A/N: Okay, normally my main fandom is Naruto. I write reader inserts for Naruto on Deviantart and on Quotev, and then I have a Naruto story going on this website as well. Because of this, I suppose you could say that I'm going way out of my comfort zone by writing a fanfiction for Teen Titans. But ever since Teen Titans Go has come out, I've fallen completely in love with the original series again. I am so in love with Teen Titans original that I have had this story eating at me for months, and it simply won't leave me alone. What do you do when a story won't leave you alone? You start writing it of course!
Here is the first chapter to Part One of my first ever Teen Titans fanfiction, "Firelight". I've put a lot of work into developing the planet Dabnod as well as my OC, Damiana, so I hope you enjoy it. :)
Note: I HAVE NO INTEREST WHATSOEVER IN ANYTHING THE SCAMMERS IN MY PMS ARE OFFERING ME. NO, I'M NOT PAYING FOR YOUR ART.
Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans, but I do own the planet Dabnod, as well as the Dabnodian people.
Part I: Inception: Chapter One
The Planet Dabnod
Today is the most beautiful day that Damiana has seen in a long time. The sky is a mixture of blue violet and peachy orange with the occasional streak of soft rose mingling among the two other colors. The whole time the eleven-year-old sits with her pale legs dangling into the refreshing water of a small pond, her simple blue dress pulled up to her knees so she doesn't get the hem of it wet. After all the work her mother put into sewing this dress the last thing she wants is to ruin it. Then again, considering the purple stains coating the skirt due to hours spent frolicking through violet grasses and the singe marks resulting from the time spent practicing with her fire, the dress is already ruined. She couldn't help wearing it as much as she could over these past several months, though. This has been the most beautiful garment she has ever owned. The last thing she wanted to do was wear it only once.
Humming sweetly to herself, Damiana takes a handful of yellow, red, and orange flowers and braids them into her hair. The girl's small fingers work carefully as they twist each small plant into her thick blue tresses. Damiana smiles at the fact that her hair is currently blue. Part of the reason she braids flowers into her hair is so that she can watch it shift from royal blue, to light blue, to dazzling aquamarine like waves on an ocean from Earth. It isn't too often that her hair turns this color. Usually it is rose red or dazzling orange; seeing this kind of vast change is nice for once. The whole time she wonders if her eyes have changed color as well from their normally stable shade of soft pink.
Meanwhile the girl picks up another red flower and weaves it into her blue locks, continuing to hum as she does so. Technically Damiana is supposed to be inside of her family's stone cabin at the top of the hill doing her afternoon chores. With her mother working at the Palace as the Queen's personal maid and with her older brother, Saeran, in training as a squire, household work is usually left up to her. However, once she's done with her chores, Damiana curls up against the white trunk of a violet-leafed tree and spends the whole evening reading. She reads literature and fairy tales in every language from every planet she can.
She has read stories of loyal Kings and faithful Queens that lived on Dabnod millennia ago; the books being written in the ancient text. She has read stories of dragons and wizards from Azarath in languages that the majority of the Palace scribes can't even understand. Damiana has read countless books of fairy tales from Earth, those being written in tongues such as English, Spanish, German, and Chinese. By the way she remembers there were a few in other languages, but she isn't entirely sure. Once the girl was even able to get a hold of a book about an ancient warrior from Tamaran. The Tamaranean novel was a hard find with the current disagreement between their planets, but it was a lovely read nonetheless. Good thing she finished the book before Saeran got his hands on it and ripped it to shreds…
Sighing at the memory, Damiana drops the flower that was currently in her hand and looks down into the pond in a depressed manner. Her hair begins shifting from blue to and odd type of sickly green, but she doesn't even notice. All she does is gaze down at the water in an unbreakable trance as if it somehow holds all the answers.
"I don't get it," says Damiana to herself. "Mama and Saeran told me that the war would be over within a few months. Why has it been dragging on for so long?"
Her sorrow growing deeper, Damiana lays back into the tall purple grasses as her mind goes to places that she rarely lets it visit. The young girl can remember the day it happened. She can remember it as clearly as if it were yesterday. Unfortunately for the planet of Dabnod, it wasn't yesterday. It wasn't a few short months ago, either. As of today, it happened two-and-a-half years ago.
*Flashback*
It was early in the morning. Mama hadn't yet left for her job at the Palace and Saeran wasn't yet so dedicated to his training to become a knight. Instead mama was inside the tiny kitchen of their small three room cabin making them breakfast. While they waited Damiana and a much happier Saeran, thirteen at the time, were outside by the pond picking flowers. One bunch was for their mother and another was for her to give to the Queen in gratitude for their mama's employment. They still had a while until she had to leave for the Palace and they wanted to make sure that they picked the most beautiful flowers they could find.
