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Chapter Forty-Eight: Darkness Beckons.
The ravages of battle penetrated the skin of Nyssa. The daughter of the demon's eyes opened up. She half expected to wake up in the afterlife after the battle with her father. Win, lose, or draw, Nyssa's thoughts turned to the more grim nature as she faced her father. Her head raised halfway off of the pillow.
A dull light entered the barely illuminated room. The candles around the bed presented Nyssa with the only light. She rested on a lush bed. Proof of her victory.
'If I lost, I'd end up on a hard cot inside of the dungeons.'
"Eat."
Nyssa woke up in an instant to find Talia sitting at the front of her bed. Her younger sister appeared to have kept a vigilante watch over her for a number of days. Despite the soreness penetrating pretty much every single inch of her body, Nyssa couldn't help, but offer a smile or two directed at her sister.
"Yes, gladly," Nyssa said.
Talia balanced a bowl of grapes on the bed. She pushed one of the grapes into her sister's mouth and fed them to her.
"You've done it, you've defeated our father," Talia said. "At a high cost, but you've defeated him."
Nyssa shook her head. The constant buzzing entering her mind made it borderline difficult for her to focus on anything. It took a couple of moments before the Daughter of the Demon came to a couple of base realizations.
"I died in battle, didn't I?"
Talia declined to answer the question straight away. She pushed another grape into Nyssa's mouth. Nyssa realized there's no choice, but to accept her food. The Daughter of the Demon chewed on it for a moment.
"For the record, yes, you suffered fatal wounds in battle."
Nyssa's head turned for a moment. Her soreness faded way to relief. Alia leaned against the door frame.
"Well, do come inside. I have you to thank for my victory, if you can call it a victory. But, is my father truly dead?"
Alia took another seat at Nyssa's invitation. She leaned towards her lover.
"Your father's followers no doubt intended to throw him in the Lazarus Pit despite your victory. And should you have died, he would have won."
"But, I'm not dead," Nyssa said.
"We intervened," Alia said.
Nyssa let out her breath in a long whistle. The woman, fairly intelligent, placed the pieces together.
"So, he did kill me, even in victory," Nyssa said.
Alia leaned towards the bed. She took Nyssa's hands. The same hand she held much earlier, which was much more cold and clammy.
"Yes, and we used the Pits to resurrect you. You don't remember any of it, but given your state of mind, you needed to be sedated."
"I understand. The pits lead to bouts of temporary madness. They lose their effectiveness after a while."
"The pits lose their potent healing factor," Talia said. "Especially when there is more to heal many times. But the madness, is one element which never loses its potent healing factor. In fact, over time, the madness grows more prominent."
"Sara, Talia, and I managed to calm you down," Alia said.
Nyssa stretched out of bed and kicked the covers off. The new leader of the League of Assassins rose from her bed.
"And you should be resting."
"I know I should be resting," Nyssa said. She turned to Alia. "But, I have a League of Assassins to address. I'm not about to give them an unfavorable first impression on my leadership."
"Technically speaking, your first impression was slaying your father."
Nyssa turned around. Sara stepped into the room. She moved in to greet Nyssa. Her arms wrapped around her beloved. The two skilled warriors entertained a passionate kiss with each other.
"And, don't worry, Alia and I managed to smooth things over," Sara said.
Nyssa's feeling of dread filled her body. Actually, the feeling of dread did not adequately describe everything. A stone sank to the bottom of her stomach.
"We only had to take care of a few people who refused to let go of the past," Alia said.
Talia's lips curled into a smile.
"And after I explained some home truths to them, everything turned out, okay."
Nyssa wondered what her sister said to her. Talia could be ruthless when she wanted to, despite being a fair bit younger than Nyssa is.
Age meant little in several instances. Nyssa knew this better than anyone else. After all, wasn't age merely a number sketched on parchment?
"Regardless, I need to address the League," Nyssa said. "Tell them a new dawn is at hand."
Nyssa crossed over the room. She felt a bit better now nourishment entered her body. The oldest Daughter of the Demon crossed the door and disappeared from the room.
"So, you're not going to tell her to chill?" Alia asked.
Sara shrugged her shoulders.
"I learned a long time ago never to get in Nyssa's way when she wanted something. You told her to stay out of your battle with Ra's, but she disagreed. And I think it worked out for the best."
Sara realized what she said and amended those words.
"Well, other than for the part about her dying. But, other than Nyssa dying, and us dunking her in the pit, everything worked out pretty well."
