Chapter Twenty Six: Possessed Part Two.
"Okay, I'll bite, who was our mysterious female archer girl?"
Lois was the one that said this statement but Harry turned to her with a smile.
"First of all, female archer girl would be a bit redundant, don't you think?" Harry asked her and Lois leaned against the wall as she offered him a frustrated sigh. She hated when Harry had a point, which was often. "And secondly, I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?" Raya asked and Harry turned to her with a smile.
"I mean exactly what you think I mean and that is I don't know," Harry offered to her, and to be honest, it was weird. He normally could piece these things together quite quickly but for some reason, this entire situation had him baffled. "She's a new player in the game."
He turned to Batman. If there was anyone around who could piece together the gaps, it was the World's Greatest Detective.
"No, I have no idea who she is," Batman offered and Kara offered an astonished gasp.
"Both Arcane and Batman not knowing who someone is….surely the world is about to come undone," Kara remarked in a teasing tone of voice, both directed towards her husband and Batman. Harry offered her a mock glare but Kara simply smiled back at him, widely and brightly. "I mean….we could have slapped a tracking charm on her."
"Kind of hard to do that when we could barely see her," Karen suggested and Kara nodded to concede the point.
"Right, right, of course," Kara said but she used her X-Ray vision to try and figure out if she could find anything, a trace, a clue, anything, that would point her in the right direction towards archer girl.
The blonde squinted her eyes and tried to focus, with Harry, Karen, and Clark helping out as they could.
"Here," Karen told them as Harry levitated the piece of arrow. "I don't know how much a piece of arrow is going to tell us about her but hey it's more than we had before."
Harry agreed, this was far more than they had before and now they had enough to work on for something that remotely passed as a lead. His green eyes flashed as he started to consider the possibilities of what he had to do. He shifted forward and his fellow Heralds of Death followed him, walking down the pathway.
'Diana, are you out there?' Harry thought to one of his bonded through the link.
'Yes, I can be there within the next ten minutes,' Diana thought to Harry and she could feel the frustrated sigh that came from his being. She took a few seconds to amend herself and decided to clarify. 'Maybe slightly less….Donna is off with Doctor Sandsmark's daughter, so I've got a few hours that I can kill. Did something come up?'
'You might say a whole lot of something came up,' Harry thought before he clarified. 'The League of Assassins.'
"This arrow is manufactured in Gotham," Batman stated after he'd looked it over closely.
"Well, that means our mysterious archer is from Gotham, then," Clark offered as his eyes moved towards the ceiling. "Not sure how much I trust her."
"What do you mean?" Kara asked Clark, wondering where this sudden lack of blind trust was coming from. Not that she was upset about it; it just seemed off for Clark to be the one to pull the lack of trust card.
Clark was only too happy to clarify of her. "Don't you find it a bit strange that she arrived and that girl….what's her name…."
"Cheshire," Karen clarified.
'Really, them again?' Diana questioned Harry and he gave her a sound of affirmation through the link. 'I'll get there as soon as I can.'
'It's appreciated,' Harry told her in an honest voice as his green eyes flickered towards the situation.
"I don't trust her at all," Clark remarked before he turned around and looked up at the ceiling briefly before turning towards the rest of the group. "I don't trust that Cheshire just told the Assassins to stand down."
Batman's head was now buzzing with the same thoughts, perhaps Clark Kent was actually learning not to be a trusting idiot. The World's Greatest Detective pondered the situation in the back of his head and turned towards Clark, before a smile crossed his face.
"You might be onto something," Batman offered to him.
Lois was not going to lie, Batman smiling, even for a split second, was utterly terrifying. Not to mention the fact that she was pretty sure that the fabric of reality might break apart as a result. "You….I mean sure things are fishy, but you're acting like Harry with this sudden lack of trust."
"Yeah, you're acting like me," Harry chimed in before he realized what was said. "Wait a minute now, Lois…"
"I don't know, she's a wildcard," Karen interjected as she tried to find out if there were more clues that she could uncover.
After not finding one, the blonde's expression stirred into agitation as they had to go to track the one thing that they could follow and that was the League of Shadows.
