Categories > Cartoons > Teen Titans > To the End of the World . . . and After
To the End of the World . . . and After
A Teen Titans fic, by DrT
*
Chapter XIII – the Return
Raven attempts to return home. Others also have to plan.
*
Garfield came to the door of his quarters, a bit blurry-eyed. “What?” he mumbled as the door opened.
“Whoa, you just got off duty an hour ago!” Vic said. “I didn’t think you’d be asleep.”
“Still getting used to the shift change.” The workers on the station rotated their shifts every four weeks, followed by a week off, and this was just the second day after his latest shift.
“Sorry. Anyway, I have message from Raven for you.”
“WHAT! HOW! What’s hap. . . .”
“Calm down! She asked me to do something in the letter she sent. She wanted me to find a song to play for you, to, well, you know . . . let you know how she feels.”
“Dude, it’s been over three weeks!”
“Yeah, for some reason it wasn’t in the station’s music archive. It took a little digging in the different caches around the diaspora to get it.”
“Some obscure song from the 1920s or something like that?”
Victor shook his head. “No, it just wasn’t here for some reason. I have no idea where Raven ever heard it – it’s not something any of us would have listened to, unless Kori was tuned into an Oldies station. It’s from the early 60s. Anyway, I just wanted you to know; I already sent the file.”
Nodding to his friend, Garfield started to make his way back to bed, when the full import of what Victor had said hit him. He went over to his comm-unit and called up the file.
The music was rather upbeat, and the first vocals were from a deep-voiced male backup, in the style of the late-50s/early 60s ‘do-wop’, and then a regular back-up group, before the clear voice of a young woman chimed in:
“Do-do-do, do-do-do, do-do-do-do do-do-do”
“I love him, I love him, I love him,
And where he goes I’ll follow, I’ll follow, I’ll follow”
“I will follow him, follow him no matter wherever he may go!
There isn’t an ocean too deep,
A mountain so high it can keep me away,
I must follow him,
Ever since he touched my hand I knew
That near him I always must be,
And nothing can keep him away from me,
He is my destiny.” (1)
Listening, and re-listening, to the lyrics, Garfield understood. The song called him her ‘true love’ and her ‘destiny’ – and Raven meant what the song said. Yes, Raven was quiet, unobtrusive. The one often overlooked in a group that had three loud extraverts and a leader in a red, yellow, and green costume. Garfield knew he could be stubborn, Kori could on occasion be imperious, Victor and especially Richard could be determined, but their combined wills couldn’t equal Raven’s – when she was set on a path, she might be reasoned with but nothing could force her to change. Nothing would keep her away from him; in less than fifteen months, unless it was obvious that the attempt would fail, she would be returning. Only knowing it would be a total failure might make her wait to try again later. Maybe.
Garfield knew there were many smart and important beings pondering how to help Raven return.
It was time to get them to stop pondering the problem and start solving it. Garfield might be a very insignificant person in this new order of things, but he knew some movers and shakers, and he could be VERY annoying if he had to be to get others’ attention.
*
July 3, 1921
Raven was mildly annoyed. Nelson had taken ship from Alexandria and was now in Bombay. If he moved toward her, she knew she would have to confront him again, and perhaps be a bit more forceful.
She hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
*
“Look, Garfield, Raven didn’t mean. . . .”
“I tell you she did!”
“I know that song, B! She just wanted to say she loves you.”
“How many love songs do you think Raven knows?”
Part of both of them was surprised that Raven knew any love songs (or at least admitted to knowing any). On the other hand, this was Raven, who was known to research anything. “Probably a lot,” Victor admitted.
“Of all the possible love songs, she wanted me to hear that one! Listen to it, actually listen to it! Listen to it as if Raven was singing it, and meaning exactly it says.”
“But Raven wouldn’t. . . .”
“Raven wouldn’t come out and say something that explicit? Of course not! She wanted to assure me how she felt, but what she chose told me more than that!” Garfield looked his friend in the eye and simply repeated, “Like I said, listen to it again, and listen as if Raven were singing and meaning what she says.”
Victor sighed, and called up the song. He listened to it, really listened to it as if sung by Raven.
Then he listened a second time, and a third. He sighed again and turned to his friend. “I hear what you’re hearing. We need to make some calls.”
