Hi all! I'm sorry I haven't updated in forever, but I asked a friend what I should do next, and she was very helpful. She said, and I quote to the best of my memory, 'I love them all. Use all of those ideas.' I asked what came next!
Eh. On with the show.
It had been a week since Rhea had asked to live with the Teen Titans. And she hadn't left. Not that anyone complained. Raven liked her, and so the others couldn't complain. Or else they'd die. But there was no denying that she was weird. She stared at the TV as if it was an antique, and when Robin showed everyone the new, healthier, and safer smoke bomb he had made, she exclaimed, "Oh my gawd! Most people would kill to have that! It's the techie sign of status, that and having the old fashioned PSPs. Where'd you get it?"
So, everyone was rather uncomfortable around her. Everyone not including Raven, who had become her best friend, and Starfire, who had become her second best friend. Raven didn't care that Rhea was odd, because she was odd. And Starfire didn't notice anything.
The Titans plus Rhea were training. And Rhea couldn't concentrate. Again. Eventually, Raven had enough.
"Just explore your mind."
"It's boring. I've been meditating for nearly all of my life, and there's not that much to explore."
"Fine then. How about you explore my mind, and I'll explore yours." Rhea gawked. For telepaths, the mind was the last sanctuary. Offering it was a true sign of friendship.
"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."
"Your welcome. Now shut up and go inside my head." Raven went back to meditating, sending out her soul in a line of black fire until it connected with Rhea's head. Rhea let her mind drift until it could separate itself from her body and enter Raven's.
Beast Boy looked at the two floating girls. "Wait, if Rhea's in Raven's head, than how is Raven in Rhea's head?"
Starfire spoke from where she was flying above all of this. "It is a matter most simple. They have explained it to me upon many occasions of the bonding of the girls- "
A/N: The rest of this chapter is set in Raven and Rhea's minds, with one or two interludes to the outside world. To distinguish between the two girls' minds, different font face will be used. Yea font face!Bold typewill mean a mind.And now you know! Your regularly scheduled fanfic will now resume.
Raven looked around Rhea's mind. "Wow. This is simple," she muttered. There was an endless grassy plain, with a pond or a lake off in the distance, and a house nearer by. A Rhea with a lavender cloak came up to Raven.
"You know, I heard that!"
Raven lifted an eyebrow. "And?"
"You need the tour. There is more to this place than there seems. Come this way. You need to see Rhea Compassion."
"Who?"
"Okay. You know how there are different emotions? Well, in here, a different Rhea with a different cloak color (the colors make it easy to tell us apart) governs each emotion. Usually Rhea sensibility is in charge, but since she's in your mind, I'm supposed to take you to Rhea Compassion, who's in charge. Rhea Happy, at your service." Rhea Happy extended a hand.
"I'll skip the whole physical contact thing, if you don't mind."
"I do, but I don't have to deal with a grumpy-puss like you for long. Follow me. We're heading to the house."
"Because who would ever think to find the essence of compassion in a happy field where bunnies and deer frolic?"
Rhea appeared onto one of the stony platforms in Raven's mind. "Well isn't this just chipper?"
Raven Sadness glided up to greet Rhea. "Try living in it."
"How about…NO!" Rhea would've said more, if she hadn't heard a large crash from another stone platform, and seen a Raven in a sage green cloak fly across her vision towards the sound. Rhea followed.
A twelve-year-old version of Raven in a wine red cloak cringed and protected her head as four eyed birds attacked her. She lashed out with her power and tried to smash two stone boulders lying around into the birds, but they evaded.
When Rhea saw that, she screamed, "Back with you, foul birds! Get thee to the Night's Plutonian Shore! Release that child this instant or fear the wrath of your maker's descendant!" When the birds heard that last threat, they paused, and fled.
"What?" the Raven in the sage green cloak stared at Rhea in amazement.
Rhea stopped like a deer in headlights. "Ummm… I was hoping that they would think I was Raven Bravery."
"That wasn't your best plan. Raven Brave wears a dark green cloak, not that… stuff you're wearing. I'm Raven Compassion." Said the green clad Raven.
"And that little one over there? I'm Rhea by the way."
"I'm Raven Love!"
Rhea stared at the small girl. "You… How… Why… Do you even exist?"
"I'm standing here in front of you, so I guess I do."
"Okay. That was helpful. How about this. Isn't Raven Love an oxymoron?"
"No! Raven can love! Just as long as I stay hidden."
Rhea instantly understood. "Hiding from Trigon?"
