"Huh," Hal said, "So you're the second most strong-willed person on the planet."
Kyle cleared his throat.
"Sorry, third most strong-willed," Hal amended.
Jaune reached for the ring that Hal constructed and slipped it on his finger. Emerald light slid over Jaune's body, the gold on his armor and the red sash around his waist turned green and his clothes turned black, but his armor remained a bright white. He noticeably lacked the Lantern on his chest.
Kyle heard the buzzing first. Looking up, he saw the airships flying towards the group.
Nudging Ruby, Kyle asked, "Hey, are they friendly, or should we be running?"
Ruby looked at the airships and back to Kyle. She sighed and said, "Neither."
"So they aren't friendly, but we shouldn't be getting out of here or shooting them down?"
"No. General Ironwood felt betrayed by us, so he labeled us outlaws. But with Salem dead, we don't have to be enemies."
"How'd you betray him?" Hal asked.
The blonde girl mumbled something Hal couldn't understand.
"Come again?" Hal asked.
"We didn't tell him Salem was immortal and Blake and I leaked military information to an outlaw. It's not that big a deal, right?" the blonde girl said.
Hal slapped his forehead.
"You kept pivotal information from a general and you leaked sensitive information to your enemy?" Hal asked, "I've never been good with authority but this is ridiculous! My ten-year-old nephew has more sense than you!"
"She wasn't our enemy," Blake said, "She was General Ironwood's."
"So what?! You don't tell anyone anything about military projects!" Hal stressed.
"She was stealing supplies. We had to stop her from doing it somehow!" Blake said.
"Maybe you could have arrested her?" Hal suggested rhetorically.
"But she was trying to help people," she responded, defeated.
"Ohhhhhhh, so she was stealing from your friend but it was okay because it's for the greater good!" Hal sniped back.
Before anyone could get another word in, the airships landed and squads of soldiers filed out and pointed their weapons at the group.
"Surrender peacefully now or we will use force!" the commander ordered.
"Can you show Ironwood Salem's body so he stops going nuts and calms down?" the blonde girl asked Hal.
Hal walked up to the squad of soldiers and said, "My name is Hal Jordan, Green Lantern Officer 2814.1. I am ordering you to stand down."
A few soldiers exchanged looks before the commander asked, "Under whose authority are you ordering us?"
"The Guardians of the Universe's," Hal said.
"Yeah, right," the commander said before firing at Hal.
Hal extended his ring hand and a brick wall built itself from the ground up and each bullet bounced off before moving the wall up and wrapping it around the soldiers, trapping them.
Hal constructed a bubble around everyone in the group who didn't have a ring and lifted off. Once they were far enough away, he released the soldiers from their prison.
Turning to Ruby, Hal asked, "So where is this General Ironwood?"
Ruby pointed into the distance, at a spire in the center of the floating city.
"So why did you lie to this guy?" Kyle asked.
"We weren't sure we could trust him," Ruby answered.
"Why weren't you sure?" Hal asked.
"He overreacts sometimes. Telling him may have hurt more than it helped," Ruby explained.
Hal mumbled something under his breath.
"Huh?" Ruby asked.
"We're here," Hal said, setting down on the landing pad.
Hal looked around the landing pad, dozens of destroyed robots and bullet holes littering it.
"Lead the way, kid," Kyle said to Ruby.
Ruby led the group through the desolate, winding halls of the building until they came upon a door.
"He's probably not going to be too happy to see us," Ruby warned before she pushed the door open.
In the office, a man in white was hunched over his desk with his face in his hand. His shoulders were shaking.
"General Ironwood?" Ruby asked tentatively.
The man looked up with red eyes and tears streaming down his face. He stood up and his hand went to his side where a handgun rested but stopped halfway.
Ironwood sighed defeatedly and asked, "What do you want? Why are you here?"
Ironwood's eyes widened when they fell on Hazel, Watts, and Saint Walker.
His hand flew to his side once more and drew his gun, backing up.
"You're working with her now?!" Ironwood asked, pointing his gun at Hazel and Watts, before pointing it at Saint Walker and asking, "What is that?"
"Salem is dead, General," Ruby said.
"Don't you dare mock me!" Ironwood roared.
"It's true," Hal said, floating Salem's glowing green coffin up to Ironwood and popping the lid, revealing her mangled corpse, "See for yourself."
Ironwood looked at the corpse and then to Hal and said, "Who are you? How did this happen?"
