4/9/16

Cursed

Chapter 9: Home Again

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans or anything else I may mention.

….

I give Roy plenty of time to cheer up before suggesting we leave. He seems grateful for it, and soon enough we're on the road again. Even though the cane isn't that heavy it feels really awkward sticking out of my backpack, but the thought of making my team happy keeps me going. We're so close to making it home, we just can't give up now! And I just know that the Headmistress will be proud of us for being strong enough to make our own mission. There's no way she can be mad at us, since I've always heard her whining about how we need to take Mr. Mod's cane from him. Now, she has to let us go meet Madame Rouge!

Bubbling with excitement, I skip ahead of my tired friends and straighten the straps on my backpack. "C'mon slowpokes!" I giggle before tripping over thin air.

Ouch.

"Oh no!" Jade squeaks as her and Roy rush to my aid.

"Are you okay?" Roy digs into his backpack to grab the first aid kit, but I grab his arm to stop him. He looks at me confused, gesturing to my skinned knee.

I wipe away the blood with the palm of my hand. "I'm fine, really. It just stings a little, that's all."

"Yeah, but it's bleeding. At least put a band aid on it- you're gonna get an infection if you don't," Roy scowls.

I shrug, rubbing my bloody hand on the skirt of my uniform. "Fine by me. Just saying it doesn't hurt, that's all."

Roy hands me a wet wipe and a band aid and steps back so I can clean it up. I use the wipe to dab away the rest of the blood on my knee. Once I'm satisfied that it's clean enough, I unwrap the band aid and carefully stick it over the scrape. The side pocket of my backpack makes the perfect place to store my trash until we can get back to school, so I stash it there as I force myself to stand up. I feel a burst of pride when I manage to do it without so much as wincing. Six months ago I would've been crying my eyes out, but I guess between the Witch and the HIVE I've toughened up a little.

"There," I announce proudly. "If anyone asks, it's just a battle wound."

"Okay Roy," Jade laughs. "I got burned, Mallory fell, now it's your turn!"

Roy rolls his eyes. "Very funny."

"No, seriously, I bet you'll get stung by a wasp or something on our way back."

"I highly doubt it, since I can see the HIVE from here."

This catches my attention. If it's so close, how come I didn't see it?

"Wait, what?" Jade asks, apparently surprised as well.

"Yeah," Roy says. "Why, did you not notice it or something?"

I turn around and see the school building sitting just in my line of vision. Well, now I feel like the biggest idiot in town. A grin plasters itself on Jade's face as she grabs our arms.

"C'mon, come on, let's go," she says, pulling me and Roy towards our destination. "Maybe we can get back in time for science!"

Me and Roy copy her smile, but not really because of science- powers class more of my thing, and Roy seems to like math. The thought of seeing the look on the Headmistress's face is more of what keeps me going, rather than school itself. I'm not sure about Roy, but then again the only thing I'm absolutely sure about that kid is that he loves his hair and Jade (probably in that order, too). Either way, all three of us are ready to get back.

Until, that is, we see Angela waiting for us at the front door with a smug look on her face that says it all.

We're in trouble.

...

The good news is that the Headmistress hasn't killed us yet. The bad news is that we're currently sitting in her office getting the biggest lecture of our lifetimes, and worse yet Angela is sitting there like a smug little angel who has done nothing wrong, soaking in the glory of being "that one good kid who does what she's told". Gag me.

"I cannot believe you children! Sneaking out without the permission of your elders and betters, giving no indication of where you plan to be, neglecting important responsibilities such as your own education..."

"Yeah," Angela sneers. "You should be ashamed!"

"We're sorry," I manage to whisper. "We just thought... if we brought you the cane, you'd reconsider."

The Headmistress stops her ranting, a puzzled expression settling onto her face. "What cane? You wouldn't happen to mean..."

"Yes ma'am," I say, a little louder this time. Roy pulls the cane out of my backpack and hands it to her. The smirk on Angela's face is instantly replaced with one of pure horror. This gives me the confidence needed to continue. "We've heard you talk about how special it is to the other teachers, and we thought if we could retrieve it for you, you'd take us more seriously. We're sorry if we've disappointed or angered you. We honestly thought we were helping the HIVE to be a better school."

Wow, that came from my mouth? Who would've thought?

The Headmistress's wide eyes twinkle with delight. A smile warps onto her usually stotic face, and before we know it she's laughing. It's kind of scary, actually. Remind me to never tell her that knock-knock joke about bananas and oranges.

"You really went all the way to Split City? And by yourselves?"

"Well... yeah, I guess..." I mumbled, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed about my speech earlier. I bet I sounded so stupid.

The Headmistress turns the cane over in her hands, as if she's examining every inch of it. She looks disappointed for a moment though, before she brushes it off. I guess she just really wanted to get the cane by herself.

"Sorry if you wanted to go there yourself," I decide to tell her awkwardly.

She shakes her head. "No, that's not it... just... it doesn't have the power rumored. I guess the philosopher's stone is only a myth after all," she says with a sigh.

"Isn't that the name of a book or something?" Jade asks as the intercom buzzes to life.

"Excuse me ma'am, the headmaster of Darkway Prep is here to see you. Something about his cane?"

Headmistress nods her head. "Send old Mod in I suppose." She then turns to us and adds, "For your bravery and initiative, you will be promoted to Level C. Do not think about trying this again. Mark my words, next time I will be less forgiving. You are dismissed."

"Yes ma'am," we chorus, walking out the door.

I hear Angela complaining about how it isn't fair that we got to go up a level when no one else has, even though we disobeyed the rules. To be fair, I've never heard her say anything about leaving the building before. Sure, the skipping class thing may have been a little out of line, but then again I've never heard The Headmistress say anything against that either. So does that mean we were completely justified? After all, she did seem rather impressed with us.

"Mallory?" Jade asks weakly.

"Yeah?"

"We still don't get to meet Madame Rouge. We failed," Jade says.

I turn around to look at her. Her usual grin has been replaced by a frown, and she looks like she's about to cry. She really does believe that her life is on the line, doesn't she? I'm about to try and comfort her, but Roy beats me to it as usual. His arms are wrapped around her before I can so much as think about taking another step.

"It's okay. We'll find a way," he promises. I nod my head in agreement, feeling more and more like a third wheel. Jade looks up at him, just barely, and nods her head before pushing herself away from him.

She grins, her eyes regaining their usual light, and shakes off any sign that she was ever sad. "Well come on then! What are we waiting for! Let's start planning!"

Roy copies her expression in an instant, grabbing her non-burned wrist as they run off towards our room or his. I shake my head and run after them because there's no way I'm letting them have all the fun. I may not care that much about Madame Rouge, but I do care about my friends and I'll do anything for them. No matter what.

…..

Sorry for the unreasonable amount of time it took to update. My research paper crushed my soul and left me unwilling to type for the longest time. And then, you know, there's my Tumblr addiction I have to work around, but I'm starting to get over that (kind of). The trick is to go on and only let yourself see ten posts, and then you exit out. Then when you feel the urge to go back on, you'll hit a dead end on your dashboard much sooner. It only works about 50% of the time for me though, since I tend to forget I'm supposed to stop after 10 posts.

Quote of the day!

"Oooh, scary. We saw you groveling at Krux's feet!" -Rallen (after listening to Jado's villainous monologue), Spectrobes Origins

Don't be fooled by how non-threatening that makes him sound. He's impossible to beat.

Thank you everyone who followed/reviewed/added this story to their favorites. I'm kind of pressed on time so I can't mention everyone by name, but you're all still appreciated. :)

Titans go!

~Spectrobes Princess