Raven paced around her room with her thoughts circling in an endless loop. She was trying to decipher Slade's earlier conversation with a mysterious being. Nothing made sense to her, from the rock to the voice to the spell and the timing of the spell. The rock appeared to have no magical significance whatsoever and she had never heard or read about a spell that had to be performed at 11:54PM sharp. Despite her efforts, she was unable to connect the few clues she had to find a lead because of the nature of the clues. Raven's high IQ allowed her to easily twist and turn things she saw to view them from other perspectives. This combined with her keen eye enabled her to spot details that others would often miss, such as when she deduced Slade's location on one occasion merely by swapping an almost invisible reflection around in her head to see that Slade was located at Pier 41 before sharing this revelation with the others. However, because the clues were now audio rather than visual, even Raven's intelligence could not help her now and she was like Beast Boy trying to study quantum physics - completely and utterly lost in a world of confusion.
Although Raven did not know a lot of things, there were several things that she knew. Slade was up to no good at all and that whatever spell he recited would probably lead to a major disaster.
"Wait a minute. If I've gotten rid of all the nanobots Slade injected into them to make it safe for me to vaporize him, why aren't I vaporizing him this instant?" Raven wondered. Realizing that she had to stop Slade dead in his tracks, she sent the portion of her soul self that she had released to his quarters to do some scouting first, just to be on the safe side.
The smige of Raven's soul self seeped through the walls of Slade's headquarters. It rounded a corner and melted through the walls of the room Slade was working in.
"Are you completely certain that the Princess is of no threat? Somehow, I don't trust you. Her power is formidable and her temper fiery. One wrong move and we could all be history." The mysterious voice was speaking to Slade once more.
"I know many of her weaknesses that you do not. When she isn't evil, Raven cares deeply for the titans. So long I have something on them, I can blackmail her with it." Slade replied confidently.
"Fat hope." Raven thought. "I've already dealt with your nanobots and now I'm going to deal with you."
Just as she was about to teleport her physical body to Slade's location, the voice spoke again.
"This is perfect. With your nanoscopic probes and my spells, the Princess will practically be a puppet in our hands. On behalf of the Improbus Daemonium, it was nice doing evil with you."
"The feeling is mutual." Slade responded coolly before placing the rock back on his desk. Raven however, was far from cool. Instead, she was profusely sweating bullets.
"The Improbus Daemonium!" Raven began to panic and for a very good reason.
The Improbus Daemonium consisted of sixty-five demons who had banded together to form an order. Every single one of them lived and breathed evil. They were loyal to a fault to Trigon and served as his guardians who guarded the gates to different planes of hell. That was all Azar had told Raven about them. Eager to find out more, Raven hastily returned to her room where she used the Bracelet of Athena to absorb all the information from a book Azar had forbidden her to read for an unknown reason. Having decided to disobey Azar for once, Raven quickly began to review all that she had absorbed.
"The order is led by eleven powerful demons and fifty-four lesser ones. 11:54! That explains why the voice told Slade to meet him at 11:54! The names of the leading demons are: Edwindan, Devil, Devia, Devon... The Improbus Daemonium are the mortal enemies of the Curatorians, who are among the most powerful forces of good in the universe. Only within the realm of Curatoria is anyone safe from the spells of the Improbus Daemonium... The fifty-four lessor demons guard the gates of hell, while the eleven guard the eleven Spheres of Sin. The Spheres of Sin are orbs of swirling dark energy that give those who absorb them power over a certain sin. Each one of Trigon's offspring is born wielding power over a particular sin, but they all have the potential to be able to control and amplify all eleven types of sin. On reaching adulthood at eighteen years of age and full physical and demonic maturity, they are granted the right to inherit all of these abilities, as well as the right to control the order under Trigon's name. However, because the offspring of Trigon rarely live to reach demonic maturity due to the sheer number of enemies they have, no one has ever claimed the eleven spheres."
