Y/N stood in the dark room's huge open expanse, peering across the hellfires of what was once Jump City.
"So, this is where our efforts get us, huh?"
On this particular day, there was nothing to rejoice about. He'd never be able to turn around again. He'd blown his shot at atonement, and now he was watching the consequences play out on the only five individuals who had ever shown him even a smidgeon of concern.
"At least I'm not screaming into a void right now... wait a minute..."
A loud rumbling shook the foundations of the room.
"Oh God, gimme a break."
Then, a humungous flash of light emitted from behind him, bright enough to blind Stevie Wonder wearing a bag over his head.
"Ow."
As Y/N's vision adjusted to the fading, a wonderfully shaped feminine figure began to emerge.
"Am I... dead?"
The figure gently emerged from the light illusion, like an angel emerging from a stark-white cloud.
"Raven?" Y/N questioned.
"Yes, Y/N. It's me."
She looked nothing like she did less than an hour earlier when Y/N had transported her inside her thoughts.
She was dressed in an ethereal white leotard and robe. Her hair cascaded down her back and shoulders like a purple waterfall filled with the cleanest water on the planet.
"Woah. Uh... I guess you... reasoned with your emotions?" Y/N was struggling to think of words.
He had sent her into her subconscious in the hope that she would be able to deal with her feelings and find the strength to escape out of this circumstance. He couldn't tell if this was Raven or some sort of ruse to 'lure' him in and kill him.
Raven smiled as he said, "It's a long story." But, in the end, you could say that."
As Raven's tranquility grew more apparent, Y/N gradually let go of their tension.
"The white really does you justice. You look just like an angel." Y/N commented, steadily approaching her.
The white-cloaked girl failed to hide her blush, "Thanks, Y/N. As long as I don't look like an escaped convict I'm fine."
They both let out a small laugh at Raven's remark. There were a few moments of silence.
"So, did you just come back to model your latest outfit for me? Or have we got a plan here?"
"There's a plan," Raven thought as she stared into space. I know how to undo everything. To give you a second opportunity."
"Well, spill!" Y/N exclaimed. "What's the deal?"
"It's, uh... complicated." She rasped, "I know how to reverse the spell that cursed you here, at least, I hope so."
Y/N punched the air in celebration, "Yes! So we can go back to how things used to be... right?"
Raven's face fell, "Well, not exactly..."
"What?" Y/N asked, suspiciously. Then... what will happen?"
Raven inhaled deeply. "You will be sent back to where you came from; 30 years ago in Jump City, before the prophecy unfolded and caused all of this."
"But..."
"You won't see me again." Not this version of me, at least. You'll be returned to an alternate universe where you never vanished, and you'll be able to live your life with me and others. Y/N, you'll be able to live a happy life."
"Woah, woah, woah... " Y/N's eyes boggled out of his head. hold on... what about you? Where are you going to go?"
"I have to stay here, Y/N," Raven groaned. I can't possibly return with you. There can't be more than one Raven in the Tower. Y/N, I've already lived my life. I know it wasn't the life I wanted, but at least I'll be able to pass on knowing you had a second chance."
It took some time for Y/N to remember how to say words. "Wait a minute, what? No. No way. No how. I can't abandon you here! This isn't right! No one should be cursed with a life wasted like this! I can't do it, Raven. I can't live my entire life knowing that I left you behind!"
"Y/N, this isn't about me. You need to go back. I'm already a lost cause. Save Robin for me. Fight for your life to defeat Trigon. Do whatever it takes. You need to forget me, Y/N. Another Raven will be waiting for you, somewhere out there." Raven smiled a submissive smile. Deep down, she didn't want this any more than he did.
Y/N groaned heavily and walked over to the shattered window, holding his face in his hands. As he thought, he yanked his hands away from his face and closed his eyes. He knew this would be difficult, but he also understood that things had to change. Robin needed to be saved. And his failures should not be borne by his friends.
He shifted his gaze to Raven.
"All right, let's do it. But you need time to say the spell, right?" Any excitement in his voice had vanished.
"Yes, but it shouldn't take too long. Azar never taught this spell directly to me, but I've heard it recited many times in scripture."
Y/N nodded at her response. He didn't say anything, just sat on the edge of the broken glass, staring out into the blazing distance.
• • • • • • • •
"Y/N?"
Y/N remained motionless, staring off into the horizon.
"I'm prepared. This is something we must do. You must preserve yourself and others."
He stayed deafeningly silent.
"I understand you don't want to. I share your sentiments. I don't want to see you go, but reality will crumble if-"
"Don't you get it?!" In a fit of wrath, Y/N threw his hands in the air.
Raven exclaimed and took a couple of steps back. This came out of nowhere.
"It doesn't matter what I do any longer! I could sit here and not move for the next billion years and not get old or impatient! Anytime I've ever chased after love, the world slaps me and the face and gives me a middle finger! I'm space junk! Do you hear me? SPACE JUNK!"
