The day started fair enough.
A curious dream dominated Raven's sleep, yet largely slipped out of her grasp at the end of the night - All she could remember were a black bird and a black cat playing together, and going to sleep in a single nest. When Raven arose and used her powers to draw open the curtains on her window, something compelled her to just watch the horizon.
Due to this, Raven was able to get a beautiful view of the sunrise. In a strange way, this served to put her dream into focus. Perhaps it was an omen of the day to come. A good or bad omen, to be exact? This wasn't something that Raven could be sure of either way. All she knew was that something about her dream had left her quite hungry.
Once her cloak was on, Raven got moving. Phasing through the floors until she reached the kitchen, Raven found her eyes immediately heavy from the use of her magic and the change in light. Briefly giving a quiet yawn, she headed towards where she knew the table to be. With a quiet sigh, she took a cool glass from a slender female hand. Raven took a few polite sips and murmured her thanks.
"No problem! Good morning by the way, Raven."
"Oh, good morning Jinx."
...
What. The. Hell.
Eyes flying open, Raven more than doubled her distance from the pinkhaired girl. However, Raven was sure to flit the glass of milk over to a counter and set it down gently with a small disc of her magic. Looking over at her shocked and confused fellow Titans, Raven breathed quietly, "Who...Let her in?"
It took several minutes for anyone to say anything. Eventually, Cyborg cleared his throat. "W...Well. Well. Y'all seemed to have such a fun time the other day...We didn't think she'd cause any trouble. She was a big help with fixing breakfast, too. And..." He saw Raven's eyes slowly bleed into a pure white glow over his entire statement, her expression otherwise never changing. "...Aaand this is the part where I shut up, yeah. Got it." Ducking his head down to avoid any friendly fire, Cyborg suddenly became very intent on downing his omelette before it could go cold.
Up next was Starfire's attempt to defuse the situation. "Friend Raven, I just want to say...Friend Jinx has worked very, very hard to prove that she is no longer an enemy to us. Would it not only be right to give her the help of the lie?" Robin nudged Starfire and whispered something. "Ah! Um, benefit of the doubt?" Her wide, hopeful smile would abate nearly any kind of hostility in her friends.
Except when one such friend is very nearly about to blow a hole in the Tower out of her feelings of rage and betrayal.
Abruptly, Raven noticed something tugging on the edge of her cape. It was only after the fact when Raven would remember that she never looked down when her cape was being tugged so suddenly like that. A green puppy gazed up at her with its wobbly eyes. Face screwing up a bit, Rave attempted to maintain her ferocity. However, when Beast Boy gave a low, piteous, quavering whine, the glow in her eyes instantly flickered out.
Once all of the other Titans shared a collective sigh of relief that the situation hadn't gone completely nuclear, it was still far from an amnesty this breakfast. Raven glared spitefully at Jinx. Jinx cocked her head to the side with an odd look. This whole 'quirky' thing was seriously beginning to grate on Raven's nerves. Especially with Jinx showing up unnanounced to the one place Raven thought she'd never have to see her.
With a few deep breaths, Raven got herself back to a neutral state. Devoid of her previous anger, with only a slight hint of irritation in her voice, Raven said plainly, "Alright, Jinx. You got me a drink and got what you wanted. Why are you here?" As Cyborg, Robin, and Beast Boy all looked around uncomfortably, Raven said tiredly, "Yeah, realized as soon as I said it." Starfire was confused as to what the boys were suddenly disturbed by, but remained silent so that Raven and Jinx could speak.
For a minute or two, Jinx fiddled with the hem of her shirt. Then, she said plainly, "I just came over to visit, after how much fun you and I had the other day. By the way - I had to tell some guys that I was taken, but the same couldn't be said for you, Ms. Available." She chuckled as Raven's jaw visibly set. "I think our matching outfits really got a lot of guys interested." The stares everyone fixed on Raven caused her to smirk wider.
Huffing, Raven said in a strained voice, "You mean how you tricked me into putting on the most humiliating outfit you could find for me but that you'd still love to wear in different colors?" She watched as Jinx looked over at her oddly. "Yeah. I pick up on things like that. So, mind to tell me why you're here?" Arms crossed defensively, Raven's eyes set in a glare once more.