*
July 10, 1921
Raven looked over her students, feeling less anxious than she had been for over a week. Nelson had left Bombay that morning, heading south. She wasn’t sure where he was going, but he was at least leaving India. When he eventually landed in Perth and stayed in Australia, she would relax even further, but that would be in the near future. For now, she had other things to deal with.
“You’ve all made excellent progress. Over the next few days, I’ll call you in one at a time, and I’ll guide you to one of the mystical planes. You are all ready to make the journey; just don’t try it by yourself. For the first few times, Master Sonam or myself should travel with you.” She enjoyed feeling her students’ quiet satisfaction. “We may meet other travelers, especially some of the Australian Dream Walkers. Unless they approach us, do not approach them. Kalu, if you are ready, we can try now. The rest of you are dismissed.”
*
Richard Greyson was a bit concerned when he was called in to see the Superintendent of the Interstellar Criminal Investigation Academy. He thought that both he and Kori were doing well in their respective programs. In fact, in the areas where there was self-study, he had thought they were well ahead.
“Come in, Greyson,” the being commanded. It (and it was indeed an ‘it’ – its species had three genders and it wasn’t the male or the female). “You are no doubt wondering why I asked to see you.”
“Yes, Superintendent, I am.”
“You are the first of your species here, and you know your partner’s species is not . . . well regarded by some.”
“I do; that’s one reason why we applied here, as opposed to some of the other organizations.”
“We do discourage discrimination. We have been pleased with your and your partner’s progress. We think you both will finish the courses sooner than expected. That, coupled with your past work on your home planet, gives the ICI some options for you. You will find the list and descriptions in your comm channels. Continue as you have been, and you two will be granted the early leave you requested.”
Richard smiled and bowed in thanks. He wanted to look over the offers, and knew Kori would as well.
*
November 7, 1921
Raven frowned as she looked at the letter that had arrived for her today. It was the first piece of mail she had received on this world, and it was from Nelson.
Obviously, the man had set someone on her trail during his stay in Bombay. She had not been there since her trip the previous June, but she had been to Delhi and Calcutta since then to trade jewels for gold. If whoever had been put on her trail in Bombay had not picked her up from that trip, she had been traced from at least one of the other two. Raven sighed and reread the letter. Nelson wanted to be present when she attempted to leave the next September, rather than waiting to see if she had left. No doubt, he mostly wanted to make sure she was gone. Oddly, he had also mentioned that since he had shown he knew where she was located, she should feel free to use her powers to travel if she wanted to.
Raven wondered at this seeming change in the demon tracker – did it show trust, or was he trying to lure her into revealing something he could use against her? Raven knew she would do nothing that could be legitimately used against her, but there was always the chance that, even if Nelson was testing her with the best of intentions, he could misinterpret her actions. While he was not a major threat, she didn’t need the distraction a possible one.
That evening, sitting in deep meditation, Raven found her objective and phased out.
James Nelson sat before the open fire, deep in the Australian Outback. Around him were gathered the most powerful Dream Walkers he had yet encountered, as well as several others.
The eldest and most powerful, nearly as powerful as he was but with many decades more experience, had summoned him several days before, questioning him about the Visitor. For the most part, he was relieved – it was obvious that while the Dream Walkers had been aware of Raven since she had entered their world, they were largely unconcerned with her presence, or at least less so than he had been before meeting her. He found that reassuring.
What he was unsure of was why he had been called upon.
“The Visitor has received your message,” the old man told him, breaking over an hour of silence.
Nelson merely nodded, as the timing sounded about right. “Hopefully she isn’t angry about it,” he commented.
“Concerned, yes; angry, no.” He nodded, and one of the younger men suddenly tossed a sack into the flames, which quickly emitted a flash of light and a great deal of fragrant smoke. When it cleared, Nelson found himself alone by the fire.
“I hate it when they do things like that,” he muttered.
Then, he felt a presence behind him. Turning, he saw it was Raven, the black nimbus surrounding her rapidly disappearing. She was dressed much as he had last seen her, although her hair was now past her shoulders.
“An interesting place to meet,” she commented in what he assumed was her accustomed monotone.
“It wasn’t where I would plan to see you again,” he retorted. “This wasn’t my idea.”
Raven looked into the bush behind his shoulder. “I see. You can come out; I mean you no harm.”
The Dream Walkers emerged from the bush surrounding the small clearing and approached her.
“I take it this was your idea more than his?”
