Well, here is the very intense chapter 3! Read EVERY WORD. It's THAT INTENSE.
Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice, and I'm sorry if I use your actual name. It wasn't on purpose. Unless you're preppyred. Then I did use your name because it's pretty.
Chapter 3
"Now," murmurs the woman. "I am sure you have questions. Please let me say what I will; perhaps I will answer some. Then you may ask whatever you wish." I nodded and took a seat in the tree she had just been in. She strides to me and sits in the soft carpet just below my feet. She glances at them. "No shoes, I see." She pulls up the hem of her dress, revealing small, pale feet. "I despise them as well. They keep us far from nature." She takes a deep breath, but it's soft, like a breeze before rainclouds roll in. "I am Neferet, your new mentor, guardian, mistress and hopefully friend. You should not be alarmed. You have done nothing wrong."
"You are here because I chose you. Two hundred years ago, I came to Earth in the disguise of a schoolgirl called Paige. I met you there, in our one-room schoolhouse. You do not remember; that was another incarnation of you. I immediately admired your strength, your quick wit, and your loving nature." She paused. "I also admired your beautiful singing voice." Turning to face me, she said, "The power of each god or goddess is determined by the beauty and power of their singing. You had the strongest, loveliest voice I had ever heard, and I was determined to bring you here then."
She frowns. "However, the god Corinthes has always wished to become my apprentice- he wants to control all of nature, not just the seas." She grits her teeth. "But he is a terrible singer, and so his power is kept relatively weak. Nevertheless, he sent a great flood up the rivers from the sea and ruined your family's homestead, drowning and killing you all."
"I was enraged, but I knew to be patient. All souls reincarnate in time. So I waited, here and in the council at Kasa, always watching for your soul to return. And finally, finally, the god of the dead told me you were on your way to the surface."
"I rushed straight down to earth, searching as quickly as I could, when I found your parents living on the beach with you just barely born. Corinthes had found you as well, and determined to kill you again, he sent another great storm. I offered your parents survival, riches beyond belief, if they had only given you to me right then."
"Instead, they asked for time with you. They knew you would go in order for any of them to live, so instead of riches, they begged that they be able to have you as their own child for a while. I took pity and knew you would have taken many years to prepare for this training anyhow, so I told them I would come on your fifteenth birthday and wrapped them in a protective bubble, carrying all of you far away from the raging storm. Fifteen years later, I have returned, and after two centuries I am most certainly ready to have an apprentice."
Tears spring to my eyes as I listen to this tale of my parents. They had known all those years, and suddenly I realize why I had never been punished, never been denied anything. They had known we didn't have much time. I sob and forgive them in my heart. They are good people, but a little foolish, and for that they can be pardoned. I swear right then and there that I'll get back to them someday and tell them so. But right now, I have to deal with Hana. I stop crying and stand up, whirling around to face her. I tilt my chin up. "What am I supposed to learn, exactly? What's my apprenticeship for?" A gleeful smile lights up her face, and she claps her hands like a little girl. "Oh, fantastic! I'm so glad you're not angry with me! You'll be learning to be the Goddess of Nature. When you know enough, you will take my place in the Council of the Gods of Kasa. You will live for all eternity and you will not have to deal with the foolishness of mortals."
She sighs and snaps her fingers. "I almost forgot one of the most important parts of your training. I have to take your voice. I will teach you what you need to know, and then send you out to find it. Sometimes you will be able to use it along the way, but those will be rare. When your voice is found by you, and only you, then it will return to you and you will experience your full, newfound godly power. After that, I will give up my place to you, and you shall be known as the Nature Goddess for centuries to come." I gulp and put my hands to my throat. I love singing so much; I can't imagine any joy in life without it. She smiles gently. "This won't hurt, dear, I promise you." She begins swirling her white hands, forming a glowing orb between them, but I've seen enough. I sprint for the door, screaming with the voice I still possess. Then suddenly, my screaming stops. My mouth is open and I'm yelling at the top of my lungs, but nothing comes out. I turn around, and my eyes widen with shock as I spot a smaller, golden orb float toward the newly formed white box in my mistress' hands. I panic and run for it, but by the time I arrive, it's vanished into the glowing mass of white. I reach for her hands, but she tosses the box into the air, and it vanishes. As I stare up, she sighs. "There. It is hidden somewhere safe." Glancing at my expression, her face falls. "Oh, dear. I was hoping you wouldn't be difficult about this." She claps her hands twice. "Saterina! Paaë!" she calls. The door bursts open and the two of them come scuttling in. Hana grins at them. "Lead Arrietty back to her room, please. I'm afraid she's been quite overcome by the events of the past hour." She turns away back toward her sofa, and with a few steps, she has vanished as well.
"Come on, babe," Saterina murmurs in my ear. "Let's head back to your dungeon." I can't move my feet, so they both just sigh, extend their wings, and carry me all the way back. I feel anger and fear boiling in my chest, threatening to explode with every heartbeat. They drop me on my bed after undressing me and tuck me in, but all I want right now is freedom. As soon as they're gone, I leap out of bed and run for the door. Who cares if I'm naked? I want to kill Hana. I want to destroy her. She's taken away everything that made me happy and I want to get it back.
I jiggle the golden handle with no response. The door has been locked from the outside. I bang on it until my knuckles bleed, trying to scream "Let me out!" Eventually I sink to the ground, sobbing, tears rolling down my face and silent cries emanating from my throat. It's strange to feel yourself cry but hear nothing at all.
That afternoon, sitting against the doorframe, I vow to eliminate Hana. I'll go along with her scheme. I'll train. I'll behave. And when I find my voice and have my power, I'll destroy her. I'll force all my power onto her and crush her with it until the nature she loves turns her to a white, powdery dust.
Returning to my wardrobe, I pull out the first-aid kit Neferet somehow packed and wrap my hands with bandages before I cover myself up with some pajamas. If training starts tomorrow, there's no point going to bed exhausted. Whatever I learn could definitely help me, and as a soft blue glow descends over the room, I realize Hana must have cast a spell over it so I would fall asleep faster.
In just a day, the whole world has been turned upside down. "Happy birthday, Arrietty," I whisper to myself. "You got who you wanted…Young Justice in three days…"
I wake up moments later in a world colored red and black, and I panic for a moment before realizing I must be dreaming. The Young Justice team yells, and their shadows make flashing appearances in an exploding light. I let out a silent war whoop and join them, toting a bracelet of glowing beads I've never seen before. Our opponent doesn't show itself, but I still sense where it is, flinging beads and chanting random spells in my head, laughing as I spot blood run along the ground.
So this is battle.
"ARRIETTY!" A familiar voice cries, and I whip my head around to find Kaldur being dragged into a dark alleyway by a slimy tentacle. I fly to his rescue, pulling on his arm as hard as I can before I realize he's pulling me. He grins and laughs wickedly, his face morphing into that of Hana as we plunge down, down, down into a vortex.
I wake in my own dark room, panting, wishing I could scream or cry out. The tears I would not allow to flow earlier stream down my face, salty and warm, and I let them come before blotting my face on the sheets and collapsing back onto the pillow.