Raven rose from her throne, her body still thrumming with the aftershocks of pleasure. Starfire, always attentive, licked her lips and helped Raven dress, gently tucking Raven's length back into her loincloth before standing behind her protectively.
'Is he here to swear loyalty?' Diana wondered, eyeing Metron with suspicion. 'Or does he have some other purpose?'
Kyla-el floated closer, thinking, her crimson cape billowing, ready to strike at a moment's notice. 'No. If that were the case, he wouldn't have gone out of his way to piss Raven off. For him to pull this act, it means he's confident enough to face Raven—and also escape unscathed if need be. The really powerful people are coming out now.'
Raven felt the truth of the man before her settle in her bones. Metron was not here to pledge fealty. He was here for something else.
Metron's gaze was fixed on Raven, unblinking, as he began to circle her, his Mobius Chair hovering a few inches above the floor. "You are Raven, the futa goddess, as most in the cosmos worship and know you by, yes? Why have you come?" His voice was quiet, yet it cut through the air like a knife.
Raven, never one to back down, met his gaze head-on. "I could ask you the same question," she said. "Why come here, Metron? What do you want from us? What do you want from me?"
Metron hesitated, as though weighing his words carefully. "Not also Raven, daughter of Trigon?" he asked at last, his voice probing.
Kyla-el shot a glance at Raven, concern etched on her features. The mention of Trigon's name sent a ripple of unease through the chamber. The demon's legacy was a shadow that loomed large over Raven's existence, even now, as a goddess.
Raven's eyes flashed. "Trigon is no longer a threat," she said, lying through her teeth, her voice hard. "His power is mine to command, should I wish it."
Everyone present around Raven could tell she was lying. They had reached a level of existence to detect truth from lies after all.
Metron was silent for a moment, then nodded. "You see, that's what intrigues me about you. I know almost everything, and I am still on the quest to know more. But you? I don't know anything about you. I know how you changed the fates of the women present around you, just like how you changed the fate of this universe. But you… Are you really Raven?"
The silence in the chamber was heavy. Raven felt the weight of Metron's gaze, the force of his curiosity pressing in on her like a physical thing. But she did not waver.
Kyla-el studied Raven, her mind racing. After evolving so much and gaining so much power, Kyla-el had something she would consider better than the average clairvoyance. She could understand mysteries better and solve things quicker than normal.
'But Raven here… I have always suspected the 360-degree change in her behavior to be alien. The other girls suspect this but say nothing of it. I am sure that whatever or whoever is leading us isn't the Raven we all know. But if that's the case, how will that ancient dormant power known as Trigon react to this?' Kyla-el mused in her head, remaining silent through it all.
The question hung in the air, unspoken but understood by all.
Raven stepped forward, the power radiating from her in waves. She reached out with her mind, brushing against Metron's thoughts, searching for answers. But his mind was a labyrinth, every door locked, every hallway twisting back on itself.
'I see… now I remember the abilities of that chair.' Raven thought, her eyes not leaving Metron as he hovered in the air, the Mobius Chair humming with cosmic power. 'It's like the philosopher's stone, or something close. It can grant the user near-infinite knowledge of the cosmos, as far as I know. To be found out this quickly… I was saving this identity confrontation for Trigon, not for now.' She cursed herself silently for not preparing for Metron, of all beings. But she didn't know, she had no way of knowing as of now.
Metron smiled, sensing her thoughts, or maybe just reading the discomfort in her posture.
"There's no need to lie any further to me. All your companions are gods now. They can at least tell now if I'm lying or telling the truth. Why don't you explain your origin to us… imposter?" His words were sharp, calculated, and filled with both curiosity and threat.
Diana watched Raven with steady blue eyes. The look was not unkind, but it was full of suspicion, and perhaps even hurt. 'I always suspected it, deep down.' Diana thought.
'The Raven who did all this—changed us, led us—she can't be the same girl who hid in the shadows, could she? I know how her power works. She absorbs the traits of anyone she defeats… but even then…' Diana let her thought trail as Raven refused to meet her eyes.
Raven let out a long sigh. Metron's presence was unsettling; his confidence, infuriating. He asked questions not because he didn't know the answer, he didn't know it wholly, her existence was beyond the Mobius's chair knowing after all, but he wanted to hear it from her mouth. It was the sort of interrogation that no one could prepare for, especially when your secrets were the stuff of cosmic legend.
