Sorry for the delay guys but I was especially busy these last few weeks. On a side note, thank you guys so much for helping me reach the 100 review point! I hope you all have enjoyed this story so far as well as the chapters in the future. Here's chapter 10, as promised!
Chapter X - The Bell
A gasp. A shriek. A cry of pain. That was all she heard in her mind as she struggled to break free. She felt as if she was on the verge of sleep—the in-between phase of consciousness between reality and dreams. But she had to will herself to stay awake.
"Anna! Anna!" she heard a muffled voice call. She ran from the sound. That wasn't her name, no it wasn't. More words echoed in her mind. "Insanity" was one. "Cellular degeneration" came and went more than once. "Dying."
"Anna Crowe!" that other voice called. She burst through the door and ran out of her house.
"Your name is Anna Crowe," echoed in her head. "My name is Malcolm. You are my wife."
"Stop it," she thought to herself as she ran through the lawn, tripping over her feet as she did so. "Get me out!"
She heard loud sounds. Sirens. She saw voices and heard figures approaching. Hands and arms grabbed her. That other voice came again, "Anna! Anna, please no!"
She felt herself being forced into a car. "Are they going to take me to her?" she wondered to herself frantically. "I need to find her. That woman in my head." She closed her eyes and saw the woman's face again. "The woman with black hair."
…
"Hit it! Come on, you idiot!" Raven taunted him. "Come on, it is not that hard. For a superhero, especially."
"Hey, it's rigged!" Beast Boy protested. "It moves really fast. And even if you hit the prize, it has to be completely knocked off for you to actually win."
"You win me a stupid unicorn but you can't win this thing?"
"Dude, you need a chill pill." Beast Boy carefully aimed the toy gun at the moving box in the Shoot-N'-Win game they were standing at inside the Jump City Amusement Park. He pressed the trigger. A plastic dart came flying out of the gun and stuck itself onto the box, which still stood adamantly on its stand. "Crap!" he said. "I'm all out."
"Here, let me try," Raven said nonchalantly. "We've been here for fifteen minutes already. I'll win something on my first try."
"As if," Beast Boy said. "You'll just use—" he lowered his voice, "your powers… to win it."
"I won't need to," she replied confidently. "I know other skills outside my magic, too you know." She paid the man a three dollars and was handed a gun. "Except I get to choose the prize. I'm not winning you a video game."
"Aw, come on, Rae," the boy whined. "This game completely sold out the day of its release. I have to have it! Think about me. Think about Cyborg and Robin!"
"Yeah sure," the sorceress scoffed as she set her eyes for the grand prize—a beautiful crystalline bell whose stand was moving the fastest on the machine. Whispering her classic mantra, Raven took a deep breath and recalled her archery lessons in Azarath years ago.
Suddenly she felt a pair of green arms wrap themselves around her. Green hands eclipsed hers and placed themselves onto the gun. "Let's win it together," she heard Beast Boy say. "No way am I letting you win it alone so you could brag about how much better you are at this."
Raven smiled and agreed. Letting her breath escape her slowly, she fired a single dart which flew across the air, landing exactly onto the bell's box. The container quickly tumbled downward and was handed to her with a word of congratulation.
"Told you," she said simply as she went along, leaving a smiling Beast Boy to trail behind her.
"We won that together!" he said in a singsong voice.
"Sure thing," she called back as they walked towards the Ferris wheel. "Whatever keeps you from crying tonight."
The two boarded the Ferris wheel as it slowly began its ascent towards the sky. As it reached the very top, Beast Boy wondered aloud, "You know, I never really understood all the excitement of being at the very top of a Ferris wheel."
"It's because when you're so high up with your date, you feel like you're at the top of the world," Raven explained. "Superheroes like us won't understand, because we're used to flying all the time. This view is normal to us, so it's like we're always on top of the world."
Beast Boy smiled and fumbled with their prize box, removing the crystal bell within and holding it up, letting it shine in the bright sunlight. Slowly he shook it, letting its ring echo throughout the entire park.
And everything seemed calm.
And the calmness was broken by the sound of Raven's Titans Communicator ringing. Groaning internally, she reached into her pocket and flipped open the device with an unceremonious, "What? This had better be good."
"Sorry, Raven and—erm—Beast Boy," Robin greeted. "Sorry, it's still really weird to see you two together."
