Joined in Body, Separated in Mind
A/N: Hi guys, I had an idea for this and I don't know how it will go. I have a bit written out but I'm never sure of my skill, or if I'm writing something worth reading. I would really love feedback and maybe even thoughts on were people think I should go with my stories.
Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans.
Chapter One: Elliot
Elliot had woken up in his room. It was in a state that could only be depicted as remains of a horror film. His clothes were mostly torn and sling across the room with thread that weaved and caught against the furniture. His dresser or what was left thereof was now cracked and tipped with the mirror shattered and the draws pulled and tossed to the other wall. All that was left of a bean bag chair that had sat in the corner of the room was the beads that were sprawled across the bedroom floor. Even the walls had managed to be destroyed as the wallpaper now cruelled and crunched with shredded pieces dripping to the ground below. It had to be said, his room was nothing less than an absolute mess which was still a drastic understatement.
He moved off what he had thought was his bed, though it really didn't resemble one and crossed the brittle floor with a bit of dramatics. He avoided shards of glass, slinters of wood and narrowly missed woven thread of his clothing as he reached the doorway. Turning once more to his room he waved goodbye and headed down the stairs.
As he stepped out of the room and into the hall, he started to wonder what may have happened. He knew that of course this was likely caused due to the blackouts he had been having lately. Usually he would wake up with bruises, cuts, or even on the rare occasion a broken bone. There was that rare occasion when he woke up in the streets as well. It had been… uncomfortable for him. He had been like this for quite some time without any reason for it. Doctors said that the blackouts would stop as he grew older, and that it was simply him trying to ignore the past. Therapist had sat him down and asked him to speak about his past, thinking that maybe it held the key. However, Elliot knew very little of his past.
Nowadays he spent most of his time keeping busy and doing things that he knew would help him in the future. He had two part-time jobs that required a lot of his time and uses what remain to study. He worked at a book store that wasn't too far from his home during the late hours of the day, usually from 5 till 10 at night. Right now, he was getting ready to head to his first job that started at 8am and would end at 4pm. It was a small café three blocks away from the small flat he resided in. He chucked his black pants on and tied his shoes. The shirt he intended to wear was now a tattered mess, so he took the one from the day prior and threw it over his head. He would have to buy clothes at some point today.
Elliot headed out into the streets of Jump City. It was barely sunrise and already there were people out in the streets. Elliot had always wondered if these people were getting ready for the day ahead of them or if they had been out all night. He suspected the latter due to the nature of these people. It was odd for anyone to be up early, or at least this early and these people were often dressed in tattered clothes or the oldest fashion. He didn't even need to really note the fact that most would not look you in the eye and would huddle in small groups. The only person he really thought was heading to a job was those who were out and slipping into their cars for a head start on the rush.
This was the time he spent thinking the most. The walk between his jobs and home would be a place of almost silent, too bad for him he missed most of it as he blared music in his ears. The words of each song giving him a new thought or perspective. He thought very hard on the events of the night prior. He remembered getting home from his late night and looking through his books for the work he was supposed to do. In the end, he had fallen asleep on the couch without getting through very much work at all. He didn't remember much after that, but he knew that he felt tired. He had noticed while in the shower that he his back was spotting a new bruise just under his shoulder blade, and his legs felt weaker. He had even noticed a cut on his left arm that was now covered by the long sleeves. He really wanted to know what happened to him when he was asleep, but had given up on finding it out.
There was one time a couple months ago, where he had placed cameras inside and outside in hopes of catching himself, but by morning they were all placed neatly inside there boxes with a note stuck in messy handwriting. It had said "don't. try this again". After that he had never tried to record himself again.
There was also a time that he could remember when he woke up with the strangest feeling. He had woken with his girlfriend and had felt wrong. He felt like he was in love, but not with the person he had spent the best part of eight months with. It was safe to say that they were no longer together. He just couldn't get over this feeling and it had hurt to be around her. When she left, he felt… relieved, he had guessed. He wasn't sad that she was gone, only thankful.
Elliot jumped at the sound of a bell ringing. He had managed to walk into his workplace without even realising it. He had never been so stuck in his thoughts before. He walked to the check out and logged in. He sighed and leaned against the counter. He knew that he didn't feel like working. He was still tired and had also forgot to eat. There was just no winning sometimes.
As Elliot served an elderly woman he caught his reflection in the mirror. His eyes had black rings underneath and his hair was not even brushed. He also looked sickly pale. How had he allowed himself to get so caught in his mind to leave his house like this. Usually he tried to fix himself up before leaving. He would use the make up his Ex-girlfriend left to fix the sleep denervation from under his eyes and at the very least brush his hair back.
