Disclaimer: I do not own teen titans, but I do own Swift.
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Chapter nine - Raven's Decision
Raven set the mirror down gently on the sideboard and sat to ponder Haurtha's harsh words.
*"It will be awfully UNlucky to wake up with dead friends!"*
*"....wake up with dead friends!"*
*"....with dead friends!"*
The words rang round her ears, making her hold her head. The curse of having such a terrible past was one she had to bear, but why did her friends have to bear it as well?
Her heartstrings pulled as she thought about Beastboy, probably sitting there, upset over her 'outburst'. But it wasn't her! It was Haurtha.
How was she going to explain this one? She sighed and rubbed her eyes in a tired fashion before retreating to the bed. She lay there, looking up at the ceiling, thinking about the situation.
But all she could think about was Beastboy, and how rude she had been. She told herself not be stupid, and that there were more important things to worry about right now.
'But he IS the most important thing to me.' she thought silently, as her hands went cold, and her head throbbed. The gem on her forehead pulsated menicingly.
BAM.BAM.BAM.
BAM.BAM.
She sat up. Those last two pulsations were to real to be in her head. Caught off guard, she muttered nervously, "Hello?"
There was a silence, in which Raven thought she must be going insane. She took a deep breath, trying to think rationally.
"Who is it?" she said, feeling more composed. She thought it was either Beastboy or Swift.
But which one? And what to say?
'Why aren't they answering me?' she thought nervously, suddenly thinking it could be someone bad. But they wouldn't knock on her door! Knock it down maybe.
She decided to try once more. "If anyone is there, this is your last chance."
"Ummmm..." came a strangulated voice from outside. 'Ah, so there is someone there. ' thought Raven triumphantly, half glad that she actually wasn't going insane.
"Yes. What do you want?" she droned, in her typical way. The voice was one she knew. But "Ummmm" wasn't much to go on. She decided to try a different approach.
"Beastboy?" she said uncertainly. The door started to open, to reveal a very tired, very sad and very apprehensive looking....Beastboy.
He stared at her and she looked back. Then she raised an eyebrow.
"I won't bite you know." she said, slightly harshly. Beastboy winced.
"Well after what you said down by the river...I thought..." he said nervously, scratching his head. "...you might not be that happy to see me..."
Raven shook her head. She looked down at her hands, trying to think of how to explain this. The situation had gone from bad to worse, but what should she tell him?
There was a slightly awkward silence. Then, Raven looked up.
"Was I awful down by the river?" she said, feeling the tears well up in her eyes. Beastboy nodded and looked at her sad face.
"You know, Rae, its strange..." he started, walking slowly towards the bed. "You seemed like a different person down there. Now, you seem more like you again."
He touched his chest where his heart was. "I was so scared, dude. And when you flew away I..."
He sighed and looked at the floor. "I had to come find you. I love you Rae, and I can't live without you."
Raven was sure that her heart stopped beating for a split second, in which she looked at him, and absorbed his words. Her head spun, at what to say to him.
"I..." she began, slowly, gripping her head, to steady herself. Beastboy ran over to her and held her arm.
"Dude, you okay?" he said, supporting her. She smiled weakly and nodded.
"Yeah. Look, we haven't got much time. Okay, so when I saw you and Swift I was a teeny bit mad but..." Raven began, causing Beastboy to panic.
"NO! WAIT! Nothing happened......"
"I know."
"...except she was upset and...."
"I know."
"...so I comforted her...."
"I know."
"...and thats all."
"I KNOW!" said Raven angrily, causing the lamp to explode behind her. She rolled her eyes and looked at his frightened face. She smiled.
"I know what it was, but you have to listen." she said. Beastboy opened his mouth to speak but a second later had a black aura covering it.
"It wasn't me who did that to Swift and you. It was a minion...a demon of Trigon's. He was inside my head, manipulating my jealousy, causing me to lose control. I couldn't stop him. So when I confronted him in my mirror he told me something horrible. He said that Trigon was coming and that next time he was going to manipulate me to kill you and the other titans."
