Richard
He spent most of the time at the barn, and in there for the first time in a long time he was happy, the horses were noble and amicable, and he enjoyed working with them. Each day in his spare time he ventured to go further inside the castle trying to catch a glimpse of the king, but he never did. Wayne Castle was too vast.
With his hard work and good disposition, he quickly earned the trust of the master of horses and maybe because the old man pitied him, he allowed Richard to sleep at the barn, once installed in there he secretly managed to bring along his little brother, Tim. They felt more comfortable and a lot safer there than the orphanage, besides there were so many people going in and around the castle that nobody seemed to notice two skinny little boys.
It was in one of those nights when they were sleeping inside the barns when they hear a peculiar noise. For a moment, Dick thought there were some thieves and with determination, he decided to surprise them and scare them away. He did his best to try to get closer and be unnoticed, but suddenly a pair of blue eyes piercing like ice blades were staring his way, for a moment he froze, the look in those eyes was terrifying, but then he recognized the dark figure of a knight with the mask of a bat.
"Batman?" said Dick.
The dark knight closed his distance to the boy and put his gloved hand on his mouth to silence him. Dick was livid and a little bit scared, he admired the vigilante but he knew he could be terrifying.
"Silence" the dark knight commanded.
Then Dick heard loud voices just outside the barn that started to call at each other.
"I saw him coming in this direction."
"Where?"
"Here inside the barns, hurry!"
Batman stopped putting his hand over the kid's mouth and turn his back on him, adopting a defensive stand, his whole body tense, he was about to wield his sword when Dick tugged his cape.
"Come, over here, you can hide here, I will distract them. Hurry there is no time!" said Dick practically dragging the dark knight to his improvised hideout.
His little brother was awake, but silent, apparently the young Tim had learned to make himself scarce in the eve of any disturb. Hastily he put some packs of hail in front of them as a cover-up.
The guards entered just a second after that to the barn, their moves started to get the horses restless and Dick used that to create more noise.
"What are you doing here kid?" asked one of the guards.
"I take care of the horses at nights and you just wake them up!" answer Dick with determination.
"What, since when?" asked another guard, one that seems more experienced, apparently he was their leader.
"Since some burglars tried to steal one," lied with easy Dick, almost as a reproach.
"Listen, kid, we are Gotham royal guards and we were following a dangerous man, maybe you saw him since you are so awake this late hour, a man that wears the mask of a bat."
"All I saw was you rattling the horses, but I heard a loud noise before you enter here though."
"Where did you hear that noise?" asked the experienced guard.
"Over there, near the wall!" pointed Richard.
"Are you sure about that?"
"Yes."
"If I find that you lied to me you will regret it", said the guard in a menacing voice and then called out somebody from his squad.
"Thompson."
"Yes, captain."
"Stay outside the barn just in case Batman is still around here, the rest of you go on and patrol the wall, and he won't get far."
He then turned out and looked at Dick, while saying "And Thompson…keep an eye on this one too", sentence the captain and left.
It turns out Thompson was not good at taking late guards, because after a promising start he felt asleep snoring so loud it was clear he was not going to see Batman escape. Dick assured of this to Batman as he exited the improvised hideout.
"Thanks, kid!"
Dick smiled and then an idea stoked him.
"Batman wait!"
"What is it?"
"Please help me protect the king of Gotham."
"Why do you want me to protect Bruce Wayne?"
"I heard the seneschal is plotting to kill him."
Batman did not say a thing but looked straight into Dick's eyes, and Dick took this as a good sign that he believed him.
"Why do you care so much about Wayne?"
"He is our only hope for a better future."
Bruce was livid hearing that response for a kid. And he just nodded and left.
The next day, Bruce summed Jim Gordon to his private chambers.
"Your Grace, you called for me," said Jim ceremoniously.
"Yes. Jim, I need your help with a rather delicate mission, I want you to start an around the clock surveillance to the seneschal, I want you to put your best men on this, and report his every move directly to me."
"Why?"
"That will be all Jim."
"Bruce, you know you can trust me," replied Gordon feeling frustrated.
"I know Jim, and for that, I'm grateful, but is all I can say for now."
"Sure your grace."
After Jim left, Alfred entered Bruce's chambers.
"Is everything alright Sir?"
"No Alfred. Cai is plotting something, and I'm afraid he is so far gone in his ambition that he will rather see Gotham burned into ashes than me on the throne, but I still cannot figure out what is his plan exactly."
"That is the reason why you asked Jim to spy on him."
"I did that because I know the surveillance will make him nervous, and I'm counting into that to figure out his plans, but I called you for another matter: right now at the barns there are two orphan boys, they are living there in a makeshift bed among the horses. Would you be so kind as to provide them with proper accommodations and see that they are well established?"
"Sure, Master Wayne."
"And please once they are settled, bring me the eldest one."
"May I ask why? Sir."
"He knows about Cai's plot to kill me."
Alfred went to the barns and as he asked for the boy to the master of horses, the plum fifty-something man praised the boy as a hard-working kid.
