Mount Justice;
August 8th;
08:47 EDT
In the past week, I hadn't found any of the answers I was looking for. I hadn't even been able to contact my aunt, Rapunzel, and she might be the only one who could tell me who that girl was. I tried calling her using a two-way mirror, but she never picked up. I left a message with the Director, so she would hopefully get back to me soon.
All I could do now was wait. And wait. And wait.
I spent my time waiting in the Cave's kitchen, where I had set up a temporary potions lab. Was that dangerous? Absolutely, especially since M'gann was so curious and Wally had no sense of personal space. But it was way better than setting it up in my room, a confined space that could easily be choked up with poisonous gas if my potion took a turn for the worse.
I was actually working on a scrying spell, the only thing I could do right now while I waited. I was using a slab of smooth zircon, a light blue crystal, for the scrying spell, and you don't want to know how hard it was to get a hold of.
For this type of scrying spell, you had to lather the seeing stone in a creamy concoction I liked to call "mushroom vision potion." It's real name was Zaphonthos Alkrismust, but that was kind of a mouthful. It was made with lime grass, purple fonthalas powder, sea water laced with tears, and a dash of thyme.
The problem with the recipe is that I couldn't find any tears to mix with my salt water. I hadn't cried in a long time, nor did I think I was going to cry anytime soon. Maybe I could convince M'gann to watch a romantic tragedy and collect her tears while she's crying.
"Arctica, why is there a cauldron on the stove?"
I looked up from my spellbook, where I had been searching for teary salt water substitutions, to see Kaldur and M'gann peering into my black cauldron.
"I'm using it, obviously," I went back to my book, "Also, I wouldn't put my face near that. It might explode if you breathe on it."
M'gann and Kaldur quickly shied away from the bubbling cauldron. It didn't actually have anything mushroom vision potion ingredients in it. That was just a sleeping potion for me.
"What is it?" M'gann asked. You could always count on her to be magic curious.
"The potion in the cauldron is 'night-night juice,' but what I'm trying to make right now is Zaphonthos Akrismust." Hmmm… I could use seal tears, but I don't think that'll be any easier to get a hold of.
"Zaphonthos Akrismust? Isn't that a scrying potion?"
I teared my eyes away from the page to glance up at Kaldur, surprised that he knew what that even was.
"Yeah, it is. How'd you know?"
"We learned about it in the Conservatory of Sorcery. I went to school there when I turned fourteen."
Conservatory of Sorcery. That sounded familiar… where had I heard that before.
Oh, yes! I remember!
In an "aha!" moment, I jumped up from my stool and ran to my room, leaving behind two very confused teammates. In my room, there was a bookshelf just as tall as me and as wide as my arm span. On it, there were all of my spell books, magic history books, maps, and practically every book ever written about magic. I scanned through the books and finally found what I was looking for: L'ancien Contre le Nouveau. It was a history book on the sinking of Atlantis and how it split in two; half of it went underwater while the other half remained an island in the middle of the Atlantic ocean, hidden from human eyes with thousands of spells.
I ran back to M'gann and Kaldur and slammed the book down in front of them, showing them a page on the Conservatory of Magic.
"The Conservatory of Magic is like an academy, for magic and stuff. It is underwater in New Atlantis. I've always wanted to go, but it is underwater, and I do not have gills, so...," I trailed off, realizing that I had just gone on a passionate magic rant and they probably didn't care at all.
"I've heard the tales of Old Atlantis, but I never thought it could be real," Kaldur said reverently, staring at my book.
"Oh, it's definitely real. I lived there when I was younger. It's full of fey and goblins and witches and trolls. It's probably the most dangerous place on Earth, but also the most magical. It might be different now though, I- I haven't been back in years."
I frowned down at the book. It was too painful of a reminder of everything I missed about Old Atlantis and its people. I was in a circus there, for a while, I was a dragon tamer. The fey loved me, especially because it was so dangerous. They were always thrill seekers.
"You miss it, don't you?" Kaldur asked gently, breaking me out of my reverie.
"Yeah, I- I think so," I mumbled, wringing my hands together so tightly, I might just pull my finger off. Realizing that I was basically showing my emotions on my sleeve, I cleared my throat and shut the troublesome book. "It's probably not the best place for me to be right now anyway. The Cave is a fine place to live, and I'm glad I'm here."
I really hoped my smile was convincing, at least enough to get them to leave me alone. I had no such luck.
"Hey, we're all going to hit the beach today. Want to come?" M'gann asked, a friendly smile on her face like she hadn't just seen me inches from crying. Ah, dang it! I was so close to having those tears!
"The beach?" I glanced at my bubbling cauldron. The sleeping potion was just about done, so it wasn't like I had anything better to do. "I might go. I can't really do anything until someone cries."
M'gann looked a little concerned at that statement but left me to finish up my potion and clean up. Kaldur stayed behind, however, and was still looking worried about me.
"What are you going to use the scrying potion for?" I was relieved Kaldur didn't ask anymore about my, uh, emotional state, but that question was just as hard to answer.
"Well," I bit my lip, debating whether I should tell him the truth or lie. But this was Kaldur; I knew he would never lie to me, shouldn't I show him the same trust?
