Lost and Lost and Found

Raven searched her room.

Then she searched her room again.

It wasn't there.

She had been looking everywhere – on the shelves, under the bed, in her storage trunks – for over an hour. Now she was getting both the rising panic felt when something against all expectations is really, truly gone – and the sinking feeling that she might know where her possession had ended up.

If she was right, it was all her fault. How could she be so stupid...

She went through the room one more time, swearing in German as she hunted under the bed one more time and switching to louder, more inventive Latin as she scoured her shelves.

Still gone.

Finally she stood still in the middle of the room, breathing deeply, trying to calm down. I'll check in the great room, she thought. If it's not there, it's really gone and I am in trouble.

+T+T+T+

Even before the doors to the great room opened, Raven could hear a video game being played at slightly louder than full blast. Beast Boy was alone, playing Mega Monkey IX. "Hey, Rae," he said absently as she searched the couch, "Lose something?"

"I hope not," she muttered. "I really hope not." Checking the room so thoroughly she even went through the refrigerator, Raven realized it was hopeless. She sagged against the counter and closed her eyes. I suppose I can go try to get it back, but if it's been opened...

"Uh... Raven?"

Opening her eyes, Raven saw Beast Boy leaning against the back of the couch, holding out the game controller. It was glowing black, as were the dishes all around her and even a couple of the computer monitors on the walls. "Could you, like, not blow up my controller? We don't have any extra since Cyborg and I played ExplodiumWars for thirty hours in a row and melted the entire GameStation."

"Sorry." With an effort, Raven shut away her anxiety, feeling an unwelcome, stifling dullness settle over her as she devoted most of her energy keeping her emotions locked tight. The glow around the controller and everything else faded.

Beast Boy vaulted the couch and went to stand beside her. "What's wrong?"

"You were right," Raven said heavily. "I lost something."

"What?"

She shook her head. "It's no big deal."

Beast Boy tossed the controller back toward the couch. "C'mon, Raven, I know you're upset. Maybe I can help."

Raven shook her head. Beast Boy was quite capable of pestering her for hours. "All right. I lost a book."

"A book? But don't you have about a million books?"

"Usually I only have one copy of a book, and this book..." Raven felt the panic coming again.

Beast Boy moved closer, watching Raven carefully. His nose twitched, just a little, and even his ears seemed to turn toward her. Gingerly he put his hand on her arm. "Really important book?"

"Sort of," Raven let Beast Boy steer her to the couch and sit down beside her. "Have you seen it? It would look like a plain hardback with green covers."

Beast Boy thought for a minute, then shook his head regretfully. "Sorry."

"The book is called Abstrudia. It's a book of containment, concealment, and hiding. That's why it looks like a plain book – it doesn't even look like a magic book."

"Maybe it's hiding, then! We can go -"

"No," Raven overrode him. "I've searched every way I could. Ten spells and the book isn't anywhere in the Tower. Besides, I... I think I know what happened to it." I'm an idiot.

Beast Boy looked at her apprehensively. "It wasn't me!"

"I know that," Raven snapped. "This time it was me doing something stupid. I think … damn... I think I took it to Secondhand Stories."

"The used book store? You took your magic book to a used book store?" Beast Boy thought about laughing for about two seconds, then changed his mind as he thought of what would happen to his GameStation – and possibly him – if Raven lost her temper. "How did you do that? That was really –"

"Stupid," Raven finished for him "I know. I was taking a bunch of other books back, and I had the Abstrudia out to do some work, and I must have put it in the box without thinking. And that was two days ago, so there's no telling …"

Beast Boy frowned. Raven was acting like the book was a combination of nuclear weapons and dynamite. "Is it a dangerous book? Should we be worried about monsters?"

Raven stood up and started to pace. "The book is about containment and concealment, and not that dangerous. But I was working creating a spell, and I was using –"

"Wait a minute. You were making up a spell?"

"Yes. The spell was called Abstrudia Sphere, and –"

"Sweet! I didn't know you could just make up spells. I thought you had to get them all out of your books. How about you make a spell that –"

Raven stopped pacing and wearily put her hand to her eyes. "Beast Boy – can you just, for once, just not – "

Beast Boy subsided. "My bad."

Raven glanced at him, began pacing again, and continued: "The spell was called Abstrudia Sphere, and I had just about gotten it to work. I had written it down on a sheet of paper and left it in the book. I was going to test it today, but when I went to get the book I couldn't find it. The spell's still in the book. And it's a simple spell – anyone who has a little magic sense could do it. Abstrudia is more advanced – if you don't know how to unlock it, it doesn't look magical at all. It just looks like a theory of crypsis." At Beast Boy's blank look she elaborated, "Camouflage. The book's not dangerous, but the spell is."

Visions of explosions, flame monsters, and even Trigon danced in Beast Boy's head. "Dude, do I even want to know what this spell does?"

"It's an extremely strong containment bubble. Anyone who casts it will be standing in the middle of a field that can contain huge amounts of energy. It's almost impossible to break into or out of." Raven paused for a minute and added softly, "I was designing it for myself, I wanted a place where I could feel things, without hurting anybody. I am so dumb."

Raven had stopped pacing and stood there, staring into space, miserable. Beast Boy's heart ached for her. I keep telling her she's not alone, and she goes and creates spells to make sure she is alone? Still... "That sounds like a powerful spell, but how is it danger-"

"I wrote down the spell to make the sphere," Raven said flatly. "I didn't write down the incantation to deactivate it."

"So – oh," Beast Boy briefly imagined starving to death in a energy sphere. Or, more quickly, suffocating when all the air ran out – "yuck. That's bad. C'mon." He got to his feet and went to leave a note on the Tower's main terminal.

"Where?"

"Secondhand Stories," Beast Boy said, already halfway to the door. "We'll get your book back before anyone ends up trapped in a bubble."

Raven hesitated."Beast Boy – I appreciate this, but it isn't your problem –"

He looked back at her, and grinned. "Come on. You can be super alone girl later. Hurry up." His grin faded and he added, "Raven, that spell's dangerous. Let me help before someone gets hurt."

Raven sighed. "You're right." She pulled her hood up and met him at the door. "Let's go to the roof. I'll fly us there."