Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed, and to my loyal fans, I owe you an apology. 13 days. 13 DAYS! That is the longest I have ever gone without updating. Hopefully, I left the last chapter in such a state that you were not ripping out clumps of hair in frustration.
Triforce90: Don't put yourself down. This may be my first published fic, but I've penned a lot of stuff that will never see the light of day. Thanks for being there for me since the beginning.
Jurodan: I'm happy you find my story to be believable, and give it such high praise. You are one of my most loyal reviewers (Triforce90posted first), and I always look forward to reading what you have to say. I can honestly say your story "Raven's Destiny" rocked my socks off. A note to readers: NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART!
Lolopixie: Thank you for your kind words. I pleased to see I can depict such believable characters.
Ravenfairie: You used the magic word, so here you go.
Sarah: I'm glad someone thinks I'm funny. My teachers call it perversion.
Chelsfanfiction: Thank you for adding me to your list.
Hedi Dracona: Short, sweet, and to the point. Thank you.
Instant Coffee: I thank you for your review, but since you've just started out on Chapter One, you may not see this for a while.
And thank you to everyone who took the time to read, if not review.
For your patience, you receive this reward. I give you Volume 2. Enjoy.
That's the problem with prophecies. They're never crystal clear.
The four Titans rushed up the steps with the two captured villains in tow. This was just a choice of words, since Mammoth and Gizmo were matching them step for step by their own accord. They were just as worried about their own team member as the Titans were about theirs. The thought of taking the elevator crossed their minds briefly, but was rejected when it was discovered that there was not enough room with Mammoth included. The six super teens burst through the door and into the kitchen, then froze in their tracks.
Raven and Jinx, covered in dust, clothes tattered, were sitting at the table and drinking herbal tea.
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Calling the current situation "awkward" would have been an understatement. On one side of the kitchen table sat Robin, Starfire, Beastboy and Cyborg, dirty and exhausted, yet still highly alert. On the opposite end of the table, looking just as tired, disheveled, and highly out of place in these surroundings were Gizmo, Mammoth, and Jinx. There would have been some rather heated glances being exchanged had all heads not been turned to Raven, who was seated at the head of the table.
She had no need to wait for her peers to quiet down and let her speak; Her appearance alone sufficed: Abnormally long hair brushing against her shoulders, suit torn and ripped until little more than an Amazon bikini remained, and her body covered in arcane symbols. Beastboy and Cyborg stood with their mouths agape for one simple (if not slightly perverted reason); they could actually see Raven's cleavage. Starfire had noticed this too, but her attention was drawn to her friend's hair. When the two girls had encountered the Puppet King, Raven had said so herself that she couldn't stand long hair.
Mammoth and Gizmo had been told what to expect, and were thus busy worrying about their surroundings. Only Robin focused on the symbols. Before tonight, he had been the only person to see Raven like this; when he had saved her after the encounter with Slade, the two Titans returned immediately to the Tower, giving Raven time to rest, change her clothing and alter her appearance back to normal. He may have told his teammates what he knew about Slade's return, but he said nothing of what had been done to Raven. This had been their secret until now.
Jinx was the only person at the table who actually had her thoughts in order. She managed to look past the flowing hair, which she really did admire. She no longer allowed her eyes to linger on the markings covering the girl's exposed skin, this being helped by the fact that they seemed to be fading as time passed. Nor was she still fazed by the revealing clothing. She was simply watching the face of a deeply troubled girl, whom less than one hour ago had become one of her closest friends.
No matter who was thinking what, they all sat in rapt attention as Raven explained to them what had happened. She told them everything: the Prophecy, her encounter with Slade, how she had reached her decision, her trip to the antique store, her visit to the church. She finished with the retelling of the events on the roof.
Raven looked around the room, waiting for questions. She would receive none, since most of the people sitting here were too stunned to move. "If that's all cleared up," Raven stood up and stretched, "I think it's just about time for bed. Goodnight, guys." She turned to her savior. "Goodnight, Jinx." And with that, she turned and left the room.
The teens sat in silence for a few moments, no one sure what to do. Starfire was the first to speak up. "Robin, if it is okay with you, I believe our guests would be more comfortable if they did not have to return to their own places of sleeping so late in the evening." Robin thought about this and nodded. Any other time, he would have thought Starfire was insane to let their enemies have the guestroom, but in light of recent events, he seriously doubted they would try anything. Especially now that they knew what Raven was capable of.
He was about to put forth Starfire's request in simple English, but Gizmo beat him to the punch.
"No way! We did our job, now we're going to get out of this house of horrors while we still have a chance! He and Mammoth made it to the elevator door before they realized they had one less than when they arrived. They both turned around to see that Jinx had not moved from her spot.
