Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans


The sky was bright, clear, and red. The sun was deep orange, outlined by a bright yellow halo of light. The city opened around a large domed castle-like building. It sat atop a subtle slope and the surrounding buildings—smaller, less impressive versions of the center castle—descended around it, like ripples in a pond, until the city suddenly stopped, almost jarringly. Dark, shadowed trees marked the end of the city, sparse at first then dense enough for not a glimpse of the dark green grass to be seen. Even the air was different.

Beast Boy almost puked. "Dude, I don't think we're in Jump City anymore."

Behind him, Cyborg let out a low whistle as he stepped out of the crackling portal. It was like a rip through the very world around them—a tear between dimensions, Raven called it.

Through it, a small strip of the living room of the Tower was visible. Robin, Starfire, Kid Flash, and Jinx all looked on in open-mouthed awe. Starfire and Kid Flash sent them smiles and waves, while Robin nodded in assurance. Jinx looked bored beyond belief but an elbow to the side from Kid Flash made her raise a hand. Beast Boy still wasn't sure how he felt about leaving Robin and Starfire with no one but Kid Flash and Jinx for backup, but he didn't really have a choice.

Raven stepped into view and, with a final look back, stepped through the portal. Without a sound, it closed behind her. Beast Boy had almost hoped for some crackling or something. Anything to take his mind off the fact that he was now in a completely different dimension.

"Sooo, this is Azarath," he said, hoping the shaking in his voice wasn't too obvious. "Compared to this, Raven's room is like a land of cotton candy and rainbows."

Her eyebrow twitched but she said nothing. She looked around at the open deck of the castle she had brought them to and took a deep breath. The air here was different.

Beast Boy followed her lead and took a breath before grimacing. Incense, spices, and flowers. The different scents surprised him. There was nothing on the deck that would've smelled like anything; it was completely empty. Like the rest of the castle, the deck was made of spotless silver gray marble. It was probably bigger than the entire Titan Tower living room, kitchen included. Thin doors with intricate designs towered over them on one side and on the other the city extended below the deck.

"Where's the welcoming committee, Rae?" Cyborg asked, looking around. "You told them we were coming, right?"

She took another deeper, longer breath and her eyes closed peacefully.

"You did, didn't you?"

She opened her eyes and walked to the marble railing at the end of the deck.

"Didn't you?"

"Of course," she said. "Just now."

"What?"

The doors pushed open and a tall woman followed by a taller man walked through. The woman was beautiful. She had warm glowing skin and an oval face framed by medium-length jet-black hair, with deep-set dark eyes. The man was broad shouldered with jet black skin. His eyes, hair, and teeth were so white they practically glittered. Both wore flawless white robes that trailed behind them as they walked.

With each click of their footsteps, Beast Boy's gag reflex acted up. He was almost glad he'd skipped breakfast.

The woman and man walked right past Beast Boy and Cyborg with barely a glance and stopped in front of Raven. She turned slowly away from the city to face them.

"Arella," she said. "Ignatius."

"Raven," the man boomed. His voice was deep and warm, like maple syrup.

"A little more warning would have been appreciated, Raven," said the woman. She sounded like twinkling wind chimes, hung out on a porch in a tornado—not happy at all.

"I apologize," Raven said, not all that apologetically. "We needed some help."

"We?" Arella said.

Raven stepped past the pair and in front of Beast Boy and Cyborg. "Me and my friends."

Arella watched Raven carefully, then studied Beast Boy and Cyborg with a scrutinizing frown. Beast Boy felt like he was taking some sort of test and he'd shown up without a pencil and had forgotten how to write his own name.

"Your friends," Arella echoed.

"Friends," Ignatius said. He came over to Raven and set his hands on her shoulders. "Your friends."

Raven looked up at the man and nodded. "Will you help us?"

Ignatius smiled. "What do you need?"

"Where's the bathroom?" Beast Boy said.

