Light golden leaves fluttered through the soft wind as they lit upon the glistening white marble street. Speckled within the shade of the leaves, spots of bright light glistened as a pure reflection of sunlight off of the silver barked trees. Buildings made of brilliant white metals and warm stone surrounded the square mended in beautiful modern architecture, the darkened windows giving off their own refractions of bright sunlight. The roofs gave way to the gilded trees high above the ground, giving the strange but alluring aura of being within a serene forest but still sheltered within the bustling city. The strength of two suns beat down against the trees but their shade would protect its people.

Below the forest, all manor of life was quickly moving from place to place. Men and women dressed in vibrant robes of deep reds and greens, weaved with gold and silver that shined even in the shade of the great trees. Some possessed hoods to cover their heads from the light of the suns where it peaked through while others stood tall, their bald blue heads holding the presence of pride and arrogance though notably tempered with an aura of mutual respect. Among the quiet crowds of people stood three individuals, darker than the rest. Their cloaks sat heavy on their forms and gave them an almost foreboding stature. As the commoners passed by they made haste to leave their presence. Still the three figures pressed on through the square.

At the center of the large market stood a tall fountain with cascading blue waters flowing from its edges. The corners of the square gave way to streets that lead on to other parts of the seemingly endless city and storefronts of glass and metal lined the walls. The three dark men made their way to the quietest door on the south east corner and stepped through into a small shop.

The walls of the shop gleamed a bright white that seemed to taint at the entrance of the hooded figures. Directly in front of the door stood a small desk with a man standing behind it. A slight nervousness seemed to be about him as the mysterious three approached. To his right, floating an inch from the wall, a bright display indicated differing repair jobs and their pricing's. Preparing for the impending interaction the man stood from his armless chair.

"What is it that I may do for you?"

As the voice seemed to fill the room, the lips of the blue man behind the desk did not move. The first of the hooded men stepped forward before offering a response in the same telekinetic way.

"We desire knowledge. We seek our family."

The grey eyes of the alien man seemed to squint and he furrowed his brow at the question. He was confused by the inquiry, he ran a technology repair shop and he knew nothing of other people's families. As he prepared to respond he noticed the hand of the mysterious hooded figure began to emerge from beneath the heavy cloak. As it did he took in the detail of the heavy plate gauntlet that adorned his fingers and fear began to overtake him. Before the desire to run was able to take command he found himself losing control. His mind began to be walled off from his body and a red glow blotted out his vision as he slipped into a strange unconsciousness, aware of his own voice and his mind but nothing else.

"To the north, seek out the sky caste. Jebediah will take you to the stars."

The ethereal voice echoed to the minds of the three dark figures. As the answer arrived they each turned and exited the building. Only after the door closed behind them did the red glare dissipate from the eyes of the shop keeper.

—

"Ο πρώτος του πατέρα, Η αμαρτία της υπερηφάνειας"

The strange symbols stared back into the void of darkened eyes. The pools once a light lilac in color now projected a shade of color darker than an unrefined amethyst. The life in those very eyes seemed to fade as well, collecting the sleepless hours in the bags of her eyes. Still she stared with unwavering vigor and determination.

In her life she had studied a multitude of languages and was fluent in many of them. From archaic languages of the Norse to the forefather of many other languages, Latin. Each held differing grammatical rules as well as individual meanings. A sentence made up of simple translations of the same words could mean something radically different or even make no sense at all. With this thought in mind she compared the rubbings she'd collected to languages book by book. At this point she was about ready to resign to asking the Internet for help.

The languages she'd checked had been mostly dead ones with the exception of a few others such as Mandarin and Russian. She'd moved onto comparisons with the older languages of Central Europe. After finding no similarities in German, Italian, Spanish, or Latin, she decided that she had to take a breath and relieve the stress of her studies. It had been a full day since she'd interacted with anyone and longer than that since she'd left her room. She briefly recalled the events of the evening prior. Waking up in dream with boy blunder beside her. 'My knight in shining armor'. The thought briefly crossed her mind and she felt a strange feeling fluttered within her as she fought hard to hold it down. 'Weird' she thought as she made her way down the hall towards the main room.

It was roughly 6 o'clock in the evening so either everyone would be present eating dinner together or they would have left the tower for pizza or some other fast food restaurant that would undoubtedly lead to some form of health disorder in their late 20's. Either way, based upon the emotional silence she felt coming from the room beyond the metal doors, she assumed the latter scenario was the case.