Silent as a doormouse, Jinx walked over to the nearby couch in the living room and picked up a grocery bag. Within could plainly be seen shapes that filled Raven with unequivocal dread. Bringing the bag over to the table and pulling out the shapes, Jinx unfolded them one over the other and showed them off proudly.
Mother of God, she had brought two sets of matching pajamas.
"I came to have a sleepover tonight!"
Oh for fuck's sakes.
...
Since the event at breakfast, all of the Titans knew that something had to give between Jinx and Raven on these hostilities. After Raven disappeared into the kitchen's ceiling, each of her friends prayed dearly that no serious damage would come of this 'sleepover' Jinx had concocted.
Throughout the rest of the day, Jinx proved to be an odd, but not wholly unpleasant addition to the usual routine. She was able to keep up with Robin's practice as far as acrobatics and parkour technique was concerned. She was surprisingly receptive to Starfire's cooking. She gave a college try at challenging Cyborg in video games. She even found the majority of Beast Boy's jokes decidedly funnier than the others would have found themselves.
None of the other Titans could figure out precisely what it was about Jinx that served to make Raven so angry and combative. All through the day, Raven never left her room once. Starfire and Beast Boy occasionally made futile attempts to coax Raven out; silence was the only reply they ever got. Robin and Cyborg dearly wished to help patch up the situation, but knew very well that nothing they could say would be able to pacify Raven's anger. So, it came to be decided that it would be best if Raven had time to calm herself.
In the confines of her room, Raven had drawn the curtains to her window with finality many hours ago. By light of a small lantern of sorts hovering above her shoulder, Raven used her studies of a new book to calm herself. A fairly didactic tome on hermetic philosophy's truth, Raven immediately became engaged by the idea that alchemy had been built upon ideals and virtues that hostile faith in the environment had lead to being hidden.
According to this tome, in just one famous example, the idea of 'lead into gold' was actually an ingenious metaphor for taking one's own sinful, imperfect soul and applying proper guidance to bring about a radical change for the better. While alchemy of Earth was far from Raven's area of expertise, she knew enough to appreciate the apparent hidden truths that this book tried to convey. Raven had intended to study a powerful mage's grimoire that she had come across, but this book had entirely consumed her thoughts.
Shortly after finishing the better part of that tome, Raven turned her gaze into the lamp beside her. Its light captured her gaze, and lead her into deep, deep thought. It was for Raven, however, an experience close to what most would call daydreaming. Her thoughts turned to Azarath, turned to various super villains who had not been flash frozen at the huge battle a month ago, turned to said flash frozen villains and a number of whom had been reported missing...Briefly, she thought of her father Trigon.
Yet then, for reasons she couldn't quite grasp, Raven fixated on the dragon who had deceived her what seemed like years ago. Had she really been so utterly captivated by the thought of a fellow magic-user that it had eclipsed her reason in such a way? Could it have really been so short a time ago compared to how it felt? Then, Raven couldn't help but return continually to a stray thought that pervaded her mind: It wouldn't be so bad to have a younger mage to talk to...But that idea was a total pipe dream.
...Wasn't it?
Tup tup tup. Tup tup. Tup tup tup tup...
"Hm?"
Quite suddenly and out of the blue, the gentle knocks of someone rapping their knuckles on Raven's door broke the young heroine out of her rêverie. All of a sudden, she realized how very dark it was - With her curtains drawn, only the small, magical lamp floating near her provided any light. At this time, Raven floated in a pool of light amongst a sea of darkness...Once she noticed the gentle noise of rain falling, it made more sense as to why it was so pitch black.
A simple exercise of Raven's magic was all that was needed to detect who was outside. Nostrils flaring in distaste for a moment, Raven nonetheless forced the expression out of her features and said with a calm voice, "Come in." After a brief look into an equally-dark hallway was given, Jinx slowly entered and closed the door behind her with barely a sound. Curiously, the pinkhaired girl's head visibly hung down and her shoulders bore a distinct slump.
Looking to Raven with a slight frown that was quite unusual for her recent behavior, Jinx said matter-of-factly, "The power went out. Everyone else just decided to go to bed." A little sigh was given and Jinx seemed to visibly deflate even further than what she had already been. "I guess we don't have anything to do," she mumbled. "Guess if it wasn't for the rain, you could just go ahead and get rid of me and not have this stupid sleepover, huh?"
