5540/How Many Ravens Do You Need

How Many Ravens Do You Need
Date of Scene:	11 October 2018
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Colette tries to get Raven to open up and actually succeeds a bit, which almost causes the end of the world.
Cast of Characters:	Stardust, Raven

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Stardust has posed:
    Colette had left a note for Raven, asking to meet her for a little chat. Some people might just knock on her door, but notes are quieter, and Raven seems to appreciate quiet. Perhaps Colette has turned over a new leaf and is putting greater efforts into not disturbing Raven at her meditations.

    Honestly though, it's not likely.

    Raven had responded to the note. Possibly because she knew that it if she got it over and done with, she'd be able to get back to her meditations. Possibly because she was curious about what Colette had to say. Possibly because it's easier to send Colette to an unnamable hell dimension when she's nearby. For whatever reason, the pair had agreed to meet in the living quarters, and Colette, unusually, is actually on time. A couple of minutes early, even. She arrives, as usual, flying up the empty elevator shaft. She takes it a little more slowly and carefully than usual, because she's carrying two steaming cardboard cups of coffee. No Starbucks, some independent local cafe. The coffee smells /good/.

Raven has posed:
    Raven is waiting for her. There is a palpable ocean of dread in the room- the usual fare when Raven is allowed to let her attitude seep into the walls. She stands there in the darkest corner of the room. The lights are off when Colette gets there, which is more a sign that Raven -is- there than Raven -isn't-, so that's good.

    Standoffish might just be an understatement, but it's more pragmatism. If Raven lets Colette start talking, Colette won't -stop- talking, so the important thing right now is to keep on target. Coffee is nice, but she doesn't ask about it- that's how you get sidetracked.

    "You rang?" Like a smaller, theoretically more attractive Lurch (He's somebody's type, somewhere,) Raven beckons for the awkward conversation to begin.

Stardust has posed:
    Colette doesn't switch the lights on. There's enough light leaking in from elsewhere that after a few moments standing there and letting her eyes adjust, she doesn't have any problem avoiding bumping into things. She walks over to Raven and offers her one of the coffees. "I know how much you like coffee. This place I know is real good, I thought I'd bring you some. I mean I might have suggested we meet there, but as far as I'm aware you never leave the building except in emergencies. And this doesn't really count. Well, unless we ran out of coffee. I can imagine that might count." So much for avoiding sidetracks.

    Colette takes a seat close by, and glances towards the monitor, where the portal had appeared. "So. Uh... Mostly I wanted a kind of general chat. I mean, asking how you are, that kind of thing. Which you're probably opposed to on principle, and would say something mildly sarcastic about how it's nice of me to ask but you'll let me know if it ever stops being pointless. But more specifically, well... the portal. When it did that kind of bulgy thing, and you bamfed me out of the way. I mean there's several things to say about that, but to start with, while I appreciate the thought, unless you were actually trying to push me into it and the spell backfired, I'm kind of near invulnerable. Standing between people and danger is kind of what I do. It probably would have been more sensible to move yourself, not me."

Raven has posed:
    There's a silence. A quiet, that descends over the whole of the room- the kind that requires all distracting technological noises being more or less off. There's no hum or thrum of activity around. She is drinking the coffee, but isn't making any noise. Don't acknowledge the sidetrack. Don't let it linger. The coffee is neat, she'll never ask about it later.

    Colette has her to a T, admittedly. She'd still say it in any other situation, but the end statement is what she actually responds to. "You can't teleport." The answer seems pretty simple- Colette can't, as far as Raven knows, travel between dimensions.

Stardust has posed:
Of course there's no possibility that Colette said it first specifically so that Raven couldn't. That would be cunning. Surely loud people who never stop talking don't actually think about what they say long enough to be cunning. "And you do teleport. But you didn't. You teleported me instead. Which put you in the line of fire, if there was one." For once, Colette doesn't seem to think that particular point seems worth elaborating on. Raven doesn't need that spelled out. She takes a sip of her coffee, then changes tack a little.