"Go on now… don't keep us waiting," Metron said, his smile too wide for comfort.
Raven looked down at her feet. In that moment, she felt small, almost as she did before her power. Memories hit her—of sitting alone in the university library, of being that shy, overlooked physics major who drowned her loneliness in books and fantasies, and soaked sheets or self-fulfilling orgasms at night. She was smart, sure, but so painfully awkward that even her closest classmates barely remembered her name. She never got her confidence—she never got her chance. On the night before her final exams, she had planned to change. She would talk to someone, anyone more than she ever did than the formal, 'where is class or can I borrow your textbook', maybe even flirt for once in her life. But life had other plans when she took her own life unknowingly in one of the rarest ways to die as a human.
Now, all eyes were on her. Diana, Metron, Kyla-el, and Starfire—her beautiful, loyal Starfire, who was now watching her with a face twisted by confusion and betrayal. Raven searched for the right words, but her throat felt tight, her chest heavy.
Suddenly, the tense silence was broken by soft, shaking sobs.
It was Starfire.
Starfire's shoulders trembled, her hands covering her face as the tears flowed. "Are you really… not Raven?" she managed to choke out, voice cracking under the weight of heartbreak.
Raven reached out, wanting to touch Starfire, to pull her close and hold her, but her hand fell back to her side. She couldn't do it—not when she didn't want the answers of herself coming out.
This new life, this new world was her chance to start over, to no longer be the shy soul she once were. Her actions since coming here were testimony to that fact but still, she hid behind the persona, never really confronting herself and now the moment of truth was upon her.
"Then… then what happened to Raven?" Starfire sobbed, stepping closer, grabbing Raven by the throat in desperation and rage raising her above ground. "Where is she? What did you do to her?"
Raven hung limp in Starfire's grip, her eyes empty, her voice barely above a whisper. "I… I don't know," she said honestly. "I wish I did."
Diana and Kyla-el's shoulders dropped. They had hoped their suspicions will remain that, mere suspicions. But to hear Raven or whoever that was confirm that the Raven they knew was no longer with them hit their stoic front hard.
Starfire stared at her, searching for any hint of the woman she loved. But what she saw only made her break down further. With a cry, she threw Raven to the ground and stumbled back into Diana's arms, seeking comfort where she could.
'Hahaha… uhhh… what is this heavy feeling in my heart? The world around me is becoming so bleek now.' Raven thought as she reached for her throat softly, rubbing it as if to remove the nonexistent pain on her impervious skin.
Diana held Starfire close, her own eyes wet but her face stoic. Diana had always been the strong one, the shield, but now she looked at Raven with uncertainty, unsure what to believe.
Metron's patience finally snapped. "That does not satisfy me! I ASKED YOU A QUESTION!! Who are you?" His voice rang out, echoing across the world. "And how do you know of Darkseid's importance to the universe?" He surged forward, chair blazing, as if he would grab Raven himself.
But Kyla-el moved before he could get close. "You are overstepping your boundaries, Metron. And you're overstaying your welcome. Your visit has been chaotic from the moment you arrived." Her eyes glowed red with anger, energy swirling around her as she stood between Raven and Metron. "Do I need to stop you and put you in a wheelchair permanently?"
Metron scoffed, "You! You are supposed to be the beacon of hope for all. Now look at you… a mere plaything for—"
SLAP!
Before Metron could finish, Kyla-el's palm cracked across his face, bypassing his passive forcefield and sending him—chair and all—flying across the surface of Mogo in a blur of blue and white light.
She was gone in a blink, following after him. The Mobius Chair's blue glow disappeared into the horizon.
The world was quiet now, the silence heavy and raw.
Raven slowly stood up, her body aching but her mind even heavier. She wondered if this was it—if she would be exiled, or worse. She turned to look at Diana and Starfire. Star was still crying into Diana's arms, but she looked up, eyes red, searching for some final reassurance.
Raven gave a sad, weak smile and conjured a throne for herself, settling down quietly. She took a deep breath and spoke, voice trembling but clear.
"I am Raven," she said, though it felt like a confession more than a claim.
And for the first time since she became a goddess, Raven felt truly alone.
The truth finally came out.
Find out what happened next on patreon.com/futamommy