Chapter 8: Where Do Answers Lie

And here we are with chapter 8! Thanks to the few who have left a review; they mean a lot to me! This chapter might be on the shorter side by the looks of my story arc notes, but then chapter 9 should be lots longer.

On with the story!

Raven pulled her arm out of the cool water, her teeth gritted as she waited for the pain to subside. The words still burned, though not as intensely as before. She sighed and shuffled back to her tree. She was so tired, so hungry, so dejected. With the words "sweet dreams" now etched in her skin, she was only more confused as to her location. Her previous realizations indicated she was not grounded in reality anymore. She was in some sort of dream, but seeing as she had no access to Nevermore, she knew it was not her dream. Raven sighed again and pinched herself, just in case. Nothing but a twinge of pain.

"Sweet dreams," she murmured to herself, studying the script. Tempest's dream, perhaps? But he would not be asleep for so long. Unless, of course, time worked differently in this world. Raven closed her eyes and let her head fall against the tree behind her. Did the others know where she was?

The sound of rustling leaves sent Raven flying up from her sitting position and into battle stance. Her back faced the water and she felt her heart sink as a shadow pushed through the tree line into the sun; it was not a monkey. The toothy grin and piercing silver eyes of the Thing greeted her. Raven tensed, but it did not attack. It merely watched her with narrowed eyes and a smirk. She was cornered, and it knew it. Swallowing hard, Raven noticed for the first time that the Thing now had a length of rope looped around its neck. It almost looked like a noose.

"Who are you?" she questioned, pleased to note she sounded much braver than she felt. "Rather, what are you?"

The Thing said nothing, as she expected it would. It took a step closer, and she saw the shadow take some sort of shape for the first time. It was a great, hulking thing, like someone had taken the body of a buffalo and given it the posture of an ape of some sorts. But its legs were decidedly wolf-like, though much bulkier to match the body's proportions. Raven briefly wondered if it could swim, or perhaps morph into something that could. She remembered the hand-like appendage it had produced in their first encounter.

"Are you Tempest?" she asked, not relaxing her stance. A throaty chuckle bubbled out of the shadow and it took another step forward, the rope swinging off its back. It was a noose. A set of claws sprung out of its front left leg, and Raven watched as it dragged its hand across the sand in front of her, that eerie hyena laugh quietly mixing with the scratching of the ground. Chills quivered against Raven's spine.

How's your arm, the ground read. She narrowed her eyes at the Thing, badly wishing she had her powers so she could wipe the smug look off the Thing's face.

"Peachy," she spat back. "Now where am I?"

Ah, so you haven't figured it out yet, the sand now read. A memory flashed through Raven's mind: Mumbo's hat. She had no powers then, either.

"I'm in Tempest's mind," she said, clarity finally settling over her. The Thing swiped at the message in the sand, suddenly angry. Raven smirked and rose out of her battle stance, choosing instead to stand at ease with her arms crossed.

I can still kill you here, the sand said. Raven frowned but remained still. She would not give the Thing, or Tempest for that matter, the satisfaction of her fear.

"And I, you," she deadpanned. The Thing smirked. "You've already done half the work for me with your little noose." It swiped at the sand again.

Even in our minds, some things are out of our control.

"Don't I know it," Raven muttered under her breath. She could have sworn the figure chuckled.

"Now that we've established this is not a dream, would you mind doing something about this?" she said, gesturing towards the marks on her arm. The Thing shrugged and its shadow shape flickered. Another thunder roll echoed through the trees, though the skies were still clear. Raven clenched her teeth and waited for the pain that would follow.

She felt her skin burn and twist, but she showed no pain on her face. Raven prayed the Thing could not see her fingernails digging into her upper arms as the message faded away from her inner arm, leaving only a lightning bolt on the pale flesh of her wrist.

"Good boy," she quipped through gritted teeth. "Now tell me how to get out of here." She regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth. The Thing growled and a shadow claw shot out towards her, whipping across her face. The force of the blow sent her spinning, and Raven fell on all fours on the ground. She lifted a hand to her cheek and it came away shiny and red with her blood. Her face was calm as she looked up into the eyes of the Thing, now right in front of her. It kept its eyes locked on hers as it dragged the same claw across the ground in between them.