"The night we faced off Amazo, he used my powers, that I didn't even know I had, to make these living ice sculptures. They almost killed me, but- but someone used magic to destroy one of them. I got rid of the second one easily enough, and I chased after whoever had saved me. I- I never caught them, but I want to know who it was."
I guess a partial truth was better than a full lie. Telling him that the mysterious person looked exactly like me wasn't something I was entirely comfortable with. I wasn't even sure if that's what I actually saw, or if I had just been delirious from my bruised ribs, almost dying, and the unnatural magic floating around.. They almost killed me, but someone used magic to destroy one of them, and I got rid of the other one easily enough. I chased after who it was, but I- I never caught them."
Okay, so I didn't tell him the whole truth, but a half truth is better than a whole lie, isn't it?
"You want to know who they are." It was more of a statement rather than a question, but I nodded anyway. I almost jumped a foot in the air when Kaldur put his hand on my shoulder. "It is a noble effort, Arctica, but you need a break. More can be done with a freshened mind than a tired one. Go to the beach with us and enjoy your time there."
I managed a small smile. "Okay, just let me finish up here. I don't want the Cave to almost burn down again."
Kaldur's smile was a lot bigger and brighter than mine, but just seeing it made me feel slightly better. I don't know why, but I always felt better when I hung out with the Team. It was… kinda weird. And new. And I wasn't quite sure if I liked it yet.
The sleeping potion was finished not long after that and I carefully bottled it. You did not want this to shatter and drop, or evaporate and leek into the air. Either one was not good, especially if you didn't want to sleep for a hundred years.
With that finished and safely stowed away, I cleaned up my potion mess and put everything in a place that Wally and M'gann would never find. It's not that I don't trust them, it's just that one is too skeptical about magic, even after I hung him up by his ankles with a root that moved by itself, and the other was a bit too magic-curious.
I was extra careful when I put the purple fonthalas powder on my shelf. Not only did it cost an arm and a leg, but it was extremely hard to get a hold of. The only place it could be found was in a troll's den, in there, uh, waste pile. It was kinda gross and I didn't work with it often, thankfully. It was sealed in an airtight jar, and a good thing too; it had the worst smell imaginable.
I changed into my wet suit after that. My skin was way too pale to go outside without either a thick layer of sunblock or complete covering, so normal swimsuits were out of the question. My blue wetsuit had a nice layer of magically lightweight and around metal around my torso, shins, and forearm to act as armor. You never know if you're going to run into a sea serpent or a sea witch or a really aggressive sea lion.
Before meeting everyone at the beach, I made sure to grab a few essentials, such as an umbrella, a towel, and a book. I loved the water, I mean, I used to live on an island, so why wouldn't I? But I just didn't feel like getting in today.
When I got to the beach, I was surprised to find everybody already in the water. I was just in time to watch Superboy cannonball into the water, creating an enormous wave that almost reached me all the way on the beach.
While Robin, Kaldur, Superboy, and M'gann played away, I set up my umbrella and towel, sat down, and read my book. Would it really be all that surprising to know it was Grimm's Fairy Tales? The book's a classic and my favorite.
"Arctica!" I glanced up from my book to see a soaking wet M'gann grinning at me, "You're here! Come get in!"
"No thanks. It's sea serpent mating season and they're terribly aggressive right now. I'm content right where I am," I said resolutely.
Since I returned to ready my book, I didn't notice the sly expression all four of them exchanged. Nor did I notice coming up to the beach and heading towards me. I did notice when Superboy snatched the book from my hand, put it on the towel next to me, and then picked me up and threw me over his shoulder.
"HEY! What the Merlin do you think you're doing? Put me down!" I beat Superboy's back with both my fists, but it didn't have any effect on him. He continued to carry me into the water, away from the nice, serpent free shore. "Superboy!"
"Sorry, Arctica, it's for your own good," Robin, who was wearing his ever present sunglasses, said solemnly as Superboy waded past him with me still on his shoulder.
"I was perfectly fine on the shore! Put me down!" Even though I did have magic and was a lot stronger and more flexible than an ordinary human, that was nothing compared to a Kryptonian. Superboy managed to keep a tight grip on me without squeezing me to death, and I couldn't slip out of it, no matter how hard I tried.
"Fine," Superboy finally grunted when the water was well over his waste. Before I could say another word, Superboy threw, like, actually threw me, through the air, on a collision course to the deep ocean.
"That's not what I meant!" I screeched as I flew through the air. My stomach knotted into a child's jump rope that was constantly left out to gather knots and tangles. This was the exact reason I was terrified of heights; the falling part.
Years of living on an island taught me at least one thing; don't hit the water flat, it'll hurt. I don't know if it was because Superboy was strong or because I was really light, but I flew a long way before I hit the water. I dove into it with barely a splash and not much of a ripple. Man, I should be on a professional diving team or something.
Unfortunately, I hit the water like a torpedo, which sent me deep under the water. I struggled to swim back up, but I was running out of air. Finally, I managed to break the water's surface and gasp for air. I didn't feel the cold, not like others did, but I definitely felt the exhaustion of swimming for so long. Making a platform of ice that would float, I scrambled on top of it and just laid there for a few minutes. All I could hear was the blood rushing my ears, my heavy breathing, and the waves lapping against my ice raft, slowly pushing me towards shore.
