…..
Low monotonous singing. Drifting deep from the shards of ancient ruins. A jumble of men and woman hymning. Within the murky damp chamber of the West Temple, the future ruler of this evasive kingdom knelt in the darkness, listening to them. Single light, a candle held her slim fingers.
How she longed to lose herself in the heat of this flame, to be burned, taken away from this nightmare she couldn't wake from.
-wish the sun would rise-to lead me away-to destroy me with its searing and unforgiving heat-
Her mouth clamped down hard, forcing back a scream begging to be let loose.
-I weep in blood and sin-
Oh, what a delicious sound it would make, rising over the rafters. The world would know her pain, she would make them know.
-others live on gaily-I swallow the obscurity and drown-
Instead of screaming, she gasped to herself, careful not to blow out the candle and began praying in her native language.
"Azar, protect me; Azar, show me that life is worth living, show me good, show me light in this dark room... I don't want this...I don't want this punishment for all I have done wrong... Azar, give me back my life..."
"Raven."
For a moment, her heart stopped.
Her hope swiftly severed itself as a monk called her name again from outside the chamber. The woman in the V-hood, monk robe slowly rose off the floor and groggily walked out of her prayer, noiselessly following the monk sent for her. Through a telepathic message, he informed her of the meeting with the prophetic monk. A short stroll into the East Temple led her to where the rest of the monks lingered in the backdrop like disregarded phantoms. The prophetic monk greeted her mentally and she returned her greeting dully in English.
"You were brought here to predict your bearing capability and future prophecies."
Raven said nothing and emptied her mind as he touched her ruby chakra. The other monks rustled in their cloaks, uneasily. Some still feared the daughter of Trigon.
Her violet eyes met those of a wise monk who said, intently, "There will be darker robes instead of white." Her face twitched, flushing an awful pink color at this truthful statement. He asked just as sharply, "Are you withchil-?"
"No," Raven interrupted. Why she had to be subjected to this humiliation escaped her completely.
"The Immortal is deadly," the monk warned her. "Destruction beyond knowledge shall pass. You will be the carrier of this evil."
Her chin trembled and she grabbed at her mouth, wiping her lips senselessly.
She was going to be sick.
The prophetic monk advised, gravely, "Destruction of the Immortal is imperative. Be ready to make a decision."
'Go to hell, you fanatical soul eater…'
Breathing heavily, Raven glared at him.
"You are aware of the Ultimate Release?"
Of course, who of her people did not know? It was legendary.
By definition is referred to as the freeing of emotion constraint, meaning that the manifestations of emotions in your mind disappeared all together. It was a total physical and psychological change. But it was called legendary for a reason... no still living magical being ever experienced it. There's no factual record of anyone undergoing such a process although tales still circulated. The wise monk said to her in Azarathian, his tone softer for her sake, "I would not give up chance so easily, my dear. Prophecies or no prophecies."
His eyes gleamed. "What do you say, Raven, daughter of Arella?"
...
"What do you take me for, Raven?" He lost his happy smirk, replacing it with a scowl. "I just want you to enjoy being out here with your friends."
I mirrored that scowl. He simply didn't understand. He didn't understand ME.
"I don't need you telling me when I should be enjoying myself. I don't enjoy anything because I don't feel."
In the middle of the dancing bodies, he moved closer. In the hypnotic pulsing of music and blinking strobes, Robin gave me my first piece of intimacy. Straight on the lips. Glasses shattered in the background. I could hardly hear them with the roaring in my ears brought on by the kiss. He stared at me, expecting something to happen whether his immediate death was to follow or the entire dance club would explode in a great flash of my black power.
Neither happened.
"Nope. Not a thing."
His lips were warmer the second time.
...
Mentally, Raven answered the monk's inquiry.
He turned to the others coolly. "The daughter of Trigon shall form the alliance."
She screwed up her eyes tightly as an eruption of cheers claimed her other senses, as thoughts and memories were swept away by praise.
…..
"Robin?" Raven called out his name, his hero name, gazing around at the apartment cautiously.
