I apologize again for my absence, but a word of caution. I know people are reading, but the lack of reviews isn't really giving me great motivation to keep up on my writing. But not you FantasyMind93, thanks for the continued support!

Chapter 14

Memoirs of a Geomancer

There was a quick tap on the door, its sound reverberating throughout the room. Terra was kneeling by her bed with random items of hers scattered across it when the knock came. She looked towards the door, already knowing who it'd be.

"Come in," Terra called.

The door slid open and Beast Boy stepped in. It had become part of his daily routine to stop by Terra's room first thing in the morning to 'escort' her to breakfast.

"Hey Terra," he said cheerfully.

The blonde teenager turned to her green skinned friend and smiled. He walked over to her bed side where she was sorting a few items.

"Whatcha doin'," he asked, leaning over her to get a closer look.

His chin was practically resting on the top of Terra's head, and Beast Boy could already feel that butterfly feeling in his stomach. Terra too was forcing herself not to blush, though she could hardly keep herself together in such a close proximity to him.

"Just organizing my stuff," she replied, trying to take her mind off her hormones.

"You…organizing," Beast Boy joked as if he couldn't believe his ears.

"Speak for yourself," Terra retorted, using the same playful tone as Beast Boy.

"My room's not that messy," Beast Boy replied, which everyone in the Tower knew was a great understatement.

"Sure..." said Terra, making it sound as flirty as possible. She turned her attention back to her things, when suddenly Beast Boy rested both arms across her head.

"What are you doing," she demanded, looking up at him through her hair.

"Quiet, armrests don't talk," Beast Boy replied. He nodded to himself, trying to make it look as though he was pondering the facts of life.

Terra thought about throwing him off, but decided she enjoyed the physical contact and left him there, her hormones had won this round. She continued to go through her things, occasionally snatching things back from Beast Boy who randomly picked up her stuff to look at. He mostly did it to annoy her; he thought she was cute when she was irritated. Most of her items where CDs, magazines, and old camping equipment she had used during her days on the road. But one item caught Beast Boy's particular interest.

"What's this," he asked, grabbing a small, furry yellow foot hidden under Terra's bed.

Moving faster than she ever moved before, she caught Beast Boy's hand in a death grip just as his hand wrapped around the foot. As he tried to pull away she squeezed tighter.

"Terra," Beast Boy cringed, "That's starting to hurt."

Terra wasn't wearing her gloves at this time so, along with her ever tightening grip, her nails were pressing down into his skin.

"Then let go."

Beast Boy pulled the object farther out from under the bed before Terra began squeezing harder.

"What is it?"

"None of your business, Beast Boy!"

"I just want to see…"

"NO!"

Knowing Beast Boy wouldn't take no for an answer, Terra grabbed his hand and tried to pry the leg from his grasp. To counter this, Beast Boy used his free hand to try and push Terra out of the way. The two soon became locked in several odd and uncomfortable positions ranging from headlocks to pressing their feet into the other's face, both trying to gain the advantage over the other until Beast Boy finally declared:

"AHA! IT IS MINE! MWHAHAHAA"

He rolled Terra off of his back and quickly dashed to the other side of the room. He held up Terra's possession like a battle trophy, gloating at Terra. But his gloating was short lived when he actually saw what he was holding.

"Huh," he stammered, "a…teddy bear?"

"Yes," said Terra, leaning on her arm as she lay on the floor, "my teddy bear."

She got up off the floor and took it back from him, holding it tightly to her chest. Terra gave Beast Boy a very angry look before turning her back to him and heading back to her bed.

"Terra," he started, hoping he could make amends quickly, "don't be mad, I didn't know it was that embarrassing."

Terra felt like yelling at him for that comment but held her tongue. He didn't know its significance to her, that it was one of her last memories of home. But she still felt that he crossed the line, but she wouldn't get that angry at him. She scratched her yellow teddy bear's ear, and buried her head into it.

No she wouldn't get angry at him, not she had at Terran so long ago.

"Terran give her back!"

