Okay, once again, this chapter was out later than I would have liked. This turned out to be my longest chapter yet, and some parts I re-wrote. But it turned out nicely, and I think you'll feel the same way. ;)
Anyway, yes, as you can see, I have finally changed my penname! After much agonizing deliberation, I finally came to a decision. This is my little tribute to Japenese monster movies, especially Godzilla, of which I am a big fan! Those of you who don't know what the word means, it's basically the Japanese word for "monster" or "strange beast". I was a little unsure at first, but I really like it. I would have changed it sooner, but alas I had a world of problems trying to register on fictionpress. The confirmation took forever to send, and when it finally did send, I had little idea it was going straight to my junk mailbox. So that took a little while longer. But alas, it's finally done.
Oh, one last thing, this chapter is very different from the others as it contains no lyrics. Not one. Why? The song, unlike the others, is "sang" much more like a narrative or an opera than an actual song. Thus, I felt trying to include them would interfere too much with the chapter and make things too confusing. Look up the lyrics on google, and you'll see what I mean. If you can, I'd also suggest you find a way to listen to the song! It sounds just like a broadway song, and it's pretty powerful at the end. Try to avoid watching the official music video from "The Wall" movie, however. If you're easily disturbed by creepy or confusing animation, then it's really not for you. (If you're into that sort of stuff, knock youself out)
Okay, enough of my rambling. Without further adieu...
Disclaimer: I own nothing. I do not own Teen Titans. All lyrics, songs, titles, and themes pertaining to "The Wall" are property of Roger Waters and Pink Floyd.
Chapter 25: The Trial
"So, is everyone clear about this?" Love asked.
"Right. Only Knowledge, didn't you say something earlier about Raven possibly going insane if she tears her wall down all at once?" Wisdom asked.
The yellow-cloaked emotion cleared her throat. "Technically yes. But it's not as if she's not partly insane already. Plus, there's definitely a very slim chance she'll make it out okay."
All the other emotions and Beast Boy stared at her, then each other, before Brave suddenly piped in.
"I love this plan! I'm excited to be a part of it! Let's do it!" she shouted.
The others chimed in their agreement, and they went about their task.
Raven was staring blankly at the ground when she heard footsteps approaching her cell. When she glanced up, she saw that Wisdom had finally returned, with Knowledge traveling close behind. She watched as her doppelganger walked up to her cell, and with a snap of her fingers, the cell slowly slid open with a loud creak.
"What's going on now?" Raven asked.
"We're taking you out of here. Come with us," Wisdom ordered. Raven was led out of her cell, with Wisdom leading the way and Knowledge staying behind Raven.
"Where are you taking me?" Raven asked the two.
"You'll see in a moment. Just follow," Wisdom replied.
Raven followed Wisdom through her mind, passing through the various regions. Finally, the mage was led through a portal to a vast, open plain. The sky above was covered with a dark grey canopy, while the ground below was covered in grass and an occasional tree.
"Where are we?" the empath asked yet again.
"The outskirts of your mind. Follow," Wisdom answered.
As they continued along, Raven noticed a large, dark structure in the distance growing bigger and bigger. As they neared it, she could see the grass around her slowly dying and the sky darkening. When they got close enough, she could see that it was a huge wall that stretched off into infinity in both directions.
Raven could feel her jaw drop. "What is that?"
"That is your wall," Knowledge answered simply. "I take it you've never seen it before."
At the base of the huge structure, Raven could see what looked like a huge crowd of people gathered. Rather than ask what it was, she decided to wait and see for herself.
When she got close enough, the mage saw that the crowd was composed of thousands of doppelgangers of herself. All of them were wearing cloaks of various shades of brown, yellow, orange, gray, green, and others.
"What are those?" she asked at first without realizing it.
"These are your sub-emotions. They all stem from your eight primary ones," Knowledge answered yet again.
The crowd of emotions were divided into two sides, with a single pathway covered in brown carpet leading up to a large judge's podium at the base of the wall. Sitting at the podium was what appeared to be an emotion wearing a green cloak. Unlike Brave's cloak, this cloak was more a bright green, and the cowl made it very difficult to see her face. This was only compounded by the fact that the emotion's head was bowed so much that she was practically looking straight at the ground.
To the left, Raven could make out a small bleachers box that held Brave, Rude, Timid, and Affection (Love). But where was Happy?
Raven didn't like where this was going one bit.
