A/N- Hey guys, just thought I would update before I would start studying for my exams. Don't expect a chapter for about a week and a half after this one. Please review, it's the only reason I was able to crank this one out. And without further ado, enjoy.
"Three"
The portal slowly began getting smaller and smaller and Wally could see Robin's panicked face on the other end, his lips beginning to form frantic words.
"Two"
The portal had just about closed and was about the size of a marble now. Wally smiled, he had nowhere to run. Defeated he leaned against the wall of the room and slowly sat down.
"One"
Time seemed to stop as Wally looked around the room, the dirt walls crumbling, the kryptonite dust glowing a menacing green, the bloody fist prints on the door left by Superboy.
He had won the battle, he saved his friends, and he saved Artemis. It was good enough for him.
Having resigned himself to his fate, he gave a smile and felt a tear go down his face. It wasn't fair but he would face his fate like a man, like a hero…
"Wallace Rudolph West"
A voice resounded through the room. It was calm, soothing even, so Wally naturally asked the first thing that came to his mind.
"Am I dead?"
The voice laughed, and what a laugh it was, it sounded like water running over the landscape. It was bubbly and soothing.
"No my young hero, you are not dead."
Wally glanced around the room to find it wasn't there anymore, his helmet was gone from his face and he was standing on top of a large mountain gazing at a sunset. Some snow from the ground whirled around and materialized into a girl with lush red hair that reached to her back. She had a cloak on which she wrapped tighter around herself and shivered slightly.
"Where—"
The girl turned around, her pale blue eyes filling with sorrow.
"We are in a memory young hero, during a time when all was right." She turned around to gaze at the retreating rays of light.
"You have power and a good heart, I could not let one as you die. So I brought you here. I mean you no harm." Her gaze became more sorrowful as she regarded the distance. "Evil will not allow anything good to remain in this world. Any purity it finds, it immediately snuffs out like a candle before the unforgiving winter wind."
Wally could make out a small village in the valley slowly lighting lanterns in the night. It seemed to be busy and happy, and was bustling with activity. Even from a distance it looked complete.
"I used to live here." The girl whispered softly. "We were good people, we never did anything wrong."
The scene swirled and Wally found himself standing in the midst of the village burning with screaming villagers running desperately from men on horses.
"He commanded them." The girl said with a bitter tone pointing at their leader and Wally gave a start as he recognized a younger Vandal Savage his face free of scars but still complete with the calm calculating aura.
"He killed my parents all those years ago. He showed no mercy" A lone tear fell down her face. "He was going to kill me too. That is when my magic chose to materialize."
Wally saw rushed battle scenes of a young 5 year old girl clashing with the battle hardened warrior and overwhelming him with her sheer will power; their clash tossing up large amounts of earth around them.
"I had him in my mercy and I showed it to him, even when he didn't dare show it to my parents." The girl brushed away her tears. "That day after I had knocked him unconscious I gave him three scars, one for my mother, one for my father and one for me. I lost my innocence that day, I never got it back." Her fist clenched and face contorted in unseen pain.
"I never was the same after that, I wandered the countryside begging whatever food I could get so I would have a next meal. I hated myself for not killing him and I hated myself for wanting to kill him." She touched her face reliving the memory. "I went insane for a little while and that is when Nabu found me."
The scene shifted to a now slightly older girl in a field facing the golden magician. "He didn't scold me or look down on me, he just said 'You have been through much and have great power child. Come with me.'"
She turned to Wally "So I did, and eventually as the years passed I grew in strength and joined the Lords of Order." She looked at him. "He has become different these past 50,000 years and his past compassion has all been but forgotten. But then he met you, a boy who desperately disbelieved in magic no matter how much proof there was. He despised you at first, but when he saw who you really were, couldn't help but admire your courage and bravery. He has chosen wisely to make you his magician. In sixteen short years you have been through much and have made impossible choices. You have dealt with loss, pain and sacrifice just as I have."
She looked him straight in the eyes. "That is the reason I have saved you this day, do not tell me that this is a mistake. I could not let one as you die, I simply could not."