They had forgotten about their mysterious ghost friend for a little bit but Boston was ready to let them know that he was still there.
"Yeah, archer girl, she's good, but we've got to find out whether or not that they can get the scrolls," Boston stated, still using Lana's body as a puppet. "The sooner we can get done, the sooner I can give this women's body back."
"Okay, okay, I haven't forgotten about it," Harry offered as he closed his eyes and tapped into the Lifeline Reader.
'Scan for known members of the League of Shadows,' Harry thought before he scanned for the footprints that were left.
"Any luck," Batman questioned, he stood up straight as Wonder Woman arrived. He surveyed the warrior woman for a moment and then his head turned away from her.
Diana figured that she just passed the Batman test of reluctant trust.
"I'll let you know before too long," Harry offered as he started to filter through what he needed to find. His green eyes widened as he contemplated what to do next and then nodded.
'I think I've got it,' Harry told Kara and Karen through the bond link and both blondes were interested, now he needed to tell them what they needed to do.
"Who was she?" Talia demanded as she walked down the pathway, with Jade following her, the young woman's eyes peering over her shoulder as she nervously watched for Batman. The daughter of Ra's Al Ghul didn't like being kept out of the loop in regards to anything that happened around her and she thought that Cheshire was lying about something, although what she was lying about, Talia had no clue.
"I have no idea but if she's a wildcard, then we should proceed with caution," Cheshire offered Talia and the two women exchanged a glare. "Believe me or not, that's your choice, but if we fight over these petty differences, this group of do-gooders would tear us apart."
Talia inclined her head in acknowledgment of those words, once again, Arcane had gotten in their way, he was annoyingly resourceful about doing that when coupled with his amazing power. The young assassin stepped forward as she heard a loud drip, drip, drip sound in the background. She remained rather rigid as she prepared to draw a sword from the sheath.
"Nothing there, mistress," one of the assassins stated.
Talia was not convinced, in fact her eyes flickered in suspicion before she twisted her head off to the side towards the tunnel on the other side. It was a blind spot and anyone who was an assassin knew that blind spots were bad "I'm not convinced of that, go forward and make sure the tunnel is cleared."
Two of her bodyguards nodded as they slid forward and prepared to throw explosives into the tunnel. They drew their arms back and propelled the explosions. Following up that action, there was a miniature explosion that resounded through the tunnel. A loud bang echoed and smoke appeared through the tunnel. The explosion was not enough to kill anyone but the smoke should be more than enough to flush any undesirable parties out of hiding.
They edged forward, there was a loud tapping sound around them and Talia's gaze never once broke. She calculated what she needed to have done in her head and she twisted her gaze towards her people.
"Keep it up, I know that they're close….."
Her words were cut off as a shadowed figure had one of the assassins hanging upside down and dangling. Talia's eyes widened and her mouth hung open as she saw one of the assassins dropped behind her.
She should have known by now that this was going to happen but somehow, she refused to believe that such of a thing would occur. The assassin's gaze twisted towards her minions before two words were spat out to them which told them all that they needed to know. "Cover me."
The assassins nodded in their most brisk manner as Talia's gaze moved back to focus on what was going on in front of her and Cheshire stood shoulder to shoulder with her.
Lois appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Talia, before pushing her to the ground. Talia popped back up, taken off guard from this attack looking towards the woman who took her down.
"That was for trying to put a dart through my neck," Lois offered and as Talia dodged the next attack, she pulled out a dagger made of Kryptonite. Lois felt a bit flushed as the modified Green Kryptonite affected her although not as much as it had before the small amount of antidote was given to her.
'Right work in progress, can't attack her from close quarters, have to think smartly,' Lois thought as she took in a deep breath before letting it out in a blast of hurricane force winds in an attempt to try and catch Talia off guard. The dark haired woman's breath launched Talia flying to crash against the closest wall with a thud.
Talia was staggered but three of the larger assassins rushed towards their opponents to engage them in battle.
Lana launched forwards and using her heat vision she detonated one of the explosive charges that was on the thug.
There was a loud explosion as the Thug, and the assassins next to him were blown to smithereens and blood and guts splashed against the wall. Clark gave "Lana" a dirty look but the large sword enhanced with Kryptonite was something that he needed to dodge quickly, before it went through his head.