Her morning with King Adonis had been hospitable at best. He had been polite, but also seemed tired. He nearly fell asleep in his milky porridge. Adonis shared an interest with her on the subject of ancient texts, specifically Latin-based; it was the only thing they talked about for two hours. Well, sort of.
The conversation turned around to what they wore the first dinner and what they represented. Adonis wore a garnet cross because it was the thing he wore when a friend died tragically. The king was so mild-mannered that she held back the temptation to make a complaint about his sister. When her name was brought up, black eyes again flashed with a strange air. Obviously there was something troubling him about his sibling.
"Robin, are you up?"
"He is and he won't be coming back to this room."
Claudia appeared beside the bathroom door, dragging her right foot behind her and coughing up a storm. Raven narrowed her eyes menacingly at her.
"What did you do to him?"
"I simply relocated the boy to another building, a building you under any circumstances aren't allowed to enter. I caught you two acting in an uncivilized manner. I feel that it would be in everyone's best interest if the boy was sent home sooner than later. I'm confident your Mother will approve."
Raven's mouth twitched.
"You've been spying on us….."
The old woman coughed up phlegm, making a face and commenting, "I thought you of all people would know better, furthermore acting indecently with a boy who is not your betrothed."
She snapped, "So you're forcing Robin against his will into a more luxurious version of imprisonment and kicking him out because you feel like it?"
Claudia looked very pleased with herself, her tiny eyes glittering like the edges of knives.
"Precisely."
Raven's lips thinned. She said, furiously, "I hope he fought you with all he had."
"That he did, tooth and nail." The old woman glowered. "Five of the guards will be unconscious until morning."
She got a hint of satisfaction knowing this. Boy Wonder never did go down without a fight. A smile threatened to peak her visage.
Claudia commented, sourly, "Don't look so cheery, your Mother expects a word with you about wedding plans."
"Oh joy," she said, bitterly.
"Don't you use that tone with me, little miss Corvus. I should have beaten you as child. You wouldn't have the mouth you've attained now," Claudia snarled, hoarsely. Raven adjusted her indigo cloak and cracked her neck, loosing the tension in her shoulders. Casually, she began circling around her like a hawk to its prey. The old woman spat, "What the devil are you doing, girl?"
Raven held up her fingers, speaking in a low monotone, "There's… two things I've been dying to say to you ever since I was little, Nanny-Claudia."
She stopped, emitting the darkest look she ever gave a soul.
"Bite me."
The door slammed behind her, cutting the obscenities being thrown at her back as Raven left the room. This was the last straw. She was going to her Mother and telling her off. None of this could end in happiness and she wasn't about to let it be so. Her hood went over her head and she collided shoulder-to-shoulder with the Princess of Feignez.
The younger girl screeched, loudly, "How dare you, you little bastard! Such vulgarity should be punishable by hanging!"
Raven's all-over blue eyes met cold black.
"Step back or I'll be forced to hurt you."
"Damn you and your-!" The brat then shrieked wordlessly when dark blue tentacles lunged at her, wringing the life out of her.
Raven said dangerously calm, gradually tightening the grip of the tentacles, "You have been warned. Next time I hear your whiny, insignificant voice, I won't give you one." She added as an afterthought, "Also put that human out of your mind. You're not good enough for him."
The Princess nodded her chubby, purpling face and the tentacles dissolved away. She ran out of there as fast as her stout legs could take her.
Indigo swept around.
...
The queen watched her daughter entered the study and said unperturbed behind her desk, "I can see that you are angry."
"Anger doesn't even begin to explain it." Raven leaned over the woodwork, eyes blazing with intimidation.
"Hear me now, Arella. A friend told me I had a choice in this situation. I didn't believe him because I was helpless and weak-minded, you yourself saw those qualities in me. I'm changing that right now. You've got Robin locked away like he's some kind of criminal. There's no justice in this system. When I become Queen, Azar help me, I will see to it that this cycle will be broken. No one will be married against their wishes and nothing, nothing on Heaven or Hell can make me bend to another will." She straightened. Cracks in the sun-filled windows outlined themselves in blue.
Arella remained unmoved for a full minute then closed the spell book in front of her.
"There was a purpose for calling here today, a day of immense importance. I have listened to what you had to say. Will you listen to me?"
