Wow, it took me ages to write this chapter. Gee, thanks to school. ;( Well anyways, a big thanks to all of my reviewers! Enjoy. ;)
D-I-WaRrIa: Thanks! Yeah, I think I'm gonna make a sequel to this fic, hopefully. ;)
legato 626: Thanks for the complement! :D And yes, that was some foreshadowing. :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans.
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Chapter 12: Reunited
By early morning, Robin was already wide awake. He didn't manage to get too much sleep last night considering the current situation. Starfire and he were already safe inside the castle, but what about everyone else? The Boy Wonder pushed these thoughts out of his mind for now.
He stretched out his arms and was about to walk out of the room when he heard a knock on his door. Robin immediately opened it, revealing a short servant who stood there.
"Sir Robin, breakfast is now being served down at the dining hall. Please follow me." the servant squeaked in an unusually high voice. Robin gladly followed him down several flights of stairs and through many hallways, eager to get some food into his stomach.
Upon arrival, he noticed that the dining hall was just as big as King Smilax's throne room. The hall was made completely of dark marble with large columns of granite going vertically into the high ceiling, on which many fine designs were painted on. In the center of the hall stood a few long oak tables covered in white tablecloth, which appeared to look as fine as silk. Buffet tables lined the perimeter of the hall, with many delicious foods of all varieties.
"Robin!" The Boy Wonder turned around to see Starfire waving to him from a table. The servant that led Robin here took his leave, bowing slightly.
Robin quickly ran up to her. "Hey Star! Did you sleep well?" Robin asked, looking at the amount of food that was piled on her dish.
"Yes, it was most pleasant," Starfire chirped, "The food here is delicious! Why don't you go try some?"
Robin stopped goggling at the food on Starfire's plate. "Glad to hear that. I'll be right back, this stuff looks good." And with that, Robin went off to the buffet tables.
From the opposite entrance of the dining hall, Cyborg and Raven both walked in, looking amazed at the hall's sheer size. They stood there for about a minute before Cyborg noticed Starfire feasting on some cherry colored jelly.
"Hey Rae, check it out! There's Starfire... and Robin's here too!" Cyborg voiced to the dark witch, who finally put on a grin. The two Titans ran over to the Tamaranian girl with lightning speed, never being happier to see her and Robin.
"Hey Star." Raven said in her monotone voice, but with some more energy this time. Starfire turned around and rejoiced at the sight of Cyborg and Raven.
"Friend Cyborg and friend Raven! You are unharmed!" Starfire boomed, squeezing Cyborg and Raven in her trademark "hug of death" as Robin called it.
Cyborg could barely breathe. "Uh... yeah I'm happy to see you too... now can you please put us down?" the robotic teen managed to say. Starfire let them go just as Robin returned with his breakfast.
"Hey Raven and Cyborg! I never knew you were here too!" the Boy Wonder said, greeting the two. "Say, are Beastboy and Terra here?"
Cyborg and Raven looked at each other and shrugged. "No, at least I don't think so." Raven said dully, slightly happy that Beastboy wasn't here cracking any jokes for once.
"Sadly, Beastboy and Terra aren't here, but they will be soon!" A familiar voiced boomed behind the four Titans. They turned around and saw King Smilax standing there. This time he was in silver torso armor and gray leg armor with brown boots. The king put on a cheery smile. "So, did you all have a good night?"
All the Titans gave positive comments. "Say, how did you know what kinda tech I needed? Cause when I went to my room, it looked almost exactly like my other one back on Earth!" Cyborg questioned.
King Smilax chuckled. "Ah yes. Believe me, Emporia is not that outdated!" His words echoed off the walls of the dining hall as he spoke in a strong voice.
"Yeah, I guess I figured that out," Cyborg laughed along, "but my question is, how did youknow that I used that exact same tech?"