Raven's heart pounded as she tried to recollect her thoughts. The pieces of the puzzle had come together and she clearly saw the big picture. Through his affiliations with Trigon, Slade had somehow discovered the Improbus Daemonium and found someone within the order who was willing to betray the others in exchange for a bribe. Despite the voice apparently speaking on behalf of the entire Improbus Daemonium, Raven doubted that the entire order would turn on Trigon and on her because they feared what would happen if they did so. Slade's ally within the order was acting solely on his words that Raven would be of no harm; a very, very big mistake.
Now that Raven knew that a powerful demon had cast a spell on her friends, she immediately got to work. According to several charms she owned, demonic spells had been cast upon the titans. The main issue was that she did not know exactly what they entailed. She tried to override the demon's spell by casting a protective spell on the titans in secret, only to find that she was unable too. She had spent so many years of her life learning to suppress the evil within her and fleeing from Trigon that she had neglected to study demonic spells in depth. Even the black magic that Malchoir had taught her seemed to have no effect. With a sinking heart, Raven realized that she knew just too little about the demonic spells of the Improbus Daemonium to overcome it with her magic. She need help and she needed it fast.
Having researched everything she could about the Curatorians, Raven made some new discoveries. The Curatorians were a warlike race who fought against evil with a passion. They acted as guardians of the universe and were responsible for the deaths of many of Raven's half-siblings. With their combined powers, they proved to be such a force that even Trigon left them alone; not because they could destroy him but because they were able to fend off his attacks on many occasions. However, the most surprising thing about the Curatorians was their link with Azarath. Having recognized Azar's power, the Curatorians had offered to join forces with her to eradicate Trigon once and for all. Unfortunately, Azar died before that could happen and Raven eventually dealt with Trigon on her own. Realizing that their former alliance with Azarath might help her convince the Curatorians to allow the titans to live in their realm thus protecting them from the demonic spells of the Improbus Daemonium, Raven began trying to contact them.
"The Curatorians have been known to grant protective status to deserving parties on many occasions, the most famous being the time they provided refuge to the royal family of Chrystenxia when they were being pursued by three of Trigon's sons, Jesse, Jacob and Jared. All three were eventually slain by the Curatorians and the magical jewel they stole restored to Chrystenxia. Members of this order frequently traverse the universe, searching for those in need of help. Seeking help from the Curatorians is difficult and receiving help from them hinges on mere chance. However, certain beings have been able to maintain contact with Curatoria without any difficulty. Known beings who have been able to do so are Angella of Queresa, Dreson of Otinium, Abryse of Juris, Azar of Azarath...Wait! Azar? Azar can contact the Curatorians? Azar can contact the Curatorians!" Raven was delighted beyond comprehension. Slipping her hands under the folds of her cloak, she pulled a pendant - that she had converted to a bracelet - off her right hand. Gripping the pendant in her hand, she closed her eyes and concentrated.
"What is the matter, dear child?" Azar's gentle voice calmed Raven instantly. Azar's voice could be heard by no one else but Raven, meaning that their conversation was essentially silent. However, Raven's voice could be heard by any curious observers, so she remained silent. Azar quickly got the message and connected with Raven's mind so that they could communicate with her thoughts.
"Azar! The titans need you help! I need your help!" Raven thought desperately the moment she felt the connection.
"What seems to be the problem?" Asked Azar.
"Slade! He found the Improbus Daemonium and he's working with one of them to destroy the titans! I managed to get rid of Slade's nanobots that he infected them with, but I can't get rid of the spell that some demon placed on them! I read from that book that only in Curatoria will these spells be rendered harmless and that you can contact the Curatorians! Please contact them for me and help me send them there! It's the only way they will be safe!"
"The titans probably do not even know of the existence of the Improbus Daemonium, which means the traitor within them must be trying to hurt the titans to control you by using your love for them." Azar reflected.
"That's what I don't understand!" Raven protested angrily. "I have on my demonic front and Slade truly believes I'm evil! If I'm evil and I hate the titans, how can I be blackmailed into being their puppet to save my friends? Why would I want to save them?"