Damiana was a few feet away from Saeran, her sights set on an exceptionally pretty flower of red and gold. Being only eight years old at the time, she can remember how the grasses came up to her waist and how she had to shove through them in order to reach that single plant. Meanwhile, she called to her brother who was only a few feet behind her.
"Saeran!" she'd shouted happily. "Look at that one, Saeran! Queen Guayusa will love it!"
Her brother's shoulder-length ponytail was a shade of vibrant yellow, his eyes amber to match. The sight made Damiana joyful, knowing that her brother only looked like that when he was at his happiest. He pushed his way toward her through the violet grasses with his green tunic catching slightly, smiling the whole way.
"That's perfect, Damiana! You managed to find one in her favorite colors, too! Once she sees it she'll have to know how thoroughly we searched to find it!"
"Exactly!" Damiana replied. "That's why I'm so excited!"
Once that was said the two siblings took off full speed in the lovely flower's direction, determined to get the beautiful blossom for the one and only Queen Guayusa. Unfortunately, before they could reach it, the most unexpected thing imaginable happened. The sky, which was previously the morning colors of green and silver, lit up horrific shades of black and burnt orange. It didn't come in one solid color, but in cloud-like bursts. With each and every burst came loud thundering explosions. The sight was one so foreign to Damiana that all she could do was gawk at the sky in confusion. Saeran, on the other hand, knew exactly what it meant. She could tell because of the complete and absolute horror that consumed his voice.
"Damiana, forget the flowers. We need to get mama and take shelter somewhere."
Not just confused now, but also scared, Damiana turned to face him. When she saw that his hair turned pure black and his eyes charcoal gray in no more than three seconds, her fear turned from slight to extreme.
"Saeran, what's happening?" she'd asked him.
The moment the question was out he'd grabbed her by the arm and began dragging her up the hill. They moved as fast as their legs would carry them. A few minutes later he replied.
"Something very bad. They've been warning us about this for months at the Palace."
"Warning you about what?" she'd asked in puzzlement. "What's going on?"
Before he could answer, a particularly loud explosion occurred. It was so thunderous that it shook the ground. Releasing a frightened yell, Damiana turned her face away from her elder sibling and looked at the sky. The whole time Saeran never relinquished his grip on her as they continued running. Upon seeing what was above them Damiana was certain that one of her hearts would fail her. Scattered across the black and orange expanse were the enormous battleships of the Queen of Dabnod. In between the ships were what Damiana at the time referred to as terrifying monsters; muscled flying people with orange-tinted skin and glowing green eyes. Many of them held sharpened weapons and were shooting green bolts out from their fingertips. Each and every one of them looked absolutely horrific. Even so, Damiana still recognized their species.
"Saeran, there are Tamaraneans everywhere! Why are there so many of them of them?! What are they doing here?!"
He replied to her sounding incredibly fearful. "We made an alliance with the Gordanians and now Tamaran is attacking Dabnod! I need to get you somewhere safe!"
Finally understanding how dire the situation was, Damiana tripled in speed as she ran up the hill. The whole time the explosions kept amplifying in volume and ferocity. Tamaranean battle cries filled the air along with sounds of starbolt fire. Not even ten seconds later the earsplitting creaking of crashing metal started filling the air around them. Several seconds later a thunderous bang would sound off and the ground would shake, telling Damiana's eight-year-old self that several of their ships were being brought down. By this time all she wanted to do was hide somewhere; anywhere.
By the time they got to the cabin the battle was in full scale. Every Dabnodian warrior in existence had taken to battleships and was in the air fighting. Those that didn't have ships were fighting from the ground using their elements. Some were shooting flames up at Tamaraneans while others were bringing them down with gigantic whips crafted from water. Then there were those who were floating on boulders and others using the gift of air to take to the skies with the invaders, doing everything they could to stop them. Ships were crashing, people were falling, and painful wails echoed through her ears. As a backdrop, the sky grew increasingly dark due to larger explosions and the buildup of smoke. There were even little fires started on the ground due to excessive use of elements and crashing battleship parts.
"Damiana! Saeran!"
The girl whipped around at the sound of her mother's voice. The moment she looked at the woman her heart froze with dread. Her mother whose long beautiful hair was usually rosy red and her eyes a lovely shade of emerald green had deep black hair and charcoal gray eyes just like Saeran. Thought Damiana didn't bother trying to look at herself, she was positively certain that her features looked the same. Relieved by the sight of her mother standing in their cabin's doorway, Damiana grabbed her brother's arm and tried to drag them both toward her.
"Saeran, let's get inside!" she exclaimed. "We need to go in the house where it's safe!"
