The Stone Chest
Chapter 5
"A Very Expected Reencounter"
Jessy was still thinking in what had happened, Joseph's death, the chasing against Connor, the Master's betrayal and Jack's plot; in a matter of hours her entire world had changed; she knew that she was lying in between a very dangerous net and several times had the idea of running away of the order, but one reason stopped her; in those moments, she was the only source of information Connor had in order to know why the blonde girl was so important and why had occurred that sudden alliance between their Masters and Zarth. The woman knew she didn't have much time to find the truth and what she had found so far were pretty much vague if you wanted to solve the mystery; for that reason she decided to go immediately to the most antique scrolls and prophecies of the Order, among them lied the story of the group and the Original Prophecies; if the information she was looking for lied somewhere it should be there.
Jessy went deep in the library and calmly searched the books she wanted to investigate; she knew that it was a very risky move because those documents were forbidden for all the members of the Order, only the Masters and some special members could have access to them. Nevertheless, she couldn't stop herself due to technical stuff, but she indeed should avoid being detected, breaking that rule was badly punished; but, the worst part was that she being pulled apart, Connor would end blindfold in the middle of a deadly plot. The woman soon arrived to the place where the scrolls were saved and, with no doubts, she used her special gift with them; instants later accurate and exact copies of the manuscripts appeared floating before her who took them quickly and then saved the original ones exactly as they were found. The operation was done and the next step was to study the information just obtained, although to do that she needed to leave the building, the headquarters was the most dangerous place to begin a conspiracy against the order. Jessy took the copied scrolls and hid them to leave the building; fortunately, the fact that she was considered a useless witch by the others helped her to avoid the inspections that were made by the others since Joseph's death, and that made her escape easier. What she didn't realize was that a guy started to follow her since the very moment she left the headquarters, and, in his face a mixture of luxury and evil could be easily seen…
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Connor entered with caution inside the Tower which acted as the Teen Titans Headquarters; he knew that in those moments he was not the most nice person for them and his common sense demanded caution; the young man went to the couch that was lying in some kind of recreational room where he was guided by Robin and he put the unconscious Terra on it in order to allow her to rest comfortably. On the other hand, his host was debating between many hypothesis to explain the sudden apparition of that mysterious guy in the Tower, which indeed would have been more surprising if he would have arrived alone; but seeing him having Terra, who obviously had returned to her normal status, with him made his presence more reasonable; the problem was that any idea to explain that situation that came to the Teen Titan leader's head was more wacky than the previous; at the end, the boy wonder decided to stop his thinking process to call the others, he knew that the next scene would be tough and that reminded him a phrase he heard a long time ago in a far place: if you are about to screw it up, the sooner the better.
Starfire, Cyborg, Raven and Beast Boy walked behind their leader without understanding why they had just been awaken so late and so vehemently; they looked tired and sleepy, not to mention that they were a little annoyed for seeing their precious sleeping time being interrupted with no explanation at all. Robin called everybody with a dead body face and every time they asked him what was happening he only said that they had to see it with their own eyes. When the Teen Titans entered to the main dinning room in the Tower almost immediately they understood that their leader was so right; before them was a scene which they never would have imagined not even if their life would depend on it. Before them was that mysterious mage who was walking from a side to the other looking uncomfortable and if that wasn't surprising enough, in the couch was Terra, in her human form, sleeping. None of them could believe what they was seeing; the fact of having Connor in their very main dinning room was intriguing, but Terra being normal again and lying a few meters away was something they couldn't handle; not even Beast Boy imagined himself seeing her in that form, not that soon at least.
"Greetings" – said Connor looking nervous and with a drop on his back head after seeing the wacky expressions of the titans in front of him.
Beast Boy didn't even bother in answer the mage's words, the green one ran immediately towards Terra and after confirming that she was alright he stood up to face to newcomer, but before Connor could say something, the teen titan threw his bare hand towards the mage, luckily, Connor's reflects were quick enough and he could evade the attack by jumping backwards, but unfortunately when he touched the floor he slipped with a glass and ended against a side wall. This time, everybody, including Beast Boy, had several drops in their heads.
"Hey! Nice to see you too" – said Connor while taking his head trying to stand up.
Although, the mage didn't even finish the phrase, when, a curious Starfire started to pinch him in the arms and the chest. This action made Connor blush and he got even more nervous so he decided to disappear and then appear near the blond girl; that move scared the red haired girl a little bit, but she quickly regained control of herself.
"It's neither a hologram nor a robot" – said Starfire happily for the result of her peculiar investigation, not to mention that her words made everybody fell on the floor; after that all the guys stood up with more drops on their heads. But the green titan got back to reality quickly.
"Why did you kidnap Terra? What do you want with her?" – said Beast Boy while going towards the mage.
"Kidnapping is a nasty word, you know, I only saved her to be destroyed" – replied Connor.
"Save her from what? How did you dare to take her away" – inquired Beast Boy while running towards the mage.
