Chaper 30: Azarath

Guys, first of all, Christmas is coming, and I, like the good Santa that I am, am here to bring you a gift. At the end of these three published chapters, there will be a special *non-chapter* for you to leave questions about the fic or any other topic you want to ask. Then, vote for the questions you find most interesting and I will bring you the answers to those questions on the 24th, along with 5 chapters, I might get generous and give you spoilers. 

But, I would like to ask a rather shameless favor. I'm getting a little tired of meeting review after review from people who don't like my fic but don't read more than 5 chapters. So, if you like my fic, go ahead and give me an honest review, so that more people will be interested in my fic and read it. 

with that said, enjoy :)

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Note: Rider = horseman of the apocalypse (to simplify)

"talking"

´thinking'

<contents of the books>

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Edgar POV

After that rare, but emotional moment, Raven and I finally calmed down. She returned to her emotionless expression, but now, I felt there was a closeness between us. 

We didn't know each other. We hadn't seen each other before. But I felt a small part of us was connected, making it easier to understand each other. My hypothesis was, that it had to do with our powers, but it needed to be investigated to be confirmed. 

Now I understood why the girl did not express any emotion. Undoubtedly, the power of destruction is one of the most powerful and rare chaos magics. Even in powerful demons or dark beings, it was very rare to present such power. For a girl to have such a power was certainly surprising. Even more so, when such power is activated by the overflowing emotions of said girl. 

I wondered about the origin of this child. She was certainly not an ordinary girl and this was not an ordinary place. But I didn't want to ask anything that would upset or sadden the girl. I was sure, that whatever had happened in this place, it had to do with Raven. And I was pretty sure that such a matter was a sensitive subject for the girl. I didn't want to abuse my right as a guest.

I did not understand my purpose in coming here. Certainly, any reason for coming to this place had to do with this girl. But it remained to be seen if it was just to get her out of this place, or even, to help her control such destructive powers. Although there was a small possibility that the reason for being here was... to kill her.

Quickly, the first thing I did when I was outside, was to confirm that this place was a pocket dimension. The place was vast. It had a river, a small forest, and even a diverse fauna and flora. The best part was that there was even a self-sustaining vegetable garden with magic. However, after traveling 10 kilometers, it brought you back to the starting point... 

This only confirmed to me that it was not possible to leave this place by conventional means. I needed to find a way out of this place. 

However, I left those thoughts for later. At this moment I was working at full concentration to achieve a masterpiece. 

Moving my hands, chopping the vegetables I had obtained from the self-sustaining garden of the place, and, having boiled the rabbit meat I had just hunted, I began to make my special stew. 

A sweet aroma began to emanate from the simmering pot. Raven, although still wearing her usual expression, I could sense that she was eager to try the dish, due to the good aroma it presented.

Needless to say, I almost had a heart attack when Raven told me that all she had eaten in those 6 years was chopped vegetables and fruit. I understand the new trend of healthy eating for young people, but a meal has to have meat in it. That's why I would prepare a good meal for the girl. Beef stew. My mother's special recipe. 

Of course, no matter how much I practice that recipe, I will simply never get to make it as good as my mother. What can I say. A mother's love when she cooks gives it a special flavor that even the best chef can't replicate. 

A small part of me wondered if my purpose in coming here was to be her babysitter. I hoped not...

The truth is, I wasn't doing it just to give the girl a good meal either. The truth was that my sensors had registered that the child was malnourished. If she wanted to be able to control her power, she needed a strong body. And for sure, eating only vegetables for 6 damn years, she wasn't going to achieve that.

For magic, a body is a vessel. The bigger the vessel, the more magic it can exert. That's why it's always good to have a healthy body in order to achieve that. However, there are times when someone's magic is so great that the body can't hold it all. And that is something that Raven presented. Her power was such that it could easily consume her if she didn't control it.

I finally finished boiling the stew. Serving two plates, I put the finishing touches of salt, some spices, and a little cheese to go with it and passed the plate to Raven. 

"Eat, I hope you like it-"however, I couldn't even finish my sentence as the girl quickly dipped into the dish. 

'I guess she did like it' 

I began to eat as well. The taste as good as ever, even if rabbit meat is not my favorite, it was what was there. There was no livestock, nothing for more to choose from. 

"Mmmm, another one" she interrupted me. Her plate had been emptied. It even looked cleaner than it had before the soup was served. This made me smile a little. 