"Did Slade and his ally say anything about a spell to be performed at 11:54 tonight?" Asked Azar gently.
"Yes! Yes! He did! How did you know?" Raven was practically screeching in her head.
"There is one spell used by the Improbus Daemonium on disobedient demons that has to be performed at exactly 11:54 at night. The spell removes about half of the evil from a demon, making it easier to control them. After a period of time, the evil will return to them, but not before they have been restrained. Even within those who delight in creating disorder, some order must reign."
"That means the spell they were planning to cast on me would take effect on my demonic side, reducing the evil within me. Because of my new powers, I'm supposed to be three quarters evil and a quarter good, but thanks to all the new things you taught me, I'm still half evil and half good. But because my evil side apparently overpowered my good side, Slade still thinks that I'm three quarters evil and a quarter good. From his point of view, reducing the evil within me would result in me being only three-eights evil and five-eights good, making me ultimately good. I would then become good where he'll be able to blackmail me by threatening to hurt the titans. He would make me do whatever he wanted me to do until the evil returned to me and the cycle would go on and on and I'll wind up being their good puppet!" Raven spewed out her mathematical rant. The stress of the situation was slowly taking its toll on her.
"The spell will in actual fact have no effect on you because you're already good but they do not know it." Azar reassured her. "I will help you contact the Curatorians. It should take me several minutes, so you'll have a little time to say your goodbyes. You need not worry my child, the Improbus Daemonium fear and respect you. So long you are living, you friends will be safe."
"Thanks Azar." Once again, Raven's mentor and guardian had come to her rescue to bail her out of a desperate situation.
Raven dashed to the chambers where her friends were held. Her hands trembled as she undid the chains that bound them securely to the floor. She worked methodically, removing their retrains before using her powers to carry them to Robin's room. She did Beast Boy last, mainly because there was something she wanted to do for him.
"Beast Boy!" Raven's heart cried out as she gently smoothed his matted hair. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I hope that someday you'll understand and forgive me for torturing you, for all that betrayal and hurt. But if you don't, I understand. Beast Boy... I-I-I think-I know- That I love you." Raven stopped short. She had just made a confession to herself. She loved Beast Boy. She never thought that this would happen, but as she stared as his peaceful and relaxed face caked in blood, she found her heart bursting with love. She had lived in denial the whole time, denying that she liked Beast Boy, denying that he was funny, denying that he was cute and denying that she loved him. But that was about to change. Knowing that she no longer needed to maintain her cover because the Curatorians had already been alerted, Raven suppressed her demonic side and spoke.
"Azarath Phenatria Vertutim." She recited before standing up and walking over to his feet.
Painstakingly, she undid the Velcro straps and untied his laces before pulling Beast Boy's right shoe off his foot. Carefully, she slid the item that she had created into it and put the shoe back on. Using some of her creative ingenuity that she so rarely used, Raven tied the lace into a nice, neat bow before refastening the straps. Having done so, she returned to Beast Boy's side and sat next to him. As hard as she tried, she could not bear to look directly into his face. Holding out her hand, she healed him from all his injuries.
"I love you so much." She whispered as a tear slid down her cheek. At that moment, a white portal opened and a shimmering figure appeared.
"I am Aurora of Curatoria. I am here for Robin, Cyborg, Starfire, Beast Boy and Terra." She announced.
"You can take them." Raven said calmly before gesturing towards her friends.
Aurora lifted up one hand and picked up the five titans telepathically before disappearing into the portal with them, leaving Raven behind, alone and angry.
Beast Boy opened his eyes and immediately snapped them shut again. After several moments of squinting, he finally forced one eyelid open.
"Where am I?" He groaned as four faces peering down on him sharpened into view.
"We're not sure." Replied Robin hesitantly. "All we know is that we're in a strange flower garden of some sort surrounded by high walls and that we've all be healed from our injuries. I'm thinking that these flowers have healing properties."
"This place is most lovely! Most, very, quite, so, so lovable!" Exclaimed Starfire as Beast Boy took Cyborg's hand and rose to his feet.