Alia smiled and leaned towards the younger Lance Sister.
"Nyssa is going to need a lot of help, but I'm sure you can do well with ruling by her side," Alia said. "Being the right hand of the leader of the League does have a lot of perks."
"Our new association with Themscrycira helps as well," Sara said. "So, will you be sticking around for a long time?"
"Sorry, I have to leave," Alia said. "I left my friends in Vegas, and….with those girls, you don't want to leave them alone for too long."
Sara laughed, she understood. She swept Alia into a hug and the two of them exchanged a long kiss.
The two broken apart after a few seconds, and smiled.
"Well, I won't keep you. Although, I'll see you really soon."
"I'm sure you will, Sara," Alia said.
Sara joined to show her sister some support. Talia's eyes raked over Alia for a second.
"For the record, I'm sure I'll be seeing you soon as well."
Talia crossed the archway and left without another word. Alia decided she would depart for a moment.
Hopefully with all of the chaos done, she would be able to get back and enjoy a bit more about the sights and sounds of Vegas for relaxing for the night.
Alia returned after a few seconds. Diana, Donna, and Kara greeted her no sooner than she arrived home.
"I still don't know how you get out of half of the things you do," Diana said. She wrapped her sister up in a hug and pulled her forward. "I think we can finally let our hair down and enjoy our time in Vegas."
"Oh, Diana, please don't jinx us," Donna said. She clasped her hands together.
Kara smiled and walked over to Alia. The Kryptonian hovered up into the air.
"So, it's the end of Ra's Al Ghul?"
"For now," Alia said.
"You should have let me fry him."
Alia laughed at Kara's words. The Amazon Princess stroked her Alpha's cheek for a moment.
"You know, maybe I should have. But if I let you fry him, Nyssa wouldn't have proved how worth she was to ascend. And you wouldn't want to have deprived her of her triumph, would you?"
Kara and Alia sank down onto the bench. Donna and Diana moved off for another direction. The night in Vegas looked to be a beautiful one. The sun finished setting on another day. The couple looked up at the stars.
Beauty could not be described by any mere words, even though much could be described by seeing what was written in the stars. Alia and Kara locked hands and leaned into each other, both barely avoiding grinning.
"No, I wouldn't rob Nyssa off the triumph. But what he had planned for you….."
Kara trailed off for a moment.
"What made him so confident he could handle war with the Amazons?"
Alia pondered Kara's question for a second. The Amazon Princess worried more for Nyssa's health, to the point where she didn't really concern herself with the question at the moment.
"He must have made some really dangerous allies who could challenge the Amazons," Alia sad. She brushed the hair out of her eyes. "It's really scary the types of people who are out there."
Alia remembered Hera's warning about the New Gods.
"Kara, do you know anything about Apokolips?"
Kara nearly bolted upright. Alia grabbed her hand to prevent Kara from shooting up into the air in shock.
"Yes, I know about Apokolips….Darkseid is one of the most feared people in the universe, but last I heard….his power broke."
The Girl of Steel trembled. Alia tightened her grip around Kara's hand and brought her back down for a brief second.
"You know, his power should have broke, but his power breaking doesn't mean his followers aren't out there," Kara said. "If he's out there somewhere….."
Alia transferred the memories of her meeting with Hera into Kara's mind. Kara blinked and everything became more clear to her now.
"Well, I'm sure if anyone can handle this mess, it's you."
"We don't even know," Alia said. "The gods make movements all of the time, and us….well I don't think we can be classified as mere mortals, can we?"
Kara snorted. They really couldn't be classified as such.
"Well, regardless, the gods make movements all of time far beyond the comprehension of many people," Alia said.
'Whatever we have to face, we'll face it when it comes, and we'll be ready to face it head on. You can take it to the bank."
Confidence brimmed in Alia's eyes as she rose herself to a standing position.
"I need to really think about what you told me," Kara said. "It's a hell of a bombshell to drop on someone, you know, about Apokolips."
"Is it?" Alia asked.
Kara leaned in to Alia.
"It is."
The two of them walked next to each other, making their way back down. Would they need to prepare for war? Alia couldn't really tell at the moment.
An enticing sight awaited Alia the second she returned to their rooms. Betsy stood in the hallway, dressed in a long coat and thigh high boots.
"Alia, I'm glad you're back."
Betsy stepped over with a smile on her face. Kara needed to take a walk, and said goodbye to her girlfriend with a long kiss.
"So, what's the occasion, Betsy?"
