The Keeper of the House
By: Darien Ravier
Part I: The Fading of the Lavender Crown
Chapter 3: Bittersweet Homecoming
"Dude, she wouldn't stand a chance," Beast Boy said as the T-ship flew across the war torn Tamaran on their way to meet Starfire's parents. Cyborg was in the pilot's seat, following Galfor and his army, who were flying in a stealth ship in front of the Teen Titans' ship. Cyborg was concentrating so he could keep a safe distance behind the Tamaranian ship, but his attention was now focused on his argument with Beast Boy as he quickly shot back, "And I'm telling you she would."
"You're trying to tell me that Wonder Woman would take the Green Lantern," Beast Boy said argumentatively.
"Definitely," Cyborg replied assuredly.
"No way," Beast Boy argued, "I mean, the dude can make anything with that ring."
"But he can't fight against yellow," Cyborg said, "And she's practically made out of yellow. Yellow wristcuffs, yellow tiara, yellow on her uniform, the girl even has a yellow lasso."
"Dude, no way. It's golden, it's not the same thing as yellow," Beast Boy said.
"Even if they were gold," Cyborg said, "She's an Amazon warrior. She's trained to fight against those kind of things."
"Raven," Beast Boy spoke over the headpiece, "Tell Cyborg that he's out of his mind."
"Don't even get me involved with your little boyish games," Raven said nonchalantly, as she always did whenever Cyborg and Beast Boy would argue over their fantasy superhero fight games. "It's bad enough that I have to hear about a fight in the middle of a war," Raven thought to herself. She didn't want to say that comment out loud because her friend, Starfire, was experiencing the war first hand. It was her planet being torn apart from the inside. And though Raven didn't agree with participating in a war that she wasn't involved in, Raven didn't want to offend her friend. Besides, she also couldn't deny the suffering that the many Tamarans were experiencing below their ship as it rocketed across the sky towards Galfor's citadel, which used to be a symbol of power for Tamaran, but now stood as a refugee camp for Galfor and his supporters. Even all around them, other small spacecraft were taking off towards the stars, abandoning their homes and taking to the stars. "They would rather live as nomads than on their own planet," Raven thought to herself. She could no longer deny the change that Starfire's planet had undergone in the short time since they had left their planet as she looked at Starfire to see how she was handling the situation. Starfire had her eyes closed and her head was hanging down towards her feet.
"You okay, Star," Robin sympathetically said over the intercom. Starfire's eyes shot open as she looked forward.
"Yes, I am most okay, I…" Starfire's voice trailed off as her eyes opened to see her planet once again. Below her, she saw an entire village on fire with the survivors pulling their family members' bodies from the wreckage. Just a few miles further, she saw a large number of bodies that lay on a battlefield from a war that couldn't have been any more than a few hours old. The usual joy in her eyes quickly disappeared as she let her true feelings out, "Oh, Robin, I can not help but think that I should have stayed. After I had defeated my sister for the crown, I should have stayed as the empress."
Robin said, "Starfire, you did what you thought was right. There was no way you could have seen this coming."
"I should have at least done something other than run away," Starfire said.
"Hey, team," Cyborg called out, "we're here."
The Titans all looked ahead of them as Galfor's stealth ship flew into an underground hanger that opened up from the ground on the side of the citadel's wall. As they looked up from the hanger at the citadel, they no longer saw the same majesty as when they first approached it. It was now cracked from numerous attacks, the paint was peeling from being unkempt, and many sections were broken off. Still, the Titans followed Galfor's ship down the tunnel in the ground. Unbeknownst to them, a few torches were being lit behind the tree line surrounding the citadel.
The tunnel of the hanger was a steep decent downwards, which seemed to last forever until they finally saw the ground, which Cyborg angled the T-Ship so it could land smoothly on the surface. In front of them, Galfor and his subjects were already off of their ship and waiting the Titans' arrival. As the Titans walked off of the ship, they looked around in marvel at the other numerous ships that were in the hanger. Beast Boy remarked, "Planning an air show?" Galfor looked at the ships and remarked, "They are Tamaranian attack ships. If situations arose that were truly grave, then we would dispatch these ships against our enemies, who are unaware of their presence."
