((A/N: Here is the sequel to my last story, Conversion. If you
haven't read Conversion yet then don't even begin to read this story. You
will be way too confused. So, enjoy Submission, or read Conversion, what
ever you're going to do now. By the way, these chapters should be longer,
and more descriptive. I am now used to writing fan fiction, and I wasn't
really before. So, enjoy!))
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Raven mentally prepared herself for seeing their faces again. She paused at the landing on the stairs, listening to the joyous sounds from the kitchen. Usually she would have found this a little annoying, but things weren't usual as of late.
The room fell silent as she stepped in, her face shadowed by the sanctity of her hood. She quickly walked through the soundless room, grabbing the steaming kettle of the stove. Kettles were always prepared on a good Titan's morning; there was always some hot beverage to drink. She poured herself some tea, which had been left ready-to-go on the counter the previous night; anything to shorten her time with them would make her feel better.
She left the room, pushing her way up the stairs without saying one word. It was like Raven to be cold, but not to be this uncaring. The only time they had seen her in the three days since the fight were the wordless mornings. All other time was spent in her locked room. No one knew exactly where she ate, or rather drank, her breakfast. Beast Boy had tried to find out, but it wasn't her room. He had even opened the door! But to no avail, no one knew where she went; it certainly wasn't Titan's Tower.
No one seemed to take notice to this practice anymore. The first morning she had done this it had been rather distressing to them. But now it was usual to them.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Raven wandered through the creatures of her mind immortalized in steel. They haunted her, snarling from the shadows as she passed. Some of them had already been taken away, their steel feet ripped from the cold dirt as the city had begun to clean up the mess Raven herself had made.
When Raven had been with Slade she had done this to the construction site, now she revisited it every morning, trying to make sense of it. No one would ever find her here; no one would ever suspect anyone to come back here.
She sipped her tea thoughtfully, inhaling the herbal steam. Her mind was still reeling from three days of puzzlement.
'Someone has knocked on our door.' The voice in her warned, talking in a soft voice as she stumbled along the steel beast.
'He always does, every morning.' Raven replied, her inner voice echoing through her head. She already knew who it was.
"He has opened the door.' The voice retorted now, lacing its comment with a hint of caution.
'He did the first morning too. He'll give up soon when he finds I'm not.' Raven said calmly inside herself, sipping at her tea.
'He has entered our room now. It is your fault; you refused to listen to me.' The voice growled irritably.
"What?" Raven exclaimed, speaking out loud with the shock of this. No one could enter her room, especially with what was in there now.
'He is poking about now. Oh no, your in trouble now. He's spied the box.' The voice cried out, ripping through her head like a knife. It brought her pain, this voice, and for a moment she was light headed. Then her arms went numb. The mug crashed to the cold ground, shattering. But Raven did not care or notice, she was already gone. Now ten feet in the air already she was only worried about something different.
"He can not touch that box." She said resolutely, hoping for the world she would make it in time.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Beast Boy was worried. Raven had not spoken to anyone for three days. Even for her, that was extreme.
"Rae, you there?" he hissed softly, knocking on the door. When no one answered his call he was not surprised. He expected this. "Rae?" he hissed again, opening the door slowly. He stared into the dim room, his eyes adjusting to the dark quickly. He could see Raven's small round bed, covered in dark purple sheets. A few statues such as a couple of stone masks were around the room. A few shelves were gathering dust, only affected by a few dangerous-looking objects.
When no one answered Beast boy finally decided that she really wasn't here. He turned to leave when something caught his eye. Amidst a pile of melted candle stubs in the corner was a strange multihued glow. He turned to inspect it closer, picking through the melted wax. When he finally reached it, it turned out to be a small box, no longer than his hand and no taller than index finger. It was a mahogany color, iron spines in twining patterns and curves sticking out from its corners. It was carved with ancient looking runes on the cover. The glow emanated from a small sliver of space between the cover (which flipped open) and the rest of the box.
Beast Boy hesitated. Last time he had touched something in Raven's room he had ended up in Nevermore, the disturbing area which was Raven's mind. But he was strangely drawn to the box, which glowed so warmly and invitingly.
"It couldn't hurt to just touch it." Beast boy said softly, reaching out a tentative finger to the cover. The minute his finger connected with the smooth wood a tingling jolt set up his arm and traveled all the way down his spine. The box opened quickly, its cover flung back. Beast Boy was flung backwards by the force, and landed on his back halfway across the room. The glow bust into the air, apparently sorting itself out as it darted across the room.
