Azarath, Sunday Morning, Fandom Time

[glacial_queen]

Karla ran out of the hole in the ground and stopped, almost dead in her tracks. "Azarath..." she breathed. And then her eyes were dragged to the scene unfolding in front of here.

Mother Night, it was a scene from out of a nightmare. Raven, on the ground, limp in a way only the unconscious could be. Or the dead. Beyond her, running towards the entrance to the tunnels, a snatch of light and dark: Rook and Dinah, trying to keep out of sight.

And above them all, hovering like the carrion bird that was her name. Raven.

Warren	It took Warren a few more moments before he actually managed to catch up. The last shreds of pride to his name were keeping him from stopping to rest, but he'd spent entirely too long in a cell, growing back mutilated body parts and living on, for the most part, whatever happened to crawl across the floor. He'd exerted himself more than he probably should have against the skull-faced things, and now he was carrying his wife around... Stubbornness could only carry a person so far. But once he joined the younger Karla outside, he was more or less grinding to a halt. "Mother Night..." This was not exactly what he'd been expecting to see out here, no.
Older Karla	The Karla in his arms was also staring around in shock and awe. She hadn't been here in decades, but she still recognized the shape of the earth, the placement of the stars, the sourceless light. "Azarath..." she breathed, sounding exactly like her younger self. And then something far more important caught her eye and she clutched her husband's arm and pointed. "ROOK!"
Dinah	Dinah was heading toward them as fast as she could, then got a better look at Warren. And oh my god where were his wings? And was there any way-- no. No way to hide that from Rook, but... "Hey guys. Ready when you are." She took a breath. "Glad you're all still alive." If in terrible, horrible shape. Crap.
Warren	Dinah. She was with Dinah. That was what the younger Karla had said to him, before. And, being an idiot, he'd let himself think that meant that they'd left Rook with Dinah in New Gotham, not... "You brought her here?!" Warren's voice was raising a little, something raw and half-wild pushing past his throat as he looked between Karla and Dinah. "What the Hell were you thinking?" Suddenly, how close he was to just toppling over was the last thing on his mind.
Older Karla	Without her Jewel, Karla didn't have the psychic strength to create ice or frost when she got angry. And yet the air temperature dropped a noticeable few degrees as she glared at Dinah and Karla both. "How dare you," she snarled. "How dare you--"
Rook	Whatever else Karla had been about to say--and from her expression it was going to be long and invective--was cut off when Rook wrenched herself from Dinah's grasp and threw herself at her parents. She had tried to be very good and very brave and not cry at all, but some things are too much for even the bravest little girls. "Maman!" she sobbed, clinging to Warren's waist. "Stepfather! I have missed you both so much!" Yes, they were both filthy and gruesome, with Karla's shriveled legs and the remains of Warren's wings. Rook neither noticed nor cared. She had her parents back.
Evil Raven	Unfortunately, they hadn't gone unnoticed. "Well, isn't this touching," Raven said, drifting closer, hovering a few feet off the ground. Her younger self lay crumpled on the ground behind her, unmoving. "Don't you have a hug for your mother as well, darling?"
Karla	Karla interposed herself between Raven and the others. "Don't even try it," she said, pulling up a Sapphire shield. "You don't get to hurt her, too. You don't get to hurt any of them, ever again! And if you want to try, you have to go through me, first." "You're not Raven. You're nothing." Her eyes narrowed. "This ends here, bitch."
Evil Raven	"Oh, Karla," Raven sighed, pressing a hand to her chest. "Is that any way to talk to your best friend? I've missed you so much. You're no fun when you're old and crippled and whimpering in a corner. But I think I'm about done with other-you and my pet birdie. You'll be a lot more fun to tame." Her power pressed against Karla's shield, hungrily seeking a way through. "Do you think you can stand for long against me?" she said. "Your Jewel is just a Sapphire now, not Ebon-grey."
Dinah	Before Karla could comment, a very large rock went sailing at Raven's head at top speed. And then was followed by another. "Well, at least we know she got the Boring Monologue gene from her dad," Dinah said, voice tight but conversational. "Annnnd--" TK yank to get their Raven a hell of a lot closer to their group, and away from Crazy Red Raven. "Raven? Those wings? So not you. Bitch."
