Hurray for reviews!
Hotshot, April – Thanks much, here you go!
StarSoSweet – Don't worry, it'll have different viewpoints over the course of the year. You'll see.
Estell – I think I'm going to try to write one about them. We'll see how it turns out.
You'll notice that this story weaves around my other two as it progresses. And pay attention, every detail will become meaningful in later stories! And I still don't own the titans.
Chapter Two – Day Eighty Seven
Aqualad had come in the night before, he had been preparing for this day all month. He was ready. There were three bags of his Kenyan roast coffee in the west tower, he had caught up on all his sleep, and trained at the highest setting in his tower's training room until he had mastered every fighting technique he could think of. He was ready.
Yet somewhere, in the darkest depths of his mind, he was scared that he wouldn't be ready. And as he stood at the foot of her bed, watching her sleep, he was scared that he would fail in this, his most important mission to date. He was scared when, at the stroke of midnight on the morning of Raven's seventeenth birthday, her cloak turned from purest white to dark blue and her leotard to black. Across the black of her leotard and the grey of her skin, bright red tattoos of an ancient and indecipherable language appeared. Upon her forehead that cursed mark appeared.
He was scared that he would lose her today.
Aqualad stepped out of Raven's room and nodded to Robin. They walked towards the living room, the leader of the west titans began calling out orders on his communicator. "Cyborg, lock down the tower and be on the lookout for Slade. If last time was any indication, we have until this evening, but he'll definitely be after her today as well."
Beast Boy and Terra waited in the living room, their gazes icy. The green changeling spoke. "We'll stand guard on the roof, if he wants in this tower, he'll have to get through us."
Robin shook his head. "No, you two stay inside. Slade still doesn't know that Terra is back yet. The element of surprise is still in our favor there since she's the only one who has ever truly defeated him. Star and I will take the outside." He sighed quietly. "Aqualad, keep her comfortable. The safe room is still incomplete, so her room is probably the safest place for her for now."
The other titans dispersed to their chosen areas. Aqualad walked slowly through the halls of the tower. The safe room would be finished within the next month, a month too late for this particular event. But with all the spells and countercurses cast within Raven's room, it was easily the safest and most secure room in the tower, in addition to being the most comfortable for her. He opened the door a fraction and slipped inside, maneuvering through the dark and sitting down beside her.
Raven opened her eyes slowly. She looked down her arms and legs and saw that the harsh red glow of the tattoos that stood out clear as day. She gasped in shock and put her hands up to her four, glowing red eyes. She collected herself and when she opened her eyes again, they were two and violet. She shivered and pulled the silk sheet over her to hide them from her eyes.
In the darkness, Raven could make out the form of the Atlantian sitting on the edge of the bed. He spoke quietly, thoughtfully. "We have our good days, we have our bad days. We persevere."
She smiled and finished the thought. "Earth shattering cataclysms are rarely that."
He smiled and leaned back on the bed, his head resting upon her leg. "There you go, now you're thinking like an Atlantian! We'll have you breathing water and swimming and talking to fish in no time."
Raven smiled for a while longer before holding the sheet up for him. "Please, I don't want to be alone now."
Aqualad nodded and slipped into bed beside her. He wrapped his arms tightly around her and ignored the palpable heat emanating from the glowing red marks upon her body. He kissed her soft purple hair and whispered in her ear. "Silly girl, you'll never be alone."
Raven eventually slept. Aqualad kept watch, his black eyes narrowed and alert.
The heat from the liquid rock surrounding the platform upon which he stood was intense. He endured and waited. Minutes, hours, all blended together seamlessly in the silent heat. Everything was in place; all he had to do was wait for the signal to move. Today was not the day, but reminders had to be effected every so often to keep the environment correct for the portal.
The portal, Raven, had to be reminded of her purpose. Her destiny was to bring the rule of her father upon the earth. Hope, and more recently this disturbing love that she had begun to harbor for another titan, was to be broken at all costs. The more cruelly and heartlessly this was accomplished the better.
A barely perceptible increase in the heat was the only sign that Slade was no longer alone. When he looked up, four bright red eyes graced the wall ahead of him. A deep voice addressed him. "Soon the time will come. The gem is to be polished in preparation for the day. Destroy her hope. Destroy her love. The timeline grows shorter, but the plan will not be rushed. Go to the portal. Remind her that her father has not forgotten her this day."
Slade rose from the platform and watched as the four red eyes shut and the glowing red writing disappeared from the walls. He checked his watch. It was almost noon. He had time for lunch. Even evil needed lunch.
Evil had all day.
Aqualad slipped into the darkened room. He carried a pizza box in one hand and a two liter bottle of soda in the other. As the door closed behind him, he was blind in the dark, navigating through the room towards the muted red glow that came from under Raven's cloak. She had been reading all day.
He flashed a grin. "Dinner?"
The cloaked girl looked up, four red eyes glowing at him in the dark. The Atlantian's smile did not falter. After a long moment, she blinked and her eyes returned to two and violet. "That really doesn't bother you?"
Aqualad shook his head. "Should it?"
Raven closed her book and got up from her bed. "I don't know. But dinner does sound like a good idea."
They sat on the floor, in the dark, eating their pizza. Both had eyes to see in the dark, Raven from being used to her shadowed room and Aqualad from living and working in the dark of the deep ocean. Halfway through the pizza, the chiming of Raven's communicator broke their silence.
Raven instinctually moved her hand to activate it, but Aqualad caught her hand inches from the device. He looked deep into her eyes. " Today is not the day. We will get through this day and tomorrow will be a wonderful day."