Then Slade was in front of Beast Boy. He wasn't facing him; instead his focus was sideways, his only visible eye peering straight ahead. Beast Boy shrunk back, for a moment thinking that Slade was in Raven's room, but he looked closer. Slade appeared to be blurred at the edges, coming in and out of focus. Facing him from the opposite direction was Raven herself, but not really. She too was blurring.
Beast Boy stood up, looking around the room. It was now lit up by so many of these images now, and every one had Raven in them. She was virtually everywhere, cluttered images littering her room. They were all life sized, each one going about its own business. They were all in different positions, sitting or standing or any other you could think of. Some of them appeared to be younger, much shorter with a higher voice as they spoke. Other people Beast Boy didn't know were standing with them, apparently conversing with the Raven they were paired with. In some situations there were a lot of other people, and sometimes Raven was alone. The room was overflowing with the sound of their voices, slightly dulled from what they should have originally been. Beast Boy felt his own head swim with the sudden shock of the silent room erupting in the myriad of images that clogged the floor.
Beast Boy regarded the image in front of him, Slade watching Raven coldly. She was looking up at Slade, but Beast Boy couldn't see her expression under the protective shadow of her hood.
"See Raven, your powers were meant to do such things. You killed those construction men without a second thought. Does it not make you feel better?" Slade said, his voice rather muffled, but still possessing the cold, bitter air it always did.
"Sure." Raven replied after a while, apparently thinking hard. She seemed defensive, struggling with herself or something.
Beast Boy directed his eyes from the scene. He rather hated seeing this; his brain had struggled for so long to tell himself that she had fought back. But it wasn't true. Beast Boy knew that Raven had gone along willingly, she had even told him. She had fought against the entire team on her own will. She had a lot of adjusting to do now.
On top of Raven's bed Beast Boy spotted an image that he remembered, but he had been seeing it from his point of view instead. He moved closer, grinning broadly as he picked his way through the images.
The image on the bed was of Raven and himself. His own arm, or rather his own image's arm, was wrapped around Raven's shoulder. Just as the real Beast Boy arrived at the bed his image's arm pulled Raven close to him. She didn't resist, but leaned close to him. Beast Boy rounded the bed, studying the front of the image. Raven's face was that of someone who had seen too much, but finally seen through the fog. Beast Boy's own imagery face was that of someone who had finally gotten what he wanted.
Beast Boy smiled fondly, remembering that morning. It was probably the only time he had ever been intimate with Raven, and had been the last time he had seen her in three days. He so wanted to reach out and touch the image, to plunge headfirst back into that day and at least spend a few minutes reliving the memory.
His thoughts were interrupted by a loud crashing noise. The door he had unconsciously closed now flung open, surrounded by a black, shimmering aura. It snapped off of its hinges, bending unnaturally and landing on the ground with a large thud. Behind it was Raven, her cape blowing as the door let out a gust of wind as it fell. Her hands were held up, surrounded by the same black glow. Her eyes were enraged, white like molten metal.
And there was Beast Boy, in her room surrounded by the images that sprouted from something that he most certainly shouldn't have touched. Plus that and he was standing next to an intimate image of him and Raven. Rather ironic really.
"Err... Hi Raven. What's up?" he asked nervously, smiling sheepishly and giving her a nervous chuckle.
"Get out." Raven said very, very softly. She strode forwards and picked up the box from where it lay, passing through the images. They remained unaffected, allowing her to pass through them. She picked up the box and slammed it shut. The images disappeared, flickering out like an old television set, giving off momentary bursts of color.
"Get.... Out..." she growled menacingly, pausing between each word. Her voice sounded very forced and Beast Boy could see that she was resisting the urge to crush him into dust.
"Err..." Beast Boy said nervously, stepping out of the door very quickly. He peeked his head around the corner. "Sorry." He added as an aftermath, and then ran off, praying he lived through the day.
Raven sighed long and hard, trying to restrain her thoughts. She put the box on a high shelf very carefully, taking special care not to let it hang open.
'He saw too much.' The voice said very softly, sounding rather sad as it did, but more scolding than anything else.
"Yes he has." Raven said to herself softly. She turned dejectedly to the door, using her powers to right its shape and set it back into its frame. She turned back and sat on her bed, closing her eyes.
"Raven, something has gone wrong." A very joyous voice called out, sounding off from the side of her room. Raven froze, opening her eyes and looking over.
A duplicate of her was standing on the side of the room, wearing bright bubblegum pink robes and smiling despite the fact that she shouldn't be there. She shrugged apologetically, not looking sorry at all.
"You are not supposed to be here." Raven said, standing up and looking closer. "How did you get here?" She demanded, looking very surprised and worried.
