(General P.O.V)

The sky at night above Titan tower was beautiful.

Stars gleamed from afar, and the city lights gave the entire area a sort of lively feel.

I closed my eyes and spread out Reikaku, encompassing a small portion of the city from the long distance away.

Souls moved through the sidewalks, the road and the clubs built along the shoreline, with a view of the bay.

Through Reikaku, a new sensation made itself known. Hearts pumping hot blood, joints creaking and brains firing off with numerous neural activity.

"Your Tairyoku manipulation has gotten better."

Chase observed.

"Yes...it seems to have a natural synergy with Reikaku. Allowing me to not only sense souls but also flesh."

I expounded.

"I wonder..."

The words left my lips softly as an idea dawned on me.

I held both hands up and pulled.

My right hand pulsed with purple light. Spirit energy roiling in a tumultous fashion before gathering in a small marble made up of Reiryoku.

My gaze next fell to my left hand where something very similar was happening. Life energy, Tairyoku or Ki if you want to call it that gathered into another marble. The difference was that this one glowed a gentle yellow.

And it was also slippery. Where Reiryoku felt like air given weight and mass yet still easy to move, Ki was like a liquid. A liquid with properties of a wet slippery soap.

It wasn't easy to control. Not because it was unwieldy but because it was too much so. One stray thought and it would start doing it's own thing.

The yellow marble kept breaking down no matter how many times I tried to shape it.

"Dammit."

I cursed as I lost focus and it broke down once more.

"You do know life energy is meant to stay within the body right? It's the power of the physical vessel."

Chase interrupted.

"Yeah."

I replied, pulling on Tairyoku once more. I could feel the way it moved through my veins, flesh and bones. The way it seemed to make the ends of my hair stand up.

"I saw how Savage used it. Aside from manipulating flesh and commanding the marine life, he didn't push himself enough."

Chase snorted at my response.

"You didn't give him time to."

I looked up with a frown.

"True."

Shrugging, my mind went back to Tairyoku. I pulled the energy through my left hand, watching as the skin grew an obsidian black before similarly colored fur appeared above it.

Pushing more Tairyoku in saw the limb grow even bigger in size and power.

Using the same hand, I tried to channel Spirit energy. Sending Reiryoku to enhance the already enhanced limb.

Beads of sweat begun rolling down my forehead. Both energies seemed to want to do their own thing. Reiryoku couldn't find purchase where Tairyoku reigned.

I stopped pulling on both energies after they made it clear they weren't going to play nice.

"Don't feel too broken up. You've made phenomenal progress with the rest of your abilities."

Chase comforted me.

I sighed, rubbing my face and accepting the small victories.

"Yeah... you're right Chase. Maybe, I should just take it slow."

I replied after much thought. Chase and I entered into a peaceful silence that was interrupted by a voice from behind.

"Beautiful isn't it?"

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Of course I'd felt them come up. Reikaku's passive range still measured in hundreds of feet.

"Raven."

I nodded, looking at her over my shoulder. She had on her cloak but within it, a simple black t-shirt and shorts.

"Can I join you?"

She floated forward.

I shrugged.

"Free country. Plus it's your Earth. You have more right to it than I can claim."

She giggled, the sound bringing back memories.

"Were you meditating?"

She enquired.

"Yes."

I breathed in.

"Meditation calms the mind by clearing all stray thoughts and leaving you centered. Or so my teacher/friend used to say. She was very skilled and knowledgeable on the subject."

I told her, staring at her from the corner of my eyes.

At the way my Raven seemed to flash around her. Her phantom glowing with white power. Boundless magical power that...

I realized she was staring at me in wait.

"Sorry, I didn't catch that. Could you repeat what you said."

I told her honestly.

"Oh. I said, she sounds strong."

Raven explained, looking out into the city.

"I wish I had that. I wish I could invoke the same kind of respect I hear in your tone from my teammates."

I blinked, then started laughing.

"Oh trust me Rachel, you don't need to be worried about that at all. My meditation teacher while powerful had also gotten that power through necessity."

"I'm sure she would have given all that up just to belong like you have. Plus, real strength can only be gained when you have something or someone to fight for. Believe me, I've seen it."

"What- what happened to her?"

She tentatively asked.

I sucked in a deep breath...then released it.

"Hey, you wanna learn how to meditate the correct way?"

I suggested, changing the subject.

Raven looked at me with a blank stare.

"Dude, are you seriously going to pretend you didn't hear me? And why did you call me Rachel? I never told you my real name."

I smirked at her.

