Chapter 3: The Forsaken One
Name: Raven Roth
Activities:... don't mock me
Best School Memory: sitting alone. in my room. alone. oh, and i guess spending time with my friends.
Favorite Band: Mozart, the Ataris, Dashboard Confessional
What You'll Miss Most: keeping people... safe.
Often Caught Saying: get out of my room.
Favorite Quote: "A true friend stabs you in the front"– Oscar Wilde; "It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways."– Buddha
Cyborg drove the car aimlessly awhile while his friends sat in silence. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. "You guys do realize that you're going to have to tell me where we're going eventually so I can get you there."
"I'm trying to figure out where we have to go," said Beast Boy, licking his lips. "I have no idea how..."
"I thought you were supposed to be all-knowing. You know, being dead and all," said Robin bitterly.
"Hey, I'd like to call it living impaired, thank you very much!" Beast Boy returned with a smile. "And I'm not all-knowing. In fact, I'm just as stupid as you left me. I've just seen a lot more, become a whole lot less ignorant, that's all. You moping, him pretending to move on," he jerked a finger at Cyborg who gave him a curious glance, "Raven closing herself off from everything..."
"Well if you can see Raven, then you have to know where she is," said Robin, pointedly.
"I do, dumbass," Beast Boy snapped, getting a little irked. "I just don't know how to get there, that's all."
There was a long silence. Finally, Cyborg spoke up. "Um... You said you see things. People and things. Me, Rob, Raven... Well, I was kind of wondering, and I know Robin was too, um, do you know– I mean, have you seen–"
"No," whispered Beast Boy, looking away sharply. "I... I can't find her."
Robin blinked and looked at him curiously, but didn't speak.
"... Which means," Beast Boy continued, "she's just as lost to the spiritual world as she is to the mortal one. Almost like she never existed to begin with. Believe me, I miss her as much as the rest of you. I miss her like hell. She would really be able to brighten up this world right now, wouldn't she? Make everything just a little more easier."
Robin tried to bite back the tears that always rose in the back of his mind whenever he thought of her, and again that pain in his heart blamed everything on Raven. He would never forgive her. Not for what she did to them all. Killing Beast Boy, erasing Starfire from existence, shattering Cyborg's trust in them all and completely ruining his own life. It was all her fault.
But then again, came a nagging thought at the back of his head that reminded him much of Beast Boy. You were a little to blame too.
"I'm sorry she did that to you, Cyborg," said Robin quietly at last.
"Aw, man," said Cyborg with a smile. "Star never did anything in her life to..." But then, his expression changed and he was sad. "Oh. You mean her." But he laughed it off. "Nah, man. Raven... None of this was really meant to happen the way it did, I'm sure of that. We did it to each other. All of us."
Glancing over at him, Cyborg could tell that whatever Robin had wanted to hear, that hadn't been it.
They continued in silence for a while longer before an idea hit Beast Boy straight between the eyes. "She's a demon!" he exclaimed.
"Really? I thought she was a butterfly with a bad attitude," Cyborg said sarcastically.
"No," Beast Boy said, as if Cyborg didn't know anything. "I mean, she's a prestigious demon. With followers?"
Cyborg stopped the car and he and Robin both looked at Beast Boy in disbelief. "Raven has... followers?" Robin said.
"Well duh!" Beast Boy replied, as if it were obvious. "A girl with her power and knowledge of this dimension? She's bound to get a few weak-minded humans to worship her."
But Cyborg was raising a skeptical eyebrow. "Raven doesn't seem like the type to want to be worshiped..."
"The Raven we knew, maybe," said Beast Boy, seriously. "But this Raven's alone now, lost in her demon self, feeling that's all she is and all she'll ever be. She uses these people. It's pretty depressing, really. She lets them worship her. She doesn't do anything for them. They're just there, doing things for her as she bids it, like she's some sort of God. At first, she'd told them that their idolization was best focused elsewhere and that they were wasting their time. But after awhile, she just stopped caring."
"Hey, you know, I know a group of crazy kids down on 9th who fit the goddess-worshiper description," said Cyborg suddenly. "A few come to the bar on occasion, talking in low tones and giving me threatening looks. All dark and brooding." He glanced at Robin and smiled. "You know, Raven's type. Also they've got that depressive poetry air about them, you know that whole cliche, the world hates me but I don't care kinda thing. Alex, the other bartender, works as a pizza boy during the day and he told me he'd delivered lots of pizzas to their hangout, some abandoned office. He said they creeped him out. All these candles and shit lining their hall."
