I apologize for the minor delay. The text was being uncooperative, and wouldn't form the usual flowing passages I expect from it. My muse had to get a new filter for my percolator of an imagination before things started working again. The marathon Baten Kaitos session wasn't necessary, but it was fun. :p

Anyway, here's the next chapter. For those of yu who can't quite figure it out from the colorful misspellings, I've given the dwarves (Balthor included) Scottish accents. Why? Because jovial, short-tempered, hard-fighting, hard-working, hard-drinking beings like dwarves always seem conducive to a Scottish accent to me. I also give some goblins Hispanic accents, though that's just for humor purposes and didn't show up in this story. But, I digress. I'll disclaim before I get off track again:

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Teen Titans, Magic: the Gathering, Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean, or any characters or images associated therewith. I also don't own the Calabi-Yau shapes formed by the legendary mana mists, though I will offer explanations about them if asked.

LEGENDSGETOTGOHOMELEGENDSGETOTGOHOMELEGENDSGETOTGOHOME

"Damn it."

Starfire turned. "What troubles you, Friend Balthor?"

"Wha' troubles me? Open yer eyes, woman!" With that, the dwarf brandished his double-headed axe. "Me bloody axe is dissolvin'!" Indeed, the blades of the weapon were slowly sublimating into the familiar superheated gas of unfocused red mana. "The Lady has abandoned us, which means there's nothin' keepin' us bound ta this world."

"Indeed," uttered a subdued Godo. He was watching mournfully as his yak suddenly exploded into a massive cloud of mana-gas. The sound of goblins popping in similar manners filled the air and raised the temperature. "Our time in this realm has come to an end." He rose from the table, which was also venting vermillion vapor, at bowed to Robin. "Champion," boomed the warlord, "it has been honor to know you and witness your prowess in battle. I hope that one day, we may meet again."

Robin returned the bow. "You are a wise and just ruler. I think you and my mentor would've gotten along excellently." Smiling at these parting words, the barbarian closed his eyes and evaporated. Robin watched, fascinated, as the cloud of gaseous Godo, instead of diffusing into the air, formed a bizarre shape in more dimensions than the Boy Wonder felt comfortable with, and seemed to inhale itself.

Balthor was oozing a haze of his own, and was frantically stuffing rolls and jerky into his pockets while he still had them. Noting Starfire's confused expression, the dwarf turned to her and grumbled, "Ye only get one go-round at th' banquet o' life, lass. It's always a good idea to tuck a few buns in yer pockets fer the road." Smiling as he grabbed one last loaf, he added, "Not ta mention, ye should ne'er say nae to free food, 'specially if ye dinnae know when yer next is comin'." With that, the warrior's structure finally failed, and he and his ill-gotten grub became an extremely multidimensional figure of mana-gas.

This figure imploded as Starfire digested the advice dispensed by the dwarf. Turning to Robin, she called, "Should we leave now?"

"If we don't," called a familiar, approaching voice, "we ain't gonna have anywhere to leave." Cyborg trudged to the other Titans, a look of unspecified but distinct frustration decorating his face. "The walls are closing in."

Robin raised an eyebrow. "I didn't know you were claustrophobic, Cy."

The mechanoman's human eye narrowed. "I'm not. I checked. The rock is literally regrowing and closing in." The other heroes then noticed the sound, just at the edge of hearing, of rock on rock, tectonic drift accelerated a thousand fold.

Starfire's eyes shone with concern. "Where are Raven and Beast Boy? We cannot leave them to be trapped in this increasingly cramped and unfriendly cave!"

As the three Titans prepared to search for their comrades within the shriveling cavern, a red light shone at it's lower end. The flare approached the three, stopped in their tracks by the sudden beacon, and absorbed the remaining vapors as it passed by them.

Robin, while thankful for the resulting drop of the temperature out of hairdo-threatening range, was wary. "Who's there?" he called.

As the radiance came closer, the teens could see that it was a jewel, presumably the Mox Ruby, held aloft by Raven. Both she and Beast Boy displayed a demure state of being. While for Raven, that merely meant being slightly quieter than normal, for Beast Boy it entailed a near-total reversal of his normal habits.

