Emil's Story
"Hey Night, check out this view, I think I can see our apartment building from here!"
I rolled my eyes at Emil's comment and smiled fondly, "I know, that was the first thing I said last time I was here."
"Will you now explain why friend Emil only appears in the reflective surfaces?" Starfire seemed very confused and worried.
"Story time!" Emil shouted and appeared on the inside of their window. He had a big stupid grin on his face. I rolled my eyes and went and sat on the couch, the rest following. I looked at all of their faces, Robin looked suspicious, Star looked exited, Raven looked bored and I'm guessing she always looked like that, Cyborg and Beast Boy just seemed curious.
I tucked my legs under me and leaned back to listen.
"Ok well I'm assuming Night told you she grew up on an estate? Yes? Well I also grew up there..."
There stood a boy of no more than 12 years old kicking a soccer ball with his foot, up into the air. The boy grabbed the ball and headed to the back gardens.
The kids weren't allowed back there except for classes, if you were caught back there when you weren't supposed to be you were in some serious trouble. But the boy knew of two little girls, each about a year or so younger than him, who liked to hide and play in the garden. They had made a tunnel under ground so the teachers and Monks wouldn't find them.
Stepping up to where he knew the passage was, he picked up a stick and started hitting it. Whack, brush, smack, in a few seconds the ground in front of him slid open to show dirt steps leading down. When the boy stepped in the ground closed up behind him. Going down the steps the boy just followed the candle light. When he got to the bottom he stopped to look around. The table in the middle had snacks and drinks, the walls covered in drawings from dreams and nightmares, games and dolls scattered across the floor, and two beat up old recliners and a couch that were thrown out of the estate months ago.
The boy looked to the recliners and saw a red haired girl in black, bent over a sketch book, muttering to herself in one chair and a blond throwing sharp rocks at a target engraved into the wall, in the other.
The blond looked over and smiled, "Emil!" She exclaimed, startling the red head out of her thoughts.
The boy, now Emil, smiled. "Hey, Night, Terra. What you guys up to?"
"Nothing just, kind of hanging." Terra replied, not meeting his eyes. Nightmare raised an eyebrow and looked turds Emil, "Yeah if by 'Hanging' you mean hiding, then yeah that's what we're doing." Her words were laced with a heavy Russian accent.
Terra pointedly glared at the other girl, who just shrugged. Emil looked between the two girls, eyebrows forward. "What do you mean hiding? Who're you hiding from?"
Terra sighed, "Monk Zonda." Zonda was in-charge of care for kids 4-8, she wasn't one to easily anger.
"What did you do?"
When Terra didn't replied, Night did, "Miss. Landslide over there thought it would be fun to tell the little kids about the Witch in the woods behind the estate."
Terra sat up straighter, "I wasn't just telling them, I was warning them!"
"Don't tell me you believe in that silly old myth, Rocky." Emil scoffed. Terra didn't soften at the nickname, she just crossed her arms. "It's. True." She stated in that voice that meant she was done talking about it.
"Whatever. What are you drawing Nightingale?" Nightmare threw a scowl at him for the nick name but still turned the picture around. It was a black and white picture of a girl; her hair falling out and crazy, one eye missing the other rolled back into her scowl, her face was covered in crack like she was a doll that was braking, it was a zombie.
"It's what the little kids see in their nightmares."
"It's what I see." Terra shuddered.
Emil rolled his eyes, "There is no witch!"
"Yes there is!"
"Fine I'll prove it to you. We'll go to the edge of the woods and I'll go in."
Terra gasped, Night just looked on with indifference. "If I don't come back within 3 hours you'll have your answer."
"Yeah but you will be dead, getting an answers not worth losing a friend!"
"I'm not going to die, for the last time there is no witch."
"Fine go ahead and get yourself killed."
The three went about their day. At nightfall they met at the edge of the woods. Nightmare stood looking at it, neither scared nor impressed. Terra was cling to her arm, shaking like a leaf.
"Big and bad Terra's afraid of some woods." Emil teased. He'd never seen Terra like this; she was one of the most feared and toughest kids at the estate, even if she was only 11.
Terra let go of Nightmares arm and stood strait with her arms crossed over her chest. "I'm not scared!" Somewhere a wolf howled. Terra let out a squeal and ducked behind her red headed best friend.
"I'm sorry, what were you lying?"
With a scowl from Terra and a faint "Good luck" from Nightmare, Emil set foot into the forest.
"To be honest I don't really remember what all happened, just flashes. Next thing I know Nightmares staring down at me asking what happened and I'm bond to the mirror realm." Emil rapped up the story.