Categories > Cartoons > Teen Titans > Phantom Chimes
Haunted by the Melody
0 reviewsAfter waking up screaming her name, Beast Boy realises just how much he had with Terra and vows to see her again.
0Unrated
"Terra!"
Beast Boy screamed into the night. He shot up from his prone position and, sweating, listened. The cry echoed in his own head like so many church bells, reverbs invariably bold and deep but growing softer after every strike. As the phantom chimes rang inside his skull, his eyes tried to pierce the darkness enveloping him from all directions. Too tired to use his powers to assist him, he instead squinted and concentrated as much as he could manage.
And his room slowly came into focus. First, the lower bunk of the bed on which he lay. Thinking of that only reminded him of how he had always wanted to keep her there overnight and just hold her close; how he wanted them to fall asleep in each other's arms like he had seen in one movie that he'd been tricked into seeing because of a deceptive title; how he longed for her warmth just once more in his life. But he couldn't hold her close any more. They could never fall asleep together, even if she had wanted to. As for the last case...well, even volcanic stone lost its warmth eventually.
She had betrayed them, her friends, and he knew this. He'd said it: "Slade was right: You don't have any friends". No matter how much he replayed that scene, that one horrible night in the hall of mirrors that led to her...to the incident, he couldn't convince himself that what he had said was right. She'd done the most extreme thing possible: She'd tried to kill the Titans. She'd been working for Slade the whole time, and he trusted her. But why couldn't he shake his feelings for her? What was wrong? She'd betrayed them -- it was inexcusable! Unforgivable!
...But that was it, wasn't it? She'd realised her mistake and rebelled against Slade. And they'd forgiven her. And it was because she'd been forgiven that he could still feel for her. She was a good person. Misguided, maybe...but definitely a good person. Perhaps that was why Beast Boy felt a twinge of guilt after solving his immediate problem.
"We had something, something special...and I ruined it," he sadly confessed to nobody but the darkness. He climbed out of his bed entirely and made it to his window without once stumbling over a pizza box or game system. Ever since...that time, he had been keeping his room eerily clean for a reason unknown to even himself.
He stood in front of the window for a good ten minutes, reflecting and wondering about what it could have been like. Eventually, though, his mind brought itself to that one particular night.
"Oh! Beast Boy, it's...I don't know what to say!"
"You could say 'yes', 'cause...I'm about to ask you out on a date."
"Oh...wow..."
"So...wanna do something tomorrow night?"
"Tomorrow? I...I'm sorry, Beast Boy, I can't."
"But..."
"I just can't!"
The silver box that he had made for her. A heart. It was symbolic of how he felt about her -- another thing he picked up from that movie. It was supposed to have won her over, but it didn't. "Not immediately," the green boy commented to himself.
"Wanna go out?"
"Huh? Yeah! I mean, uh...that's cool. But why didn't you just knock on my door?"
"Do you trust me?"
He filled in the last line himself. "More than anyone I've ever met."
"That's it," he decided. Climbing onto the window sill, he noiselessly changed his form into that of a raven and, destination clear in his mind, flew off into the slightly purplish sky that heralded the eventual coming of dawn.
Beast Boy screamed into the night. He shot up from his prone position and, sweating, listened. The cry echoed in his own head like so many church bells, reverbs invariably bold and deep but growing softer after every strike. As the phantom chimes rang inside his skull, his eyes tried to pierce the darkness enveloping him from all directions. Too tired to use his powers to assist him, he instead squinted and concentrated as much as he could manage.
And his room slowly came into focus. First, the lower bunk of the bed on which he lay. Thinking of that only reminded him of how he had always wanted to keep her there overnight and just hold her close; how he wanted them to fall asleep in each other's arms like he had seen in one movie that he'd been tricked into seeing because of a deceptive title; how he longed for her warmth just once more in his life. But he couldn't hold her close any more. They could never fall asleep together, even if she had wanted to. As for the last case...well, even volcanic stone lost its warmth eventually.
She had betrayed them, her friends, and he knew this. He'd said it: "Slade was right: You don't have any friends". No matter how much he replayed that scene, that one horrible night in the hall of mirrors that led to her...to the incident, he couldn't convince himself that what he had said was right. She'd done the most extreme thing possible: She'd tried to kill the Titans. She'd been working for Slade the whole time, and he trusted her. But why couldn't he shake his feelings for her? What was wrong? She'd betrayed them -- it was inexcusable! Unforgivable!
...But that was it, wasn't it? She'd realised her mistake and rebelled against Slade. And they'd forgiven her. And it was because she'd been forgiven that he could still feel for her. She was a good person. Misguided, maybe...but definitely a good person. Perhaps that was why Beast Boy felt a twinge of guilt after solving his immediate problem.
"We had something, something special...and I ruined it," he sadly confessed to nobody but the darkness. He climbed out of his bed entirely and made it to his window without once stumbling over a pizza box or game system. Ever since...that time, he had been keeping his room eerily clean for a reason unknown to even himself.
He stood in front of the window for a good ten minutes, reflecting and wondering about what it could have been like. Eventually, though, his mind brought itself to that one particular night.
"Oh! Beast Boy, it's...I don't know what to say!"
"You could say 'yes', 'cause...I'm about to ask you out on a date."
"Oh...wow..."
"So...wanna do something tomorrow night?"
"Tomorrow? I...I'm sorry, Beast Boy, I can't."
"But..."
"I just can't!"
The silver box that he had made for her. A heart. It was symbolic of how he felt about her -- another thing he picked up from that movie. It was supposed to have won her over, but it didn't. "Not immediately," the green boy commented to himself.
"Wanna go out?"
"Huh? Yeah! I mean, uh...that's cool. But why didn't you just knock on my door?"
"Do you trust me?"
He filled in the last line himself. "More than anyone I've ever met."
"That's it," he decided. Climbing onto the window sill, he noiselessly changed his form into that of a raven and, destination clear in his mind, flew off into the slightly purplish sky that heralded the eventual coming of dawn.
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