaced hope perhaps? She had woken up with the marks again and she really didn’t want to become a portal that would destroy everything. She might dislike most people and found them to be idiots, but she didn’t want everyone to die. So maybe if she learned how to control her abilities better, it wouldn’t come to pass this time.
Right?
It was worth a shot, at least. Who would have thought she would actually want to just be a normal teenager and deal with high school? It was hard enough and now demonic powers and the possibility that one day she’d wake up with the blue-grey skin permanently, add in a prophecy for destruction and Raven was feeling exceedingly older than her sixteen years.
She had prepared, though. Along with the pictures she had taken when she panicked and asked Damian, as well as the new ones, she also brought the Book of Azar. Just in case. Now it was just waiting for the last bell. And there it was. Gathering up her things, the teen made her way through the pushing students to get to the pickup area and scanned the area for the car Regina had told her to look for. Once spotted, she quickly made her way over to get in. Yeah. Still awkward but at least Regina was someone who understood having abilities that were tied to emotions and a lack of control, because unlike the dream version of her who’d had fourteen years of training to control it all, Raven was still a teenaged girl and behind the sarcasm and antisocial persona, she still felt. A lot.
Seeing as though only one student was coming her way, a girl that exact age-range, Regina was going to assume the black-haired little thing was none other than who she was waiting for. “Raven, I’m guessing,” is how the Queen greeted her, a perfectly shaped brow rising and looking her over carefully. Hard to think she held the power she described, and she believed her, of course - no doubt about it. It took a certain degree of desperation to ask a complete stranger for help, after all, the moment she found someone on the same boat as she was.
Lips, red as blood, upturned into a little smile. It was genuine. “Well. It’s nice to meet you, face to face. We could talk here or go somewhere ideally more…” Other students around them laughed, some yelled profane things, the other gave some nerd a terrible wedgie. “Private. I doubt you’re going to want your puberty-stricken peers to eavesdrop on your business.”
“That’s me. And likewise.” Her father didn’t raise an impolite daughter. Well, he probably wouldn’t have cared one way or the other with his business dealings. She knew proper etiquette and while she would repay rudeness with rudeness, she could also repay politeness with politeness.
The question on where to go was answered almost immediately.
“Somewhere more private might be better.” Between not wanting anyone to overhear and the risk her father wouldn’t buy the fact she said she needed to study and would be home late, best to get out of sight. She was lucky in that Conner seemed pretty relaxed about her whole power thing and that Tim was finally seeming to accept the Dreams and what came with them, but that was two out of a ridiculous amount of students all trying to one up the other in an attempt to have power, like that would matter in the long run.
“I trust your parents aren’t going to be wondering where you’re currently at?” And really, the last thing Regina wanted to do was step onto the toes of her family. Should she be in their shoes, she’d a bit alarmed of some strange woman whisking away her daughter to someplace ‘private.’ Or course Regina intended no ill harm - why the fuck for? - but she wouldn’t blame anyone for being concerned.
With the press of a button on her keys, the doors unlocked and she motioned the girl over to the passenger’s seat.
“I told my father I had to study and was going to be home late, so there shouldn’t be a problem.” There was no mother, Raven had never known her mother. One more reason to hate her birthday, really. It simply was what it was. Besides, the more she was out of the house, the better. It wasn’t like she and her father were close. He had his ‘business’ doings and she tried to stay out of it. He was overprotective in that he knew he had enemies, but that was the extent of it.
With the okay to do so, the sixteen year old went to the other side of the car and got in, holding her back on her lap almost protectively. Then again, when it contained pictures of her with the marks of Trigon on her, as well as the Book of Azar, it made sense to be a bit protective of it.
Good girl. “Promise I’m not going to keep you out too late. I’m sure you’ve got...homework, or something.” Or whatever kids this age did nowadays. Take selfies on instagram? Talk about that British boyband? Maybe others who had the semblance of a normal life, but Raven didn’t exactly strike her as the type. Who the hell could stand to have a regular life anymore without this damn place sabotaging them every corner?
