Chapter 4

Previously on ATOCAD

Soon he was finished and just as he stopped his features return to normal and he looked at Raven with a questioning gaze. "What the hell was that?"

Chapter 4

[Sonoran Desert North America]

"What the hell was that?" asked a wide-eyed Rudra. Raven who was just as surprised answered. "I think that was your activation spell" seeing his confused expression she explained. "Every magic-user has its unique activation spell that is keyed into their magic. These spells are helpful in circulating one's magical reserve as per their will. Although one can circulate their magic subconsciously when they are in danger but if you want to consciously control your magic flow then you will need the mastery in your activation spell."

Sighing Rudra rubbed his temple and looked at Raven who was staring back at him with those beautiful violet eyes. Shaking his head he stopped himself from going in a daze and asked. "So according to you I now possess magic?" Seeing her nod, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm his racing heart down.

A thought then crossed through his mind. 'How does she know so much about my situation and what exactly is she doing here, in the middle of a desert' he thought. Quickly coming to a decision he asked "Raven can I ask you something?"

Frowning she gave him a nod. She was not used to talking with people or answering their questions but she wanted to know what he was doing in this world and all the mysteries connected to him, really made her curious. While she was thinking all this she heard. "I know it is a personal matter but can you please tell, how do you know so much about my condition?" at this a bad feeling appeared in her heart.

She was afraid that he would react badly if he knew about her heritage. She thought of lying to him but in the end decided against it, knowing that it will only make things worse. She then took a deep breath before saying. "Rudra just like you, I also have magic but unlike your chaos magic mine is dark in nature and the reason for that is because I am a half-demon."

Hearing the last part his eyes went wide. "A half-demon" sighing she looked down as her expression became neutral. "Does me being a half-demon bothers you?" She asked wanting to know his thoughts.

Seeing her cold expression, he understood what was going on in her head. He also used to have that same expression on his face whenever he killed a person. In his past life, he killed hundreds of people and with each kill, a part of his human self died too, consumed by the very darkness that he was trying to save his nation from. But he knew that those people needed to die or the countless innocent would suffer. So he could either go back and let thousands of innocent people die or he could become a merciless killer and kill those who seek to rule the world. And he chose later.

"Raven, I don't care if you are a half-demon or not. Because I am not qualified to judge you. I lost my humanity a long time ago when I had to kill all those terrorists, mad dictators and corrupt politicians. And even though they deserved to die, those acts still left behind scars on my mind and soul but they are also what makes me who I am. Good or Bad it is all me and I have accepted that fact. So instead of running from your demonic half try to understand it and believe me you will eventually find your equilibrium." He finished as a faraway look appeared on his face.

Hearing all this and looking at his melancholy look, her mind went blank for a moment. The response he gave was not what she was expecting. She was always asked to suppress her demonic half but this man she just met wanted her to accept it. "It is not that easy Rudra, I can't control my demonic half. If I channeled too much of my dark magic, I will lose control over my body and will destroy everything that comes in my way." She explained with a grave expression.

Sighing Rudra shook his head and said. "Raven, I am not talking about your demonic magic."

"What are you talking about then? As far as I know, my negative emotions trigger my magic to act violently." She said not knowing what he was getting to.

'It's sure gonna be a long talk but it is not like I have somewhere else to go So I might as well help her.' Thinking this he sat down on the sand making himself comfortable. He then patted the ground beside him and looked at the woman standing beside him. "Sit down please."

She hesitated for a moment but eventually sat down since she did not want to go back to the 'Titans Tower' yet.

After she sat down, Rudra took a small breath and begins. "Raven, when I mention that you should accept your demonic half, I wasn't talking about your magic but your soul. Currently, you are in an emotional turmoil where you don't know what you want to be, a Demon or a Human and because of this your subconscious mind has divided your character into two polar opposite personality. And if I am not wrong one of these two personalities represents your control, love and logical mind while the other is the manifestation of your Rage, hatred and instinctive urges."

Hearing this she frowned as a thoughtful look appeared on her face. If what he was saying was true then she was suffering from 'Dissociative Identity Disorder'. Her expression then went dark as she thought of all the hardship she went through in her life that leads to her current situation.

Seeing her down look, Rudra shook his head. If he was not wrong then she was currently reliving her worst experiences. "Raven do you wanna talk about your past?" she didn't respond for a while then she shook her head indicating her unwillingness to talk about her past. Releasing a tired sigh he tried again. "Listen I know we just met and you don't know what sort of person I am but believe me sometimes it is easy to tell your pains to a total stranger rather than those who you consider as friends since they won't judge you." with that he went silent and waited for her response.

Raising her head, she looked into his grey eyes and asked. "Do they teach Psychology in special forces as well." chuckling he waved his hand and replied. "No, but I have a lot of experience with them, in special forces, all operatives are subjected to a full mental check to see if they are suffering from any sort of P.T.S.D. And believe me, talking about your horrors can substantially decrease the burden on your shoulders." Hearing this her expression became passive but she still didn't say anything.

And just as he was about to give up he heard. "I grew up with my mother Melissa Roth in Michigan, we were happy, she loved me so much and despite the incidents of accidental magic outbursts she never looked at me with disgust. She was always there for me." Saying this a-lone tear traced down her cheek. "Then one night when we were having dinner, dozens of men dressed in black robes broke into our house and pointed a gun at my head."

Hearing this Rudra took a hold of her hand, feeling his touch she flinched but didn't pull back and continued. "They then forced my mother to tell the truth of me being adopted, but before I could even be angry at her, the leader of the group pointed his gun in my mother's direction and shot her right in the head." Tears were now freely falling from her eyes. Since her emotions were in turmoil, a dark ambience started to leak out from her body. Rudra frowned seeing this but didn't paid much attention to it and tightened the grip around her hand.

"The man told me about my real parents. That day I learned about my mother who was an acolyte in a Satanic cult, the cult those men belonged to and my father, an inter-dimensional demon named Trigon to whom the satanic cult was devoted to." At the mention of Trigon, the black ambience became chaotic and a silhouette of giant raven appeared behind her.

"My magic then went haywire and when I regained my consciousness blood was everywhere. I was scared so I ran away as far away as I could. The years then passed with me trying to evade the members of my father's cult. Then one day I met a group of young heroes who worked under the supervision of Justice League. At first, I was wary of them but after they saved me from the cult we became friends and I joined their team." Remembering her team a smile graced her lips but it soon disappeared as she remembered what happened this morning.

"In the team, I found someone who wasn't bothered by my past and we fell in love, but guess what today I found that he has been cheating on me with another girl." And with that, she went silent and looked down letting her tears fall.

…..

Rudra looked at the burning sky not knowing what he should do in a situation like this. Looking back at Raven, he sighed and said. "That's a lot Raven and to be honest I can't understand what you must have gone through in your life but ….. ".

And before he could continue with his rambling, Raven who was still unconsciously releasing her magic suddenly hugged him, causing them to fell on the ground with an "Umph". Feeling her hands around his waist, a shock went through his body and his mind went blank.