The old man walked to them, and then stopped, looking at her. After a moment of silent examination, he said, “It was. We thought meeting here would clear up any questions you, he, and we might have. You intend on leaving in September?”
“I do, if it is at all possible.”
After another moment, he asked, “Possible, rather than certain?”
“It can never be certain, just as my journey here was merely probable.” Seeing more was wanted, Raven told him, “As best I can calculate, this September might be my best chance. If the odds of my successfully leaving are at all better than even, I shall risk it.”
“Leaving is certain; arrival is not.”
“Fine; better than even odds of my arriving, then.”
The old man nodded. “Then all is well. None of us, or those with whom I have communicated with, have had of the concerns our friend here has had. However, you are a strong force, albeit for good. Your permanent residency may in the end draw counterforces, and they would likely not be so benevolent.”
Raven merely bowed in acknowledgement. The thought had crossed her mind as a possibility, after all.
“We wish you good Walking back to your home,” the old man told her, and walked away. The others disappeared back into the bush.
“Annoying, if wise, aren’t they?” Nelson commented.
“I can see that,” Raven agreed.
“May I ask why you travelled to Europe? Why you’re selling so many jewels?” Nelson asked. He decided it might be best not to ask how she had so many.
“My world was destroyed. As I told you, unlike this galaxy, there are many more civilizations in the stars. Gems like those on Earth can be artificially grown, and have much less value than on this world. Certain elemental metals can only really be created in the heart of stars, and when some of those explode, they scatter the metals into the void of space. They may then gather with other elements and compounds into vast clouds in space. Should those clouds condense, they form solar systems. So those metals do have value, as they can be hard to come by. When I return, I will need resources.”
“Hence the gold.”
Raven nodded. “I’m trading most of the gold into platinum and other rarer metals.”
Nelson understood what she was saying, but then frowned. “If your Earth was destroyed, how can you return?”
Raven startled him by being suddenly enveloped inside a dark field of energy. It was cold, and more powerful than anything he had ever sensed before. After a few seconds, it disappeared.
“That will protect me for a short time even in open space. There should be rescue ships waiting to pick me up.”
“Ships? In space?”
Raven merely nodded again.
“I suppose that makes sense. If you couldn’t travel to the stars, you wouldn’t know about those other civilizations.”
“Exactly, although we were only recently able to make such journeys, and not many of them at that.” The only reason why the Titans could travel like that was because of Starfire’s knowledge and Victor’s engineering skills.
“May I ask how little that ‘short time’ would be?”
Raven relaxed her stance a bit. “Not that long. I’ll have about three minutes of clear time – the heat I’ll be bringing with me will slowly drain away, even faster than the oxygen supply. At that point, I’ll enter a trance, and should have up to nine more minutes before, well, before I run out of sustainable heat, air, and energy.” If she failed, she would never know it, unless she was granted an afterlife. Considering her heritage from her father, she did not like the prospects of a happy afterlife if she even had one at all.
“I see. Have you made a decision about my being there when you leave?”
“If you swear not to try and interfere, you may.”
Nelson swore.
*
Over the next five months, Raven made several journeys to make her exchanges. She also transported deep into various uninhabited wilderness areas in central Asia to exercise her powers. She needed to do everything she could to maximize both her trip, and her chances of survival until she was rescued. Most of the month of May, she spent most of her time deep in meditation, travelling the route in her mind, planning on resuming her travels on this Earth between late May and early August. The last four weeks would again be spent in meditation.
Back in her home universe, others were also making plans, trying to be certain that everything that could be done to rescue Raven should she make the journey was planned for.
One of those meeting was being held on an old, watery world, in a place now named Paradise Island.
“My daughter, are you certain you must make this journey?” Queen Hippolyta asked. “I know why you make your trips to visit your consort, but that is at least within the system, but this is truly Outside.”
“’Must make’, Mother?” Diana asked in return. “Of course I need not make this trip. . . .”
“Then why do so?”
“Because Raven deserves to be rescued, and I could be of help. Because those who care for her will be there, and those who care for those who care for her will be there, hopefully to welcome her home, and to be honest to help them mourn if she is lost.”
“So, you go just for HIM?” Hippolyta’s tone was scornful.
