Collecting the Pieces of a Broken Mirror

'Thought'

"Speech"

Chapter 11: The Viciousness of a Mind

Olive eyes barely open, he guessed his location. By the smell, he could only be in his room. It would be absolutely normal if there wasn't something wrong. A minute ago he had been in a wet, stinky alley, after someone. Who was it again?

"Raven!" Beast Boy called. "Ra-"

"Beast Boy! You are awake!" someone shrieked and jumped into his arms. A moment later he realized it was Terra, and tried to sneak away from her embrace

"Uh…Terra? What happened? Why-"

"Oh, I thought you had fainted, or had a stroke or something! You wouldn't wake up!"

"How did I get here?"

"Huh? What're you talking about BB?"

"I was in an alley just a minute ago! I saw Raven!"

"Raven? You must have dreamed of it… The others were making breakfast and you didn't come down, so I thought there was something wrong. You were here, and you wouldn't open your eyes!" the blonde said in a trembling voice.

"No! You don't understand! I saw her! I'm sure of it! It was her, it HAD to be her!"

"Okay, Beast Boy…you're scaring me. Let's go down now and have breakfast, right? It was just a dream…"

Beast Boy nodded.

"Right… just give me a minute here, Terra" he said vaguely.

" Kay…just don't take too long! The TOFU WAFFLES I did for you are getting cold!"

Terra left and the door closed behind her. A second later Beast Boy was desperately looking for something among pizza boxes and dirty clothes. He could swear he had hurt his hand when Raven threw him against a window and a wall. Even if she had cured his wound, the blood would still leave a stain in his sweater.

There it was, carefully thrown on a chair, the sweater he was sure he had used. And in it there was a blood stain. Not a big one, or very significant, as if someone had washed the cloth in an useless effort to eliminate the evidence. But Beast Boy was keen sighted and surely had an evolved sense of smell. That was a blood stain for sure, and it was his blood.

But who could have brought him back? The image of Terra came into his mind but he quickly discarded it. If it had been her, then why had she said he was only dreaming? Had she lied to him?

Beast Boy hesitated. No, she wouldn't. Terra had always been a faithful member of the Teen Titans, and a very caring girlfriend. She had been acting strange for the last weeks, it was true... but she would never harm one of them. Ever.

He tossed the sweater aside and put his uniform on. Less spandex on this one, and he looked cooler in it. He had changed a bit in those years, and so had the rest of the team. They had all grown up, and no one can stay the same after someone very close ends up like a vegetal. But Raven was okay, after all this time, and they would go back to old times, when the team was complete. Except they were taller now...

When he noticed, Beast Boy was already in the kitchen. Cyborg whistled a tune while bacon hissed in the frying pan, and Beast Boy felt an urge to fight for his rights of eating tofu but remembered his breakfast was ready.

Robin kissed a worried Starfire's cheek and headed for the refrigerator with a mission in mind: to get orange juice.

Terra was there, trying to cheer Starfire up. Probably she was worried about Raven. So was he.

Beast Boy took a deep breath and joined his friends. Whether he had dreamed it or not, he was going to tell them about his encounter with Raven.

oOo

She used her mind to open the heavy door, and the silent, still air of the dark corridor entered her lungs.

She had to find her mirror and her chakra, but if she could find Slade first it would already be good enough. She was tired of games and was growing sick of him, thinking of how weird it was to be sick of someone you don't even know.

Air slowly entered her lungs as she took a breath and followed the faint candlelight through the corridors. Now that she was alone she saw a lot of doors and passages, and wasn't sure of which way to take. The place was a huge maze, and she wasn't finding her way out.

'It has to be here... somewhere', she thought as she kept walking, her feet barely touching the ground. As she passed the air stirred and its swirls extinguished most of the candlelight.

Not that she needed it anyway.

Raven could sense her surroundings and become part of it. She could easily pass through the floor and land wherever she wanted. That was how she was able to travel back to Azerath, but unfortunately she wasn't strong enough. What could she expect? She had just awakened a few hours ago, and wasn't at full power yet.

When she came to think about it, she had never really been at full power, and she wondered how it would be or what new skills she would get.

The doors that had been all around her were far behind and she kept going through the same corridor. Its walls were now closer to her, and the air was very dry, causing her nostrils to burn every time she breathed. Raven couldn't tell why she chose that way, but she wasn't turning back until she reached the end of it.

She waved her hand in front of her nose and wasn't able too see it. Since she could see nothing, Raven placed a hand on the wall on her side and let it guide her in what she felt to be a descending way.