A part of Raven screamed why the hell should she but the other part hushed the screaming. Raven turned down her shoulders in submission. Arella rose to her feet, white hood falling at the catch of a breeze. "You came to Azarath with enchantment in your center and I devastated it when I told you what was to come..."
She cupped Raven's face, smoothing out the frown in her brow.
"No mother wants to see their child unhappy. Always know this, Raven, if anything I teach you should stay in your memory forever... is that I love you more than our people, than Azarath. To see you suffer takes the life out of me slowly. I made a mistake by worshipping a monster, giving into temptation but from that mistake came a gift pure of heart. You are my little angel, innocent as the day you were born, as you always will be. They told me you would destroy; I never believed it. And I still don't. I cannot bear to have you hurting. That is why today, there will be emancipation."
Raven's hair swept around her face, the high winds teasing, as she murmured, "I don't understand." The queen brushed the short strands out of the way.
"I wish I had not troubled you with all this when it is very clear that it could have been avoided. It is a flawed system, Raven, not absolute. If you wish not to rule Azarath than it was never to be. I have spoken to the monks. The king and I have agreed to a new condition... my dear Raven, you can marry whomever you chose. You are no longer bound to custom."
"This… this is what you had to tell me?"
Arella murmured, smiling, "The truth. The ceremony is scheduled to go as planned this evening at sunset. Our people await the binding marriage of Angela Roth and Adonis of Feignez."
"You don't have to do this..." Raven murmured.
"It is my choice. The price for your greater love is banishment. It is the only way I can save you now."
Her daughter paled.
'...banished...'
"Now, my daughter, Robin is in the South Temple. I expect that you'll be informing him of the good new. I would like it if you attended, but under the circumstances... you must leave tomorrow." Raven stared agape at her Mother, her wonderful and brilliant Mother, and Arella nudged her. "Close your mouth, it is not becoming. Go find your leader."
Raven did she was told, whipping around and hurrying for the temple.
It took less than a few seconds to locate it. Lucky for her the guards were no where to be seen. She floated down the tall, colorless stone halls, searching for a train of thought or any banging sounds. White, double doors were her find. Beneath them, a tossed yellow utility belt.
"Robin!"
His voice shouted, coarsely, "Raven! Raven, the door won't budge!"
"Hold on," she called out, reaching for the knobs, but an invisible barrier hit her knuckles. Raven tried her magic: phasing, soul-self, whatever she could but her power wouldn't allow her to penetrate the blockade. She yelled back to him, "I can't get through! I'm barred out!"
A telepathic message crawled inside her head: Use the spell I taught you.
It's not powerful enough, she replied.
The voice insisted: Go on, you'll see.
Raven chanted under her breath, propelling her arms outward - a sizzle - a blare - and the barrier vanished.
'Thank you, Mom.'
She threw the white doors wide open, preparing to pounce on Robin when she saw him. He stood on the opposite side of the doorway, hair wild and arms gripping the entryway forcefully. But they didn't move their stances, just continued staring blindly at each other, some more than others. A brief moment passed where Robin bent down to retrieve his belt, and she swallowed her dry throat, her tongue feeling like a wooden block in her mouth.
What was she suppose to tell him?
It turns out after coming all this way, putting up with her bitch of a nurse and several formidable guards, knowing she was arranged to sleep with different man who was probably her age times two, getting banished from Azarath on top of it... how could she say it was hoax because everyone was too spineless to tell her the truth?
With one look from his concerned face, Raven knew that it wouldn't matter to him.
"I'm free."
That's all she needed to convince him. A grin cracked his insecurity.
Raven explained in a rushed breath, "We have to-"
A green, leather finger tapped her lips, halting her stumbling words. Robin declared, "Stay."
She tentatively touched the lip of his glove, rolling it up to slip his fingers free from their confinement. They were slightly moist from the heat trapped. Raven pressed her mouth against them, resting the side of her cheek in his palm, working her kiss into deep creases and faded calluses. His hands. Steel, rock, hurtful, and dangerous weapons. But also soft, loving, and skilled. She let his warm hand go as his fingers traced her collarbone, going down further. Raven shut her violet eyes. Robin got them to reopen when he hoisted her into his arms.