Wally opened his mouth to speak but no words would come out. The information was simply too much for him to process.
The woman waved her hand and in the air and a green portal materialized in the air next to her. The sorceress showed no strain in using the high level magic. Looking at her flawless display, Wally realized that even though he had raw power as a magician he had ways to go before he was to be on any of other magician's levels.
What had happened with Klarion was pure luck and the only reason he had won that day was because of the surprise he had unleashed as well as Klarion being tired out from dragging him into another plane.
Wally realized he would have to get stronger if he was to make any difference in the world. If my team ever needs me again, I need to be able to save them.
"Train me." He uttered.
The girl raised an eyebrow at his request. "You will be trained by Nabu." Seeing his pained expression she understood. "You feel weak because you had to resort to such methods to rescue your friends?"
His silence answered for him. She sighed and walked towards him and tenderly grabbed his injured hand and winced as he hissed in pain. "Leah won" was uttered and was met with the mending of flesh. Wally sighed in relief as the pain disappeared.
"Thank you." He bowed his head. "But why won't you train me?" he looked into her eyes pleading.
The girl turned around facing her back to Wally "You have Fate."
Wally walked around her and looked her into the eyes again. "Please."
The girl searched his gaze looking for some ulterior motive but found none. "Fine."
"What?"
"Fine I will train you." His gaze lit up. "I wasn't expecting you to agree so fas—"
"But on one condition." Wally's smile fell. "You don't tell fate. We don't exactly see eye to eye on things as we used to. And though we are both Lords of Order he never saw me as an equal… in many things." Gathering herself she spoke, if you are to become stronger in a shorter amount of time, you must find a familiar who will be able to give and share your mystical energy. I'll leave finding your familiar up to you, I will train you after you and your familiar have bonded." She then waved her hand once again and an identical swirling portal appeared next to the first.
"The left portal will take you home, while the right one will take you to Atlantis who will soon need your help." She stood in the middle of the two and stretched her hands out to either side. "Which one will you choose Sorcerer Supreme?"
Wally immediately went over to the right portal and prepared to go in it. Before he entered he spun around with an apologetic expression. He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck "I forgot to say thanks, so thanks, and I never caught your name."
"Lea, my name is Lea." She smiled. "And you're welcome young hero we will meet again."
He shot her a dazzling smile. "Name just as beautiful as the girl I'm looking at." He winked at her. "I look forward to seeing you again. Lea." With that he turned and entered the portal disappearing from her view.
A fierce blush coated her cheeks and she felt her thump chest rapidly. What had happened?
Wally cursed to himself. Why did he say that? Did he mean it?
No. He dismissed the thought, must have been the force of habit. But at the same time he couldn't help but mean what he said. She was gorgeous though… His thoughts were cut off as he plunged under water and immediately gasped at how cold it was. He could breathe (he assumed Lea cast a spell allowing him to do so) and immediately noticed that he was in a cave of some sort.
After taking in his surroundings he swam out of the underwater cave and looked around. Almost immediately he saw lights in the distance and after swimming a bit closer, he saw the city of Atlantis. Its breathtaking architecture drew in his gaze and Wally finally understood why Aqualad spoke of it so fondly. It was beautiful.
Paddling closer to the city Wally observed a gate letting people in and out of the main city. Two guards on either side of the entrance; their eyes scanning the sea of Atlantians swimming by them.
Looking at the average Atlantian, Wally realized his cape and costume stuck out like a sore thumb. Examining a few people from a distance, he transformed his spandex suit and cape into a skin tight sleeveless t-shirt and short pants which hugged his body. After taking a moment to decide the colour, Wally settled for peacock green for his top and a dark green for his pants. Conjuring a small mirror he finished the attire by growing a pair of gills that would then disappear when he would get out of the water.
The tight clothing helped Wally swim through the water with ease towards the gate. He swam in without an incident and neither guard batted an eyelash at his appearance. Wally quickly realized that the style of clothing Atlantis featured had more to do with being useful than fashionable. It greatly reduced the friction of the water and allowed him to glide through the water easier.
