terraized

It was all a faded sense of reality, a blur of memories that she lived her life in. This life, it consisted of an exploration of her memories in the most painful way, for her happy memories tended to escape her whenever she reached out for them. Instead the sadness of her days after Starfire had left came back to her, haunting her psyche with a vengeance that seemed to tell her that it was all her fault, that she should have stopped Starfire and kept her from the portal as any fate that awaiting them as a result of Warp's theft would be far kinder than this. Instead her eyes stare aimlessly into the white void in front of her, a memory taking her over.

A faint noise disturbed her for a moment but she paid no mind, it being background noise to her memory. It was fifteen years ago, only a few years after the remaining four members of the Teen Titans had broken up, yet Robin- or rather, Nightwing- had called them back to the tower for a reunion. He and Cyborg had a plan to find a way to go back in time to stop Starfire from entering the portal, but even Nightwing was skeptical, it showed on his masked face. "We can do it," he would say, a false smile dusting his face as a reminder to his motivation skills. "Even if we can't, there's still a chance she'll come back, isn't there? She wouldn't just leave us like this, this is Starfire we're talking about."

"But, dude," Beast Boy would counter, his voice having grown deeper, but still raspy and innocent. "It's been five years, wouldn't she have come back by now?"

"She might have gone further into the future than we had expected," Nightwing would explain sadly, looking at Cyborg in hopes for some back up.

He would pick up the hint and speak. "The time piece was set to go a hundred years into the future, but if Starfire managed to damage it in the moments it would take to travel, the time could have been shortened." Cyborg would then sit down abruptly, exhaling heavily with a short apology. Then he would stand again and leave for his room, presumably for a recharge. He would need them more and more frequently, his technology out-dating fast.

"But is there any proof that the time did shorten?" Raven would inquire, causing Nightwing to shake his head and sigh. Her expression would grow twisted, voices of her emotions breaking down within her echoing. Ten seconds, she had ten seconds to get it together or her powers would lash out. In a panic, she would stand and race to her room where she had her suitcase, her mirror being pulled from the container rapidly as she chanted her mantra over and over. It was a shaky ride into her mind, for when she opened her eyes again her mind was a wreck. The emotions' domains were twisting together, Happy's pinks and blues melding into Rage's reds and blacks, mixing with Bravery's greens and browns and Knowledge's yellows and whites. It was a motley of colors all converging to the center of her mind.

"No, no, no," Raven would utter as the fighting emotions ceased, all making a path towards her. One by one they would land, questioning her all too familiarly. "Where's Starfire?" "She's not back yet!" "We need her back!" "We won't last much longer!" "She's gotta come back, come on" "We should go look for her!"

Finally, it was enough, and Raven would screech in frustration and agony, "She's never coming back! Go away!"