Disclaimer: I do not own Teen titans, only Swift.
********************
Chapter ten - It begins.
'Where am I going?!' thought Raven to herself as she flew through the now twinkling starlit sky. She didn't feel like herself anymore, just a big jumbled mess.
The truth was she didn't know where she was going, she just knew that no matter what, she had to get out of Jump City. Away from the titans.
She kept on flying until she reached a lake. She had absolutely no idea where she was, so she landed in the nearby field. The lake shone under the moon, and glimmered in the starlight.
She sat under a willow tree near the waters edge, and wrapped her cloak around herself for warmth. Her mind eased a little, as she tried to meditate and remind herself who she was.
Apart from that, there was nothing left to do but wait.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
"I guess we should read her notes."
Swift scooped up the remaining papers and dropped them onto the couch. Each titan picked up a sheet of paper, and began to read.
There was an intense, inpenetrable silence, as the five teenagers looked through the notes.
Beastboy felt very out of character. He couldn't even summon the strength to be humourous. He badly wanted to go after Raven, but he'd promised. He'd promised.The paper was limp in his clammy hand, and he looked straight ahead, as if in a trance.
Cyborg was watching Beastboy out of the corner of his eye. His buddy seemed so quiet and down, it was frightening him. However, there was no time for petty concerns. Deciding to concentrate on his sheet of paper, Cyborg started to read properly.
*
A gasp, and all the heads in the room looked up in shock. It was Cyborg, who upon reading his sheet properly had obviously found out something. Else his system was crashing again.
Robin raised an eyebrow. "Cy? You okay? What's up?"
Even Beastboy looked at the metal man, his thoughts broken by the agonised gasp.
And still no words from Cyborg. Nothing. He just sat there, mouth open.
Swift clicked her fingers. Cyborg blinked, startled and noticed the odd looks that were flying in his general direction.
He couldn't find the words to speak. He pointed weakly to the paper. The others just looked at him, each with seperate emotions.
Starfire shrugged and floated in mid air, terribly confused.
Beastboy sat looking quietly at him, his ears pricked up.
Robin looked as if he was going to explode with the suspense, but he remained calm, and eyed Cyborg carefully.
But Swift, she looked the worst. She was on the verge of tears, she looked worn and tired, and her eyes were beginning to dim.
"Please tell me." she whispered, maintaining eye contact. Cyborg looked into her sad eyes and was drawn in
He smiled at her. "I think I know what the last line means."
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Raven was frustrated down by the lake. She was anticipating the arrival of Trigon, yet it wasn't happening.
She picked up a stick and lazily traced shapes into the dusty ground.
Without thinking she drew a heart, and put a B in it. She sighed.
Her heart ached when she thought of his pleading words. It was all she could do, to keep herself by the lakeside. She wanted to run back to him, and tell him it was okay, kiss his face.
These feelings overwhelmed her until she felt like a different person. She snapped out of it soon enough, when she remembered the true task at hand.
She mustn't think about this now. She must clear her mind. Control her emotions and be the old Raven. Calm, cool and collected.
Slowly, Raven stretched out her foot, and rubbed it over the heart, causing it to disappear into dust again.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
"You know? Cy, tell us then!" said Robin, almost angrily. Cyborg silenced him with a look. His human eye was stony and cold, and Robin realised the seriousness of the situation.He controlled himself and fell silent.
Cyborg turned back to Swift. His eyes softened as he looked into the pretty face.
"The piece of 'research' you gave to me was one on Trigon's past."
He pointed to a paragraph on the paper and read it out.
"Trigon has committed countless brutalities in his time. One of the worst is known as the 'Raping of Aruthca'. (a/n: all this is made up, but this is a fic, okay? So remember that none of this happened. Just part of the story!!^^)"
Cyborg paused as the others leaned closer, honed in on what he was saying. He looked up briefly at Swifts anxious face, then continued slowly.
"This was a horrific display of evil. Trigon abused every single woman that he saw that day (known on the Azarathian calender as the day of Aruthca). Many were severly beaten beforehand and died as soon as Trigon left, but there is one known survivor."