"Sure, eat whatever you want" I served her another bowl. And we began to eat comfortably. A silence hung over the place, but it was no longer uncomfortable. 

After we had eaten, I finally started asking her a few questions I had.

"Hey Raven, why did you help me?"

"What do you mean?" she asked hesitantly. She wasn't expecting such a question from me.

"You didn't know me... You don't know me. In fact, I may be a murderer and yet you helped me. Why?" 

Rachel sank into deep thought. Finally she turned to look at me and said, as earnestly as possible. 

"Because I felt you had no bad intentions towards me"

"Did you feel it?" I asked. This made me very curious. A theory was starting to pop into my head. 

"Mmm" she nodded her head. "My powers... allow me to feel a person's emotions. I can't control it. I just do"

"...You're a sensor" 

She just nodded her head.

A sensor was a person who could sense a person's emotions. Some were so capable in their power, they could discern a person's truth. A person's true intentions or motives. The whole truth of one. Needless to say, it was the best ally for a police detective. 

'A sensor and power of destruction... What else can she do?' I wondered.

This girl was a Swiss Army knife. Surprise after surprise brought more out of me, while I knew her. However, I was snapped out of my thoughts when she asked me.

"What about you?" she asked

"What about me?"

"What can you do?, I know you are not ordinary. My powers tell me so"

This surprised me. Apparently her sensory side was so sensitive that she had sensed that I had the power of the Spirit of Vengeance within me. Although telling her that I couldn't use it right now was counterproductive. 

Even though my instincts told me she was good, I couldn't rule out the small possibility that it was all a facade. But I knew that lying to her was impossible. If she was a sensor, she could discern if what I was saying was true. In the end, I opted to tell her a half-truth. 

"Would you believe me if I told you that I really don't know" and this was not a lie. I remembered all the events that happened with the fight against the League. That blue fire... I didn't know I could do that. 

Also for a moment, I could have sworn that, in my memories, I was teleporting. A short distance, but still... I knew I had teleported. If that was true, then everything I believed about my powers, was wrong. 

"I believe you" Raven simply nodded. Silence returned to the room. But I 'looked' at Raven and, wanting to lighten the conversation, I asked her.

"Hey Raven, if you could get out of here, what would you like to do?" 

It was a question to lighten the mood. I knew it wasn't certain to get out of here. Not as long as my powers didn't come back. I hoped that whatever was blocking my powers was from using too much power against the League and not some other more complicated reason. If it was that, then with time and rest I could use my power again.

Raven didn't expect for that question and again started to think. But her answer made me smile. The little girl certainly was innocent. 

"I'd go for a strawberry milkshake" 

"Not bad, but I prefer the chocolate one" I replied with a smile. She just grimaced as if she didn't agree with my taste. I was about to start a rigorous argument with this girl, but she continued. 

"I want to go to Milky Way. They used to make my favorite milkshakes there" 

"They were really good, unfortunately they closed in the 2000s- " the milkshakes, that she said, was a very successful franchise from before the 2000s, which had gone out of business when they found the owner embezzled funds. I was going to continue, but stopped talking when the realization hit me. 

If she's 14, then she should have known that such a franchise no longer existed....

'how stupid of me' the realization hit me. 

This was a fucking pocket dimension. In such places, the laws of time and space move differently. I assumed, at first, that time moved normally, but this need not necessarily be the case. In the end, I asked her as seriously as possible. 

"Raven, what year do you think it is?" 

"Mmm, 1995" 

"And how long have you been here?"

"10 years" 

Quickly my mind went to work. Math flew through my head doing the arithmetic calculations. 

If Raven was 14 and she thought it was 1995, then she was born in 1981. If you take away 10, then she arrived here in 1985. But it wasn't 1995, it was 2015... so that means those 10 years, were actually 30. In short... time here moves 3 times slower than in the real dimension. A day was 3 days out. A month was 3 months out. And a year was 3 years out. 

(AN: I hope I didn't make a mistake hahaha. I get confused easily with numbers)

This only meant one thing to me... I had to get out of this place, as soon as possible.

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"How amazing" I expressed as I 'looked' at the small library that Raven had introduced me to. 

As I said, it was small. A well-kept small library, with wooden shelves. However, the tomes that were here, if my sense of touch didn't deceive me, were priceless. 