Oh, I am so getting them for this.
After I froze the ocean water and effectively trapped all four of them in the frozen waves, I made hot dogs for everyone. Of course, Kaldur, M'gann, Superboy, and Robin were still stuck in the ice, so the only thing they could do was watch me as I ate the first ones off the grill.
"Oh, did you want a hot dog?" I taunted Superboy, a safe few feet away. His hands weren't trapped by ice and I did not feel like getting thrown into the water again.
He only growled in response, making my grin even wider.
I eventually let them go. After I relished my food right in front of them, taunted a bit, teased a lot, and generally made them miserable. It was only what they deserved for conspiring together to throw me into the ocean.
After the four of them had eaten their share of hot dogs, chips, and cookies M'gann made, we had a game of volleyball. Boys against girls. It was safe to say that me and M'gann dominated Superboy, Robin, and Kaldur. Who knew that martian could hit such a wicked spike?
We spent a whole hour burying Superboy in sand and making sandcastles. Well, I made a sandcastle. And it was pretty dang good, if I say so myself.
Before we could finish up our day at the beach, we were called back inside by the Batman himself for whatever reason. It seemed important though, because he instructed that we wear our uniforms.
Honestly, it was a lot harder than I would have liked to peel the wet bodysuit off of me. I took a hot shower as well, mostly to get the icky sea water out of my hair so it wouldn't dry up and become all frizzy.
My shower had been a lot longer than I meant it to, so I finished up as fast as I could, which didn't leave much time for my poor hair. Even with cutting out most of my routine, I was running down the hall with only one high heeled boot on and the other clutched in my hand. Right before reaching the mission room where Batman told us to meet him, I hopped on one foot, trying to tug my boot on. I almost tripped doing it, but I was still successful.
When I looked up from putting my boot on, I was in for quite the surprise.
A new girl, masked of course, was standing in the center of the room with the rest of the team, Batman, Green Arrow, and Red Tornado surrounding her. Her outfit was green, showing off her stomach, and she carried a bow and a quiver of arrows with her. I can only assume that she was Green Arrow's new protégé. My, didn't he move on fast.
The new blonde girl stuck out her hand, which I noted was covered in fingerless gloves, for me to shake. I was hesitant at first, but I still took it. She had a strong grip, which I supposed she needed if she was going to fire a bow.
"Arctica," I said cooly, keeping a close eye on her. She was new to the superhero gig; her equipment had little to no wear on it and her uniform barely had any blood on it yet.
"Artemis," the blonde said in kind, "New teammate."
I only gave her a nod of understanding. I looked around at the other Team members and the adults; smiling Robin dressed in his usual black, red, yellow, and mask, Superboy wearing that age-old stoic expression of his, M'gann in her skirt and cape with a bright, welcoming smile on her face, and Kaldur, unreadable yet not unkind. They didn't seem to have any qualms of having a new team mate, but KF was still missing. He might protest vehemently against the addition, but then again, Artemis was a girl.
As if the thought of him summoned the annoying redhead himself, the computer announced, "recognized; Kid Flash, B03."
"The Wall-Man is here!"
I sighed as Wally announced his arrival; he hadn't even been here for a full minute and I was already done with him for the day. This is why I stayed in my room.
"Now let's get this party star-" Wally, dressed in trunks and carrying way too much stuff, ran into the room from the Zeta Tubes and inevitably tripped on everything he was carrying. The beach ball he was carrying bounced out of his hands and, of course, hit me in the face. It didn't hurt, it was just a bit surprising to get knocked in the face by compacted air forced to serve inside a thin, rubber container.
"-ted," Wally said weakly from his fallen state on the floor. Batman and Red Tornado did not look pleased.
"Wall-Man, huh? I love the uniform," Artemis mocked, a smirk on her face, "What exactly are your powers?"
I practically made my lip bleed with how hard I was biting down on it. Oh, I like this girl already.
Wally scrambled to his feet and asked, "Uh, who's this?"
"Artemis, your new teammate," Artemis answered for herself.
Oh, I really like her.
"Kid Flash. Never heard of you."
"Um, she's my new protégé." Green Arrow stepped up and put a hand on Artemis's shoulder, as if reining her in.
"What happened to your old one?!" Wally protested.
"Recognized; Speedy, B06," the computer announced. Wow, wasn't she just on time with the entrances today.
"Well, for starters, he doesn't go by Speedy anymore."
Ugh, you've got to be kidding me. I was really hoping I would never see that red headed archer ever again. No such luck.
"Call me Red Arrow."
I could barely contain my snort. Speedy had been a dumb name all by itself, and Red Arrow was even dorkier. I thought he didn't want anything to do with Green Arrow anymore, and now they just sounded like better buds. Isn't that ironic?
"Roy, you look-" Green Arrow started, taking a step forward and past his new student.
"Replaceable," Red Arrow growled.
"It's not like that," GA insisted, "You told me you were going solo."
"So why waste time finding a sub? Can she even use that bow?"
