Raven took a few steps toward Gar, a large smile showing off her new fangs. Gar crawled back away from her until his back hit the wall. He wasn't scared; he could never be truly scared of Raven. However, he was very surprised and wary, unsure of what to make of all this. Raven saw his eyes darting back and forth, trying to be fully aware of his surroundings in case he needed to fight or escape. The smile dropped from her face as she noticed his reaction.
"Gar… What are you doing?" Raven asked. He looked at her quizzically and said, "Raven? Is that you?" Raven frowned, and answered, "No, I'm the tooth fairy." Gar looked at her for a moment before he started laughing at her comment. He stopped, realizing something.
"Uhh… Rae? You don't really look like yourself." All four of her eyes widened in surprise. Before she could say anything, Gar said, "Look at me Rae." She obliged. He walked over to her, and put his hands on her face. She flinched, but then allowed the contact. "Whatever you look like on the outside, I know you are still Rae on the inside." At this statement, she pulled back.
"Gar, what are you..." She looked at her hands, now black and clawed, like a raven's claws. "Oh Azar, what is this?" She looked at the rest of her body, noting the new feathers and armored carapace. She felt her head, screaming when she realized she now had four eyes and a set of horns. She ran to the bathroom, and saw herself completely for the first time. When she saw herself in the mirror, she panicked, punching her reflection and shattering the mirror.
"Trigon damn me! I've become a demon!" She screamed, exiting the bathroom in tears. She saw Gar looking at her with wide eyes, worried, but in her panicked state, she misconstrued his facial expression for fear or pity. She covered her face in shame, and jumped out of the open window, spreading her new wings and flying away.
"Raven, wait!" Gar screamed as he jumped out of the window, changing into a peregrine falcon mid fall. He flew as hard as he could, but could barely keep up with Raven's new form. Gar tracked her flight as far as he could, and then turned into a turkey vulture, tracking her by scent. He instantly locked onto her familiar smell; herbal tea, old books, and a hint of lavender. He flew as hard as the vulture form allowed him.
For several hours, gar tracked Raven's scent, growing increasingly frustrated as it began to lessen. He finally tracked her to the area where, many years ago, Raven was used as a portal to unleash Trigon upon this world. Now, an unfinished office building stood in its place. Gar changed into a bat, scanning the construction site with echolocation. He mentally cheered when he finally found her high up on the steel girders. He flew up to her position, changing back into a human several feet away. He slowly approached her, and placed a hand on her shoulder. She flinched at the contact, hissing up at him, but then stopped when she saw who it was. Gar didn't say a word; he just threw his arms around her. She sobbed into his shoulder, returning the hug.
"I should have expected this." Raven said, clenching her teeth at the sound of her distorted voice. "Nothing good ever happens to me." Gar shook his head, pulling back to look at her tearstained face. "So, joining the Titans wasn't good? Defeating Trigon wasn't good?" He smirked before saying, "Throwing me out the window wasn't good?" Raven gave a half smile before saying, "I can't go back to the tower looking like this. The others will never accept it." Gar gave her an angry look before saying, "Since when do you care about physical appearances? And since when do the others? I'm green for cryin' out loud! Cyborg's all robot-y, and Nightwing used to be a traffic light! Clearly appearances aren't a big thing for us."
Raven shook her head. "None of you are demons. I am, always have been, but now it's just more obvious." Gar sat thinking for a moment. "Rae, I just thought of something. You can't be a full demon, you are only half." Raven raised an eyebrow questioningly. Gar continued, "And before, when you just went all four-eyed, it never lasted long."
"You have a firm grasp of the obvious," Raven deadpanned. Gar smiled at her, and said, "Yea, and I also know you can turn back to a human." Raven's eyes widened briefly, but then she said, "I can't, this isn't like other changes. I don't know how to reverse it, and I have tried. It just isn't do-able." Gar shrugged and said, "You've never had to change back from something like this before." His face suddenly brightened and he said, "Rae, can you enter my mind, and allow me to enter yours? I need to control your body." Raven's eyes narrowed and she said, "What are you planning?" Instead of answering, Gar morphed into a snake, an owl, a raven, and then a cat, before changing back to normal, all in the span of a few seconds.