"He is grateful to be out of the Falcone Orphanage, that is a rotten place, the kids there live in overcrowded spaces, is a sad situation sir, and there are not many willing to adopt them."
"Indeed," replied Alfred, fully aware that the master of horses did not mention Richard's little brother.
"Kid, come over here!" called the master of horses.
At once Richard went there "Yes, sir."
"Here Sir, this is the boy", replied the master of horses to Alfred.
"Please leave us alone", said Alfred, and his request was quickly obeyed, much to Richard astonishment with the docility of the master of horses.
Alfred studied the kid, who looked nervous.
"Am I in trouble?"
"Why you ask?"
"This is the first time somebody in the castle notices me."
"The master of horses seemed to notice you long ago, he speaks highly of you," mentioned Alfred.
"The master of horses is very kind."
"Tell me what is your name?"
"Richard Grayson, sir."
"Nice to meet you, Richard, my name is Alfred Pennyworth, I am the Maester of Gotham and one of his majesty counselors, and now I will ask you to come with me, and please call you brother out of his hideout."
"Oh, so we are in trouble! Please, sir, do not fire me", started Dick.
"Not to worry, my little boy you and your brother are not in trouble, on the contrary. Please follow me", said calmly Alfred.
Dick distrusted this sudden turn of luck, but something in Alfred's eyes made him trust him. And decided to call Tim.
The two boys follow Alfred inside the castle, and the splendor of the halls and different chambers of the Wayne Castle dazzled both of them, after what seemed a labyrinth of rooms the enter a spacious chamber with an ample window with a view to one of the gardens.
"From now on, this will be your bedroom, you will find inside that armor clothes and shoes to change, there are also in that table some food and water and the servants had drawn you both a bath. Once you had to refresh yourselves I will send for you Richard, because his majesty wants to see you. Please do not take long; his grace is not used to wait," said Alfred leaving both boys perplexed and a little scared.
When Richard presented himself in front of Bruce, he hardly recognized him, the little boy had an aristocratic air that when beyond his clothes, and he looked just like a young member of the court.
Richard for his part tried to look at ease but inside he was trembling, he had never seen the king and was completely out of his element.
"Thank you, Alfred, please leave us", said Bruce before Alfred disappeared leaving them alone.
"I have been informed that you know something about a plot against me. I need to know everything and exactly when and where did you find out about this", said Bruce politely but as an order.
Dick told him everything he heard and Bruce listen intently, his mind racing, if Cai wanted to bring chaos to Gotham, he would need help and since Zod refused, he must be recruiting somewhere else, maybe even mercenaries and those were not cheap. He needed to cut the seneschal supply of money and fast, and he needed more information, and then he had an idea.
"Do you think you can go back to the place where you hear all this?"
"Sure."
"My most trusted knight will wait for you at the barns today at 3 in the afternoon, take him there. Do not say a word about this, not even to your brother. Swear it to me."
"I won´t say a word", pledge Richard, and at that moment he dared to look directly into the king's eyes, much to his astonishment he found out they were the same as Batman, even the same look that provoked in him a mix of fear and respect.
The kid was true to his word, he did not say a word, and not even bat a lash even when he saw Batman partially hidden disguised with the uniform of the Gotham ward, and with a hood and a cape that covered almost all his face, he was not surprised either when he watched Batman mounting one of the king's horses, Thunder, a black stallion with a reputation of being impossible to handle except for the prince himself.
"Come, kid, show me the place to mentioned to Wayne this morning", said Batman almost like a growl, offering his hand for Dick to ride along with him in Thunder.
Richard noticed immediately the expert way that Batman conducted "Thunder" and realized that he was an excellent raider, one that could only rival the king, since Bruce Wayne was famous for being the best raider in Gotham.
Together that evening Richard and Bruce dressed as Batman went into the deep insides of the Gotham, into the gutters where the castle met with the outskirts of the city, places where the poverty and crime are so rampant, it looked like another corner of the inferno.
"Here, we have arrived," said Richard once they were in one small corner of the dark halls.
Batman started to inspect the place and realized they were near the aqueduct. He continued to look for clues under the observant look of Richard, who with every move realized Batman moved a lot like Bruce Wayne.
Batman noticed a shattered piece of glass of a bright green that seemed out of place among all the mud and picked it up, the piece of glass was delicate and made of a good quality glass that reflected the light, it contained a small amount of a liquid that shine like gold and Bruce decided to take it and studied further in his laboratory. He also noticed some footprints, and decided to follow them for a few yards, only to conclude they lead back to Wayne's castle.
"We have to return to Wayne's castle," said Bruce as a command and Richard follow him to suit every time more sure he was in front of the ruler of Gotham, Bruce Wayne.
Cai
"I have tried the thing you gave before, it seemed to work but it was brief, I need something more powerful, something that lasts longer and that I can use in more people", demanded Cai to the necromancer in front of him, a tall and thin man with a hood that concealed part of this face.
"You did not follow my instructions," sentenced the Sorcerer.
"I did," lied Cai.
"I'm sure you did not because otherwise, you will no doubt of the power of the poison of madness. This is a delicate substance, that cannot be tossed in the gutter like piss."
