Okay, well, I want to give a big 'THANK YOU!' to everyone who is still reading this far. Things will be back to normal for now in this chapter, along with the cause of Raven's sudden change of character. LET'S GO. Also, just to forewarn you, this one is pretty long. Might want to bring a bottle of water.
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. Raven's alarm cut through the silent morning air like a souped buzz saw, waking the slumbering empath from her sleep. Slowly opening her amethyst hued eyes, she groaned slightly and rolled over, hitting the snooze button for an extra 5 minutes of her sleep. She smiled softly to herself as she re-wrapped her arms around Beast Boy.
Wrapped her arms around Beast Boy?
The Azarathian's eyes suddenly shot open, as she sprung out of bed at the realization at what had just happened. She immediately checked to make sure her pajamas were still in intact and upon seeing they were, she sighed with relief. It still didn't solve the mystery of how she wound up snuggling next to Beast Boy.
"Beast Boy! Wake up!" she commanded, causing the jade skinned prankster to stir from his sleep. He rubbed his eyes as he sat up in her bed, smiling from ear to ear upon the slight of his newly acquired 'girlfriend."
"Hey babe!" he said cheerfully "Have a good sleep?"
Raven didn't answer, merely stared back at him in disbelief. "What...happened last night?" she said, her voice hinting at being slightly unnerved. Beast Boy simply looked confused at her sudden apprehensive attitude, speaking with a bit of disbelief in his voice. "Huh? Dude, what are you talking about?"
"You heard me." came Raven's calm reply, having once again assumed control of her emotions. "What. Happened. Last. Night?" her violet eyes staring directly at him, unblinking in her attempt to piece together the night before.
"Uhh...well..." said Beast Boy scratching his head, trying to wake his brain up as best as possible, as far as he was concerned, there was no such thing as a 6 AM. "I was laying here," he motioned towards his side of the bed, "and you were there on the other side...and then all of a sudden you like totally became a different person."
She raised a pencil thin eyebrow at this. "I became a different person? How so?" Beast Boy merely shrugged. "I dunno..." came his reply "I mean...you just all of a sudden got real mushy and start cuddling up next to me and stuff..." and then lowering his voice, his ears drooping slightly, he added "...and you said you loved me."
"Love...was it really Love?" said Raven, talking to herself. Beast Boy looked down at Starfire's sheets, his ears drooping even farther than before. "I thought so, at least..." he finally said. Raven shook her head, feeling guilty that Beast Boy misunderstood what she had said.
"No..that's...thats not what I meant, Beast Boy. Listen, I need to shower and meditate, ok? I'll meet you in the kitchen for breakfast." Beast Boy nodded, not quite sure how to gage Raven's mood at the current time. He left Starfire's pillow and sheets on the bed as a not-so-subtle hint he still wanted to sleep there, before trudging to the Tammaranian Princess's room to change into his uniform and out of his Transformer pajamas.
Raven didn't even bother to change back into her leotard and cloak, immediately locking her door. "If this is Love's fault..." she stammered quietly, as she opened an archaic looking chest, carefully producing a small hand held mirror.
She gently sat the mirror face up in the middle of her room and crossing her legs, she began to float softly in the air, her eyes closed as she quietly repeated her mantra...
"Azarath...Metrion...Zinthos...Azarath...Metrion...Zinthos...Azarath...Metrion...Zinthos..." she said softly, till she felt the calming blackness sweep over her. She could hear, see, and feel nothing but the comforting darkness.
"Azarath...Metrion...Zinthos...Azarath...Metrion...Zinthos..."
Soon the darkness was gone and she felt a cool gentle breeze on her face, pushing her violet locks back slightly. She opened her eyes and stood up, analyzing her surroundings. The familiar rocky terrain seemingly floating out in the middle of a starry void sometimes felt like a second home to her.
She was back inside her mind, back in Nevermore.
"H-hello..." came a quiet voice, not unlike hers. Raven turned around to see Timid nervously standing behind the empath. Timid seemed small and frail, even though she was exactly Raven's size and shape, shaking inside her gray cloak.
"Hello Timid." Raven said softly, not wanting to spook her. "Where can I find Love?"
"I...I haven't talked to her recently...ask Knowledge. She knows everything..." the emotion said, her voice quivering slightly. Raven nodded and thanked Timid for her help, who merely smiled back weakly.
It didn't take Raven long to find Knowledge, as her canary yellow cloak stood out from the other "Ravens" around the area. Knowledge was leaned up against a dead tree, a huge stack of books surrounding her. "Hello Knowledge," Raven said cooly.
Knowledge put down her book to to smirk slightly at Raven. "Salutations Raven. What do I owe the pleasure of meeting you once more?"
"You know exactly why I'm here." the empath scoffed, "Where is Love?"
Knowledge smiled and took off her glasses, folding them to let them rest on a nearby stump. "Aw, Love." Knowledge mused. "Love from one side hurts, but love from two sides heals...are you familiar with that quote, Raven?"
Raven cocked an eyebrow at the ridiculousness of such a question. "Of course I am familiar with the quote, it's Shakespeare from Romeo and Juliet. You're trying to make a point aren't you?"
Knowledge chuckled softly. "You know me too well, and yes, there is a point to the quote." Raven sighed knowing exactly what that point was that Knowledge was trying to make. "You're trying to insinuate that I'm hurting Beast Boy by not returning his feelings? We both know I'm too dangerous to show any emotion, especially love. I could potentially hurt him...severely." she stated matter-of-factly.
