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SM/DC Chapter 106 : Search party
🕑 Added 2025-05-01 22:23:03 +0000 UTCAdam opened his mouth trying to answer his brother’s question, but before he could get a word out, their mother stepped forward instead, her voice quiet and laced with something deeper.
“No,” she said softly. “We haven’t… for some time.”
Arthur didn’t respond right away. His expression didn’t change but his fingers, resting by his side, twitched slightly.
“Well,” he said, clearing his throat. “I should get going now. I’ll come again. Don’t worry.”
He was halfway to the door when her voice stopped him.
“She was looking for you, you know.”
Arthur halted, his back to them, still as a statue.
“She was very determined to do so,” she continued, her voice softer now carrying a mother’s knowledge of unspoken things. “She even stopped by here.”
The silence that followed stretched long, as if the room itself was holding its breath.
Arthur said nothing at first. Then, without turning around fully, he tilted his head slightly just enough for them to see the edge of his profile, his blue eyes half-lidded beneath the fall of his hair.
“I see,” he murmured. “Thanks for telling me.”
And with that, he walked out.
Kara, who had been watching with careful silence, followed after him. But not before offering his mom a faint smile and a polite nod. Then the doors slid shut behind them.
In the hallway, the atmosphere was different quieter. More hollow.
‘She was looking for you…’ the words echoed faintly in Arthur’s mind, but he pushed them down like he always did with practiced ease.
Still, as they stepped into the elevator, Kara didn’t say anything. She simply walked beside him.
She knew better than to say anything now. But she also knew
He hadn’t let go of those words.
****
The ocean breeze whipped gently through Kara’s golden hair and brushing through the folds of Arthur’s coat as he stood shoulder to shoulder with her. Before them, the Titans Tower the futuristic T etched in steel and glass watching over the city. The sun was dipping low in the sky, casting long amber streaks across the water’s surface, the golden glow reflecting off the building's edges.
Kara took a slow breath. Her arms were folded, and she shifted her weight onto one leg. “It’s been a while since I’ve been here you know” she murmured. Her gaze lingered on the tower. “Are you sure this is a good idea for you?”
Arthur didn’t look at her. His ice-blue eyes stayed fixed on the tower, as if peering beyond the walls, seeing things no one else could. “It’s necessary.”
Kara turned to him fully, skeptical. “I mean, aren’t you still on... bad terms with them?” she asked, choosing her words carefully. “Let me try and talk to..”
He lifted a hand, silencing her with a calm, unwavering voice. “No need.”
There was a pause.
“I have a shadow inside.”
Kara blinked. Her lips parted for a second, then curved into a crooked grin. “Of course you do,” she said with mock exasperation. “You always have something in your back pocket, don’t you? It’s like you have them scattered around everywhere.”
Arthur finally glanced at her, the corner of his mouth quirking upward in that rare, dry smile. “Well... not exactly everywhere. But soon,” he added, the smile fading into a more serious tone, “soon I might not need to scatter them at all. I’ll be able to move freely”
Kara’s eyes lit up with curiosity. “Oh?” she said, stepping closer. “You’re working on some new ability?”
Arthur said nothing for a moment. The wind stirred his ashen white hair as he stared at the island.
“Not exactly how it works but you’ll see soon enough,” he said quietly.
Kara tilted her head, searching his expression. But whatever thoughts danced behind those eyes, Arthur wasn’t sharing them.
Then Arthur took a step forward, boots crunching softly against the gravel path. His tone was resolute now, leaving no room for hesitation.
“Come on,” he said, extending a hand backward toward her without looking.
Kara reached out instinctively, her fingers brushing his wrist as she moved closer.
And then she whispered in a low voice, almost like a memory, “I already know.”
He didn’t respond. He didn’t need to.
Arthur lowered his hand his voice like a blade being unsheathed
“Exchange.”
In an instant, the world darkened for them and then they were gone.
****
Arthur and Kara emerged from the exchange. The room they stepped into was dim, lit only by the faint violet hue of magical sigils etched into the walls. A faint incense-like aroma hung in the air, mystical, otherworldly, distinctly… Raven.
Arthur’s boots landed softly on the carpeted floor as he scanned the room with practiced eyes. Every inch of it felt layered in quiet magic, in emotion too private to be broadcasted. A bookshelf stood nearby, filled with tomes bound in strange languages. A crystal orb rested on the nightstand beside a feathered quill and a half-filled journal.