Her feet didn't touch the marble under her, and all the girl could hear was her own breath.

Suddenly the cold wall seemed to have moved away from her touch and Raven landed. The air there was humid and slightly sickening, reminding her of a torture chamber she had been in a long time ago. There was a tall door to her right, and a beam of light escaped through a crack, allowing her to have some idea of what surrounded her. Raven found herself on the center of a circular room of stone walls, but didn't linger there.

She opened the door and promptly regretted it, because her eyes hurt in contact with the light. She moaned and waited a few more seconds before grabbing a torch and continuing her walk.

Raven pretended not to notice the heavy shackles hanging from the walls, or the blood stains on the floor. There were many passages that led to huge halls and chambers which she presumed to be used for some kind of training.

When she had first seen the building, she had imagined it to be a hideout, a decaying mansion, but its insides were like those of a palace. She had now found the palace's most hidden chambers, and was eager to see what else she'd find there. She was sure there was some kind of secret close to her. Something that'd help her to tell truth from lie.

Raven tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and kept on going until she reached a dark room. She waved the torch in front of her and discovered the room had no doors or windows. She had reached the end. Raven walked in slowly and checked every single rock of the walls, but she found nothing. Turning and taking her way back, she felt her feet touch something on the ground. Raven bent down and examined the object. It was a small book, with a filthy and worn-out cover.

But its aspect wouldn't fool her, for she had seen this book many times in her life.

Raven had just found her diary.

Ignoring the considerable dankness of the stone floor, the girl sat down and started her reading. She needed answers, and would find them very soon.

oOo

As Beast Boy told his story, he examined his friends' expressions. He was relieved they didn't think it had been only a dream. Starfire looked confused, as if trying to guess why Raven had forsaken them. Robin was very serious, and Cyborg seemed to be angry for a reason Beast Boy could not tell. Terra was looking at the sunny world outside their windows and seemed to be strangely disturbed.

"And then the last thing I remember is Slade's voice…"

"Slade's voice?", said Robin, jumping to his feet. "So is that guy involved in this too?"

"He said… something about family…" Beast Boy said vaguely, trying to remember the villain's exact words.

Silence fell on them. Apart from Terra, the Teen Titans knew of Raven's family. And they knew its story wasn't happy.

"Maybe Slade is manipulating her…" Cyborg muttered.

"But how can that be?" Starfire asked. "Raven is strong enough to break free of his control!"

"Maybe…" Robin said "he isn't controlling her this way, Star… what if he found a weakness? Something he can have control over?"

"A weakness," Terra asked with sudden interest in the conversation "Does Raven have a weakness at all? I mean… judging by the way you talk about her, she must be invincible!"

Robin had a half-smile on him face.

"No one is invincible…" he said, and then alarm went off.

A "Titans, go!" later, the Titans left.

The area in danger was away from the center of the city, something the Titans found odd. Usually villains attacked big stores or crowded places, but this one had something else in mind, it seemed. "Slade" echoed in the teens' heads. But they were wrong.

The endangered place was near the road they had been in the day before. More precisely, one of Robins' gadgets informed him someone watched them from a roadside forest. Something, or someone, lurked from the shadows.

"Who's there?" cried Cyborg.

The Teen Titans prepared to attack the offender. There was a rustling of dry leaves, and then silence. A human form stood among the trees, far enough not to be recognized.

"Throwing me into obliviation so soon?" said a smooth voice.

"Raven?" called Starfire. "Is that you, friend?"

"I am NOT a friend of yours, filth!" she shouted, and trees blew up "Not after what you have done to me!"

"Raven! Rae.. come here, let's talk! Are you.. okay?", Beast Boy said.

"Fine enough" Raven said, taking steps to the light and showing her face. She was wearing a long, black dress which made them think of a underworld princess. Raven's hair was loose, falling beautifully over her shoulders. Her eyes were icy, and showed less emotion than they had ever shown. They were two opaque amethyst orbs, full of hatred and dismay, adorning an ashen face.

"Raven?" muttered Cyborg "What happened to you? Why haven't you.."

"SILENCE!" she commanded "I will not accept your excuses."

"You are acting weird." Robin said, raising an eyebrow.

"Perhaps if you come with us to our home…"

"I forsook you... traitors" Raven said, raising one hand. A tree came flying their way and hit Cyborg full in the chest, throwing him a good distance away. "As you have forsaken me."

"Rae!" cried Beast Boy, running to her and grabbing her arms "Why have you done that? Why? We are friends, remember?"

