Chapter Four
The door creaked open, and two children walked silently into the room, closing the door behind them.
"There!" the girl whispered, pointing as she spotted the mirror. Reflected on the surface was the floating dimension of Azarath. Though the boy gave uneasy glances to the door and mirror, the girl was not hindered, going forward enthusiastically.
Rachel placed her hand hesitantly onto the mirror's surface, and feeling it flat made her disappointed. 'No, there has to be some device!' she determined, and began to feel the mirror's edge for any hidden parts.
"Here!" Rachel exclaimed, and reached to push the button. Elliot noticed, and his eyes widened. "Wait! Ra—"
He got cut off as the mirror glowed, and grew to be three sizes bigger. Wind blew from it, softly at first, but then howling, blowing everywhere in the room. The image in the mirror enlarged itself and a close-up of Azarath was plain for all to see.
"Elliot! Come on!" Rachel cried, holding her hand out to the boy, and clutching onto the mirror's frame as to not get sucked in.
Elliot moved towards Rachel, but then he suddenly stopped.
"Elliot? What's wrong?"
Footsteps came closer, thundering. Elliot looked from the door to Rachel, and back.
"Hurry! Before he comes!" Now Rachel can hear his steps as well, and she cries out, fearing for herself and her friend.
However, it is too late, and Trigon bursts into the room, flinging the door open. Spotting the two, he starts to make his way toward them. As he comes, the wind blows even more fiercely, changing direction, and forcing Trigon back.
Meanwhile, Elliot has made his way to stand beside Rachel, and she tugged at his arm, willing him to leave with her. At her touch, he turned to her, and hugged her tightly.
"Be safe." he whispered, and suddenly let go of her.
"Wha-?" Rachel was confused, and then she felt Elliot shove her into the mirror.
Before her brain could process a thing, she found herself already falling. Falling down deep, before landing on a hard surface.
One glance around told her she was at the grand library in Azarath. A mirror stood before her—the entrance she had used to arrive—and she watched in horror as she saw Elliot chanting an inaudible spell with Trigon close behind him.
The spell is completed, and Rachel shrieks as the mirror before her shatters into pieces.
"NO!" Rachel moved to go forward, but then felt pressure on her shoulders and arms.
Spinning around, she sees the council of Azarath, Azar, and her mother Arella. Her eyes traveled downward and saw them holding her back.
"What? No!" she cried, and tries to fight them off, but it is a futile attempt. In an instant, she feels a small prick on her arm, and the world around her suddenly grew dimmer, then darkened, leaving her to feel nothing but the blankness of being unconscious.
When she awoke, the faces she saw were those of Azar and Arella. Her head felt heavy and aching, and she was confused.
"Ugh, where am I . . . Mom?" Rachel turned her head and stared at her mother.
"Rachel, sweetie, it's okay. You're in Azarath."
"Was I somewhere else?" Rachel questioned, and frowned as she tried to remember. "It was like something different . . . I don't know how to express this." She turned to Azar questioningly.
"You have been sick, Raven." The leader of Azarath explained. "Though you are healed now, I presume that there will still be some lingering feelings of dizziness and a cloudy head. However, this is nothing to be worried about, and will go away with time."
" . . . I see." Rachel said slowly, and while she was processing—no, accepting this information, for some reason, doubt was lingering in the back of her mind. However, she said nothing of this, and went back to rest.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Raven awoke, sitting upright in her bed. "What does that mean?" she whispered into the darkness, unaware of the wetness at the corner of her eyes.
She brushed away something at her eye, and then blinked at the sudden wetness that went onto the back of her hand. She couldn't believe it, but she was crying. And although she couldn't guess why she had tears, she suddenly knew that the boy from her dream—no, her memory, was important to her. Important enough to bring subconscious tears to her eyes.
Raven sat still and upright. She stared at the wall across from her and listened to the quiet of her room, and recounting her dream bit by bit, piece by piece.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Starfire stood behind Cyborg and respectfully watched him analyze and scan the substance on the wall with the message. Or, one could say it was prophecy or warning of what was to come. Beast Boy was on the other side of the message and he was studying it with Jinx, Hotspot, and Pantha.
"Cyborg, do you think whoever done this is our ally?" Starfire asked curiously.
"Well, I don't know Star. If this guy is trying to warn us, then maybe. But we'll have to figure it out first."
"I see." Starfire nodded, and then looked over to Bumblebee who was arguing with Killowat and Wildebeest.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Robin walked down the hallway and made a left, stopping in front of Raven's room. He knocked twice, and then waited for Raven to open the door.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Raven's head turned sharply towards her door, from which a knock had broken the silence. A second knock came following, and she wiped away any lingering wetness onto her sleeve. She moved to get off the bed—she had already gotten a sense of who her visitor was.
She opened the door and looked into the Titan leader's face.
"Hello Robin."
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
"Raven. Can I talk to you for a moment?" Robin asked, and Raven nodded.
"Go ahead." She said, and he began, knowing that she wouldn't have let him into her room like others, for Raven was the solitary member of the team.
"Do you know what Trigon was talking about?"
Raven shook her head. "No. Not exactly."
Robin looked at her. "What do you mean?"
Raven hesitated. "Well, although I don't remember ever being with Trigon during my childhood, he says I was there, and now I can see myself when I was younger…with Trigon. However, I am not sure whether or not this is just some long-distance illusion of his, or merely something else." She explained.
". . . I see. Well, do you think that he is telling the truth?"
Raven stared at him. "I have no idea."
"Well, it seems this book is extremely important to him, and it may be used to our advantage."
Raven waited for him to continue.
"Can you help us locate it?"
". . . I can try."
Robin nodded. "I know you may not know much about what Trigon was saying, but anything you do remember will be highly helpful, alright?"
"OK." She replied.
"I'm going to check up on the others about that message. You wanna come?" he offered.
Raven shook her head. "No thanks." She told him, then closed her door as Robin walked away from the room.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
The door opened and Titans looked to find Robin standing in the doorway.
"Hey Robin." Kid Flash greeted with Aqualad.
He nodded, then strode into the room, crossing over to where Cyborg was, with Starfire standing behind him.
"Have you found out anything, Cyborg?"
"Nah, not yet. What about you?"
"I'm waiting." He cast a glance around the room. The others were still arguing, and he looked at Starfire. "Have they been like that for a while?"
She nodded forlornly. "Yes, they have been arguing over the message on the wall and the message from Trigon."
"Hm. OK." He turned to the others, and spoke for them all to hear. "Hey! Listen up!"
He waited for the rest of them to stop talking and look at him before speaking.
"Okay, we don't have a lot of information about this. But neither does anyone else. This is going to be secret, and everyone is going to pretend not to know anything about this while looking around for information. I've already got Herald and Speedy on the lookout for this book. I'm going to assign the rest of you to jobs as well."