Chapter VIII: Violence

Previously: The demoness blinked each of her four eyes. She would let this pass for now. She would allow someone else to give her orders. She would follow the fool who thought to go after her. And when the time came she would deal with him.

"Just remember, my naive emotion." Raven declared. "I'll be watching every move from now on."

The one who singlehandedly took control of half of the Hells left the safety of her mind and set forwards. Her conviction had never been fiercer and her ability was completely infallible. The hunt was on.

Fiery. Roasting. Scalding. All the things Beastboy hated about the desert. He had been born in a sheltered rainforest and raised in a temperate city climate. He was used to the cool breeze brought in by the ocean, fond of overcast clouds and low-bearing fog. He liked the cold, nothing like this place.

Blazing heat, sources both above and below. The ambient inferno of Hell and the reflection from the sands beneath his feet. Memories of travels through the deserts of Earth were a welcome relief, but only a brief break from the Hell he was traveling through.

Ardent. Torrid. Fervent. This was all that was left. Finding words to describe how awfully warm it was. How awfully uncomfortable it was. How awfully awful the situation had turned out to be.

Footprints were left on the dunes, remaining in the sand from the lack of wind that was so prevalent in the tundras of Earth. If something were to follow him, they would only need to follow his tracks but he didn't care. He was so close now.

Glacial. Frigid. Algid. It didn't work. If anything, thinking about cold things made the hot things worse. It wasn't going to get any better. He had to try something else.

The entrance to the next circle was at the end of the expanse of sand and Beastboy was determined to get there. He only had to traverse this sea of fire to get there.

Perseverance. Determination. Infallibility. That's better. Strong thoughts, reminders of what he had to do, what he had to accomplish. Of course the sand building in his clothes didn't help to motivate him.

He knew it would be no small feat to make it to the end, but hours into the journey wore on his endurance. Since he was unhindered by the objects that stopped him from morphing before, he tried many variations of traditional desert-dwelling creatures.

Flying was for naught as the temperature seemed to increase along with his altitude and the currents and thermals he usually employed to increase the distance of his flight were non-existent. He only managed to fly for a mile before having to abandon for fear of his feathers burning off. He barely missed the crash course on how Icarus must have felt.

Cold-blooded creatures fared ever so slightly better, but there were no shadows to rest in. Since light and heat came from every direction, there were no crevasses to take shelter in, dunes to hide under, or plants to blend in to. The snakes he was so fond of were able to side-wind very efficiently in the sand, but he just wasn't covering the distance he needed to get to the other side in good time.

Another animal he tried was the giant dog creature that stood on guard on Starfire's home planet. The features of the landscape were hot and barren and Beastboy wanted to see if the animal would be able to thrive in the extreme environment. He remembered that even after all this time, he still couldn't get his tongue to properly name it.

He even tried a long stretch as a camel, as the creatures were designed for lengthy trips in waterless environments. He was able to cover several miles this way, but there was no way to conjure water from nothing and his form lost energy from his humps with every passing minute.

He went back to his human form and trudged along. His hands swung by their sides in lieu of the pockets he would have certainly made use of. All that was left to do was keep his mind occupied while finding the edge of the God-forsaken desert.

A thought crossed his mind. An accomplishment that he never thought he would complete. A milestone he never thought he'd mark. A sight that he would never have known to even exist.

He had never seen a minotaur before today. He thought they were mythical creatures, but seeing one in the flesh was awe-inspiring. The power and grace the creature commanded was enviable. The sheer size was phenomenal. The only thing comparable would be the Lady on Liberty Island.

The only thing more amazing than seeing a mythical beast was the number of people it resided over. His keen eyes couldn't even separate the movements, the damned souls all moving together like a river, each soul undistinguishable from the other.

So many people trapped in punishment for their violence. Even more for their other crimes. So many people being punished for their sins. So many people committing sins to deserve it.

"Why do people sin?" He wondered aloud. A shiver danced along his neck that he recognized instantly. "Any ideas, my handsome friend?" He said.

Another green figure entered his peripheral vision. "Just the one I'm afraid.

Beastboy sighed. "Go for it."

His doppelganger cracked his possessed knuckles and leaned his head back. "I'd say one word sums it up. 'Emptiness'."

Beastboy looked over with his eyebrow raised. "How do you figure?"

"It's the reason for everything too. The reason people do anything, good or bad. Filling the void that everyone has inside them."

"Is it really that hard to resist the compulsion?"

This time the doppelganger sighed. "Depends on the person, really. Life experiences, people they're with, even the things they do change how they live. If there were a single answer, it'd be over and done with. Unfortunately, no one is so lucky." The apparition stared into the distance. "The curse of humanity."

Beastboy nodded his head absent-mindedly. The heat was getting to him again, making him lose interest in the subject. He just had to keep walking.