Again he paused, the tension could have been cut with a knife. Noone spoke, so he continued.
"A brave young woman, who had a younger sister at the time. The sister apparantly avoided this attack. The anonymous woman, gave birth to a child. This child was fathered by Trigon, and thus a constant reminder of that day. Bravely, the woman raised the child (who is said to be a girl) on Azarath, where she still lives."
Cyborg stopped and looked up. Robin shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't get it Cy. What does that have to do with anything?"
Cyborg took in the others expressions. They were ones (especially in BB's case) of extreme confusion. He decided to carefully prod at the answer.
"Swift. Who is you father?" said Cyborg quietly. Swift looked up shocked.
"I....don't know. Mother never talked about it. She said he was a bad man, who was not to be thought about."
"Hmm," said Cyborg, still quietly. "It's funny how much you resemble Raven, isn't it?"
The others fell silent, except for Beastboy, who at last seemed to have found his voice.
"Dude...your suggesting...that Raven and Swift are...sisters?!"
"No." said Cyborg, shaking his head. "Half-sisters."
Swift screamed and fell on the floor. The other titans looked shocked. Beastboy's mouth hung open, Robin looked shaken, and Starfire simply gasped.
Cyborg bent down by Swift. She was out cold, so weak and faint. He picked her up gently, and put her onto the couch.
"Swift. Swift. It's alright." said Cyborg. He roused the tired girl, who blinked her eyes and sat up groggily.
"Raven...me...I...she...we.." came a blurb of chatter. Swift sighed and shut her eyes.
Beastboy crawled over towards the girl and smiled at her.
"Hey, it's not so bad. You're kinda like my sister-in-law now!" he teased.
'Humour in a bad situation? Looks like B is back on track!' though Cy cheerfully.
Swift rolled her eyes. "THAT's supposed to make me happy?"
But she smiled weakly and looked at Cyborg. "Why only half-sisters?"
"Well I'm guessin' that Ashelba is the older sister right?" Swift nodded vehemently.
"So, that means it has to be her who was raped. Which means you and Rave have the same father but different mothers. Half-sisters."
"So the line. What does it mean?" Swift asked, after some time.
"'The two sisters stick together'?" said Cy, looking into the green eyes. "It means, Ashelba may have forseen Rave flying off on her own like this. My guess is that it means that two you have to stick together to beat Trigon."
Swift sighed and looked down. "Mother kept it quiet all these years."
"She probably didn't want you to be hurt, Swift!" said Starfire. "It was for your own good, out of kindness, of that I am sure." Robin nodded.
"Titans." he said in his leadership manner. "Lets go and find Raven, before it's too late..."
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
It came in a split second, like lightning. A searing pain in her gem, and Raven was writhing on the floor in agony.
'He's....coming.' she thought, as she wrestled with the pain. The wind began to blow - strong and cold, and there seemed to be a red tint to the earth all of a sudden.
"Anger..." came a deep voice, echoing around the lake. "..shall consume you, my daughter."
"No.." whispered Raven, her hands over her ears as the pain got worse and worse.
"Give in." came the voice. The red tint became darker, the moon disappeared behind the dark clouds, in the ever blackening sky.
"Never." said Raven. The pain got worse. She could feel the anger, being taken over. She fought with all her might, muttering her chant under her breath.
Then she felt the pain ease up. It began to stop. To subside.
She opened her eyes and blinked, focusing on the newly red world around her. The moonlight was nearly gone, there was only an eery glow around the lakeside. She could feel him there.
"You always have to do things the hard way, don't you, Metrion?" came a voice from behind her.
Raven turned around and came face to face with her worst nightmare. Trigon in the flesh, there infront of her.
She pulled her hood up and looked at him angrily.
"What do you mean." she stated coldly, as she drew her breath.
There came a deep rattling from the throat of Trigon, which Raven eventually identified as a chuckle.
"Do you not know, that I will beat you into submission. There is no resistance possible which will overcome me."
"I can overcome you." said Raven, a little overconfidently. Again came the harsh, throaty chuckle.
