Hey guys! Just to let you know that this story can see a glimpse of its end on the horizon. But don't worry; it's just a glimpse. ;)
Please enjoy and keep reviewing as wonderfully as you have been!
Raven slowly faded back into consciousness from a sleep she didn't remember having fallen into. Her eyes still closed, the girl was reluctant to fully awaken and rejoin the world. She hadn't realized how exhausted she had been until waking up just now, and as her resting body groaned at the idea of stirring, she thus was less than willing to rise. Yet as Raven's awareness of her surroundings sharpened, the fog of sleep dispersed from her brain and the dark sorceress noticed that her head was rested against something soft that hadn't been there when she fell asleep. It was for this reason that Raven opened her eyes.
Beast Boy was stretched out beside her, his head tilted to the side and a soft snore escaping his lips. He was fast asleep, that much was obvious. What it was that caused Raven's horror and a bright scarlet blush to spread to her cheeks was that she was curled up next to him, pressed against his arm with one of her hands on his shoulder, dangerously close to his face. Speaking of which, their faces were far too close for Raven's comfort. She sat up quickly, scrambling away from the shape-shifter's slumbering form, and bumped against a pair of legs behind her. Raven glanced back, catching sight of her two emotions, one emotionless and the other smirking, standing above her.
Raven's first reaction was accusatory. "You did this, didn't you?" she snapped, gesturing to Beast Boy who hadn't moved from his position on the ground.
Calm shook her head as Brave smirked. "Oh, how I wish I had been clever enough to think of it," the courageous lookalike sighed brightly, "but no, alas you were the one to set yourself up beside him."
Raven narrowed her eyes. "Why do I get the feeling that you're lying to me?"
"Why Raven?" Calm spoke softly. "Is it such a bad thing?" She knelt down on one knee, creating clear eye contact with her original. "You're upset because you enjoyed being so close to him and don't want to admit it."
Raven brushed the girl away, standing on her own. "Why do you insist on playing this game? I know why I'm supposedly 'feeling something' for Beast Boy, so you can stop." Both of her emotions appeared surprised, if not confused. Raven continued. "This is all in my head. In reality, once we are out of my mirror, he will mean nothing to me again." Raven crossed her arms, though she was wondering silently why she had added the word again. She didn't feel anything for him now, so why would she bother to insert something like that?
Calm turned her head slightly to set her sights on Beast Boy. "If he means nothing, then why are you still keeping your voice down?"
"Because…," Raven responded slowly, "he's confused enough as is. I don't want Beast Boy waking up and asking questions. Which reminds me, I have a few of my own." Raven walked to the edge of the platform, scanning their surroundings. The group was about a minute or so away from reaching the mountains. "What was it that caused me to be trapped in here in my mirror in the first place?"
Her emotions exchanged glances, and Calm dipped her head, stepping up to Raven's side. "The last thing you remember is when you were meditating, correct?" Raven gave her a curt nod. "Happy had been pestering you, so your focus was on her. While you were distracted, Rage appeared. She must have had a spell prepared; how she obtained it, I am unsure." Calm paused, thinking. "I suppose she must have created it from scratch, or otherwise taken bits and pieces from the books you've read and figured out the rest. Either way, the spell prevented you from leaving by choice of will unlike you usually are able. The only way that you can take back control is to build up your strength again and wait until there is an elapse of concentration from whatever emotion is in command of your body. You will be able to sense it when such a thing happens, though it's unlikely you will be in charge again unless someone or something in the outside world causes the break or pause to occur." Calm quickly added, "Please do not blame Happy, for she had not planned for Rage to take any kind of action. The crimson emotion obviously had this well planned out."
Raven's hands clenched into fists momentarily, and then, with a sigh, she loosened her fingers. "She always does." The dark girl faced her emotions. "Another question; what will we find in the mountains once we get there?"
Brave responded to this one. "That's where the portal out of your head should be. And… other stuff."
Raven frowned. "What 'other stuff'?"
Brave seemed to dodge around the question. "It shouldn't really be a problem. There's hardly ever anything dangerous there." She cleared her throat. "Any other questions?"
"One more." Raven wanted to know what was in the mountains, but since neither emotion looked like they wanted to say anything, she decided to pry it out of them later. The dark sorceress hesitated, trying to think of the right way to ask what she was about to say. Her eyes flitted to Beast Boy's sleeping form. "Do you think… that you could maybe…?" Both of the girls nearby lifted an eyebrow simultaneously, hiding smiles from showing on their faces. They knew what she was going to say, that much was obvious, but it was just as apparent that they wanted her to finish her sentence. Raven rubbed her arm, and then shook her head at herself. It was a simple request; it wasn't difficult. "Would either of you mind healing Beast Boy's shoulder? I'm trying to save up my energy for when we come to the portal, and even though he says it doesn't hurt, I have a feeling it does."