Saeran did go with her, but not in the way she expected. Instead of following her and mama inside the cabin and closing the door behind them, he shoved her and their mother in the house alone. The whole time he never followed them. He simply reached around the corner and started grabbing at a set of pegs. On the pegs were two massive canteens filled to the brim with water; canteens that Saeran always keeps there in case of emergencies. Taking hold of them, he threw them over his body in a hasty fashion so that they were crossing over his chest. Meanwhile he spoke to them with a firm, commanding, tone.
"Mama, Damiana, bolt the doors shut and go down to the cellar. Once you're there, don't come out until you are absolutely sure it's safe. I'm sorry, but I can't go with you. The other warriors need me."
Damiana felt her eyes go wide at his statement. "Saeran, what are you doing?! You can't go fight the Tamaraneans! It isn't safe!"
She didn't know why and she probably never will, but in that instant Saeran's eyes turned from charcoal gray to a shade of pale blue. Kneeling down beside her, he put a hand on each shoulder and gave her a tender smile. It was a smile that only Saeran understands and that only Saeran can give.
"Going into battle is never something that's safe. In the end, safe doesn't matter. What matters is doing everything I can to protect my home."
With that he wrapped Damiana into a tight hug. Once it ended he stood up and gave the same hug to their mother. Damiana will never forget the tears mama had in her eyes as she returned her son's embrace. Then, before either of them could protest, Saeran tightened the straps of his canteens and ran off. Damiana didn't even go inside as he had instructed. All she could do is stand in the doorway and watch him run into the heat of the battle with salty liquid starting to emerge from her tear ducts. Even as mama fought to get her in the house, Damiana didn't want to move. All she wanted to do was run out there and bring Saeran inside where he wouldn't get hurt. As she watched, the girl shouted to the top of her lungs.
"Saeran, come back! Please don't go out there, Saeran! Saeran!"
Eventually her mother had to pick her up and forcibly drag her inside the house. Even so, mama wasn't in any better shape than Damiana. As she bolted the door shut she too had tears in her eyes. The explosions outside kept growing louder and more volatile, forcing the two females to flee to the cellar. Once they were down there amongst crates and boxes they didn't feel any safer. All Damiana and mama did was sit there curled up in each other's arms, praying that Saeran would make it back to them safely once this horrific battle with the Tamaraneans came to an end. As they prayed all they could hear were the explosions growing louder and screams of various falling warriors. The horror didn't end for six straight hours.
*End Flashback*
At some point during the memory Damiana broke her gaze with the pond and laid down in the grass. Now she stares at the sky blankly, remembering how relieved she and mama had been when Saeran came out of the battle completely unscathed. Much of Dabnod was ravaged, many buildings needed repairs, and horror swept over the planet after finding out that this was only the first of many battles with Tamaran, but still they were relieved. Saeran was safe, he wasn't hurt, and that's all that mattered. Somehow he hasn't had to go into battle since that fateful day either. Though, he has spent most of his time training and perfecting using his gift for water since then.
Sighing, Damiana folds her arms up under her head. Of course, even though the planet seems safe right now, one thing has become clear to her and to all of Dabnod. No matter how much reading or work she does to try and forget about it, this lone fact is always at the back of her mind nagging her.
The war with Tamaran isn't over; the Tamaraneans are fierce. This war won't be over until Dabnod invades Tamaran or until the Tamaraneans comes back for one last attack.
Later
It's the middle of the night, but Damiana isn't asleep. She should have crawled under the covers and nodded off hours ago, but it never happened. Instead she sits in the middle of the bed cross-legged with a large book open in her lap. It is an Earth book written in the English language filled with many different children's stories. Damiana has been up all night reading in fascination.
One tale was about a girl who was a servant to her step mother and two horrible step sisters. While the story made her upset at first, Damiana was happy when the girl married the Prince at the end because he found the slipper she'd lost. Then there was another story about a Princess that pricked her finger on a spinning wheel who could only be woken up by a kiss. That story was also quite enjoyable, as was another tale she read about a girl who lived trapped in a tower with long flowing hair.
Right now Damiana is currently on the fourth story. It is one about a Princess who is being hunted by an evil Queen who is also her stepmother, and is forced to live in a cabin with seven tiny men. It is getting to the most exciting part of the plot, the evil Queen wearing a disguise as she gets ready to make a murder attempt on her stepdaughter. The Queen is dressed as an old woman and is approaching the girl with some kind of poisonous fruit she'd concocted. So stooped is Damiana in the tale that she nearly misses the sound of firm knocking on her bedroom door. Lucky for her it is only almost.
The eleven-year-old leaps off of her bed and the Earth book hits the ground with a thud, the girl nearly being scared out of her wits by the frantic banging. With her mind still on the story, she finds herself afraid that it could be the evil Queen come to kill her with poisoned fruit. However, when she hears the frightened voice of her older brother, Damiana's mind is brought back to reality.
"Damiana, it's Saeran. I know you're awake in there, so hurry up and get dressed. We need to leave for the Palace. Now."
