Oh boy! So much more love than I was expecting. Thank you for the reviews, follows, and favorites! They are much appreciated. wooooooooo

Here's the mail, it never fails, makes me want to...write some more? When it comes I wanna wail MAAAAAILLLLLL!

Raining Purple Hearts: You are too sweet! I will definitely be continuing the story until the BITTER END.

Guest: Thank you!

Anna: I know, I can't wait for them, either. I hope that this chapter satisfies your need for the whole team!

Iris the Fox Girl: This chapter won't be so cliffy, but as you said, I update fairly quickly due to the lack of a steady summer job. Once I get back to work in a few weeks, updates will be more sporadic and then you will REALLY hate my cliffhangers. hahahahahahaaaaaaa

I really do appreciate all of the love you guys are giving this story. It makes a fanfiction n00b like me feel all warm and fuzzy. Here come the rest of the Titans in CHAPTER 3!


Chapter 3: Preparations

Victor hated cleaning. It was bad enough to deal with his normal cleaning regimen, but the duties had only piled on when Wally returned with the news that Princess Raven of Azarath would be en route to Nol in three days. That news had come two days ago. Since then, the servants had been working nonstop to get the castle ready for the princess's arrival, and Victor knew that it would get even worse from tomorrow until the princess arrived. Currently, he was scrubbing away at the stone floor in the entrance hall for the fourth time, because, as Richard had so aptly put it, "everything needs to be completely flawless." Nothing seemed to be meeting Richard's high expectations lately, but Victor couldn't blame his friend; as the castle's steward, anything wrong with the state of the castle would be blamed on him, so rather than griping and grumbling as usual, Victor chose instead to keep his annoyance to himself. He was working at a particularly resistant spot of mud when he heard footsteps echoing behind him.

"Trying to get that floor as shiny as your beautiful bald head?"

Victor smiled wickedly. "Good morning, Garfield."

The lean, blond boy returned his toothy smile and took a seat beside him. "Why, Victor," he began sarcastically, "how ever did you know it was me? Don't tell me. It must have been my totally hilarious joke."

"I'd know that raspy, prepubescent voice anywhere."

Garfield's smirk became a frown almost instantaneously. "Hey! I'm not prepubescent. I'm seventeen! Come on, Vic."

"Doesn't mean you don't sound prepubescent." Victor looked over at his friend and fought back a laugh. Garfield was practically the poster child for wearing one's heart on his sleeve, and his childlike pout wasn't exactly helping his case. But Victor's glance at his fellow revealed more than just his feelings...

"Gar! Your feet are COVERED in mud!" Victor spun around and, sure enough, a trail of muddy footprints now decorated his formerly tidy floors. "Seriously?!"

Looking down at his shoes, Garfield shrugged. "You get a little dirty when you're tending to a whole castle's worth of animals. Do you even realize how many horses we have?"

"Don't know and don't care. All I know is that you're putting those shoes by the wall and helping me clean this floor, Beast Boy," Victor hissed, his nickname for the animal tender suddenly sounding cold. After a few minutes of moaning and whining, Garfield did as he was told and finally picked up a rag, resigned to his fate.

"What on Earth happened in here?!"

Victor glared at Garfield as Richard entered the hall in a heightened state of panic. Chuckling sheepishly, Garfield raised a hand. "I thought I'd actually give Victor something to do instead of scrubbing the same clean tiles again and again. No worries, I'll help him out."

Richard put his head in his hands, gripping fistfuls of jet black hair. "Can you be mature about this for at least five seconds? We've got enough to worry about, we don't have time to be making even more messes, the princess is going to be here in a few days and we can't be wasting what little prep time we have with—"

"Whatever is the matter, Richard?"

Garfield and Victor exchanged knowing glances as the blood ran from their normally tough-as-nails leader's face. Their former head housekeeper, an overly maternal old hag of a woman, had recently been replaced with a youthful traveler from the distant kingdom of Tamaran. The two boys had thought previously that Richard was so dedicated to his work that he must be asexual, but the arrival of a tall, gorgeous redhead had certainly proven otherwise. "Uh, nothing, Kori," stammered Richard, forcing the frog in his throat back down into his stomach, where, judging by what he felt, it apparently began hopping around incessantly. "Garfield just made a bit of a mess of the floor, that's all."

Kori set her enormous green eyes on the aforementioned dirt trail. "If you are concerned, Richard, I can request that Karen and Juliana assist Victor and Garfield in the cleansing of the floor."

