This chapter has been edited by none other than Jurodan! WOOT!
Another thing, if anything is inconsistent, please let me know promptly, okay?
Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans, just this idea and the occasional Original Character that may pop up. Anyway, this is my first completely original fan fiction of Teen Titans; some of you may recall that I had done another one, Children of Fate. It didn't go to well with someone known as Vasilis; I don't think that he liked what I did to his character. I DO NOT want to get into that as of this moment. I only did two chapters in Children of Fate before it got scrapped, but if you want to read them, you MUST contact Vasilis first and only after getting his permission will you receive them. Anyway, on with the story! Enjoy!
CHRONICLES OF AZARATH
CHRONICLE ONE
Family
A messy, young man was watching them curiously from a rooftop. He was wearing a tattered black cloak that concealed his features in shadows even though it was a cloudless, summer afternoon. His black, baggy shirt was in similar disrepair, and the lower portions of his black, threadbare pants were tattered in so many places he may have very well been better off with a patchwork of rags. He crouched his too-thin body against the roof; which was a little difficult for him to do because he had a towering height of about seven feet, so that he could not be seen as easily from his prey below.
The Teen Titans were enjoying their lunch at their favorite pizza place. There had been very little crime during the week and the Titans were taking advantage of the summer afternoon sun. Robin finished the last slice of pizza, for once in a long while; he finally got to have the last piece instead of it going to another member of the team. He got up from his seat and asked the Titans, "What do you guys want to do today; crime seems to be giving us a break…."
"The mall of shopping!" the happy form of Starfire exclaimed.
"The car show, I want to show off the T-car," Cyborg had a giant smile plastered on his face, the Jump City Car Show was a once-a-year event as well as the last day to register and he did not want to miss it, especially if he could cream the competition.
Beast Boy agreed with the mechanical warrior, "You'd kick everyone's butt there if you went!"
Robin smiled inwardly; he looked at Raven and found that she was once again immersed in a book and reading silently. "The car show it is," Robin announced.
As the Titans walked to the T-car to go to their destination, the concealed young man decided to make his presence known by leaping off the ledge he was on and landed nimbly. As he got up from his landing position he said to the Dark Titan, "Raven, my sweet, sweet Raven. I have finally found you."
Raven froze en route to the T-car, the book that she held in her hand fell to the asphalt in a silent thud. Her blood ran cold and she shivered despite the beating of the summer sun. She looked at the one that had spoken to her and her heart nearly stopped beating, her face paled considerably despite her already dull-white skin. After an eternity of looking at him, which was only a few seconds, she finally spoke, "No… it can't be…."
"It can't be me?" the man asked, "I'm here, aren't I?"
"Mother sealed you—" Raven said incredulously before she was cut off.
"Away?" the man answered, "Yes she did, and now, my love, I'm here to claim you again."
"I'm not as weak as I once was, Athænïl!" Raven spat vehemently toward the man.
"We'll see about that!" Athænïl growled as blue energy gathered into his hands. He threw the blue energy orbs at Raven, which she blocked with a Dark shield. Then shot forth a massive cascade of Dark energy. Despite his under-nourished form, Solstyce nimbly dodged her offensive maneuver.
"Titans, go!" Robin shouted as he drew his Bo staff and charged at the new threat. Cyborg charged toward the skinny threat and fired sonic blasts at him as well. Starfire flew into the fray while firing starbolt after starbolt. Beast Boy ran into the new fight as an animal of unrivaled speed, the cheetah. Raven sighed mentally and fired another salvo of her Dark energy, in her heart she knew that this was not going to be an easy battle to win.
Athænïl blocked Cyborg's sonic blasts with a blue energy shield then sent a well-placed shot of blue energy that went straight to Cyborg's cannon arm. The arm reformed itself from its cannon form to prevent further damage to its components. Cyborg snarled, that was his good arm….
