Shattered Remains
The Aftermath pt. 1
Raven
No, no, no, no, . . . She knows nothing of my past. I-it was only my father; Trigon must have sent me a vision to manipulate my thoughts. He is just toying with me!
But Raven knew that could not be. She had vanquished her father's soul with the help of her fellow Titans, long ago. The only logical explanation was that this woman did in fact know her. She did manipulate Raven's mental being. Raven knew she would be even more of a danger to the Titans now than ever before.
Raven's eyes cracked open. She remained where she lay, taking in her surroundings and allowing the blur in her vision to dissipate. Raven sat up, holding her head tight. She immediately sensed presences in the room. Raven looked to her crestfallen teammates and she found herself feeling . . . distant from them. She felt as if she could not trust them any more than she could trust the criminal who broke her spirit. She noticed that the Titans were also beginning to stir.
Soon, each Titan was fully conscious and aware of the others' presence. No words were exchanged; they merely swapped glances of pain and distance. Raven was the first to abandon the location. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…" she whispered to herself. She was suddenly engulfed in a black aura and she vanished.
Almost as instantly as Raven fled from the scene of turmoil, had she reappeared in her humble abode. But Raven had no time to relax, she had to go into a deep meditation, she had to get answers.
Raven hastened to her nightstand and pulled out a box hidden beneath it. Raven opened the lid and pulled out a book, the Book of Azar to be exact, she flipped through the pages until she found what she was looking for. Raven used her powers to dump two kinds of powders in the shape of a pentagram on her bed. She lit candles around her room and incense hung from various places on her walls. For the finishing touch, she placed her mirror and the Book of Azar in her hands. Raven levitated above the center of the pentagram she began to chant,
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"Evermore portals unlocked, demons released.
Forevermore reveal the answers, set me to peace.
Nevermore the evils of North, South, West, and East.
Nevermore!"
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Raven's mirror began to glow black. Red eyes formed in the reflection. Suddenly, Raven realized something, Trigon!
Immediately a beam of red light discharged Raven's soul from her body, it then entered the mirror.
Raven found herself standing in the middle of the black abyss.
He's back. Raven concluded. Dusting it off, she continued strolling through the dreary environment. The atmosphere seemed, depressing. The skies seemed darker than usual.
Raven began feeling a presence, one she was familiar with, but not like her emotional parts. This presence was unwanted and it carried a piece of something, or rather someone… but not just anyone. Trigon. So many clues pointed to Trigon's revival, but Raven refused to believe it. She had defeated the King long ago, it would make no sense that he was alive again.
A screeching cry that sounded behind her interrupted Raven's thoughts. Raven about-faced to see a pack of four-eyed ravens, Trigon's trademark signal, representing that he and Raven were one. These ravens were the link between Raven and the evil destined to consume her, but she would be damned if theymanipulated her mental capacity anymore than it already had been.
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Raven shot a wave of black energy at the pack of ravens. Once the dust cleared one raven remained, simply staring at Raven.
"The gem was born of evil's fire…" Raven moved closer to hear the bird more clearly, "…The gem shall be his portal. He comes to claim. He comes to sire. The end of all things mortal." Raven's eyes widened in utter shock, this bird just chanted the exact mantra Raven had when she first unleashed Trigon into the world.
Raven's head began to spin. Confusion overtook her. So many emotions: uncertainty, pain, grief, anger, vengeance. So many things brought her world crashing down around her.
Raven reverted her attention to the bird. Right on cue, the little raven vanished before she could even blink. All remained silent for a period. Again, she felt a presence, this time one closer to her. She stood and looked behind her to see her emotions approaching with grave expressions.
Intelligence led the group; her yellow cloak remained close to her body. "Raven," she began, "Trigon is…"
"Back? Yes, I know." Raven's voice remained monotone.
"You do?" Raven's book-smart form looked bewildered for once.
"Well, at first I had not even noticed it. Last night during a battle, I became enraged and adopted an extra set of eyes. The battle was so intense I guess it just never even occurred to me. Then when I prepared to enter my mind, I saw the eyes in the mirror. Not to mention to ravens have returned."
"I see." Intelligence stated, "This must be very difficult for you."
Raven offered a saddened smile, "When you vanquish the man who claims to be your father, yet tries to kill you in his attempt to take over the earth and he returns, it gets a little discouraging."