Warren	Oh. She was wearing this pair. After Raven had tried to feed him that other set, he'd sort of managed to lose track. Especially since Warren had been living in the dark for so damn long. All unimportant, compared to two things. First, his wife and his little girl were still here, dangerously close to that psychopathic demon bitch. And second, there appeared to be two Ravens. Because clearly, one just wasn't enough. He was backing away now, wishing that he had an extra hand or at least one full wing so that he could cling to Karla and Rook both protectively as he went. He was going to have to settle for silently hoping that the child was going to follow as he backed away. "We need to get Rook out of here," he murmured to the woman in his arms. Right now, he was too livid about Rook's being here at all to be too worried about the three younger women. Especially since one of them was Raven, and apparently the three of them had thought that bringing a small child into Raven's personal hell was somehow a good idea.
Raven	Raven grinned wickedly at Warren, picking up his feelings, and shrugged her shoulders. She couldn't flex the wings like Warren might have, since they weren't part of her, just strapped to her back, but she could move them a little. "You're not going anywhere," she said. "Unless you've sudden learned how to move yourself between dimensions. But I doubt that, since you can't even walk now." The younger Raven began to stir, pushing herself up, a dazed look in her eyes.
Warren	"Shut up!" Warren didn't have any patience for Raven's taunting. He'd had more than his fill of it lately, and suddenly found himself with far more important things to worry about. "Rook, get back here!" Shit. Shit. Warren's gaze followed their daughter, every so often flicking toward Raven, ignoring the sight of those wings on her back, how much he wanted to tear them off and beat her with them for everything she'd done, not to him, but to his family. He wanted to fly. Wanted so badly to be able to just take the both of them in his arms and get some distance. But he couldn't. And right about then was when his knees buckled and he was forced to take a seat, hard, taking the brunt of the impact so that the woman in his arms didn't have to feel more than the sudden drop.
Older Karla	"Hold tight to Maman's hands, darling," Karla said, more than willing to cut and run and leave the others here. She had her husband, she had her daughter, she was done with this place. Her appreciation for her rescue was severely undermined by the fact that they had brought her daughter right into Raven's clutches. Maybe if her younger self survived this, she would grow up and learn there were some chances you just didn't take with other people! "We're getting out of here." Somehow.
Rook	Only, instead of following along. Rook let go of Warren and took a tiny step back. "I cannot, Maman," she said. "Not yet. They need me to defeat Mother. And...and once they do, she will not be evil anymore. We will not have to be afraid anymore. So, I...I must stay here. To help." She gulped, glancing back to where Auntie Dinah was throwing rocks still. "I am afraid, but...this is what I have to do." And with that, she reached for Teeny-Maman's hand and clutched it tight. "I am staying."
Older Karla	"Rook, honey, please," Karla said, clinging to Warren's neck, but her attention on her daughter. "You have to come with us. Please, love. Come here!" Didn't she realize--didn't any of them realize--that protecting Rook was all that mattered anymore? That through everything they'd endured, knowing that Rook was safe was the only thing that kept them going? "We have to keep you safe!"
Rook	"No, Maman," Rook said solemnly. "Today, I will keep you safe."
Evil Raven	"That's right, my little cuckoo," Raven said, stretching out her hand toward the girl as she ducked another of Dinah's rocks. The wings she wore were so handy at protecting her. "You're staying right here, with me, where you belong. Remember what I told you? They never wanted you, they wanted the little golden children they'd seen from their future. Not you. But I want you. Now come with me, and I will let them all go." She was lying, of course. The love she'd once had for Karla had been twisted into lust and a desire to control her. Even crippled she could still be once again implanted with a Seed of Trigon. Warren and this young Dinah, too. And the younger Karla -- so many thing she could do to her, including using her to lure others from the past to this place to join them and become her siblings.
Raven	Raven rose shakily to her feet, trying to cast off the lingering dizziness at hitting the ground so hard. Her other self's back was to her. If she struck now with her Soul-Self, she might not have time to manifest her own in time to ward her off. She just had to keep her own emotions quiet and shielded so the older Raven wouldn't sense her. Fortunately, her attention was focused on those before her.