Robin leapt at his foe with his Bo staff drawn and swung with well practiced strikes that caused Athænïl to jump back. He suddenly leapt to the side and Athænïl was met with energy blasts thrown from Starfire and Raven. He moved an arm over his head and took their combined energy attack head on. He emerged from the smoke unharmed and flew into the air as he formed more of his blue energy in the shape of a staff and smashed it down upon Starfire's back and as she fell, he blasted her with a stream of blue energy. She hurtled toward the ground at breakneck speed and smashed into Robin as he tried to catch her falling form.
Beast Boy caught Athænïl completely off guard, transforming into an ox and smashing into him with enough force to send him flying through a building. He charged again to follow through with his attack but Athænïl grabbed Beast Boy by the horns and began to push him backward by sheer physical power alone. Beast Boy transformed into a Tyrannosaurus Rex and roared.
Athænïl was completely unfazed by the grandiose transformation. "I have seen far worse creatures on Azarath," he said with a sneer, enveloping his arm with blue energy and slamming it in Beast Boy's chest, sending him rocketing into the air. Beast Boy's pained roar as a Tyrannosaurus Rex turned into a shout as he reverted to human form just before he careened into raven.
Athænïl's eyes glowed blue and tendrils of blue energy shot out of his body and wrapping around everyone except Raven. The Titans struggled fruitlessly against the blue energy. It was biting into their exposed flesh, burning them more as they struggled with every moment. Then realization dawned on the dark Titan, this man was not playing games. He would kill if it came to it. "Tell your comrades to leave us alone so… so we can talk," he said to her with a twisted smile.
Raven did not speak; she seemed to be in a bitter mental struggle.
Athænïl's expression soured, "Is this how you honor the request of your brother?" he smiled and continued, "Maybe I should kill them; they won't interfere if they're dead." The energy-bindings painfully tightened around their victims, slowly squeezing the air from their lungs. Cyborg's chest armor groaned as it was bent inwards, forever restricting the metal Titan's ability to breathe. Their pained shouts were cut short as the air was forced from their chests. Their eyes bulged out, and their mouths moved in a futile effort to draw air into their bodies.
Raven scowled in defeat, "Enough, they won't interfere."
Athænïl loosened the energy-bindings just enough to let them breathe but did not let them go, "Raven! You can't!" Robin said quickly but was cut short as the bindings around constricted tighter around him. Athænïl gave him a sour look and tightened his grip on the Boy Wonder. Robin was rigid as he was crushed even he knew his body could not take much more.
"That's better," Athænïl said, releasing the Titans and allowing them to collapse to the ground. Robin had passed out as did Cyborg; the metal armor on the metal Titan was crushed and he more resembled a crushed soda can than a human. "Now we may do battle." He threw a barrage of blue energy orbs that exploded against her black energy shield. "Is that all you can do?" he asked her with a demented smile plastered on his face.
"AZARATH METRION SZYNTHOS!" Raven chanted and she sent a continuous stream of black energy at her brother.
Athænïl blocked the blast with a blue energy shield. He retaliated by sending a blast of blue energy in the shape of a hand at her. Raven defended by enveloping herself in her own energy. The force from the blast sent her through an office building. She steadied herself just as Athænïl careened into her with the force of a freight train. She was forced through several floors before her she regained the ability to fight.
Raven's eyes glowed black as she enveloped her foe in her dark magic. She slammed him through a wall, the floor of the office building and several floors beyond. The full injury of his last attack showed up as she coughed up a few drops of blood. She let out a breath that she did not know she was holding when she realized that she had vanquished Solstyce.
The floor below her erupted in blue flames; Solstyce emerged from the blue fire, eyes blazing. He enveloped a file cabinet in his blue energy and lobbed it at Raven. She formed her Dark magic into a shield around herself and took the blow. She flew out of the building, into another one and onto the asphalt of the road below. She emerged from the crater unharmed and flew off just in time to evade a barrage of blue energy.
