Chapter Two
A Dead Planet
"So, care to tell me what I've been keeping from them?" Raven asked, watching as the boy leapt lazily from atop the turned over car, and onto the hard concrete ground.
"Maybe not here," Nuncio replied. The other Titans seemed to have been shut out of the conversation by now, as they were just staring on in bewilderment. Raven didn't blame them – she'd already kept something from them before, and now this 'friend' of hers had drummed it into their heads she'd hidden something else. "Perhaps I should have a word with you back at your, ahem, Titans tower?"
At this point Robin cut in, stepping forward so he was on level with Raven. "How do you know about the Titans tower? And where are you from? I demand an answer." Raven shut her eyes in frustration, and then slowly reopened them. He was getting himself into deep water, instead of sticking to dry land. Whatever Nuncio wanted, it wasn't from Robin.
"All simple answers…" He begun, "but if you want Jump City knowing them, you're denser than I thought." Nuncio walked casually towards the group, arms folded, cape flowing in the air behind him. As he came closer, Raven could swear she felt an aura emitting from him, a shield of some sort, but shrugged it off and remained quiet. "To the tower, otherwise nothing is being answered."
The Boy Wonder seemed to ponder on the words, as if he knew he had no choice, and then spoke with a quiet, hoarse voice: "Fine." He turned to walk back to the other three, but turned his head and added, "But you better answer any questions I ask … any questions any of us ask."
Nuncio nodded, and with that, the T-Car filled up. Nuncio decided to fly above and follow the car, whilst the Titans rode back; it was only sense. There was an eerie awkwardness on the trip back with very little talk. Raven's mind was buzzing, tapping at her brain, screaming: Think, think, what does he mean? She could recall having the dreams Nuncio spoke about, but she just couldn't put her finger on it.
Why weren't the dreams clear? She mused, true, usually the visions I have are unclear, but this one is more so than any I've ever had. For the rest of the journey Raven tried to focus her attention on the scenery outside, but her eyes kept on flicking upwards to Nuncio. There wasn't much she could do; they were already heading for the Tower and in minutes a large discussion would take place. Sighing, she forced herself to look down at the ground, and remained like that until the car stopped outside the large T shaped building.
Everyone jumped out. Now there were quiet murmurs going on between each other, Beast Boy, most of all, seemed to be confused, but nevertheless pulled out a stock of stupid jokes.
"I take it this isn't the interior of your Titans Tower?" Nuncio inquired, quite amused at Robin's bluntness.
"We're about a mile away from civilization, no one can eavesdrop. I'm not letting you inside, and you can stay here until those promised answers have been told." Robin said. The silence wore thick once more; everyone was staring at Robin, bewildered. He was acting up. Even if Nuncio tried to destroy the Tower, couldn't he do the same from outside? And the Tower has an automatic "Intruder Alarm", which would shoot any intruder on sight.
But nonetheless, Nuncio agreed. "I'll warn you firstly. Raven can choose if she wants to hear these answers on her own, but if not I'll announce them to you all. What do you say?" He looked directly towards Raven.
"Tell everyone."
"Okay," Nuncio took a breath and began. "You're all familiar with Trigon, I guess? And all witnessed his power when he came through the…portal… to earth, correct?" There was a band of nods, excepting Raven. "The prophesy was that Raven would, once the anniversary of her birth came, complete her existence and bring her father, Trigon, to earth, to dominate it as well as the entire universe.
"Now the prophesy happened, and you defeated Trigon. But this comes are a price." He glanced around, wary. "Raven, if she hasn't told you yet, has had visions through her dreams. They aren't really visions; I was trying to contact you, Raven, but your mind was hard to penetrate, and so they came out very unclear, indeed." He paused to withdraw breath, and continued. "I was trying to tell you the prophesy isn't over."
"What do you mean it isn't over?" Raven said unemotionally. "I brought him here and I defeated him. Killed him. It's over."
"Trigon may be over, but you're not," Nuncio corrected. "The portal of Azarath shall be damned to eternal catastrophe. The ties of hope and joy, of love and lust shall be broken and torn from it, and tied to smother in a darkest ploy. The day of recognition shall arise, once the evil of earth was damned with the portal, and waves of unjust trials shall be endured by the portal. The portal of Azarath." Nuncio finished.