"Duly noted." She stated. "But Raven, there is more."
Raven's grave façade quickly turned downtrodden, "What else has happened?" Simultaneously, Raven's emotions opened their cloaks to reveal their bodies, slowly reaching complete opacity.
Raven literally bored through each and every one of them, "What… " Raven could not even form a coherent sentence.
"It appears that Trigon no longer needs you alive." Intelligence paused, and then resumed, "He has gained new powers. Your body can still be used as the portal… whether you are alive or dead. But he is trying to see if you could still be manipulated. So he has taken it upon himself to begin destroying your emotions. There had been new, more complex emotions forming here, but they cannot fully form with Trigon's current activity. And you desperately need these emotions, they are more compound. They possess more depth than we, your basic emotions have. The only fear I have is that whenever they do form, we will become futile, lost in the change of the current. But that is something for another time. Right now, we must worry about Trigon. He will take your soul. He will make you into a mindless drone. Unless you can stop him."
"How do I do that?" Raven asked, her spirit completely shattered.
"That, Raven, leads me to more unexpected news… your mother is here."
"A-Arella? Here? Why? How?" Raven was lost in confusion once more.
"There is much we need to discuss Raven." The soft voice came from behind the group of Raven's emotions.
The group parted to reveal, sure enough, Angela Roth, Arella, Raven's mother. "M-mother, you're here! But," Raven's head dropped, "he brought you didn't he?"
Arella took a deep breath, feeling the pain of Raven knowing the truth. "Come Raven, let us walk." Raven stood at Arella's side as they began to stroll away from the rest of the pack.
"My little Rachel," Arella caught herself; "is it okay if I call you that?"
Raven debated the question for a minute; no one else had ever called her by her real name. "Yes, it is fine… mother."
How long it had been! Raven had not spoken to her mother in years, and now she was so vulnerable, she needed someone to talk to, someone who could listen and understand what she was going through. And right now, Arella was that person.
"So, mother how did you get here?"
Arella took a moment to gather her thoughts, "Trigon has taken over Azarath."
Raven could not believe this, "But, how is it even possible for Trigon to get to Azarath?"
"Well… he, had a little help." Arella paused, preparing to tell Raven this was not so simple, "The Disciples of the Temple of Azarath had been acted strangely as of late. They began performing odd rituals and prayers." Arella paused, organizing her thoughts, "So, of course, I was rather skeptical when they asked me to join them in one of their rituals for… spiritual assistance. They claimed that they needed the purity of my soul to recite a chant and complete their ritual. But what did not know was that this was a ritual to revive Juris, the man who delivered you and then attempted to banish you to Limbo. But you were too powerful for him and you killed him before he could even chant the spell."
"Wait, I, killed a man? And you never told me! How could you! I've been living my life trying to do good, to be a good person in an attempt to make up for the Prophecy I was destined to fulfill!"
"Rachel, please! Listen to me," Arella stood in front of her daughter and placed a firm grip on her shoulders, "so much was happening at the time. I gave birth to the child I received as a result of making love with an evil demon. How could I tell you what you did? Every time I saw you, I saw Trigon. Every time I saw you; I was reminded of the day I lost my life. Every time I saw you, I saw myself as a child. Tell me, how was I supposed to let you know Rae! Tell me!" Tears began to well up in Arella's eyes.
Raven approached her mother and wrapped her arms around her, taking away
some of the pain, "I-I'm so sorry, I had no idea mother. It's just that so much has happened in the last twenty-four hours. I just can't take it anymore. Would you, like to finish the story?"
Arella released a sigh, "Yes. So anyway, I had gone to the temple with the disciples. They began chanting these strange mantras. They chanted so fast that, by the time I realized what they were saying, it was too late. A large portal opened and Juris stepped out in his red hooded robe. I suddenly went numb; I could not believe what was happening. I darted for the exit, but a strange power stopped me. Juris had trapped me in a red aura and dragged back, dropping me on the floor in front of him. Before I could protest, Juris tore the clothing off of my back. He then cut a pentagram into my back and allowed the blood to run down off of me. I laughed as I screamed out in pain. After this, The Disciples dumped three kinds of mystic powders into the shape of a pentagram around my bleeding body. Once the settings were complete, candles lit and all, The Disciples lit the powders on fire. The blaze quickly spread around me and I was trapped. Juris then opened his own Book of Azar and began to chant,
'This wench shall bring the evil to fruition.