“In part,” Diana admitted. “However, remember it was the warning that came through Raven that prevented the tragedy that befell our world from affecting this entire universe. It was Raven who stayed until the last moment, to set her fell father on the Clatorian, who gave up her best route home so that so many could claim Azarath instead. In addition, the Justice League still functions after a fashion, and while she was a member for only a short time before the end of Old Earth, she was a member. She is my colleague, and in those end times we even became friends, one blessed by Athena in person for her mission.”
“We were wondering when you would mention that,” came a voice to their side.
The Queen and Princess turned and bowed. Their gods had not been very visible since their arrival on this world, but they had shown they had indeed travelled with the Amazons. To their surprise, it was not just Athena who was visiting them, but three others: Aphrodite, and more surprisingly Hecate and Hera herself.
“Raven returns when it would be safer to stay where she is out of love,” Aphrodite stated.
“She returns via magic,” Hecate said in turn, explaining her presence as she was the goddess of magic.
“She returns not just to her home and to her lover, she returns to her true mate,” Hera, the goddess of marriage commented. “We will bless your journey.”
Diana bowed in thanks; Hippolyta bowed in acceptance of their decree.
*
September 10, 1922.
It was nearly time.
The runes and other symbols had been laid out, her goodbyes to Sonam and the rest of the group had been said. Nelson had surprised her by giving her a brief hug and a whispered “good luck”. Now, all Raven had to do was wait until the time was right. If her calculations were correct, she had about a seventy-five minute window in which to leave, with fifteen minutes of that for the optimum chances.
Coming had been so much easier. She had easily dragged along several pocket dimensions with her, filled with supplies and jewels. She had slowly gone through the supplies, and traded in nearly all the gems. The few that had remained, she was leaving behind, along with the equivalent of over a thousand dollars of American, British, and Indian money for Sonam’s group and Nelson. She had charmed another pair of trunks like the ones she had left behind, stored the precious metals into them, and then shrunk them down to carry with her, along with the books, keepsakes, and a few souvenirs for her friends, and had them on her person – she wouldn’t risk dragging any dimensions back with her, as that would take a bit of extra power and she would need as much as possible to come close to that possible twelve minutes maximum time frame.
She was already wearing in her old uniform, and as the window approached, she dressed in several layers of heavy clothing, including a top layer of furs. It wouldn’t help if she was exposed to open space, of course, but it might buy her several more seconds of survival in her bubble if it was necessary.
Raven activated the runes and then entered into a meditative state, drawing her powers together and beginning her chant as the window of opportunity hit. She would have about nine minutes to wait before the best time to leave started.
When the time came, Raven stood up and approached the runic centerpiece at the end of the ritual area, breathing slowly but deeply. The portal was fully opened, showing open deep space. Raven surrounded herself with the dark bubble which should protect her for up to twelve minutes, and started the special alarm stop watch she had with her, and then her soul self formed and projected herself through the portal, which closed immediately behind her. To her surprise, it had locked behind her much more easily than she had anticipated, sealing the two dimensions from each other. The seal would ensure that nothing could use the disruptions the portal had caused to follow her path from either direction, and because it had sealed so easily, it probably would give her bubble up to fifteen seconds more power.
*
“She has left,” Nelson told the group. Sonam and the other mystics gathered used a ritual that sealed the portal, something they had not told Raven they were doing, as they had been unsure of their success.
When they were done, Sonam stood and addressed his group. “Raven is strong, and will survive. Be content that we had her with us for over two years. Come, Mister Nelson, we must cleanse the symbols from her room.”
*
Raven centered herself into a light meditative state inside the dark field. The bubble was so strong that no light could penetrate it, but her mind searched the space around her. She could detect isolated life forces far away from her, but she knew, or at least hoped, they would be searching for her.
In the direction off an angle from her left knee, Raven detected a large concentration of life, which she felt was searching for her as well. In the center of that concentration was the one life sign she could never mistake. ‘Garfield!’
She rotated in her bubble, and it drifted in the direction of that life force. She felt herself bump against the bubble, and she managed to drift back towards the center, where the heat would stay the longest just as her stop watch signaled three minutes since she had formed the bubble.
As she forced herself deep into meditation, so deep that should the bubble come apart she would never know she had died unless she did in fact have an afterlife, she managed one last, powerful psychic cry, “BEAST BOY! . . . . I love you.”
*
1 “I will follow him,” original tune by F. Pourcel & P. Mauriat, adapted by A. Altman; lyrics by N. Gimbel. Raven of course wanted the 1963 version by ‘Little’ Peggy March.