She enveloped a car in her dark magic and chucked it at her foe; he evaded the attack and countered by launching a human that was trying to flee their battle arena. She set her down and formed a shield just as a monstrous, pale-blue hand grabbed her and exploded in a glorious explosion. Athænïl flew up to her in a rush and forced her into hand-to-hand combat. His strength far superior to hers in every way; how this was achieved was beyond her.
"XIU DEK AMOS!!" Athænïl shouted as his blue energy gathered in his right hand. A blue cross of energy formed behind Raven and held her firmly in place with chains of blue energy. The blue energy was cackling loudly and the discharges from it were wreaking havoc on those below. The lightning-shaped tendrils of energy faded as he threw the gathering energy at his prey.
Raven stared in horror at the unleashed magic destined toward her. She formed a shield made of her Dark magic and broke her own Cardinal Rule by pouring everything she had into it. The semi-spherical shield held its ground against the massive, blue energy bolt. She found herself unbound and free to do as she pleased—for the moment. Athænïl was panting; it appeared as though that last attack had drained him. She knew better than to dawdle and wait for him to recover. She enveloped a car from the road below, thankfully no one was there, and hurled it at him. He was hit squarely and was thrown into the asphalt of the road. The car exploded and sent bits of rock and dirt into the air. A broken water main was spouting water some fifty feet in the air. Raven was holding her breath; she hoped to the gods that her brother had been killed in that last attack.
The car flew over head and landed some few feet away from Athænïl. He looked at his sister with what could only be described as utter hatred. His tattered clothes were torn further and his hood fell down to reveal that he had dirty, black hair. His violet eyes shined with anger and hatred. He brought his hand to his lower lip and wiped away the blood that had spilled out from his cut lip. He flew up to meet his prey and flew towards her, beginning the chase.
Raven was shocked that he had survived that attack, but in her heart she knew otherwise. She dodged his frantic attacks as best as she could. Even though they both were nearing magical drain, they continued to fight. Only one of them would leave alive. She dodged another one of his blows and strangely, she hit his jaw. He smiled at her and resumed attacking her. She growled inwardly, he had let her hit him on purpose.
"AZARATH METRION SZYNTHOS!" The dark Titan chanted and assumed the form of a massive, black raven of shadows. She flew through the building in an effort to escape her pursuer.
Athænïl smiled; how he loved it when his prey gave the chase. He assumed the form of a massive, blue falcon and flew off in search of his sister. He flew through buildings, people and machines until he found her. He returned to his true form and shouted, "VERE NÉ FAL ROX!!" Four, chain-like beams of blue energy flew from his body and attacked the ethereal raven. In a screech of pain, the ethereal bird resumed its true shape.
Raven gasped as her ethereal form was destroyed. She was dazed from the sudden change in form and displacement into her home plane. Her mind ached, she was magically exhausted and she knew that he had won. She tried to fly away from him at her top speed in her true form.
"SZANTHÖS TEMPESTURA SCURA!" Athænïl shouted as he threw out his right hand. Blue ribbons of energy burst forth at Raven; she dodged but the blue ribbons followed her. She was caught; the energy wrapped around her, holding her firmly in place.
As Raven struggled to get out of the dilemma that was fast becoming a living nightmare, flashes of her life on Azarath flickered before her eyes in realization that her older brother defeated her yet again. The monotony of it all was knowing that he would find her no matter where she ran. The Fates had decided long ago that her Father's precious little boy always seemed to get his way; no matter what opposition was involved. He always got his way, while she was cast aside like refuse, only to be used when times were dire.
Athænïl levitated to her, "For five years I have waited for your warmth, your love and your gentle caress." He stroked her cheek in an oddly seductive way, smiled and continued, "I know that you have longed for the same. You threw yourself at me for five years, don't deny it. You and I were meant to be."
"Not anymore!" Raven snapped, struggling fruitlessly against the blue bindings that held her.
Athænïl eyes began to glow an eerie blue color, "You want me, don't you my sweet Raven?" he brushed a few strands of hair out of her face and smiled lovingly at her.
