IT'S 2010!!!!
And I don't know about you, but I thought that was a wonderful break from the story! Fortunately for you, there won't be anymore as long as that.
DISCLAIMER: If I owned Teen Titans would I be sitting here writing Fanfictions on them? ... Okay so maybe I would, but that still doesn't change anything. I don't own Teen Titans.
ENJOY!!!
Raven's POV
I stared at him, ossified in shock and disbelief. "Sleep well?" Lucius asked.
Sadly, I had to force my face into an angry expression to hide my fear. It wasn't very hard, and I had done it often. My eyes hardened and narrowed as I replied, "If you count jabbing me with a needle, injecting some strange chemicals in me, and knocking me unconscious "sleeping", then no! I didn't!" My voice changed from a low growling to a high pitched shriek - high pitched for me - in a matter of seconds. But nothing exploded. That scared me, but not enough to be distracting.
"I am deeply sorry about that. I needed you to be out of it for a while, dear. It is much easier to convey and carry you when you don't put up a fight. And since you couldn't have harmed in the least if you tried, it was really for your own safety."
'Yeah right!' I thought. Lucius's voice portrayed sincerity and concern, but his face wore a smug look. Apparently, that was his specialty. Still, his emotions hid from me. As he continued to silently stare at me , I could feel my sanity bending and stretching towards a breaking point. 'How does he do that!' I wished he would leave so I could… meditate, or something. Maybe Lucius just being in the same room with me stressed my emotions- put my mind, soul, and sanity at risk. Or maybe I'm exaggerating. 'What is this place doing to me!' I thought.
"Raven," Lucius's voice pulled me out of my inner thoughts and startled me, even though I was very aware of his presence, "I want to apologize. I have been greatly and unnecessarily hard on you, and for that, I am sorry."
I dissolved into shock briefly, before vaulting back into anger. "You… you liar!" I screamed.
"No, I promise, I am telling the truth." He place a hand over where I suspected his pea-sized heart to be; the other was bent at the elbow and raised in the air, palm facing me. "I swear on my soul that I will not harm or even touch you while in this room today." As if to punctuate his point, Lucius took a lengthy step backwards. This put him against up against the wall, which was probably the most vulnerable position he could ever be found in… wait… never mind that that last part.
But I still didn't buy it. Did he really expect me to after all that he's done to me! I scowled and turn abruptly away from him, crossing my arms. "You don't have a soul." I muttered.
He laughed lightly. "You would be the one to know." Silence. "Well, do you have any questions before you are taken back?"
I felt sharp pang detonate in my stomach. My facial expression probably changed too. "B- back where?" I asked. 'Crap!' I thought. 'I stuttered!'
Lucius didn't laugh this time. "Back to your cell, of course. I'm sorry I don't have anything more… favorable for you, but you can't stay here." 'It is a pretty nice room.' I commented in my thoughts. "This is my sleeping quarters."
My eyes slowly drifted down to the mattress I was sitting upon, and suddenly I was afraid to look. I cringed and shuddered at the same time. Lucius was again silent as I recovered. Without warning, or permission, another question came to me. Unfortunately, it skipped my brain and went straight out my mouth. "Where's Beast Boy?" I shouldn't have asked that. The inquiry, really more of a demand, shot itself passed my lips, slashing the silence in half and eating its offspring. Oh, wow… I've been spending too much time around Beast Boy.
Lucius laughed, maybe at my mistake, maybe at my face after I realized it. The mellifluous growl of his impending, yet amused, laughter lit off the walls and lay in the air, as if for a long winters rest. Sometimes - too often - his laugh was horribly mocking and taunting, but now it was gentle, sedative, almost… comforting. Oh, no. No, I was not about to give in to that!
"Your concern for the changeling really is adorable. I find it very cute indeed. In regards to your question, don't worry. You'll be reunited with him soon, I promise." I gave him another disbelieving look. "I always keep my promises. Always. I am nothing if not a man of my word."
He snapped his fingers. Another armored guard came in and grabbed me by the arms, whisking me off of the bed. I gave a startled yelp. 'Wow, that was fast.' I thought. Whoever this guard was, he sure had a good grip. A really good grip. I winced.