Regina didn’t drive them terribly far - a fifteen minute drive to somewhere away from main roads, quiet and open. It was a random point on the map she chose on google; closest spot away from houses so they wouldn’t be interrupted. If she was going to help her, she at least had to see up close what she could do.
“I’m gonna assume your father has no idea about…” She made a motion with her hands after exiting the car. “This. Your gift.”
“Pretty much. I’m caught up but there is always studying.” Because teachers were sadists who didn’t seem to grasp that OTHER teachers also assigned homework. Shocking, really. Who knew what normal teenagers did. Admittedly, Raven also didn’t follow the popular trends even before the whole Dream nonsense. Still, with everything that she now had to deal with, whatever most kids would be doing really wasn’t on her mind at all any more.
“No, he doesn’t.” There had been the whole...fear turning real thing that had happened where she thought she made some of the guards vanish and that her skin had been the blue grey of her dreams. But then she’d been normal and none of them had seemed the wiser. So that was good.
A curious raise of her brow. “Seems a little difficult to cover up, especially if you had an episode within school walls.” There were a few things that she wanted to prod and pry about, because this damn girl was almost a tightly wound puzzle, but she wouldn’t be persistent on their first meeting. That’d just be downright rude. And annoying.
Part of Regina wanted to see to believe, too. See and try to understand just what the hell she was dealing with. A game of ‘show and tell,’ and she was willing to go up first to prove her authenticity. “Do me favor. Stand by that tree. And don’t move.”
“He wasn’t there and no one figured out the specifics.” Which had worked in her favour. Then the fear manifestation had either been a hallucination for her, or for the guards. Whatever it was, she had managed to get out with her secret still in tact. Because if she couldn’t explain it to herself, then she certainly couldn’t explain it to someone else with no experience with the dreams.
The request was met with a quirked brow before Raven shrugged and placed the backpack on the ground, then made her way to the tree and did as she was told.
If she had been having uncontrolled outbursts of power in a public setting, that really couldn’t bode well. God knows what the hell could happen if it went rampant without some kind of restraint. Hell, Regina was just getting a handle on her side of things - and it was going smooth, for the most part - but some bumps in the road were still met.
“And don’t worry,” she forewarned. “I’m not going to hurt you. So take a deep breath, and keep it all in check. Got it?” If her power was anything like hers, it’d be easily triggered by the smallest sign of a threat as a protection mechanism. And Regina liked not being tossed across this field, thanks.
With with the raise of her palm facing the sky, fingers stretched up, roots and branches from the gnarly tree came to life, wrapping around Raven’s legs and arms like constricting snakes and lifting her from the ground.
Right. Regina wasn’t going to hurt her. She would just need to remember that and remain calm. Which was something Raven had been struggling to deal with on a normal basis given everything about her dreams that was happening and what it meant. The lessons she had to give Starfire in the Dreams about how she had to keep everything under control otherwise it could end badly. The fear of losing control of her emotions and always keeping it locked behind a bored expression, the hours upon hours of meditation she had seemed to go through whenever she was asleep.
Nodding to show she was ready, Raven tensed as she felt the roots and vines start wrapping around her. Breathe. Focus. Quickly the teen started to repeat the same chant that she used for meditation. Azarath metrion zinthos.
The tree seemed to vanish behind what appeared a dark mass of energy rising behind Raven, her soul self. But instead of lashing out at Regina, after a falter it went to work to undo the roots that were holding her. Telekinetic energy which Raven was growing used to after a little over a month of it adding into the growing list of powers she was getting. She just had to focus.
Manipulating nature was one of the calmest things she could demonstrate. There were fireballs, but that’d set red flags on sight. Energy blasts would yield the same response. Ripping hearts? Out of the question - unless she wanted to do it to some poor roaming animal, but that would take too much effort.
What she witnessed with the girl, however, didn’t disappoint her. Arms crossed over her chest, Regina watched in curious fascination as the dark energy undid the tree’s tendrils from her, and she thought about manipulating the tree to try and keep hold of her, but that might be too much. Demonstrations, she reminded herself.