The fear in Saeran's voice causes the girl to grow anxious. Even so, she doesn't go over to the door and open it. Rather she squats down to recover her book as she shouts to him in response. The whole time she's looking in the door's direction wide-eyed.
"Saeran, what's going on? Please tell me that this is some sort of drill…"
She hears as the sixteen-year-old gives a weighted sigh from the door's other side. "Are you clothed?" he asks a second later.
Arching her brow, Damiana looks down at herself. The moment she does so she realizes that she never even changed into her pajamas. She still wears blue daytime dress, purple grass stains and all. Rather than going in-depth with the explanation, the answer she gives is plain.
"Yes. You can come in."
He opens the door without a word. Once he steps inside of her tiny room she sees as his hair gleams black and his eyes gray in the soft light of her reading lamp. For a moment his hair gets a streak of Earth forest green and his eyes go emerald as he looks around his baby sister's room, shocked to see her bed still made and to see her in the same dress as yesterday. However, the streaks of color quickly fade back to black and gray once he sets eyes on her face. As Saeran looks at her, Damiana looks right back at him.
Her elder sibling has gotten so tall and so muscular over the years. Even when he's in his everyday clothes Damiana has begun to notice that he's starting to look more and more like one of Queen Guayusa's knights. With the way he's dressed right now, his knight-like features are accentuated even further. Saeran doesn't wear pajamas neither does he wear his everyday clothes. Instead he is dressed in his full green tunic and silver armor with the Dabnodian crest etched into his breastplate. Not only that, but he wields a sword along with two over-sized canteens strapped across his chest. The sight instantly makes Damiana uneasy, as she has only seen Saeran dressed in his full armor a handful of times; each time was a situation of crisis.
In a full-length mirror off to the side of the room, Damiana sees as her own features start turning black and gray. She doesn't know what color they were before. All she knows is that now they're the colors representing dread and horror.
"You're wearing your armor," she states simply. "This isn't a drill, is it?"
Saeran doesn't respond verbally. He walks over to his sister and places a gentle hand on her shoulder. Meanwhile he gestures to the window behind her with a frown. Neither of them speaks once he does this. Instead they turn off Damiana's reading lamp and open the black shade that was blocking the window off. Once the outside world is in view one of Damiana's hearts sinks in a mixture of horror, anxiety, and sorrow. Outside covering the remote horizon are black and burnt orange cloud-like bursts like she'd seen two-and-a-half years ago. Although it's barely audible, she also hears echoing booms way off in the distance. Also on the horizon are large dots in the shapes of ships. Even from this distance, due to their odd sizes and shapes, Damiana can tell that they aren't Dabnodian ships.
"It's more visible from my window," says Saeran at last. "The Tamaraneans are back, and this time they brought friends."
Her face paling and eyes nearly turning black, Damiana asks a much needed question. "How many friends?"
"I'm not sure, but I want you and mama in the confines of the Palace by the time I find out. Queen Guayusa's Palace is the most secure stronghold on Dabnod. You will be much safer there than in the cellar."
Damiana turns away from the window in order to face Saeran. She feels fear running heavily through her veins and her stomach is starting to turn, but still she manages a nod.
"Okay, Saeran," she replies. "Just let me change my dress while you wake up mama. I'll be right out."
Her older brother gives a solemn nod in response. "Make it quick. We don't have any time to waste."
That being said, Saeran exits the room and shuts the door behind him. The moment he's gone she does as he's asked, changing her clothes as quickly as she can. Once the girl is changed she is ready to run from the room to their cabin's entrance where mama and Saeran will most likely be waiting for her. However, before she has a chance leave her bedroom, the bookshelf next to her bed catches her eye. For some reason Damiana doesn't continue toward the door right away once the shelf is in sight. Instead she sprints over to it and grabs three books before fleeing the room.
Oddly enough, the books she grabs aren't from Earth, Azarath, or from any other planet. The books are native to Dabnod and are written in the beautiful script of the Dabnodian language. Damiana decided to take them for safe keeping, just in case she never has another chance to hold something from her home this close to her.
Though she hasn't been to the Palace as often as mama and Saeran, Damiana has still walked these drafty hallways quite a lot in her young life. She has probably been inside the Palace more than the majority of people on Dabnod. When she's here everything normally appears sparkling and regal. There are always knights-in-training battling in the courtyard, scribes scurrying up and down corridors carrying stacks of books, courtiers roaming around with their attendants. Sometimes Damiana has even had the pleasure of encountering Queen Guayusa. Really, right now happens to be one of those times when the Queen is present. However, the Palace doesn't appear regal at this moment. Not in the least.