Perplexed, Raven did a quick inventory of Jinx's emotions with her magic. She was sure beforehand that Jinx was putting up some kind of act to get an angle on her. Yet sure enough, Jinx's sadness was wholly genuine. Unsure of how to respond to this, Raven decided to proceed with caution and hope with the best. "I really didn't think," she began slowly, "That this sleepover was so...Important to you, Jinx." She couldn't help but flinch slightly as Jinx whipped her neck to look clear away from Raven.
On a hunch, Raven did more gentle prodding with her magic. What she picked up from Jinx were extremely clear emotions: Sadness and defeat and much frustration...Even if Raven was still certain that the whole shopping trip was just a way for Jinx to fray her nerves and over-stress her purely for shits and giggles, she couldn't say the same for this sleepover. Whatever Jinx's reasons might have been, this sleepover had been quite important to her. Fairly certain that she'd come to regret it later, Raven got to her feet and walked over to Jinx.
Calm breaths. Calm breaths. Raven coached herself to remain neutrally calm no matter what came her way from this decision. No matter what her thoughts on Jinx's behavior were, it just wouldn't do to brush off the fey girl's simple desire to have a sleepover with her - Abstruse and bizarre it might have been, but it was a simple wish nonetheless.
One hand rested on Jinx's shoulder, the other holding onto the mystical lamp, Raven said quietly, "I'll help you get the pajamas you brought, Jinx." Seeing the risen hope on Jinx's face, Raven knew she couldn't back out now. "It'll be fine to change in here. I have a few more of these lamps, and I have other books to read than what I've heard called 'magic textbooks.' It'll be fine."
For a beat, Jinx merely stared at Raven blankly. Then, she gave a small, genuine smile. "I knew I would really like you," she said quietly. "Thank you."
Raven kept expressionless, but her voice softened. "It's fine. Let's have this sleepover you were set on - It might be fun, after all."
She was really knee-deep in it now.
...
Upon retrieving the pajamas and changing in Raven's room, the two girls got to looking for books to read. Raven had been given a loose indigo nightshirt and dark purple shorts; Jinx wore a pink nightshirt and magenta shorts. Not long after searching through a small case that Raven devoted entirely to 'casual' books, Jinx picked up something that quite surprised Raven.
"I wouldn't think you'd like that kind of novel," Raven said in a surprised tone for her. "Do you like H.P. Lovecraft?" What Jinx held in her hands was an unadorned, red-leather book, with its name only printed once in faded, chipped on the spine: The Call of Cthulhu. Eyes flicking over to look at Raven, Jinx gave that same odd little smile she almost always seemed to wear.
She said plainly, "Actually, yes. I don't know the exact names given to collective books, but I do like his work and the works he inspired in other authors. I like the Great Old Ones, but I'm more in favor of the...Hmmm...Outer Gods, I think they're called." Opening the book to quietly read, Jinx continued in a more engaged voice. "Creatures like the Outer Gods just make the perfect enemies to inspire horror through a novel, you see. At least, that's my view."
To her own fair bit of suprise, Jinx was given an immediate reply from the normally saturnine owner of the book she was reading. "I completely agree," Raven said in a voice that bore a noticeable inflection showing that she was quite interested. "Villains and monsters of horror novels that are inevitably defeated and usually by just normal humans get to be so bland. Especially the ones that are evil in such a corny way." Her eyes seemed to flicker in the steady light of the floating lamp that illuminated them.
"The Old Ones and Outer Gods are so different from that," Raven continued. "They're not good or evil, not spirits or demons or aliens - Except for some cases in the Old Ones. They truly are chaotic gods, and in the case of the Outer Gods, totally neutral. Any one of the Outer Gods could have wiped out the human race in a heartbeat, but Earth is only safe because of its own insignificance. In the case of the Outer Gods mythos, mankind is only safe because nothing they could do would be able to register on such a being's perception." Coming to a stop, she realized what a spiel she had just gone on. "Um...Sorry." She twitched as Jinx leaned in.
