Airous (cont…)
I run for days. For nights, I shiver madly, but still run. The traveling does not stop…not for me. I cannot halt, not one second. If I do, I may become mad…or they might catch me.
I never know. It is a mystery to me. The old man waving a hello to me, on the side of the dirt road. The little girl sitting in a pile of dolls and acting out an elaborate drama for them. The little old lady, smiling at me and beckoning for me to take a sweater. Are they all harmless? Or are they spies?
Who is to know, in this world, who is evil and who is pretending to be good? Who is to know, if there is really good?
At a street sign reading: Iecomdo Street I stop. Finally.
I fall to the ground and clutch my chest, panting and soaking in breaths of air that are too big for my lungs to contain.
But after a few minutes, I force myself to stand back up. I must continue. I do not run anymore, but I quicken my pace to a fast stride.
After a couple more days of travel, I am completely exhausted. I cannot move. I collapse on the dirt road and pass out.
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I awaken and allow my eyes to get used to the light. It is extremely hot and I rub my eyes to take a better look.
"Aaaaahhhhhh!" I shriek as a green-faced monster comes into view.
"Hey, dude, it's okay. What's wrong?" the monster asks, in language I can barely understand.
"Who are you? Where on Eucolyptus am I?" I scream out, into the monster's ears.
The monster clutches his ears and whines. "This isn't Eucolyptus, it's Earth." He transforms into a doggy and runs behind his master's legs.
"What is that monster! How can a being such as himself change into a doggy? And where is Earth?"
The master, dressed in a red and yellow cape and green boots and big black hair comes up to me. "Are you okay?"
Again, language I cannot comprehend. "I do not understand your foreign tongue, master."
"Master?"
"You are the doggie's master, yes?"
"No, and he's not a dog. He's Beast Boy. We call him BB for short. And no…I'm not his master. I am his leader, though," the boy explains.
"Master, leader…is it not all the same?" I question.
"No, it's not. Who are you? You must be from around here…you speak our language," the boy asks.
"I am…" just as I'm about to tell him my real name, I reconsider. "I am Airous."
The green monster changes back into his green-faced self. "Well, hi, Airous. You're on Earth. Do you know where that is?"
"What is this Earth?" I ask, looking around. The landscape is strange to me. I see dirt hills and a black road in the distance.
"It's where we live. Where are you from?" the BB questions.
"She already told us, BB. She's from…from…Eucolyptus," the boy says.
"Yes…but I wonder how it is I came to…Earth." I stare down at my trembling hands.
"Are you okay?" the BB questions, pointing at my hands.
"I do not understand."
"Are you…feeling well? Your hands are shaking," the BB clarifies.
"I…I feel faint," I admit.
"Come with us. You can lie down on our couch. You can stay for as long as you need to," the boy invites.
"Couch? What is this couch?" I ask.
"It's like a bed, but bigger," the BB says.
"Bigger than a bed!" I exclaim. "What on Eucolyptus could that be?"
"Airous, you're not on Eucolyptus anymore. You're on Earth," the boy explains.
"Oh, right. I must remember that." I glance at the BB and the boy. "What are your names?"
"I'm Robin," the boy says, pointing to himself.
"Robin told you what my name was already, but it's Beast Boy. BB for short." BB transforms again, this time into a wolf, but its fur is green.
"How is it that BB can do that?" I wonder aloud.
"He's a shape-shifter," Robin explains.
I stare blankly at him.
BB changes back into his green-faced self. "It means I can change into animals."
"Oh, how nice." How awful it would be to become an animal…a serpent…a lowest life-form.
"Hey dudes, guess who we found!" BB shouts as we enter the massive structure Robin tells me is Titan Tower.
"Who have you found? Is it another friend?" a flying girl asks, excitedly.
"She—she is flying!" Quickly, I remember the time when I had touched my pendant and flown. But that was a long time ago.
"Yes…I can fly. I can also do this—" The girl, while still flying, makes her hand become green and shoots the green ball from her hand.
"What is this magic?" I shout, frightened.
"It's okay, Airous, Starfire is our friend," Robin calms me. "Star, tone down your powers for now, while Airous gets used to us. She isn't from around here."
"Yea, she's not even from Earth!" BB shouts, smiling.
"I am not from Earth. I am from Tamaran. Do you know Tamaran?" Star questions me.
"No, I have never heard of that place you speak of."
"Why does this Airous talk so strangely?" Star whispers the question to Robin.
