Author's Note: sigh I feel so lazy. I almost didn't write this chapter...but here it is. Goodness. Okay, for you Rob X Star fans, don't worry too much, k? it's just a different fanfic, and besides they haven't done anything yet...((ha, ha, did i scare you?))...and for you Cy fans...well, he does make an appearance in this chapter. Aren't you happy? Yeah! So, reveiw at the end of it...please?
Child of a Pinapple: Nifty! I like that word...nifty, nifty, nifty.
WickedWitchoftheSE: Well...actually she's not there forever, I think. It's elaborated on in this chappie.
dannyspudge: an epic? really? wow!
E t er n i t y
Grey
"Trigon is no impossible to beat, Robin," said Faye in her heavy, outlandish accent. She eased closer to him, and he, as if for the first time, went red all over. Her gaze was compelling and seductive, and with that kind of look fastened on him, it was hard not to suddenly notice how low the bodice on her dress was cut. Her hand touched his shoulder and he felt the hair on his arms prickle.
She continued, "You have to follow me fearlessly, Robin, and we can beat the demon."
Robin blushed. Damn it, I'm acting like I've never even kissed a girl. That thought, almost joyful compared to the others he had been thinking before Faye came, shook him. Why did this woman hold so much power over him with just a simple pat on the shoulder? Why did she send his thoughts reeling with every word she said? Why did she reinstall hope in him?
Faye cleared her throat. "You do hear me in that thick head of yours, don't you?" she said jokingly.
"Ah," started Robin, "sorry. I was just thinking." He tried to keep his face from turning ten shades of red brighter.
Faye smiled tentatively. "Is it a first?"
Robin laughed, yes, laughed, before soleumly saying, "Yes, Faye -" oh, how wonderful her name felt on his tounge, "I will follow you."
- - - - - - - - - - -
Starfire winced. Something was making her legs sting. She looked down as best she could and saw a frantic ocean. Waves were intent on slamming into the rock and her legs. The water was bone-chilling and mind-numbing. She tried to struggle but the ropes that were a part of her were strong. A nasty little voice in her head hummed, its careless tune mocking every movement she made.
"Stop," she commanded of it, but it didn't stop. If anything, it became louder. "S-stop," she repeated. Memories that were not hers prompted her to attack it, memories flashing. In her mind's eye everything was becoming a bright-jewel green color as from her eyes shot an unimaginable power. She was having memories of someone called Father teaching her about the green power while several beautiful suns vanished behind a serene landscape.
"Most planets have no idea the capabilities of light, the strength interwoven into a single beam." The one called Father showed her the power with his hands.
Starfire squirmed and disregarded the memories that could not be hers. She was a nobody, a beac, a servant to the Dark Lord. If she was a beac long enough, she would become an Auran. Aurans could weild the Higher Ones' powers to a degree and they were respectedand feared by all. Even the wind bowed for an Auran. If she was a beac long enough, her one and only wish could become true.
To be an Auran though, she had to be still! She had to let the wind and waves cut at her, tear at her. Starfire was motionless while the ocean mercilessly pounded at her beneath the howling wind. She was inanimate as the rock she was tied to, unaware that her bright, jewel-green eyes were slowly fading to a sickly, washed out grey.
- - - - - - - - -
Raven doubled over and mumbled under her breath. Beast Boy was almost certain she said, "Goodbye."
"What's - "
Raven's dismal expression silenced him. Before he could make up his mind about saying something, she vanished.
"Raven!" he shouted, knowing it was pointless.
He was alone for a second before Kaizoku timidly asked, "Garfield?"
Beast Boy ignored Kaizoku, shoving his way past the angel to the white hallway, feeling confused, lost, and utterly alone.
Kaizoku gripped his elbow tightly. When Beast Boy looked at him, he was surprized to see a sympathetic face looking back. Still, no matter how soft the face, it did nothing to soften the words. "You can't just go storming off! The halls of Heaven are numourous. You cannot comprehend how long it would take for us to find you! Here you are nothing more than a child, unable to be left alone lest you become lost." He released the changling's elbow, watching him stare sullenly at the floor. "Are you hungry?"
Beast Boy's mouth worked and he nodded slowly. "A little, but I don't think I have the stomach to eat anything."
"Then you must eat something." Somberly, he added, "You knew what would happen to your friend." He pushed him down the hallways until Beast Boy saw a white, lacy, curtained doorway. He could smell enough to know he'd be having some good eatin', assuming of course that God knew every single thing about him.
