Chapter 20
Rachel woke up from another nightmare, drenched in sweat. She shivered. She knew that her father was still out there, but the League had made it clear that the team was not under any circumstances to go after him. Not like they knew where to look anyway.
The ebony haired girl sighed and sat up in bed. There was something she'd wanted to do for a while now, ever since she'd read about it in her book.
It was called The Mirror of Erisid and it supposedly transported the owner into their mind, a place called Nevermore. It was mainly used for meditation and was supposed to help control the 'demons'. And although Rachel was supposed to be taking it easy, as she still wasn't fully better from her ordeal last week, it would only be a quick trip… right?
Locking her door so that no one could come in and see she was gone, she opened the spell book and turned to a page with slightly more advanced spells. Scouring the parchment, she found what she was looking for.
A portal spell. Perfect.
Concentrating, Rachel spread both hands out in front of her and imagined a great, swirling portal, big enough for her to walk through. She then thought of the destination in her mind, so she wouldn't end up coming out the same end. It appeared and she grinned, proud of herself.
Still in her pyjamas, she took a deep breath, and stepped through the purple and black circle and disappeared.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"Uh Robin?" A timid voice came outside of the bird's door. He yawned, not actually asleep yet, and put on his mask. He stretched and got up, opening the door.
"Hey M'gann. What's up." He said sleepily.
"Um- well. You know how we were supposed to tell you if anything happened… specifically with Rachel?"
"What happened?" He asked, slightly panicked and no longer sleepy.
"Well, she's gone. I mean I can't sense her aura in her room, but it's locked from the inside." The boy groaned and ran out of his room, the martian hot on his heels.
"Rache? It's me are you in there?" He asked when he got to her door, just to be sure. No sound came out and he swore under his breath.
"Ok I'm gonna have to hack into the system to get the door to open. Hang on." M'gann nodded as he started to type on his holo-computer. He always kept a spare on him.
Rache had confided in him about how she felt. That she felt like a monster for doing that thing to Two Face's goons the other week and that she thought they'd kick her off the team, but he ruled out the possibility that she'd decided to leave without even saying goodbye.
So, he asked if they had to fear for the worst. He hoped she said no, but there were a lot of different meanings for 'gone' and it was all he could do to curl up into a ball and have a panic attack.
"No no no, if she had, uh, flatlined I-I would still sense her aura as it faded. No, she's literally gone, body and soul."
He nodded and punched the air as he got in and the doors slid open smoothly. The two raced inside to see a massive swirling portal in the middle of her room, and her spell book lying open on her bed.
"Oh come on!" Robin groaned as he pieced together that she'd made a portal and left. M'gann sighed and suggested that they wait until she got back. The Boy Wonder nodded and they sat on her bed, before laughing at how absurd it was. He was secretly quite proud of the fact that she'd made a freaking portal and it had worked.
The duo didn't have to wait long before the purple anomaly glowed even brighter, and a figure stepped out, clutching a bone-white mirror with horns and etched out demon eyes.
"Hi." She said breathlessly, grinning.
"You absolute- ugh!" Robin exclaimed, before attacking his girlfriend with a hug. She giggled and dropped the mirror on her bed, wrapping her arms around him too. M'gann cooed at how cute they were and they broke away.
"So, what was so important that you had to leave and almost give me a panic attack?" The boy asked as the three sat back down on her bed. Rachel picked up the mirror and studied it.
"Well, it's supposed to be for meditation. It's magic of course, and I'm not entirely sure how it works."
"Great." He grinned, "What's that inscription there, underneath the demon eyes?" Rachel studied it.
"I think it's Latin. It means enter the… something. I can't translate that last part." M'gann sighed and said that she'd leave it to them to figure out. She said something about being hungry after her mini heart attack. Rachel grinned sheepishly and apologised.
"Hey, what if it's an incantation?" Robin asked, "Maybe you have to say it to go to the whatever it's called."
"It's called Nevermore, the place you go. Oh, I think that's what the last part is! Perpetuum roughly translates to 'nevermore' in English."
"Ok then, try it!" She nodded and recited the incantation.
"Intrabit in perpetuum!" She yelled. The eyes glowed a deep purple and Rachel was sucked into the mirror, making Robin jump.
He sighed. "Guess I'm gonna have to play the waiting game… again."