Where's My Sister Chapter 6: Night time memories, a teen titans fanfic

Memories don't die. They don't disappear. They stay with you. They haunt you. Late at night they come to you and torture your soul with no end in sight. Eventually they fade away. But never so completely that you forget what they are. Eventually they return to chill your bones, waking you up from a nightmarish slumber. When you dream good dreams they come for you to drag you back to never ending torment no matter how hard you try to make up for the wrongs you have committed. Eventually, as time passes, they will only bring you to silent tears, tears that burn as they cascade down a face that reeks of death. Then things happen in the dead of night that cause all your bad memories to come flooding back.

Helion looked into the sink full of water in the dimly light Ops center of Titans tower. Not 10 minutes ago he received a visitor that he never wanted to see in his life and now he was unable to sleep as the anger slowly built up inside him. He had left his room and came to the Main room and entered the kitchen area. He filled the link with water and was now staring deeply into the shimmering surface of the water. Slowly, like a TV screen, he began to see memories play on the surface of the water. Memories that he wanted to forget but were burned into his mind and served as a constant reminder for who he was.

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Year: 663 BC

"Anaxander!" A woman cried. "Ioannes, get off him this instant." She scolded the 2 boys. "Save that for tomorrow. Your Agelai begins its training then and your father and I will watch with proud eyes as you grow to be fine soldiers."

Ioannes look at his brother Anaxander from the corner of his eye and both boys watched as their mother walked away, back to her chambers. Once she was out of sight Anaxander jumped and tackled Ioannes. With deft skill, Ioannes managed to fall back and throw his brother off of him. Then getting on top of Anaxander, Ioannes pinned him to the floor.

"Do you give up?" Ioannes laughed loudly.

"Never." Anaxander said. "Fight till the end."

Anaxander rolled over, bringing Ioannes with him. The boys struggled for several minutes, neither of them able to get the upper hand. Finally their brawl ended when they heard a mighty laugh and they were both suddenly jerked apart and upwards from the backs of their shirts.

"Dad!" Ioannes shouted. "Put us down." Ioannes and Anaxander struggled to break free from their father's powerful grasp when he dropped them hard on their butts.

"Getting ready for tomorrow." Eurycrates bellowed. "Good. Don't let me stop you."

A tall man suddenly burst into the room and ran up to Eurycrates. He whispered into his ear and they both left suddenly. Anaxander and Ioannes look at each other then at the door their father exited through, then back at each other. Then they tackled each other.

The water swirled around in the sink, bring to light a somewhat later time.

Year: 649 BC

"Ioannes" Anaxander said clapping him on the shoulder. "How does it feel to have achieved victory almost single handedly?"

"You know as well as I bother, that this victory was everyone's" Ioannes said and the rest of the men cheer. "Now let us feast!"

This was meet with a mighty roar from the rest of the soldier a they reentered Sparta. The festivities went on through the evening and near midnight Ioannes heard his father calling to him. Breaking away from his comrades he made his way to him. Eurycrates looked at his son for a moment with an enormous smile on his face.

"Our generals tell us who was mostly responsible for victory this day Ioannes." Eurycrates laughed. "Even our most feared men cower at your strength. They say that on this day you rivaled Hercules himself."

"Father please, I am just doing my duty to Sparta." Ioannes said proudly, truly honored to serve in war.

"I understand my boy, but you must know that in all of Sparta the Generals have yet to find your equal in battle. You are only 21 years of age, and not a scratch on you from your years of training and all the battles you have fought. This most recent war was basically won on your skill alone." Eurycrates said as he lead Ioannes to the back of the party. "My son, you will make a fine ruler of Sparta."

"Thank you father." Ioannes said with a bow.

Eurycrates laughed slightly. "Now if I am correct, every king of Sparta had something in common."

"What would that be father." Ioannes asked.

"A beautiful queen."