"Gently," Lucius coaxed the sentinel. The hold didn't loosen. "Gently," He said again, with a slight growl this time. The guard's fingers slackened ever so slightly. Lucius grunted in annoyance, but left the matter unattended, allowing the guard to wordlessly make for the door, me in hand.
"Oh, wait!" Lucius cried. The guard took two robotic steps backwards and about-faced. Lucius was right there, two centimeters from my face, suddenly all smug smiles. I felt his former, stranger, more hospitable self fading fast until it disappeared completely. He leaned in and nearly pressed his lips to mine, careful to not actually touch me. His breath had a unique smell, not quite nameable. I felt him take my hand in his and press something into my palm. Then he closed my hand on the object and stepped back. "See you soon, love."
Another pang erupted in my stomach as the first building blocks of anxiety hit. My shocked, frightened face must have been a sight to see, for Lucius chuckled. 'He's back.' I thought, as the sentinel turned his back on the vampire (AN: Couldn't let you forget that little detail.) and dragged me out.
Lucius's POV
I waited patiently, as I always did, until I was sure they were far out of earshot. As soon as this was assured, I sighed and set myself down on my bed. My elbows digging into my solid, granite kneecaps, I thrust my face into my hands and tried to sort everything out. 'So,' I thought, 'She is definitely afraid of me. This is good. But it can also be bad. Fear does have another side to it that just timidity. This brings up the matter of her powers. Should I eliminate them? Can they be eliminated? Of course they can; what was I thinking? And tonight… I really wish I hadn't have made that very first promise to her, that one in her bedroom, with the shape-shifter as witness. A man of my word I am and must be. But maybe I can make one exception…'
'No, she will find me. That malevolent vamp (AN: DOUBLE MEANING ALERT) will know, and she will come all the way across the galaxy to punish me. Curse that woman. If not for her, I would still be human. Humanity really was wonderful, I think. I can't remember much before that night. That very special night. That night I remember perfectly clearly. Perfectly, painfully clearly…'
In the midst of my cerebral ramblings, I happened to notice a stray piece of paper located my nightstand. Moving to investigate it, I found it was written by Felix, my apprentice as of 2 days ago. I easily recognized it as his because of the handwriting. No, I don't have a photographic memory. Felix's handwriting is simply very distinguishable.
The note read:
I am frightened for her. Truly, I am. I know it is wrong, and I know I will most likely be brutally murdered for it, but sadly, it cannot be helped.
I feel as if my good morals and my loyalty to Lucius are waged in a violent war, both counting on winning the prize. Both set my very existence on the line and nearly beg for it to snap and break. Both fight to dominate and control my wants and my needs. They both have set their eyes on the prize, and the prize is my heart, my mind, my body, and even my soul. That is assuming such a thing as a soul exists.
I am frightened that my loyalty will win out, yet I am rooting for it just the same. But is this out of fear, curiosity, sadism? I am frightened that my morals will triumph, yet I am longing for it to be the champion. But is it because of my heredity, my genetics, my bringing up? Is this the goodness and pureness inside of me that I want to believe exists? Can Lucius warp and destroy that part of me too?
I may never know the answers to these questions. Perhaps they are rhetorical. I do not understand most of what this vast universe holds, but I do know and understand one thing.
Too many times have I heard the cry of a fallen, broken bird. This shall not happen again.
I read the note, frowning. 'Whatever,' I thought, wadding the paper into a ball and tossing it into the trash chute. I kept my eyes on the chute after the note fell down, and sure enough, a small flame leapt up, retreating back down the chute just as quickly. I made a mental note after that to visit the boiler room today.
Deciding what to wear was always very clear-cut for me. I simply exchanged my brown cargo shorts for some black ones. I straightened myself up, put on a mask of emotionlessness, and half-marched out.
Author's POV
"Will you shut up already, Falon!?!" Ember screamed.
"Me?! You shut up!" Falon retorted.
"Yeah, nice come back!"
"Well maybe that's because I didn't used to be such a potty mouth."
Autumn decided it was it was time to intervene, but just as she and Ember both opened their mouths to speak, the right wall exploded. All arguing instantly quieted. A coughing green boy stumbled from the dust cloud, rubbing his head.
