This Prison

Chapter Ten

Searching

The next morning, I actually left my room. I went downstairs around eight to find only Robin and Starfire had risen so early. The enthusiastic alien greeted me with her usual "Hello, Malchior." I had noticed since the fight she did not speak with so much happiness…towards me, anyway. Robin, who was not going to let our rendezvous' memory die, said nothing and continued reading his newspaper. I got a box of cereal from the cabinet and poured myself a bowl. I sat at the end of the bar. Starfire was twirling slightly on the swivel stool, humming as she ate a bagel with mustard. Robin reached for his glass of orange juice absentmindedly.

The three of us ate in silence aside from the redhead's humming and the occasional chink of dishware. Moments later, the metal man entered the kitchen with a wide smile on his face. He proceeded to rummage through the pantry for something. He stood back up and looked at us. He had a strange and rather reflecting contraption in his hands.

"Who wants waffles, y'all?" the bionic man exclaimed, placing the contraption on the counter and tying an apron about himself. He pushed a rather ridiculously puffy white hat over his head so it tilted slightly. He rested a large arm on the counter, smirking. Starfire giggled.

"I though Beast Boy lost the waffle iron." Robin said, still not raising his eyes. So that's what the contraption was; it was a waffle iron. Now what the hell was a waffle iron?

"Yeah, well, I got tired of goin' out to breakfast just for waffles, so I bought a new one. It was on sale over at the place Overload attacked." Cyborg said triumphantly. "I'm makin' blueberry waffles and bacon. Who's in?" Oh. So a waffle iron made waffles. Interesting.

"Ooo! Me, please!" Star cried with a raised limb, leaping into the air several times.

"Thanks, Cyborg." Robin said smiling. Cyborg turned to me.

"C'mon, Mal. You gotta at least try it. If you don't like it, you don't have to eat it." the ebony-skinned man coaxed.

"I'll give them a try. Thank you, Cyborg."

We all turned to see the doors fly open to reveal a distressed looking green elf. "…before the tin man-" he trailed off, defeated. "Makes…bacon…again." The boy joined us at the counter. "Man, how do you always wake up so early?"

"Ya snooze ya loose, grass stain!" Cyborg commented. "Literally!"

"Yeah, well you- holy crap! When did we get a new waffle iron?" Beast Boy moved over toward the counter with sparkling eyes. He reached out a hand slowly as if he did it would disappear. "It's so shiny!" He squealed, moving in to touch it. He yelped and drew back when Cyborg smacked his hand. "Ow!"

"Don't. Touch. My. Waffle. Iron." Cyborg said slowly, hovering over his friend with anger in his eyes.

"Yeah, okay." the elf shrank into a ball on the floor. "We're good. I won't touch it." He held his arms above his head as if that would protect him from Cyborg's wrath. No one noticed the doors open again until she spoke.

"Beast Boy, we just cleaned the floor. Get up." Raven said, walking toward a cabinet to get her tea. The boy in question jumped up rolling his eyes.

"Very funny."

"Friend Raven!" The dark girl received a very tight hug from her bubbly friend. "You have exited your room at last!"

"Pain."

"Forgive me." The redhead released her friend so she could breathe. Raven put a kettle of water on to boil.

"Hey, Raven." Robin greeted her with a soft smile.

"Hi." she said simply without looking up. The Boy Wonder's smile turned to a frown. Before he had time to question it, Beast Boy cut in.

"Wanna go catch a movie with us today, Raven?" He stood in front of her. A cocky smile played on his face. "You know you want to. Say yes." He turned into a dog and sat on the floor. He stared up at her with wide pleading eyes.

"Sorry. I'm not a dog person. Besides, I've got plans." Cyborg dropped his bowl of waffle batter to the floor in surprise. Luckily, little was spilled. He and Starfire knelt to clean it up as Robin gave her a questioning look. "I'd rather not talk about it." She gave him a 'you know what I mean' look when the green boy wasn't paying attention. He gave a slight nod.

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"Find anything?" Raven asked as she sat down at a table. She brought with her several old tattered books of enormous size. We sat in the library in the Titans Tower, looking up anything and everything we could about magic and a way to stop Trigon.

