Robin was gently tapping on Raven's door, hoping she wouldn't ignore it like the other fifty times he came to her room. As he waited he thought back to the conversation with Cyborg that had happened two weeks ago.
"Dude, I was wondering, have you noticed that Raven is quieter than usual? I mean, after the whole incident with Trigon she seemed to be more open, but then Valentine's Day comes and the whole process reverses. Do you think she's been having more nightmares?" the half robot man had asked after supper.
"Um, no?" Robin had smartly replied. Mentally he cursed himself, realizing that he hadn't seen Raven for over a week. What kind of leader doesn't notice these things? he asked himself. Of course, he had been too busy with his new girlfriend, Starfire. He felt bad that just because he and the Tamaranian were dating, he had neglected his other teammates. And so he made it an objective for the week to find out what was bothering Raven.
He had to make it his objective for the next week too, and had a sneaking suspicion that it would be his objective for the next three months as well. Whenever he tried to ask the sorceress, it seemed that there was a barrier that kept Raven in and everyone else out. So now he was pacing outside her door, hoping that a more direct approach would work better.
"Raven, I need to talk to you." he called.
The door opened a crack, revealing a tiny sliver of her pale, hooded face. Her amethyst eyes narrowed as she saw him. When she finally spoke, her voice was filled with annoyance.
"What?" she asked, hoping he would leave soon.
"Raven, everyone has noticed that you've been a lot quieter than usual. Cyborg wants to know if you've been having more nightmares."
"Nothing is wrong. Goodbye." The door would have closed then if Robin's combat boot hadn't been in the way. He forced the door open and could vaguely see the shape of the empath. Her black leotard and cobalt cloak blended in perfectly with the shadows.
"Raven, I know you better. Something IS wrong, but why won't you tell us? We want to help you." he stepped forward and grabbed her small, white hand. Raven stiffened.
"Go away." she said in a strained voice, struggling to keep her emotions under control. Robin shook his head and stepped closer.
"Raven…"
"I said, go away." she snapped in a deadly voice. Her eyes started glowing white and the gem set on her forehead started glowing red. Dark tendrils of magic came and grabbed Robin, forcing him toward the door. A mysterious wind appeared from nowhere and blew back her hood and cape. Her short lilac hair whipped around her pale face.
"Raven, stop!" Robin cried out desperately. The dark magic continued to drag him away.
"Raven! Raven stop!"
He heard Raven gasp and instantly the magic holding him disappeared, dumping him unceremoniously out of her room. Raven turned away and put up her hood once more.
"Raven what was that?" Robin asked, more concerned than angry.
"I…I…I…"
The alarm went off, its harsh shriek interrupting Raven's explanation and brought the teens to the control room.
The Teen Titans had come downtown to see a strange girl standing on the street. She had strawberry blonde hair and hazel eyes and looked just like someone on earth. Even her clothes were normal, a pink t-shirt and black pants. Still, there was an aura about her that was definitely un-earthlike. It helped that the street around her was completely destroyed.
Starfire shot starbolts at the girl while Cyborg shot his sonic cannon at her. Dodging both, she flung out orbs of green magic that flew directly at them. Starfire dodged, but Cyborg was hit and fell asleep. More sleep orbs were flying everywhere, felling bystanders. Beastboy turned into a rhinoceros and discovered that the orbs simply bounced off his leathery skin. The shape shifter charged and was surprised to see the girl disappear as soon as he got close. He slammed into a building and was knocked unconscious.
The girl giggled. "Silly humans! I'm only here to find someone important. But if you continue to respond in this manner, I'll be forced to exterminate you to complete my mission."
Robin threw a bomb at her, but she projected a shield and deflected it. The girl then created wisps of magic that wrapped itself around Robin's leg and dragged him down. His leg started bleeding where the emerald magic touched.
"Stop!" Raven shouted, cutting away the magic. She quickly flew to the fallen Boy Wonder, hands already glowing with blue healing magic. The deep cuts disappeared without so much as a scar to show that they had ever existed.
The girl hesitated, magic faltering. "Another Azarathian? Were you too sent here to find her?"
She put up her defenses once more as a car encased in black aura clipped her shoulder. Narrowing her hazel eyes with suspicion, she flung another sleep orb at the sorceress.
"Who are you?" she asked. "I know you! Why don't you take off your hood and tell me?"
Raven shook her head, eyes glowing white. "I don't know you." The ground beneath the girl turned to dust, though the flipped onto another section of the street. Starfire shot a green starbolt at the building above the girl, who put up another shield as the building crumbled and fell on top of her. Robin then took out his staff and swung it, though he was thrown back and slammed into a building before it hit. That Tamaranian screamed and flew down to help him.
"Azarath Decto Hadiam Revealos." the girl muttered, hands glowing with a white magic now.
"Show me what this one hides." Raven translated, then her eyes widened with alarm. Quickly she covered the eyes of her teammates with a black magic just as the white magic enveloped her.
"Now I've got you!" the girl screeched in triumph as the sorceress flickered and was replaced with a girl with long flowing azure hair, an opal set in the center of her lovely face, sky blue eyes wide with fear…
"Oh my gods! Your Highness!" the girl shrieked, stopping the spell and falling to her knees. Raven reappeared and floated to the ground, relieving her friends of their temporary blindness. Robin recovered first and snapped a pair of handcuffs on the girl, who ignored him and turned to Raven.
"Kiara, you have no idea how happy I am to see you! We need you to return to Azarath to defeat Pravus, she's destroyed everything! The kingdom's in a state of war and the light is dimming. The monsters will come soon. But now that I've found you, everything's going to be okay, right? Kiara?" her voice trailed off into silence as she saw the stunned faces of the Titans.
"Strange earthling girl, who is this Kiara? Is she nice? Can we meet her?" Starfire asked, completely forgetting the battle that had occurred not five minutes ago.
"What are you talking about? She's right in front of…" the girl stopped once more as the teens gave Raven a puzzled look.
Beastboy spoke first. "That's Raven!" he said crossing his arms over his chest. "Why does she have to go to Azarath anyway?"
"To claim her…"
"I have no idea what you are talking about." the sorceress snapped, wishing that the girl would just shut up about her past.
The sorceress turned away, wincing at the shock and hurt she felt emanating from the girl. "I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about." she said again, putting real conviction in her voice. Secretly though, she was sending a telepathic message the the girl.
"Luliana, I do remember. But don't say anything here! And say you have no place to stay at the right time."
"What's your name?" Raven asked casually.
"Luliana."
"I'll have to get back to you in this matter. Where are you staying?"
Luliana did her best to look extremely depressed. "Nowhere." she sighed, throwing up her arms. Cyborg noted that the handcuffs they had placed on her wrists was now a pile of green goo.
Robin stepped forward. "You can stay at the Titans Tower until Raven makes up her mind."
A huge smile began to form on Luliana's face. "Really?"
This time Beastboy spoke up. "Sure, why not?"
"Just try not to break anything. I had to replace thirty three TV's when Raven first moved in." Cyborg added, looking pointedly at the empath.
Solemnly, Luliana nodded her head and said in a dead serious voice "I'll try my best."
Raven groaned inwardly. Her friend had always been one for theatrics.