"You do not remember the last time?" said Trigon, his gruff voice penetrating the thick air.
"I remember beating you. Sending you back where you belonged." said Raven, her emotionless voice ringing through the wind.
"That was in your head. You aren't as strong as you think you are, my daughter." said Trigon, his four eyes shining brightly.
"I did it once, and I will do it again." said Raven, letting no emotion show whatsoever.
"Oh, really?" said Trigon. He looked around, then turned back. "I don't see your friends, Metrion."
"I don't need them to take you out." she said, feeling the icy wind, which matched her icy voice.
"We'll see. For now, the time has come. You must join me, let the rage in."
"I'll die first." said Raven angrily, preparing herself mentally. Trigon blinked.
"So will I." came a cool voice behind her. Ravens back straightened in surprise. She turned around, feeling Trigons stare, melting away the atmosphere.
"SWIFT!" said Raven, shocked yet slightly angered. "Get out of here! He is dangerous, he could hurt you and--"
"NO." said Swift. "We do this together. I know what the riddle means Raven, but there is no time. Just trust me."
Raven hesitated. The look in her cousin's eyes was too strong for her, it penetrated her soul. She remembered all the times that Swift had seen her through. Why give up on her now?
She nodded, and turned back to see Trigons lip curled into a horrible grin.
"AH, Nerithon!" he said, causing Swift to shudder, but she still stared at him. "How nice of you to join us."
"Shut up." Swift said. Short and sweet, yet it got the message across. She stared as Trigon's eyes flashed the infamous anger. His muscles bulged.
"You have done it now, Nerithon."
"On the contrary." came the newly calm voice of Swift. "I'm just about to."
The biggest battle of their lives had begun.
*******************
Sorry for the long delay in this chapter. I've been ill and then college and well....bla...sorry if it was terrible.
But for now, Some replies....
Invader Sam - Get your point, will discuss with u on aim sometime, k?
Carrot the love machine - Thank you very much, you are too kind ^^
Sorry but that is all for now, I am sooo tired.
Ja-ne! ~*Chibi*~
********************
Chapter ten - It begins.
'Where am I going?!' thought Raven to herself as she flew through the now twinkling starlit sky. She didn't feel like herself anymore, just a big jumbled mess.
The truth was she didn't know where she was going, she just knew that no matter what, she had to get out of Jump City. Away from the titans.
She kept on flying until she reached a lake. She had absolutely no idea where she was, so she landed in the nearby field. The lake shone under the moon, and glimmered in the starlight.
She sat under a willow tree near the waters edge, and wrapped her cloak around herself for warmth. Her mind eased a little, as she tried to meditate and remind herself who she was.
Apart from that, there was nothing left to do but wait.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
"I guess we should read her notes."
Swift scooped up the remaining papers and dropped them onto the couch. Each titan picked up a sheet of paper, and began to read.
There was an intense, inpenetrable silence, as the five teenagers looked through the notes.
Beastboy felt very out of character. He couldn't even summon the strength to be humourous. He badly wanted to go after Raven, but he'd promised. He'd promised.The paper was limp in his clammy hand, and he looked straight ahead, as if in a trance.
Cyborg was watching Beastboy out of the corner of his eye. His buddy seemed so quiet and down, it was frightening him. However, there was no time for petty concerns. Deciding to concentrate on his sheet of paper, Cyborg started to read properly.
*
A gasp, and all the heads in the room looked up in shock. It was Cyborg, who upon reading his sheet properly had obviously found out something. Else his system was crashing again.
Robin raised an eyebrow. "Cy? You okay? What's up?"
Even Beastboy looked at the metal man, his thoughts broken by the agonised gasp.
And still no words from Cyborg. Nothing. He just sat there, mouth open.
Swift clicked her fingers. Cyborg blinked, startled and noticed the odd looks that were flying in his general direction.
He couldn't find the words to speak. He pointed weakly to the paper. The others just looked at him, each with seperate emotions.
Starfire shrugged and floated in mid air, terribly confused.
Beastboy sat looking quietly at him, his ears pricked up.
