Author's Note: Well well, I got a huge response for the last chapter (danka, danka :D). I wanted to reasure anyone who was doubting: STARFIRE WILL DEFINITELY NOT BE ABSENT FROM THIS STORY! I love her too damn much to write her out. She's just somewhere... different. Well, you'll find out IN THIS CHAPTER!Also, about Loki. Sillymail said he was the devil. Well, touche, that's true. But Lord Raven Drackon mentioned the Norse God, which is who the little demon is named for. AND he has very many things in common with his namesake... The end of the world, for instance. Believe me, Norse mythology DOES play a roll in my storyCongrats for noticing! OK, now on with the story.
Chapter 4: The Exalted One
Name: Koriand'r "Starfire" Star
Activities: Protecting this wonderful planet from any force that threatens it!
Best School Memory: I shall always remember the day Raven and I learned to harmonize with each other instead of continuously misunderstanding one another.
Favorite Band: Roland'rakan (a Tamaranian musician). Oh, and perhaps Clay Aiken.
What You'll Miss Most: Robin. And all of my friends, of course.
Often Caught Saying: "Glorious!" Well, I suppose that's what I often say. For everything is so glorious.
Favorite Quote: "But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life, and thanks to a benevolent arrangement the greater part of life is sunshine." –Thomas Jefferson
With a little effort, the Titans escaped the Raven shrine. After a few 'hallelujahs' and blessings, as well as a few autographs and bright (if not slightly sarcastic) predictions for individual futures, Raven had freed herself from their starving attention.
When they reached the car, Raven beat Beast Boy to the front seat and he scowled as he watched her get in. Robin grabbed him and tossed him in the back and followed him in.
"So where to now, all-knowing ghost guy?" Cyborg asked, looking at Beast Boy in the rearview mirror.
Beast Boy folded his arms, grumpily. "Ask the demon," he grunted.
Raven was preoccupied with looking out the window, contemplating on just how much humanity she had left in her. And she wondered just how much Robin really blamed her for Starfire's disappearance. How much they all blamed her for everything.
"Hey, you OK?"
The warm voice belonged to the concerned friend sitting next to her, both hands on the wheel but both eyes, human and robotic, were pointed at her in the most sincerity she'd seen for a while. After all she'd done to him, Cyborg made her feel like she still had a friend in him.
She gave him a reassuring smile and nodded. "Everything's as good as it's going to get," she said, honestly. He smiled back at her.
"So do you have any idea where to start on this grand mission of ours?"
Raven sighed and looked away from him, out the window again, where the scenery was not passing by for Cyborg hadn't started driving yet. A strange premonition washed over her and she frowned in confusion. What could we possibly be missing?
"There's still one more piece of the puzzle," Raven said. "We can't do anything without that."
Cyborg looked a little nervous but dismissed the expression with a shake of his head. He took a long, deep breath. "OK..." he said, then turned over his shoulder to look at Robin and Beast Boy, whose minds were both elsewhere. "Yo, either of you two have any inside knowledge about the impending apocalypse that you've neglected to tell me about?"
Unfortunately, he had to take their apathetic silence as a stout 'no.'
He sighed and bit his lip, looking back to Raven, unsure of what to do next. "Sorry, Rae. I don't like this though. This whole not knowing what's going on thing? Dammit, if only something started attacking somewhere! Now that I could handle."
All of a sudden, Raven jerked up, wide awake, and grabbed Cyborg by the arm. "Drive!" she ordered.
"But Rae, we don't–"
"Just do it!" she demanded.
Immediately, Cyborg stepped hard on the pedal, oblivious to where they were all heading, but flying away on Raven's whim nonetheless. As he drove down the empty street at what must have been three in the morning, he wondered why he'd done it.