"Yes, she can," Artemis butted in her, staring "Red Arrow" down.
"Who are you?" Wally asked again, even if we had already given him an answer.
"I'm his niece."
"She's my niece."
The way the two of them said it at the exact same time, as if they practiced it, made me seriously doubt that she actually was. I liked Artemis, even if I had only known her for a few minutes, but she was definitely keeping something from us. I could respect that; we barely knew her and everyone had their secrets. I had a fair share myself.
"Another niece?" Robin joked, sounding just as suspicious as I felt. He was hard to tell though; he was still smirking, leaving it hard for me to get a clear reading. Ugh, why did males have to be so confusing?
"But she is not your replacement," Aqualad spoke up and Red Arrow turned towards him, "We have always wanted you on the team and we have no quota on archers."
"And if we did, you know who we'd pick," Wally snapped. Yeah, I totally kicked him in the shin for that comment.
"Watever, Baywatch. I'm here to stay." Artemis put her hand on her hip, challenging anyone to deny her.
Finally, I was tired of these teenagers arguing and ready to get down to business. "Is there a reason you're here or did you just feel like we didn't have enough nuisances to deal with?"
Red Arrow glared at me but he had no biting comeback up his sleeve. "A reason named Dr. Serling Roquette."
Robin was surprised for a millisecond before he pulled up his holo computer. "Nanorobotics genius and claytronics expert at Royal University in Star City," his holo computer spread out to show all of us the information. On the screen was a blonde, short haired woman in a lab coat and glasses. "Vanished two weeks ago."
"Abducted two weeks ago," Red Arrow corrected, "By the League of Shadows."
"Whoa," Robin said, immediately enchanted, "You want us to rescue her from the Shadows?"
"Hard-core." KF fist bumped Robin while I just rolled my eyes.
"I already rescued her," RA said simply, walking up to the screen with some device in his hand, "Only one problem. The Shadows had already coerced her into creating a weapon." RA pressed the button on the device and a new screen popped up. On the top looked like some sort of metal bug then there were a bunch of cylinders and two computers surrounding the weird bug. I understood none of what was on that screen. "Doc calls it the fog, comprised of millions of microscopic robots. Nanotech infiltrators, capable of disintegrating anything in their path, concrete, steel, flesh bone. But it's true purpose isn't destruction; it's theft. The infiltrators eat and store raw data from any computer system and deliver the stolen intel to the shadows. Providing them access to weapons, strategic defense, cutting-edge science and tech."
"Perfect for extortion, manipulation, power broking. Yeah, sounds like the Shadows," Artemis commented. I've heard of the Shadows, but only a handful of times and I've never fought any of their operatives. Artemis sounded like an expert on them.
"Like you know anything about the Shadows," Wally grumbled. Artemis only smirked at him, and it made me like her even more. "Who are you?!"
"Roquette's working on a virus to render the fog inert," RA interrupted.
"But I assume the Shadows know of this, or at least have an inkling of an idea," I spoke up, and I could practically see the vein popping in RA's forehead.
"Yes," RA gritted his teeth, "Right now, she's off the grid. I stashed her at the local high school's computer lab."
"You left her alone?" Green Arrow asked incredulously.
"She's safe enough for now."
"A sleeping troll thinks the same before they are viciously attacked by a "heroic" human. You cannot leave a potential target alone," I told Roy off.
"And what would you know?" he growled.
"I've been at this way longer than you have. And I have seen more things than the best of you. I think I know how to protect people." I had to stand on my tippy toes to snarl into his face, but I think it was just as intimidating.
"Really? You're a kid," Roy shot back.
I opened my mouth to say something I would probably regret, but Aqualad must have thought it would be better if I didn't get into any fights today.
"Arctica, stand down," Kaldur ordered. He put a forceful hand on my shoulder, trying to restrain me. It was really tempting not to listen, but I respected Kaldur and knew picking a fight right now wasn't the best idea.
"Fine." I stepped away from Red Arrow and glared at the floor with my arms folded instead of breaking his nose.
"Roy, let's you and I keep Dr. Roquette safe," GA offered once the uncomfortable silence had grown too thick.
"You and I? Don't you wanna take your new protégé?" Roy bit back, venom still in his voice after our "conversation."
Green Arrow stepped forward, but Batman put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.
"You brought this to the Team," Green Arrow said reluctantly, "It's their mission, which means it's her's now, too."
Red Arrow scoffed. "Then my job's done." He walked out of the mission room, towards the Zeta Tubes. I glared at him as he passed, just to let him know how much I disliked him.
"Recognize; Speedy, B06."
"That's Red Arrow," Roy corrected, "B06. Update."
The Zeta Tube turned on and he disappeared soon after, much to my relief. He really got on my nerves, with how high and mighty he acted, like he was better than the rest of us. It made me want to punch him in his stupidly perfect jawline.
Happy Harbor;
August 8th;
21:53 EDT
After Roy left, Batman was quick to order all of us to get ready for the mission. Our last mission taught me to always carry a few herbs and other magical ingredients on me, so I grabbed some from my room and stuffed them in my belt pockets and hidden pockets in my boots.