"My name is Hal Jordan, Green Lantern Officer 2814.1. I sapped Salem of her magical energy, and she was killed by Tyrian."
"Green Lantern? Sapped her magical energy?" Ironwood asked, "What are you talking about?"
Not saying anything, Saint Walker approached Ironwood and pointed his ring at him.
"What are you?" Ironwood asked.
"I am a Blue Lantern," Saint Walker replied before his ring chirped.
Target Locked.
Ironwood's eyes widened as he was encased in a blue glow. He fell to his knees and closed his eyes.
"You are in anguish," Saint Walker told him, "I will fix that."
The blue light intensified. Everyone except Saint Walker shielded their eyes. Saint Walker watched intently.
The blue light subsided, and Ironwood blinked. He looked down at his bandaged arm and ripped the bandages off. He moved his arm around and flexed his fingers before looking at Saint Walker in awe.
"How did you do that?" Ironwood asked.
Saint Walker smiled and simply said, "Hope."
Ironwood stood up, rubbed his eyes, and smiled.
"My mind is clearer now," Ironwood said before the realization hit him like a truck and he said, "Oscar."
"Oscar?" Ruby asked, "What about him?"
"I shot him. His Aura broke," Ironwood said.
"What?!" Jaune shouted.
"I wasn't thinking straight! My mind was clouded with fear."
"Who's Oscar?" Kyle whispered to Nora.
"He's a 14-year-old reincarnating wizard," Nora whispered back.
"Oh God," Kyle said, "He shot a kid?"
At that moment, a flash of green appeared, not stemming from Hal, Kyle, or Jaune, and a young boy wearing a green overcoat appeared in the room.
"Oscar?" Ironwood asked before he embraced him, "I'm so sorry! I thought I killed you! I wasn't thinking straight!"
Oscar awkwardly patted Ironwood on the back and said "It's… alright, General."
At the sight of Oscar, Hazel's ring glowed and he vomited the liquid fire his blood had been replaced with.
Rage.
Hate.
Blood.
Hazel charged, but he didn't make it a yard when he was restrained by three green constructs, two blue constructs, a violet construct, and an indigo construct.
Hazel struggled against the ropes and chains but it was useless. He was overpowered.
Ironwood took his first good look at the group and was shocked when he saw Cinder restrained by a blue hand.
"You captured Cinder?" he asked.
"Yeah. She's been weirdly quiet too," Ruby said.
"I have nothing to say to you," Cinder spat.
"Oh."
"So why is Cinder tied up but Hazel and Watts aren't?" Ironwood asked.
"They didn't attack us," Hal said.
"Wait, what is Watts doing out of prison?" Ironwood asked.
"The ring blew a hole in the wall," Watts said.
"Well you're going back," Ironwood told him, approaching Watts.
"Hang on," Hal intervened, walking between Watts and Ironwood, "Whatever he's done, he's changed."
"How would you know that?" Ironwood asked, looking directly into Hal's eyes.
"He's wearing an Indigo Lantern ring. The Indigo rings rewire sociopath's brains into feeling compassion."
"I see..." Ironwood said, clearly unnerved at the concept, "What does a Lantern do?"
"It depends on the color. Greens are cops, Blues are peacekeepers, Reds are agents of vengeance, Oranges are hoarders," Kyle explained.
"Hang on a second," Jaune interrupted, "Why does Cinder still have the Relic of Knowledge? Did no one take that from her?"
"Oh, I guess I forgot," Ruby said. A hole in the large hand holding Cinder in place appeared, and Ruby reached onto Cinder's belt and took the lamp.
"You said you stole Salem's magic?" Ironwood asked Hal.
"Yeah," Hal confirmed.
"Can you do that to Cinder?"
"Are you not equipped to contain her?" Hal asked.
"Not as she is, no," Ironwood admitted.
"Alright…" Hal said, connecting a tether to Cinder.
"No! Please don't!" Cinder pleaded.
Hal didn't listen to her as he absorbed her power.
Once Cinder dropped to the ground, Ironwood called in a pair of guards.
"Take her to the holding cells," Ironwood ordered.
Once Cinder was dealt with, Nora turned to Hal and asked, "Earlier you said you'd find the gods and hold them accountable. How do you plan to do that?"
"I've met the God of Light before," Hal recalled, "And he was so familiar. I could feel it. I've met his kind before, but I can't for the life of me remember what race he was."