The king was stumped. "Hmm..." King Smilax stroked his chin as he spoke, "I have my ways of finding this sort of thing out." he finally said after a few seconds of thinking. Cyborg didn't want to pursue the subject and silenced himself. "Anyway, I know you are hungry, so I will let you eat in peace. Like I promised the day before, I am willing to discuss anything you may have on your mind as well as explain why I am doing all this. But that's after breakfast. I'll come back in an hour, dig in!" King Smilax said, giving an energetic wave and heading out of the dining hall.
"Um, okay. Well I dunno about ya'll, but I'm gonna get me some grub!" Cyborg said, zooming off to the buffet tables with Raven following.
Robin finally sat down next to Starfire, starting to eat his breakfast. "Star, do you ever get the feeling that King Smilax is trying to hide something?" the Boy Wonder questioned, starting on some bacon.
Starfire thought for a moment. "I don't believe I do. What makes you ask that?"
"Well the fact that's he's always in a hurry to answer our questions. But then again, he could be busy," Robin said, taking a sip of a cherry flavored juice.
"I still wonder how the King Smilax knew friend Cyborg's technology," Starfire commented.
Robin sighed. "I don't even know how he figured it out." He then continued to devour his breakfast.
"So what are ya'll talking about?" Cyborg asked as he brought a large plate stacked with all kinds of various food, which ranged from scrambled eggs to biscuits. Raven appeared several seconds later, carrying only a lone mug of hot tea. Both took their seats opposite to Robin and Starfire.
"Nothing really, but I have this feeling that King Smilax isn't telling us something." Robin said with suspicion.
Cyborg sighed and rolled his eyes. "Why the hell would you suspect him of anything? I mean, he is just being polite by offering us a place to stay," the robotic teen said, "But best of all: free food!" Cyborg started to stuff everything on his plate into his mouth.
Raven shifted away from disgust. "Do you have to do that?" This only encouraged Cyborg.
The Titans carried on their casual conversation while eating the remainder of their breakfast. Karthor then descended the stairs that stood towards the far end of the immense dining hall.
"Hello Titans, how's your morning so far?" Karthor happily asked the Titans as he approached them. He carried a walking stick as well as a small brown bag of food. He now wore a long gray traveling cloak.
"Hey there Karthor. So far everything has been great," Robin welcomed the elder.
Raven took another sip of her tea and also greeted Karthor "Hello. And uh, why are you carrying that bag and stick with you?" the dark witch asked, pointing out the walking stick and bag.
"Well I'm going to round up the other two Titans," Karthor explained, "I guess they could use some food, too." The elder opened the bag he was carrying, revealing that it was full mostly of fruit-like comestibles and a couple of bottles of crystal clear water.
Starfire was simply filled with rapturousness after hearing the news. "Oh thank you so much friend Karthor!" the Tamaranian princess exclaimed, about to give Karthor another one of her backbreaking hugs. She probably would have squeezed the poor elder to death had not Cyborg, Raven, and Robin stopped her.
Karthor swung the bag of food over his shoulder and held the walking stick with his other hand. "Anyway, I have to depart now. Enjoy the rest of your breakfast!" Having said that, Karthor waved to the Titans and proceeded to walk out of the dining hall.
The Titans managed to calm down Starfire and returned to finishing up their morning meal.
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(Elsewhere in the World of Darkness)
Bright daylight filled the entrance to the small cave. Terra shifted around, opening her eyes to greet the new day. She rested her head on a sleeping Beastboy's chest and snuggled up to him, still wrapped in Beastboy's arms. Breathing a sigh of comfort, Terra gently placed her hand on the shape shifter's cheek and proceeded to soothingly stroke it.
The shape shifter finally opened his eyes to see Terra stilled wrapped in his arms, peacefully caressing his cheek. "Hey Terra, sleep well?" Beastboy whispered to the blonde teen.
"Morning sleepyhead," Terra whispered back, giggling somewhat, "Yes, I slept well, thanks to you!" The blonde teen curled up in his arms and once again laid her head on Beastboy's shoulder, closing her eyes dreamily.
Smiling, Beastboy placed a small kiss on her forehead and embraced her tightly. "I love you Terra." the shape shifter said softly.
