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Chapter Text

Arella glanced uncertainly across the table at the gathered monks of Azarath, and their spiritual leader, Azar herself.  They had brought her here to Azarath to protect her shortly after she'd been abandoned by the...creature that the cult she'd once belonged to had summoned.  They had promised her both protection and hiding...but also told her about what was to come.  Her newborn daughter, young Raven...she was destined to bring ruin to both realms as her father's 'gem', the key to open the portals that would let him conquer both realms and exterminate all life there.

It had been a lot for Arella to take in.  Accepting that the beast that had sired her daughter was evil?  Not that hard to wrap her mind around.  That he planned to use her daughter for such awful things?  Again, easy to believe, and in line with many of the things she'd read of creatures like that...and before she'd felt the child growing inside her, something she almost welcomed as happening to the world at large.

...she never claimed to be a saint.  She had willingly joined a devil worshiping cult that was actively trying to summon the devil, after all.

No, the hard part was what Azar and the monks proposed as a way of countering this oncoming threat.  She would not get to raise her own daughter.  Raven would instead be raised by Azar, and taught absolute control and suppression of her emotions.  The reason for this was two-fold.  One, her magic was strongly tied both to her emotions and to the concept of emotion itself.  Not only would losing control of her emotions cause her to lose control of her magic, there was a very real chance she might one day develop the ability to directly manipulate the emotions of others with her magic, which might make her even more of a threat to life as it was known than her demonic father.  Two, if she did form emotional connections to others, those would become points of leverage that Trigon could use to force her to submit to his will and allow him through to conquer the realms.

Arella really did not like this idea...but she couldn't see any other way.  The worst part was...the monks - and even Azar herself - were not dictating this as terms.  No, this was simply the plan they had laid out for how to try and fight Raven's destiny as they sat here discussing it, shortly after Raven's birth - as soon as Arella had recovered from the delivery, in fact - but it would still be Arella's choice.  They would not force her.  If she could provide another way to help prevent Raven from being the key her beast father used to conquer all realms, they would gladly pursue it...but Arella had no ideas.  Despite her misgivings and how much the discussed plan felt wrong to her...she knew she could not give Raven an upbringing that would let her fight her father.  Arella knew nothing of magic and next to nothing of demons.

Sighing to herself, closing her eyes against what she was consigning her daughter to for her own good - gods above, she'd always hated when her own parents used that phrase about her, what had she become - she opened her mouth to give ascent.

"That's got to be the stupidest load of dragon shit I've ever heard!"

Arella jerked back in surprise at that harsh, scratchy voice, her eyes flying open as a short, scraggly haired, ancient looking crone turned from a nearby market stall and stumped up to the table, a basket on one arm, a shawl covering most of the rest of her, and her eyes boring like gimlets into everyone around the table.

"Ma'am," Azar spoke up calmly yet politely, "it is rather rude to interrupt a private conversation-"

"If you didn't want people sticking in their two cents, you should have held it privately!" the old woman interrupted irritably.  "And if you were going to put the guilt of consigning a girl to such a fate on her mother, you should have given her all the information!"

Azar's frown deepened.  "We have covered all pertinent information-"

"Did you tell her Trigon was born from when your people stupidly got the idea of excising all so called 'evil' aspects of your souls and toss them into Limbo?"

Arella jerked back from that declaration.  "They what?" she demanded, shocked.

The old woman smirked contemptuously at the monks.  "All pertinent information, huh?" she demanded coldly.  She then turned to Arella.  "That's right.  Couple centuries back, these people got the brilliant idea to use magic they barely understood to excise everything they didn't like about themselves out of their very souls - and the soul of their people as a whole, heaven forbid their children develop like that on their watch - and tossed it out into the void between dimensions thinking it would just poof away and not be their problem anymore."  She snorted derisively.  "Course, the void between dimensions is just chock full of the energy of potential, and they'd just tossed everything they thought of as 'evil' into it...and the end result was all that 'evil' fusing with the concept of 'evil' through the shared qualities - same race, after all, and same spell - and became Trigon-"

"Please do not say that name so freely-" Azar began worriedly.

"Do I look like a Rowling to you?" the old woman interrupted harshly.  "You had your chance to pitch your sale, now hush!"  She ignored the leader's offended expression and turned back to Arella.  "Well, now that you know this lot ain't as 'enlightened' in their ways as you thought, ready to hear why their plan is stupid?"

"Absolutely," Arella agreed immediately.  "I...I want the best for my daughter, whatever her origin."

