9. Raven

Raven watches the group as they nervously prepare for the mission. After the meeting, Doctor Fate led the group to his mansion where he rounded them up, giving them various incantations and protection charms. He then starts enchanting their weapons before handing each of them various trinkets of protection.

Studying the sorcerer in front of her, Raven finds his magic strange in comparison to hell's darker magics. When the mystical light touched her skin, the girl felt a strange warmth envelop her body, unlike anything she's felt before. 

"So, you'll be our tour guide for this mission, huh", says the one with a blue bird insignia on his chest. "I'm Nightwing, by the way".

Raven stares at her for a while before realizing he had reached out his hand to shake hers. "Um, hi. I'm Raven", she says before reluctantly shaking hands. 

"I heard", says Nightwing with a chuckle. "So, what's your story?"

Raven opens her mouth but doesn't know where to start. Instead, she starts looking at the standing at the corner of the room. She tries to reach towards him with her magic but feels nothing. Instead, she felt a tiny demon hiding itself within the man. "Who's he?"

Nightwing turns his head and looks at the merc, seemingly disappointed. "That's Toji. He's our demon expert for this mission. Well, besides you, at least. Not much of a talker though". 

"What's wrong with him?", she asks. 

"You're gonna have to ask him. We're not exactly on talking terms. If you need to know, he's quite an-"

Before, he could even finish, Raven walks towards Toji while Nightwing walks away looking dejected.

"What are you?" asks Raven, her magic still trying to sense the man but to no avail.

Toji raises an eyebrow at the question. "Shouldn't I be the one asking that question? Because I'm pretty sure you're not human". 

"What are you talking about? I'm a-".

"Demon?" asks the merc with a smirk. "I've been fighting demons all my life, girl. You think I don't know what your kind smells like".

Everyone's eyes turn towards the two, eyes wide as tension grows in the room. Raven steps back, suddenly feeling vulnerable surrounded by all the heroes. "I'm nothing like that", says the girl, her already pale skin turning paler. Remembering what she had to endure at their hands, Raven's eyes begin to tear up. 

"That's enough", says Doctor Fate, suddenly putting himself between Raven and the merc. "Your job is to protect them, not interrogate her". 

Toji huffs but says nothing. Doctor Fate then turns towards Raven. "We're putting a lot of trust in you Raven. Do not fail us". 

---

Ever since the pale girl showed up, Kara's been having a terrible feeling. At first, the Kryptonian thought it had something to do with the magic that exuded from her. But with the sudden revelation that the girl is actually a demon, or part demon, according to Doctor Fate, Kara's heart begun to thump. It didn't help that when Doctor Fate finally took them to the portal, the magic surrounding the thing was so dark and thick that it made everyone hesitate.

She wanted to voice out her thoughts but seeing how everyone is already on edge, she decided to keep things quiet for now. Instead, she heads for Toji. "So, demon hunter, huh? What's that like?"

The merc looks at her grumpily. "Too much work for too little pay". 

"That why you turned to mercenary work?", she asks. 

"Maybe".

Then, they both go quiet for a while. Pretty much how most of their conversations went. Toji isn't much of a talker so most of the time, their conversations sounded like an interview.

Finally, Kara sighs. "Is this really a good idea?" she whispers to him. "We're going in blind. We've never done that. We've always had Batman or the other heroes give us a recon brief. Can we really trust Raven?"

"It's gonna be alright. I'll make sure to bring you and your friends back in one piece", says Toji then pats Kara on her head. "As for the half-breed, just keep an eye on her. If she does anything suspicious, tell me and I'll take care of her". 

The two of them stand there quietly, watching Doctor Fate do his magic as he takes down the barriers surrounding the portal. "Remember", says the doctor. "Once you're in there, you'll be on your own". He then hands the compass to Nightwing who opens it and inspects the magical arrow inside. 

Doctor Fate continues. "Follow this compass. It'll lead you to the exit leading to Brother Blood. Once you're in hell, you will feel yourselves weaken so prepare yourselves. These demons are unlike anything you've ever faced before. Here we go". Then, the doctor waves his hands and the portal opens, showing a land of fire and brimstone on the other side. 

Kara feels the group tensing. Then Nightwing bravely walks forward with weapons in hand. "Alright people. Let's go". 

---

A.N.

Hi everyone. This weeks chapter is here. There have been some comments on certain aspects of the story (specifically the Toji's backstory info dump). I'll try and rewrite those to fit the characters a bit more. 

Also, people are asking whether magic should work against Toji because of his heavenly restriction. So feel free to correct me on this but based on my research, this is how it works.

Toji's (and Maki's) Heavenly Restriction's main ability is giving Toji inhuman strength. The domains don't work on them is because it (apparently) requires the target to have magic for them to be affected by it. 

So, in the end, they're not necessarily immune. More like they have a better resistance to it based on the kind of magic attack. 

Again, this is all from sites and reddit so if you have some link to say otherwise, feel free to share and I'll look into them.