"Cobra!" Raven cried, rolling his still body over so that she could pull him up. Cobra. Her half-demonic brother. Two years ago he had flown off on his own, after saving her life. His eyes were closed, but he wasn't quite unconscious. "Cobra, are you alright?"
"Peachy," he mumbled, barely able to open his mouth wide enough to speak. "That's why I face-planted it on your roof."
"He's well enough for sarcasm," Beast Boy commented.
Raven ignored them both. "What happened to you?" she demanded. She could feel the pain emanating from his body, all over. "Did father do this?"
"No," Cobra muttered, opening his eyes just barely. "It was something...far worse."
"Far worse than Trigon?" Beast Boy asked, obviously shocked.
Cobra took in a ragged breath. "I've got...to heal myself."
"But what about..." Beast Boy couldn't finish his question; the half-demon had already entered into a trance, floating a few inches above the ground. BB turned his attention to the girl next to him. "What do you think did this?"
"I don't know," Raven responded, shuddering. "But it can't be good."
They took Cobra down into the healing room and filled in the other Titans with the details that they had.
"Far worse than Trigon?" Cyborg asked.
"Dude, that's what I said!"
"When he wakes up, we'll know more," Robin responded. "Unless you have any ideas, Raven?"
Raven thought of her vision momentarily. "No."
"Then we'll just have to wait," came the response. Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg filed out of the room, leaving Raven and Beast Boy alone with Cobra's unconscious body. Both stared at Cobra, wondering to themselves.
"No?" the changeling asked without taking his eyes off of the half-demon lying in front of them.
"There's no use worrying them about my vision when I don't know the meaning."
"You can't defend them from everything, Rae."
"I can try. The only reason you know about it is because you caught me during a spell and I could think of no logical response. If you had not, I never would have told you."
BB stole a glance at her. Even after two years, she still could not bring herself to be completely open with him. She had explained in the beginning that it might take years for this to work, and he knew it was worth it, and he would wait fifty more years for her if he had to. But that didn't make it any easier.
Raven kept her eyes locked on her brother's face. She felt Beast Boy's eyes boring into her like a drill, but she refused to meet them. Why did he insist on keep up this façade? She was glad he did, but she did not understand it. She was happy to have him, but why did he want her? It had been two years and she still was not totally honest or open with him. She had never even told him she loved him.
She did, of course. She felt it every moment of every day. She loved him more than anything or anyone. And yet...she just couldn't say it. The first time he had ever said 'I love you,' she told him she could not say it back.
'That's ok,' he had said. 'I still want you to know how I feel. Is that ok, Rae? Can I still tell you I love you even if you don't say it back?'
She had agreed. She liked to hear him say it. It was just more proof that this was really happening; that she was really in love with someone. Why couldn't she say it back?
Raven shook her head fiercely to rid herself of these ridiculous, nonessential thoughts. Focusing on such trivial nonsense when there was a serious matter in front of her; had being in love really made her that irrational? Looking at Cobra, she almost smiled thinking of what her other half-brother, Bear, would say: Relationships make you weak. As far as she could tell, it was true. But that didn't matter.
Beast Boy finally sighed and moved toward the door. "Do you want anything, Rae?"
I want you to stay, she thought. "No," she said.
After a moment, the changeling said, "Then I'll leave you alone."
Before she could stop him, he had disappeared. Raven turned just in time to see the door close behind him. She watched it for a moment, and then placed her face in her hands, taking a few cleansing breaths. She needed to be alone to figure out the vision. He knew that. That's why he left. Still, every time he walked away from her she worried he would not come back.
Her hands fell slowly to her side and her eyes wandered back to Cobra. She wondered if that was how he felt about her. When she left, did he feel like it was a final goodbye? She had to remind herself that his pain was not her fault. He had chosen to stay in Trigon's dimension all those years ago, and he had chosen to leave the T Tower two years back. It wasn't her fault.
But, of course, it was.
Enough! She needed to focus. To concentrate. She sat cross-legged once again and began to levitate as she meditated.
Azarath Metrion Zinthos
Azarath Metrion Zinthos
Azarath-
'Raven!'
Raven's eyes snapped open as she fell to the ground once again with an "oof". She looked up at Cobra, but he was as still as before. No one was at the door. The voice had been...in her mind. Carefully, if not curiously, Raven resumed her meditation, focusing intently.
Azarath Metrion Zinthos
Azarath Metrion Zinthos
'Raven!'
Not quite a voice, Raven realized as she heard the cry again. It was more like the sudden presence of words, thoughts, and emotions, which formed into her name. The emotions were desperate, seeking help. The presence seemed familiar. Receding into her soul self, Raven tried to call back.
