Chapter 5: Chat with the Reaper
Raven stood still for a solid minute. She left her eyes where they had landed as they watched Jim run towards the other Titans, and they did not wander. She had deceived them, she thought. A leader doesn't deceive those she leads. But they mustn't know. She was going to handle this herself.
Her eyes unglued themselves and stuck to the floor. Her feet moved up, down, up, down... she didn't even have a choice. She was doing this because she had to. She couldn't run, not from this.
She moved into her own room, and upon entering she closed the door as quietly as possible with her back faced inward. With a silent "bump", the door closed and she stood facing her door in her silent, black room. Behind her on the floor lay her destiny.
Raven pivoted on her foot and walked inward. The darkness alone seemed to make noises at her, taunting her and provoking her to share her power with itself. The walls seemed to bend in and bleed with an opaque black that even broke its surrounds. The ceiling, too, bent down and called her formal name in delight and disgust. Each step she took towards the center of he room pulsated through her foot into the ground a ripping base noise that shook everything else in the room. As she drew nearer and nearer, deep red eyes appeared and stared at her in the thin air, crating their own evil glow. She finally stood above her one hatred above all other hatreds, her little black mirror - her own mind.
She grimaced harshly as she picked it up and stared into its broken surface. Her own gray eyes reflected back at her when they suddenly turned to red. The very essence of evil emitted from it as she leaned her torso backward, shielding her eyes, while still holding the mirror. Hideous laughter and taunts came from the glass. Small broken bits fell from it to the ground. She was finally forced to drop it.
Howls of wind screeched from the mirror as it sucked in all surrounding air to itself. Raven watched as a dark head popped into existence from the mirror's broken circle. The head made a neck stretch as it looked all around the room, while simultaneously heatless fire filled the darkness into an evil red glow. The head soon produced in like fashion a male's torso and arms, big and black, muscular and bulgy. Using his newly produced arms, he climbed out of his small portal fully and the wind finally stopped.
There in front of Raven stood the bane of man. He held a scythe capable of chopping solid steel in two. Its hook handle originated mid staff, and he grasped it as he emerged with his left hand. He growled a terrible growl, and it made even Raven shiver. He rooted himself into the ground with his long toenails and he stared a ghastly stare into Raven's eyes. He spoke, "Greetings, master..."
The spine chilling way he said it made it worse for Raven. She bit her tongue. "Do not call me that! You have found your pitiful way into my head; I did not invite you."
The Grim Reaper laughed. "Oh but the great Raven's head is a perfect dwelling for the likes of me. Come now, you didn't think there was any other place I could stay, did you?" Raven looked away for a moment. "That's 'a girl. You're very head acts as the portal to your future kingdom, and I am its guardian."
"Enough!" Raven's anger was severe. She stared at him in shocking realization as if it was the first time she had been told this.
"The Terrible Titan. Blood Beak. Cold Claw. You've gotten some nasty names in the underworld. 'The one spoken of in the legends' is the only one of them universally known to all. Quite a title you have going for yourself. Ahahahaha!" He laughed with a generous hint of insanity. "Now then, Boss..."
Raven had had enough. She punched The Reaper as hard as she could into his stomach as she watched, in horror, her fist slide through it as if it were colored mist. "You can't do that." He said with a tone of certain satisfaction in her helplessness. "I don't exist physically on this plane." Defeated, Raven turned around and faced The Reaper again, as she had completely thrown her body through him.
"Now where was I..? Oh, yes! Boss..." His scythe's handle wore heavy chains that dangled and connected at the staff's base. It chillingly jingled as Grim turned himself around to face Raven. "You seem to be coming of age... you need to take responsibility and sit upon your throne. Your colleagues are getting...impatient."
Raven quivered. "Why! Why must it be me to govern the damned! Where is Lucifer!"
The Reaper laughed. "Lucifer? He died eons ago! The mourning star mourned his own death within death! It was his gift from the Almighty for serving him so well!" He paused in thought. He started again with less enthusiasm and more sincerity. "It was Lucifer that got the gift we all want - rest. Naturally, we had to cover it up as not to create uprisings among the devils and demons of hell."