Raven's eyes began to glow. "Yes, brother, I want you." Raven's voice became mechanical, almost as if the words had been placed in her mouth. Blue energy surrounded them and formed a swirling vortex that pulled them into the ground. They vanished without a trace; the only thing that was left behind was Raven's Titan Communicator.
O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O
Inside an unknown place, Solstyce and Raven stood next to each other. Odd items were on display on shelves and the windows were stained glass, a dresser was underneath an elaborately decorated window. Bookcases stood in rows along a wall; most written in unknown or obscure languages. A lone bed stood in a corner.
Athænïl walked to the bed and took off his tattered old cloak and shirt. He looked at his sister with eyes of a madman; Raven was unperturbed at this as he asked, "Raven, do you want me?"
She smiled in a hypnotic, seductive way and took off her cloak, then, slowly, leotard and revealed herself in the dim lighting. She answered in a voice that was not hers "Yes I want you."
O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O
A swirling mass of indigo colored energy appeared on the floor of the hidden room of where Raven and her brother slept soundly. A young man in black satin robes floated up out of the swirling mass. He outstretched a hand that became enveloped in indigo energy and began searching through the dresser. He extracted a pouch that upon further inspection revealed to have metallic red powder held in its grasp. He put the contents of the dresser back where they belonged and pocketed the pouch of red powder.
He walked to the sleeping form of Athænïl and whispered, "How could you? She is your sister!" he shook his head and whispered a spell that was used for the sentencing spell casters, "Venosec odantas veneficus." A violent shade of indigo energy enveloped Athænïl then vanished, Athænïl rolled over seemingly oblivious to what had just taken place. The man enveloped Raven and the blanket that she was sharing with her loving brother in his indigo energy and formed a whirlpool that he used to leave the room.
The two appeared on a grassy knoll that overlooked the city and the bay, which held Titans Tower in its in stillness. The sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon. "Raven, please wake up." The man said while gently shaking her. When the sleeping teen did not answer, he said to himself, "She must still be under his control." He sighed and muttered another spell, "Dö nà kaze ec ça vé."
Raven stirred and woke up. She gazed into the eyes of the young man and whispered, "Âthi, is that you?"
The man chuckled and said, "I have not gone by that name in a long time. I am now called Moya." An odd silence came between them, Moya decided to break it by saying, "It's been five cycles (1) since I last seen you."
"Has it been that long?" Raven asked pulling the blanket around her.
"Sadly, yes," Moya replied looking at the sunrise.
"Moya, I haven't heard that name before. What does it mean?" Raven asked distractedly.
"Actually, I made it up, it means Holy Sanctum."
Raven acknowledged in a distracted way and continued to gaze out over the city apparently, deep in thought. A burst of energy permeated the air and quickly vanished. "Did you feel that?" Moya asked.
"Yes, what was it?" Raven asked perplexed.
"I'll tell you later." He entered a trance-like state, his eyes were glowing indigo and the area around them was enveloped in his indigo energy. He snapped out of his trance and hurriedly asked, "Raven, have you had your Coming of Age ceremony?"
Raven was silent; she had her head hung low as though in defeat. "I didn't think so." Moya said sadly then said, "Then I will perform the Ceremony, where is your place of residence?"
She pointed to Titans Tower, "I thought that only an—"
Moya cut her off, "Erth could perform the ceremony?" Raven nodded and Moya continued, "I am an Erth." He pulled out a pendant that had a five-pointed star inside of a circle. A star, crescent moon, sun, circle and an image of fire were inscribed in the gaps between the star points. The pendant was colored silver, "Here is my proof."
"I'm sorry I doubted you," Raven said sadly.
"We must hurry," the two were enveloped in indigo energy and vanished.
They reappeared in Raven's room. "Get dressed." Moya said, "I sense other beings here, they will be the witnesses to your ceremony." Indigo energy formed a whirlpool on the door and Moya walked through it.