Dinah	Dinah saw their Raven rising, and immediately started being the biggest distraction she knew how to be. Obnoxious and violent and loud. She threw three rocks from different directions at the Wrong Wrong Wrong Raven, calling out, "Rookie's too smart to fall for that! You're as stupid as your deeply dead dad! Your fashion sense took a turn for the trampy, and I killed half your minions!" Something she was not happy about and honest to God was going to have to deal with later. "C'mon, Raven, c'mon, heeere batter batter swing batter!" Only that was aimed at their Raven, as Dinah aimed another handful of rocks at the evil one, and got ready for a sonic-scream-and-run-with-Rookie if this didn't work.
Karla	Karla was holding Rook's hand so hard her knuckles were turning white, just in case Raven was able to exert her power over the little girl and lure her to her side. "Don't you listen to her, Rook," Karla said, silently urging Raven to get up and do whatever it is that she'd needed Rookie for. "You know your Maman and Stepfather love you. We do to. She's as bad a liar as she is a dresser. And we're done with her, the bitch." Oops. She probably shouldn't be teaching Rook those kinds of words. Ah well. Just something else for her parents to get upset with her about. She'd add it to the list.
Rook	"I know Stepfather still misses Kayla and Nommy," Rook said, taking a determined step forward, her hand still tight in Teeny-Maman's. She glared up at her Mother, blue chakra beginning to glow. "I know I was not the child he and Maman wanted. But that does not mean they do not love me. Everyone here loves me. The only one who does not--the only one who lies--that is you, Mother. And I am not afraid of you anymore. Go away and leave us alone!"
Evil Raven	"Don't make this harder," Raven sighed. "There will be no choice." Children these days. She lifted her hands, directing pulses of pain at her foes. The younger Karla might be able to shield herself with her Sapphire for a time, but the older woman and Warren were weak and broken. She was curious to see if Rook would be able to ignore their suffering.
Raven	Raven's Soul-Self shot out of her body and sped toward the older Raven, wings wrapping around her. Surprise and anger crossed her face, then she was swallowed up in the darkness. Raven felt her struggling within, trying to tear through her soul and break free. She would before long; the pain was incredible. "Rook!" she called. "I need your help!"
Rook	"Maman!" Rook cried, her face an agony of indecision as she watched her parents crying out from the pain that Mother had inflicted before Raven had enveloped her. "Stepfather!" Every instinct screamed at her to run to her parents, to heal them, to take their pain inside herself and release them from it... But if she did, would it give Mother a chance to free herself? Would it make everything they had done useless. "I am sorry!" she wailed at them--before turning and running to Raven's side.
Warren	"Rook!" The pain didn't matter. Warren couldn't stand, couldn't move to chase after, could barely breathe, but so help him, he could scream. And if he was going to be crying out in pain, he might as well make it count. "Rook, please!" Please, please, please be safe. Please, come back. Don't let everything that they'd given up out of love for you be for nothing... He had a lot of choice words to say to the younger trio. But those choice words were going to have to wait until he was no longer staring in absolute horror as Rook ran well out of arms' reach.
Older Karla	"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOK!" And in this moment, if Raven hadn't been otherwise occupied with trying to claw her way free of her miniature's Soul-Self, Karla would have been easy pickings for her to control, as consumed by hate and fear and pain and rage as she was. "No, Rook, baby, please!" she sobbed, reaching out for her daughter. "Please!" If her daughter was taken, she would murder her younger self right here and now.
Raven	Raven desperately wanted to send them both comfort, but she didn't dare take any of her focus off containing her older self. The black shadow bird form shuddered and bulged where the other Raven threw herself against it, and she could feel claws tearing at the very fabric of her soul. The pain forced her to her knees, but it made her more at a level with Rook, and she reached for her hand. "Rook," she said urgently, "within you is your mother's good soul. What this Raven tried to do as an act of violence, the true soul of your mother tried to make into an act of love and trust. She needed your maman to protect her. And now we must give that piece of her back to restore her to as she was. Do you understand?"
Rook	"I...think so," Rook said, trying to look calm and brave and not terrified, even though she was. "But I do not know how to do that. I am just me. Just Rook."
