Melissa suddenly felt disoriented. Mar'i had been standing next to her but she was suddenly gone. All she saw before her was a meadow. The sky above was bright and cloudless and the temperature was mild. It was also utterly silent.
"Hello!?"
There was no reply. She slowly turned and still saw nothing but meadow, as far as her eyes could see.
"Aunt Raven? Are you here?"
Again, there was no response.
"What is this place?" She murmured to herself.
Apparently, someone heard her question. Right before her eyes, the local branch of the public library materialized almost instantly. It was a spacious and airy building with large windows, a place she knew well as she and Raven visited it together many times. She peered through one of the windows, and saw there was no one inside.
"OK, this is weird." She whispered as she walked to the entrance. "But then again, Aunt Raven specializes in weird."
The library's entrance was a large brick arch that had sliding glass doors. As she approached they opened automatically, the way they always did. She stopped at the entrance and once again peered into the library's interior, which remained vacant. The library did appear to be open, it was well lit and the computers were turned on. After waiting for a long moment she shrugged her shoulders and entered. The reference desk was straight ahead, in the hub of the library. She remembered that you could see every place in the building from there, and she trotted over to it, hoping that from that vantage point she would be able find someone in the library. Upon reaching it she began to look around, but still saw no one.
"Is anyone here!?" She called out.
"I'm here." A familiar voice replied from behind her, nearly causing her to jump out of her skin.
She spun around and confirmed that it was indeed who she thought it was.
"AUNT RAVEN!"
The gray sorceress replied with a soft smile.
"Hello Melissa, it's good to see you."
The young teen fling her arms around Raven.
"You're not dead!" She replied as she began to sob. "You're alive!"
"Did I die?"
Melissa released her.
"You don't remember?"
Raven ran her fingers through Melissa's hair.
"I suppose it makes sense that I died. I told Mar'i to give you my meditation mirror if I died. But to answer your question, I don't remember. In fact, there's no way I could remember my death."
Melissa's face suddenly looked both troubled and perplexed.
"Aunt Raven, you aren't making any sense. How could you not remember? Brother Blood killed you."
The sorceress looked off into the distance before she replied.
"That's unfortunate, anyway, the reason I don't remember my death is because Raven left an imprint of herself before she died."
"An imprint? What are you talking about, you aren't making any sense? And where are we? Is this some place in the spirit world? That sure would explain a lot."
Raven shook her head.
"Forgive me for the confusion, Melissa, for I am only an imprint. As for where we are, we are in your mind. The library is our meeting place because we spent so much time together in the one in the real world."
Melissa frowned.
"So this is all an illusion?"
"It is."
Melissa fought back the urge to cry.
"So, are you fake too?"
"No, not entirely. Raven left an imprint of herself in the meditation mirror. She did this before she died."
"I don't know what that means." Melissa sobbed. "Are you my Aunt Raven or not?"
"I am. Like I said, I am an imprint. Raven stored a copy of her most basic self in the mirror. In other words, she stored a subset of her memories, her emotions and her personality in the mirror, enough so that you could reconstruct me in your mind. In the strictest sense Raven is not here, as her soul has departed this world. But much of what defined Raven was preserved in the mirror. Unfortunately, it's not possible to preserve everything. Sadly, most of my memories have been lost."
"So you're nothing more than a dream?"
"If was reconstructed only from your memories, that would be true. I am more than a dream or an illusion, for I remember much of Raven's life. So from that point of view, I really am Raven."
Melissa smiled hopefully upon hearing the last words.
"If you really are my Aunt Raven, is it possible to bring you back to the real world?"
Raven shook her head.
"It is not. Since Raven has moved on, I do not have a soul; therefore I can only take form inside your mind."
Melissa crossed her arms and frowned.
"Why did you do this? What's the point of it all if you only exist in here?"
"It was a way of preserving at least a part of me, so that I could visit with you and your father, until you are ready to let me go."
"Why me and dad? You mean this won't work with anyone else?"
"That is correct. Imprints are customized for the recipient. I could only leave two in the mirror, but even had that not been the limit, you and your father are the only ones I wished to do this for."
Raven gestured to a nearby couch. Melissa joined her and they sat together.
"You are wondering why only you and your father?"
The girl nodded.
"As for your father, all I know is that Raven had some unfinished business with him."
"Unfinished business? Wait … mom said you were in love with dad. Is that true?"
Raven smiled.
"Your father was special and very dear to Raven. Beyond that I do not know what the nature of the unfinished business is. I am certain that the other imprint, which was made for him, knows more. I'm sorry, but I cannot tell you anymore, as I simply do not know."
"What about me? Why are you here for me?"
Raven took the girl's hand.
"Melissa, you have a very special place in my heart. I knew that I would never have a mate or offspring of my own. You have been a surrogate daughter to me from the day you were born. At first I loved you because you were Gar's daughter. But as you grew and became your own person it became more than that, so much more. I also love Mar'i, but not as a daughter. I never really understood it myself, Melissa, but we have a bond that I cannot explain. You simply are precious to me."
The blond wiped a few tears away from her eyes.
"I told my mom earlier today that you're like a second mother to me."