The old woman nodded, her smirk turning pleased.  "First off, if she doesn't form emotional connections to people, what possible reason would she have to want to fight Trigon to save the world?  No emotions, she'd be little more than a robot obeying orders, meaning whoever yelled at her loudest and longest gets her obedient, and a blood connection opens the door for continuous mental contact.  Heck, if he's even the slightest bit clever, Trigon'll be nurturing and kind with her as contrast with how strict and distant this lot is, and she'll want to be his instead!  Kids need love, after all!"

Arella nodded firmly.  This made a lot of sense, and she wanted her daughter to grow up loved if possible.

"But her magic is tied to her emotions-" Azar began.

"Suppression is not the only control!" the woman snapped out again.  "Your way, every time she got emotional she'll end up destroying everything around her when she lost control, which would make her hate herself more, which would make it that much more difficult to control her emotions and magic!  What sort of self-defeating vicious cycle are you trying to consign the poor babe to?"

"What's the other option?" Arella asked hopefully.

"Embrace them fully!" the woman insisted, striking the ground with a cane she was suddenly holding.  "Experience her every emotion to the fullest in a safe, controlled environment so she knows what they do to her magic - and what her magic does to them - so it can't catch her off guard!"  She snorted derisively.  "And if her magic can affect the emotions of others, what do ya think suppressing all emotion will do to everyone around her once that kicks in?"  Azar refused to meet the glower the old woman shot her way.

"But where can I possibly find such a place for Raven to grow up?" Arella asked despairingly.  "This sounds like the ideal solution, but who could possibly help her explore the full extent of her magic and heart in such a way without being terrified - or destroyed - when she does lose control?"

"My son and daughter-in-law are taking their sweet time giving me grandkids," the old woman allowed without blinking.  "Was picking up ingredients to make the strongest fertility draught I know to dose their next meal so the next time they got frisky they were sure to conceive..."  She glanced away sourly.  "Which would probably be about an hour after I got home..." she grumbled a little irritably.  "Nothing wrong with a healthy love life and passion, but what's taking so long on the results...?"

Arella blinked in surprise.  "And...they will show her proper care and...love?" she asked uncertainly.

The old woman blinked in surprise, then smiled warmly.  "Child, if there's one thing young Raven will be certain of growing up in my clan...it will be that she is cherished and loved.  Of that you can have no doubt."

Arella swallowed.  With all this information, she'd made her decision.  It was a painful one - giving up her child - but she was certain it was the right one for Raven.  "What is your name, Grandmother?" she asked politely.

"Not a Grandmother yet," the old woman corrected with an amused cackle.  "But everyone calls me Grandmama anyway...Grandmama Addams."

Gomez and Morticia sat together happily at the small table, sharing their tea.  Lurch stood nearby, ready to fill their cups at a moment's notice.  As the handsome, mustachioed man looked longingly at his lovely, pale-skinned, dark-haired bride, she turned a loving gaze back his way.  "Gomez, darling..." she began warmly.

"Yes, Morticia mi amore?" he responded just as warmly.

"Do you think we're ready to consider...having children?" she asked gently.

Gomez gasped in surprised glee.  "My love, what a wondrous idea!  Our grand home is more than large enough, and I believe we are certainly ready to start considering-"

"Congratulations!" Grandmama stated bluntly as she plopped a blanket wrapped bundle on the table between them.  "You're parents!"  With that, she stomped off to the stairs to head for the attic.

Gomez, Morticia, and Lurch all leaned in close to the blanket wrapped bundle, seeing short purple hair, pale skin, sleepy purple eyes, and a crimson gem embedded in the forehead.  "Well...that happened faster than I expected," Morticia observed in amusement.

"She takes after you, my dear," Gomez observed, comparing the little girl's skin tone to Morticia's.  "She'll be a grand beauty one day."

"So she shall," Morticia agreed as she lifted the infant to her chest, holding her gently to her bosom as Lurch pulled a bottle of dragon's milk from his suit and handed it to her, already the perfect temperature for feeding.  "Drink up-"

"Her name's Raven!" Grandmama shouted from halfway to the attic.

"What a perfectly beautiful gloomy name," Gomez crowed happily.

"Indeed," Morticia agreed, happily feeding the little one in her arms.  "Drink up, Raven.  You have a wonderful life ahead of you..."

Chapter Text

Raven Addams slowly opened her eyes in the dark of her parents room, shifting idly on the nest of blankets and pillows just past the foot of her parents' bed that was her sleeping place.  The dark in the room told her she was safe.  The silence told her that her parents were asleep.  The scent told her that her parents had been doing the grown up tussling that they had said they would be happy to explain to her as soon as she had enough vocabulary to grasp it...not in so many words, but that was the emotional impression she'd gotten from them when they'd talked to her about it when they'd caught her watching one night several weeks back, and no one in her family hid their emotions or tried to falsely present them.  In fact, it was only when someone with a CPS badge had shown up a couple months back that Raven even encountered the idea such a thing was possible.  Mother had considered the person incredibly brave, even if he ran away when Raven - as instructed - had offered him a big smile with bright, shining eyes.  She'd even used all four, just to be sure she was doing it right.