"I'm so sorry for the wait, I'm a little distracted today." Elliot said as he passed the woman her drink.
She smiled, taking her drink and handing him the cash. "Quite alright dear, though you should try and get some rest soon, you look tired." She gave Elliot another polite smile before heading towards a table.
"Yeah, what she said." Elliot's Co-worker and boss said as she slides in beside him. "You look like you haven't slept at all since the last time I saw you… though you looked tired then too." She leaned on the bench and turned her head slightly towards him. "If you're so tired maybe you should head off for the day." She added.
"I'm perfectly fine. I just… I forgot to eat is all, I'll be better in a little while." Elliot said.
"Help yourself to something to eat and drink, I really don't want you dying on me." She said before heading into the back office.
After I had eaten I felt much better and could concentrate a lot more. I worked thought the next five hours without too much hassle. There had been a few people who were pickie with the food or drink he had served or were just rude due to his appearance, but it wasn't anything new. With two hours left and the lunch rush through, Elliot took to reading at one of the spare seats, while also looking up for anyone who may need attending too. His boss knew that he sometimes did this, and never said anything about it, especially since he had always cleaned up everything first.
He was just about to pack up his things for the day, when a woman walked in. usually he would just go and serve without a single hesitation in his step, but for some reason he couldn't move. He looked at the girl with her violet hair and eyes and ivory skin and just stood. There was that feeling again. In love with a person he had never met. Though, for some reason he felt other things. Admiration, hatred, confusion, desire and love, he wished he knew how they knew each other. Or maybe he only knew her. He certainly knew her. She was famous, a Teen Titan and someone he had seen in many fights. But that didn't explain how he wanted her. It was common to like famous people, but not like this.
She walked over to the counter and waited to be served, but he couldn't. his legs had gone numb and his breathing was rushed. He doubted he would get a single word out let alone a sentence. Instead he willed himself to move to the safest place, stepping backwards and ducking into his manages office.
"I, I, the girl, she wants to." Elliot looked to the corner of the office where the cameras showed Raven clearly waiting. He turned back to his manager who seemed overly amused with his actions. After a few seconds, he took a breath. "She wants to be served, but… Please don't make me serve her." He whined at the end and collapsed into the chair beside the door.
"Wow, I have never seen you flushed before. Honestly, it's amusing." She stood and walked past him. His eyes flicked to the camera where his manager was now serving Raven. After she had been served and handed her coffee… or maybe tea, she sat down at his table and the manager step back into the office. "See, that wasn't so hard, was it?" She mocked him and laughed to herself as she sat at her desk.
He waited till she had left to clean her table and headed out through the back door, in case she was hanging around outside the café for a friend or transport. Though as he walked to the book store he realised how ridiculous that was. She had the power to teleport or fly from what he knew, she wouldn't wait for transport. He stepped into the store only to stop in his tracks as he noticed Raven glancing over some books.
He wasn't ready to face her, he couldn't. His heart had already sped and there was sweat on his brow. As much as he needed the work, he couldn't take the thought of dealing with this woman. Before he had been noticed, he turned and left ducking into the nearby alleyway. He would apologise for not coming in tomorrow. Sure, it would mean a strike against his otherwise perfect record, but he could deal with that.
He walked home.
xx/xx/xxxx
Mornings are spent with books. He reads through them so quickly and cannot comprehend most of the information given throughout the text, it seems that I must give him a dictionary for his vocabulary to pick up. The problem with this is that he may find words within the text that would be inconvenient for him to understand. I will need to remove text of words that are unnecessary for him to learn, leaving only that of which is deemed necessary.
Of night, he takes on a completely different form. In some respects, this form is preferable. His strength is increased, he can teleport which is highly monitored, and he much more susceptible to my will. However, the down fall is his attitude. He has taken to making smart remarks and destroying things that are in his way. He has no respect for anything or anyone while like this and there is often nothing that can change his mind.
I will need to take further measurements to keep this child within my grasp always. This may cause me to take unwilling action, though I think that was always the case. I shall enlist the help of someone who can keep a firm grasp on the mind of a child. In return for that help… well, I shall see.
xx/xx/xxxx
A thought has occurred to me. The human side of this child is pointless in all sense of the world. This side offers no discovery and hinders my plans greatly. It takes up far too much of my time for me to consider it serviceable. However, if there was a way to split the two into separated beings then I would be able to rid myself of the human aspect and work purely with the demonic side held within. This could cause my research to be plunged into the future.