Terra smiled and clung on tighter. "Love you too, BB" she whispered almost inaudibly. The two stayed embracing each other for a while before Beastboy heard footsteps outside the small cave.
He lifted his head and peered out of the cave to see someone approaching them. "Um Terra, you might want to see this." Beastboy said, gently shaking the blonde teen awake.
"Hmm, what is it?" Terra asked sleepily. Beastboy pointed to the figure of a rather small person nearing the cave. Terra instantly snapped out of her drowsiness and stood up along with Beastboy. Both cautiously walked to the exit of the cave, expecting trouble. Instead, the man that was heading in their direction waved his hand and voiced, "Hello over there!"
Beastboy and Terra looked confused. "Um, hi!" the blonde teen yelled back. The man picked up his pace and finally arrived in front of the two Titans.
"Good morning Titans, or should I say, good afternoon!" the rather elderly man said with a smile. The two Titans stood there, not really sure of what to say. "I'm Karthor, and I'm here from the city of Emporia."
"Emporia... hmm, never heard of it." Beastboy said blankly.
"You'll see. Now I assume that you two must be hungry, so here," Karthor opened his bag of food and handed each of the two Titans a round, green fruit. Beastboy hesitantly took a bite, expecting it to be poisonous, but instead discovered that it possessed a mouth-watering taste.
"Dude, this stuff is tastes great! What is it?" Beastboy commented. Terra had a similar reaction after taking a large bite of her fruit.
Karthor explained, "These are called Trianicberries, even though they aren't really berries. I think they are similar to pears that you have on Earth but with a much sweeter taste." The elder then rubbed his eyes and waited for the two to finish easting the remainder of the fruits. Both Terra and Beastboy managed to eat the entire bag in just under ten minutes, which really surprised Karthor. "Heh heh, I never knew you were that hungry." the elder winked.
"So um, exactly why did you come to find us?" Beastboy asked, devouring the last Trianicberry.
"King Smilax, who is the ruler of Emporia, sent me to gather all of you Titans. So far I managed to find Robin, Starfire, Cyborg, and Raven, I believe," Karthor said, "Everyone is already at Emporia waiting for us."
Both Terra and Beastboy went wide-eyed with surprise. "You... you mean that you've found our friends?!" the shape shifter half exclaimed. Karthor put on a cheerful grin and nodded.
"I think that we are ready to return. So let's get a move on it!" Karthor proclaimed, happily swinging his walking stick. The two Titans gratefully followed. "Now you see, we are rather far from Emporia at this point," the elder said, leading Beastboy and Terra back to the main path that they were following the day before.
"How long do you with it will take to get there?" Terra asked, walking alongside Beastboy.
Karthor hummed for a moment, trying to get a close estimate. "It took me about two hours worth of walking to find you two. I'm thinking it will take one hour assuming we follow the direct path there."
Beastboy nodded, but then a question popped into his mind that he'd been dieing to ask. "Ey Karthor, I have to ask you something important," the shape shifter said coolly.
"And what might that be?" Karthor replied, hopping over a small stream that intersected the path, the two Titans following suit.
"Ok, when Terra and I were on that mountain," Beastboy continued, "we tried to use our powers, but nothing happened! Terra tried summoning a rock and I tried morphing; nothing worked."
The elder thought for a moment. "That mountain that you were on is cursed. As a matter of fact, this entire world is pretty much under one gigantic curse!" Karthor explained, which shocked the two teens. "Once we get back to Emporia, King Smilax will hopefully tell you exactly what's going on. But trust me: you will get your powers back."
Beastboy and Terra exchanged a glance at each other with unsure expressions on their faces. Trying to lighten the mood up, Karthor started a casual conversation that carried on throughout the entire trip. Finally, the enormous front wall, built in between the two mountains surrounding Emporia, appeared in the distance.
"Ah, I believe we have finally reached our destination!" Karthor exclaimed, picking up the pace. Beastboy and Terra had to almost run to keep up with Karthor as he took rather long strides.
