LOVE + FEAR | Damirae

I'M A RUIN

Raven waded through the sighing lilies. Her eyes were on the hooded figure. Their hidden head was bowed low, unmoving.

"Hey!" Raven tried to call out, but her voice wouldn't rise above a rasp. She was hardly heard above the valley of unrest.

Quiet was buried beneath the handsy petals and groaning stems. The shrouded figure stood in sharp contrast, still as stone. Raven trudged through the meadow that whispered sinister promises. She tried not to crush the flowers under her. Someone wouldn't like it if the petals were crushed, but names were fleeing her mind...thoughts were slow, like water trickling from a dam...

Raven stood behind the cloaked figure. Their hidden head was bowed low, unmoving. The lilies bent their long necks, rustling in the unquiet.

"Hello...!" Raven's voice still refused to rise. Even when her lungs burned, barely a whisper escaped.

Raven's hand rose instinctively, a mirror image of Briar Rose inching towards the spindle of a spinning wheel. Her finger hovered over the stranger's back. She lightly tapped their clothed shoulder.

The hooded figure vanished.

Raven was alone. Her throat clenched as her eyes scanned the meadow, searching for the one object that never moved.

Something lightly poked her shoulder.

Raven froze. Part of her didn't want to turn around. It was the fear of a rabbit cornered by a wolf. The pulsing adrenaline felt when a predator is near.

Raven ignored the feeling and faced the perpetrator.

They stood before her, hooded and still. The white robes wrapped around their unseen form were eerily familiar.

It was Raven.

That's what Raven thought, at first. Same amethyst eyes. Not a single hair was out of place. Then it changed. Raven's doppelgänger smiled an uncomfortable, inhuman smile that hurt to look at. It didn't meet her eyes, crimson and bloodthirsty. A black gem glistened on her forehead. The ebony dripped down, staining her papery white face like ink.

It all happened quickly then.

The Other Raven's limbs stretched, bones snapping and flesh tearing. Wings unfurled and blocked out the sky. Sharpened blades sprouted from the massive appendages, shrieking as they slid against each other. When they fluttered, it looked like a staircase tumbling down into nothingness. Lips, nose, and eyes vanished. Black and white were smeared on its face, swirling.

When the monster took flight, the lilies came to life.

The petals surrounding Raven burst into gnawing mouths full of snapping incisors. They sank into her calves and tore at her cloak. Raven bit back a hiss of pain.

The monster roared, its expressionless face turned towards Raven. Every cell in her body urged her to run.

Raven turned on her heel and sprinted in the opposite direction. Screams cried out to Raven as she ran, pleading for help. Out of the corner of her eye, Raven spotted Ivy suspended by lily stems. Ivy howled in agony. The lilies around her were painted red. Harley was nearby, choking on air as the stems curled around her lungs. A pale porcelain hand pierced by thorns reached out to Raven. She ignored it.

"RACHEL!"

Raven winced when Clark screamed her name. A massive lily burst from the ground, chomping on Clark's insides. His arm caught her ankle as she passed. Raven was forced to stare into the bottomless depths of his blue eyes. The monster wailed behind them.

"RACHEL, PLEASE! HELP ME! LOIS IS DYING —! MY SON —!"

Raven pulled herself from Clark's grip and forced herself forward. She blinked away tears as his body was snapped and broken down behind her. A small part of her pondered Clark's words. Her intuition flickered. His son didn't refer to Conner.

They're not here. They're fine. They'll be okay —

"STOP!"

Raven's feet skidded to a halt. Her body stilled. Ears strained to hear that voice. His voice. It wasn't its normal strong, husky baritone. It was strained. Raven winced at how weak it was.

The meadow melted away. The black sky remained. Raven realized its taint was from heavy plumes of smoke, rising from crumbling skyscrapers.

Gotham was burning.

The acidic aroma of flames feasting on the city singed Raven's nostrils. She searched for the source of the voice, glancing at the road, the alleyways —

There.

One of Raven's doppelgängers hovered above the chaos. She held Damian aloft. His beautiful bronze skin was bruised violet. His eyes were a fleshy pink. Damian struggled beneath the iron grip of her slender fingers.

"No —!" A sob broke through Raven's chest. Her arms clung to her torso, attempting to hold pieces together that were ripped apart, oozing and seething. The pain was so clearly etched upon Damian's face, like the immortal work of a renaissance artist. Perhaps it was so pungent because that's how Raven remembered him last. Features twisted with torment.

Weak voices called out to Raven amongst the rubble. She turned in a slow, agonizing circle, recognizing each small cry. The Titans were held at her emoticlones' mercy. Jaime was dragging himself away from the nearest Raven, clutching at dirt and cement shards. The collar of Garfield's uniform was clutched in one Raven's grasp, pulling his lifeless form forward. Kory's limp body was discarded on the ground.

Raven cringed as her insides tore. It was too vivid; it had to be real. How she hurt each individually, one by one.

Something crashed into the ground before Raven's feet. She raised her arms against the stone fragments. Cracks formed on the pavement. Dust rose in a brown cloud.

Raven whisked the dirt specks away and gaped in horror at what landed before her. Conner. Her lifeline. An invincible force. He never wavered, not when struck by bullets, not when she ignored his flirtatious advances — not when he cared so much for her, and she offered so little in return.

Conner was covered in wounds, unmoving. A shadow fell over them before Raven could attempt to heal him. She glared up at her smirking doppelgänger. The color of the clone's gem was —

No. No more. Enough of this.

Shadows whispered. They slithered forth at Raven's command. Her fingers curled. Darkness twirled around them like a spider's web.

Ghastly grim and ancient raven wandering from the Nightly shore —

Darkness fluttered over every surface like feathers. Somewhere, someone was screaming. Power thrummed within Raven, all the way down to the bone marrow.

Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore

Of 'Never — nevermore.' 

~*~

Rachel Roth: THAT WAS SO MUCH WORSE

Harley Quinn: YeAh... *hissing inhale* we really screwed the pooch on that one.

Jason Todd: It's fine. Demon Boy's collateral damage. We'll solider on: thespians and psychiatrists can save the world—

Lois Lane: Cut the crap. Stand aside, mortals. It's my time to shine.

Rachel Roth: For the record, English majors are better.

Lois Lane: Whatever helps you sleep at night. *cracks knuckles* Let's do this.

Clark Kent: Good luck, honey! Lots of love—

Lois Lane: I think they know ;)