Raven's Secret

Chapter Four

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Robin awoke to a white blinding light. A flash of purple caught his eye. He turned his head to the right, but a shock of pain pervaded his body. As another flash of purple caught his eye, Robin decided to follow it with his eyes. He turned his eyes to the right. 'There it is,' Robin thought to himself as he spotted the purple…thing, whatever it was.

Then the purple thing leaned over his face and a soft, but monotone said, "He has awakened."

Robin's eyes adjusted to the light and he realized that the purple thing was Raven's hair. He gazed into Raven's amethyst eyes, which were staring right back at him.

"I told you not to leave your room. Do you see what happens when you don't listen? You black out and get the wind knocked out of you," Raven said as she continued to stare at Robin.

"I'm sorry Raven, but I had to leave. I felt that you were in trouble. I felt that you needed my help," Robin apologized.

Raven turned her face away from Robin. "Thank you for your help, but you hurt yourself in the process." She turned to Robin again and said, "Cyborg will be here in a moment to help you to your room."

Robin cocked an eyebrow. "Why can't you help me?"

Raven stood in the doorway and turned to face Robin. "I-I kind of have something to do." With that, she exited the Titans' Medical Ward and the door closed behind her.

…

'Azarath Metrion Zinthos… Azarath Metrion Zinthos…' Raven chanted as she defied gravity on her bedroom floor. She kept her eyes closed as she floated four inches off the ground, which is less than her normal height of eight inches. She tried her hardest to concentrate, but she simply could not. Raven fell back to the ground. She pushed herself up off the floor with all of her strength and crawled into bed. 'Why can't I concentrate?' she asked sighed and shut her eyes tight; she was weary from the battle and also felt weak.

After a few minutes of trying, she finally found nirvana.

…

Robin stared up at his ceiling. He couldn't sleep. As he turned over on his side, a sharp sting of excruciating pain engulfed his stomach. Robin held his stomach and winced in pain. 'My God, Mammoth's punches hurt like hell,' Robin thought as a single tear slid down his cheek and dropped on his pillow. "No!" he yelled, to himself in particular. "Only weak fools cry! You are not a weak fool! Stop crying, dammit!" Robin stared at his wall, which was cluttered with newspaper articles. 'Look, all of those articles celebrate the Titans' victories. We have won every battle that we were put up against. But you have failed your team this time. You're supposed to be the leader. You were their last hope today, and you blew it!' Robin scolded himself as he held his stomach in never ending pain. He breathed out angrily as he made an attempt to calm himself.

He failed.

Robin then thought about what Raven said to him.

"Calm down, Robin. First, you cross your legs, like so. Then, you close your eyes. Take in the silence and peace of the room with a few breaths. Meditation is the process of clearing your head and eliminating any negative thoughts," Raven's calm and monotonous voice floated through his ears from memory. "Then why are you so negative?" Robin had replied to her. "Ha, ha," Raven had replied dryly.

Robin sat up in his bed crossed his legs. It caused him a great amount of pain, but Robin braved the pain and followed directions, which was something he wasn't used to doing. He closed his eyes. The rare silence in Robin's room lingered on for a moment- that was until Starfire burst into Robin's room with a cup of water and rather large bowl of green gook. Robin's eye twitched a few times before he unfolded his legs.

"Friend Robin, I have brought you some drinking fluids and The Pudding of Sickness. On my planet, we consumed large amounts of the Pudding of Sickness when we were feeling ill," Starfire grinned. She thrust the bowl into Robin's shaking hands.

Robin looked down at the green…stuff. He could've sworn it moved. Robin's stomach did Routine 5 (I hate when I have to explain jokes; remember as a child, Robin and his family were acrobats. They had routines…figure out the joke) as he took another quick glance at the green gook.

"No thanks Starfire. I- I'm not hungry right now," Robin said with a kind smile. Yeah, I'm not hungry for that.

Starfire looked down at her food. She looked up again with a smile on her face. "Okay, I shall prepare something else! I shall store the food that belongs to you in the Oven of Microwaveable Objects. You may it consume it when you are ready for consumption!" Starfire suggested cheerfully.

