sorry everyone for the long wait...life has been...lively, but im back and m jumping in with both feet..
For you Michelle...for always being there for me...
and to you hope...for always making me believe that tomorrow will be better
I had fallen asleep…
But even in sleep I couldn't calm down…
I was falling…
Falling into a blackness that seemed infinite and never ending…
A inky blackness that seemed to suck me into it…it seemed to steal my memories and emotions, my ideas and yet…it seemed to enhance my fears…
It brought my nightmares to life and made my enemies into unstoppable creatures, it brought my beast boy ever closer to death…
I was falling…losing everything
"All you have to do is open your eyes Raven" I heard a voice say
A voice that sounded just like me…
So I did…
The darkness was deafening but the light that followed seemed like a sun going supernova…a whole galaxy condensing into a single point of illumination that glowed with a white hot heart…
I saw her as I looked down…she was meditating in a ring of stones that had unfamiliar characters carved deep into them that somehow seemed to glow with a soft white light that managed to match the all white leotard and cape that flowed around her, I recognized her…
She was the part of me that had managed to make peace with the other aspects of my personality and was the pinnacle of perfect control…what I was striving for.
I called to her…my voice echoed with the strength of my call, yet she did not stir, did not twitch, did not even seem to notice that I was there…maybe she didn't know I was here, maybe as she is on such a different level than me, maybe she cant even feel me…the same way a person does not notice that they have treaded on an ant…maybe to her I didn't even exist…
I knew what she represented but I dared not give her a name, for that would be like trying to name a god
I looked around from my perch in the sky and gasped at what I saw…
The vegetation that existed had no place in this perfect world…it was an abomination, a blight, an eyesore…
Where there should have been fields of flowers of every variety and in every color, was only a crystallized wasteland, a translucent desert, a pellucid devastation…
Unwillingly tears sprang to my eyes and fell with a dream-like slowness striking a crystal-clear crysthanamum from up which sprung a bell-like ring,
Not expecting an answer I asked "Why…" and to my surprise…an answer was given…
"Raven" I heard a voice whisper in my head "you are only half right when u say that this land is under a great affliction, but this was not caused by an outside influence, but by an emotional surge of negative energy, your lack of belief and your overwhelming fear have warped the very land that we now see, and in doing so has limited my powers and the very powers and abilities that reside within your very soul"
I turned to her, ready to ask her, to beg her for her help when she shocked me again, she was floating right in front of me, her feet pointing at the sphere of light her face upside down but parallel with mine.
She put her finger to my mouth which had begun to open, her way of telling me to listen…
"Welcome to the inverted world" she said slowly "I cannot help you in the way you think I can Raven, it is not my place just give you what u need, but…" she pauses and looks into the light "I miss him too" she mumbles almost to herself, "I can give you the tools Raven, but it is up to you to figure out how to use them" she whispers extending her arm, and holding her palm out to me
I reach out and press my own palm against hers, not flinching as I feel a quiet pulse of power began to resonate with mine, and almost immediately magical theorems and spells that I've read but somehow managed to forget are being forced into the light, techniques and ideas that I've had over the years that have been worn down and shelved suddenly bloom with a new purpose and that's when I realize what I have to do.
Its at that moment that fear and guilt shift and change into determination and resolution, and the very change inside of me is reflected in the land around me…like a giant letting out a calming breath and with the sound of ice cracking, the halcyon flowers stir and began to wave in a breeze that carries with it a menagerie of smells as the bonds around the flowers break apart and float away in the wind farther breaking down until it cease to exist all together…
"Its beautiful" I whisper as I finally see the true spectrum of colors for the first time
"Yeah" she whispers right next to me as she to takes a moment to re-orient herself with her feet also facing the ground…
"Its time for you to go Raven, you must save him, he is the only reason this land..." she gestures her arm in a broad wave " exists in the first place, I will do what I can from here to aid you, but you must be the one to call out to his soul, you must be the one to save him from...himself" she whispers as she floats back to her circle of stones and assumes a lotus position "good bye Raven…and good luck" she whispers as I feel myself awakening…
I open my eyes and look out the window…a full moon makes a brief appearance before disappearing behind the clouds again, reminding me what I must do…and how big a risk it also carries should I fail
"I won't fail" I whisper to myself as I get out of bed and walk to the door, keying it open with a little push of effort from my mind and startling Cyborg who seemed just about to knock…
"I know what I have to do" I say before he can began, "I just need you and the rest of the team to trust me"
He smiles, and I know that I can…he turns around and walks away, probably to alert the team, I take one last look outside and say out loud…
"Thank you…Hope" before closing the door and running full tilt to where Beast Boy is, all the while thinking "im coming Beast Boy, just hold on a little bit more"