Chapter Three
Terra lead the Titans through the underground caverns, which were illuminated by Cyborg's light. To Beast Boy, it was reminiscent of when they went to pay respects to Terra. That seemed a lifetime ago. Now, she was with them, but Raven was not. They not only were seeing their friend for perhaps the last time, but also to arrange to fulfill her wishes. A new wave of sadness crept over Beast Boy and he started to cry again.
Once they entered, Terra stepped aside to allow the Titans an unobstructed view of the cavern. The rest of the Titans took a stance on either side of Cyborg so they could get a clear view in his light. Robin noted a charred pile of cloth and pieces of armor. He looked at Terra and pointed to the mess.
"Slade, I think." she said to him.
Robin gingerly walked to the pile and used his bow staff to poke through it. His rummaging turned up a mask of a sort. He flipped it over and saw it was indeed Slade's mask. He sighed.
"You got what you deserved, you sick son of a bitch." he hissed.
He then turned to face the other Titans; they were standing over a body covered with a dark blue cloak.
"Raven..." he whispered.
The Titans did not uncover her; a feeling of apprehension overcame them. Terra looked at them.
"You want to see her?" she asked. The others looked at her.
"You do the...honors." said Cyborg tersely.
Terra slowly knelt next to Raven and in a quick motion, uncovered her. She heard the Titans gasp at the sight. Terra sighed and stared at their lost friend.
Raven's eyes were still closed. A small wound, little larger than a penny, was in place of the jewel that was on her forehead. A dried river of blood ran down her face in the direction she was laying. Despite the ghastly site, she seemed to be at peace. The Titans knelt toward her body. Robin noted a sickly, metallic odor, obviously from the blood. Tears welled up in his eyes once more.
"Oh, Raven!" Starfire exclaimed suddenly.
She embraced her lost friend, sobbing. Beast Boy joined her, as did Cyborg and then Robin. Terra reluctantly joined them in their group hug. Embracing a corpse once was enough for her. She wasn't looking forward to doing it again, but felt it was necessary in this case.
Afterward, Robin stood aside from the group and took out his communicator and called the police to pick up Raven's body. To make it easier for them, he told them to meet them by the T-car. No sense in making them find their way in the dark amongst the caverns, he thought.
With strain in his voice, he asked the Titans to carry Raven's body to the car. Starfire volunteered for the task, and carried her by herself. They left in silence and in sadness.
Once at the surface, the Titans saw the police were already waiting to take away Raven's body. They gave their condolences to the Titans before driving away.
Afterward, the Titans returned to the Tower. Once their, they all gathered in the lounge. They were too strained to return to bed, and just sat down in silence for nearly an hour.
"So, what happens now?" Beast Boy finally asked, breaking the silence.
"We make arrangements to have her cremated." said Robin. "Just as she wanted in her letter."
"And then?" the changeling asked.
"Then we follow the rest of her wishes."
"And then?
"And then what?"
"What about a funeral or a memorial?"
"We'll manage that."
"When?"
"When the time comes."
"How about I take care of that?"
"You?" Cyborg scoffed. "You can't even figure out how to program a DVD player!"
"Well, some help would be appreciated then!"
"With you, you'll need all the help you can get."
"Hey, fuck off, Tin Man!"
"Drop dead, Toto!"
"Stop it!" screamed Starfire, angrily. "You are letting yourselves succumb to the Rekmus because of Raven's death! It is not what she would want!"
"Um, Star?" Terra asked. "What is a Rekmus?"
"It is 'the drifting'. It is when friends drift apart, and their friendship dies."
"Oh." She sighed, and glared at Cyborg and Beast Boy. "Well, Star's right. We can't let our anger over Raven's death overcome our friendship. We got to stick together, alright?"
"Right." Beast Boy said. "Sorry, Cy."
"Me too." he replied.
"Come on, Titans." Robin said, standing up. "We're all tired and strained. Let's get some sleep."
He left the lounge for his room. The other Titans soon followed suite, except for Terra.
She considered asking about her old room, but decided the Titans had enough to worry about. So, she turned off the lights in the room, took off her shoes, and slept on the sofa. As she drifted off to sleep, she knew that the next few days, if not the following week, would be the toughest for the Titans.