"Calm down!" Laughed Terra, amused by the alien's expression of her delight.
The five titans looked around, awed by the sheer beauty of the garden and the majesty of the high walls. Just as Starfire stooped down to sniff the roses, everything disappeared and they found themselves face to face with a large golden gate of what looked like a palace. The whole place was spotless and white and the entire structure seemed to be made out of marble and gold. Without a warning, the gate smoothly opened inward, revealing a tall figure in a dazzling white robe. A brilliant light shone from where its face should be, giving the figure a divine appearance.
"Welcome to Curatoria." Said the figure in a musical voice. "I am Aurora of the Curatorians. Please, do enter."
Bewildered, the titans gingerly tiptoed through the gate.
"Are we in heaven?" Whispered Terra. "Are we dead?"
"I don't think so." Robin responded before turning to Aurora. "Can you tell us why we're here?"
"Certainly. Once you have made yourselves comfortable in your quarters, I shall be honored to tell you more." Aurora replied before leading them to their individual rooms.
Though their rooms each resembled a king's chamber, the titans sprinted out of them as though they were garbage dumps, eagerly following Aurora into a lounge where they were fed with the most glorious food they had ever tasted in their lives. Once they began to settle down, the light disappeared from Aurora's face and she sat down with them.
"Woah." Cyborg thought. "She's pretty. Real pretty."
"What's going on? Why are we here?" Asked Robin, the straightforward leader who delighted in getting to the point.
"Yeah! Where is this place? Who are you?" Cyborg chimed in.
"You are in the home of the Curatorians, an ancient order who devotes their time to protecting the helpless from great evil." Aurora replied.
"Helpless? You're kidding!" Cyborg exclaimed heatedly. "We're superheroes! Get it? Superheroes! As in we protect other people, not receive protection ourselves!"
"You are facing a great evil." Aurora replied plainly. "Only here will you be safe."
"What do you mean by 'only here'?" Demanded Cyborg.
"Be quiet and let Aurora speak!" Ordered Robin sternly. "Who sent us here?"
"You've been sent here by a powerful friend of yours who is also one of our allies. Perhaps you know her." Aurora paused dramatically. "She's Azar of Azarath."
"Azar?" Beast Boy frowned. "I think you mean Raven of Azarath."
"No, Azar was the one who contacted us from her plane of existence." Aurora corrected his correction. "She said that she was watching out for you and requested that we help you."
"What about Raven? What's happened to Raven?" asked Beast Boy anxiously.
"I have no idea what happened to her."
"No idea? Azar is Raven's guardian! If you can contact Azar, you'll definitely be able to contact Raven as well!" Beast Boy protested.
Aurora frowned. She was very confused indeed. She had seen a woman dressed in a blue cloak and black leotard near the titans before she had collected them and surmised that she must be Raven, but she still had very strong doubts, mainly because of what she knew about Raven. She knew that Raven was the daughter of Trigon and that was all she knew and needed to know. She had met and fought with Raven's half-brothers before and knew that the demonic children of Trigon had an evil aura that she, Aurora, could easily sense. The woman she met however, had no such aura, nor did she have the four red eyes that the offspring of Trigon had. She had also thought that none of Trigon's children were capable of loving, yet she had heard the woman tell the green titan that she loved him just before she arrived. None of this added up, forcing Aurora to surmise that the woman was not Raven.
"I am not able to contact her." Aurora said bluntly without even thinking about asking the titans for a description of Raven. "Azar said nothing about her."
"Raven went to Azar's plane of existence! She can contact Azar! Maybe she asked Azar to help ask for help on her behalf!" Beast Boy persisted.
"That is not likely. Raven herself has the ability to contact us but she didn't. Azar was the one who could and did ask." Aurora responded. This was something that Aurora knew that Raven and even Azar didn't know. Because of Azar's tutelage, Raven was entitled to ask for help from the Curatorians. The only problem about that was that she didn't know how to contact them because she was never taught how to.