    "Fun fact. In English the collective noun for Ravens is an unkindness. " Colette smiles faintly. "I don't think you were being unkind, if anything the opposite. But I did momentarily get a glimpse of... well, a collection of Ravens, apparently. Normally there aren't stops on the way when you do that shadow teleport thingy, but you briefly sent me somewhere. Apparently you have a lot of sisters. I wouldn't have expected someone who likes their solitude as much to have come from a large family. But then you never said anything about yourself. And if I asked, you'd tell me it was none of my business, and you'd be right. Except that you're a Titan. You and Moon Moon, it's hard to figure out why a pair of loners would want to be a part of a team. Not that I'm comparing you directly to him. You have the sense to know how important team work can be at times, he tries to do everything on his own. Still..." The 'still' is left hanging.

Raven has posed:
    Raven would have said it anyway, and responded with some level of snark beyond it, if she had really been interested in engaging in verbal judo with Colette today. "I did." she states, at first, "I brought you somewhere safe because otherwise you might have died alone and starving in a parallel dimension with neither water, food, nor air, that we know of. Being generous and saying that there was air to breathe, or that you didn't need it, I still figured you wouldn't want to starve to death, fighting, in wherever that was." This is said very as-a-matter-of-factly. As if she's both lining out her reasoning for saving Colette as well as making sure it isn't questioned. For someone who doesn't care what anyone thinks, she sure is trying to make sure Colette knows that she was saving her life.

    "What you saw was of no consequence." she lauches, now, at many miles an hour, into this tirade. "Not only is it none of your business, but it is not at all what you think it is, and to you, in any way should not matter. I sent you somewhere safe for the shunt of a short range teleport, and then brought you back- nothing of what you saw there is important."

    Sounds pretty important.

Stardust has posed:
    "I went through the portal last time it showed up," Colette reasons, "So I already know there was air." Although she's arguing the case, it seems almost like an aside, going through the motions. "And that it works two ways. Worst case scenario, whoever opened it would close it, and I'd have to punch them in the face until the opened it up again for me." She leans back, sipping her coffee. "Thank you, though," she adds.

    "I'm not complaining," Colette continues after a moment's pause, this time more animated. This seems to be the part she cares about. "I'm just... I should be the one in the line of fire, not you. Surviving is what I'm good at. And honestly, not much else. If something had gone wrong, it's better that I'm in danger trying to survive and you're safe trying to fix it. Because the other way around would suck.

    And then the tirade. Colette takes a deep breath before answering it. "I doubt very much it's not important, to be honest. That's just your way of saying it's none of my business again, without repeating yourself. I know basically nothing about you, Rae. So no surprise it's not what I think it is. But you're a member of the team, and I... you... " She shrugs again. "You are a very private person, Rae. I want to respect that. But also, I am worried. I don't know what burdens you are carrying, but I think they are large."

Raven has posed:
    "Air isn't food, or water," she retorts- centering herself rather quickly from what almost approaches an outburst. "Assuming that whatever is over there is in control of the portals, and then doubling down on the idiocy and assuming that they are something that you -can- punch at all. The portal could have easily grabbed you, closed, and then... How long ago was it the portal first opened?"

    She lets the point sit as Colette speaks. She's trying not to 'read' the emotions as much as she normally does- to close herself off to them so as to keep Colette's privacy intact. If she's supposed to know something, it's polite to let Colette say it rather than just feel it. Either way, she is quiet, and the room stays such after Colette is finished... For maybe a good ten seconds.

    "It shouldn't- It -can't- matter to you. It's not important, and you don't need to know. I don't have many burdens, and they're not... The kind of thing anyone can help with. I'm fine. I'm still here. You're still here. That's what's important. What you saw isn't anything to concern yourself with."