Raven had forgotten how dangerous he could be. He was, in essence, correct. He was just space junk, fashioned from the universe's illegal leftovers by a sheer miracle that was never supposed to happen.
He did not have a heart. He did not have a brain. Everything about him was a trick of the light. Even the blood he shed was a ruse for the universe to breathe through him.
All that was keeping him alive was Trigon's might, which was fed by the universe's omnipotence.
"I can't leave here knowing you'll keep suffering. I'll never die. You won't ever see me again."
"But you'll see me again. In another reality. In another time." Raven choked nervously in between breaths. "Y/N, I don't care what you are. I'm a grey demoness who was born with the sole purpose of destroying the world for goodness sake. If anyone can talk about anomalies, it's me. No matter what you are, the fact that you're standing right in front of me is all that matters."
Y/N clenched his fists in emotional agony. He'd learned long ago to suppress his emotions, but desperate times call for desperate measures. The rage was not out of hate, but out of despair. He was going to leave yet another soul behind in the dark. But if he did not do it, he would not get a second chance.
He held his hand out.
"Then do it."
Raven stared at him for a moment.
"Do it now, before I change my mind."
Raven sighed and stepped closer to him.
"You've always been a good girl, Raven. Do you what believe is right." Finally, he smiled a broken smile.
Heeding his call, Raven clasped both of her hands around his.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. But I don't know for how much longer, so pick up the pace a little."
Raven's eyes illuminated a stark white as Y/N felt an intense warmth in her hands. The comforting sensation permeated his senses that held no soul.
"I would say see you on the other side..."
An otherworldly spiral of violent white light surrounded the pair. They felt as if they were caught inside a tropical storm.
"... But, I'd just be making empty promises..."
Y/N let her words sink in. "Wait..."
"Goodbye, Y/N."
Y/N felt a tingling sensation in his feet and looked down to the lower half of his legs slowly disintegrating into the vastness of the light.
"No, don't send me back. Not yet!"
She began to recite the spell.
"Tempirus Futurum Allinos..."
He tried to move, but his joints froze as he felt his consciousness slipping away.
"I want to help you. You can't leave!" He choked in great effort.
"Ciendici Avovolli Desterrar..."
Then, something else caught Y/N's. A defining clap of thunder was heard, accompanied by an impassioned roar of pure rage.
"Trigon." Y/N made the realization quickly.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos.." Raven finished the spell.
Y/N winced as he felt a strong burning sensation emerge from beneath his skin. The voices in his head resembled a mosh pit at a thrash metal concert. His throat ceased to operate. He tried to scream, but couldn't, as if he was caught in a nightmare.
Raven's eyes returned to normal, as she stood stoically and peacefully among the chaos that unfolded around her.
"Raven." Y/N choked. No sound was emitted.
Then, everything went silent, as Y/N felt his presence fade into nothingness.
The haunting visuals spoke for themselves.
The last thing Y/N saw was Raven's face break into a heartbreaking smile. Two massive crimson hands erupted from the spiral of light that encircled her and began to close, as if time itself was slowing.
Y/N's vision began to fade.
Before the hands clasped Raven, Y/N could've sworn he saw a tear sneak down her cheek. As the hands closed, a monumental explosion of bright light blinded Y/N, as he fell into a deathly slumber.
• • • • • • • •
You did it.
Now, he's waiting for you.
• • • • • • • •
As the piercing trill of silence rang in his ears, Y/N's eyes adjusted to the darkness that surrounded him.
His body ached as if it were being held down by a thousand anchors, and the unpleasant sensation of pins and needles coated him from head to toe.
He had little memory of his previous actions and was only currently focused on not throwing up.
He gazed up at a dark ceiling like any other and felt a soft carpet beneath him.
"How kind for the void to give me to give me my hotel room."
He let out a groan in discomfort, as he forced himself to rise to his knees.
As his spine started to do its job, Y/N felt the ever-so-slight scent of lavender and jasmine flood his senses.
"Am I wearing lady's perfume?"
Then, he noticed a bed ahead of him, accompanied by several mythical artifacts, a desk, a mirror, a dresser, and theatre masks, reminiscent of a scene from a Tim Burton film.
Slowly, he stood to his feet.
"Where- AHH!"
Still in a drowsy state, he failed to notice the spilled bottle of perfume on the floor. He fell backward into the round bed, which was cloaked with a purple sheet, and enough pillows to comfort an orphanage.
"Jeez, someone had too much fun last night. Oh, it's perfume... wait a minute..."
As Y/N recovered from the shock and looked at his surroundings, he noticed a small glowing red light from a dresser on the other side of the night.
He approached the source of the light, and instantly recognized the object.
"Raven's mirror. I'm in Raven's room. I'm a dead man."
Then, everything came flooding back to him. The incident with Robin. His unsuccessful banishment to the future. Beast Boy and Cyborg fall victim to the fury of the demons.
Not wasting another second, he raced out of the room to the training gym.
"RAVEN! ROBIN!"
He didn't notice the photo of himself that sat on the desk.