Disclaimer: unfortunately, I don't and never will own the Teen Titans.
Chapter 3: Mandragora.
The Titans hurried Gar into the Med Bay. His heartbeat was dropping past every second, Vic was taking out the dart from his heart, while the others were constantly looking at the monitor.
Rage and pain were growing stronger, knowledge and wisdom were trapped in their own realms, happy had just vanished, she was nowhere to be found. And love and timid had converged forming a raven with a grey leotard and deep pink cloak, there a havoc was created in Raven's mind. She placed the tip of her fingers on her forehead and closed her eyes, and chanted,"Azarath Metrion Zinthos"but she wasn't able to concentrate, because every time she closed her eyes a picture of a bloody Gar came in front of her. Raven was now crying even harder.
Kori couldn't see her friends in so much pain, since there was nothing she could do for Gar, she went to Raven. "Everything will be alright friend, have faith." she said, placing her hands on Raven's shoulder.
Dick's mind had received an idea "Raven you can heal him with your powers." he exclaimed. "I can't. To heal him I need to concentrate, find my centre and for all this I need to calm my mind, which is not its current state, there's chaos going on in it." she said, still crying. "Well, you could still try." said Dick sounding a little bitter. She couldn't believe that these words came out of his mouth, the person she claimed to be the one who knew her the best. Each Titan was in pain Cyborg had lost his best buddy, starfire had lost her little brother, Nightwing had lost his friend but Raven's loss was above all, she had lost the person who made her smile, taught her that like the others she could also feel love, do love, made her see what no one saw in her, beauty. Why did she have to lose everybody who loved her back, first Arella, then the monks of Azarath and now her fiancé, Gar.
"What do you think I am doing, standing here and faking tears on my nearly dead boyfriend. The reason I'm not trying is because I'm afraid that rather than improving his condition my powers could worsen it. I thought we shared a bond, but I was wrong. Piss off Robin!" she yelled and stormed out of the room. He heard this name after a very long time, he had hurt her indeed, it felt like he broke the unbreakable, the trust of his sister.
"I did not expect this from you Richard." said Kori with a disappointed look on her face and went after Raven. The woman he loved was now disappointed in him, he felt miserable.
Raven stood before a door with GARFIELD AND RAVEN labelled on it, she rubbed her hands over his name and felt it. As the door opened she went into the room that was meant be hers and his, she could still feel his presence, this was the room in which they meant to spend their first night as husband and wife. She saw an opened wardrobe in front of her, which contained a beautiful white, bridal dress and a smart bow-tie suit. She could not take it anymore, as her knees touched the ground she began to sob harder than ever, resulting all the things around her to fly and crash, but nothing was happening to the dresses. Just then Kori came in.
"I'm sorry I did not take the permission, but I was too worried." she exclaimed reaching the empath. Raven didn't reply, she was crying hard.
"I know friend Raven that this would purely be my foolishness to tell you not to cry, if it was Richard, I Would also do the same, but this not me we are talking about, it is you my friend. You do not understand Raven, but you are our strength, if you breakdown we all fall apart. You have to be brave Raven, for me, for Richard, for Victor" she paused "for Garfield." she had now understood the meaning of these words, she hugged Kori and began sobbing.
"It would be wise to give you a moment alone." with that the alien princess left the room.
Those words left a huge impact on Raven, nothing was crashing or flying anymore. Kori was correct, she had to be brave, she couldn't just sit here and do nothing while her fiancé was dying, she had to find a way to save him.
Raven went into the room that was made three years back, because of her undying love for books. It was the gallery, it had every book that belonged to the titans, right from Starfire's cooking guides to Beast Boy's Marvel comics. Also a wall was devoted for their pictures.
As Raven walked in, the first thing that caught her eyes was the Titan couple photograph, it was taken last year on valentine's day. It had Cyborg and Bumble Bee on far left, then Beast boy and Raven and next to them Starfire and Nightwing.
"We looked so happy, oh, Azar! what has happened." she thought and started searching for a book with a cure. She was searching the shelf when she came across a diary with GarXRae labelled on it. She immediately remembered that it was an album the empath and the shape shifter made two years ago. As she opened it, she saw a picture of an eighteen year old couple, the girl had pale skin with short violet hair and eyes and the boy was green with elf ears and emerald eyes. He was holding her waist and were sharing their first passionate kiss. Raven realized it was the picture of their first date.
