Hello again! I'm procrastinating on writing my actual story for National Writing Month, so you guys get another dose of my brain power! What, you didn't feel anything? Eh, well here's the chapter anyways. And as I've forgotten (even though it's really only a formality) the last couple of chapters, I don't own the Titans. Now if only DC and Cartoon Network would open that bottle that holds them in cryogenics like Walt Disney's head...
Raven stayed seated next to Beast Boy for hours, mulling over how she would get back to Azarath and talk to her mother. The last time she went back it was possible through her connection to Trigon. That was gone. Once he had been eliminated, he was returned to the prison that had long shackled him. But Raven knew that a simple prison, no matter how many magical barriers and spells had been set up, could not hold him forever. It would do for now, but there was no known way to kill a demon of his capacity. It had taken a coven of thousands of witches to imprison him in the first place, and Raven could never hope to find the power she recieved from her friends again on such short notice. At least, not this time. This time, she had to go alone, and no one would stop her.
Raven also knew that he would set some type of trap for her. It wouldn't be a physical one, of that she was sure, but what it exposed itself as could be nearly anything. Her guard would just have to be up 24/7. Though her emotions no longer had to be kept in check as they used to, she could still summon the ability to block out all emotion. Even all 6,000 verses of whatever Starfire's happy dance was.
Still, the question remained, how in the world would she get to Azarath? She had no other magic users to help her, and even if she did she wasn't sure if anyone else would be able to cooperate competently. Malchior was still stuck in her bed chest... but no. That would definitely be a bad idea.
Raven's head churned through other ideas. A ritual of sacrifice. No, human blood would be required. Using her new, blue Zinthos. She had additional eyes already, so no worries there, but she would probably forget and end up feeding it after midnight. And then it hit her. Staring her right in face so hard she could barely see it! She still had some of Trigon left inside of her. Complete purging wasn't possible without the help of the current Azar, or leader of Azarath, and that had been and still was her mother. Seeing as she wasn't there during Trigon's destruction, well, it hadn't been an option at the time. Regardless, she could use that small bit to pull her back into Azarath.
Arising from her meditation, Raven forced herself to look away from Beast Boy and walk out of the infirmary. She leisurely strode into her room, taking note of the odd absence of everyone else in the building. Maybe it was waffle eating contest in the main room?
Whatever the case, Raven made it back into her room uninhibited. She pulled out three books telepathically, covering them in her black miasma, and set them at her feet where she sat, Indian-style. She pulled out two bottles of sand, pouring a circle around where she meditated. Four candles were ripped from where they stood and placed at a quarter of the circle. She placed her livid hand on the central book causing dust to fly up in the air. She wanted to sneeze, but Raven ignored it. She chanted, "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos. Carazon, Rakhashosh, Endereth. Vaserix, Senderon, Azarath."
A light blue energy jumped off of the pages of the other two books as she read, creating a pillar of light around her. The dimensional portal slowly opened up above her.
"Azarath, Azarath, Azarath!" Raven finally chanted, the room spinning at a dizzying pace. The pillar of light dissipated and she was gone. Or she should have been. Raven was still sitting there in her meditation stance, eyes glowing a fiery black. Yet, nothing was happening. She was still sitting there.
She ran over the details in her head when it clicked. She only had a hundredth of Trigon's power still inside her body where before half of her entire body was his. Raven pulled another "duh" look across her face and re-completed the circle of sand and followed it with another circle. The four candles in-between the two circles were flanked each by two on the outside circle. Raven place her hands on the books lying at her feet and said her chant again. This time, the room began to rattle and shake. The ceiling started to crack and chip, pieces falling down around her. The spiritual winds damaged the room around her, throwing her vanity mirror and bed from their spots from the wall. A small piece of drywall fell from the ceiling and slightly broke the outer circle.
Raven finished the mantra, and she was gone in an instant. A split-second later, everything that was flying around the room dropped, leaving it eerily quiet. It was about a minute later when the vanity dresser began to shift, popping out a small raven with four red eyes. The gate had been opened on both sides.
