A/N:Can't believe it took me so long to finally start writing this story. It's been manifesting itself in my head for the past few months now – ever since I've seen the final episode that dreadful Sunday morning – but here it is.

Also, I understand that my OC contributing to this is a bit confusing, but she has a purpose of being there – honest. You can find the links to my fanart of her and the story on my profile page. And I'll soon be uploading her story (Wildfire Saga) for those who'd like to read about her.

'Hearing I ask, from the holy races;
From Heimdall's sons, both high and low;
Thou wilt, Valfather, that well I relate;
Old tales I remember of men long ago.'

- The Wise-Woman's Prophecy

Prologue:

Cold Comfort

"I'm telling you, Ashe, there's nothing exciting about a rollercoaster once you can break the sound barrier while running." Wally said, lazily zapping through the channels for the millionth time that day. He, Robin and Ashley were the only ones in the living room at the moment.

It was a slow summer weekend for the young teen heroes. With nothing interesting to do, but hang out at the Da Costa mansion down in Brazil. The three friends were huddled before the television. Ashley's hair was uncombed, and still dripped with salty waters from the hours she'd spent in the ocean before the two boys had decided to drop by.

"But this isn't just some ordinary rollercoaster, Wally," The blonde girl responded, attentively cleaning her surfboard lying on her lap. Wally cocked an eyebrow at her. "it's inside a horror house! And it scared even me."

"You're scared of the boogieman hiding underneath your bed," Robin said with a playful snicker, eyes glue to the holographic screen in front of him. The comment granted him a curious glance from Wally, and a wary look from Ashley. "Or wasn't it you who called me up in the middle of the night to keep her company? Just after she'd watched Paranormal Activity by herself when Bea, and Tora were away on a business trip?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Ashley said quickly.

"Paranormal Activity? Seriously?" Wally asked, turning to Ashley with a radiant smile. As if someone just told him he had been offered a free all-you-can-eat-buffet, with all of his favourite dishes. "That movie's not even scary."

"I-I wasn't -"

"Tell me more," Wally told the Boy Wonder eagerly. "did she cry? Oh, please tell me she cried! Or at least screamed like a little girl once?"

Robin only replied with a wide, suggestive grin, that could only mean he held ill intentions with the knowledge he had about that night. To Wally, Robin's face was an open book, which Wally could easily read after the few years they declared to be best friends.

"No way?! She did scream, didn't she?"

"So what if I screamed?" Ashley snapped back before Robin could confirm it himself. "You're not scared of ghosts then?" She asked him accusingly.

"Of course not," Wally snorted smugly. "it would be like being scared of the toothfairy. Ghosts don't exist." He waved it off like it was nothing.

"You don't believe in the supernatural?" Ashley asked, putting aside her surfboard, and Wally shook his head amusedly. "What about magic?"

"Please, some guy knows a little advance science, and everybody believes it's magic." Wally huffed.

"KF doesn't believe in magic," Robin smirked. "Makes his skin crawl with fear."

"I'm not afraid, it's just a load of crap." The speedster defended.

"I see," Ashley replied with a smile. "What about Doctor Fate then? How do you explain most of his powers? They didn't look like fancy tricks to me."

"Easy, probably uses some sort of selfpropetioating isolation frequency generator to create those pretty yellow lasers of him."

"How about levitation?" She asked, getting up from the chair and snapped both her fingers, her body slowly lifting off the ground. "See, I can do magic."

"Dude, you're just manipulating hydron atoms to produce a hot cloud providing sufficient positive buoyancy for you to float." Wally replied unimpressed. "See, science explains everything."

"You make it sound so easy," Ashley muttered sourly, dropping back to solid ground, and promptly falling back in the chair. "do you know how long it took for me to even realise I could do something like this?"

"I never figured you to be one to believe in the supernatural though." Wally said thoughtfully.

"I'm not saying I actually believe in ghosts, fairies and all that." She replied. "But when you can manipulate fire, and swim in a lava pit – let's just say that I keep an open mind." She shrugged.

"You can swim in a lava pit?" Robin asked doubtful, but Ashley shrugged comically in reply.

"You're just biogenetically structured differently than others," Wally explained. "Your genes have mutated, which grants you the ability to do the things you do."

"You calling me a mutant now?" Ashley frowned.

"Scientifically speaking, yes."

"How charming," She bit back the urge to slap the boy, and decided to avert her attention to the fact Robin had barely contributed to the conversation. "Twinketoes, you still with us? Or have we lost you into the cyber space forever this time?"

"Dude," Wally exclaimed as he sped up to lean on the shoulders of his best friend. "why are you reading an article about... Cōdex Rēgius? What is that?"

