Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, places, situations or professions that you recognize. All credit goes to DC Comics and associates.
Notes: Hey barmaid, I'm afraid you brought me the wrong inspiration. I ordered an extra long 'Blessed Lifetime' chapter with beefy fight scenes, extra awesomeness and witty remarks on the side. This here, this is a silly one-shot!
Important: This is, in fact, a direct sequel to my other story 'Not so Blessed', so I suggest you read that one first, if you haven't already. If you do not, you won't make much sense of this. That said, it is not, strictly speaking, a straight continuation, because it's set in a different Universe. Both this and 'Not So Blessed' are part of a series of one-shots, all exploring different possible outcomes for Bruce and Diana Wayne.
Gratitude to Dinasis for his tireless beta work, and endless patience for nagging. Go pester him for updates.
~W~
Henceforth, Equally Cursed
~W~
Floating in space can be very relaxing. If one gets over pesky hurdles such as freezing to death or choking, they can learn to appreciate the quiet of space, and the feeling of simply existing, rooted to nothing and going nowhere.
Diana Wayne especially enjoys floating in space for extended periods of time, moving only when necessary to avoid being pulled by any gravitic fields of crashing into anything. She will simply lie, though there is no sense of up and down, and let her hair slowly fan out behind her, due to the steady rise and fall of her chest. She does not need to breathe, but it is an ingrained habit and so she does, her magic obeying her without any conscious thought on her part and creating oxygen for her mouth to lead to her lungs.
It is an enjoyable pastime for an immortal. Diana has always enjoyed the calm of space, and as her life progressed and she became more and more alone, the choice of solitude became more important than it ever had been before. Like this, she can pretend that she chose this, if only for a little while. When the rhythm of those with finite time on their hands becomes too fast for her, she chooses this.
Out there, there is naught but her and the soft song of the universe. If she stands very still for long enough, she can hear faint echoes of civilizations far away, the slow music of the universe's movements, and the soft hum of magic, its life blood, as it dances about. Sometimes a strand of magic will curl around her, as if caressing her, and it is as close to happiness as she can possibly get.
If she gets very lucky, she feels separated enough from her body and identity that she finds some semblance of peace, devoid of memories, regret and bitterness. But those instances are few and far between.
She has no delusions of achieving this state now. If she opens eyes her she will be able to see the Sol System, far away, where her first and only true home vanished for the final time. No Gotham, no Themyscira, no Earth exists anymore, nothing. Only a still expanding sun, itself reaching the end of its long life. She left the system not long ago, but didn't feel like going too far. Instead of opening a portal and transporting herself to any other part of the universe, she chose to simply exist here for a little while. It is relaxing to her relative turmoil, and it is not like she is under any time constrains.
She has all the time in the world, and no place to be.
So she floats, eyes closed and her right hand softly wrapped around her pendant. She lowers the frequency of her breathing, sends less oxygen to her brain to simulate the process of relaxing and falling asleep. She does not slumber, not truly, but it is a state of calm that slows her thoughts to a manageable level.
Then she feels him. First, she feels the faint whisper of pure, concentrated will approaching from far away. A few seconds later, she feels more. A single presence, the power of authority, male, young and full of willpower. Its scent leaves a tingling feeling in Diana's spine. It's been a long while since the last time she was in the presence of one of them.
She hopes he is not here for her, and that he will simply pass her by. She does not move, completely halts her breathing, willing her body temperature to approach absolute zero as much as possible. For a few seconds, it feels as if the presence will pass her by, but just before it does it changes directions and heads straight for her. Diana represses a sigh.
She feels him close the last few hundreds of miles between them. He comes to an abrupt halt a dozen feet behind her. Diana can feel his gaze on her back.
Recognizing that he will not simply up and leave, she opens her eyes, her serene expression changing to a slight frown, and turns to look at the Green Lantern behind her.
"By the Guardians," she hears him speak, her magic making the transfer of sound waves possible while at the same time accepting the ring's translation of whatever language he is speaking. His voice is deep, but low in volume and soft, as if incredulous. "It really is you."
The Lantern is, surprisingly, human, or appears so. He is very tall, with a lean but muscular build, a strong jaw and short, black hair. His uniform and domino mask are surprisingly standard issue, and the most powerful weapon in the universe glows on his right middle finger. She cannot make out his eye color beneath the green glow of the eyes of his mask.
"Did the Guardians send you to arrest me?" she asks tersely. The Lantern examines her for almost a full minute before replying.
"Not quite, no."
"Then I have nothing to say to you, Lantern. Leave me," Diana commands, letting the irritation of being interrupted color her voice. The Lantern raises an eyebrow at her tone.
"This is my sector, you know. And this is not private space." Thankfully for him, his tone is not openly mocking. He is merely stating that he is not obligated to leave, and that is the only reason Diana spares his life.
With an irritated huff, she turns sideways. "I will leave, then," she says and starts flying away, hoping to be rid of the aggravating youth.
To her great annoyance, she feels the Lantern follow her, keeping the same distance, not letting it lengthen but not catching up either, though Diana knows that his ring allows him speed for greater than this. After two minutes of this, she's had enough.
