Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos."
The bright white moon stood in its silent vigil of the night sky, peering through the giant glass window in the Titan Tower's living room at the floating teen. A ray of its reflected sunlight brightened Raven's pale face as she continued her meditation, keeping the suffocating darkness at bay.
It was a rare occasion when she was able to steal a quiet moment for herself and she was grasping the opportunity while it lasted. The other titans were still sound asleep in their beds, having been fatigued emotional and physically. Their battle with the Brotherhood of Evil had been two weeks ago but they continued to have little opportunities to sleep since they had returned to the city. The strange shape shifting monster had appeared and presented them with a new villain, since all their normal adversaries were either frozen or in hiding. They still had little idea of how to defeat it when it should return.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos..."
Raven had been unable to sleep after having a rather unnerving dream that night. Her cheeks colored again as she recalled it but she quickly shook her head in order to clear her mind, needing to calm her racing heartbeat all over again. It was very unlike her to have dreams of that nature but things had been changing a lot recently in the tower and her mind had started escaping her control.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos..."
Starfire and Robin had finally gotten together almost a year ago on their mission in Tokyo and, more recently, Bumblebee and Cyborg have also been spending a lot of time together during her unofficial "break". Bumblebee was staying in the tower at the moment, when she wasn't out on her own missions with the Titans East, which were infrequent. The Titans East hadn't had any problems with crime since they returned to their own base. Raven was keeping a close eye on their guest though. She used to be Brother Blood's star pupil...and the titans didn't need another Terra.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos..."
The sorceress knew that in the end Terra was a hero but she couldn't help resenting her. She almost killed all of them and she broke Beast Boy's heart, twice, the second time being fairly recent. Her stomach turned when she thought of the hug Beast Boy and her had shared when he came to console her after her own heart was broken by Malchior.
A sharp pop alerted Raven as the lightbulb above her head shattered. She looked up quickly and caught the glass shards with her black magic right before they hit her. Hesitantly, she lowered herself to her feet and gazed at the broken glass. Retreating into her mind, she separated herself from the dangerous emotion that had overcome her, away from any reaction to what she had just done.
Her feet moved briskly as she entered the kitchen, tossing the trash away while pouring herself some herbal tea. Panic tried to grip her but she suppressed the emotion, the way she always did.
Her eyes were starting to feel heavy as she sipped her tea. The sleep she had missed was finally taking its toll. Her feet mechanically carried her to the couch where she sat and pulled a small book from beneath it she had placed for times such as this.
Raven summoned a blanket as she skimmed the book, her consciousness slipping from her grasp. She welcomed the long-overdue sleep as it overcame her.
...
Beast Boy tossed in his bed. Part of him wished to hibernate for the rest of the year, while the other part urged him to get an early start to the day, as he usually did. A few slices of tofu bacon sounded good right about now.
He glanced at the clock on his nightstand; he had already slept in. It was three hours past his normal wakeup time. His many different animalistic personalities wrestled from a moment before he decided to see if anyone else was up.
His trek to the main room was slow and sleepy-eyed. He dragged his feet, shivering a bit as a frigid draft grazed his exposed chest, having been clad in only a pair of shorts. It was unusually cold in the tower this morning, he realized.
The tower seemed eerily quiet. Usually Robin would have been up by now, considering he liked to rise with the sun, but Beast Boy met no one as he continued to the main room.
As the doors slid open, Beast Boy was hit by a blast of freezing air and his eyes widened as he took in the scene before him. It was as if winter had arrived early...inside the tower. A layer of ice seemed to cover every surface in the room, icicles hung from the ceiling, snow danced in the invisible wind. The cold clawed at Beast Boy's skin as he moved forward to investigate. The only thing that didn't seem to be touched by the bizarre storm was the couch. As he approached it, his sensitive ears picked up the almost silent breathing of whoever had caused this.
He cautiously looked over the side of the couch. "Raven?" His tone was colored with confusion as he looked at the sleeping heroine. He made his way to the other side, concern quickening his heart as he took in the stark whiteness of his comrade's skin and the trail of (tears?) that had frozen on her face.
"Raven!" He shook her shoulder in an attempt to wake her, but drew his hand back as he felt her ice cold skin, so cold that it felt like fire to the touch. His eyes widened in complete panic as he knelt down beside her and put an ear to her chest to listen for a heart beat. It was faint, but there nonetheless.
"Raven! Wake up!". He shook her shoulders gently at first, afraid she would wake up and kill him for sure for touching her but when she didn't he had no choice but to be more aggressive.
Raven's lips were blue and as Beast Boy began to feel sick, assuming the worst, her eyes flashed open, bright white. She sat up slowly, gazing around at the scene she must has caused, her eyes dimming back to their normal dark purple hue. She glanced at Beast Boy, her eyes guarded, almost narrowed.
She stood abruptly and moved into the kitchen, away from him. He scrambled out of her way so as not to get stepped on while watching his mysterious team mate.
It took merely seconds for the winter wonderland to disappear with a explosion of Raven's dark energy as if it had only been a dream. Beast Boy called after her as she rushed from the room, closing the sliding doors of the main room behind her. The confused changeling ran a hand through his green hair, mind reeling from the fresh image of Raven's still body. His stomach turned thinking of her cold, blue lips.