"If it's alright with you guys, I think I'd rather spend the night."
The Fearsome Two, as they were now, were about to object, but quickly thought better of it. They stepped inside the elevator, waited for the doors to close, and looked at their leader for possibly the last time. Then they were gone.
Jinx turned to the four Titans sitting around her at the table and smiled uneasily. "So, who's my roommate?" Starfire was the only one raising her hand.
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Jinx glanced around nervously as she tiptoed through the dark chamber. Looking around, she couldn't believe it was daylight outside.
This was her second time through the doorway, but the first had been under much different circumstances. She knew how Raven felt about people being in her room, and no matter how much of a friendship had recently developed between them, this still seemed like a stretch.
Raven seemed to be able to read her mind as she answered a question no one had asked. "I know what you're thinking, and yes, you are the first person I have ever willingly invited into my room. You should feel proud."
A grin spreading over her face, Jinx ran a hand over a row of books on a shelf, their covers soft with age and titles written in a language she couldn't understand. "I'd be lying if I said I didn't."
Raven's statement greatly eased her apprehension, so she continued forward with a slightly quicker pace. The dark Titan was sitting on her bed, watching the girl's catlike movements with amusement. She noticed that as the girl looked around, she moved her whole head, rather than just her eyes. This seemed a strange habit for a villain who was so adept at combat, as it could be easy to read her next move. Then again, it didn't seem to have betrayed her yet. She was anxious to begin, but knew that someone like Jinx wouldn't be able to concentrate until she was comfortable in her surroundings.
The pink-haired sorceress's gaze darted about the room, studied an object for a few seconds, and then quickly moved on to the next. The only item that seemed to hold her interest was the strange hand mirror sitting on the desk. Raven saw this and was about to issue a warning, but then decided to hold back and see if her companion would do anything unexpected. She was not disappointed.
Jinx's hand reached out, came within six inches of the mirror's handle, and abruptly paused. She wasn't sure what she felt, whether it was from the object itself or its owner. The hand dropped lazily to her side as she backed up a step, turning to look at Raven.
"Any other teenage girl's room, that thing would look out of place." Raven pondered this statement for a few seconds before taking it as a compliment.
Walking past the closet filled with half a dozen outfits similar to what Raven was wearing now; Jinx paused in front of a large chest sitting in the corner. What's in there?"
"Malchior." Raven replied flatly.
Jinx certainly wasn't expecting that, but she didn't press the matter further. Turning away from the ex-boyfriend stuck in a box, she started towards the bed but froze halfway when something out of place caught her eye. She scooped it up and examined it, but this only raised more questions, so she spun around, pounced onto the bed and flopped down next to Raven. "What's this?"
It was a stuffed animal, a white bunny to be exact, and its clothing, cape, and eyes perfectly matched those of Raven. The girl in question rolled her eyes but smirked nonetheless. "That's Starfire's attempt at showing me how cute I am when a crazy magician turns me into his assistant." Jinx looked up from playing with Bunny Raven's cotton tail and gave the real Raven a confused look. "It's a long story."
Jinx figured that if her new friend wanted to delve into stories of past adventures, she would do so when she was good and ready. Lying on her stomach, she propped her chin up with both hands. "Sorry if I'm snooping around too much."
"Don't be. It would be foolish of me to expect you of all people to not even be a little curious. Now, do you know why I've asked you here?"
Jinx's expression grew serious, a rarity in and of itself. "I've got a pretty good idea, and it has something to do with Slade."
Raven nodded. "If I'm really going to stand up against him, I may not walk away. If this were to happen, I want someone to at least have an idea of how to stop him. No matter how impossible it sounds. But mostly, I want someone to be there to help protect my friends if things go wrong."
She looked up and met Jinx's eyes. When she spoke again, her voice was soft and pleading. "Jinx…will you help me?"
The sorceress's mouth spread into a wide grin, and Raven felt a great weight lifted from her chest. "After what I went through last night, do you really have to ask?" She reached over and picked up the book in Raven's lap, scanned the pages, and frowned. "Of course, this would be a lot easier if I could read it."
Smiling, Raven pulled herself into a cross-legged position across from her new team mate. A cloud of black energy enveloped the stuffed animal, and it floated back to its place on the shelf. "If that's the case, we'd better get started."
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For the next few days, the two girls kept out of sight in Raven's room, only immerging for meals and trips to the bathroom. The other Titans were more than a little leery of their new houseguest, but they were careful to never show any ill feelings towards the pink-haired girl. Raven had told them that she needed help, and Jinx was the one person who could. Their teammate may have been suicidal, but she wasn't stupid. In fact it may have been because of Raven's recent actions that they did not want to challenge her. Needless to say, they were all still in a subdued state of shock over what a close call it had been.