Connor disappeared and appeared in the other side of the room, but immediately Beast Boy started running towards him again in order to beat him so the mage had to disappear again to appear where he was in the first place and again the green boy went after him… the cycle went on and on making the others to get bored while a huge army of drops appeared on their heads.
"Could you please stop disappearing so I can beat you and end with this ridiculous scene we're performing! – screamed Beast Boy while standing in the middle of the room.
"I assure you I'll pretend I didn't hear that" – answered Connor sceptical – "If you let me talk for 5 minutes I'll be able to explain you what has happened and why I'm here with this person who you obviously know"
"Easy guys, if Connor would have taken the statue with bad intentions he wouldn't be here with her now, would he?" – said Starfire suspicious.
"Statue you said? Well, now I get it; no my friends, I didn't take the statue, when I saw it the Order of Chaos had it, but it would be better explaining everything from the beginning" – indicated the mage.
"You have not demonstrated being on our side, 'friend', for me you are as suspect as the others" – said Raven with sarcasm without taking her eyes away from him.
"Not to mention that you helped two of these guys to escape when they fought us" – added Cyborg.
"Ok, you have a point; I know I haven't behaved as the perfect ally so far, but I had my reasons; and, if you let me explain myself you'll be able to understand me; besides, if you still thinking of me as an enemy after hearing my story we can have that fight you want so badly, so do we have a deal here?" – said Connor while sitting in a chair.
"Then let's listen what you have to say" – commanded Robin.
Connor took a deep breath and told everything that had happened since Zarth apparition until his arrival in the Titan's Tower, the mage didn't even bother in hiding that he indeed helped the two thieves back in the museum but now he explained the reasons that led him to do it; the titans listened carefully the entire story; and, when their guest finished it many question emerged, but the main ones were referred to what kind of connection lied between Terra and that Order and why they freed her from her stone prison with the only intention of destroying her; an uncomfortable period of silent followed the speech for several minutes until Robin decided to interrogate the mage.
"And why you come to tell us everything just now? Why you remained in silent after Zarth apparition?"
"I'm going to be frank with you and I hope that doesn't bother you; actually this problem was none of your business, at least until now that both Orders are after Terra, I believe that was the name used by the fighty one" – said Connor seriously but with a little of sarcasm at the end of the sentence – "For many years the battle between the Order of Darkness and the Order of Chaos has been developed without allowing outsiders to interfere, so this issue should be solved like the others in the past, only between members. Nevertheless, now one of our Masters has betrayed us and both Orders are after me so I decided that it was about time to ask for help" – ended Connor without turning a hair.
"Oh! What a hero when you are in trouble you come at once to us" – condemned Raven ironically while crossing arms.
"Well 'Crow Girl' I think I could go to some friends in the Order looking for help; in fact, without taking in count the fact that they are after me to kill me, going with them would have been a better idea" – answered Connor with sarcasm.
Raven looked the mage willing to kill him, it was obvious that the nickname used by him bothered her a lot; however, before she could do or say something her green friend used his right to speak.
"What happens with Terra? Why is she sleeping?"
"She seems to be in some kind of trance or something like that doesn't her, 'Potter Boy'?" – indicated Raven, using his normal monotone and striking back the mage's previous move.
"You're right, Terra was very stunned when I rescued her from the Order and I had to put her in a trance to stop her attack" – replied Connor.
"Can you put people in trance?" – asked Robin curious.
"It's more effective in 'muggles', really" – answered Blackwood while smiling at Raven who got even more angry.
"'Muggles' you said?" – inquired the boy wonder.
"Humans without powers, but I think Raven can explain you that better than me, after all she was who mentioned that book" – replied the mage.
Raven stared at Connor for a while, but then she realized that she was getting blushed so she turned his head while crossing arms; obviously the other titans didn't understand a thing and Robin decided to leave that part of the story for a later time.
"But Terra indeed has powers, so how could you put her in a trance then?" – asked Robin.
"If a person with powers is through a crisis which altered his emotions I can use that situation to put him in a trance; and, that was exactly what happened with Terra"
"Can you awake her then, can't you?" – inquired Beast Boy.
"Of course, in fact I'll do it right now"
Connor went to the couch and kneeled beside the blond girl, right after that he put his right hand over Terra's face and almost immediately a shining light covered her face and she started to awake a few seconds later.
"Where am I? What happened?" – started saying Terra while regaining her consciousness.
But when the blond girl saw the mage she couldn't help to remember the scene when Connor put her in a trance, but the hardest thing to forget was the moment when his eyes lost life; for that reason Terra stood up jumping and got as far as she could from the member of the Order of Darkness; however, after seeing the other titans she regained control of herself, and she got completely calmed when Beast Boy embraced her while crying.
"I can't believe you're alive, I can't believe you're back" – were the two only phrases that the green boy managed to say in that moment.
