Kevin Flashbacks Part I:
Recap:
As the spacecraft was being lifted the boy ran to
the outside right when it was about to leave. He screamed for her and
Raven saw two green eyes look out the window and look down at the
boy. The boy then fell to his knees and began to sob, as he let out
one more scream for her.
" KORI!"
Raven allowed more tears slip out. She didn't normally let her emotions get the best of her for things tend to blow up when she does but it was just so depressing to see all the pain that Star had to grow though. But Raven didn't know. She didn't know that Starfire underwent more pain that what she had just seen. Raven turned her attention back to the little boy. His hair was no longer in a mushroom form but it seemed to have been cut off except for one strand that was braided in the front. The boy just knelt there crying.
'It seems that he really cared for her.' She thought. The image slowly started to fade away and Raven was thrown into another flashback.
Another Flashback:
Raven was in a cell. She looked around but it was too dark 2 seen anything. She squinted her eyes too adjust to her dark surroundings. The memory was becoming more clear as she saw a small figure with what seemed like red hair but it was so dark and the figure was so dirty that by looking at her Raven couldn't really tell. She heard sobbing and she could tell that the figure was shaking. As Raven got closer to the small shape she could see chains around her feet and neck and some around her wrists. She was restrained. Raven couldn't help but try to put a comforting hand on the figure's back but she had forgotten that she was like and invisible ghost. Her hand went right through the person. Raven concluded that the figure was a small child.
'Why would Starfire have a memory of this? Is it possible that this child could be her?'
Questions danced inside of Raven's mind but were interrupted by the heavy thumpings of footsteps. Raven knew she could not be seen but she still took a few steps back into a more darker corner. She heard the fooststeps come closer and observed the reactions of the small child. The child looked up and Raven noticed that the child was in fact a girl. Who looked much like her alien friend.
'It is her. It's Starfire'
Raven noticed that the little girl who was in fact Starfire start to squirm as to try to get away but the chains kept her in place.
The footsteps came closer and closer and the girl got more afraid and afraid. Then the steps came to a sudden stop and the door to the cell creaked open. Starfire shook violently knowing of what was too come. Raven saw that she seemed older not by a lot but by a few years. Maybe three or four years older. Then just as it creeked open a evil snicker could be heard and then the door flew open making Raven and Starfire pound themselves back against the walls.
"Hello Princess." Raven looked over too what looked like the ugliest thing she had ever seen in her life. The thing looked just like the monsters that she had seen whip Starfire.
He approached nearer to the shaking little girl and lowered to her level. Saliva running down chin and hanging like icicles on his lower lip. Starfire closed her eyes in fear and Raven could only stand and wacth as the scene unfolded.
The monster lifted his gigantic hand and smaked it across her face. Raven saw the tears swell up in Star's eyes and she let out a yelp in pain. The monster then grabbed her by the chains holding her neck as if to make her choke. Starfire gasped for air as he did this but knew better than to struggle for a release because it was useless. The monster then dropped her to the ground and gave out another evil laugh.
Starfire sucked in gulps of air.
"Why don't you just kill me." She said in a cold tone turning to look back eye to eye with the monster. Her English was still hard for her but Raven and the monster could understand what she said.
"There is no point in keeping me alive!"
The monster slapped her again but more forcefully so to make the girl smack her back against the wall.
He grabbed a lock of her hair to lift her once again to his level and responded.
"Then it wouldn't be any fun now would it?"
He let her fall and Raven could hear a crack.
"Now get up your worthless Troq and get to work with the other slaves."
She picked her head up and replied.
"Yes General Phy'sion."
He took the chains in his hands and led her out. But not before whipping her in back if her knees to make her fall and have an excuse for kicking her in the stomach.
Raven felt like strangling the horrid beast. But she knew she couldn't. Raven couldn't believe it. All of this happening to a little girl. And not just any little girl this little girl was Starfire. But she was so gentle. So fragile.
'How can any of this be how she was raised and then end up the most innocent creature on the planet?' Raven thought.
The memory soon faded into another and another but they were all mostly the same. She was being beat by the monsters that kept her as a slave. Raven was disgusted. She wanted to leave Starfire's memories and never see them again. But again she remembered her purpose for coming. She needed to know. It was no longer curiosity but something more.
She just had to know.
Another Flashback:
This time Raven was in an open field but instead of having plants and flowers it had gray dirt and motionless people sprawled on the ground. Raven shivered. It reminded her a bit of her premonition. But instead of the sky being red it was dark blue swirled with black and there were some live people shoving their shovels in the ground and being whipped by the horrid monsters. Raven looked around for Starfire.
Then she saw her she was sharing a quiet conversation with another girl that seemed to be the same age. Raven guessed that Starfire was thirteen now. Her body look more mature than the last flashbacks and she looked more like the Starfire that she knew today. Except she was dirty with dirt and her clothes had numerous holes in it. Raven guessed those were from the beatings. Raven observed the other girl She had brown hair that went up to her shoulders unlike Starfire and orange eyes. Raven's eyes widened as she saw as a monster sneaked up behind them. She wanted to warn them but she knew it was pointless. Before she knew it the monster whipped Star to the ground and grabbed her brown haired friend. Raven didn't know what to do. But there was nothing to do except stare upon what was happening. Star stood back up only to be kicked back down. The monster still held the girl by her neck in his palm.
