A/N: Welcome back everyone! I know this isn't the same origin story as the comics and watch not... but its essential to make this story work so all the die hard fans... I'm sorry! But i hope you like it regardless! For what its worth i tried to make it similar at least. If you like/dislike it please leave me a review and let me know how I can improve! As always like/fav/follow and I hope you guys enjoy!
Loud chants and cheers from the war room still echoed through the halls. A Tamaranian's their voice was already powerful, so a room full of them rivaled the power of thunderstorm. Raven's question to Galfor was all but inaudible; however, Galfor knew exactly what she asked and nod towards her and the other Titan's as if telling them to follow him.
They exit the loud room filled with warriors. It seemed they had all known this day would come and they felt confident and prepared for it.
"This way," Galfor said leading them somewhere new, "in order to explain our people's troubled past, you need to know just who your friend is."
The Titans looked at each other confused. Of course they knew her. She was their best friend. There were no secrets between them... Right? One by one, each Titan slowly looked away and began to realize... they knew almost nothing about Starfire's past. Or even her personal life off Earth. it dawned on them that they knew very little about their best friend. They began to to fear what they were about to learn might not be very pleasant... Their expressions turned to confusion when they were led to a wall in the back of the castle with no other pathways in sight.
This wall was smooth as silk like all the others and seemed no different than any of the rest of the castle. You'd think there was nothing else here just looking at it. But Galfor seemed to have led them here to this specific spot for a reason...
He then looked around his immediate surroundings for anyone besides himself and the Titans. When he saw no one in sight he raised a hand to the wall and pressed firmly against it. With a small grunt, the wall began to give way as it opened like a door revealing a hidden staircase that spiraled down into the darkness only to be dimly lit with glowing crystals hanging from the ceiling.
"Quickly!" Galfor whispered aggressively as his massive arm struggled to hold the door open.
The Titans then rushed through and Galfor followed behind them letting the giant wall shut on its own behind them once again turning the large doorway into a perfectly smooth wall with no evidence of there ever being a door.
The Titans sat still for a moment as Galfor addressed them, "my apologies but it is still too soon to trust my people with this secret," he admit as he walked past the young adults to take the lead once more, "there are still those who might remain loyal to Blackfire and would not hesitate to betray them... again."
As they continued to walk down the spiraling stairway the Titans curiosity continued to grow and questions began dominating their thoughts...
Betrayal? Again? Betrayed who?
Terra looked at Beastboy who looked to Cyborg who then looked at Raven. They were lost. Whatever they were about learn it was about to turn everything they knew upside down.
As they continued walking Galfor finished his previous statement, "outsiders are strictly forbidden from this place," he said with a sense of bitterness, "however, the princess Starfire ordered me to bring you here should anything happen to her..."
As the stairs just kept coming like a never ending escalator, the long silence began to weigh heavily on Raven. Since she's the only one who ever seemed to demand answers she decided to speak up...
"I'm sorry," she said respectfully, "but who was betrayed?" Just as she began to finish that sentence a brighter glow illuminated at the bottom of the long staircase. She had more questions but after seeing the stairs were finally coming to an end she decided to wait before asking more.
All the Titans gasped and their eyes went wide with wonder at the sight that had appeared before them. The room was gorgeous with strange alien plants that looked like fungus but held a remarkable appearance and even glowed with ambient beauty. A small stream of water fell from the back wall of the room into a pool where a statue of an unknown figure stood in the middle as the water surrounded its feet. The statue had an appearance that resembled a Tamaranian and it held out its hands with its palms facing upwards like a mother holding her arms out for her children. In front of the statue were two large stone caskets decorated like a gift for royalty with the shape of a male and female Tamaranian rest atop the perfectly carved stone...
It was then that they had realized what they were looking at. This was a tomb.
Galfor stopped at the last step before looking over his shoulder at the others, "you will bow in the presence of the Great Grand Rulers. Is that understood?" He didn't sound aggressive at all but he seemed to imply that this was customary and non-negotiable.
The young hero's jaws all simultaneously dropped in awe at what they were seeing. Galfor then stepped into the room and centered himself in the middle of the room before gently lowering himself to one knee with the opposite fist placed on the ground as if gently punching the floor. His head lowered as his eyes shut almost like he was going deep into prayer.
After a moment the Titans shook their bewilderment and began to enter the tomb from the final step of the staircase... All except Beastboy who still seemed to have an awe struck look of hypnotism on his face. The two girls walked up behind Galfor and took the exact same pose he held as Cyborg hastily went back for Beastboy and palmed his small head like a basketball before quickly catching up to the girls and forcing Beastboy into the same position as the others with a small yelp.
After a moment of silence Galfor rose to his feet and turned to face the others...
