Streets of Fandom, Friday morning

[raven_unhollow]

Raven prowled through the streets of Fandom, keeping a wary eye out for any villagers foolish enough to be out by themselves (herself excluded, of course) or those who had gone hollow. She was also looking for any of these new visitors to the island she'd both sensed and heard about. Some of them felt...familiar in a way, though she couldn't

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[glacial_queen]

Good luck directing Karla anywhere, Raven. You of all people should know how stubborn she was. But rather than continue to be stared at by Cassandra and not willing to kill what was left of the girl before they had a chance to see if they could somehow fix this thing--after the Nothing, Karla had a lot of faith that things could be fixed--she'd decided to leave the shantytown and head for the library, where hopefully the researchers would be hard at work. She'd always preferred to be on the fighting end of these things, but another pair of eyes on the researching side could only help.

"Raven?" she called when she spotted her friend. Karla was confused; hadn't she left Raven in the village still? "Did you teleport here to meet me?"

[raven_unhollow]

Raven tensed as she saw Karla and shifted into her demon form. "You finally dared to leave your nest?" she snarled.

She could hear Hannibal's words again in her head. "One day one of you will kill the other. Or you both will. No matter what happens, you'll hate it." True, but she wasn't going to run from the chance to put Karla to rest.

[glacial_queen]

"My--nest?" Karla looked puzzled. "Is that some kind of bird pun from--Mother Night!" Honestly, it was a good thing that Karla had seen Raven's demon form frequently over the years, or she might have assumed she'd gone hollow in the ten or so minutes since she'd seen her last. "The Hell, Raven?!"

[raven_unhollow]

"Your illusions may trick my eyes but I will not let them fool my heart," Raven said. "I know what you are. Wear her face and use her voice all you want, but I know you are no longer her, abomination!"

This was her chance. Without her web to retreat into, the thing formerly known as Karla had no easy escape.

[glacial_queen]

"My illusions?" Karla asked, even as she tested the strength of her shields to make sure they were strong. She didn't want to assume that Raven was going to attack her--but she wasn't stupid enough to assume she wouldn't, either. "Hell's fire, I haven't spun a tangled web since we got here."

Since they. Wait. Oh shit.

"You're not my Raven," she said. "Oh, fuck me, are you one of them?"

[raven_unhollow]

Was this some sort of trick? The thing knew all her weakest spots. Karla restored to herself was her greatest dream, but it was only that -- a dream. Once someone went hollow, there was no coming back, especially if they turned monstrous afterward.

She held her attack. "Where are the children?" she said. The spider queen wouldn't be able to resist another jab at that, the hole in her armor, would she?

[glacial_queen]

"Stay away from my children," Karla snarled, not about to tell a teleporter that her children were home safe with their father. "You even think about them and I will gut you and tie your entrails around a rock."

Way to not sound like a monster there, Karla.

[raven_unhollow]

Raven faltered. No way could that thing fake the emotion in Karla's voice, that protectiveness of her children.

"Karla?" she said, returning to her human form. "Karla, is it really you?" People may have crossed over from another Fandom, but never did she dream Karla could be one of them.

[glacial_queen]

Karla held up a hand, not willing to let Raven get all that close. "Yeah, I'm me, but how do I know that you're you. You just changed your tone awfully quick."

Suspicious Queen was suspicious, mostly because she had no idea what was going on in this place and it had her all on edge.

[raven_unhollow]

The walls of stone Raven had tried to put around her heart cracked with such sudden force that she actually felt it. She pressed her hand to her chest, blinking back tears.

"I am the me that is now, and you are the you that you were then," she said softly. "Is this hope or just another torment? Or am I finally going mad?"

[glacial_queen]

"We're new," Karla explained, though she was still keeping her shields at the ready, just to be safe. "This Fandom merged with ours and took over. So now there are a great number of people walking around, meeting their other-worldly doubles. You might even meet yours."

You know. If she were really Raven.

[raven_unhollow]

"Another...me?" Raven said. Was there some way she could warn herself to protect Karla better, keep her safe from the corruption if it hit their Fandom? Or better yet, make certain it never happened?

She shook herself from those fantasies, unable to not notice that Karla was still on her guard. "I would never harm your children, yours or mine," she said. "I would die to protect them. I only asked because...you are different in this world. You have threatened them with harm, but they are far beyond your reach."

[glacial_queen]

"Open your mind to me," Karla said. "And let me see for myself who and what you are."

It was the most expedient way to do it, honestly.

[raven_unhollow]

"Very well," Raven said.

She braced herself as she lowered her shields, but not because of Karla's probing. She was about to feel all the emotions around them again, everything she'd locked out after she lost Karla.

[glacial_queen]

Karla could make it quick, at least. Her probe was brisk and professional, a quick slide into her thoughts to peer through them. They'd done this enough over the years that it was like sinking down into a nice bath--warm, comforting, and familiar.

Or, at least, it should have been. But this wasn't her Raven, even if it wasn't a hollowed, corrupted one either, and there were many years of of experiences here that had changed Raven's mind enough that it wasn't as familiar as Karla had been anticipating. Years of hurt and fear and anger had changed the landscape and Karla could see where Raven strangled down her empathy and shut out the emotions of the others.

But still, it was Raven, no matter the changes, and Karla was trying to pull her into a tight hug as soon as she put the barriers back between them.

[raven_unhollow]

For a moment, Raven was stunned by the presence of Karla in her own mind, something she thought she'd never feel again. It flowed through her, filling places that she'd locked away long ago.

"Karla," she wept, hugging her back just as fiercely. "I am so sorry. I tried but I could not heal you. I could not...." Kill her. She couldn't even bear to say it.