Chapter 17: Concerning Madness
Finally, Raven thought, as she finished organizing her new room. It was much nicer than her old one, darker somehow, and she already felt good about the decision to leave the tower. Picking up the chest of books with Shadow's guide-book, she placed it on the bed, intending to read through them soon. Raven changed back into her uniform, as they were now secure in Wayne Manor. She wondered how the others were doing. It had been hours since she and Robin had arrived and there was a chance, however slim, that Terra or Beast Boy had gotten better. They would have heard about something like that, though. Helping them was the only thing on their priority list now and if she wasted any more time in her room, she felt as though they would just snap without warning again. Raven didn't want to think about that, maybe Robin was finished unpacking too. Leaving her room, she walked down the hall to Robin's room. Meeting him, and noticing he changed back into his uniform as well, they walked down to the library together. Alfred met them there and opened the passage down to bat cave, closing it behind them.
Entering the vast, gloomy cavern, they walked across the industrial tiled floor and down a staircase, leading to a central platform in the middle, where Batman sat at a large behemoth of a computer, waiting for them. Batman rose, extending his hand to Robin as he approached.
"Welcome back…let's hope this goes better than last time," Batman said.
"It will, I've gotten more experience, and we have another partner now. Thanks for helping with this," Robin said, shaking Batman's hand. They nodded to one another and turned to Raven.
"I've pulled up my archive detailing symbols, Robin said you have an idea of what it looks like?" Batman asked.
"I saw it briefly, but I couldn't tell you what it looked like exactly unless I saw it again" Raven said.
"Look through these," Batman said, directing her to the computer.
"This…might take a while," Robin said, noticing the number of files to go through.
"Maybe not, the symbol seemed familiar to me. I really felt like I should know it. If we looked through ancient symbols or those associated with criminal factions it might not be such a long search," Raven said, looking at the screen as Batman sat down in his chair.
"If you're sure," Batman said, applying the appropriate filters.
"So, Raven-," Robin started.
"Don't distract her," Batman said.
"Wh-…You haven't changed," Robin said.
"You have," Batman said.
"Maybe."
"Definitely."
"I just got here, how do you know how much I've changed already?"
"Relax, it's a positive change I see, not a negative one."
"So, what is it?"
"You've grown up."
"I hope I have, but why do you say that?" Robin asked.
"Before you left my side, you were rash, quick to fight, and resisted patience. How you spoke over the communicator to me, how you've handled coming back, and who you've brought with you, has said a lot," Batman said.
"A little distracted, here," Raven said, still looking at symbols as they came up on the screen.
"Sorry," Robin said.
At the tower, Cyborg sat next to Starfire, watching Terra and Beast Boy on the monitors. Neither Terra nor Beast Boy had showed any sign of getting better, and he was unsure of what to do. It didn't help that Starfire had been essentially useless the entire day, going on and on about Robin. Despite his attempts to calm her down, she wouldn't focus on anything else, and it made him concerned about her. Was she as unbalanced as Terra and Beast Boy now? Should he confront her about it and put her in the interrogation room too? That would leave only him to run the tower and monitor the city.
"He did not even say 'good bye' to me…" Starfire said.
"Star, you've said that a million times, just forget it for now. If you don't stop, you might end up like BB or Terra," Cyborg said.
"Cyborg, I am aware of what is going on, I am just upset," Starfire said.
"I KNOW. You've said that a lot, too, but won't stop," Cyborg said, getting frustrated.
"Would you like me to leave you alone? Just like-," Starfire started.
"Star, don't even. If you say 'Robin' one more time, I swear…" Cyborg said.
"I am sorry, but I am very irritated," Starfire said.
"Yeah, and I'm not? Please stop talking about them, Star, we have enough to worry about with Terra and BB," Cyborg said.
"Perhaps you are right," Starfire said.
Even though she said she would put aside her feelings, Starfire continued to dwell on Robin. What should she do? Just talking wasn't enough. She decided she would leave the tower later and go to Robin.
"Star?" Cyborg asked.
"Hmm?" Starfire asked.
"Will you or not? I mean, I can do it, I just think you should get out and get some fresh air," Cyborg said.
"Do what?" she asked.
"Pick up some pizza for dinner, didn't you hear me?" he asked.
"Oh, yes, I can do that," she said.
"Okay. Go ahead, I'll be here," he said.
Not going to be anyplace else for a while, Cyborg thought as Starfire left. Was he the only one who was still sane? While he still couldn't tell if Starfire was affected by the unknown mental force, he knew she wasn't acting like herself. Although, having two friends leave and another two rendered unrecognizable would make anyone act differently. Even he wasn't behaving like he used to and part of that was because he had just been put in charge of the Titans. He was already starting to get used to it. Starfire would adjust… one way or another.
A few hours of sifting through symbol after symbol, Raven was starting to doubt her instincts. There had been several symbols that had looked similar to the one they sought, but each had something 'off' about it. Time had passed slowly, they had eaten their dinner in front of the computer, and they were starting to get tired. It was already past midnight.
"Are you sure you know what it looks like?" Robin asked.
"Yes, I just need to see it again," Raven said.
"I don't know if that actually makes sense," he said.
"Well-. Hold it, that's it," she said, pointing to the screen. Batman pressed a few buttons on his keyboard and the details of the symbol's origin came up.
"This symbol represents the mark of Wraih, which is the calling card of Wraih's influence; Wraih was spawned of Trigon's power, and called the spirit of the mind. Some actually referred to Wraih as the demon of madness, but it's unclear if Wraih was completely malevolent. Wraih assisted Trigon's cult for a while before causing a revolt, when it failed, Wraih fled in fear of Trigon's wrath. Although formless, Wraih has manifested as a swirling black mist around a projected cloaked figure and a female voice. Wraih has the ability to alter minds, causing not only the revolt to occur, but several of Trigon's more extreme ideas to come to fruition; such as the idea of having a daughter with a link to Trigon, which ultimately brought about Trigon's demise," Batman explained, reading off the screen.
"Shadow… Damn it…" Raven said.
"What?" Batman asked.
Frowning first at Raven, who looked away as he did so, Robin then turned to Batman.
"We know where to find Wraih, she is hiding in a tomb deep in a forest on the outskirts of Jump City, calling herself 'Shadow,'" Robin said.
"How did you learn that?" Batman asked.
"Raven found the location of some mentor of her mothers who she thought could help fix her mind. That mentor is a swirling black misted cloaked figure with a female voice and, obviously, has powers to affect the mind," Robin said.
"I see. I'll tell you both what more I find out," Batman said, getting up from his chair.
"Wait, we're not going with you?" Robin asked.
"No. Wraih could be able to influence you two to turn against me," Batman said.
"So, we're staying here and sitting on our hands? Great plan," Raven said.
"Don't sit on your hands, monitor Gotham while I'm gone," Batman said.
"Right," Robin said reluctantly.
"'Right'? This isn't some idiot with a gun we're talking about. If you want to go up against someone with that kind of power, you need some on your side as well," Raven said.
"I don't expect to win, or even fight, just to learn something to help us," Batman said.
"Wraih doesn't have to tell you anything, she can also just decide to mess with your mind, too," Raven said.
"He knows what he's doing," Robin said.
"Are you-," Raven started, turning to Robin.
"Enough. I'm going, you two are staying here, end of discussion," Batman said.
(I'm sorry for the choppy, short chapter; I've been a bit under the weather, but I'm improving – I hope. The next chapter will be up in 2 weeks, it's called 'Intent of the Shadow' and I hope I will be well enough to give it the detail and attention it deserves. ~RavensMind~)