As she opened the doors she felt relief flood over her. There was no one there meaning she would not be confronted for her absence. She still refused to take chances and quickly made her way over to the kitchen where she placed her kettle on to boil and began pulling out a fresh teabag and honey placing them on the counter beside the range.

As she leaned against the counter, waiting for her water to boil she began to absentmindedly run her right hand over her left one. Her fingers lingered on two spots in particular. The center of her palm and just below the joint of her wrist. Both locations felt tender to the touch as if still healing from a long past wound.

Her eyes closed and she drifted off in her mind. The sight of her own form nailed to a cross filled her mind only to burn away and be replaced by the sight of a certain bird's eyes fearfully glued to her. She felt her body as it was raised from the ground and she could feel the burning heat of the wood seeping through her thin uniform as she was laid upon it. As the seconds ticked by she could feel her mark bare itself and scorch her flesh leaving a charred imprint. The boy wonders gaze was overcome with terror as her own pain was undoubtedly being projected to him. She felt the stinging pain of sharp stakes piercing her soft skin and soon after felt cold metal in her sides.

"Raven?"

The man before her called out.

"Raven?!"

Why were his words inquisitive and almost calm?

"Raven!"

The voice finally wrestled the girl from her mind. Her eyes shot open to find the boy wonder standing only a foot from her waiving his hand in front of her face. Seeing her eyes open he swiftly placed his hand back at his side before reaching behind her to pick up the now whistling kettle.

"Are you okay?"

He took over and began to poor and mix her tea for her, even adding the right amount of honey for her. 'Has he watched me make my tea before?' She thought but quickly shook her head and looked down. It was then she noticed that her hands were wrapped around herself, covering the spots where she'd felt the cold steel before. Immediately she removed her hands and took hold of her tea as Robin offered it to her. He did not release it immediately and Ravens gaze lifted to his eyes in slight confusion. Quickly she remembered his question and she gave her answer.

"Yeah, 'that's a lie', just thinking is all."

At that he released his grip and walked past her towards the table to sit down with his cup of coffee. Raven began to feel a silent tug against her emotions resonating from Robin. As she did she began to reach out to discover the whereabouts of her other team members. When her search came back empty she walked towards the table to sit across from Robin.

"Where is everyone?"

Her voice nearly cracked from her lack of recent speaking. Her level of exhaustion wasn't helping either. Evidently the boy detective didn't seem to notice as he offered an answer.

"Starfire was upset, so Cy and BB and her went into town to help cheer her up."

As he spoke his eyes did not leave the laptop he'd opened in front of him. Inklings of anxiety began to wash upon the proverbial emotional shore of their bond and she could tell there was something he was holding back. She continued to glare at him with a raised eyebrow, expectant of him continuing his explanation. His eyes glanced back at her, hopeful that she would let it slide. By this point he knew better than to outright lie to her, she could always see through it. When he met her hard stare all he could muster up was a simple interrogative.

"What?"

At this Raven's gaze seemed to harden even more, though he wasn't sure if that was possible.

"What happened, Robin?"

'Dammit' he thought. Why did she always have to press into everything. For someone so secretive about her own life she could really be relentless learning about others. Figuring he'd cut his losses he decided to just explain as she wanted. He closed the lid of the laptop and slid it to the side as he pulled his coffee closer.

"Last night. . . Star and I got in an argument..."

The thoughts drifted to his mind. After invading Raven's dream and being deposited back to his room Starfire had come to talk to him. His mind was still full of the events from the nightmare and he was in no mood to go to the mall or go on a date. He wanted answers almost as badly as he wanted to forget what he'd seen. He attempted to turn her away with an empty quip about being "tired" or "I'm not in the mood". At this she finally lost it, all but exploding with her volatile rage. She berated Robin on how he had been ignoring her and would rarely spend any time with her anymore. Robin, being the charming romantic that he is (not), only denied each claim, saying that she always asked for too much of his time. The shouting could have been loud enough to wake the tower were it not for the soundproofing in his room. The night ended with her storming out and Robin trying to spin a version of the situation in which he was in the right. Unfortunately for his peace of mind, he was simply in the wrong. It took him most of the night to accept it and by the time he did he was unable to sleep from the apparent guilt.

"About what?"