She locked her arms around his neck instinctively and raised questioning eyes.
He carried her out of the temple, into the streets past the congregating Azarathians traveling to the West Temple, and stood under the balcony of the gold emblem tower. His Grappling Hook shot up and launched itself securely. He gripped her waist with one hand, soaring up into cool, setting sky. Once they hit upon solid ground, Robin pulled her hand patiently, and without saying anything, walked inside alone. The flimsy gossamer floor-length curtains playing with his face and two-toned cape.
Raven flung her cloak aside. It settled resolutely on the banister outside. She pushed the curtains to one side and fell into his embrace, clinging to the need clawing at her reason. Explanations could wait. She had Robin, she had this moment, and wasn't about to taint it.
For hours they laid in a small, round bed in the second room, the huge window-doors spilling chilly wind. The silence comforting. All they wanted was each other's presence. The cries of festivity distant. Robin had her wrapped up in his arms, her head pressing up against his chest. She savored the eternal beating of his strong heart.
"I really thought I lost you," he confessed, dimly.
Raven whispered, "You don't have to worry about that. I'm not going anywhere." The wind picked up a moment, the drapes in the room swaying precariously, and then all was silence once more.
He slid a hand over her clothed shoulder, shifting his head on the pillow so that his lips easily came down to kiss her chakra. "I love you," he said simply. Her amethyst orbs peeked up through dark lashes; a sly smile. Robin badgered her, light-heartedly, "Come on, you know you wanna say it."
"You're an idiot?"
"Rav…"
She chuckled at his annoyance, getting a handful of his silky hair, and put the top of her head underneath his chin. Her favorite place to be. She stroked wistfully.
"I can wait for an answer, for an eternity if I have to," he said.
Raven frowned.
"It's difficult…"
"I know," Robin said, gently taking up her left hand, rubbing the naked ring finger with his thumb and index. "Believe me I know."
Raven reassured him, "I left it but, when we get home, it comes back on."
He smiled absently to amuse her.
Suddenly an urge raced through her, tightening her jaw…..so intense…so…..
A lazy yawn overwhelmed her, making her eyes water in the corners.
Robin teased, "Aww. Is little miss Corvus getting sleepy?" She punched his arm, weakly.
"Shut up, Bird-Brain."
"Is it just me or is it really cold in here?"
He began to sit up but Raven pulled him back down, snuggling closer to her warm source. "Mmm, goodnight," she said.
"We're not going to close the window?"
"Nope."
Robin used his commander tone, "Raven, as your team leader, I order you to let me -" She kissed his mouth sensually and shoved him back. He said dazed, "Let…..let, what was I saying?"
" 'Goodnight, Raven?' "
"Oh. Okay. Goodnight, Raven."
…..
Waking up with Robin had to be the best time of the entire day. No, that morning had to be the best morning in her entire life. Raven sauntered out of the shower in her usual leotard, finishing the process of drying her hair with a fluffy towel. Peeping into the bedroom, she saw Boy Wonder dozing back into an easy sleep.
A smidgen of mischievousness seized her. Enough to drive her into action. Raven crept cunningly over to his side of the bed and yanked the blankets off him gingerly. Robin protested mildly in a burble and she twisted the towel in her hands.
"OW! Hey! Raven, knock it off!"
The thrashing ceased. Robin drowsily rubbed his stinging hind. "What the hell… couldn't you have waited until I was dressed?"
"It's funnier when you have nothing on."
He crossed his arms over his fit, tan chest. "You are a sadistic woman." Raven gave him a smile, a smug one at that.
"Yes... but I'm the sadistic woman you are engaged to."
Robin did the old 'come hither' finger gesture. "Good point," he said. "Is that what you wanted, another round?"
"Perv," she answered, throwing the towel in his face. "Get dressed. We have to say goodbye to my mother and new daddy."
In the sunlight, her wet hair glowed healthily in clumpy strands, her legs bare of a concealing cloak, her eyes and face bright with elapsed exhilaration.
'I swear, sometimes she's too attractive to be real…'
He moved too quickly. Robin tugged her down so that her head lay on his chest. Pinning her upper arms down to the sheets, he smirked down on her. "Not up for the challenge?"