Raven stood, completely taken aback, trying to make sense of what he had just muttered. It was an obvious prophesy recite, and no matter how hard she tried to tell herself she didn't know what it meant, the meaning struck her like a thousand killing knives. She had heard it before, from somewhere.
Almost as if reading her mind, he said: "You heard it at child birth, along with the other prophesy. It's just that they thought it wasn't going to happen, so they didn't drum that into your head, yet it remained at the back of your mind. It means that even though Trigon's gone, the Trials of Azar will be upon you, and there is no escaping them."
"What are the Trials, exactly?" Raven enquired.
"Trigon constructed them once you left to earth. I don't know what happens in them, exactly, but they're filled with death, pain, sorrow and hate, anything Trigon thrives on. And there's about seven of them. "
"Well Trigon isn't here to give me these Trials. I can't possibly be in any kind of danger." Raven glanced about her team mates hopelessly; she was just avoiding the truth. "…Nor my friends."
"No. They won't be lead by him. They'll be like things that happen to you, and anyone around you. Think of it as a contagious thing," the boy looked down at the grassy grounds and back up to the rest of the Titans. "If you're going to survive these Trials, however long they are, you'll need to keep yourselves safe, as well as Raven. I advise you not to do any crime fighting, as well, it may prove… difficult."
Raven fell silent, thinking whilst the Titans threw their anger at Nuncio and put forward debates. I thought I didn't have to worry about this anymore. I thought everything would be peaceful for me; well, more peaceful anyway. If he can send communication through a persons dream, and still get them through, he has to be telling the truth. He comes from Azarath, as well, and he even called me a friend. A friend? I barely even know him.
"What do you mean we're friends?" Raven asked quickly.
The Titans waited for an answer.
"Oh dear; don't you remember? You and I tried to plot against Trigon all the time; practised our battle techniques and our powers. I was the only one who stuck by you, Raven!" Nuncio exclaimed. "And the why you don't remember? I made you forget, so that you wouldn't coming back, because when you left, I knew things would get worse on Azarath.
"Trigon enslaved us all and tortured us. It was practically like hell, and he was the devil." Nuncio told her, eyes full of hate. "He killed so many Azaratheans, it was unbelievable. After you left, Azarath became a holy battleground for the dead. It's recovering now, but it'll never be the same. Never." Raven's eyes widened in shock. "He killed any relative you had, any relative I had. He tortured me just as much as he's been torturing you over the years. Raven, Azarath is a dead planet now. Everyone's afraid."
"Then I have to go back." Raven muttered. This was too much information to take in at once. Her home, her family, everything was destroyed, all thanks to Trigon. Anger was being played at between both people now, and the Titans were just stood in the background, bewildered.
"You see, this is why I made you forget! You're being naïve. Think – there's nothing you can do. You can't turn back time and soon you'll be undergoing terrible Trials that Trigon himself invented. The pain of Azarath and Earth combined won't be able to compare to what you'll be witnessing. Trust me, I'm doing my best, I'm doing fine on my own, but even I can't do anything! What will you be able to do?"
"Look," Raven ceased the argument, beaten. "Come inside; I need more answers, and I'm not prepared to wait around all night."
"Thank you." Nuncio bowed his head, and walked ever closer to Raven to stand at her side.
"Hey, wait a minute," Robin interjected, furious. "You're just going to let him inside the Titans Tower? You really are being naïve, Raven. It might be a trap, how do you know that this isn't a—"
"Robin, shut up. Even you knew nothing of this until I told you," Raven said, standing firm with Nuncio at her side. "And here he is, he knows everything, and I haven't told him even a bit of the incident. Calm down, and let him come inside."
Robin grunted, and with that, they headed towards the doors. Beast Boy, Cyborg, Starfire and Robin were incredibly unsure about it, but even they knew they could kick him out in a heartbeat if he tried anything.
Pale Tea: So here's the end of chapter two. Hope you enjoyed, and please review. I'll update as soon as I can, but don't try and rush me, I don't update quickly.