A Purple Hood

A Door

Raven stepped into the personal dark domain that was her room, the heavy metal door sliding shut behind her. Velvety black magic enveloped a few nearby candles, lit them, and levitated them to Raven's side as she approached the bookshelf. She breathed in the familiar smell of ink and paper, extending her arm. As her fingers brushed against the weathered moleskin cover, she hesitated.

Is this really a good idea? Her self doubt echoed loudly in her head despite her best efforts. Should I just stop now before something bad happens?

Starfire's words came flooding back to her. We can never go back to what we perceived as normal, nor should we desire to do so.

"Okay, Raven," She inhaled and exhaled deeply, grasping the book and lifting it from the shelf. "No going back."

Setting the book on the floor, the candles followed and alighted a few feet from the dusty old tome. Raven brushed her palm against the dark blue cover, the gold letters shimmering with sudden life even in her dimly lit room. As she opened the dark blue carapace its leather creaked only the slightest bit, as if it has aged well and welcomed the arrival of fresh eyes and a new mind. The pages were somewhat stiff and dry, but seemed in no danger of splitting or tearing. Raven gingerly turned them to ensure that each one remained happily in a single-piece design.

She read methodically, analyzing each syllable, not wanting to miss anything. She remained devoted to the book, her eyes scanning the pages, each sentence raising two more questions for the one it answered. Hours passed but she could not bring herself to set the book down. It was fascinating, exhilarating, and terrifying all at once. And then she finally found it, the climax of the entire manuscript. She read slowly and carefully.

"Through extensive studies encompassing generations, the Ancient Monks of Azarath learned that travel between dimensions and realities requires one of two tools, but never both. The most common methodology is to use a medium to serve as a portal. Traditionally, this door between the two physical realms is a live manifestation of..."

Raven paused for a moment, skipped a handful of sentences that sent memories flooding back, and then continued.

"The second methodology requires no complex spells or incantations, and is only accessible through the most dedicated of meditation, purity of spirit, or prowess of magic. In this methodology, travel between alternate realities and separate dimensions is achieved through the sheer will of the monk."

Raven's brow furrowed and she resisted the urge to swear. "What in the..."

She kept reading. "Unlike traditional meditation techniques, this does not require isolation or elimination of emotion. Rather, the prerequisites for this method of travel demand an unambiguous purity of the heart. It is postulated that species of outer worlds have evolved to harness the raw power of joy and love, but lack of contact with these races reduces this theory to speculation only."

She chuckled. "If only you knew that my people wanted to study your happiness, Star'"

Raven read on. "Any corruption, haste, aggression, anger, greed, or envy could cause the rift to sever, leaving the border imperfect and rough. This could create..."

Raven paused again, reflecting. Did not her Meditation Mirror, and subsequently her mind, count as a separate dimension? Was it simply a different perspective of the same dimensional plane, or could the Mirror itself serve as the medium to traverse between two disparate realities?

"Grr..." Raven grumbled, frustrated. Complete isolation of positive emotions was off of the table, but as was using someone as a medium for transmuting through space time as Trigon once had. There had to be another way.