It was at the moment when Eurycrates lifted a cloth curtain that hung in front of the door when he saw her. She was beautiful beyond words and it left him speechless. He had faced beasts, faced armies, faced monsters that only the gods could know. But here, now, he was scared. Scared of what he might do wrong to upset this goddess before him. His breathing shortened and he just stood their unmoving and his father gave him a knowing look.

"Her name is Nerina." Eurycrates said into his sons ear.

Helion sighed and tried to look away, but even when he was not looking at the shimmering surface of the water he could still see his memories.

Year: 649 BC

"You, Ioannes, are hereby tried for treason and desertion." Said the man in the upper box.

"It is not desertion. There was no way to win that fight 1000 men against 30,000. Those are ridicules odds." Ioannes shouted. "I did not want to die that day and I do not want to die today. I cam back because I wanted to see my wife. Where is Nerina."

It was then when Nerina stood up and walked in front of Ioannes. In the corner Anaxander and Eurycrates turned their heads in shame so they did not have to look at the fallen prince. Nerina stood in front of Ioannes and just looked at him for a long moment, Tears streaming down her eyes. In one quick movement, her hand came up and slapped Ioannes across the face.

"You failed in your duties. Come home with your shield or on it." Nerina said, then ran from the court, tears falling like rain.

Ioannes was speechless.

"You are hereby banished from Sparta, your rank and title striped and your namesake removed. Anaxander is now next in line for ruler of Sparta." The man said. "Take him away."

Ioannes was dragged from Sparta and left to die.

Year: 649 BC

"Bring me one who has known love. One who has know fear. One who has known hatred. One who is forgotten. One who is strong. So we may finally bind the fire." A melodious voice rank.

"It will be done." came a chorus of voices as a response.

Ioannes was dragged along the hard stone floor violently. His body scrapped and wounded and blood dripped from various areas. His hands were bound and his eyes were blindfolded. He was thrown to the floor and was left on the ground as several people in robes, one carrying a torch, circled him and stood still. The blindfold was taken from his head and as his eyes grew accustomed to the light he let out a shallow gasp. He wanted to say something, but lack of food and water over the last few days had made his voice weak and quiet. He was scared and angry and had no idea what was going on. The room was large and on one side was a large tree that seemed to sprout from a cloud. The rest of the room was a dark grey and was lite by light that the tree emitted. Suddenly the tree pulsed and he could hear a beautiful voice.

"You are Ioannes, fallen prince of Sparta. There will be no record of you in history, no statue of honor, no anything. You will pass from this world without a second thought. What say you?" The voice said.

Ioannes was silent for a moment. "If your going to kill me then kill me." Ioannes shouted. He thought he saw the tree smile.

"Quite the opposite." The voice said.

A line of fire shot across the ground and struck Ioannes. He screamed as he felt pain unlike anything he even imagined course through his body. He fell to the floor writhing in agony. But still fully aware of his surroundings as the robed men closed in on him. The man with the torch tilted it down and touched it to his chest. He was unable to move, unable to stop the fire. From that one little touch the fire spread over his entire body and engulfed him, body and soul, in fire.

"You will be the vessel. The container for the Mystic flame that will burn for eternity." The voice said.

As the fire seemed to subside he looked down at himself and saw that he was unharmed. His previous injuries were gone in a flash of fire and he looked up at the tree.

"You are now my son. My blood. My body. You are now Helion." The voice from the tree said.

Helion looked at the tree in both fear and wonder. "And who are you then?" Helion asked as he stood up, his bonds burned away.

The tree shrank and the men in the room fell their knees. The tree shifted around in to the shape of a woman and she stepped down from the small cloud. Walking forward and placing a hand on Helion's cheek, she smiled warmly. Then pulling him into a warm embrace. "I am your mother, I am Gaia."

Several days later

Helion cried out as he was dragged once again to the floor of Gaia's temple. He screamed and the man behind him crumbled into ashes in an instant. The other men around him nearly pulled away from the thrashing Helion but held fast by the will of Gaia. He was naked and a heavy black stone collar was around his neck. 4 poles of the same black stone were fastened to 4 rings on the collar and to 4 rings on the floor of the temple. As hard as he tried he could not heat up the stone, but that did not stop him from trying to break it. He was slowly pulling the rings on the floor out.