"In order to understand why we mst fight this war... you must understand our past..." Galfor said genuinely, "our people's lineage goes back generations. We had always been a peaceful people and our strength was well known across the galaxy. If ever there was a problem with a neighboring planet would would assist however we could. But our people would not go as a whole. You see... Only a special few Tamarans are blessed with flight. And only few can fight with starbolts. These are the greatest of warriors amongst us and are born to lead the people," he looked over his shoulder to the gorgeous caskets that bare his beloved rulers before returning his gaze to the still kneeling Titans, "these Tamarans are born of the royal family and see to all matters regarding other worlds as well as our own. For generations this was the way we lived..." He paused for a moment as his face dawned a look of irritation at the thought of what happened next, "but a prophesy from a distant planet that could predict the future of the entire galaxy showed a very grim outcome for our people..."
"Black fire," Raven said softly as if she already knew what was coming next.
"Yes," Galfor said nodding towards the young girl, "a royal born with no resemblance to her own people. One born with darkness surrounding her. One whose eyes are dark as night. This would mark the end of the Tamaranians."
"Well that sure sounds like her- oww," Beastboy said trying to lighten the mood only to recieve and elbow from Cyborg trying to shut him up.
"The late Grand Rulers would not accept this fate," Galfor continued, "they chose to raiser her to be good natured and a Ruler the people could look forward to in the future. But the people feared what was different and feared what they could not understand."
"They treated her like she was expendable," Cyborg reiterate, "like her life didn't matter because she was different." He spoke as if he could relate to her situation.
"Why would they do that?" Terra asked also sympathizing with her, "she was just a child. She didn't choose to be different." Terra sounded as if she we growing angry at this story.
"Prophesies are powerful," Raven contribute to the conversation, "the words they contain can cause panic in people for centuries. At that point... it's almost impossible to convince them otherwise." Raven looked down remembering her own past as she also began to sympathize with Blackfire.
"As a way to put the people at ease," Galfor continued, "the Grand Rulers birthed a second in line for the throne."
"Starfire!" Beastboy said out loud excited to hear about Starfire's origin.
"The grand rulers even birthed a third heir," Galfor stopped for a moment as all the Titans grew a very confused expression...
Third? Starfire never mentioned a second sibling... They all thought.
"The youngest was a young Tamaranian boy who instantly became first in line to the throne," Galfor looked down as he approached the most tragic part of his people's past, "but after years of torment for her own people, Blackfire grew envious and bitter. Eventually, she built a hatred for her people. That hatred led to the beginning of the end a few years ago..."
The Titans all looked at each other like they had an idea of what he meant but didn't know the full details.
"Blackfire looked to take fate in her own hands by seeking out the help of another planet." Galfor explained.
--
Traveling through the vacuum of space, Blackfire's mind continued to wander wondering how this would all play out in the end. She had her elbow on the armrest of her chair as she supported the weight of her head with her hand in the soft of her cheek allowing her head to lazily hang to the side. She looked across the room from her seat in the captains chair to see her accomplice who seemed like she was about to snap.
Rose sat lazily in her chair with her feet kicked up on the dash controls trying to pass the time by playing with one of her deadly weapons. She held her weapon that fired explosive lasers in one hand spinning the gun around her finger by the trigger guard. Before long, she burst out in boredom from being stuck inside a vehicle for so long...
"Ahhhhh!" She yelled, "are we there yet?!"
"No..." Blackfire respond with a deep sigh. She felt like a mother that had to continuously tell her child to be quiet on a long drive.
"How much longer?" Rose shot back impatiently, "I can't take much more of this."
"If you want your money you'll be quiet the rest of the way," Blackfire said almost ready to throw her off board into the chasm of space.
"Where's the fun in that?" Rose retaliated unafraid of the threats, "we could always chat to pass the time..."
"For some reason I don't think I'd enjoy that conversation," Blackfire spat.
"Oh really?" Rose said accepting that challenge, "why don't we start with you," she grew a devilish grin, "why do you hate your sister so much?"
"That's none of your business," Blackfire confidently said back with an equally devilish grin.
"Is that so?" Rose said with a heavy amount of sarcasm, "if I had to guess I'd say its mommy issues."
Blackfire's grin vanished.
"Oops," Rose taunted, "did I hit a nerve? Did mommy love her more than you?"
Blackfire was agitated to say the least but she knew if she let her emotions get the better of her it would play right into Rose's hand to entertain herself. But something caught her eye In the distance causing her to completely forget the conversation entirely.
A planet covered in swamp lands approached the ship. It looked like earth but instead of having a number of oceans and continents with was covered entirely by streams of rivers all connected like a ball of yarn with slivers of land masses in-between them. A sense of déjà vu gave her a feeling of satisfaction as she watched it grow closer with each passing second.
Blackfire's grin returned as her eyes fixated on the planet, "We're here..."