As she stared up into the darkness, the two year old concluded that this was boring.  Normally, any time she was bored, either Mother, Father, Uncle, Grandmama, or Groany would be there to entertain her, but Mother and Father were asleep and no one else was there.  Instead, she rolled onto her belly, pushed herself up onto hands and knees, and began crawling to the door, her black and purple cloak/blanket/onesie protecting her from any cold from the wooden floor between the piles of blankets, pillows, and rugs.  Before long, she got to the door, sat back on her feet, and reached for the puzzle lock.

She didn't like being confined.  She didn't know why, but any sort of boundaries between her and other people made her really uncomfortable, and said boundaries tended not to last long.  She had a vague memory of being placed among metal bars with Mother and Father on the other side, sleeping unhappily...only for the bars to be gone the next morning, and a creature of metal, magic, and rage attacking anything that blocked her sight of her parents.  After that, she bedded down in the blankets and pillows, and puzzle locks were on every door at a level she could easily reach.  The metal creature had found a place in the house among the other odd beasties that prowled the halls for their own reasons, and always seemed fond of Raven when it passed her by.

Despite the complexity of the puzzle lock and the size of it, Raven had it solved in a few moments and was through the open door, seeking entertainment.  She glanced back and forth around the floor she was on, considering other closed doors and the stairs up and down.  Uncle and Grandmama lived Up, while Groany lived Down.  She thought about which way she wanted to go.  She wasn't hungry, wet, or cranky, so she saw no need to seek out Groany.  Grandmama did not like being awoken before she was ready, so going too far Up was out.  She didn't know what was in the other rooms, so they might be entertainment, or might be boredom.

As she thought about this, she heard a sound from Up.  It was high pitched and sounded like an angry wind, and was accompanied by a sound like the metal beast's claws on the bathroom floor.  Since all these sounds were ones she liked, she decided to go Up to investigate the sound.  Going to the stairs, she began the long, laborious process of going Up.  Sitting on her feet at the bottom of the stairs, she braced her arms on the next step up, gripped the carpet, and pushed with her legs as she pulled with her arms.  Once she was mostly on the step, she rolled to get her legs all the way up, braced herself, and repeated the process with the next step up.  Halfway up the steps, she regretted not going Down to visit Groany.  Down was much simpler.  She would just grab the tassel at the side of the stairs, give it a tug, and find herself on the banister.  A quick slide down and catching the tassel at the bottom, and she'd be Down.  She felt like there was an easier way to get around - something with the energy inside her - but she didn't know how to use it yet, and Mother Felt she'd teach her when she was ready.

Eventually, she'd managed to go Up to the source of the noise, behind a closed door with a puzzle lock.  Going up to it, she rapidly solved the puzzle as she heard the interesting noises behind it.  Once the lock was solved, she eagerly pushed the door open...only for it to catch on something.  She felt upset at something stopping her from going to investigate the interesting noises, so she pushed with mind and body.

Black energy flowed from her hands to surround the door and it all but flew open, knocking aside several small structures and bits of wood connected by metal.  Uncle shouted in surprise as Raven tumbled into the room, landing on her side somewhat dazed...only to see something metal and angry racing towards her, heading for the end of metal bars on wood, its angry eye blazing with painful light.  Covering her eyes, Raven let out a shriek of fear, and something behind her eyes erupted, and something exploded.

The sounds stopped.  Uncovering her eyes, Raven felt the energy withdrawing into her body as the entire house above where she lay flew outward to rain down over suddenly visible land.  She shrank in on herself.  She didn't know what had just happened, but she knew she had done it, and that now Home was Broken.  She felt herself starting to shiver and shake as she scrunched up her face to stop the unpleasant wetness in her eyes-

"That was incredible!" Uncle declared in awed excitement, pushing a pile of miniatures off as he sat up, his eyes shining in excitement.  "Do it again!"

Raven blinked, the unpleasant emotions fading.  Uncle was...happy?  This was a Good thing?  But...Home was Broken?

Hearing footsteps, Raven turned and saw Father and Mother coming up the stairs, noticing the door was gone, and only the stairs leading Up to Grandmama's tower room - and the tower and room in question - were still intact above her height.  "Is anyone dead?" he called out.  Raven didn't understand the words, but she Felt a mix of concern and eager anticipation.