Terra didn't know what to do, it was too things at once, the last thing she remembered was a lava river and a strong burning feeling, the next image she had in her mind was a huge group of people singing canticles and then those dark eyes with no signs of life; however, now she was being embraced vehemently by the most important person in her life and that feeling outshined all the others. The young girl answered his embracement although the words didn't come out from her mouth, she wanted to tell him so many things and at the ended she couldn't articulate any sound. Finally, Beast Boy stood aside her and then the blond girl was strong enough to speak again.
"What has happened? How did I get back here?" – asked Terra being very nervous while sitting on the couch where she was sleeping before.
Robin took the word then in order to tell her all the things that happened since her becoming a stone statue until her sudden apparition lying in Connor's arms, obviously the part where the mage put her in a trance couldn't be avoided for obvious reasons; Terra's reacting after seeing Blackwood indicated that she remembered very well that part of the story.
"Wow, I can't believe what you just said… there are just too many things" – answered Terra while shocking her head.
"Don't worry, little by little you'll accept everything; it's logical you being stunned after all the things you went through" – said Robin with caution.
"I guess that eventually I'll understand everything" – replied Terra while turning her head to see Beast Boy who was sat besides her.
Both glances crossed and they got blushed almost immediately and that made the others realize that some ties simply can't be broken, not even for a fire or death. In that moment, Cyborg took the initiative and, by using signals, he invited the others to leave the main dinning room in order to leave alone the love birds; they had a lot to say each other and that conversation couldn't be public. Starfire didn't understand the situation, but she left the room beside the others and after that she faced Robin asking for an explanation; the boy wonder couldn't help to blush after listening Starfire's question and immediately he looked his friends asking for help, it was obvious that the Tameranian had put him in a very uncomfortable situation. The show that he saw next was remarkable: Cyborg ran at maximum speed towards the other common room, Raven, using her powers, created a hole in the floor and escaped through it, Connor turned his head around looking for some support but when he saw nobody he glance at Robin who signaled him desperately looking for help, but Connor, after having a good and short thinking session, decided that the right thing to do was to say goodbye to the boy wonder and then disappear with no trace behind. After all that Robin realized that he was alone in that problem and he started to think how to solve it nicely, easily and, above all, quickly.
"You haven't answered me yet why we had to leave Terra alone with Beast Boy? Besides, what were all those signals you just made?" – asked a curious Starfire.
"Eh… well… I mean… I" – started Robin looking pretty nervous – "Ok, here it goes, before what happened in that cave with Terra and Slade, Beast Boy and Terra were falling in a feeling humans call love"
"Falling in love? Does that mean they were boyfriend and girlfriend?" – asked Starfire remembering some TV shows where people said that all the couples were formed by people falling in love with other people.
"Well, not exactly, or yes, I don't know it for sure, but I think so" – tried to answer Robin.
"That is so beautiful friend Robin! Love is so cute! Could you please explain me everything about love? Do you love someone? Will I fall in love someday? How it feels to love?" – asked Starfire joyfully.
Robin looked, with his mouth wide open, the red haired girl and after gulping several times, the boy wonder fell on the floor unconscious.
"Are you ok friend Robin? Hello? What did I do now?" – asked Starfire while trying to grab her friend.
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Connor arrived to a completely dark room and alter look it entirely he decided to leave it and have a tour in the place where he was staying, after all, Terra and the fighty boy had a long conversation ahead and the same was happening with Robin and the red haired girl; besides neither Raven nor Cyborg was around. But the mage not even started to move when a known voice stopped him.
"Where do you think you're going? Are you trying to spy us I suppose?" – asked Raven while floating from her hideout in order to face the mage.
"Oh come on, don't tell me you're starting your paranoia again" – said Connor starting to bore due to the Titan's actions.
Raven didn't answer the question; she was trying to read his thoughts in order to find his real intentions.
"Do you really think I'm going to allow you read my mind?" – asked Connor using telepathy.
The young titan couldn't help being very surprised and getting blushed due to Connor's move, after all, she had been discovered trying to push her luck… and this was the second time…
What will happen between Beast Boy and Terra? Will Robin be able to solve the little problem he has in his hands because the Tameranian hard questions? Will Connor let Raven to win something just for the record? Stay tuned and don't miss next chapter.
Author's notes: Well, Now this chapter is done and I think it isn't longer than the previous one he, he. I know many people wanted the conversation between BB and T in this chapter but it was necessary to set up all the things first, don't you think so? As I promised in the last chapter, this one included a lot of our heroes and this tendency Hill be kept from no won. Wow, poor Robin, he's going to need a lot of deep breathing if he wants to solve that little 'red haired girl' problem he has. By the way, Raven still with her paranoia against poor Connor, although the scoreboard is 0-2 against the 'Crow Girl' he, he. Ah, about the "Potter part" don't worry this fic won't be a cross over, that was only a nickname war he, he. Well more action will be coming in next chapters and new things will be discovered as well so don't miss the action and see you in next issue.
