(Davian's P.O.V)
With Xebel reinstated into the right timeline, I shot through the dome undetected.
Cheshire was with the Queen. It mattered little that I'd sent them back in time before I did the same to Xebel.
Time was relative. In the end they couldn't tell a difference.
To all of them nothing was wrong. The Xebelians merely blinked their eyes (Barragan then proceeded to devour their souls) and then opened them to their regular boring lives the very next second.
As regular and boring as it was to someone who lived in the fucking ocean.
Cheshire wouldn't thank me later for ensuring she didn't get crushed by the pressure of the water by the way.
I think we established that we didn't like each other.
Despite the obvious dislike, I had fine tuned her mask to create a protective membrane around her.
It was on a timer though so I needed to use all this goody feeling infinite power to bring back goddess thighs, sorry, I mean Raven.
She was a phenomenal partner to hop around with. Cool as fuck and she never stress me bout nothing.
We just had that chill vibe. And whether I was ready to admit it or not, I really liked her. Fuck.
Haven't really thought of anyone like that in a while. Especially with how fucked up my life had recently become.
To be honest, I think it was more of the light that she still had. I had lost mine when I'd decided to never let anyone hurt me again.
I still didn't regret what I did. "I'd kill for my people', I remember telling Nick.
That statement had a whole different weight after actually doing it. Point is, I was more stained. Willing to do what I couldn't let Nick or those close to me do.
I never allowed them to get to that position. If the price of making sure my bro never dirtied his soul was dirtying mine then I was ready to pay.
Raven...she was a lot like Nick. In a way. She wasn't supposed to be in the darkness.
Yet she was and like my late best friend, had thrived with a soul...a compass of morality.
An inherent goodness that I lacked.
(I am broken. And it's only because of a few people I know that I haven't burnt this fucking piece of shit down.)
Maybe that's why in this world of magic, aliens and mystery, my true self had been revealed.
Maybe that's why my Zanpakuto was in the form of Cheshire Cat, a cat known for tricks and illusions. A cat known for always having a way out.
Because I could never subject myself to the shackles of inherent goodness like Nick.
Not fully.
That's why my first action after Nick's death, wasn't to call the cops on those responsible.
I knew about trade routes, bank accounts and gang affiliations. I could have put away Papa Fred and the rest for life.
But my first choice had been giving into the anger...the hate... And killing them all.
In a sense it was selfish. The truth is, I was in love with the anarchy of it all. I wanted to do what I wanted!
I was a selfish megalomaniac individual who only wanted a peaceful life but at every turn the world fucks with me so I gotta fuck it back. (no homo)
And fuck every rule on the board, I wanted Raven back and I would do it!!
******
My body broke the surface of the water to a new day.
Of course the shitty weather of the Bermuda barely made it distinguishable from night.
So I simply flew higher, leaving the lower atmosphere like a jet fueled with Popeye's Spinach (Hey, that's not a bad idea. If you take the spinach and just blend it...)
Stop it brain.
The upper atmosphere looked... peaceful.
There wasn't a fear that I would suffocate this high above. I was effectively immortal. And Omnipotent. (kinda)
Atleast for the next 0.00095754 second. But that 0.00095754 was more than enough if you are able to stretch time out infinitely.
I reached into my soul and pulled out Raven's Gem Stone.
As it was something very personal to her, I could use it to scan and pull on her soul, bringing her back
My mouth was dry. This was it. I would see her again.
I closed my eyes, focusing on intent and will.
Reaching out towards the veils of death.
Then I called out.
No one answered.
I could bring back Adam. (Yes, that Adam.)
I could bring back Mother Teresa. (the one and only.)
Heck I could bring back Tupac man!(couldn't, he said the world was fucked up.)
But Raven's soul was nowhere to be found.
Fuck.
I knew Raven, there was no way she could be in hell. (If she was missing in heaven then it couldn't be hell. It just couldn't.)