Raven	Raven squeezed her hand. Azar had had years to teach her how to separate soul from flesh; she only had minutes. But Rook also had a piece of Raven inside her, and that had to make all the difference. "You are not just Rook," she said. "You are a special, beautiful child, no matter how you came into being. And there is a piece of your mother's soul inside you, all her goodness and love. Close your eyes and feel that love. Let it wash through you. Let it go free, but do not be afraid, for even then it will always be with you, I promise." Jagged tears appeared in her Soul-Self where her older self's talons rent the shadow, and she choked back a scream.
Rook	Rook closed her eyes and concentrated. Like this, she could sense the emotions of everyone near her, beacons of love and concern, mixed with fear for her safety and anger that she was in danger. But this wasn't was Raven had meant, and Rook turned her senses inward. At first, all she felt was herself, her own emotions running wild within her. She could feel her heart racing, like the one time she'd held an injured dove in her hands and its heart had beat so fast it had burst. She could feel her love and her trust, but everything else was a wash of fear and failure and negative emotions. "I do not think I can," she said, her eyes fluttering open.
Dinah	Dinah had gotten her breath back from all that telekinesis, seeing Raven trying so hard to keep the evil version under control. Hearing Rook's quavering admission, she stumbled forward, and knelt down next to her, one arm going around her. "Right next to you. Like I promised." She gulped. "Can we help, Raven? Somehow? Emotions and support to you, or to Rookie?" She looked over to their Karla, jerking her head.
Karla	"Just focus, Rook," Karla said, keeping her eyes trained on the Raven struggling within the Soul-Self. She didn't like the way those rips were getting bigger, no not at all. She had a horrible feeling that they were running out of time. But she forced herself to push those thoughts away and send comforting thoughts to Rook. "You can do it, darling. Ignore everything else. We'll take care of your Mother, you just do what you have to."
Raven	"To Rook," Raven said in answer to Dinah's question. She was the one who needed their love and support and to believe in herself. "It will be all right," she said to Rook. Her hand shook as she used it to smooth back the hair from her face, and she flinched as more tears appeared in her Soul-Self. "It is only natural to feel fear now, but do not let it control you. Think of the love you have for your maman and stepfather, and they for you. And Dinah's love, and Karla's, and mine, and the love of your real mother inside you."
Rook	Bolstered by their faith in her, Rook closed her eyes to try again. She ignored the noises coming from inside Raven's Soul-Self, and her parents' pained calling for her name. She ignored her fear and her worry, ignored nine years of being told not to do exactly what she was about to do. She went so deep into herself she was afraid she might not be able to find the way back, until there was nothing and no one but her. Alone. And still she couldn't find it. *Please!* she begged, sending her plea out onto a psychic thread that went further and deeper than anything she'd sent before. *Darkness! Azarath! The souls of everyone who was here before and knew my Mother! Anyone! Please do not let me fail!* For many long heartbeats, nothing. No sign anyone had heard. No sign of whatever Raven had told her to look for. Nothing at all, except for her in a vast ocean of nothing. And then...light. A glowing spark, no bigger than a seed appeared in front of her. It bathed her face with a warm and gentle light. She could almost imagine she heard whispers and laughter from within it. *Are you... what I'm looking for?* Its glow brightened. Rook reached out and cupped it in her hands. My love. The words were a whisper, more emotion than true thought. My child. Kept me safe. Thank you. And then she was surrounded by golden light and was rushing back up to her body in an explosion of light, noise, and the emotions of others. And the golden light that surrounded her shot straight through the tattered remains of Raven's Soul-Self and hit Mother directly over her heart.
Karla	Karla had been getting worried about Rook; she had gone so silent, so still, she barely seemed to be breathing. She had become almost catatonic and Karla feared that Raven had tricked them some how, set a trap for the little girl deep inside herself where no one else could see it. Long minutes ticked past while Raven struggled to keep the evil version contained. "Rook?" Karla called aloud. *Rook?!* Nothing. Nothing to find on a psychic thread. It was like the body remained but the Self was gone. "Rook!" Karla reached out to grasp at the little girl's shoulder, and as she did a brilliant light lit up Rook's body, spilling from her eyes and nose and mouth, from her fingertips to the ends of her hair. It knocked Karla back, throwing her to the ground, before slamming into Raven.
