The Hybrid

The Start of the Journey

Raven opened her eyes and saw herself in a black void. "Where am I?"

"With me," Growled a base-like voice. Raven turned around and saw her demonic equal again, grinning amusingly with its four glowing eyes. "You've just given yourself more power."

"Why are you here?" Raven questioned.

"The amulet in its full form was able to block your powers and the effect of your emotions. The tie has been severed," The demonic half replied, walking around Raven.

"And the more I gain, the more I have access to my powers?" Raven guessed. Her equal nodded. "Which gives you the chance to terrorize me again."

"Not quite," The demonic Raven grumbled. "The powers you're attaining also help to sever your magical powers from your emotions. This is because of Beast Boy's amulet being tied with his... inner beast."

"You mean the Beast?"

"Precisely."

"So why are you here?" The demonic part of Raven grumbled again.

"I'm offering... the same thing." Raven's eyes narrowed.

"Why would I trust you? You're the 'demonic' part of me."

"I can't survive without you... literally."

"The shards give you more power, doesn't it? I won't let that happen," Raven said determinedly.

"You've already severed that tie," The demonic side replied, "when you overcame your fears of losing control. The next thing for you to do is to conquer your rage and ill-gotten confidence. If you trust me or not, yes, the shards will give your powers back and reinstate your... original self, but only until you get all of them. Have fun." She smiled, not wickedly, but smugly.

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Raven's eyes opened. She saw Groot and Lief looking down at her. "You're alive?"

"I think. Otherwise, the Gates of Hades is a very furry place," Raven sarcastically muttered, rubbing her head. Lief smiled, helping her back up. "Where's the shard?"

"It disappeared when you held it. And the thing on your head has turned green." Groot replied. He was referring to her Ajna chakra stone on her forehead. A small fraction of the stone was green but the rest was still red.

"I think I absorbed it," Raven guessed.

"Well, it's a good guess," Lief shrugged.

"What about the hyenas?" Raven asked. Lief pointed to the small village of lions and the teen could see a familiar hyena talking to the hyenas and lions.

"I was a fool," Verloor said, "Trying to look for belonging where I know it wasn't going to be given and I doomed my family to the fate. This is why I started the war. Thinking that some spark could remove me from being an outcast." His eyes were reddening. "But now I know I was NEVER anything like a hyena! Or a lion!" He shouted. "You two claw and bark at each other like silly children! Kwaad knew that he could use that to rule over both of you. Now I know why I was chosen to be an Animalist. Because the idiocy of this war would have surely sent me into a tumbling spiral. I lost my wife, my LOVE, because of this war. While most of you have already lost loved ones, I was stupid in thinking that I could save mine from fate." Raven walked towards Verloor and stood by him. She spoke slowly to the hyenas and the lions.

"You have a choice. Fight each other so there is more blood or admit that this war has been pointless. The Animalists will no longer help you."

"The Animalists are supposed to give us peace!" Shouted a lion.