Um, I'm not really sure what this chapter is about at the moment. So, enjoy my made-up ramblings! AND MY FLUFF! LOTS AND LOTS OF FLUFF FOR YOU PEOPLES!! . . .

Sorry.

Chapter 10

"What Did She Say?"

She sat alone, crying.

"So what if I'm . . .?" She couldn't finish. She wiped a tear from her eye, "It doesn't matter."

And even still, she knew it was a lie.

Raven and Beast Boy appeared in the room, all set and ready to go.

A cold chill ran over her a whiles later, when she was reading revenge. People all around were reading, the lights on now, and things were starting to get more comfortable, despite their current situation. She glanced over her shoulder, though she wasn't sure why, and saw Aqualad harassing Beast Boy about something. He laughed, loudly, but it wasn't heard over the other talking in the room. Beast Boy grinned and then began talking before he noticed Raven watching him. His grinned widened and he waved, which made Aqualad turn around and Raven quickly jerked her hood over her head. She watched from the corner of her eye as Aqualad said something to Beast Boy before turning around again.

"Sup, girl?"

Raven glanced up and saw Bumblebee, smiling at her. She seemed to be taking a break. "Not much, I haven't found anything yet."

"Well," Bumblebee paused, "Why don't you take a break?"

"Because this is more important," Raven replied, eyes darting back down to her book as she began skimming through it again.

A mischievous look came upon Bee's face. She cupped Raven's chin and pointed it to Beast Boy once again, "More important then him?"

Raven pulled her chin away, and she could have sworn she heard Aqualad laugh. "Yes, far more important."

Beast Boy was in fact, talking to Aqualad. He looked up when he heard his friend laugh. "What?"

"Looks like Bee's harassing Raven, too," He noted.

Beast Boy looked, and it did appear so. "Huh, I wonder what about."

Aqualad gave Beast Boy an incredulous look. "They're talking about you!"

"Ooooh!" He said, shaking his head in confusion. "Right, sure they are."

Starfire tapped on Robin's shoulder. "Robin, is it not . . . quiet?"

Robin looked around, listening to the mingling of his friends. "Not really, Star. Why, did you want to do something?"

Starfire grinned before slyly diverting her eyes to Beast Boy and Raven. "I think . . . I think that we should play a game, should we not?"

Robin had been talking to Kid Flash, and both looked confused. "Uh, no offense Starfire," Kid Flash began, "Now isn't exactly the best time for playing games."

"But, we are all tense and have begun, 'the break', so why should we not play a game?" She questioned, a small smirk coming to her face. It made Robin get a bit of mystery from his girlfriend. She could be sneaky sometimes.

Robin and Kid Flash then noticed she was looking at Raven, then Beast Boy, then back to them. "Oh!" Kid Flash said, Robin smacked his hand over the speedsters mouth.

"Truth or Dare?" he said quietly. They all nodded in agreement.

"Hey, guys!"

Raven's head snapped up from the book. The room had slowly began to grow louder, and she knew it was only a matter of time before their leader tried something.

"Star thinks we should play a game to calm down and take a break," Robin began, with his girlfriend next to her. She seemed oddly full of pride at the moment. "I agree."

"What're we playing?" Aqualad asked. Everyone was beginning to form a circle around them.

He smirked, "Truth or Dare."

(Me: This is so out of story random scene right now, but trust me, it's on purpose . . . now!)

Raven rolled her eyes and kept reading. Something was up, and she wasn't about to get involved in it.

The "I'm in!"'s and "Okay!"'s began filling the room. Then, she felt all eyes turn to her. She looked up, and found it was true.

"No."

"C'mon Raven!" Cyborg pleaded.

"No."

"Please?" Bee asked.

"No."

"But friend-!" Starfire began.

"Rae?"

Her eyes snapped to behind her. Beast Boy was standing their, seeming disappointed. 'Damnit!' Her mind screamed, but her face remained neutral.

"My name is Raven," She snapped. "What?"