Betsy's lips curled into a playful smile. She gripped Alia's hand, leading her into the next room. The woman's hips swayed as she walked.
"It's a surprise. A homecoming gift for you."
Alia stopped at the bed. She noticed a blond girl chained to the bed. The front end of her body completely covered with whip cream. The pointed ears clued into Alia it's Meggan.
The coat Betsy wore dropped to the ground, showing she didn't wear a damn thing underneath other than a pair of thigh high boots. She pressed herself against Alia's back.
"I figured you'd be hungry when you got back. Doesn't Meggan look good enough to eat?"
Alia smiled and licked her lips.
"Yes, and I better indulge myself in her."
Betsy helped Alia strip her clothes off. She made a show of it, making sure Meggan watched. More supple flesh revealed itself.
Meggan's pussy twitched as she rested on the bed. The gag in her mouth prevented her from letting more than an extremely appreciative moan out in response.
Alia crawled on the bed on Meggan's right. Betsy followed up by crawling on her bed on the right side of her.
"Hungry?" Betsy asked.
"Starving."
Lily's relief at being out of bed was outweighed by her amusing of the antics of Amanda and Emily. Rose shifted her gaze to Lily.
"Sorry, they can be a bit much too take in."
"I can't believe it, Alia's so awesome, for what she did," Amanda said. The younger girl bounced up and down on the balls of her feet.
"You mean, she got us tickets to see Alison Blaire in concert?" Emily asked.
"I know, it's been sold out for ages, but we get to go to her opening night, because our sister is awesome….."
"Make sure you thank Alia," Lily said.
"Actually, you can thank me right now."
Alia turned up with a smile on her face. Amanda and Emily rushed over towards their older sister and nearly knocked her over with a double team hug.
"Well, they didn't hit her nearly as hard as they hit me," Lily said. Lily cleared her throat. "Girls, I know you're happy to see your sister, but you can give her a bit of room to breathe."
The two girls stepped back from Alia.
"You're the best, most amazing older sister ever," Amanda said.
"Yes, thank you," Emily said.
"It wasn't a problem," Alia said. "You've been behaving yourself for your mothers, haven't you?"
The two girls broke into identical grins, trying to look innocent, but not too innocent. If they tried to look too innocent, they would have lost the ability to fool anyone.
"We're doing the best we can….."
"But we're not perfect….."
"Is anyone perfect…"
"Because we're not perfect!"
"Please don't do the twin speak thing," Alia said.
"Sorry," Amanda said.
Alia understood a natural telepathic link existed between magical twins which allowed them to finish each other's sentences, but it didn't become any less unsettling to hear them talk over each other.
The Amazon Princess turned her attention around to her mother.
"So, are you glad to be up and about on your feet?" Alia asked.
"Oh, believe me, I am," Lily said. "I spent all of those years, centuries, in limbo, watching over everything. It's much worse in bed."
"You never were the patient type," Rose said.
"It runs in the family," Lily said. "We better get the twins settled in….don't wander too far, girls!"
Amanda and Emily stopped short of wandering off. The two twins tried to look innocent and failed at it a little bit.
"I'll talk to you later, when we get our daughters settled in," Lily said. "Congratulations on helping with the overthrow of the League of Assassins. I couldn't be more proud of you."
Alia grinned, as her mother planted a kiss on her, before turning around with Rose and the twins to walk off.
The Amazon stepped into the shadows and caught sight of Karen, standing with her arms folded in an almost casual fashion. They slid underneath her breasts, which made her breasts look rather large, even more so than before.
"So, you wanted to see me?" Alia asked.
"I hated to break up the family reunion," Karen said. "But, yes I wanted to see you."
Alia and Karen took a walk with each other.
"Lost in all of this, we found a way to separate Jaime, Jean, and the Phoenix Force, and place them into three separate bodies," Karen said. "Rowena and Selene conducted pain staking research to get us to this point."
"I'm certain they did," Alia said. "So, I'm surprised they could find a way."
"It's risky," Karen said. "We need to get them to a remote place in the universe, where no damage can be caused, if something goes wrong."
"Right, I figured as much," Alia said. "And Indy helped you track down some place where you can do the deed?"
"Yes," Karen said. "We should be able to use the portal device Starrwave built….."
"You built a portal?" Alia asked. Karen paused and nodded. "Well, you've been a busy woman, haven't you?"
"Hey, when you have an idea, you need to follow through on it," Karen said. "But, I think if we use the portal, we can get them to a remote asteroid. And Rowena and Selene can do what they need to do."
