World Tree MUSH

     It's a bright and sunny day in the middle of Whocaresville, a wonderful town somewhere in the state of Idunnowa in a random world that Damian strolled into on his first little sightseeing tour of the World Tree. He doesn't have the foggiest clue what the city's name actually is, or the state it resides in, but it kinda resembles one of those cities along the coast, like New York or something. Maybe it's Chicago? There's a lot of water next to it anyway, and Damian has very little experience with these things.

What /really/ matters is that he's found a book store! Now, anyone who knows Dame would tell you that he loves comics, and this one does indeed have a graphic novel section, stocked full of the latest gory, violence-filled event comics that kids like him love to read while chowing down on some sugary snacks and soft drinks. He almost wishes he could've been born in the eighties, to experience what it was /really/ like!

Now, this section isn't the largest by far, just sort of tucked away in the northeastern corner of the store, but it's got more than enough material to hold the demon prince's attention... and lots of bright, colorful things for his three hellish little fangirls to rifle through as they chatter at each other, one in particular having chosen a rare Braille edition of the Captain Fistfight collection. Other than being a little excited about what they've found, they're not causing any real trouble... yet!

Raven had been enjoying herself. Relaxing, reading a book. Of course she was. A massive history tome the size of her head and so detailed it would have made a normal student fall asleep in the first chapter.

Of course Raven loved it and was enamored by all the little details, the secrets of this world. For example, in this world there existed rainbow colored birds who--

Her mind was torn from aviary subjects as... Something... Nagged at her magical senses. And iy was with horror she realized what it was... Demons. Demons like her.

She closed her eyes and focused and.... Narrowed her eyes. She got to her feet and made her way towards them, slowly. Quietly... And then her eyes fell on them. Particularly... Damian.

She could feel it. It wasn't like merlin. The foul touch of her FATHER was all over him. Another one if her 'brothers'. And the other three must be his minions. She was a little confused that they were reading comics but... Violent ones so she supposed it made sense.

Her right hand moved out and... She became her raven form. They'd hear a caw... Right before the bird ran into and snatched them into it's darkness, only to fly through the wall and toss them out of the building, into the alley behind the store.

Raven reformed, her eyes glowing from beneath the hood. "I should have known. How many of your filth are being sent out, now?" Spears of darkness formed in her hand, lancing out at thr four.

"If you think I'll fall this easily, you are wrong! When you return to the hell you came from, tell him i will NEVER SERVE HIM!" she screamed in a raw rage.

     There's a caw. Why is there a caw? Damian didn't see any birds when he came i- OH SHIT IT'S A CROW

The demonic quartet are enveloped in darkness, confusion, and panic as they're dragged outside by Raven's magic, hurled into the alleyway where they land in a heap against the wall. Groaning and trying to gather their bearings, they disentangle from one another, Damian sitting up and rubbing his head. "The hell was that?"

The bird changes into a human girl in front of him... or is she human? Humans don't normally have glowing eyes, do they? Or shadowy spears they can summon at will... "Why are we being attacked by a witch?" he questions, just before diving out of the way of one of those spears with a high-pitched squeak.

"Whoa, watch it lady! What'd I ever do to you, huh!?" the prince growls as he gets up on his hands and knees, shaking a fist at Raven. "This isn't something to do with my dad, is it?"

Meanwhile, the three fuzzy implings launch themselves at the teen mage, screeching in some strange black tongue as they... impotently flail at her, apparently possessing little to no actual combat ability. One even tries to climb up to Raven's head and gnaw on it.

Raven shrieked as she was climbed. To... The other girls possible surprise, their impotent flailing was actually effective. Her focus was on damian more than them...

And she wasn't the best at, well, physical. So as they jumped on her she shrieked and flailed. "Off! Get off! OW!" AND ONE OF THEM BIT HER! Her eyes turned dark red and a shield of darkness formed at her core and branched out, throwing them off her and across thr alley.

Then her eyes focused on damian. "I am done playing games. I am DONE BEING A PAWN! I will not allow you TO HURT ME OR MY FRIENDS EVER AGAIN! Tell Trigon to send all the demons he wants, i will destroy them all and i will NEVER BOW TO HIM!" 

 Jagged spears of darkness flew through the air from her body and it mighy occur to damian... She fully intended to kill him. To be fair, though, she did think he was just an astral projection...

 Though as the spears flew, her eye twitched. Wait... Something... Felt wrong... What was... Something gnawed at her.

     The three demon sisters are thrown off pretty easily, but not before one of them hauls up and slaps Raven across the cheek! Even if she could destroy them all pretty easily, they ain't gonna let no goth hussie lay a finger on their MAN!

Speaking of the young prince, he's brought himself upright again at this point, levitating in the air to meet Raven's gaze at eye level. His fur bristling, horns revealing themselves atop his head as an upside-down cross-shaped mark spreads across his forehead, he snarls, "You wanna try that again, hot stuff?"