Starfire walked off the platform and towards Galfor, saying, "Please, Kanorfka Galfor, I wish to see my parents now." Galfor looked around to make sure the area was secure, then at R'yannd'r, who nodded at Galfor, then turned to Starfire, saying, "We will be together shortly, sister. Maybe together our family can work something out for Tamaran." Meanwhile, Galfor was instructing the warriors around him to disperse. Once the warriors had left, Galfor gave the hanger another look around before approaching Starfire and saying, "You may follow me, but your friends must stay behind." Starfire turned to the other Titans when Robin said, "It's okay, Starfire. We'll keep watch over the citadel." As the Titans turned around to walk upstairs, Galfor led Starfire towards the nearest wall, explaining, "Starfire, your parents never really left the citadel when they fled. They always wanted to stay as close as they could to their daughter." With that, Galfor pulled a section of the pipe towards him, revealing a hidden stairwell inside the ground. Starfire followed Galfor down the dark stairwell.
As Starfire and Galfor walked down the winding stairwell, Galfor explained, "Though they knew they had to abandon their children for their own safety and themselves flee, they still wanted to remain as close to you as they could. So they chose the only haven that they knew of where no one would find them and they could also be close to their beloved daughter and brother." Galfor then walked towards another wall, reached his hand into a hole, then pulled a release lever that opened the wall in front of Starfire. Within seconds, two spears came at her head, which she quickly ducked under, rolled under the spears into the room, then turned towards her attackers, who turned out to be two towering armored warriors, who lunged at Starfire. She noticed the one on the left bringing his spear down at her, so she grabbed the weapon and threw him across the room. The other waited until her back was turned before he struck Starfire in her back. She cried out in pain momentarily before swinging around and blasting the warrior with a power blast from her laser eyes. The warrior flew across the ground. Starfire flew over to him, grabbed him by the collar and yelled, "Why are you here! Where are my mother and father!"
"Koriannd'r," said a voice from the background as Starfire turned her head to see an older and very regally dressed couple. Starfire stood up and said, "Mother? Father?"
"Yes, Koriannd'r," the woman spoke, "It is good to finally see you again."
She put the abandonment aside her, she put the tragedy of her planet behind her, and she aside the fact that she had few memories of these people claiming to be her parents and flew over to the couple and embraced them warmly. She wept as she hugged her parents, saying, "I have waited for this moment for so long."
Starfire's father, Myand'r, held her tighter to him and said, "So have we, my sweet daughter."
"It is good to have you back with us again, Koriannd'r," asked her mother, Luand'r, between sobs.
Starfire stepped back from the warm embrace that she had longed for her whole life since she could remember and looked her parents in the eyes and said, "I know why it was that you had to abandon me." However, just remembering that day causes tears to rise in Starfire's eyes as she turned away from her parents so they wouldn't see her if she cried.
"Koriannd'r," Myand'r said walking closer to her, "it is a decision that has haunted us since that day. Giving away our children to insure their safety was the most difficult decision that your mother and I ever had to make."
"I understand," Starfire said, but she still couldn't put into words that no matter how much she understood, their absence in her life was still very painful.
"Yet, you are still angry," Myand'r said, still able to read his daughter.
"I wish I had a chance to know you," Starfire said, "to have you with me when I needed you. During my transformation, even when Blackfire took over Tamaran."
"Koriannd'r, as much as we wanted to protect and comfort you through all of your troubled times," Myand'r tried to explain, "If we were to show ourselves, our enemies would have murdered us and you."
"We did not want to take that risk, daughter," Luand'r chimed in.
"But, father, you are the true leader of Tamaran," Starfire interceded, "You are bound to have enemies no matter what you do."
"Koriannd'r," Luand'r replied, "our decision was for your safety."
"And I am safe," Starfire said, "but Tamaran is not. They need their true king to fight for them. Not to hide."
Starfire realized that what she said was out of line by watching their parents step back.
"This planet was on the verge of tearing itself apart," Myand'r said, "Whether I was here as a ruler or not would not chance that. I did more help by hiding than by staying."
"How do you know father," Starfire asked, "how do you know that this planet was better off without you without even trying? How do you know that you couldn't help? How do I know that, father? I don't even know you well enough to stand up for you."
Everything was out now: the hurt, the abandonment, and the anger. Starfire wished she could have taken it back as she broke down crying on the floor. Myand'r still walked over and placed his hand on his daughter's shoulder.
"I did not know what the future had in store for Tamaran," Myand'r said, "just as I didn't know that the future had in store for you. I saw great things happen for you, my dear Koriannd'r. You became a hero on another world, you defeated a tyrant that threatened your home, and you've grown up to become a powerful woman. I do regret that I was not there for these things instead of being isolated in this room, with my wife being the only thing I loved that I was able to keep with me. If things were different, I would have spent every moment I could with you. I still love you, daughter."