Dinah	Rookie!! Dinah was thoroughly blinded by the gold light, stunned for a moment, as it threw her back too, then scrambling forward on hands and knees, frantic. "Rook, Rook, c'mon, speak to me, Raven? What's happening? Should I get her out of here now?"
Warren	"What--" Warren couldn't look. Couldn't keep his eyes open. The light coming off of his daughter would have been unbearable before. Now it seemed to slice through his skull like a sword on fire. "What... What have you done? What the Hell have you done to our daughter?!" Yelling, meanwhile, he could do just fine. It didn't take any special talent to yell. He didn't even need eyes for that. Somebody's head was going to roll, at this rate. Just as soon as he could... you know. Stand. And see.
Older Karla	Karla wasn't waiting for standing to be possible. For her, it wasn't. Instead she wiggled out of Warren's grasp, eyes closed tight and streaming tears, and began slowly pulling herself towards where Rook had fallen. Whatever happened next, Karla was going to be there with her little girl, offering whatever protection she could.
Evil Raven	Raven shrieked in pain and rage as the golden light hit her. Her younger self's attack had weakened her, and now the purity of her soul she sought to destroy rushed back into the body it had fled, burning away the darkness. "No!" the demon screamed. "I am stronger! I am in control! You will not defeat me!" No, Raven's voice said, unspoken but heard within the minds of all in Azarath. You bound me in a moment of weakness, but I tricked you into giving me to my dearest friend rather than the abomination you sought to implant within her. And this child has kept me safe from you. And now I will reclaim what is mine. Raven howled incoherently. The light grew bright and blinding, then faded, and she crumpled to the ground, still as death. The red coloring of her skin began to fade.
Raven	The shredded pieces of Raven's soul had fled back to her body when the golden light left Rook. She wouldn't have been able to hold her older self but for a few moments longer. She prayed her gamble was right. She weakly reached for Rook. "Rook?" she said.
Rook	"My head hurts," Rook said, slowly pushing herself up off the ground. She shook her head to clear it, looking around for her parents. "Did I do okay?"
Dinah	Dinah was at the point of seeing shadows among the light-bursts in her vision now, and she could follow Rook's voice just fine. She reached out and managed to get her hand on Rookie's shoulder after a minute, and laughed raggedly. "So much more than okay. You were awesome. You did it just right, honey." She squeezed Rook into a hug as hard as she could, sending, You were very, very, very brave and strong. Love you so much. Dinah let her go and said, "Okay, say stuff, people, so Rookie can find you while the lights are still all funky." Which would give her time to figure out how to check on Raven's evil twin. "Raven? Our Raven. You okay?"
Older Karla	Karla wasn't taking directions from the girl scout troop that used her daughter as bait, thanks much. ...However, she did happen to be doing the same thing Dinah suggested, because it was good sense and she'd thought of it at the same time. "Rook!" she called, groping towards them. "Rook, darling, tell me you're all right!"
Rook	"Maman, Maman!" Even with her eyes still adjusting, Rook was running over to her Maman's voice. "I am here! I am fine, please do not worry! They kept me safe, like they promised they would." She threw herself down and wrapped her arms around her Maman, clutching like she would never let go. "Maman, oh, Maman. We are all safe now. You and me and Stepfather. She can never hurt us again. Never ever."
Warren	Never ever. Never was a terribly long time. Warren forced his eyes open, though his head was still spinning. Rook was okay. Rook was okay. Karla wasn't in his lap anymore. Which worried him a little, but considering the extent of his progress along after her mostly consisted of a hands-and-knees crawl as well, it made sense enough. God, he was so tired. "Rook," he murmured, settling on the ground beside her and her mother, and wrapping them both in his arms. He wasn't letting go for anything.
Karla	Karla stood off to the side, knuckling away the tears. Stupid bright lights. Of course that's all they were from. Still, she wasn't as certain as Rook was about Raven's inability to hurt anyone again. Once her vision was no longer obscured, she made her way over to their Raven, all while keeping a steady eye on the crumpled woman in leather. "Raven, you okay?" she asked quietly, echoing Dinah. "Hon, if you can, please get up and tell us what's next."