"Do you know if she's alive?" Asked Robin anxiously, the image of Raven's spaceship blowing up fresh in his mind.
"I'm not certain as to whether she lives or not." Aurora replied sadly, completely oblivious to the fact that she had just met Raven herself an hour ago.
"Do you know anything about her?" Pressed Robin.
"Not really." Aurora replied before she brightened up. Leaping to her feet, she dashed out of the lounge and returned with another woman who bore a striking resemblance to her. "This is my sister, Aurena. I'm a warrior but she's a scholar, so she can tell you more." Aurora smiled. "Don't bore them to death with your scholarly talk. I'm going for training!" She called over her shoulder as she pranced out of the lounge.
"I am Aurena." The woman smiled and took a place among the titans, who each returned her smile. "What do you wish to know?"
"What do you know about Azarath's Raven? Do you know anything besides the fact that she's Trigon's daughter and she's really powerful?" Asked Robin.
"There have been rumors. Ugly rumors." Aurena said softly.
"Rumors?" Beast Boy perked up. "Rumors about what?
"Trigon and his offspring." Aurena replied. "It is not known how many children Trigon has, but what we do know in these worlds is that Raven is his only surviving child left because she was protected by Azar and the monks of Azarath. Almost all of the rest of them were slain by our warriors for their crimes and cruelty. Raven was supposed to be the only child of Trigon remaining but recently, all of that has changed. Another one of Trigon's demon spawn has emerged from the shadows of earth. He claims to be Trigon's son and wields the great power of the demon king himself. His name is Seigon."
"Earth? Trigon has more children on earth?" Robin crossed his arms as he contemplated the implications of this piece of news.
"Raven has a brother?" Beast Boy clutched his head. "Why didn't she tell us?"
"I doubt she knew it herself." Aurena replied in a grave whisper. "Raven's brother is rumored to be trying to kill her for some reason. Other sources say that she is the one trying to kill him while still others claim that he has already killed her."
A breathless, flustered Curatorian appeared at the doorway before Aurena could continue.
"It's Azarath's Raven!" He cried. "Fryon and I were spying on the Improbus Daemonium and we just overheard Devon saying 'Raven is dead'!"
"What?" Screeched the five titans in unison.
"Are you sure that's what you heard?" Asked Aurena, who was starting to betray some anxiety.
"Yes! He was talking to Devia! He told her 'It's such a pity. She had so much potential and now she's dead.'"
"You're lying!" Beast Boy screamed as he leapt to his feet. "She's alive!"
"No she's not!" Retorted the Curatorian. "Fryon and I checked the Stone of Azarath! It's stopped glowing! She's really dead!"
"The Stone of Azarath?" Beast Boy stopped short. Aurena was quick to explain.
"When Raven entered her teens, she was deemed as a threat to the universe because of the great powers that she had even at that age. Grandis - our leader - asked Azar for proof that Raven was truly good and that she was able to control her powers, so Azar had Raven channel some of her powers into a special stone, which she then sent to Curatoria. Only those who are good can inject their powers into the stone and it takes great skill to be able to do so. As a result, Grandis ordered our warriors to leave her alone. Raven's dark energy has remained within that stone until now and they cause it to glow red. When Raven dies, her soul will leave her physical body and travel to another plane of existence. Since Raven isn't Trigon, she cannot spread her powers between planes of existence, meaning that her powers can no longer exist within our plane of existence. This is why her powers will be withdrawn upon her death from everything that she had injected them into. Since the stone no longer glows, it means that her dark energy has been withdrawn from it and that means... That Raven is dead."
The others stared at Aurena in shock and horror, the pain of their supposed loss slowly sinking in.
"How long has the stone stopped glowing?" Asked Robin, the first of the titans to find his voice.
"Nobody knows. The stone lies within the hall dedicated to Azarath. It just stays there. We don't watch it perpetually." Aurena replied softly. "I'm so sorry for your loss."
"It doesn't matter! Nothing matters anymore!" cried Beast Boy as he fled the lounge, tears streaming down his face.