“What is that?” She pointed over to the black mass, brows furrowed. Whatever it was looked a little disconcerting. Regina had seen plenty of strange things through the dreams, and it didn’t take a damn genius to know that that was something a little odd.
Feeling herself released, the energy seemed to vanish back inside of Raven soon after the question was asked. How was she supposed to explain it. In the Dreams, it was such an integral part of her. It was how she basically did everything in the dreams besides the levitation, empathy or spell work.
“My soul-self. It’s basically...part of my soul turned corporeal? I guess you could say it’s the basis for everything I can do?” It was hard to explain, especially since she only had a month of it here and months of dreaming about it.
She hated not knowing specifics. She hated not knowing how to explain, but this was still a lot to deal with even if she should be used to it by now. Of course, the fact that her abilities seemed to come from being half demon probably had some reason for why it was hard to accept.
Regina was sort of trying to make sense of all that. And it was a little hard to connect the dots when it was a kind of energy that didn’t come from the world she dreamed of. “So….you draw your power from your soul, is what you’re saying? What about it makes you different from the rest?”
She was trying to glean as much information as she could and hopefully Raven had enough information to clarify it all. Because this wasn’t the silly ‘twu wuv’ kind of powerful magic, but something else altogether. Something new. Something different. And if Regina was going to make an attempt to help her, then she needed to be able to make heads or tails about it all.
She scoffed. Rumple would have loads of fun with this little one.
It made the most sense, and so she nodded. It was how it was explained to her, it was part of her. It took shape, could change her, it could reach into people and communicate with them, she could feel their memories and look through their eyes. She could make barricades, lift things, travel. Not that she had done most of that here, but she understood the principle.
“My guess would be it’s the half demon part, specifically my father, Trigon.” Even his name made her blood run cold. She knew he was evil. He was locked in her mirror, a fight she felt she would never win. That sort of darkness… the all consuming evil and desire for destruction. Destruction she was supposed to be a portal for…. “Something about a cult for him, born to be a portal to bring him to this realm and he would cause death to everything.”
It was dark. And every choice she made was to try and offset that darkness, to apologise for what she was to do. To try and do some good when there was such darkness running through her, lurking just beneath the surface.
“How sweet,” she replied dryly, though her face held some concern. “Born to be a tool for some agenda your parent has.” Though what could you really expect from someone that was apparently a damn demon?
After a sharp inhale, she released all that air into a heavy sigh, one that slumped her shoulders and drained that serious, contemplative look she had. Regina had her work cut out for her, she knew that much, but she’d still give it a go. See if there was anything she could do to help a damn high school kid that obviously didn’t ask for this.
“If you still want my help, I’m still willing to try. So I’ll take you home - and we’ll schedule you days and times to meet me at my place. We’ll practice control. Basic calming techniques. And go from there. Not completely thrilled with the idea of your power running rampant, and I doubt you are too. Is that going to work for you?”
Regina had pretty much summed up Raven’s feelings about the whole thing. It was simply part of her consciousness now. The potential, what she was ‘supposed’ to be and the constant worry. Which.. she really hoped wouldn’t come to pass despite waking up with those damning marks.
“I’m really not. But yeah, that works for me.” If anything, between work, school and now these lessons or whatever they would end up being, it would keep Raven out of the house even more and she was always good with that.
“C’mon,” she said, walking over to Raven to put a hand against her back, gently leading her to the direction of the car. That was enough after school action for now, and Regina didn’t want to keep her out too long. “Let’s get you back home. We can...I don’t know--pick you up something on the way? Coffee, or, something.”
Icecream? It was too suspiciously cold for that, plus she wasn’t a five year old. Isn’t that what you would offer five year olds?
It then occurred to Regina she knew little to shit about teenagers these days.
Making sure to grab her bag as they started back towards the car, Raven blinked at the offer for coffee. It definitely was too cold for ice cream, and well, coffee didn’t sound too bad.
“Maybe coffee?” It wasn’t like she was all that picky.