"Raven is a demon! Did you not hear what Aurora said? She's evil now!" Yelled Terra as daggers of fury streaked out from her blue eyes. She and Starfire had been squabbling for five minutes now. Cyborg completely tuned them out and stared at the ceiling deep in thought.
"I do not do the caring! I know she has the goodest of hearts and that she is still our Raven! It is not for you to do the judging if she should live or not!" Hollered Starfire in a screeching voice that made her sound like a parrot with a sore throat.
"So then what? You want Beast Boy to die?" Demanded Terra furiously as she placed both hands squarely on her hips.
"No I do not! I do not wish for Beast Boy or Raven to die!" Declared Starfire, her green eyes glowing.
"What kind of world do you live in? Fairytale-topia? Aurora said only one of them can live! Since Raven is willing to give herself and die, then let the damned demon die already!" If Starfire sounded like a parrot, Terra certainly sounded like an air-horn.
"Raven is our friend! How can you do the saying of something so cruel!"
"Correction, Raven was your friend! She's the demon queen now! You need to wake up! Oh gosh Starfire your innocent, idealistic and naive mind is killing me!"
"And your cruelty is of the worst! On my planet we would -"
"-Enough!" Shouted Cyborg as he jumped up and stood between the two clashing damsels. "I've made the decision."
"Who gave you the right?" Demanded Terra. She never took her eyes off Starfire.
"You did. Since both of you cannot agree, my vote will be the tiebreaker." Cyborg crossed his arms and glared at the two mutinous faces. "We will silence Beast Boy."
"Aha!" Terra punched the air in triumph as Starfire burst into tears.
"What's your decision?" Aurora suddenly materialised in the room.
"Silence him." Cyborg nodded. Aurora returned his nod before vanishing once more. "Don't cry, don't cry." Cyborg tried to console the weeping Starfire. "I decided to silence him because it's for the good of everybody. BB ain't got no magic and soul self and existence travelling and the like. Once he dies, he dies. Rae on the hand can do all those things and if she dies, she's got a higher chance of coming back to us. We've known Raven for so long and she is no fool. Robin always outshone her as the cunning guy but she's far from stupid and she won't give up a fight so easily. It just doesn't sound like our Raven to just give in like that without even trying; she's gotta have something planned. That's why it's better to silence BB. If Raven has something planned, then both of them will live. If she really gives up her life like that, I think she's got a chance to come back to us. If we don't silence him and BB dies, then everything will be very final. So you see now? It's cool... It's all cool..."
Raven stared at Brutus gleefully as she surveyed her handiwork. She had used a spell to make him resemble her in shape, size and appearance and so far, she was pleased with the results. Her three demons gathered around her and they too looked on approvingly at Brutus' new form. They did not know it but once again, she was going to pull of yet another trick right under their noses. The demons did not know anything about the Stone of Azarath nor were they aware that in order to convince everyone that she was really dead, she had to leave their plane of existence to get the stone to stop glowing. That presented a problem as since she was not going to be physically present herself, she had no way of knowing exactly when Brutus' soul left him. Timing was crucial as if she left their plane of existence too early or too late, the Curatorians would know that the Raven before them was not actually her and could be unwilling to release the titans.
This was where the cloak that she had prepared came in. Having picked it off the floor, she stepped forward and draped the cloak around Brutus' now feminine shoulders. She then spent some time fiddling with the gem that secured the cloak together. The demons watched but suspected nothing because of the fluidity with which she did it and because she made it look like it was just part of the process of putting the cloak on. Within the gem, Raven had enclosed a crystal that was not unlike the Stone of Azarath in terms of function. When she fiddled with it on the guise of fastening the cloak, she gave the crystal the push that it needed to leave the cloak and enter Brutus' body where it then fused with his soul. She had another crystal just like this one in her chamber and when Brutus' soul left his body, that crystal would stop glowing. Immediately after that, Raven would leave their plane of existence to pay Azar a visit and since her soul could travel faster than his, she calculated that he would reach his next plane of existence at the same time she reached Azar's. She had tweaked the timing at which the crystal in her chamber stopped glowing just to make sure that the timing was right down to the millisecond. It was this kind of meticulous planning that had gotten Raven so far. When she sensed that the crystal had fused with his soul, she ordered her guards to take him away.
Despite having completed one crucial aspect of her plan, Raven knew she still had more work ahead of her. Having taken out some medals she had hidden in her cloak, she proceeded to callously toss them at the feet of the three demons.