"There it is. I'll have you know that eventully you won't need to eat." Kaizoku pulled back the curtains and the door to reveal a long table covered with platers of turkey rolls, mashed potatoes, creamed corn, turkey gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, rolls, and butterscotch pudding. "But while you have to eat, you'll get the best," stated Kaizoku, cheering up a little until he looked to his trainee's expressionless face. He said quickly, "I'll leave you alone," and then disappeared behind the lace curtains.
Beast Boy sat heavily in a chair, just staring at the food. Heaven didn't know him at all. He'd rather have a bowl of Sugar Bombs. He pushed aside the massive turkey, and lo and behold, a box of Sugar Bombs sat next to a bowl and a pitcher of milk. He sagged. It almost didn't surprize him. He poured himself a little and ate, revling in the normalcy, the routineness of it all. When he was done, he pushed away from the wonderfully-prepared food, and stumbled out of the room.
He wandered the hallways, only becoming aware that he was lost when he started looking at the details of the hall. It had seemed so plain, so his eyes had swept over the walls, but now, upon closer inspection he saw moving patterns etched subtley in its surface. The patterns were always movingk, wriggling, snaking quietly to tangle themselves with opposing patterns. Beast Boy quinted so he could see the individual lines. They were woven with seemingly random movements, but if he stayed focased on one line, he saw that it, over a short time, interwove itself with another line with perfection. The weaver of the pattern was indeed great, even if one or two lines tended to become part of the background. He pulled away, afraid that if he watched for too much longer, the patterns would entrace him and he'd never leave. He continued his aimless stroll, resuming the hapless frame of mind from earlier. There seemed to be something dark grey in the distance. He hurried to it. It was only a slightly different shade, but the grey door was so alone in the halls of white that Beast Boy felt a kind of kinship with the patterns on it. After hastily glancing at them, he turned the knob and stepped in...
- - - - - - - - - -
He was aware of feeling sick. He lay for a long time in the hazy state between wake and sleep. He had a feeling that if he opened his eyes he'd be put somewhere cold, but of course, he could not lay like that forever. He opened his eyes. As his veiw improved, so did the noise. Or rather, it became louder. Beast Boy was sitting on a rock in the middle of the ocean.
"Uh, hello?" he asked. He looked down at the sea and quickly decided to stay out of it. Even a whale would have trouble going where it wanted with those waters swirling and crashing to patternlessly. He breifly imagined flying, but it was really only a desparate hope anyways. The winds made it feel like his skin was being striped off. He clung to the rock, thinking I wonder if the winds will die down. That thought was monotonous; the noise was too great to think of anything else. As preditable as each thought was, he embraced it. Nothing had been predicable as of late.
Alas, all good things come to an end. The overall howling, roaring noise rose to a decibel level so that there was no room left for thoughts. The sound alone was enough to crush Beast Boy with half of its strength. His breath froze in the frigid air. Falling snow failed to make the scence look peaceful or beautiful. All of those tales of people finding energy in the sight of falling snow and a white winter wonderland were false. Beast Boy felt drained, and besides, nothing was white. Everything here was becoming grey.
- - - - - - - - - -
Cyborg watched the stars, a blank expression on his face. The stars were complex in their ablity to look so simple from far away, while when one looked closer he would see swirling gasses and fire left hanging seemingly motionless as time wrought its steady effect on it. Stars were deceiving.
"Auran Cyborg?" A shakey voice asked for him.
With an unhuman coldness, a lack of passion and emotion, he replied, "What, beac?"
"I come from the High Lord." The servant was very afraid. Cyborg could smell the fear scent.
"The Lord of Dark would not send one so low as you," he challenged. He answered to no one that dared send a beac to bother him.
The servant's fear scent increased. "Please Lord Auran! The Father of Lies will -"
A growl from the unmoving Auran silenced the imp. "You go to this father of lies and tell him if he tries to impersonate the Lord of Dark again, he might find himself before the one he imatates." He hoped his gamble would end well as he watched the imp scrabble to summon a portal. Its wings curled protectively around its body as it stepped quickly into the slowly-forming blackhole.
A raspy chuckle emited from the very sky. Cyborg paid it no mind. Stranger things had happened on the plains of Death, on those empty plains. As empty as the plains looked, the noise was too great, noise from the souls that were caught in limbo, noise from those about to die, noise from various demons and imps, even noise from the ground, the wind, the sky. No trees dared grow on the plain. Cyborg felt the need to sit under some trees, or perhaps near some water. He really was too soft for a Dark Auran. Some even considered him to be a Grey, only slightly dark enough to be of the Dark Lord. He snorted. He did not need trees.
Feeling a funny urge to visit the Grey, Cyborg nearly flinched. After a moment's pause, he decided, well, if someone did see him, he could just send that someone to the Outer Realems. Why shouldn't he go?
"Yes," he said aloud. "I think I'll visit the Grey."