The mage was led to the center of the crowd, with the thousands of sub-emotions jeering her from both sides. The mage couldn't help feeling like a criminal on public display.
"Stop," Wisdom ordered. Raven did as she was told, and watched as Wisdom took a seat in the bleachers next to the other emotions. Meanwhile, Knowledge adjusted her spectacles, cleared her throat, and walked up to the podium.
"Good morning, your honor," Knowledge said, bowing to the bright-green emotion. "The crowd presents to you the prisoner known as Raven. The defendant is charged with the death of one emotion Happy, along with the attempted murder and manipulation of her friends."
A loud "boo" erupted from the audience of sub-emotions.
Knowledge spun around to face crowd. "Call the first witness to the stand – Master Zaor!"
Raven's eyes snapped open. Master Zaor? Her old teacher? He couldn't be here, there was no way…
In a poof of smoke, said Master appeared in front of her, just as she remembered him.
"I always said she'd end up no good, your honor!" her old master roared. "If only they'd let me have my way, I would have hammered her into shape, but no!"
He walked up to Raven, his accusing glance boring holes into her head.
"The bleeding hearts had to let her off easy! And now look at what she is! She's no better than her father! She deserves to be punished!" he shouted indignantly. He turned his back on her, now facing the judge. "Please, your honor," he begged. "Let me whip her into shape!" The bright-green emotion sat idly, swaying her head slightly but keeping her face focused on the ground.
"I…" Raven began, pausing in mid-sentence.
'Wait a minute, this isn't real. He's just an illusion,' she reminded herself. That didn't stop his remarks from hurting any less, though.
"That will be all, Master Zoar," Knowledge said. Raven watched as he disappeared with another puff of smoke.
"This court will now hear the second witness. Call in the defendant's mother!" Knowledge ordered.
'Please, no,' Raven mentally begged.
"Babe!" an all-too familiar voice shouted. Raven watched a white dove descend from the sky, taking the form of her mother as it landed. There she stood, white robe and all.
"Your honor, please, I never meant for this to happen! I wanted her to be different from her father," she pleaded.
Arella turned to face her daughter, her purple eyes meeting Raven's.
'This isn't real. This isn't real. This isn't real,' Raven's mind said over and over. She tried to turn away, but couldn't.
"Raven, why did you have to push me away? Why did you have to leave me?" Arella asked. "All I wanted was the best for you. Did you ever ask yourself what it was like for me? To think what it was like for a mother to never be allowed to hold her child? To never even be able to get close to her? Did you ever bother to ask yourself whether I actually wanted you to be alone?"
Arealla wiped a tear from her eye. "Raven, I loved you. I still love you. I was only hard on you because I had no other choice. Why couldn't you ever see that? If only you hadn't started pushing me away, you wouldn't have done the same to your friends."
"Mother, I'm sorry! I didn't mean for this to happen!" Raven said, forgetting she was just an illusion.
"No, Raven. It's too late," Arella said. "Your honor, please let her go. Let me take her home."
"That will be all, Arella," Knowledge said. Raven watched her crying mother fade away into thin air.
'It was just an illusion. Just an illusion,' Raven reminded herself over and over.
"This court will now hear the third witness," Knowledge announced. "Call in Raven's friend!"
Raven looked away. She didn't want to see who came in next. A familiar voice, however, forced her to look up.
"Raven?" the voice asked softly. The mage was compelled to look up, and in doing so saw a familiar green boy standing before her.
"Raven, it's me," Beast Boy said, smiling gently. "Raven, I'm sorry things…turned out the way they did." He took a step towards her. "And I'm sorry for leaving you before. I never wanted this to happen, either."
For some reason, Beast Boy seemed different from the first two illusions, like he was actually…whole.
'Is he real?' she asked herself.
"But why did you push me away?" Beast Boy asked. "I tried to make things up to you. I tried to be there for you, but you wouldn't let me. Why didn't you at least try to talk to me more often than you did?"
He asked this last question with a pleading look. His words stung like a hot knife, and Raven had to squeeze her eyes shut to keep the tears from falling. She couldn't for long, however, and found herself staring into his eyes again.
"You know, you didn't have to hide from me. You did the same thing with the others, too. You pushed them away when all they tried to do was help you. You turned your back on everyone. I know why you did it, though. You were afraid."
He approached her till he was only a foot away, his green eyes not leaving her violet eyes once.
