The following morning, the sun rose and graced the landscape of Jump City with its illuminating rays. Every building and residence- including Titans Tower- was engulfed in the sun, and thoroughly cleansed in the renewing embrace. However, the same couldn't be said for the tower's residents. As everyone began to wake and start their daily rituals, Apollo- still fuming from the incidents of the previous night- sat at her desk in silence, focusing on her sketchbook and what she had left in it the night before. After staring down at the pad for a moment or two, she left her room and walked to the lobby for breakfast. In the kitchen, the team sat at the table and happily stuffed their faces with their favorite breakfast treat…WAFFLES! Casually they chatted and joked with each other in their usual manner, taking the occasional break to pause and have another bite or take another sip of orange juice; it was as if last night's discussion had been completely wiped from their memories. When the main doors opened and Apollo silently entered, there was an awkward moment of silence, but even then, the happy chattering and chewing continued within seconds. "Good morning exhausted cranium!" cheered Starfire gleefully. Puzzled and slightly disturbed, Apollo stared over at Starfire and the rest of the table, unsure of how to react to the welcome.
"She meant 'sleepy head'," stated Raven, quickly clearing up the confusion.
"Yeah," mumbled Apollo as she reached into the refrigerator for the peanut butter and jelly. She swiftly assembled a sandwich and a cool glass of milk before giving the others a quick sideways glance and walking back to her room. "Good morning…" Confused, Starfire and the others all stared at one another, completely perplexed by their friend's behavior.
"Um, okay," uttered Raven in response to the statement.
"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," commented Best Boy. "She's even grumpier than-" he abruptly cut himself off when he saw the annoyed grimace on Raven's face.
"No kidding," added Cyborg. "Wonder what's eating her?"
"Don't know," said Robin as he rose from his seat and began to walk out of the kitchen to follow his distraught friend. He walked down the hall and managed to catch up before she could make it to her room. "Hey," he called out softly to get her attention. Lazily and clearly annoyed, Apollo turned slowly to face her friend, taking a sip of milk in the process. "Is everything okay? You walked out of the kitchen so quickly, I just wanted-"
"I'm fine," Apollo rudely interrupted. "Just trying to get back to work; I only came in there for a snack."
"Work. On what?" Robin asked curiously.
"Nothing," answered Apollo, as she tried her best not to snap at the only one who actually seemed to care about her. "Just some sketches. Had… a lot on my mind last night and I decided to let it out," she continued as she began to back away into her room.
"Really? Mind if I take a look?" asked Robin innocently as he followed her through her doorway.
"Actually I do," Apollo stated abruptly. Confused, Robin watched as Apollo quickly slid towards her desk and protectively placed her hand over her open sketchbook, then looked up at him innocently. "It's not finished yet; I'd rather wait and show you the final product." Understanding, but still a bit suspicious, Robin nodded and made his way out of her room.
"Well when you do finish, let me know." He paused in the doorway and turned back to Apollo. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked again.
"Yeah," Apollo replied as she walked him out and shut the door. Still outside, Robin listened to her walking away from the door, muffled under her breath, he heard her continue, "Just fine."
The day progressed as usual and, without a single alarm or alert, the titans immersed themselves in their usual daily activities- one of which, spending time with one another; everyone that is, except for Apollo. Much to the surprise of the others, it seemed like she was taking her normal desire of solitude to a whole new level. She was spending more time alone than usual- even if that meant blowing off her team. Within a few hours she had managed to skip out on combat practice and her usual sparring workout with Robin, she had completely avoided the television and its two reining couch potatoes, and even succeeded in making Raven- once the queen of solitude- look like the team socialite! As a result of her antisocial behavior, the team's suspicions continued to rise; soon Cyborg and Beast Boy's initial suspicions had managed to create a cloud of doubt in everyone's mind as Starfire and Raven also grew leery of Apollo's actions. However, Robin managed to remain resilient and try his best to defend Apollo- despite her cold and distant behavior. "She's fine," he would say to the others. "She just wants to be alone." Skeptical, the others would all shrug off and dismiss the naïve excuses; believing that their leader had lost it and sadly fallen victim to Apollo's manipulative expertise.
The day commenced as usual and soon the titans had completely forced themselves to block out their ominous outcast. It wasn't until later that afternoon that Starfire- innocently roaming the halls in search of a companion- passed the weight room; the light was on and she noticed shadows moving inside. Curious, she paused and poked her head into the room. At first she saw no one and prepared to leave, but then in the far corner of the room- in the combat section- she spotted Apollo, vigorously flipping and kicking at a series of targets. Impressed by her intensity and skill, Starfire fully entered the room and watched the practice battle. Ferociously, yet with a clear sense of grace, Apollo leapt around a self-assembled obstacle course, throwing blows around at her plethora of targets: a speed bag, two Wing Chun dummies, and a large punching bag. Entranced, Starfire couldn't help but move closer to the scene; despite her past experiences watching Robin practice, never before had she seen anything like this! Silently she crouched behind a weight rack and continued to watch the performance. With the speed and agility of a wild animal, the martial artist flipped over a chair and, for a split second, landed on the wall before leaping forward and spin- kicking the punching bag. She then rolled across the floor and delivered a series of swift blows to the speed bag as her bo staff sprouted from her wristband, allowing her to vault herself backwards and land on top of the now spinning, Wing Chun dummy. Focused, Apollo jabbed, kicked and struck the wooden object as its pegs continued to fly her way. Engulfed in the intensity, Starfire rose from her hiding place and began to creep even closer- her eyes still fixed on Apollo and her movements.