Starfire turned around to look into her father's eyes, which were filled with more love than she had ever seen. She then saw her mother walking up to her father's side, saying, "We are so proud to see the woman that you've become." Starfire's eyes filled with tears as she regretted the horrible things she has said out of her own pain.
"Forgive me," Starfire said, breaking down in her parents' arms, which embraced her.
"For what," Luand'r asked, confused.
"I have said such unkind things to you both," Starfire said, "I should not have been so rude. I ruined what should have been a joyous moment for us. Please forgive me."
"Of course we forgive you," Myand'r said.
"You are our daughter," Luand'r said, "and we love you so very much."
Starfire just sat there, embracing her parents in a moment that seemed to last forever.
"But you are right about one thing, daughter," Myand'r said, "Tamaran does need its true king right now."
Robin, Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven were all standing on the balcony of the citadel, looking out over the terrain of Tamaran. Cyborg and Beast Boy were still arguing.
"Okay, maybe if she didn't have her lasso and bracelets," Cyborg conceded, "The Green Lantern might…MIGHT take her, but she is still pretty darn powerful."
Beast Boy shook his head, "No way, I remember hearing about this one story, where the Lantern went back to the planet of the other Green Lanterns an defeated all of them and took all their powers into his ring, so now he's got this super advanced ring that nothing can defeat it."
"You're just partial to him because he's green," Cyborg said.
"Hey, so what if he is," Beast Boy said, "It's cool to hear about a tough green superhero that isn't a turtle."
"Of course, this conversation would be completely different if we included Superman."
"Hey, he's easily the most powerful member of the Justice League. Anyone that comes back from the dead, I am not messing with."
Robin simply laughed at this argument because he knew first hand who the strongest Justice League member was. In fact, he was trained by him. Since he found the whole argument pointless, he walked over to Raven, who was intensely looking in the tree line.
"What do you see, Raven," Robin asked.
"I don't see anything," Raven replied, "But I can feel them."
"Where," Robin asked, looking around.
"In the woods. They're about to attack."
Robin turned to R'yannd'r and said, "R'yannd'r, there's an army ready too…"
W-h-o-o-s-s-h-h-h!
A laser cannon shot right past Robin's head and impacted on the wall of the citadel, punching a giant hole in it. Robin and R'yannd'r flew over the balcony. Both hung on with one hand as they looked back at the source of the blast. Emerging from the woods came two hundred laser cannons, all lined up in a row that seemed to surround the citadel. Robin looked over at R'yannd'r, who let go of his grip and flew down towards the lower balcony. Robin fired his grappling hook into the wall and pulled himself up. The other Titans rushed to his aid.
"Robin," Cyborg called out, "you allright?"
Robin looked back down at the approaching army, which has now doubled into fifty men lining up behind each cannon. Robin squinted his eyes, "Fine, but we can't let them into the citadel. Titans, Go!"
With that, the Teen Titans leapt off the balcony and towards the enemy that lay a hundred feet below them. The army saw the approaching heroes and began to fire their laser cannons at them. Raven used her powers to form a gliding shield underneath each team member's feet, deflecting each laser blast as they floated down towards their enemy. From behind them, a small army came charging out of the citadel to the aid of the Titans. The uprising army was taking aim at the charging army. Raven turned her head towards Robin, who simply said, "Stay on course." The uprising army was ready to fire when R'yannd'r yelled from the balcony, "Folly aim! Fire!" Then from the remaining balconies of the citadel, a massive army of gunmen arose and fired on the uprising army below, preventing them from firing on the approaching army, which met them head on and they began to battle.
Starfire heard the explosions from the bottom of the stairwell and flew towards the stairs, but stopped and looked back at her parents. The two guards stood in front of the doorway and turned towards the king and queen. Myand'r suited up, saying, "It is time the true ruler of Tamaran took back his kingdom." Myand'r and Luand'r ran up the stairs with their guards in front of them, Galfor behind them and Starfire leading the way. The path was much shorter this time around as the rush to return upstairs was much more urgent, since the number of explosions grew larger.
The battle outside was fierce. Though the Tamaranian army was fighting boldly, the uprising army had too great of numbers and was able to keep firing repeatedly at the citadel. The balconies with the follies were being knocked out one by one. When one Tamaranian soldier fought an uprising soldier, two more would attack him and three would sneak past him towards the citadel. One man stood in front of the army and yelled, "Those not fighting follow me! Follow Tharras to the citadel!" Many soldiers followed Tharras towards the citadel while the other soldiers fought off the Tamaranian army to keep them distracted. Meanwhile, the Titans did all they could to even the score.
