An Author's note: This chapter will contain a few lines from the poem "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe. I don't own this poem (but I did read it every night before I went to bed when I was little. It's very special to me). I knew this poem long before I had even heard of Teen Titans. It's part of the reason I first cracked up laughing when I first saw the episode Nevermore. Who else thinks that those little birds should have recited to poem to Cyborg and Beast Boy?
Just remember: I do not own the poem. I do not own Teen Titans. I really don't own anything. Life's tough, isn't it?
Well, on with the show!
Chapter Eighteen
"YOU!" Raven snarled as she stared at her old "friend". "You murderer! What are you doing here?"
"Fulfilling my destiny." Sanath replied with a strange light in his eyes. "Freeing our people from oppression, just like I told you I would." He came closer to her which she did not like at all. She looked around for something to throw at him, but someone had removed all throw able objects from the room.
"I missed you Raven." Sanath said with a vague look on his face.
"And I had hoped that I would never see you again!" Raven said.
"Is that anyway to talk to your only real friend?" He said with an evil look.
"You're no friend of mine! You killed Hadiran! You lied to me and you used me! I hate you!"
"You don't mean that," Sanath said. "The filthy Fullbloods have poisoned your mind."
"The only poison in this room is you, Sanath!" Raven said and tried to hit him. Unfortunately, Sanath was faster than her and he grabbed her by the wrist. Still furious, Raven punched and kicked and even tried to bite the big Halfblood, but he had a good grip on her arm and he was bigger and stronger than her.
"Now stop that." Sanath said as if he were speaking to a child. "I don't want to hurt you."
"You already have!" Raven bellowed and she kicked him in the family jewels. This made him let go of her, and she ran to the other end of the room, still looking for something, anything, she could use as a weapon. Suddenly the chain attached to her ankle was yanked and she fell to the ground. Sanath had grabbed the thing and was now reeling her in like a fish. She did not struggle, but waited until she was close enough and kicked back at Sanath with both her legs. He dodged her and swung the chain around, tangling it around her legs in an attempt to tie her up. Once her legs where restrained he grabbed her arms and then threw her on the big bed in the middle of the room.
"Stop that." He said again, and this time his voice was stern and a little on the murderous side. Raven froze now completely terrified. The way Sumal had looked at her had been bad enough, but the look Sanath was giving her was even worse. Now instead of feeling like a soon to be slaughtered pig she now felt like the slice of bacon on a hungry person's plate. Sumal's lack of emotion had been bad enough, this hungry look was even worse.
He wouldn't…would he? She thought Oh, Azar, NO! She thought as Sanath started stroking her hair. Terrified of what she thought was to come she started struggling even harder, but this time she was simply driven by pure and utter horror.
"Stop that right now," Sanath said again "unless you want to see that little midget in the dungeon with his head on a stake. I can even have it delivered to your room, if you want."
"Midget? You mean Robin?" She said, now terrified for her leader.
"Yes, I hear they call him Wonderboy…or was it Wonderbread? Oh, well, it does not matter. If you don't stop fighting me he will be Wonderheadless. Do you understand?"
Raven swallowed. Great. Now if she did not do whatever this maniac wanted then it would be Robin who would suffer. But if she did…
No, better her to suffer than another one of her friends. She would not let another friend die at this lunatic's hands! She stopped struggling and let Sanath do to her what he wanted.
Surprisingly he did not want…what any other man in this sort of situation would have wanted. He simply relaxed there on the bed with her, talking. Not as bad as it could have been, but the situation still made Raven sick. Most of Sanath's chatter was about his "brilliant" plan to rule the Fullbloods of both Earth and Azarath. She listened in absolute horror as he yammered on. Not only had those…creatures that Malachi had referred to as the Uglies been summoned by HIM, Sanath had also used them to conquer this kingdom, but he planned on using them to take over the rest of Azarath as well. Once he was done here than he planned on moving on to Earth.
"What happened to the king and prince of this land?" Raven asked.
"What do you think? They had to be disposed of. I killed the king with my own hands, but that little mutt of his escaped. We will find him, though. It will only be a matter of time."
Raven felt sick. The king had been so kind to her when she was little, even though he had known what she was. Now he had been murdered by Sanath, who had once been one of Raven's closest friends. She could not help but feel a bit on the reasonable side, even though she had been on Earth at the time. However, she had talked to Sanath about her friends here, and now she deeply regretted that.
"What do you want from me?" Raven growled.
Sanath started stroking her face, and Raven struggled not to throw up. She would only end up soiling herself, and it might set Sanath off.