Beastboy's face changed to horror as Raven explained the confrontation with Haurtha. Eventually, Raven released the aura grip on him and he took a gulp of air.
"Raven! I knew it wasn't you!" he said hugging her tightly. She gripped him tightly, and after a while he looked at her face. Now his expression was more serious.
"What are we going to do?"
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Swift managed to round up all the titans a few minutes later. She was surprised to hear had all been looking for her. Although she was flattered, she was angry at herself for causing such a fuss.
"I'm so sorry to have caused all this grief." she said shyly, rubbing her forehead. The other titans looked at her.
"Do not be sorry!" said Starfire, patting Swift's arm comfortingly. "We are just glad to hear that you are safe. But...where is Beastboy?"
Swift looked at the others. Slowly she recounted the story about Raven and Beastboy. They listened in disbelief.
"Well, we've seen Rave's mood swings before.." said Cyborg slowly. "But nothin' like THAT."
Robin's head snapped up suddenly. "Oh no.."
The others looked at him. There was a chorus of "What?!"
Robin looked at his friends and grimaced.
"Think," he said in a worried voice. "Think back to the last time that Raven acted all weird like this."
There was a silence, whereupon Swift looked blankly at the boy wonder. Cyborg gasped, a few seconds later and looked up.
"Nah, you don't mean the whole anger thing?"
Robin nodded. "And who was inside her head then, Cy? You remember don't you?"
Cyborg nodded slowly, his face a contortion of regret. "Dawg, how could I forget. It was Raven's father. Trigon."
Swift let out a shriek and fainted onto the floor. Starfire leant down with a frightened face and shook the girl awake.
"Swift? Swift?" Star said nervously. The girl awoke and looked around with a newly determined face.
"Beastboy went back to find Raven! He could be in serious trouble if Trigon is there. We must go!" said Swift anxiously. The others nodded and they set off as quickly as they could to Titan tower.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
"What are we going to do?"
Raven looked at BB softly. "You must know what I have to do."
Beastboy shook his head, not wanting too understand. "No."
"Yes. I have to go. I could seriously hurt you and the others."
"I won't let you go alone, Raven."
"I have to do this alone, Beastboy. I'm not risking you getting hurt."
Beastboy looked up with tears in his emerald eyes. "Please, I'm begging you not to do this."
Raven looked away. Her heart was tearing in two but she knew what she had to do. It was for the best, as much as she didn't want to do it.
"I have to. I'll come back to you, I promise. I love you."
Beastboy was crying now, the tears dripping down onto his lap. Raven closed her lilac eyes, willing herself not to cry.
"Please. Let me come with you." he sobbed. She looked at him, and touched his face.
"Please don't make this harder than it already is." She said looking at his sad eyes. Beastboy reached over and kissed her.
She relished every second that she could, hoping that this wouldn't be the last kiss they shared.
When they broke away she looked at him. "I have to go now. Before the others get back. Tell them that I'm sorry, alright?"
Beastboy just continued to sob softly. Raven stood up and picked up the book on her desk. It contained her research on Ashelba's riddle. She handed it to Beastboy.
"Take this." He took it limply, letting it fall onto the bed.
She crouched beside the sobbing boy and leant over to his ear. She whispered softly to him.
"Promise me you won't follow me." There was no answer.
"If you love me truly, you must respect my request. Please." Raven felt a tear slide down her cheek. This was the hardet thing she had ever had to do in her life.
"I-I p-promise." stuttered Beastboy, looking at her properly. She pulled her hood up and touched his face again. Then she rose up to her full height once more.
She walked over to the window and opened it. Looking back, she saw that he was watching her intently, hoping she might change her mind.
'I want to stay. But I can't.' she thought softly. 'But I'll come back to him. That's MY promise.'
"I love you." she whispered, then flew out of the window, towards the horizon.
Beastboy watched her disappear into the distance, then picked up the book and headed downstairs.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
The front door slammed as the titans rushed in.
"Be ready for trouble Titans.." said Robin in his leadership tones.