Knowledge sighed to herself and putting the glasses back on her face, resumed reading her book. "Love is over by the large rock, next to the cliff." she said flatly, her voice creeping with traces of irritation. Raven paused for just a moment before making her way to Love.
Love sat on a rock with a flower in her hand, picking the pedals off, clad in her pink cloak. "He loves me...he loves me not...he loves me...he loves me not..." she said out loud, occasionally giggling. She smiled broadly when she saw Raven approaching, speaking in a voice so cheerful it rivaled that of Starfire in the "sickeningly sweet" category, or at least so Raven thought.
"Hey Ravie!" Love hollered loudly, before giving Raven a hug. "How's it hangin' sister?" Raven grit her teeth finding Love to be the most annoying of all of her emotions. "Love, we need to talk. What did you do last night?"
Love grinned, her voice a sing-song manner that felt like nails on a chalkboard to the beautiful pale faced girl. "Onnllyy what you couldddn't dooo!" she said still giggling. Raven sighed, massaging her temples as she found it near impossible to hold any kind of decent conversation with Love.
"But why? Both you and I know the consequences if I show any emotion! I'm a threat to my friends. I can't afford to express love!" Raven pleaded. Love giggled again and squeezed Raven's nose, making a "Honk Honk!" noise as she did.
"You're sooo cute when you're angry!" she offered, skipping in circles around the empath. Raven felt her blood boil as she was quickly losing patience with Love and her foolish childlike display. "Would it be possible for you to ONCE not act like an idiot?" she demanded angrily. Love stopped her prancing, frowned and stuck her tongue out at Raven. "Fine, Ms. Party Pooper! If you have to know, I took control of you last night because I'm tired of being ignored! We're all tired of being ignored, Ravie! And if you're not going to give us the attention we want, then we're taking it by force!"
Raven was stunned.
"You...and the others? This...this is insane! Do you realize how many lives you're risking with this little game? This is madness!" her eyes flaring white with disbelief and shock.
"Wow, that's really going to persuade us to stop." came an acidic reply. Raven wheeled around to find herself staring face to face with the black cloaked Sarcasm. Raven let her eyes return to their normal violet shade, her patience wearing thinner and thinner by the minute. "Sarcasm, I presume." she said flatly.
"No, it's the Tooth Fairty." came Sarcasm's reply. "Of course it's me, you dolt. You need to pay attention to Love here, but you probably won't because you have to protect your friends from your "dangerous" powers, right?"
"Don't you just love her?" Love asked innocently, now twirling in circles. This was too much for Raven, now with both Love and Sarcasm present. Raven sighed, realizing she was getting no where with this. "What do you want from me?" she finally asked. Love grinned happily before grabbing Raven by the hands to swing her around in circle, before stopping to let Raven sit down and gather herself, her vision still spinning.
"Ask BB on a date! And let him stay in your room!" Love finally said.
"And if I don't?" Raven replied.
Love smiled and as sweet as can be simply stated "Then we'll keep taking you over when you sleep. Maybe Rude would like a shot? I wonder how Cyborg would feel knowing lil' ol' Raven could out burp him?"
Raven shivered at the mere thought.
"Fine. You win. I'll ask Beast Boy out on a date and let him stay in my room. But there's still the problem with my powers..." Happy crouched down in front of Raven and put her finger to her ashen lips to quiet her.
"Shhh silly! We can take care of ourselves. Don't worry about your powers! We'll handle it, 'k?" before shooting back up to her feet, humming a little tune to herself.
Raven stood up and nodded, her mind racing with many different thoughts, so distracted she didn't even bother to say goodbye to Sarcasm and Love or poor Timid. She stepped in through the familiar construct of the Forbidden Door, before being blanketed in the familiar dark energy she knew so well.
Her eyes snapped open as she found herself mediating back in Titans Tower, scanning the confines of her bedroom. Her alarm clock read 1:59 PM. She'd been mediating for 7 hours...she quickly shook this off and still clad in her pajamas, made her way to find Beast Boy.
It didn't take very much effort, as he was right where she figured he'd be...smack dab on the couch watching the 3rd Annual Zombie Gore-A-Thon on TV with Cyborg and Robin. "Beast Boy..." she said quietly. Beast Boy turned around and grinned nervously at Raven, curious while she was still in her pajamas. "...I need to speak with you...in private." she said. Beast Boy didn't say anything, just sat up from the couch and followed Raven to her room, Cyborg and Robin exchanging curious glances. As soon as the door was shut, Beast Boy spoke.
"Listen Raven...about last night..." he said.
"Save it." the Azarathian interrupted, cutting him off. "I didn't come here to chastise you or lecture you. Instead, I came here to ask you a question." Beast Boy's ears perked up slightly out of curiosity. "A question? What's that?"
What followed next took a lot more effort than Raven thought it would. She bit her bottom lip and took a deep breath inward, before finally asking "Would you like to get some pizza and go see a movie tonight? Just...me and you."
Beast Boy froze dead in his tracks. "Waaaiittttt a second..." he said, suddenly suspicious "how do I know you're not gonna freak out on me again later like you did this morning?" Raven stared back, her amethyst eyes shining at him. When she spoke, her voice was it's normal monotone, but somehow, just by looking in her eyes, Beast Boy knew she was being honest. "I promise I won't." she said simply.
Beast Boy felt like running out the Tower, screaming at the top of his lungs his love for Raven, proclaiming to all of Jump City and the world he loved this girl...but instead he merely managed a quiet "Yeah Rae..I'd love to." and with that, the date was set for 7 PM that night.