He looked back up and found two soft pools of amethyst eyes looking back at him. The hardness that had previously been infused with her stare had departed to be replaced with a sense of deep concern and care. It was strange how quickly she could change her tone but it was equally comforting to know that she walked the line close enough to understand it. She knew when too much was too much. She also knew when to push harder and how to get people to open up. A strange trait for the most reclusive titan.

"Our. . . Relationship. She feels like I've been ignoring her."

The words slipped out so easily he wondered why he'd even fought the accusation. He may not have been aware of his actions or their repercussions but it didn't make it any more right. He had to account for his own failings. Raven nodded at him as she contemplated her next query.

"Do you think she's right?"

Robin cringed at the question. It was one thing to admit defeat in your mind but another altogether to admit it out loud.

"I do. . ."

He looked back down at his hands, cupping the half empty coffee mug with enough force it was a wonder it hadn't shattered yet. He hated himself for his blatant disregard for her, but he also realized how at peace he felt, even despite the guilt of mistreating her. He had it in himself to recognize that he failed her and he possessed a desire to atone for it but even greater than that feeling he realized he felt more free. She always needed so much of his time and attention that he wasn't able to focus on the things that made Richard Grayson, Robin.

"But it also feels like she's suffocating me. . ."

Robin glanced back up at Raven, her face now wore an expression of confusion.

"She never just lets me be alone and when we're together we have to be talking about something. There's no peace and quiet."

Ravens confusion left her face as she certainly understood the need for personal time.

"Then maybe. . . You need to tell her that."

The words stuck to Raven's tongue as if the words shouldn't be uttered. She nearly slapped a hand over her mouth in belated dissapproval of the thought but when Robin silently nodded she felt her body relax. She didn't like the idea she was instigating but she couldn't lie to the person she respected most. Bringing the idea up to the emotional redhead would surely end in turmoil if not the death of their romantic relationship. Either way that was up to Robin now.

"Thanks Raven."

She looked to his eyes to see a grim smile on his face. He really did appreciate her words. She was always good at listening and she never offered advice unless it was called for. Something many of the titans silently appreciated. She nodded her 'you're welcome' opting to limit her speaking. A long moment passed before Robin spoke again.

"So. . . Last night. . . You said you needed to find something. What was it?"

Her mind flipped back to the events of the evening before. A brief flash of pain stung her sides before she gained control again and began to think of an answer to his question.

"Markings."

Robin raised an eyebrow, now waiting for her story to continue.

"I had noticed that the cross had markings on it, like words or phrases. I copied them down and I've been trying to find out what they mean."

Robin nodded in understanding.

"Do you know what language they are?"

"Not yet, a lot of languages have similar characters but Ill find it."

Robin once again nodded as he traced the rim of his cup in thought. Questions racked his brain but he couldn't think of a proper one to ask. He wanted to ask her if she felt the pain, if she needed help, if she was in trouble. So many things but the one that he chose was slightly less invasive.

"Do you know why this dream keeps coming back?"

He looked up at her to watch as she shook her head. Since the beginning of the new conversation she refused to look at him as if she were scarred or ashamed. He wanted to reach out and grab her hand to tell her it was okay but before he could act on the intention metal doors whizzed open to his right. As it did, a metal man, a green boy, and an orange bombshell came walking into the room. The two boys seemed tired and worn out as they immediately made their way to the couch and toppled over the back onto the cushions. The beautiful redhead, now in a better mood, happily floated over to Raven wrapping her in a backwards hug that could have killed her.

"Raven it is so very nice to see you! I do apologize for not inviting you to the night of out!"

Raven patted her offending arm with her hand as she tried to speak through her strangled vocal chords.

"It's okay star.. please let go."

She did as was asked and briefly glanced up at Robin before making an audible 'hmph' noise and turning to join the others on the couch. Robin shook his head at the gesture and looked down at his coffee mug again. He'd expected her to get petty but experiencing it was a whole different level of insult to injury. He was not going to enjoy this. His brow furrowed as he felt a strange presence on the top of his hand and upon inspection he noticed the cold pale skin of the dark girl before him rubbing calming circles into the back of his hand. He looked up at her violet eyes as they gazed, unmoving, at his own masked eyes. The look she gave offered the subliminal words of "I'm here for you". The confused look on his face, however, must have made her feel self conscious as she quickly withdrew her hand and stood. She tried to mask it but a blush began to creep up and heat the tops of her cheeks.

"I'll let you know when I've found something."

With that she turned and exited the room. It wouldn't take long for Robin, himself, to retreat to his own room and escape the constant glare of emerald green eyes.