Eyes sparking with glee, Jinx chirped, "You have nothing to be sorry about! You almost recited word-for-word a class report I once had to do on my favorite antagonist of a horror novel!" At Raven's confused gaze, Jinx said plainly, "The H.I.V.E. also had regular classes. Every assigned team were given lump grades. My team only even passed because I had such good grades. Gizmo was only able to figure out his mechanics-based classes, and Mammoth was..." She paused, thinking. "Mammoth was...How to put this..."
Raven said before she could stop herself, "Dumber than a stop sign?" A hand over her mouth, the dark heroine swore to herself mentally. That was not a good thing to say right then. Even if Jinx had proven that she was allied with the Teen Titans now, that didn't mean she would take kindly to such a comment from someone she had only very recently begun getting to know. Yet to no small bit of surprise to Raven, Jinx's smile didn't falter. In fact, it only seemed to brighten and grow larger as the comment sunk in.
Under her breath, Jinx murmured to herself thoughtfully. "Huh. Huh. A stop sign? Dumber than a stop sign...Dumber than a stop sign..." She giggled cheerfully. "You know, I don't think I've ever heard that one before. Not just referring to Mammoth - Anytime before. I hope you don't mind if I use that one sometime?" Head quirked to the side once again, Jinx waited for a response. Bemused, Raven toyed with the hem of her nightshirt.
"Um, sure," she said awkwardly. "I don't mine. I...Don't say things like that often. I really don't." Clearing her throat with some embarrassment, Raven tried to look away so that she wouldn't make the situation any more awkward. Although this action did, indeed, make for an even more awkward situation, Jinx didn't mind. Stifling yet another giggle, Jinx continued reading.
Shortly thereafter, Raven showed Jinx a number of semi-magical statuettes she had collected. A few of them Raven had to indicate where they were from, but most of them, Jinx knew as well. As a matter of fact, there was one bizarre statue with wide hips and goggle-like eyes which Raven had never been able to find out about that Jinx seemed quite familiar with. "They're called dogū," Jinx had said. "I don't remember what period in Japan's history they're from, but a lot of experts think they're supposed to represent fertility deities. That's why this one has wide hips, narrow waist, and breasts - That's where the theory mainly comes from."
Overall, Raven hadn't known what to say to that. She just nodded and went along with Jinx - If she was so sure of herself, there was no reason for Raven to doubt her. After showing Jinx a few more artifacts (And noting with a bit of suspicion that Jinx seemed to be holding back more knowledge on the artifacts than she was letting on), the two spent more time reading from Raven's shelf.
Not long after this, the two had sat down on Raven's bed and indulge their own separate interests. Jinx had happened to find a very small iPod abandoned in her pocket from who knew how long ago and was listening to some kind of progressive rock in what sounded to Raven like Japanese language. In the meantime, Raven had found a spellbook to study magical circles. While one song ended and Jinx started looking for another, Raven's brow furrowed.
While she was no expert on glyphs of this kind, Raven knew enough about the particular language these were in (Due to having met the people it was of while she was still on Azarath) to know the meanings of one circle were quite unusual. The circle itself was plain at the edges, with an upright triangle within a larger, inverted triangle in the circle's midst. In the center was a glyph Raven knew to mean Seal - Furthermore, she knew those eight around the perimeter to mean, clockwise from the top: Wind-Aether-Earth-Hell-Water-Void-Fire-Heaven.
Despite knowing each glyph's individual meaning, Raven couldn't piece together what purpose the circle would serve. It didn't help that the book was simply meant to give a reference point for mages who were already familiar with each magic circle. Unbeknownst to Raven, Jinx had abandoned her iPod once again and was gazing over at her curiously. The twister of fortunes moved over and gazed down at the book curiously.
In a soft voice, Jinx said, "Is this circle giving you trouble?" Her finger hovered over the very circle Raven couldn't decipher. Suspicions beginning to rise again, Raven looked over at her and simply nodded. Gently and making sure that Raven didn't mind, Jinx placed the book into her own lap and inspected the circle with her index finger crooked and rested against her chin. Every once in a while, Jinx would ask things like each glyph's meaning and placement, or where the glyphs were actually from, or what kind of Earth mages were similar to the mages that used the circle she was mulling over.
