Infinity: Rising of the Soul Weavers

"Around the boy's neck, I saw a lustrous and mysterious necklace that looked similar to-"

"Something like this?" Raven interrupted while holding out her Amethyst Heart between her fingers. Her hands were shaking and tears were welling up in her eyes. 

Kayla couldn't believe this was happening as she understood where all of this was going. 'But why was the World wary of her? There's no way Raven would destroy a planet and kill all of the innocent people, right?' she questioned herself, feeling just as lost as Raven was.

"Ah, this necklace indeed," Black smiled, seemingly not surprised, which explained to Raven why he had wanted to become her subordinate before even 'meeting' her.

'Something must have happened to convince him of leaving me alive at the time…' Raven thought, feeling her head hurting.

"To be honest, I had no interest in the necklace, but I still remember reaching for it." Black continued. "Just as I was about to hold it within my hands, I remember a flash of azure aura that sent me crashing against the ground, crushing my knees in the process.

"I realized at the time that someone, far more powerful than myself, was protecting you." As he said that, Raven held tighter onto her necklace as a vision of an azure haired woman flashed in her eyes. 

'Where are you?' she muttered before blinking twice as if she was not aware of what her lips had just mouthed.

Waiting a few seconds for Raven to focus again, Black continued. "Just as I was thinking about a new way of killing… you…" he said with a bitter chuckle, "a kind, yet firm, feminine voice rang in my mind, and it didn't belong to the cold Voice of the World.

"On the contrary, the kind voice had told me not to trust the Voice of the World. I remember talking for a while with this other voice, but what convinced me of leaving you alone was the fact that… hm, oh, I'm not sure I can tell you." He chuckled at Raven's expression. 

For some reason, she felt that everything was okay and didn't even think about asking further. As if she had already known what he was hiding.

"Anyhow, after some negotiations with the voice, we reached an agreement and formed a contract, of which I can not disclose just yet. 

"Shortly after, the azure light disappeared and I was left alone with you in the forest.

"Naturally, I knew a lot about human interactions and such. That's why I held your tiny shaking body within my arms and travelled to the nearest human city I could find.

"While I was there, I saw pictures of one woman that seemed to be popular amongst the humans, with her pictures everywhere on boards and items that we do not have in the demon world. 

"Finding her was an easy task because of the signs leading to her. And once I did find her, I did what any demon would have done…" he smiled.

"You manipulated her mind, I mean... the mayor's mind… you were the reason she had thought I was her 'son' at the time, and biological one at that…" Raven said. Feeling her knees weak, she sat on the throne and hugged herself as everything started to suddenly make sense, and she didn't know how to feel about it.

Kayla wanted to ease the tension in her mind but she didn't know how. But a small part of her also wanted to make sure Raven was able to deal with this one on her own.

"Yes, Lady Raven, I did," Black bowed in front of her, "However, I've only manipulated her memories, together with everyone else in the city, to ensure no one can figure out the truth. However, I did not cast and charm or love spells on the mayor, meaning that-"

"Her love was all real…" Raven cut him off and he nodded with a smile.

"Ok, who was that voice and did it come from this necklace?" Raven asked weakly while holding the Amethyst Heart tighter between her fingers. "The voice that told you to help me."

"Hm, all I can tell you about the voice is that the one behind it truly loves you, Lady Raven," Black said.

"Don't act dumb, or do you think I'm stupid?" Her voice was suddenly cold as she stared at Black. "It was my real mother, was it not? Why do you hide that fact from me? Why is it that every time I think about her- I… why is that every time I-" feeling her consciousness drift away, she held tighter into the necklace before falling asleep.

Materialising in front of Raven, was a brilliant azure solitude of a woman. "Black…" her voice rang across the conference room, it was kind yet firm, just like he had described it. "You're aware that you didn't need to tell her any of this, right?" Avavia asked while patting the sleeping Raven's body.

"Mu… mum…" Raven suddenly spoke, surprising everyone and especially Avavia as she was not supposed to be awake. 

She wanted to avoid meeting her now at any cost, she needed to ensure that Raven forgot about her for the time being.

Raven's voice was weak as if it was on the verge of tears. "It is you… I thought- I will never see you again…" It wasn't clear whether she was truly awake, or was dreaming loudly.

"Amy…" Avavia muttered, feeling her body getting weak already as it started flickering like a lamp that was about to burn out. "Sleep, honey," she said while touching her eyes gently to prevent her from seeing the azure light. 

'You want to see me, and I want to talk to you, honey. But at this time, you're not ready yet.

'You have to get stronger… no, I have to get stronger… I'm not sure if I can watch your broken expression a second time…' if Avavia's body was real, she would have gotten goosebumps just by thinking back to her last memory with her daughter.

*Sigh*

"Black, promise me to keep that contract of yours, ok?" She asked slowly. 

"If demons respected anything other than power… it would be loyalty and honouring contracts. Fear not, mother of my Lady, I will keep her safe," Black said with a bow.

Before allowing her body to disperse into thin air, Avavia looked into Raven's eyes and took a deep breath. "Young Cyber Valkyrie… Kayla, I know you hear me, please keep this incident from her. It may seem cruel of me to keep my distance, but… it's for the best, trust me please…" 

Getting closer to Raven's face, Avavia gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead as a single tear ran down her eye.. Moments later, she was gone.