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
but I wanted to be thorough. So to cross it off my list, I dived into Lucifer's realm.
My only other favorite character in DC next to Raven.
The Lord of Hell deemed me to either be not worth his time or had occupied a wait and see approach. I could feel him watching but doing nothing.
I couldn't say I was mad with that arrangement. People should mind their own business. (I'm looking at you Rama Kushna.)
Lucifer was powerful.
Even with the levels of energy passing through my soul, something told me I would simply disappear if I tried to think of going against him.
I perused Hell, hidden from demons and dark eldritch monsters that were hiding there to escape Heaven's judgement. (most of these things were ancient abominations seeking refuge in the devil's realm.)
None could sense me. It was... unbelievable. How was I doing this?!
Barragan's Respira had hit me with enough time erosion to age me up by 100,000 years.
I hadn't ever heard of a Soul Reaper living that long. The Head Captain from Bleach, Yamamoto was 2000+ but not quite 100,000 years old.
And I still felt...young. Like it wasn't my prime. How could anything be that old and not immortal?
I was more surprised at the fact I was older than Superman! He came out in the 30's.
Did that mean I would live forever?
My thoughts turned grim when even Hell turned up zero results on Raven's soul. Curiously enough, Constantine's soul was missing as well.
The last time I saw him, we had an... arrangement.
Someone was messing around.
None of this seemed coincidental anymore.
So I turned to the other Universes.
******
Nothing. Even after looking in the nearest parallel universes, my Raven's soul was nowhere to be found.
I only found her parallel selves. Some of whom felt my gaze and tried to stare back but I usually cut off the connection before that happened.
A case could be made that each Raven was still Raven. Fuck that. I wanted MY Raven. And I had looked everywhere for her and come up empty.
I became angry.
The only other possibility that existed was that Raven's soul was in a dimension beyond what I could perceive.
A higher dimension.
Which brought me to my earlier point. Someone was fucking around with me.
Fine then.
"You wanna fuck with me? Let's see if I can't return the favor."
I was going to use the rest of the power I had within me, to forcefully extract her soul from wherever she was being kept.
I focused on my will and intent again. Up there in the upper atmosphere there were no distractions. No noise. It was peaceful.
Then a shroud of purple energy covered my body. My Reiatsu burst through, instantly turning those sensitive to Spirit energy all around the globe to look my way.
It was like a second sun. One that was colored purple, shining in the sky. The Reiatsu had pushed away all the nearest clouds.
Gods, monsters, Magician's...I could feel some of the strongest beings in the planet curiously try to use that chance to usurp my authority. Take over my power.
I snorted.
"Should I take this as a declaration of war?"
Most of them immediately disappeared. A few stayed but adopted a wait and see approach.
Push...
And
...pull.
WhERe Is ShE?!!"
I questioned the soul of reality itself. What you might consider as Akasha but was instead the Source. An Interdimensional wall that surrounded the Multiverse.
"Nice try." A soft voice entered my ears, sounding amused.
"You will need more than borrowed power to do what you want to do though."
(General P.O.V)
(Elsewhere)
"He's getting more and more reckless, dear sister. Able to break through the veil and even commune with the Source."
A man with a pale face and black hair informed the other occupant in the entire library.
The woman giggled, closing the book titled, 'Davian Mabuz' and placing it back on the shelf.
"Well, what did you expect? Each generation needs to have their own trials and tribulations. What matters is if they learn from those journeys."
She asked with a raise of her eyebrows.
(Davian's P.O.V)
After the soft voice spoke to me, I found myself at a disadvantage.
Whoever they'd been, they were powerful. Too powerful for me.
I tried to push through their influence but hit a wall. Literally. I was repelled from the sky, falling towards the sea like a missile.
My power was forcefully blocked then instantly drained away.
How?
Who could have done that?!
And why!
I only wanted to bring her back. Was that too much to ask? Apparently.
"Davian!"