Such a change could not go unnoticed, prompting Cyborg to ask, "You OK, BB?"

The changeling opened his mouth to respond, considered something, then closed it and shrugged.

Raven supplied a response, knowing the lack of one would make Cyborg continue to ask until he received one. "We're fine. Getting the Ruby just…took a lot out of Beast Boy." The green boy nodded wordlessly.

Robin was skeptical, but decided to let his suspicions wait. "Well, we'd better get back to the Tower before we get crushed."

"Don't worry." The rest of the team turned to Beast Boy, not expecting him to say anything. "It'll just go back to the way it was before it was expanded."

"How do you-" Robin began.

"Te-The Ruby told me so," the shapeshifter muttered, and fell silent once more.

Watching him concernedly, Raven told the others, "You guys go ahead. Beast Boy and I will catch up soon." Nodding uncertainly, Robin gestured for the others to follow him as he left, heading for the Tower. Watching them leave, Raven turned back to her love and sat, gesturing for him to do the same. "You're still upset." It was a statement of fact, rather than a question.

Beast Boy plopped to the ground like a sack of cement. When he spoke, it was barely above a whisper. "Of course I'm still upset. She was practically the first person to ever really get me, and now she's gone."

"She was gone before. You heard the Ruby. She was reincarnated, and that means she died."

"But there was always hope." Beast Boy turned to look into the empath's eyes. The sorrow and severity there made her shiver. "Even when the Ruby said that, there was still a slight hope that we could at least change her body back, give her a decent burial. Now," he sighed, turning his face to the ground once more, "she's just a pile of rubble."

Raven sighed. She knew what she had to say, but that didn't make it any less cheesy. "Beast B-No, Gar." He resumed eye contact at the mention of his real name. "Terra isn't completely gone as long as we remember her. We don't need a tombstone or a plaque for that. We just need our minds, and our hearts, and she'll live on." She put her hand to his chest. ""And I know, Gar, that in your heart, it will always be the loyal Terra, the friend with whom you shared so many good times."

Beast Boy smiled, and then chuckled despite the tears running down his cheeks. "That was so tremendously corny," he said laughingly.

Raven rolled her eyes. "This from the emperor of all unfunny humor."

He glared playfully. "You know I know you think I'm funny."

"You're funny, yes. Your jokes? No."

His eyes became somewhat more serious. "Still, you're right. Just because Terra isn't in one piece doesn't mean we can't remember the fun we had with her. Besides," and with this his eyes regained the playful sparkle Raven so admired, "I wouldn't be able to spend too much time moping around here anyway, not when you start dragging me from place to place on dates again."

Raven gave a small but, for her, impressive smile. "And don't you forget it, you goo-" but was interrupted by the healing walls of the cavern. The stone tide had been approaching the couple for some time now, and finally reached them. The regenerating rock knocked Raven over just as she was pronouncing a soft "oooh," which mean her lips were in a perfect pucker as they met Beast Boy's.

The two stayed that way for some time, Raven's powers destroying stone at the same rate at which it grew back. Finally, Beast Boy exhausted the possibilities of nasal respiration and broke the lip lock. Smirking devilishly at Raven, he quipped, "If you'd have just done that, we could've skipped the cheesy speech."

She stood and dusted herself off nonchalantly, then began to exit the reformed tunnel quietly. Just as Beast Boy began to suspect the kiss had wiped Raven's memory due to oxygen deprivation, she turned her head and countered, "You know what they say: 'Half the fun is in the anticipation.'"

Smiling, Beast Boy caught up with the sorceress, and they left the cave hand in hand, accompanied by the all-too-innocent psychic whistling of a certain nearly omnipotent crimson corundum.

THENEXTDAYTHENEXTDAYTHENEXTDAYTHENEXTDAYTHENEXTDAYTHENEXTDAY

After a restful, uneventful night (aside from a few attempts by Silkie to render Robin insane again,) the Titans arose to a new day, and a new argument over the source of breakfast's protein.

"What," cried Beast Boy, "you didn't get enough meat when we got the Mox Ruby? They were roasting whole boars on spits!" He shuddered at the horrible memory of his fellow mammal's fate.

