Chapter 8: Training
"Congratulations Dick, you've finally transformed!" Omari hugged him when he and Bruce got back to the mountain
"What did it feel like?" Wally asked
"It was exhilarating! I felt so much power being flooded into me, I've always wanted to be able to fly on my own and now I can"
"What's our next step" Kaldur turned to the leaguers in the room
"First Kaedan and Omari need to help Dick get better control over his powers" Bruce turned to the three remembered how Dick had stumbled onto the roof instead of landimg smoothly
"And the rest of us will have to start organizing battle plans for when we arrive in Rolasia"
Zatanna spoke up next "To do that we're going to need to know everything there is to know about her"
"I googled reincarnated wackjobs earlier and came up with nothing" Artemis shrugged
Omari smirked "Kaedan, Dick, and I would be the reincarnated wackjobs, Arissa is the immoral dictator"
"Really?" Conner frowned
"This is our new normal" M'gann smiled
"An immoral sorceress thats been around for 500 years should have left a trail, I'll check with Doctor Fate see if he knows anything" Dinah offered
"I can stay behind and help you with the plans" Kaedan offered
Martian Manhunter walked into the room "No, you two need to help Richard control his energy. I can help Batman with the battle plans"
"I'm assuming we already told you everything about Rolasia and Arissa in 1918?" Omari lifted an eyebrow at him and he nodded "Then I guess we can head out and start Dick's training"
Kaedan and Omari took Dick out into an open field behind Mount Justice, his two older siblings immediately powered up when they faced him, he gulped "I'm not sure I-"
"I'm ready for this?" Kaedan asked surprising him "You say that in every life" making him sigh
"I know you're nervous but as you continue to emerge the memories and things you learned in your past lives will all start coming back to you, skills, languages, all the pieces"
"Cogitesne?" Kaedan spoke in latin
"Ego faciam" Dick answered in the same language surprising even him "Ok this is crazy!"
Omari smiled "It's ok we'll help you through it"
Dick scoffed "The last time you helped me I was pushed off a building"
Kaedan smirked crossing his arms "Yes and if I remember correctly after that you soared, conquer ing your fear and brought out the warrior within"
"Warrior? According to Arissa we're royalty"
"Our parents wanted us to have a normal life, we didn't know we were supposed to be warrior sorcerers until Arissa brought that out. The only good thing she ever did for us"
"And the sorcerer in you is what needs to be released"
"And if I can't?"
"Then the tree of us will most likely die" Kaedan tilted his head "Again"
"I've arranged a meeting with the Captain of Arissa's army" Doctor Fate announced when he arrived at the watchtower to help with the battle against Queen Arissa "But only with myself, Batman, Canary, and Manhunter" he didnt want the teams childness to get in the way
"What?!" Bruce growled at the ancient sorcerer "Why would yo..."
"Because negotiation is the only way out of the situation you have placed us in. Arissa will do anything to get her hands on Rolasia's heirs even if it means killing anyone in her way!"
"You shouldn't try to reason with them " J'ohnn glared at the sorcerer "Arissa does not care for anyone but herself"
"If she has really killed them 97 times I doubt she will stop if we ask her" Dinah shook her head
"The meeting is already arranged"
Bruce sighed "We'll use this as an opportunity, if the captain slips up about something then we can use that to our advantage"
"Captain Basolk is Queen Arissa's most trusted soldier he won't do anything to betray her"
"When and where is this meeting taking place?" J'ohnn asked
"Now" They heard an echoed voice and turned to see a portal open by the window looking down at earth and a man looking in his 30s stepped out dressed in a military uniform, J'ohnn instantly recognized him from the night he had left the house and went to the police station in Wisconsin 88 years ago. The man smirked at his stunned face "I see you're still around Martian"
"You know him?" Dinah asked
"He was the reason I couldn't save them in 1924" He glared at the man with pure hatred
"Their former lives of them that you knew would have died of old age by now martian I haf actually done you a favor" J'ohnn growled and tried to go at him but was held back by Bruce and Dinah
"Enough!" Nabu yelled "We are here to discuss the situation at hand not things that happened almost a century ago
"What do you want?" Bruce asked
"What anyone would want for beloved, for Queen Arissa not to die"
"I thought that wasn't a problem for her" Dinah narrowed her eyes
"Only if she continues to take the life force from Konshen, Oshiana, and Ranver"
"Kaedan, Omari, and Richard are their names" Bruce glared
Basolk ignored him and continued " The four of them are locked in a circle of vicious played out over hundreds of years. Its none of your concern"
"We've made it our concern"
"We are an enemy that you cannot defeat, the only way for you and your friends can lie through this is for you to render to my Queen what is rightfully hers. You must turn over Konshen, Oshiana, and Ranver within 24 hours or we will lay waste to this planet and everyone you hold dear"
"I won't let that happen" J'ohnn glared and from what he could see Bruce or Dinah agreed with him
Basolk chuckled shaking his head "Why would you risk the lives of your friends and families for the sake of three strangers, they have been killed 97 times, what makes you think you can provent us from doing so again?"
