The Perk, Saturday Morning

[trigons_child]

Raven had come back to Fandom from Glacia with everyone else, but unlike some of the others, she was still completely her normal self. And blissfully unaware of any AU shenanigans as she woke up in the hotel and headed to the Perk for some tea.

[Open! May be SP at times because my town is having an Art & Wine Crawl...er, Walk, and I must go

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[heromaniac]

That voice...

Momoko's hand stopped abruptly, the tea spilling slightly over the brim of her cup as it did. She visibly tensed for a second or two before forcibly calming herself.

Lowering the cup to table, Momoko raised her head but didn't turn to look Raven in the eyes. She didn't need to; Raven knew Momoko was both afraid and yet not. Was probably even reveling in the conflicting emotions she was getting from her. "I heard you were active again, leaving a trail. But I never suspected I'd find you here of all places."

[trigons_child]

"Momoko, please," Raven said gently, slowly rising to her feet. "You must believe me. I am not the Raven you think I am. I wish you no harm."

[heromaniac]

"You haven't been the Raven I thought you were in years." Momoko didn't move from her chair as Raven stood, but she did lower a hand to her Power Compact, her mind already running through ways to take the fight outside and away from any bystanders. Especially since Raven wouldn't care... or quite possibly would want people to see how powerful she was. Pride was like that.

"And I am sure our definitions of harm still differ, my old friend."

[trigons_child]

"I am not the Raven of your world," Raven said. "You have been transported to a Fandom that is not the same as the one you know. I am not the same as you remember, I promise you."

She was really starting to hope that no more people from that world showed up, wanting to kill her.

[heromaniac]

Momoko's eyes narrowed. "What game are you playing this time?" Although hiding herself really wasn't Raven's style...

And now that Momoko was looking, she noticed... Raven's eyes were wrong. And she wasn't giving off power like she was a broken nuclear reactor. "What's happened to you?" This time.

[trigons_child]

Raven took a cautious step toward her. "It is no game," she said. "The Raven you knew was tortured and broken, but I am not her. I share some of her memories, but her life was not mine."

[heromaniac]

To say Momoko didn't understand would be a huge understatement. Oh she understood the words, but not the fact that this Raven seemed so much like the Raven she'd first met all those years ago. Perhaps a bit less reserved, but very close. She spent a long minute staring and trying to decide her next step.

Finally, since she wasn't seeing any demon aura at all, Momoko decided to relax her guard just a bit. She would play out this game and see what came of it. She waved to one of the empty seats at the table with one hand, the other still hovering near her Compact. She's had experiences with Raven, okay?

[trigons_child]

Relieved, Raven sat opposite Momoko. Given how their last encounter had gone in Umbridge's world, she could completely understand her reaction.

"You have been drawn to a different Fandom," she said. "One where Umbridge never ruled the island as she did in yours. Students were never imprisoned. We experienced part of your world for a week, but it is not our reality here."

[heromaniac]

Momoko's eyes narrowed. "You do realize that knowing all of that means you were actually there, right? Raven, what are you doing back here? Did I walk into some trap? You're going to have to explain this one, I'm afraid. I don't get it."

[trigons_child]

Raven drew in a breath and let it out, trying to think of how best to explain this. "What Umbridge did in your world never happened in ours," she said. "She never murdered Professor Skywalker, and she was imprisoned in the library. But she escaped, and managed to cast some sort of spell that allowed her to go back in time and change history, so that she could kill Professor Skywalker and control the island. For a week, we were trapped in that world, the one she created with her spell, until we set it to right. But that world still existed somewhere, for you, and for Warren. And that other Raven. But I am not her. She is what I could have been, but thank Azar I am not. And the Momoko I know is my dear friend, and I would never willingly do her harm."

She shook her head sadly. "I am sorry, I am not good at explaining, and I know this must sound so very strange."

[heromaniac]

"Very strange. But there is one way to know for sure that you're not you." Momoko removed her Compact and set it on the table. Ready to grab if needed. "Show me your full aura. I know you're hiding it, since I can't see it. Show it to me and I'll know you're telling the truth."

[trigons_child]

Raven stood again, closing her eyes and letting her Soul-Self rise from her shoulders. It was black, of course, and edged in golden light, but it wasn't a threatening darkness. On another level it glowed with life and light and love, though something darker pushed at the edges, as if it were trying to worm its way in but was being kept carefully out.

"Will that do?" Raven said.

[heromaniac]

Momoko felt like she was going to cry. "That..."

Okay, she was crying. Gentle tears worthy of the miracle she'd been shown. A miracle she'd been chasing for so long and never really expected to see. "You're not her." Her voice was soft and tinged with almost an exhausted relief.

[trigons_child]

"I am not," Raven swore, and she was going to reach for Momoko and give her a hug if she'd let her.

"The Raven you knew was broken, but thank Azar that was not my fate here."

[heromaniac]

She was awkward and stiff, but Momoko didn't struggle against the hug. It had taken her months to get re-used to them, but she had. Of course she never expected to share one with Raven, and especially not at Fandom Island.

Azar. Was that who Momoko had to thank for this small respite?

"She still is. I'm on my way to find her again." Following another rumour. "I'm sorry."

[trigons_child]

Raven drew back and shook her head, wiping a hand across her eyes. "No," she said. "Do not apologize. You must do what you must. That Raven was lost long ago. Umbridge shattered her mind when she put her in detention, and when she was finally free, she had none of the humanity that keeps my demon side in check. She must be stopped."