Robin looked as if he was going to explode with the suspense, but he remained calm, and eyed Cyborg carefully.
But Swift, she looked the worst. She was on the verge of tears, she looked worn and tired, and her eyes were beginning to dim.
"Please tell me." she whispered, maintaining eye contact. Cyborg looked into her sad eyes and was drawn in
He smiled at her. "I think I know what the last line means."
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
Raven was frustrated down by the lake. She was anticipating the arrival of Trigon, yet it wasn't happening.
She picked up a stick and lazily traced shapes into the dusty ground.
Without thinking she drew a heart, and put a B in it. She sighed.
Her heart ached when she thought of his pleading words. It was all she could do, to keep herself by the lakeside. She wanted to run back to him, and tell him it was okay, kiss his face.
These feelings overwhelmed her until she felt like a different person. She snapped out of it soon enough, when she remembered the true task at hand.
She mustn't think about this now. She must clear her mind. Control her emotions and be the old Raven. Calm, cool and collected.
Slowly, Raven stretched out her foot, and rubbed it over the heart, causing it to disappear into dust again.
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
"You know? Cy, tell us then!" said Robin, almost angrily. Cyborg silenced him with a look. His human eye was stony and cold, and Robin realised the seriousness of the situation.He controlled himself and fell silent.
Cyborg turned back to Swift. His eyes softened as he looked into the pretty face.
"The piece of 'research' you gave to me was one on Trigon's past."
He pointed to a paragraph on the paper and read it out.
"Trigon has committed countless brutalities in his time. One of the worst is known as the 'Raping of Aruthca'. (a/n: all this is made up, but this is a fic, okay? So remember that none of this happened. Just part of the story!!^^)"
Cyborg paused as the others leaned closer, honed in on what he was saying. He looked up briefly at Swifts anxious face, then continued slowly.
"This was a horrific display of evil. Trigon abused every single woman that he saw that day (known on the Azarathian calender as the day of Aruthca). Many were severly beaten beforehand and died as soon as Trigon left, but there is one known survivor."
Again he paused, the tension could have been cut with a knife. Noone spoke, so he continued.
"A brave young woman, who had a younger sister at the time. The sister apparantly avoided this attack. The anonymous woman, gave birth to a child. This child was fathered by Trigon, and thus a constant reminder of that day. Bravely, the woman raised the child (who is said to be a girl) on Azarath, where she still lives."
Cyborg stopped and looked up. Robin shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't get it Cy. What does that have to do with anything?"
Cyborg took in the others expressions. They were ones (especially in BB's case) of extreme confusion. He decided to carefully prod at the answer.
"Swift. Who is you father?" said Cyborg quietly. Swift looked up shocked.
"I....don't know. Mother never talked about it. She said he was a bad man, who was not to be thought about."
"Hmm," said Cyborg, still quietly. "It's funny how much you resemble Raven, isn't it?"
The others fell silent, except for Beastboy, who at last seemed to have found his voice.
"Dude...your suggesting...that Raven and Swift are...sisters?!"
"No." said Cyborg, shaking his head. "Half-sisters."
Swift screamed and fell on the floor. The other titans looked shocked. Beastboy's mouth hung open, Robin looked shaken, and Starfire simply gasped.
Cyborg bent down by Swift. She was out cold, so weak and faint. He picked her up gently, and put her onto the couch.
"Swift. Swift. It's alright." said Cyborg. He roused the tired girl, who blinked her eyes and sat up groggily.
"Raven...me...I...she...we.." came a blurb of chatter. Swift sighed and shut her eyes.
Beastboy crawled over towards the girl and smiled at her.
"Hey, it's not so bad. You're kinda like my sister-in-law now!" he teased.
'Humour in a bad situation? Looks like B is back on track!' though Cy cheerfully.
Swift rolled her eyes. "THAT's supposed to make me happy?"
But she smiled weakly and looked at Cyborg. "Why only half-sisters?"
"Well I'm guessin' that Ashelba is the older sister right?" Swift nodded vehemently.