"It is simple." He said, either no noticing or not caring that the object of his affection could not stand him "I plan on ruling both worlds as king, but I will need a queen to do that."
Oh, Azar he is going where I think he is going with this! This is just plain ridiculous! I'm not even PRETTY for Azar's sake!
"I want you to marry me, Raven."
Now let's take another trip into Nevermore. Every single emotion, from Love to Wisdom and everyone in between, every one of them shrieked in perfect harmonious chorus:
"GROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!" The sound made a flock of four-eyed ravens take flight with loud screeching protests.
After that there was the sound of a lot of emotions retching and dry heaving. Even Lust, who was not very particular, was disgusted.
Now back to reality.
"I can understand if you are a bit hesitant." Sanath said after a long moment of shocked silence. "But think of it this way. If you do not marry me, then I cannot guarantee the safety of your little friend." He then leaned over and kissed Raven, who tried not to let the bile loose on his face.
He stood up and started to leave, but before he went he turned and said "Think about it."
Raven managed to wait a full ten minuets. Then she rushed to the window and released the remains of her last meal into the air to be free.
Ten more minutes later she ended up staggering back to bed, mainly because she felt exhausted from throwing her food into space. Soon she was on the bed and starting to fall asleep.
"Akk! What a minute! You are not supposed to be here yet! It's only been a week!" Malachi started in surprise.
"What!" Raven stared "Malachi! What are you doing here? I thought it would be weeks until I could talk to you again! And for your information it has only been about half a day!"
"Sorry, kid, but it's been a week where I am." Malachi replied.
"That's impossible! Unless…you said that you are in a different dimension?" Raven said.
"Yep."
"There…must be a time gap between the two. The two dimensions are operating on different time coordinates. For me it's just been half a day, but for you it's been a week."
"Yeah, a friend of mine named Dralor said this might be the case. He's a wizard. Kind of a strange guy, but he's alright. So, what are you doing? Taking an afternoon nap?"
"I…" Raven said, still filled with doubts about the dragon. However, it would be nice to talk to someone about this situation. All she had to do was not tell Malachi anything about the team that Malchior didn't know. It would be tricky, but it could be done.
She told Malachi most of what she had already told Malchior about the Titans. Then she took a bit of a risk. She told Malachi what was happing right now in Azarath, and a bit about Sanath. Nothing deeply personal, but enough for Malachi to get the general picture.
For her part Malachi knew very well that she was not getting the whole story. She did not mind though. It was clear to her that this Raven did not trust others easily, and it might take a while for her to open up. For some reason Malachi had felt a kinship toward Raven ever since the memory transfer. She did not know why, but she was a dragon who usually went along with her feelings.
When Raven had finally told Malachi most of the story, the green dragon snorted and moved closer to Raven, dragging her crippled hind leg a bit. The look on her face was very angry.
"I suggest," the green dragon said "That you tear out this Sanath guy's lungs and use 'em for bagpipes."
"Bagpipes?" Raven said.
"Only instrumental music worth listing to is bagpipe music." Malachi maintained "Old Celtic stuff is good too, but bagpipes are best."
Raven shook her head. Bagpipes! Would she ever be able to figure out this dragon?
"Yep," Malachi continued "that guy's lungs would do much better as bagpipes than they would be for keeping him alive. More bagpipes and less rapist fools, in my opinion."
"Well, he never actually touched me."
"Kid, do you want to marry him?" Malachi said.
"I'd rather marry Cyborg's car!"
"So if you do end up hitched to this slimeball it will be because you have been forced into it. Therefore anything you do later in a bedroom at night will be rape, even if you are not saying no. Plus, how old are you?"
"Seventeen."
"And he is?"
"Twenty-five…I think."
"Then it will be statutory rape as well. In which case forget the lungs, his manhood will have to be removed and roasted over a fire." Malachi said "Raven, you really have to get out of there!"
"I know, I know! I just wish I knew how!" Raven said "This is all my fault!" she blurted.
Malachi snorted and stared at Raven as if she had lost her mind. "Your fault? What kind of bull is that?! I ask you, did you ask this Sanath moron to capture you?"
"No but-"
"Did you drive him nuts?"
"No-"
"Did you summon a storm and get rid of four of your friends and tell Captain Brutus to stuff this Robin guy in a cage?"
"N-"
"Then what in Jesus name makes you think that this is your fault!"
"Ummmm."
"Kid, you are not at fault here. Heck, you're the freaking victim! Don't give me that beaten down woman horse dung about it being 'your' fault, because it is not your fault!"
"Okay! Sweet Azar you are opinionated!" Raven said.