Now, I was pacing the floor of the computer lab in Happy Harbor High School, waiting for Dr. Roquette to finish up her virus. Being around so many computers and technology and stuff that opposed the very existence of magic made me uncomfortable, not to mention the fact that my mother was out and ready to kill me, and I was still waiting for Rapunzel to get back to me.
I had a compact mirror clutched in my hand as I paced back and forth. It was a two way mirror, the invention of a girl named Lena in a grade below me. She was a Character such as myself and brilliant, but I don't think I've ever spoken to her.
"You know, you could be nicer," Robin commented lowly when I paced by him. He said it quietly enough that I thought no one else heard, but I had been wrong.
"What?" I stopped in my gait to give him a dubious look.
"He's right," Kaldur added. He was standing nearby too, watching the short haired scientist and me at the same time.
"Not you too," I groaned, "Red Arrow's the one who started it."
"By showing up? You're the one to call him a nuisance," Robin pointed out, folding his arms.
"I didn't call him one, I just implied it," I defended myself.
"Whatever your intentions had been, annoying Red Arrow was not a good idea. Having him as an enemy will not do you any good," Kaldur advised, but I wasn't having it.
"It's not my problem that he doesn't like me," I huffed, continuing my pacing.
"It will be your problem when you've got an arrow through your arm."
I glared at Robin. "I can handle having Red Arrow as an enemy, and I've handled much worse. I'm not scared of that over dramatic, clodpot."
"You don't know what he's capable of," Robin insisted.
"And you don't know what I'm capable of. I've slain all manner of elemental griffins, tamed dragons, subdued trolls, and knocked out orges. You said so yourself that I was powerful, now I'm starting to believe you never meant it."
"Arctica-" Kaldur started, stepping forward.
I held up my hand to stop him, my anger had already taken a hold of my actions. "No, I'm done listening to you two. I'm going to patrol the perimeter with Superboy and Miss Martian. Let me know when Roquette is finished."
I marched out of the computer lab and straight outside, into the fresh, open air with no annoyingly concerned superheroes. I suppose it wasn't entirely bad that they were trying to look out for me, but how they went about it wasn't something I agreed with. They didn't have any right telling me who to make enemies with and who not to; that was part of my personal life and completely my own business, not theirs.
I fumed for a few minutes more before I calmed down and deeply regretted my words. Really, I was just as bad as Superboy with my anger management. I just had to get angry so easily and mess everything up, didn't I?
"Everyone online?" M'gann's voice rang through my head.
"Ohh, this is weird!" Artemis said, soundly both amazed and annoyed at the same time.
"And distracting." Oh, that voice was definitely Roquette's. I had already taken a disliking to her, even if I had only spoken to her for a minute or so. Maybe because she was so much like myself. "Coding a distributive algorithm virus on a kiddie computer with less ram than a wristwatch is hard enough. Now I have to hear teen-think in my skull?!"
"Lady, do you always complain when someone tries to help you?" KF commented, probably eating a candy bar or something.
"Pot, kettle. Have you met?" Artemis asked sarcastically.
"Hey. Hey, I do not need attitude from the newbie who drove Red Arrow off the Team."
Sighing, I massaged my temples as their argument escalated. At least my arguments are quick and done within a minute or two.
"That is so not on me," Artemis protested.
"Fate of the world at stake!" Roquette insisted. Oh, how I wanted to ice her.
"She started it!" KF protested.
"The two of you need to shut it right now, or so help me je vais te transformer en une statue figée pour le musée des idiots!" I snapped, my patience gone with the wind. I could imagine all of their faces right now at my outburst, and I could tell you right now that I wanted to punch a couple of them.
There was a long silence before anyone dared to speak again.
"How about I just help Miss Martian, Superboy, and Arctica patrol the perimeter?" Artemis offered.
"Good idea," Kaldur said coldly.
"You might cut her some slack," Robin said in what sounded like it was supposed to be a private conversation, "It was her arrow that saved your butt against Amazo."
"What? No, that was Speedy's- I mean Red Arrow's… arrow, right?" Wally protested.
I could practically see Robin smirk. "Not so much."
"Humph. Well, still not giving her the satisfaction."
"You know, I can still hear you," Artemis piped up.
"I couldn't get the Justice League," Roquette complained.
"The virus won't be of much use if we cannot find the weapon. Can you track it?" Kaldur asked, attempting to get us back on topic.
"My utility fog is not a weapon," Roquette insisted, "It's science, brilliant science."
"Human's "science" isn't always brilliant," I grumbled, checking behind a rather large tree on the high school's landscape.
"Really? Name an invention that hasn't helped anyone," Roquette challenged.
"Sarin gas, DDT, Agent Orange, the atomic bomb, pesticides, chlorine gas, Zyklon-B. Shall I continue?"
"Those have all helped at least one person," she countered.
"Ah, yes, because we should all strive to save only one person while the rest of the world suffers. We shouldn't care about the environment at all, or witches, or fey, or other magical creatures that are directly affected by the foolish decisions of the human race. You're all a bunch of a-"
"Arctica!" Kaldur shouted, giving me a serious headache and stopping me from finishing my rant. "Roquette, can you track it?"
