Illusion
Raven span sharply on her heels, kicking up some of the orange dust that forever littered this stone-hewn canyon, as someone tapped her on the shoulder. She let out a little yelp when she saw the source of the tapping.
"Is it really you? Are you here?" She asked, looking across at the tapper, her hands shaking.
"Yes Raven. It's me. I came back...came back for you." Terra replied, a sweet smile on her face. Raven let out a little whimper, and fell to her knees, now shaking quite badly.
"But...but I'm a nothing...why me? What's so special about me?" She spoke, her voice small, and quiet. Terra let out a little giggle, and knelt in front of her, sliding the cowl from her face, and brushing the girls dark bangs from her eyes.
"I just like you, Raven. It doesn't need explaining.." She replied, continuing to brush and caress the pale skinned girls cheek, looking into her eyes deeply, causing her to blush.
"T...Terra..."Raven whispered, trying in vain to fight back against the rushing emotions within her. She wanted to keep her control, but she found that, more and more so, she desperately wanted to just give in, and show the girl how she truly felt. The girl responded by tracing her finger along her lips, pressing it against them gently.
"Shhhh. You don't have to say anything. Just relax. I'll be slow." She said, grinning widely, as she began to move her head towards the heroines.
"T..T..Terra...I...I...Lo.."She began, but was cut off by the contact of the girls kiss.
Raven awoke with a gasp, her breathing heavy, her nightclothes damp and her duvet rolled up, in her arms. She blinked once or twice, before letting out forlorn sigh.
"That dream again..." She mumbled, shivering at the remembrance of the intimate nature of the dream. It had been two weeks since Terra had given her life to protect the city, by encasing herself, and the volcano, in stone, and for Raven, the last week of that had been punctured by dreams of the girl. It was always in the same place, the bright canyon that she had seen within Terras mind, but the activity the blonde engaged in varied between simply running her fingers through Ravens black hair, caressing her face and arms, right the way up to tonights dream. Raven found herself biting at her lip as she recalled the dream, and began shaking her head strongly. This is ridiculous, why am I thinking about her? She thought, pushing herself up, and out of her huge, deep bed. Quickly disrobing, she sought not her usual Titan gear, but a simple shroud, a silk garb she had been given as part of a reward the Titans had received for preventing a giant turtle from destroying part of Tokyo. She believed it was referred to as a Kimono. As black as her hair, it fell against her form perfectly, subtly pronouncing her curves, whilst protecting her from appearing, as most heroines did, like a high class porn star. She floated upwards slightly, letting the garment be taken by gravity, which only enhanced the look more, before floating through her door, not bothering to open it first.
In the huge living room/kitchen that was the main hall of Titans Tower, activity was rife. Beast Boy and Cyborg were sat at the rooms largest couch, wrappers and tins surrounding them like some freakish path of conquest, and the two males were staring intently at the towers colossal screen, their hands blurring on the video game controllers they each held. On the screen, two impossibly endowed woman fighters were hitting each other, and making sounds like they were enjoying it. Raven rolled her eyes at these two, it was likely that they had been playing since she had left the room the night before. At the rooms largest table sat Robin, who was carefully prising open one of the many devices the group had retrieved from Slades lair. Thinking about this brought Ravens mind right back to Terra, so she quickly floated past the male, into the kitchen, where Starfire was humming merrily if loudly to herself, creating a foul smelling dish from all manner of strange ingredients. As the psychic watched, she could've sworn she saw the Tamaranian add an entire bag of sugar, some leftover potato salad, and a sponge to the mixture. She floated silently past the exuberant girl, heading for the cupboard that contained her exotic teas, hoping not to attract anyones attention. With a thought, she flicked open the cupboard, and lifted some Lap Sang Su Chong from the exquisite tin held within the cupboard to her cup. She then, still with her powers, compressed the switch on the fast heating kettle, enveloping the device with the darkness, to prevent noise from escaping. Lifting the kettle, she allowed some water to cascade down into her cup, causing the tea leaves to spin and tumble in the steaming hot water. Setting the kettle back down, she picked up the cup, inhaled the aromatic vapour of the tea, and took a sip from it. She then set the tea back down, and opened her eyes to see all four of her teammates staring at her.
"...What?" She said, darkly. Robin was the first to reply.
"Well...Are you feeling OK, Raven? You normally don't use your powers unless you have to, but over the last week or so, I don't think I've seen you NOT using them." The short , spiky haired male said, device still in hand.
"Yeah, like when I ran into you accidentally yesterday, you normally would've just growled at me or something, but you tossed me down the hall!" Beast Boy said nervously, trying to hide himself from her gaze.
"I am sorry, friend, for I too have noticed an increase in your power usage. Perhaps some Hagnarr would sooth what is wrong with you?" Starfire sad, indicating her horrifying concoction. Raven shook her head, and stared back at the three males.
"I'm. Fine." She spoke, slowly, in hopes that somehow they would understand not to press the matter further. The truth of the mater was, she hadn't even noticed her extra usage, and it was now worrying her as much as her dreams. She picked up her tea, and walked towards one of the doors to the huge room.
"Raven, wait." The boy wonder called out as he jogged after her. Raven span in the air, and couldn't help but find the sight of the boy running towards her funny. Tights, bright yellow and red uniform, and a cape. The boy claimed to be heterosexual, but with an ensemble like that, it was sometimes hard to believe.