"You will bow before the master, infidel," one of the assassins stated but Clark grabbed the assassin around the neck and flung him back into the wall.
Lana's eyes widened as she saw another assassin sneak up behind Clark. Quickly, Deadman surfed out of her body and into Clark's, who then spun around to blocking the shot, which he followed up by driving the blade back into the throat of his attacker.
Meanwhile, Lana was confused, as the last thing she remembered, she was sitting at the kitchen table, enjoying coffee, and being a bitch to Alicia. The next thing she knew, she's in the middle of a chaotic free for all. Her eyes widened and blinked, she was nearly close to spitting out one question.
"Does anyone want to explain what the hell just happened?" Lana asked to Lois.
"No, you don't want to know, and you better duck," Lois offered in a hyperactive tone as she shoved Lana to the side and several shuriken fired towards both women.
Lana's eyes bugged out as she leaned against Lois and the two of them kept up with the battle.
Meanwhile Harry slipped down the tunnel. He had a feeling that this entire free for all and the desperation that was heightened, they were completely closer to getting the scrolls, he sensed they were in his grasp. Kara, Diana, and Karen edged their way down the tunnel following Harry.
'What are we searching for?' Karen asked before she paused. 'Or will we know when we find it?'
'Yes, we'll know when we find it,' Kara thought to them.
'Ambiguous, as usual,' Karen thought as she turned her head over her shoulder. 'I couldn't be the only one who heard that.'
'Trust me, you weren't,' Harry informed her and he was on guard for whatever came next down the pike. The green eyed wizard felt that something dangerous was happening but he wasn't sure exactly what.
"WHERE IS IT?"
And the sound of a frustrated yell indicated that they were getting perilously close to finding out the answer to that question. Harry saw a curtain of red hair as well as the person that voice belonged to. Harry's face snapped into a smile as he saw the frustration that was flickering through her eyes.
"So did you lose your car keys or something down here?" Harry asked with a smile.
Alex's head shifted around and she faced Harry. This was not going according to the well placed plan that she planned months and months ago. This was supposed to be the night where she was supposed to get the scrolls.
"Did you see anyone out of the ordinary down there?" Alex asked Harry as she tried not to panic although the eye twitch indicated her abject failure at doing so.
"Well it depends on what your opinion is of out of the ordinary," Harry said to Alex and her green eyes flickered towards Harry's.
"Now's not the time to play games," Alex remarked to him as she tried to keep her mind on the situation although she was really failing at it, truly she was failing to do so.
"I'm not playing any games, at least not intentionally," Harry told her.
"What are you doing down here?" Kara demanded as she stepped towards Alex but the redhead stepped back, annoyed that she had been questioned by this alternate version of one of her best friends.
"We have it down here," one of the hooded figures stated in a calm voice.
Harry was sick of getting the runaround so he decided to take some action.
"Halloween's over, time to lose the hoods," Harry told them as Kara and Karen sped over.
Kara reached forward and blocked an attempted stunning spell, before she grabbed onto the hood. Hood one was pulled off to reveal….the face of Hermione Granger.
Harry blinked at her.
"Harry, I can explain," Hermione remarked but there was a few seconds where Harry turned his back away from her to see the person that Karen unmasked.
"Um, Wotcher, Harry," Tonks stated as his eyes were locked on hers. She stepped back.
'And we're busted,' Tonks thought to the other members of Alex's collective.
'Yes you are,' Harry thought to them, as he pinpointed them all. 'Daphne, Astoria, Alison, Clara….all of you are busted.'
'How did you do that?' Astoria asked, annoyed that Harry found a way to hack into their collective links.
'I'm Harry Fucking Potter, what can't I do?' Harry asked and that was a statement that was really hard to refute right then.
Alex was more annoyed than anything else, her plan, which was well thought out, was coming undone even further. The redhead witch clasped her hands in front of her.
"So, you don't have the scrolls," Harry informed them.
"The Sisterhood doesn't have the scrolls," Hermione remarked to Harry but Kara's eyes flickered towards Hermione's.