She turns abruptly, and glares at the Lantern who promptly floats to a stop, a few seconds later.
"Don't test me," Diana warns. The Lantern raises his hands in a placating gesture, and then rubs the back of his head in embarrassment.
"I think we got off on the wrong foot. I am Lantern 2814, born of Gae, at your service," he holds out a hand for her to shake, which she does not. She is only mildly surprised to see the offered hand, considering the handshake has been going in and out of fashion in human culture for the entirety of its existence. Something about connecting one's tool of fine motor control with someone else's appealed to humanity, apparently.
Seeing her glare and noting the passing seconds, the Lantern withdraws his hand awkwardly.
"Are you really?" Diana asks.
"Of course I am!" he replies, offended. "This wasn't a weekly hologift, you know," he says as he shakes his right hand, in which a Ring of Willpower glows a comforting green.
"But, you look..." Diana is not sure how to complete her sentence. But this man in front of her looks completely and utterly human, just like her. Which is impossible, considering humans haven't looked like that for billions of years. She personally doesn't care if he's impersonating a Green Lantern, or if he is a shapeshifter, or a time traveler or something equally dramatic. She just wants to be left alone.
"Is there something on my nose?" he replies, rubbing said body part self-consciously. Diana feels like slapping herself. Why do all the stupid ones seek her out? What has she done to deserve this?
"Your nose is fine, child. Only that ... I mean, you look—"
"Like you?" he cuts her off, finally sensing where her thoughts dwell and taking a guess.
"Yes," she confirms with a nod.
"Well, I am a human. It's only natural." At this, Diana narrows her eyes.
"That's impossible. Humans look nothing like me anymore."
The Lantern's eyes widen at this. "You mean you don't know? Wow, that means you've been away for a seriously long time. Not surprising, considering your last documented appearance. Though I don't think that even half your actions have been filed after the Recreation, and if it's even half of the time since your last contact then it's truly no wonder..." the young man blabbered on, mostly to himself by now, while Diana looked at him in incredulity and confusion. She snaps her fingers powerfully, forcing him out of his monologue and his eyes turn back to her.
She's not sure, but she thinks that his cheeks redden a little, just under his domino mask. "Sorry about that," he says after clearing his throat, "I get carried away sometimes, everybody says so. I'm driving my instructor mad." Diana does not doubt that it does.
"Get to the point, child."
"Right. Well, I guess it boils down to the fact that this 'retro human' look came back into fashion a good while back, and it's still all the rage. I don't think it's going away for a while."
Diana has no trouble believing this. Humanity has long since mastered genetics, to the point of picking and choosing their own composition.
"Alright, I believe you. Now, leave me alone." And she makes to fly away again. This startles the Lantern, who closes half the distance between them and holds a hand out, as if to stop her.
"No, wait!" he pleads.
"What is it you want from me, child?" she asks, turning back towards him and glaring at the extended hand, daring it to touch her. The young man wisely retracts it, obviously valuing the appendage.
"For you to stop calling me 'child', for one."
"How old are you?"
He scrunches his face in confusion. "This phrase means ... oh, I see. I have seen 74 rotations, yes."
Diana makes a quick calculation in her mind. "So, 28. You are but a child, and I will address you as such."
"I'd rather you call me Tel, actually, seeing as that's my name," he says, once again offering a hand, this time close enough for her take it simply by reaching out, and smiling innocently.
Diana groans, but nevertheless takes the offered appendage. Really, it's more trouble to refuse, at this point. "Diana," she provides grudgingly, making the handshake much, much stronger than it ever should be. The ring strains to hold back her pressure, but the Lantern still grimaces in pain.
"Alright, alright, good to meet you, Diana," he says as he quickly uses his other hand to dislodge the one trapped in Diana's death grip. She takes sadistic satisfaction in the way he shakes his hand to let the blood flow. She decides that this has drawn long enough.
"Nice to meet you, Tel," she says in a sweet, honeyed voice, just as her left hand rises, a longsword materializing on it, its edge coming to rest at the Lantern's neck. "But I've had enough chatter. Tell me what it is you want, or I will cut you down where you stand," she threatens, her voice not straying from that lovable fake and sweet tone.
Tel gulps audibly, his eyes drawn to the blade. It is long, almost a meter and a half in length, its hilt made of a gold colored material, the name of which he cannot guess and the Ring cannot identify. The middle of the blade is etched with runes, and the sword is positively humming with energy.
"Is this really Death Bringer?" he asks in awe, as if ignorant of his precarious position.
Diana applies pressure on the sword, and it cleaves through the Ring's protective field like a hot knife through butter. With a strangled cry, Tel brings both his hands to grab at the blade in order to stop its advance, slicing them up in the process. His Ring materializes several types of vices that clamp around Death Bringer and attempt to stop it.
Diana stops the blade just as it pierces the man's skin, drawing a small line of blood that the Ring's power evaporates immediately. Even through the domino mask, Diana can see Tel's panic clearly. Rather than attempt to get away from her, he slacks his grip and vanishes his constructs, blindly hoping that she won't kill him. Even as the Ring's power heals the cuts, he brings his arms up next to his head, palms open in a show of surrender.