Raven, too, calmed down. She looked suspiciously and asked in the like, "Who is 'we?'"
"The council, of course. The colleagues I mentioned earlier. They are the Eternally Damned. They are the ones who run hell. They were even the ones who choose your unholy mind as the new gateway into hell."
Raven looked down at the ground. Small metaphysical scarabs chased each other through her feet and away from the room. Upon reaching the wall they dissipated. She spoke to her feet, "Why me...?"
"You are the scourge of two worlds of three. You are the shameful child of a fallen angel and a damned warrior. You are unique in every sense of the word."
"I don't know my parents. I am my own self!"
"YOU are Raven. The name given to you by not your parents, but by your admirers." He stopped for a moment and looked up and down Raven's body in a creepy way. "I disturb my master..."
"If you wish to call me that, then yes. You disturb me."
The Reaper stomped his foot and raised his scythe, clanging the chains that clung to it. "I present to you your throne. I will give you one day to be sure of yourself, even though you have no choice in the matter. I will return..."
Raven, tears streaming down her face, occasionally hiccupped sorrow. She nodded in grief. "Good girl." With that, Grim turned about-face and raised his black arms. The fires that lit the room collided with him and coiled around him, then drew him in with a massive force towards the shattered mirror. The mirror's fragments upon the ground met with each other midair and formed the perfectly smooth mirror face it once was so long ago. It formed together in its frame, and a second later Grim's flames pulled him into it and made a large vacuum noise. The room returned to normal.
Raven used her powers to turn off any remaining lights in the tower at once. A massive "click" followed, and she was in complete darkness. She sat down, knees inward, and began to cry more thoroughly. She was rarely sad, but this... this was just horrible.
After a minute or two, she grabbed the mirror. It was dark, so she turned on the light with her powers. Raven held her forehead with her offhand and gave a deep, long sigh. She looked into the mirror.
It cracked when her eyes met her own.
She dropped the mirror on the ground and ran off, leaving the tower completely empty and dark. The only lit room watched Raven leave in a sad fury, and it carefully held her cracked mind with loving care.
Raven stood still for a solid minute. She left her eyes where they had landed as they watched Jim run towards the other Titans, and they did not wander. She had deceived them, she thought. A leader doesn't deceive those she leads. But they mustn't know. She was going to handle this herself.
Her eyes unglued themselves and stuck to the floor. Her feet moved up, down, up, down... she didn't even have a choice. She was doing this because she had to. She couldn't run, not from this.
She moved into her own room, and upon entering she closed the door as quietly as possible with her back faced inward. With a silent "bump", the door closed and she stood facing her door in her silent, black room. Behind her on the floor lay her destiny.
Raven pivoted on her foot and walked inward. The darkness alone seemed to make noises at her, taunting her and provoking her to share her power with itself. The walls seemed to bend in and bleed with an opaque black that even broke its surrounds. The ceiling, too, bent down and called her formal name in delight and disgust. Each step she took towards the center of he room pulsated through her foot into the ground a ripping base noise that shook everything else in the room. As she drew nearer and nearer, deep red eyes appeared and stared at her in the thin air, crating their own evil glow. She finally stood above her one hatred above all other hatreds, her little black mirror - her own mind.
She grimaced harshly as she picked it up and stared into its broken surface. Her own gray eyes reflected back at her when they suddenly turned to red. The very essence of evil emitted from it as she leaned her torso backward, shielding her eyes, while still holding the mirror. Hideous laughter and taunts came from the glass. Small broken bits fell from it to the ground. She was finally forced to drop it.
Howls of wind screeched from the mirror as it sucked in all surrounding air to itself. Raven watched as a dark head popped into existence from the mirror's broken circle. The head made a neck stretch as it looked all around the room, while simultaneously heatless fire filled the darkness into an evil red glow. The head soon produced in like fashion a male's torso and arms, big and black, muscular and bulgy. Using his newly produced arms, he climbed out of his small portal fully and the wind finally stopped.