Looking back at the two guards he gave another silent cheer and then turned his eyes to take in all the sights Atlantis had to offer. The colours were beautiful and had many murals and sculptures. He would have wanted to explore the place in greater detail after taking care of the problem which Lea told him was bound to happen soon.
Wally saw a multitude of Atlantians animatedly talking to each other in a language he did not recognize. Once Wally thought about it, there wasn't a scrap of English to be heard anywhere. Except…
"STUPID, CARELESS MISTAKES, I WAS THEIR LEADER!" A powerful voice carried over to his ears from a distance. Wally had heard the voice before and an uneasy feeling settled into his gut as he swam towards it. "Kaldur?"
Wally reached the place where the voice was coming from and saw it was some sort of school for magic filled with all sorts of interesting items. It seemed like it would have been a busier place but no-one was practicing. All of the students were looking towards where the voice was coming from and were cringing every time the loud voice echoed through the room. Wally swam past them until he entered a clearing. (A/N- Think of the place Kaldur first saw Tula and Garth in the episode Downtime)
There was Kaldur who had both of his water-bearers out of their sheaths and was mercilessly pounding at a rock which jutted out of a large sturdy cliff which looked over the entire area. On the side there stood two people whom Wally assumed were Tula and Garth; the Atlantean friends Kaldur often had spoken about when the team asked him about his home.
Looking on the scene Tula made an effort to go to Kaldur to comfort him, but Garth placed a hand on her shoulder and shook his head.
Wally flinched at the unusual anger displayed by his team leader and realized that it wasn't anger at anyone, rather anger that was being directed inwards. Wally realized that Kaldur had taken his supposed death very personally and wasn't in the right state of mind. Essentially it was his fault that his friend was hurting. Not thinking Wally yelled out to his friend.
"Aqualad calm down!"
Kaldur flinched and stopped mid-blow. He turned and glared at Wally. "Who are you and how do you know the language of the surface world!?"
Well this is going south real fast. "I'm alive Aqualad."
Kaldur shook his head. "I do not know you, I have never seen you before in my—"
"I just saved your team from being blown sky high by the Joker and this is the reaction I get?"
Kaldur shook his head and morphed his water bearers into their saber forms. Aqualad narrowed his eyes. "I cannot believe that, you are who you say you are. There is no proof of this fact. Furthermore, if you were the person who saved us you would have wounds on your wrists. As I can see, you have no proof." He turned over to Tula and Garth and yelled something in Atlantean. The two nodded and immediately began bombarding him with magic while Aqualad took the frontal approach and began attacking him with his dual swords.
Surprised Wally backpedaled from the attacks and narrowly dodged the sword swipe aimed at his head. Aqualad would usually have been more cool-headed when handling the situation. Had he been in a normal state of mind, Kaldur would have asked questions or for proof. There was simply no reasoning with him or his friends at this moment but he had to try. Wally raised his hands "I am not your ene—"and swore as two eels made of magic wrapped around his wrists and forced his hands behind his back. Kaldurs friends probably assumed him to be a threat as well due to Aqualad's irrational conclusion. There was no way to communicate with them either.
Wally struggled with the eels and was about to resort to magic when he heard Kaldur's battle yell. Looking up, the last thing he saw was Aqualad's mace accelerating towards his face before being knocked unconscious.
A/N- Thanks for reading guys, I appreciate it. But I want to know whether you guys want spitfire more or if you guys wouldn't mind having a Wally/OC (Lea). If you guys think it will work leave me your thoughts on which one you want more? Do you want Wally and Artemis to be together in the end and do you want more interactions and fluff? Or do you want a more passionate one with him slowly start to fall for Lea which he has a lot in common with (ok not a lot but still he can relate with her) and vice versa. Other than that drop me a review on how you liked the chapter. Do you guys enjoy the way this fiction is going? Is the pace too fast? I want to know so I can improve it for you guys. Other than that, sirs or madams that are reading this have a fabulous and classy day :D
