Lauriver Chronicles

Chapter 87

The next morning found most of the Titans having breakfast in the kitchen, with the exception of Courtney, who seemed to be sleeping in, only for her to drag herself into the kitchen, still wearing her pajamas and looking exhausted.

"You look terrible." Rachel said to her.

"Yeah, I look how I feel. I didn't get much sleep last night." Courtney admitted as she yawned.

"Dreams?" Dick asked her and Courtney nodded.

"They seem so real though. It's kind of like the visions I got when the staff first reached out to me months ago or the visions I got of Rachel when I did bond with the staff. Only more intense." Courtney said.

"You think these are more visions?" Dick asked.

"I don't know." Courtney said.

"Well, is there any way we can find out, since we can't have a team member falling asleep on the job." Roy said.

"I could call my old mentor from before the Titans, since this might be up his alley." Rachel said.

"Your mentor?" Kory asked.

"An old associate of Batman's and ally of the League's. A master of the dark arts. John Constantine. He was the one who brought Rachel here." Dick said.

"How'd you meet him?" Garfield asked Rachel.

"He's a demon hunter. He was tracking me thinking I was my father and rescued me from the cult that had more or less raised me to summon that bastard to Earth when I got strong enough. John brought me here since he hoped that Dick could help me see the good in humanity, not just the bad I'd endured from the Cult, since I think they were trying to turn me against humanity so I'd have no qualms about summoning Trigon to Earth. But John saved me from them and taught me to control my power as best he could while also securing my father's prison and then he brought me here." Rachel said.

"And I think it was the right call, since Constantine's life isn't exactly the best for raising a child and I thought that giving Rachel a taste of normal life, like high school would help her form bonds with humanity." Dick said.

"And how'd that go?" Roy asked, knowing how Rachel's temper didn't exactly mix well with her powers.

"I'm being homeschooled now." was all Rachel would say on that.

"Though maybe now that Courtney's officially moved in here, maybe we can give public school another go, since she does seem to have a stabilizing influence on you, especially since she's already going to Bludhaven High with Gar." Kory suggested.

"Maybe." Dick agreed.

"Back on topic, you think your mentor can help me?" Courtney asked Rachel.

"I think that he can at least give us a place to start." Rachel said.

"Wait, Rachel, why don't you try it? After all, you and Courtney do seem to have some kind of link." Kory said.

"Except we only know what happens when Courtney uses her light to calm my darkness. I'm not sure how my darkness will affect her light if I attempt to use it, even in a beneficial way." Rachel said, honestly afraid she'd hurt Courtney.

"Let's try it." Courtney said, since she honestly trusted Rachel more.

"You sure?" Rachel asked and Courtney nodded.

"I trust you." Courtney assured her and Rachel took a deep breath before nodding.

"Okay, we'll try it." Rachel agreed as they finished up breakfast.

After breakfast, the Titans all gathered in the dojo, since that seemed to be the safest place to attempt to do this.

"Okay Courtney, relax your mind. Focus on these visions and help guide me where I need to go. Though I have to warn you, this will probably feel weird." Rachel said as they sat cross legged from each other.

"Do it." Courtney said as she tried her best to relax her mind and Rachel nodded as she held up her hand to Courtney's head and took a deep breath before using a tendril of darkness to enter Courtney's mind.

"Huh, it's usually harder to access a person's mind and I was expecting Courtney to be even harder than usual. But it's easy." Rachel said, surprised at how much ease she was having in navigating Courtney's mind, almost as if the light within her was guiding the darkness instead of repelling it.

"And while it's weird, it doesn't feel uncomfortable." Courtney said, her eyes closed to help her focus.

"Okay, I think I found the visions. They're of a mansion in some kind of small town. Cloverton. I see a man in a wheelchair, looking at someone on an examination table." Rachel said.

"Wait, Cloverton, are you sure?" Garfield asked as Rachel ended the connection, having found everything she could in Courtney's mind.

"Yeah, why?" Rachel asked.

"Can you show us the mansion you saw? I need to be sure." Gar said, not wanting to believe it.

"Yeah." Rachel said as she used her powers to project an image of the mansion she saw in Courtney's mind.

"Gar, do you know that place?" Dick asked.

"That's Doom Manor. Home and headquarters of the Doom Patrol. My old team and it sounds like the man you saw is Dr. Niles Caulder. The man who saved my life and gave me my powers." Gar said and Dick sighed, knowing this could be hard for Gar.

"Gar, I hate to say it, but we need to investigate this. Find out why Courtney is having visions of Doom Patrol." Dick said.

"I know. And I'm sure there's a good explanation for it. After all, the Chief is a good man who saved my life and several others." Garfield said.

"We should go figure this out. One way or another." Dawn said and the rest of the team nodded.

"Kory, Nova, Dawn, you three stay here so that the city still has protection while I take Gar, Roy, Rachel and Courtney to Cloverton to sort all this out." Dick said and the Titans nodded in agreement.