"Isn't that Latin for the 'King's book'?" Ashley asked, getting up to sit next at the other side of the Boy Wonder. "Didn't that thing disappear, like, eons ago?"

"How do you even know about that?" Wally asked Ashley. "It actually creeps me out that you do."

"Tora was fascinated by it for a while," Ashley explained. "she talked about it non-stop a few years ago – Wait... Creep you out? What's that supposed to mean? "

Wally flashed her an innocent smirk, to which she responded with a dark glare, but turned back to the blue hologram hovering above Robin's wrist.

"Apparently some guy named Gardner Hound found it."

Robin's eye twitched behind the veil of his dark glasses.

"Isn't that some famous archaeologist who also foundthis pre-ceramic Norte Chico culture in Peru? He wrote some big thesis about it last year."

"Archaeologists are boring," She replied dryly. "All they do is read old, dusty books, and go look for some lost civilisation. Who cares about what happened all those years ago?"

"Actually –" Wally started, but got interrupted quickly.

"You know," Robin chirmed in, startling the other two teens. "as much as I enjoy you two invading my personal space, I'd prefer if I could read this without the two of you yapping in my ears."

"I believe we've upset the little bird boy," Wally grinned, slowly grabbing for something behind him.

"Maybe we should show him a little bit of love to calm him down?" Ashley asked, mimicking Wally's movement and mirrored his mischievous grin.

"What are you two going on about?" Robin asked warily, eyeing the two superpowered teens curiously.

"PILLOW FIGHT!" Both Wally and Ashley exclaimed as loud as they could, raising the pillows high up in the air, before slamming them against the youngest. Of which Wally's pillow hit Robin square in the face.

Perhaps it was in the salty air, or the warm summer's breeze that day, but none of the three had a care in the world as feathers flew around their ears. Engaging themselves in a harmless pillow fight – which was won by the Boy Wonder himself, for obvious reasons – Had they known how it would all come to an end, would they have paid more attention to these moments? Would it have helped if they could've seen what else was coming?

Would they have known that those were the best moments of their lives?

xXx

Each gravestone shone black or slate grey in the morning sunlight, the smell of dawn still lingering in the early summer day. Here, death hung thick in the air, and the crying of the few mourning people below the small hill broke the silence. Ashley stood by a thick tree, overseeing the funeral of Wallace Rudolph West. She could still remember the carefree laugh of his, ringing in her ears. Or the wide smiles he granted people so often. But the jokes had come to an end. The laughter had died, leaving only a hollow echo to resound. All that remained, was the deafening silence of the tomorrows.

They had been so hopeful at the beginning of the adventure. It seemed like there was only a world to be gained, not lost. It's a little bit horrifying just how quickly everything can fall to crap, she realized. Sometimes, all it takes is a huge loss to remind you of who you care about the most. Sometimes you find yourself becoming stronger as a result; wiser, better equipped to deal with the next disaster that comes along.

Her face contorted into a bleak, and dark expression.

Sometimes, but not always.

"You're standing awfully far away."

"I've been to enough funerals to last me a lifetime," She responded to the person who had suddenly appeared behind her. "I'm not good with crying people anyway."

"No," He replied. "you're not." Usually his tone would've been playful, and teasing. But not today, and she doubted it would change back for the days to come.

"I almost thought you wouldn't show." She asked, rubbing her arms against the chill of the cool air. She should've brought something to cover herself with. Central city's summer climate was much different from the nice, and warm Brazilian sun.

"Wally's not dead," Dick said stolid, coming to stand by her side. "and I know it sounds crazy, but believe me Ash – I know it in my gut that he's still out there. And I'm going to find him."

It took a minute or two for Ashley to realise what the young man had said. Her eyebrows knitted in confusion, and then in thought, as her mouth fixed into a tight, grim line. She changed her weight onto her right leg, and took a few more minutes to think of how to reply. When she did, she inhaled through her nose, and tensed.

"You know... the last person that claimed to me that someone wasn't dead," She replied gravely. "He ended up finding that person," Slowly, she turned her head to face Dick Grayson, face doleful and eyes expressively sullen. "he ended up dead because of it."

"You're going to talk me out of it?" He asked her, looking Ashley in the eye as he did.

"Over the years," She said, turning fully towards him, and continued indifferently with a shrug and a dejected smile. "I learned that you birds just have a way of doing what they believe is right. Doesn't matter what it takes. Or what anyone else says, for that matter."

"I'm not going to sit around, and do nothing while I know that Wally is still out there."

"I know..." Ashley responded, searching for an easy outcome to this conversation in the reflection of her face in his dark glasses. "Just don't die... okay?"

'The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good.'

- W. H. Auden