Soon enough, Jinx smiled and placed the book between herself and Raven to show the dark magical girl something. "Alright, I think I've got it," Jinx began. "This seal in the middle is pretty self-explanatory - It's meant to be a suppressive kind of magic. I didn't get why these glyphs were placed around the outside when I first started looking. Though I did know I'd seen them somewhere before, I just couldn't place it." As she indicated each symbol in turn, Raven's jaw slowly dropped. "Then, I remembered why it was so familiar - This is basically how Japanese seals are arranged. It's using weird glyphs instead of kanji, but it's basically the same principle.
"Essentially, the eight glyphs are meant to form a balancing magic with each other. Each element is set across from its complementary element, while each supernatural 'domain' is set across from its opposite." She pointed out the vertical and horizontal glyphs - "Water is the 'ally' of wind, and fire is the 'ally' of earth." As Raven watched in amazement, Jinx's explanation actually made the circle's design seem...Simple, really. "Heaven is the opposite of hell, of course. Aether is the energy that permeates all things, while the void is the absence of substance and light. Get it?" She smiled proudly.
Now, it was Jinx's turn to be surprised. For Raven gave a slight smile and gazed down at the book with brightened eyes. "Yes, I get it now! This is an all-purpose seal! Demons or spirits can all be affected by it..." She traced between the far pairs of glyphs in amazement. "...And it would nullify the powers of almost any mage..." Abruptly, Raven showed a frown once again - Though not exactly an angered frown. "Jinx...How exactly would you be such an expert on this? You've always said you control fortune. Why are you so knowledgeable on Japanese magical seals?"
Eyebrow lifted curiously, Raven watched Jinx fidget under her gaze. "Anyone else would think of it as just a hokey philosophy, I'd assume...How did you figure out the magical circle of another plane of existence?" Arms crossed, it was now Raven's turn to patiently await a response. Quite a while was spent on waiting for Jinx to answer. When Jinx finally did reply, she had a smile that was forced to be casual.
Laughing nervously, Jinx said, "Well, hahah...It's simple. There was a...Secret class! At the H.I.V.E.! Yes, hah, hahahah! They were teaching an honors class on magic from around the world! It, it was to prepare us for magic-using super heroes! W, w, we, we were just told to keep it a secret! I guess I was just, just so used to not mentioning it that I forgot to, um, tell anyone about it after I left...The H.I.V.E..." She trailed away as Raven stared.
"Cool story Jinx," Raven said quite flatly. "Now that you're done, I'd like it if you could tell me the real truth. If my hunch is right, then you should know very well: Magic expertise like this doesn't just make it into a super villain class. At the kind of level you just showed, knowledge of magic is more than just something you learn in an honor class." Her gaze never faltered, although Jinx stared off to the side. Exasperatedly, Raven said, "I promise I'll keep your secret. Now please, take it from the top." Knowing she'd been had, Jinx proceeded to tell her story.
...
The truth is, I'm not just a user of bad luck. In fact, my powers aren't even based on luck. I'm not really at liberty to say where I'm from or who taught me...But I'm a mage, too. You're what I was always taught to know as a "Sorceress" - I'm more what you'd call a "Geomancer." My powers come from the earth itself.
I can draw power from the ground beneath my feet, and can send it to any grounded structure and to attached portions. Those girders I made fall? Rusted the bolts holding them into dust. Trapping Madame Rouge with collapsing ground? Simple enough for my magic. That door I made fall in the clothing store? Even easier than the girders.
As for why I can use Geomancy in mid-air, I had a very good teacher. It took a long time to master it, but I can store small amounts of energy from the earth in my body, and when I use magic during acrobatics, then it's just drawing on magic stored up. Plus, it helps that I was taught about mana and prana. You're a mage who more uses 'mana' - Generated by meditation and focus. I can use that, but also 'prana' - Generated by breathing and motion and action. So, I'm able to sustain my spells for a while just by repeatedly moving and using acrobatics.
Getting past my exact magic, I guess I should tell you why I always call it 'bad luck.' To tell the truth, before I pulled the whole Heel-Face Turn and joined you guys, I always did seem to be a bad luck magnet in some way or another. Back to the point: When I came to the H.I.V.E., I was placed under the care of a retired super villainess who had faked her death so she'd never be found. Everyone - Students, teachers, straight to the dean - Called her 'Theresa Flanders.' She was tough on Freshmen, but took a liking to me - I worked hard, practiced my powers, and didn't tell anyone outside who I was or where I was from.