Stardust has posed:
    "I don't know. Twenty minutes maybe?" Colette answers with a shrug, but it seems she's not in that fight any more. "It's not what I saw that concerns me, Rae, it's..." She doesn't finish the sentence, falling silent herself for a few moments. Raven's observant enough to know Colette has a strong poker face, and without supernatural aid there's very little given away. A hint more hesitancy than is usual from her. More thought put into what she's saying, perhaps.

    "I think you do have some burdens," Colette begins again, slowly. "And I think when you say that nobody can help you with them, that's how you deal with them, by isolating yourself. And I think that makes you lonely. And probably you're going to yell about that being none of my business again, but I am not asking. I'm only telling you what I think, and I can't help that. I only bring it up because... because of this..." She gestures exansively, indicating the Tower all around.

    "The Titans," Colette clarifies. "It's important. The team, but also the people. All of you. And it's not easy for any of us. And Robin is a good leader for some things, but he's not good with... well that's why I suggested Vorp as the co-leader. Because he'll see thing that Robin won't. About the team, about people. And with you... I just don't know, Rae. Maybe you do need someone to help you with whatever. Or maybe you don't actually need it, but you'd be happier if you did. But I don't know. Moon Moon, it's obvious. And I even have managed to get him to open up a bit over the last year, and have more of an idea of the mistakes he... You're not like him, but..." It's obvious she's having trouble expressing herself. "You're like a... what is that animal called? Patelle? Small... shell fish, it sticks onto rocks. There's nowhere to put a lever. But I have to make the effort before... in case it's necessary. I'm sorry. And probably it's worse coming from me, but I don't see anyone else trying."

Raven has posed:
    There's a keen gaze that Raven gives to the other woman at that. Eventually, she can't necessarily ignore it anymore, and she does ask the most poignant question that comes to mind. "There's something you're not saying. What is it?" before pondering the statements for a little while longer. "I'm not kidding. I'm not saying this lightly. I'm saying that if I have any burdens, there is nothing you can do about them. There's nothing anyone can do about them, and the less anyone knows, the better." Sure, is it trite? Yeah. But it's true enough. The more people that know, well, the more danger they're in.

    "I'm not... I'm not important. I shouldn't be important. The Titans are what's important, and this whole thing, what you saw, what you tihnk I'm dealing with... It's not relevant. It's not important, and you don't need to worry about it. Your effort is... Appreciated. Really. But I can't- YOU can't make it any sort of priority. It's nothing to worry about. I'm fine, and I'll always be fine." By now, she's got her hands in her pockets again. She's pushed off the wall, pacing, and slouching. Raven is a blank slate, most of the time.

    Right now, she's at least intriguing to look at. It never really was as evident before- Her hood's kept up even in the darkness. The sweater is on despite the weather. It's oversized, despite that she's wearing leggings underneath. Everything about her is... Insular. Protective. If there's nothing to fear, why does she do it?

Stardust has posed:
    "The voices in my head." Colette changes tack rather suddenly. "I don't know whether you believe me about them or think I've got some kind of multiple personality thing, but it's real. I mean that mushroom thing, I got information from them that was true. That even the Space Police lady who was working with the Avengers didn't have, and she has access to Space Police archives. So, they're real. You know... when we were in space, we met a psychic, and at first he seemed to recognize me. Brick figures he knew one of the former hosts of my voices, but he clammed up about it. I don't know. What I do know is, they aren't entirely honest with me." She drops into silence for a moment, possibly having a short argument with those very same voices within the confines of her skull.

    "Okay," Colette elaborates. "So what I'm saying is, I trust them broadly. I mean they obviously have good intentions. But I know they hide things from me, and I don't know why. So that's something to be aware of. And because maybe one day it's something that could affect the Titans, I've made sure Robin knows about it. And I'm telling you, too. It's not something I need help with, but maybe, one day, it's something you'll need to know. And you know, it's nice not to be the only person who... to be able to tell someone about it. And you should think about that.

    Colette stretches her legs out, tensing and losening the muscles. Maybe a displacement activity. "I'm not suggesting you tell me. I told you already, I'm not asking. I'm just suggesting that maybe it would do you some good to share, and might one day do the Titans some good, too. Keep your secrets, but think about... think about sharing some the burden. I know I'm not exactly your favorite team-member, but maybe Robin. I know you respect him."

