Chapter Text
It was an ordinary day at Titan Tower, the sky was blue, the birds were chirping and the windows were shaking as if there was a massive influx of wind like a hurricane or a localized tornado. Or a localized black hole.
Naturally this was all Beast Boy's fault.
Who else would recite evocation from a dubious looking book bound by dubious leather? With a hand written note saying, do not touch and that means you Beast Boy. One would think after being Raven's teammate and having experienced the magical shenanigans that was Raven he would know better. He was a teen superhero who fights villains in spandex after all.
Which goes to say, sometimes Beast Boy had no sense of self preservation, at all.
What used to be their entertainment center was a swirling mass of green light that was steadily devouring the room. Beastboy clung to the metal banister with one gorilla arm and the other gripped around Raven’s thin wrist in an attempt to keep her from being ripped away. It was difficult. Grip too tight and he’ll break her wrist. Grip too loose and she slips away.
"Raven!"
To think of the one day he managed to cajole Raven into playing video games and he just had to open up a portal. Darn his curious hands and his curious mind and--
"Starfire!" Robin’s grip was slipping, his other hand latched on a handle welded into the wall.
Beast Boy ducked his green head around, watching the combined efforts of Robin and Cyborg attempt to somehow reach the girls on their team before the green dyson black hole swallows them all up, Titan Tower and all.
"Robin!" Starfire's fingers dug furrows into the ground as she was closest to the portal when it appeared and only her reflexes and flight kept her from being sucked in immediately.
The Tower vibrated due to the pressure inside it, they already lost a fridge and all the games AND the TV! There was no way they were gonna lose their teammates! Not to some green dyson vacuum portal magical thing that he totally didn't conjure.
He could barely see Raven, just her power, a black shadow that grabbed and attempted to hold on to anything. He could feel her, the softness of her hand as it slipped through his fingers. The crack-crack-cra-aaaak sound of concrete being torn up as Starfire's booted feet dug into the ground, making furrows.
Raven caught herself grabbing a hold of Starfire’s leg, her violet eyes growing wide as she saw something no one else did. Beast Boy felt his fur stand on end as something began to make its way out of the portal. It had claws the size of Beast Boy’s arm. And with it a pervasive feeling of fear.
Starfire sacrificed her handhold, her eyes glowing brightly as she tossed a few starlasts at the creature with one hand. It seemed to splash without any effect. The claw reached out and grabbed them, dragging them in, heedless of the sudden appearance of Raven’s soul self, the raven’s beak and claws attacking it.
“No!”
Then there was a whoosh, a slight pop and he fell back to the ground, shifting form from a whale to himself. The large open room where the team had spent their down time together was ruined. Where there used to be an entertainment center was destruction, broken glass, broken metal--
"They're gone." Cyborg said softly, staring at the nothing that used to be everything.
Robin slammed his fist into his palm. “What was that?” He hissed, his mask lens narrowing.
“I don’t know.” Cyborg brought his arm up activating his sensors to scan the area. “But we’ll find them.”
“She’s a child.”
Cassandra stared at Solas. The eleven apostate was very convenient and very helpful, something for Leliana to chew on later, but right now he seemed to have arrived at the right place and right time.
The Conclave was gone, whatever dreams of peace were destroyed must like the attendees. All that was left was a green hole in the sky that spat out demons. She had sent the scouts to find survivors, to find a culprit, anything.
But all she had to show for it was a soot covered girl.
“A child?” Cassandra parroted.
“A teenager. I don’t think she’s human or an elf, dwarf or a qunari.” Solas said as if that mere revelation was not reality breaking. He looked intrigued. “Her sclera is light green, perhaps a side effect of the Fade but…”
The elf looked down at their captive, the small slip of a girl dressed in a strange purple fabric and whose style was nothing that anyone has seen, even Leliana was perplexed.
“Spit it out.” She had no time for academics. She needed an answer.
“I don’t think she’s your culprit, Seeker.” Solas said finally. “Whatever she is, I don’t believe she’s a mage.”
Cassandra glanced down at the unconscious girl and the pulsating green mark on her hand.
“It’s raw Fade energy. She was there at the explosion and whatever it did, it protected her. And in turn, marked her.” The elven apostate hummed thoughtfully. “Curious.”
She could feel a raging headache building behind her eyes. She has not slept since the explosion and now this? “When will she wake up?”
“I do not know.” Solas looked pleased as if his lack of knowledge was something to be happy about. “I would need more time to study her physiology.”
“Maker’s breath.” It was blasphemous to take the Maker’s name in vain but she was certain He would understand.
Ultimately despite Solas’s protestations, the prisoner was moved to the cells and chained. Already the clerics were baying for blood, circling the wagons, in an attempt to wrest power and direction. Divine Justinia’s death, her assassination, has fractured the chantry even further. They should be out there fighting demons and finding a way to seal the Breach but all they could talk about was who was to become the next Divine.
It took all of her considerable strength to not slug Grand Chancellor Rodderick in the face.
“Is Solas correct?” Cassandra stood next to Leliana, the Left Hand well now former. “Do you think- “
She had placed the shackles and chains herself on those thin wrists, lowering the girls’ head to the cold dungeon floor. Solas was right, she didn’t look human, no human’s skin was so orange and she could feel the girl’s warmth emanating from her bare skin.
“All we have is what is in front of us. A mysterious girl and only survivor of the explosion that killed hundreds.” Leliana’s voice was like the frost around them, cold and sharp. “We won’t know until we can interrogate her.”
Cassandra knew that Leliana dealt with threats in a different manner, with knives and shadows. But there was a darker undercurrent in her voice, one that worried Cassandra.
“Yes. I beli-,” Cassandra paused as a runner came to a stop in front of them, breathing quickly. “What is it?”
“The prisoner is awake!”