Then he blew chunks.


"Feeling better, little man?"

Beast Boy groaned into the toilet bowl then looked up to find Cyborg smirking down at him. He was about to retort with the fact that he hasn't been "little" for years when his gagging got in the way. He groaned again and settled with, "Shut up, metal butt."

"You know, you are looking a little green."

"I hate you." Beast Boy threw up until his chest was wracked with a fit of coughs. "Sooo much."

Cyborg chuckled, but when Beast Boy didn't stop heaving, he frowned. "What's wrong with you?"

Beast Boy choked on his bile then spat it out. "The air smells different. It's, I dunno, stronger or something. It-it—everything's different."

"And that made you barf it up for the last twenty minutes? What did you eat this morning?"

"Nothing."

"You're an idiot."

"Uuuuuggghhh…"


Raven didn't like how worried she was or how responsible she felt for it. These past few of days had been especially rough on Beast Boy; a trip between dimensions couldn't have been easy on him. That wasn't her fault. These past few days weren't particularly kind to her either.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, repeated her mantra silently. Emotions washed over her: curiosity, worry, irritation, happiness. She pinpointed those emotions to the two people in front of her. Ignatius and Arella.

They'd moved into the dining hall and sat across from each other at a long marble table, one of six watched over by a painting of Azar. It covered nearly an entire wall by itself and the ground in front of it was covered with candles and ashes of incense. Raven had paid her respects with a candle of her own before accepting the bowl of porridge and a mixed bowl of fruits. She ate in silence under the watchful eyes of her companions. When she finished, Ignatius spoke first.

"What can we help you with, my child?"

"My friends and I have a problem."

"These friends of yours," Arella said. "Who are they?"

"They're friends. My friends and I trust them."

"Who are they, Raven?"

She sighed. "When I first arrived to Earth, they were there to…welcome me."

"They don't look human."

Raven set her jaw and met Arella's eyes. "They're my friends. Is that not good enough for you?"

"I meant nothing by it, my—"

"We have a problem. If you won't help us we'll leave. Azarath is not the only place for me and my friends to find help."

Arella looked about to say something but stopped when Ignatius touched her shoulder. "What is wrong, Raven?"

She prepared herself; it was a long story.

"Well, rather than saying there's one problem, we actually have two separate problems that conspire together to make one huge problem. My friend—the green one, Beast Boy—has this monster inside of him. A Beast. We thought he had it under control. It hasn't bothered him for years but suddenly a few months ago, it started acting up, giving him issues."

"Is that what is wrong with his stomach?" Ignatius asked.

"No, that's just Beast Boy being Beast Boy." She sighed before continuing. "It wasn't long before it became clear that this wasn't just his problem anymore. The darkness, the demon, inside of me began reacting to it. Whenever Beast Boy was around my demon saw him as a threat, a challenge. Soon they started reacting to each other and took over. Hours of our days would disappear. We'd wake up together in random places, covered in scratches and blood. Then things…escalated."

"In what way?"

Raven opened her mouth to answer but then closed it. Heat suddenly rose to her face. She lowered her eyes to the empty bowls in front of her. "It doesn't matter. But I was hoping—"

"Raven," Arella demanded. "In what way?"

The doors of the dining hall creaked open. Beast Boy was leaning against Cyborg as they walked in, looking weak and greener than usual. Arella's eyes swung between him and Raven's red face before she jumped to her feet.

"Arella—" Raven tried to stop her but it was too late.

Arella leaned into Beast Boy's face, effectively freezing them to the spot.

"Did you have sex with my daughter?"

"What?" Beast Boy squeaked.

Raven stood and pounded her hands on the table. "Mother!"

Cyborg and Beast Boy looked at each other.

"Mother?"


A/N: Hey there! So, this is my first fanfic ever (can you tell?), so please be kind! Uh, yeah, anyway. I might have more to say later, but for now please enjoy!