"Why won't you play?"

"Someone's got to work," she insisted. "We can't afford breaks when this ghost wants us dead."

"It's just a game, Rae-ven," He added the last part quickly. "C'mon, ten minutes?"

'No'. "Fine."

Aqualad grinned to himself before watching Raven begrudgingly sit down in the circle and then watching Beast Boy sitting right next to her in the circle, receiving a glare from her before she crossed her arms and turned away. Raven kept her hood up.

"Let's establish the rules. Nothing inappropriate for the dares. Understand?"Robin asked. They nodded.

"Alright, who wants to go first?"Aqualad asked.

Speedy raised his hand, "I'll do it."

"Truth or Dare, Speedy?" Aqualad asked her.

Speedy thought about it, "Dare."

Raven rolled her eyes. Of course he would want to do a dare.

"Okay, Speedy," He thought about it. "Touch the tip of your own shock arrow!"

"Asshole."

And so the game began.

This is what happened.

Jinx picked: Starfire. Starfire told the truth about how she felt about Earth food. Starfire picked: Kid Flash. He was dared to eat one of Starfire's 'pudding of sadness'. He barfed, and then picked: Bumblebee. She was dared to taste the pudding too. Bumblebee picked: Kole. Kole told the truth about how she felt about Gnark. "A brother," she'd said. "Nothing else." Kole then picked: Jericho (Me: He's been here, I just never actually mentioned him. At all). Jericho picked dare, and possessed the TV. It was vaguely creepy. And then he picked: Robin. Robin was dared to kiss Starfire, and she hadn't objected. And then Robin had picked: Beast Boy.

That's where we'll start.

"Truth or Dare?" Robin asked.

Beast Boy swallowed. He knew either way he was screwed, because he was going to ask something about Raven or dare him to do something to Raven. He inwardly shuddered at how wrong that'd sounded.

"D-Dare." He figured Raven would object if Robin said anything nasty.

Robin smirked, "Alright Beast Boy, I dare you to kiss . . ." He seemed to be thinking about this, "Anyone you want. For two seconds."

Beast Boy paled. Robin had basically thrown it in his face. Rather then forcing him to kiss Raven, he was giving him the option to kiss anyone he wanted. "W-Where?" He stuttered.

Aqualad busted out laughing, "Does that count as inappropriate?"

"On the cheek," Robin replied, mercifully.

Beast Boy paled, unsure of what to do. He began playing with his fingers, "Anyone?"

"Yes," Robin replied, getting irritated. "And soon, please."

"Yeah BB," Cyborg laughed. "We already know who you're gonna choose!"

Beast Boy sighed, "Alright." He glared at Robin, giving a look that had, 'Bastard' written all over it.

Raven hadn't really been paying attention, and was shocked to say the least when her hood was pulled off and something soft and warm/cold touch her cheek so quickly she wasn't sure it had happened. It remained, for two seconds, as stated, before disappearing. Her head snapped to Beast Boy, who was blushing furiously. He squeaked.

"What the hell was that!?" She hissed.

"Heh, sorry. Um," Beast Boy said hurriedly. Everyone was shocked. They hadn't actually thought he'd done it. "Jinx?"

"Yeah?" She was the only one not surprised.

"Truth or Dare?"

"Truth."

"How many times have you kissed Kid Flash?" He grinned, getting back at them. She had been trying not to laugh, and he'd seen. Revenge was sweet.

Both flushed red.

"Twice."

"Nice."

"Raven?" Jinx changed the subject.

"What?" She was still irritated.

"Truth or Dare?"

"Truth," she didn't trust Jinx, but it was the least risky. She wasn't going to risk being but in the same situation as Beast Boy.

Jinx grinned, "Did you like it?"

"Did I like what?"

"Beast Boy's kiss. "

Raven's eyes widened and she pulled her hood back over her head, despite Jinx's glare. Raven could hid things better with her hood on. "Honestly, I wasn't prepared enough to notice it." She replied dryly.