"Dude, it's been a week," Beast Boy said.
"Get used to it, Boy Wonder," Raven agreed. "What's up?"
"There's been a little mishap with the Crowe's," Robin began… "Anna went on a rampage and ran crazily from her house before being caught by the JCPD. She's in the police station now."
"And… what do you need? As long as she's safe, we have nothing to do with her personal life."
"It's getting serious," Robin explained. "Batman asked me if you could maybe enter her mind and see if you can see what's wrong with her psyche."
"Not now, I'm on a date. That kind of thing can wait."
"Batman insists," he replied. "I don't know why, but he's really insistent that you do it now. In fact, he sent some people to deliver Anna to you right now. They're on their way to the amusement park as we speak."
"Are you serious?" she moaned. "Okay, fine. But tell Batman that he had better give us some serious explaining after all this is over."
"Sorry. Thanks, Rae. Robin out."
Raven let out a sigh as she placed the communicator back in her pocket. "Sorry, Beast Boy," she said. "I guess our date is on hold for now."
The green boy smiled and said cheekily, "No problem, babe!"
The sorceress rolled her eyes and said promptly, "Don't call me that. 'Babe' is something players call girls that they'll pick up and ditch after a week or two. And don't call me 'chick' either. I'm not an animal. And don't even think about calling me 'hot'. I'm a person, not a temperature."
"Dang, you're strict!" Beast Boy protested. "But you're a smoking hot chick, babe!"
Raven glared at him.
"Fine, but you are hot—" Beast Boy bit his lip and relented. "You're cool. Can I call you that?"
"Why?" she scoffed.
"Because you are cool," he said simply. "Your incredible powers, the way you can constantly sacrifice yourself to protect your friends—all that makes you really… cool."
"Fine," she rolled her eyes. "Alright, let's find Anna and get this over with."
…
The two figures stood on top of the Crowe mansion glaring at each other with burning eyes. One figure—a machine-like object—said in a robotic voice, "I should have known better than to trust you, Rift."
"Take your forces and leave her be," the other man replied, clenching his fist.
"Why did you help us, then? Why did you offer us the controlled Titans East?" the Brain asked.
"I needed spies. They've been secretly sabotaging your work. And I've made sure that the last time you tried to find Anna Crowe, the Titans East would purposefully mess up and accidentally cause your defeat," Rift revealed.
"Why did you do all this? What do you have with that woman? You know who she truly is, don't you?"
"Yes I do, and I have a special purpose for her—one that exceeds any use of her that you need."
"Fool!" the Brain shouted. "You shall pay for your insolence. I will eliminate you and the Titans and I will take your precious Anna Crowe." He paused, adding, "They are at the Jump City Amusement Park at this very moment."
Rift's eyes widened. "How—how did you know that?"
"My resources extend beyond your knowledge, Rift." As a helicopter with the Brotherhood of Evil insignia lowered itself onto the rooftop of the mansion, the Brain said as it boarded the plane, "You had best get there quickly, Rift, if you wish to protect Anna Crowe. Send the Titans East whom you've controlled to help the Teen Titans there. But whatever you do, we will find Anna Crowe and we will capture her."
"I'm not so sure about that!" Rift retorted. "I have the Titans to stop you. And I've controlled Batman to send Anna to Raven to free her mind from any thoughts of Madame Rouge. It'll all be over now."
"We'll see." Just before the helicopter took off, the Brain added one last time: "If I were you, I'd take your time to say goodbye to Anna Crowe. And tell Malcolm Crowe to do the same. This will be the last time either of you or anyone will see of her."
The helicopter took off, flying in the direction of the amusement park.
…
Raven let out a slow sigh of worry as she sat down at the table on the seat opposite Anna. They were sitting just outside the carnival and could still hear the laughter from inside. "Hello, Anna," she began. "Do you know why I'm here?"
"You're gonna be my shrink or something?" came the reply. Raven sensed her voice quiver ever so slightly.
"I'm here to examine your consciousness," she explained. "Your mind's been fractured and your mental psychosis relapses more often now. I'm here to enter your mind and see what's wrong. Maybe something that needs a little fixing." Anna stared back at her with half-empty eyes. She continued, "Now first I want you to empty your mind and relieve yourself of any and all thoughts. That's the only—"
"You know her, don't you?"