So, Theresa gave me some pointers on how to be a more effective young villainess. Her first tip stuck with me all the way through studying at the H.I.V.E., up to and past meeting the Teen Titans here in Jump City. "Never show your full hand if you don't need to," she would always say, some way or another. "You have powers that could be very useful, especially if our enemies don't know how far the extent goes," she would tell me. "If you can build an effective image to throw off your enemies, then when you truly need your full powers, no one will be prepared."
That's how we end up with Jinx. My real name is kinda hard to pronounce, anyways, so I just prefer to go by Jinx all the time. Remember how I mentioned my tendencies for bad luck? Yeah. For three weeks straight one month, it was always me who had to be the first to find out when a carton of milk in one of the fridges had gone bad. I had to spend a whole month in the infirmary once: I broke my leg because Gizmo tripped Mammoth for the fun of it. I spent a lot of time in the infirmary the first little while I was there.
I don't have much else to say...But part of why I don't have so much bad luck now is, in my opinion, because I changed how I look at luck. If I had to guess, all of the little 'accidents' happened because my magic was reacting to my own negative attitude. Once I became more positive and focused, like I am now, it really let up.
Ever since Kid Flash and I got together and I joined you guys, my 'bad luck' has disappeared. Not completely - Anyone can still have a bad day - But I'm not such a black cat for everybody. It's nice to have actual friends who don't want something from me whenever they do something nice.
...
"...By that I mean, it's nice to have friends like you." With a little sigh, Jinx fell silent. Quieted as well, Raven watched Jinx blankly. To be quite honest, she had no idea how to react to this. Raven had been thinking of how nice it would be to know another magic user on friendly terms...
...And despite her better judgment, perhaps, Raven had to accept it: Jinx had proven capable of being a far better 'friend' than Raven had given her credit. They both could talk on similar interests, for Pete's sakes. From classic horror literature to the subject of magic, Raven had found someone whose company she enjoyed. By this point, Raven could not deceive herself - This night with Jinx was the most fun Raven had had in a long time.
Yet now, Jinx looked positively crestfallen. At this point, Raven knew that anything she said to comfort Jinx would be taken as false. How ironic it was that Jinx had seen through a perfect lie the other day, but would surely take genuine kindness as guile on Raven's part as long as she was in this state. Raven considered just going to sleep and forgetting it - But she was far, far from tired. And as her gaze strayed over her bed, she saw something that gave her an idea. An idea that Jinx would be wise to keep secret afterwards.
Still morose, the pinkhaired girl kept her face down. Though it was her classmates at the H.I.V.E. she had been deceiving for so long, it still made her feel guilty to realize that she had been keeping such a big secret from her new allies - And it gave her still more guilt to think that she couldn't even consider letting the secret out, now. Everyone had stood up for her, calling her trustworthy, and she couldn't even trust them enough to tell them what her true powers were. What would she have to fear if she told them, really?
It was during this saddened time of reflection that Jinx felt something soft impact her head.
Dumbly staring at her feet, Jinx shakily raised a hand to feel the cushioned object still resting on the back of her head. Bringing the object downward and looking at it, she realized with disbelief that this was one of Raven's pillows. Spinning around, Jinx saw that two more of Raven's pillows floated above the bed, contained within a pair of dark energy fields.
Abruptly, both pillows were launched at Jinx. Broken down into giggling, Jinx barely managed to stop on her hand before tumbling to the floor. As Raven failed to stifle her own laughter, Jinx proceeded to return fire and throw the pillow in her hand back.
Raven and Jinx played until they were exhausted to the point of collapse - Raven knelt against the bed, Jinx sprawled face-up on the floor with limbs akimbo. While they both got up just before sunrise and began talking before breakfast, both slept peacefully until then.
Not a single other Titan was awakened by the two girls' laughter before they conked out. But the next morning, the boys were shocked to see Raven and Jinx come to dinner aglow - Chatting with each other and frequently laughing.
Beast Boy stared, jaws agape - A piece of tofu 'omelette' dropped back onto his plate in the meantime. Robin and Cyborg whispered to each other, quite frightened.
Meanwhile, Starfire was too giddy with this development to interrupt the two girls.
The morning was just as sunny as the day before when it all began.
Yet Jinx and Raven seemed to make it brighter.