Infinity: Rising of the Soul Weavers

"Lady Raven," Abbadon called with a bow, "we've taken care of Violent and his legion of beasts."

"Hm, I see," Raven stroked her chin as if she was deep in her thoughts. "I'm not sure if I'm seeing things, but isn't that an army of beasts behind you? Is that how you took care of them?" She asked with raised eyebrows.

"Lady Raven, may I speak freely?" Maeve said slowly. Her voice was so low, almost as if it was a whisper lost in the wind. A part of her was still afraid of her mistress's true powers."

"Haha, of course, Maeve," Raven chuckled. 

"Thank you, kind mistress," she said. "I was the one to spare those monsters and bring them back. I thought that if they've sworn their loyalty to you, you'd forgive them. And I am your adjudicator, my mistress, no soul can lie to my face. 

"I've only done that thinking that it might please you, if that's not the case, then I'll eradicate them in an instant, my mistress."

"I see," Raven smiled. "If you trust that they won't be a burden on you, then by all means, let them be under your command. 

"You just made yourself an army of demonic beasts," Raven chuckled. "Take good care of them, ok?"

"Of course, my mistress," she bowed again with a smile, feeling as if a heavy weight had been removed off of her shoulders. She had thought that her mistress was angry there for a second, but she should have known better.

"Lady Raven," this time it was Abbadon who spoke. "May I be so bold to ask you a question?"

"Hm, for sure," Raven smiled.

"My mistress, what is our next step? Would you like to go on a full on war against Silver and his army? Or would you rather build up our strength first?"

*Sigh*

"Thing is, I'm not quite sure what this Silver's capabilities are, yet, so we can't just underestimate him and charge head on," Raven said. "However, for now, I want you to grab the remaining Sins and test their loyalty. From my understanding, Mave you can do that, correct?"

"Yes, my mistress," Maeve said.

"Good, then you go do that," Raven said. "But before you go, Abbadon, make sure to consult your three remaining archdukes and let them know of our plans so that they can mourn their deaths and get ready for battle against Silver."

"My mistress," Abbadon said, "we demons do not mourn the deaths of our fallen. I've only heard that term being used in the human realm, otherwise I would not have understood you to start with."

"Oh…" Raven didn't know what to say to that so she just nodded. "Well, err, feel free to start with everything else then."

""Yes, mistress,"" they both answered before disappearing. The army of forty or so monsters instantly disappeared as well."

"You seem concerned," Liz's voice almost startled Raven. 

"Um, hehe, not much I guess, it's ok," she said.

"Hm, what is it?" She asked while slowly wrapping her arms around her. "While I may act childishly, I'm still your older friend and I may be able to help, you know."

Taking a deep breath, Raven looked around at the destruction caused by a single demon lord and couldn't help but shake her head.

"I just keep wondering… have I done the right thing?" She asked. "I'm raising powers that could very well be the end of this world. Yet at the same time, I can't just turn a blind eye and ignore the dread that is coming our way.

"On this side we have this Silver guy to take care of, and on the other, we have a whole alien invasion all over again…"

Feeling Liz's arms tighten around her, Raven looked at her face. She saw tears in her eyes, and her fearful yet childish expression made her look so cute and pitiful at the same time.

"That's so scary!!" She cried. "I can't believe someone your age has to go through all of this, ahhhh!" She cried while hugging her even tighter.

"Eh? Ehhhhhh??" Raven didn't know how to react to Liz's unexpected breakdown. "You said you wanted to hear my concerns!! What happened to 'Oh let me hear it, I'm older you know'????"

"I was joking!!" Liz retaliated. "I'm but an old baby!!" She sniffed as Raven started to slowly wipe her tears away.

"You're such an idiot…" Raven said under her breath.

"I am?" Liz asked.

"You definitely are!" Aella's voice suddenly came from behind a corner. She had a big smile on her face as well as tears in her eyes. 

"Were you laughing at her or me for trusting a baby like her?" Raven asked, understand that she must have been laughing her a*s off from their interactions.

"Both!" Aella was struggling to hold her laughter. "But erm, anyway, I don't understand what you're concerned about exactly.

"Yeah we're being attacked on both ends, but how does that affect you? Remember your goal is to find your Maya, no?" She grinned. "Will anything stop you from finding her?"

Hearing Aella's words, Raven couldn't help but think of how stupid she must have sounded just a second ago. "No, obviously not…" she smiled. "Nothing will stop me from finding my Maya."

"You're such good friends!" Liz said while hugging them both together, tears still in her eyes.

"And you're just a giant baby!" Aella scolded. "Good for nothing but requiring attention!" 

"Hm, maybe," she shrugged. "But I'm with Raven. I can be whatever when she's with me."

Hearing that, Aella smacked her forehead while biting her lip. "May I borrow this ungrateful kid?" She asked.

"By all means," Raven replied with a fake cruel expression.

Without waiting for Liz to understand what was going on, Aella grabbed her neck like a pup and dragged her away.

"Wonderful friends you have," Gaia said while making herself visible, sitting on Raven's shoulder.

"Uhm," Raven nodded with a smile. "Why didn't you make yourself visible for them to see you?"

"Hm, I don't know…" she shrugged. "You lot are weird, I'd rather understand by observing you first. I'll start interacting with them more once I get used to-"

"Let me stop you right there," Raven interrupted. "What you're saying is that you've actually never interacted with a living soul before, so you're not sure how to go around it?"