'Hello?' she asked tentatively.
'Raven! You've heard me!'
Raven studied the presence in her subconscious. It seemed so familiar...and suddenly it hit her, like a strike in the chest.
'...Vixen?'
'Raven!'
Vixen, her half-sister, another, older, daughter of Triton. Vixen hated her more than anything in the world. Why was she calling on her now so desperately?
'Ra-'
The voice cut off suddenly, the presence in Raven's mind disappearing.
'Vixen?' she called. 'Vixen!'
But there was no answer.
:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D
After two hours of meditating and pondering, Raven was still at a loss. She had tried several times to contact Vixen again, but to no avail. She knew nothing more than she had earlier, except that whatever had harmed Cobra might have attacked her other siblings as well.
She watched her brother, wondering. What possibly could have hurt him so bad? She could feel his emotions: confusion, anxiety, pain. The pain was easing, but it was still present.
All of this chaos caused her thoughts to jumble up, and she could not think clearly. And when she closed her eyes and tried to concentrate, all she could think of was Beast Boy. When she meditated and tried to search for the truth, her mind always returned to what she really wanted: him. She was just thinking of going to find him when Cobra's eyes opened.
Raven sat forward a little, apprehensively. "Cobra?"
He lowered slowly until he was lying on the bed beneath him, and then raised himself to a sitting position as she crossed the space to the bed and sat next to him. "Scared you, did I?" he asked, smiling. But his voice was so weak, so ragged.
"Shut up," Raven responded, knowing she could feel her worry for him. "Are you alright?"
Cobra cut his eyes up at her, a glare, much like her own, glued to his face. She knew, of course, that he was still in pain, and she knew that he would not want to discuss his weakness.
"What happened?" she asked quickly, changing the subject. "Who did this?"
Cobra looked forward, staring into nothing. "Hunters."
"Hunters? What are you talking about?"
"You don't remember the stories."
Unsure if that response had been a statement or a question, Raven kept her silence, trying to patiently await an explanation.
Cobra glanced at her. "Think back to our childhood, together, with Trigon. Do you remember?"
"I try not to," Raven said, then realizing her mistake, blanched. "I didn't mean-"
Too late. Cobra's emotions hit her like a wall, abandonment being the prominent figure. Aware of his vulnerability, he lashed back, trying to hide it. "Yes, I forgot it was such an awful time for you," he said bitterly, standing and crossing the room in three quick strides. "How mistreated you were, oh favorite child of the demon king! How awful the memories must be for you."
"Cobra, I didn't mean...you know what I meant."
"Of course I do," he said, looking away again. "I can feel every bit of hatred and horror you experience when you remember that time."
"Not with you!" she yelled, standing as well.
"Oh right, I forgot, it was the 'evil'." Cobra rolled his eyes.
Raven had to bite her tongue to keep herself in check. He knew very well that she wanted to be good. Her siblings did not understand. They had never lived anywhere but Trigon's dimension. To them, there was no 'good' or 'evil'. They did what Trigon wanted them to because they were his children. They never understood why she wanted to rebel.
"There were stories that father used to tell us," Cobra continued, staring out the window. "About demon hunters."
Thinking for a moment, Raven suddenly remembered. One memory in particular: after an incredibly long, frightening story about demon hunters, she and Cobra had retreated to their room. Raven had been scared, and all of her siblings could feel it. Bear had looked down on her display of fear, and Vixen had tormented her about it, so Cobra had taken her by the hand and they ran to their room. Her brother had comforted her there, treating her with kindness instead of derision like the others.
"You told me they were myths," she said, forcing herself back to the present. "Stories that father told to convince us to work to become more powerful."
"So I thought."
Raven watched him for a moment, trying to sort everything out. "You're saying...you're saying that demon hunters are real? And...that they are powerful enough to hurt us?" The idea seemed so foreign. Perhaps she had grown overconfident in their abilities, but she had never faced an opponent in the demonic realm that could come close to harming her siblings.
"Not just hurt us, Raven." Cobra turned and met her eyes, his cold and stern. "Destroy us."
It wasn't possible. It wasn't possible. She stared at the floor, unable to think of anything else.
"I barely escaped," he continued. "And only because I had some warning from Bear. He and Vixen..."
Vixen, she instantly thought. She had tried to contact her. She's alive, at least. For now. But Bear...?
"Why did you come here?" she suddenly demanded, looking up at him. "Why would you lead them here to earth? If they can hurt us, don't you understand what they could do to this planet? To my friends?"
"I had to! The demon hunters wanted Bear, Vixen, and I, sure, but we were not their main target. I had to warn you, Raven."
No, no, no, she thought.
"Raven...they're after you."
*R&R please!:D