Again Apollo kicked the punching bag, causing it to sloppily swing back and forth. As the bag continued to sway, she effortlessly spun and cartwheeled away from it, but only after angrily slamming her staff into it and sending the large sack into a wild spinning fit. As the bag continued to spin, Starfire noticed what appeared to be a piece of paper attached to the front of the bag. Puzzled, she watched as Apollo attacked both Wing Chun dummies at the same time- a feat she had never even seen Robin attempt! Punching, kicking, and blocking the blows of the dummies with heightened hostility, Apollo's staff was quickly replaced by a pair of nun chucks which aided her in the workout. Watching her continue, Starfire soon noticed that the dummies and speed bag also adorned pieces of paper, all of which appeared to have battered and torn images on them. Still curious, and now determined to get a better look, Starfire crept closer to Apollo and her targets; but apparently she had gotten too close; abruptly, Apollo stopped and spun around to find Starfire innocently attempting to hide behind a treadmill. Breathing heavily, with nun chucks still clenched tightly in her fists, Apollo faced her spy; her hair wildly spread over her face, she quickly straightened herself up after noticing the odd stare cast across Star's face. She then released her weapons, which quickly remerged with the rest of the wristband, and watched as Starfire- realizing that she had been caught- rose from her hiding place and walked forward. "You are very talented," she silently stammered, an honest smile graced her lips. "On my planet only the greatest of warriors possess such skills in combat. Your experience would make you famous!" Flattered, but still in an aggressive mindset, Apollo smiled faintly, though her gaze remained hard and focused.
"Thanks," she answered in a sharp, low tone.
"We have been worrying about you. Robin has tried to find you with no success, have you been here all along?"
"No," answered Apollo as she turned and began to reassemble the training equipment in their original places. Starfire quickly picked up a chair to help. In doing so, she continued her attempt to make conversation.
"Then, where were-"
"I just needed some time alone," Apollo quickly interrupted. Starfire nodded in understanding. As she continued to help Apollo in silence, she noticed one of the papers barely hanging onto the speed bag; realizing that now that she could finally see what was on the paper, she walked forward, picked up the torn page and looked at the image drawn on its surface- a large sapphire ring. Intrigued by the image, Starfire stared down at the paper for a moment longer before Apollo realized what she was looking at and quickly gathered her other images, then walked towards Starfire and asked for the final paper.
"This is beautiful," complemented Starfire as she shyly handed over the drawing. "You are a talented artist." Apollo looked down at the paper, then to Starfire in response to the comment. She then turned away and began to walk out of the room. "On my planet, such masterpieces are created by only the purest of hearts. Your mind must have been at peace when you created this image." Unsure of how to respond, Apollo paused and looked down at the pictures in her hand. Hesitantly, she began to turn back towards Starfire, but then-shaking her head- she changed her mind and rushed out of the room, leaving Starfire alone.
Later that night, after eating dinner alone in the far corner of the kitchen, Apollo returned to her room and prepared for bed. Though she really wasn't tired, she placed her head on her pillow and looked around the room. Each of the walls was intricately painted in black and white with silver accents and details- her favorite colors. The walls and furniture maintained these three colors, with the exception of a single cerulean mark on the wall which seemed to pop- standing out as if segregated by the other colors. Intrigued, Apollo sat up to get a better look at her room. To the average person, this simple color scheme may have appeared boring or unimaginative, but to Apollo it was beautiful. Her first real room, she loved the way it looked, the walls the furniture, the breath- taking view through her one solid glass wall- it was like her personal portal to the outside; and the one thing she secretly loved most about her room was that it had all been done for her- a gift. She remembered the night Robin and Starfire had led her down the hallway to her 'surprise'; after Star had eagerly switched on the light, Apollo remembered the unbelievable experience of looking around at her new room, hearing the group "Surprise" as everyone happily surrounding her, asking her opinion about the room. Looking around now, Apollo remained at a loss for words, just as she did when she first laid eyes on her new sanctuary. Still impressed that this team of people who had only known her for a few days, had managed to capture her true self within these walls, Apollo continued to survey the room- hand-painted by Robin himself- her eyes stopped and focused again on the single cerulean area on the wall across from her bed. The beautiful shade of blue, backed between the abstract silver and white lines that surrounded it and emphasized its beauty, allowed the lone mark to stand out; different from the rest of the wall, there was no way to avoid the unique glow of the mark. Even when the lights were out, the area remained in view- sometimes keeping her up at night- isolated, out-cast… alone; and though she obviously hadn't been there when it was done, it was evident that Robin had added this mark for a reason. Apollo continued to gaze forward at the now piercing blue mark, growing more and more entranced by the minute; and strangely, as she continued to stare, she soon found that the more she analyzed the obvious oddity of this area, the angrier she became. At the team, at that thief, at Red X… at herself; quickly blaming herself for her own isolation. 'I'm going to find him,' she intently repeated to herself. 'It isn't over. I'll prove I was right. They have no right- …I'm not finished.' Eventually realizing her growing frustrations, Apollo quickly shut her eyes and turned away from the wall; staring down at the black-carpeted floor in silence.
Finally, after what had seemed like an eternity of staring at her room, Apollo found sleep and again placed her head on the pillow and closed her eyes. Just moments away from slumber, she heard the familiar pattern of footsteps coming down the hall and the sound of the door across from hers opening- she yawned and smiled to herself as she heard him walking away from his room and gently opening her door, taking a peek inside to be sure she was there. She then listened to the door shut softly and the footsteps return to their room, his door closing behind him. 'At least…' she said to herself before finally fading into a dream.