Brave grinned at her original's use of bravery to ask the question while Calm obliged to Raven's request, kneeling beside the sleeping boy. She placed her cool fingers on the crimson stain that tainted Beast Boy's shirt red, and after a moment of concentration, a white aura tinted with blue enveloped her hand. The healing took but a moment, but seconds after Calm had finished, Beast Boy's eyes flickered open, falling on the girl in blue crouched beside him.
"Raven?" he questioned, a confused expression on his face probably caused from waking up to find Raven so near him. If only he knew how close the real Raven had been when they were both asleep. The shape-shifter blinked, and his green eyes widened in recognition. "Oh, Calm! Sorry; you guys all just look so alike!"
"Well, duh we do," Brave chuckled. Calm offered Beast Boy a hand and hauled him to his feet. Subconsciously, the boy rubbed his shoulder. Had he thought about it, he would have realized that it no longer stung painfully as it had when he'd fallen asleep, but the shape-shifter had something else on his mind.
"So, we make it to the mountains or what?"
Raven looked at their destination. "You tell me." Even as she spoke, the dark platform they rode on was lowered to the ground, the peaks of the large hills now behind them. The four stood at the rocky base of the mountains. From where they were gathered, they could see that their location was near the center of a circular formation of mountains, the only opening being a section which abruptly dropped off and disappeared into empty space. The black platform dispersed beneath the teenagers' feet as they took in their surroundings. Raven frowned slightly, placing a hand to her head.
Beast Boy looked at her with concern. "You okay, Rae?"
Brow furrowed, Raven nodded. Also uncomfortable, Brave glanced around the landscape as Calm spoke. "You can sense it too, Brave?"
"Sense what?" Beast Boy inquired, feeling very left out as he was the only non-empath in the group.
"The portal is nearby." Calm stepped forward, the single girl seemingly unaffected though she too was feeling the strength of the force radiating from the magical exit.
Beast Boy brightened, his ears perking up. "Really? That means we can get out of here soon, right?"
"Hopefully."
The group started to make their way toward the source of power, tracking the exit's location by the increase or decrease of strength depending on where they moved. Eventually Calm stated that she believed to have pinpointed the exact place that the portal was. Sure enough, after a few minutes, a swirl of black and red colors came into view in the distance. It looked the same as the last time that Beast Boy had seen it; a small, spiked metal frame outlined the sides of the portal, the magical exit was inserted in the side of the mountain, and two menacing statues were positioned on both sides of it.
As the four had been progressing, Beast Boy couldn't help but notice that Raven had gotten weaker and weaker, and thus he had kept a close eye on her, making a point to hover nearby the girl in just case something happened. It turned out that his decision had been a good one, for the moment that the portal was visible, a wave of power rushed over Raven and her legs gave out. Before she dropped to the ground, however, Beast Boy stooped down, catching her before she hit the dry earth. Raven was too tired to protest, though she did attempt to throw a glare in his direction.
Seeing the glimpse of the old, stubborn Raven he knew so well in such an expression, Beast Boy brightened. "You're welcome," he grinned.
Raven grumbled something beneath her breath.
"I'll take that as a thank you," Beast Boy continued without missing a beat. Raven rolled her eyes and motioned for the shape-shifter to release her, but when he did, Raven realized she wasn't as strong as she'd thought. Once again, she sank to the ground. Beast Boy knelt beside her, extending his hand.
Raven shifted her eyes to the side. Unlike the last time she'd fallen, she didn't hesitate for long before accepting his offer and placing her hand in his. "Shut up," she mumbled at the two emotions watching nearby with entertained expressions. Beast Boy slung her arm over his shoulder, and with his help, Raven was able to make her way in the direction of the portal. The group had only a few more feet left when two large statues guarding the exit came to life. Four pairs of eyes snapped open, landing on the green boy and the girl he was supporting. The stone statues whipped away so they were facing opposite of one another. Scraping over the dry earth, they flew backwards and slammed into each other with a loud crack. An enormous set of swords materialized in each of the palms, and the combined statues turned their sights on the Titans. Beast Boy and Raven stepped back.
"Uh, I thought these things were only in the mazes," Beast Boy said nervously.
Raven looked at him, a hint of worry visible in the place of her previous impassive expression. "They usually are."
"- and so when I speak of the capital of California, you should know that I speak of the original name, San Jose, and not Sacramento, the current capital."
"We don't care!" Cyborg exclaimed, his hands on the top of his head. "We never asked about the capital of California, new or old! I just asked if you were hungry!" The three original Titans gathered in the tower, feeling much more trapped than assembled, were sprawled out throughout the room. They were all, in fact, acting on a motion used by the dark sorceress of the tower many-a-time. Index fingers placed accordingly, the teenagers massaged their temples with such a vigor someone might think they were trying to unscrew the top of their head from their skulls. Needless to say, Curious was driving them each entirely insane.