"I need something powerful, something that would drive mad the whole city not just a couple of old man".
"This is more potent, and it will drive mad with fear with just a tiny drop any man, woman or child, fear it the most basic of our instincts and channel in the right direction could spark the kind of chaos you want to ignite."
"So this will work?" asked Cai.
"Yes, but you need to follow the instructions precisely. An extra drop can kill and a drop less will not give any results, you need to do it at the right moment, in the next blue moon, once is the highest level in the sky."
"I cannot believe that this jar contains enough power to dismay an entire city less of it Gotham. If you lie to me my vengeance will be swift sorcerer," said Cai menacing.
"Do not worry, it will work if you follow the instructions and dilute it in the water. Once a person drinks even a small amount of it, fear will conquer his mind for a day, enough time to drive madness, especially inside the slumps of Gotham and in the middle of the chaos, nobody could notice a death or two, even the death of a king."
"If this works you will be handsomely rewarded when I rule Gotham."
"I rather have my reward now, if you please, 500 talents in gold."
"That is outrageous!"
"That is my price."
"I can give you half now, and a half when the deed is done."
"No, I wanted all now."
"Ok, but is a lot of money, I only have a part with me the rest is an insecure place, you will need to come with me," said Cai while throwing the sorcerer a sack with some talents inside, "Here have it as a sign of good faith, now come with me if you want the rest of your money."
Inside the woods, he plunged his knife in the sorcerer back, but as he agonized the sorcerer pronounced a curse to Cai that he did not understand, and mistakenly thought it was just a death wish.
"I do not need a witness of any of this, now die and rest in peace", said Cai, while retrieving his knife, afterward he pick the bag of money and left the woods leaving the body of the sorcerer partly hidden by the bushes.
Bruce
Later that night in the solitude of his laboratory, Bruce was analyzing the sample he had collected before with Richard, when Eris appeared next to him, as materialized from thin air, with quick reflexes he immediately drew his sword ready for battle.
"I forgot you are always so jumpy! … Come on, when you are going to learn that your weapons are useless with us? Besides, if I want to hurt you there are other ways," said Eris menacing despise her playful tone.
"What do you want?" replied Bruce putting away his blade.
"You should address me with more respect mortal, do not forget for a moment who you are speaking with."
"You are an intruder inside my castle, now say your piece and leave."
"A king that disguises as a Bat, maybe you are not as clever as you think, but anyway I come here in peace and as proof of good faith, I'm willing to tell you a secret about Diana."
He did not say a word but clenched his fist harder until his knuckles were white.
"You are not curious? Maybe you don't care, perhaps you already forgot about her. In that case, it was a mistake coming down here, I will stop wasting my time and leave", said Eris turning his back at him.
"Wait, tell me!"
"Only if you say please," replied the goddess mockingly.
"Tell me… please."
"She is alive."
"How?" he asked, hoping against hope that it would be true and not one of Eri's cruel jokes.
"His father thought it was a good idea to use his power to prevent her from living an eternity in the Elysium Fields as a dead soul, he also thought it was a good idea to leave her living in his castle forever as a revenant. But your princess is very restless and could not care less for staying in the underworld, so she is trying to escape, quite a feature actually, since to this day no one has ever done that. Currently, she is in the underworld, I guess having the battle of her life, sort of speak, but if she survives, she will need your help to become alive."
"What do I have to do?"
"Just call her, that is, as simple as that and you will have her."
"With you, there is nothing simple, there is always a catch, what is it?"
"That depends on you, how much are you willing to help her coming back from the underworld? It will require a lot of heart. You have to be honest with yourself and brave enough, to tell the truth. Only true love will serve as a beacon to call her out, of course, if she survived….And there is also the issue of timing, this trick will only work in the portal between the two realms, the entrance of the underworld, Morpheus has managed to make it visible for the mortal eye only for one hour in the light of the next blue moon, if you want to help her, you will need to be there at that precise time, otherwise, the door will be closed and she will be trapped in there forever."
"If I fail, what will happen to her?"
"She will be devoured by the demons for all eternity."
"What is in all of this to you? You never care for Diana. Why the sudden change of heart, how do I know you are not deceiving me and conducting me to a trap?"
"That is the beauty of this, you don't! Oh, how I enjoy seeing your inner battles, your mind questioning everything, discarding the possibilities and yet your heart only wants to believe, to run to her… It's so satisfying."
"Yes, I can see you are getting a kick out of this predicament, but that is not enough for you to come here and try to persuade me, you are ambitious, there must be something else for you," replied Bruce still skeptical.
"I'm doing this as a favor, you should be grateful", Eris said with false indignation. And then Bruce realized what was odd about the goddess, for the first time she was wearing plain clothes, no the usual embroidered and luxurious garments she used to wear when he met her before and she was looking paler than ever.
"Your powers are diminishing, you need Diana, her faith. If nobody believes in you, you will disappear as the other Olympians."
"I will never vanish!", replied Eris with earnest.
"This is a gamble, but I'm willing to take it, even if it means to trust in you", sentenced Bruce.