The enormous courtyard along with all of the surrounding balconies are full to bursting. The knights, scribes, and courtiers are still here, but mostly the area is filled with average Dabnodian civilians. Usually when Dabnodians are gathered together there is an endless sea of hair various shades of oranges, yellows, and reds, mostly due to some sort of celebration. Of course, right now this isn't the case. As Damiana peeks over the edge of the balcony from behind the people in front of her, she sees various shades of black and dark gray. Even the elderly who's hair doesn't tend to color as brightly as it used to, has hair that turns deep black. Heart sinking at the sight, Damiana switches her gaze to her brother who stands with protective hands on hers and their mother's shoulders.
"This invasion is worse than the others, isn't it Saeran?" the girl inquires knowingly. "I've never seen this many people look so worried before."
Saeran gives a deep sigh at his little sister's question. "I'm not going to lie to you, Damiana. The situation we're in is dire, but we won't know how to handle it until Queen Guayusa explains."
Damiana nibbles her lower lip fitfully before giving a single nod. As she does so an echoing explosion is heard off in the distance followed by several more explosions afterward. Then the deafening sound of crashing metal sounds off. This only serves to cause the crowds in the balconies and courtyards to mutter in panic.
"This is bad," says a man somewhere behind her. "We should have made plans to invade Tamaran months ago. Then maybe this wouldn't be happening!"
"Invade Tamaran? Heck, we shouldn't have made an alliance with the Gordanians in the first place! If we hadn't teamed up with their enemies, then Tamaran would still be leaving Dabnod alone!"
A third person adds in, "A Gordanian alliance? Seriously? What was Queen Guayusa thinking?! Does that woman have any idea what the heck she's doing?!"
For a moment Damiana thinks that the enormous room is going to stay like this forever. A mess of terror, blame, and bone-chilling panic all coming out in apprehensive muttering. It is only a few seconds later that these thoughts are proven incorrect. Queen Guayusa, who had been off in one of the room's remote corners speaking with her advisers and the General, finally steps up onto a large stone platform. Like every other time Damiana has seen her, the Queen looks tall, regal, and elegant. Only, much like Saeran, the Dabnodian leader looks very different as well.
When Damiana has seen her in the past the Queen has always been dressed in long, silky, gowns that are sleeveless and form-fitting. According to what mama told her, they are long and silky to accentuate her beauty but also sleeveless and form-fitting to show off her strong Dabnodian build. After Damiana learned that she wanted a dress exactly like it so that she might look like the Queen; thus, the reason the girl had been so attached to her stained blue dress. Now, however, Queen Guayusa isn't adorned by a gown at all. Instead she is dressed from head-to-toe in silver and green armor with the Dabnodian crest etched into the breastplate. Not only that, but for the first time in ages she doesn't wear her crown.
The only other difference besides these things would be her hair and eyes. Normally Queen Guayusa has hair that is orange with streaks of gold and has bright golden eyes. Right now her long curly hair is black with streaks of extremely dark purple, and her eyes are the shade of pure soot. Based on this it is obvious to Damiana that she is just as terrified as the rest of them. Only, because of the streaks of purple, she is even more so. Yet she still somehow manages to stand tall, her posture as elegant and powerful as ever. What Damiana wouldn't give to look so marvelous and in control in a time of such crisis. When she speaks, Queen Guayusa's voice doesn't give off the slightest hint of fear.
"My fellow Dabnodians," she says to the top of her voice, "we are experiencing a dire time of crisis. Outside these Palace walls is an invasion force larger than Dabnod has seen in centuries. Tonight's battle is not at all like the mere skirmishes we have experienced over the past couple years; it isn't about showing Tamaran our power or bringing honor to Dabnod. No. This battle is a fight for the very existence of the Dabnodian people. Tonight will determine the outcome of this war. Tonight we could win this war and rebuild an even stronger civilization out of the previous Dabnod's ashes. Or we could lose this war and our entire planet."
It is here that Guayusa pauses. For a moment Damiana is expecting people in the crowd to get angry and to shout at their beloved Queen. However, to the eleven-year-old's astonishment, no shouting happens. Instead everyone stands as still as statues, the air heavy with foreboding. Even their strong ruler appears downtrodden. It takes a moment or two, but at last Guayusa continues.
"I myself don't like to think about losing Dabnod, so I know that nobody else likes to think about it. Dabnod is the place we call home. It's the home of our ancestors and of our proud history. Even so, the worst case scenario still stands. Tamaran isn't invading merely to frighten us. They are here to wipe Dabnod out of existence and to exterminate every last person on the planet. It is because of this that I want to take measures starting now."
After another moment of hesitation Queen Guayusa continues. When she does, she gives a command. It's the very command Damiana knows that Saeran has been waiting for. She can tell just by the change in his stance that her older brother is ready to jump into action.
Sighing, she says, "To every one of my knights, squires, and pages, you know the procedure. It is time to start the evacuation."
