GODDESS ; young justice

one.

one ; the golden sparkles around us

THE SHAH RESIDENCE.
mumbai, india | july 26th.

She was so golden.

With her powers, or without them, it never really mattered but Devi Shah was the most golden thing anyone had ever seen.

If it wasn't Devi Shah, it was Goddess who shone. More often than not draped in the golden and red glitter that encircled her wherever she went, reflecting the light off the young vigilante, making her look like real divinity.

Something nor Goddess, neither Devi were.

The one thing both of them were, however, were shiny. Covered in glitter, that adorned their faces, leaving some sparkling specs on their eyelashes, even after washing it off.

It was what connected the two; the glitter Goddess was entrapped in as she fought for her rights. The same glitter that would stay on, stubbornly clinging to her eyelashes as Devi would walk into school half asleep.

The glitter that reminded her what she fought for everytime she looked in the mirror.

It was her glitter, the one known as a trademark symbol for Goddess. It was her Dick Grayson cackle, that little trail of gold and red shining on her, around her. It was who Goddess--and Devi Shah--were slowly getting known for.

Even now, as she stood in front of her mirror, clutching her ears shut to tone down the overwhelming energy coming from the fight outside, Devi's glitter kept her grounded. All around her in a little circle, on her nose and her eye.

Her parents didn't tone down their fighting; the screams just got louder, but the glitter kept her grounded, it reminded her who she was. It reminded Devi what she fought for.

Goddess was Devi protecting herself, protecting others like her and she couldn't stop, not until the people could see there was someone defending them from this side of the world, and two years hadn't done that yet.

So she took a deep breath, let go of her hands. Standing up straight and smiling in the mirror.

Devi Shah was as golden as Goddess, and when she walked out of that house, it's all she had to remember.

The bio ship was waiting for her right on her terrace, it wasn't as though she had to walk to the airport or anything. The team wouldn't let her either; two years had made it incredibly hard being a meta everywhere, and for Devi, India topped the list.

Of course they didn't know she was one, but Devi took no risks.

Her parents knew she had to leave, they didn't seem to give a fuck, so neither did Devi, reminding herself that she was going over for the weekend, she would stay with the Waynes and Devi would be just fine.

Her being Goddess had come as a shock to her parents--a violent shock that involved screaming and a lot of blame being thrown around, but in the end she gave them the ultimatum. Devi chose her own path, and after she got the first taste of rebellion, she needed more.

Although she would be okay.

"I'm leaving, i have a break so--" the meta riots, aimed at killing their kind. Schools gave them the day off for safety apparently but it still pissed Devi off--"mein monday ko aa rahi hu."

Her father nodded to acknowledge her but immediately turned back to argue with Devi's mother.

It was like they didn't give a fuck.

Devi shook her head, ignoring the thoughts before peeping through the door just to tell her brother she was leaving. Jay Shah in turn gave her a half assed nod and shooed her out.

With a sigh, she walked out, closing the door behind her. How was it she felt safer fighting monsters?

Putting a happy face on, Devi finally walked up to the terrace. She'd never been happier that they lived on the last floor, and her smile only widened when she saw bio-shop waiting for her.

"I'm glad you're here, girl." Devi muttered, petting the ship. The zeta tube development in India was going horribly and this was the only other way she could travel back and forth without bills.

Everything aside, Devi was considering throwing herself off in a river. The team was her happy space and today that was not gonna go well.

Although she wasn't directly training under Nightwing anymore, Dick Grayson was still her mentor, and a very good friend, which is why he'd warned her of what Batman intended to do today.

Now, technically, Devi did count as the 'Batfam' chick, because Dick got her into the game, and ninety percent of her training--that wasn't with Tigress--was either Gotham patrolling or with Batman while Nightwing wasn't around.

She was still not told much, just that Batman was going to walk out and if Devi wanted to, she was free to join them.

The latter was a direct invitation from Robin--according to Dick at least--and if she did come with them, Devi would be with Cissie, Steph, Cass (not Sandsmark)--side note, why did they have so many people called cass--and of course Tim.

Devi pointed out how this was choosing, and Dick told her she didn't have to choose. In his exact words, "Caped and personal lives, they always stay different D. Mixing them will be painful. Don't worry about your friendships, those won't be hurt. The choice is up to you."

Her choice.

Only problem? Devi sucked at making good decisions for herslelf.

THE WATCHTOWER
space | july 27th.

Keeping secrets from the people you'd grown to love almost as a family was hard, but Tim got her a new book and Devi was engrossed in it.

Besides, she was trying to tune out M'gann debrief, because she didn't want to see what came next and overthink it to a really extra extent, and Goddess wasn't really relevant to it, so it didn't matter, so doing the only thing Devi thought would help, she buried herself further in the book, trying to block out everyone around her.

And then the goddamn calvary came out.

"It's time."

Just as Batman said those words, Goddess and Robin's eyes caught each other, and a mini staring contest--one that lasted a moment too long--took place as they tried to convince the other to not leave. Robin's gaze was pleading, so she would come with, while Goddess's was firm in her answer. He knew she would see him tomorrow for training, and she knew this was a topic she would avoid because if not, they would argue.

The stares lasted only for around two seconds but the words left unsaid held a whole conversation that Goddess didn't want to talk about.

As soon as the stare broke off, Robin walked away with Spoiler and Arrowette behind him, neither speaking.

Batman did turn to ask her--after he asked Black Lightning--however she shook her head before he could say anything. She was never able to read his expressions, but something told her he was a little disappointed.

The same gut feeling told her something way different was happening here and even if Dick had given her a heads up about this, there was definitely something he wasn't telling her. Neither him, nor Tim were telling her.

But Devi didn't know what it was and acting on pure impulses without proof could end badly. She didn't want to take any rash decisions right now, especially when her two best friends and someone she held too close to her heart had just walked away from the team, and despite Nightwing's reassurance, Goddess couldn't shake the feeling that things were about to change.

So as Mickey let Devi lean on her, all she hoped for was that the change wouldn't be all bad.

-

[ translations ] mein monday ko aa rahi hu ; i'm coming back on monday

a/n ; big long sigh, lets start this bullshit !