"Come on Rae, I'm Beastboy, changing into different things is my forte." Gar said. She relented, saying, "Alright, but this is a complex spell. We should go back to my room first." Gar smiled, about to say something when his communicator went off. He answered it, and Nightwing's face glared up at him.
"Beastboy! Where are you and Raven?" Nightwing shouted. Gar frowned at the still-uptight leader. "Relax Dick; me and Raven just went out for a bit." Nightwing raised an eyebrow. "Like, on a date?" He asked. Raven's eyes widened and she said, in a slightly flustered tone, "No Richard, we are not on a date. We simply went to a 24 hour waffle hut." Gar smiled at her, a slight blush on his cheeks, and said, "Yup! We were hungry, and Rae loves waffles! We'll be back in a bit though." Nightwing smiled at him and said, "Alright. I was just calling to let you know me and Kori are leaving early to go backpacking for a few days. So… Cy's in charge of the Tower. Don't give him too much trouble."
With that, Nightwing hung up, leaving Gar and Raven somewhat confused. "uhh"… Gar said, checking the time. His eyes shot wide open in surprise when he saw it was already 5:00am. "Damn, it's late! … Or... Early... We need to get home!" Raven grabbed Gar's hand and pulled him closer as she wrapped her wings around both of them. A void of darkness swallowed flowed out of Raven's soul, swallowing them both.
Moments later, they reappeared in Raven's room, the darkness retreating back into
Raven's soul. Gar stepped forward, wobbling a bit. "Well... that was refreshing!" Gar smiled and sat down cross legged on the floor, waiting for Raven to continue. She huffed, saying, "Don't lie Gar, I know how that feels to others. Cold and frightening." Gar chuckled and said, "Not to me." Raven paused momentarily, and then continued plucking bottles off her shelves. When she was ready, she told gar to remain seated and not to move as she prepared the magic. She drew a circle around Gar using sparkling white sand she continued drawing, making an infinity symbol with Gar in one circle. She drew smaller circles with symbols inside of them. When she finished the drawing, she sat in her end of the infinity symbol.
"Alright Gar, we will begin shortly. Don't move or disturb the sand in any way." Raven warned him. Gar nodded, and then asked, "What is this stuff anyway?" Raven looked at the glittering sand and then said, "Demon bones. We are creatures of magic, so even our dead bodies can be salvaged for potent magic." Gar gave a subtle flinch, but didn't say anything.
"Want to say anything else before we begin?" Raven said, focusing on Gar's eyes. He smiled and said, "Even if this doesn't work, you have nothing to worry about, we will still accept you here." He smiled, but she snorted. "Sure Gar, everyone will be just fine with me. And when we go to save the city, all the people won't look at me like I'm pure evil. Yea, if this doesn't work, everything will be just peachy." Gar frowned, but then said, "I think it will be ok. You make a very beautiful demon." Raven would have blushed, but her current form didn't allow it. "Don't lie Gar, it's not helping."
"But I'm not lying! Your feathers are really shiny, and your wings make you look like a dark angel." He smiled, trying to cheer her up. Raven looked down, and then began chanting.
"Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Redimio duos mens hac veneficus. Patefacio ianua in animus. amoveo vultus in unus. Addo mens in mei." The sand blazed bright white for a moment, and then a shadowy coil rose from it, snaking around Gar. It tightened around him, but all he felt was a brief tingling sensation before everything started swirling. Gar flew into the air, and then shot toward Raven's head. He did not hit, however. Instead, everything went dark for a moment before he lifted his head, staring at… himself. He tried to jump back, but couldn't.
"Relax Gar, your mind and soul are simply in my body with me. You can control me if I allow you. You can feel everything I feel. Now please, try and fix this." Raven's voice sounded in Gar's mind. Gar focused on the new sensations, closing his/ Raven's eyes. He analyzed the change, and then smiled mentally. This form was very similar to his own changes, as he had hoped. As such, he knew exactly what to do to transform back into normal Raven.