Da Vinci, Ptolemy, Shakespeare, Verne and many other well-known authors were present. Best of all, these were first editions. There were even works that were thought to be lost. The library was small, but all of this was simply worth a fortune. 

The magic tomes, unfortunately, were only of light magic. They were not bad. Some were even quite valuable. But, Raven would have no use for this, and no use for me either. 

At this point, though, that didn't matter to me. Right now, I was looking for a specific title that Raven had told me was here. After searching for a while, I could finally feel the title I was looking for. 

< Narratio de Azarath> (History of Azarath), written by Azalea, the first Great Mother. 

The tome was in Latin, as were most of the magical tomes here. I was not surprised by this. Most magic is done in these languages. Latin, Greek and Sanskrit. Fortunately, I had learned it thanks to the Order of St. Lucas. 

Let's see what it says...

<Azarath, a place created by the archangel Gabriel, to help aggrieved women heal. Subsequently, it was sanctuary of many who were victims Obscurus order. An order more than millennium ago with purpose bringing destroyer worlds>

This surprised me a lot. That an archangel would be the cause of building this pocket dimension was not far-fetched, but it was quite rare. Angels almost always did not act on the actions of mortals. 

I was also surprised that there was an order dedicated to bringing destruction to the world. If there was such a thing, the Order of St. Lucas would have known about it by now. 

That they didn't know only meant two things... either the Obscurus order was destroyed long ago or it is so powerful that it is able to stay hidden even with the technological world we live in. 

Then I proceeded to look up what I was interested in. 

'Geography, space, magic, culture...finally, time' 

<The 10 archangel Gabriel configured the place to be three times slower Earth. So members were able live longer, and perform more missions on behalf of Lord Light. It is recommended do ritual 'რიტუაალი' every years, current temporal space time, continue keep time flow stable>

This confirmed my suspicion. Time was moving differently. I couldn't stay in this place for long. I needed to get out of here. However, the way out, this book didn't tell. 

'Damn it' I thought. This was bad. However, my thinking was interrupted when Raven sat down next to me. She was carrying a large book, with her. 

"Did you find what you were looking for?" she asked me. 

"Sort of. At least confirm a few things. Thanks for lending me the library" 

"Mmm" she just nodded. 

"What book is that?" I asked. The book was large, though it lacked age. 

"My favorite book. Here" she handed it to me to analyze. Running my hands over the title, I could read. 

<20000 Leagues Under the Sea> Jules Verne. 

"Is that your favorite book?"

"Mmm" she nodded. "I've read it over 50 times" 

"Have you read all the books here?" I asked. It wasn't a lot of books, but, still, it would take me quite a while to read every book here. 

She nodded at my question. "Several times" she added. 

In the end, I remembered again that this girl had been alone all this time. The only thing she had to entertain herself were these old books. I couldn't find the answers to my questions. But I stopped worrying and concentrated on the person in front of me.

"Did you know that Captain Nemo actually did exist?" 

Raven just looked at me and raised an eyebrow at my sentence. But I could discern that she was actually quite interested in what I was about to say. 

"A friend of mine told me that Verne actually wrote his life stories. He was an adventurer who met and traveled all over the world satisfying his curiosity. Nemo, his submarine, the center of the earth, the trip around the world in 80 days, all of that was done by him" 

Raven closed the book and became curious about my conversation. In the end we ended up having a long conversation about the different stories we liked. It was more me talking and her listening, but she brought questions of curiosity to the conversation. Little by little, we started to bond more and more.

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Finally, the day was over. A lot had happened, and I had a feeling that more would happen int future. But I would be living from day to day. I could do no more. For a moment, I thought about the people I loved. 

Duke

Orsi 

Those at the orphanage 

Diana... 

For a moment, before crossing over, I debated telling her to come with me. But I knew that a life as a runaway was not for her. She was a hero. The world needed her. 

My mind dipped back to the last kiss we gave each other...her soft, full lips, the taste of our saliva, the pleasurable sensation of the act. Damn, I missed her so much. 

I finally decided to enter the world of Morpheus. At least, I hoped Diana would be in my dreams. 

However, my hopes died when I arrived at a place I remembered very well. For it was in this place that I felt a despair like no other. 

A white platform where fire on the sides danced, stood before me. In front of me was the white, Roman Catholic temple, with statues of the angel and devil adorning the entrance. 