Moya levitated into the main living area, he had scanned the Tower's layout when sensed the other Life Signatures. He formed a sphere of indigo energy and threw it at the main window; needless to say, it shattered.
The Titans rushed to the main living area, the alarm blaring in the background. Raven was nowhere to be seen. "What d'you want?"
"I mean you no harm." Moya said.
"Then why'd you trash our window?" Cyborg asked, his cannon fully charged and repaired.
"I could find no other way to contact you." Moya replied and took off his hood. His short hair was bone white and his eyes were yellow speckled with amber, his pupils were vertical and resembled that of a feline's.
"Then what do you want?" Beast Boy asked, ready to morph into one of his many beast forms at a moments notice.
"I need you to be witnesses for Raven's coming of age ceremony." He sighed and continued, hoping that his next statement would set aside some of their unease, "My name is Moya."
"What do you mean?" the Tamaranean asked, confused by Moya's choice of words.
"I'll explain later," Moya said, "just trust me okay?"
The Titans gave their assent, some more reluctant than others. Moya closed his eyes and summoned Raven via telepathy. 'I just hope that she can withstand the mental stress at such a young age.' Moya thought to himself.
O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O
After the uniquely odd occurrence that happened no less than thirty minutes ago, Robin asked, "You didn't just come here to give Raven her ceremony, right?"
Moya let a small smile tug at the corners of his mouth, "Highly perceptive of you. You are right I will explain it to you all later, right now I need to speak to Raven." Moya went through the door of Raven's room and entered her domain. He looked around and seen the various objects that littered her room.
"Raven," he called attentively, no response was heard except for the rustle of blanket as Raven turned over in her bed. Moya smiled slightly as he remembered meeting her for the first time.
"Hi!" a little boy of about five years old called to a girl about the same age. The boy had bone-white hair and yellow eyes speckled with amber; his pupils were vertical. "Want to play?" the boy asked and held out a ball in temptation.
The girl seemingly did not hear him; she stayed under the tree that provided shade for the two children. Her head was hung low as though in shame, her blue-violet hair obscured her eyes.
Thinking that he hadn't been heard, he asked again. The little girl still did not move or make any indication that the boy was there at all; she stayed quiet as though she were in a shell that shielded her from the world around her. "My name's Kami, what's yours?" the boy smiled wide revealing that he had lost a tooth.
"Raven," the girl replied in a withdrawn voice that cracked as though she had seen something that a five-year-old girl should not have ever seen in her short life. She did something quite peculiar right then and there; she looked up at Kami with tear filled blue-violet eyes then looked back down toward the ground.
"Why are you sad?" Kami asked with innocence that only a child could muster under such odd circumstances, his face showing complete curiosity.
It took the girl known as Raven a while to answer, an image fresh from her mind and enhanced with a child's perceptiveness flashed in her mind. Foreign words that she did not understand were shouted by two adults, one male the other a female. Warped flashes of light and darkness streaking across the rooms of a large enclosure; explosions, muffled screams of pain from both sides; the taste of shattered masonry on her tongue and its unique scent forever engraved into her nose. Laughter, cruel and merciless laughter.
At last the deeply sadden girl answered, "My Mommy and Daddy were fighting."
"Mommies and Daddies aren't supposed ta fight. Fighting's bad," Kami said to Raven. Suddenly, as though Kami remembered why he was there asked yet again, "Do ya wanna play?"
As a form of reply, Raven shook her head. She still had not moved from her perch on the tree's roots. Kami, being caring in nature, laid down next to the girl and looked up at the massive tree that gave them shade, out of instinct, though he knew not where it came from, he stood up and went to hug the little girl. The ball lay forgotten in a small patch of warm sunlight.
Raven was stunned at this simple action; she was always told by her Father that she was worthless, unworthy of his love. Somehow, Kami had generated comforting warmth that soothed her worries away, yet his embrace caused her to shed unshed tears. Kami, not knowing what to do, kept holding what he considered a new friend.