"I have no friends" she muttered, smirking as Beast Boy fell by Cyborg's side with a loud thud.

"Raven… we don't wanna fight you!" Robin growled. "Quit it!"

"No." she stated simply, throwing energy blades on Terra and Starfire.

That was his limit. No matter how much he liked and respected Raven, he wouldn't let her hurt the Teen Titans. Specially his Starfire.

Robin used a fast move he jumped behind Raven and kicked her. He didn't want to use any birdarangs. He wanted to stop Raven, not to hurt her. She looked at him and hid among the trees again.

Cyborg got up, hesitating.

"Cyborg!" Robin yelled "I don't know what's with Raven, but we've got to stop her!"

Beast Boy stood. He understood Robin's orders and nodded. Stopping her didn't mean hurting her. That was the last thing he'd do, but they had to stop her. She was emotionally hurt, and they were to blame… but all they wanted was to have the whole team back. And they had to prove it to her.

Starfire followed Raven into the woods, and Robin went after the two girls.

"Are you fine?" Beast Boy asked Terra.

"Yeah, don't worry about me."

"Let's go, you two!" Cyborg called, and they nodded.

Inside the forest, Robin was far behind Starfire. Raven was quick and moved away from trees and branches graciously.

"Raven, please! Let us have a conversation, and everything shall be solved!" Starfire pleaded.

Amethyst eyes met emerald ones as Raven pushed Starfire against the ground. The alien hit her head in a stone and fell unconscious. Raven smirked as she saw blood trickling down her forehead. She wasn't dead, and the wound was not deep.

Robin growled as he saw Starfire injured. She would be okay in a few hours, but he'd never imagine his old teammate would do such a thing. Fury taking over him, he didn't see when Raven appeared by his side and hit him in the neck.

"Two are down, there are three more to go…" she said and sat on a high branch, waiting for the remaining three members of the super hero team.

oOo

She flipped through the pages which contained information she already knew.

The day Azerath had died. The day her father had claimed her. The injuries she had suffered. The hard training imposed to her, a lot different than the calm sessions of meditation she had with Azerath. The punishment each time she failed.

Raven shivered, every inch of her skin burning as she though of the scourges she had suffered. It used to hurt a lot in the beginning, in both her flesh and her pride. Soon her flesh would get used to it, and then the punishment would be stronger. Sometimes she would only wake up days later, and she alone would take care of the bruises and wounds. But her pride remained. After a certain point she forgot the reason why she remained unbroken. There was something Azerath had told her the day she died, but she was too young at the time and wasn't able to recall it later.

'Here…' she thought, finding a page quite unknown to her 'The day I ran away and came toEarth.'

She recognized it to be her own writing, and absorbed each word.

She had run away because her father planned to kill her in a ceremony of some kind. Because of her limited powers she only reached a close dimension, in which the Capital Planet was called Earth. Custom were very different there, but she soon got used to it. She soon found out people weren't strange, for she was the different one. She hid some time, until…

Raven turned the page, her heart pounding anxiously in her chest.

"… I've found my uncle.", she read. Raven stopped. What was it again? She read the sentence over and over until it finally sank in.

"He is indeed Mother's brother. They are very alike in appearance, but he behaves more like me. Slade is his name, and he teaches me many things about this world. He doesn't have any powers like mine, for I am a half-demon, and in humans similar powers can only be held by females"

So Slade was really her uncle. And that was indeed her handwriting. No way could he copy those uncertain, bold letters. So it was truth. If it was so, what was that feeling of illusion that lingered inside her? Raven sighed and read some lines of the last pages.

'Uncle was right. I shouldn't have trusted them. They are traitors, they used me like my father did. Used my powers, and then tried to get rid of me.. I have a bad feeling… I feel like this is never going to end. Unless they succeed in my elimination. And I think they will. And very soon.'

Raven closed the book, she could read the rest of it later. She sensed someone very close, and lifted the torch. Slade stood in the doorway.

"So you have found it," Slade said. "Just about time, dear."

The girl remained quiet. Her long purple hair covered her eyes, but Slade knew her expression remained passive.

"Let us go, now. I assume you need some food." he said smoothly, touching her shoulder slightly.

He turned his back on her and started to walk the way he had come.

Raven stood, her diary held close to her chest.

"Slade…", she whispered without any emotion. The man stopped, but did not look at her.

"Say nothing, Raven. Everything is getting clearer now, isn't it?" he said, and resumed his march. Slade's mask hid a satisfied smile.

Raven walked behind him, their footsteps mixing and echoing in the cold, moist corridor.