Terran spun around and tauntingly waved his sister's teddy bear in air. "Make me!"

Terra growled furiously and chased after her brother who was already halfway down the stairs. She jumped the last steps and turned the corner sharply and chased after him into the kitchen. It was that time of week again where the twins had had spent so much time together that it was inevitable they'd get into a fight.

"TERRAN," she screamed, "give me back my bear, NOW!"

Terran snuck a peak at her from the other side of the kitchen table and shouted back: "Not until you admit that I'm older and better than you."

Without warning Terra dove under the table and grabbed Terran's leg and pulled him to the floor.

"Never," she screamed and grabbed her teddy bear.

The twins rolled around on the floor, hitting and kicking each other until Terra finally pinned her twin brother to the floor. She tried to tear her bear from his grasp but he always kept it out of her reach, but barely. Terra reached out farther before finally grabbing its foot and pulled hard.

The bear pulled free of Terran's grasp and once it was firmly in Terra's as she took off running into the living room. Terran let out an audible growl and charged past his sister and once again snatched her teddy bear from her grasp. The twins darted in and out of ever corner of the house, the bear trading hands several times before Terran ducked into the downstairs bathroom and locked the door.

"TERRAN," his twin sister screamed at the top of her lungs, "OPEN THE DOOR!"

She yanked on the door handle in a futile attempt to open the door, before kicking it. She was shaking in anger, tears beginning to well in her eyes. She wanted to get him back so badly. That bear was her prized possession, how dare he take it.

Terra stomped up to her room in a fuss, leaving Terran to camp out alone in the bathroom by himself. She stood at the doorway to her room, shaking with fists clenched. She wanted to cry out she hated him, but knew it wasn't right nor would she believe it to be true, so she would find a way to get even.

It was then she thought of something, something that was guaranteed to invoke the same reaction she was having. It would work; after all they were twins…

Meanwhile as Terra plotted her revenge, Terran was still locked up in the bathroom. Terra had stopped beating on the door and now the house was unusually quiet for occupying two seven year olds. Terran was sitting atop the toilet seat, swinging his feet back and forth, wondering when it'd be safe to come out.

Terran looked down at his sister's teddy bear and tried to think of a good way to give it back. He wasn't trying to be cruel to his sister, he was just bored. And when they were bored they resorted to picking on each other. She had been getting on his nerves lately and this was his way of venting it. He would give it back and they would stay away from each other for a few hours and then go back to being brother and sister as if nothing happened.

Just then Terran heard his name being called and he hopped off the toilet seat and ran to the door. He unlocked it and took a quick peek outside and an instant swell of anger came over him. Terra was standing in the living room, holding one of his action fingers, and taunting him.

"Oh Terran," she called, as if to a pet, "look what I have."

"HEY," Terran cried, racing out of the bathroom with her bear in hand. "GIVE THAT BACK! IT'S MINE!"

Terra turned her side to him, holding his toy just out of his reach. She pushed him away with her free hand and demanded: "First give my teddy bear back!"

"No, give me my Mento back first!"

"You first!"

"No you!"

The two twins circled around each other, keeping their hostages out of the others' grasp, while attempting to take back they're own possession. They performed this strange dance-like motion for several minutes until they finally gave up and tackled each other once again. They were so busy fighting that they didn't notice the front door opening a few feet away from them. Two older men walked inside, one with chalk white hair and the other with stormy gray hair. The man with the gray hair walked over to the two fighting siblings and grabbed them both by their sleeves and yanked them apart.

"That is enough!"

The two instantly froze, staring into the man's deep blue eyes. His face was tight as he glared at the two, making them both feel far smaller than they already were.

"Hi daddy…" they muttered.

A cry of disdain emanated from Titans Tower, causing most – if not all – of the occupants to jump.

"TERRAN! What do you think you're doing?"

The male geomancer, wearing only a pair of black pants looked up at his acting team leader, Aqualad, with an expressionless face. He gave a modest shrug and continued with his set of one-arm pushups.