"But you don't have to be afraid, Raven. Remember what I said to you one time – you think you're alone, but you're not? You're never alone, Raven, and I promise you you'll never be alone ever again. Because I'll be here for you." His lips curled up into his familiar green grin. "Raven, I just want you to know, I love you. We love you. No matter what happens, I forgive you."
He leaned forward and placed a tender kiss on her forehead.
"I love you, Raven," he said one last time.
"That is enough, Beast Boy," Knowledge interrupted.
Beast Boy didn't look away, but kept his eyes on her until he disappeared in a purple flash.
"Beast Boy, wait!" Raven shouted. It was too late, he was already gone.
"The witnesses have all spoken. Your honor?" Knowledge asked.
Raven's eyes traveled back up to the podium where the solitary "emotion" was sitting. At last, it lifted its head, revealing a set of crimson eyes with narrow slits for pupils. Like snake eyes.
And she felt her heart skip a beat.
The bright green emotion's cloak shifted into reptile scales, while the rest of the body grew and elongated rapidly. It wasn't an emotion at all – it was the cobra. And now it was bigger – much bigger.
"The evidence is undisputable! There is no need for the jury to retire!" it thundered. The giant reptile slithered toward the cowering empath, knocking over the podium in the process.
"In all my years of judging, I have never heard before of someone more deserving the full punishment of the law!"
The cobra wrapped its body around Raven, lifting her from the ground and squeezing the air out of her lungs until she couldn't breathe. It then leaned in until its huge face was mere feet away from hers, its red eyes piercing her like daggers.
"The way you made them sssuffer, your loving friends and mother, sssimply makes me want to vomit!" it boomed, narrowing its crimson eyes.
"Ha ha! Go on judge!" Rude cheered in the background. "Puke on her!"
"But sssince, my friend, I now know your deepest fear," the snake roared. It loosened its grip, letting her drop to the ground like a doll. Rearing up, it issued its final decree, "I hereby sssentence you to be exposed before your peers! TEAR DOWN THE WALL!"
The hundreds of doppelgangers joined in the chant –
"Tear down the wall! Tear down the wall!"
Up in the bleachers, even Raven's primary emotions had joined in –
"Tear down the wall! Tear down the wall!"
Raven covered her ears, but couldn't drown out the deafening chant.
"Tear down the wall! Tear down the wall! Tear down the wall!"
Raven fell to her knees, unable to shield herself from the roar. She felt the inside of her head ring, and once again, she saw images flashing before her mind. This time, they were of her entire life passing before her eyes. While this was all happening, she was unaware of the ground beginning to tremble underneath her.
Finally, Raven couldn't take it anymore, and she did the only thing she could –
She let go.
She threw her head back and screamed louder than she ever had in her life. All her rage, guilt, shame, pain and fear were released in that one tumultuous roar.
Suddenly, an explosion rippled the air. The wall in front of her burst from the middle outward, and large chunks of brick and mortar fell perilously around her. At the same time, the emotions scattered to avoid being crushed by the falling debris.
Even as this was happening, Raven didn't stop screaming. She continued to cry as the wall around her mind collapsed as far as the eye could see. Dark chunks of brick and mortar continued to fall like a deadly hailstorm upon the landscape of her mind.
When she had no breath left in her lungs, Raven collapsed forward, exhausted. As if she had passed out, she remained motionless for a long time.
Beast Boy landed – hard – on his butt when he reappeared on the pathway. The changeling let out a loud "Oof!" as he collided with the ground. Nursing his poor rear end, he got to his feet and looked around.
"Okay, Love, where did you take me now?"
She had told him to wait for her after she transported him away, but didn't bother to say how long she would be.
He only hoped what he said to Raven had finally caused her to see the light. Scratch that, he hoped she was at least okay after all of this. The poor girl looked absolutely broken when he saw her, and it took every ounce of his willpower to not hug and kiss her senseless.
Next to him, a violet sphere appeared, and with it Raven's purple-cloaked doppelganger.
"I'm sorry for the wait," Love quickly apologized.
"How's Raven?" Beast Boy quickly asked.
"She'll be fine," Love reassured him. "I promise. Now, let's get you out of here."
Love took BB's hand and guided him to the doorway that led out of Raven's mind.
"So what happens now?" Beast Boy asked at the gate.
"Raven will be…slightly different when she awakes. Now you'd better go to her once you get out. I think she'll need you once she wakes up."
"Right," Beast Boy nodded in agreement.
"BB, I just wanted to say," she paused. "Thank you. For everything. I think you've helped Raven more than you'll ever know. And not just now, I mean for everything else."