"Well, well, seems like little Princess Koriand'r has a little friend." He laughed and the other monsters laughed along with them. Raven came closer to the scene.
The brown hair girl struggled for release. She yelled and squirmed but the monster just tightened his grip and was choking her.
Starfire was crying out now. "Please General leave Sy'nai alone it is me you should punish I disturbed her in work and-" But before she could finish she was whipped once more by him and she fell silent.
'Sy'nai…What a strange name' Raven thought. Yet at the same time it was a pretty name to her. She focused back at Starfire.
"Shut up!"
Sy'nai was gasping for air. But unlike last time when he let Star go. He didn't let her go.
"You will now pay the consequence of having a friend"
"No please-"
"I said SHUT UP!" He yelled as he whipped her once again but this time leaving a scar on the back of her shoulder. Blood streamed down her back as the flesh was ripped. Tears stained her face.
The monster felt pleasure in seeing her shed blood. And smirked an evil smirk.
He then turned his attention back to the girl dieing in his grasp.
"You. What to do with you."
He got remarks from the other monsters and Raven was disgusted at their suggestions.
"Cut her arm off boss!"
"No whip her till she dies!"
"No food or water for a week and whip her everyday."
He silenced them.
"Now boys, we aren't that harsh are we?"
They all laughed in unison.
"So what you gonna do boss?" One of the disgusting asses asked.
He tapped his chin and came up with the consequence. An evil smile crossed his lips.
"Well we can't kill the princess now can we? After all it's her turn to dance and do battle today isn't it Princess?"
The others thought about it and remembered how much they do like seeing people dance and battle. So they just nodded in understanding.
"But-" The general took a glance at Starfire and then back at Sy'nai.
"We can kill her little friend and make her watch."
The others threw their arms in the air yelling as if they were victorious in something.
Raven was furious fire in her eyes but also feeling deeply sorry for poor Starfire.
Starfire was losing too much blood to have the energy to stop him.
"No please! Take me instead!" She yelled but it was too late.
The general put choking Sy'nai face to face with Starfire. Sy'nai's teary eyes filled up with fear as she gazed at Star for help. But there was nothing she could do. Star saw her reflection in the eyes of her only friend that was about to be gone forever and then the he said the words that would forever burn Starfire.
"It's your fault princess. She's about to die because of you. Next time you'll think twice before making friends with other slaves."
Sy'nai smiled to try to comfort Star but it didn't work. She was able to choke out a few words.
"It's not your-" It was too late he snapped her neck and she died right in front of Star.
It was too much.
Star couldn't take it.
She was fed up.
Raven saw the hate in her eyes that she had never seen before. She was scared. Raven didn't get spooked easily. This was bad.
The chains that held Star disabled her to use her powers but not anymore. Her strength overcame it and she just snapped.
"AAAARGHHHH" She yelled as she began glowing red.
Raven lost her balance and fell back.
'What's happening' she screamed in her mind.
All of sudden Starfire began singing out of nowhere.
"What are you doing? Restrain her now!" The general for the first time was afraid and commanded orders.
Starfire continued chanting a Tameranean song and the red power began glowing brighter and stronger as the chains that were around her wrists, ankles, and neck disintegrated. Raven couldn't help but notice that her voice was nothing she had ever heard from Starfire before. It was beautiful. And although Raven didn't understand what she was saying she liked it. But it was astonishing; Starfire's entire body was engulfed in the red light that seemed more like fire than anything else.
The monsters tried to shock her with their electric spears but Starfire put up her hand and an enormous amount of power flowed from her hands and as she lifted her arm they were pushed away lying dead or unconscious on the gray dirt along with the poor slaves that were already there. The other slaves took the chance to escape, as all the other monsters were highly distracted from the singing girl that was now floating. She did the same with all the other cruel monsters that came towards her to restrain her. Then she turned her attention to the General Phy'sion, who was shivering in fear.
"YOU!" His eyes glistened with her eerie glow of red.
"YOU KILLED SY'AIN AND TOOK ME AWAY FROM MY FAMILY. YOU HAVE HARMED ME IN WAYS THAT PAIN IS BEYOND THE WAY TO EXPRESS IT. AND BECAUSE OF THAT YOU HAVE MADE A BIG MISTAKE AND YOU WILL DIE!"
Starfire was filled with hate for this cruel monster. But how can Raven blame her. But then again is Starfire able to kill? Raven's eyes also reflected the glow of red and she thought that she could never think of her in the same way.
Starfire screamed a battle cry and threw a furious, immense, red starbolt and with one death cry the monster crashed to the floor lifeless.
Raven looked back at Star and saw the evil smile place upon her lips. Raven felt a chill go done her spine. She looked…looked…evil.
With that Starfire stopped her glow of red and her eyes turned to their normal color. When she noticed what she did she gasped. "No…" She turned back around and flew away. Into the dark, deep, coldness of space. Alone and afraid.
The flashback began to fade away and Raven…well she just there taking in what she had just seen.
"Star, killing and finding pleasure in it. No…that isn't Star."
But Raven knew what she saw…it was Star…