"I think it was that box." The Raven said after a moment, her lips pursed. She then smiled, shrugging.
"Oh no." Raven said to herself, staring in horror at the box that lay innocently on the shelf.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Raven mentally prepared herself for seeing their faces again. She paused at the landing on the stairs, listening to the joyous sounds from the kitchen. Usually she would have found this a little annoying, but things weren't usual as of late.
The room fell silent as she stepped in, her face shadowed by the sanctity of her hood. She quickly walked through the soundless room, grabbing the steaming kettle of the stove. Kettles were always prepared on a good Titan's morning; there was always some hot beverage to drink. She poured herself some tea, which had been left ready-to-go on the counter the previous night; anything to shorten her time with them would make her feel better.
She left the room, pushing her way up the stairs without saying one word. It was like Raven to be cold, but not to be this uncaring. The only time they had seen her in the three days since the fight were the wordless mornings. All other time was spent in her locked room. No one knew exactly where she ate, or rather drank, her breakfast. Beast Boy had tried to find out, but it wasn't her room. He had even opened the door! But to no avail, no one knew where she went; it certainly wasn't Titan's Tower.
No one seemed to take notice to this practice anymore. The first morning she had done this it had been rather distressing to them. But now it was usual to them.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Raven wandered through the creatures of her mind immortalized in steel. They haunted her, snarling from the shadows as she passed. Some of them had already been taken away, their steel feet ripped from the cold dirt as the city had begun to clean up the mess Raven herself had made.
When Raven had been with Slade she had done this to the construction site, now she revisited it every morning, trying to make sense of it. No one would ever find her here; no one would ever suspect anyone to come back here.
She sipped her tea thoughtfully, inhaling the herbal steam. Her mind was still reeling from three days of puzzlement.
'Someone has knocked on our door.' The voice in her warned, talking in a soft voice as she stumbled along the steel beast.
'He always does, every morning.' Raven replied, her inner voice echoing through her head. She already knew who it was.
"He has opened the door.' The voice retorted now, lacing its comment with a hint of caution.
'He did the first morning too. He'll give up soon when he finds I'm not.' Raven said calmly inside herself, sipping at her tea.
'He has entered our room now. It is your fault; you refused to listen to me.' The voice growled irritably.
"What?" Raven exclaimed, speaking out loud with the shock of this. No one could enter her room, especially with what was in there now.
'He is poking about now. Oh no, your in trouble now. He's spied the box.' The voice cried out, ripping through her head like a knife. It brought her pain, this voice, and for a moment she was light headed. Then her arms went numb. The mug crashed to the cold ground, shattering. But Raven did not care or notice, she was already gone. Now ten feet in the air already she was only worried about something different.
"He can not touch that box." She said resolutely, hoping for the world she would make it in time.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Beast Boy was worried. Raven had not spoken to anyone for three days. Even for her, that was extreme.
"Rae, you there?" he hissed softly, knocking on the door. When no one answered his call he was not surprised. He expected this. "Rae?" he hissed again, opening the door slowly. He stared into the dim room, his eyes adjusting to the dark quickly. He could see Raven's small round bed, covered in dark purple sheets. A few statues such as a couple of stone masks were around the room. A few shelves were gathering dust, only affected by a few dangerous-looking objects.
When no one answered Beast boy finally decided that she really wasn't here. He turned to leave when something caught his eye. Amidst a pile of melted candle stubs in the corner was a strange multihued glow. He turned to inspect it closer, picking through the melted wax. When he finally reached it, it turned out to be a small box, no longer than his hand and no taller than index finger. It was a mahogany color, iron spines in twining patterns and curves sticking out from its corners. It was carved with ancient looking runes on the cover. The glow emanated from a small sliver of space between the cover (which flipped open) and the rest of the box.
Beast Boy hesitated. Last time he had touched something in Raven's room he had ended up in Nevermore, the disturbing area which was Raven's mind. But he was strangely drawn to the box, which glowed so warmly and invitingly.
"It couldn't hurt to just touch it." Beast boy said softly, reaching out a tentative finger to the cover. The minute his finger connected with the smooth wood a tingling jolt set up his arm and traveled all the way down his spine. The box opened quickly, its cover flung back. Beast Boy was flung backwards by the force, and landed on his back halfway across the room. The glow bust into the air, apparently sorting itself out as it darted across the room.
Then Slade was in front of Beast Boy. He wasn't facing him; instead his focus was sideways, his only visible eye peering straight ahead. Beast Boy shrunk back, for a moment thinking that Slade was in Raven's room, but he looked closer. Slade appeared to be blurred at the edges, coming in and out of focus. Facing him from the opposite direction was Raven herself, but not really. She too was blurring.