"So, that means it has to be her who was raped. Which means you and Rave have the same father but different mothers. Half-sisters."
"So the line. What does it mean?" Swift asked, after some time.
"'The two sisters stick together'?" said Cy, looking into the green eyes. "It means, Ashelba may have forseen Rave flying off on her own like this. My guess is that it means that two you have to stick together to beat Trigon."
Swift sighed and looked down. "Mother kept it quiet all these years."
"She probably didn't want you to be hurt, Swift!" said Starfire. "It was for your own good, out of kindness, of that I am sure." Robin nodded.
"Titans." he said in his leadership manner. "Lets go and find Raven, before it's too late..."
^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^
It came in a split second, like lightning. A searing pain in her gem, and Raven was writhing on the floor in agony.
'He's....coming.' she thought, as she wrestled with the pain. The wind began to blow - strong and cold, and there seemed to be a red tint to the earth all of a sudden.
"Anger..." came a deep voice, echoing around the lake. "..shall consume you, my daughter."
"No.." whispered Raven, her hands over her ears as the pain got worse and worse.
"Give in." came the voice. The red tint became darker, the moon disappeared behind the dark clouds, in the ever blackening sky.
"Never." said Raven. The pain got worse. She could feel the anger, being taken over. She fought with all her might, muttering her chant under her breath.
Then she felt the pain ease up. It began to stop. To subside.
She opened her eyes and blinked, focusing on the newly red world around her. The moonlight was nearly gone, there was only an eery glow around the lakeside. She could feel him there.
"You always have to do things the hard way, don't you, Metrion?" came a voice from behind her.
Raven turned around and came face to face with her worst nightmare. Trigon in the flesh, there infront of her.
She pulled her hood up and looked at him angrily.
"What do you mean." she stated coldly, as she drew her breath.
There came a deep rattling from the throat of Trigon, which Raven eventually identified as a chuckle.
"Do you not know, that I will beat you into submission. There is no resistance possible which will overcome me."
"I can overcome you." said Raven, a little overconfidently. Again came the harsh, throaty chuckle.
"You do not remember the last time?" said Trigon, his gruff voice penetrating the thick air.
"I remember beating you. Sending you back where you belonged." said Raven, her emotionless voice ringing through the wind.
"That was in your head. You aren't as strong as you think you are, my daughter." said Trigon, his four eyes shining brightly.
"I did it once, and I will do it again." said Raven, letting no emotion show whatsoever.
"Oh, really?" said Trigon. He looked around, then turned back. "I don't see your friends, Metrion."
"I don't need them to take you out." she said, feeling the icy wind, which matched her icy voice.
"We'll see. For now, the time has come. You must join me, let the rage in."
"I'll die first." said Raven angrily, preparing herself mentally. Trigon blinked.
"So will I." came a cool voice behind her. Ravens back straightened in surprise. She turned around, feeling Trigons stare, melting away the atmosphere.
"SWIFT!" said Raven, shocked yet slightly angered. "Get out of here! He is dangerous, he could hurt you and--"
"NO." said Swift. "We do this together. I know what the riddle means Raven, but there is no time. Just trust me."
Raven hesitated. The look in her cousin's eyes was too strong for her, it penetrated her soul. She remembered all the times that Swift had seen her through. Why give up on her now?
She nodded, and turned back to see Trigons lip curled into a horrible grin.
"AH, Nerithon!" he said, causing Swift to shudder, but she still stared at him. "How nice of you to join us."
"Shut up." Swift said. Short and sweet, yet it got the message across. She stared as Trigon's eyes flashed the infamous anger. His muscles bulged.
"You have done it now, Nerithon."
"On the contrary." came the newly calm voice of Swift. "I'm just about to."
The biggest battle of their lives had begun.
*******************
Sorry for the long delay in this chapter. I've been ill and then college and well....bla...sorry if it was terrible.
But for now, Some replies....
Invader Sam - Get your point, will discuss with u on aim sometime, k?
Carrot the love machine - Thank you very much, you are too kind ^^
Sorry but that is all for now, I am sooo tired.
Ja-ne! ~*Chibi*~