"Harry wasn't speaking to you," Kara stated in a clipped tone, she knew that Harry emotionally detached himself from Hermione along with everyone else from that world and she hoped that this better not be a clone or a trick or a shapeshifter or an android or anything along those lines.
Hermione turned around about to voice her annoyance but Alex shook her head.
"We don't have the scrolls and I think we'd both agree if those scrolls fall into the wrong hands, it could be a catastrophe," Alex informed them and Harry placed a hand to his chin, rubbing it as in consideration.
"Oh, a catastrophe, well aren't we being melodramatic today?"
Cheshire swooped down and reached into her bag, to present the scrolls.
"As for the scrolls you're searching for…."
Kara super sped in and snatched the scrolls away from her, while Diana used her lasso and wrapped it around the ankles of Cheshire. Cheshire did not see Diana coming and she fell face first onto the ground with a huge thump.
"Well that was easy," Diana remarked but suddenly a gas canister went off in their faces.
'And I've got to learn that it's likely a good idea to pick my spots wisely and keep my mouth shut,' Diana thought to herself as she started to choke on the tear gas that was coming in through the room. She was feeling fairly light headed and there was a ringing sensation that coursed through her head.
'That's likely a pretty good plan,' Karen thought as she saw the figures in the shadows.
'You know what, screw these scrolls, they aren't worth preserving, and they're too dangerous to keep around,' Harry thought as he heard the clangs.
'Fine, screwing the scrolls, in three, two, one,' Kara thought to them.
Three beams of heat vision shot out and nailed the scrolls that were now in Talia's hands. The woman's eyes widened as her hands stung slightly as the scrolls were destroyed in front of her eyes before she could use them. She gasped before she spat out a proclamation.
"What did you do?" Talia asked of him and Harry's grin widened.
"I removed the scrolls from the equation," Harry remarked as he decided to let her in on the secret. "They wouldn't have saved your father, all they would have done was unleashed hell on Earth."
Talia's eyes flickered with distrust before she said one thing to Harry, clutching her sword. "How do I you know that you're not lying?"
Harry decided to offer another word, his expression getting smugger by the second and he kept it fixed on her. "How do you know? You don't, but it's a moot point now."
Talia's eyes turned from Harry to the fighting one corridor down.
"So, I suppose that you're going to take me down," Talia remarked to him and Cheshire also posed for a fight, her hands trembling as she reached for a dagger.
"Stand down, today I'll let you pass, but only this one time," Harry commented as he placed a hand on Talia's shoulder his narrowed emerald eyes looking deeply into her green ones. She flinched at the contact but only for a brief instant. "I want you to give my regards to Ra's and tell him that he's on my list, I'm coming for him."
Talia's eyes blinked at that slight against her father but she figured that her father had made his share of extremely powerful enemies during his time. This Harry Potter, he was no different and she stepped back keeping her eyes locked on his.
"It's going to be done," Talia remarked as she slipped off and Cheshire fired her.
"He's just letting us walk, I don't like this," Cheshire said to Talia.
"Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, Jade," Talia told the younger girl but there was something in her mind that indicated that there was more to this entire situation that met the eyes. Perhaps she was getting excessively paranoid but Talia would rather be safe than sorry.
Harry watched her leave, along with Cheshire. He let them go for now, they really owed him their lives to an extent, as Alex might have killed them on sight for grabbing onto the scrolls.
Although Alex and her group disappeared in the shadows but with one difference, and that was that Harry could not track them down.
'So….just out of curiosity, were those scrolls the real deal?' Chloe thought to them, having watched the entire battle from afar.
Harry remained silent for a moment, that was a good question actually, he wondered if the scrolls even did exist or had been one big myth.
'Well, I'm assuming that they were and they assumed that as well, so we could have destroyed a dummy set of scrolls that everyone believed where real,' Harry informed them.
Only time would tell what they would be doing next and only more time would tell what the fate of the League of Shadows were. There were a lot of things that were bubbling over and tension was running high.
"Mission accomplished?" Clark asked.
"Boston, I see you've switched bodies," Harry remarked without any preamble and Clark's expression was bolder than ever.