Raven beamed as happiness radiated from her face.
"We began a journey together, Melissa, one that was interrupted by my untimely death. I was afraid that might happen, so I left a little of myself behind. I know that now I am static and cannot grow, and that you will someday outgrow this facsimile I left of myself. But until that happens I will be here for you, coaching you and cheering you on. You don't have super powers and we both know that you won't be a Teen Titan, but I know you are destined to do great things, my dear Melissa, and I will take great joy in seeing you triumph, because I love you."
Melissa turned and hugged the image of her departed aunt.
"Thanks, Aunt Raven, I love you too."
-( scene break )-
With a jerk Melissa snapped back into reality. She was sitting on her bed and still had Raven's meditation mirror in her hand. What had changed was that everyone was in her room, surrounding her, with concerned looks on their faces.
"It's OK, Terra, she's back, she's OK." The changeling reassured his wife. Terra wasn't having any of it.
"Melissa Logan! What is the meaning of this?" Her mother fumed at her. "You've been in some kind of trance for almost an hour. Do you have any idea of how worried I was?"
"Yo, Terra, chill. She wasn't in any danger." Cyborg reassured her.
"No danger? Then how come we couldn't wake her up?"
The changeling wrapped his arms around his wife.
"I told you hon, she was in Nevermore."
Melissa, who was still recovering from her strange experience, rubbed her head as she joined the conversation.
"Nevermore? What's that?"
The changeling took the mirror from his daughter.
"This is Raven's meditation mirror." He informed her.
"Yeah, I know. She gave it to me."
"It takes you into Raven's mind." Cyborg added. "Did you see any copies of Raven, dressed in different colored cloaks?"
Still looking dazed she shook her head.
"I didn't go into Aunt Raven's mind. I mean, how could I, she's dead?"
"So what happened?" Her father asked.
"I went into my own mind. And I saw Aunt Raven there."
"What!? Are you saying that Raven's soul self is in your mind?" Nightwing asked.
"No, not in my mind. She said that she left two imprints of herself in the mirror."
"Imprints?" Wally asked. "What does that mean?"
Starfire stepped forward.
"It means that Raven left a piece of her soul self in her mirror." She announced.
"Whoa! So you guys are saying that Raven isn't really dead?" Terra asked.
"Sadly, that is incorrect. It is more like a message in a bottle." Starfire corrected her.
"Aunt Starfire's right. Aunt Raven told me that she didn't have a soul, that she was only some of her memories and that she could only come to life in our minds."
"The kid's right." Jinx interjected. "She will appear and act like the real thing. You can have conversations and interact with her, but she isn't 100% real. She isn't a simulation though; she is Raven, or at least part of her. But she isn't a complete person either. She can only come to life when you enter your own Nevermore."
"I see, but what is the purpose of this? If Raven is really dead and moved on to the afterlife, it seems like this is little more than a tease." Nightwing added. "Why would she do this?"
All eyes were now on Melissa.
"She said that she wanted to be here for me. You guys know we were really close. I know it sounds creepy, but I'm kind of glad she did this."
Terra snorted. "Her middle name was creepy. Why am I not surprised she did this?"
Melissa stood up and took her mother's hands.
"It's not like that mom. She wasn't trying to be weird or creepy. It's more like an insurance policy."
"I know what you mean, Melissa … you said that there was more than one imprint." Jinx remarked.
The young girl nodded.
"There's also an imprint for dad."
"What?" Terra snapped. "What for?"
The girl shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know. My Raven said that she didn't know, just that the other Raven in the mirror had something to tell dad, but that she didn't know what it was."
Now all eyes were on the changeling, who was still holding the mirror. Terra approached him and looked him in the eyes.
"It doesn't take a detective to figure out what she's going to tell you."
He placed a hand on his wife's shoulder.
"I know. It's obvious." He replied.
"So … why do it then?" She asked.
The room fell silent. Finally the changeling spoke up.
"Because I need the closure, Terra. I need to ask her some questions before I say good bye to her."
Terra crossed her arms. "I don't like this, not one bit."
"Relax Terra, Raven's imprint isn't going to steal your husband from you. If she was ever gonna do that, she would have tried that while she was still alive." Jinx remarked before turning to Beast Boy. "You might as well do it now and get it over with."
Gar took his wife's hand. "I think Jinx is right."
Terra sighed.
"Fine, whatever, go ahead." She replied with a dismissive hand gesture.
Gar tightened his grip on her hand.
"Terra, you know you have nothing to worry about."
Her expression softened.
"It's OK, BB, go ahead and say good bye to her."
He gave her an appreciative smile before sitting down on the edge of Melissa's bed. He stared into the mirror, whose surface appeared to ripple as if it was liquid. He saw Raven's face appear in the mirror, beckoning him to enter. He swallowed softly before whispering her mantra.
"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos."
The next thing he knew, he was standing in front of the door to her room in the Tower, which still had her name stenciled on the door. He looked around and saw that he was indeed alone. The level of simulation was incredible; it even smelled like the Tower. He knocked on her door.
"Come in, Gar." Her voice invited him as the door slid open.
-( scene break )-
You're gonna have to wait until next chapter for their conversation.
