Freedom

The End

ROBIN
    Slade is dead.
    I am not blissful.
    I am not content.
    Reason?
    Raven.
    I have waited years for this. I have plotted my entire life to this point. To kill Slade. I have waited so long to feel fulfilled, to feel exulted. But, nothing. Nothing remotely satisfying of watching his corpse burn.
    Trigon crushed Raven in his hands, making her disappear as if it was a trick to his magic act. Trigon sits upon his rocks near Jump City, feeling a sadistic version of joy. He watches the world burn, not laying a finger on the damage, but takes full credit.
    The Titans are tired, bloody and beaten up, but not defeated.
    Raven gave us her powers, to protect us. She cares about us, she is a hero, but she won't believe it.
    "How are we supposed to defeat a demon?" Cyborg asks, trying to reboot his system with cut wires and damaged panels.
    "I don't know," I say. Starfire had her green blood spilled because of this. Beast Boy has several cuts and bruises on his body that causes him to limp in any form. And I? Well, I no longer care for pain.
    "What? Robin? No big plan?" Beast Boy requests, feeling hopeless.
    "I just don't know how we can defeat the most powerful man on the planet," I admit. Truthfully, all I am really thinking of is how to get Raven back. I tried contacting her through our bond, but nothing, there is nothing left to contact.
    "Robin, you told us of Raven's history, her relations with this demonic man," Starfire says. "Surely you must know his weakness."
    A weakness? Raven never mentioned a weakness. And contacting her telepathically is tedious when she cannot answer.
    "You killed Slade," Beast Boy reminds. "Your greatest enemy is dead, if you can defeat your own demons, you can defeat Trigon."
    I did kill Slade. I killed him and it felt good. As if all my suffering went into that pit of fire. But I didn't feel any relief, because Raven was with Trigon. Because Raven wasn't safe. That is my fault.
    Maybe if I tried convincing her. Maybe if I stayed with her.
    We head through the burned remnants of the city and out to the beach where the waves are crashing ferociously. Trigon, the size of several buildings, sits on the rocks, relaxing as the world burns.
    I walk out to him. Feeling my legs move as my mind yells at them to stop.
    "Robin!" Starfire yells.
    "You're a sadist!" I bark at Trigon. He grunts and turns to me.
    "Foolish boy, what are you going to do?" he probes with a devilish grin.
    "This," I say, throwing three disks at his eyes. The disks explode, causing smoke and combustion. Trigon stands furiously and stomps down, creating a crater.
    "You insolent dupe!" He yells. "You will pay for this!"
    Try your best. I am already burned, bruised, cut, and running on the lowest amount of blood. Slade did a number on my body, slashing, destroying and ripping. He fucked with my mind too, so much that I would be labeled as insane. But guess fucking what? I'm still standing. I have no fear.
    A bright silhouette of a raven shines down, blinding me. I look away and so does Trigon. The light dims and out steps Raven, in a white suit. Her eyes glowing pure white.
    Almost a thousand years pass by, or feels like, that I haven't seen Raven. My knees strengthen, my body strengthens and suddenly, I feel better just because of her presence.
    "Daughter," Trigon thunders as Raven steps onto the sand.
    "You have a debt, Trigon," she says. "And I am here to collect."
    Trigon laughs evilly that sends a shiver up my spine.
    "Imprudent like your mother," Trigon says, and Raven immediately snaps. She lifts her arms and sends a flash white light that pushes Trigon into the water. He gets up instantaneously and angrily. Flames engulf his eyes. "I am your father! You bow to me!"
    "Fathers care about their children," Raven yells, she shoots another vulgar of white at him. "Fathers are kind! Fathers treat people with respect! You may have the same blood, but there is no way in abyss that you are my father!"
    Trigon grunts and shoots fire at her. Raven protects herself with a white force field. She shoots back another flash of white, and another, making Trigon weaker.
    "What are you now, Raven? A hero?" Trigon asks. "Look at your friends! Look at you! You injured them, you hurt them. You are no hero."
    "Even a hero can bleed," she retorts. I smile internally, knowing I said that to her. She shoots one more beam of light, causing Trigon to fall and submit.
She turns to me, her eyes no longer glowing. "Robin, I love you and I'm sorry."
    "I love you too," I say, wrapping my arms around her. I kiss her on the lips, her soft but cracked lips.
    "I will miss you," she whispers, giving me another kiss as her tears roll down her cheeks. Miss me? Why miss me? I lost her once, I won't lose her again.
    "Where are you going?" I ask. She hugs me one more time.
    "I'm going to be a hero," she says. She pulls away, out of my grip. She walks into the water, putting her hand in. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" The water turns pure white, consuming Trigon.
    "No! Raven! No!" Trigon yells as the water consumes him till there is nothing left, except a ripple. A ripple that throws Raven onto the sand.
    The world shakes. The fires become extinct. The building regain balance. The ghost demons disappear. The people awake from their deadly sleeps. The moon rises, as if it was just another night. The end of the world is over.
    I rush over to her body. Her skin burns with designs of hell, her blood drains her body. All I feel is the dance of wind. Her soul rushes around me, making my cuts and bruises disappear. Making all the pain disappear, or at least, all the physical pain.
    No pulse. No breathing.   
    She's gone.
But I'm not. I'm always here. I'm just free.
    Her voice is nothing but an echo, an echo that shakes my soul.
    The wind swirls around me, and then the Earth is still.
    Raven died a hero.
    I hold her in my arms as the rest of the Titans come to look.
    Beast Boy bursts into tears. Cyborg punches into the sand. And Starfire, well she doesn't seem to have one bit of joy in her.
    Ashes fall from the sky in the blistering moonlight. The waves crash against us and the happiness I have is washed away in the tide. Raven's soul is free. All she wanted is to be free. To be free from her past. And now she's free.
    A loose tear flows out of her purple, lifeless, eyes. I close her eyes with my hand and wipe away the tear.
    We all cry. People cry. The strongest of heroes cry. Not because they're weak. They cry because they've been strong for too long.
And Raven, she has suffered and endured torture, and now, she gets the freedom she deserves.