"What do you want, Robin?" She mumbled, looking down at him, her face covered with the shadows that seemed to follow her everywhere.
"I just wanted to make sure you were OK. After Terra petrified herself..." he started, but the girl snapped back at him
"I AM FINE! I DON'T CARE ABOUT HER!" She shouted, before turning away, shocked at her own reaction. Robin padded a little closer to hr, resting his hand on her shoulder.
"Raven...is there something you want to talk about?" He asked. She closed her eyes, and took in a short breath.
"No." She replied, hurrying away from him, into the shadows. She re-emerged within her room a few moments later, and landed awkwardly, falling to her knees. What's wrong with me? I'm losing control, I'm using my powers too much, and...I'm...thinking of her...a lot... She mused, staring at the tall, looming bookcases that encircled her room. There's got to be a book in here that can explain what's going on. She thought, pacing over to the closest one, and beginning to select books from the shelves.
Hours later, she was no closer to finding anything even remotely useful to solve her problem. No spell, no magical incantation would even give her a hint as to what was affecting her. No choice...I need to ask Cyborg to perform a CAT scan and an electronics search on me, Slade must have gotten a tiny bit of influence within my mind...He has the machines to do so. even after dying... She concluded, bleakly. Asking for favors was not her strongest area, and if the black male asked any pressing questions, he would likely mock her for her strange dreams. Sighing slightly, she stood, and went to phase through the shadows, but stopped herself before she acted. I should walk. I have to stop using my powers. She left her room, and began to pace through the tower, heading for the electronic hub of the building, Cyborgs room. Gingerly, she knocked on the door, silently hoping that the male was still within his marathon gaming session with the green skinned shape shifter. A few moments went by, and the girl assumed that the male was not there, and turned to leave, just as the door opened.
"Raven! Wasn't expecting it to be you! Whats up?" he said jovially, thick insulation cables protruding from his front and back, trailing into the unseen depths of the room.
"Uh..." She said, trying to phrase her request without sounding crazy. "Can you scan me for outside influences...I think Slade did something to me..." She said, nervously. The man regarded her for a few moments, before nodding.
"Sure thing. Hop up onto the bed, and I'll run some diagnostics." He said, clanking over to a bank of computers, and pressing a few of the brightly lit buttons. Panels began to shift beside the bed, and within moments, various scans and beams were passing over her body, checking every inch of her for foreign influences. The process took a few minutes, and when cyborg came over at the end, he had a look which made Raven a little worried.
"Well?" She asked.
"Nothing. There's absolutely nothing picking up on the scans." He said, passing her a few sheets of paper with the results on them. Raven nodded, flicking through the papers hurriedly, trying to find anything that might indicate her problems.
"You hoping something'd come up?" He asked, and the girl, despite herself, nodded.
"Like what?"
"This is going to sound weird...I entered Terras mind...we had an encounter before the eruption...She was under Slades influence, and I helped her fight back against it. I might have let that influence into my mind, because I keep dreaming about Terras Mindscape...and Terra...And I didn't notice myself using my powers more and more." She said, surprised at herself for opening up to her part robotic friend.
"Weell, if that's all, sounds like it's just grief. You're upset that Terra's gone. You could try visiting her, you know. It might get rid of the dreams, cause there's nothing inside your head except yourself." he said, patting her on the back with his cold metal hands.
"I might do that." She said, standing, and walking towards the door. She halted on the threshold, and turned back. "Cyborg. Uh...Thank you..." She said, before leaving, letting the man stand stunned on his own.
The entrance to the catacombs was blocked by a huge boulder, one so big that even her own powers would've struggled to shift it even enough to slip past it, let alone completely remove it from the entrance, fortunately, there was a winch device set into it that would move it under the instruction of those who held the key. Raven slipped the thin metallic disc into the slot, and turned it, activating the powerful crane. She slipped inside, and closed the thing behind her. If she was going to be grieving, she wanted privacy, for the safety of others more than herself. Slowly, she made her way through the twisting cavern, following the series of lights that Cyborg and Robin had equipped the place with, showing not just the Titans, but any visitors who felt they wanted to pay their respects to the entombed heroine. Well, here I am...spending time I could be meditating walking through a dark cave, to do...I don't know what. uugh, this is stupid, I shoul...Wait...what was that? There's someone else down here? SLADE! He must've somehow survived! She thought, turning her slow walk into a high speed levitate, weaving and floating through the tunnels at breakneck speed. The life sign began to get stronger and stronger, and soon she was almost on top of it. She turned a corner, and emerged in the large, wide antechamber that held the petrified form of Terra.
"Where are you Slade? I can sense you! Come out!" She shouted, her voice echoing loudly in the high chamber. No response came, so she began to focus herself a little, closing her eyes, and sitting in her meditation position.
"Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos. Azerath, Metrion, Zinthos." She began to chant, focusing her mind on her extrasensory abilities. The source of life grew stronger, still nowhere nearly as strong as a persons, but still there, unmoving. The girls eyes blasted open as she realized the source. She stood, paced quickly towards the statue, and pressed her hand to the girls cold, frozen face. You're still alive in there, Terra. I KNOW you are. Let me in, please!