Flashback
It was new year's eve and Raven and Beast Boy's first date, a weekago they had started their relationship.
"So what are we gonna do?" asked Raven, in a black dress with a brown overcoat, black stockings and pointed boots. "I've got it all planned." said Beast Boy, dressed in a black overcoat, a pair of jeans and boots.
"I'm impressed!" exclaimed his girlfriend. "I'll give you a perfect date, babe." he said, grinning.
"Don't call me babe." the empath said.
"We're here." the changeling exclaimed. "I-ice skating." she said in awe. "Yup!" he said turning to Raven, who looked frightened.
"So our little Ravie-vavie doesn't know how to ice-skate." he said teasing her.
"Hey! nobody is perfect." replied the empath.
"Don't worry I'll teach you." he said assuring her. "You will?!" said Raven,as Gar nodded.
"Now come on!" he said, as they put on their skates. Raven was a good student, as she learned the art soon, not to mention what a great teacher she had. Soon they were dancing as gracefully as a pair of swans, the world around them seemed to melt away.They seemed to be lost in each other's eyes, but they had stop because they couldn't ignore how loud their stomachs were howling.
"It was really fun." exclaimed Raven.
"Yeah, but I'm really hungry lets go and get some food." he said, taking her hand.
They went to a coffee shop named 'Madam Puddifoot's' "its my favourite café." said Raven.
"I know." he said, grinning.
"We're you stalking me?" She asked, suspiciously.
"Sort of." said Beast Boy sheepishly.
They spent almost two hours at the café, talking. Both of them could feel the warmth, they did not want to leave instead keep talking looking into each other's eyes. Finally they decided to leave, when Raven looked at the wall clock.
"This was the best night of my life." she said, wrapping her arm around his. He gave her a warm smile and said, "I'm glad it was. Now lets take a picture to remember our first date." they found a man who seemed to be in his mid-fifties, he had partially white hair and wore spectacles, he was wearing a blue checked shirt and a pair of cream coloured pants. They asked him to take their picture. They posed for the photo, suddenly Gar wrapped his arms around Raven's waist and pulled her towards him and planted a kiss on her lips, and photograph was taken. "I love you, Rae." he said breaking the kiss. "I love you too, Garfield." was her reply. "You two remind me when I was your age, just as passionate as you. By the way, beautiful picture." said the man, handing camera to them.
End flashback
Raven pressed the diary against her chest and began sobbing again. Suddenly she saw a shadow towards her right moving really fast, she turned around and asked "who there?!" and a book fell down. As she bent down to pick it up she found something on the open page, it read,
Mandragora, an ancient dark witch has the power to heal the hurt, bring back the lost and make the clock reverse. But for his/her desires to come true one must fulfil her wish. Mandragora can be summoned by the following ritual:
1. Spread the sirius powder in clockwise direction.
2. Place a bronze goblet with minerva powder in the centre of the circle.
3. Add three petals of animagus flower to the goblet.
4. Move a step backwards from the goblet and chant the mantra Mandragora Periculum Lumos.
"Summoning Mandragora can save Gar's life." said passion.
"But you do remember what she did to the three realms." said knowledge.
"But you can't let your love die because of you." said pain.
"Raven, we all know how much you love Gar, but lets not forget what is correct. We our your mind Raven but this decision is to bemade by your heart." advised wisdom.
"We agree." said love, timid, knowledge, brave and happy, who had just appeared.
"Save him." whispered passion.
"I have to save him." thought Raven, as she ran towards her room.
Raven did as directed in the book, finally she moved a step backwards from the goblet and chanted "Mandragora periculum lumos."
Suddenly a portal opened and strong winds started blowing from it and a woman emerged, she wearing an olive green cloak. As she removed her hood, her dirty green robe could be seen. She had greyish skin and long, wild, dark green hair. Her eyes were yellow, as were her teeth and wore a thick rope of pebbles around her neck. She was Mandragora.
As she stepped forward the portal closed and she started singing a song.
Come seek me & gain what you have lost;
I can give you what you desire most.