"Nope!" Uncle hastened to reassure him.  "But it was quite the blast!"

"A pity," Father allowed with a smile, Feeling a mix of relief and disappointment.

"What brings you two up here?" Uncle asked curiously.  "You normally sleep through my antics."

"I noticed that blast was a bit loud for what you normally get up to," Mother allowed easily as she floated over to Raven, kneeling down beside her comfortingly.

"And I noticed Raven wasn't in her nest, so we immediately came to investigate if the two were connected," Father explained with a smile.  "What a pleasant surprise, they are!  A grand spectacle, Raven!  Well done!"

Raven tilted her head.  She was seriously confused.  Home meant Safety, Love, and Happiness.  She Broke Home.  Part of her mind said that should be a Bad thing...but Uncle, Mother, and Father all treated it like a Good thing?  She stared at the broken miniatures in confusion.

"Don't worry, sweet Raven," Mother said and Felt, deliberately amplifying her emotional resonance to help Raven's empathic understanding.  "Things break, it happens.  But it's nothing to be sad about."  She lifted a hand...and swarms of spiders flowed out from the bottom of her dress and began climbing the bits of wall that still stood.

Raven watched in awe as the spiders - that she somehow knew were far more than mere beasts - pulled on something invisible in the air and caused bits of Home to fly to them, returning to its place in the structure before being affixed more firmly with webbing that seemed to vanish into the wood, stone, and metal and sealing the cracks of the explosion.  The spiders then climbed higher, repeating the process over, and over, and over again...  Within minutes, Home was once more intact, and there were no signs of spiders.  Raven's eyes widened in awe.

"See, Raven?" Mother said and Felt with encouragement.  "No harm done."

Raven had just enough time to begin to appreciate all this...and then Mother's fingers were dancing over her belly making her shriek in excited glee from the strong stimulation.  The sensation was so intense that the energy exploded from behind her eyes again.  This time, Raven watched as Home flew apart Broken, watching it happen with fascination.  She then turned up to Mother, looking forward to seeing the spiders fix it all again.

"It's your turn," Mother Encouraged.  "Focus on the memory of seeing Home restored, how it felt, what Home means to you...and let the memory and feeling flow out from behind your eyes."

The words were meaningless, but Raven understood the Feelings that Mother had emoted to her so strongly.  Focusing on the memory of Home pulling itself together and the Feelings of Safety, Love, and Happiness that were Home to her, she willed the energy out to do her will.  It took some time, and the energy sparked a bit around her hands at first...but she would not be denied.  She Broke Home...and she would Fix it!

The energy erupted, flowing over the entirety of Home and grasping every last broken piece, pulling it back together, reassembling it by the patterns the spiders left behind and forcing reality to obey her desire of Home being Whole.within moments, Home was once more restored.  Raven went limp as she tried to breath, feeling very tired.

Mother happily scooped her up, bracing her against the Gentle Softness that gave her strength.  "Well done, Raven!" Mother Praised eagerly.  Father and Uncle offered her words of congratulations as well, but it was the Feeling of pride and joy that helped restore her.

"Just what are you lot up to?" Grandmama demanded angrily as she stumped down the stairs, glowering at them all through the open door.

"It's wonderful, Grandmama," Mother offered warmly.  "Raven's used her magic for the first time, and is learning control already!  She broke the house twice and fixed it once!"

"That's not all she fixed!" Grandmama complained dourly as she stomped forward, waving a cane in their direction.

"What's wrong, Grandmama?" Father asked worriedly.  "Did her magic do something to you?  Something fiendish?  Awful?  Horrendous?  Unspeakable?"  He grew more and more excited as he spoke.

"I'll say!" Grandmama snapped out angrily.  "She gave me a new hip!"  She smacked at her hip with her cane.  "I just broke the old one in enough so it hurt just the right amount when I walked!  Do you know how long it took me to get it broken in just the right amount and not too much?  You think I have that many years to spare all over again?"

"She can heal people, too?" Uncle gasped excitedly.  "Why, if she learns to master that, we don't have to worry about getting too injured anymore, because if we Break, she can Fix us!"

Grandmama blinked in surprise at that, then managed a smile.  "Well that's a point!  Breaking this hip in will go faster if I don't have to worry about not breaking it too much!"  She was mollified from that, and a bit smug.

Raven smiled as she relaxed into Mother's hold.  Yes, she Broke home...but then she Fixed it.  And if something Broke but was Fixed, then that was Good, not Bad.  As she relaxed, she promised herself to always remember that...and if something Broke, to Fix it.