A Teen Titans fic, by DrT
*
Chapter XIII – the Return
Raven attempts to return home. Others also have to plan.
*
Garfield came to the door of his quarters, a bit blurry-eyed. “What?” he mumbled as the door opened.
“Whoa, you just got off duty an hour ago!” Vic said. “I didn’t think you’d be asleep.”
“Still getting used to the shift change.” The workers on the station rotated their shifts every four weeks, followed by a week off, and this was just the second day after his latest shift.
“Sorry. Anyway, I have message from Raven for you.”
“WHAT! HOW! What’s hap. . . .”
“Calm down! She asked me to do something in the letter she sent. She wanted me to find a song to play for you, to, well, you know . . . let you know how she feels.”
“Dude, it’s been over three weeks!”
“Yeah, for some reason it wasn’t in the station’s music archive. It took a little digging in the different caches around the diaspora to get it.”
“Some obscure song from the 1920s or something like that?”
Victor shook his head. “No, it just wasn’t here for some reason. I have no idea where Raven ever heard it – it’s not something any of us would have listened to, unless Kori was tuned into an Oldies station. It’s from the early 60s. Anyway, I just wanted you to know; I already sent the file.”
Nodding to his friend, Garfield started to make his way back to bed, when the full import of what Victor had said hit him. He went over to his comm-unit and called up the file.
The music was rather upbeat, and the first vocals were from a deep-voiced male backup, in the style of the late-50s/early 60s ‘do-wop’, and then a regular back-up group, before the clear voice of a young woman chimed in:
“Do-do-do, do-do-do, do-do-do-do do-do-do”
“I love him, I love him, I love him,
And where he goes I’ll follow, I’ll follow, I’ll follow”
“I will follow him, follow him no matter wherever he may go!
There isn’t an ocean too deep,
A mountain so high it can keep me away,
I must follow him,
Ever since he touched my hand I knew
That near him I always must be,
And nothing can keep him away from me,
He is my destiny.” (1)
Listening, and re-listening, to the lyrics, Garfield understood. The song called him her ‘true love’ and her ‘destiny’ – and Raven meant what the song said. Yes, Raven was quiet, unobtrusive. The one often overlooked in a group that had three loud extraverts and a leader in a red, yellow, and green costume. Garfield knew he could be stubborn, Kori could on occasion be imperious, Victor and especially Richard could be determined, but their combined wills couldn’t equal Raven’s – when she was set on a path, she might be reasoned with but nothing could force her to change. Nothing would keep her away from him; in less than fifteen months, unless it was obvious that the attempt would fail, she would be returning. Only knowing it would be a total failure might make her wait to try again later. Maybe.
Garfield knew there were many smart and important beings pondering how to help Raven return.
It was time to get them to stop pondering the problem and start solving it. Garfield might be a very insignificant person in this new order of things, but he knew some movers and shakers, and he could be VERY annoying if he had to be to get others’ attention.
*
July 3, 1921
Raven was mildly annoyed. Nelson had taken ship from Alexandria and was now in Bombay. If he moved toward her, she knew she would have to confront him again, and perhaps be a bit more forceful.
She hoped it wouldn’t come to that.
*
“Look, Garfield, Raven didn’t mean. . . .”
“I tell you she did!”
“I know that song, B! She just wanted to say she loves you.”
“How many love songs do you think Raven knows?”
Part of both of them was surprised that Raven knew any love songs (or at least admitted to knowing any). On the other hand, this was Raven, who was known to research anything. “Probably a lot,” Victor admitted.
“Of all the possible love songs, she wanted me to hear that one! Listen to it, actually listen to it! Listen to it as if Raven was singing it, and meaning exactly it says.”
“But Raven wouldn’t. . . .”
“Raven wouldn’t come out and say something that explicit? Of course not! She wanted to assure me how she felt, but what she chose told me more than that!” Garfield looked his friend in the eye and simply repeated, “Like I said, listen to it again, and listen as if Raven were singing and meaning what she says.”
Victor sighed, and called up the song. He listened to it, really listened to it as if sung by Raven.
Then he listened a second time, and a third. He sighed again and turned to his friend. “I hear what you’re hearing. We need to make some calls.”