As those spears are flung at him again, Damian takes off several meters into the air to avoid them, arcing downward to bring his scrawny weight down on the girl so he can... maybe wrestle her to the ground or something? Is it /okay/ to hit a girl if she's trying to kill you? Dang it dad, these are the things you're supposed to teach your kid!

Meanwhile, the triplets have somehow gotten their hands on a bag of popcorn, and are passing it around as they watch and cheer Damian on.

Raven narrowed her eyes, focusing on him and... Hot stuff? What in the... There was a bit of wavering. What if... There it was, the bit of doubt. The confliction. What if she was wro--

And he dodged her spears, flying over and... She was brought down, hitting the ground and skidding in thr dirt, she stared up at him... And lifted a hand of darkness.

Only for the darkness to fade away as her eyes widened. Confusion. And then... Regret? 

"You... Don't want to hurt me..." She whispered. "Oh... Oh no. You're not... You're not one of my brothers," she said softly. And there it was. She could feel it. He was DEFINITELY like her. A sonof trigon. But... Not? He felt so much like her brothers. But he WASN'T. 

"You're... Not... Evil. Or... Oh no. I... I am so sorry... I..." And all the fight was gone as she stared up at him. And now therr was just a look of shame and... Oh gosh. Was... Was she going to cry? Oh gosh she looked like she might cry. How hard did he slam her into the ground? Not that hard.

     The skidding of the impact kicks up a bit of dust, but Damian isn't the heaviest or strongest guy around. Still, with a girl as unimposing as Raven, he's able to pin her down semi-effectively, hands gripping her shoulders and knees straddling either side of her waist. His eyes burning like embers, he glances at that dark hand for a brief moment as he looks ready to go in for a bite...

But Raven stops herself, and Damian's got enough control to stop as well, just staring down at her with eyes narrowed skeptically. "Yeah, no, I'm an only child. I don't even know who this 'Trigon' guy /is/. Sheesh, whatever you're on lady, I think you should swap it out with some chill pills."

"Kiss her already!" one of the triplets calls out in plain English, but one of the others smacks her upside the head. It is, however, still enough for Damian to blush as he realizes the position he's in, the fur of his cheeks turning black as he awkwardly rolls off of Raven and settles into a cross-legged sitting position next to her.

"Mind telling me who you are?" he asks, but then notices that she looks like she might cry at any moment. "Er, hey, come on. I didn't hit you that hard. You're fine, I'm fine, everyone's fine here. No harm no foul, right?"

Raven turned almost completely scarlet at the 'kiss her' comment, to match his. "please don't. " The moment he was off, she flew(not stood) back up. Only to move so she was kneeling with her back to them. She was a little shy.

"Well... I did nearly... Kill you. So... I feel i should... " she closed her eyes before slowly standing and turning to face him. "Trigon is... He... Is my..." Father? The thought made her shudder. She didn't want to say it. "A demon. The king of demons in my world. He has many names but... He... Has been pursuing me for a while. And you... Reek of him. Well. As being a part of him." It's disgusting, not that she says it.

".... But i am also an empath. And... When you touched me... You meant me no harm. You are nothing like my bro... Like the... Creatures i thought you were," she said sheepishly, her cheeks still a rosy color.

"i am... Raven. I apologize for my... Attacks. You did not deserve them and i am entirely at fault. Had i thought more clearly, i could have avoided this entire ordeal. If i hurt you or your..." She trailed off and glanced to the three. "Con... Sorts? I do have magic to heal, and can undo the damage I've caused, if you do not object." And now she kept refusing to even look them in the eye, hiding under the hood of her cloak.

Then she let out a very soft and sheepish "Sorry..."

Damian nods as he listens to Raven's explanation, his tail idly wagging behind him. "Look, it's fine. It's done and over with and nobody was hurt, okay?" he reassures her, reaching out to pat her shoulder but stopping short. "Er, is it okay to touch?" he asks, now that they're not in a fight anymore and it's only the polite thing to do and all.

Regardless of how that goes, he continues by offering his side of things. "I'm Damian. My dad's Satan. Yeah, /that/ Satan, fallen angel and all, goes by Lucifer and Old Scratch and sometimes just Lou. Maybe he goes by Trigon somewhere, but I don't think my mom would be very happy about him sleeping around without her knowledge."

The triplets, meanwhile, have gotten bored and started poking around in a nearby dumpster. Glancing at them for a moment, Damian shrugs and adds, "They're fine. Demons are pretty hard to kill, you know? And uh... consorts? Nah, just fangirls. I usually just pretend they aren't there."

Raven stared at him. He was... So polite. For a demon. "Oh. Ummm... Please do not. Unless ypu can block your emotions down, it can be painful. Empath. It means i can feel the feelings of others. And it is... Strongest. When i am being touched. It can be quite painful, in fact, if not careful." 

