If you've never read my stories: Dove (OC and main character is this one) has a character bio, and the story "Unforeseen Surprises" really explains a lot about her. You don't really need to know much to understand the story besides the fact that she's extremely missing Azarath and has been since she left.

If you have: This story was supposed to go between "Unforeseen Surprises" and "Mystery Sickness."

Either way: More than likely, this one is just going to be a one-shot.

Read and review,

Raven's secret-keeper

Nothing Good Lasts Forever

Dove bolted up in her bed and yelped loudly. She had been having that dream again – more like a nightmarish walk down memory lane. She blinked her wide eyes and felt her breaths coming in great gulps, then put her head in her hands and let out a shuddering breath and couldn't help realizing how wet her face was. Thoughts and memories of the time flooded her mind – she recalled the pain, suffering, and torment she had felt when it happened, she remembered the pain she had sensed through her vision, the torture of a thousand souls dying by the destruction induced by Trigon - the hatred, fear and desolation set in once more.

After awhile, she remembered where she was – not in Azarath, about to be destroyed… She was in Titans' Tower, about to release uncontrolled energies if she didn't calm down.

The problem was that it wasn't easy. She had always had problems after this happened… She expelled a frustrated and desirous breath and let herself fall backwards onto the bed.

Why did it have to happen..? Why couldn't he just leave us alone? If he hadn't -

Dove gasped and shot up as she heard the door open.

"Dove?" It was Raven.

"Oh... Hi." Dove expelled a breath and pulled her legs up.

"What's going on?"

"My powers – I just… Nothing yet."

"Are... you okay?"

"Define okay."

"Dove, I can sense… There's something wrong." She entered the room and sat on the bed.

"Well… yeah, I guess… I just had that dream again and I'm… kind of remembering and wishing that…. You know… I can't really explain it. I mean, I don't know if I can say it so you'll understand…"

"Try me."

"I don't know! Really, I can't explain these…"

"You don't have to."

Dove looked up at her face.

"I can sense your longings, and your confusion… Dove… Do you know what that vision meant?"

"Um… I think I already do… Azarath was about to be – well, is – destroyed. And I'm willing to bet that everything there is... gone."

Raven nodded.

"Weren't you there when it happened…?"

She nodded again. "I was."

"You never did tell me what you were there for…"

"It's…"

"It's okay, if you don't want to…" She sighed and put her head on her folded arms. "I just miss Azarath with all my heart!" Her voice thickened as she spoke, and she closed her eyes tightly – it was her only defense against the tears about to fall.

"Dove…"

Dove looked up at Raven and could faintly sense something… Thoughts going through Raven's mind, being reformed and changed, edited…

"Raven…?"

"Would you like to see Azarath, just once more?"

Dove lifted her head and blinked, a bit startled.

"It won't be anything like you remember."

"Uh… Yeah, I guess… How… Is it really a good idea? I mean, my... I can't... I'm still – "

"It won't matter there, Dove… And… You're wondering what it's like now."

Dove nodded solemnly. "A little…"

"I can take you… Only if you want."

Dove tilted her head, then gave a small nod.

"Are you sure? It's not exactly golden streets anymore."

"That's kind of obvious, but... I'd still like to see it. I mean, Azarath always has this feeling… I dunno… I can't explain it."

"Not anymore," Raven told her. "Since it was – Trigon completely destroyed it. That feeling... The magic is gone now, Dove."

"It is…? Well… Still, it's Azarath. It may only be ashes, but it's still home to me."

"It's not going to be a pleasant experience."

Dove shrugged. "I want to know what it's like."

"If you're sure you – "

Dove nodded. "I'm sure."

Raven stood up, and Dove followed. She felt a strange rush of excitement and anticipation sided by a hint of fear, but pushed it aside as she followed Raven out into the hall.

"Raven… Why exactly are you doing this…?"

"You should know what the vision meant. You can't spend your life wondering. And I think you have a right to know."

Dove sighed. Then she blinked, a bit uneasily. "How are we going to do this?"

"With a little help."

"From where? Who? What?"

"Calm down a bit, first of all."

"Sorry, I just – I'm a little excited, among other things…"

"And the anticipation is killing you."

"Pretty much. Raven, this is Azarath we're dealing with!"

"But it's not the Azarath you remember."

"Still…" Dove couldn't help wondering exactly what Raven had meant by "It's not going to be a pleasant experience," and she began hoping it wasn't' going to be too bad.

"Wait here," Raven told her as she stopped in front of her door and entered. Dove looked at the door as it shut and realized that it was marked "RAVEN." She couldn't help wondering why she had –

Raven exited the room carrying a flask of a blue-white powder and a few candles.

"What're we – ohhh.. I've seen this before…"

"You have?"