Looking over at her, her eyes glazed over and staring straight ahead of her, he knew why. After all these years, after all she had done, and after all they blamed her for, he still trusted her with his life. She knew things he did not, and he accepted this wisdom humbly, for she was a demon and thus had insights into things the rest of them could not comprehend. Such as the ways of a Morlin Demon who was out to destroy the world. And perhaps more. What more, he was unsure of, and he wondered if she even knew. But whatever that wisdom was, it was rearing its head now, and he was forced to obey it.
She began to issue directions when he came to turns and intersections. He smiled, unfazed by the fact that he did still trust her despite all she'd done. Because he knew why. It was as she had told him, fifteen years ago, he knew her inside out. And he knew there was more to the story of her betrayal than she'd let on. Though oblivious as to why, she seemed to like playing the part of the lowly traitor, unwilling to explain herself or even give reason for why she'd done it. She was content to be hated by the people she loved, so long as she never had to relive the story.
Soon, Cyborg thought to himself, that'll change.
, Cyborg thought to himself,"Left," Raven said simply as they came to an intersection. Without comment, Cyborg obeyed and followed the next street, which seemed to be heading down to the wharves. When he reached the water and the road led either left or right and Raven said nothing, he began to turn right.
"No," Raven said simply. Sighing, Cyborg backed up and was about to turn left when she repeated, "No!"
He stopped the car. "OK, Rae, then where do you want me to go?" he asked.
But she shook her head, eyes wide with anticipation. "Wait," she said, looking straight ahead of her out over the sea.
Cyborg glanced in the mirror at his two friends in the back. Robin seemed to be lost in some waking dream and looked as if he hadn't even noticed the car had moved anywhere. Beast Boy was watching Raven intently, as if waiting in eager interest for her next crazy move. But he was silent, which was unlike the young vivacious boy Cyborg remembered. He was also patient, which was definitely not a quality to have been found in the alive version of the spirit he saw before him. Perhaps death changes a man. He wouldn't know. He'd never been dead.
All of a sudden he saw Beast Boy's jaw drop and Robin startle himself out of his trance. The car was filled with white and Cyborg was compelled to turn around. What he saw astounded him.
A miniature silver sun had appeared off of the coast of Jump City. The bright sphere should have blinded them, but they all refused to look away. Something about its glare was warm and gentle, when it should have been harsh and painful. Not a soul in the vehicle shielded their eyes.
Out of the sphere, a figure as bright as diamonds stepped onto the docks. It stepped lightly on the concrete, as if walking on water.
Walking on water...Cyborg thought. All of a sudden, he put the pieces together, the two images in his mind of saints stepping ever so lightly– no, more like floating there, above the water, and above the ground
Cyborg thought. All of a sudden, he put the pieces together, the two images in his mind of saints stepping ever so lightly– no, more like there, above the water, and above the ground"Oh my god..." he said in awe-filled recognition.
"The missing piece..." Raven muttered.
He watched a moment longer. Long lean legs covered in a shimmering white fabric stepped one by one out of the white and glowing tresses followed her like some divine shadow as she came towards them.
He heard Beast Boy say the name, but Robin went further, opening the car door and walking ever so slowly, ever so reverently towards their missing link.
They met half way.
It was an interesting sight, this dark figure and this bright angel, standing side by side, life emanating from her fingers as she lovingly caressed his hair. He had stayed stoic until she touched him, where he promptly folded into sobs and tears in her arms. She enveloped him in her glory, hushing him calm with the sweet lullabies of a tender mother. He fell to his knees and she followed him, holding him like a babe, stroking his hair, letting him cry. He leaned his head on her shoulder, a grown man reduced to nothing in her embrace. He did not deserve her care, her love, or so he had convinced himself.
But she did not care what he deserved and what he did not. She had missed him and wanted to hold him like this for so long, that nothing else in the world mattered. She had him in her arms and nearly cried herself. After so many years, her love for him was just as great and just as pure. And she held him like she refused to ever let him go and face the world alone again.
He dissolved in her, this girl– this woman he had not seen in fifteen years, ever since the day he had made the grand mistake.
A mistake... Is that what it was?