Beast Boy grinned. "Sounds perfect!" he said. "Lead the way, man."
They pulled up outside of an old office building, the sign 'Miles Incorporated' hanging by a nail as it swung back and forth over the doorway. Beast Boy stepped forward, aloofly.
"Let me handle this, would you?" he said smugly. He coughed and knocked on the door. A small window slid open and a pair of eyes looked out at him.
"What do you want?" they demanded.
"I've come to pay my respects to the Dark Queen," said Beast Boy, fighting the urge to smile. But the eyes narrowed.
"What do you know about the Dark Queen, lesser being! You are not worthy to approach."
"Oh, and you are?" said Beast Boy, looking at his fingernails. He yawned. "Listen, the old girl and I go way back, just tell her I'm here and I'm sure there'll be no problem."
"Be gone!" said the person beyond the door. "You're not welcome here! Guards!"
Suddenly, Beast Boy began to panic as he raised his hands. "Dude, dude, that's unnecessary! We just want to talk, OK? What harm can that do?"
The eyes narrowed once again. "You wish to talk of what?"
"Of... the Dark Queen. We want to learn more about her. From, er, you. You seem like a smart guy and all, and you must be looked fondly upon by the Queen."
The follower's eyes seemed to soften. It seemed flattery would get Beast Boy everywhere. "Yes, well, I have been following the path for almost a year now. And they have put me on sentry duty, can you imagine? What a big deal– ahem!" he interrupted with a cough. "No, no. If you want to talk, you'll have to see the High Priest. He'll know what to do with the likes of you."
Immediately the door opened and the three old Titans stepped inside. Their pretentious sentry was standing proudly before them.
"Come with me, I'll show you to the High Priest of our all mighty Goddess."
As they followed the guard down dark candle-lit hallways, Cyborg leaned in close to Beast Boy. "I thought she was a queen," he whispered.
"That's just what they call her," said Beast Boy. "Ravenism is like some new-age internet religion all these weak-minded kids are getting into. Better than some cult religions, or other demon worshipers. At least Raven doesn't support the whole human sacrifice thing."
"But perhaps She will make an exception, just this once."
Beast Boy jumped at the voice and noticed he was in a large room, bright with black candles and heavy with incense. A cloaked young man sat on a pillow on the floor, his legs crossed. The guard was gone.
"What brings you weary travelers in search of the Divine One."
"Who, Raven?" Cyborg laughed. "She's no more divine than my New York Cheesecake. Aw, if you tasted that, I'd give anything to get me some of that now–"
"You call Her by Her true name!" said the priest, astounded. "You are bold to do such a thing."
"Look," said Robin, stepping forward. "I don't mean to shatter all your dreams, but Raven's no goddess. She's just a person, like you and me. Well, a half-demon person, but a person nonetheless. And we're old friends of hers, trying to find her, because we need her help."
"I will disregard your blasphemy in an act of Divine Forgiveness that She has taught us. If you seek the Dark Queen's aid, you will find it through meditation and prayer. She will reveal Herself to those who are patient. She rewards loyalty."
"Um..." said Robin, beginning to feel uncomfortable. "Not that kind of help. I mean real help. How old are you? Seventeen, eighteen? Most of you here, just teenagers? You were all just kids when the Titans broke up, when your beloved Raven took a life. You don't know anything about her past, do you?"
"She rises from the ashes like the phoenix," the priest replied, unwavering. "Like we all must rise from the ashes of our old lives. She is Divine. She is a model to us all, that we all can be reformed."
"Conformed is more like it," Robin said. "This isn't what she wants. This isn't what she needs. You're wasting your time. Now bring us to her, so we can see her."
"You fool with your insolence!" screamed the high priest, rising to his feet. "You must pay!"
"I feel so sorry for you and your pathetic followers," said Robin with a scoff.
"Guards!" screamed the high priest.
"That's the second time they've called the guards on us, Rob!" Cyborg moaned.
"Robin!" Beast Boy screamed as robed guards seized his friend by the arms. Immediately, they all halted and backed away, almost afraid. The high priest was on his knees in minutes, bowing before the man he had just called an insolent, blasphemous fool.