Kori's overly formal language made her a great addition to the servant staff, as she was always viewed as appropriately polite to visiting nobles and royalty, but to Richard, it was also incredibly endearing. "Um, I'm sure they can, uh, handle it," he replied,

"You do not appear to be feeling well, Richard. Perhaps you might wish to join me for a calming stroll in the gardens?" She took Richard's hand in hers, studying it carefully, and he nearly swooned. "You have done the working of your fingers to the skeleton, yes?"

Richard could have growled at his friends; Victor was biting his lip to keep from bursting into laughter, and Garfield, much less subtly, had pressed his wet rag to his face as his shoulders shook with barely suppressed amusement. "The phrase is 'to the bone,' Kori," he explained gently as the color rose back into his cheeks. "And maybe I can walk with you in a few minutes."

"Splendid!" Kori exclaimed. "I shall meet you shortly." The Tamaranian walked out of the hall, moving so gracefully that she could have been floating. Once she was out of earshot,Victor and Garfield exploded with mirth, chests heaving with the loudest laughter they had unleashed in days. Richard turned to his friends, wanting to be angry with them but feeling altogether too happy about his upcoming walk. He gave them a rare, small smile, muttered, "Don't take too long doing this," and followed Kori out.

Victor wiped one last tear from his eye and slowly resumed his scouring of the floors. "Vic, that was priceless," Garfield gasped, rising from his former position of rolling with laughter. "Can't really blame him, though. I wonder if the princess will be as pretty as Kori."

"Don't let Prince Malchior hear you say that," said Victor teasingly. "Princess Raven's got nothing to do with us, and her attractiveness is therefore none of your business."

Garfield retook his rag and started scrubbing. "A boy can dream, can't he?"


Raven wished with all of her might that she wouldn't dream on this last night in Azarath. She wasn't sure how many more restless nights she could take. All of her fears were threatening to eat her alive in her sleep, and she'd woken up more than once to terrifying visions in her bedroom (of her own creation) that had to be cast out by careful spellwork. The journey was going to be strenuous enough without the added burden of sleep deprivation. I hope Tara's been sleeping better than I have.

With some needling, Arella had agreed to allow Tara to be Raven's travel companion, but not before granting the young woman a temporary gift of geomancy, which she anticipated would last until partway through their stay in Nol. "For your protection," Arella had said. "It would be unwise of me to send the two of you on your way with only one of you capable of performing any kind of magic."

As Raven packed a few belongings into a small satchel, she wondered if Tara's practice at manipulating the new powers had been going well. The two girls had hardly seen each other in the past couple of days, and Raven suspected that Tara was avoiding her. Most likely to focus on becoming a better geomancer, Raven guessed, but the nervousness and edginess that she had picked up from Tara were slightly concerning. She hoped that Tara would feel more at ease once they arrived in the kingdom of Nol.

The princess was broken from her reverie by a soft knock at her door. Sensing Arella's presence, she turned and asked, "Yes, Mother?"

Arella opened the door with a fragile sense of urgency, and even if Raven's curse had not made her an empath, the redness and puffiness of her mother's eyes told her everything she needed to know. Pushing away her mother's sorrow, Raven hesitantly approached the queen, who held out to her a clean, white handkerchief. Turning it over in her hands, Raven saw that the seemingly unblemished handkerchief was actually spotted with a few drops of blood. Her head whipped back in Arella's direction. "What is this?"

"Old magic," Arella whispered. "With my blood, I was able to enchant this handkerchief with a powerful protective spell."

"Why a handkerchief?"

Her mother's sad smile at her inquisitive nature made Raven want to run out of her room just to avoid Arella's increasingly strong emotions, which were beginning to drain Raven with the effort it took to keep them from affecting her. Why does leaving have to be so difficult? "A handkerchief is easily hidden. I needed to ensure that you would be safe on your journey." Arella paused, as though there were more she wanted to say, but she simply put a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "I love you, my child. Sleep well. We will see you off in the morning."

Before her daughter could properly react, Arella had left the room. Reluctantly, Raven tucked the handkerchief into her nightgown and laid herself down for one final sleep in her own home. The morning, she decided, was coming all too quickly.


I hope you all enjoyed the introduction to the rest of the team! For reference, Juliana is my story's Jinx. Looking forward, Raven and Tara's journey to Nol begins! Please continue to be the awesome readers that you are and review if you have the time! Thanks for the support. Y'all are the bomb. :)