If it had pushed her away from him, then it had definitely been a mistake. For never in his darkest nightmares had he imagined a life without her, let alone ever hoped to experience it. There was no life without Starfire. She brought the daylight. And he had lived in shadow for so long.
As quickly as it came, the white sun set into whence it came and the five heros were once again veiled in a thin mist of blackness, broken with scattered holes of starlight and the florescent beams of streetlights. And still, she held him, and still he cried, not caring who was watching or what else was happening. He had missed her so much.
"Ahem."
The cough was cold and incapable of understanding the fireworks of emotion exploding inside of him, therefore he knew it could only have come from Raven. Out of spite, he ignored her, though he felt her presence only feet away from him.
Noting that Robin and Starfire were purposefully ignoring her, Raven narrowed her eyes and folded her arms, ready to create a tidal wave to wash over the docks and drown them both. But she relented. Instead, she felt content to wallow in her envy and glare at her two teammates, gushing over each other in public. Granted, there were no people around, but nonetheless this was occurring out in the open, where people could pass by, should they want to. She exhaled sharply out of her nose in annoyance.
Then, it dawned on her.
Their missing link was Starfire. Of course. She was here. Some gift of the heavens had brought her to them and they were at long last a team again, whole again. And somehow, with the alien in her presence, Raven felt the tug of humanity pulling at her heavy heart. Starfire had always brought out the best in her. Now that she had returned, she remembered what it was like to feel human.
She took in the woman who was kneeling before her, clad in a white gown, modeled like a toga and held together with silver broaches at each shoulder. It flowed off her like froth off of a wave. She wore it like the wind itself and it seemed lighter than light and just as bright. She was older, which was to be expected, yet still looked younger than the rest of him, as if she'd only aged five years rather than fifteen. And yet, her true age could be seen in her wise eyes. Yes, Starfire had grown much since they had last met.
She coughed again, louder and more obvious, in hopes they would suddenly remember that the fate of the world was in jeopardy. Robin wouldn't let go, but after a moment, the crimson-haired angel released her embrace and looked over Robin's shoulders, her lips straight and her eyes sparkling.
"I have missed you," she said simply, looking Raven directly in the eye. She then smiled and looked down at Robin, who refused to relinquish his grip around her neck. "I have missed all of you."
Raven was suddenly aware of Beast Boy and Cyborg a few paces behind her.
"Starfire..." Cyborg muttered. "Where have you been?"
Her smile broadened, but it wasn't the same carefree smile it had been in her youth. Experience had added years to her countenance, and wisdom took its toll on her endless optimism. "Only days after I left you, I was contacted by a demon," she told them. "She called herself Chrona, the Mistress of Time."
At the mention of the name, Robin stiffened in her arms and Raven's eyebrows raised in interest.
Starfire continued. "Chrona, I have learned, was more than any other earth demon."
"She's an interdimensional spirit," Raven interrupted, knowingly. "She's infamous in all dimensions– even this one." She looked pointedly at Robin. "Years ago, in ancient human history, she was even worshiped by civilizations as a goddess who used different names. She was even one of the original Greek Titans, although she was depicted as male. But the stories everywhere remain the same. She holds the key to time itself in her palms, and has watched the earth since its very birth. Some say she is even the Creator."
"But is she?" Beast Boy asked. "Because that's just verging on sacrilegious."
Raven turned to him seriously. "No," she said, simply. "Most demons have deducted that she did not create the universe. For one thing, she has shown inadvertently that creating and maintaining life is outside her surprisingly limited range of power. But she does quite skillfully manipulate time, jumping back and forth in all its folds, twisting it, slowing it and hastening it as she pleases. Fortunately, that's all she can do. She cannot change it. However, it has been decided that she is one of the oldest demons in all history, predating any modern breed, and especially the human race. As such, her form has faded. She should probably be dead now, but because of her grand knowledge of time, she has found the key to immortality and refuses to share. Nonetheless, she is corporeal in no dimension any longer, and uses banshees as her messengers, often warning those she is fond of of their impending death so as they might avoid it, or playing with those she dislikes by fooling them with banshee riddles. The human race is a joke to her and she delights in tormenting it."