Beast Boy stood up, looking around the room. It was now lit up by so many of these images now, and every one had Raven in them. She was virtually everywhere, cluttered images littering her room. They were all life sized, each one going about its own business. They were all in different positions, sitting or standing or any other you could think of. Some of them appeared to be younger, much shorter with a higher voice as they spoke. Other people Beast Boy didn't know were standing with them, apparently conversing with the Raven they were paired with. In some situations there were a lot of other people, and sometimes Raven was alone. The room was overflowing with the sound of their voices, slightly dulled from what they should have originally been. Beast Boy felt his own head swim with the sudden shock of the silent room erupting in the myriad of images that clogged the floor.
Beast Boy regarded the image in front of him, Slade watching Raven coldly. She was looking up at Slade, but Beast Boy couldn't see her expression under the protective shadow of her hood.
"See Raven, your powers were meant to do such things. You killed those construction men without a second thought. Does it not make you feel better?" Slade said, his voice rather muffled, but still possessing the cold, bitter air it always did.
"Sure." Raven replied after a while, apparently thinking hard. She seemed defensive, struggling with herself or something.
Beast Boy directed his eyes from the scene. He rather hated seeing this; his brain had struggled for so long to tell himself that she had fought back. But it wasn't true. Beast Boy knew that Raven had gone along willingly, she had even told him. She had fought against the entire team on her own will. She had a lot of adjusting to do now.
On top of Raven's bed Beast Boy spotted an image that he remembered, but he had been seeing it from his point of view instead. He moved closer, grinning broadly as he picked his way through the images.
The image on the bed was of Raven and himself. His own arm, or rather his own image's arm, was wrapped around Raven's shoulder. Just as the real Beast Boy arrived at the bed his image's arm pulled Raven close to him. She didn't resist, but leaned close to him. Beast Boy rounded the bed, studying the front of the image. Raven's face was that of someone who had seen too much, but finally seen through the fog. Beast Boy's own imagery face was that of someone who had finally gotten what he wanted.
Beast Boy smiled fondly, remembering that morning. It was probably the only time he had ever been intimate with Raven, and had been the last time he had seen her in three days. He so wanted to reach out and touch the image, to plunge headfirst back into that day and at least spend a few minutes reliving the memory.
His thoughts were interrupted by a loud crashing noise. The door he had unconsciously closed now flung open, surrounded by a black, shimmering aura. It snapped off of its hinges, bending unnaturally and landing on the ground with a large thud. Behind it was Raven, her cape blowing as the door let out a gust of wind as it fell. Her hands were held up, surrounded by the same black glow. Her eyes were enraged, white like molten metal.
And there was Beast Boy, in her room surrounded by the images that sprouted from something that he most certainly shouldn't have touched. Plus that and he was standing next to an intimate image of him and Raven. Rather ironic really.
"Err... Hi Raven. What's up?" he asked nervously, smiling sheepishly and giving her a nervous chuckle.
"Get out." Raven said very, very softly. She strode forwards and picked up the box from where it lay, passing through the images. They remained unaffected, allowing her to pass through them. She picked up the box and slammed it shut. The images disappeared, flickering out like an old television set, giving off momentary bursts of color.
"Get.... Out..." she growled menacingly, pausing between each word. Her voice sounded very forced and Beast Boy could see that she was resisting the urge to crush him into dust.
"Err..." Beast Boy said nervously, stepping out of the door very quickly. He peeked his head around the corner. "Sorry." He added as an aftermath, and then ran off, praying he lived through the day.
Raven sighed long and hard, trying to restrain her thoughts. She put the box on a high shelf very carefully, taking special care not to let it hang open.
'He saw too much.' The voice said very softly, sounding rather sad as it did, but more scolding than anything else.
"Yes he has." Raven said to herself softly. She turned dejectedly to the door, using her powers to right its shape and set it back into its frame. She turned back and sat on her bed, closing her eyes.
"Raven, something has gone wrong." A very joyous voice called out, sounding off from the side of her room. Raven froze, opening her eyes and looking over.
A duplicate of her was standing on the side of the room, wearing bright bubblegum pink robes and smiling despite the fact that she shouldn't be there. She shrugged apologetically, not looking sorry at all.
"You are not supposed to be here." Raven said, standing up and looking closer. "How did you get here?" She demanded, looking very surprised and worried.
"I think it was that box." The Raven said after a moment, her lips pursed. She then smiled, shrugging.
"Oh no." Raven said to herself, staring in horror at the box that lay innocently on the shelf.