"These are for you. I want you to wear them when you go to collect the titans. It will help you to counter the aura of purity that comes from Curatoria and make you more impervious to their powers. The Curatorians might attack and try to kill you but I still have use of you so I won't have it. Don't take them off until I say you can take them off."
"You do not believe in our powers?" Edwindan questioned.
"Nope." Declared Raven before stalking out of the throne room with an air of pomposity.
"Why doesn't she trust us?" Griped Defria as she put a medal around her neck.
"Because she's too powerful." Devia replied. "The more powerful she gets, the more insignificant our powers look to her."
"And the more insignificant she thinks we are, the more she expects us to fail." Edwindan finished with a sigh. This had happened with Trigon and he wasn't surprised one bit that Raven was following her father's ways. After all, he always knew that she was her father's daughter.
Raven walked into her private chamber and quietly slid the door shut behind her. She had used every spell in her knowledge to secure this chamber with a magical barricade that locked out every conceivable thing except her. Nothing could enter the room unless she physically carried it in and Raven always mystically scanned the room and herself to make sure she was not being tracked or tapped. Deceit warranted paranoia and Raven knew that she could never be too careful. She had many lives counting on her and one mistake on her part could wipe them all out. The demon queen could feel her power growing every single day and it deeply concerned and worried her. The more power she had, the more dangerous she became. If she ever lost control, it would probably result in an apocalypse greater than anything anyone had ever seen before.
With these heavy thoughts on her mind, Raven sighed and plopped down on her soft bed. Having scooted along the bed until she could lean her back against the wall, Raven reached for her neck and began feeling for the chain that she knew was there. When her fingers brushed against the warm metal, she summoned her powers and broke it. She slowly pulled the entire length of the chain out of her uniform until the little black raven came into view. Raven stared at it, her mind fixated on what it symbolised.
"I really do hope Beast Boy kept his." She let out another soft sigh as she twirled the broken chain around her slender fingers. "If he didn't keep his half of this pair of ravens my plan wouldn't work. But I trust him. There's no way he'd let it go."
The little black raven was actually a crystal; one of Raven's finest creations to date. By channelling whatever purity she had within her, Raven had been able to make two perfectly pure black ravens in crystalline form. With the intention of using it as a tracking device, she had injected part of her soul into one of the crystals and put it in Beast Boy's shoe before Aurora had taken him away. She knew that the Curatorians could not sense the presence of the crystal because the purity of the outer shell masked the darkness of her soul within. Raven was sure of her magic and was certain that the crystal would escape confiscation in Curatoria. However, everything hinged on Beast Boy keeping the crystal safe because that was what she needed to save him and the others.
Both crystals were created together hence they were interconnected and interdependent. Being objects of purity, the crystals would only glow with a violet hue when both were being held in a realm of purity. If one crystal was in a place of darkness like Raven's spaceship full of demons, it would stop glowing and the other would cease to glow as well. Raven knew that where Azar was, purity reigned which meant that when she went there, her crystal should be glowing until Beast Boy left Curatoria and was transported back to her spaceship.
Raven needed to know this for one important reason: she needed to know when to return from Azar's plane of existence. If she came back too early and the Stone of Azarath started glowing again before the demons had collected the titans, the Curatorians could easily refuse to release them. If that was to happen, she could not launch a full assault against them as that would make the demons suspicious and Raven really hated to think about what could happen if the titans were trapped there together with Slade for any longer. That was why she kept hoping that he had found it and kept it safe. Yet for all her hoping, she somehow trusted in her heart that he would. She trusted Beast Boy - perhaps even more than she trusted herself.
"What have I become?" She asked herself as she held the crystal in front of her face stared into her own violet eyes. "Trickery, cunning and deceit seems to be a part of me now. I used to take time to come up with my plans. Now I can conjure the same amount of cunning in a fraction of the time. I've become so good at protecting myself. Perhaps a little too good. I could see in an instant that the demons would sense the purity of the crystal on Beast Boy and might try to destroy him so I gave them the medals to suppress their ability to sense it. I would never have been able to think of something like this back then. Back when I was young and naive. Back when I just turned seventeen."
Raven pulled herself up from the bed and walked over to a mirror that she had hung on one of the walls. She stared at herself full in the face and tried to ignore the pain that immediately filled her eyes.
"I'm too good at being evil for my own good but I can't help it. I have to be like this if I am to protect my friends. Someday if I go off into the deep end, I hope that they will understand me enough to bring me back. I hope that he will understand me enough to bring me back. And even if they don't... Even if they don't understand, at least they will fight me and save the world from me, just like we saved it from Trigon. But I won't lose myself so easily. Not when I have so much on the line."