Fandom Raven	Raven hurt. Her soul had been shredded, made all the worse by the fact that it had been her other self that had done it. Each tear had made her feel not only agony but the darkness of a soul that mirrored her own. But Rook was safe. It had worked, just like she'd known it would. Because it had to. She could feel the change. The other Raven had wanted to destroy Rook because she knew that she'd housed that last fragment of her good self, and to kill Rook would be to end any chance that she could come back from the darkness. The only way to protect Rook was to remove that part of her mother. And the only way to save her older self was to force it back into her. And that made the pain all worth it. "I am well," she said faintly. Not so much, but.
Not-So-Evil Raven	Raven was curled in a ball, shaking. Her soul had been isolated from much of the demon's evil, but now the memories were all her own. Everything she'd done, to Karla, to Warren, to all those she'd called friend. She'd hurt them again.
Dinah	Dinah smiled and patted their Raven, sending calm and love toward her, hoping they'd help. "You did good. Really, really good." As hard as it had been for Rook, it was a nightmare for their girl to do that too. Face the worst of her possible self. Then looked at the other Raven, her hand falling away from their Raven's shoulder. Dinah staggered to her feet, and walked over. Stared down. She remembered helping kill Raven. Remembered her grief at her funeral. Remembered every faceless minion she'd killed in the last day, to save Rook. Helena would say to kill her. Do everyone a favor. Including for the broken woman on the ground. Not so hard. But in her head, in Barbara's voice, there was another answer. She got down shakily to her knees, tears starting to fall, and reached out to Raven, brushing her hair back from her face. Hey, you. Welcome back.
Reformed Raven	Raven flinched away, not out of any fear, but shame that twisted her insides and made her want to throw up. She still wasn't certain just how this had all happened. She remembered dying in Glacia, but somehow, the demon part of her was strong enough to claw her way back once again, and in doing so embraced the evil side of her heritage, something she'd sworn she'd never do. The hows didn't matter. "Kill me, Dinah," she whispered. "Please. Now. Before it is too late again." And this time she wouldn't come back.
Karla	"Shh, honey," Karla said, bending over their Raven. She brushed a strand of dark hair out of her friend's face. "You did good, sweetheart," she murmured. "You did it. You and Rook both." But then she heard the other Raven's words and whirled on her. "Don't you dare," she snarled, unconsciously echoing her older self. "Don't you dare ask her to do that. Haven't you done enough already? You can't look up at Dinah and ask her to kill you. How could you be so selfish on top of everything else you've done?"
Reformed Raven	"Is it selfish to not wish to cause more harm to my friends?" Raven said, cringing back from Karla's anger. "Is it selfish to wish to protect them? Is it selfish to not believe I deserve a second -- a third chance?"
Fandom Raven	Raven could feel it, too, and her older self's guilt and shame. She was terrified now that this was to be her fate as well, to once again be consumed by her father's evil and turn on her friends. To torment Karla and torture Warren...and had she really killed Jono? She had no idea if that had been a lie just to spark her anger or not. "Stop it, please," she whispered. Her shields were as shattered as her soul right now, and the emotions were all cutting like knives into her.
Karla	"You might be feeling all sorts of guilty, but don't you dare ask Dinah to do it for you." Karla was having trouble dredging up even the tiniest bit of warmth and sympathy for Raven now. Not while she was still wearing Warren's wings.
Warren	Warren had ears. He wasn't looking that way. He couldn't stomach the sight of Raven, no matter her shape, just yet. Everything was still so raw. But he heard everything that was going on nearby, and he lifted his head just slightly, his voice low and dangerous all over again. "It would be so easy, wouldn't it? To show you that kind of mercy after all you've made us suffer through." Warren didn't have it in him to be that kind. "Do you really feel that guilty for what you did to us, Raven?" He glanced over his shoulder, not bothering in the least to shield the pure loathing that was roiling through him. He had every right to be angry. "Then own it. Coward." Was she herself again? Was she suffering? Good.