It would do you well to remember your place.

Raven frowned as she read the message, and her eye caught the end of the dangling rope. She lunged forward, grabbing for it to pull the noose taught, but she gasped in surprise as her hands went clean through it as if it were nothing more than shadow. The Thing casually knocked her back towards the tree she had sat against earlier, and her breath flew from her lungs as her spine connected with the trunk.

Like I said, it wrote, even in our minds some things are out of our control.

"Who are you," she gasped out. Nothing was as it seemed.

A legend, it wrote.

"Then why can't you escape," she shot back, referring to the ghostly noose. Her impertinence was a gamble, but there was curiosity fueling her barb, too, and the Thing sensed it. It was rather enjoying this time with the young sorceress.

Aren't we all just trying to escape something? And with that last message in the sand, the Thing stepped backwards into the water and faded away, leaving Raven with a bloody cheek and more questions than before.

…

Tempest rose from the floor and stretched, grinning in satisfaction as his shoulders and back popped. He was done playing with the girl. Besides, he could feel the hold on her weakening, and the chalk circle around his markings was fading. She would find her way out soon. Of course, this was not ideal, but if his calculations were correct, he should have enough time for another assault on the city while the Titans' numbers were down. And who knew how much time he had left before all hell really broke loose on his head? Tempest smirked as he shook out his trench coat and threw it over his shoulders. If he could draw the Titans into that, then he would really go down in history as a legend.

…

"Well, at least nothing new popped up this time," Beast Boy said sullenly as the three boys watched Tempest's latest message fade from Raven's wrist. This time, Robin grabbed onto her hand as soon as they saw the words twist around themselves. The top of her hand and wrist were a nasty purple and blue from Raven slamming her arm against the bed earlier. Despite the precaution, Robin only felt her arm twitch beneath his as the words disappeared. Her fingernails dug deep into her palms, though, leaving little red crescents as her hands relaxed again when the words were gone.

"I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing," Robin said. He turned to face the others, all of them now sitting in chairs in a cluster around the side of the hospital bed.

"Things we know," Robin began. "One: Tempest knows some sort of magic and he's keeping Raven somewhere we can't reach, and so she won't wake up. Two: that magic gives him control over what's happening where she is. Three: it is somehow connected to this mark on her wrist."

"The way the outline thingy glows is kinda like his swords," Beast Boy piped up.

"Alright, so the magic is somehow connected to his weapons. Cyborg, have you noticed anything wrong with your shoulder since you got hit?" Robin asked, turning to the half-metal man. Cyborg shook his head.

"Systems are all fine and there haven't been any problems. He must need time to use any magic beyond his basic weather powers," Cyborg mused.

"That makes sense. He had all the time in the world on the roof," Robin said, gritting his teeth as the flood of guilt once again crashed over his heart. Cyborg looked like he was about to say something, but Robin felt Raven's fist jerk from where it still rested beneath his hand. The three directed their attention to their friend, watching in horror as her head whipped to one side. She turned back towards them and Robin leapt up. Three lines stretched across her cheek, blood leaking from them.

"Dammit!" Beast Boy groaned, slamming his fists into his knees in frustration. "I hate this guy! I really freakin' hate this guy!" The green boy watched as Cyborg and Robin quickly wiped the fresh blood away and pressed a series of thin bandages across each cut.

"Four: he can still hurt her wherever he has her," Robin growled. Cyborg glanced out the window to the rain; it had slowed to a drizzle.

"Weather's changing," he said. No sooner had the words crossed his lips than a bolt of lightning cut through the sky. Raven flinched simultaneously.

"Friends!" Starfire's voice came from down the hallway. "Friends I have found it!" She burst into the room, a thick book clutched to her chest. "Oh no! What has happened to friend Raven's face?" She set the book on a table and floated closer, worry etched in her forehead as she looked at the fresh cuts.

"Something happened in her dream world or whatever you want to call it," Robin responded. "Now what did you find?" He pointed at the book.

"I remembered who the Tempest really is," Starfire began, going back to retrieve the book.

