Fan Fiction ❯ From Stone ❯ Reflections Of What Is Lost ( Chapter 6 )

Disclaimer: Since I obviously don't own the copyright to Teen Titans, I'm taking advantage of the Fair Use Clause of the Copyright laws to write a story with them in it. Who knew the government would protect the little guys? Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

 

Chapter 6: Reflections Of What Is Lost

 

Cyborg re-entered the operations room; Raven was missing, as was Beast Boy. Robin had promised to look for them, but hadn't found them. Starfire had been asleep when he went to talk to her… Cyborg let out a heavy sigh, this night was not going well and the incessant rain wasn't helping to lighten his mood. “BB, you in here?” His voice was tinged with anticipation, and a bit of weariness. “Guess not.”

Cyborg turned to leave when he heard something… it sounded like someone crying. He turned to find Raven and Beast Boy in the middle of the room, her holding him close to her, “It will be alright… I will find a way…” She murmured gently, leaning his head onto her shoulder. Beast Boy was crying again, but he was also soaking wet, both of them were. Cyborg stood there silently, watching them. Beast Boy was shivering from the cold, barely able to hold onto Raven, who was basically keeping his frame from falling forward. Still, she held him tightly, trying her best to comfort him and talk to him. The sounds of crying went on for only a short time, before stopping. Beast Boy had passed out, and Raven gently placed him on the floor.

“What happened?” Cyborg asked taking a few steps forward.

“Beast Boy needs to go to the infirmary.” She said, her normal monotone voice cracked a little, tinged with sadness. Even in the darkness and with her cowl up he could see her lip trembling ever so slightly.

“What happened?” Cyborg repeated, looking at her.

Raven forced herself to remain calm, she wouldn't tell him what had happened at the roof, that he had tried to jump, but why else would they be so wet? “I saw Terra.”

Cyborg's eye went wide, “What?”

“I was looking for Beast Boy and I went to Terra's room and I found her there.”

“Terra's here? In the tower? Alive?!” Cyborg's mouth hung open loosely, but Raven bowed her head.

“Her spirit, it was in her room. She knew Beast Boy was in trouble and she helped me find him. She's still alive Cyborg, but her spirit left her body to save him.”

Cyborg didn't know what to say, a mix of emotions, shock, and an almost complete ignorance of the powers Raven possessed kept him from saying anything that would have made sense. She put a hand on his shoulder, “Get Beast Boy to the infirmary.”

Cyborg woke up from his trance and scooped Beast Boy up from the floor. Raven watched him for a moment, wondering what she was going to do. Cyborg held Beast Boy up. He looked at her worried, “And what are you going to do?”

Raven looked at Beast Boy, he was soaking wet, his uniform clinging to him. She must look the same, but her cloak was enough covering that she didn't have to cover her chest. Looking at Cyborg with a deadpan expression she murmured, “I'm going to change.”

 

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Raven wasn't sure what had happened in Terra's room. It was her best guess that her powers had been enough to bring Terra into a physical form, but it was unlike any other time she had spoken to a… `ghost'. She shivered at the thought of calling Terra that, it wasn't the right word, but for now it would have to do. The others wouldn't understand the terminology anyway.

She grabbed a towel and dried her hair, thankful to be free of her soaked clothing and in a new outfit, despite the fact they looked exactly the same. Taking the soaking clothes she went to her hamper and opened it to toss them in. Instead she stopped; the small bin was filled with papers. Putting her wet clothing aside, she picked up the shredded pages on top. Cyborg had told her that he and Starfire had cleaned up her room… she sighed heavily and sat down on her bed.

Her collection had been destroyed, all the ancient mystic texts she had were gone, and in their stead the book Beast Boy had given her as a gag. She grimaced; she might actually have to read that one now… Sifting through the small pile in her hand she tried to piece things together. Parts of the several famous tomes lay before her, shredded so badly that it would take years to find and piece even one back together, and that was the best estimate. With an exasperated sigh she took the pages and tossed them back into the bin.

A knock at the door and Raven turned to look, even though she couldn't see through walls, “Who is it?”

“Robin.” He replied simply, no emotion attached to the voice.

“And Starfire.” She seemed reluctant, her voice lower than normal, almost scared.

Raven thought about the two, Robin was rarely emotional in any sense of the term, but Starfire was an open book to anyone around her, smiling widely or frowning deeply and on the verge of tears. Getting up she walked over to the door, opening it enough so they could see one of her eyes, but not the other, concealing the rest of the room behind her, “What do you want?”