Damiana has never felt both of her hearts beat so fast at once. Neither has she ever had to run this quickly. To her's and every other Dabnodian's disappointment, Queen Guayusa hadn't been exaggerating in the slightest. No more than ten minutes after her speech the explosions started coming closer, as did the ships of the foreign invaders. Whoever Tamaran has paired up with is very strong, because all it took was an instant for them to knock down the Palace's strong walls. With that, Tamaraneans started pouring inside the Palace alongside strange beings the colors of green and blue. Under other circumstances Damiana would have taken the time to observe them more closely, but this time she didn't. Instead she ran with all of her might. In fact, she still does.
The small eleven-year-old sprints down stairs and through hallways, the sounds of screams and starbolt fire coming from the floors above. The rumbling of earth, whooshing of air, thundering of splashes, and burning of fire comes as well, letting Damiana know that people are using their elements to the best of their abilities. Suddenly numerous terrified shrieks sound off. A few seconds later the shrieks are followed by a crash so thunderous that it causes the ground to shake. Horrified that she won't keep her footing, Damiana holds tightly to the railing of the staircase. The bottom of the stairs is a long way down and the last thing she wants is to fall. Meanwhile, Saeran shouts from behind her.
"Damiana, keep moving! We're almost there!"
Opening her mouth, she prepares to respond. However, before she can, a Tamaranean man with glowing green eyes and frighteningly large muscles appears a few steps below them. Yelling Tamaranean words in a gruff war cry, words that Damiana translates as "Your kind will die", he flies up the stairs and begins throwing starbolts. The girl can sense Saeran getting ready to spear the foreign invader with an icy spike. Of course, he never gets the chance. Before the Tamaranean man has a chance to blink, let alone strike her, Damiana conjures a large wall made out of fire. Her eyes the color of burning embers and long hair lighting up like flames, she shoves the wall in the purple-clad alien's direction. The moment it touches him he disintegrates on contact without as much as a plea for mercy.
Extinguishing the flaming wall, Damiana turns to face Saeran whose eyes and hair are green with surprise. "D-Damiana…" he stutters.
"There's no time to explain, Saeran," says the girl. "We have to get out of here and find mama before we run into another one!"
Damiana begins sprinting down the stairs once more. However, before she can get too far, Saeran stops her. When he speaks, his words are more painful than any starbolt would have been.
"No, Damiana! There isn't time to go back for mama! We have to get you evacuated right now!"
Stopping in her tracks, the girl turns around once more. "What?! You can't evacuate me! Not without mama and not without you!"
Running a hand through his black hair, the teen sighs. "Damiana, I'm one of the Queen's squires. I'm not allowed to leave. I have to help people evacuate and then I have to stay behind and fight. As for mama, she made only a single request before we left the house and I intend to honor it."
Eyes widening fearfully, she asks, "What kind of request did mama make?"
Stepping forward, Saeran grabs his sister by the wrist and begins pulling her down the stairs in a forced sprint. While doing so, he replies. "Mama told me, no matter what, to keep you safe. She said that if we got separated not to look for her. The only thing that matters to mama is getting you on one of the space pods and off of Dabnod."
"What?! But I can't leave Dabnod! Not without you and mama!" Damiana protests loudly. "Even then I still wouldn't want to leave Dabnod for another planet! I want to stay here!"
Saeran doesn't slow his pace in the slightest. Rather, he quickens his sprint to twice its original speed. Coming to the bottom of the staircase, the sixteen-year-old makes a sharp turn down a deserted hallway and continues running. The whole time he shouts at his sister.
"Damiana, you can't stay here! If you stay you could get destroyed with the rest of the planet!"
Welling up with tears, Damiana looks at her brother. "You don't get it, Saeran. I don't care if I get destroyed! I can't leave Dabnod and I can't leave you and mama. You're my family and Dabnod's my home. I'd rather be destroyed with Dabnod than live on another planet without you."
Inhaling sharply, Saeran turns down yet another hallway and, at last, into a small room. Upon entering the room both of Damiana's hearts sink. Lining three out of the four walls are small doors crafted from sturdy metal. The moment she sees them she knows exactly what they lead to; they lead to single passenger space pods. The lights above most of them are red rather than green, letting Damiana and Saeran both know that most of them have already been taken. When Saeran tightens his grip on her wrist and drags her toward a door with a green light her hearts sink further.
"Saeran!" Damiana shouts loudly. "Saeran, what are you doing?! Don't put me in there! Please!"
The boy doesn't listen. Rather, he uses his free hand to punch in a code on the keypad and then to shove open the door. Based on the dour look on his face, it's obvious to Damiana that she and her older brother are about to part ways. Before shoving her in, however, he says one final thing. Gazing down at the eleven-year-old, Saeran's eyes and hair shift to blue streaked with black.
