Knight and day

Chapter 12- Personal Demons

With great effort, Raven flipped Knight over, she could see he was breathing, but his breath was foul and he was unconscious. A bottle of vodka lay on the floor, a few feet away. Raven was disgusted, and yet, she knew Knight. It saddened her to see him sink so low. Despite her conflicted feelings, Raven was still angry. She smacked Knight across his unarmored face, hard. It did little to rouse him. She used her powers to carry Knight to her room. She prepared a small circle of candles, then she went to the living room and got a glass of cold water. She returned and poured it on his head. Knight sputtered and awoke, to see Raven scowling down at him. "What were you thinking?!" She shouted. Now that he could feel it, she smacked him again. Then Raven went to a large black chest and began sifting through it, looking for some magical item. "Raven, I-""SHUT UP!" she shouted at Knight, a little more harshly than she intended too. Finally, she found what she was looking for. It was a small hand mirror, its edges were adorned with viscous looking spikes and red jewels. She turned around to see Knight, his eyes were wide as he stared at the vicious looking mirror, regarding it as though it was a device of torture. "This mirror will allow me to enter your mind, once I see what is going on, I can help you deal with your emotion." Raven said. "Thanks, but I don't need any hel-" Raven snapped at him, "Do you really think you'll find the help you need at the bottom of a bottle! I've spent years controlling my emotions, it's time you learned." Knight looked down; shame in his face. "Now," Raven began," look into the mirror." Knight held the mirror with one hand and stared back at his own reflection. As he did so, Raven kneeled behind him and placed her fore and index finger against his temple. There was a flash of light, and then darkness.

When Raven opened her eyes, she was standing on a hill. The hill overlooked a gloomy forest that seemed a vast as the eye could see. The sky was a dismal grey. She saw a small path before her, and she started down it. By the time she had reached the tree line, it had begun to drizzle. She pulled up her cowl and started into the forest. After a few minutes of walking, she found Knight or at least, his likeness. His armor was different, it was old and rusted. "Wait!" Raven called, Knight turned toward her, and as he did so his eyes widened and he darted off into the trees. Raven followed; even flying she had trouble keeping up with the strange incarnation of her friend. When she at last caught up with him, he was in a clearing. He sat on a pedestal of stone, eyes closed, meditating. Above him, the sky twisted and turned, it changed from the grey sky to an image. She looked up and watched Knight drink down the last of his vodka, she watched herself slap him. She saw Knight, without his armor. He was younger, he was skinny and weak, and he was bullied and pushed around. Then, Raven realized what this meant; she had found Knight's shame. She continued down the path, encountering his other emotions, each wore a different armor that correlated with what the emotion was. At last, she had seen nearly all of him. Her surroundings changed, all around her, fog drifted in, deep, thick fog that she could not see through. A shadow moved in the gloom. She turned fearfully, something moved again. "Hello?" she called. She received no answer and she ran, faster and faster through the trees. Suddenly she tripped and fell over something. She looked; it was another Knight, deep in, meditation. His armor was not rusted, but it was unpolished and grey. The fog cleared, and the sky above changed once again. It was Knight's loneliness. She saw him sitting alone in his empty house, watched him get rejected by numerous girls during his younger life, and then Raven saw her. A girl finally said yes. She was pretty, Raven thought. Raven watched Knight and the young girl spend time together, she saw Knight's first kiss, and Raven watched the poor girl die. It was horrific as the bullet tore through her head, and her limp body fell at Knight's feet. The sky shifted, and was grey once more. Raven, shaken from her vision, continued down the final stretch of the path. As she turned around, the sky changed again. It showed Raven, but she did not see it. After following the last stretch of the path, she came upon a sheer cliff, with two Knights battling at its edge. One was wore black armor, decorated with red and covered in evil looking spikes. The other Knight was clad in armor of polished steel, beautifully adorned with brass. They fought, neither one gaining any advantage over the other. It was the struggle between good and evil inside Knight, and inside everyone. Raven had seen enough, she closed her eyes, and returned to the real world.