NOTE: This is the sequel to my last fanfic, "Shadows." Based on its reviews, it is going to be hard to match, but I'll give it a shot. I think this one is going to be more dramatic.

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The True Meaning of Sacrifice

by: IHOP

Chapter 1 – Ominous Visions

It was nighttime at Titans Tower. Everything was silent, and everyone was fast asleep.

Then rain started to fall. It was gentle and quiet at first, but it gradually gained strength until eventually it erupted into a full-fledged thunderstorm. The low rumble of thunder shook the earth.

On this uneasy night, Raven lay asleep in her room. When the storm began, she started to shake. She tossed and turned in her bed, murmuring, "No... no..."

Finally, lightning struck the tower. Raven's eyes bolted open and she let out a short scream; the sound of thunder muffled her cry.

A few seconds later, Raven heard a knock on her door. She answered it.

"Beast Boy, what's going on?" Raven asked after she recognized the face at her door.

"The storm woke everyone up. The power went out, and I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

Raven stared at the ground for a moment, then looked back up. "Everything is... fine," she replied hesitantly.

"Okay," Beast Boy stood in the doorway for a few seconds, not sure that everything really was fine. "Well, good night," he finally said, then left reluctantly.

Raven shut the door. She sat down on her bed, but didn't go back to sleep. She stared out her window at the pouring rain.

I don't know what I saw, she thought, but I really hope it was just a bad dream.

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The next morning, Raven didn't show up for breakfast. The others grew concerned.

"I do not believe I have seen Raven yet," Starfire remarked. "Does anybody know if she is yet awake?"

Robin and Cyborg shrugged.

When nobody was looking, Beast Boy slipped away and went upstairs to Raven's room. He knocked softly, but there was no answer.

"Raven? Are you there?" he asked. Still no answer. He was about to knock again when the door creaked open on its own. Cautiously, he walked into the room.

"Is that you, Raven?" Beast Boy asked, but no one was there. He looked around and noticed something shiny in one corner. He walked over to it and bent over to pick it up.

Just as his right hand was about to touch whatever it was, it emitted a flash of light. A ferocious creature appeared, and it seemed to lunge at Beast Boy.

"AAAAUUUGGGGHHH!" Beast Boy shrieked and backed away. The creature then disappeared; it wasn't real, it was just an image. He looked at his hand. There was some sort of strange burn on it.

What was that? Beast Boy wondered as he left Raven's room. And where's Raven?

He decided to check the roof.

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Sure enough, Raven was out on the roof, meditating.

"Azarath... Metrion... Zinthos... Azarath... Metrion... Zinthos..."

"Uh, Raven?" Beast Boy broke her out of her self-induced trance. "You didn't show up for breakfast, and I was wondering... is something wrong?"

Raven looked groggy, as if she hadn't slept at all. "I just... had a bad dream."

"Well, your bad dreams usually mean that some catastrophic, world-changing event is about to happen," Beast Boy said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Remember, if something's wrong, you can tell me."

Raven stared into the distance. "To be perfectly honest, I'm not really sure. I think it has something to do with a gem that my mother gave to me."

"A gem?" Beast Boy was truly perplexed.

"Yes. When I was born, she gave me the gem to try to absorb some of Trigon's darkness growing within me. But now that he's gone, I think the gem's power is getting weaker, and the darkness is escaping. I think that my dream might have been a vision of what the darkness will do."

Beast Boy gasped as he thought of his scarred hand.

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There's the beginning. I know what I want in the story, just not how to put it all together. Hopefully something will come to me.

Review, please.