One thing bothered Robin most of all. When Raven had told them about the fight on the roof, she ended by telling them about how she had tossed the knife away. At the time, it had greatly alleviated her teammate's fears that she might try again.
But the next morning, when Robin went up to the roof to inspect the damage, he could not find a trace of the dagger anywhere. Someone had beaten him to it.
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Raven peered over the top of the book in her hands and studied Jinx. Despite the challenges of being forced to learn an ancient language AND interpret the words into a spell she could use, she was progressing rapidly. For the hundredth time, Raven turned over a single thought in her mind. She had prayed for help, for some way out. And this was who she got. She looked up and down the girl's body: the black and pink striped socks, the demented black dress, the bizarre pink hairdo. The last thing the witch expected was help from the sorceress. But that is exactly what she received, and she was grateful.
Her thoughts ground to a halt when Jinx asked a much unexpected question. "Hey, Raven? Where do you think we go when we die?"
"What?"
"I mean, do you believe in an afterlife?"
Raven considered this for only a few seconds. "I don't believe. I know." Jinx looked up from her book and studied her closely. "I don't mean I've seen it or anything. I'm just basing this on what I know as fact. Trigon is real. It stands to reason that a pure force on the opposite end of the spectrum should also exist. This would be the being unto which most religions are devoted. And in each of these religions, that being promises an afterlife. Just like what Trigon has promised to me."
This was starting to scare Jinx a little bit, but she continued anyway. "What's that?" Raven met her gaze directly. "When I die, I get to spend eternity in Hell."
Jinx was shocked. "How can you say that? How can you even THINK that? You haven't done anything wrong!" To add to her dismay, Raven smiled. Closing her eyes, she held out her palms, and the hated runes made another appearance. They weren't strong enough to burn away her clothing, which was fortunate since Raven would soon start to run out of uniforms. This time, they only appeared on the palms of her hands, and they were only bright enough to be seen in the candle-lit room.
Raven opened her eyes. "It doesn't matter what I do in my life. It matters because of what I am. I seriously doubt a half-demon is going to be allowed through the pearly gates. Especially if her death brought the end of the world."
Raven was not trying to scare her friend; she was just trying to get her point across. Everyone thought she was creepy. Everyone thought she was moody and despised fun in any and all forms. But she has no choice. She was born into this world with the knowledge that she would destroy it. Not only that, but the power she could control to a minor degree would be released if she displayed any emotion at all. She was not allowed to have fun, because doing so would make her a danger to herself and others. Maybe if someone else was forced to walk in her shoes, they would be a little moody all the time too.
Raven had become lost in her thoughts, so she was snapped back to reality somewhat when she realized Jinx was now kneeling in front of her, face to face. She watched curiously as the hex-princess reached down, took both of Raven's hands in her own, and began tracing the symbols with her thumbs. "You don't think you'll be able to beat Slade, do you?"
Raven met her pink eyes unflinchingly, tears swelling up at the corners of her own violet ones. "No. I don't. In my pit of my heart, I truly and honestly don't believe I can. But I'm going to try."
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On Saturday night, Raven and Jinx made an appearance and did something unexpected. They joined the other Titans for movie night. It was Cyborg's turn to choose, so the film of the evening was "The Lady Killers". He had hoped Tom Hank's constant habit of quoting Edgar Allen Poe would appeal to his distant teammate. It did seem to hold her interest, and the dark humor always kept a smile on her face. Her fellow teammates kept glancing at her out of the corners of their eyes. They were still surprised by how much older the girl looked with long hair.
After the film, the Titans began to file out, but Raven and Jinx didn't move. Robin was about to bid the others goodnight, but felt a sense of tension radiating between the two. "Is something wrong?" The two girls looked at each for a few moments. It was like they were having a conversation without speaking the words.
Looking around at her teammates, Raven finally answered. "Tonight at midnight, it will have been exactly Thirteen days since my encounter with Slade. We've been preparing for something big to happen. And whatever it is, it's going to happen tonight."
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Next chapter will be up soon. I'm sorry if this doesn't live up to my quality of writing in previous chapters, and I may come back and do some revamping. I also think I may have taken Gizmo and a few of the others out of character.
Author's Note: That stuffed Bunny Raven was an actual item on Ebay. It was advertised as a hand-made, one of a kind item, and it sold for 51 dollarsplus shipping and handling.
This just in! It seems that in a recent study, 9 out of 10 doctors recommend reviewing on a regular basis! (The tenth doctor was beaten to death by his companions.)
9 out of 10 can't be wrong! Not only does it FEEL good, but it's good FOR you. (No threat intended.)
Please, Read and review.