Kara took a few curious steps forward, her eyes flicking from the tapestry-covered walls to the crescent-shaped window, the neatly made bed, and the glowing pendant that hovered just above the desk.
Her eyes widened as realization struck her like a lightning bolt. “Isn’t this…?” She trailed off, mouth slightly agape, then slowly turned to face Arthur.
“You had a shadow in Raven’s room?” she asked, voice laced with a mix of disbelief and amusement.
Arthur, ever the pillar of stoicism, didn’t even blink. “Yes.”
Kara’s eyebrow shot up. “Seriously?”
He tilted his head slightly, walking toward the window, distracted. “The last time I was here, I kept a shadow soldier here to return whenever I can.”
But then he paused. A frown crept onto his face as he realized what he just said. “Wait… this isn’t how it looks like..”
Kara crossed her arms and leaned against the nearest wall, smirking. “You’re trying to explain this situation, aren’t you?”
Arthur turned slowly, realizing how this looked. “It’s not..”
“’to return whenever I can,’” Kara repeated, doing a dramatic impression of his voice. “In her bedroom? That’s your definition of surveillance now?”
“I’M NOT spying on her, There was something I had to do here,” Arthur muttered, defensively. “And Raven knew about this.”
Kara raised a golden eyebrow, her voice dripping with amused sarcasm. “Oh, so there was something you had to do, and she knew about it?”
Arthur’s mouth opened, then closed. He stared at her like a man being interrogated for a crime he hadn’t realized he’d committed. “…You know what? I give up.” he finally said, hands rising slightly in surrender. “She can explain it to you herself once we find her.”
Kara couldn’t help but laugh, a soft snort escaping her. “Uh huh.”
Arthur exhaled sharply and turned back to the room, ignoring her amusement. “Let’s just try and find something here that might tell us where she went. Clues. Magical trail. Anything.”
Kara smiled to herself as she stepped forward to help. “Sure. Just clues. Not love letters or anything.”
Arthur rubbed his temple.
This was going to be a long search.
Arthur stepped toward the desk, his fingers inches from Raven’s journal when Kara quickly interjected, raising a hand like a traffic cop at a magical crime scene.
“Uh-uh! No. Don’t go rifling through her personal stuff,” she said, stepping between him and the desk.
He gave her a sidelong look. “We’re trying to find her, Kara.”
“I know,” she said, hands on her hips. “But you might find, I don’t know… inappropriate things. Girl things..”
Arthur blinked. “We are not playing around, Kara. This is serious.”
“I’m serious too!” she said, crossing her arms again. “But Raven’s still a person and I don’t think she would appreciate this, there’s a line here.”
Arthur exhaled, long and patient. “Fine. You do it then.”
“Oh no, I don’t think I can do it too.” Kara said.
“You just blocked me from doing so, you are a girl so it’s fine I guess, No?” Arthur muttered.
Kara raised a brow. “What about letting your shadows search instead?”
Arthur’s gaze drifted toward the glowing sigils on the walls, faint remnants of Raven’s magic still pulsing gently. “I can sense magic energy here, but that’s about it. What could my shadows do in..”
He stopped midsentence.
Then a glimmer of a grin crept onto his face.
“…Actually, that’s not a bad idea.”
He turned, the shadows around his boots curling like tendrils of smoke. With a soft exhale, he said
“Come out.”
The air dipped in temperature for just a moment as a sliver of darkness peeled up from the corner of his shadow. From it emerged Owl the humanoid shadow cloaked in a feathery black cap, two eyes glowing with spectral intelligence behind an owl-shaped helm.
The shadow bowed low, silent and obedient.
Arthur gestured to the room. “You know what to do.”
With a single nod, Owl dissolved into smoky threads and began to scan the room with predatory grace checking under the bed, inside drawers, and through magical concealments without disturbing a thing. Its movements were precise, almost reverent.
Kara tilted her head, watching the shadow soldier with a mix of awe and curiosity. “Who’s this new guy?”
Arthur folded his arms and leaned against the desk, a subtle smile tugging at his lips. “No one in particular. Just a very… useful shadow soldier.”
Kara chuckled, but couldn’t take her eyes off Owl as it opened a cabinet with eerie silence, then tapped a sigil hidden beneath a book with its long fingers.
“let’s see what he can figure out.” she muttered.
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