Azarath had, at one time, been the center of all the dimensions. The priest of Azar was the most powerful being in existence. After trying to pull out Trigon the first time, long before the birth of Raven, absolute chaos had ensued; the priests and the priest of Azar's failure had caused the creation of the prophecy that Raven fulfilled. Returning Azarath to its former glory was a slow process, but it was one that had happened through the joint efforts of all the inhabitants.
That was why the gold and white city held Raven in such awe when she saw it. Even in her days here as a child she was not so impressed. Then, a somber mood hung over the city, as if they knew they were marching to their deaths. And the last time she came here the world was completely empty and devoid of all life but her mother's.
But this... this was different. Extravagant. There were no words to express how glorious the city looked. Towering spirals loomed over the city, their majestic white a beacon of hope. They were adorned by the smaller golden chapels, each intricately designed as though they were cathedrals. Even the stone that she walked on felt joyous; it was a healthy white color.
But all this paled in comparison to golden temple that lay in the middle of the city. At its behest was a great angel embossed into the edifice, wings spread in perfect harmony. Arches sat at the top of the building inviting anyone to come in.
And come they did. Where before the city was absolutely dead, now the dominion of Azar was flourishing with people. Not just the temple priests that Raven had come to know and love as a child, either. To her left was a bazaar where a flutist was playing a serene melody that seemed to flow with the citizens walking here and there. Each stand was taken as a part of a whole. They weren't just all selling trinkets, though there were some that were. The fruit was joined next to the attire and so on a so forth.
The only thing out of place here was Raven in her blue and black attire. She stuck out like a black eye on an Irishman. Though she walked like she had been there before - and she had - , Raven was beginning to draw attention to herself. An elderly woman in white robes and a black sash walked up to her.
"Hello, little girl. Are you lost? Can I help you find your parents?" the old woman asked, a kindly smile suggesting her authenticity.
Raven, slightly confused she was being mistaken for a small girl, deadpanned, "No." The old woman looked at her sternly and hit her cane on the ground, proposing that she did not believe her. Raven shrugged her shoulders. "Would you happen to know where all the temple priests and the priest of Azar are? Y'know, big and tall, white robes. You'd have to be blind to - oh, well, maybe I should go ask someone else."
The woman shook her head, "I can show you, but you should keep your voice down. The priests of Azar do not want it known that they are here."
Raven followed the woman through the crowd at the market. The old woman took her past a few other places of interest along the way, like the many chapels housing services at the moment, before stopping at a large white tower festooned with tan lining that ran over all the windows and the main archway. It spiraled at the very top; the pillar was not more than a hundred feet tall, much smaller than all of the other buildings it was surrounded by. Raven assumed her mother and the priests would be in there, which was probably true, but she did not drop her guard. There were no guards or sentries attending the door, something that sent off warning bells in her head.
The old woman craned her neck towards Raven who was standing to her left and slightly behind her. "This is the place, my dear. Just be careful in there. It's a very old temple. Might want to change into something other than those fru-fru shoes."
At that the woman promptly did a 180 in her shoes, surprisingly spry for such an old woman, and slowly walked back to the market, her cane tapping the ground in unison with her step.
Again, Raven simply shrugged her shoulders and entered the open arch. Behind her, the old woman... continued to walk away, happy that she had helped her granddaughter. As she continued walking away, her essence began to fade away until she was gone, her soul finally able to rest in peace.
Yes, it was a lot of reading. Thank you for suffering through it. My next chapter will more than likely what's happening on our plane of existence and may be out as early as tomorrow (or depending on your timezone, tonight) as I'm still procrastinating on that 5,000 word beginning to my novel. If I ever get around to it... Thanks to those of you who've actually read this far. Read: not that many of you. I seem to be losing a lot of people around Chapter 3. Hmmm. Well, review if you'd like, as my inspiration seems to be back, and post positive or negative criticism. Both help. Now this rambling has gone on way too long. Whoops. Late night crap again.