"As tempting as it sounds to have intercourse with you first thing in the morning, I think I'll pass." She pushed herself up, but he wasn't permitting her freedom from his grasp. Robin laughed.
"You weren't complaining an hour ago."
A flash of red scorched her cheeks.
"Let me go or face the consequences."
"What kind of consequences?" he asked, impishly.
"Painful ones. Care to risk it?"
Robin mentally debated that, suffering or no suffering. Easy guess. He didn't feel like being castrated that morning. His hands removed themselves from her arms. She unconsciously patted them. He said, worried, "I didn't hurt you, did I?" Raven tossed him his costume from the floor, back to him.
"I'm okay, don't worry about it."
"Are you sure?" He thrust his arms through green sleeves. She glared over her shoulder.
"Stop treating me like I'm glass. Frankly, I'm sick of it."
"You don't have to get defensive."
Her head lashed, twisting her body round. A sinister hiss issued from her rounded lips, "Go to hell, Hero." Raven pressed her hands over her mouth, horrified by her words. Masked eyes widened. She started to get off the cozy mattress. Her world spun wildly.
A throb surfaced behind her cranium and she started, squeezing one eye shut. She struggled for a sense of equilibrium, beyond comprehension when Robin caught her from a tumble onto the floor. His cool, gloved hand brushed over her cheek.
"Whoa. . .whoa, what's wrong? Do you need to lie down?" She granted him permission to move her. As he adjusted her to a comfortable position, a thought occurred to her namelessly.
'Hold on...'
Raven balled up a fist and concentrated, waiting for a glow of either blue or iridescent. Nothing but sallow skin.
Extreme mood swings? Dizzy? Faint? No powers?
She gasped quietly in realization, a hand grazing her abdomen.
Robin asked her, puzzled, "Raven, is everything alright?"
A small, bemused smile graced her mouth. Bright violet eyes flicked over to him. She felt... warm. And he was so perfect. Raven tackled-hugged him, kissing his mouth loving and forceful. He untangled himself eventually, still very unsettled. "Rav… sometimes your mood swings scare me…" She ignored him, climbing to her feet this time slowly.
"The sooner we talk to my mother, the sooner we can leave."
Robin shook his head. Women confused him.
They finished getting ready and stepped out into the delicately-colored realm, multitudes of white-feathered doves scattered around them. Several cooing creatures landed on Raven's shoulders, gazing undisturbed at their surroundings. She whispered out of the corner of her mouth, frozen in place, "They've never done that before."
Robin shrugged, trying hard not to laugh at her irritation.
Arella and King Adonis made it to the parting. Thankfully, Brat Princess and Claudia decided not to show up. Not that Raven expected them to. She could see them pushing each other to get a chance to spy from the building's utmost top windows. The evermore Queen of Azarath observed them serenely as the Titans bowed and she seized her daughter into her arms, peculiarly tender in this gesture. "I bestow upon you my sincerest wishes for a long and happy devotion."
Raven repeated, "And I you." They pulled away. Robin smiled broadly.
"I was glad to meet you, your Majesty. Thank you for letting me have the opportunity."
Arella returned the smile, less broad but more honest. "There's no need for stiff goodbyes, Robin. You may refer to me as 'Mother' if you wish it."
Hollowness radiated from his aura.
"...Sure. I'll be sure to remember that."
Adonis cleared his throat. "Well… Raven, one day you and I must continue that discussion on Latin origin. I'm afraid I wasn't at my best last time."
Despite everything, Raven gave him a momentary hug. "I hope so, too… Father." Adonis patted her head awkwardly. He seemed so uncomfortable around her… not that she could blame him. They would have had to sleep together. She restrained a gag. The two males exchanged a quick, firm handshake.
Raven fingered the necklace on Robin's chest that grazed his insignia. Arella mouthed the spell. They were swept up within the cerulean hole in the sky. Banging came from the hallway outside Raven's door when the portal spat them out.
"- -Let Silkie go, Star!"
"No! My beloved bumgorf will not be fed that trash!"
"Star, unless you want him puking on the newly waxed floor... you'll let us have the sick, little mutated maggot….."