The others all scanned the rooms, cautiously, ready for anything.
"Errr, I think you should all come and see this..." came Starfire's voice from the TV room. They rushed in to join her. And then they stopped dead.
On the couch was Beastboy, staring into space, looking blank, with tear stains on his cheeks.
"Uh..B?" said Cyborg uncertainly. There was no response. He didn't even seem to be moving.
The titans approached him carefully and Starfire bobbed around infront of his face.
"BEAST BOY!" she shouted, anxiously. He looked up at her, but he didnt smile.
"She's gone. She's gone." he said to Star. Starfire raised her eyebrows.
"Who? Raven?"
Beastboy nodded and pointed to the book on the couch next to him. The titans stared at it. It looked like one of Raven's books.
"Read. She said she's sorry. Now Read." said Beastboy uncharacteristically. He turned his attention back into staring into space. Cyborg, Star and Robin tried to talk to him with no avail.
Swift bit her lip. She was wondering what was inside the book. Slowly she reached out to it.
Opening it, a mass of papers fell fluttering onto the floor. Swift sighed and crouched down, cursing to herself in her own language, as she picked up the pages.
That was when she found the note.
She scanned it and then croakily called out to the others.
"I think that you should see this note. I'll read it to you.
Dear Titans and Swift,
If you are reading this note then it has come to the worst. I must be gone, and so I hand over my research to you. This book contains everything I have figured out about Ashelba's riddle.
I have managed to mostly decipher it all except for the last line. It's puzzling me more than ever. Please try and continue my work.
I am sorry that I am not here with you, but I will have left for a reason.
Swift, I am so sorry.
Good luck to you all.
Raven x "
There was a silence, as the titans absorbed the words. Robin picked up a sheet of paper.
"I guess we should read her notes."
*********************
Thank you. R/R!
warprince2099 - Thankees ^^
patriot1 - Yeahhh righhhht =P
Moey25 - Happier now, huh? ^^
Raven A. Star - Wow. thanks for reviewing ^^
Ja ~*Chibi*~
*****************
Chapter nine - Raven's Decision
Raven set the mirror down gently on the sideboard and sat to ponder Haurtha's harsh words.
*"It will be awfully UNlucky to wake up with dead friends!"*
*"....wake up with dead friends!"*
*"....with dead friends!"*
The words rang round her ears, making her hold her head. The curse of having such a terrible past was one she had to bear, but why did her friends have to bear it as well?
Her heartstrings pulled as she thought about Beastboy, probably sitting there, upset over her 'outburst'. But it wasn't her! It was Haurtha.
How was she going to explain this one? She sighed and rubbed her eyes in a tired fashion before retreating to the bed. She lay there, looking up at the ceiling, thinking about the situation.
But all she could think about was Beastboy, and how rude she had been. She told herself not be stupid, and that there were more important things to worry about right now.
'But he IS the most important thing to me.' she thought silently, as her hands went cold, and her head throbbed. The gem on her forehead pulsated menicingly.
BAM.BAM.BAM.
BAM.BAM.
She sat up. Those last two pulsations were to real to be in her head. Caught off guard, she muttered nervously, "Hello?"
There was a silence, in which Raven thought she must be going insane. She took a deep breath, trying to think rationally.
"Who is it?" she said, feeling more composed. She thought it was either Beastboy or Swift.
But which one? And what to say?
'Why aren't they answering me?' she thought nervously, suddenly thinking it could be someone bad. But they wouldn't knock on her door! Knock it down maybe.
She decided to try once more. "If anyone is there, this is your last chance."
"Ummmm..." came a strangulated voice from outside. 'Ah, so there is someone there. ' thought Raven triumphantly, half glad that she actually wasn't going insane.
"Yes. What do you want?" she droned, in her typical way. The voice was one she knew. But "Ummmm" wasn't much to go on. She decided to try a different approach.
"Beastboy?" she said uncertainly. The door started to open, to reveal a very tired, very sad and very apprehensive looking....Beastboy.