"Well you can't blame me, this one just seemed….well it had a bit more punch to it," Clark remarked as he slammed his hand down onto his palm for emphasis.
Harry was going to have to disagree with that one but there was really no time to argue with a dead spirit, especially a dead spirit that was possessing the body of Clark Kent. There was something that told Harry that his stubbornness got rambled up to a new level by osmosis.
"So, you allowed them to get away," Batman offered to Harry and his green eyes followed the World's Greatest Detective.
He somehow knew that Batman was going to question his tactics but Harry had a counter in the back of his mind, he had it ever since he made the decision.
"Let them get away now and they'll let Ra's know everything," Harry remarked and Batman was there to pick holes in Harry's logic straight away.
Harry figured that was going to happen, Batman was the World's Greatest Nitpicking Detective after all but the emerald eyed wizard was ready with all of the counterpoints that he could muster. There was a tense moment as Harry and his group stood face to face with Batman.
"You may regret letting them go," Batman offered before he stared them down. "Play with fire like this, and you're going to get burned."
Harry knew that better than anyone, the dangers of playing with fire was something that he had been exploring now more than ever before. As it turned out, he had a plan and he was going to see if this would bring him Ra's Al Ghul. Although given that Ra's died more times than an army of cats, he was waiting to see what would happen based on this mad plan.
"If I get burned, then consider it a lesson that I'll have to learn but this time, Ra's is playing into my hand," Harry said before he stepped forward and his gaze met that of Batman's. "You know he's going to go after the Kandorians next."
Batman offered Harry a stiff nod in response; he figured this was coming for months. He was hard at work developing a contingency in case the Kandorians did what he feared they would do. Yet there was something of a nagging doubt in the back of his mind, as the Dark Knight wondered if Harry was also developing a contingency that could be used against Batman in the not so distant future.
"See what happens when it happens," Clark offered as he turned up.
"You're still not yourself, are you?" Batman asked him and Clark's smile grew wider before he shook his head.
"Man Bats, I tell you, no one can fool you," Clark offered as Lois showed up.
"Yeah, well um guy, listen, if we could have Clark back, that would be nice," Lois offered rather lamely before she sighed. "He might not seem much, and he can be annoying but hey…..he's something that we're used to having around."
"Ah, can't I try him out for a little bit longer?" Clark asked but Harry turned to him.
"Boston," Harry remarked with a reproachful smile. "Thanks for your help out there really and I'll….see what I can do about getting the guy who murdered you tracked down."
"Hey, take your time, man, I ain't in a hurry or nuthin," Boston remarked as he shook his head but Harry smiled before he turned to Batman.
Or at least he would have turned to Batman if he did not slip out.
'One would think we'd be used to that by now,' Harry commented to himself as he thought about that. Then again it was Batman and doing the unexpected was kind of what he did.
Harry needed to move to the next step, wondering what would come around the corner the next time.
"So the scrolls would have not have returned me back to the living, it's a disappointment but I should have expected it."
The raspy voice of Ra's Al Ghul stated this from the shadows. He had seen much better days; his latest near death experience left him tap dancing on the line between life and death. He had a nearly up close and personal experience with the Grim Reaper. His face had rather sunken in eyes and his faithful assistant Ubu stood on the other side of him, holding a mask and a tank that would give him constant doses of oxygen.
He faded in and out more and more as time passed. His heart thumped over, and over in his chest as he tried to keep his eyes focused despite his vision being blurred.
"The scrolls would have released an unspeakable horror," Talia informed her father, feeling the stress that was coursing through her mind and body. "It is a good thing we did not take that next and drastic step then."
"No, of course not,' Ra's agreed as he felt his throat nearly close up with the lack of oxygen but once again he pushed himself to breath.
"Breath master, breath easier, that's it, and deep breaths," Ubu stated as he held the oxygen tank, he would make that arrogant farm boy pay for the horrific beating he gave his master. The servant was nothing else, if not even loyal.
Talia watched the progress of her father; he was in worse shape than she ever saw him..
"I need an heir to take over my legacy for my time draws nearer, someone who is strong, someone who is durable, someone who is everlasting," Ra's remarked as Talia's eyes turned to her father and she opened her mouth to state her loyalty. "I need a male that will be able to lead this new world order, to cleanse the world of everything."