Zoom-
Raven's door disappeared.
Down the corridor, Beast Boy fought for control with a distressed Starfire who clutched a screaming Silkie. Cyborg watched them play tug-of-war, sweat dropping. The trio didn't even notice their company. The green-skinned changeling at last took Silkie away from the desperate Tamaranean, only to have their pet barf up purple goo into his blond hair.
"Duuddde!"
"Apparently things haven't changed a bit."
The three Titans hollered in a chorus, "RAVEN!" Six arms wrapped around her neck and she was dragged down powerlessly into a huge group hug. Raven panted, "As much as I… appreciate… the warm welcome but… you have to let me… up before I… suffocate."
Star squealed when she released her, twirling hyper. "You are home for certain now?"
"If you haven't figured it out already, yes."
The alien woman squealed again. "This is solely called for the Pudding of Delight! I must fetch it! Friend Robin, help me find it!" Starfire zipped out of sight, towing the objecting bird in hand, his heels skidding across the floor.
Cyborg muttered, "Tell me when she stops handing it out but until then, I wasn't here."
"Ditto," Beast Boy agreed, beginning to walk away, but Raven snatched him by the collar, jerking him into her room. He stammered, creeped out by the darkness stealing his surroundings. "W-We're hiding in here?"
"I was going to ask you how things were in the city since Robin and I were gone."
"Uhhh, you want to have a conversation with me that doesn't include insults or me getting hurt?" Beast Boy scratched his head.
"I'm in a good mood."
"I figured." His jade eyes traveled over her stomach area and he made a bold move by gently poking her smooth belly. "So how is baby Raven or Robin in there?"
"There's isn't."
Beast Boy's eyebrows burrowed. "Ugh?"
"Well, there wasn't a baby, but now there is." She smiled widely. He chuckled.
"It sounds like you and the Rob-ster were getting busy lately…"
Her right eye then twitched; when her right eye twitched, that meant she was pissed. And I mean pissed. Beast Boy knew that twitch very well. He winced, shielding himself from flying items. All she could do was give him a really dirty look. He grimaced. "You can't hit me?"
"With my energy, no. I can't do anything, levitate or fight, but this will have to do for now." Raven smacked him upside the head.
He whined, "Ouch…you told Robin, right?" She didn't say anything. Beast Boy said seriously, rubbing his skull, "You were supposed to say something."
"At this point, I will." Raven glared. "Don't pester me."
"Somebody's gotta do it, Squirt." The changeling grinned, using his height to tower over her.
She said in a monotone, her expression a familiar blank, "I hate bonding with you." Beast Boy kept grinning, slinging an arm around her shoulders as they went to find the others.
…..
The siren. It stopped abruptly.
The explosion and glowing halted.
She raised her eyes to see Dick in Slade's armor, ready to fire the thermal blaster into her right eye. He lowered it ever closer. With a cry, she arched her body, kicking her foot upwards. The steel-toed boot knocked the weapon clean out of his hands. She grabbed his Slade-masked face and head-slammed him backwards. He staggered back in daze.
Given an opening, she twisted around on the polished tiles, jumping upright onto her feet. She sprinted across the ash-sewn ballroom floor, bringing herself to a standstill at the giant mirror only a few inches away, blocking her. Clouds of former guests swirled around her green, spandexed legs. She tore at the edges of the Robin mask glued to her face, ripping it off, and breaking the magic spell it had on her. Her own terrified face shone back at her in the mirror's reflection. She rubbed her wan cheeks.
Her reflection wavered in front of her eyes, soon replaced by a green, red, and yellow clad Starfire gawking back at her just as terrified.
Raven touched the mirror. Her fingertips passed through the glass like water, grabbing onto orange fingers. Starfire came through the other side, deeply shaken.
"Star?"
"Raven?"
Bright green eyes looked over Raven's caped shoulder and the alien let out an ear-piercing shriek. Ten feet away from where they stood, two identical Dicks behind Slade masks coldly faced the girls. They merged together to form one insane superhero. Starfire shrieked again, hanging onto Raven frantically, "Make it stop! Raven, he is coming closer!"
"Starfire, release me!"