Reformed Raven	"I am sorry," Raven said softly, still huddled on the ground. "It was not...I did not...." It hadn't truly been her who did all those awful things, since her soul had been locked away and then hidden in first Karla, then Rook, but the memories were hers, and she felt responsible. And it didn't matter to them. Nothing she could do would make it right. The only thing she could do was to go somewhere they would never see her again.
Older Karla	"Don't, Warren." Karla reached up and grasped his sleeve, her arm tight around her daughter. "Don't even engage. She's not worth it. We have our daughter and that's all that matters. Let her rot for all I care."
Dinah	It felt like a betrayal to pity this Raven when her victims were right there, but Dinah couldn't help it. The mess with Trigon was too recent; she didn't know how much this Raven had been in control, or not, but... She was so shattered now. Very very gently, not wanting to touch them, Dinah reached out with her telekinesis and worked the wings off Raven's back, and floated them away, putting them down in a corner. "Raven." If she killed this version now-- "I can't." Dinah looked over at their Raven, and then Rook. It would be like saying there was no hope. That their Raven was doomed. That Rook would never get to forgive her mother, know her, the real her, even a little. Always wonder about herself because of it. "I'm sorry I didn't keep my promise. I'm sorry I didn't stop you before this. But I think-- I think that's the easy way out. All that evil that you did-- I know you feel it now. I know the other you. What you deserve, good, bad, is a chance to fix some of it. Heal yourself. If that's possible." Raven might be a threat again, someday. But not today. Dinah stood up and held out her hand. "And if you can't heal..." She didn't think she'd fail, a second time.
Not-So-Evil Raven	"Heal," Raven murmured. She looked over to Karla and Warren again. "Please, let me heal you," she said. She could restore Karla's legs and Warren's wings faster than he could on his own. That would count for something, wouldn't it?
Warren	Karla had told him not to speak to her. And he could see why. After so many years of torment, it was best for all of them to just move on, leave all of this behind. Try to remember how to breathe again. Too many months of darkness and torture were still too fresh in his mind to let him just drop it. "You've already done enough." His voice was small, barely a whisper, and ragged around the edges. But it was positively scathing. And those would be the last words he would spare for the likes of her.
Older Karla	Karla had told Warren to ignore Raven. And had meant it. But Karla was also occasionally incapable of taking her own advice. "I asked you for that, remember?" There were arctic winds blowing over miles of ice and snow that were warmer than her voice. "I dragged myself out to the balcony of the Keep and pleaded with you to Heal my legs. In the name of the friends we once were and the lives we once shared, I begged you. And you laughed and turned away." She had tried to turn it into another bargain for Rook, the heartless bitch. "Turn away again, Raven. There's nothing for you here." There never would be again.
Reformed Raven	There truly wasn't any difference to them any more between who she had been, who she had become, and who she was now, and Raven's heart broke even more. "I am truly sorry," she said again. "And I am thankful you freed me, though I know that means nothing to you now. You will never be troubled by me again." She vanished in a burst of black smoke.
Dinah	"Shit, shit, shit, shit." Dinah paused, then muttered, as she stumbled over to join Karla with their Raven, "You didn't hear that from me either, Rookie." She very gingerly wrapped her arm around Raven from her other side and said, "We should go. There are still some of the skull-faced guys alive, somewhere here. Probably." They could live, or die, in the ruins, escape, whatever, but not get any closer to the people they'd tried to rescue. "Now."
Raven	Raven almost whimpered that she couldn't; she still hurt too much from what her older self had done and the emotions roiling around her. "Yes, now," she agreed. She closed her eyes, shuddering in pain as her tattered Soul-Self rose from her body. It hurt, but she fought to keep her concentration, just long enough to wrap around Rook, both Karlas, Dinah, and Warren, and bring them back to Kaeleer.

[NFI, NFB, OOC would be loved. Warnings for seriously dark themes, violence, reference to past torture, incredibly stupid ideas, monologuing, and a whole slew of other things. Preplayed with blondecanary, trigons_child, and not_a_parakeet and words cannot express my admiration and gratitude for the awesome that they are. Coded with whateverknight's swanky preplay coder, and immediately follows this.]