Beast Boy shrugged, but couldn't help the Cheshire grin from forming on his face. "Hey, what are friends for?"
Love's answer came in the form of another kiss on his lips. Beast Boy was only too happy to return it.
"Um, I have a question," he said when they pulled away. "Does me kissing you mean I'm cheating on Raven? I mean, I know you're part of her, but you're only one part of her, know what I mean? If you're only one side of her, does that mean-"
"BB," Love said, putting her hand to his mouth. "Don't think about it. You'll hurt your brain," she said playfully, tapping him gently on the noggin.
Beast Boy thought about it for a moment, then smiled. "Yeah, you're right. So…I guess I'll be seeing you later?"
Love nodded. "You will come and visit me sometime, right?"
"You bet! That is, as long as Raven lets me," he quickly added.
Love giggled. "Right."
"Well," Beast Boy looked at the portal, then at the emotion. "Bye Raven. I mean, Love."
"Bye, BB!" Love called. "I love you!"
"Love ya, too!" Beast Boy said before he stepped through the portal.
Raven finally gathered up the energy and willpower to get to her feet. The first thing she saw was a mound of dark rubble, and beyond that, a bright horizon. In the distance at the very center was what appeared to be a single doorway.
"She's awake!" a voice said. Raven turned, seeing her emotions gathered behind her. There stood Brave, Wisdom, Knowledge, Timid, and Rude. Happy was of course still absent, along with Rage and Affection.
"What the hell just happened?" Raven finally asked.
"Can you not figure it out?" Wisdom asked. "Raven, you are free!"
"Free?" Raven repeated dumbly.
"Free, genius. As in liberated? Emancipated?" Rude chimed in.
"What she means to say, is free from your own head," Knowledge explained.
"You had built an emotional wall around yourself. Thus, you couldn't express your emotions or get close to others. You were a prisoner of your own head, so to speak," Wisdom added.
"I'm sorry," Timid said meekly.
"It's okay, Timid!"
"But not anymore!" Brave said high-fiving Raven. "You tore it down! You're free! You had us worried for a while there, but you did it, Ravey! You did it!"
A purple sphere suddenly appeared, and with it Raven's purple-cloaked emotion.
"Sorry I'm late," Love apologized.
"It's okay, Love. You didn't miss much," Rude commented.
"Wait, Love?" Raven asked in her confusion.
Said emotion nodded happily. "You bet. I guess you could say Beast Boy's feelings for you transformed me. He awoke something you previously didn't know you had."
"You should be glad, too. If it weren't for her, you'd still be all Red Raven-y on us," Brave said. Around her, the other emotions concurred.
"Wow," was all Raven could manage to say. She was confused to say the least at the moment. But she felt something else, too. She felt…different. She felt strangely happy, all of a sudden.
"So Beast Boy loves me, eh?" she said out loud. "You know, just 24 hours ago, the idea would have made me quiver in my boots."
But not anymore. Raven no longer hid from his love. She cherished it.
"So what now?" Raven asked.
"Well, good question. This rubble will have to be cleared, but that will be our little project. As for you, I guess the first step would be to leave your head and start fixing your life on the outside," Wisdom theorized.
"But you must be careful not to rush things. It may take a while to get used to using your emotions," said Knowledge.
"True. One must know what to keep out, and what to let in," Wisdom added.
"All the more reason you'll need your friends more than ever," Love added. "They'll help you through this, Raven. I know they will."
"So, what's with that doorway, then?" Raven said, pointing to the portal.
"Well, that will lead you back to consciousness, but that portal is mostly for us," said Wisdom.
"You guys?"
"Exactly. Your wall prevented you from expressing us, but now with it torn down, we too are free. Now, you'll finally be able to let us out!" the purple emotion answered.
"But let's not stand here. Let's go and see it for ourselves!" Brave urged. The others agreed. Stepping over the fallen chunks of brick, Raven and her emotions approached the portal.
This one was similar to the others, only it was larger – and it was pure white.
"Wow," Raven said again as she examined it. "I'm sorry, this is all a little much for me."
"Not ssso fast," the all-too-familiar voice hissed. Raven turned around, and was not surprised to see the giant cobra slithering toward her.
"Hello," Raven said, still uneasy at the sight of the giant creature.
"Ssso, Raven," it said as it encircled her. "What will you do now that your wall has been torn down? How will you win your friends back?"
