The Other Demon

The Castle

Demetria's P.O.V.:

Father didn't respond. No one said a word after that. You would think that being reunited with a long lost family member would be a happy-go-lucky moment, but it's the total opposite of that. We're all awkward and emotionally unstable. Isn't that fun.

I'm looking out the side of the Batwing, watching the gray clouds, flying by in the night sky. So far, it has been nothing my flat land, nothing interesting here. That was until we reached the mountains. The familiar mountains of my childhood. I lean in closer to the window, staring at the snow-covered mountains, reminiscing on Damian and I's past. We fly through the mountain peaks, picking up snow now and then. Mid-way through the journey in the mountains, the silence is broken.

"I hope you two are right about this," Father states.

"We know these mountains well," I say, staring down at the mountains, "been climbing them since we were 4. It was a part of our training."

"That's some training for a 4-year-old."

"First time I climbed, I fell," Damian says looking out the window, "broke my wrist. Dee broke her ankle. We made it to the top anyway. It was expected." Damian looks over to Father. "We were Ra's Al Ghul's grandchildren."

"Was it all like that, Damian?" Father looks over to me. "Demetria?"

"We were groomed to lead humanity, like my grandfather," Damian says.

"We were going to create a whole new world. Damian was to take charge, take over, and I would be there by his side," I tell Father, determined to still make that a reality.

"By killing," Father points out.

"If that's what it took," I retort, clenching my fists.

"How do you hope to lead humanity, when you've never been a part of it?" Father asks us. 

I was taken aback, I've never thought about that. But I wasn't going to let him win this argument. "What about you?"

"From what we've heard," Damian joins in, "your childhood wasn't a lot of fun either."

"You're right," Father says. "I had my traumas, but I also had people around me to help. Alfred, Dick, others. I had friends."

"We had others around us, too." I intervene.

"You had people around you, Demetria. But those people are just trainers. There's a difference."

"How?" I ask.

"As far as I could tell, you were only taught how to fight and kill, not how to live a normal life."

"And you live a normal life? From what I can tell you're a rich boy with issues, who plays dress-up to make up for those issues."

"She's not wrong," Damian mumbles.

Father swerves his head to Damian and glares. "You're right, I don't live a 'normal life'. But I can get along with people, as a person should be able to do."

"We can get along with people," Damian says.

"We just don't like people in general," I finish.

Father sighs in disappointment, focusing back on flying the jet. After a few more minutes of flying, Damian straightens up in his seat and points over to a direction. "There's the stronghold. Beyond those peaks." The excitement in Damian's voice is prominent. 

"Cat ears," Father says, staring at the mountain peaks in front of us. He accelerates the jet towards the two peaks, revealing a large castle-like building. Reaching the building, Father lands the vehicle below the castle, into a valley nearby.