He stared at her and she looked back. Then she raised an eyebrow.
"I won't bite you know." she said, slightly harshly. Beastboy winced.
"Well after what you said down by the river...I thought..." he said nervously, scratching his head. "...you might not be that happy to see me..."
Raven shook her head. She looked down at her hands, trying to think of how to explain this. The situation had gone from bad to worse, but what should she tell him?
There was a slightly awkward silence. Then, Raven looked up.
"Was I awful down by the river?" she said, feeling the tears well up in her eyes. Beastboy nodded and looked at her sad face.
"You know, Rae, its strange..." he started, walking slowly towards the bed. "You seemed like a different person down there. Now, you seem more like you again."
He touched his chest where his heart was. "I was so scared, dude. And when you flew away I..."
He sighed and looked at the floor. "I had to come find you. I love you Rae, and I can't live without you."
Raven was sure that her heart stopped beating for a split second, in which she looked at him, and absorbed his words. Her head spun, at what to say to him.
"I..." she began, slowly, gripping her head, to steady herself. Beastboy ran over to her and held her arm.
"Dude, you okay?" he said, supporting her. She smiled weakly and nodded.
"Yeah. Look, we haven't got much time. Okay, so when I saw you and Swift I was a teeny bit mad but..." Raven began, causing Beastboy to panic.
"NO! WAIT! Nothing happened......"
"I know."
"...except she was upset and...."
"I know."
"...so I comforted her...."
"I know."
"...and thats all."
"I KNOW!" said Raven angrily, causing the lamp to explode behind her. She rolled her eyes and looked at his frightened face. She smiled.
"I know what it was, but you have to listen." she said. Beastboy opened his mouth to speak but a second later had a black aura covering it.
"It wasn't me who did that to Swift and you. It was a minion...a demon of Trigon's. He was inside my head, manipulating my jealousy, causing me to lose control. I couldn't stop him. So when I confronted him in my mirror he told me something horrible. He said that Trigon was coming and that next time he was going to manipulate me to kill you and the other titans."
Beastboy's face changed to horror as Raven explained the confrontation with Haurtha. Eventually, Raven released the aura grip on him and he took a gulp of air.
"Raven! I knew it wasn't you!" he said hugging her tightly. She gripped him tightly, and after a while he looked at her face. Now his expression was more serious.
"What are we going to do?"
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Swift managed to round up all the titans a few minutes later. She was surprised to hear had all been looking for her. Although she was flattered, she was angry at herself for causing such a fuss.
"I'm so sorry to have caused all this grief." she said shyly, rubbing her forehead. The other titans looked at her.
"Do not be sorry!" said Starfire, patting Swift's arm comfortingly. "We are just glad to hear that you are safe. But...where is Beastboy?"
Swift looked at the others. Slowly she recounted the story about Raven and Beastboy. They listened in disbelief.
"Well, we've seen Rave's mood swings before.." said Cyborg slowly. "But nothin' like THAT."
Robin's head snapped up suddenly. "Oh no.."
The others looked at him. There was a chorus of "What?!"
Robin looked at his friends and grimaced.
"Think," he said in a worried voice. "Think back to the last time that Raven acted all weird like this."
There was a silence, whereupon Swift looked blankly at the boy wonder. Cyborg gasped, a few seconds later and looked up.
"Nah, you don't mean the whole anger thing?"
Robin nodded. "And who was inside her head then, Cy? You remember don't you?"
Cyborg nodded slowly, his face a contortion of regret. "Dawg, how could I forget. It was Raven's father. Trigon."
Swift let out a shriek and fainted onto the floor. Starfire leant down with a frightened face and shook the girl awake.
"Swift? Swift?" Star said nervously. The girl awoke and looked around with a newly determined face.
"Beastboy went back to find Raven! He could be in serious trouble if Trigon is there. We must go!" said Swift anxiously. The others nodded and they set off as quickly as they could to Titan tower.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
"What are we going to do?"
Raven looked at BB softly. "You must know what I have to do."
Beastboy shook his head, not wanting too understand. "No."
