There will be Silence

Chapter Five: PART ONE: If you want to go somewhere, you have to get there yourself

Blackfire haunted Starfire's dreams. That is, if you could call them dreams. Nightmare itself was not the proper term. The only phrase that could possibly be used to describe the images Starfire saw when she shut her eyes is "night terror". Kicking and screaming in her bed, she did not awaken until Silky started sucking on her foot, steadying her right leg. The more she flailed around, the harder he gnawed on her ankle. At long last, the alien opened her eyes and took several deep breaths to calm down her nerves at least to the point where she wouldn't scream at every little movement and sound. But the terror wasn't over. She was awake, but she still heard her older sister's intimidating voice in her head, "Three queens," it moaned, "Two jacks," Then it screamed, "Misfortune!"

Hot, salty tears began to stream down Star's cheeks as though a magician was pulling clear ribbons from her eyes. The voice inside her head dulled down a soft bit, Blackfire was now whispering, but it wouldn't go away; it only echoed inside her. The tall, female titan began to clutch onto her head, pressing the two sides of it together and putting hard pressure to distract her from the skull splitting pain of the terror made real. Her nails slowly and painfully began to shred the skin of her scalp and soon clear ribbons were not the only liquid ribbons the magician was pulling. The thick, red water slid down her scalp and neck and trickled its way through and around her breastplate and then at last it reached its destination; the emerald looking gem in the middle of all the silver and platinum. Instantly a sharp pain seared through the alien's body as the comfort of her room melted before her eyes in a bright blur of crimson light before all went black.

A young woman with shortly cropped, deep violet hair zoomed down the halls of the Titan's Tower as fast as she possibly could. Sometimes fate grants speed to the desperate, but even with this helping, it apparently wasn't enough to reach her female friend's room in time. As soon as Raven had torn the door out of the wall, the room was empty without a trace. "Damn it!" She swore and took a moment to catch her breath as she felt her racing heart speed more and more. She was too late to stop the terror and apparition, but she still had time to get to Tamaran before the conspiracy she'd discovered unfolded completely. Using her magic to carry her on she set off the alarm and loaded the ship.

It was hard not to pace or fidget or control her emotions now. True enough she was masterful at that craft but this was a situation where her powers would need to be as loose and destructive as possible. A confusing blend of feelings over flooded her; anger, worry desperation and fear. Windows shattered, pipes snapped, all the dishes flew out of the cupboards and smashed themselves against the floor. This was sadly the price of letting out how she felt, but at the moment it was necessary and Raven was sure that the boys would understand as soon as she got the chance to explain. Unfortunately, that would not come for quite sometime.

The boys bolted into the room and each one had their own expression for the spectacle of Raven unplugged. Forcing them to look at her she tried to tell them, straining to keep her voice from cracking, "We have a serious problem."