Curious regarded the mechanical Titan with a lifted eyebrow. "And by such a question, I assumed that you meant if I might be hungry for Starfire's… 'meal'. And I happen to not be hungry at this moment in time."
"Why didn't you just say that instead of start talking about something completely unrelated?!" the poor robotic teenager whined. Curious, smiling, simply shrugged. With a groan, Cyborg buried his face in the arm of the couch.
As Curious went off on another spiel about a subject that's origin made sense only to her, Starfire rolled onto her side. She had been stretched over the dining table, facing the ceiling with her scarlet hair spiraling down and barely tickling the carpet, but as she turned over, her attention was direction to Robin. The leader of the team was drumming his fingers on his knee in the seat beside the table. When the alien princess faced him, Robin glanced up.
"Robin?" Starfire asked.
"Yeah Star?"
"I am worried about friends Raven and Beast Boy."
Robin sat up, surprised. "This kind of came out of nowhere. Why now?"
Starfire fidgeted, batting a strand of her hair with her finger. "I am uncertain as to why I feel the worry for our friends now and not as strongly before." She frowned, thinking. "I supposed that I am feeling the 'impatient', yes?"
"That could easily be it," Robin replied, glancing quickly at Curious. "Our current company hasn't been very entertaining."
"Please," Starfire said, "I feel like we are doing the babysitting of Raven's body?" Robin nodded and Starfire took that information in as she continued. "I fear I assumed it would be more enjoyable," the girl admitted.
The Titan's leader smirked. "Well, normally the one being babysat wouldn't have great, demonic power that could kill everyone in the room. Without being watched over, who knows what Raven's emotions might get into their head to do? If Affection was right, at least Beast Boy has found Raven by now, and I can assume that they're almost out of her mirror."
Nodding, Starfire smiled. She crossed her arms, settling her head into the crook of her elbow. At the mention of Affection, Starfire recalled something that she had noticed during the emotion's swift visit. Though she was very naïve to many earthly ways, the alien princess was no stranger to emotions -however strange Raven's situation might be- and Starfire had realized during Affection's stay that the darker girl was very fond of Beast Boy. The emotion had spoken nothing of anyone else in such a glowing manner that she had of their green teammate, and Starfire had to wonder if Affection's interests connected back to Raven with such a deep strength.
"Robin?" Starfire was asking her friend before she even had the time to think twice. She trusted Robin, however, enough to know that he wouldn't do anything to embarrass or humiliate Raven and Beast Boy because of her question. Upon seeing that she had Robin's attention, Starfire spoke. "Do you perhaps think that friend Raven-?"
"Yo team, I think Curious is switching out!" Cyborg interrupted, sitting up on the couch with his eyes directed at the dark girl nearby. Sure enough, Raven's body was motionless, her arms hanging limply by her sides and expression a blank slate. Cyborg got to his feet, approaching his other two teammates. "There was suddenly a wonderful silence in the room, so I figured that something must have happened," he explained, smirking.
Robin nodded, offering Starfire a hand down from the table. He observed Raven's still body. "Cyborg, earlier you said something about an emotion called Rage?"
Cyborg looked at his teammate curiously, a flicker of anxiety in his human eye at the mention of the hateful emotion. "Yeah? What about her? Why would you want to bring that girl up?"
The Titan's leader frowned, crossing his arms as he spoke his thoughts. "We haven't seen Rage yet; I'm slightly worried that she could be showing up soon. How many emotions have we seen? Five? Six? There can't be too many left."
Cyborg instantly saw the reasoning behind Robin's words, but that only served to make the spark of worry he'd experienced earlier enlarge in size. He shifted nervously, his body angled so he was partially behind Robin. "You've got a point man…" Before the teenagers could say anything else, Raven's head jerked up. Her eyes swiveled around the ops room, taking in the environment without a sound. The silence made the other three close by antsy. They had no idea what emotion they were dealing with, and if this happened to be Rage, it was best to approach with caution. Robin's words had set them all unintentionally on edge. The dark girl locked her sights on the Titans, and her eyes narrowed. Robin's hand inched toward his belt, Cyborg put his hand over his arm in preparation to change it into a canon, and Starfire lifted off of the ground. The emotion stared at them for a moment more before abruptly dropping to the ground in a sitting position. She leaned back, opening her mouth, and yawned. The Titans exchanged confused glances, a look that had become extremely frequent on their faces as of late.
"Uh, okay?" Cyborg lowered his hand from his arm, his teammates dropping their guarded stances as well. The emotion's eyes lethargically shifted to him, and she lifted an eyebrow. Cyborg winced. "Please tell me that you're not Rude again."
The girl burped.