But beware for this you shall perform a task;
And give me something for what I ask.
But past an hour- the prospect's black;
Too late, I'm gone, I won't come back.
"What is it, that you ask to fulfil my wish?" asked Raven, a bit anxious.
"You." said Mandragora, pointing towards the empath.
"What?!" asked Raven, really confused.
"You see dear, I can save your loved ones life if you decide to leave this world behind and come with me forever. In other words, I want you to become my possession." exclaimed the witch.
"But-but-
"You have an hour dear and the one you love has a bit more than that. The clock's ticking!" she exclaimed, opening the portal and disappeared.
Kori was on her way to the Med Bay when she met a guilty Dick.
"Its all my fault...its all my fault that Gar's in this condition, if only I had a better plan. I even hurt Raven, rather than comforting her, her loss was the greatest of us all, I-I hurt you, I disappointed you. I'm sorry Kori, I'm sorry!" said Dick, who was now sobbing.
"I see you have learnt your lesson. I forgive you Richard." said Kori truthfully, placing her hands over his cheeks. She hated the fact that she loved him so much, that she always ended up forgiving him, rather than punishing him.
He leaned and gave her passionate kiss, they wanted this moment to last forever, but were brought to the reality when they heard their lungs screaming for oxygen. As they pulled away she brought him in a hug.
"I love you." said the former Boy Wonder.
"I love you, too." replied his beautiful wife.
Raven went to Med Bay and found the others were already there.
"The pulse rate is dropping fast, he won't be able to make it, we need a miracle to save him." said Vic, whose biological eye had gone numb because of crying.
"I know a way." said Raven, recalling the incident that happened in her room.
"What?!" others chorused in amazement. The half-demon then filled them in with the whole Mandragora episode.
"So, to save Gar you need to sacrifice yourself to that Mandragora woman." asked Dick, as Raven sighed and nodded.
"But friend you cannot do this." said Kori.
"I agree with her, and do you think it would do any good to him." said Vic.
"But its the only way to save him. She said that I've got only an our to think and Gar's got a bit more than that. I cannot live with the guilt for the rest of my life thinking that I could save him but I didn't. You have lose either of us today, so let it be me." Raven said.
Finally the Empath made the others agree with her decision. Again Mandragora was summoned.
"I agree to your terms, I'll go with you, but I need to say goodbye to my family first." said Raven.
"Very well." was her reply.
Raven went to Kori and hugged her. "I'll miss you. I always loved our girl time. Take good care of yourself and my nephew or niece and tell your kids about their Auntie Raven."
"I will miss you too Raven, I want you to know that I have only one sister, and that is you." exclaimed Kori.
Raven then went to Dick. "I'm sorry Raven, knowing that you were in so much pain I taunted you. And I completely understand if don't want to forgive me, I broke your trust." he said, between the sobs. "I forgive you 'Boy Wonder' and I know that you were going through the same thing as I was, blaming yourself and feeling guilty. We share a bond remember!" she said, bringing him in a hug. "Take care of him for me, will ya." she said as Dick nodded.
After that it was time to say goodbye to Vic. Before she could say anything, he hugged her and said, "I'll miss you little sissy."
"I'll miss you too, big bro! Just take care of yourself and look after the team like a good big brother. I really wanted to see you and Karen get married." she said as he blushed. "Look after him, he's still a bit careless." she said looking towards Gar.
Finally the Azarathean girl went to her green boyfriend. Raven sat beside him on the bed. "You were the most enchanted thing that has ever happened to me, these years with you was the best part of my life." she said, as she pressed her lips against his for the last time. "I will always love you, Garfield Logan, take care." she said and stood up.
"Its time." the empath said to her friends and Mandragora appeared and opened the portal but this time it was not giving off strong winds. Raven gave her family a warm smile and raised her hand in farewell. With that she turned and entered the portal and disappeared with the dark witch.
Another chapter's up!
Thank you Ssj Maggie for helping me when my mind stopped giving any idea, without your help I won't be able to complete this chapter.
And if you have read the Harry Potter series then you would be familiar with terms- Madam Puddifoot's, Minerva, Sirius and Animagus.
Opinions, advices,comments and criticisms are all welcomed! Tell me what you think. Kindly Read and review.
Fawhead.