Raven tried to meet his eyes but for once, could not. She nodded, feeling a tear run down her cheek. "Tomorrow."
She activated her communicator, and they heard all hell breaking loose.
In front of the tower, Slade held Cyborg up by the neck. The metallic titan's right sonic cannon was emitting a shower of blue sparks and his left cannon was malfunctioning. Slade leveled his good eye and regarded the titan quietly.
"Raven cannot escape her destiny. You certainly cannot stop what is destined to come to pass."
Cyborg glared and brought his left fist even with Slade's solar plexus, jettisoning his lower arm at top speed, knocking the wind out of the masked villain. Cyborg dropped to his knees and recalled his arm, which had pushed Slade a good twenty feet back. He reattached his arm as Slade advanced, his hands glowing with demonic fire. Cyborg raised his arm and disappeared in a flash of green, Slade's attack narrowly missing him. Looking above, Slade saw the cause of the flash, Starfire.
The Tamaranian princess glowed with a green anger. "You will leave my friends alone!" Twin bolts of green energy shot from her eyes and struck Slade square in the chest, knocking him backwards until a crushing blow from Robin's staff arrested him.
Slade did not turn around. "Ahh, Robin. We meet again." He dropped low and swung his leg around, catching Robin by the heels and knocking him to the ground. "You are slowly improving. Very slowly."
With that barb, he raised his hand and shot a fireball at Starfire. Robin screamed as he heard her shriek and rushed Slade, throwing punch after punch against his masked face. A momentary pause to set up a kick was all it took, and Slade again had control, sending a smoldering Robin crashing against the rocky ground nearby.
From his position on the ground, Robin could only hear the battle continue. Cyborg flew overhead, landing gracelessly in a metallic heap before an animalistic growl caused everyone to turn towards the tower. Beast Boy, in his beast form rushed Slade, scoring deadly looking slash marks across his metal armor. The encounter ended with a punch of demonic fire, filling the air with the smell of burning hair.
What happened next shocked everyone, Slade included. Four boulders rushed at him, narrowly missing him as he jumped to avoid them. The masked man looked around. "Well, Terra, I see both of us are survivors. Come, show me if you've learned anything since we last met."
The blonde girl slid slowly from the shadows. "I've learned enough." She motioned with her hand. "Bring it."
Slade brought it, leaving the young girl crumpled over the unconscious form of Beast Boy. He narrowed his eye and raised his burning hand to finish her. "Arrogance will get you nowhere, apprentice."
A ball of water extinguished the demonic fire encompassing his hand.
High above the battle below, the two remaining titans watched. Aqualad had made their presence known at the final instant. Raven stood beside him, holding his hand. They took the final step off the ledge and they floated down on a disc of black energy. Landing on the ground, they looked across to Slade. Raven spoke, her four eyes glowing bright red. "Today is not the day. Why are you here?"
Slade walked forward calmly, the mark upon his forehead glowing equally bright. "As before, I come to deliver a message. You will fulfill your destiny. You will fulfill the prophecy. Hiding yourself behind the fallacy of some perceived love will not take that burden off your shoulders." He raised his hand, which glowed fiercely, and leveled it at Aqualad. "I come to show you what you will cause. Death, destruction, chaos. It will start with him."
Many things happened at once as Slade's attack flew forth. Aqualad spun his back to it, taking Raven in his arms to protect her. Raven screamed, her screams drowning out Aqualad's as the fire scorched his back and gills. Around the two titans, a glowing white raven appeared, taking the force of Slade's attack and turning it back on him. The raven then went forth, attacking the masked man until he disappeared in a raging firestorm.
Aqualad felt himself being lowered to the ground; the arms around him were so soft and warm. He looked up and saw a beautiful woman in shimmering white, she had long purple hair and her violet eyes were wet with tears. She looked very much like his Raven, but she was so different, so sad. He couldn't concentrate. He felt tired and numb. The beautiful woman was shouting something to him, but he couldn't respond. He could only close his eyes and fall asleep.
He was conscious before he really woke up. He was comfortable, warm, and wet. He was underwater. Opening his eyes Aqualad found that he was in a tank set up in the medical lab. A mask over his face was forcing water through his lungs and gills. He looked out through the glass and saw that Raven, clad in dark blue and her hair once again short, was sitting beside him, reading a book. He sighed at the dark colors that enveloped her. All her progress and happiness had been shattered. They would have to start over again. So be it, earth shattering cataclysms are rarely that.
He tapped on the side of the glass and she startled. Quickly she put the book away and stuck her hand in the water. He could talk to her now with his mind, but his thoughts were still hazy. "How long was I out? And why am I underwater?"
Raven smiled, leaning against the glass. "A few hours. You're underwater because Slade's last attack caused third degree burns to your gills. I was able to heal you but we had to get them wet again. How do you feel?"
Aqualad shifted a little in his tank. "They're all itchy, but they work." He watched the clock on the wall for a while. It was slowly nearing midnight. "We learned something today."
Raven closed her eyes. "No we didn't. I'll still bring about the end of the world. Nothing is going to stop it from happening."
Aqualad closed his eyes. "Maybe. But I doubt Trigon would be so interested in getting rid of me if I weren't making his job that much harder. There may be hope yet." There were only a few seconds left in the day. "So my gift to you is hope. Happy birthday."
It was finally midnight. Raven smiled playfully. "Hope? Is that all I get?"
The Atlantian rolled his eyes. "Well, that and the diamond necklace in my overnight bag."