*
July 10, 1921
Raven looked over her students, feeling less anxious than she had been for over a week. Nelson had left Bombay that morning, heading south. She wasn’t sure where he was going, but he was at least leaving India. When he eventually landed in Perth and stayed in Australia, she would relax even further, but that would be in the near future. For now, she had other things to deal with.
“You’ve all made excellent progress. Over the next few days, I’ll call you in one at a time, and I’ll guide you to one of the mystical planes. You are all ready to make the journey; just don’t try it by yourself. For the first few times, Master Sonam or myself should travel with you.” She enjoyed feeling her students’ quiet satisfaction. “We may meet other travelers, especially some of the Australian Dream Walkers. Unless they approach us, do not approach them. Kalu, if you are ready, we can try now. The rest of you are dismissed.”
*
Richard Greyson was a bit concerned when he was called in to see the Superintendent of the Interstellar Criminal Investigation Academy. He thought that both he and Kori were doing well in their respective programs. In fact, in the areas where there was self-study, he had thought they were well ahead.
“Come in, Greyson,” the being commanded. It (and it was indeed an ‘it’ – its species had three genders and it wasn’t the male or the female). “You are no doubt wondering why I asked to see you.”
“Yes, Superintendent, I am.”
“You are the first of your species here, and you know your partner’s species is not . . . well regarded by some.”
“I do; that’s one reason why we applied here, as opposed to some of the other organizations.”
“We do discourage discrimination. We have been pleased with your and your partner’s progress. We think you both will finish the courses sooner than expected. That, coupled with your past work on your home planet, gives the ICI some options for you. You will find the list and descriptions in your comm channels. Continue as you have been, and you two will be granted the early leave you requested.”
Richard smiled and bowed in thanks. He wanted to look over the offers, and knew Kori would as well.
*
November 7, 1921
Raven frowned as she looked at the letter that had arrived for her today. It was the first piece of mail she had received on this world, and it was from Nelson.
Obviously, the man had set someone on her trail during his stay in Bombay. She had not been there since her trip the previous June, but she had been to Delhi and Calcutta since then to trade jewels for gold. If whoever had been put on her trail in Bombay had not picked her up from that trip, she had been traced from at least one of the other two. Raven sighed and reread the letter. Nelson wanted to be present when she attempted to leave the next September, rather than waiting to see if she had left. No doubt, he mostly wanted to make sure she was gone. Oddly, he had also mentioned that since he had shown he knew where she was located, she should feel free to use her powers to travel if she wanted to.
Raven wondered at this seeming change in the demon tracker – did it show trust, or was he trying to lure her into revealing something he could use against her? Raven knew she would do nothing that could be legitimately used against her, but there was always the chance that, even if Nelson was testing her with the best of intentions, he could misinterpret her actions. While he was not a major threat, she didn’t need the distraction a possible one.
That evening, sitting in deep meditation, Raven found her objective and phased out.
James Nelson sat before the open fire, deep in the Australian Outback. Around him were gathered the most powerful Dream Walkers he had yet encountered, as well as several others.
The eldest and most powerful, nearly as powerful as he was but with many decades more experience, had summoned him several days before, questioning him about the Visitor. For the most part, he was relieved – it was obvious that while the Dream Walkers had been aware of Raven since she had entered their world, they were largely unconcerned with her presence, or at least less so than he had been before meeting her. He found that reassuring.
What he was unsure of was why he had been called upon.
“The Visitor has received your message,” the old man told him, breaking over an hour of silence.
Nelson merely nodded, as the timing sounded about right. “Hopefully she isn’t angry about it,” he commented.
“Concerned, yes; angry, no.” He nodded, and one of the younger men suddenly tossed a sack into the flames, which quickly emitted a flash of light and a great deal of fragrant smoke. When it cleared, Nelson found himself alone by the fire.
“I hate it when they do things like that,” he muttered.
Then, he felt a presence behind him. Turning, he saw it was Raven, the black nimbus surrounding her rapidly disappearing. She was dressed much as he had last seen her, although her hair was now past her shoulders.
“An interesting place to meet,” she commented in what he assumed was her accustomed monotone.
“It wasn’t where I would plan to see you again,” he retorted. “This wasn’t my idea.”
Raven looked into the bush behind his shoulder. “I see. You can come out; I mean you no harm.”
The Dream Walkers emerged from the bush surrounding the small clearing and approached her.
“I take it this was your idea more than his?”