    Colette draws in a deep breath. "And you're wrong. You do matter, Rae. People do. Especially people who... well. You are important. Not just a cog the machine that is the Titans. Trying to be that isn't going to lead to happy life. It's also..." she shakes her head. "Being a machine isn't a good aim. People work better when they admit they are people."

Raven has posed:
    "You don't understand, but let me illustrate for you the gravity. You have heard of nothing, know of nothing that is anywhere near as dangerous as it is to know anything about me. Not only is it something you have -no- control over, it's... The more you -do- know about this, the more danger you're in. There isn't... An invulnerable teenager is -nothing- in comparison, it is best to let sleeping dogs lie. It is safe now, but it might not be safe if you pick at it. So don't." she states, looking somewhat bothered, now- if only for a small, almost imperceptible moment.

    "This could... I'm not -from- here." she finally relents. "I was born in a separate dimension, called Azarath. My family is... It's complicated, but my father is dangerous. Not just to you, not to the Titans, but -everyone.- There isn't anything you can do about it. You have to understand, if you look into this, the result isn't just a... A tough fight. You will die. Will. There won't be a fight. If my Father ever finds his way here, he will kill every last one of you- and he will kill you -first- because you knew -me.- Do you understand?" she asks her eyes locking on Colette's.

    "That's why I'm not important. That's why I -can't- be important, to anyone. I have to be alone. I -have- to, because it's the only way." For once, legitimately... Raven -does- sound lonely. Very lonely.

Stardust has posed:
    Colette holds Raven's gaze for a while in silence, chewing slightly on her lower lip. "Well, that explains..." she begins, but quickly falls silent again, sitting in the dim light, her face a mask. The silence is interrupted by the chime of a message received on her phone, but she ignores it.

    "So it is connected," Colette says finally. "I mean, trying to save me from the portal, and leaving yourself in danger. This is the same thing. You're trying to save us, by keeping us in the dark." Her lips curl into an ironic smile - the metaphor hadn't been intentional, but Raven does seem to be quite literally keeping her in the dark right now. "More dangerous than Darkseid?" Colette asks. "I mean he has sworn personal vengeance on me, and I don't regret that. "

    There's a quiet sigh. "Okay, maybe there is something similar between you and Moon Moon, because I have to say the same thing to you that I said to him - bullshit. I mean you just said it, he'd kill everyone. If that's true, I'm not that worried about whether I'm first or last, still just as dead. But I'd... we'd... have a better chance if we knew in advance what we're facing than if it comes as a surprise."

    "And bullshit that this means you're not important," she adds. "I mean, maybe your father is a massive asshole, but you didn't chose him. So it doesn't have to... shouldn't be your burden alone. You don't owe the universe that."

    "And bullshit because..." Colette's warming to the subject "you already matter to people. To the Titans. And that's our choice, not yours. I... I understand where you're coming from, but you tell me that you have to be alone because we're in danger if you're not, and all I can say is, you told me the risks and I'm still willing to be your friend." She stops herself with a self-deprecating chuckle. "Okay, maybe not selling it too well there. But I'm pretty sure the less annoying Titans would tell you exactly the same thing, Rae."

Raven has posed:
    "I... Wasn't in danger. You can't keep me anywhere I don't want to be. If the portal had taken me instead of you and closed, I would have just come back." There's a small pause, then, as she slips her hands over her face. "Darkseid is like a child, angry as he may be, compared to my father. If we keep him out of this realm, we're safe. We leave it alone, we're safe. But if we awaken him, if he makes it here... Nothing here can stop him. He will destroy everything in his path- conquer another universe, without effort. You -could- survive. You could run. But if you know me, if he finds out that any of you care, or that I care about any of you, he will hunt you down and eradicate you in the most painful way he can imagine, and he has quite the imagination."