"Terran, how many times do I have to tell you to get out of bed? This is the third time…TODAY," Aqualad continued.

"I've suffered worse," Terran retorted and switched arms.

Aqualad groaned, giving up on convincing Terran otherwise. He walked around Terran to the other medical table where their real leader still laid unconscious. Bumblebee was lying quietly, face up, and breathing with the help of medical breather. A monitor by her bed was monitoring her brainwave activity; so far it was still registering as normal.

It was a miracle that she was still alive. Though she was caught in a deep coma, but there was no sign of brain damage. Sadly her arms hadn't been so lucky. The lightning strike had badly damaged the nerves in both her arms, rendering them both completely paralyzed. A corporation that excelled in robotics, S.T.A.R. labs, the same company that had saved Cyborg, had agreed to construct a device to accommodate her condition.

Terran finally finished his exercise and stood up to brush himself off. He grabbed an undershirt off of his bedside and slipped it on. He then proceeded to walk out of the infirmary.

"Where do you think you're going," Aqualad called after him, but not giving chase.

"For a walk, I'm tired of lying around all day."

Aqualad was about to speak again, but gave up. He wasn't exactly the leader type, and telling Terran what to do was like keeping a baby from crying. It was simple impossible. He only responded if he felt like it, or it benefited him in some way.

Terran walked down the hallway, his arms behind his head. He was bored of being coped up in the infirmary, he had to get out and do something. Maybe go for a run, or just see the sites of Steel City. Something!

He thought about calling his sister up, but for some reason the idea didn't seem that great. It wasn't that he didn't like talking to her, he really enjoyed their chats. But he began to notice lately that he'd have these drastic mood swings. It was almost as if he's old way of thinking was trying to push its way back to the surface, like Brain was still in his head. The idea wasn't exactly farfetched, except for Brain. Having your thoughts screened and directed for a decade wasn't exactly something that could easily be changed.

He noticed it especially when he thought of his sister. There were times when he'd just suddenly become irritated at the thought of her. And when she called, he would sometimes let the communicator ring until she gave up. Terran knew he should feel bad about it, and did. He was more disappointed in himself because he thought he was able to put the past behind him than anything. Terran should be setting the example. He was older, smarter, and more mature of the two. Or so he hoped.

The twins' father let go of their shirts and crossed his arms. He glared at them both, disappointed in their behavior especially in front of a guest. The twins gazed down at the floor, afraid to meet their father's gaze. He could really be intimidating at times, sometimes without even saying doing anything. He was a man who commanded authority simple by being in your presence. They would never dare call him by name.

Terran and Terra both shifted uneasily in the positions, afraid to move let alone speak. Their father tapped his foot impatiently, switching his gaze from one to the other.

"Is there an explanation for this behavior," their father asked, his voice calm but intimidating.

"Sorry-" the twins began.

"That's not what I asked," their father snapped, not about to allow his kids to weasel their way out of this one. "Why are you two fighting?"

Terra looked up at her father, and then quickly snapped her finger in Terran's direction. "He started it!"

"I did not," Terran shouted in his defense. "You were teasing me!"

"You took my teddy bear!"

"You took my Mento figure!"

The twins growled and clenched their fists, preparing for another fight. They completely forgot their father was still a few feet away from them, at least until he got between them and dragged them by their shirts up the stairs. He dumped Terran in his room and Terra in hers before glaring at the two of them.

"Thank you for the welcome home," he said. He went back downstairs, leaving his kids to stew in their rooms. Their father went on talking to their uncle, but the twins didn't bother to listen in. They were to busy glaring at each other from across the hall.

The twins' uncle stood up from his chair as the father came back down the stairs. He then followed the father down the hall and into his office.

"Are Terran and Terra fine," the uncle asked. He had never seen them act that way before, at least in front of him. "I never knew they fight like that."

The twins' father nodded as he sat down in his leather chair. "Yes they're fine, Wintergreen. And yes they do fight like that, quite often actually," he admitted, a little ashamed at his kids' lack of maturity. But what could he expect from 6 year old twins? "It's usually nothing really serious, a few punches here and there but-"

He was suddenly stopped when there was a quite knock at the door.

