Sup? If anyone is still reading this chaotic mass of words that is my writing, then you have my thanks. And my apologies as well. Truth be told I
reeeaaallllllyyyy can't seem to find the inspiration and reason to continue any of the incomplete stories I have here. I'm just not cut out to be a writer. But I feel guilty to those who were/still are waiting for this story to actually have an ending. So here it is... chapter 26, after weeks of staring at a blank microsoft word screen. This is what I come up with. Hope it still makes sense...

Part 26: Zinthos... Emptiness and Pink Gooey Substance

The state of emptiness... The state of Zinthos…

The freeing of the self to reach Zen (or in Raven's case Zinthos) requires letting one's self go or emptying the mind of insignificant worldly desires and all the other whatnot that you would often hear in yoga sessions.

The connotation of this emptiness, however, is different from the usual meaning of emptiness. The emptiness of Zinthos is like reorganizing your filing cabinet. You usually have to take out all the files (and what else you stuff in there) in the filing cabinet and arrange the files back, one by one. You reach the state of emptiness when you take the last object out the cabinet. You will then see the cabinet is empty but at the same time you know that it is full. After all, the files will be put back there eventually.

So the state of Zinthos is like emptying what is full in order to feel the fullness of being empty. Upon reaching this state, one will experience the emptiness to have been more filled than when it was full.

Feeling lost? It's alright. It was a watered down explanation of the state of Zinthos anyway. If you did get it, then congratz! You're on your way to being an empath! Just make sure to consult your local ancient scrolls before even trying to reach the state of Zinthos. If you don't get it, it's alright. The current Raven right now is also feeling a little lost.

The emptiness the young goth girl's feeling right now is different from the usual emptiness of Zintos. Her mind was vacuous. It was like there were files gone missing in the file cabinet of her mind. She knew that there was something missing, but she doesn't know what. Her teammates did tell her that something happened to her and that she has amnesia, but she knows that there's something else wrong. Unfortunately, her teammates play dumb and act like that's all there is to it.

It wasn't just her mind; it felt like her entire being was one unfinished painting.

Besides… Raven thought, what's been happening to me for the past few weeks isn't due to the so-called amnesia. The half-demoness let out a long and tired sigh. The past events the young goth girl's been experiencing had been quite… peculiar. She would often find herself in the most strangest of places and situation. And what makes it frustrating for the dark bird is that the prior events that led her to such a situation and place would come out naught. As if she was led there unconsciously by some meddlesome force.

Again, the half-demoness let out an exhausted sigh as she remembers one of the more fun "peculiar events" she's been having.

"Raven!?" a shocked and bewildered Robin shouted out to her. Her other teammates were also there, sharing the same look of shock, confusion and concern that their masked leader held.

Raven struggled to look for a proper response to them, hoping to make the situation less awkward than it looked. "Uh.. Hi guys. How's it hanging?"

Her response was answered with a frown from her teammates. This was a natural response considering the goth girl was dangerously dangling from her window which was located a good fifty feet or so high above the hard solid ground. The only thing that separated her from plummeting and kissing the solid earth was her cape; it somehow luckily got itself stuck on a loose nail from the windowsill.

"Hold still and don't move! Starfire will come and get you!" the mask leader gestured to the Tamaranean. Starfire nodded and flew towards the dangling goth girl. Meanwhile, Beastboy and Cyborg positioned themselves below, ready to catch the half-demoness just in case the cape decided to give in.

"Sure thing! Take your time. I'll just be enjoying the view here!" her teammates gave her a small smile, but the look of concern could still be seen. "Great.." Raven grumbled to herself, "just great… how am I gonna explain this to them..?"

When Raven was finally secured and taken to the ground she got an ear load from the boy wonder and others. The flimsy explanation that she gave to them as to why she was hanging like a Christmas ornament was that she wanted to see if she got back at least some of her powers back. It wasn't a total lie. But it wasn't the truth either.

"How could I tell them that I had no idea why I was there? Or that it wasn't the first time I spaced out and found myself in a less than desirable situation…" Raven took a deep breath. The only thing that came to mind every time she remembers that event was something about a promise and ice cream. But that was it. Nothing else. "Why ice cream?"