"Excuse me?"
"The woman. Her. You know her, right?"
Raven's eyes furrowed in confusion. "Who's this woman you're talking about, Anna?"
"She's—I see her sometimes. In my dreams," Anna explained in a fearful and trembling voice. "I—sometimes I feel like I pretend I'm her… but I don't know why. She's—the woman with black hair."
Raven made a mental note in her head: "Alter ego. Possibly split-personality. Could be the manifestation of her mental instability and the cause of her relapses."
"And what do you see when you see her, Anna?" Raven asked.
"I—I see you," Anna whimpered. "And—and the other Teen Titans. But I get a bad feeling when I do…"
"Okay…" She glanced to where the others stood and mouthed, "We're going nowhere with this."
Robin mouthed back, "Keep going. Get in her mind when she's ready."
"And I see a big gorilla. And an old man. And a machine."
Raven's eyes shot back at her instantly. "What did you say?" she asked. Gorilla… old man… machine… woman with black hair. Were they not Monsieur Mallah, General Immortus, the Brain, and Madame Rouge?
"A machine thing with a face on it," Anna continued. "The old man in the military uniform. And a gorilla with guns. I always see them with the woman in black hair."
"The Brotherhood of Evil…" Raven gasped. Quickly she composed herself and pressed Anna with more questions about what she sees and for how long has she been getting these dreams.
Anna replied to almost all of the questions that she didn't know. Raven glanced over to her teammates and they motioned her to proceed into her mind. Raven nodded and turned to Anna, saying, "Okay, Anna. I'll be doing a little magic. This won't hurt a bit."
She leaned forward and placed three fingers on Anna's forehead. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos," she chanted. In a flash, they were transported to a rocky terrain in a void-like space. Concentrating her magic even further, she muttered a second time her traditional mantra and the world of Nevermore slowly evaporated and changed form.
Raven opened her eyes and saw that they were in a maze-like place full of glass and mirrors, some of which were cracked and broken. Anna opened her own eyes and reacted with a look of fear. "What—what is this place?" she murmured.
"This place is a physical manifestation of your mind," the sorceress replied mystically. "Being in here will calm your senses and help me figure out what exactly is happening." Under her breath, she added, "And why exactly you know so much about Madame Rouge."
She watched observantly as the disillusioned Anna Crowe walked around the room in a trance-like state. Raven wondered how exactly the woman knew so much about Rouge. It was possible her dreams were a side effect of her psychosis, triggered my her most frightful memories—which may be memories of the times the Brotherhood attacked her. But in both times, Madame Rouge was always mysteriously absent, meaning there could be no way for Anna to have known of her at all.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a name, "Niles…"
Raven's ears perked up. "Excuse me?"
"Niles… That's his name," Anna whispered as she caressed a mirror. "That man… I don't see him too often… but when I do I feel really sad. Niles…"
Raven was intrigued. This was an unfamiliar name to her. "Who is this 'Niles', Anna?"
She shook her head. "I don't really know. The machine thing keeps the lady from remembering him. She told me that. But then another man came—a man dressed in all black."
The Azarathean took note of the mention of a man in black, whom she presumed was none other than Rift.
"The man in black helped her remember Niles again. But now he's keeping her from seeing him."
Raven rubbed her temples and desperately wished that she wouldn't speak in riddles all the time.
"I—I have to help her."
"What?" she asked.
Anna's hand formed a fist. "I'm finding Niles, no matter what," she said in a harsh voice.
"Your name is Anna Crowe," that voice echoed in her mind.
"I'll destroy anyone who gets in my way," Anna hissed.
"I am Malcolm Crowe. I am your husband."
"Whether it's the swine food that is the Brain or you filthy Teen Titans!" she shrieked.
"Would you please—"
Anna screamed horribly as she whipped around and lunged at Raven. Taken aback by the sudden attack, Raven soon found herself struggling on the glass floor to free herself from the Crowe wife. "Anna!" she shouted as she wrestled with the psychotic woman. "Get off me!" a flash of black energy sent Anna into the air before she came crashing back down.
Raven stood up but found herself paralyzed as she was surrounded by the Brotherhood of Evil—several copies of the Brain, Monsieur Mallah, General Immortus, and Madame Rouge along with a fifth figure she did not recognize—an aging man with gray hair and beard sitting in a wheelchair. Just as she realized those were merely the mirrors playing tricks on her, she was tackled to the ground by Anna, who began pulling her hair and shoving her face against the floor.