"Of course I can track it, but I'd have to go online. Might as well rent a billboard with this address and "Assassinate Me" written in neon."
"We will protect you," Kaldur told her. I wasn't really sure if I felt like doing that right now.
"Tracking the Fog now."
I glanced at a bush as a squirrel ran under its cover, then slowly approached a tree with a bird's nest in it. The bird was quick to fend of the attacker to protect its eggs, but it seemed its mate was gone for the evening. Sighing, I jumped over the fence between the concrete and the trees, then easily plucked the squirrel out of the tree by its tail.
"You can go find your dinner somewhere else," I told the creature sternly, but I wasn't quite sure if it understood. Mostly, it just looked terrified. I put the squirrel down gently and watched it scurry off, far away from the bird nest and it's defenseless eggs.
What can I say? I had a soft spot for birds.
"Arctica."
I may or may not have let out a little squeak when Superboy appeared out of nowhere. He was on the other side of the fence, watching me help the little bird out.
"What are you doing?!" I whispered yelled at him. His appearance nearly gave me a heart attack.
He looked confused for a split second, then settled back into his stoic expression. "Patrolling."
"Oh- I- good." Oh, that was awkward. When Superboy didn't make any move to go on, I climbed back over the fence and landed at his side.
"Arctica," Superboy said after an especially awkward silence where neither of us moved at all, "Are- are you okay? You just seem… irritated today."
I'm pretty sure I stared at him for an uncomfortably long time. That question, coming out of his mouth, was the last thing I thought would happen tonight, let alone my life time. I hadn't pegged Superboy as the concerned friend type.
"Well, I was thrown into the ocean this morning. That might have something to do with it." I gave him a small smile, because the day at the beach was a lot of fun, I was just… a little stressed right now, I suppose, and a visit from Roy hadn't helped in the slightest.
Superboy was satisfied with my answer, however, so he left me to patrol this part of the school. By left I mean he jumped fifty feet in the air and landed on the school roof.
I spent some more time walking by the fence line, watching and listening for any movement. The only knowledge I had of the Shadows made me dread facing anyone of their members in a fight. I was good with a sword and fair with my punches, but I depended on magic for most things. They could turn anything into a weapon, and probably punch well enough to dent the Batmobile.
"Mmm. That boy."
I nearly tripped over the sidewalk crack when I heard Artemis's voice in my head. One, she was unfamiliar, and two, oh my Merlin, I can't believe she just did that.
"He can hear you," M'gann said in a tone of voice I had never heard her use before, "We can all hear you."
"Oh, I know."
Sweet Morganna, I better not hear those two feuding over Superboy or I was going to deck both of them. I did not need love struck team mates.
"Miss Martian, Dr. Roquette has located the fog. Reconfigure the Bioship so that Robin and Superboy can pursue," Aqualad ordered. I watched the spaceship camouflaged in the sky reappear and descend towards where M'gann was.
"Ready."
There was another rustle in the bushes near me and I expected to see another squirrel or perhaps a bird, but I was greatly mistaken.
A projectile shot of the bush and through the links in the bush. I let out a small grunt as it hit my shoulder and stayed there. It must have been poisoned or something because it hurt way more than it was supposed to. Trust me on this one.
"Oh, aren't you a pretty one?" A woman appeared from the shadows, a smiling mask covering her face and giving me major creepy vibes. Her garbs were green, blending in well with the trees and bushes behind her.
"I assure you, I am more than a pretty face." I tugged the shuriken out of my shoulder and threw it back at her with deadly accuracy. The masked woman took out a small blade and deflected the attack.
Whatever was on that shuriken hurt and made my entire right arm numb, and unusable. Pity I was right handed.
I gritted my teeth and took out one of my sword hilts, the other one still hanging uselessly on my belt. The woman laughed at the sight of such a pointless weapon.
Ugh, I was spending too much time with Robin.
Her laugh disappeared when my ice formed the blade of the sword. I do love surprising people.
The mysterious woman took out her own blade, collapsable ones that were actually pretty cool. She attacked first, jumping over the fence with her sword pointed downward to impale me. I danced out of the way, but I was more sluggish because of the poison. As soon as she landed, she jumped up again and charged at me. I blocked her attack with my sword, grunting at the effort it took. I'm pretty sure the poison was spreading to my other arm.
True to the Shadow's legacy, the woman had a trick up her sleeve. Or rather, a knife. Which she used to stab me in the leg while I was too focused on the sword.
I didn't notice it at first because of my adenline, but when I felt the hot liquid running down my thigh, I chanced a look down. The Shadow operative took the opportunity to smash the hilt of her sword over my head and I blacked out.
"M'gann, Kid, Artemis, Arctica, we are under attack in the computer lab."
Kaldur's mental voice in my head woke me up from my half-conscious state. It took a moment for me to remember where I was and why my thigh hurt so freaking much. And then I remembered Red Arrow and his stupid mision.
"On our way," Artemis replied.
Cursing underneath my breath, I frantically searched in my belt for where I put my yarrow so I could put it on the wound and slow the bleeding. I hadn't thought to bring the powdered version of it with me, only the dried leaves. I took them in my hand and spit on them, then ground them up into a paste as best I could. Since I was half fey, my spittle had more magic in it than the average human, so it would help a little bit.
