third chapter to the story.
I even made a double upload today! Yay me XD
I do not own Young Justice or any of it's characters. That right goes to DC Comics and WB. I own only this story, the Danian race and myths, Caroline, Jaqueline and Carmen Ericson
"What is it Bruce?" she said and rested her head against the window frame. Robin looked from the woman to Batman with big confusion in his eyes.
"Can we come in? We need your help with something Carol" he asked and she gestured for them to enter.
"I have some civilian clothes if you're going to stay" she said and gave them a set of clothes each "by the way; it's the ones that disappeared from your washing room a few weeks back. I had a strange feeling I might need it when I took it" she yawned again as Batman took of his costume and put on the civilian clothes she'd handed him.
"So you just took some of it?" he asked and she looked back.
"Just one set Bruce" she looked at the boy "who's that? You should really get those clothes on kid, I don't want to be in the news because Batman and Robin are in my house" she yawned again and walked out off the small room and down some stairs. Batman followed her and looked back at Robin.
"It's okay, we can trust her" he said and Robin looked at the clothes. It consisted of some jeans, a white t-shirt and a pair of sneakers. He put the clothes on and walked in the direction he had a feeling that Batman had. Suddenly something caught his eye and he walked into what looked like a bedroom. He noticed that the room was full of dust, and hadn't been used in a long time. He walked further into the room and noticed some old pictures on a shelf and took one to look at. He blew away the most of the dust, and brushed away the rest. He examined the picture and suddenly recognized a face on it.
#Dick? # He asked in his head and looked at a younger Dick with a big grin, holding his arm around the waist of a girl at the same age. They were both formally dressed and he examined the picture even further. The girl was very beautiful and had long black hair. Her skin was white and her eyes shone like ice. She was wearing a big smiled and made bunny ears on Dick. He put the picture down and examined the rest of the pictures. The girl was on all of them, most of the time she was with Dick. On all the pictures that she was with Dick, she looked extremely happy. He noticed one picture in particular where they were holding up a necklace each, both necklaces having a ring on them.
"You shouldn't snoop around in other people's rooms" a voice sounded behind him and he turned around to see the woman that Bruce had called Carol standing there.
"Sorry I just…" he stepped back one step and backed into the shelf, making a picture fall toward the ground. The picture stopped in mid-air and he looked at Carol. She was holding her hand up and moved it slightly, making the picture move back to its original place.
"I know, you're lost, right?" she asked and stepped into the room, flicking the light on. The room was lit up and Robin looked around and noticed that the he'd entered a girl's bedroom. He looked back at Carol who walked past him and took one of the pictures and looked at it.
"Is the girl your daughter?" he asked and she nodded.
"Yes, the girl's my oldest daughter, Carmen" she looked at Robin and put the picture down "her name's Carmen" she smiled slightly. She suddenly looked a lot less sleepy.
"My name's Caroline" she said and took her hand out "but just like Bruce did, you can just call me Carol" Robin took her hand and shook it.
"I can't tell you my real name since…"
"Bruce already told me your real name Tim. And don't worry, I won't tell anyone" she smiled and took her hand to herself. Tim looked surprised and followed Carol as she walked the room and into a living room. Suddenly he shivered, feeling the chills from outside going away. The room was nicely warm and filled with books. It wasn't huge, but still big. There was a TV and two couches placed on each side of it. In the middle of the room, Bruce sat next to a table while eating what Tim identified as food. He hurried to the table and sat down; taking what looked like a sandwich.
"Well you're certainly hungry" Carol said and sat down. She looked at Bruce who coughed slightly to draw attention.
"I know Bruce, you wanted my expertise at something?" she said and placed her elbow on the table, supporting her head and her hand.
"There was a robbery earlier this evening, and it was stopped by a girl going by the name 'Corvus'"
"Corvus is Latin for raven" Carol stated and closed her eyes "you told me that already"
"Yes, but here the deal; the girl used a Danian weapon to neutralize Mr. Freeze" he said and she looked at him with widened eyes.
"That can't be possible; you know as well as I do, that the only Danian weapon on earth is in Carmen's possession. And she's in Belle Reve for at least two years more!" she almost yelled and Bruce looked at her.
"But what if someone, took the gun from Carmen somehow? Is the tech easy to learn how to use?"
"If you know how to fire a gun, and spin it in the air, then it's the easiest thing in the whole world" she said and leaned back into the chair. She looked at Tim and then at Bruce.
"Who's the kid? It's not Dick, that's for sure"
"You know Dick?" Tim asked and looked around. He found it hard to concentrate with all the different pictures and symbols hanging around in the room.
"I do. My daughter used to train alongside him as a kid. They were best friends" she looked at Bruce "you haven't told him about Carmen at all?" she asked in a accusing tone and Bruce sighed.
"I didn't find it necessary to inform Tim about the horrors a member of your family had committed, before even meeting you" he answered and she sighed.