"Part of the job." Malachi said. Then a thoughtful look crossed her face. "You know if this guy summoned the Uglies, than I think I can help out a bit! I don't think I can help you physically, but I can give you some good information!"
"What?"
"To summon Uglies you need to rip a dimensional gate into their realm. Find the gate and close it and you stop the flow of Uglies. You can't just go there and kill them all, though. The darned things regenerate after death, it's very annoying. But close the gate and they can't come to your home anymore. Once that gate is gone you can destroy the other Uglies. Their sprits will transcend back home and regenerate there, so they will not come back to your home unless someone rips another gate."
"Is it that easy?" Raven asked.
"Well…there is usually an older Ugly guarding the gate. Uglies never really stop growing. You can judge Ugly age by size. The bigger they are the older they are, and the more intelligent they are. Someone will have to fight the big Ugly in order to even get to the gate and that can be a problem."
"Thanks Malachi." Raven smiled at the dragon.
"Don't thank me yet. You still have to get away from Sanath the Molester first."
"I know, but maybe if I wait awhile than perhaps he will tell me the location of the gate."
"Be careful Raven." Malachi said, and Raven could not help but notice the concern in the dragon's tone.
Beast Boy swam like a maniac, looking for the ship that had apparently vanished into thin air. He jumped and leaped as a dolphin, but he for the life of him could not find it. Terrible thoughts of sinking ships and dead Titans filled his mind (particular concern shown for a certain purpled haired Halfblood), and he mentally cursed himself for being so slow in finding Jinx. He wanted to stay here until he found either the ship or its wreckage, but he needed to get back to the one remaining…friend he seemed to have left. It annoyed him that he had to be the one who had found Jinx and not Starfire, but…
He swam back to shore and found the pink haired loon sitting on the beach looking out towards the waves, obviously watching for him. He shifted back to human and walked toward her. She looked at him and cocked her head to the side. He shook his head.
"How does a ship disappear like that?" Jinx said "I mean it's not like this is the Bermuda Triangle or anything like that."
"I don't like it. That storm came way to quick and was over way to fast." Beast Boy said. "It feels like we've been set up."
Jinx looked at the sea and growled as if it had committed a personal offense against her. "What do we do now?" she asked.
Beast Boy was about to reply when he heard a caw. He turned and standing there on the beach behind him was a red-eyed crow. With a start he realized he recognized the crow. He had seen it before when the world had ended. It had led him to his friends when they were first scattered by Trigon. The others had thought it was a raven, but Beast Boy could tell that it was, in fact, a crow and not a raven. (A/N: Yeah, I know that the bird in The End 2 really was supposed to be a raven, but work with me here people! This is me being creative again!)
"Is that a raven?" Jinx said, interrupting Beast Boy's thoughts.
"No, that's a crow." He said.
"How can you tell?" Jinx asked.
"Crows are generally smaller than ravens, they have smaller beaks, they don't have a ridge of feathers around their necks and they make different sounds. Crows go 'Caw, Caw' and ravens kind of croak."
"Well, you do know your birds, don't you?" the crow said in perfect English.
"AKK!" Jinx jumped back "Are they supposed to talk?" she said.
"What were you expecting? 'Quoth the raven nevermore'?" the crow said with amusement.
"Huh?" Beast Boy looked at the crow, who rolled a red eye.
"Oh, come one! 'Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary.' Doesn't it ring any bells? No? Never mind." The crow said with and audible sigh. "I'm here to help you find your friends. I can lead you to them, if you will let me."
"Why?" Jinx said, instantly suspicious.
"Let's just say that I have a permanent interest in the well being of Raven." The crow replied. "Are you coming?"
"Who are you?" Beast Boy asked.
"My name is Zipatila." The bird said.
Miles away to the south, Starfire and Cyborg were having a very similar conversation. Starfire had managed to save Cyborg, but like Beast Boy she could not find the ship. Neither of them knew precisely what to do, but they both knew that something had happened to their friends, and it was probably not good. Fortunately most of Cyborg was waterproof, but the tracker he could use to detect the communicators of the others was not waterproof, and it was not working at all.
"Man, this piece of junk just is not working!" Cyborg growled in anger.
"I wish I knew where our friends are." Starfire said, looking like a flower that had just wilted. She was not even floating in midair, her unbridled joy had been replaced by melancholy, so her ability to fly was not working at the moment.
"Well, I can't detect them without the tracker, so we'll have to think of something else." Cyborg refused to entertain the possibility that Robin and Raven were now in the proverbial Davy Jones Locker. He certainly was not going to mention this possibility to Starfire.
"Perhaps we should head to the city that Raven mentioned? The one of the Caninoids? Perhaps our friends have safely arrived at this city?" Starfire said.