The old man walked to them, and then stopped, looking at her. After a moment of silent examination, he said, “It was. We thought meeting here would clear up any questions you, he, and we might have. You intend on leaving in September?”
“I do, if it is at all possible.”
After another moment, he asked, “Possible, rather than certain?”
“It can never be certain, just as my journey here was merely probable.” Seeing more was wanted, Raven told him, “As best I can calculate, this September might be my best chance. If the odds of my successfully leaving are at all better than even, I shall risk it.”
“Leaving is certain; arrival is not.”
“Fine; better than even odds of my arriving, then.”
The old man nodded. “Then all is well. None of us, or those with whom I have communicated with, have had of the concerns our friend here has had. However, you are a strong force, albeit for good. Your permanent residency may in the end draw counterforces, and they would likely not be so benevolent.”
Raven merely bowed in acknowledgement. The thought had crossed her mind as a possibility, after all.
“We wish you good Walking back to your home,” the old man told her, and walked away. The others disappeared back into the bush.
“Annoying, if wise, aren’t they?” Nelson commented.
“I can see that,” Raven agreed.
“May I ask why you travelled to Europe? Why you’re selling so many jewels?” Nelson asked. He decided it might be best not to ask how she had so many.
“My world was destroyed. As I told you, unlike this galaxy, there are many more civilizations in the stars. Gems like those on Earth can be artificially grown, and have much less value than on this world. Certain elemental metals can only really be created in the heart of stars, and when some of those explode, they scatter the metals into the void of space. They may then gather with other elements and compounds into vast clouds in space. Should those clouds condense, they form solar systems. So those metals do have value, as they can be hard to come by. When I return, I will need resources.”
“Hence the gold.”
Raven nodded. “I’m trading most of the gold into platinum and other rarer metals.”
Nelson understood what she was saying, but then frowned. “If your Earth was destroyed, how can you return?”
Raven startled him by being suddenly enveloped inside a dark field of energy. It was cold, and more powerful than anything he had ever sensed before. After a few seconds, it disappeared.
“That will protect me for a short time even in open space. There should be rescue ships waiting to pick me up.”
“Ships? In space?”
Raven merely nodded again.
“I suppose that makes sense. If you couldn’t travel to the stars, you wouldn’t know about those other civilizations.”
“Exactly, although we were only recently able to make such journeys, and not many of them at that.” The only reason why the Titans could travel like that was because of Starfire’s knowledge and Victor’s engineering skills.
“May I ask how little that ‘short time’ would be?”
Raven relaxed her stance a bit. “Not that long. I’ll have about three minutes of clear time – the heat I’ll be bringing with me will slowly drain away, even faster than the oxygen supply. At that point, I’ll enter a trance, and should have up to nine more minutes before, well, before I run out of sustainable heat, air, and energy.” If she failed, she would never know it, unless she was granted an afterlife. Considering her heritage from her father, she did not like the prospects of a happy afterlife if she even had one at all.
“I see. Have you made a decision about my being there when you leave?”
“If you swear not to try and interfere, you may.”
Nelson swore.
*
Over the next five months, Raven made several journeys to make her exchanges. She also transported deep into various uninhabited wilderness areas in central Asia to exercise her powers. She needed to do everything she could to maximize both her trip, and her chances of survival until she was rescued. Most of the month of May, she spent most of her time deep in meditation, travelling the route in her mind, planning on resuming her travels on this Earth between late May and early August. The last four weeks would again be spent in meditation.
Back in her home universe, others were also making plans, trying to be certain that everything that could be done to rescue Raven should she make the journey was planned for.
One of those meeting was being held on an old, watery world, in a place now named Paradise Island.
“My daughter, are you certain you must make this journey?” Queen Hippolyta asked. “I know why you make your trips to visit your consort, but that is at least within the system, but this is truly Outside.”
“’Must make’, Mother?” Diana asked in return. “Of course I need not make this trip. . . .”
“Then why do so?”
“Because Raven deserves to be rescued, and I could be of help. Because those who care for her will be there, and those who care for those who care for her will be there, hopefully to welcome her home, and to be honest to help them mourn if she is lost.”
“So, you go just for HIM?” Hippolyta’s tone was scornful.