"Hope" Dinah's only answer
"I came to this meeting our of curiosity, it is now sated, bring those three to Queen Arissa's palace or we will see to it that you are dead and buried under the bodies of your loved ones" After that he left back through a portal and disappeared
"We're not handing them over" Bruce announced turning to head back to Mount Justice
"That's not your decision to make" Nabu glared at him "We are dealing with an immortal sorceress that has played out her reign for the last 5 centuries"
"Arissa may be immortal but she's not a god"
"No, but she's the next best thing, Bruce!" He yelled when the man just kept walking
"What?!" He growled at the sorcerer
"You better be sure that your stubbornness doesn't get the world destroyed"
"He gave us 24 hours" Bruce announced when they got back to the mountain
"24 hours for what?" Artemis asked
"For us to hand over Dick, Kaedan, and Omari over to Arissa or her army will lay waste to the earth"
"We've been through this kind of thing before in 1650 she had killed over 2 million people while he were hiding out in england to get to us, and she did" Kaedan grimced remembering he disaster she had caused for he thousands of lives she killed
"We weren't helping you then we are now" Kaldur turned to him
"We have 24 hours to come up with a workable plan, then we should head to Rolasia so Arissa won't have a reason to come back to earth" J'ohnn told them
"Have you been able to create a stable breach?" M'gann looked to the three teenage sorcerers
"We're still working on Dick being able to power up without needing to get him all worked up" Omari looked over to him, they had begun by fighting in their normal states before powering up and that had pushed him to power up too
"You should get back to your training then we shouldn't use up the entire 24 hours here" Conner told them
"Right" Dick nodded
"Dick what's wrong?" Omari asked, he was walking very fast to get back to the field"You shouldn't run off, Arissa cou-"
"Do we ever kill overselves?" Dick asked turning to them with a frustrated look
"What?!" Kaedan's eyes widened
"Arissa has to kill us for her to maintain her immortality and power. Have we ever killed ourselves to deny him that"
Omari turned to Kaedan "I'm starting to see why your always the one to make the plans"
"Everyone in there is like family to me and now their risking their lives for us, I don't want them getting hurt or dying because of us"
"What they're doing for us is noble" Kaedan told him "Its what makes them heroes"
"Heroes or not I don't want anyone dying because of me"
"Then don't" Omari laid a hand on his shoulder "Be the warrior you are meant to be, the one you have always been"
Kaedan took a few steps back and held out his arms "Come at me"
He lifted an eyebrow "What?"
"Hit me"
"As much as I'd like to hit something right now. I'm not in the mood for a fight"
"Oh well then we'll just call Arissa and tell her to wait till your ready" Omari smirked when he glared at her
Dick sighed then got into a fighting stance then ran at him aiming a punch but Kaedan ducked it and swept him off his feet making him fall, Kaedan walked over to stand behind him now "Again" he glared at him as he got back to his feet trying to punch him again but Kaedan grabbed his arm then flipped him over onto his back, when he tried getting up he was pushed back down
Kaedan twirled his finger as he took a few steps back "Again"
Dick growled at him as he got up making him automatically power up and in a bolt of light he tackled his brother to the ground, he smirked at him "Good, the rage is he key to releasing the warrior within" he frowned getting up from he ground
"But I don't want to have to rely on hate and anger when I transform or power up or whatever this form is called" Dick looked down at himself seeing the patterns along his arms and down to his fingertips, it was even over his nails. He relaxed to make he glow go away "What do you too do to transform?"
