Ch. 5: A Change of Course

The moon and all of her mysteries glowed in the speckled night sky-her pale light made the raven look like she was made from pure starlight.

The streets of Jump City were near vacant- the normal hustle and bustle of the city felt like a distant memory to the sorceress as she flew over the deserted cityscape. All of this tranquility however, did very little to settle the anxiety and exhilaration that swarmed inside of Raven's stomach.

"You shouldn't have left like that Raven…"

"You've gotta find Slade and rip him to pieces with your bare han-"

"I'm scared…"

The voices inside the empath's mind were reeling as her beating wings quickened in an attempt to fly away from her tsunami of thoughts.

"What does Slade even want, huh?"

"What do you think you can even do about it!? You're not strong enough to even think-"

"You should have never left Rae-"

Cool wind brushed through Raven's mystical feathers as she began circling around what looked like abandoned building.

"Shut up, shut up . . ." Raven hissed as she allowed her sneakers to land on the dilapidated roof.

Alright Raven, game plan. The empath lowered the rest of herself into a comfortable sitting position and cradled her bag in her arms; the one final thing that truly felt familiar to her.

"You shoulda thought of that before you left, genius…"

"What'ar'ya gonna do now, huh Rae?"

"We gotta go find Slade! Gotta go kick his a-"

"Meditate." The sorceress exhaled, "You guys are driving me crazy." Raven closed her eyes and allowed the night's crisp air to refresh her exhausted body.

"Azarath metrion zinthos…" She practically purred as her mind quickly and generously began to quiet. Her thoughts began to feel like flowing water, like a continuous river with no beginning or end.

"Alright Raven, here we are. This, this is the present moment. Slade wants you to cooperate with him. This we know. We also know that the Titan's aren't safe until either you agree to his bargain, or destroy him for good." The empath practically chuckled at herself...she began to sound like Robin.

"These visions you're having Raven, are either your fate destined to come true, or some power Slade has been able to master." The empath scoffed out loud. "All you gotta do now is decipher what this hell-bent man actually desires, and you gotta prepare yourself for everything and anything now. Be it scavenging for new magic to use, or train your physique for better hand-to-hand combat, you must strengthen yourself . . . You're on your own now Raven." The empath inhaled a deep, frozen breath and willed her eyes to part ever-so-slightly. Through her tangled lashes Raven stared at her tattered sneakers and exhaled a shaky breath.

"Alone."

"Raven, if you don't open the freaking door right now I swear to all things good and…"

"Friend Beast Boy?" The changeling's ears twitched at the high pitched sound. "Raven wishes to sleep now; she said she's fine and that she just-" Starfire's voice chirped over the low growling the green boy was making.

"Are you serious dude?" The green boy whined. "Did she say she was fine or are you just guessing that she's actually even here!? We don't know what the heck Slade even-"

"She said she needed sleep, Beast Boy." Starfire's voice became soft as she saw subtle hints of panic swirl in the boy's eyes. "She even said she will do the talking with us tomorrow."

The alien girl rested her hand on her comrades' slightly shaking shoulder.

"You sure she said that?"

Starfire slowly nodded her head while her eyes stayed focused on the changeling's.

Beast Boy let out a shaky breath. "I didn't know if she was actually still here or not- I don't know…"

"Maybe you too should get the full night's worth of sleep. We can do the 'catching up' tomorrow, yes?"

"Whatever…" Beast Boy pushed the tangerine hand off of his shoulder as he began to make his way toward his bedroom. The long day he just had started to take its toll on the changeling's body. His eyes began to grow heavier by the heartbeat and he felt his shoulders begin to sag with sleepiness. Maybe rest is just what everyone needed.

With his trained ears, he was able catch the final sound of Starfire's sigh as she too walked away from their friend's bedroom.

He was also just barely able to detect the sound of a disembodied breath behind him.

"Beast Boy."

The morning sun had finally began to grace the day with its beauty and ceaseless warmth. The empath slowly rose to her feet after her short, but much needed rest.

An orange glow peaked behind the towering buildings of the city and casted gracious beams of light on the pale empath's face. She willed her eyes to close as the warmth from Jump City's sunrise caressed her cheeks. The sorceress could almost feel her otherworldly ashen skin flush from the comforting heat, until the building below her began to shudder.

Give me a break . . .

As if by some cruel joke from the cosmos, a sudden bright flash and a thunderous crashing noise snapped the empath out of her reverie.

Pure instinct guided Raven's hands to her raise her hood, and within the same heartbeat the lone hero was gliding through the sky to inspect the inevitable disasters below.

Erratic car horns and building alarms echoed through the streets and made the empath's ears ring.

"What the hell…"

Diving closer to the streets, Raven felt the heat from multiple fires scald her skin. Explosion after explosion, the buildings and cars around her began to incinerate.

In a feeble attempt to spot anyone, anything, the sorceress whirled her head in obscure directions.

Parked cars began to catch fire like dominoes, and the windows of shops followed suit. Glass from windows sprayed towards the streets, and black fog began to fill the sky. The sun was slowly becoming eclipsed by the amount of smoke saturating the air.

Touching down to the ground, Raven could feel the vibrations through the ground that were coming from the blazes.

"Hello!? Anyone there!?" Adrenaline began to course through her veins like the fires surrounding her. Sweat began beading the empath's forehead, and the light radiating from the buildings started to stab her eyes. The crackling of the blazing inferno filled Raven's ears, and slowly the empath felt her mouth dry, and her lungs burn.

Anxiety swelled in Raven's core as the walls of flames around her grew. No matter where she looked, there were only flames and smoke. No people, no villains, no sky, no escape . . .

"It's a pity your friends aren't here to help you Raven . . ." A husky voice began to echo and bounce in between each new explosion. "You must be going crazy."

Just as fast as the inferno started, everything went still.

Raven choked on the clear air her body desperately needed.

What the hell.

Sinking to her knees, the empath kneeled in horror. The streets around her were . . .cars were pristine, buildings were still intact. The sun still peaked behind the same buildings as before . . the city was . . . fine.

A/N: OH MY GOODNESS GRACIOUS. Hello friends! Finally updating (Bout time, right?) I would just like to apologize for the horrendous quality of this chapter. (And the massive amount of time it took me to write this.) I literally had to beat myself to get this thing written. I knew exactly where I wanted this story/chapter to go, but to put it into words was just a mess. I'm not too entirely sure I like this chapter (the pacing sucks, and over all feels rushed) But! I needed this buffer chapter included in order to segway into the rest of the story. IF you've made it this far, you're the true MVP. No, I haven't given up on this story, not in the slightest. This was just hurdle I had to get over in order to keep the story going in the direction I wanted. (BELIEVE IT OR NOT) the next chapter is already half-written and boy it's gonna be a crazy one. THANK YOU SO MUCH for sticking around, you guys are the reason I enjoy writing so much.

As always, you guys are fabulous.

See you next time,

~SabrinaLee