The Tamaranean screamed louder as he took small, heavy steps in their direction.
Eerie whispers enclosed them, undetectable verbal cages to keep them afraid.
"Ravie… forget about fighting, it won't save you… Kori… don't worry, it will be over soon enough….. "
Starfire kept screaming in Raven's ear and the empath threw her off, taking immediate action. Raven summoned a blue jet of her power, sending it at Dick's neck, separating the head and body. Instead of blood gushing from the stump, sparks fizzled from the ugly, painted gape. "That's not Robin, it's one of Slade's robots."
To prove her point, Raven reached down and pulled the Slade mask off. The thin strip of 'skin' to unveil mechanical inners.
"He's messing with us."
Raven kicked the head aside, shouting herself sore, "Where are you, you coward? Show yourself AZAR DAMN YOU!"
Starfire hiccupped, trying to get a grip on herself, her poor pulse going so fast.
"N-No. No. Slade is not alive. You destroyed him." Raven stomped on the arm of the metal corpse, crushing it flat.
"How do you explain this then? Some other psychopath with a gold and black death mask?" Starfire sobbed at this. Stillness filled the vacuum with just the frenzied sounds of weeping to break it. Violet eyes gleamed unsympathetically, and then... little by little... black crawled over the irises. "Starfire?"
"Yes, Friend Raven? You have a plan?" She whimpered, clueless.
Gray hands glowed the same color. With a single blast, Starfire's distraught head rolled by steel-toed feet. Red. Red. RED.
"Yeah, but you aren't a part of it."
…..
Night.
Two shrill screeches chalked up the air on the island in the bay.
Raven couldn't stop.
Her lungs gave a final convulse, running out of oxygen and she fell back from sitting on her pillows, sweat beading her skin. Cascading out of her pores, unpleasantly cold and harsh, the droplets chilling the fever thriving inside her. Her door being broken into… an icy, metal hand stroking her flushed forehead… somewhere in the dark…
"Raven! Raven, snap out of it!"
She moaned weakly, turning away from the voice. Big arms lifted her wilted body out of her bed. Cyborg was talking to her, consoling her, "Just hang on, Rae. Don't try to get up."
Her sight was blurry. One blink, it got worse. Another blink, it was clear. Her head dangled back. She looked sluggishly ahead in the darkened hallway. For a moment she might have blacked out, wasn't too sure. Cyborg was carrying her somewhere, that, she knew.
In pitch black, the robotic man punched in a code and bright white overhead lamps flipped on, blinding her. Cyborg lowered the intensity. "Sorry, Rae."
A ruckus came from the hallway outside the lobby. Beast Boy stepped inside, carrying Starfire in the same fashion Cyborg had Raven. Robin followed the pair.
"-And keep your voice down!"
"Dude, you're the one yelling!"
"Both of y'all, shut up!" Cyborg boomed, diverting their complete attention. Raven, still in mechanical arms, groaned at the noise and Robin stopped glowering. He took a step forward and Cyborg shook his head at him, "Leave her a minute, Rob. She's still not conscious enough."
"What's going on?" asked the now disgruntled leader.
Beast Boy looked up from placing an fainted Starfire down in a leather chair. "I woke up when I heard screaming. Koria was moving around in her sleep and I tried to calm her down, and then Robin came in shouting, too-"
"I wasn't shouting," their leader argued, glaring. "I wanted to know why she was screaming at the top of her lungs."
"You were freaking her out!"
Cyborg made a furious noise with the back of his throat, quieting them. Starfire's unclear eyes began to focus and she feebly scooted away, pointing a finger at Raven who rested in a different chair close by, "Get her away from me." She said this in a very unStarfire-like way, in a low grunt clenched between her teeth.
"Starfire, what's the matter with you?"
She whispered quietly, drawing her knees to her chest, "It has returned."
"What has?" Robin asked.
Beast Boy frowned. "Another one?"
Cyborg sighed frustrated.
"I thought we figured that out," he said.
"Why do I have a feeling that I'm talking to inanimate objects?" Robin exclaimed, gesturing to them, "What the hell are you all talking about?"
The alien woman shivered, crossing her forearms over her knees.