Seeing as the girls were in a temporary state of shock, the green boy finished coughing and spoke. "Uh, hey ladies… what's… shakin.'" The girls watched as his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell backwards.
An agitated shout and three more figures emerged from the cloud, just as it started to fade away. "Beast Boy!" The voice said. The girls continued to stare, wide-eyed as the figures became aware of them. "Um… hello. I'm Sebastian, and this is Talon, Zephyre, and Beast Boy. We're from… that room." Sebastian, the voice from the dust cloud, explained, pointing to the room beyond the gaping hole.
Falon's shock dissolved the moment her twin's name was uttered. "Talon!!" She exclaimed, rushing at her brother. "Talon, you're okay!"
A startled "urk" slipped past Talon's lips as he was given a bone-crushing, bear hug. He hugged her back and said, "Yeah, nice to see you too, sis." A smile pulled a corner of his mouth into a half-grin. For everyone else in the room, it was a very awkward minute and forty-five seconds. "Um… Falon, you can let go now." Talon coughed out.
Falon quickly thought up an excuse. "Hey, I haven't seen you since I was nine, and that was six years ago! So suck it up and at least pretend you missed me!" Even though her excuse was a very good one, she let go of her twin anyways.
Talon sighed, then dead-panned, "It's not like I didn't miss you. It's-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know." Falon gave him one more quick squeeze, then locked her fingers together behind her back, signaling that she was done with the hugging.
Autumn cleared her throat and prepared to introduce everyone else. "Ahem, well, I'm Autumn and this is Ember and Falon. We're from… this room." Falon smiled and waved. Ember, on the other hand, was unresponsive. She looked rapt. "Ember?" Autumn whispered to her impassive friend. "Ember, you're being rude… again. Ember?"
Falon raised an eyebrow and glanced over at her friends face. Following her stare, she realized what she was staring at. It was Zephyre, who was returning her stare with a charming smile. A smug smirk creeped up onto Falon's face. She leaned over towards Autumn, who looked extremely irritated, and whispered, "Look who she's staring at." Autumn glanced over where Falon was pointing and sure enough Ember was staring at their new guest who called himself Zephyre. "It's like, love at first sight!" Falon whispered excitedly.
She was right. Ember and Zephyre both wore that goofy grin and had that look in your eyes that you get when you like someone. The only other person she had seen here with a grin like that was Falon, and that's only when she sees that hot guy with the laser eyes out in the courtyard. Autumn looked at Falon and vice versa, and they both started snickering.
Meanwhile, on the boys side of the room, things were completely different. Instead of gawking at Zephyre like the girls were at Ember, Sebastian and Talon were checking on Beast Boy. "Beast Boy, are you okay?" Sebastian queried as he checked the young man's pulse and breathing. Everything seemed okay, besides a small head injury.
"Well?" Talon ventured, "Is he okay?"
The others, including Ember and Zephyre, tuned in for the answer. "Yes," Sebastian said, "he's fine. The worst that could occur is that he have a slight concussion, but I doubt it. Does anyone have anything that can act as a tourniquet for his head?"
"Yeah, hang on." Zephyre ripped the sleeves off of the previously long-sleeved burgundy shirt he was wearing and tied them together. "Here, use this." He said, handing the material to his friend. Sebastian took the material and cautiously applied it to Beast Boy's head wound. After drying up most of the blood that surrounded the wound, he knotted the cloth into a headband for him.
"That should do it." Sebastian carefully lifted the injured changeling from the rubble and laid him down in a… safer spot. It's hard to find a comfortable spot when there's only the floor to lay on. "Give a few minutes to wake up and a week, tops, for that to heal, and he should be just fine." Sebastian assured everyone.
"Ooh, my head… what happened? Where am I?" Beast Boy sat up, holding his head.
"Careful, Beast Boy." Sebastian cautioned him.
"Yeah, you took a nasty blow to the head when you rammed through that wall." Zephyre informed him.
"That's the last time I do that. That hurt, even if I was a t-rex."
"And a mini one at that." Talon interjected.
Looking around the room, Beast Boy noticed a few things. "Hey, it worked! I told you so! Who are you?"
