Chap. 8
Library
After the capture of the HIVE Five, the Titans and B.R.A.T.S returned to the Tower. The logical thing to expect next would that either Brett or Beast Boy would attempt to learn about Rorek. But neither of them did. Beast Boy, for whatever reason, refused to express any interest at all in the wizard's dealings. If asked about him, the green one would just leave. As for Brett, his reasoning was a bit more personal. The bat could see the relationship building between Rorek and Raven, and the bat had no wish to destroy his daughter's first real love. Besides that, the bat had to admit he had no real reason to suspect Rorek of anything. His feelings from Beast Boy could have many different meanings, and the reading had been too brief to differentiae between them. And as the weeks progressed, Brett knew he would be hard-pressed to convince anyone of Rorek's untrustworthiness. The young wizard had the uncanny ability to charm everyone in the Tower. He was perfectly willing to help anyone with their activities, regardless of what they were. He could be helping Robin train, cooking with Star, listening to Sara jam on her guitar, or designing pranks with Bart, it simply didn't matter. It also helped that Rorek would always squeeze in time for Raven. Brett eventually decided that he would wait for a more definitive sign concerning Rorek. But that time came sooner then he realized.
"Is there a reason for this?" Rorek asked, as he was led through the doorway. "Yes, now quit trying to peek." Raven said, as she took another look at the blindfold on Rorek's head. "If you'd tell me what's going on, I wouldn't have to." Rorek replied. "Just be patient." Raven said, as the others took their positions in the room. "OK, I hope you like this." Raven said, as she pulled the blindfold off. Rorek took a look around, and saw all the heroes standing in front of him, smiling (except Beast Boy). "Did I do something?" Rorek asked, still confused. "You bet you did." Nelson replied. "Rorek, we let you out of the book almost a month ago." Robin said. "In that time, you've become a valued friend and hero. Therefore, we think the time has come to give you this." The boy wonder finished, holding out his hand. Rorek reached over and took the item enclosed inside. "Is this…?" he asked, looking at the communicator. "Yes it is." Robin said. "Congratulations Rorek, you are officially a Teen Titan." Raven said, with a light kiss on Rorek's cheek. "I-I don't know what to say." Rorek stuttered in disbelief. "How about thanks, and letting us show you your new room?" Cyborg replied. "Sounds good to me." The wizard replied. "But do you think we could stop by the med-lab first? I have some things we could move in." "Sure. I'll give you a hand." Brett answered. "It'll give us a few minutes to talk." "Dad.." Raven warned. "Don't worry honey. I just want to ask him about some magic that I've been working on." The bat replied.
A few minutes later, Brett and the wizard stood in the lab, loading up on whatever items they could carry. "So how are things going between you two?" Brett asked, as he picked up an herb jar. "I thought you had magic questions for me.' Rorek answered. "I do. I just didn't say they were the only questions. Now how are things?" "They're fine." Rorek answered. "Raven's an amazing girl. I wish I could have known her before this happened. She's just so strong, but she's so fragile at the same time." "That's my girl." Brett agreed. "It's taking time, but I think she's finally ready to accept me." Rorek finished. "That's good, if it's in the right way." Brett replied. "I know." Rorek said, but then the wizard let out a strong "DON"T TOUCH THAT!" Why?" the bat asked, as he quickly withdrew his hand from the small statue. "It's very delicate. I'm sorry, but it took a lot of work to get this thing and I don't want it broken." "I understand." Brett said, as he withdrew his hand. The two continued their conversation, and eventually got the stuff to Rorek's room. But Brett didn't forget the statue, or Rorek's face when he touched it. After all, Brett knew a summoning statue when he saw one. He also knew how to tell the difference between a demon statue and an angel one; you always knew by the horns. And that was just what he'd seen on this statue.
"I think it's time we do some work with him." Brett said, a few hours later in his room. "What are you talking about?" Bart asked. After they'd moved Rorek into his quarters, Brett had asked the WILDDB.R.A.T leader to meet him alone in his room. "Rorek hasn't done anything to make us not trust him." "True, but what he has in that room doesn't build my confidence." Brett answered. "There are dark talismans, things that could unleash serious magic." "Yeah, but Rorek has experience." Bart argued. "Bart, these are things that no one should have. These are things that should be locked away in a chest, thrown into the ocean, and eaten by a whale so no once can get them." "They're that bad?" Bart asked. "Yes. But you might be right; Rorek may have enough skill to control them. He's the only one here with more knowledge of magic then me or Sara. And magical devices have been changed before. Even so, we have to make sure so that nothing goes wrong. Especially for Raven; I don't want to see her get hurt by this guy." "Well, I don't think that's a problem, but I'll go with you on this." Bart replied. "So what did you have in mind?"
"Most of the books on Rorek were destroyed centuries ago. But there might be some left in one place." The bat answered, as he moved to his dresser. Pulling out the top drawer, he dug around for a moment, and then pulled out a small silver key on a chain. "Cool. Which door does it open?" Bart asked as he looked at it. "This one." Brett said, as he pushed the key forward, and turned it in the air as if it was in a keyhole. "Um, ok.." Bart began, but then stopped when he realized what was happening. Yellow lines were appearing in the air where the key had turned. As Bart watched, the lines began to converge on each other, forming the shape of a door. As it finished, the door swung open, revealing a small room behind it. "You coming?" Brett asked, as he stepped through the doorway without hesitation. Bart shrugged, and then followed.
For a moment, there was a sense of disorientation, that everything was falling apart. That feeling passed in an instant though, as Bart emerged in the room. Upon looking at it, the young boy's mouth dropped. This was no room, it was a frigging building! And a rather familiar one, as the walls were stacked with bookcases, filled to the brim with huge books. "What is this place?" Bart asked as he looked around in wonder. "What you've never seen a library before?" Brett asked. "Oh wait…, have you?" "Ha ha." Bart snapped. "Now where are we?" "This is my own personal library." the bat said, with a grand sweeping movement of his arms. "This is where I keep all the magic books that I've collected over the centuries." "And where do you keep here?" Bart asked. "Oh, this is in a tesseract- a fold in the fabric of space and time. I learned about it a few decades ago and I've been using it every since." "And the key's the only way here?" Bart asked. "Yep. I figured this would be the only place to go for anything about Rorek." "So why do you need me if you knew about this place?" Bart asked. Brett just shrugged and said, "It's a really big library."
"How convenient for you." Bart said. "So where do we start?" "The section on wizards is over there." Brett said, pointing to the back of the library. "You know this could all be for nothing." Bart said, as the pair began making their way to the back. "I know. But I want to be sure. Beast Boy keeps giving me reason not to trust Rorek, and I keep believing him." "BB? Come on Brett, he hasn't liked Rorek since this began. You know he's biased." Bart argued. "I know, but I have other reasons. And as for BB it isn't just personal dislike." What do you mean?" "Something went down between the two of them in that alleyway, besides what they told us. And besides that, I think that BB's jeal… What in the hell!"