"I have experienced a recurring dream. In the first, Friend Robin tried to attack me. I fell to the ground-"
"And he split the robe you were wearing in half. You found yourself in a Robin costume, staring at gloves on your hands and boots on your feet," Raven finished, softly.
Starfire nodded, slightly cautious now.
"Yes… that is exactly what happened."
"So you guys had the same dream at the same time? Like, you both were in the same one?" Beast Boy said in wonder.
"Not just once, twice I think. We must have shared both."
"Is that even possible?"
The empath glanced at their leader, saying, "It's not impossible." Robin purposely turned away, hiding his flushing neck behind a hand. Raven spoke up with certainty this time, "Slade's behind this. I know he is." Robin left his blushing unnoticed when he heard a familiar name, his body twisted back around.
"What?"
"He did something, he's behind it. I'm sure of that."
Robin rubbed his face exasperated, muttering, "Not this again…"
Cyborg watched them from the corner of the room with the rest of them and elbowed the changeling. "Hey, is it just me or are those two acting more like each other every day?"
"Slade's gone, Raven," Robin stated impassively, exceptionally sensitive to this subject. "He's been for a long time. I've accepted it... so why..."
With everyone's eyes on her, Raven rose to her feet albeit weakly and walked right out of the conversation.
They weren't going to believe her. She had no concrete evidence. Starfire wouldn't be able to talk about this for months, and Raven only had intuition if even that. Why did Slade come to mind? Why was it Slade's mask Robin wore? If Slade was alive and behind it all… how did he create these images in her head? Suddenly, Raven began to doubt herself.
She closed her broken door manually, leaving a crack and paced her room briskly. The dreams, the warnings, the consequences. Could they all have been random? Were they planned from the beginning? Was there a pattern? Why did humans search for logic, search for patterns?
'Congratulations Raven, you have just became the most paranoid member of Teen Titans… next to Robin.'
She crumpled onto her bed, aggravated groans bubbling up her chest.
'You have to meditate…you have to…Azarat-GRINNING-BLOOD-
"NO!" With a yell, Raven snapped out of her trance and slammed her hand on her bureau, angrily. The drawer built into it popped open.
Something flashing with the dark gap caught her eye.
"Raven?" Round and sparkling. Raven cupped it in her hands, savoring its cool solid exterior. "Raven, I know you're in there," repeated the voice.
"I'm trying to meditate," she answered, coolly.
"Come on, don't do this. You can't keep shutting yourself away."
Raven quoted bleakly, " 'Old habits die hard.' "
"That cryptic act is getting old, too. I know you better than that."
"Do you think you know me at all? You really think you do?" Raven went back to her steel door, shoving the crack until the door was gone.
Robin was alone and looking quite defiant. This man did not know the meaning of go away.
He responded, sincerely, "I know I do. I know… you're secretly a fan of adult alternative and British rock... you have an enormous magical potential in basically anything and you hate showing that to strangers.. .you think Beast Boy is a great kid, even when you have an urge to strangle him. You are a beautiful woman who loves her friends... you would sacrifice yourself to know that this city and the world would be safe... you are a nature lover at heart... and you have a fetish for the darker edges of people."
Robin looked so serious when saying the word 'fetish'. A smile crept up on her lips. "That's it?"
"Oh no, there's more," he said faintly, his fingers spraying over the side of her face. "But above those things, I know you love me. You just have a difficult time saying it."
Raven did not deny nor confirm it. She opened the fist she had clasped to her breast. Sitting patiently and brilliantly in her palm was the engagement ring. Robin dropped his eyebrows in bewilderment as he traced his fingertips over the tiny object. "I can't meditate. I can't sleep, every time I close my eyes it comes back."
He plucked up the ring between his long fingers and cradled her left hand, slipping the black band precisely over her ring finger. Raven didn't resist against it.
"Did you want to stay with me tonight?"
"Yes."
Robin brought her hand to his lips. "We could... drink some of your tea, dress up in your clothes... I mean you've already tried on mine... I could learn to float."
'I won't be doing that for a while…'
She laughed silently to herself, automatically touching her stomach, and then his shoulder with the same hand. "Another day, Boy Wonder."