It is a wise decision.
What do you know, she thinks in amazement, they can learn.
"He has been called that in the past," she replies, answering his previous question. Tel's gaze tears from her eyes and rest on her sword. "Along with many other names, in many different languages. With him, I have killed more people than you have ever laid eyes on. With him, I have vanquished beings whose power you cannot begin to comprehend. Believe me when I say that it is in your best interests to stop wasting my time and tell me what you want," she snarls the last part, her patience frayed, and Death Bringer pressuring just a little bit more into the Lantern's neck.
"I just want to ask you some questions," he states clearly and plainly, not an ounce of fear in his voice. Diana has always disliked that about Green Lanterns. Well, the good ones, at least.
She shakes her head, admitting to herself that she overreacted. Death Bringer vanishes with a thought, and she straightens, returning her hands to her sides.
"Fine. Keep up," she grunts out, and begins flying at great speeds towards a seemingly random direction. The implication is obvious. If he follows her and manages to annoy her again, she will not be held responsible for her actions. Tel follows eagerly, easily keeping up, this time flying besides her.
"Are you really her?" Tel asks tentatively. "I mean, the ring identifies the language as Original Earth English, but you could have learned that at—"
"I am me," Diana replies, already annoyed at the stupid question.
"I mean, are you one of the original humans? From the Golden Age?"
Diana raises an eyebrow. "The Golden Age?"
"Well, yes. That's what Earth's period is called. When humanity was weak and confined to a single planet. When the heroes roamed, and before the shift of the center of the multiverse. When the Brightest Light was alive."
"Who?" Diana asks incredulously, having a good idea but finding it too ridiculous to be true. Tel looks at her oddly.
"My predecessor, I suppose. The greatest Lantern to have ever lived, his exploits as Lantern 2814 have their own museum in Oa dedicated to them. All Lanterns have him as an example and goal to reach. His statue greets all who approach Oa's important infrastructure."
"You mean... you can't possibly mean Jordan. You seriously mean Jordan?" she asks. Though she admired Hal Jordan for many things, her opinion of him had always been rather in the negative, even after he'd mostly settled down. Really, all his progress could be pinpointed on his wife, Carol Ferris. Without her and Sinestro's influence, Jordan would have always remained the filthy pig that he was for most of his life, she is certain.
"You knew the Brightest Light?" he asks in confusion, before his eyes widen. "Yes, of course. It makes sense, I suppose. If my theory is correct you must have lived around the same period, yes. Many Lanterns believe that the Brightest Light is but a fabrication to set an example, but I always knew better. Wow, you really knew Hal Jordan?" He looks at her in wonderment. Diana's brow twitches. He speaks of the man as people of her time spoke of Christ, or mythological heroes of fantasy.
"Yes I did," she admits. "And trust me, the thought of him as an example to anything sends shivers down my spine."
"Wow," he repeats, in awe. Diana steals a glance at him, and sees him looking at her with wide, childlike eyes. "It really is you." This time is said as a statement, rather than a question. It tells Diana that he has confirmed something in his mind.
"And how do you know me, exactly? It was my understanding that historical data from the, uh, Golden Age had all but vanished," she asks. Despite herself, she is getting more and more into the conversation. Beneath her steely front, she is starved for company.
"Well, that's true. In all the upheaval of the Recreation, data from the past was destroyed, outdated, or lost. Anything beyond the last billion years is little more than rumor, legend, and stories. That is, unless you know where to look."
"And you do?" she asks pointedly.
"I do, as a matter of fact," he replies, pride evident in his voice and a smile playing on his lips. "I fancy myself a historian, with my expertise being ancient times and pre-Recreation periods. It was not easy, let me tell you," he assured her. "I travelled a lot, to places where I thought information may have persevered. Little by little I gathered pieces of history. I'm still missing a lot, but it's as good a timeline as any, trust me. Not to mention, the Guardians have archives in their crypts, some of them even from the Golden Age."
"And every Lantern is allowed in those?" She very much doubts that.
"Obviously not, but I'm special," he replies smugly, and Diana is immediately reminded of several different people. Shaking the memories, she focuses on her reply.
"How so?"
"Well, I am the Great Archivist, for one. Don't look at me like that, I didn't make the title. They could have named me Librarian and it would have been the same. I am also the Keeper, so that grants me a few extra boons and access to a few places that I wouldn't otherwise have," he informs her.
"The Keeper? The Keeper of what?" She asks, curious.
"The Keeper of the White Lantern, of course," he replies. As they fly, he brings his ring arm forwards, and focuses for a second. From a pocket dimension, a Lantern battery appears, but it is different from the various Lantern batteries that Diana has seen. This one is completely white. A pure, blinding white. The White Lantern.
Seeing it tears at Diana's heart.
From the Battery, an equally white ring emerges, circling the Lantern.