Raven's gaze fell. "I don't know. All I know is that it's time I stopped pushing people away and stopped blaming them for my own problems. My whole life I blamed myself for things that really were beyond my control. And now, when I finally have done something terrible, I tried blaming others for it. All this time I was too stubborn to admit that this all was really my choice to begin with. I had the power to change it all along."
"This, you admit, was all your doing then?" the snake asked her.
Raven nodded sadly. "Yes. I have nobody to blame but myself now. I guess the only thing left to do is to start taking responsibility for my own actions. It's time to stop feeling sorry for myself and start putting my life back together."
The snake's lips curled upward in a satisfied grin. Raven and the others watched curiously as a gust of wind picked up, and the snake's body slowly broke apart and dissolved as if it was turning to sand. Seconds passed, and its body was gradually carried away by the gust until with one final hiss, the creature disappeared for good.
"Hmm. Self-cleaning mind demon," Rude remarked. Raven almost chuckled at the comment.
A bright, pink flash caused everyone to jump. An orb of pink appeared in midair, and after pulsating for a few seconds, a Raven clone wearing a pink cloak fell out.
"Yay!" the emotion yelled happily as she hit the ground.
"HAPPY!" everyone said at once.
"Hi guys! Hi Ravey!" the emotion said excitedly, leaping to her feet. "Long time, no see!"
"Happy! You're alive!" Love cried.
"I know! Isn't it great?" Happy tackled Raven in a bone-crunching hug, with the mage too shocked to really do anything.
"Welcome back, Happy," Wisdom said.
"Wait, she was dead?" Raven asked, eyes widening.
"Well, ask yourself, were you happy at all in recent weeks?" Wisdom asked her. The answer to that was rather obvious.
"No. I wasn't."
"I'm so happy to see you guys, again!" the pink emotion gushed.
"Glad to see you, too," Love said, hugging Happy. The others eagerly concurred. When they were done with their little reunion, all heads turned toward Raven.
"You should go now. You have someone waiting for you," Love suggested.
Raven slowly nodded. Taking one last look at them, Raven turned around, paused, took one last breath, and stepped through.
Beast Boy had gone back downstairs as soon as he emerged from Raven's mirror. When he got back, he saw that the empath was still asleep, and Cyborg was still in his chair.
"There you are!" Cyborg said, spinning around. "Where were you?"
Beast Boy rubbed the back of his neck. "I was, uh…"
Beast Boy paused in mid-sentence when he heard a soft moan coming from the bed beside him. His head turned, and there he saw Raven awake, with her face buried in her hands. What he heard next startled him: a sniffle followed by another moan. She was crying.
"Uh, Raven?" he asked cautiously, approaching her bedside. When she didn't respond, he asked again, only this time a little louder. "Raven?"
This seemed to get her attention, for she looked up at him, eyes red and glistening. Her initial expression was one of shock, as if she wasn't sure whether he was real or not.
"Raven?" Beast Boy asked for the third time, slightly nervous. She didn't reply. Instead, the mage responded by throwing her arms around him and burying her face in her shoulder.
Too surprised to do much of anything at the moment, Beast Boy, eyes wide, wrapped his own arms around her while supporting the back of her head.
"Um…" Cyborg muttered, also surprised at the bawling empath's reaction. Neither one seemed to notice him, and the metal man took this as a sign that maybe he should leave them alone.
"Hey, I'll be in the garage if you guys need me. I'll be uh, fixing my car. Yeah." Without another word, he disappeared from the room, leaving the two alone.
Beast Boy held Raven as she continued to cry frantically into his shoulder. Not really sure what else to do, Beast Boy attempted to soothe her by gently stroking her back and whispering comforting things into her ear. Once she had dampened his shoulder a considerable amount, Raven finally got enough hold over herself to speak.
"I'm a t-t-terrible p-person," she said in-between sobs.
"No you're not," he immediately said.
"Yes I am! I'm a terrible person and a w-worse friend! I d-d-don't even deserve you!"
"That's nonsense, Raven! Of course you're not a terrible friend! You're an awesome friend!"
"How can you say that?" Raven moaned, looking at him for the first time with tear-stained eyes. "You and the others tried to be my friend, but I betrayed every one of you!"
"Raven, you were just scared and confused! You didn't know what you were doing!" Beast Boy said; placing both hands on her shoulders and looking her straight in the eye.
Raven stared at him for a moment, then frantically shook her head. "No. How can you even talk to me? How can you even look at me after everything I've done to you?" she squeaked through tears.
