Being Titans II | Teen Titans [7]

I Dreamed A Dream

19
I Dreamed A Dream
Warning(s): Brutal fight/character death

EARTH-9
2035

...Neutrois' cerulean light blinded Calvin as he came to. The stench of burnt flesh curdled in his stomach. He shielded his eyes from the glare. A grimace spoiled his face as his eyes adjusted.

Bodies littered the once evergreen grass. Crimson streams cut through the blades like rivers. Limbs were torn, dismembered, and burned. Heads topped pikes in the scarlet soil.

Soft whimpers called to him. His eyes scanned the field. They landed upon a blue being on their knees. "Abel?" He called softly.

Calvin started for them. With each step, foreboding grew inside him. So much so that he could barely breathe. Yet he reached Neutrois.

"Abel?" He called again.

"It's happening again," Abel whimpered. "It's happening again!" They cried out.

"Abel, hey," Calvin knelt in front of them. "Look at me," He reached out and put his hand on Neutrois' shoulder. Agony jolted through him.

Abel flinched. They looked up, teary-eyed. "A-are you real?" They asked.

Calvin nodded. "I'm real," He confirmed. "I swear."

"You're not real. You-you don't look like him...You look like the old—How did you get here?" They could hardly breathe.

"Where is here, exactly?" Asked Calvin.

"My dream," Answered Neutrois. "My nightmare."

"I don't know how I got here," Calvin began. "But I'm here now and there has to be a reason. Come on." He offered them his hand.

Abel's brows furrowed. They sniffled and looked at his hand. "I can't. I-I don't want to see them die again. Why are you doing this? You're supposed to help me!"

"Listen, I know you're scared, I'm scared too. It's not easy watching the people you love die, I know. I don't know why I'm here, or how I'm supposed to help you. But maybe we're supposed to help each other...maybe the only way out is through." Calvin offered with an unconvinced pitch in his voice.

Abel sniffed. They squeezed their eyes shut and exhaled a deep breath. They opened their eyes and took Calvin's hand. "Okay," They breathed.

Calvin helped them to their feet. "Together," He said with a gentle squeeze on their hand.

"You're not him, are you? You're not the same Calvin Breach I summoned from Pandora's Box... You're the one that stopped Jochi and left the Titans."

"I didn't leave the Titans," Calvin defended with a quickness. "I left Earth-Nine to find a way to stop the Eskaton and my evil doppelgänger, who you seem to be familiar with."

"Yeah, because I summoned him from Pandora's Box to save my dad's life. Everyone kept saying 'Calvin Breach was right' so I put my faith him."

"And did it work?" Calvin crossed his arms.

Abel's face scrunched with annoyance. "What kind of question... of course it didn't work. We wouldn't be here if it did."

"Exactly," Calvin quipped. "You trusted an unstable time variant. I could've stopped him if you didn't give him enough magic to fuck up the whole timeline."