"Helion. Why have you done this. Explain your crimes." Gaia said, her voice layered with disappointment

"I will burn you. I will kill you. I will send your essence to eternal hell fire(kill me)" Helion shouted as he struggled against his bonds.

"I see." Gaia said. she could feel the conflicting emotions within Helion the unstable nature of fire was taking it's toll.

"I will burn that tree(kill me). I will burn Sparta for what it did to me(kill me). I will scorch the world black(KILL ME NOW)." Helion spat.

With a final push, black flame erupted from Helion's body. His black stone bonds shattered and he stood up. He ran forward towards Gaia's tree. But he did not know she was expecting it. His foot landed in a pentagram and once it touched down it lite up brightly and he fell to the floor.

"You now have all conflicting sides of fire in you Helion." Gaia shouted. "There is but one way to quiet your ever burning soul. I will not kill you like you asked, for that it not possible without causing damage to the world. Instead I will split your soul into 2 halves."

Helion writhed in anguish for the second time on the floor of Gaia's temple. As the pentagram on the floor glowed, it pulsed twice and 2 pentagrams flew into the air. Helion sat up on his knees. They shrank and and moved gracefully around Helion spinning as they circled him. After a minutes or so them stopped in front of them and shot forward, slamming into his eyes, burring into his irises. He screamed in pain as this happened, white light erupted from his eyes and open mouth as he screamed silently.

"But you must know there is only one way to do this to the Mystic flame." Gaia's voice rang out. "A paragon is perfection, and that perfection will fight the conflict that rages in your heart. But know also, the imperfections that are removed because of the paragon must go somewhere."

As the lights died down and the pain left him he stood up and looked down at the floor. A woman with long blond hair and brown eyes lay unconscious on the floor, naked, with her eyes open. Helion closed his eyes and he felt him take full control over his power. Power that was once lost to an evil being that was exactly like him in every way. In a flash of fire he was fully clothes and he bent down to pick up the woman. He looked up at Gaia and bowed.

"Thank you mother." He said and then left.

Gaia was silent for a long moment after they left. Then she spoke aloud to herself.

"Do not thank me Helion. For all magic comes with a price, and yours may be to terrible of a burden." Gaia muttered.

Year: 543 AD

Helion looked down at the fresh unmarked grave. He had dug it himself not 3 hours ago and laid his loved one down to rest forever. Tears silently fell as he stood their silently. She died at her hands. He did not want to even speak her name he hated her so much, and she had yet to choose one. Anger filled him as he stood their silently looking at the grave.

"Why so sad Ioannes?" came a sultry voice from behind him.

Helion whirled around and grabbed her neck. He slammed her into a tree and she winced in pain.

"Why?" Helion shouted.

"It's your price Ioannes." The woman replied.

"What does that mean?" Helion was shouting.

"Magic comes with a price that must be paid." The woman said. "To keep your power under control, you forfeit your loves. You have the kiss of death Ioannes, and I am the blade you wield."

With that she disappeared in a puff of smoke. Helion screamed and slammed his fist into the tree, causing it to crack and break under the force of the blow.

Present

Raven woke up with a cold sweat covering her body. She felt scared, as though something bad happened or is happening right now. A great evil was close by just a moment ago, but it seemed to have moved on. Still she needed to get something to calm her down. She decided to get a glass of water or tea. Quickly, she moved down the hall way to the main area. it was not along walk, but the darkness always blew things out of proportion so it seemed to take hours. Her mind was everywhere as she walked. She thought about what had just happened, what will happen with Terra, about Passion, but mostly about Helion. She had never been, in any way at all, that intimate with another person. Even if it was just in her mind. Raven and Beast boy tried it out a year or two ago, but it never went past a first date. he was still on Terra. She was so preoccupied with her thoughts, she was unprepared for what met her in the main room.