"It doesn't do anything," Tel explains, "And no one has ever worn that ring. It's basically a glorified guard duty that never brings any excitement because no one knows about the White Lantern but the Guardians and the Keeper. There are some stories circling it, some of which tie with the Brightest Light, but I'm not sure I believe those. All I've ever seen the White Lantern do is—"
'KEEPER, YOU MUST FIND THE GODDESS.' Tel's explanation is interrupted by a voice. It is loud, but gentle. Demanding and genderless. It is coming from everywhere and from nowhere at once. It is the White Lantern.
"...that," Tel finishes lamely, pointing at the Lantern. Diana regards it with open curiosity as it flies along with them.
"Does it always say that?" she wonders aloud.
"As far as I know." the Green Lantern confirms. "No matter how we prod it, all it says is that. Every Keeper in Lantern history has tried to find this 'Goddess', but it is too vague and open to interpretation to make any clear sense."
"I can understand that. How do you define a goddess? There are numerous powerful beings in the universe."
"Yes, exactly," Tel says, snapping his fingers in her direction.
'KEEPER, YOU MUST FIND THE GODDESS,' the White Lantern insists inside of their minds.
"Alright, that's enough of you, you oversized alarm clock," Tel grumbles and returns the White Lantern to the pocket dimension.
"We're here," Diana notes. Indeed, they have reached a gigantic asteroid that orbits a colorful, lush planet. Reaching the surface of the asteroid, Diana quickly pinpoints a certain spot. A spot in which she has curved a chair out of the rock. It is a chair designed like the ones in her old home of Themyscira, chairs that fell out of fashion after the fall of the Roman Empire. It is rigid, without back, and the seat is curving downwards.
Diana lands, and sits on the chair, letting out a contended sigh. It may not be the most comfortable thing out there, but it is familiar. This is one of her retreats, one of the many places she's created for herself around the universe.
The Lantern looks at the weird chair oddly.
"I didn't expect company, so I only have one. It's not going to be a problem, is it?"
"I'm a Green Lantern, cut me at least some slack," he replies in indignation. He conjures what appears to be a metallic plate on the surface of the asteroid next to her chair. Diana looks at the green contraption and raises an eyebrow at Tel. That is not a chair.
Smirking, Tel walks in front of the device and lets himself fall backwards. Rather than falling awkwardly to the device and making a fool of himself, his body hovers in a shape reminiscent of a big, plump armchair. Tel lets out a sigh of his own as he wiggles to get comfortable.
"Gae technology," he informs her. She lets out a derisive snort. Let him have his comforts. She lost taste for those billions of years ago.
They both turn their gaze at the planet in front of them, which Tel's ring informs him is called Monbet III by its inhabitants, a race of peaceful bipeds that live harmoniously with nature.
"Does it look like Earth did? There is great controversy regarding Earth, as you may know," Tel asks, curiously.
"Not really. Earth was mostly covered in water and clouds. Monbet is too green, and too clear, to be passed as Earth." Really, she'd gotten past finding fake replacements for her home planet a long time ago.
"Interesting, interesting. This is all so informative, you know, to meet one of the original humans. Can I ask you a question?" Diana rolls her eyes. It's been a while since she last did that. She doesn't bother to correct his assumption that she is completely human.
"That's why you're pestering me, is it not? Out with it."
"I'd really appreciate it if you didn't, y'know, kill me because of it, alright? You have to understand that I'm working on very little, here."
"Go on."
"Do you really look like that? You look not a day older than 60 rotations, and if you really are who I think you are, you've been alive for billions of years."
"Does it really make such a difference? You know of plenty of beings that are ageless."
"Well, that's true," he concedes, "but what little I know of you makes me think you don't belong in that category. Besides, most of those beings vanished a long time ago, who's to say they didn't go of old age somewhere? Even the Guardians age. Slowly, but they do. They may cheat by renewing their bodies, but they age. I suspect that every being ages, at least on some level."
"Well, I don't. This's what I look like, no magical transformation, no scientific renewal of any kind," she doesn't inform him that she is the reason most of these beings around the universe vanished, one by one, and sometimes in groups, or that his theory that every being—except for her—ages, is correct.
"Fascinating," he says.
"How do you know of me? How did you find me?"
"That was the tricky part," he says as he snaps his fingers. "I looked for years. Years. Even with the help of the ring, it took me almost two decades to scour all the libraries and archives I could get my hands on, as well as going over the Guardians' Archive." Diana does not comment on the fact that, apparently, he was inducted in the Corps at around the age of 8. Who knows what goes on in the rotten cesspit the Guardians have instead of brains.
Tel cuts off his narration suddenly, and shakes his head, bringing his left hand to his temple.
"Everything alright?" Diana asks, not out of concern, but curiosity.
"Eh, yeah. It's the White Lantern. I can hear it in my head. Weird, it seems to think that it's urgent," he shakes his head again. "Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes. You see, I took my duty as Keeper seriously. I wanted to finish the mission so many other Keepers had failed. I'd already had an interest in history by then, and figured that if I could pinpoint this goddess in the past, then I could search for her in the present and the future." Diana nodded, following his reasoning.