"Exactly! They had the right idea! Meat makes you strong, you saw how those guys almost beat us!" Cyborg countered. He bent down to nudge his vegetarian friend suggestively. "'Sides, if you want to impress Raven, you're gonna need a bit more muscle on your scrawny self!"

"I...she…we…but…"

"Uh uh uh," the mechanoman chided, "don't try and deny it now, we all heard Star yesterday. Raven likes you, and you've been telling me 'bout your little crush on her for quite some time." Cyborg ruffled the increasingly frustrated changeling's hair. "Now don't get mad, you two are cute together. I just wish Star and Kid Stoplight would follow y'all's example."

"Cyborg," Raven called from the table, "you do realize we're all right here."

"Able to hear every word," growled Robin, who was not amused by the 'Kid Spotlight' comment.

Starfire turned to him. "Please, Robin, exactly what did Friend Cyborg mean when he said we should 'follow the example' of our amorous friends? Did he perhaps think I should don a blue cape and you become green and constantly tell the jokes?"

"Er, well, he meant-"

"What I meant," Cyborg spouted, "was that you two should stop beatin' around the bush and start dating already!"

Robin glared menacingly at the cyberteen, while Starfire's eyes were illuminated with indescribable joy. Even as the Boy Wonder reached for a remote shutdown device he'd built in case Cyborg went rouge, the Tamaranean grabbed him by the wrist and flew out of the kitchen, happily burbling, "Come, Robin! We have much to discuss and so very, very much to do!"

Cyborg smirked happily at a job well done, but the smile vanished quickly when he saw his beloved cooking muscle tissue had been removed from the stove to make room for even more soy derivatives. Turning to the shapeshifter, he shouted, "YO! BB! What's the idea swapping my meat for even more of your gross tofu? I'm not eating that stuff!"

Grinning cunningly beneath his chef's hat, Beast Boy replied, "Oh, you will. And you'll like it, tin man!"

"Just to make sure you two don't kill each other," Raven interjected, "I can solve this dilemma rather easily." With that, she raised the newly acquired Mox Ruby.

"Oh no," Cyborg said fervently. "I ain't lettin' you change any more of my meat into nasty white goo."

"This is the Mox Ruby, Cyborg," the empath explained, "it controls red magic rather than blue, meaning it can and can't do different things. For example," with that, she let lose a blazing stream of energy from the Ruby. It made contact with the tofu occupying the area where Cyborg's assorted meat products once lay, and transformed the soy curd into precious, precious animal protein.

"Hallelujah!" Cyborg cried. "Joy to the world, the Meat has come!"

As the carnivore continued to celebrate the Second Coming of Ham Steak, Beast Boy turned to the empath. "Dude, why'd you do that?"

"You need to respect one another's dietary habits and beliefs. I've grown tired of this morning ritual of vegan versus Neanderthal."

"Neanderthal with more processing power than the space shuttle, thank you very much!" cried said hominid, breaking his red meat reverie.

"Neanderthal none the less. Besides, I want to get the last reading out of the way, and you two fighting over foodstuffs is taking way too much time for my tastes."

Beast Boy shrugged. "Whatever you say, Rae." He gave her a look of utmost seriousness, "Just remember: I don't drop the defense of tofu for just anyone."

Rolling her eyes benevolently, Raven spread the Mox Scroll, and placed the Ruby on its illustrated twin. The farthest right portion of the scroll erupted with verdant light as the war runes among the pictured Ruby faded to mere blood red. The green energy spread across the arcane material, but something was odd about what it was forming…

ENDCHAPTERTWENTYFOURENDCHAPTERTWENTYFOURENDCHAPTERTWENTYFOUR

Yes, the fifth and final reading nears. But what could be so odd about it? Is there no illustration? A map rather than writing? A recipe for something vegetarian? Well, no. Obviously, there's no way I'm going to tell you. Send reviews guessing the oddity, the location of the green Mox, or just your opinion about the fic. Press the button, please. I thrive on feedback, and I can't fix your problems unless you tell me about them.