Or not. "No. From Raven Sensibility, of course. She's trying to protect us and everyone else from Trigon, so she dispatches those of us that could put them all in jeopardy."
"Oh yeah… So. What is there to do in here?" Rhea said, smiling at the two Ravens. They smiled back, and had anyone been there, a cold wind would have passed.
Raven stared at the Rhea before her. The Rhea was bustling about in the kitchen of the house, simultaneously cooking, wiping up after one of the lesser emotions, and evaluating the current status of Rhea's mind.
"I'll be with you in a minute. Rhea Sense left some specific instructions. Just sit down for a minute hon, and I'll fix you some nice Tamoranian Curry." Raven obeyed, and watched as hundreds of spices and, Raven thought, a giant tentacled potted plant, went into a pot to steam until curry like. It was soon finished, and the little emotions ran upstairs, possibly to their rooms. Compassion sat down, sighing lightly, and spoke.
"We'll first visit the Pool of Memories and maybe Sad and Depression. Then, we'll hit Brave in the Forest of Imagination. And then, you can decide. We really are simple in here." Compassion got up, opened the door for Raven, who had gotten up also, and lead the way across the knee-high grass.
The pond Raven had first seen was much different up close. For one thing, it became much deeper and larger the closer you got to it, until it was a huge sea. About thirty feet out, a small island rose up from the water. On that island, a Rhea with a mermaid tail and a silvery blue cloak sat on a rock, tears streaming down her face, as she wailed a watery tune. On the other side of the island was a crude cage, where a three-year-old Rhea crouched, her black clothed body wracked with sobs. Raven's heart went out to the small girl. She longed to help her, get her out of her cage that was clearly too small. But right now, Compassion was watching her.
"This is the Pool of Memories."
Raven looked around at the seemingly endless ocean. "It doesn't look like a pool."
"Yeah, but when it started out, it was a pool. Mostly images of Mom and Dad, and the Uncles and Aunties. And…" Compassion's voice lowered, as if speaking of some dirty or improper thing, "Grandpa."
But Compassion didn't stay quiet for long. Instead, she became happy again, and pointed to some tide pools. "Go ahead. Touch your finger to the water, then to your third eye. Or in your case, Chakra." Compassion started to swim out to the island, probably to give food to the Rheas there.
Raven looked at the seemingly identical pools, stuck in indecision. But gradually, they seemed to glitter, or darken, or glow. Raven picked one that seemed clear and dark.
Rhea knew something was wrong even before her father walked into the room. She could hear his fearful thoughts, about how she and her mother would fare if the worst should happen. But those feelings were covered up by the time her father walked into her room to tuck her in.
She was sure something was wrong when she saw him. He was wearing his old uniform, complete with mask. He hadn't put it on in…gee, thirteen years, exactly. Then the significance of the day came back to Rhea.
She was thirteen. A teen, officially. She could choose classes at the Azerath Academy. She could get her black belt. She could start practicing magic and not get berated for it by Awena.
But when her father sang her lullaby, she nearly cried. Her father was worried, and about…Grandpa. Rhea spoke up.
"You plan to see him, don't you?" Rhea's voice wavered.
"Yeah, honey. We need to. Otherwise, you and your brother might get hurt. We can't have him walking around. He might destroy Azerath. He's already destroyed Earth. We can't let another planed fall to ruin. Especially when you and your mother are involved."
Rhea understood. "Just come home safe, won't you?"
"Why wouldn't I? I have your Aunties and Uncles to help me. And your mother."
Rhea sat up in bed, surprised. "Stop lying. How bad is it?"
Her father sighed. "I should have known better than to try to sugar coat it for you. You've inherited your mother's intuition, and my paranoia. They took Bellar yesterday. There's nothing but here now, and the mages say they can't hold up the shields for more than two and a half years. And the ones studying for that are going to need another five to learn."
Now Rhea's emotions were really out of control. Sadness and anger ripped her posters apart. A lamp exploded. "But why can't Mom and I can hold them up for a while? Why can't the Tamoranians come, and stage an attack against him? We can fight him now!"
Rhea's father stared at her. "No, we can't. The Tamoranians are going through a civil war right now. And you don't want your mother or you near the city boundaries, do you? Our only hope is to go out now, infiltrate the citadel, and weaken grandpa's forces there."
Rhea's father held her as she realized that it was true. Her parents had to go away, maybe for a year, and maybe never come back. And there was nothing she could do about it.
Raven was flung back from the force of Rhea's emotions through the memory. She was surprised when she noticed that that last picture, the one of Rhea in so much pain, wrenched her heart.
