Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans or the original storyline of "Beauty and the Beast". I do own the changes to the original plotline, which I hope you will all enjoy

Opening Note: I'm living the responses I'm getting. Thanks to all of your for the encouragement, suggestions, and feedback in general. There still seems to be quite a bit of confusion on the Raven/ Arella front, but that's part of the fun! I've had a few people come quite close to guessing what's up, but most people still think that my Arella is Raven's mother.

Dedicated to sekai no yakusoku and castle in the air.

Also, to anyone who thinks I wouldn't give them the time of day. It's 5:36 pm.

Belle: What's in the West –

Beast: interrupting It's forbidden.

-Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" (1991)

Part Four: The Darkest Room

The study was perhaps the only room that remained perfectly intact after the Wells family was forced to move out. It was certainly cleaner than the other rooms, and well furnished as well. A huge rug covered nearly the entire floor, two chairs, an ottoman, and a footrest sat in front of the huge, empty fireplace, and there were many books on the shelves.

Arella gracefully sank into the larger chair and made a lazy gesture in the direction of the other. "Sit," she instructed. Robin tried his best to give her a significant look, and she seemed to pick up on it. "Please."

She pulled back her hood and stared into the empty grate. Once again, Robin found he couldn't tear his eyes away from her.

"I don't expect much of you," she began. "Raven will cook for you and be your domestic service. Every day you will train... and if Mr. Wayne requires your assistance, you will be allowed to go to him. But you will always return here immediately after." At this she turned her red eyes on him. "As often as you can, you will come to this room and keep me company. And you are to stay out of my bed chamber."

The bird Poe wobbled through the open door and perched on the ottoman beside Robin. "Read to us!" he said, pecking him sharply on the wrist.

Arella flashed a grin. "A story would be nice." She indicated the shelves. Poe flew up and started pecking at the spines. At last he seemed to find one to his liking, for he pecked at it so furiously that it fell off the shelf and landed on the floor at Robin's feet.

"La Bella et la Bête?" Robin grinned.

Arella glared at him. "It's my favorite story."

Deciding she was being serious, Robin sat down and opened the book. "I guess it's good I can read French, then," he muttered to Poe before starting.

He read for a long time while Arella sat and stroked Poe's head.

Finally Raven poked her head in and suggested Robin come have his dinner. Arella dismissed him with that almost royal gesture that seemed to say "you have my permission to go". Dinner was rice and fish.

"I didn't think Arella was the type to like fairy tales," Robin commented between bites.

Raven stared at him for a long moment. "She doesn't," she said finally. "Arella says they are pointless, childish things."

"Then why would she want me to read her La Bella et la Bête?" Robin wondered.

Raven looked down at the table and squirmed a bit. She looked adorable, Robin thought, pick cheeks and all.

"Sometimes..." Raven faltered, "...Arella says that some fairy tales teach lessons." She looked up at him, as though he was supposed to find a hidden meaning in what she was saying. He gave her a quizzical look.

"I... suppose."

She smiled brightly at him and cleared the table, leaving him more confused than he had been before.

It wasn't Poe's incessant pecking that woke him this time. Instead it was the sound of things breaking. He sat bolt upright at the sound of a scream. Raven's scream. He leaped out of bed and ran in the direction of the sound. Arella's bed chamber. He wasn't allowed there. Another scream from within.

"Raven!" he pounded on the door, his mind racing. She said Arella would never hurt her. Poe appeared, pecking at his ankles until Robin kicked him away. Finally, the noise stopped and Raven stumbled out, pale and wide-eyed.

"Raven!" he snatched her up at once, lifting her tiny body up in his arms.

"You're not supposed to come near the darkest room," she said quietly.

"I know, but I heard you scream."

"Arella is hurt..." she whispered.

"I can't go in." He didn't know what to do. Part of him wanted to leave the place with Raven, take her to Wayne manor where she would be safe. But Arella...

"She's like the Beast, isn't she?" he asked suddenly. "So lonely here..."

"She tries to seem as though she isn't..."

"Is that why you stay?"

She shook her head. "I have to stay..." She seemed to struggle for words. "I belong here with her." She rested her head against his chest and began to sob quietly.

"Raven..."

He sat on the steps, holding her while she cried. Eventually she cried herself to sleep. As he didn't know where she slept, he carried her to his room and pulled the thin blankets around her, holding her even as she slept.

Being Arella's company and Raven's comfort became my life. I would wake up, eat the porridge Raven made for me, practice my kata and keep Arella company. Usually this entailed me reading to her. Other times we played chess. A month passed. Most mornings I'd wake up with Raven curled up beside me. I think I loved her. It was strange. She was so much younger than me, but I did.

Whenever I head noises coming from the darkest room I'd go find her and bring her back to my room, letting her cry herself to sleep. I asked her why she cried and she said it was because her heart was broken. It made me sad to hear such a little girl say that.

At the same time, I became accustomed to Arella's presence, learned how to speak to her. She never answered my questions about what she did those nights in her bed chamber that frightened Raven, so I stopped asking. After a while, her random appearances when the shadows melted away from her became a natural thing. An amazing thing happened. I gained a new sight. I could tell which shadows she was hiding in and which were the true shadows. Raven didn't possess this sight. Nor did Poe. Though I envied him for being able to communicate with her.

Another month passed, and I was allowed to return to Wayne manor for a visit. I wanted Raven to come with me, but Arella forbade it.

When I returned, Arella was locked in the darkest room and Raven was sitting outside it, looking as though she hadn't moved for days.

"You have to help her!"

She was very frightened.

"I'm not allowed to go in," he said. The sounds coming from within the room were horrible. He could hear things breaking, Poe's squawking, and an eerie whisper. From time to time something would bang against the door.

"You were supposed to come back yesterday," Raven said.

"I came back, didn't I?" he didn't want to sound so mean. But there was crime fighting to be done and Arella couldn't expect him to give that up, no matter how lonely she was. Or pretended to be.

From within, a sound erupted like ten thousand windows breaking and Raven screamed, falling to her knees and leaning against the door. Another scream sounded from within, and that heavy something pounded against the walls again.

"Help her!" Raven sank down and curled into a ball on the floor, wailing.

Arella was in some sort of trance, floating in the middle of the room, eyes closed tight and teeth bared, as though she was fighting something inside her mind. The room was in shambles. Windows broken, books thrown everywhere. A trunk of mahogany wood lay near the door along with a chaise and some drawers. The canopy of the bed had collapsed, and shards of mirror were strewn here and there.

I didn't now what to do.

But today, there was something different about her. She seemed so... powerless to whatever was holding her in that trance. She was no longer the shadowy mistress of her haunt. She reminded me of... Raven. Little Raven just outside the door, crying because her heart was breaking. I wondered if Arella's was breaking, too.

Without thinking, I did for her what I did for Raven. I reached out and pulled her to me. I'd never touched her before. And then, holding her, I realized how small she was.

The darkest room became silent. For a long moment, Robin just stood there, Arella in his arms, waiting. Finally, she pulled away.

"You are not allowed here, boy," she said. It was so like her to say it that he smiled.

"You needed me."

"I need no one." Her eyes attempted to burn through his soul.

"You need Raven." He said it so suddenly it seemed to surprise him.

"Get out."

He obeyed, deciding now was not the best time to try her patience. If she had any.

Ending Note: It took a while to get this chapter out... but then I added those bits from Robin's POV and it pulled itself together.

Signed,

The Writer, you fools