"I started my search immediately, looking all over my sector and the Archives. Eventually I branched out, to places and people where humanity had left its mark."
"And?" Diana prompts after his silence had drawn for a full minute.
"It's amazing how little humanity cares about history. It's good how much we look ahead, I suppose, but it's maddening how little we care to look behind us. History is always the first thing forgotten after big changes, the first casualty of war, and the last thing to get in the escape pod. Did you know we're almost the only race whose historical records only go back a few million years with any degree of accuracy? You'd have better chances looking at children's tales than public archives," Tel rants. Diana grudgingly admits to herself that she may have misjudged this kid, if only slightly. If nothing else, he is passionate about history, something very rare in humans.
"Majority of important alien races have vastly more detailed historical accounts than we do. By Oa, I found more detailed history of humanity in alien archives than our own," he grunts, obviously a subject for which he feels very heatedly.
"So what happened with that Goddess? Did you find her?"
"Err, not really. I looked everywhere for a female that could be considered as such, and even some dubious cases which ... would not. It was good fun, I suppose, but it was disheartening how little progress I made." Diana cannot remember the last time she heard someone describe historical research as fun. To each his own, she supposes.
"But, my research did have some results, even if they were not the ones I'm looking for. In looking for important female historical figures, I ran into quite the peculiar pattern." Diana represses the urge to groan. She had expected something like this, she guesses, but to have it happen is still very troublesome.
Tel watches her face and he must have found something, for he smiled.
"You can see where I'm going with this, yeah? The sacking of Faldur, the Hidden Empress of the Xal'nui that ruled for millions of years, the Headmistress of the Gothamite System Academy, the Army of One that ended the civil war around the 158th millennia, the weapons mistress of the Ascension Republic of Iadon. I could go on and on. I've made a list," Tel says, waving his hand in front of him dismissively. "But all of these women, for having completely different names and origins, had one thing in common."
"And what was that?" Diana deadpans, perfectly aware of what the reply will be.
"They. All. Looked. Exactly. Like. This," he accompanies each word with a finger tap on his ring, which slowly creates the construct of a woman. This construct, unlike normal Green Lantern constructs, had normal colors. Diana knew that it is possible, that it just requires more concentration than normal constructs.
Diana regards the construct critically. The height is more or less okay, the hair color is spot on, the skin tone is slightly darker than it should be, that is definitely not her nose, and her legs do not look this fat. But beyond those—important!—details, it is a near perfect copy of Diana, wearing a generic white robe.
"Busted," she murmurs. She is not sure how she should feel about this, to be honest with herself. She didn't really expect for no one to notice, but she'd figured that enough time had passed that no one would notice or care.
Belatedly, she realized that Tel had not stopped talking, and she turned her attention back to him.
"... to their attention, but they didn't really care. My friends would humor me for a bit, but only because they were tired of arguing with me about it. They insisted that it couldn't possibly be the same person. That immortal beings do not conduct themselves that way with the lives of men, that my proof was shaky at best, that the footage could not be taken at face value, that I'd taken liberties and guesses, that I was irritating everyone with my babbling, yadda yadda yadda," the Lantern says with good humor, perfectly aware of how right his friends were on some accounts.
"So what if some of my evidence was based mostly on positive thinking?" he asks rhetorically, "I was right, the joke's on them! And if they hadn't been so smug and condescending they would be here with me, talking to a living legend."
"Nobody believed you?" she asks. Surely, someone would share Tel's curiosity, and find his research compelling enough to at least follow him when he'd thought he'd pinpointed her position.
"Well," he draws out the word, scratching his chin, "a few did. Sharon and T'kata. They helped me look for you, but they still didn't want to come. I suppose they... well, they were afraid of you," he admits.
Diana doesn't blame them. If all they found were her very loud, very public appearances, then they have good reason to fear her.
"I am not proud of all that I have done in my life," she admits, her voice lower, and without the bite that Tel is getting used to.
"And I am not here to judge actions of distant past," he dismisses her concern. "Or things that I have no understanding of." Diana turns her head to look at Tel completely. Alright, she may have completely misjudged him, so what? She's rusty.
"Why are you here, then?" she presses. The tale of her discovery is impressive, but he must have some reason to go to all this trouble.
Instead of answering her question, the Green Lantern holds his head with his hands and mutters under his breath, "Shut up." After a few seconds, he lets go of his head and shakes it, opening his eyes again.
He turns to look back at Diana. "I'm sorry, the Lantern was pestering me again. It's getting unusually pushy. What did you say?"
"I asked, if it is so, then why are you here?"
"Historical curiosity?" he replies, getting more comfortable in his chair and looking ahead at the lush surface of Monbet. "You're the realization of decades of work, something—someone, sorry. Someone that historians over the universe would kill to have access to."
"That's not what I mean." Diana shakes her head. "That is true now, after you made certain. But you didn't know that at first. Something must have made you transition your search for this goddess to a search of me. What was it?"
"Ah, now there is the crux of the matter," he says, lacking the usual cheery tone. He frowns and looks ahead. He doesn't speak for a few minutes, and Diana lets him gather his thoughts. She has all the time in the world, and the patience of the universe itself.