I let out a hiss when I applied the paste to my legs, but then the wound was numb again. I could barely feel that leg, and I wasn't sure if it was because of the wound or the poison in that stupid shuriken.
Somehow, I managed to push myself to my feet, leaning heavily on the fence to do so. I limped my way to the computer lab, hoping that everyone else was still alive. I hadn't heard anything from them yet and that mysterious woman could pack a punch.
"She's getting away! You're letting her get away!"
Oh, yay. Dr. Roquette was still alive.
I took a break to lean on the wall, breathing hard, then continued on to the computer lab. Roquette, Kaldur, Wally, Artemis, and M'gann were all inside, looking relatively unharmed. Lucky ducks.
"This is all your fault! You were on perimeter! How'd that Shadow get in?!" Wally shouted at Artemis.
"That…" I panted, "Would be on me."
"What happened to you?" KF asked rather bluntly.
"Poison and a knife. Quite effective when you're half human."
"Arctica, you need to sit down," Kaldur instructed. I swatted his helping hand away and lowered myself onto one of the computer lab chairs.
"I'm capable of taking care of myself."
"That's not really fair, Arctica," M'gann told me earnestly, "I was outside too."
"Outside being distracted by her!" Wally argued. "Besides, I can't be mad at you." He gave Miss Martian a cheeky grin. "You gave me mouth-to-mouth."
"We heard that!" Everyone shouted at once.
"Dang it!"
"I didn't do half as well during my first battle," M'gann tried to comfort Artemis with a hand on her shoulder, "And I know you can't have been Green Arrow's sidekick for very long."
"Focus, everyone," Aqualad interrupted. "The Shadows will be back."
"Robin to Aqualad," the voice of Robin beeped through the comms we had barely used on this mission. "We're over Philadelphia. We've located the Shadow's next target, STAR Labs. We're too late. It's destroyed; totally destroyed. The Fog decimated it. This is bad. STAR Labs is cutting-edge science, and now their secrets are in the hands of the enemy. What's our next move?"
Well, that didn't sound good. At all, actually. I wasn't even being sarcastic this time.
Kaldur turned to Dr. Roquette. "Rescan for that fog. Find it. We're moving the doctor."
We ended up at a tiny internet cafe by the harbor. Artemis, Kaldur, M'gann, and Wally were all in a different facility, playing as decoy, while I stayed with the doctor.
I was sitting in one of the cafe chairs with my leg propped up on another. The bleeding in my thigh had slowed down a bit and I was now ruffling through my boot and belt pockets for a different herb. Yarrow worked great to slow bleeding, but I needed something to speed up recovery. I think angel grass would do it.
Angel grass was a magical plant found only on the island of Old Atlantis, and I still have some left from my time there.
Geez, I really needed to organize these pockets. They were a mess. It took me ten minutes just to find the angel grass.
"There we go." I eased the long strips of grass over my wound and wrapped it around my leg. For the angel grass to work, you had to mutter a fey incantation to unlock its healing properties.
"Al porto infonte reen, al baunte infonte spurgo, tant algula nafarte, al onteo ono santiogo."
The yellow stalks of the grass glowed faintly in the dim light and I let out a breath of relief as the pain in my leg lessened.
Oh, that felt extraodinaire.
"What language was that?" Roquette paused in her work to glance at me.
"Silvan, the language of my father's people." I gently touched the angel grass, wanting for some sort of pain from my wound. There was none. I gently unwrapped my leg to reveal the slightly pink skin underneath. There was still a danger of it reopening, but for now, it was good enough.
"That's… extraordinary. How did you do that?" Dr. Roquette stared at my previous stab wound with wide eyes, her mouth agape.
"It is among the fey's ability to heal."
"Fey? Like a fairy?" Roquette gave me an incredulous look, "You can't be a fairy."
"Miss Martian is from Mars, Superboy is Krypotonian, Kid Flash has superspeed, and Aqualad grew up under water. How hard is it to believe that I am a fairy?"
"Yes, but all of those can be explained by science. Fairies aren't real, they can't be."
"You would be incorrect in that thinking, Madam Roquette. Fairies are very much real, and they very much dislike humans." I glared at Roquette until she scooted her chair slightly away from me and returned to her work. "And for the record, if you call a fey a fairy, they will kill you."
The doctor paled considerably and my day just got a whole lot brighter.
There was silence in the small cafe before Kaldur stumbled in. He looked a little dazed, probably from a blow to the head, but otherwise fine.
"Did it work?" I asked nervously. He gave me a small nod, then moved over to inspect Roquette's work. There was a sudden pause in his movement, then he turned around to look at my leg.
"Your leg, it's all…" He trailed off, looking amazed.
"Fey healing spell and a bit of angel grass does wonders for a wound," I told him, smiling smugly.
"Good. Check the windows," Kaldur ordered me, but I could see the small smile on his face to let me know he was glad I was okay.
I happily jumped up from my seat to watch the windows and the outside world.
"I've almost got it," Roquette announced, looking less pale than earlier.