She listened and then... Her eyes widened. "Wait, mother? I... Am going to guess trigon is... Not your father. Though, it at least seems they are... Alternate versions of each other," she said with a smile. "Though... If... He has a wife?" She asked, before shuddering. "Trigon doesn't have a wife, as far as i know he cast aside my mother until i was--" urked, closing her eyes.

And silent. Until the sound of garbage rummaging. She glancrd over. Finally... "How... About... I take you... Four to eat? You and your fans. That is a... Normal... Thing for people to do. Right? As an apology." SHE WAS TRYING TO MAKE UP FOR IT BHT PEOPLING WAS HARD! "There will be cake?" She offered.

Damian tilts his head and raises his eyebrow as Raven keeps stumbling over her words. "Alright, understood." he agrees, miming the act of patting the air just behind Raven's shoulder before 'standing' in his preferred levitation state again. Circling around the girl, he looks her over with a critical eye, scratching at his chin until he comes to a stop in front of her. "You know, now that you're not trying to kill me, you're actually kinda cute~"

Leaving her to mentally flail at that one (shy girls always do!), Dame floats over to the dumpster to yank his groupies out by their ears like a pack of rabbits, setting them a little more gently on the ground. "Come on girls, that's gross. Raven here's offering food, and you're digging in the garbage! For shame, for shaaaaame."

Then, while the triplets stare ashamedly at the ground beneath them (except for one, who just glances around for some other trouble to get into), Dame turns to Raven again and heaves a big, dramatic sigh, eyes rolling as he addresses the topic of his parents again. "Yeah, my dad's married. He and my mom get all... /parent/-y a lot too, when they're not too busy running the kingdom. Ugh, it's just embarrassing. I want to play my banjo in peace, dad, not a dumb violin! Sheesh."

Raven was back to being scarlet! She pulled her cloak tightly around herself. "N-no I'm not! And... And you're scruffy!" Truly a master teaser, she was. "And... And furry! And... And stuff..." Oh gosh she was all flustered now, fidgetting a bit.

And then he yanked them out. She was about to yell, but he put them down gently. And didn't smack them. She stared in just sheer confusion.

"wait... Parenty? Your... Dad? He... He cares about you?" Okay. Now she KNEW he wasn't trigon. "... He wants you to learn the violin?" Pause. "What's... A banjo?" She asked. Having a feeling she's going to regret asking that as she started walking, intending to take them to... Well. Whereever they would eat. "I've heard violin, but never seen one myself. The monks of azarath didn't use them. It was more... Chanting. And i avoided the festivals." 

She was silent for a long moment, then... "Can you tell me about your world? It sounds... Fascinating."

     The attempts at a comeback lead Damian to stifle a laugh as he floats back over to Raven. "Yeah? Well how about... this!" he says, twirling around in the air... and as his front comes into view again, he's lost all his fur and is looking decidedly much more human, albeit still with the black-and-red eyes and a hairstyle that looks alot like a pair of long, fluffy ears.

Striking a pose, the princely shapeshifter winks at Raven and snaps his fingers above his head. "Pretty nifty, huh? It's almost as fun as flying~" he trills, while the trio behind him hold up score cards. All sixes, naturally.

Settling down on his feet, he turns to start walking along behind Raven, signaling with one hand for the triplets to follow him. "Anyway, yeah, my dad cares about me and my mom. Too much sometimes, but... I love 'em. Just wish they wouldn't be so embarrassing sometimes."

This is soon followed with a conjuring of a banjo within Dame's hands, where he plucks at the strings a bit before strumming out a jaunty little tune. Flashing a grin as he skips out ahead of Raven, he says, "/This/, hot stuff, is a banjo. And if you don't mind, I'll tell you about my world... in song~"

Raven blinked a few times and... Once again, red. "You look... Sufficiently less shaggy," she muttered. "You seem... Hyper. At least." It was so weird. HE WAS LIKE HER! AND YET HE DIDN'T LOATH HIMSELF! YET HE SEEMED.... NICE! WHAT THE HECK?!

Though the score cards did bring a small smile to her lips that she quickly shut down. Cares... About him? And his mother? That makes her hands shake a bit, and her step catch, though she doesn't stumble. Could... Something like her father... Care? All her father did was hurt and destroy. But... No. It couldn't be. His world... Had to be different. That was all.

Aaaaand then music. And oh my gosh was it bad. It was horrible. And yet... He seemed to be having so much FUN. She barely even knew how to have fun and this... This person, who felt so much like her brothers... He seemed so... Alive. So happy. So relaxed in a way she could only wish she was. 

And it was with a stark horror she realized... She... Was enjoying the song. If for no other reason than his own joy and pleasure nagged at her empathic abilities and it was hard not to be swept up in his playfulness.

She also couldn't help but feel... A little... Hint... Of happiness about it. After all... He... Wasn't too different from her. Maybe this was what Merlin meant...