"It was my discovery of an old human planet, long abandoned," he explains, his voice grave and low, a far cry from the cheery young man he's been so far. "One from early in human history, it was abandoned due to biological attacks, never inhabited again and completely forgotten. It was straight dumb luck that I found it. In its archives, I discovered something. Something I couldn't believe."
"What was it?" she prompts, gently. Tel returns to look back at her, and his domino mask vanishes. Under it, his features are sharp and his eyes a brilliant blue. Genetic manipulation has really come a long way, Diana thinks.
"If I wasn't certain I would have met a swift and painful end, I would have called you grandma the first time I saw you," he offers, a smile playing on his lips once again. Diana freezes, her almost kind expression vanishing to one of stone.
Tel is obviously waiting for a reaction, so she gives him one. She furrows her brow into a scowl, and summons Death Bringer to her hand.
"You have one minute to explain before I kill you. And it had better be good."
The gravity of his situation finally sinks on Tel, for his eyes widen and he gulps audibly.
"Err, well, I'm going to need a bit more than that."
"Fifty seconds."
"Right, well, um," he swipes his hand on his brow. A clearly habitual move, since the ring would not allow sweat to stick to him. "I guess calling you ancestor would be something of an understatement, and I don't like that word anyway. On the other hand, if I'd sat and listed all the great-great-great-great-greats that you are we would be here for the next year, at least."
"Nineteen seconds." Diana warns, Death Bringer glistening on the far sun's glow.
"By Oa, I think it'd be better if I just gave you my name. I am Telanos Ah'Ti Wan."
Diana doesn't respond, but neither does she swing Death Bringer after the allocated minute is up, so Tel thinks he's off the hook. He doesn't dare prod her further, waiting for her to accept the information and come to ... whatever conclusion she wants.
What he did not expect was for her to stand up, vanish the sword, and in its place summon a glowing, elongated, something. It's not an alloy of any sort. It looks organic, but it's glowing and it's obviously magical.
"Stand up," she barks, and he obeys, looking worried.
"Put this around you," she command as she presents him with one end of the rope, wrapped around itself to form a sort of grip. Tel looks at the thing, apprehensive.
"What is ... where exactly ... I mean, how—" Diana doesn't let him finish, and in one swift move, wraps the Lasso of Truth around his shoulders, and pulls. Tel's arms instantly press to his sides and his breath leaves his lungs from the pressure. He feels ... something in his mind, and no matter how much he thinks he should do something, no mental command reaches his Ring.
"Give me your name," she commands, and there is nothing in his mind but the desire to obey.
"Telanos Ah'Ti Wan," he responds in a monotone voice. His mind is foggy, and all he wants to do is answer the questions. A small voice on the back of his head whispers that this is weird, that usually it is he who asks the questions, but he ignores it.
"Are you part of the Wan family?"
"Y-Yes," he stutters, something inside him making him attempt to lie, to not answer. He is not sure why, but something doesn't feel right.
"I was under the impression that the Wan main family was dead. Was I wrong?"
"Yes," he replies. When he doesn't elaborate, Diana huffs in irritation, tightening the lasso just a little bit more.
"Explain how," she commands.
Tel is quiet for all of ten seconds, but eventually complies. "My ... my fourteen times grand-... grandfather managed to, ah, managed to escape," he wheezes out amid long pauses. It is obvious that he is fighting the compulsion of the lasso, his incredible willpower double-teaming with the power of the ring to throw off the magical abilities of the Lasso of Truth.
"Where is the Wan family now?" Diana asks through narrowed eyes. Tel's body spasms, his head contorting this way and that.
"In—... in hiding," he grinds out. "Me and ... my sister ... are ... last." After finishing this sentence he gurgles for a few seconds, before spitting blood on the ground.
"Where?" Diana thunders, squeezing Tel even more.
"We... I ... we are... gah!" Tel's eyes roll to the back of his skull, and blood suddenly runs down his nose and out of his ears. The magnitude of her actions suddenly hits Diana. Looking horrified for the first time in thousands of years, she immediately releases the lasso. Before Tel can drop like a sack of potatoes she is there, holding him. She sinks to the ground with Tel in her arms, cradling his head in her lap.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she chants under her breath as her hands suddenly glow an eerie red color. She gently places her hands on his head, one at the top and the other covering his eyes. She closes her eyes, and her voice mixes apologies with spells unused for millennia, as she heals the damage she inflicted on her descendant.
Has she really turned into such a monster that she would kill her descendant over information about his family? Is this what she does, is this what she is right now? Is this what he would have wanted of her?
For five endless minutes she heals him, her mind swimming with guilt. Feeling, for the first time in a long time.
When Tel's eyes flutter open, her heart feels lighter than she ever remembers it. He coughs a bit of blood on the ground next to him as he rolls off of her lap and holds himself above the ground on his hands.
"That ... that was ... intense," he lets out weakly.