I must create a mechanism that can disconnect the human aspect, though I wonder what will happen to the child if I was to succeed. I believe the only one able to survive a separation like that would be the demon. Surely a creature of such power will not be destroyed so easily. No, it wouldn't even make a dent in such a beast.
xx/xx/xxxx
Few perpetrations were made. I only calculated and planned for the demon to survive and as night rolled around, I brought the demon into the room. He was sat in from of a small pod. As I worked on the device he studied it and eventually bared his fangs to it. Such an interesting reaction from someone who takes great joy in destroying everything.
I noted down the following transaction between the demon and myself.
"What is it, what are you trying," He asked.
"I am separating your human and demonic side" this comment had made him frantic and he seemed to look around, then to a band around his wrist. He knew what it was doing. It stopped him from teleporting from the room.
"You can't. That will kill me," He said.
"Were did you learn the concept of death, I am not including it in your study material."
"You spoke about it with that man, the one that makes me obey."
"Indeed, I did, though the short matter we spoke of should have not allowed you to understand the concept, so I'll ask one more time. Where did you learn this concept from?"
"I asked the lady that takes my blood, she told me what it meant."
I ended the transcript there and moved onto better things. This at least told me I needed to find a smarter staff member. I would have to deal with her.
xx/xx/xxxx
The project failed. After only ten minutes in the device the mind had splintered. It's permanent from what I can tell. His mind will always be shattered. Though I wonder how this will play out in the future.
He is awake, but barely. The… thing has been through a lot and yet his hardiness is proving to be quite promising. He sees unable to remember the night, like his mind is erasing information it believes to be either to unrealistic or comprehendible. The reason for this deleted information will need to be explored later. The subject is too young and naive to comprehend what it is I am after.
When night came around, I spoke to the demon. It was full aware of what had occurred and was not happy with the results. It told me how annoyed it was with the fact that they, the human and the demon were not able to communicate anymore. As it spoke I realised that it viewed itself as a separated existence.
The other had no idea of the demon's place, nor did he remember who I was. This has allowed me to take advantage of the child's knowledge on more than one occasion.
xx/xx/xxxx
The amount of sleep needed for the hybrid is half of a human. It could be easily divided between the two but it seems the human side ends up sleeping a full four hours and the demon only falls when it is time to switch with the other. Originally this is not how things had started.
When the human had slept for an hour the demon would switch in and sleep for an hour. I could tell that they had switched due to this shudder it often got and a surge in output. This method would be repeated on switching back.
However, the demon took up an anti-sleep method once by waking the moment they changed and not sleeping at all. From that point on, one slept, the other did not.
This was not the same in other habits. The demon side still like to eat, just as the human did. They still needed the same amount of social interaction, and both took the same time to play. It seemed that the demon side just wanted to be alive the longest.
They were separated, but in mind only.
xx/xx/xxxx
A thought came across me as I passed a woman today. She was the one that had made it understand the concept of death. I wonder how much she had told it. Did she elaborate on the difference between dying naturally and unnaturally? Did she explain what it was to hurt or even kill someone? I would have to see.
I spent a little under an hour observing the amalgams actions when given a pet. I had placed a cat and a dog inside the room. It wasn't a normal test, I was just waiting for the next device to come in and passing time. The human seemed to love both equally, and took them to sleep with. The demon was rather interesting though.
It picked up the cat and kept its distance from the dog.
I tried this with other pairs and found many things that the demon did not like. They could be of use later.
xx/xx/xxxx
I brought the woman in to the room, telling her to explain, in great lengths, every aspect of the word death and the branching off functions that could cause it. She took her time to think over the words she used with it and by the end it was clear that it understood.
I wanted to try something. I needed the demon because it was strong and resilient unlike humans. I'd done many tests that showed, even if fused to a human it was still sturdy. However, if it was not willing to take a life, even with the understanding that it was wrong and all that nonsense, then it was useless.
Shockingly, the demon did not hesitate in its murder of the woman. In fact, it seemed oddly proud.
xx/xx/xxxx
The feeling didn't last. Its human side caused emotions in the demonic side, causing it to regret the actions it had taken. Any chance of using this on another human would likely cause the same reaction. Useless.
I need to remove the human aspect from this problem. Till then, I am allowing my associate to take the beast. He runs a school where the demon's powers can be improved on. While it is away, I will work on a way to remove the human aspect.