"Well, sort of… Srentha showed me. Not the actual demonstration-type showed me, but he told me about it and showed me it in a book. This is the thing for dimensional travel, isn't it…"

"How did you think we would get there?" She began setting up the candles around the hall around them.

Dove shrugged. "You have the powers of dimensional travel, don't you…?"

"That doesn't mean I have to use them."

"Why don't you want to - ?"

"I'm not sure how you would react… And this is easier for me. I'm not entirely experienced with that aspect of my soul-self."

"So… We're using magic, right?"

Raven nodded.

"I think I know how this works, too…"

"Do you know the incantation?"

"Not really. I mean, sort of…"

"But you can focus yourself, I hope."

"Pretty much."

"You're going to need to focus your mind – "

"On the destination."

"Right." Raven sat up the last candle and waved her hand in a swift motion, and the candles ignited.

"Azar, I can't believe I'm really doing this…"

"Why not?"

"I'm going back to Azarath. I'd always thought it was impossible… Now that it's not really Azarath anymore, do you think the barrier is still there?"

"No. Sit down. Across from me," she added as she sat down with her legs crossed.

Dove nodded and did so. "Is this really going to work?"

"Yes, Dove."

"Sorry… I'm getting sort of annoying, aren't I…"

"Uh… yeah."

"Sorry…"

"Don't bother. You want to know."

"It really doesn't bother you that much?"

"Only a bit..."

"Oh."

Raven picked up the flask with her telekinesis, uncorked it, and poured a circle around them with the grainy powder.

"Start focusing on Azarath…"

"Alright." Dove took in a breath and exhaled, then closed her eyes and pictured the golden streets, the two suns in the sky, the buildings – She heard Raven chanting Azarath Metrion Zinthos and joined in, her voice sometimes faltering because she only knew about half of the incantation – Raven's voice, however, only grew with intensity.

"Acarazom racashaz endre, vacarix endrien... Azarath, Azarath! Azarath!"

She could see specks of light sparking up through her closed eyelids, and soon an entire circle of glowing energies flared around them. As soon as they finished reciting the words, the energies created a radiating cylinder from floor to ceiling around them, and they were pulled into a vortex on the ceiling and into an area much like the cylinder, only it was as if it had been turned on its side. Dove opened her eyes, amazed at the odd feelings she was experiencing. The two girls were surrounded by a waterfall of many shades of blue and a speck of white here and there. Dove blinked and both girls changed position so they were hovering in the air in a neutral position.

"Come on," Raven said and pulled ahead as if she was levitating. Dove followed suite.

"So, what is it we just did?" Dove asked, looking around at the energies around her.

"Opened a dimensional doorway."

"So, it's like a pathway?"

"Exactly like a pathway. Stay focused and look ahead."

Dove nodded. They continued along the path for a while, Dove's excitement and anticipation – only a small portion of it nervous – growing each moment.

After a few minutes, the energies became more and more white and less blue. "We're almost there," Raven said.

Dove looked ahead. She could see an area of solid white light –

"Close your eyes!"

Dove did so, and there was a flash of blinding light before many strange and unusual sensations tore through them – the feelings of being torn through time and space, and entering an entirely different dimension.

Dove stood up and blinked her eyes to clear the after image of the flash from her sight.

"Here we are," Raven said.

Dove finally got her vision clear and her eyes widened. Raven was right – it was absolutely nothing like she remembered.

The place she had been remembering was brilliant, beautiful, and felt at least magical. This was not at all like it. All that one could see on the skyline was ruins and ashes. There was a river of lava hardly flowing anymore where there had once been a street, and the air was thick with sulfuric essence.

"Oh, wow…" Dove whispered, suddenly hardly able to speak. The heavy air didn't help. "And you saw it when this happened?"

Raven nodded.

"What's wrong?"

"Just... remembering."

"You're not going to tell me anytime soon, are you…"

"Probably not."

"I thought so… Wow…" She kneeled on the ground and picked up a handful of the ash. "This was once Azarath... Now what is it?"

"Nothing more than existence."

"You can still see the bottoms of the buildings… I wonder if... How much do you think survived?"

"Absolutely nothing."

"Oh wow…" She gulped. "Uh, it's a good thing you... you know, warned me about this... Heh... I'd probably be sobbing and…" She sighed. "Wow… I still can't believe this... I know it happened, but… I've never seen anything like this… It's hard to breath…"

"The entire dimension was destroyed by a demon. What else did you expect?"

"I really don't know… Oh, Azar... This was the only place I've ever known since birth until I met you guys… And I had always felt so fine here, even when I was home alone, and then when I had to leave it was just so... so upsetting…"

"We should probably go before you get too upset… I can sense –"

"Yeah, we should."

Raven nodded, a little sympathetically, being able to sense Dove's intense heartache and desolation.

"Come on," she gently reminded Dove.

Dove took one last, longing, grieving glimpse around before Raven transported them back to the tower.

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-Raven's secret-keeper