"Hey Rae?" Gar thought. When he felt Raven acknowledge his presence, he continued, "Pay close attention to what I am about to do, so you could change back and forth at will on your own." He focused briefly, and then felt the change happen. It was a bit different than when he changed, but the end result was the same. Magic erupted forth, wrapping Raven in a cocoon of energy. Without warning, Gar was hurled out of Raven's body, and thrust back into his own. As soon as he was back, he fell out of the circle, clutching his head in pain and screaming.
The demonic magic of Raven's transformation had touched Gar's body, awakening a part of him he thought was long gone. Roaring, growling and screaming as well as vicious pain burned through Gar's mind. The transformation flux from Raven was causing Gar to change, but the form he was turning into was not one he wanted to be released. Just as he was about to be overwhelmed, the magic from Raven dissipated, and Gar quickly fixed himself before Raven could see what happened. She stood up, looking down at her now-human body. A huge smile spread across her face, and she ran over to Gar, hugging him.
"Thank you for your help Gar. I'm so glad that wasn't a permanent change… why are you so clammy? And why are you shaking?" Gar looked up to her, giving her a small smile. "I messed up the sand… maybe that did it?" Raven wasn't convinced, but she let go and stood up, helping Gar to his feet. Gar gave her a smile, still holding her hand, and then he glanced down.
Whoa… Umm Rae? The changes aren't done." Gar said, blushing fiercely. He quickly looked away. "What do you mean?" Raven said, looking down at herself. Her eyes widened in shock, and she said, "Now this one was expected." She had grown curvier; her breasts and hips fuller than before. "Damnit," she said. "Demons… develop human forms that have the highest chance of producing a successful mating… This is why Trigon was considered to be a god. He revealed to his followers a glorious form which they thought only a god could possess. All demons, even half demons, develop into what is widely considered physically perfect specimens…" She sighed, but was too happy to be back in her human form to worry about it too much.
Gar thought to change the subject into less awkward territory. "So Rae, what did that weird riddle mean?" Raven looked up to him, giving him a small smile. She recited,
"As we age, our powers grow. 'We' being demons and and half-demons. Our powers get stronger as we age. Waiting to ripen before they show means that we only reveal our new power on our twenty first birthdays, as seen in the next line. After one and twenty years we see, Keepers hold is gone from thee. This line made me very happy. The 'Keeper' was Trigon. You see, the children of demons, whether they be half or full demons, are under the control of their sire until we reach the age of Awakening. Trigon's influence has been lifted for good." Raven paused here, giving Gar a smile that could rival his own. "I'm finally free to show emotion." She looked away and said, "Every demon knows the feel, near the time to break the seal. Basically, I've been feeling more and more sick because of the Awakening. Which is why I vomited earlier. I'm fine now though." Gar smiled at her, and then helped her back to bed. Now that all the excitement was over, Gar felt massive exhaustion hit him like a ton of bricks. He could see that Raven felt the same way.
"Come on Rae, time to sleep for a bit. You've been through a crazy ordeal." She nodded, yawning widely. She allowed Gar to help her into bed. He watched her until she fell asleep. He tucked her in, and when he was sure she was deeply asleep, he leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. "Sleep tight Rae…" He walked quietly out of her room after cleaning it up for her, and then headed for his room. He got to the bed and collapsed heavily, falling asleep instantly.
A/N: Ok, Im sorta happy with this, sorta not. PLEASE REVIEW SO I MAY HAVE THE POWER TO WRITE MORE!
Also, many thanks to all my prior reviewers. to that list, I would like to add K-Flyer, AkumaKami64, and La Vixen de Amor.
so the whole list would be Cuervos Bestia, Chico's Chica Magnifica, CMK Jam-Sam, Wolfenstien, Arroiuqlu Schiffer, Yin-Yan-Yum-Yum (interesting name change), and the three new people. THANK YOU ALL! I hope that my story continues to entertain you, for it is for you glorious readers and reviewers that I attempt to write something you, I would just stop.
In the next chapter! stuff happens.