"No; I haven't." I shut the book I was searching through and pulled another toward me. "Perhaps if we find a book on the Order of Azar…" I looked up at her. "You have heard of Azarath, haven't you?" She nodded. I'd read several books on Azarath when I remained trapped in the book. It seemed to be quite an amazing world.

"Take notice to my mantra."

"What?" I thought for a moment. Azarath Metrion Zinthos. "You're from Azarath?" I raised an eyebrow. Would this girl ever stop surprising me?

"No. I'm from the land of magical ponies." Sarcasm filled every corner of her voice. I chuckled.

"Then you have heard of the order?"

"Yes." She looked up. Her aura changed. "But I didn't bring any of their books with me when I left. I'd need to…"

"Go back to retrieve one." I completed. She nodded, avoiding my eyes. "Going home can't be that horrible." I commented. Immediately, I knew I said something wrong. She looked toward me with tears again threatening to curse her face. "I'm sorry, I-"

"No." she cut me off, dabbing away liquid from the corners of her eyes. "You're right. I should go back." She stood up with an armful of books. "Will you come with me?" I nodded in fear of what she might say if I refused. I followed her from the room with a pile of books as well. We set a path to her room and entered silently. She threw the books on her bed so that they bounced when they landed. I placed them in the same spot.

By the time I had turned around, she'd already laid out a six-pointed star in the center of her room with a sort of powder. She motioned me to join her. We both sat in the center of the star. She held my hands, causing me to blush. The dark beauty chanted a spell that made us levitate and a portal opened above us. We shot though it. We were both surrounded by the swirling blue of the portal. In a moment, we came to a star identical to the one that Raven had drawn on her floor. Her chakra glowed red. In the swirling wind, I could barely make out what she was saying.

"Let…me…in!" The barrier gave way and the portal spit us onto the hard street of Azarath. The portal swirled shut, sealing the noise away into nothingness. I got off of Raven, offering her an apology and a hand up. She took it and looked about. I did the same.

(A/N: I have no frickin' idea what Azarath is like, other than the one episode. I don't read the comics, either. So I reject reality and substitute my own.)

There was only one word for Azarath: beautiful. It was quite a city. Buildings and towers rose high into the golden sky. The structures shimmered gold in the light. The one thing that puzzled me was the lack of people.

Raven took my hand and led me down the street without a word. I still looked about my surroundings. I did a double take as I saw what I believed to be an eye. There, sitting behind a window was a little girl. She had shining green eyes and long blonde hair. Before I could note anything else, a look of fear came over her face and she covered the window with the blinds once more.

"Raven-" I said, breaking the silence.

"Shh." she put a finger to her lips and levitated. "Follow me." She flew up into the sky. I followed suit. We flew about the city- over buildings and roads- all of which were deserted. What was going on? Suddenly, Raven froze. I looked in the direction she did and saw a dove flying westward. She took off after it, leaving me to hurry behind. What Raven was following a dove for, I had no idea.

The dove flew up to a building, landing on what looked like a sleeve. Yes, it was definitely a sleeve. It was a white sleeve of a cloak. The cloaked figure turned, stroking the dove and walked away. It almost reached a door on the balcony before Raven called out.

"Arella!" The strange figure froze, but resumed stroking the bird. "Arella. Mother. I need your help." Raven landed on the balcony. I landed softly next to her. So this figure was her mother? Wow. This was rather awkward… The figure did not speak. "Mother, please." Raven moved forward with a hand outstretched. Her mother turned and Raven instantly recoiled as if she'd been smacked.

Arella, as Raven had called her, was nearly a spitting image of Raven. Or rather, Raven was nearly a spitting image of her mother. She had purple hair, the same chakra, and a less pointed jaw line.

"You cannot stop your destiny." She glanced at me. Her face showed no emotion. "I suppose you have been courting my daughter?" It was more a statement than a question, but all the same, I almost fell on my ear. I fought back a blush. I felt a presence inside my mind. I could tell it was Arella; it had a different feel to it the Raven. I pushed her presence back. I didn't need anyone reading my thoughts. She smiled. "Trained in magic, I see." Raven gave her mother a puzzled look. "Come. Join me for some tea."

Raven and I reluctantly followed.

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A/N: Hey, people! So how's it goin'? Likie the story? Good.

REVIEW, DAMMIT!