"Our apologies, my prince," mumbled the high priest. "If I'd been able to recognize you... We will accommodate your needs right away."
"What did you call me?" Robin asked, dumbstruck.
"Prince?" Cyborg sputtered.
"Why, yes!" said the high priest, sitting up. "You are in the prophecies of the Great One. The one dubbed Robin, she says, will return and bring light."
"Wow, dude, you're in a prophecy!" said Beast Boy, excited.
Robin looked at him and shrugged with a frown. "Hey, it happens," he said, dully.
"How can we serve you?" asked the young high priest, bowing again.
Robin kneeled to his level and grabbed the high priest's shoulder, forcing him to sit up again. "Take me to Raven," he said, simply.
The door was simple. Ebony black with a brass handle.
"The portal lay just beyond that door," the high priest said with a nod. "There within lies the realm of our all mighty Goddess. There, she will receive you and bless you with her presence. You are truly lucky to be able to behold the glory that is–"
"Yeah, yeah, all mighty, dark queen, whatever you want, she's in there?" Beast Boy said, pushing himself to the front.
The high priest nodded. "Yes. But we might warn you–"
"Aw, we've been dealing for Raven for years, I think we now how to handle her," said Beast Boy, dismissing the high priest with a wave of his hand. The high priest took a deep breath and sighed.
"Very well," he said. "But enter at your own risk."
And with that, he opened the neck of his robe and pulled out a gold chain with a brass key hanging on the end and fit it into the door, turning slowly. Carefully, he opened the door to reveal a swirling black vortex. The old heros exchanged looks before stepping through the doorway.
The room they stood in was windowless and made out of white marble. It seemed to be a corridor that stretched on into forever. Somewhere down the hall, a black figure stood, far away, yet very near.
"Let me guess," came a sardonic voice, almost too close for comfort. The figure walked towards them until it was the shadow of a person, a mouth barely visible under a dark hood. "Some terrible evil is arising and now the Teen Titans must reunite to stop it. God, how cliche."
Robin stepped forward, tentatively, reaching out a hand as if to test if it was all some strange optical illusion. "Raven...?" he queried.
"Don't come closer!" the voice boomed and something rippled as Robin's hand made contact with a powerful force field. He drew away instantly.
In a the breath of a second, they were face to face and Robin could feel her breath, but still her eyes remained hidden. Her lips were chapped and her skin was as pale as he remembered it, but she had grown, as had the rest of them. Two adults stood before each other, grand and arcane, having so much and so little in common. The last time they had faced each other, both had been little more than children, already jaded by the wicked world.
She intimidated him, but he stood firm, observing her physical changes and trying to anticipate her less physical ones. Her powers had grown, that was apparent. He had yet to decide if that was a good or bad thing.
Slick as a panther, she stood cloaked in black, a sliver of darkness in a white temple. She took in the scene with tired eyes, weary of the world and the people in it. There was nothing left here but the darkness, and she had accepted that fact a long time ago. She had committed the ultimate sin, Judas in the darkest level of hell, Terra in her stone coffin. She had betrayed them and so resigned herself as nobly as she could to pay with the ultimate sacrifice. And now, they were trying to interfere with her gloom and despair. How dare they try to save a doomed soul!
"Get out," she hissed in low tones. "I am warning the three of you now. There is nothing alive in this temple. The only thing you can hope to find is nothing."
"We found you, didn't we?" Robin said in a flat whisper. She hissed at him like a cat.
"And thus you have found nothing," she returned. "I am nothing more than the darkness that becomes me."
"Then we do still have something in common," Robin whispered, coolly.
She narrowed her eyes, but he could not see, her face shrouded in shadows. "You are not welcome here."
"We need your help," Robin said, his voice returning to normal volume and reverberating off the marble walls as he assumed his leadership command.
"You need to go home, little boy," the bitter woman replied, angry at his arrogance. "Stop playing these silly games. The Teen Titans are dead. And if the end of the world is coming, what makes you think we're special enough that we can stop it? We are no better than any other hero. It is my understanding that the world has been under threat many a time before and yet it continues to spin. I don't doubt that this time is any different."
"Since when do you leave things up to someone else?" Robin snapped, getting irritated. "Probably around the time you started taking advantage of these poor kids?"
