It is the noise of something breaking that wakes Aurelia up. She hears the shattering noise break through her dreams and her eyes immediately snap open. When she sits up and looks around her room, she doesn't see anything. All she sees is the scattered pile of magical texts on her desks.
'Then what was that noise?' Aurelia thinks to herself. She checks the time on the wall clock and sees that it's almost thirty minutes past seven. That's early for her. Unless, she ended up having a morning class back at college, then she is in trouble. But suddenly, Aurelia remembers it is a weekend and she doesn't have any classes.
"Thank god," She says out loud, sighing in relief. Sometimes, with her classes and Titans duties, she forgot what day of the week it was. The perks of being a college going hero, that were.
Aurelia stands up and suddenly sways, blinking. She regains her balance in an instant and suddenly stares at her hands in confusion. Something feels terribly off, but she can't put her finger on it. She clenches her fingers and unfurls them and the feeling fades, though it still remains at the back of her mind.
She checks the time. It's almost evening, meaning it's time for their next patrol. If she is timing things correctly, Dick will now knock on her room to get her.
A moment later, Aurelia hears the knocks on the door.
"Hey, you up yet?"
"I'm up and I'm ready to go," She lies as Dick opens the door and enters the room. He isn't dressed as Robin yet either.
"I don't think being ready means wearing a t-shirt and shorts to patrol."
"Says you. You don't look ready to me either."
"Says who?" Dick says as he walks to her, grinning. He helps her up, pulling her into his embrace. "I could be wearing an invisible costume for all you know."
"First of all, keeping a costume invisible is just a waste of time and magical energy," Aurelia replies. "Second of all, you don't have the resources to do that."
"But I have you," Dick replies, his fingers tracing circles around her back. "And you know you are amazing."
"Oh stop," Aurelia shoves a hand against his chest, pushing him backwards. "Go get ready. It barely takes me three seconds to get dressed. You're the one who needs time."
"Can I at least get a kiss?" Dick grabs her once more and holds her close.
"Only if you say please."
"You are no fun, you know that? Okay. Please, lovely Miss Hall, can I get a kiss from you?"
"Why yes, Mr. Grayson."
Dick lets out a soft laugh, before pressing lips down on hers. They stay like that for many moments, till Aurelia forces him away, laughing slightly at his reaction.
"Go and get dressed, Boy Wonder," She says with a teasing smile. "You don't want to be late for patrol, do you?"
"What will it take for you to stop calling me that?"
"A billion dollars."
"I'll ask Bruce to transfer the money," Dick replies plainly.
"Really?" Aurelia asks.
"Of course not!" Like the immature bird he is, he sticks his tongue at her before retreating from the room. Aurelia shakes her head as a fond smile covers her face.
As he leaves the room, Aurelia suddenly feels her heart race. She clutches at the front of her t-shirt, once again surprised. Understandably, she's confused. She doesn't understand what it means. It's almost as though she is feeling fear. Fear of what, she doesn't know yet. But, somehow, she knows the reason her heart is racing is because somehow she feels fear.
Only later, Aurelia realises it was the Phoenix's warning.
It was trying to warn of what was going to come. Her dizziness and her being strangely distracted during patrol was a sign that things were about to change very slowly.
"What the hell were you thinking?"
It is the first thing Dick says to her when they return back to the tower. Both of them are still in their costumes, sweating like anything, panting because of the events of the night. The sudden bout of dizziness and her distraction had almost let the criminals escape, but Donna and Hank had been right there and had managed to stop them before they could leave. Dick looked mad. He is the kind of person who always demands full concentration on a mission or patrol. Being distracted is not something he stands for and Aurelia had a feeling she is going to be hearing from him on that.
And she guesses correctly. Dick grabs her by the arm and drags her away from the group towards the corridor that leads towards their rooms. The other three have quietly moved away, sensing that the two need to talk. Though Aurelia knows they are standing closeby, listening to whatever harsh words are to be exchanged.
"Hey! Don't talk like that to me," Aurelia says with equal anger. "I can't help it if my magic decides to fluctuate on me."
"Aren't you supposed to be able to fight on your own? You said you'd stop depending on magic so much. Then why —?"
"God, how many times do I have to explain to you? I can't physically stop using magic. It literally runs through my blood. It very much affects me physically, Robin."
"That's just a pathetic excuse for your mistake."
"Oh, pray tell why it is bad?"
"You want reasons for why I think relying on just your magic is pathetic?"
"Yes, tell me! Tell me what reasons the magic-less Boy Blunder has for me."
"Don't you dare call me that!" Dick yells at her, hands clenched into fists. "You relying on your magic all the time makes you weak. One day, you'll not be able to use your magic and then you'll put yourself in danger because oh 'I can't use a spell now and I have zero combat skills so I guess I'll go running to my aunt like a coward'."
"What did you just say?" Aurelia asks in a low voice. She knows he doesn't really mean it. She knows that, but sometimes, she forgets Dick has a temper and when he is mad, he says horrible things. But a coward? Her? She is not a coward. She has never been a coward. She clenches her fists too, golden energy making them glow. She is angry; she is angry and she is almost on the verge of losing control.