Talia's eyes followed Ra's and she felt like she had been slapped in the face, it was her father's quest for a male heir that continued and it really caused her more agitation now than ever before. The dark haired female switched her attentions towards her father and could not believe that he had casually disregarded her the way he did. What more could she do to earn his favor?
Talia wondered if it was worth it.
"Well this is charming, quite so yes."
The League of Shadows, depleted as they might be, stood up straight and their swords were drawn. Zod showed up, flanked by six of his finest and most loyal men. The key word was men for there were no women left; they betrayed him and left for Harry Potter.
"What are you doing here?" Talia demanded as she reached into her cloak and her blazing green eyes danced with determination.
Zod responded with a chuckle. "You have a fairly spirited daughter, Great One, I would like to think that it is a reflection upon your skills as a Father."
Ra's had his eyes locked onto Zod and he focused on the individual that stared up towards him. There was a lengthy pause as both of them kept their expression on the other. Time stood still as both of them refused to back down from the stare.
"What is the purpose of you coming here?" Ra's asked and his bodyguards stood. Ubu in particular looked ready to attack Zod.
Zod's expression turned to Ra's before a wide smile filled his features. "Do not fret, I come here to extend an alliance between both of our groups."
Now the Demon Head was both curious and suspicious, someone like Zod did not extend an offer for an alliance, not without a good reason. He just needed to figure out what that good reason was. His eyes, sunken in as they were, fixed with a heat seeking precision on his enemy before his raspy voice spoke towards Zod.
"Why would you wish to form an alliance with me?" Ra's asked.
"Our aims are the same, we both want what is best for this world," Zod commented as he placed his hands on the pedestal and peered up at Ra's. Whilst the man was a shattered shell of what he once was, Zod wished to form this alliance. "There are parties that present a problem to both of us as you well know."
Ra's nodded, he knew of that.
"And furthermore since our forces are depleted, we should combine our agendas," Zod told them. "It's getting closer and closer to the time where something is going to break regarding a mutual adversary of ours and you know who I am speaking of naturally."
Zod's head inclined towards Ra's and the Demon Head understood who he was speaking of immediately.
"That individual would be the one known as Harry Potter," Ra's offered to the Major and the young man inclined his head, smiling with a brisk nod.
"Yes, Harry Potter, he's caused us more than enough problems, and the problems that he's continued to cause us will be more than sufficient," Zod told him. "But if our combined forces work together, we might be able to figure out a way to take him down and all who oppose us."
Talia wondered if her father would truly believe what this Zod said. Zod was someone who she did not trust at all and some of her fellow assassins shared the same lack of trust that she had, although they were never going to be brazen enough to speak such a thing aloud.
Ra's considered the matter, he considered the positives and the negatives of the situation. The Demon Head's eyes flickered towards his enemy as his head remained stationary without him moving at all. This was not a situation that he was going to take lightly.
"Your proposal offers me an opportunity that I had not considered previously," Ra's offered as he got to his feet.
"Great one you should…."
"Ubu, your concern is noted but I'm not completely done yet," Ra's stated as he walked down the steps, taking them one at a time despite being unable to walk on his own accord.
Zod's eyes kept on his adversary, a potential enemy but yet he would be an invaluable ally, at least for now.
The two of them shook hands with each other and stared down each other.
For Ra's, Zod was that opportunity to get a potential vessel that would house his mind once and for all. Although in a more discreet way than his sloppy first attempt.
For Zod, he wanted his hands on the Lazarus Pit, he had heard of its potency and he wanted the power underneath his thumb.
"They've said this power is a curse and there have been warnings about other Heralds of Death slipping in the sanity department," Harry commented as he placed a hand on his head and Kara sat next to him in the Shining Light Foundation.
"We've heard it," Karen added as she joined them and a frown crossed over her face. "Do you think that we're….heading down that road?"
Harry could not answer, he did not want to answer, because he didn't want to admit that his sanity was slowly crawling away from him. Despite the fact that his green eyes had a certain look of madness in them.