    There is a pause, then, as Raven faces away. "I have to do this alone. You -have- to leave it alone. I'm an acquaintance. A team mate. Someone you've worked with before. That's it. There's no fighting this. You can't contest it, you can't snark your way out of it. Trigon will slaughter every last one of you, and he'll do it because of -me.-"

Stardust has posed:
"No." There's an impressive finality behind Colette's simple statement. It says 'you're not going to win this argument,' and 'I can be more obstinate than you.' She leans forwards, coffee forgotten in her hands. "It won't be because of you, because it's not you doing it. Don't take the blame for someone else's actions. Damn, this really is more like the Moon Moon thing than I thought. If he does those things, that's because he choses to do them, not because of you. Don't convince yourself that you are the monster, Raven. You're not."

    Colette takes a deep breath. "Besides. You don't know. That he's unbeatable. I'm pretty sure there's a lot in this universe you don't know about. You don't even know what I'm capable of. Even I don't. But I don't believe in unbeatable. If the portal had taken me, I'd come back too. I can't tell you how, but I'd make it happen. You know, when I talk about punching things in the face until it works, I know that sounds a bit... naive. I'm not stupid. But it's kind of how you do it. You fight, you try, you don't sto... you make it happen. I mean that's true about every kind of challenge. When I swore I'd s... when I swore I'd do something about the mushrooms, I didn't know how then. But you /find/ a way. I learned I had to travel half way across the galaxy, and I /found/ a way to do that too. I'm not stupid, I know that's not going to work every time. But there's no such thing as zero chance. There's always a chance. There are always possibilities. The only time there is no chance is when you are so convinced there is no chance that you don't even look for it."

Raven has posed:
    "You don't get it." she begins. "You don't have any idea what I know. I've -seen- what he can do. I -know- what he's capable of and I -know- that he can't be stopped. You can run, you can hide, you can lock him away if you've got an entire race's worth of the most powerful sorcerers to -sacrifice- to do it, but you can't -stop- him. Other -universes'- worth of heroes have tried, and a bunch of plucky teens led by one edgelord and a blonde aren't going to -change- that." she states, turning around and beginning again to pace around the room.

    "Why are you even doing this? All I do is insult all of you, and I'm not even wrong. I'm not worth it. We're useful together, helping people. I contribute to the team, and then everyone else does their thing, and it works that way, and it's -good- that way, and nobody's in danger. Nobody gets hurt."

Stardust has posed:
"The mushroom thing," Colette says, "to make that work? We went and fetched a mineral that was part of eyes of a dead alien. They mine it from inside the dead alien's head, which is so big that it has a city inside it. Apparently even though it has been dead for thousands of years, some people believe it continues to think very, very slowly. There's a planet near the center of the galaxy where there's a machine that draws energy from the emotions of every being that ever has or evil will live. There's another race of beings that has harnessed reality as a form of energy, and claims to be able to communicate with the source of life itself. I believe you that you know what he can do. But when you say he's unstoppable, you're claiming you know what everyone else can do, too. And you don't. So maybe I can't punch him in the face. But maybe I can find a race of powerful sorcerers and talk them into it. Or who knows, maybe there's some guy on Alpha Centuri who's god a 'stop Raven's dad' button. I don't know, and you can't know either. But if he turns up? I'm sure gonna try and find out."

    Colette gets to her feet, and approaches Raven. Not blocking her pacing, but just putting herself in the way enough that Raven can't completely look away. "Why am I doing it? Same reason I've been doing any of this for the last year. Year and a half. Because I care. Not because of some stupid abstract be a hero thing. I get that from the voices all the time. Save people because you can. Be a good little hero. Justice, truth, blah blah. I do it because I can't just... not. I..." she stops suddenly, looks down at her feet, and then with a sigh she returns to the couch and sits down again, in silence for a few more moments.