As Starfire began to cry as well, Robin's heart sank. Slade had killed Raven right before his very eyes. Could it be that Slade was actually her brother? Trembling, Robin excused himself and fled to his room, his heart palpitating.
"I've lost the battle for Raven! I've lost the battle for good. Evil wins." Robin groaned as he fell to the floor. "Slade killed Raven! Whether he is her brother or not, she's dead and her brother will win! What have I done?" Robin covered his face in his hands and despaired.
Beast Boy washed his face with a heavy heart. He had been crying for many hours now. He couldn't believe that Raven was really dead, yet he couldn't deny the facts.
"I never got the chance to tell her that I love her and now she's dead." He thought as he stared at the mirror with his swollen eyes. "She's dead. Life is so unfair. Villains like Slade are allowed to live on yet good people like Raven are the ones who have to die."
Having slammed his fist onto the bathroom countertop, Beast Boy fought back the tears that threatened to flow again. He tried to distract himself by thinking about the night's events. He had withheld information with regards to seeing Raven and her torturing him because he didn't want the other titans to judge her and say that she had become evil. He had wanted to believe that deep down, she was still good, yet he himself had struggled with that issue. He had seen Raven with her demonic voice and red eyes, clear signs that she had truly lost control. However, what had hurt him the most during the torture was not the physical pain but rather the emotional pain. The last thing he ever wanted to see was Raven being controlled by her demonic side, unable to regain control over herself. He almost pitied her because he felt that she had lost her freedom and her right to live as she wanted. And now she was dead.
With those thoughts weighing down on his mind, Beast Boy kicked off his shoes, climbed into bed and climbed right back out. He had heard something drop onto the hard marble floor. With mounting curiosity, he dropped down to his hands and knees and began searching for what he had heard. Having crawled around in this manner for a moment, he morphed into a cat and crawled under the bed. With his extraordinary night vision, he quickly located a strange object and picked it up in his mouth. Crawling out from under the bed, he morphed back into his human form and raced to the bathroom. There, he washed the object under running water and polished it on his uniform. When he was done, he looked at the finished product with tearful eyes. Lying in his hand was a shiny black rock shaped like a raven in flight.
"Raven!" He spoke aloud in a voice full of hope and wonder. "What is the meaning of this?" He wondered as he clenched the rock within his fist, trying to keep himself from having another meltdown.
As Beast Boy stood there in a daze, he felt the rock become warm as it absorbed heat from his hand. When he unclenched his fist, a four foot tall dark energy raven escaped from the rock. It let out the cry of the raven as flew upward with its wings outstretched and remained in that position for several seconds before swooped down and returned to the rock.
"She lives." He breathed in awe. "Her powers. They still exist within our plane of existence. She lives! And she still cares! She's not really evil, she's just pretending to be evil! She must've done that to trick Slade into giving us to her! It wasn't Azar who sent us here, it was Raven!"
By now, Beast Boy was trembling uncontrollably with joy and relief.
"She must've put this in my shoe before we were brought here, which wasn't that long ago. To do that, she must have pulled off my shoe, put this in and put it back on. She did all that to show me she still cares. She still cares! She's still good! It's all good!"
Beast Boy stood there as if he was in a trance. All the anxiety, fear, pain and distrust that had cumulated up to now had faded away and everything was crystal clear to him. Raven did everything she did to save them. He couldn't understand how she had allowed her demonic side to surface without really losing control or why the Stone of Azarath stopped glowing, but he now knew that everything was all an act. He had seen her powers at work before his very eyes and he now knew that the one who was the source of these powers still lived to control them.
"It's very late. I'll share this news with the other titans tomorrow." Beast Boy decided.
As he returned to his room and curled up in his warm and comfortable bed, several tears rolled down his cheeks. However, this time, his tears were tears of joy. They were tears of joy, tears of relief and most importantly, tears of love.
Fitful sleep having cast its spell upon him, there was never a happier Beast Boy who fell asleep.