    I sit on the edge of the Titan's Tower, looking out at the ocean. Looking out at the sunrise. So many things I regret, so many things I did and so many things I didn't.
    For months, I blamed myself for Raven's death. I visited that beach every day. I visited the treehouse every day. I even would stop by her room once in a while and feel my mind flush with memories.
    The hardest part was trying to forget somebody who gave you so many memories to remember. That was the worst period of my life. The part where I tried to forget.
    She was my memory, and therefore she is my treasure.
    I then blamed myself for sleeping so well without her here, finally getting a full night's rest. But I realized, she came like a dream and left with all my nightmares. She had a purpose in her life, a purpose of saving the world. She sacrificed, which means I must sacrifice.
    But moving on... moving on is difficult.
    Especially when I don't finish somethings I start.
    Once upon a time, there was a fucked up boy with a fucked up past. He met a girl who had just as a fucked up of a past as he did. He fell in love with her, with her eyes, with her mouth, with her voice. He fell in love with the most beautiful girl in the world, with the most beautiful personality.
    The girl didn't think she was beautiful. The girl thought she was a demon. A demon who was born a villain. But the boy was determined to show her that she was a hero. She cried out every night, in pain of who she thought she was.
Everything the boy tried, the girl still thought she was the devil and the boy was an angel.
So this is how the true story begins.
    Once upon a time, a devil fell in love with an angel in a world of demons, villains, deals and tragedies.
    There's a reason I fell for her. She was everything I struggled to be. Powerful, strong, loving and so much more. Her existence, in both my dreams and life, brought me hope and still brings me hope.
    So let me finish this story.
    They love each other, even in rain, even in silence and in a life beyond their own. They could not speak, but love does not require words. They shared their love in a way that only you could imagine.
    She died a tragic death, and he lived. Her death killed a part of him, a part he wanted to forget, but gave him something he never had before.
    Because the end, is not the end, but instead a beginning.
   

Author's note:
Thank you so much for reading and if you've made it this far, I must really thank you for sticking through. This is the first time I ever published anything, so don't be afraid to let me know how I did.
Thank you so much, one more time, and I hope you truly enjoyed this take!