"Damiana, I'm sorry, but I have to do this. I don't think that Dabnod is going to make it. If I let you stay here knowing that everything will be destroyed, I could never forgive myself."
With that being said, Saeran scoops Damiana up and shoves her into the small vessel. Damiana would like to protest; she would like to get out of this pod and help fight the Tamaraneans; she would like to find mama. Yet, she doesn't. Instead, all she does is watch helplessly as Saeran closes the door behind her. Saeran looks at her through the ship's small window, eyes an odd mixture between the colors blue and dark gray. The color alone completely unnerves Damiana, never having seen it on Saeran before. The only thing that unnerves her further is how his eyes well up with tears as he pulls a small black lever and pushes a red button. Knowing what's about to happen, Damiana screams.
"No! Saeran, don't! Please don't do this to me, Saeran! Saeran!"
The girl bangs on the window as hard as she can, but it's no use. Three seconds pass and beeping sounds off from a speaker inside of her pod, telling her that she needs to fasten herself in. Then, a moment after that, she hears the sound of the engine roaring to life as the tiny single-person ship prepares to shoot up the hatch, out of Palace, and away from Dabnod. Even so, this doesn't force Damiana to cease her screaming. If anything, she bangs and screams all the more. She even shoots streams of fire at the window using her fingertips. Sadly, nothing breaks, cracks, or even fractures.
"No! Let me out of this thing! I'm not leaving you and mama! I'm not leaving Dabnod! Please don't make me leave, Saeran! I don't know what to do without you!"
Saeran never looks away from his baby sister. His eyes remain fixed on her the whole time, tears streaming down his face. Damiana doesn't notice, but tears trail down her cheeks as well. Taking a gasping breath, her older brother gives a small wave. Though she can't hear him, Damiana can tell that he speaks due to the fact that his lips are moving. Of course, it doesn't matter if she can't hear him. Even with her tears and her panic, the girl can read his lips perfectly.
"Goodbye, Damiana. I love you."
Somehow those simple words cause Damiana to go limp. Pressing her arms and her forehead against the glass, she sobs bitterly. Meanwhile, the girl replies to her brother's last words to her as loudly as she can manage.
"I love you too, Saeran! If you find mama, give her a hug and a kiss for me! Tell her I love her!"
It is then that Damiana discovers she'd said the words just in time. Not even a second later the space pod is pulled backwards by about three feet and is then propelled up a long vertical shaft. Once this happens Damiana doesn't feel her body getting roughly flung against the ship's metal wall. She doesn't notice how the red glow of the ship's control panel is the only thing giving her light. When the space pod exits the shaft she doesn't even notice the orange and black sky or the Tamaranean warriors that shoot starbolts at her tiny vessel as it rushes to break free from the atmosphere. All she does is curl into a tight ball against the cold metal ground while crying sorrowful, pain-filled, tears.
Four Hours Later
Damiana doesn't know how long it took, but she eventually stood up from the floor and strapped herself into her seat. Honestly, she doesn't want to float through space in this tiny ship and doesn't want to continue getting farther away from Dabnod. If she could, she would return to the planet right now and stay there; even if it meant being killed by the Tamaraneans or their allies. Of course, Damiana knows that this is quite impossible. Through the pressing of many buttons, it has been learned that the ship is set on autopilot and cannot be reprogrammed without extensive technical knowledge. Also, she learned that the space pod will do one of two things depending on what happens to Dabnod.
If Queen Guayusa and her knights win against the Tamaraneans then her ship will go back to Dabnod along with all of the others. When that happens she can find mama and Saeran, help rebuild, possibly become a Palace scribe, and live happily ever after just like in the fairy tale book she was reading. However, if something happens where the Dabnodians loss the war and the planet parishes, then the ship's computer program will select a planet and take her there. If that happens she will be forced to live on an alien world all by herself without a family and could very well be miserable for the remainder of her days. Of course, if she's living by herself without a home or a family, the remainder of her days might not be very long.
Taking in a deep breath, Damiana does her best to stay calm. Most likely the latter option won't happen. This is Queen Guayusa and her army of powerful Dabnodian knights. Not to mention there are a lot of strong elemental wielders among Dabnodian civilians too. Most likely Dabnod will be fine and Damiana will get to return home in no more than a day. Running a hand through currently black and purple tresses, the girl begins using her other hand to dig around inside a medium-sized bag she brought with her. In this bag are basic things her mother hastily threw in, such as nonperishable food, water, and two changes of clothes. However, buried at the bottom, there are a few things that Damiana stuffed in there by herself. These things would be the three books she grabbed out of her room; books written in the Dabnodian language containing stories native to her planet.