"Ember, Autumn, and Falon," Ember callously introduced them and herself, pointing backwards at each with her thumb.
"Hi," the green boy replied, obviously having nothing else left to say. He tried leaning his side against the wall, but ended up exclaiming: "Ouch! Why can't I just have super healing powers or something?! My head hurts!" Apparently, Beast Boy was a master at the art of complaining.
"Hey Falon," Autumn spoke up, "can't you heal people? Or did I just dream that?"
The aforementioned girl shook her head. "You're half right. I can only heal myself, on occasion."
"Oh, yeah…"
The injured teen groaned again.
"Just take it easy for a while, okay?" Sebastian instructed him, resting a solacing hand on his shoulder.
Beast Boy closed his eyes and sighed, leaning back against the wall and nodding as he did so. It didn't hurt as much when he leaned back against the wall versus his side. "Yeah, okay, I can do that."
Just when he had gotten comfortable, dreaming of you-know-who, the door opened and a guard - identical to every other he'd seen, tossed a familiar shape into the room. The door shut and the guard left just as quickly as he had come.
A loud gasp was heard, along with "RAVEN!!!" as the lad who was supposedly injured sprung up and dashed over to the shape. It was an action too quick for anyone to follow, let alone stop. The shape, whom he'd correctly identified as Raven, squeaked in surprise as she was pulled into an inescapable hug. And it was a weird sound, coming from Raven.
"Raven, you're okay!" Beast Boy exclaimed. "I thought Lucius had hurt you, or killed you, or worse!"
Though she had suffered through worse hugs than this, Raven still had trouble breathing. "Beast… Boy… you're… hugging… me… can't… breathe…"
"Sorry, I'm just so glad to see that you're okay." The excited green teen immediately let go and stepped back one or two feet.
"I wish I could say the same thing. What happened?"
"Oh, you mean this?" Beast Boy touched the cloth tied around his head and Raven nodded. "I hurt my head busting that wall down." He pointed to the giant hole and the resulting rubble on the floor.
"I see. Hold still, let me heal you." Raven put her left hand where she saw the bloodstain on the makeshift bandage. A look of concentration evident in both her eyes and expression, her hands took on a blue-ish glow. Beast Boy smiled and closed his eyes. He loved this part. He felt a dull ache at first, but a few seconds later it dwindled down to nothing, leaving behind a blissful, tingling sensation.
"Finished," Raven informed him, "you can open your eyes now." Ever so slowly, Beast Boy did as he was told, and he saw the girl of his dreams, along with the rest of the room's occupants, staring at him. But he only saw Raven. "Will you quit staring at me like that?" She looked away, embarrassed by all the attention.
Falon giggled. The two Titans turned to her simultaneously and said, "What?"
She giggled again. "You two are just so cute!" They both looked away and blushed.
"Sorry to interrupt this beautiful moment here but we need to get some rest. By my guess, we've only got about six hours to 'morning,' and tomorrow is our turn to go out in the courtyard."
"But us girls and you guys are on different schedules." Autumn noted.
"Yeah, but now we're kind of one room." Talon said, even more monotone that Raven could have.
"Alright everyone, let's try and get some sleep. It might be a little crowded, but tomorrow we can work on clearing out the rubble." Sebastian ordered.
Everyone called a spot of limited space on the floor and tried their best not to feel claustrophobic. Of course, Ember ended up by Zephyre and Beast Boy ended up by Raven. Naturally, Beast Boy fell asleep first and unconsciously wrapped his arms around her. It took all of Raven's self-control not to slap him. 'He is warm after all…' Raven told herself. Apparently, that was her excuse.
Beast Boy mumbled something in his sleep. "I love ya, Rae…" Raven didn't respond. She didn't have to. He was asleep, and he wouldn't hear it anyways. She had plenty of time…
Right?
Since this worked so well last time, I'm going to do another poll!
Review Question/Poll: Who is your favorite OC? If you don't have one, who do you hate the most? Or you could tell me both!
Happy Reviewing!
Oh and I'm thinking about changing my pen name to Ebon Psyche. What do you think? Emo enough for you?
Wait I didn't steal that from someone did I???