Chapter 2: Each Separate Dying Ember
"Accursed device!" His voice echoed throughout the halls of the spire, as did the shattering impact of a rather large slab of granite he was trying to use. He'd been on this wretched planet far too long, there was nothing left to conquer here and he knew it. Unfortunately for him, when shifting to this plane of existence, the very spell he used had a slight backfire and he was now tethered to this planet. One last trick the Monks of Azar had up their sleeve. May their souls burn.
Defeated, momentarily, he rose from his throne and glanced out towards the glowing horizon. He wasn't entirely correct in stating there was nothing left to conquer. His daughter's pathetic allies still made frequent feeble attempts to destroy him. It was more of an enjoyable game at first, though it grew tedious after many years of their stalemate. He was much too powerful for them to ever take down, yet what little magic his daughter had infused them with prior to his arrival was ample to resist his most potent attacks. No matter, she couldn't bother him anymore.
"Hello, father." A voice came from behind him. He turned around hastily and swatted her against the wall. She landed with a loud thump, regained her stance, and knelt.
"Announce yourself before you enter my chamber!" He boomed aggressively, with no reaction from Raven.
"I apologize, father." She stated. Making sure to refrain from making eye contact, her head was faced towards the ground.
After finding a tiny shred of his daughter's existence still wandering around the scarred lands, he'd counted himself a little lucky. She had no apparent memory of anything previous save for her life in Azarath and was surprisingly willing to stand alongside her father. She'd spent a year and a half wandering around the broken planet, a lone nine year old who was struggling to survive.
She was now sixteen and resembled her former self quite well, save for being slightly older and not adorned in her usual dark blue cloak. Her father had replaced it with a darker scarlet color to mimic that of his own skin. It sported Trigon's symbol on the back of it in a lighter red color. She'd received her share of injuries throughout the years as well, though none which couldn't be healed over time through her magic.
"What do you need, daughter?" He questioned, gazing down upon her. He wasn't impressed by her loyalty or will to do his bidding. Since the day he'd found her, he'd been manipulating her thoughts to his liking and creating false illusions of her past to satisfy her curiosity.
"I've finished patrol for the day and am returning, as you requested."
"Very well, I will allow you to retire." He hated showing leniency towards her; there was at least time for another glance around the city before this planet's rotation cycle renewed.
Raven bowed and quietly exited the chamber. The scattered and sporadic hallways of the spire had become second nature to her; snaking her way in and out of them until she finally came upon her room.
It was nice. Quiet and desolate, bookcases lined the walls filled with innumerable pages she could read if she ever had spare time. This usually came late in the night and she would read until morning. Besides anything her father might request, this was what she usually did. She didn't sleep much, only on occasion only because it was physically necessary. Any rest she needed she usually got from meditation. She hated sleeping, she always had strange and confusing dreams that she didn't fully understand.
She entered the room and grabbed a book off one of the shelves. Tonight she had grabbed a rather interesting novel depicting the adventures of an old sorcerer and his apprentice. She'd gotten about halfway before dosing off to a peaceful slumber, book in hand.
"Over here!" Beast Boy leapt past Raven and tripped over the couch clumsily. He stood up and after dusting himself off, embarrassingly shrugged.
A football whizzed past her ear, so close that she could hear it whistle. Beast Boy jumped in time to catch it, the sheer force of the throw moving him back all the way to the glass window.
"Wow." Cyborg whistled. "Nice catch!" He began waving his hands back and forth and running towards the other side of the room. Beast Boy took aim with the football and threw.
Cyborg jumped for it, but missed. There was a loud crash as Beast Boy quickly acted innocent. Cyborg recovered from the throw and glared him down.
"You threw that way too high!" Cyborg yelled, staring angrily back at the now shattered cabinet in their kitchen.
"You jumped too low!" Beast Boy retorted, not ready to take blame for this mishap.
"You have to throw like this." Cyborg demonstrated, as he picked up the ball and threw it back towards Beast Boy. The ball suddenly stopped in mid air, with a dark aura surrounding it. Both of them looked at Raven.
"Aww, c'mon Raven. You're ruining the fun." Beast Boy pleaded.
"Go. Out. Side." Raven angrily said without lifting her eyes up from the book she was reading. She released the ball.
The two of them grabbed the ball and ran into the elevator, relatively peacefully. She continued to read her book for several minutes before being interrupted once again, this time by Starfire.
"Hello, friend…" She began. Raven let out a sigh and looked up.
"What is it, can't you see I'm trying to read." Raven held up her book visibly, even though it was plainly obvious.
"My apologies, I was wondering if you've seen Robin. I cannot seem to locate him." She added.
"No, Star. I haven't seen him."
"Very well then, I will continue my search." Starfire turned around and walked towards the next room. Just before entering the door she turned around.
"Raven?" She said.
"Yes?"
"Later, perhaps you and I can go to the mall and have another girls' day out?"
"Perhaps."
"Glorious!" Starfire jumped into the air with pleasure. Then exited the room.
Raven stood up, she decided that maybe the roof would be a better place to be in peace. She took the elevator to the top. The roof was quiet and isolated, she levitated over to the edge of the tower and began meditating.
"Azarath Metrione Zinthos."
"Azarath Metrione Zinthos."
"Azarath Metri…"
"Hey, Raven." A voice from behind her interrupted her yet again. This time it was Robin's, he was wearing his normal workout clothing and dribbling a basketball. "How about a little one on one."
"Hardly. Starfire is looking for you." She droned.
"Come on, one game can't hurt."He said. Raven turned around to face Robin, reached for him, and with all her force flung him off the side of the tower. Robin screamed as the sky around them began to glow red.
She was suddenly filled with a very deep sensation of terror as she looked over the edge and saw Robin plummeting helplessly to the ground. She jumped after him. She gave everything she had and was trying extremely hard to catch him. What had she been thinking? She was so close, just a few more inches. He reached back up towards her, a look of absolute fear in his eyes. She strained to try to catch him.
Too late.
She woke up sweating, still holding the book in her hands tightly and wearing all her normal clothes. She glanced out the window and noticed the sun peaking over the horizon. She glanced down at the book she was still holding; she remembered it from her dream. It was the same book. She was definitely putting this one away for later.
It was similar to the other dreams she'd been having. She was always living peacefully at a place she'd come to know as Titan's tower, with the four others that she constantly fought. Robin, Starfire, Cyborg and Beast Boy. She didn't understand these dreams at all, why would her subconscious be pairing her with her enemies.
They always ended the same way too. She would be quietly alone with one of them, although it was usually Robin, and then she would do something to cause their demise. The majority of them took place at the Titan's tower place, though some in places that she'd sworn she'd seen before. In fact, many parts of her dreams seemed very familiar to her.
She'd yet to inform her father of the dreams, for fear of what he might think. If they continued for much longer however, she was going to have to find a way to put a stop to them.
She let out a sigh, might as well get prepared for the day. She placed the book on the nightstand next to her bed and left the room, out to see what her father wished her to do for the day, still thinking about her strange dream.