But she doesn't.
"You know what? I don't want to do this with you right now," Aurelia says, after a short pause. "My magical energy has been fluctuating all day and I don't want to unleash it all over the tower. I'm going back to my room. Talk to me when you have a cool head."
"Do what you want," Dick says with a stubborn look. "I don't care."
Aurelia glares at him again, and storms away from him. 'Stupid, idiotic asshole.'
She storms down the hallway walking in the direction of her room as does Dick. She pointedly ignores the concerned looks, though she realises that is rude. She'll apologize to them later.
"Someone should talk to these two," Dawn says with a look of concern, glancing at Aurelia's retreating figure. "I'm sure they didn't mean what they said to each other."
"No," Donna shakes her head. "It's best if you leave these two alone for now. It's best to let them cool down on their own. They'll sort it out."
"Stubborn brats," Hank says gruffly.
And Donna can't help but agree.
Aurelia doesn't bother to take off her costume. Anger burns through her blood as she throws herself on her bed. It wasn't her fault. What was she to do when her magic had failed her? What was she to do?
Stupid boy wonder. Never understanding a thing. Idiot.
They fight. Of course, they fight. But Dick and Aurelia have never fought like this; they've never played the blame game with each other. Maybe this was a long time coming. Maybe, two volatile people (yes, Aurelia is highly volatile. Her blood literally contains magic after all) living together and dating and fighting crime is not something that can ever work. The only solution would either be Aurelia moving out of Titans Tower or breaking up with Dick.
(The second option, though, is not considered. She loves the idiot too much for that.)
Aurelia turns on the bed, lying facedown and slams her head into the pillow periodically. It is not a very effective way to let out anger, but Aurelia doesn't want to accidentally unleash her magic on the tower. So hitting her face on a pillow will have to do.
Her phone rings from the bedside table. Too lazy to grab it, she uses magic to pull it towards her. "Hello?" She murmurs, hoping the anger she feels is not heard by whoever is on the other end. Might be someone from her psych class asking for help on an essay.
"Aurelia, thank god," It is her aunt and she sounds troubled. "Thank god you picked up."
"Clara?" Aurelia's anger dissipates a little. "What's wrong? What happened? Are you hurt?"
"There's a big problem," Her aunt says. "A big big problem. He escaped, Lia. The Doctor escaped from his cell in the morning. The binding spell must have run its course."
Aurelia's heart lurches and she lets out a pained gasp. "Are you serious? How the hell did he escape? Isn't that spell supposed to be a permanent one?"
Clara sounds even more distressed. "It's not. No magic is ever permanent, don't you remember? It can have long lasting effects but it can never remain permanently. Nothing lasts forever and neither does magic."
"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Aurelia swears, running a hand through her hair as she gets up from the bed. "Clara, this is a mess. A literal fucking mess. Isn't anyone on the League there to help?"
"Have I ever asked the League for help when it comes to the Doctor? And the last time we faced him, you were the one who beat him, not me. I need your help."
"You mean you need the Phoenix's help."
"Technically, that, but I need you too. You know I do."
"Give me ten. I'll be there."
As soon as her aunt hangs up, Aurelia tosses her phone on the bed and hops over to the closet where her college backpack is hanging. She throws in the few clothes she has, uses a spell to make all her spell books disappear into her pocket dimension.
The night just keeps on getting worse and worse. The shattering feeling from before...it must have been a signal for this. Aurelia didn't expect the end of an incantation to cause this much pain. The Phoenix hums a little more loud in her head, signaling her off the time shortage.
"I know, I know," She tells it, throwing on her backpack. She lets out a heavy sigh as she waves a hand across the room. The spell takes immediate effect as everything is restored to its original position, with the bed completely made up and the curtains on the window half-open.
'I'm sorry, but I need to go,' Aurelia thinks to herself. She'll apologize to Dick when she returns. His anger will have cooled down by then, or at least that is what she hopes. If he gets angry, he tends to stay angry for a while. 'You'll have to deal with the Titans alone for a while. I'll apologize when I come back. I promise.'
'Open Door'.
It is her favorite spell, a trademark of her and her aunt's. The orange energy erupts from her hand and slowly surrounds her. She closes her eyes, feeling herself being completely pulled away to her destination. 'Please don't do something reckless, Clara. Please don't do something reckless before I get there.'
She disappears completely, leaving behind an empty room and the anger she had been feeling.
Later at night, Donna comes to check on Aurelia, concerned like an older sister. When she enters the room, she finds it empty and suspiciously clean. And on the neatly made up bed, she finds a single note.
'Clara needs my help. The Doctor escaped from jail. Will be back soon. — Lia.'
It's coming soon hehe....you all know what I'm talking about 😉😉
It's definitely going to be something. And that is all I can say hehe.
I know I haven't updated this in a long while, but watching Titans again gave me the inspiration to finally finish the chapter. What I can tell you is that there are only two more chapters left before part one and we finally move into the second part which takes place during season 1 of Titans. I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!