Her brows furrowing into a v-shaped line of determination, Raven made her way over to a box in the corner of the room. Gently, she rested her right hand on its lid and closed her eyes, concentrating as she channelled her powers through the box. Without a warning, the lid popped open with a light click. Reaching into the box, Raven pulled out a violet crystal ball and carried it over to the table.
"Humph." Raven watched her lips contort into a smile on the crystal ball's pristine surface. "Slade's carelessness is going to cost him. Once I've brought them back I will go on the offensive. I will hit him so hard and so fast that he won't be able to see it coming. I won't let him live. I will get rid of him once and for all and restore our world to the way things used to be. For Robin, for Stafire, for Cyborg, for Beast Boy and for me. I'll do it for us. Even though I may be evil, let me be evil for the sake of good."
Beast Boy stretched out his limbs like a starfish before bringing his right hand to his eye and rubbing it groggily. As the four walls and the world before him sharpened into focus, he caught sight of Aurora and Ausatia. He wanted to greet them but strangely, no words left his throat. More than a little bit perplexed, he allowed himself to be led before the council, all the while hoping that Aurora would notice his wild eyes and agitated facial expressions.
"I call the council to order." The distinguished looking Grandis hushed the crowd with a sweep of the hand. Beast Boy was pushed onto the elevated platform where he was to give his final testimony. Then he saw them. Stafire, Cyborg and Terra were sitting to his right where all his supporters were supposed to be seated. There was no one taking his side save for the faithful three. Beast Boy tried to open his mouth to greet them but it wouldn't open. The all too familiar feeling of panic surged through his chest as he endeavoured to get his jaw muscles to work. As he struggled vainly, one of the Curatorians on the panel of council members directly addressed him.
"The one who goes by the name Beast Boy, you may speak now and present your final testimony to the council."
Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead as he concentrated on trying to speak. He did not understand what was happening at all but he cursed the magic that he knew was probably the force that bound him. Inwardly, he was valiantly trying to open his mouth that was shut tight like a bear trap. Outwardly, his face was calm and his jaw was set; the inner turmoil within him perfectly hidden from the onlookers.
"If you refuse to speak we shall be forced to assume that you have no testimony to give." Grandis declared as the entire council began eyeing him doubtfully.
"What are you talking about?" His mind screamed. "I have a testimony! I am Beast Boy. That's what I am. A mere beast and a mere boy. I am neither an angel nor a man but I am deeply in love with the angelic demon that is Raven and I don't care who she is or what she might become! Half-demon or not Raven is Raven and I will always love her soft violet eyes, her pale skin and her pouty lips that she almost always wore when she was around me. I love her wit, her intelligence and how much she cared for me despite everything I ever did to annoy the living daylights out of her! She never quite found me funny but I'm okay with it now. At least it shows she took me seriously. Raven is my everything and I would do anything for her, even if it means dying. I'm not afraid to die anymore because I love a woman whose life means more to me than my own. Raven."
But not a single word came out. Tears streamed down his face but his jaws remained set.
"Alright then, since you have no testimony to give, we shall uphold the conviction and have the cursed demon die in your place." Grandis nodded to a couple of warriors. As if on cue, every Curatorian who had weapons prepared them. She was coming and they were afraid. Beast Boy watched with shimmering eyes, his heart vibrating like an earthquake.
At the order of one of the council members, a white runway appeared right next to the platform that Beast Boy stood on. It was about thirty feet long and it led to a circular stage where the Stone of Azarath stood on its podium. Everyone watched with bated breath as a shimmering sheet of translucent material rose from the sides and encapsulated the entire runway and stage. After what seemed like an eternity, a portal opened at the start of the runway and an all too familiar figure rose through it and began striding towards the Stone of Azarath.
"Raven!" Starfire screamed what Beast Boy could not.
"It's her! It's really her!" Beast Boy thought in horror as he began frantically fighting his chains. "Why is she falling to her knees? What's happening to her? She-she's in pain! This place is killing her! Whoever you are who's controlling me, you better let me go now. Raven I will save you! You can count on me!" He could almost feel the blood vessels popping in his brain. "I won't let you die Raven! You shouldn't die for me! You must live! I should be the one to die!"
"To hell with you." Slade snarled savagely as he ripped the uniform off a young Curatorian warrior that he had targeted and isolated from the rest. He knew that murder would probably dim the light too much and make the Curatorians suspicious but one little assault in the darkening light should escape detection. Having hastily pulled on the uniform, he carefully concealed the unconscious warrior in some thick bushes and scrambled off towards the place - the place where Starfire, Cyborg and Terra were sitting.