Just keep walking.

Asmodea had been less than helpful as usual. The demon had an agenda of her own and tried to manipulate the empath once again to no avail. All she had to do was wait until the princess of Lust used her wiles and tricks.

Apparently she had sent the fool to an impossible destination. On the off-chance he would have survived the grueling journey through eight circles of Hell, he would have found the way to the final circle completely impassable.

The realm of Betrayal was shut to all but the damned and those that were betrayed themselves. The empath frequented the circle because of Malchior and all the terrible deeds he had personally committed, worst of them being betraying her trust.

Beastboy would find himself stuck in the deepest levels of damnation with no way to move forwards, find that the perilous path he took was for naught. He should have known never to trust the demon. He should never have tried to come in the first place.

He deserved to be punished for even thinking about saving her. The demon deserved to be punished for misleading him. She deserved to be punished for not being vigilant to know what was going on in her own worlds.

Here she stood, overlooking the desert where all those who were violent and murderous in life were punished. Those who were violent against others, themselves, and God itself. Since he needed to get even deeper into Hell, she made a search pattern that would find him wherever he was.

She wandered through the circle of Heretics, only to find nothing but a trail leading into the distance. She had floated above the burning lake where the damagers of people and property were submerged. She strolled through the trees that were once suicide victims with no trace of the shapeshifter. There was only this: The endless tundra.

For the blasphemers, only terror awaited them. They were chased in the sweltering heat by big bloody mastiffs. Uneven and shifting sands beneath their feet, unbearable temperatures, chased in an unending fight for a shadow of survival. It was a fascinating scene. Even though there was no hope for escape or redemption, they still fought as though there were.

She had to find some sign of his presence or he would be lost in the desert with no chance for survival. Even with the range her eyes could see, the massive dunes blocking most of the sand floor. She rose several meters in the air and hovered across the outer edges of it, looking for the slightest hint of a human presence.

She spotted a slight displacement in the sand a mile of and flew towards it. Immediately she knew what it was. Footprints in the sand were unmistakable. And proper footprints too, from the looks of it. He was barefooted across the desolate sands, devoid of the shoes and uniform that shifted with him.

They led into the distance so she followed them with some haste. Seeing the slightest existance of his presence made her quake with fury. The hunt had finally begun and she was imagining all the things she would do to him once she found him.

Was it a hundred or a thousand? No, more than that. He lost count of the dunes he walked over days ago. Or was it weeks ago? Time had no way of being measured down here. There was no sun, no moon, and no stars to follow. He felt that he had been walking for months.

He looked back at the trail he made. So many footprints, numbering in the thousands. He cursed, they weren't even in a straight line. They looked lazy, drawn out. There were deep depressions when he fell on his knees from the exhaustion, but he got up and continued from pure determination.

He was sweating out of every inch of his skin. His energy slowly seeped out as well, muscles failing with frightening ease. The acidic feeling that came from over-exertion ate away at him, but he fought through the pain.

A particularly tall dune showed up in front of him. Beastboy rolled his eyes and took a long deserved breath. He put one foot in front of the other and climbed up the side of the dune.

The sand crumbled under his feet, forcing him to rise a couple of inches with each step. The incline steepened as well, so he had to use his hands as an extra source of leverage.

The top loomed over him and he slumped over the edge. His eyes closed, happy to rest for even a moment. He sighed a little harder than usual and sand flared up right in front of his face.

He coughed hard to clear any sand in his mouth, but his throat was too parched to make a distance.

He groaned and opened his eyes, blinking a couple times to clear his vision. Something amazing appeared in the horizon. An end to the sand. Structures in the distance. This was it, the end to everything. A smile crossed his face and he closed his eyes in celebration.

It was too much for his grip to take and he tumbled back down. He hit the ground harder than he could take.

His body was beat up and exhausted. The heat was overbearing. His skin was rubbed raw from the contact with the sand. Even though the end was within sight and grasp, he couldn't muster up the energy to get back up and move on.

His body just rested in the sand, not moving and breathing shallowly at best.

This was it, the end to everything.

She followed the path that his trail led her on, pacing along with the footprints in the ground. They changed every now and again. She noticed camel hoofmarks clearly etched in the dunes for several miles. They changed every so often, ranging from mammals to reptiles. Warm-blooded to cold-blooded and back again.

The tracks even stopped for a while, forcing her to rise into the air and search frantically for a trail to pick back up. Her demonic eyes spotted miniscule tracks in the far distance, so she rushed to them. The sand was disturbed in a large impact pattern with small claw marks leading away from them. The birds feet turned back into human that strode into the distance once more.

As she continued along the trail, she remembered a story she once read ages ago. A goddess that was feared by all. She lived in a forest where she people seldom travelled. The goddess walked barefooted through the woods, leaving behind a trail of footprints as she went.