Robin looked directly at Raven, but Starfire avoided eye contact, her eyes red from crying. Raven frowned, “Starfire, is everything…”

Starfire quickly turned, flew past Robin, and grabbed Raven through the doorway, giving her half a hug, letting out a feeble whimper, “Cyborg told us you found Terra's ghost…”

Raven paused; Starfire had been with her during several séances, speaking to the spirits of the dead. Still, Starfire possessed little conceptual knowledge of ghosts and spirits and would have used the words interchangeably. Raven waited a moment, pulled back, closed and then opened the door fully, barely having time before Starfire hugged her again. Raven sighed; this was going to be a rather interesting explanation. “Terra is a spirit, she is not dead.”

Starfire pulled back for a moment, “But how? Are not all spirits dead?”

“No, not all. Terra's soul is no longer bound within the stone statue, but she is not dead... it's complicated.” Raven said, and for a moment the corridor was silent.

Robin looked confused, but said nothing, knowing better than to question Raven on supernatural matters. Starfire looked less confused than ecstatic, having been taught some basic magic, she grabbed Raven and hugged again, “OH! Terra will be saved!”

Raven's expression didn't change, but after a moment, she moved back and out of Starfire's grip, “She will be.”

Robin frowned, “How are you going to do it without having your books?”

Raven paused, she had tried figuring out how she was going to fulfill her promise since she had made it, the little nagging thought at the back at her mind. Her face remained slightly disinterested the entire time and finally she focused on Robin, “If I knew that, she would be back already.”

“You don't know a way to bring her back…” Robin sighed heavily, and Starfire's face drooped a little, Raven remained stolid. “Starfire, could you check on Beast Boy for me?” Robin asked the question without warning, and Starfire left the pair alone, slowly floating down the hallway. Robin watched until she turned a corner, and then went back to looking at Raven, “What did Beast Boy do?”

“Beast Boy didn't do anything.”

“You are a horrible liar. Now tell me what Beast Boy was doing when you found him.”

Raven tensed slightly, “He was on the roof.”

Robin crossed his arms, “Doing what?” Raven didn't reply, looking away from him, shirking off the question entirely. Robin shook his head, “He wasn't in trouble from anyone other than himself.”

“Terra sent me to save him. I never told Cyborg who he needed saving from.” Raven responded, trying to keep calm.

“That's the second time he's done something like this. It will be necessary to keep him under guard for the next few nights. Then we'll discuss his membership on the team.” Robin strained to keep his voice calm, cool and collected, despite the pain the words brought him, but he knew it had to be said.

He paused to let it sink in, Raven just stood there shocked, “Discuss his membership? You want him off the team?”

Robin frowned, “He tried to kill himself Raven. If he can't value his own life, how can we trust he'll value ours during a battle?” It felt as if Robin had just punched her in the gut, she wasn't even able to think of a response. He had tried to kill himself, but he wasn't about to let his friends be hurt. She opened her mouth to speak, but Robin cut her off, “I will tell Cyborg and Starfire to keep an eye on him.” He turned to leave and then stopped, looking back without turning around, “Never make a promise that important unless you are certain you can keep it.” Without another word he walked away.

 

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Beast Boy was lying on the cot in the medical bay, staring at the ceiling. The rhythmic beating of his heart and the accompanying beats from the monitors were the only sounds. Cyborg had his arms across his chest and was leaning forward, making a soft snoring sound. Beast Boy's mind wandered, Raven had seen Terra. Terra had been with him in her room, had heard everything he had said. Beast Boy closed his eyes, letting his mind conjure up images of Terra, smiling, wearing the black T-shirt with the Titan's insignia emblazoned on it and skin tight yellow shorts. The uniform she had worn while she was in the Titans. He looked into her deep blue eyes, but there was no happiness there, tears were welling up, and in his mind Terra cried.

She turned away, with a sniffle, wiping a tear away from her face, “Why Beast Boy?”

Beast Boy ran to her, placing a hand on her back, trying to force a smile, “Terra? Terra it's all right I'm here. I wont leave you. Not again.”

She turned, looking at him dead in the eye, the tears were gone, “But you almost did. Why did you do it Beast Boy?”

He pulled back, stunned, “I… I…”

Her shoulders fell for a moment, and then she lunged forward and hugged him, pulling him in tightly, tears dripping down onto his shoulders. He wrapped his arms around her, “Terra, I'm sorry.”