"You should've just told him about Carmen, not freaking Nemesis!" she leaned forward to the table again.
"Nemesis?" Tim asked and looked at the two adults "who's Nemesis?" Carol looked at him and sighed.
"I'm amazed at how little you told him about a girl that lived in your house for almost two years before she was kidnapped by the Joker" she put her hand on her forehead.
"What!?" Tim looked at Batman who sighed. Then he looked back at Carol.
"Listen here Tim; Nemesis is the evil version of my daughter. She has three alter egos" Carol said and put her hand in front of her "Lovestruck is her good side, Nemesis is her insane side and Milady is her more… flirtatious side" she moved her hand like she was cutting the air while she talked "when Carmen was little, her father died in a accident which she blamed herself for. I put her in the care of Bruce here" she pointed at Bruce who was listening. Tim could see on his face that he'd heard the story before.
"I also put her there so she could train with Robin and develop some crime fighting skills. She did get better to use her body as a weapon, as well as her powers. But after about two years, she got kidnapped by the Joker, who tortured and brainwashed her into Nemesis, an insane girl with a taste for blood" Tim was beginning to become slightly pale and Carol sighed "She was contained in the end, spend nearly 6 months in Arkham where she was cured of her insanity. I still don't know how they did it though. But after she got out of Arkham, I send her back to Dania where she was to stay. Then about five years ago, she somehow managed to get to earth where the Joker got to her, turning her into Nemesis again. She caused a lot of trouble to the original team, but she was contained in the end and got send to Belle Reve. And I think that the episode in Belle Reve was her favorite" she said with a smile.
"Why?" Tim asked in confusion.
"Try asking Nightwing about that" she smiled and got up from the chair "well, if the weapon is Danian as you suspect Bruce, then I will of course investigate. In the meantime, you should try to brace Tim for the powers the dear Carmen holds" she yawned and stretched "you can stay until tomorrow morning, but get out early, I don't want the paparazzi to think I have something with Bruce" she walked out the room and Tim looked around again. He tried to make out what was on the wallpaper and suddenly recognized a picture. He got up from the chair and walked towards it, examining what looked like a big raven. He put his hand on it.
"Hey Bruce. Isn't this the raven that Corvus had on her chest?" he asked and Bruce got up and walked to him to look at the raven.
"It is. Come to think of it, Carol once told me about a legend from the Danian mythology" he looked at the entire wallpaper and raised his eyebrow.
"I think the wallpaper pretty much shows the entire danian myth actually" he looked at the raven.
"But what does the raven have to do with myths?" Tim asked and looked around in the room again. He noticed that there were a lot of birds on the walls, most of them gracious birds.
"Danian myths often hold birds. The raven represents something else entirely on Dania than here on earth. On earth the raven represents death and darkness" he walked back to the chair and sat down.
"And what does it represent on Dania?" Tim asked and looked at a particular bird and walked towards it. It was a big blue bird he'd never seen before. It looked like a phoenix, but still it didn't. He touched the wallpaper and could feel his entire body tense. Bruce lifted his eyebrow at the scene.
"It represents hope and second chances, but it also can represent fear" he got up and walked up to Tim "is there something wrong?"
"No… but I think I've seen particular picture before" he closed his eyes and tried to remember but couldn't place it "or maybe I haven't, but something about just…" he looked at the picture again and then at Bruce "what kind of bird is this even?"
"It's a Taliana. That's Danian for 'water queen'. The bird is the ruler of all water and can control it like we can control our bodies" he looked at Tim who kept his fingertips on the wallpaper.
"Taliana?" he said and something in his mind told he'd heard the word before, but he couldn't place anything about the bird right now "does the raven have a different name on Dania?" he asked and looked at Bruce.
"It does" Bruce walked back to the raven "it has two names, depending on what time of the day you see it. In the day time, Danians call it Kaliam'ir, meaning 'only hope'. In the nighttime they call it Corlium'ar, meaning 'every fear'"
"Corlium'ar?" he looked at the raven and touched it "why do they call it by two different names?"
"Because of the raven's myth" Bruce and Tim turned around and looked at a maid who'd just entered the room. She was around thirty, and looked them directly in the eyes.
"I couldn't help but hearing you talk about the myths. I'm guessing that you're Bruce?" she looked at Bruce and bowed down "her majesty the queen's told us a lot about you" she got up again.
"She hasn't got a nose?" Tim said in a questioning tone and the maid walked closer.
"Yes, I'm a Danian. I can tell about the Raven's myth if you would like to" she sat down by the table and Bruce looked at her.
"You're related to Carol, aren't you?" he asked and sat down by her. She nodded and looked at Tim who sat down in front of her.
"I'm her niece" she smiled slightly and looked at the Raven and closed her eyes. Tim could suddenly feel the room disappear and looked at the girl. It felt like he was getting pulled into her and suddenly the whole room went black. He looked around and suddenly Bruce appeared beside him.
