Okay before I talk about me being bad ass, you need to know how this happened and why.
The answer is pretty simple. An asshole named Lex Luther decided, oh whoopdie doo I'm going to kidnap and experiment on my little sister, the only family I have l...
We all sat around the table in the debriefing room. Batman and Red Tornado were there as well standing at the head. Right now we were addressing the problem we had been ignoring for the better part of the week.
The invasion.
They had mostly been leaning on me for information on the Heathens, but even my knowledge was limited when it came to them. I had gotten quite a few things out of the way but I was still debating on weather or not to tell them about the Cronum.
On the upside, it might just be the way for us to get a leg up on the enemy. The downside is the probability of this just being an old goose chase. My whole series of riddles and prophecies do not seem like a good strategy at this point.
“We could always try and throw the Joker at them ?” Wally suggested.
“Wally, if I can cut off their creepy ass fingers and they regrow then, I’m pretty sure they can survive a mad man whose main attack is gassing people and biting them.” I deadpanned and rubbed small circles where my temples would be.
We had been at this for hours and the low buzzing of the air conditioning and the continues stupid ideas from my brother had slowly gathered a migraine behind my eyes. Wally was a dumb ass and all of us could only take to much of him.
I sighed. I had been in charge of this meeting and defeated, I rose my open hand and called out to everybody.
“Alright, obviously this isn’t working. Let’s take five.” I said tiredly.
The night before this I had been reading and trying every combo I could think of to figure out how to get to the Cronum and…. Nothing. The only thing I could understand from it so far is it is that it has separate parts. The rest I’m still trying to guess.
I walked out of the debriefing room and sat down next to the indoor lake right by the cave side. My feet in the water and the soft sound of my splashing calmed me down and I took a deep breath.
I felt someone sit next to me and I already knew it wasn’t Dick. I turned to see Connor sitting next to me. He had his usual still expression plastered on his face and had his eyes closed.
I don’t exactly know how to describe my relationship with Connor. It was sort of similar to M’gann but was so different at the same time.
I guess he was a sort of weird little brother to me, despite the size difference. I know he was much younger than me, but he had a certain maturity that M’gann still expressed in innocence. It was always nice talking to him, even if we didn’t really talk much.
Sometimes sitting in the silence was just as good as a full out conversation. I closed my eyes like his and we just sat there for a minute or two. After a while I felt another figure next to me. As I looked I saw Kaldur next to me too.
My relationship to Kaldur was pretty vague. We hadn’t really talked much but I know for a fact he was a lot like a protective older brother.
You’re probably wondering why I always refer to my friends as my siblings or other family members, but I have a good reason.
Growing up, my friends and family were always one in the same. My parents were always working and even if I loved them like life, my family was just as much my friends as it was them.
My friends were like the siblings I never had so at one point I referred to them as such. I never did it to Dick because of my feelings towards him and I’m thankful I didn’t. Do you know how weird the situation would have been if I did?
I was pulled out of my train of thought as Connor spoke up.
“There’s something you’re not telling us. We haven’t really had a problem with secrets but at a time like this…” He trailed off and Kaldur carried on.
“We need to know everything if we are going to beat this.”
I sat there silently and considered what they had said. It wouldn’t hurt would it? If it’s not real then we might be wasting our time but if it isn’t…
I retracted my dripping feet from the water and bounced up. I turned to everyone with a determined look.
“Breaks over! Back in the room!” I shouted at them and with alarmed expressions I shoved all of them back into the room.
“Fae, what are you-“ Robin was about to say but I cut him off.
“Nope, less talking and more moving your ass into the room.” I said.
“But-“ He was about to talk back but I drop-kicked him into the room and a satisfied smile covered my face.
I turned back to the others who all had wide eyes, “Anyone else want to join the birdie? I assure you I can make you fly even if you don’t have the ability to.”
They all shook their heads and shuffled into the room quickly. I followed them and shut the door behind them. I shoved Batman and Red Tornado out of the front and went to the head of the table. I stood straight and took a deep breath.
“Okay, obviously we aren’t getting anywhere.” I said.
“Hey! I thought my idea was pretty-“ Wally was about to interrupt but I summoned a long sleek staff and hit him. I glared and cleared my throat.
“As I was saying.” I glared, “We haven’t had much progress. I-I think I might have something though.”
I looked over to Kaldur and Connor and they both sent me a small nod of comfort. I felt a little more at ease as I told them the next part.
“There is something, a weapon that might be powerful enough to help us. The only problem is… I don’t know where it is.” I said.
By now I had gotten everyone’s full attention and decided to continue.