    "I care about you too, Rae," Colette speaks much more quietly now, and at a slower pace than her normal rush of words. It doesn't take sorcery to tell there's something else on her mind than the words she's saying. "Sorry, but I do. And yeah, even Moon Moon. I can't just not. The insults don't mean anything. I mean, you just basically admitted you do that to keep a distance, and it's not like you actually had to tell me that. And I have no illusions that you have any high opinion of me, or even more than barely tolerate me, but that's the way I'm made. I care about people. Paticularly..." She shrugs her shoulders and just stops talking.

Raven has posed:
    There's a long silence, then. She's quiet, reading Colette as best she can- but not breaking her privacy. She doesn't have a long, complicated response. She's... Confused, somewhat, for a minute. She can tell, to a degree, that there are... Words, phrases, perhaps? Things that Colette isn't saying, that maybe are best left unsaid. Maybe not. Raven, however, can't necessarily stand it.

    She stops, and just stares at Colette for a while. "Maybe we do that. Maybe it works. I don't know, but I am almost certain it won't. What I do know is there is something you're not saying."

Stardust has posed:
    Colette holds the gaze for a while before turning away. "Almost certain. Well that's an improvement on 'can't be stopped'. That means you concede there's a chance." She takes a deep breath. "Sorry, Rae. It's hard sometimes having someone else living in your head. I get interrupted a lot. Having someone turn your own words on you is not... fair."

    A tilt of her head brings Colette's eyes back to Raven, and she purses her lips thoughtfully. "I'm... having a debate. With myself, really. I... don't want to be doing this. I mean, being a hero. No, that's not quite right. It's complicated. I mean... I guess what I mean is I don't want to feel like I have to. So." The Colette single-shoulder shrug makes an appearance. "That's why this, and now. Don't get your hopes up, but if I... if I leave, I want to know that I've done everything I can to make sure you guys... to make sure it's all good. I can't... helping to save the world isn't enough, if I don't at least try to help you guys too."

Raven has posed:
    "I won't say there's a chance. I said maybe we do, and if we're going to do it we consider success, however -literally-impossible-. I don't want you to do this, but even -I- will admit that you're -far- too stupid -not- to fight against something you can't possibly defeat." She sighs. Partially defeated. Raven wants nothing but to be alone in her room again.

    "I didn't think you were -that- dumb." she offers, Raven's form of consoling particularly blunt. "You're not doing this because you -have- to, you do it because you feel -responsible.- You don't -have- to do anything, you feel that you have to because you have the ability and aren't a shitty person." Probably the best compliment Raven's ever given, maybe even to anyone. "Which is why you should forget about all of this. Forget what you saw, divert your attention to something, someONE, more important."

Stardust has posed:
Colette listens, her face solemn. When Raven finishes, she remains silent for a few moments. A smile breaks slowly across her face. The smile transformas into a grin, and she takes a few moments fighting for control to stop it turning into laughter. "I never claimed to be smart," she responds finally. "But I am determined. Who knows, maybe there are times when the only way you can win is by not knowing you're beaten."

    Lapsing into silence again for a few moments, Colette finally remembers she hasn't finished her coffee, and takes a drink. It's got a little cold and she makes a face, but then decides it's not too cold, shrugs her shoulders and takes another sip. "It's not because I feel responsible. Or... that's too simple a way of putting it. Or maybe you are right but, it's more than that. I know this sounds dumb, but when the Red X craziness ended and we moved onto the mushrooms, I swore to myself that I'd save the world. And... okay, obviously not on my own, even I'm not that dumb. But I did make it happen. I found some information. I persuaded a space-cop to break her own laws to take us to where that information could be useful. I crossed the galaxy. I negotiated with aliens made from crystal who speak in color, and I fought aliens that can multiply themselves. I flew through space without a space suit a bit. I brought the stuff we needed back, I made sure it got set up and working, and... " she suddenly looks uneasy. "..And I possibly had to kill someone. But that was what it took. And that? That was because I felt responsible. I made that promise to myself because I knew that if I did that, I wouldn't feel that... I wouldn't feel guilty if I didn't do more. Because that's about as big as it gets. This... this is because... even when I don't feel that responsibility any more, I can't just turn away from my friends. I like you, Raven. You, Robin, Rainy, Vorp, Brick, Cass, Moon Moon... even Captain Pronoun and Ditzo the space princess. Saving the world is abstract. Looking out for my friends... that's personal."