Raven flew through the battlefield, disarming as many soldiers as she could by removing their guns and crushing them like paper wads, when one soldier fired at her, hitting her in the shoulder. She dropped to the ground and looked up to see one of the soldiers aiming right for her head. Her eyes glowed white as she waved her hand in front of her quickly, creating a shield barrier, which deflected the shot. She then used the barrier to engulf the soldier and toss him back into the woods. From behind her, two more soldiers tried to attack her with their swords. Raven waved her hands to create the shield as she deflected each attack. She then caught both swords with her hands, encased them in black and folded them like twist ties. The soldiers looked at their swords in disbelief, then at Raven as she looked at them, preparing her attack when a green stegosaurus came charging into the soldiers, lifting them high into the air.
Beast Boy was plowing the battlefield in his stegosaurus form, but all the attention drawn to him made him a quick target as a small battle line was formed to fire at the rampaging beast. When the battle line fired, Beast Boy quickly changed into a hummingbird so he could dodge each shot quickly. Once every shot missed, he turned into a bear, which he then began to swipe and attack each member. A blue sonic blast shot by Beast Boy and hit a soldier attacking him from behind. Beast Boy morphed back into his normal self and looked at Cyborg, who was aiming his arm cannon at anything that shot at him or Beast Boy. Cyborg yelled, "B.B., forget these guys, they're just a distraction! Look!" Cyborg pointed at the citadel, which was being charged by hundreds of the uprising soldiers. Beast Boy yelled, "Robin! They're storming the citadel!" Robin turned to see the soldiers entering the citadel. Robin yelled, "Titans! Tamaranians! Move in to protect the citadel!" The Tamaranian army rushed back towards the citadel and the Titans followed.
Starfire entered the hanger through the secret passage with her parents, Galfor and the two guards. A battalion of Tamaranian soldiers was rushing by when one stopped and recognized who had entered their hanger.
"King Myand'r," the soldier said, which caused all of the soldiers to stop in their tracks and bow before the emperor. Myand'r took a moment to remember what it was like to be the ruler again before he said, "Loyal soldiers of Tamaran, there will be enough time for catching up later. Now, we must protect this citadel. What is the situation?" One soldier stood up and said, "Sir, we have a massive army outside that is attacking the citadel with laser cannons. Their numbers are large, but we believe they are only to distract our army from the other uprising army that has been spotted inside the citadel." Myand'r nodded and said, "Galfor, lead one group into the attack ships and have them flank the outside army." Starfire, you lead the remaining soldiers to protect the throne room." Starfire nodded and asked, "Where will you and mother go?"
"We shall ascend to the tower to sound the beacon to call for reinforcements," Myand'r said, "Go now, we have not the time to waste."
Galfor took a group of soldiers into the attack ships and led them through the tunnel leading to the battlefield. Meanwhile, Starfire led the remaining army towards a flight of stairs, leading upwards. She turned back to see her parents entering a shielded elevator and rise up out of the room. "X'hal be with you, family," Starfire said softly to herself as she raced up the stairs.
Starfire rounded the corner with the other soldiers into the throne room. Once inside, they looked around for any members of the uprising's army. Starfire turned to the soldiers and said, "We shall set up a perimeter around these doors so that…AAA!" A laser bolt hit Starfire in the back, knocking her onto her back. The other soldiers turned around to face the attacker, but found no one. Instead, a flurry of laser bolts came out of nowhere and hit each and every soldier, killing them. Starfire got back up to her feet to hear a voice saying, "Do you remember this room, dear Starfire." Starfire looked up as she instantly recognized the voice. She formed a star bolt with her hands as a hand came out of nowhere and knocked her hand sideways. A series of fists connected with her face. Each hit was so strong and unexpected that Starfire fell to the ground. Starfire tried to raise her hand to get one star bolt up again as a final attempt at a defense. Then a boot came down on her hand. Starfire groggily looked up to see a familiar face. "The last time we met here, you defeated and banished me from Tamaran, little sister."
Starfire was able to gasp, "Blackfire."
Blackfire smiled sinisterly at her sister in her defeated state, "So glad you remember me. And thank you for helping me find our parents. Now my plan can be carried out."
Starfire tried to fight to get up, but Blackfire shot a long and painful beam from her eyes down on Starfire, who screamed in pain before fading out. The last thing she heard before blacking out was her sister saying, "Having you here is just an added bonus in the bomb my army placed below the citadel. It will destroy more than just this dump, but also our precious Tamaran as well."
To Be Continued…