"NO!" Robin yelled accidentally. He blushed a bit as Starfire gazed at him, clearly puzzled. "I mean no. You don't have to do that for me. You'll be wasting your time. I don't want to be a bother. I'll order food…or something like that. I'll be fine, Star," Robin corrected himself quickly. He wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead as Starfire exited the room.

Robin gazed at his nightstand. His solitary T-Comm was his object of interest.

A sigh.

Robin turned to his door. There standing in the doorway was Raven.

"You miss the action? The adventure? You miss being our leader?" Raven asked, but it seemed more like three statements.

Robin cocked an eyebrow. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Oh, about two minutes."

"Why?"

Raven held up a small pill bottle and a glass of water. "These." With that said, Raven walked over to Robin's bedside and handed him his pain medication.

As Raven reached down to hand Robin his pills, something red caught Robin's eye. He grabbed Raven's arm. Raven stared at Robin in surprise and confusion.

"Robin, what the hell are you doing?" Raven asked with a hint of anger.

Robin ignored Raven's question and tore a bit of Raven's sleeve off. There, on Raven's pale and bony arm, were five long red scars. Robin stared at Raven in disbelief.

"Raven…" Robin managed to utter. He continued to stare at Raven's face.

Raven narrowed her eyes down at the carpet. She tried to pull her arm out of Robin's grasp, but she did not prevail.

"Raven, I had no idea. But- but why?" Robin asked with genuine sincerity.

Raven finally looked at Robin. "I don't cut."

This made Robin pretty angry. "How could you say that you don't cut when I can clearly see the scars! How could you lie to me when the evidence is right there?" Robin asked, nearly yelling.

"I. Do not. Cut," Raven said between small breaths. She turned away from Robin as a solitary tear made its way down her face. "You wouldn't understand."

Robin gently laid his hand on Raven's face as another tear rolled down her cheek. "What's wrong? What is it that you don't think I would understand? Help me to see," he said.

Raven glanced at Robin, who was not acting like his normal edgy self. He was…caring and sincere. Raven held Robin's hand and chanted, "Azarath, Metrion, ZINTHOS!"

…

Robin found himself in a room that was glazed with darkness. He looked to the left and saw a red hulking figure towering over a small girl.

"You WILL reign! You WILL take over Azarath! It is your destiny, young one. And you will fulfill it," the red beast commanded.

The small girl looked up at the beast and flared her nostrils. "Never! You cannot make me and I will never let you order me around!" she yelled bravely.

"Yes…you…WILL!" the beast yelled back. He wrapped his massive hand around the small girl's neck and held her against the wall. "You do as I say…or else."

The small girl struggled under the beast's massive hold on her neck. She choked. As the beast let go, the girl crumpled to the ground. She slowly regained her breath. She glanced up at the beast angrily. "Leave me…alone," the girl said as she stabbed the beast in his foot with a small pencil that was lying on the ground only moments before.

The beast shrieked in pain. As the girl tried to make her getaway, he grabbed her by her purple hair and swung her to the ground. Then, he wrapped his arms around the girl's shoulders.

"If you, my child, truly decide not to start a reign of terror and hatred over all of Azarath, then I bind you from ever using our powers again. On the day commemorating this day fifteen years in the future, you shall suffer the dire consequences of your decision," the beast said. With that, the beast left the small girl on the floor. He walked past Robin, who was invisible to him.

Robin ran over to the girl to get a closer look. There, on her arm, were five long red scars.

…

Robin found himself in his room once more. He turned to his right and saw Raven in a deep trance. "Raven?" Robin called in a questionable tone.

Raven opened her eyes slowly. She turned to Robin.

"Raven, what are the consequences?" Robin asked.

"Death."

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Next Chapter coming soon. Review PLEASE!

A/N: That chapter took a while to write. To me, it sounds a little like Birthmark, but I had this idea before I heard of the Birthmark episode. It sounds a lot like I copied from the Birthmark episode, but I did not! Like I said, I had this idea before I found out about the Birthmark episode. I just was having a hard time writing it.