Alia placed her hand underneath her chin. In theory, it could work. In practice, Alia didn't know how much it could work.
"And I'd like you to come along with me," Karen said. "You know, if the Phoenix Force goes unstable….you might be the only person in the universe with the ability to stabilize it."
"Wow, you have a lot of faith in my abilities," Alia said. "I'll do my best not to let you down, but….you do have a lot of faith in my abilities."
"Only because I know you'll come through in the end," Karen said. "So, are you coming with?"
"Of course, why wouldn't I?" Alia asked.
Karen wanted to be there to be moral support for Jaime, but Alia served as moral support for her. The two Potter females showed to have their differences, but a few similarities.
And a part of Karen longed to see what would happen should she have both Potter females at the same time. She placed the dirty thoughts out of her mind, at least for the moment.
'Can think about any liaisons later when we get them separated.'
"Rowena, we're arriving. The portal should be locked onto the coordinates."
The combined Phoenix entity waited patiently. She stood out in the middle of nowhere. No life existed.
'Perfect,' the Phoenix thought.
'So, there won't be any danger of us destroying any life after a cosmic temper tantrum?' Jean thought.
'The only people who are here, are the people who are going to separate us,' Jaime said. 'I'm pretty sure they can handle the Phoenix….'
'Are you certain they can handle me?' the Phoenix asked. 'I'm sick of people who think they can handle me.'
'No one is trying to control you, this time,' Jean said.
'Sorry, it's just…I longed to feel free, and I'm worried if it isn't going to be pulled off,' the Phoenix said.
'We all need to work together,' Jaime thought. 'Have enough faith Alia is going to pull through with this, and….everything is going to work out for the best.'
'You think so, don't you?' Jean asked.
Alia and Karen waited on the other end of the barrier. The barrier prevented any backlash from getting through.
"Are you certain they won't break through once we begin the ritual?" Alia asked.
"The intention of the barrier is to prevent them from breaking through when the ritual is performed," Selene said. "We've fortified the barrier the best we could give the situation."
"So, we're going to have to go forward, and see what happens," Alia said. "What happens if….."
"We have a contingency," Rowen said.
Alia raised her eyebrow. She looked at Karen, who shrugged.
"I thought I was the contingency."
"Well, you're the contingency for the contingency," Rowena said. "We're hoping for a good enough trial run, where we don't have any problems."
"Yes, I'm with you one hundred percent," Alia said.
She would have to concede it's good to have a backup plan. The tension penetrated the air and resulted in Alia shivering.
Karen noticed Alia's unease, and she felt it as well.
"Are you ready?" Rowen asked.
'Yes,' Jaime thought.
'Yes,' Jean thought.
'Yes,' the Phoenix thought. 'Do get on with it as soon as you can, if you please.'
The Phoenix didn't mean to sound so pushy, but she longed for freedom. The frustration burned through her.
Rowena and Selene aligned the runes for the rituals. As they stood now, they assumed a twenty-five percent chance of failure, and a seventy-five percent chance of success. As far as probabilities went, they thought they entered some really good odds, or at least they assumed they did.
The runes started to vibrate and sent a high level bolt of magic. The energy ruptured the barrier for a second.
The Phoenix entity spread her arms for a second and allowed the energy to pulse through her. Her mind grew more focused and senses more alert.
'WAIT!' Jean yelled.
Memories flooded back to her. Memories dark and repressed between the time she "died" on Asteroid M and the time she woke up in the combined entity in the field. Jean understood they were in terrible danger, and a second too late.
Her eyes rolled in the back of her head. Jaime and Jean sealed into the back of her mind.
"I'll erase the flawed parts of my mind," the Phoenix said. "You thought you could chain me, but you made me more free than ever before. I'm the harbinger of the end of the universe and it's rebirth."
Alia watched the Phoenix rise up.
"We need to take her out!" Selene yelled.
"You dare chain my power!" the Phoenix yelled.
The Dark Phoenix broke free from her chains and returned. An incensed woman ripped open time and space, and a portal opened up. Several powerful looking women exited, led by a mannish looking woman. Her silver hair framed her face, and the woman carried a staff.
"Very good, my dear Phoenix, you've done well. Dear Granny thanks you for your obedience."
The Female Furies, the elite fighting force of Apokolips, marched into battle, led by the Dark Phoenix. Granny Goodness pulled the strings all the way.
To Be Continued.