Beast Boy's answer came in the form of a soft kiss on her lips. That seemed enough, for she immediately grew quiet. When he pulled away, he wore a content smile on his face.
"Because I love you, Raven. I know what kind of a person you really are, and I could never leave you."
Raven stared at him in awe, jaw hanging open dumbly like she couldn't figure out what to say.
"Beast Boy…" was all that came out. She fell forward, embracing him tightly again. "I…I love you too."
"You do?" Beast Boy asked, kind of surprised. He had heard it from Love before, but hearing it from her was like hearing it for real for the first time.
"Yes. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before," she said, releasing the embrace. "I thought I loved Robin. I thought I was jealous of Starfire. Now I realize I was just confused. I didn't know what I was feeling or how to deal with it, and all that time I was just too stupid or scared to see the truth."
"Which was?"
"That I loved you, Beast Boy. It was always you. You were always there for me. You were always my friend when I needed one, the one who tried to treat me like a normal person who needed a friend, and not some scary half-demon who needed her space."
"So, you aren't afraid to love anymore?" Beast Boy asked.
"No," she answered resolutely. "After all that's happened, I don't think anything could make me happier than knowing you love me."
"Th-thank you, Raven. Nothing could make me happier knowing you love me, too." When he finished that mouthful, he could feel tears of joy welling up in his own eyes.
"I'm sorry again," Raven said. "I wanted to blame you guys – you especially – for the way I acted. It's time I stopped moping and playing the victim, and started taking control. I'm going to stop blaming others for my actions, and I'm not going to hide from my emotions anymore. I'm not going to hide from you, anymore, Beast Boy."
Beast Boy's grin grew wider, and he pulled her into another hug. "Welcome back, Raven."
She smiled in his shoulder, but just then a puzzled look came over her face. "Beast Boy," she asked, pulling back. "Did you kiss me before? Like in my sleep, or something?"
Beast Boy rubbed the back of his neck and could feel his face heating up. "Uh, why do you ask?"
"Because I don't remember kissing you ever, but I swear to God it feels as though I have. I'm getting this weird feeling of déjà vu."
"Well, uh, I didn't kiss you in your sleep, if that's what you mean," Beast Boy said nervously, remembering his little "encounter" with Love.
"Raven? Beast Boy?" Robin's voice suddenly interrupted them. Both teens released their hug and snapped their heads toward the doorway. There stood Robin, with Starfire right behind him, both looking in shock at the two.
"BB, I'm sorry! They forced me to let them in!" Cyborg called, trying to get in himself.
"It's okay," Raven and Beast Boy said at the same time.
"Raven! You're awake!" Starfire said joyfully. She and Robin quickly rushed to her bedside.
Robin, as usual, started bombarding her with questions. "Raven, you alright? Are you hurt? How are you feeling?"
"We were so worried about you, Raven!" the alien meanwhile exclaimed. "We are so glad to see you are okay!"
"I'm okay. Thanks, Starfire," Raven said, trying to address everyone at once. Even though inside, she felt more content that she had been in a long time, seeing everyone display so much care for her. It was like she had made friends all over again.
"Are you alright now? Do you need more time to yourself?" Robin quickly asked.
"No, it's okay…" Raven started.
"If you want us to leave you alone, we will," Starfire jumped in.
"No, no! Please, stay," Raven said. The Titans standing over her stopped, looking shocked, as if she had just admitted she was a lesbian.
"Are you sure you're feeling alright, Raven?" Robin asked.
Raven couldn't help chuckling. She glanced at a smiling Beast Boy, then back at the others. "Really, I'm okay. Let's just say…you've all caught me at a very strange point in my life."
Wow, things are finally looking up, aren't they?
First off, my sincere apologies to Rabula Tasa, if you're still reading this. Yes, I know, Raven's little reaction at the end is a lot like the end of your story. Know this, I didn't want it to turn out that way, but I just couldn't think of any other way to write it! It just seemed like the most appropriate way to go, if you know what I mean. Hope you don't mind.
For those of you who haven't read it, I'm referring to Rabula Tasa's story "Litany", which is VERY good. Read it if you get the chance.
Just so there's no confusion, Raven's mother and Master Zaor were both illusions, but Beast Boy was real. The sub-emotions are something I completely made up. I had to find some way to insert a huge crowd for dramatic purposes, and well, that ended up being it.
But wow!! One chapter left! wOOt! Unlike this chapter, I'll have the next one out soon. I promise. ;) For those of you who are American, happy 4th of July!