"I don't know," Harry offered before he put his arm around one of his wives. Karen pushed in closer to him and he wrapped an arm around Kara as well as the blonde placed her head on the side of his shoulder. "I really don't know and I wish that I did."
Harry's breath was let out in a long sigh as he thought about it. There were times where he reflected on the actions that he had to take over the past months and the actions that he still had to take in the months ahead. The Harry's green eyes swam with a multitude of emotions and he wondered if he could solve all of the ills of the world in one fell swoop.
He thought he could solve more problems than he really should.
"We just got to step up and do it, no matter what," Kara said with a shrug. "Although I think that we all need some time off."
"Time off, what's that?" Karen asked Harry and the blonde's expression met Harry with a tepid one.
"I wish I knew that as well," Harry remarked, there was no question about it, he was more lost then he'd ever been and things were only going to get far worse than they were before.
Harry knew that Clark was back at the Kent Farm but he was going through his own crisis, it was obvious that he was on the fine line between sanity and insanity. Lara expressed her worry that the pressures that Clark endured might have done some long lasting damage to her son and Harry was convinced she was correct.
"We've got to prepare for war," Harry remarked as he turned around.
There was a war coming, with Checkmate, with Zod, with the League of Shadows, and now with this new side to the war. Harry got up to his feet and stepped forward before he made his way down the steps. Kara and Karen followed him.
He reached forward and pressed a button on the side of the wall. The wall gave way to reveal a glass cell and inside it was Lily Evans. Ever since Harry shoved the Portkey into her hand, she had been transported here and was kept for observation.
"So, what do you know about this Sisterhood thing?" Harry asked.
"I wasn't invited," Lily remarked with a shrug as she kept her eyes lock onto Harry's. "You know Harry, you can let me out."
"I could but I won't, at least not yet," Harry told her as he watched her.
"Trusting someone once in a while won't hurt you," Lily offered as Harry.
"Trusting people blindly got people killed before," Harry retorted to her, his expression never wavering from the gaze that was locked onto her.
"And you don't trust me," Lily said as she sighed and there was something that flickered through her eyes, and that was hurt. Her own son did not even trust her, that was horrible for her to experience.
Harry decided to sum things up in his own way. "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me, but how many times have you fooled me with your games?"
"And yet, Hermione's returned along with others," Lily remarked before she placed her hand on the wall and leaned forward.
"Don't speak to me about her," Harry told Lily coldly and Lily smiled.
"You've lost her twice, so you're not going to even bother caring long enough to lose her a third time," Lily offered before she looked at Harry. "Can't say I blame you. She really isn't that brilliant anyway when you strip away the books. Good photographic memory and all, but really that's all that she has going for her. Not an inventive bone in her body."
Harry smiled for a few seconds as Kara and Karen watched for him.
"What do you know at the Red Queen?" Lily asked out of the blue.
Harry choose his next words carefully. "What do you know about the Red Queen?"
"Answering a question with a question, you're more like me than you'd care to admit," Lily said to Harry as she leaned backwards. "Let's face it, you want to know why your sanity has taken a leap as of late. You're trying hard to keep it together. Or maybe you're convincing yourself it's an act to throw people off."
Harry said nothing and neither did Kara and Karen.
"I can see you're going to be difficult," Harry offered as he turned around.
Lily shook her head; she wasn't trying to be difficult, that responsibility rested with her son. The fact of the matter is she was honestly worried about him; he had already started to fall down the same dangerous path as pretty much every person who had been chosen as the Herald of Death.
Harry walked off as he looked up but there was a buzzing over the income system.
"Harry, there's someone here to see you," M'gann commented over the intercom system.
Harry made his way down the steps, followed by Kara and Karen. He wondered who could be calling upon him at this hour.
There was a young woman with pale skin standing at the bottom of the stairs. She was dressed in black, with dark hair coming down past her shoulders. She was dressed in a black outfit that wrapped around her curvy frame although she was fairly short. Her smile widened as she caught a good glimpse at Harry.
"Who are you?" Harry asked to her, wondering what her stake in this game was.
The woman responded with a smile. "I'm Death."
To Be Continued in the Next Chapter.