There in front of Raven stood the bane of man. He held a scythe capable of chopping solid steel in two. Its hook handle originated mid staff, and he grasped it as he emerged with his left hand. He growled a terrible growl, and it made even Raven shiver. He rooted himself into the ground with his long toenails and he stared a ghastly stare into Raven's eyes. He spoke, "Greetings, master..."
The spine chilling way he said it made it worse for Raven. She bit her tongue. "Do not call me that! You have found your pitiful way into my head; I did not invite you."
The Grim Reaper laughed. "Oh but the great Raven's head is a perfect dwelling for the likes of me. Come now, you didn't think there was any other place I could stay, did you?" Raven looked away for a moment. "That's 'a girl. You're very head acts as the portal to your future kingdom, and I am its guardian."
"Enough!" Raven's anger was severe. She stared at him in shocking realization as if it was the first time she had been told this.
"The Terrible Titan. Blood Beak. Cold Claw. You've gotten some nasty names in the underworld. 'The one spoken of in the legends' is the only one of them universally known to all. Quite a title you have going for yourself. Ahahahaha!" He laughed with a generous hint of insanity. "Now then, Boss..."
Raven had had enough. She punched The Reaper as hard as she could into his stomach as she watched, in horror, her fist slide through it as if it were colored mist. "You can't do that." He said with a tone of certain satisfaction in her helplessness. "I don't exist physically on this plane." Defeated, Raven turned around and faced The Reaper again, as she had completely thrown her body through him.
"Now where was I..? Oh, yes! Boss..." His scythe's handle wore heavy chains that dangled and connected at the staff's base. It chillingly jingled as Grim turned himself around to face Raven. "You seem to be coming of age... you need to take responsibility and sit upon your throne. Your colleagues are getting...impatient."
Raven quivered. "Why! Why must it be me to govern the damned! Where is Lucifer!"
The Reaper laughed. "Lucifer? He died eons ago! The mourning star mourned his own death within death! It was his gift from the Almighty for serving him so well!" He paused in thought. He started again with less enthusiasm and more sincerity. "It was Lucifer that got the gift we all want - rest. Naturally, we had to cover it up as not to create uprisings among the devils and demons of hell."
Raven, too, calmed down. She looked suspiciously and asked in the like, "Who is 'we?'"
"The council, of course. The colleagues I mentioned earlier. They are the Eternally Damned. They are the ones who run hell. They were even the ones who choose your unholy mind as the new gateway into hell."
Raven looked down at the ground. Small metaphysical scarabs chased each other through her feet and away from the room. Upon reaching the wall they dissipated. She spoke to her feet, "Why me...?"
"You are the scourge of two worlds of three. You are the shameful child of a fallen angel and a damned warrior. You are unique in every sense of the word."
"I don't know my parents. I am my own self!"
"YOU are Raven. The name given to you by not your parents, but by your admirers." He stopped for a moment and looked up and down Raven's body in a creepy way. "I disturb my master..."
"If you wish to call me that, then yes. You disturb me."
The Reaper stomped his foot and raised his scythe, clanging the chains that clung to it. "I present to you your throne. I will give you one day to be sure of yourself, even though you have no choice in the matter. I will return..."
Raven, tears streaming down her face, occasionally hiccupped sorrow. She nodded in grief. "Good girl." With that, Grim turned about-face and raised his black arms. The fires that lit the room collided with him and coiled around him, then drew him in with a massive force towards the shattered mirror. The mirror's fragments upon the ground met with each other midair and formed the perfectly smooth mirror face it once was so long ago. It formed together in its frame, and a second later Grim's flames pulled him into it and made a large vacuum noise. The room returned to normal.
Raven used her powers to turn off any remaining lights in the tower at once. A massive "click" followed, and she was in complete darkness. She sat down, knees inward, and began to cry more thoroughly. She was rarely sad, but this... this was just horrible.
After a minute or two, she grabbed the mirror. It was dark, so she turned on the light with her powers. Raven held her forehead with her offhand and gave a deep, long sigh. She looked into the mirror.
It cracked when her eyes met her own.
She dropped the mirror on the ground and ran off, leaving the tower completely empty and dark. The only lit room watched Raven leave in a sad fury, and it carefully held her cracked mind with loving care.