Hal's mind was the vast expanse of space, the memory his Power Ring, and Hal was left floating, the Power Ring just out of his reach. His fingers fumbled with it, only sending the memory deeper into his mind. Hal didn't give up. He doesn't know how. Soon, Hal snatched the memory and he found himself in a gray leotard with the Green Lantern symbol literally burning on his chest. He wore a green cloak and hood, his skin as white as snow, with green boots coming up to below his knees, and green gloves ending just below his elbows. The only thing that was familiar to Hal was the green domino mask over his eyes. Then he remembered. This was his costume as the Spectre. Hal was reliving his time as God's Spirit of Redemption.
Words echoed through his mind.
The Risen.
The Nameless Land.
Hal's head perked up, "The Risen!" he shouted, "The gods are Risen!"
"The what?" Kyle asked.
"When I was Spectre, I met a race of ancient beings called the Risen, I remember the energy they gave off, and it's identical to the energy the God of Light gave off!" Hal explained, "We can start our search for the gods there!"
"Alright, Hal, we're trusting you on this," Kyle said.
"Alright, I'm linking up our rings," Hal told the ring bearers before saying to Kyle, "You should stay here."
"Why?" Kyle asked.
"These people don't know anything about us. They'll probably freak out. You gotta keep them calm," Hal told him.
"Alright, fine," Kyle said.
Connection established.
Hal closed his eyes and remembered the Nameless Land. The sound, the smell, the feel, and he willed his ring to take him and the other ring bearers there.
Hal and the other Lanterns were blinded by the brilliant golden light of the Nameless Land.
Hal's eyes took a moment to adjust, and when he did, he saw a golden city, Hal was filled with wonder. Not even his first trip to Oa compared to this.
The rest of the group was even more astonished than Hal.
Then, a shrill voice pierced the air, "Uncle Hal!"
Confused, Hal turned, and he was met with the sight of a young girl running towards him. The girl wore a pink nightgown with white stars and moons, had long brown hair and was nine-years-old.
Wait. How did he know that last part?
The girl barreled into Hal and wrapped her arms around his midsection.
Hal stared at the girl for a moment, having no idea who she was until he did. She was Helen Jordan, his brother, Jack's, daughter. Her parents died in a car crash and Hal became her literal guardian angel as the Spectre.
"Helen?" he asked before he bent down and wrapped his arms around her and began to cry.
"Oh, sweetheart, how could I ever forget you?" he wept.
"It's not your fault, Uncle Hal," Helen said.
"How couldn't it be? I was supposed to take care of you and as soon as I became Green Lantern again I literally forgot you existed," Hal said through tears.
"It's not your fault, Mr. Jordan," another voice spoke, "Most mortal minds cannot comprehend experiences as the Spectre. It's a wonder you ever recovered your memories."
Hal turned around and his eyes lit up, "Materna!"
"Hello, it's been quite a while, hasn't it?" Materna asked.
Materna Minxx was Helen's nanny, the woman who took it upon herself to train Helen in the ways of the Risen because of her natural abilities in things Hal could not quite understand.
"Wait… when my soul unmerged with the Spectre, the fortress must have disappeared, it should have taken you with it. How did you escape?"
"Before the whole thing imploded, I was able to transport us to the Nameless Land." Materna said, "So, Mr. Jordan, what brings you here? As sad as I am to say it, it could not be because of Helen. Your reaction is proof of that."
"I'm hunting down some outlaws. They massacred an entire planet," Hal told Materna.
"And how do you know they are Risen?" Materna asked, evidently unhappy that Hal thought a Risen could have committed such an atrocious act.
"I met one of them once, he had the same general feel about him as Risen do," Hal said, conjuring a hologram of the God of Light.
Materna's eyes widened and she whispered, "I thought they were dead."
"So you do know something about them," Watts ascertained.
"Yes… Yes, I do," Materna said, conjuring a book and flipping through a few pages and waving her hand. The lights dimmed and three blobs rose from Materna's book.
The golden blob took the form of the brother that Hal met, the God of Light. The purple blob formed into a featureless man with ram horns, and the third, gray blob contorted into a man with moose antlers.
"Long ago there were three brothers, Logos, Pathos, and Ethos. They were the prodigies of prodigies in the ways of the Risen. Their souls were stronger than most. One day, they grew bored of the Nameless Land. They took our teachings and left," Materna said, as the images changed to the three brothers walking through a portal, into the universe and away from the Nameless Land.
