Sitting alone in the beautiful ashoka grove, Sita stares longingly into the distance. The bright oranges and reds shone off the flowers and she feels for a moment, she can be at peace. For being the victim of a kidnapping, this feels oddly strange. Here she is, in garden that feels like its own fantasy world.
Under Rama, she felt protected, but in this garden, she feels free. But how can she feel free? The internal conflict keeps building and building. She feels free, why does she feel free? She's trapped, she should feel trapped! Something about this garden, it's getting to her. Is it the flowers? The colors? What is this feeling?
Ravana approaches from the bottom of the hill and simply sits next to her.
"This whole garden, all of Lanka itself could be yours if you take my hand. By the power of the gods themselves I cannot force you to be mine, but I can promise you great power if you do," Ravana calmly said to Sita. His aggressive moves towards her had obviously failed, so it's time to take a new approach.
Sita began to distance herself, still struggling with her thoughts on why in the world she felt more free now than before. At Rama's side, she was a devoted wife, but here, she feels like her own person. Maybe what she needs is more power on her own. Instead of being protected by Rama, she can protect herself. Instead of being the wife of Rama, she can be queen of the rakshasas. The plan begins to form in her head as she dreams of getting to be the one in power for once in her life.
The next time Ravana approaches, Sita gives him her hand under one condition. "If I am to be your wife, you must promise me this: I am not to sit idly on the throne. I am to be just as powerful as you and I shall see to the destruction of Rama myself," Sita sternly says to Ravana.
Knowing Sita's heritage as an avatar of Lakshmi, Ravana knows she can harness great powers. "I will grant what powers I may, but for the rest you must, like me, go to Shiva for guidance," he says. Ravana promises that together they can conquer the world as he himself is immune to the gods. His biggest weakness in Rama iss bound to fall to Sita should the time for a battle come.
Thus together Sita and Ravana unite, nearly drowning in their power. Knowing Rama will come eventually, they plan and wait for the perfect moment when Sita will betray him and strike him down.
Time passes and Rama's army is pounding on the gates. Every time it seems they're defeated, they suddenly all rise again and continue the fight. Sita stays in the garden, waiting to be found. Soon, Hanuman reaches her and she sends with him a message back to Rama.
"You must make it to the ashoka gardens Rama! It's the only place we can sneak out of this horrid place together!" she tells Hanuman, hoping he wouldn't catch on to her hidden plans to slay Rama in the gardens.
Shortly after Hanuman escapes Lanka, Rama finds his way into the garden where he meets Sita. Ravana hides nearby, both he and Sita have been rehearsing exactly how this fight will go down. Suddenly, Ravana reveals himself and Rama pushes Sita behind him to protect her. It's at that moment that Sita takes her chance and plunges her previously hidden blade into Rama. Ravana then attacks the wounded and surprised Rama himself, unceremoniously finishing the job.
For just a moment, Sita doubts her choice, but only for a moment. She had never felt this powerful her whole life! She will be known as Sita, Queen of Lanka, Slayer of Rama, one of the most powerful beings to have ever graced the earth! No one will be able to question her power as she stands by Ravana's side. From now on, Sita and Ravana will begin their reign across the land.
Author's Note: Alright, this story was a very interesting one to write. I took some pretty extreme creative freedoms here, but I hope it all came across as a somewhat plausible story. Like my other story, this is a twist on the PDE Ramayana by various authors. After reading how Ravana was forced to try to get Sita to willingly accept him, I started to wonder how that story could change if she did. Originally, I debated including the short battle with Rama over a more dramatic one, but it felt more appropriate for it to be a short and sweet betrayal. I also made sure to keep details such as the ashoka grove that Ravana originally sent her to to try to convince her. Overall this story was a pretty big leap compared to the first story and I wanted to see how everyone would respond to it. I know the way Sita acted in this story is obviously not how we expect her to act, but I hope by setting her up as someone seeking power, it made this all a little more believable. As seen in the Ramayana, it was hard for her to even be accepted by Rama after everything she had been through, so by giving her the strength near to the levels of what Rama had, this may even be a better ending for some readers!
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