Chapter 5 – A Friend's Final Wish
Raven awoke with a start, but she was not at the Titans Tower. She was in a black void, staring straight at the figure from her book, from her memories… Malchior of Nol.
"Are you… Malchior?" She asked him.
"I am indeed…" He answered.
Raven's eyes glowed back as she took off once again, her memories of his betrayal flooding back to her head. "You little…! I don't know how you escaped, but I won't allow you to toy with anyone else like you toyed with me!" Her arm again created a makeshift sword, and she charged, aiming directly for Malchior's head. The so-called fictional man didn't even flinch as the sword hit its mark… or rather through it, as it just occurred to Raven now that Malchior looked a little transparent. Raven's sword has passed right through him, as if he were a ghost. She landed on the other side of him, letting her sword disperse.
"Relax, I am not here to fight you. I want to help you," the ghostly Malchior said. Raven was not quite convinced yet, spitting in his direction. "Where am I!" she demanded. Malchior turned toward her. "Oh, right. I changed it when I arrived. Perhaps now you'll recognize it." He declared. He held his hand up high, a blinding light shooting forth, forcing Raven to shut her eyes tightly. Once she opened them again, she looked around her, gasping once again. She seemed to be in an endless void once again, but it was certainly familiar. It seemed as if she were in outer space, surrounded by large asteroids that formed walkways. On some of them, she could people in robes similar to her own walking around on them.
"This is… my mind…" Raven said.
"Yes… allow me to explain what happened here from the beginning. As I said, I am indeed Malchior of Nol. The book you found contained not I, but the dread dragon Rorek. His final curse had stolen my body and cast my spirit away. I could see everything that took place. Once you sealed him away again, my spirit was freed."
"So… why did you appear in my body? How did you…" she trailed off, remember the situation she was in before she passed out. "What happened to Trigon, and his goons? What about Terra?" she asked him frantically. Malchior remained calm as he began to explain the circumstances to his being. "As I said, once you sealed away Rorek, you broke his curse and my spirit was freed to search for my body once again, but obviously my original form was nowhere to be found, but I knew that there was one person I could trust, and that, of course…" he trailed off, letting Raven finish.
"…was me." She said. Malchior slowly walked toward her in the void that was her mind. "When that zynothium entered your system, I had to act. I had to rely on your powers for a short while to gain a physical form with which to battle the infection. If I didn't, you would have died. With that power, I cast a universal healing spell that purges all impurities in an area. It destroyed the 'Trigon' person you mentioned and freed his henchmen from his mind control. There was also one girl, who had been frozen into stone. I was able to free her from her prison as well." Raven jumped in right when he finished his explanation, one curiosity left to be satisfied.
"What about the Titans? Are they all right? Did they find us there?" She asked frantically, almost too much so for her normal personality. "I saw them running in once I cast my spell, but I re-entered your body once they saw me." He explained once again. "What about Starfire? She was injured, did she seem alright?" She asked again, calming herself down a little bit. Malchior stopped nearly two feet in front of the sorceress, hesitating only slightly to respond to that statement.
"You care for her very much… don't you?"
"Well yeah, she's… she's my best friend." Raven blurted out. 'Did I just say that?' she then asked herself. "She looked just fine to me, but you still want to help her, is that right? You made a promise to her…" Malchior trailed off. Raven gasped, shocked to see that Malchior learned of her conversation with Starfire. "How did you…?" She began to ask, but she was cut off by the dark wizard. "You were able to free me, so before I head to the next world, let me help you." He proclaimed.
"What are you talking about?" Raven was now thouroughly confused. "As I said, there is no physical body awaiting me in this world, so I must pass on to the next one. However, as my final gift in gratitude to you, I shall cast a spell that will allow you to fulfill your promise with your friend. Your emotions will be able to meld with your body, but only if you convince them to do so. This… is the least I can do for you… sweet Raven." Malchior said, raising his arms one final time to prepare his spell.
"Wait, Malchior! Hold on…!" she was again cut off, not by Malchior's voice, but by another blinding light cast from his hands. Malchior's eyes closed, dispersing the slight trace of a tear in his eye.
"Necronom… Hezbarek…" With each syllable he spoke, his body began to fade more and more. Throwing his arms out wide to disperse his spell before his body finally vanished, he looked at Raven's face one last time, seeing the evident sadness and concern on her face. "MORTYX!" he screamed, and the light began to spread across Raven's mind, hitting each and every one of Raven's other selves, her emotions, making them convulse in what looked like pain for only an instant, before they resumed their various antics.
"Malchior… thank you…" she uttered, a single tear dropping down her face.
'I'm coming soon, Star…'
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, in the outside world…
"She looks like she's in some sort of coma. All her vital signs show normal readings, except that she just won't wake up." Cyborg said in analysis of Raven, who was lying in the Titan Infirmary alongside Terra, who appeared to be sleeping just as soundly. The group collectively sighed in relief at that news, or rather, just Starfire and Robin, as Beast Boy came forward to question Cyborg. "What about Terra?" he asked, surprisingly calm. Cyborg looked at her in the back of the room. "Same deal, just a little less severe. She should probably wake up anytime, now but I can't even get an estimate on Raven." He deduced from the signs displayed on the monitors above their beds.
Starfire seemed to be on the verge of tears ever since she returned to the tower, half from grief and half from elation due to Raven's status and Terra's revival. She walked over to the sorceress's bed and sat down on a stool next to it. "I wish to stay with her." She managed to say, not taking her eyes off of her friend. "Same here." Beast Boy chimed in, walking over to the stool next to Terra.
"I want to stay for a second myself, Cyborg." Robin declared. "Fine with me," Cyborg responded. "I need to recharge my power cell now anyway. G'night, y'all." He said as he left the room.
Robin looked at Starfire, who was now holding Raven's hand and staring at the gem on her forehead, where their 'friend' disappeared into. Robin put his hand on the Tameranean's shoulder. "She's going to be okay. I want to tell you to leave her alone, but… I can see you're much better off watching her." The boy wonder said. Starfire's focus left Raven for the time being to see Robin standing behind her with a sort of defeated look on his face. "Robin? What is wrong?" She asked. Robin sighed, taking another stool and sitting down next to her.
"It's just that… I… I can't stand seeing you like this… so sad. It's not like you." He muttered just loud enough so that Beast Boy couldn't hear him. "I mean you're usually the most optimistic of any of us, just another reason why I…" Robin trailed off. Starfire gasped softly in anticipation of what Robin might be saying.
"…why I like you so much."
"Robin… you do not mean that… as a friend, do you?" Starfire whispered, shocked to hear Robin expressing feelings toward her. Robin shook his head, confirming her theory. "I guess it's been a while coming. But this probably isn't the time or place to explain anything right now. Let me leave you guys alone." He stated, getting up and heading toward the door.
"Terra!"
Beast Boy's cry froze the two Titans in their place for an instant before sending them sprinting for Terra's bed, where it's occupant began to stir. The blond girl's eyes slowly opened, taking in the scene in the infirmary.
"Beast…Boy…?" she whispered, seeing the greed lad holding her hand. At the sight of seeing her awake, he thrust his arms around her, tears welling in his eyes. "Terra… you're back." There wasn't a dry eye in the room as Robin and Starfire joined in the celebration of the sixth Titan's return by making a little group hug on the bed. "We have missed you so…" Starfire uttered through her tears of joy. "Yeah…" Terra said. "Same here."
Unbeknownst to the group, behind the curtain of Raven's bed, the ashen-skinned girl's robe flashed white for a mere second before a small orb left her body. It disappeared as quickly as it materialized, sending Raven's robe to its original color. No Titan viewed this strange event…