“It’s called the Cronum. It’s an old fairy weapon that was lost centuries ago. My father… he-well he was here to find it. After that didn’t work out, he kind of got sidetracked. But Dumbledore finally told me what I needed to know.” I said.
Immediately Wally’s hand shot up like a child in a 2nd grade class. I sighed and pointed at him.
“One question, when did you meet Dumbledore?” He asked and I face palmed.
This was going to be hard to explain.
***(One explanation about Dumbledore later.)
“So you’re saying whenever you pass out, there’s an old guy in an empty plane of space who plays poker joins you and occasionally has life changing news?” Wally asked.
“Pretty much” I shrugged.
“Wait so when you were in a coma-“ he was about to ask and I nodded solemnly.
Wally on the other hand was in near tears as he tried to keep his laughter in. I glared at him Bat-style and he immediately stopped. I swear I saw a small smile flicker on Batman’s face and I in turn let one quickly twitch on mine.
Robin stepped up and smiled at me, “Why didn’t you tell us sooner?”
“Well, the fact that this might just be a folks tale and a goose chase but other than that, I haven’t completely worked out the riddle. I have close to nothing and all I can say is that it has three parts and we need to find them.” I said matter of factly.
“Hey, folk tale or not, it’s our best bet at this point. How did the riddle go?” He asked and I repeated what Dumbledore said.
~
Cronum is not one, but three
The cities you know will be
A city of love lies in wait.
A hilt for a sword
But only under will you find the treasure
That you desperately need
A city of dreams, bustles with life
A blade for the edge
On the theater you go
A show for a prize
Last is the city of happiness
The power nothing but a stone
A mystical flourish of light and ceiling stars
A faithful leap through water
These are protected by a force
If you obtain them
You must face the guardians of Silvalia
And when united three to one
A heart of anguish is all it takes
For power it doesn’t hold
But within it is created
~
I said and Wally suddenly lit up. Artemis looked at him weirded out and he jumped up to me.
“Quickly write that down!”
I looked at him strangely but obligated and wrote it down on a lined notebook page. Just as I had finished writing it he snatched it out of my hands and cackled with glee. It was like Christmas had come early for this little boy and he seemed to enjoy his present.
I looked to Dick for answers but he shrugged. We really had too many of these situations when it came to Wally.
After about ten minutes of all of us staring at the doorway, it became apparent that Wally wasn’t coming back soon. I looked at the time and decided if we were going to keep at this we should probably get some food in our system.
I told everyone that since I interrupted their break earlier, that they could do what they wanted till the food was ready. M’gann eagerly came up to me asking if she could help and I smiled.
I’m pretty sure if she were a normal human being, she would probably become a chef when she got older. She learned quickly for someone who only had a few months to learn. I bet if she practiced she would make a great one.
When I was younger I had always wanted to be a vet as ludicrous as it may seem. I was set on the idea and was even going to apply to colleges as early as I could. I’m already applying as it is because of my high grades.
It’s a shame that none of us here are ever really going to live that life. I mean, even if we wanted to quit, this job-this life would always find a way to catch up with us. Don’t get me wrong! I love being a superhero, it’s just…
I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if none of the bad things in the past 4 years happened. My parents wouldn’t die, I would never be tortured and Lex would never be in my life in the first place.
Even as nice as that seems, I probably would have missed out some good things too. I would have never met Connor, Kaldur, Artemis or M’gann. I would never have known the truth of my heritage. And I probably wouldn’t have had the guts to go after Dick like I did.
No matter what has happened or what is happening right now, I don’t think I would change what has happened to me. It made me who I am now and I’m a stronger person because of it. Through all the pressure, a diamond was formed and I plan to keep it.
M’gann and I were running a little low on supplies in the cave so we just made pancakes for dinner. We would have to go shopping soon for more ingredients.
I ask again, do they feed these children?
We finished and handed out the plates to everyone. I just kind of said hi to Red Tornado as I passed. It’s not like he could eat so I tried not to be too rude about it.
I walked up to Connor and Kaldur and sat next to them again. I gave them their food and sat cross-legged as I looked at them.
“Thanks for earlier.” I smiled.
“Nothing to thank us for. It’s what friends do.” Kaldur said and Connor smiled. I felt my heart melt at the sweet gesture and gave them both a great big hug. I don’t know what I would do without these big idiots.
I let go and picked up my plate to go and sit somewhere else. I spotted the usual messy head of black hair in front of me by the stairs and I went and sat next to him.
I leaned into his shoulder and nearly fell asleep at the warmth coming from him.