She didn't have regular feet though. They were back to front. It was invaluable for both her survival and her power. When brave men entered the forest to find and kill her, they would easily find the trail she left and follow it to no end. When scared men tried to escape her and saw her trail, they would run directly towards her.

Ingenious and devious, but a tactic she couldn't find a reason for and something that Beastboy certainly wouldn't employ.

The tracks lengthened, a marker that the shapeshifter was losing energy and dragging his feet. She grinned with sharpened fangs. She caught his scent. He was close now. Close enough for her to be able to taste him.

She put on an extra burst of speed, eager to catch her prey. The footsteps led up a steep dune, only to fall into a massive slide of displaced sand, tumbling to the base.

At the end of the dune was a crumpled heap of leather with touches of green beneath it. Something hitched at her breath. This was it. The moment she was waiting for.

She jumped down beside him, her cloak flowing from the air and slumping into the sand as she did. The fabric was whisked out of the way and Beastboy's form was inches away from her.

He was covered in a pitiful amount of leather, ripped, torn, and worn from the heat and movement it had to endure. She flexed her fingers, measuring the length of her claws.

Her eyes spotted spots in the clothes where they were singed. She took her claws and ripped the aging shirt off, showing faint outlines of bone against the green skin of the lightweight fighter. His back was visible now with the leather removed, his legs crooked and his arms by his side, palms up. Only the side of his face was visible, but that didn't stop her from intensely scrutinizing his face.

Three years they had spent apart and she had forgotten what he looked like. Now that she was next to him, he didn't look to be more than a few days older than when she left him.

She straightened his legs and body so that they were level to the ground, then stripping the rest of the leather from his back. The green skin was a strange contrast to the orange sand and red sky. An unnatural sight in the abyssal realms, one that had to be removed.

She straddled his back and placed her rough claws on his shoulders, drawing them back slowly. Paler green lines formed where her claws were and parts of skin were flared from the sharpness. His body shivered from the feeling and his face scrunched slightly. Her eyes twinged without her permission and a foreign feeling spread across her body.

She had to act fast. She brought the points of her claws to the space between his ribs. If she pressed down hard enough, she would pierce his lungs and heart, silencing the voice within her once and for all.

It would be so easy. The body was vulnerable and fragile. Unconscious and completely defenseless should she strike him down where he rested. Her hands were poised and ready to sink into his flesh, an instant solution to her every problem.

Her claws broke the skin and she could feel the curve of his ribs guide her to the soft space between them. Small droplets of crimson life-force showed up next to her claws, staining them with the promise of silence. The faint tang of metal danced around her mouth, the taste of blood making it water.

A trickle of blood fell down his side with the gentle pull of gravity, his brow furrowing from the pain and non-comforting feeling of wet against dry. His lungs retracted and expanded, slowly easing itself into her waiting clutches.

She loved this. Here, she was all powerful. His life in her hands. An inch of bone and sinew separating her from vital organs that would fail from her actions. The very power that was life in her possession.

Something held her back. The sight of red amongst the green canvas pulled at her heart-chords. The beating in her chest quickened, both from fear and worry. A single bead of sweat trickled down her forehead and her breath grew more ragged.

Something was surfacing within her, growing more powerful and with exponential speed. She began to feel control over her body fade and she knew exactly what it was.

Acting quickly, she straightened her arms and hands into line and pushed as hard as she could with the intention of killing the changeling in an instant.

As the force of the killing blow reached her fingers, the muscles locking them into place failed, her palms impacting against his back instead. Her eyes widened and her breathing stopped. No. It was already too late.

She closed her eyes and rose up again, straightening her fingers for one last thrust but it was too late. Her body didn't obey her commands and her mind was failing her again. She opened her eyes but her vision didn't return with it. She tried to yell out, but her voice failed her.

A spark grew brighter at the back of her mind, a single flame licking at her subconscious that burned hotter and faster by the second. A crackle of electricity shot along her spine and the flame followed it, forcibly traveling through her nerves to reach every fiber of her being.

Her hair flew forwards to cover her face when her head jerked downwards. The quartet of demonic eyes vanished beneath the threads of her long violet hair and she grew still for a moment. Feeling flowed back into her body as the previous tenant returned to her place of residence. Raven raised her head with purpose anew, looking on the world with human eyes.

The situation felt alien. Raven had spent so long in the confines of her mind that she had forgotten what it was like to simply be. To have hair that fell and moved with gravity. To have eyes that stung from being open too long. To breathe, actually breathe.

Something warm pressed against the inside of her thighs and her hands were on top of something smooth but bumpy. She looked down and saw an unusual shade of green, something that sparked at her old memories.