Again, the foreign emptiness seeps in.

x-x-x-x-x

"I believe the jive is up..."

The masked leader raised a brow at his companion. "I think you mean jig, Star. And what do you mean by that?"

"It means exactly what it means, Robin." Starfire absentmindedly pokes at the gooey pink substance on her plate. It was obvious that she was feeling quite irritated.

It was Cyborg and Beastboy's turn to go with Herald, looking for pieces of Raven's soul from different dimensions. So the masked leader and Tamaranean princess were the only ones currently there in the usually loud common room.

The boy wonder frowned. Did she find out that I've been feeding Silkie her cooking? The masked boy swallowed hard as he looks down at his own plate; he swears he saw something move in the gooey pink substance (called Starfire's cooking) just now.

"It's not as bad as you think Star." The masked leader calmly said while trying to gulf down a spoonful of the pink menace. It tasted like…ugh. Words can't describe the taste. Robin's tongue felt like it was decaying.

Robin heard a faint screeching sound as the Tamaranean stabbed the pink goo on her plate with the fork."How so?" She didn't bother to look up.

"Well…" Robin thought for a moment. One knows the dangers of bad-mouthing the Tamaranean princess' cooking, so careful and guided words must be used. "Not a lot of people can take such a strong and peculiar flavor but it's not that bad."

The alien princess finally looked up. Her brow rose, "I do not follow you…"

"Well I mean..." the masked boy avoided eye contact. He was now sweating profusely. "If given time… and training (for our stomachs) I'm sure it won't be that bad."

The red-head girl frowned, "I am sorry. I still cannot follow."

The masked boy steels himself. Looks like he's not going anywhere with this, he has to tell her bluntly. "Look, Star. I know you saw me give Silkie some of your cooking but it doesn't mean that the food you make is that bad. I mean, you just need to add a kilo of salt and pepper and the taste starts to be a whole lot better. Coz, well… it starts tasting like gooey salt and pepper... that's pink...But well… I mean… you see…." The masked leader started faltering. He was starting to regret not going along with Cyborg and the others.

"Robin." Starfire's face was unreadable.

Robin flinched before answering, "Yeah..?"

"I do not see how my cooking has something to do with our friend Raven's predicament."

"Huh? What?" the poor traffic light colored boy was now confused.

"I was talking about how Raven seems to have noticed that we are not telling her the whole truth about her situation." her brows furrowed before continuing, "And I am feeling quite vexed that we continue to pretend that everything's fine."

The masked leader sighed a huge wave of relief. "Oh… you were talking about that."

"Yes. And I wanted to ask you a favor from you. But before that…" Starfire cocked her head slightly to the side; a menacing smile crept on her face. Silkie, who was hiding below the table, ran out of the room, sensing impending danger. "What were you talking about my cooking..?"

"Umm….I… Uh…" Robin began to see an evil pink aura surrounding the Tamaranean princess. "Ah, crap.."

x-x-x-x-x

When Raven opened her eyes, she was greeted by the sun's blinding light. Just why was she looking out to the sun when minutes ago she was in her dark room, she doesn't know. She slammed her fists in frustration. Cold droplets of water hit her face. The liquid trickles down and reaches her mouth. It tasted salty.

The sound of waves crashing into the shore and seagulls squawking midst the skies reached her ears. She was floating in the middle of the sea; the T-tower was a good few meters away. Great… the goth girl sarcastically thought. How am I gonna explain this? I was trying to see if I had proper knowledge on basic water buoyancy and propulsion so I jumped into the sea?

It happened to her… again. At the very least I'm floating.. Not dangling… or sinking. Just as she thought this a huge wave engulfed her, sending her down the deep waters. She struggled to swim up to the surface, but it seemed like she was just swimming farther and farther away. The last thing she saw before she lost consciousness was the bright yellow sun, blurred by the cruel blue sea.

Very short. I know. But this is the best I can do for now. The last time I wrote was a year ago, I believe. So Imma little rusty. Hopefully the next chapter will be waaayyy longer.. and better. If I'm able to write... maybe I should just stop for good. Anywho, you guys take care now.

Peace y'all!