"Don't worry Tim. She's just showing us the myth like all Danians do" he put a hand on his shoulder. Tim just nodded and looked around. The darkness began to take on multiple colors and forms, but never got really bright.
"It all started with a wish" he could hear a voice say, but he couldn't find the owner of the voice.
"A queen of old times, had a burning wish to get a daughter. But she never got her wish. She was old and had almost given up hope, when one day while she was walking through the forest at night, a young woman approached her. The young woman had a child in her arms, and was full of cuts and scratches. The queen rushed to the young woman, and offered her help. But the young woman refused to get help and just handed her the child. 'Save my daughter, don't waste your time on me!' the young woman yelled. The queen took the child and the young woman looked at her and said 'look after my daughter, I will return when she's older to tell her about her heritage' then she disappeared, a raven's feather the only thing showing anything had ever been there. The queen looked at the girl in her arms and smiled. The girl was beautiful and had long raven black hair. The small girl was sleeping soundly and the queen walked back to her castle. The girl woke up as soon as the queen was in the light, and the girl began to cry. The queen calmed her down by singing a song, one which was lost with the time. She called the girl Kaliam, meaning hope. She loved the daughter as if she was her own, and the girl grew up to be a beautiful woman. However, as time passed by, the girl seemed to spend more and more time in the woods. One day, the queen found her running around in the woods along with a pack of ravens. One of the ravens flew at the girl and caressed her cheek with its head. The queen got scared that the girl might turn into a raven like her mother had, and scared the ravens away. The girl looked at the ravens as they flew away and asked her adoptive mother why she had done that. The queen didn't answer and told the girl to go inside. When the girl had gotten inside, she was locked in her room. She had no idea of why she was being held in her room, and slowly began to hate her mother. Her skin turned darker for each day, and she began to grow feathers. One day, the queen opened the door to the girl's room and screamed. The girl had turned into a raven and flew past the queen. The queen ran after the raven and commanded her guards to contain it, screaming that a mystical force had turned the princess into a raven. The raven landed on the ground once it was out in the forest. It turned into the princess and looked back at the queen. 'it wasn't anything mystical that turned me to this mother' the girl said and crossed her arms across her chest 'your fear turned my heart dark, but my hope gave me wings. I am the symbol of both fear and hope. I am Kaliam and I am Corlium' she said and turned back into a raven and flew away" the girl ended her story and everything turned black again. Tim could feel himself getting slightly dizzy as the room returned to his sight. He looked at the girl and held his head.
"So the queen, adopted a raven?" he asked, trying to process the story.
"Yes, in the belief that she was a real girl" the young woman nodded.
"And she turned back to a raven because?" he asked and placed his chin on the table.
"Because the queen feared the princess would leave her. But the queen's fear only turned the princess into a wingless bird. It was only when the princess began to hope about seeing the outside world again that she grew wings and could fly away" she got up and bowed to the two males in front of her "now excuse me, but I have to get some sleep" she walked away from them and Tim looked after her.
"That story didn't really make that much sense to me…" he said and Bruce got up.
"We should head back to Wayne Manor. I'll call Alfred and get him to come and pick us up" he said and walked out of the room in the search for a phone.
"And what can I do in the meantime?" Tim asked, but Bruce had already left the room. Tim sighed and got, looking back at the Taliana. He walked to it and closed his eyes. Something about this particular painting had called to him. And he wanted to know what it was. He placed his hand flat on it and curled his hands into a fist, resting his forehead on the wall. Suddenly he felt himself getting sucked into something again, and he opened his eyes, seeing a bunch of kroloteans in front of him. There was a lot of machinery around him and he could hear someone breathe out loudly. He felt oddly at ease, like it wasn't real.
"You're the one" he could hear someone whisper, and he felt a strong chill going through his spine. The voice had sounded so sad and yet so hopeful at the same time. Suddenly a scream sounded through the room and he got ripped away from the image he'd just seen. He looked around but couldn't figure out where it'd come from. He looked back at the Taliana and removed his hand, feeling he was holding something cold. He opened his hand and saw he was holding a ring with words engraved into them. He held the ring out and tried to read the words.
"We feel like we can't be beat?" he asked and looked at the ring in question. He heard Bruce calling him and put the ring in his pocket, going in the direction he'd heard his voice in, and found the main entrance. He looked at Alfred and smiled, looking forward to be able to sleep in his bed. He could feel the ring in his pocket and still wondered about how he'd gotten it.
Yay X3 Return of the rings!
I didn't really know how to write a proper story to the Danian myth about the Raven, so i just made something up that sounded good.
and there's gonna be more about the Taliana later, because there's a hidden clue in the Taliana XP
Please Review or i will say you hurt Dick and send Carmen after you! X3
Next chapter's gonna be a long one XP