"Dude, how can you move that fast?!" Beastboy exclaimed while trying to keep up with the speedy elder. Karthor just briefly slowed down and gave the shape shifter a wink, and once again picking up the pace.
At long last, the party stood in the shadow of the front wall, one of the guards opening the twin oak doors to allow the group to enter. Karthor led the two amazed Titans through the now busy streets of Emporia, staying close together as to not get separated.
"Wow, this place is huge!" Beastboy commented, glancing around as he walked behind Karthor.
"Heh, just wait till you see the castle!" Karthor replied, following a street that led to the grand castle of King Smilax, forcing his way through large crowds of people.
The group approached the closed drawbridge of the castle. "Good day Karthor. So finally you found all those Titans, correct?" the gate guard asked Karthor in a rhetoric tone as he approached the party.
Karthor flashed a grin. "Yup, hopefully King Smilax will be happy now." the elder winked as the guard lowered the drawbridge. "Alrighty, come on; we're just about there." the elder said, crossing over the bridge. Beastboy and Terra, just as all their friends before them, were awestruck at the castle at first glance. Both were speechless as Karthor navigated though the various hallways full of rich decorations to King Smilax's throne room. "And here we are." Karthor stated as two guards opened the familiar oak doors leading to the throne room.
"Unbelievable..." Was all Terra managed to say after seeing the interior of the king's chamber. Karthor chuckled and nodded. Before anyone could do anything else, King Smilax nimbly hopped off his throne and ran over to meet the them, his face as cheerful as ever.
"Hello, hello Titans, I'm King Smilax! And I'm glad that all six of you are now reunited!" King Smilax boomed with his powerful yet friendly voice. Beastboy and Terra didn't expect this and were a little taken back at first.
"Um, hi!" Beastboy finally spoke up, shaking the king's hand, Terra following suit.
"Pleased to meet you," Terra said with a grin, "But, where are the rest of our friends?"
The beaming king snapped his fingers, signaling the two to follow him as he proceeded to a staircase located in the far end of the throne room. Beastboy and Terra followed him without hesitation.
King Smilax stopped before a closed door as he reached the end of the staircase. Waiting for Beastboy and Terra, the king put on a hopeful grin and opened the door. As the two teenagers walked into the spacious dining hall, they noticed the rest of the Titans sitting at a long table engaged in casual conversation.
Starfire, observant as always, was the first to notice her lost friends appear in the hall. "Beastboy! Terra! You are safe!" the Tamaranian exclaimed at the top of her voice, forcing the Titans sitting near her to cover their ears. Before Beastboy or Terra could say anything, they found themselves being squeezed to death by one of Starfire's strangely powerful embraces. The other Titans didn't bother stopping her as they too rushed over to greet the remaining Titans.
"Well we sure made them happy," Karthor said with a light laugh as he descended the stairs and stood next to King Smilax, watching the Titans celebrate.
The king could only smile, even though he did that mostly all the time now. "Yes, but do you believe that they will be able to break the curse over this world?" he asked with uncertainty.
Karthor nodded his head with a confident expression. "Of course they will! But the better question is: will they accept?"
King Smilax thought for a moment. "That depends on them, but I agree with you. Anyway, we have to explain the entire situation first. I think now is the time." The two men ended their little side conversation and both approached the now calm Titans.
"I suppose that you would now like for Karthor and me to explain what is exactly going on," King Smilax announced to the Titans, who all nodded in agreement, "Ok then! So take a seat and let's get this show on the road." King Smilax made a motion to one of the guards that now stood next to the main entrance of the dining hall. The guard blew a whistle and about twelve other guards entered the hall. They closed all doors and patrolled the exteriors, making sure no unauthorized person would suddenly barge into the hall and interrupt the King. The Titans were all rather impressed at the organization and swift actions.
"Now that no one can get in here, Karthor will start off by giving you some background info." King Smilax said, the Titans each taking a seat in the nearby table.