She felt her hands up the object, her touch seeing better than her eyes. They smeared against a small amount of moisture and along what felt to be a ribcage. Her fingers found the shoulder blades and collar bone, reinforcing the fact that it was a body she was on top of.

She felt up to the nape of his neck before her eyes could see properly. Green hair was brushing up against her fingers. Half of his face was also visible and the sight made her gasp.

Beastboy was the body beneath her. His face was beat up and his body sweaty. Red streaks marred his back.

She sniffed and sensed the familiar scent of blood. Eight pricks of blood in a straight line on his back, fresh too. She smelled blood somewhere else too. She lifted her hands to her face and saw drops of blood on the tips of her nails.

Her eyes widened with fear. She quickly bathed her hands in the blue healing light and thrust them onto his back, frantically pouring her energy into him. The wounds on his back closed, leaving the smears of blood with no source to tie it to.

His brow relaxed and his face grew calmer. She could sense his strength returning at the same rate hers waned.

She broke off contact, not feeling comfortable with giving him too much to handle. Her hands returned to her sides and she shifted off of him. Her eyes moved to the closest hand to hers, so she took it between her fingers.

Her heart skipped a beat. The touch of her skin against his was sublime. It was warmer than usual, but his heartbeat was the same as she was used to. The same heartbeat she felt when she hugged him for the first time. It was the same as when she tied him to a table when he was possessed by her father. The same as when he carried her after Malchior was unleashed.

She leaned down and let his hand touch her chakra. A single tear fell from her eye, impacting on the palm of his hand. It had been far too long.

Something shifted beneath her cloak so she stifled the faint sob that was eating the back of her throat and reached to touch it. Cool metal played on her fingers . She took it and held it in front of her, instantly recognizing it as the Horn of the Herald.

Raven had seen her form when she took it from the armory, her Fury looking through the items Beastboy left behind. She brought a hand to her chest and felt the medallion he left as well around her neck.

In a profound sense of pity, she placed the horn next to him and leaned down again, his face inches from hers. His unconscious form made her feel at peace, like there wasn't a thing in the world to care about.

Her hand caressed his cheek, savoring the touch of his face. She didn't want to leave him again, but she knew she must. She couldn't leave Hell. She deserved to be there. All the terrible things she had done had to be punished. She had realms to control and souls to condemn. She didn't deserve to go back.

Raven brought her mouth close to his ear. "You've gone far enough, Beastboy." She whispered. "Please go back home. Go back for me."

It pained her to say it, but it had to be said. To the wonderful man who came after her. To the amazing man who braved the depths of depravity to find her. To the inspiring man who just wanted to bring her back, but she couldn't let him. It was too late for her.

A strand of hair fell across his face, so she brushed it so it rested behind his ear. Her eyes shut tightly to stopper the tears that were threatening to release. With a final sigh, she stood up, turned around and walked away.

It pained her to do so, but it had to be done. He didn't belong in Hell. She did. She had to make the sacrifice for the both of them.

Leaving him behind was the hardest thing she could remember doing, if not because of just simply leaving him than making the meaning of his trip null.

She walked to the edge of the desert where the heat became bearable again and where she was a safe distance away from where Beastboy rested. Her mind was in turmoil at the sight of him and at the confirmation of his presence. She had to sort her emotions out, something she had a handle on for years.

As she reached the end of the sands, she remembered the thing she never did when she left him for the first time. She looked back.

He was standing on top of the dune he fell from, horn in hand. His body was facing hers and she wondered if he could see her from so far away. The look on his face was not one of defeat but of resolve. With renewed energy, he walked down and started towards the end he had seen before.

Raven looked down. "Stupid idiot." She mumbled to herself.

The empath did nothing to dissuade the changeling to turn back and she was sure that it would come back to haunt her. He had come this far to see her, wherever she went he would surely follow. It was an experience she most certainly did not want to live through.

She couldn't imagine what would be worse about their confrontation, her own guilt from abandoning him or the look he would adorn when he discovered his pains had been for naught.

A thought crossed her mind. Running away was never a noble thing to do, but it was the only way to keep him at bay. She just had to run to a place he could never follow her to.

Betrayal. It was a sin she committed and a place she frequented. It was what she was committing again by refusing to see the changeling. It was a place he could never enter.

She closed her eyes and summoned a portal to the next circle. She wanted to see her father before retreating to the realm of ice. It was a cowardly thing she was doing, but she hoped that Beastboy would understand.

Beastboy.

Raven shook her head and cursed under her breath.

"Stupid idiot."

A smile crossed her face and she looked back at him again before disappearing into her portal.

"Loyal idiot."

To Be Continued.

Final two chapters to follow in the coming days. I'm glad of the free time I've been given and will use it to conclude my affairs.

Amenson out.