"You are vorthless!" Anna shrieked. "You inzignificant fools must open your eyes to this treachery!" She violently struck the side of Raven's face. "Let me out! Let me out!" She struck Raven's temple again, causing the glass and mirror room to shatter, taking the two back to Nevermore once again.
Raven struggled to place her hands back on Anna's forehead. "Azarath… Metrion… Zinth—"
A blow on the head broke her off. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos this, you freak!" One final punch across the face caused Raven to black out.
…
When Raven came to the first thing she noticed was the silence. It was a strangely silent atmosphere. Next was the smoke, which burned her lungs and made her cough vigorously. She sat up straight with a start and looked around to see nothing but fog and smoke. The next thing she knew, she was walking around, stumbling on her feet while trying to find anyone who was there. It wasn't long before she bumped into Cyborg, who led her to the others—Robin, Starfire, Beast Boy, and the Titans East—while explaining to her what had happened.
During her mental connection with Anna, the Brotherhood of Evil had come for one last bout with the Titans. He, Robin, Starfire, and Beast Boy had done everything they could to protect the carnival and help the people evacuate. Just as it seemed they were losing, the Titans East had come out of nowhere, though it looked as if they were still possessed. In the midst of all this, Anna had somehow awakened while Raven passed out. She began running around erratically, screaming a name he couldn't remember—"Miles or Giles or something," Cyborg remarked—before eventually running into Monsieur Mallah, who captured her and dragged her to his helicopter. Rift soon showed up out of nowhere and started fighting Mallah, but Beast Boy—not knowing that Rift was stopping Mallah instead of helping him—tackled him down, inadvertently allowing Mallah to escape with Anna. Just as the Brotherhood escaped, the Titans East suddenly seemed to be free of their mind control and acted as if they couldn't remember anything from the past few days.
"Oh my Azar," Raven muttered. "So that means… the Brotherhood has Anna Crowe now?" Both Titans West and East nodded in agreement.
"She's gone," a voice heavy as stone spoke. The Titans looked up to see the silhouette of Rift standing within the ruins. "They took her." Through the smoke, Beast Boy could see him clenching his fist. "All because of your ignorance!" the man shouted as he turned around and swiftly punched Beast Boy in the face.
The green boy went flying, landing on a nearby overturned table. He spat out some blood.
"I will destroy you!" Rift shouted as he crept closer and closer to the changeling. Robin attempted to attack him from behind but was kicked away with enormous strength. As if his strength had been tripled, he batted away Cyborg and Starfire like flies as he made his way towards the injured Beast Boy. He raised his arm and formed a fist.
"Stop!" a cry was heard. Rift's arm stopped in midair as he looked up with bloodthirsty eyes that widened in shock. Before him stood Raven, her hand encased in a dark orb that was aimed directly at him. He lowered his arm.
"Put that down," Rift instructed her. She did not relent. "Would you please put that down?" he repeated with much more force. Raven suddenly felt her arm go down but forced it back up. He was trying to control her, she knew. But she resisted up, knowing fully well what would happen to Beast Boy should she submit.
"Leave. Him. Alone," she shot back.
Rift looked at her, then back at Beast Boy, then back at her. "This is not the end, Raven," he roared. Raven suddenly felt time stop as all movement was frozen. Everything felt a blur as she heard a single voice in the air: "I will take two revenges on you for your two sins against me. One for today… and one for the first sin."
"What?" she thought. Immediately she opened her eyes and was in Beast Boy's lap. She sat up to find that they were sitting on a table in the debris of the Jump City Amusement park.
"Where am I?" she asked him in a tired voice. "Where's Rift?"
"He's gone," Beast Boy replied in an equally tired voice. "You passed out and he disappeared. That was about ten minutes ago. The police just came."
"Oh." She crossed her arms and resisted the urge to sleep.
"That was amazing, what you did," she heard. "Thanks for saving me."
"Of course," she answered. "I'm… cool, aren't I? So what happens now? Anna Crowe is gone."
Beast Boy sighed. "Anna Crowe… she's dead."
"What?" she gasped. "How—how do you know?"
"Malcolm Crowe… he said that that was what they were planning to do. They wanted her dead. He said 'They wanted to kill my Anna.'"
