A/N: Well, here's the second chapter! I downloaded Terra's Theme onto my Nook, the one that plays during the obstacle course in "Terra", and it gave me the inspiration to type this up. ^.^

AzelmaandEponine: Yeah, it can sometimes take a while between updates...

ArtemisHarryAnimorphsfan96: Yeah, she has a brother. Google Brion Markov- I guarantee there'll be results. And this is mostly canon, but some of parts of her past was blank, so I'm filling that in, plus with a few additions here or there that I thought would go nicely with this and some things that I removed from the canon backstory as well- for example, Terra had another older brother named Gregor, but he just wouldn't fit in with the story, so hence, he's not here.

Disclaimer- I don't own Teen Titans. If I did, Terra and Beast Boy would be together.

Chapter 2: Grafted

To be quite honest, I don't remember much of the experiment.

I do recall me having decided to release a temper tantrum the moment Sophia led me into my room. I was almost a maniac- Sophia tried earnestly to calm me down as I threw simple objects like books, shoes, and one time a chair at the wall. Looking back on it, I'll say that I made quite the racket. I don't see why no one came to help Sophia take care of the princess brat.

But she did handle it. Once she registered that soft talk and deep breaths weren't going to help, she used force. She grabbed me by the arm- she was surprisingly strong- and forcefully stripped me down to my underpants. I thought she'd undress me until I was bare, but purple underpants and tank top were good enough.

I resisted furthermore as she dragged me down the royal halls. I didn't want to become a protector of Markovia, I didn't even want to be its princess! I decided who I was and how my life would play out! Not these dim-witted royals and scientists!

Sophia continued to drag me to the lab, my feet stinging at the touch of the metal floor and quickly taking in the huge walls of steel. There was a steel table with a bunch of needles of all different sizes and next to that one of Dr. Jace's assistance was inserting a needle into a shirtless Brion. Luckily Edward shared the same ideas as Sophia in undressing. To my left there were life-sized cylinders, side by side, with green liquid bobbing in both. They were obviously meant for Brion and I. My eyes traced the tubes until I found its source- a desk-like piece of furniture in which lots of dials and other things meant to help control us while we were getting our powers.

I created a scene as they finished with Brion. I screamed and yelled and attempted various kicks and punches almost aimlessly at various people. Most of them just gaped openmouthed at my resistance while a few security guards stepped up and got me under control.

I still tried to break out despite their best efforts. They shoved me into a chair, the same red swivel one I saw Brion in when I had arrived. I clawed ferociously as I almost helplessly watched one of the assistants grabbed a needle.

I screamed and attacked, them more physically than I had before at the sight of the needles. I hated needles… I had to get away from the needles! Just the thought of them seeping into my skin was enough to pour a good amount of anxiety into my bloodstream.

In the end, my efforts were futile. I watched as the needle injected into my skin and I screamed the loudest I had during my fit.

My scream is the last sound I heard before black quickly swallowed my surroundings and my body fell limp…

The next time I woke up, I was resting comfortably in my purple canopied bed. Slowly the room zoomed into focus as I gradually remembered the past events.

My breath shifted into a state of uneasiness as I recalled that needle and then the world being tainted by black. I attempted to conjure some other memory as to what happened between that time and now… but no result.

Without thinking, I led my arm out of the covers and rolled down the purple dress sleeve- apparently Sophia redressed me.

I found after I pulled it down a couple of bandages placed in different spots on my arm, including the place where they gave me the first shot.

I gasped in fearful surprise. How many shots had they given me? At that moment, I wanted to take a look at my left arm, but quickly decided against it in fear of what I could find.

The door opened as I pulled up my sleeve. Brion came in.

"What happened?" I questioned before he could say anything.

Brion merely shrugged. "To be quite honest, I'm not too sure," my brother admitted. "I'm pretty sure they gave you a shot that put you to sleep."

That explained why I couldn't draw any memories.

"For me, the sleeping shot was voluntary," Brion continued. "They asked me if I wanted to take it to not feel any pain and sleep through the experiment. I took it. But.. well… with the racket you made…" he didn't finish the sentence.

I nodded. Of course they'd want to knock me unconscious.

A silence was drafted and after a while I broke it. "So… we've got powers now?"

Suddenly I felt sick to my stomach. My brain fogged up with a mixture of disbelieving nausea and horror.

It was as if I wasn't normal to begin with. What's normal about having power over an entire country, hundred to command when you need them? What's normal about being treated to your every little whim as if you were both mentally and physically dysfunctional? I wished I could be simply be addressed as "Tara" instead of being formally greeted as "Her Highness Princess Tara of the Markov House".

Now apparently being of royal descent wasn't enough. I just had to be embedded with superpowers too! Now there was no way to be normal!

Most people wanted to be royalty, to be served twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. They wanted to be constantly fretted for, living the high life. But they're forgetting about just how much of an impact you have, the way people always tell you how you should and shouldn't act, how you dress and what you shouldn't wear, being reprimanded day and night. About how you're virtually alone.

Many want superpowers. They wanted to show it off to their friends, be the 'cool kid' or whatnot. But they're forgetting about how they're also mocked when you're different. And add that criminals target you and the ones you love. It'd be a huge secret, a burden dragging you down. And the most serious idea-

What if you couldn't control your powers? What if you simply weren't strong enough? What if it wasn't the traditional 'bad guy' hurting those important to you… but yourself?

What if Brion or I couldn't control our powers?

That's why I wanted to be normal. Most my age would shut away the idea, but the word normal tastes like a haven when I say it. It paints a detailed picture of myself being free to do what I want, free to be me…

Why couldn't I share that privilege with the rest of the world?

"Tara?" Brion banished my thoughts and dragged me back to reality with no mercy.

In response, I simply blinked a number of times to help myself readjust to the world.

"Did you hear what I just said?" Brion asked after I offered no reply.

I just shook my head.

"We're Geomancers, Tara!" Brion's excited eyes shone brightly in an eager itching for the future. "Geomancers! Would you believe that?"

I squinted as if looking for something. "Geomancers?" I inquired. "What's that?"

The Prince of Markovia wasn't discouraged by my lack of knowledge. "Geomancers can control rock, dirt, earth!" he breathed. "We're able to manipulate earth!"

I cringed as I imagined both Brion and I fighting by mentally chucking rocks at people. I was sure Brion had the same vision, but our reactions were different.

Brion was no better than the rest of the kids who lusted for the stupid powers. He wanted to brag and show them off just like them. And just to think- he was older, he should be more logical.

But today our roles were reversed. Today Brion was the little kid while I was the serious grown-up- and people would loathe me for it.

I merely sighed. Was I the only one who saw that powers weren't a gift, but a curse? Was I the only one who saw this all as a very bad idea?