"So how old exactly is this time demon?" Cyborg asked at last.
Raven looked to Robin. "Care to answer, dear leader?" she asked. "You are famous in the dimensions for being one of her favorite humans. You must know all about her."
Robin, who had at last let go of Starfire, was standing tall and glaring at Raven. Finally, he nodded and turned to Cyborg and the others. "Let's put it this way," he said. "If humans appeared a minute before midnight on the geological clock, then she came along around 4:00 in the afternoon."
"OK," said Beast Boy. "So Starfire the middle-aged mayfly met Chrona the ancient tortoise. What did she do that made you disappear?"
Starfire laughed and it was a relief to all of them to hear it. "Dear Beast Boy, I never disappeared. I merely rose to a higher plane."
Raven gasped and Beast Boy's jaw dropped. Their fellows glanced at them briefly before reverting their gaze back to Starfire, who laughed again.
"I believe Raven and Beast Boy understand what a privilege that is. A higher plane is a dimension that exists outside of time and space. It is impossible to create a door to such a place because time does not exist there. Therefore, to build a bridge, one needs to be somewhere time has stopped completely. It is actually quite a simple task, with Chrona's aid. Fifteen years ago– Lord Grognak, has it really been so long in this world? Well, fifteen years ago, she told me that I would be needed sometime in the future to help avert a catastrophe. She said it was for the best that I learned with her how to manipulate time. She gave me a great gift and sacrificed much to grant me such a gift. No longer will she live forever. Like all demons, she will eventually die. She gave up her eternal life to save this world. And I shall forever respect her for it."
"Wait, wait, wait," Beast Boy said, shaking his head. "You're saying that Chrona gave you the gift of time?"
Starfire nodded with a smile. "But just as she had a price to pay, so did I. I was kept like a prisoner in that dimension, aging slower than the rest of you, but aging nonetheless for I was a living being where nothing should have lived. There were so many instances in all those years in which I longed to see you, but I could not leave my realm. Finally, I grasped the concepts well enough to aid you. And I waited for Chrona to bring me to you."
"So..." said Cyborg. "You're like... a Goddess now?"
Starfire giggled and blushed. "I would not call myself by such a name."
"Well," said Raven, sounding a bit sarcastic and perhaps only slightly bitter. "If Chrona can claim the title, I see no reason why you can't."
"She's a definite messiah," said Robin, proudly. "She came at just the right moment, just when we needed her, to save the world. A definite angel."
If possible, Starfire's blush deepened. "I do not believe that is appropriate–"
"There's no time," Raven interrupted, becoming disgusted with the way Robin and Starfire still fawned over each other. "What did she tell you about Loki."
Nodding in understanding, her face growing solemn, Starfire replied, "I know much of the demon's intentions. Much of it has to do with you," she added, looking pointedly at Raven, who looked away.
"What are you talking about, Starfire?" Robin asked in confusion. But Starfire's eyes remained on the half-demon.
"She did not tell you that Loki courted her, five years ago?" Starfire asked curiously, eyes raised.
"The insolence," Raven spat in disgust. "A demon of his stature daring to request my love. Claiming that he would have power someday, asking me to share it! From a Morlin demon! Arrogant bastard. I put him in his place."
"And he put you in yours," Beast Boy noted, nodding at the scar, which only earned him a glare from Raven.
"Loki was a spineless little demon who had a nasty talent for manipulation, which was how he gained his power in the first place. Three years after I rejected him, he became Emperor of the Shorlia Dimension– by force. Shorlia is a superpower and has most of the dimensions' magical exports. He had gathered an army of brute force and the most cunning wizards and shamans, God only knows how. Bribery, blackmail and coercion no doubt. His specialties. He knocked them down. The greatest army in any dimension, and he drove it into the mud. Needless to say, prices went up on just about everything. He sent me a letter with an enchanted locket, offering me everything. I refused, of course. He may have been ruler of Shorlia, but he was still a sniveling Morlin and I wanted nothing to do with him."