"I am very sorry, Telanos," she offer sincerely, not knowing what else to do, not knowing what to do with her hands now that the healing is complete. Should she touch him, should she comfort him? But she is the one who did this to him, what right does she have?
Dammit it all, she used to be good at this stuff.
"Don't ... don't mention it," he waves his hand dismissively in her direction. As he takes a few deep breaths and seems to regain his bearings, he sits back and throws his head backwards, letting out a deep grunt. "I knew it was a bad idea to call you grandma," he says. Diana looks at him, eyes as wide as she can manage without hurting herself.
"Are you seriously joking right now? I almost killed you."
"Don't, ah, don't worry about it. Uglier people have tried. And at least you saved me afterwards," he brings his head back forwards, and rubs his eyes with his hands.
"I cannot express how sorry I am, Telanos."
"Please, grandma, call me Tel."
Despite her guilt and anger at herself, she frowns.
"Next time you say that I will actually kill you."
"Err, right. So, you really are my ancestor, then? I was right?" Asking this, he looks at her. In his blue eyes—her own, despite all odds—she sees hope. Something she hasn't felt for billions of years.
"I am Diana Wayne," she confirms, her voice much gentler than she'd meant to.
She can see the movement the moment his muscles begin moving. She could have done a thousand things to intercept him or react to him in the long, long second it takes him to reach her. She does nothing.
Tel's hands wrap around her in a tight hug. Her own hands stand uselessly at her sides, her mouth open but no sound coming out. Tel says nothing, only hugs her tighter when he notes her unresponsiveness.
This kind of human contact… How long has it been? Almost panicked, Diana realizes that she cannot remember.
Slowly, she regains control of her arms and brings them up, hugging Tel back awkwardly.
"I'm sorry," she repeats again. Tel pulls back from the hug and they both stand up, but his hands find her shoulders and he keeps her at arm's length. A brilliant grin is threatening to split his face in two.
"I'll forgive you if you let me call you grandma." Diana does not repress a heavy sigh. Why is her line always so ... so infuriating?
"Fine, but don't push it," she concedes.
"Awesome. Wow, I have so many things to ask you I—... I don't even know where to begin."
"Let's ... calm down first, okay? I haven't had a lot of human contact lately, and I get easily overwhelmed." Understatement of the millennia, if there ever was one.
Tel lets go of her shoulders, but still looks at her with that happy smile. "Right, right. Let's go find Elana, and we can all talk this over together. Just ... no more of the rope, yeah?"
"I swear I will not use the Lasso on you or your sister ever again. I assume Elana is your sister."
"Yes, she is—" He doesn't finish his sentence, as his eyes close and his brow creases in sudden pain, he hands flying to his temples. "For the love of—" he curses as he rubs his head.
"What is it? Telanos, what's wrong?" she asks, worried sick. Did she fail the healing spells? It's been such a long time since she last had to heal someone, maybe she did something wrong?
"Nothing, it's just that damn Lantern. It hasn't stopped pestering me today. It almost never speaks to my mind directly like it does now, and never on this volume. What gives?" He complains.
"Bring it out. It's starting to give you pain, you must deal with this," Diana suggests, not wanting to see her descendant in pain of any kind if she can help it.
Tel nods, and brings his ring hand forward. The portal to the pocket dimension spits out the White Battery, and the white ring immediately comes out of and starts flying around.
'KEEPER, YOU MUST FIND THE GODDESS,' the same voice as earlier says. Even though for all intents and purposes it is the same, Diana gets a more urgent feeling out of the voice of the Entity, this time.
"What Goddess, you glorified candle? Make sense or stop giving me headaches!" Tel shouts, waving his Ring hand threateningly.
'KEEPER, YOU MUST FIND THE GODDESS,' the Entity repeats, unheeding of Tel's anger.
"Alright, that's it!" he snaps. Before Diana can warn him of the stupidity of this decision, he sends a blast of green energy at the battery, intent on making it shut up. What follows next is utterly predictable, as the White Battery protects itself and smashes its own energy against the green blast, sending both it and the Green Lantern skidding in opposite directions.
The White battery comes to a rest in front of Diana's boots, as Tel groans from where he is lying. Diana knows he is not injured in the slightest, so she doesn't worry, but it could have been a lot worse.
"It's ... never done that ... before," Tel says between breaths.
"Well, how many times have you blasted it before?" Diana snaps back, reaching down to grab the fallen White Battery, the white Ring still wheezing about like an angry mosquito.
"That's actually a pretty good—" He doesn't finish his sentence as he is standing up, because the Entity chooses the time Diana raises the Battery to make itself known again.
'GODDESS, PRESENT THE REMNANT, RIGHT THE WRONG,' it booms in their heads, still in the same genderless, gentle and demanding at the same time, tone of voice.
Telanos is the first to break out of his stupor, and immediately flies next to her.
"Did it just..."
"I think it did, why did it do that?" Diana asks, just as confused, but not letting go of the Battery.
"Well, that's simple enough, innit? It obviously thinks you're this goddess." Tel's smile is back in full force. "What do you know, I didn't fail after all."
"Me?" Diana asks, looking down at the battery. Of all people..."Why?"
