The Ruins of Azarath to Room 509, Wednesday evening
Raven wasn't so sure teleporting to Azarath -- or teleporting at all -- was a good idea, but she had go. She made a brief stop in her Gotham first, just to assure herself the world of her mother was still there. She didn't have the faintest idea how to find Arella now, but at least the city was still standing. For now.
Then she stepped into the netherverse to take herself to the place of her birth. She hadn't returned there since its destruction at the hands of her father's demons, something she had stood and overseen, relishing in the carnage, even the pain and injuries of her friends as they tried to save Azarath and its people. Going back had crossed her mind from time to time, to...what? Pay her respects? Beg for forgiveness? But she never found the courage to go, until today.
Charred bones littered the marble streets, stained reddish-brown with dried blood, and the once magnificent golden towers were crumpled and fallen. "I am sorry for my part in this," Raven whispered as she walked the paths of her childhood. Juris had been right. She had brought doom to Azarath. But Azar had known, and in the end, her people accepted the sacrifice of their lives to stop Trigon. They'd welcomed it.
That didn't make her feel any better about it. The guilt she carried came surging back and she prayed, at least, that their souls were at peace.
The Great Library, she found to her dismay, had collapsed. If there were any books within that might contain any knowledge that would be helpful against this threat to the multiverse, it would take too long to dig through the rubble. There would be no help there.
She shivered, drawing her cloak more tightly around her shoulders as she looked up into the dark skies above. Planets hung impossibly close, galaxies spun, nebula glowed colorfully. But in the distance, the sky was empty. No stars, no swirls of color, just...blackness.
Raven teleported closer, wincing a little as she could practically hear Jono, Karla, and Anakin admonishing her for being unwise. But she had to see. She stood on one of the stepping stones that dotted the netherverse, watching as the blackness spread across the sky, swallowing everything in its path, consuming the netherverse and heading straight for Azarath.
"No," she whispered, for a moment crazily wondering if she could somehow teleport her entire home away from the encroaching darkness. But it was too big; her powers had their limits. She could only watch and scream as the darkness swallowed the ruins of her home. And still it crept onward, heading right toward her.
She willed herself back to Fandom before it could get to her, collapsing in her room as her legs gave out from a combination of weakness and grief and fear. Nothing lived in Azarath anymore, but it was all she had of her home, and now it was gone. And if all the netherverse was consumed, what would that mean for her?
She curled into a ball on the floor and started to cry, no longer able to hold back the stress and sorrow.
Then she stepped into the netherverse to take herself to the place of her birth. She hadn't returned there since its destruction at the hands of her father's demons, something she had stood and overseen, relishing in the carnage, even the pain and injuries of her friends as they tried to save Azarath and its people. Going back had crossed her mind from time to time, to...what? Pay her respects? Beg for forgiveness? But she never found the courage to go, until today.
Charred bones littered the marble streets, stained reddish-brown with dried blood, and the once magnificent golden towers were crumpled and fallen. "I am sorry for my part in this," Raven whispered as she walked the paths of her childhood. Juris had been right. She had brought doom to Azarath. But Azar had known, and in the end, her people accepted the sacrifice of their lives to stop Trigon. They'd welcomed it.
That didn't make her feel any better about it. The guilt she carried came surging back and she prayed, at least, that their souls were at peace.
The Great Library, she found to her dismay, had collapsed. If there were any books within that might contain any knowledge that would be helpful against this threat to the multiverse, it would take too long to dig through the rubble. There would be no help there.
She shivered, drawing her cloak more tightly around her shoulders as she looked up into the dark skies above. Planets hung impossibly close, galaxies spun, nebula glowed colorfully. But in the distance, the sky was empty. No stars, no swirls of color, just...blackness.
Raven teleported closer, wincing a little as she could practically hear Jono, Karla, and Anakin admonishing her for being unwise. But she had to see. She stood on one of the stepping stones that dotted the netherverse, watching as the blackness spread across the sky, swallowing everything in its path, consuming the netherverse and heading straight for Azarath.
"No," she whispered, for a moment crazily wondering if she could somehow teleport her entire home away from the encroaching darkness. But it was too big; her powers had their limits. She could only watch and scream as the darkness swallowed the ruins of her home. And still it crept onward, heading right toward her.
She willed herself back to Fandom before it could get to her, collapsing in her room as her legs gave out from a combination of weakness and grief and fear. Nothing lived in Azarath anymore, but it was all she had of her home, and now it was gone. And if all the netherverse was consumed, what would that mean for her?
She curled into a ball on the floor and started to cry, no longer able to hold back the stress and sorrow.