"Do you want another one?"

"Bite me, Jinx."

"Is that a Dare?" Jinx mocked, eyes gleaming.

"You've already had a turn-." Raven began to mumble.

"It asks who?"

Starfire's head snapped up and she looked around the room. "Hm?"

Beast Boy was still a shade of red (peculiar on his green skin) and was fading. "What? Something wrong again?"

Starfire swallowed, ignoring him. "Is . . . is someone there?"

Nothing.

Then-.

"Me . . . hear- you . . .can?"

Starfire was hearing whatever it was like a bad cell signal, and the words were mixed up. She couldn't understand it, but stood up nonetheless and looked around the room. "I cannot understand you, could you perhaps speak louder?"

"No! Listen- destroy . . . going . . . her fault . . . she's- to . . . herself- not."

Again, Starfire could not understand. She turned to her friends, "You do hear that, correct? I am not going 'the crazy'?"

Robin shook his head, "I can't hear anything."

"You're . . . the . . . only- hear me . . . one who can." The voice said. It made more sense this time, 'You're the only one who can hear me'.

"Why me?" Starfire questioned.

"Save her . . . you've . . . to- got!" It took Starfire a few seconds to translate: 'You've got to save her!"

"Who?"

"My sister!"

Starfire sat up, unaware she'd dozed off. "Hm?" She asked the last person that had spoken to her.

"Are you okay?"

"I am well," She sat up. Robin was next to her, and only him. Everyone else was reading or talking. "Did I fall asleep?"

"Yeah," Robin replied, sitting next to her now. "After you sat down and stopped hearing that voice or whatever, you said you were tired so you took a nap on the couch. You must've just been just barely winging it then. Er- being awake, I mean." He noticed Starfire's worried expression, so quickly added, "Raven says it's normal. After you're uh, transplant, it was only a matter of time before you passed out from a random exhaustion moment. The timing's different for everyone, but it shouldn't happen again. It's like chicken pox, it can't happen twice."

"Oh," Starfire sighed in relief. Then she eyed Raven, who was reading (hiding) in a corner as far away from everyone (especially a certain someone) as possible. Beast Boy was in the middle of the room, and therefore also alone (Me: Isn't that weird? I noticed if you're in the actual middle of the room, no one is really there). "So how are our friends? Did we do 'the pushing it'?"

Robin frowned, "I'm not sure," he said. "But I think we should just leave them alone for now-."

"I got it!"

Everyone's head snapped up, as Kole's triumphant shout filled the room.

"What does it say?" Kid Flash was hovering over her shoulder in an instant.

Kole began to read. "Statement 1: Section 3: Experience 17: Author: Mason Green: Ghosts are temperamental, sneaky, and never give up. They take risks, at your own peral, because they have nothing to live for-." Beast Boy snorted. "Ghosts hell-bent on revenge are the most dangerous. RID WITH CAUTION. Girls are worse then men, and youth rage is better then older ghosts, because the older they are the more planned their attacks can be. Youth attacks through blind rage, but after six and a half hours their powers explode into an irrational frenzy in where the only option left is to shoot them with the Freedom Spell. See pg. 316."

"What time is it now?" Jinx asked.

"Uh," Cyborg glanced at the clock. "Eleven."

"And she woke up around the time the party started so . . ." Raven thought about it. "We've got three hours. Can I see the book, Kole?"

Raven plopped down on the floor, flipping backwards to 316. Finally she found it, in giant bolded letters: Freedom Spell.

"The Freedom Spell," Raven began to read. "Is a spell used to permanently disable the spirit forever. Never allowing them to re-awaken, but also not allowing them to move on. It's for use ONLY in an emergency, nothing else. Strictly life-or-death situations only. I cannot express how urgent this spell is for just these cases, but here it is, nonetheless . . ." Raven's eyes continued to move from left to right at a quick speed, knowing you should never say a spell out loud unless you needed to use it.

"Hows it look?" Robin asked.