"Rachel Roth, daughter of the cosmic asshole entity known as Trigon. You hate your dad with a passion."

I watched as the blank stare transitioned into something else. Surprise.

"Your biggest fear is turning out like him. You want to get strong enough to face him the day he shatters the gem on your forehead and comes to this world."

I stopped, watching as she closed and opened her mouth like a fish.

"How-?"

She begun.

"How do you think? A man appears from a rift in space and seems to know everything about you. Either I'm a stalker or an interdimensional traveller, stuck in your universe with a close relationship or attachment to your parallel self."

"You do know one of those scenarios is more believable than the other right?"

She questioned blankly.

"Which one?"

I asked innocently, enjoying the easy banter that naturally formed between us.

Raven snorted.

"So what's she like? This parallel version of me. Does she suck as much at conjuration magic? What about soul manifestation? I always get exhausted after doing it."

I raised an eyebrow.

"You already seem to believe that I'm telling the truth."

She smiled.

"Empath remember? Or does your Raven not have access to..."

'She's-dead. Has been for a couple of months now.'

My lips parted but the words couldn't come out.

Eventually I settled for removing my sheath and placing it over my lap. The red gem on the side of the scabbard was similar to the one on Raven's forehead. And she noticed it too.

She stared at the thing with a pale face. Her jaw tightened.

"Is that what I think it is?"

I nodded, plucking the gemstone off the sheath and holding it up.

"But you don't need to worry. 'He's' not imprisoned inside. The gem was a gift from my Raven. She gave it to me after we fought and defeated her Father. My Earth's version of-"

"Trigon."

Raven muttered softly, looking away.

"So she...beat him."

Her tone was hopeful.

"Yeah. It wasn't easy. And there was a lot of sacrifice involved. But we managed to deal with him, for good."

I answered.

Raven's fingers which had been tightened into fists and placed on her lap, eased.

"That's good to hear. That somewhere out there, is hope. That we can win."

Something heavy landed softly on her lap.

Raven looked down with question, with then turned to slowly growing wonder.

"An introduction To Offensive, Defensive and Support spells for Dark Mages.

She read out loud. Then stared at me quizzically.

"Did you just pull it out of the gem?"

"The one in your hands is Volume one."

I told her, removing two more tomes, and holding them up for her to see.

"The first tome covers basic darkness and shadow spells, the second is intermediate spells and the third is Master grade spells. Oh and yes, I pulled them out of the gem. Were you expecting a gift from you to be boring?"

She snorted.

"Where did you get them?"

Raven asked with awe apparent in her voice. She couldn't help but open the first page.

"There's this awesome place called the Tower of Fate, Raven st- borrowed them from there. I can't learn the spells within. Counter them yes, but not learn them."

Which had always been a bummer.

Then again with my Fullbring, let alone Bankai...it would have been redundant.

I saw how instantly engrossed she got. This Raven seemed starved for knowledge. She was younger, more sheltered and eager to learn.

She looked at magic with childish wonder where My Raven had looked at it as her strongest weapon.

"And they're all yours."

I dropped the bombshell.

She paused in her reading, turning to regard me with surprise and gratitude.

"Thanks!"

She shouted in excitement.

I raised an eyebrow at the outburst, causing her cheeks to flush with embarrassment.

"I mean are you sure?" Raven questioned, hugging the tome closer to her chest.

"Most magicians would kill for just one of the pages on these books, irrespective of the volume. And you're just... handing them over to me?"

"I told you, they're useless to me. Besides, you need the arsenal. I can tell you that the next few years will not be pleasant."

Nick's memories contained a lot of information about this universe.

And I could see where it was headed. Eventually the Justice League go up against Darkseid and lose. Badly.

The universe ends with the Flash running back in time and bringing forth a new timeline.

I stared at Raven's elated face, realizing I couldn't let that happen.

My eyes went to the stars as I mulled over things and warred over decisions.

"Thank you. I truly mean it. no one has ever given me such a thoughtful gift."

Raven said softly, a gentle and easy smile on her face.

"You're welcome."

I responded.

Eventually, Raven retreated into the tower after making me promise that we would do some more meditation sessions together.

Meanwhile, I stayed out there, in view of the stars and the nightlights with a lot of thoughts running around in my head. And by the morning, I had been meditating for more than 6 hours.

With the first rays of the sun peeking in from the east, I stood upright from my cross legged pose, decision already made.

"Chase, change in plans. We kill Darkseid and then leave this universe."

I informed my Zanpakuto.

Chase on his part only had one statement to say.

"When do we start?"