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Chapter One: There Had Better Be Tea
She breathed slowly, In and out. In and out. From her thin lips, words came…a chant…
Azarath. Metrion. Zenthos.
Azarath. Metrion. Zenthos.
...the names of places...Her home. Her dimension. Her world. A triad of cities in the Nothingness.
Azarath. Metrion. Zenthos.
Azarath. Metrion. Zenthos.
Nearby, scattered around her on the rooftop, their metal glittering in the sun, was debris from their last battle. A few large ventilation ducts, a metal crate or two, a large hunk of the Tower’s previous outer wall…they were all there around her.
Without opening her eyes, Raven’s breathing deepened and her pulse slowed further. Her spirit reached out in the nothingness around her, reached out in the blackness of the Void. A few feet away, one of the large ventilation ducts started glowing faintly. The light was the light of the Void. Black and yet, strangely, luminescent…
Azarath. Metrion. Zenthos.
Azarath. Metrion. Zenthos.
Raven felt herself reach out farther and another piece of metal farther away started glowing as well. Focusing her energy, she directed the two pieces of metal to levitate. Then in an equally focused and calm manner, she hurled them into the sky.
Then in a abrupt motion, she jerked herself from her meditative state and pushed off from the ground. Soaring, her now-open eyes blazing jet-black, Raven flew towards the rapidly falling metal debris. Her energy spiked and with precision she threw several energy bolts at the metal.
When she landed on the rooftop once agaig the two metal pieces were nowhere to be seen; however, a fine metallic powder fell onto the rooftop all around her. Her breath ragged and heart suddenly racing, Raven banished the powder into the Void.
“Impressive.” a voice behind her noted.
She turned towards the trapdoor that led down into the tower. Robin stood there, arms crossed and a smile caused the corner of his lips to curl. She did not speak and neither did he as he uncrossed his arms and walked over to where she stood. Only when he looked out over the bay towards the direction of the city did she speak.
“You know I hate when you do that.” she groused. Robin chuckled to himself.
“I know. You hate when one of us watches you while you train. Too bad.” he replied and turned his head to look at her. “And anyway, I didn’t mean to watch anyhow. I came to tell you that dinner was ready…”
She pulled her hood over her eyes to shield them from the brightness of the sun as it reflected on the windows of buildings and the surface of the water around Titan Tower. Her voice was deadpan as she spoke, “I’m not hungry.”
“Too bad.” he repeated and his smile reached his eyes. “Because I’m the leader here, and I need my teammates fit for battle. That means you too.”
She resigned herself to the subtle order. “There had better be tea.”
“It’s about time you two got here. I’ve already had to chase BB away from the food twice. You’re lucky that there’s any left.” Cyborg said and set the two plates down at the table. Robin sat down next to Starfire and picked up his utensils. Raven looked at her plate and then back at Cyborg. Just as she had suspected. No tea.
Out of the corner of her eye, Raven noticed that Beastboy was eye-balling her plate.
Unceremoniously, Raven shot Beastboy a glare and told him to keep his eyes on his own food. A whimper rose out of his throat and he complied without another word. Things between him and Raven, as usualg worked out of sheer tolerance on Raven’s part. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Beastboy or that she felt that he was simply always in the way…but she did feel that, although Beastboy may not be able to help it, he had a tendency to be a bit of a numbskull.
Raven walked over to the counter and reached up into an upper cabinet. From its innards came her customary box of herbal tea. She started some water boiling and got her mug from another cabinet.
Cyborg noted her actions and, with a smile, teased, “Come on, Rae! Not that same herbal stuff…aren’t you tired of it by now? Why not try some of MY tea…good, ol’ fashion iced tea.“ For emphasis, he took a swig of the brown liquid in his own glass. Sighing with satisfaction, he commented, “Yo, now that is some good stuff. Sure you don’t want to try some?”
Raven’s reply was short.“No.”
Then, realizing how callous her answer must sound, she added a quiet, “But thanks anyway.”
Cyborg simply shrugged and continued chewing his pork chops. “Eh, suit yourself Rae. But you don‘t know what you‘re missing…”
“Yes I do. A caffeine-induced headache.” she retorted with an upturned lip of her own. She poured her own brew into her mug and sat down between Beastboy and Cyborg. Without much ado, she started eating.
Everything at the table was relatively quiet…Raven wondered why everyone was so silent.
There was usually an argument every five second at meal time with this group. But today, everyone seemed to be pretty much chilled out. Beastboy was behaving, Robin and Starfire were chatting amongst themselves…once in a while the tinkling laughter of the green-eyed alien could be heard in the kitchen.
And as for Cyborg, he was unusually subdued as well in his chair beside her. Usually he and Beastboy would be arguing about who got seconds, then thirds...whether or not pancakes or waffles were better and the like.
“My friends, Robin and I have an announcement to make. It is very urgent and I will need all of your attentions.” Starfire’s clear, cheerful voice called, breaking into Raven’s musings. “There is to be a large celebration!”
Starfire instantly had the attention of Cyborg and Beastboy. They only needed to hear the word celebration to erupt into instant commotion. Cyborg pumped his cyberonic arm into the air. “Alright! What’s the occasion? Birthday? Holiday? Anniversary? Bar Mitzvah?”
Starfire looked confused and looked down at Robin, “Robin. What means this ‘Bar Mitzvah?’ Is that what we are celebrating?”
Robin laughed and stood up as well, he shook his head. “No Starfire. I’ll tell you what that is later. Everyone, Starfire and I want to announce that we are engaged! I asked her to marry me last night and she said ‘yes’! Isn’t that wonderful!”
The two faces on either side of Raven’s dropped to the floor. She raised an eyebrow. Robin’s insistence that she be at dinner now seemed very clear. Cyborg was the first to recover from the shock.
“An Engagement Party! That’s awesome, dude! I’m so happy for you. Man, this is sweet!” he hollered and rushed over to the other side of the table to put his arms around the happy couple. Starfire’s eyes were shining and Robin looked a tad embarrassed.
Raven offered her own congratulations. “That’s great, you guys. I’m happy for you.”
Beastboy was still shocked, but the surprised was beginning to fade a bit. “You mean, you guys are like getting married and stuff? That’s…I mean…wow…I…That’s awesome!”
The remainder of the meal was spent discussing the specifics of the celebration. Throughout the entire thing, Raven kept her peace and remained silent. She spoke again only when Starfire asked her to be her Zorgbethian Mistrobet. At Raven's blank stare, Robin had had to informed her that it was the Tamaranian equivalent to 'Maid of Honor'.
Thus informed, Raven had accepted with a short “Sure.”
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