The Jewel of Azarath

Chapter 4

Raven groggily became aware of her consciousness as a sharp pain went through her mind. She clenched her eyes shut tightly and moaned at this new sensation. She had never experienced anything of this sort. No headache could be this bad, not even a migraine!

"Rae? Rae, are you awake?"

Hearing the sound of a voice, Raven opened her eyes. At first all she could see was a green, fuzzy blob. When her vision came into focus she realized who it was. "Beast Boy?" She sat up and held her head. "What happened?"

"Dude, I was about to ask you the same thing!" the changeling exclaimed. "You fell into me and passed out. So we brought you home, I have no idea why you fainted though…"

"I…fainted?..." Raven then realized she was back in the tower, sitting on the couch in the main room. "All I know is that my head hurts so much…" She had to squint because the sunlight from outside was bothering her too much.

"You fainted because of a headache?" Beast Boy asked. "Dude, and you call me wimpy!"

Raven leaned forward, sitting Indian style and holding her head. "It's not a headache…it hurts too much…"

Beast Boy looked closer at Raven. For her to be in this much pain wasn't normal. If she were bleeding to death she wouldn't admit she was weak, this just wasn't like her.

"B, Raven, ya'll have gotta see this!" Cyborg called as he rushed into the room.

"What?" Raven asked grumpily as she stared up at her metallic friend.

"While you were unconscious Robin and I scanned you to see why you fainted, but the scanner says nothing is wrong with your body." Cyborg explained.

"Then what have we got to see?" Raven questioned.

"For some reason, it says the source of the problem is in your charka."

Raven simply blinked and sat there.

"Dude, that can't be right!" Beast Boy said, standing up. "It's just a jewel thingy that's glued to her head! How could it cause her to pass out?"

"I dunno, man! That's what the scanner says!" Cyborg argued back.

Beast Boy became angry at all this confusion. "If the scanner told you there was something wrong with Robin's mask, would you believe it?"

"I ain't saying the scanner is right, all I'm saying is that it said the problem is in the charka!"

"My charka holds my powers…" Raven whispered.

The room suddenly became quiet.

"What?" Beast Boy asked.

"My powers…the only reason I have them is because of my charka." Raven explained. "The power flows through the charka and into my body, that's how I use them…"

"Are you saying something is wrong with your powers!" Beast Boy asked.

"Only one way to find out," Cyborg brought up. "Try em out, Rae."

Raven simply nodded and closed her eyes. She concentrated hard and whispered the words. "Azarath…Metrion…Zinthos!" A small orb of darkness appeared before her, and she let out a sigh of relief. But, the trouble had just begun.

The dark orb soon became see-through and in it Raven could see her home world: Azarath. It was being burned, destroyed, and ruined. Dead bodies lay in the streets, while houses were crumbling to pieces before her very eyes. Her heart stopped at the horror she saw. Everything lay in ruins, everyone was dead. Who could have done this? Raven peered deeper into the orb, and that's when she saw it. A lone figure standing in the middle of all this chaos. She had on a long cape which swirled around in the wind, and she looked surprisingly like….

"It's me…."

Beast Boy and Cyborg both looked confused.

"What's you? You still have your powers, Rae! Wait…are you alright?"

Raven sat in shock. Had they not seen what she just did? How couldn't they see? It was right in front of them! Her homeland in flames, it sat right before her. Raven stared at the orb once again, and noticed that it had become black once again and was now under her control. She shrunk it and stood up, forgetting all about her headache. "Something isn't right here…You didn't see it, did you?"

"See what?..." Beast Boy questioned, looking very confused.

Raven kept shaking her head as she walked toward the door. "I need to be alone."

Beast Boy jumped to his feet. "Rae, wai-" The door slammed shut, and the changeling slouched over. "Wait…"

TT TT TT

Hundreds of lit candles surrounded her as she lay suspended in mid air, deep in meditation. She was perfectly still, the only part of her body that was functioning was her brain. She was barely even breathing. She began searching every corner of her mind, yet nothing came up. The telepath had run into so many dead, dark ends that her mind was starting to hurt even more.

At the moment when she felt her head would bust open, someone knocked on her door. She fell to the floor screaming from fear. Beast Boy opened the door and rushed in. "Rae, are you okay!"

Raven stared up at him, closing one eye and rubbing her butt. "Oh yeah, peachy…"

Beast Boy extended his hand to help his girlfriend to her feet. "You scared me back there…"

Raven just looked down. Her mind was telling her not to, but her heart told her to say what she did. "I saw Azarath in the orb…it was burning…"

Beast Boy's eyes widened and he looked shocked. "Burning?..."

"I did it…"

"You! How!"

"I don't know!"

"You…don't need to yell…"

Raven sighed heavily and dropped down on her bed. "I saw myself in the middle of it…smiling evilly…I did it…I don't know if it's the future or if it already happened, but I need to get there."

"You're going to Azarath!" Beast Boy shouted, his eyes beginning to tear.

"I have to, Beast Boy," Raven started, not even looking back at him. "And I'm going alone…If my father is there, I don't want you to get hurt."

Beast Boy stepped forward and took Raven's arm, making her face his way. "No, I won't let you."

Raven started into his tearing eyes. They shimmered with sadness and concern. Yet she wouldn't allow herself to endanger his life. She looked away once again. "Nothing you can do or say will change my mind, I'm sorry."