"Oh Azar." Raven felt her heart sink. "Batman's not going to be happy about this."
"It doesn't matter, Rae," Beast Boy said as he placed his arm around her shoulder. "We'll figure this whole thing out soon."
They sat in the rubble, watching the Jump City Police Department and the other Titans make their way around the park. They sat there in peace.
"You know I'll always be there to protect you," she said.
Beast Boy nodded. "Of course you will," he smiled. "And I'll never do anything to hurt you. Promise." Reaching inside his pocket, he pulled out a crystal bell—the one they had won together in the Shoot-'N-Win. Placing it in his hand, he shook it slightly, letting it produce a clear ring. "Every time you hear this ring," he said. "Think of me. And every time I hear it, I'll think of you."
"Heh," Raven chuckled. "It reminds me of those old bells back at that Mysterious Garden restaurant. Remember those bells hanging on the trees?"
"Yeah." Pausing slightly, he added, "Do you think we would've been a couple if it weren't for that body-switching wine?"
She shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe. Maybe not."
"I think we would've," he replied. "It might have taken longer, but we would have."
"Gar," Raven said. "I think we're going to be a good couple."
He smiled. "I know we will."
~Difficult Words to Say~
Before I get to the reviews, there's one thing I'd like to say: this can be considered an ending of Difficult Words to Say. I mean this as a warning notice. The first ten chapters of this story is very light-hearted and humorous, almost a romantic comedy. That all ends now. Difficult Words to Say was always meant to be a much darker story than that. These first ten chapters was much more happy to reflect the innocence of childhood and first love. The second half of the story will feature the Titans as adults and much more adult themes will be discussed. I'm not saying it will be a tearjerker and depressing story, and I can promise you there will be a happy ending, but the things that happen along the way will be much more serious than what happened during these past few chapters. If you are the kind of person who likes reading very fluffy and happy stories, I'd suggest you stop here and consider this point the ending. However, I highly recommend to all my dear readers that you keep reading this story to the end. I truly believe this is my best work yet and may possibly be my best work of all time. I want to tell you this story. So please listen to it. Thank you.
Stepping Silver - Thank you for your words! Unfortunately, the Cinderella parallelism was meant to be a one-time thing. As I said above, the story will take a much darker turn from now on, but I really do encourage you to keep on reading.
CleoArrow - I do feel for Raphael and I believe many readers know what it feels like in his situation. He will return later in the story, I promise you that. As for Rift, more and more of him will be revealed in time. This may be a little early, but everything about Rift will be completely explain at around chapter 15 or so! As for Arella, she won't show up again until the ending, but her motives will slowly be understood as the story progresses.
Kaarlinaa - The story is far from over! Keep on reading please. :)
Bluedog197 - Nope, there is still so much more of this story to show. Raphael will be hurting, as many readers can relate. He will make a few reappearances in the future.
TheLurkingShadowWillow - Ahh! I can't believe it took me so long to write this chapter! So sorry! But I hope the wait was worth it. I will try to update as fast as I can as always so please be patient with me. And don't forget about this story! That'll make me sad haha. And please keep on reading. If you liked my past few stories, I truly believe you will love this one. I already know this story will have a special place in my heart as my favorite story out of all those I've written now or in the future.
BartWLewis - Together they are. Raphael doesn't have the kind of heart to keep Raven from her true love... but what about in the future? Read on to find out!
koryandrs - The Cinderella allegory won't be in future chapters, don't worry haha. That was a one-time thing. But thanks for your review! As for the title drop, I mean to make a reference to the title in particularly important scenes. So far there's only been two: the first chapter, and the time they get together.
daniiibabiii - Thanks! Hope you like this one!
Raven Logan - The reason for the switch will slowly become more obvious over time. I'd think we'd be able to figure it out by Chapter 16 or so... if that's not too long of a wait :)
faisyah865 - Well it seems now that there is some sort of connection between Anna Crowe and Madame Rouge... I wonder what it could be? And why would the Brotherhood want her dead? Or do they...? Rift's identity will still be a secret... for now. And yes, the other Titans are aware of their relationship.
InvisibleGeek - Haha, unfortunately there won't be much awkwardness between the Titans. Well, there is but I won't be writing about it. That, I can leave to your imagination.