The elder stood in front of the Titans and began his lengthy speech. "Ok, I'm sure that you already know that you are in a planet that's over millions of light years away from Earth." Karthor spoke clearly, trying to make sure the Titans would understand whatever he told them, "And with that, I would like to point out that the World of Darkness is cursed. Everything is dieing or already dead. The trees, the grass, the birds, everything. But it wasn't always like this!"
King Smilax now picked up from where Karthor left off. "You see, the World of Darkness wasn't really all that bad at one time. Heh, it was actually the most serene planet in the cosmos!" the king continued, "The original name was the Serenia, and it was quite appropriate. There was no crime nor violence here. The plants were green and the waters were crystal clear, good enough to drink from without fear of getting ill. Do all of you remember seeing that huge pyramid somewhere in the World of Darkness?" King Smilax put on a serious face as he asked that question.
"Yeah, I think all of us as least noticed it. But what does that have to do with anything?" Raven spoke up, not understanding what purpose that pyramid served.
Karthor now continued, "Don't worry, we'll get to that. Anyway, everything was perfect, flawless as a matter of fact." the elder said, his voice suddenly dropping lower as he spoke, "But on that one day, one thousand years ago, everything changed. You see, a man with the powers to control fire arrived in Serenia. He was an excellent warrior who came seeking more power. The king of Emporia during that time refused to aid the man, sensing something evil about him, and the consequences were dramatic."
"That man must have been insane," King Smilax spoke, "He built up a large army of all the evil creatures that inhabited the caves deep below the surface of Serenia. With that army, he conquered Emporia without a problem. He killed everyone he saw in the town: men, women, children; everyone. He killed every person by decapitation and threw their headless bodies into the streets. And then, to finish off his raid, he set the town ablaze and let it burn to the ground."
After hearing King Smilax's part of the explanation, the Titans were sitting wide-eyed, too shocked to speak. The king decided to continue.
"But some of the people in Emporia took a risk and ran away, hiding somewhere in the hills," the king said, "The man and his army ravaged Serenia and destroyed every living person and creature. Now to make sure Serenia would never return to its former glory, the man used his powerful magic to drain the life out of the world. His evil influenced everything that once lived, including the people. He took all the drained life and somehow concentrated it into an orb and hid it inside that pyramid that you all saw."
Karthor now spoke up, "The man pretty much converted Serenia to the World of Darkness. He sealed off the pyramid with a special kind of magic that's impenetrable. Now to make sure no mage would break the seal, he created barriers in the seven temples scattered throughout Serenia. Each temple has a barrier point located somewhere inside it that fuels the seal protecting the pyramid. But as an extra form of protection, the man placed a fearsome monster inside each temple to guard the barrier point. If the seven barrier points could somehow be destroyed, then the seal on the pyramid would collapse, freeing the life back into the world."
"And that's why we need you Titans to help us free that life power," King Smilax put on a grin as he spoke hopefully, "To free the world from that man's power. And that horrid man, the one that did all this, goes by the name of Lord Firesprite."
"Firesprite?!" Robin exclaimed, "So I was right after all... Well no matter what, we'll help you out!" All the Titans willingly agreed, making the king and Karthor both utterly delighted.
After some more thought, an idea struck Robin, "I also have a plan: if you could send us back to Earth, we could gather more of our friends, like Aqualad, and help you free your world."
"Yeah, that would be awesome!" Cyborg exclaimed.
"Nice thinking dude!" Beastboy commented.
"Way to go, Robin!" Starfire chirped, hugging the Boy Wonder.
"Awesome!" Terra shouted.
"Um, good job?" Raven muttered.
King Smilax and Karthor looked at each other uneasily. "Well, there is one problem with your plan, Robin." Karthor spoke with a low voice, "And that problem is... that, well... there is no way for you Titans to return to Earth at this point. It's... impossible."
"What?!" the Titans yelled out in unison.
(To be continued...)
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Ok, that chapter ending really was crappy. ;) Anyways, please review if you have a moment to spare! Please? :D Next chapter coming soon.