It takes some searching, but at last Damiana finds what she's looking for. Giving the smallest of grins, she pulls out a hardcover book with a green and silver cover. At first Damiana's intent was to read the book. If not read it, then she was at least going to flip through and look at the pictures. There are pictures of fields with tall purple grasses; pictures of endless orange oceans meeting purple and green skies; pictures of quaint villages built out of rose colored stone and black obsidian. Wherever a place exists on Dabnod, this book has a picture that goes with it. The very reason Damiana grabbed this book was because in case the Tamaraneans destroy these places she will always be able to look at them.
Yet, for some reason, the girl doesn't open the book. Instead she holds it tightly to her chest and looks out the ship's window. Earlier when she gazed out into space she was able to see other pods floating alongside hers as well as the massive orange and purple orb known as Dabnod. If she looked close enough at the planet she was able to see cloud-like masses the colors of black and burnt orange. Right now, however, the sight is very different. Dabnod, which looked like a massive orb just a few hours ago, isn't any larger than a golf ball. Of course, besides Dabnod, Damiana doesn't see anything except stars and thick never-ending blackness. She can't even see other space pods anymore. Terrified at how far away she's drifting, Damiana prays to a random deity that might be listening.
"If there's someone out there who can hear me , please let me be okay. More than anything I want to go back to Dabnod, but if I can't please let me get through it somehow. I pray that Saeran didn't save my life for nothing." It takes a long time, but at last she adds, "Also, if it's not too much trouble, please keep mama and Saeran safe too. Whether they're on the planet or off the planet, please keep them safe."
With that being said, the small-framed eleven-year-old curls her legs under her and sits in silence. The whole time she continues sitting in her seat and staring out the window. She has no idea how long she stares at the purple and orange orb that was her birth place. All Damiana knows is that in the time she watches it, Dabnod shrinks from the size of a golf ball to the size of a large marble. She's so far away at this point that the orange and purple blend together into a single color. Biting her lower lip, she whispers to herself for comfort.
"Dabnod's going to be okay. Queen Guayusa is going to win."
For twenty minutes straight she repeats these words like a mantra. Somehow, even though Damiana is seventy-percent sure that she's lying to herself, it manages to reassure her. Of course, a few seconds later, the words aren't comforting in the least. Even if she did utter her mantra it would only make her cry or pass out from shock.
BOOM!
All of the sudden, without the slightest bit of warning, the orange and purple marble-sized orb explodes into a mass of black, bright yellow, and burnt orange. The explosion is one so massive that it is easily three times the size of the planet itself. Upon closer observation, it could possibly quadruple Dabnod's size. Damiana would know for sure, but she doesn't get the chance to observe. Approximately ten seconds after the explosion her tiny space pod is sent reeling. It tosses and turns so quickly that she drops her book and braces herself against the edges of her seat for safety. Even with as quickly as the pod is moving, Damiana doesn't notice the spinning. She is in a state of shock and disbelief.
"No," the girl whispers aloud. "That didn't happen. That did not just happen. Dabnod is fine. It must have been a star… A meteorite… Or maybe one of Dabnod's moons…"
The girl tries to keep herself in a state of denial. She truly does. However, when the space pod's engine roars to life and the vessel stops its quick turning, denial becomes harder. A moment or two later the window transforms into a type of screen and denial becomes impossible. In bold Dabnodian letters, the words "Home Planet Annihilated" appear. Once this happens the sound of a robotic voice comes over a speaker. What it says causes Damiana's eyes to water with fresh tears.
"Your home planet, the planet of Dabnod, has been annihilated. The search for a new home planet is now commencing."
With that the words vanish from the screen, pictures of rapidly-changing planets taking its place. As she watches the screen, Damiana feels herself sobbing for the second time in one day. Even so, she still watches the screen. When the changing of images stops, it happens on a small green and blue planet. Honestly, Damiana is surprised by the size of it. It's only about half the size of Dabnod. When the planet lights up red and the voice comes back over the speakers, Damiana knows that this little planet is where this pod is going to forcibly take her.
"A new planet has been located. We are now setting in course for planet Earth."
Damiana stares blankly at the blue and green planet through her gray tear-stained eyes. Earth. She recognizes the name. Speaking several Earth languages and having read many books from there, she is actually very familiar. Quite honestly, she should be happy that the space pod is dragging her to a place that she knows well. Yet, Damiana isn't happy at all. Instead, the girl has never felt more miserable and more helpless in her entire life.
Speaking in between sobs, she voices her worries aloud. "You're all alone now, Damiana. There's no mama and there's no Saeran. You're going to be all by yourself on an alien planet."
A/N: Okay, folks, that was the first chapter. Again, Teen Titans is very different from what I normally write, but nonetheless, I can't wait to get deeper into this story! It will definitely be a long and complex story, but still the very idea of writing it excites me! Teen Titans forever! XD
Until my next update.
Forever and always,
OCQ