I heard Chase call out. I knew what he wanted to say before he could even speak.
"I know Chase. I fucked up. I tried to bring her back and failed and now I realize you've been right."
I told him, reorienting my body so that instead of an uncontrolled fall, I directed myself towards the whirlpool in the middle of the Bermuda.
"I have been reckless."
This entire ordeal had given me clarity.
"Going at this the wrong way. There are consequences to everything. And taking the easy route to power has way more drawbacks than advantages. I promise you, I will listen to you more. I will learn to be disciplined. And when the time is right, I will bring her back."
My Zanpakuto was silent.
"I thought you would be furious at the failure. Livid even."
He said.
"Oh I am...but I understand my anger. And therefore I can use it. Weaponize it."
I responded, moving through the dome around Xebel and into the Royal Palace undetected.
This brief...delay in our trip had proved to be quite a learning experience.
I now knew what limits I should have been working towards. It wasn't power that could rival Superman or the Justice League.
It was power that could rival whoever had blocked me from finding Raven.
******
The next few days, I took a break and used that chance to relax and store up on whatever magic tomes or books I could find in Xebel.
There was also dealing with the fall out from Barragan's actions. Turns out, he had used Hila, Queen Mera's twin sister to take over by preying on her hate towards her own sister.
She had spared and locked up Mera so that Mera could witness as she conquered the world and brought Poseidonis to heel.
Too bad she didn't account for me.
Hila was locked up where she'd kept Mera.
Mera was initially very suspicious of us. Cheshire was an assassin she recognized and I had occasionally fought the Justice League.
In the end though, she was helpful in getting me the books I mentioned.
Going as far as to give me one on Hard Water creation and Manipulation. That came from her personal collection.
Deadman rejoined us two days later, arriving along with the King of Atlantis.
That made for an awkward dinner as everyone could tell Aquaman was nervous around me.
We hadn't directly clashed but he must have heard about me from his colleagues.
Whatever animosity might have been there was quelled by a private meeting with King Orin.
******
"I wanted to thank you, Scarlet Devil, for what you did. You saved Xebel, but more than that, you saved the queen of Atlantis. You deserve a reward for your efforts. Please, tell me what you want."
He had said amiably.
There wasn't much that interested me. Except of course for magic. So I asked for more books on the subject.
"That...might take some time to arrange. My wife is the head of the conservatory of magic back in Poseidonis. She has informed me of your interest in this subject. I'm afraid barring a few unique... editions from other city states, you already have all we know about magic."
My response was immediate.
"Then get me these 'unique' editions. If it's something about magic that I can learn, then I won't say no."
King Orin shared a look with his Chief Soldier, the only other occupant in the throne room.
Then he nodded to himself.
"Very well. It will take some time to organize everything but all of it will be ready in a month or so."
I thanked him and spent the rest of the day trying out different sea cuisines with Cheshire in tow.
The timer on her mask was about to run out and I didn't possess infinite power in my hands like before, so we left a day later.
With the jet plane we had flown in basically drifting in the sea in small metal chunks, I had to use my Fullbring bubble shield to fly us all the way towards land.
We found ourselves in the Sahara desert next. Hey don't blame me, none of us had a compass.
Luckily we weren't there for long. After procuring a compass and a detailed map, we set off for Europe next. Which led to us getting attacked by the Spain Air forces.
Cheshire was of the mind we should retaliate.
Deadman was a hero and so was vehemently against that idea.
Which left me with the decision on what to do. So I took option 3.
I couldn't out speed them with the bubble shield, but I could go above them.
Which is what I did. The fighter jets couldn't reach the upper atmosphere but with my bubble shield it was nothing for me.
We cut a straight line from Europe, past the United Arab Emirates and into Hong Kong, the first stop of the true purpose of our trip.
Now all that was left was for Cheshire to find Bronze Tiger's whereabouts, while Deadman and I flew to see his goddess in Nanda Parbat.