Raven scoffed. "Ha, don't speak of things you know nothing about. These children are here of their own free will. Whatever I tell them, they keep coming, so I have given up speaking to them. I provide a sense of comfort for them and if I can do that for a handful of vapid teenagers, then I am still doing some good in this world."
"This is more than providing comfort. Leading them on, making prophecies?" Robin spluttered.
Raven seemed surprised. "Pr-prophecies...?" she said. All of a sudden, she laughed. "Oh. Yes. 'Prophecies.' Robin, I make no prophecies. I rarely speak to the children. When I do, they take every word so seriously, so literally. I mentioned something once in passing, after a bad nightmare, about how you were like Icarus and flew too high into the sun. They took that to mean that you were going to come here and be the sun, or some such nonsense. They twist everything around to mean something profound." She smiled. "Just last week I mentioned a craving for bologna and now they have some grand crusade looking for the Oscar Meyer Weiner Mobile. It can be quit entertaining, the antics of these children."
"Is this what you do in your spare time?" Robin asked. "Mess with kids' heads?"
Raven's lips curved into a condescending smile. "You know little about the affairs of demons, Robin. There is much I attend to."
"You are no demon," Robin returned.
She turned away, for she could no longer face them. "You have no idea..." she whispered.
"Raven," Beast Boy said, finally gathering enough courage to speak up. "You're... I mean..."
But he'd had her at 'Raven.' The demon woman turned around, her cloak fluttering as she looked up at the ghost boy, a wan, nostalgic smile crossing her features.
"Beast Boy..." she said, her voice soft and wistful. "Oh how strange how much I've missed your annoying voice..."
"Um... I'll take that as a compliment," he said, slowly. "Well, listen. You asked what makes us different from other heros, and Robin didn't answer your question. Maybe because he's forgotten what makes us so special, what makes us stand out from all heros, super or otherwise. Together, we're unstoppable, we always have been. Alone, we fare fine, but look at us, look at us all. We're less than half of who we were together. You seem to be clinging to your demon half. Rae, you're human too. You always have been and always will be. But you've never been more human than you were with us. And that's what makes us different. We bring out the best in each other, compliment each other's strengths, cover each other's weaknesses. Together, we were the Teen Titans, and together we will be again. But please. We're not a team without you."
There was a moment of silence as the demon woman stared at the ghost. Finally, she said, "We're not a team without Starfire."
Which was only followed by another period of silence.
She gave an ironic smile. "I take it from your stunned silence that you don't know where she is anymore than I do. We are not a team anymore, Beast Boy. And we never will be again." She turned her back on them and began to walk away when Robin tried one last ditch attempt to win her over.
"It has something to do with Loki!"
The demon stopped in her tracks, but did not turn. Robin grinned at his triumph and tried to remember what the banshee had told him. To destroy everything she strives to defeat. You share a common interest. "We share a common interest," he said. "You want to defeat Loki and we want to save the world. When it's over, I swear, you'll never have to see our faces again."
A cold wind seemed to pass as Raven slowly turned and walked toward them again.
"Well," she said, taking off her hood and smiling at them with glowing dark eyes. "Why didn't you say so in the first place?" There was a scar just under her left eye, diagonally traversing the length of her cheek.
"Nice scar..." Cyborg muttered. She smiled at him.
"Yes," she said. "A gift from Loki when we crossed paths five years or so ago. I had already found my place of prestige in the demon world, but he was rising up fast from a minion status. His breed aren't usually smart enough to become leaders. He's a Morlin Demon, used for scut work and such by the more adept demons– like those of Azarath. Needless to say, somehow, he's gotten power, and lots of it. And now, if I understand you correctly, he intends on using it to destroy the world?"
"Pretty much, yeah," Beast Boy said, nodding.
"From what we could gather, anyway," Cyborg added.
"And you're a valuable asset to this team," Robin commented, sounding almost reluctant. "What with all the... inside knowledge on our enemy and all...
Raven looked up at him and, as if just seeing him for the first time, squinted at him in confusion. "Wow, You..." she muttered, then smiled a lopsided smile. "You really need to cut your hair."
He frowned at her in offense and his hands instantly flew up to his long black hair.
"What?" he demanded, insecurely. "What's wrong with my hair?"
But Raven just laughed and shook her head. "Whatever," she mumbled, glancing up at his black costume and only laughing again. "We need to get out of here."