"Honey, are you in there," asked a rather attractive female voice.

"Yes, you came come in."

The door creaked open, and a blonde hair woman stepped through the door, his wife. Wintergreen turned to her and smiled, to which she returned gratefully.

"Hello William," she said sweetly, embracing her old friend.

"It is good to see you to Adeline," Wintergreen replied.

"So," Adeline began, turning her attention back to her husband, "Where have you guys been, you've been gone for a month."

"Here and there," Her husband smiled, giving her the usual answer. He never did give a straight answer when it came to his career. Only Wintergreen, his closet friend, knew what he did on his 'business trips'.

"Ok," said Adeline, nonetheless giving her husband a smile. "Then what did you guys do?"

"The usual."

Adeline was about to press further when a loud bang echoed from upstairs. Two sets of feet raced from one end of the 2nd story to the other, the noise allowing the three adults below to follow their ever move.

Adeline sighed. "I'll get it." Before she left she gave her husband a quick kiss, saying: "Welcome home," before heading upstairs to breakup the latest brawl between her children. "And be ready to go into town tomorrow, we're taking the kids to Sunday school, ok."

Her husband nodded in response and watched his wife leave the room. The two older men remained silent until the door had closed, and Adeline was well out of earshot.

Wintergreen turned to his friend and gave him a displeased look. He looked up at Wintergreen and returned the look.

"I know."

"Then why do you do it," Wintergreen asked, once again drilling his friend on being honest with his wife. "She's you're wife, she'll love you no matter what."

"I don't want to trouble her."

"But you're troubling her by not telling her what you do."

"There's no point now."

"The longer you wait the harder it will be for her to accept it," Wintergreen countered.

The man sitting in the chair put his hands together, resting his chin upon them. "Not if there's nothing to tell."

Wintergreen gave his friend a suspicious look, sensing that he was implying something. "What do you mean by that?"

"I've been thinking," the man began, considering his choice of words carefully. "Perhaps its time I dismantled it."

Wintergreen remained silent, listening intently to his friend's confession. He knew something had been on his friend's mind for awhile, but he never guessed that it was something this extreme.

"You're right; I shouldn't be keeping things from my family. I guess it's time I left the past behind, they're my future now. My work is getting in the way of them." He looked up at Wintergreen. "It's time to…"

"Terra, you coming?"

Terra snapped awake, letting her memories slip into the back of her mind. She must have dozed off for awhile, she and Beast Boy were the last ones left in room. She yawned, outstretching her arms as far as they could go, stood up off the couch.

It was already dark outside; the other Titans were likely getting ready to head off to sleep. It sounded like a good idea herself; absolutely nothing had happened that day. It just dragged on and on, it was all the Titans could do to keep themselves from the cruel reality of boredom

"Yeah I'm coming," she finally replied, smiling.

Terra took Beast Boy's arm and the two left the room together. They walked on till they came to the elevator. Beast Boy pressed the button and called the elevator to their floor. But as the door opened, Terra pulled her boyfriend back and motioned toward the door at the far end of hall.

"Let's take the stairs," she said. It was more of a command than a suggestion.

"Why," asked Beast Boy. "All we're going to get is…exercise." He dragged out 'exercise' to make it sound as revolting as possible.

Terra smiled at the joke and tugged him towards the door. "And the walls and roof haven't been finished; we can see the stars from there."

Beast Boy followed, not having much of a choice, and the two were soon ascending the staircase. It was completely exposed on three sides, due to the fact that the Tower hadn't quite completed its repairs, allowing a complete view of the night sky.

"Isn't it beautiful," Terra said, staring out across the water that separated the Tower from the rest of Jump City.

"Yeah," Beast Boy agreed, his attention more on the tightening grip Terra had on him than the scenery.