"Yes. I have to go. I could seriously hurt you and the others."
"I won't let you go alone, Raven."
"I have to do this alone, Beastboy. I'm not risking you getting hurt."
Beastboy looked up with tears in his emerald eyes. "Please, I'm begging you not to do this."
Raven looked away. Her heart was tearing in two but she knew what she had to do. It was for the best, as much as she didn't want to do it.
"I have to. I'll come back to you, I promise. I love you."
Beastboy was crying now, the tears dripping down onto his lap. Raven closed her lilac eyes, willing herself not to cry.
"Please. Let me come with you." he sobbed. She looked at him, and touched his face.
"Please don't make this harder than it already is." She said looking at his sad eyes. Beastboy reached over and kissed her.
She relished every second that she could, hoping that this wouldn't be the last kiss they shared.
When they broke away she looked at him. "I have to go now. Before the others get back. Tell them that I'm sorry, alright?"
Beastboy just continued to sob softly. Raven stood up and picked up the book on her desk. It contained her research on Ashelba's riddle. She handed it to Beastboy.
"Take this." He took it limply, letting it fall onto the bed.
She crouched beside the sobbing boy and leant over to his ear. She whispered softly to him.
"Promise me you won't follow me." There was no answer.
"If you love me truly, you must respect my request. Please." Raven felt a tear slide down her cheek. This was the hardet thing she had ever had to do in her life.
"I-I p-promise." stuttered Beastboy, looking at her properly. She pulled her hood up and touched his face again. Then she rose up to her full height once more.
She walked over to the window and opened it. Looking back, she saw that he was watching her intently, hoping she might change her mind.
'I want to stay. But I can't.' she thought softly. 'But I'll come back to him. That's MY promise.'
"I love you." she whispered, then flew out of the window, towards the horizon.
Beastboy watched her disappear into the distance, then picked up the book and headed downstairs.
*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
The front door slammed as the titans rushed in.
"Be ready for trouble Titans.." said Robin in his leadership tones.
The others all scanned the rooms, cautiously, ready for anything.
"Errr, I think you should all come and see this..." came Starfire's voice from the TV room. They rushed in to join her. And then they stopped dead.
On the couch was Beastboy, staring into space, looking blank, with tear stains on his cheeks.
"Uh..B?" said Cyborg uncertainly. There was no response. He didn't even seem to be moving.
The titans approached him carefully and Starfire bobbed around infront of his face.
"BEAST BOY!" she shouted, anxiously. He looked up at her, but he didnt smile.
"She's gone. She's gone." he said to Star. Starfire raised her eyebrows.
"Who? Raven?"
Beastboy nodded and pointed to the book on the couch next to him. The titans stared at it. It looked like one of Raven's books.
"Read. She said she's sorry. Now Read." said Beastboy uncharacteristically. He turned his attention back into staring into space. Cyborg, Star and Robin tried to talk to him with no avail.
Swift bit her lip. She was wondering what was inside the book. Slowly she reached out to it.
Opening it, a mass of papers fell fluttering onto the floor. Swift sighed and crouched down, cursing to herself in her own language, as she picked up the pages.
That was when she found the note.
She scanned it and then croakily called out to the others.
"I think that you should see this note. I'll read it to you.
Dear Titans and Swift,
If you are reading this note then it has come to the worst. I must be gone, and so I hand over my research to you. This book contains everything I have figured out about Ashelba's riddle.
I have managed to mostly decipher it all except for the last line. It's puzzling me more than ever. Please try and continue my work.
I am sorry that I am not here with you, but I will have left for a reason.
Swift, I am so sorry.
Good luck to you all.
Raven x "
There was a silence, as the titans absorbed the words. Robin picked up a sheet of paper.
"I guess we should read her notes."
*********************
Thank you. R/R!
warprince2099 - Thankees ^^
patriot1 - Yeahhh righhhht =P
Moey25 - Happier now, huh? ^^
Raven A. Star - Wow. thanks for reviewing ^^
Ja ~*Chibi*~