“Hi” I muffled out and I heard him chuckle.
“I take it you didn’t sleep much last night.” He said wistfully and I nodded tiredly. I had been reading a lot at night and even if I was exhausted I didn’t want to sleep.
Every time I closed my eyes, the image of that Heathen pops up and scares the living shit out of me. Do you have any idea how evil and terrifying those things are? It’s like mixing all the ‘Annabelle’ movies with ‘The Conjuring’ into one nightmare.
I mean, damn, if you’re looking for nightmare material, I have and freaking terror magnet living in my basement if you’d like. Trust me when I say I would be more than happy to get rid of it.
After I literally enveloped the demon creature into my most powerful attack, they put it in the secure chamber underneath the team cave. Now, I don’t know about you but having a creature that nearly killed me live beneath my feet doesn’t really put me at ease.
“Why don’t you sleep a little? Don’t worry I don’t think anything will happen while you are gone.” He said.
I bit my lip as I didn’t really want to tell him about the nightmares I had been having. I looked down a little but I felt his hand lift my chin up so that I was looking hi in the eyes.
“I’m here. Nothing is going to hurt you. Okay?” He asked softly.
It was almost as if he had read my mind and said the best words I could ever hear. I nodded to him and laid my head back down on his shoulder. My pancakes were still next to me, untouched, but I was too tired to really give a fuck so I just snuggled in deeper as he wrapped his jacket around me.
I was so nice and warm. My eyelids fell shut and I was about to drift off when…
“I FIGURED IT OUT!!!”
I shot up from my position in a frenzy, and Dick in a similar state. I calmed down when I saw Wally. Instead of fright my expression turned to that of pissed off. This had better be good.
“What exactly did you figure out?” I asked boredly.
“Where the first part is!” He yelled.
At this everybody made their way to him and I narrowed my eyes.
“What do you mean ‘Where the first part is?’” I asked incredulously.
“Look.” He said and handed me the paper I had given him earlier. Instead of my neat hand writing, there was just a mess of arrows and circles happening all over the place.
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Now I have seen many things in my time but Wally’s handwriting has to be the furthest thing from the English language I have ever seen. I would say it looked like a two year old scribbled on it, but that would be an insult to all two year old.
Isn’t Wally like 18? How has he never gotten better at this? I swear he must be joking.
“I can’t read this shit.” I said. Wally pouted before snatching the paper away from me again and started explaining.
“The use of the word ‘city’ is used in each paragraph as a sort of anchor to what each piece have in common. The common phrases next to the cities and various other stereotypes are based around each expression, giving us an obvious clue as to the city they are in.” He said.
I blinked in surprise and looked at him astounded at the fact he was using actual logical placement in an intelligent manner. Who is this boy?
I’m not saying Wally is stupid or anything it’s just… well.. Usually the only intelligent thing that comes out of his mouth is science related. I think he last really looked at English when he tried and failed to write a correctly spelled letter to his aunt Iris.
He just sighed, “My mom made me take extra Literature classes through out my junior years in high school. Don’t tell her, but I actually learned a lot.”
I took this as an explanation but still wanted an answer. I then told him point blank what I wanted to know.
“Earlier your said you knew where the first part was. What did you mean by that.” I asked.
“Well from the looks of it, each part is in a city. The first one is explained indefinitely. What do you think ‘a city of love’ means?” He said with a smirk and it clicked inside my mind.
I guess it did in Dick’s mind too because he shouted out with me what we were both thinking, “Paris!”
“Bingo.” Wally said and we turned to the others.
How Wally had gotten so good at Literature, I don’t know but I was thankful for the pleasant surprise. It had actually been so obvious that I feel kind of stupid for not figuring it out myself. I mean what city better represents love than Paris?
“No time to lose right?” I asked and smiled over at Robin .
“I’ll get the ship ready.” M’gann said and one by one the others followed her in getting things ready. I felt a hand grasp mine and I saw Robin’s childish grin next to me.
I had always wanted to go to Paris growing up because of all the different monuments. The Eiffel Tower, Love lock bridge and the Louvre are places I’ve always wanted to visit. Even if it wasn’t under the best circumstances, I was still excited to go.
“Well it looks like we’re going to Paris.” I joked with a smile.
“Yup”
A/n: Pheew! Updated just in time! I literally wrote this chapter in under three hours. And that's saying something for me. I know I need to update more but school is almost over this semester and hopefully I can finish this book during the holidays. Thanks so much for 2k views! Also the fact that I got over 100 votes is amazing! Thanks so so much for the support!