"And now," Starfire said, "he won't rest until he has revenge."
"Because Raven rejected him?" Beast Boy said with a laugh. "Aw, come on, Rae rejects just about everyone!"
But Raven was grave as she shook her head. "Something went... wrong. He became furious with my refusal and apparent 'prejudice.' He became obsessed with it, writing me letters, promising glory. I never read most of them. Only when I wanted a laugh. While he was focused on me, the citizens of Shorlia, angry at being repressed by a minion demon, revolted. With him caught off guard, and most of his hired mercenaries on the side of the people, Loki was defeated. Rumor has it he hid in a cave for ten months, draining the life and powers out of anyone who dared cross his path, including some great wizards. Then, a few months ago, he burst back into the demon world with a vengeance, slaughtering everyone for revenge. Shorlia was devastated, and in many lesser dimensions, there's not a soul alive. Other dimensions collapsed in on themselves completely from his magic. Eventually, there arose three dimensions that remain untouched by his rage. A small dimension of magically adept humans and wizards called Lorethel, my own home of Azarath, and, of course, this dimension. We formed an alliance of armed forces, the Triad of Light, named after an ancient and sacred Lorethelian order. They were some of the best soldiers from all three worlds."
Robin and Beast Boy stared agape and Starfire looked on with raised eyebrows. But Cyborg was standing cold. He elbowed Beast Boy in the ribs.
"You're dead," he murmured. "I thought you knew these things about Raven."
But he shook his head. "Can't watch her all the time man," he muttered. "Spent most of my time tailing this guy over here." And he jabbed a finger at Robin.
"And the Triad failed," Starfire said, her voice solemn.
"Damn right it did," Cyborg said loudly, earning him a curious glance from Raven. He looked at her with an empty gaze. "Lieutenant Stone, serial 45062, second division, blue team." He smiled at Beast Boy's surprised look. "Hey, the bartending gig's a side bit. I figured you didn't know everything when you asked about Loki in the bar."
Beast Boy slapped himself on the forehead. "Goddamn, how the hell could I have missed this big evil villain! He was everywhere!"
"For the same reason you would have missed it if you were alive," Raven said coolly. "You just don't pay attention."
Beast Boy began to roll up his sleeve. "Why I oughtta–"
"Regale us with tales of the war, friend Cyborg," Starfire said quickly. He looked at Raven long and hard.
"Nothing to tell, really," he said. "We went, we fought, we lost. Only a handful escaped alive. I had friends in that battle. And I ran like a coward. I got the hell out of there when I saw people just falling down dead on either side of me, not even struck by a weapon. They killed us with glares, I swear to God. And I never want to go back." He shook his head, sadly.
Raven gave him a gentle smile. "You did a brave thing," she said. "Many ran and they're alive today because of it."
"So to Loki's I take it?" Robin asked. "Wherever that is."
"There is a Lorethelian that lives here in Jump City," said Cyborg quietly. "A clever wizard who helped me out of a scrape during the battle. He'll know where Loki is."
Raven nodded. "Then to the Lorethelian. He will give us the aid we need."
Robin and Starfire followed her back to the car. Cyborg began to do the same when Beast Boy's voice stopped him.
"Hey Cyborg," he said, watching as with every step Starfire seemed to glow brighter. "Riddle me this. How come after fifteen years, the girls become goddesses, and us guys are left to drown ourselves in misery?"
But Cyborg watched Raven's retreating back with pity. "Aw, BB," he said. "Look beneath the surface. We aren't the only ones who are miserable. And we aren't the worst off by far."
Beast Boy grinned up at him and winked. "Knew that," he said. "Checking to see if you did."
And with that, he skipped off over to the car to leave Cyborg puzzling after him.