“In part,” Diana admitted. “However, remember it was the warning that came through Raven that prevented the tragedy that befell our world from affecting this entire universe. It was Raven who stayed until the last moment, to set her fell father on the Clatorian, who gave up her best route home so that so many could claim Azarath instead. In addition, the Justice League still functions after a fashion, and while she was a member for only a short time before the end of Old Earth, she was a member. She is my colleague, and in those end times we even became friends, one blessed by Athena in person for her mission.”
“We were wondering when you would mention that,” came a voice to their side.
The Queen and Princess turned and bowed. Their gods had not been very visible since their arrival on this world, but they had shown they had indeed travelled with the Amazons. To their surprise, it was not just Athena who was visiting them, but three others: Aphrodite, and more surprisingly Hecate and Hera herself.
“Raven returns when it would be safer to stay where she is out of love,” Aphrodite stated.
“She returns via magic,” Hecate said in turn, explaining her presence as she was the goddess of magic.
“She returns not just to her home and to her lover, she returns to her true mate,” Hera, the goddess of marriage commented. “We will bless your journey.”
Diana bowed in thanks; Hippolyta bowed in acceptance of their decree.
*
September 10, 1922.
It was nearly time.
The runes and other symbols had been laid out, her goodbyes to Sonam and the rest of the group had been said. Nelson had surprised her by giving her a brief hug and a whispered “good luck”. Now, all Raven had to do was wait until the time was right. If her calculations were correct, she had about a seventy-five minute window in which to leave, with fifteen minutes of that for the optimum chances.
Coming had been so much easier. She had easily dragged along several pocket dimensions with her, filled with supplies and jewels. She had slowly gone through the supplies, and traded in nearly all the gems. The few that had remained, she was leaving behind, along with the equivalent of over a thousand dollars of American, British, and Indian money for Sonam’s group and Nelson. She had charmed another pair of trunks like the ones she had left behind, stored the precious metals into them, and then shrunk them down to carry with her, along with the books, keepsakes, and a few souvenirs for her friends, and had them on her person – she wouldn’t risk dragging any dimensions back with her, as that would take a bit of extra power and she would need as much as possible to come close to that possible twelve minutes maximum time frame.
She was already wearing in her old uniform, and as the window approached, she dressed in several layers of heavy clothing, including a top layer of furs. It wouldn’t help if she was exposed to open space, of course, but it might buy her several more seconds of survival in her bubble if it was necessary.
Raven activated the runes and then entered into a meditative state, drawing her powers together and beginning her chant as the window of opportunity hit. She would have about nine minutes to wait before the best time to leave started.
When the time came, Raven stood up and approached the runic centerpiece at the end of the ritual area, breathing slowly but deeply. The portal was fully opened, showing open deep space. Raven surrounded herself with the dark bubble which should protect her for up to twelve minutes, and started the special alarm stop watch she had with her, and then her soul self formed and projected herself through the portal, which closed immediately behind her. To her surprise, it had locked behind her much more easily than she had anticipated, sealing the two dimensions from each other. The seal would ensure that nothing could use the disruptions the portal had caused to follow her path from either direction, and because it had sealed so easily, it probably would give her bubble up to fifteen seconds more power.
*
“She has left,” Nelson told the group. Sonam and the other mystics gathered used a ritual that sealed the portal, something they had not told Raven they were doing, as they had been unsure of their success.
When they were done, Sonam stood and addressed his group. “Raven is strong, and will survive. Be content that we had her with us for over two years. Come, Mister Nelson, we must cleanse the symbols from her room.”
*
Raven centered herself into a light meditative state inside the dark field. The bubble was so strong that no light could penetrate it, but her mind searched the space around her. She could detect isolated life forces far away from her, but she knew, or at least hoped, they would be searching for her.
In the direction off an angle from her left knee, Raven detected a large concentration of life, which she felt was searching for her as well. In the center of that concentration was the one life sign she could never mistake. ‘Garfield!’
She rotated in her bubble, and it drifted in the direction of that life force. She felt herself bump against the bubble, and she managed to drift back towards the center, where the heat would stay the longest just as her stop watch signaled three minutes since she had formed the bubble.
As she forced herself deep into meditation, so deep that should the bubble come apart she would never know she had died unless she did in fact have an afterlife, she managed one last, powerful psychic cry, “BEAST BOY! . . . . I love you.”
*
1 “I will follow him,” original tune by F. Pourcel & P. Mauriat, adapted by A. Altman; lyrics by N. Gimbel. Raven of course wanted the 1963 version by ‘Little’ Peggy March.
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