Raven has posed:
    Raven shrinks for a few moments. "I- this is not the way this is supposed to be." she says, turning around to face away from Colette. "I am not supposed to be... I knew this after America. I'm just supposed to help. It's not supposed to be this way." Her coffee- still basically full- she sets down. Then, she's on her way towards a wall. It almost seems as if she's fleeing. The phrase she uses, of course, "I'm not supposed to let this happen."

Stardust has posed:
    It takes a moment for Colette to figure out that in Raven's case, walking towards a wall isn't much different from walking towards a door. She hops quickly to her feet to pursue Raven, but she's already close to the wall before Colette reacts. "Rae... wait. Please. It's not... your secrets are safe. You said let sleeping dogs lie, and I will. My nose will remain unpoked in your business, I promise. Just... you don't have to punish yourself. There's a middle ground."

Raven has posed:
    The -shout- that Raven utters, then, is something ungodly. "There IS no MIDDLE GROUND." It is so matter of fact, that it might actually shut off the argument. For a moment, as Raven turns and cries that at Colette, there are not two beautiful purple eyes staring back- there is only red. Four great red spheres that practically boil with unrestrained anger and hate.

    Reality trembles- the -tower- shakes, though whether that's actually something in the foundations or not is uncertain. What it -feels- like, to be sure, is that were she a touch more furious, the tower would not still be standing. Then, all at once, that fury gone. Almost certainly, if the voices in Colette's head know anything of mysticism, they're very, very likely -screaming.-

    Raven again shrinks, backing towards the wall. She'd have to be physically stopped now, before she just seeps into it, clearly off to her room.

Stardust has posed:
    The voices in Colette's head do know a bit about mysticism. The Starstrider Complexus, which contains them, was created long ago by a powerful alien sorcerer-scientist. It would take sensitivity to a very particular kind of sorcery to really notice it, because Colette doesn't really create much of a mystical footprint on the world; the magic is in the interface, subtly tweaking reality on a quantum level, which makes it appear more physical than sorcerous, but magic is a part of what she is. In the milennia the Complexus has gone from host to host, some of those hosts have brought in knowledge of their own.

    The voices do not know about Azerath. They do not know Trigon. But they know power, and they can see the shape of its source. They have the insight of almost a thousand life times of dealing with the weird and dangerous, and it was not long after Colette first came in contact with the Titans that they advised her that two of her fellow Titans in particular were people to keep an eye on, people who could change the world. 'Pivots of destiny'. Raven was, of course, one of those. Destiny is a fickle thing and a pivot can go either way. It was not so much a warning about those two people as a reason to stay close to them.

    The voices do not scream. The voices are not surprised. But they do become suddenly very alert. There is no physical reaction, but a kind of reaction takes place, a preparation for what might be necessary. Tiny ripples in the fields of energy and matter that make up the physical universe, all far too localized to show up on anyone's instruments, too subtle for all but the most sensitive to the warp and weft of reality to pick up on. Fractional distortions in time itself that would be very confusing were Colette to be holding an atomic clock at the moment. Perhaps Raven might pick up on /something/ happening, were she calm and focused. Colette's certainly oblivious to it.

    The shaking of the tower takes Colette by surprise and she stumbles momentarily, catching her balance. When she looks up again, she's faced by the double pair of red eyes. Her own eyes widen at the sight, but she doesn't shrink from them. Or maybe that's her poker face again.

    Colette doesn't try to stop Raven from backing towards the wall, doesn't even close the gap. Instead she just shakes her head slowly. "There is if you want there to be. But that takes hope, not fear. Make your own path, Rae. I won't try to stop you. Doubt I could. But if you change your mind, I will do what I can to help."