Moya extracted a pouch from one of his many pockets and used his magic to place a circle of metallic red powder around the bed of his long time friend. 'Sweet dreams my old friend,' he thought then left in a swirling mass of indigo energy.
He used what little knowledge he had of Titans Tower and found himself in the main living area. He seen the Titans repairing the window he had damaged beyond repair. The window was enveloped in indigo energy and was refitted to the new dimensions in an instant.
The Titans were surprised that he had helped them out; most of them believed that he was still talking to Raven. "Thank you for your help!" Starfire said ecstatically.
"I was the cause of the damage; I would have repaired it any way, even without your prior consent."
"Did you talk to Raven yet?" Rabin asked.
Moya sighed, "She was sleeping; I could not bring myself to wake her." He then asked, "Where is your food preparation area? I haven't eaten anything for two sorokai."
"What's a sor-oh-kai?" Beast Boy asked quite confused.
"Sorry, I lapsed into Azarathian," Moya answered then chuckled, "it means that I haven't eaten anything in about seventy-five of your hours."
"That's three days!" Cyborg exclaimed.
"Oh, we Azarathians can go without food for four sorokai, without showing signs of fatigue," He paused and continued, "but that doesn't mean that we don't get hungry."
"So you are from Azarath?" Starfire asked innocently.
"Yes, I am," Moya answered.
"You don't seem to be as creepy as Raven," Beast Boy said.
"Well, my powers are not driven by my emotions as Raven's are," he explained, "They are driven by the holy energies that make me an Erth."
"I did not know that you could be a planet," Starfire said again.
The Azarathian chuckled, "I do not know what I would be specifically called in any of you languages, but it would be along the lines of a priest or a cleric."
"Oh," Beast Boy said, apparently at a loss for words.
"Now where was the food preparation area, again?" the Azarathian asked again.
"This way!" Starfire exclaimed and practically dragged Moya with her to the kitchen.
An unusual aroma filtered out from the kitchen as Moya worked on what he called "a typical breakfast for the average commoner." He emerged some twenty-odd minutes later carrying a bowl filled with cement-thick, blue paste.
"What's that?" Beast Boy asked from the table as Moya sat down and began to eat the blue paste.
"This is a," he struggled to find the right word in English, "a type of porridge, I think."
"What do you mean, 'you think'?" Beast Boy asked as he ate his no-meat breakfast.
"I still do not know all of the food names native to this language." He answered.
"That makes sense," Cyborg said as he came up beside Moya and examined the uninviting blue paste. "But what's in it?" he asked.
"I did not have the necessary ingredients, so I was forced to improvise, so I used some of the food items that are native to Tamaran."
"You used my food?" Starfire asked, extremely shocked.
"Yes, I did," Moya said, then sighed and continued, "If I needed your permission, I am sorry that I neglected to do so."
"You are forgiven," Starfire said calmly.
"There is some more if you would like some, I made too much."
"Define 'too much,'" Cyborg said.
"I used the biggest pot I could find," Moya chuckled and continued, "My eyes were bigger than my stomach; that's how the phrase goes, right?"
"Yeah, it goes somethin' like that," Cyborg said.
In the kitchen, Starfire made herself a bowl of the blue paste that was in a rather large soup pot. She took an experimental taste of the foreign food and exclaimed, "This is a most delectable dish!"
When Moya finished eating his meal, he put the bowl in the sink and went to Raven's room. "Raven, you need to get up," he called attentively from her doorway. Raven was not roused. He walked to over to her bed and gently shook her awake, she groaned as she was taken from blissful slumber; the mental drain of her ceremony only too evident.
Moya helped her get up. "Raven," Moya said, his voice cracked as though he was going to place a heavy burden on her shoulders that she was not yet ready for. He sighed and continued his original thought, "You are with child."
O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O
Look! Don't you see it? It's a cliffhanger! I'm mean, aren't I? Well, in the next chronicle I promise won't be so mean. 'Till next time!
Darkbusterrancher
1: One cycle is about 731 days or two years if you want to be simple about it.
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