Bloodied back and tattered soul.
He comes to reap his wrath.
With the prophecy written anew,
The portal shall suffer destruction. '
The earth beneath me began to shake and crack. Before I knew it, Trigon emerged from the ground underneath me. He held me in the palm of his hand, 'Hello, my wife.' He said. I merely snarled at him, I felt so… dead in his grasp. 'You dare not speak to your own husband? Very well then.' Having said that, Trigon banished to the depths of your mind and now I am here."
Raven, speechless, just stared at her mother, not knowing what to say or do. The woman who did all that she could to help Raven when she was a child, and now, Arella was in so much pain and it was up to Raven to stop her father and unleash peace up Azarath and all whom Trigon has made suffer.
Raven was suddenly overcome with an intense determination, "How do I defeat him?"
"When the hour is upon us, we will travel to Azarath. There we must complete the Temple's Sphere of Trials, then we must move on to defeat Juris and his minions. After that, you are to enter Trigon's realm in order to defeat him."
Raven took notice of Arella's words in the last sentence, "Don't you mean we?"
"No Rachel, I do not. Defeating Trigon is something that you must do on your own. Unlike the first time you destroyed him, your friends cannot be there to help you, nor can I. This is your story, my daughter. Only you can be there at the end. You must fulfill this task alone so that Trigon will be eternally banished."
"I understand mother. But, what can I do until then?"
"You must learn to control your raging emotions. But you do not do this by hiding them or with intense meditation. In order to gain control of your emotions, you must feel your emotions. Only when you begin coping with your emotions and feeling them to their fullest extent can you begin controlling them."
Raven merely stared at her mother, understanding but not wanting to believe all these things that she said.
"And I do not mean just a smile here and there. You must even feel the emotions you fear like anger, fear, and love."
Raven looked up at this, "Love?"
Arella smiled, "Yes Rachel, love. In fact, love is one of the most important emotions for you to feel. Love brings forth other emotions such as pain, confusion, timidity, and self-consciousness. It is basic psychological reason." Arella still noticed how unsure Raven was, she placed a hand on her daughter's cheek, "Never worry Rachel, somewhere out there is a boy who will make all your dreams come true and accept you for all you are and he will do whatever it takes to support you through your time of need and to protect you. Somewhere there is love for you. Just keep your head up high and keep confident. Rachel, I love you so much and I believe in you." Arella looked toward where they had come from, "And keep your emotions burning strong, all of them. As long as you keep feeling, Trigon cannot destroy them."
"I understand mother."
"Now go Rachel. I will be here whenever you need me."
Raven hugged her mother one last time before she left, "I love you mother."
"I love you too Rachel."
Suddenly, a rumbling of the earth around her brought her attention to whatever was coming toward her. Raven turned to be met with a group of flame demons identical to the ones that Trigon issued to Slade as his army. "Mother, leave!"
Arella nodded, "Be careful Rachel."
Once Arella had fled from the scene, Raven turned back to the group of fire demons coming her way.
"I cannot waste my time with you all!" Raven levitated into the air, her emotions running rampant, "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" The ground beneath the demons suddenly opened, blaze broke free of the cracked land. The demons fell into the fiery pit.
But before it closed, Raven saw two pairs of glowing red eyes flash. Then she heard a voice, Trigon's, "The gem was born of evil's fire. The gem shall be his portal. He comes to claim. He comes to sire. The end of all things mortal!"
Raven formed another pair of red glowing eyes again. She dropped to the land, clutching her skull relentlessly. "Get… out of… my… head!"
"You cannot hide and you cannot defeat me little girl. It is time to stop running from you destiny. One way or another, sooner or later, I will have you… whether you be dead or alive."
Raven blocked her father out of her thoughts as she chanted, "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…" she whispered to herself. A black portal opened over her head and sucked her in. The portal reopened over her bed and Raven fell on it. "No… you cannot take me…not then, not now, not ever."
Raven shut her eyes for a moment, attempting to focus on what Arella had told her. The roar of a vehicle outside caught her attention. Raven moved to her window and pulled back her curtain slightly to see Robin getting off of his bike.
Raven remembered her mother's words so very clearly, "…Love is one of the most important emotions for you to feel."
"Yeah… I guess it is."