She pulled back, looking at him from inches away, so close. She was still holding him, but he could feel her trembling in his arms. Tears poured from her eyes, and her lips quivered. She blinked the tears away, looking him in the eyes again, a focused, solid, scared look into his eyes, “Don't do that again, ever again, do you hear me Beast Boy? You have to promise me. Don't ever do it again.” Beast Boy nodded dumbly, and Terra's head fell on his shoulders. She was still crying, all he could do was hold her, letting his shoulder become soaked with her tears.

“Terra, I love you.” Beast Boy hugged her as tightly as he could and found he was hugging air, looking around the room. Cyborg was still asleep; the monitor was still beating, but faster as his heart had been racing the entire time. Beast Boy sighed and laid back down in bed, “Just a…” He hadn't noticed it until then. His shoulder was wet.

 

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Raven looked down at the shattered mirror sadly, like so many other things, it had been destroyed. The glass was shattered, the damage would take weeks to repair, no normal mirror would do until she had blessed it and performed the right incantations to prepare it. Thankfully, she had memorized those rituals or she would never be able to figure them out. Raven placed the mirror down, with an uncomfortable sigh, things never went as planned. She had tried to learn a way to save Terra and it had wound up nearly destroying her. She had been so drained that she had entered her own mind and had nearly died. It was only Beast Boy's intervention that had… Raven froze. Beast Boy had intervened. She looked back down at the mirror; it had been damaged when she had destroyed her room. How had he entered her mind?

Had he shattered it once he had exited her mind? Raven shook that thought away, even in Beast Boy's condition, he wouldn't have destroyed her mirror. If not him, then who? Cyborg had said it was broken when they had found it. Raven was left with the impossible and the implausible. Either the mirror had somehow worked for Beast Boy while shattered, or someone had broken it afterwards. While the second was viable option, it just didn't seem right. She had not sensed it's breakage, but when she had destroyed her room, she was far too busy to notice it. Nobody had broken it after she had come back. She frowned, looking at the mirror, Beast Boy couldn't have shattered it, she would have sensed him smashing it.

So, she had broken her mirror when she had destroyed her room, but how had Beast Boy used it? A dull pain reared in Raven's mind, impossible questions gave her headaches. There had to be a solution, there just had to be. Raven sat starring at the mirror, watching it, waiting for something, anything to happen. She wasn't about to let this slip; she knew the mirror had worked, somehow, for Beast Boy when he had gone into her mind. She looked at the clock, three am, far too early to wake him, especially after all that had gone on. Raven needed herbal tea…

The halls were quiet, but at three am, Raven expected them to be. She could hear Starfire snoring from outside her door as she passed, and she was certain that Robin was in his normal barely asleep, hand on the birdarang he slept with, position. She hadn't disturbed him while he slept more than once for a distinct reason. Down at the very end of the hall would be the infirmary. Beast Boy and Cyborg would be in there, hopefully sleeping. She would have to go there in the morning, talk with Beast Boy, explain about Terra… and tell him what Robin had told her. She sighed heavily, shaking her head. She knew that Beast Boy had broken protocol at least a dozen times; there was no denying that. Robin was only doing his job at this point, as team leader; he had to look out for the team's interests even if nobody liked it... and Raven certainly didn't. She entered the operations room and placed the tea on the kettle.

Raven usually avoided dwelling on things, but Robin had a knack for making things stick. `Never make a promise that important unless you are certain you can keep it.' When he had said that, she had wanted to crawl into a hole in the ground and die. He was right. She had no way to free Terra, not even a book to look through at this point. She was stuck, with nothing, no resources, no plans, no knowledge… nothing. The kettle began to hiss, steam piping from the small opening. Raven lifted it and poured it into a cup, taking a brief moment to relax before she took a sip. She lifted the cup to her mouth, the warm liquid calming her and seemingly sending a wave of warmth through her entire body. She would need it for what she was about to do. Taking the cup with her, Raven left the room and headed for Terra's.

It might have seemed foolish to some, to go to Terra's room at three am in the morning. But Raven knew well enough that ghosts… spirits, didn't sleep. Terra, if she were still in her room, would be quite awake and aware. The corridor began to get cooler as she headed towards the door, the steam coming from the tea becoming more and more noticeable. Raven' breathe became visible when she reached the door. If there was one thing she hated about the restless spirits it was that they dropped the temperature about twenty degrees, if not more… Terra had dropped it lower. Raven opened the door to be blasted by freezing cold air. Clutching the cloak closer, she took another sip of her tea; drawing out the last bit of warmth she would from the cup.