"Star, shh…." Robin shushes the girl.
"I am from Eucolyptus…but recently there have been many eclipses there. So many horrible ones that the last one has killed so many… But I still do not believe the last eclipse was really an eclipse. You see, eclipses kill without dirty work. But this last one killed so many people…but they had guts spilling out, blood everywhere, they were maimed and their limbs were torn off and strewn all over… Oh, it was, it was…" I fall to the floor of the Titans Tower and hold my belly. As I am sick, Star, BB, and Robin look away. Then they come nearer when I stop.
"That bad?" another boy, this one of a darker complexion than Robin and with strange body-parts on half of his body, questions.
"Cyborg, you heard Airous's story?" Robin asks.
The other boy, apparently called Cyborg, nods his half-strange head.
"What is wrong with you?" I gasp.
Cyborg glares at me and says, through clenched teeth, "I am half-robot, Airous. You don't need to be so rude!"
"Cy, she didn't mean it…she's been through a lot, and we found her fainted near the tower. Leave her alone, for now. I'm sure she's just worn out," Robin holds Cy back.
"Yes, Robin is correct. I am sorry, Cy. I did not mean to offend you. I have just never seen someone quite like you before. Half…what did you say…-robot." I look Cy over.
Cy nods his head, again.
"So, who are you? Why do you all live in this enormous structure? You are Robin, you are BB, you are Star, and you are Cy. But why are you all here?" I ask, pointing to each of the strangers.
"We're the Teen Titans. We fight crime and evil-doers!" BB explains.
"I do not comprehend your language, BB."
"We fight bad-guys," Cy says.
"What is it you are trying to tell me…I do not understand."
"We kick the bad one's ass, and then we celebrate!" Star tries.
"We get rid of bad people in Earth," Robin suggests.
I stare at all of them with a perplexed look.
"We save Earth."
This is a new voice.
"There is another of you Titans?" I question, astonished that five young people can live together. But then I remind myself that these people live in a massive structure as their home.
"Yes, I'm Raven. And I don't think we've met before…but I overheard that your name was Airous. I'm pretty sure we have not met ever before, but you sound so…familiar," Raven, a girl with short, chin-length hair, dazzling purple eyes, a cloak around her shoulders, and a monotone voice says.
"Finally, someone I can understand! You are the most understandable in this group," I sigh.
"Thanks for the compliment. But, moving on. I have a question for you. I am not from Eucolyptus, I'm from…" Raven looks around at her fellow room-mates. She takes me with her to a door that opens without pushing or pulling on it, then into a hallway. "I'm from Azarath. But, even so, I know about you, Airous."
My face gets flushed. She cannot possibly know of me. I do not even know of an Azarath. This can't be happening. I can't be found out. Not now…not when I don't know where I am!
"Airous, are you alright?" Raven asks, her eyes worried.
"No, I mean yes. I am perfectly fine. It is just…what do you mean you know about me?" I take several deep breaths. I must calm down. Raven must not know I have something to hide.
"I just heard of you, when I was little. I was on my planet, in my home…it was not a nice place on my planet. It never was. But anyway, you don't really want to know about me… Anyway, the people in my village were acting very strange. They were talking all about the moon, black domes, eclipses, and a girl named Airous. I had no idea how the four were connected, and still don't quite. But, they were frightened…terribly frightened. Of you," Raven explains.
"Of me? Why would the people of Azarath be frightened…of a girl in a place entirely different?" I wonder aloud.
"I don't know. But I tried to figure it out. This all happened when I was no more than four years old. But I knew something was the matter, my mother was scared even more so than she usually was," Raven sighs, deep in memory.
"I am sorry. I do not know why they would be scared of me. There is nothing scary about me, now is there, Raven?"
"That's the thing, Airous… I don't believe you're scary. But the way they said your name, the way they described you…the way they spoke…it is almost as if they believed you were that girl. That Audrelia."
"Audrelia?" I shout. Raven can't possibly think I'm Audrelia…though I am. But she can't…nobody knows…can she?
"Yes, the girl who killed her parents. She has the power of the eclipse, of the moon, they say. She has the power of silver. And she wears a pendant…" Raven stops in mid-sentence. She points to my crescent-moon pendant, that I am unaware is showing, and whispers, "…like yours."
My eyes widen. She knows! She knows who I really am! But the power of eclipse, of the moon, of silver? What is this foolishness she is talking about? But oh! She knows—I am found out!