"It seems . . . legitimate." She finally said. "But until Winifred goes berserk, and can no longer be persuaded, I refuse to use this spell." And she snapped the book shut. "We'll find another way to deal with her until then."

Raven yawned. "Tired?" Beast Boy laughed.

"A little," She admitted, glaring at him. "But I've been tired before."

"Why don't you take a nap, Raven?" He continued good-naturedly.

Raven awoke to find herself in what looked like a faded picture, except the picture was alive. Nothing was bright, and it was strangely depressing, even for her standards. "Hello?"

"You came back."

Raven turned her head, still on her stomach, and saw a little blonde girl, who also appeared to lack color. Her hair wasn't bleached blond, but the yellow was dim, and her hair went to her waist. Her skin seemed normal, but colorless to the point where she looked almost pale. And her eyes were a baby-blue as you'd find in the child's room after five years.

"Who are you?" Raven asked, without anger. Something about this place was just . . . safe. "Where am I?"

The girl had on a white dress, sleeveless, that went to her thighs before draping off into see-through material that hit the floor. Around her wrist was a black string with a single white bead attached. Her eyes never left Raven.

"You feel it too, that you're safe I mean. This island was, is, and always will be safe." She paused. "You're here," The girl paused again. "But where Here is, I don't know either." She looked about eight, maybe younger, and turned to the little island they were on. "But . . . I think I used to."

"Are you Emily?" Raven asked, finally remembering the picture. And Raven now understood why Winifred thought Starfire was Emily. Emily looked like a smaller version of Starfire, but her eyes held to much knowledge and ice in them to be Starfire's joyful and innocent ones.

The girl's head tilted slightly, and nodded, smiling. But the look in her eyes didn't leave. "I was called that once. Yes, I'm Emily." Then her eyes widened with fear. "Oh god, please, you've got to help me!"

Raven had gotten to her feet and she took a step away from Emily. "Don't come near me, and I'll listen to whatever you want to say." Raven didn't trust her.

Emily took a step back, and swiped a hand through her hair to push it back. "Sorry," She said. Raven hardly heard, because where Emily's fingers brushed, a trail of sparkling light flickered into and then out of sight. Though it was too quick to notice regularly, how bright it was caught Raven's attention. It took her a minute to snap out of it.

"Why did you bring me here?" Raven's eyes widened. "Am I dead?"

Emily seemed shocked, "No! No, you're very much alive. You're just . . . with me. . . in the In-Between."

Raven nodded, relieved. She knew of the In-Between. "So then . . . you've been knowing what's going on?"

Emily seemed on the brink of tears and nodded. "It's just not like her! I've known her since . . . well, obviously, since I was born. It has to be some magic, or anything because of her current situation, but Winifred doesn't act like this! I never saw it . . ."

"What does she want? Maybe we can help her," Raven offered.

Emily shook her head, "She can't have what she wants."

Raven was getting irritated, "What does she want?"

Emily looked up, and her eyes regained fear. "Me. And she can't have that."

Raven placed her hand on her temples, trying to focus. This world tended to make the living a little groggy. Which, now that she thought about it, was probably why she hadn't automatically recognized Emily. "Actually, I think she can have you. For a little while, at least."

Emily seemed confused, and then alarmed. "B-But, I don't know how-!"

"But I do," Raven interrupted, taking her hand off her head. "Look, even for what I was born to do, I still highly value any form of life."

"Some more then others," Emily noted, brushing her hair aside and once again leaving a sparkling trail. "But go on."

Raven knew of who she was insinuating, but ignored it. She'd been getting oddly used to that lately. "I don't want to kill your sister, er, well, tie her to permanent sleep. She deserves to move on. It's also my duty to protect my team at all costs. If I have to . . . well, if I have to do this to do both, I will. Now are you going to participate or not?"

Emily looked thoughtfully at the ground before walking over to the edge and towards the water. She seemed to think about it before taking another step out to the water-.