The door hissed open and she gasped loudly at the spectacle. Helion was bent over the sink, his hands holding him above it. She was the sink was full of water. He seemed to be staring intently at the ever shifting surface of the liquid. It could all be taken in as maybe he to wanted a glass of water, except for one thing. The edges of the water were wreathed in black flame, and tears slowly fell from his eyes into the sink. Light from the black flames sent flickering shadows from an unknown source that seemed play out an odd story that seemed to have no sequence. The shadow puppets danced and held no rhythm or beat.

The sound of the door opening caused Helion to loose his concentration and he looked up for a second. Seeing Raven his concentration fully broke. All the water in the sink evaporated in an instant, causing a release of energy that threw him across the room. He hit the wall with a small thud, and besides that no other sound was made. Raven quickly levitated over to Helion and got down to help him back on his feet. She reached him just as he was wiping the tears away and with another glance all evidence of him crying were gone.

"Are you alright?' Raven asked as she helped him back onto his feet.

Helion stood and dusted himself off. "Yeah." He said it slowly "I'm fine."

He turned to the dent in the metal of the wall. He placed his hand on it. It glowed for a few seconds then he pulled his hand back. The metal followed and snapped back into place. He turned back to Raven.

"Can't sleep?" Helion asked as if nothing happened.

"I just came out to get some water." She said in her normal stoic voice, but inside Passion wanted to take hold of this conversation. Not something she was going to let happen.

Raven walked over to the sink to fill a glass she had retrieved from the cupboard. She was about to put it under the tap when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Helion had his hand there and a pleading look in his eyes. Those eyes that seemed to change forever, never settling in one place. Except for those pentagrams around his pupils. She remembered reading about something like that in a book, but she was to tired to remember right now.

"Please, stay and have some tea with me." Helion asked, almost pleading. After that trip down memory lane he did not want to be alone, knowing that she would never show up if Raven or anyone was around.

Raven just looked at him for a second and wanted to say sorry. She wanted to say no and that she was tired and wanted to go back to sleep. But she didn't say no. Passion chose that moment to take a moment of control.

"Alright." Raven said to her own disbelief.

"Really? Great." Helion said, his eyes becoming softer and they shimmered warmly for a moment. "Do you have a tea kettle?"

Raven took it down without thinking. She handed it to him with out thinking. She sat down and watched him make the Tea without thinking. It was odd compared to the way she made tea. She usually followed the instructions on the box of tea. Helion followed the instructions up until "Fill kettle with water." He filled the kettle with water but didn't place it on the stove. Instead he held it from the bottom with his left hand and with his right, he made a thin circle of fire in the air. He seemed to reach into the circle and pulled out a small folded piece of paper. From there she had no idea what he was doing. She had only ever had tea made from hot water and tea bags. She had never actually had real tea, and she never expected to have it in the tower let alone had it made for her by another. Finally Helion sat down next to her with a tea pot and 2 tea cups. he poured the tea and handed Raven one of the cups. She just held it for a moment without actually realizing she was holding it. Once the warmth penetrated the cup and her hands felt the heat, she seemed to jump back to reality. She looked down at the liquid and carefully took a sip. As soon as it was in her mouth, she nearly spit it back out. She didn't know what to expect from the tea and it nearly made her gag. it was unlike anything she had tasted before and it was surprising to say the least. She noticed Helion grinning.

"Good huh?" Helion asked as he took a sip from his cup.

Raven looked back down and took another sip, this time expecting the difference between the bags and real tea. It was good. It had a bittersweet taste that didn't linger in the mouth and did not make her want more. It was perfect. It also held a bit of magic to make it just right. It was something that Helion learned to do over the years. If you live as long as he has, your bound to study magic.

Together they drank the tea, and it never seemed to cool. It was always just the right temperature and did not go stale like some of the tea bags do if you don't drink it for a while. And they talked. She didn't really pay attention to what they said, and neither did Helion. Somewhere inside Raven, Passion squealed in delight. She then ran of to tell her new friend all about what Raven was doing with Helion. This new friend of Passion's was another fairly new emotion. Love.