My sight was back again. I saw the colors of the dancing flames and the beautiful structure before me. I had only seen it once, but at this moment, I had taken the time to analyze it well. And indeed, the place looked impressive.

"It's impressive, isn't it?"

Before me, sporting my appearance, the being that locked me up, appeared. I had a great rage inside me, and I just wanted to hit it hard, but I knew that attacking it was stupid. 

Clearly, this being was more powerful than me. Getting angry and yelling would do nothing. In the end I opted to have a normal conversation. 

"Yeah, it's awesome" 

"Wow, I thought you would attack me when you saw me" the man said to me. He had a surprised expression on his face. 

"I don't stand a chance and you know it. Besides, getting angry isn't going to answer all the doubts I have, is it?"

The man smiled broadly at my words

"That's why I like you, Edgar. Your mind is logical and your thinking is quick. You are quite intelligent. But I wonder...has your intelligence been able to guess who I am yet?"

..

..

..

"Zarathos" I said. Which made the man smile wider. 

"Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner. That wasn't so hard, was it?" 

It wasn't hard for me to guess that the only one capable of handling my power was the one who bestowed it on me in the first place. Zarathos, the Spirit of Vengeance, a being of great power, of whom little was known. 

"What do you want from me?" I asked. That was the great question. He had never before presented himself to me. Why now. Why at this moment. What was his purpose. All of that I wondered. 

"Honestly, from you, I don't want anything. Edgar, I've said it before, but, to me, you're a fucking disappointment. You run away from your power. You deny your nature, and you shy away from your potential" 

At these words, my logical side died and I finally exploded. 

"I DIDN'T ASK FOR THIS" 

"and yet... you got it" Zarathos interrupted. "Whether you want it or not. You are a Rider now. And it's time, for you, to know your powers. For you, to reach your potential" he beckoned me to enter the temple. However, my questions had not been answered. So I decided not to move. 

"You almost killed an innocent child" remembering the scene where Zarathos almost burned that child that was Shazam, got a rage inside me. Killing children was unforgivable, even for the Spirit of Vengeance.

"It had cursed edges. It was a potential threat. Besides, I would do it in the most painless way possible. He wouldn't have suffered" Zarathos tried to justify himself. But, for me, this was not enough. 

"HE'S A DAMN CHILD. HE'S NOT MORE THAN 15" I took a few more breaths to calm myself down. "Besides, why didn't you do the same with Raven, her level is worse than the previous kid"

"If you're wondering why you can't hear the voices or why you can't use your powers, I'm stopping you. It's not good to use demonic magic in Azarath. You would only destabilize the protective barrier and get the beings who want that child to enter. And about the child, Raven... she cannot die. In fact, her life must be guaranteed at all costs. That is your mission, Edgar. Keep her safe"

"Who's looking for her?" I put my anger aside when Zarathos mentioned that Raven was in danger. I needed to find out everything to plan accordingly. 

"You already know the answer" 

That affirmed what I assumed. The Obscurus organization wanted Raven. And apparently, exercising my powers, would make them get to her that much sooner. 

"What do they want with Raven?"

"Kill her. But not immediately. She is the key to open a portal to a prison of a being that can rival or even exceed my power. She is his daugther. This being's sole purpose is to destroy. And that is something, we must avoid at all costs. But since she is the key, remember that a key can open, but also close... that's why she must stay alive at all costs" 

This sounded more and more macabre. In the end I asked the only question that was on my mind. 

"Why me?" 

"Because it's necessary. You are a Rider. It is our duty" Zarathos sighed heavily and continued. 

"Believe it or not, Edgar. We are not evil. We are necessary to maintain the balance of the world. Our duty is to remove all evil from the world, that destabilizes the world order. And the destroyer of worlds is a complete opposite of us. Look Edgar, you are not really a disappointment. In fact, your potential is so great, your body and mind can't keep up. Simply put, you're the most potential and powerful Rider I've ever had"

"Why me, why did you choose me, I'm not special" 

However, the words that came out of Zarathos, only left me mind numb. 

..

..

..

"Edgar... I did not choose you. Believe it or not. I had nothing to do with you becoming a Rider. Actually, your destiny was rewritten, as your original destiny was to die in that fire with your parents. The cause of this, was someone else... it was Trigon" 

"What do you want to tell me..." I couldn't believe what I ear. I hoped it was all a lie. But he looked at me as seriously as possible and said.

"What I want to say... is that you should never have been a Rider"