"Unfortunately we lost track of Logos, Pathos, and Ethos eons ago," Materna said.
The lights came back and the images returned to Materna's book.
"Materna, do you mind if I scan you?" Hal asked.
"Why?" Materna wondered.
"Risen all have the same energy. If I can add yours to the ring's database, I might be able to track Logos, Pathos, and Ethos that way," Hal explained
"I suppose," Materna sighed and let the emerald light of Hal's ring wash over her, "Now I will leave you and Helen to catch up."
Materna walked away and Hal looked down at Helen, before asking, "How long have you been here?"
Helen rested her chin between her thumb and index finger, thinking for a moment before saying, "Three years."
"What?!" Hal asked, ashamed he had missed so much of Helen's life, "But you don't look any older!"
"People don't age in the Nameless Land, Uncle Hal!" Helen said, smiling before she finally took her eyes off her beloved uncle and saw the people behind him, "Who are they, Uncle Hal?"
"Helen, sweetheart, let me introduce you to my friends," Hal said, taking her hand and walking over to the other Lanterns.
"That's Saint Walker, Ruby, Jaune, Nora, Hazel, and Watts."
"Who are those other people?" Helen asked, pointing to the empty air.
"What other people?" Hal said before remembering when he first truly met Helen and she was able to see Abin Sur's spirit, "Do you see a spirit, sweetheart?"
"Mhm! Three of them. They say their names are Gretchen, Pyrrha, and Summer."
Jaune and Hazel ran towards Helen but were held back by green hands Hal constructed.
"Hey, hey, one at a time!" Hal scolded.
Ruby was stuck in stunned silence by the fact that her mother's spirit was watching over her. After breaking the trance she was in, she walked over to Helen and knelt.
"Did you say you saw a spirit named Summer?" Ruby asked gently.
"Yeah," Helen said.
"You can speak to her?" Ruby asked hopefully.
"Mhm," Helen replied.
"What did she say?" Ruby asked.
"She said that she loves you and she's very proud of you," Helen said, acting as the medium for Summer to communicate with Ruby.
"Did Salem kill her?" Ruby asked, fearing the answer.
"Yeah. She did," Helen said, "I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Ruby said, wiping a tear out of her eye and making room for Jaune to speak to the young girl.
"Alright, you next, kid," Hal said, releasing Jaune.
Jaune approached Helen next, crouched down to her height, and asked, "What does Pyrrha have to say?"
"She says that she loves you, she's sorry for leaving you, she's proud that you've come so far and you have even farther to go, and that you're still too stiff when you fight and she'll be with you forever," Helen recited.
Jaune smiled and walked back to Nora.
"Alright big guy, your turn," Hal stated, dropping Hazel onto the ground and he walked over to Helen.
Hazel looked down at Helen and asked, "What does my sister want to say to me?"
Helen looked slightly beyond Hazel's shoulder before saying, "She hates what's happened to you."
"What?" Hazel whispered.
"She says you've become a monster. You hurt a lot of people for her, and she can't stand seeing it."
"I had to! Ozpin-" Hazel started
"What happened to her wasn't Ozpin's fault," Helen interrupted.
"Then whose fault was it?" Hazel inquired.
"No one's. It was an accident," Helen told him.
"I've spent so long hurting people… everything I've done has been to avenge you…" Hazel trailed off as his red ring glowed a little less brightly.
Hazel wiped his eyes and kneeled to Helen's height and said, "Thank you."
"You're welcome," Helen said.
"Okay, everyone has done their seances?" Hal asked.
Ruby, Jaune, and Hazel all nodded.
Hal kneeled to Helen and asked, "Helen, can you get Materna back here?"
"Okay!" Helen said brightly, and Materna popped back, much to everyone's surprise.
"How can I help you, Mr. Jordan?" Materna asked.
Hal took a deep breath and said, "Materna… I… I want you to release Helen back into my care. I know I don't deserve her and I'm not the most responsible, but Helen is the most important person in my life… Now that I have her back, I can't lose her again."
Materna smiled a small smile before she said, "I knew you'd come back for her someday, so I prepared myself for it. Helen has gone above and beyond in her training. I couldn't be prouder, but you shouldn't be asking me the question. It's up to Helen."
"I… right," Hal said, before kneeling to Helen and asking, "Helen… I know this is a hard decision but it's one you're going to have to make. Would you like to come live with me again, or stay here with Materna?"