Rhea sat in front of the giant mirror that showed the goings on of the Titans in the real world. Well, Rhea was still technically in the real world, just inhabiting the mind of another. It counted as in a fantasy world to Rhea. Especially when Love was concerned.
"So, what do you do?" Rhea asked, trying to make conversation.
"What do most emotions do? Make you act without any sense or reserve, and still don't let you figure yourself out. We each have our own ulterior motive."
"That kind of explains a lot about people."
Compassion was watching the screen intently. "Look!"
Trouble was brewing in the real world.
Robin had traded the huge sparring mannequin for the weight set. This let him get better at the martial arts, because karate and tai kwon do both involve a lot of strength, and aikido and judo were easier if you were fit. But what impaired his actions, or would if he let it continue, was the fraying cord holding the weights above his head. He didn't notice, not having the habit of staring above his head as if the sword of Damocles was hanging there. And now, the sword was much, much more deadly.
Rhea was suddenly interested beyond belief. "C'mon! Do something! Save him!" she shrieked as if it was her body under the thousand pounds of iron.
Love stared at her. "I can't. Not until there is actually a danger."
"What do you mean? He's your friend! You have to!"
Compassion piped up, feeling left out. "Actually, friends are my department."
"Oh, be quiet. This is my domain, don't confuse the girl." Love turned to Rhea. "I can't be found out. Not my Sense, not by Cyborg, not by Beast Boy, not by Starfire, and definitely not by Robin. If we save him when there seems to be no trouble, I'll be found out. But if I save him at the last minute, no one will notice the difference between Sense and Love." Love went back to watching the screen with intense attention.
The cord was down to its last threads…
Just as the weights fell down, Love took command of Raven, and put up a shield around him. Then she called a shadow under him, taking far out of harm's way into his room.
"Okay, what just happened?" Beast Boy said after the dust settled.
"I do not know, friend Beast Boy. Cyborg, did you happen to observe the transpiring of the events that led to that loud noise?"
"No." Cyborg began to lift bits of rubble away, searching for a body that could not be found. A worried expression started to cross his face. "I can't find him."
"What?" Starfire shrieked. She came down from where she had been flying until she could join the search. She threw large pieces of floor and equipment across the room, and used starbolts to destroy some of the other parts. Dust clouded the room again, but the alien didn't care. The life of her friend was at stake. She couldn't find him…
"Does anyone know what exactly happened?" Robin's voice came from the hall. He entered the gym, to be greeted by three super strength hugs. He was thoroughly blue when he could be seen again.
"You okay? You gave us quite a scare. How did you manage to get away?" Cyborg's question remained unanswered. The four Titans turned in unison to Raven and Rhea.
"So, which one was it?" Beast Boy asked, a sly grin on his face, eager for more blackmail material.
"Yes, do tell! Which one of our friends is to be commended with the honors of Kraa-Garrokk?"
"I think it was Raven."
Raven was actually unaware of the trouble she had helped Robin avert. She instead was trying to figure out which pool to try next. She picked one that glowed and glittered like a gem.
It was Christmas, or Yule, by the looks of it. Rhea sat in front of six people, one of which Raven recognized as Rhea's father, another seemed to be her mother. The blonde one was giving a wrapped gift to the greenish one. To Raven, that seemed normal. The green one opened the box and pulled out a little sweater made of green yarn. His eyes widened, and he hugged and kissed the blonde one.
Rhea's mother got up then, and grabbed a little box from the mantle. She handed it to ten-year-old Rhea. Rhea opened it, and gasped when she saw it. A glittery crimson jewel was nestled between some tissue paper.
"Really, Mommy?" Rhea's mother nodded.
"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you! I can have my powers back!" Rhea toppled her mother with one huge hug.
"I told you they would be unbound when most of the danger passed. Well, Grandpa has been quiet for over three years. So there, your very own Chakra, for you to wear to help you control you powers."
Rhea's face held such pure joy; it was impossible not to smile.
Raven wasn't flung back by this memory's emotion. She just remembered that face, and felt the odd feeling of wanting more than anything to see that again.
But something was nagging at the back of Raven's mind. (A most unpleasant thing for Rhea to endure at that moment.) Those six people were people Raven knew. Raven's eyes widened when she realized.
As Raven fell to the floor, out of meditation, she knew. Those six people were the Teen Titans, including Terra. And the parents were Raven and Robin.
Okay. That was a cliffhanger. I'm sorry if Tai kwon do doesn't use strength, and is more based on technique like aikido, but I'm afraid I'm horribly dense in that area, except aikido. I take it, and am nearly at my brown belt. YEA!
Review! More of you!