"Dudes!" Beast Boy suddenly exclaimed. "That's it! Dream world!"

"Explain," Robin said, confused. Cyborg scratched his head.

"You said dream world!" Beast Boy said. "We need to get Raven's mirror!"

"Man, why didn't we think of this before?" Cyborg groaned, slapping his forehead.

"Brilliant, friend! I will get it!" Starfire threw the book back on the table again and zoomed out of the room as fast as she entered.

"Nice, Beast Boy," Robin smiled for the first time in hours. "Let's see what Starfire—never mind." The book was in some alien language, he quickly discovered. "If anyone's hungry, now is the time to go try and grab something from the kitchen," Robin said, looking to his friends. Sometimes he forgot that he and Raven were the only ones that could go for long hours without so much as a snack. Cyborg looked grateful and he and Beast Boy raced out of the room.

"We'll get you out, Raven," Robin said as he turned back to the pale girl. "Wherever you are, we'll get you back."

He sat back down in his chair and resumed his bedside post, her hand again clasped tightly in his. Guilt was once again pressing against his windpipe. He should have thought of the mirror hours ago. He was supposed to protect her! Raven was his best friend, he her confidante. He knew her better than anyone, yet it had been Beast Boy who thought of the portal to her mind. Robin took a deep breath and tried to think rationally. Granted, Beast Boy and Cyborg had actually used the thing before and had been in Raven's mind. But that had all been purely accidental. Raven had willingly allowed Robin to know everything those two had learned, explaining how it worked and what was on the other side. He never needed to think about the mirror, or even touch it, because anything that was on Raven's mind that he asked about, he usually got an answer to from the girl herself. If he asked.

Still, he thought bitterly, he should have thought of it. From the moment they figured out she was mentally elsewhere, he should have thought of it. Robin sighed again and slumped back in the plastic chair. He could practically feel Raven's hand on his shoulder as she chided him about being too hard on himself. At least someone had thought of the mirror, right?

Starfire returned first.

"How are you, um, holding up?" she asked quietly, sinking down into the chair Cyborg had occupied earlier. Robin looked up at his friend and offered her a sad half-smile. She mirrored his expression.

"I should have thought of the mirror, Star," he said quietly. "I know her better than anyone, and I didn't think of the damn mirror."

"It is not your fault, friend," she said gently, scooting closer to him. "Sometimes, when we know someone so well, these things are not as apparent. You know so much about her, so these things that seem odd to others, like the Nevermore mirror, do not seem so unusual, and so you do not think of them. But for friend Beast Boy, the mirror is something he has a very clear memory of. It very much makes sense that he should think of it."

Robin was quiet for a minute, his focus back on Raven's face. She looked calm again.

"You're right," he said, Starfire's words washing away the heavy weight on his shoulders. Robin looked back at her with a soft smile. "Thanks, Star." The alien smiled back before turning towards the door as Beast Boy and Cyborg tumbled through.

"Sorry," Beast Boy gasped out. "We tried to hurry." Robin waved their apologies off.

"Okay, Titans, this might be our only chance to get to Raven," Robin said, standing. He reluctantly let go of Raven's hand and took the proffered mirror from Starfire. "Any ideas?"

"Can we send her into it?" Beast Boy wondered aloud. Robin shook his head.

"It doesn't work quite like that," he explained. "To access the mirror, you basically have to think your way into it."

"Should someone go in? Can we, like, get her out or something?" Cyborg added his own thoughts to the idea pool.

"Robin should go," Starfire said. The three boys looked at her. "I do not believe our Raven is in that mirror, but her emotions will be, and they will want to help. And I do believe it is Robin they would most want to see." Robin felt a blush creep up his neck as Starfire said this, but he quickly banished it. Now was not the time.

"But then what?" Beast Boy asked. Robin opened his mouth to reply, but the room began flashing red as the alarm blared.

"Glorbnax," Starfire cursed.

Well, there you go! Anyone else on the edge of their seat with this whole whats-coming-for-Tempest thing? Side-note: I can't wait for everyone to be back in the same reality again.

Review, please! Next chapter to come within the week =)