"You tell me. Are you a goddess?"
"Well, no. I've killed a few, though. Certainly stronger than most of them. And I guess I've lived for a long time. Oh, there's also my father, who was a god, but beyond that—"
"Beyond that?" Tel asks, letting out a short laugh. "I think that's good enough for the Battery, and good enough for me."
"So, this is it?" she asks, unsure.
"It's kind of anticlimactic, right? I mean, thousands and thousands of Keepers and all this stupid Battery wanted—"
'GODDESS, PRESENT THE REMNANT, RIGHT THE WRONG.'
"... was you," Tel finishes, having been interrupted by the Entity once again.
"It looks like another riddle though," Diana observes, having listened to the Battery carefully this time.
"And I'm sure it will give you, me and any future Keeper just as much trouble as the last one," Tel groans.
"Maybe it won't be that hard," Diana offers.
"Well, do you have any 'remnants' on you?" Tel asks with a raised eyebrow.
"What would even count as a remnant? A remnant of what?" Diana asks back. Tel snaps his fingers and points at her.
"Exactly, welcome to the life of a Keeper. Still, this is more progress than millions of years of Keepers, so I guess it's worth—"
'GODDESS, PRESENT THE REMNANT, RIGHT THE WRONG.'
"Will you stop interrupting me?" Tel asks angrily. Predictably, the Battery ignores him.
"A remnant, it says. To right a wrong," Diana repeats thoughtfully. Telanos looks at her faraway expression. He watches her without saying anything.
"A remnant of what?" Diana asks herself, thinking furiously. "A remnant of what ... a remnant of what ... a remnant of what..." she repeats again and again under her breath as she closes her eyes, absently playing with her pendant as she thinks.
Tel knows that this is beyond him, now. Only she can decipher the meaning of the White Battery.
'GODDESS, PRESENT THE REMNANT, RIGHT THE WRONG.' Reverberates in their minds once again.
"To right a wrong ..." Diana whispers under her breath. "To right a wrong..."
Her eyes open slowly, and the hand playing with her pendant stops. Slowly, she brings the pendant higher, passes the chain over her hair and head, and brings the pendant to rest in front of her face, so she can see it clearly. Tel can see an upside down, elaborate 'W' emblazoned on it. Curiously, his Ring cannot identify the material of the pendant, or what lies inside it.
"To right a wrong," Diana's whisper is barely audible, this time. Tel doesn't know what to think of the look of sorrow and love that overcomes her expression as she gazes at the trinket.
She brings the amulet closer, and places a feather light kiss on its surface. As if on its own, the pendant slowly clicks open.
The pendant, which is not a pendant at all, rather, a locket; is open, but Tel is standing on the wrong side of it to gaze at its contents. Diana does so for a few seconds, still with the same soft look as before, before slowly bringing the White Battery higher with her other hand.
When both are shoulder height, she turns the open locket towards the battery, and Tel can finally see.
Inside the locket is ... dust? That's it?
No, Tel thinks as he looks more closely, it's not dust. It's ... ash.
As soon as the realization hits Tel, the white Ring stops moving, coming to a stop above the Battery. Slowly, the ash rises, spec by spec, from the open locket. It all flies towards the Ring, and slowly covers its surface.
Then, everything happens at once.
'BRUCE WAYNE OF EARTH'
An explosion of light and sound and the Entity's voice and energy and pressure. Both Diana and Tel are forced to slide several steps on the asteroid, barely keeping their balance and avoiding a fall. Diana's hand is wrenched from the Battery that now floats at the center of the commotion under its own power.
Both have to shield their eyes from the blinding light.
'YOUR MISSION IS NOT COMPLETE' Thunders inside their minds, even as the maelstrom of sound and light intensifies and it is all they can do not to be thrown back even further.
Diana hears the voice of the Entity over the terrible sounds of winds rushing around her ears, and her heart pounds inside her chest. She tries to lower her hand, to see what's going on with the Battery and the Ring and the ashes, but she can't. The light is too strong, and she must concentrate all her power in keeping herself rooted on the spot, as her outfit flutters around her. She vaguely senses Telanos and his Ring fighting against the force that's pushing them away.
'LIVE'
Then it stops. The force pressuring them vanishes, the terrible sounds threatening to burst the eardrums of even one such as her stop. She no longer has to exert her magic to save herself from getting atomized by the energy blasts.
The blinding light recedes, but doesn't vanish entirely.
Through her fingers, Diana can make out a silhouette, a painfully familiar outline on the white background, and suddenly she has forgotten how to breathe.
The Green Lantern Great Archivist removes his hand, the light now at a level manageable for his Ring, and stares at the two figures standing apart only by a few flimsy meters. Telanos Ah'Ti Wan smiles.
Some people spend their whole lives seeking immortality. Their reasons are petty, their results equally pathetic, but they are fortunate in their failure.
They are weak and stupid, hence they do not understand. They cannot.
Immortality is not a gift, it is a curse. The worst fate imaginable.
But like all burdens, it can be lightened if it is shared with someone.
"Can I call you granddad?"
Fin