"Raven…please…"

"No."

"If you'd ju-"

"I SAID NO!" Raven screamed, she advanced on him, causing him to back up into the hallway. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" She slammed the door shut in his face, and fell to the floor, sobbing quietly into her palms.

Beast boy simply stood there, confused and dazed. Never, had he seen Raven so upset or angry. They rarely ever fought, at least, not like that. He knew there was only one thing to do, and that was to consult the others. So, he turned and walked sadly back downstairs.

TT TT TT

Raven didn't stop crying. It was as if she wasn't on Earth at that moment. It seemed like hours that she had sat there, curled up in a ball, so hurt and upset, and mad at herself for hurting Beast boy like that.

The door opened suddenly, and Beast boy stepped in, followed by Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg.

"Rae…don't cry." Beast boy said, holding his girlfriend in his arms gently. "We talked it over…"

"I'm sorry…" Raven kept saying.

"Raven, listen," Robin started. "There's no way we can let you go alone. This isn't a mission that one person can solve. We're going with you, we'll leave the city to the Titans East, and head off to Azarath in the morning."

Raven just continued to cling to Beast boy, still crying. She heard Robin, but couldn't respond, she just kept weeping.

The crying stopped hours later, when Raven was safely tucked into bed. Beast boy slept at her side, stroking her cheek gently and holding her hand. "It's alright, Raven…" he whispered softly. "We'll get through this, together…"

TT TT TT

Raven awoke the next day, to find that she was completely alone. She had remembered Beast boy sleeping next to her last night, but he was no where to be found now. Then she realized that everyone was probably getting ready for the journey to Azarath. That meant that they were out by the T-ship.

She sat up and walked over to her closet. After slipping into her usual attire, the empath headed downstairs to find the others. She walked down the quiet halls of the tower until she came to the garage. Opening the door, she slipped inside, without being noticed. Her eyes instantly met the gigantic spaceship which was getting ready for launch. Cyborg sat at a control panel, checking the status on the ship to make sure everything worked before they took off. The others were seen loading things into the ship. Beast boy walked down the ramp and noticed Raven. He smiled and approached her.

"Did you sleep alright?" he asked, leaning on the railing next to her.

Raven just nodded, she wasn't in much of a talking mood.

"Rae,"

Raven lifted her head up and looked into the eyes of her beloved.

"Don't worry. We'll figure this all out."

"I know…" she replied in a whisper. "That's the part that bothers me…"

Beast boy raised a brow, but before he could continue to question her, Robin's voice filled the air.

"Everyone inside, we're ready for launch!"

Raven walked passed Beast boy and headed toward the ship. Her cape flew swiftly behind her as she walked through the entrance doorway. Inside, the ship was large enough to be called an apartment! It was complete with a bathroom, three bedrooms, and a control room. Raven made her way to one of the three bedrooms and set her suitcase of clothes down. No sooner than when she opened it, Beast boy appeared in the doorway.

"Is this room occupied?" he asked, in a cheesey manner.

"You can stay, if that's what you mean."

Beast boy dropped down onto the bed, causing Raven's suitcase to jump a bit. He watched her ignore all the living things around her, and shove her clothes into the tiny side table drawer. "Rae, loosen up, man!"

"My planet is under attack, how can I 'loosen up'?" she asked, her voice dry.

Beast boy stopped. He hadn't thought she would say that, nor did he have a response to it. He simply sat there, giving her a worried look.

"There's a family on Azarath whom I'm close to," Raven randomly brought up. "They're not blood relatives, but they helped raise me. I consider them to be my cousins."

"Wow," Beast boy began. "I didn't know…you had family like figures in your life."

Raven didn't reply to that. It stung at her heart to have never had a normal family, the way Beast boy once did. She didn't want to show that she was hurt, but the Changeling caught on instantly.

"I-I'm sorry, Rae. I didn't mean that…"

"It's alright. My aunt will let us stay with her, I'm sure…She'll be surprised to see me." Thinking of this brought the slightest of smiles to the empath's face.

When Raven was younger, she hadn't much contact with children her own age. Nor did she have a family like most did. So, her guardian, Azar, asked a favor of a local woman. She asked this woman to share her children with Raven, so that she may experience things that other children did. At first, the woman was hesitant. Having a demon child around wasn't her idea of fun, but it did make her kids happy to have someone to play with. Raven soon became friends with the woman's daughter, and later her son. It wasn't long before Raven began calling this new woman her aunt, and these new children her cousins. So, in this way, Raven found something she thought she never would have on her own: a family.

Author's Corner-

I'M BACK! Okay, okay, now, you're probably all wonder "why did she update this?..." and the answer to this is mainly because….I got many reviews from people BEGGING for more. So, since I had a plot figured out, I started again! Now, originally, this chapter was different….but because it died on my old computer, I had to start from scratch.

So, the next chapter will be out soon, probably because I'm sick with mono and I have nothing better to do than rest! WOO! Lucky for all of you, hee!

In the next chapter, Raven is reunited with her "Aunt" and "Cousins". A weird reunion, I know, but it'll work out. Plus, I don't think you can just get a hotel room on Azarath!

Oh, and I'm SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO sorry for not updating any of my stories! I'm really not worthy of reviews….but can you please send them in? It really motivates me! I'd write more! Also, check out my other stories if you haven't already. BYEBYE!

Colie