Elliot woke on the floor of his kitchen. There was a burnt smell that clung to the air thickly and the heat was causing him to sweat through his clothes. He moved and opened the oven where his dinner had been cooking. The clock across the room told him it was 6am, two hours till his shift at the café. How was he able to lose so much time? It plagued him but, yet he wasn't willing to find out.
Elliot turned the oven off, disposed of the brunt… charred food and went for the shower. He cleaned himself up and coloured his face in the mirror before fixing his hair so it was at least somewhat neat. He had at least managed to wash a pair of clothes yesterday and hung them on the backs of chairs in his kitchen. They had a burnt smell to them but were at least dry.
After he was dressed he headed for the café.
It was almost the end of his shift and he had no more work afterwards. The library had called on his way in to let him know that the store got damaged during a fight between the Titans and some girl that they didn't know. It had meant that there would be no work for him there for at least a week or two.
The place was clear and Elliot felt like he would finally be able to take a rest. But that was not the case. From behind him a person said quietly "Excuse me." Elliot turned and was bolted to the ground.
Raven. Of course, she would come back here. She was clearly out to ruin his life. How was he meant to deal with this situation? He could simply run and get his manager, but he had a feeling that wouldn't work twice in two days.
"Hey, she said excuse me." A man, taller than me stepped into view. He was wearing shades over his eyes and had a biker feel to him. His leather jacket and jeans defiantly said a lot about him.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you over all that ego. What can I get you beauty?" He said leaning on the bench. Elliot was unsure what had just happened. That certainly wasn't like him at all, and yet he had said that. Where did that sudden confidence come from.
"Oh, I wouldn't even try hitting on her if I was you." The man said. He reached forward and grabbed my shirt, pulling Elliot over the counter a bit.
Elliot wasn't sure why, but he badly wanted to hit the man in front of him. He pulled himself away from the man, wanting to step back and control the situation, thought it seemed his body had other thoughts. Instead of apologising or even walking away to get the manager, he found himself sending a punch to the face of the man.
The man stumbled back and Raven stepped out of the way, seemingly uninterested with the situation. Elliot found himself jumping over the counter and narrowly avoiding a kick to his face by a second. He throws the leg he'd caught down and went to tackle the man but was easily dodged. The man took hold of the collar to his shirt and used it to yank him back and knocking him off his feet with a well-placed kick to the back of Elliot's knees.
At this point, Raven used her magic to keep Elliot down and to take the man away from him. She was saying something but Elliot wasn't listening. He was busying trying to understand what had just happened. It wasn't like him to attack someone out of the blue like that. It wasn't even like him to make snide comments. He was nice to everyone whether they treated him the same or not.
Was it because of Raven, or was it something different. He wondered if it possible had something to do with his lack of sleep, or the reason his room was often trashed lately. Before much more could be done his manager came out of her office. She seemed disappointed an Elliot was sure she would have known what happened. He waited and the moment Raven dropped her hold on him, he ran out of the store. He run through the street till he reached the end and after confirming that he was not being followed he started to walk in the direction of home.
He needed help. There was something wrong with him and it was becoming worse.
"I should thank you for getting rid of that guy for me." Elliot heard a voice behind him, one he knew well. Raven stood behind him with his bag in her hand.
"You chase after me to give me my stuff… Wait, why would you thank me for getting rid of your boyfriend." Elliot asked, a little confused.
"He wasn't my boyfriend, he saw me at the top of the street and followed me. I asked him to leave nicely a few times. He left after you hit him, he didn't seem in the mood to keep chatting to me. Here's your stuff by the way." She said as she held his things out. Elliot took them and smiled weakly at her. Whatever had happened before, it wasn't happening now, and it seemed to have made it easier to speak to her.
"I'm sorry, for what happened. I don't really understand what came over me. I just got so tongue-tied and managed to… I really wasn't thinking at all." Elliot stepped away from her and moved to the nearby bench. He hadn't expected Raven to follow him, but she had. She sat beside him and stared at the sky for a moment, then spoke. She asked him why he hadn't spoken to her the day before, or when she was in the library.
Elliot didn't realise she had notice both times. He had been only thinking of leaving and was unconcern as to whom saw him. But she had noticed.
He told her he wasn't sure what had come over him, and then he was suddenly telling her things that he shouldn't be. He said that he liked her, and the thought of speaking to her was a shock to him. He wasn't sure how to even speak to someone like her. She was so powerful and a superhero and he was just some guy that worked at two low paying jobs.
Raven told him that it was kind of him to say those things to her. Before she could say much more, her communicator had sounded and she was flying off. Elliot hoped that he might get some sleep tonight, one the chance he'd see her again.