"This is the method I use" Kaedan used the memory of seeing his father had been killed by Arissa
"You could try thinking about what makes you happy or think about saving our people, they've been enslaved by Arissa since she took over the kingdom. Maybe thinking about it will give you the determination you need to transform without getting angry" Omari suggested
"I like that idea better, can you two help me?" Dick asked them
"I know the perfect way" Kaedan smirked to Omari and both of them held out their hands to him "Let us show you" he reluctantly took their hands and in a flash of light it seemed as if they were teleported back in time to Rolasia, the three of them were in their sorcerer forms
"What did you do? Where are we?" Dick looked around to see they were in the middle of a dirt road of one of the villages but the people walking around them didn't seem to notice them at all
"We learned to use this trick to better understand how to use our powers" Omari told him "When we focus on our memories and use our power with it we can be transported to the exact time and place we remember and see the events play out, even if we only remember bits and pieces of it"
"We've taken you to see our first life, you're going to see where we grew up" Kaedan indicated to the Palace behind them "The lives with our parents and how we met Arissa and learned out our powers. hopefully this will help you get better control over them"
"Wait, how long is this gonna take, and what if the others come looking for us"
"No, problem going through our memories usually only takes about a few minutes out there. In here it'll seem like hours or days but out there it'll only be like a few minutes"
"Wow" Dick muttered
"Handy huh?"
"Let's get started"
Later Bruce was finishing up the plans to infiltrate Arissa's palace, they had decided to enter into that dimension on the outskirts of the kingdom so none of the phantom soldiers would spot them and report that they had arrived to the authority, Nabu had told them that Kaedan, Omari, and Dick's faces were still well known throughout the villages rumors had spread from the palace that they had been reborn a few times and were holding out hope that they would return and save them. To not cause an uplift of chaos if anyone recognized them they would put the three of them in disguises, they would need to ambush the palace once they arrived
J'ohnn had told them Phantom soldiers were made from stone and could manipulate their bodies to create sharp object, could become two dimensional, and were able to fight like any normal soldier, he had been able to defeat some easily with his super strength, they had listed the perfect ways to shatter the soldiers into pieces from his information the real threats they would have to deal with were Arissa and Basolk, they had no information if there were any others like them but would be as best prepared as they could
"Are you alright J'ohnn?" Dinah asked
"I'm fine, just worried about them, if we fail i don't want to witness their deaths a second time"
"That's not going to happen" Wally spoke up, he knew if by some unlikely chance they were killed they would only reincarnate again but none of them had recognized J'ohnn so if they were reborn they wouldn't remember this either
"You didn't have the rest of us to back you up in 1924. Basolk won't be able to hold all of us back at once"
"Thanks"
"So how's the training going out there?" Zatanna asked, they hadn't heard from the three siblings in over 3 hours now
"It look's like they're meditating" M'gann brought up security footage and saw the three in their transformed state sitting with their legs crossed by each other but none of them appeared to be talking
"Meditating?" Conner frowned
"It's a good way to relieve stress, maybe their just trying to clear their minds before they get back to training" Kaldur suggested
"Speaking of training we should be getting back to yours" Black Canary stepped up "You're going to have to be well prepared for this fight"
Dick snapped back into reality automatically changing back into his normal state after they finished watching their first life. He had just witnessed his own death, he had only been a ten year old boy at the time but Arissa didn't care about the pain she caused driving the dagger under his sternum through his heart and protruded out his back, he winced seeing it but he had an answer for the birthmark he was born with now. Kaedan and Omari had told them they were born with birthmarks of a stab would too.
"I had a Pegasus?" Dick asked turning to the two
"Yes, our father gave her to you as a present after our mother died, you named her Zitka"
"We don't know what happened to her though, we didn't have time to find her that night as you could see
Zitka was the exact same name he had given to his elephant in the circus but something else he recalled made him worry "When Arissa released my memories she actually showed me a hologram of a pegasus being abused"
"She must have enslaved Zitka too"
"Hopefully we can save her along with everyone else"
They continued to watch as Arissa's phantom soldiers lay waste to the once peaceful kingdom enslaving the people she deemed unworthy to live in her village that was filled with people they had banished from their kingdom she thought were superior than others
He had finally gotten the determination he needed to transform at will from witnessing the cries of his people
"Now all we have to do is teach you to open a breach" His two siblings smirked at his willed transformed state
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