And then just standing on it. Raven stared as she knelt down on to the invisible floor and scooped her hand into the water. When she brought her hands back up, she held a small amount of silvery water in it, and walked over to where she was earlier.

"May I approach?" She asked. Raven nodded and she began walking towards her with her hands cupped away from her the whole time. "I tried to talk to your Starfire, the one who looks like me," She began, "But the connection was bad. She couldn't understand me. I couldn't understand me. So I had to bring you here."

Emily now stood right in front of Raven, only a few feet away. She stopped. "You've got to help my sister, Raven. Please, I don't know what else to do anymore."

"I'll do whatever I can." Raven said boldly, hiding the fear in her heart.

Emily smiled sadly. "I know you will. Thank you."

And she splashed the water at Raven, she heard the whispers of information she needed to know about what she needed to do. Raven had just enough time to notice how it froze just around her before she woke up.

"Bad dream?" Beast Boy asked her when she sat up, eyes wide. "You okay?"

"Where's Starfire?" Raven ignored his question.

"Over there, why?"

He was once again ignored and watched as Raven said something quickly to Starfire and Robin before they walked out of the room together. He felt a strong urge to go after them, but ignored it, taking a deep breath before sitting back down.

Raven was speaking so quickly it was almost hard to understand.

"Friend . . . I was unaware that I was being contacted. I apologize for not realizing this sooner." Starfire said.

"It's okay Starfire," Raven replied. "She doesn't blame you."

"She?" Robin questioned.

"Yes, she."

"That is very good to hear," Starfire appeared relieved. "So what do we do now, friend? You have yet to be doing the explaining to us."

"I know," Raven said grimly. "But . . . look, I'll explain, but we can try my plan until our time runs out. After that . . ."

"There is no longer hope," Starfire nodded, seeming very solemn. "I understand, Raven."

"I need you're help with this though, Starfire, Robin." Raven continued. "I won't be awake to do it."

"Do what?" Robin demanded.

"Follow me."

Robin waited until they had gone a little ways before following them, always waiting until they rounded each corner before continuing to make sure no one was following. He had a bad feeling that whatever Raven wanted to do, he wouldn't like it.

They reached Raven's room soon enough, safely.

"So what is this about, friend?" Starfire was sitting on the bed. "What do you require of my assistance?"

Raven pulled down a black, very small book with white lettering. She opened it, and it had gold pages with black lettering. "Here," Raven was pointing to something in it, Robin came over and stood next to her, so he could read it. It said: 'Life Switching', but he didn't understand. Why would Raven want to switch lives with anybody?

"That's what Winifred did to you," Raven said after they'd taken the time to read it, referring to Starfire

"And so this is what you wish to do to obtain Winifred's attention?" Starfire seemed confused. "I . . . do not understand."

Raven sighed. "Promise not to tell? This is really serious you guys, I need to know you won't tell anybody or they'll try and stop me." Robin and Starfire paled. They knew they weren't going to like this.

". . . Promise," Robin finally said.

"I promise, too, friend." Starfire nodded seriously. "What is it?"

Raven muttered something very quietly, and Starfire and Robin just barely heard her. But the point was, they did.

Starfire seemed to understand, but Robin was shocked into silence. It was the only thing keeping him from shouting at Raven.

"But would that not render you unconscious?" Starfire questioned.

Raven bit her lip, Starfire inwardly groaned. What more could there be?

"Well," Raven looked ashamed. "There is a . . . a very good chance . . ." She changed directions. "If Winifred doesn't believe Emily, and destroys her, what I give to her is destroyed to."

"Meaning what, Raven?" Starfire's eyes widened. "What did she say, friend?"

"She said. . ." Raven looked away. "She said if that happens, I'll die."

Silence.

Silence.

Silence.

Then-.

"You'll WHAT!?"

Long-ish chapter, I know, but this is where it starts getting interesting.

By the way, the island Emily was on, yeah, that's hers and her sisters. The Titan's island now, I guess. Later!

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