Cyborg nodded, it was better than just sitting here staring at the sea. "Yeah, they will probably head there." If they are alive. He added mentally.
With some hope restored, Starfire was able to launch herself into the air, carrying Cyborg as she went. She remembered that Raven had said that the Caninoid capital was to the north of the bay, so she followed the edge of the beach in a northward direction. Soon the sun began to set, and Starfire began looking for a place to land for the night. She spotted a light down on beach that she supposed was from a campfire.
"I see a fire of camping down on the beach, Cyborg. Do you think we should investigate? Perhaps it is our friends." She said as she hovered.
"It might be." Cyborg said, though he really doubted it "Let's go down there and check!"
Starfire swooped low and gently dropped Cyborg on the beach, and then landed herself. They approached the campfire, but no one was there. Cyborg looked around with puzzlement, wondering why someone would build a fire and then abandon it.
"Lost are you?" someone said from the shadows, and Cyborg fired up his sonic cannon while Starfire warmed up her starbolts. They stood back to back, waiting for whatever was in the darkness.
"Stand down." The voice said. There was a certain purring quality to the voice, and it was defiantly female "I mean you no harm. In fact, if I am right about whom you are than we are most defiantly allies."
"If we are truly allies, then show yourself! Friends do not hide in the shadows from friends!" Starfire said, obviously in Aggressive Alien mode. Funny how she could go from innocent and happy to crazily violent in an instant.
"My apologies." The voice said. Suddenly the owner of the voice was there. It was like she had appeared out of thin air, but Cyborg thought that it must be some kind of camouflage ability. Or she could turn invisible or something like that.
She was a…well she was a cat woman. Her body had the appropriate number of arms and legs for a human, but she was covered in long black fur and she had a long tail. Her head seemed almost completely cat with golden eyes and pointed ears. Cyborg did not see any claws, but he assumed that she must have retractable ones, seeing as how she was a cat. She dressed a bit like the General had been which reassured Cyborg a bit. Maybe she was a friend of his?
"Who are you?" he asked, putting away his sonic cannon.
"I am Illeria." The two Titans stared at her, still puzzled. "Raven has never mentioned me?" the cat woman said "I am assuming you are her friends, correct? I cannot think of another alien or another metal man wandering around Azarath."
"We are Raven's friends, but she never mentioned you." Starfire said. "Please, how do you know our friend Raven?"
"I'm her sister." Illeria replied. Cyborg's mouth dropped open so far it practically scooped up sand.
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!" he shouted, and several small birds took flight in the nearby trees.
Illeria laughed. Cyborg noticed that she, like most people in this screwy dimension, had sharp teeth. They were not quite fangs, but they did seem to be nice and sharp. He also noticed that, for someone covered in black fur, that Illeria was actually kind of…pretty. He shoved this ideal thought away. Now was not the time for this kind of thing.
"Sorry, I suppose I should say foster sister. Raven's mother adopted me before Raven was born, so I think of Raven as my little sister." Illeria sat down by the fire and gestured to the two Titans to take a seat as well. They did so, and Illeria pulled out three food pellets from somewhere and spoke the trigger word. What looked like three burger combo meals appeared, except for the fact that these meals did not come with Cokes, and the fact that they looked homemade instead of flash frozen. Cyborg and Starfire dug in and for a while no one said a word. Finally they had finished and started talking a little bit. Like Raven herself, Illeria was quiet, but unlike her there was no sarcastic edge to her comments.
"Where is Raven?" Illeria finally asked. "Is she with you?"
"No." Cyborg said, and explained about the storm. Illeria looked very worried. Cyborg was pretty sure that it was worry, even though the face involved did not really resemble a human.
"This is not good." Illeria said. "You are right to believe that this storm was not natural, I can tell you that there was quite a bit of magic in the air at that time. Furthermore something is wrong in the Caninoid kingdom. Communication there has been shut off, and there are some very nasty rumors floating around."
"What kind of rumors?" Cyborg asked.
"Rumors of the hanging and beheading variety. And some reports of 'monsters'. A few weeks ago the General asked a group of dwarfs to investigate, but we have not heard form them. I came to find out what happened to them, and," Now Illeria smiled a bit "I was hoping to see my little sister again."
"Illeria," Cyborg said "I think we might have already met your monsters."
They talked till midnight, Illeria and the two Titans comparing notes. Finally they decided that they would travel together to met Illeria's dwarfs, and hope that they encountered Raven and Robin on the way.
The next morning found the three travelers heading north, and none of them could deny the feeling of foreboding that now hung over the air.