"That didn't answer my question," Cyborg muttered, crossing his arms.
The emotion waved her hand a little. "Naw, I'm not Rude. I'm…," she interrupted herself with another yawn, and then followed with a stretch. "Ah," she continued, "I'm…" She blinked a few times.
"Sleepy?" Robin suggested.
Starfire brightened. "Like the dwarf from the White of Snow?"
The emotion shook her head, though whether it was in response to Starfire's question or just to keep herself awake, Robin wasn't sure. He hoped they didn't have a case of narcolepsy on their hands. They had enough trouble to deal with as was, let alone having to take care of a girl who fell asleep uncontrollably. Thankfully, the dark sorceress forced herself awake.
"Hm? What was I talking about?"
"Who you are. What emotion you are," Robin prompted.
"Ohhhh, right. I'm…" She rubbed her eyes. "Tell you what; how about you just guess and I'll let you know if you're right. Less work that way."
"Not for us," Cyborg grumbled. As he and his two other team members began to discuss possibilities of the emotion's title, for as long as the girl sat on the kitchen floor she wasn't causing any trouble and the teenagers had nothing really better to do, the dark sorceress's nose twitched. Turning toward the refrigerator, she sniffed the air. Her eyes brightened.
"Why do we even have to guess who she is? We've played this game with all of the other emotions already," Cyborg complained, frowning. Robin shook his head.
"Then it shouldn't be too much trouble to figure out who she is. We've already dealt with a good majority of emotions; there can't be too many left. Let's just use the process of elimination to get it over with quickly and easily. I already have a few ideas in mind." With those words, Robin turned around only to discover that the emotion he was about to address was no longer there. A click and clang caught his attention, and the team looked toward the refrigerator. Sat on the floor was the mystery emotion sucking on her finger, held in the crook of one of her arms a large, familiar bowl filled with goo. Robin and Cyborg gasped in synch, but Starfire gave a delighted squeal and swooped to the darker girl's side.
"You are enjoying my meal?" Starfire asked, her eyes bright and elated.
The emotion dipped her finger back in the alien princess's bowl and licked it. "Who wouldn't?" She shoved her goo-covered finger back into her mouth, making a slurping sound as she swallowed. Her face scrunched up temporarily in a frown. "Hm… Tastes peculiar." She shrugged, going back for more. "Just needs more salt."
Starfire couldn't have been more joyful; if she had been, she would have flown through the ceiling. All day she had been attempting to get someone to taste her meal, and here when she wasn't paying attention her friend had taken the initiative to do so without her noticing. Starfire smiled. "Glorious! I am filled with the joy that you enjoy my food!" She motioned to the two boys standing afar with shocked expressions. "Come friends! Would you not like to have some before it is all gone?"
Robin coughed and Cyborg actually took a step back. "No thanks, Star," the robotic teenager declined. "Our friend here seems to be enjoying herself too much to interrupt…"
Robin addressed the girl seated on the floor, her back leaned against the door of the open fridge. "You actually like Starfire's, dish… um…?"
"Sloth," the emotion replied without a thought to her response.
"A sloth?" Cyborg questioned, scratching his head. "Like that lazy thing Beast Boy turns into when he doesn't want to do his turn at laundry?"
"Uh huh," Sloth nodded. "Lazy. Except not the animal. I wish I was," she added as an afterthought. "Get to sit around, eat, sleep, wake up, eat some more, sleep some more, repeat." The boys watched as she swallowed the remaining contents of Starfire's alien meal, tipping the bowl back and then finishing with an eloquent burp. Not bothering to close the fridge's door, or even thinking to hand the empty dish to Starfire, Sloth dropped onto her back in the middle of the kitchen floor and shut her eyes. Moments later, a snore escaped her mouth.
While Starfire put her empty bowl into the sink and tried closing to fridge without disturbing the sleeping emotion, Cyborg and Robin carefully pulled Sloth up off of the tile floor and carried her to the couch. As they moved the girl, Cyborg sighed. "Man, this has been such a crazy day. I woke up this morning thinking I'd have breakfast, play a few video games, and then spend the rest of my time on my T-car. Never did I expect to have to deal with this kind of thing."
"We're heroes who live in a giant T and fight villains for a living; when have we ever had something go our way?" Robin asked. The two chuckled. "Besides, I'd feel grateful that you're not Raven right now. I'm sure she's having the hardest time out of all of us. I feel bad for her."
"I gotta agree with ya there," Cyborg agreed. "Having to deal with being trapped inside of her own mind, not to mention BB's in there, and her body's bein' taken over by her emotions, she's got to have it bad."
To his surprise, Robin shook his head. "No, what I meant was that when Raven is back in charge of her body, I'll feel bad for her. Anyone having eaten a whole bowl of Starfire's alien food is bound to have a horrible stomachache."