Helen's mouth parted a bit, and she looked between Hal and Materna. Instinctually, she knew her answer, but it was a hard call to make.
Helen walked over to Materna, and Hal's heart broke before healing itself when she threw her arms around Materna and said, "G'bye Materna, I'm gonna miss you."
Materna patted Helen on the shoulder and Helen corrected herself, "Good-bye Miss Minxx, I will miss you."
Smiling warmly, Materna wrapped her arms around Helen and whispered, "I will miss you too. I am so proud of you and your accomplishments."
"I'll see you again, right?" Helen hoped.
"Oh, child, we'll never be apart," Materna told her, handing her a backpack of Helen's possessions.
Helen seemed to understand this better than the others. She simply nodded, wiped her eyes, seemingly determined not to cry, walked over to her uncle and jumped into his arms.
Hal looked to Materna and told her "Thank you for everything you've done for Helen. I'll never forget it."
"It was my pleasure, Mr. Jordan," Materna said, before disappearing.
Helen sniffled a little before turning to Hal and saying, "Can we go now?'
"Yeah. Yeah, let's go," Hal said, willing them back to their native plane of existence. In a flash of jade light, they found themselves back in Ironwood's office, with Kyle behind a barrier and everyone else pointing their weapons at him.
"Listen, I'm telling you they're fine!" Hal heard Kyle shout.
"What's going on here?" Nora asked.
The people who were left behind relaxed and Kyle dropped his shield, "See, I told you they're fine."
"Where did you go?" the black-haired boy in green asked.
"Oh, Ren, it was amazing! I can't describe it but it was awesome! And we met this super cute kid!" Nora gushed, pointing to Helen.
"Wait. Who's that?" Oscar asked, looking at Helen.
"This is my niece, Helen," Hal introduced.
"So you teleported half our group away to find your niece?" the blonde girl asked.
"No. We got a lead on the gods but found my niece while we were there," Hal said.
"So what do you know about them?"
"Their real names are Logos and Pathos," Hal said.
"All you got were their names?" the white-haired girl asked.
"No. We have their energy signature. We can scan other planets and track them down that way," Hal explained before turning to Jaune and Ruby, "Welp, I think our job here is done. You two need to come with us."
The blonde girl didn't like that, and asked, "What?! Why?!"
"The Blue Lantern Corps must be restored, to do that we must rendezvous with Ganthet and Sayd on Mogo," Saint Walker said.
"Well find someone else!" the blonde girl shouted.
"Yang," Ruby said, putting her hand on the taller girl's shoulder, "It's okay. This is bigger than any one of us. It's bigger than Remnant. It's the whole universe."
"But-" Yang started to argue.
Looking at her ring, Ruby said, "You've seen what these rings can do. Right now, there are only two Blue Lanterns. The universe needs the Blue Lantern Corps."
Yang was silent, clearly mulling over letting Ruby leave.
"Alright. Just come back, okay?" Yang requested.
"I will," Ruby promised.
"Alright, everyone with a ring who wants to see the stars follow me," Hal said.
Helen huffed.
"And Helen," Hal added.
Hazel, Watts, Ruby, and Jaune followed Hal but Nora stayed behind.
"Go," Ren told her.
"But Ren-" Nora started.
"This is a chance you'll never get again, Nora. You have to take it. I'll be here when you get back." Ren interrupted.
Nora pulled Ren into a kiss. Once they parted she said, "I'll be back. I promise."
Nora ran onto the landing pad, where she witnessed a spaceship be built from the ground up by Hal's ring.
Hal climbed up the ladder and into the pilot's seat after helping Helen with her seatbelt.
"Is everyone here?" Hal asked.
A collective "yes" met Hal's ears.
"Alright," Hal said, lifting off and exiting the atmosphere.
"So how long is this going to take?" Nora asked.
"Around twelve hours," Hal replied.
Nora groaned.
"If we travel by realspace. We can go through hyperspace and get there sooner, but you wouldn't see space," Hal told them.
Watts spoke up first, "I think that twelve hours is a reasonable timeframe."
He was in the minority.
An intense argument sparked until Jaune made a point, "The sooner we get wherever we're going, the sooner we can go anywhere in the universe alone."
Watts huffed and said, "Fine, let's do hyperspace."
"Alright, glad we're all in agreement," Hal said, pushing forward on the throttle, and they traveled into the unknown.
Thanks to DeltaFell for editing this chapter!