Terra was to preoccupied by her sightseeing that she hadn't realized she was practically leaning her entire weight onto Beast Boy. She bent her head back farther to get a full view of the stars, practically toppling them both over.

"I used to stare at the stars a lot," she continued, not much caring that Beast Boy was struggling to carry them both up the stairs. "You know, back when I was traveling. I practically memorized all the constellations."

"So I've been told," Beast Boy replied. He knew this speech by heart, Terra always recited it whenever they went stargazing.

"Terran does to, but he's hardly ever gotten a chance to look at them for himself."

Ok, that was new.

"How come," asked Beast Boy.

"He lived in a mountain, remember?"

"Ah."

The two fell silent for a moment as they continued to ascend the stairs. Beast Boy's attention switched from keeping he and his ever-so-clingy girlfriend balanced, and Terra herself. Her face was blank, indicating she was deep in thought. She got like this sometimes; it usually meant she was troubled by something.

"So, how's he doing," Beast Boy asked, trying to strike up a conversation to distract Terra from her thoughts.

Terra snapped out of her dazed look. "Huh?"

"How is he?"

"Oh, um…" Terra bit her lip as she thought. "I don't know. I didn't talk to him today."

Beast Boy was shock. "But you talk to him everyday!"

"Yeah well, he didn't answer today."

They stopped at the door leading to the floor with their rooms and Terra let go of Beast Boy's arm. Her expression was still dazed; this was probably what she was thinking about before. They stepped out of the cold night air and into the Tower and proceeded to their rooms. Being his usual self, Beast Boy walked Terra to her room. She didn't speak until they got to her door.

"Goodnight," she said, before stepping inside.

The door closed but Beast Boy caught it and slid it back open.

"Hey, I'm sure he was just busy or something," he said cheerfully.

Terra gave him a smile and said: "You're probably right."

She walked back to the door and kissed him before telling him goodnight again. She listened as Beast Boy walked back to his room before slumping down on her bed. Terra pulled her communicator out from her pocket, staring at it.

I'll try one more time before going to bed, she thought.

She flipped it open, causing it to make a faint clicking sound and keyed the button to call her brother. At least, that's what should have happened. Terra looked at her arm curiously, wondering why her fingers weren't moving. She tried moving her other arm, but it had gone stiff.

Terra began to feel sick, her stomach churning and her mouth beginning to overproduce saliva. Her entire body had gone stiff, as if every muscle had cramped simultaneously. She tried to cry for help but only accomplished getting drool in her lap. There was a soft click next to her ear and felt someone pull her from behind. She fell backwards onto her bed, confused and frightened. All she could do was stare helplessly at the ceiling, as she was dragged off the bed by an unknown force.

Terra hit the floor with a thud! Her head throbbed from the impact, but there was little she could do to stop the pain.

"Geez you're heavy."

Terra's eyes shot wide open upon hearing this unfamiliar voice. Her eyes darted around the room, looking for the intruder. But no one was there, for the moment.

Suddenly a female figure melted into existence the moonlight. Her long red hair was blowing over one shoulder, and had one hand on her hip and the other tossing and catching a small cylindrical device. She looked a little older than Terra, and seemed quite pleased at Terra's helpless state.

The figure stared down at Terra, allowing the fear to seep into Terra that she was the one in control.

She smiled, and then beckoned to the window. A dozen or more figures crawled in through the window, totally silent. Their eyes glowed an ominous yellow, and they quickly filled the room until there was little room to move around. The girl made another motion with her hands and the other figures headed out into the hall. Once there were all gone, the girl turned her attention back to the helpless geomancer and knelt beside.

She smiled again, showing her this time, and reached into pocket and pulled out a flat rectangle.

"Don't be frightened," the girl taunted, her voice sounding surprisingly sweet and innocent. "It's not going to hurt you."

She placed it on Terra's arm, and gave it a small tap. The rectangle then came to life, flashing blue and casting light unto the intruder's face. Terra felt surprisingly light, and her vision began to blur.

"See you soon."

Coming Up Next: "Hauntings of the Past, Reality of the Future Part 1"