Raven looked about, trying to see her, but seeing nothing more than darkness and flapping drapes, “Terra?”

The wind responded, driving into Raven. Terra wasn't exactly adept at using her current… form. Raven sighed heavily, creating a cloud of mist in front of her. There was nothing outside of the brief sound of the wind whipping back through the room. Raven had her powers under control this time; she couldn't drain herself to give Terra a physical form. The wind whipped to the other end of the room and Raven braced herself. It rushed towards her, and, beyond the small howling sound she heard a word that made her gasp.

“Mirror…”

“Mirror?” Terra couldn't possibly mean her mirror; she must mean the mirror in her room, something. It didn't make any sense, how would she know about the mirror?

The wind whipped around again, twisting around her hands… almost as if Terra was trying to hold her hands. Raven looked about in the darkness, the mirror in Terra's room, maybe that was what she meant? Raven took a few steps forward, Terra's mirror was cracked, a few shards had actually fallen off, and there was frost on the edges. Raven paused, it still didn't click, what did Terra want? The wind passed by her, heading towards the mirror. The glass cracked ominously, more parts of it chipped and broke off as the intense cold struck it, but a light frost formed over it. Raven watched closely; maybe Terra had more control over this than she had given credit for…

Raven hadn't even finished with the thought when the frost began to change, lines began forming as if Terra had put her finger against it and was forming letters, but backwards. Raven paused, looking at it, `bring' was scrawled, clumsily, on the mirror. “Bring?” Raven leaned closer, making sure she got it right when the mirror cracked straight down the center, finally giving in to the extreme cold, and shattering into a million pieces.

Raven stumbled backwards; letting the shards fall on the ground in front of her. She frowned, looking at them, “Bring what? Terra, what do you want me to bring?”

The wind passed by her, a gentle, calm breeze, despite the biting cold. Terra spoke again, “Mirror.”

Raven nodded, exiting the room quickly, grateful to return to a temperature that couldn't be described as frigid. Taking a moment to enjoy the heat, she began to walk back to her room. How did Terra even know about her mirror? Ignoring that question for a moment, why would she want her to bring the mirror? She reached her room quickly, but paused outside the door. All the unanswered questions were weighing down on her. Then again, in he past twenty-four hours Beast Boy had tried to commit suicide and Terra's spirit had reappeared and had given the information Raven had needed to save him.

Raven let out a deep breath, went inside and got her mirror, she may not trust Terra entirely, but she had earned something when she had saved Beast Boy. She also grabbed another cloak putting it over the one she already wore, not that it would keep her any warmer when she went to visit Terra… she never got the chance, a gust of freezing cold air quickly burst into her room, causing Raven to pull back and put her arm in front of her to shelter her. The cold was amazing, the hairs stood on end and she had to shut her eyes to keep them from watering. The temperature had dropped so quickly, it had nearly stolen the air from Raven's lungs, “Terra… what are you doing?” She yelled above the howling wind.

There was a freakish crackling sound, barely audible above the wind and the yell, but Raven heard it. The wind settled, but the sound continued, a cracking creaking sound, something she couldn't truly describe. She hugged herself for what warmth she could, nearly dropping the mirror to the ground. “Terra…” her teeth began to chatter, the door closed and there was a distinct frost on it, in fact, her entire room was brushed with a bit of white. She looked about, feeling a slight breeze from behind her. “…what are you doing? Trying to freeze me to death?” Her breath came out in deep almost white plumes.

The wind blew by her and she heard Terra's voice once more, “Mirror…”

Raven frowned, “I have the mirror right…” Raven's eyes went wide, the cracks weren't visible, the glass had been… sealed together with ice? It was thicker, a small sheen of ice visible just outside of the glass. Raven's jaw went slack. Terra… had done this? She looked around, trying to find her, but feeling on a breeze behind her. She turned, but every time she looked, the wind would move behind her. “Did you seal up my mirror for Beast Boy to use?” The wind didn't reply, simply following behind her. “How did you know about my mirror? Is this how Beast Boy used it?” Still no response, Raven bit her lip, this was unlike anything she had ever dealt with before. She looked down at the mirror held loosely in her numb hand, and the wind stopped directly behind her. Her eyes went wide for a moment and she lifted it to look at herself… and Terra behind her.

`Mirror…' They both mouthed silently… and then both smiled.