A flash of green moved in the street outside. That masked woman had caught on to our ploy.
"I'm going to go take care of our friend." I made for the back door of the cafe, but Kaldur stopped me.
"Stay with the doctor. I will pursue."
Any argument died on my lips when I saw the stern look on his face. There was no way I could sway him, not when I had just been stabbed an hour earlier.
"Fine." I folded my arms and leaned against the wall while Aqualad slipped out the back door.
I waited patiently, okay, impatiently, for Aqualad to return, but he never did. I'm going to guess that the masked lady had something to do with it.
Speak of the Devil.
There was a loud thump on the roof of the cafe, and I had a pretty good idea of what caused it.
"We have company," I warned the doc.
"Uploading now," Roquette clicked one of the buttons on the computer's keyboard, "And by the way, you said you'd protect me."
"Well, are you dead?"
"Uh… no."
"Then we protected you," I snapped.
As we were arguing, a smoke pellet rolled into the room and went off, creating a cloud of smoke that I could barely see through. I watched, waited, and listened for any movement beyond the smoke screen, but there was none.
A second later, I turned around and shot an ice blast at the ceiling. The masked woman tumbled out of the way and fell through the ceiling.
"You really are more than a pretty face," she taunted. She threw shurikens at me, all tipped with poison I'm sure, and I deflected them with my twin swords. "All better, I see."
"'Twas only a flesh wound."
Was I proud of that movie reference? Oh yeah.
The woman took out twin sais, one tinted with my own blood, then jumped into battle. I batted away her attacks and chanced some of my own, but she was able to deflect those.
Back and forth, back and forth, we deflected and dealt our blows, but neither of us were giving. We were equally good swordswomen, but I think I was a little better. I pushed her away from Dr. Roquette so she could continue her work, but I could feel the wound on my leg reopening little by little. Maybe so much physical exertion right after healing it wasn't that good of an idea.
I dealt a forceful kick in the center of the woman's chest with my good leg, pushing her through the cafe doors and into the dark night beyond.
We were back and forth again, slowly moving our way down the street. A blow to the right and she deflected. A low sweep and I jumped out of the way. Left, defend. Right, dodge. Right. Left. Left. Right. Left. Right. Right. On and on and on and on. We were locked in a dance, a deadly, exhausting dance. I was impressed with her level of stamina for a human, but she was a Shadow and you never underestimate them.
"You're pretty good kid," the woman panted, feigning right then stabby left. I easily dodged it, but my leg paid for it. Another bit of the wound opened up and I could've sworn I felt blood dripping down my leg and staining my white uniform again.
"Not bad yourself, but of course," I locked my sword hilt on her sai and tugged it out of her hand. The blade went flying and landed a fair few feet away, "I am better."
It was two blades against one now. Our dance was faster on her part, fighting to keep up with only one sai. She didn't have time to reach for another, and so I was at the advantage.
After one particularly brutal swing I dealt myself, my leg wound opened completely. My knee grew weak and shaky and I could barely keep myself up right. Now the woman had the advantage, and she was definitely using it. I had two blades but only one functioning leg. Suddenly, I was no longer smiling.
It was my turn to struggle. Our dance was at the same pace, but I felt as if it had sped up like my beating heart. I didn't have time to think between dodging and attacking. Eventually, I was just deflecting. I couldn't move well enough to jump or move out of the way; I had to try my best to stand my ground. It wasn't going very well.
The masked woman kicked out and landed the blow right on the knee of my already injured leg. I'm pretty sure I heard a crack as well. Oh, what I'd give some more angel grass.
My knee decided to just stop working altogether and I fell to the ground, not like a little dainty princess; I was too clumsy for that. Instead, I almost fell on my sword. I used the little water trick Mr. Nelson taught me and I was able to avoid being impaled; again.
"You'd make a great Shadow, but I think you're too goody two shoes for that." The woman raised her sai above me, either to kill me or to put it somewhere where it would really hurt. "It's been fun, kid."
"Fun's not over yet." I used my good leg to kick her feet out from under her and she landed on her butt, letting out a painful "oof".
Sighing, I finally, reluctantly asked for help.
"Guys, I may need some assistance at the moment." I started crawling out of the road, using only one leg. It was slow progress.
"Arctica? Where are you?" It was M'gann who answered.
"Far end of the street from the cafe." I grunted when I had to put a little pressure on my right leg, "Oh, and if it's not too much to ask, hurry it up."
"Where do you think you're going?" The woman was up again, armed with two sais and looking angry, even if I couldn't see her face.
"Away, preferably."
With three easy strides, she was right next to me and forcing me down with her foot. The rough concrete scratched my skin and I could practically feel the filth of it. Ewww...
The woman leaned down to growl in my ear, "You're a lot more trouble than you're worth."
"Oh, I'm aware."
She didn't like that comment and put more pressure on the small of my back. I couldn't get up if I wanted to before, now I was just struggling to breath.
"Now, I'll take care of you, and the-" Her sentence was unexpectedly cut off with a small gasp from her own mouth. The weight on my was lifted and I flipped over onto my butt to see what had happened.
The girl from our last mission, the one dressed in all black and looked exactly like me, was standing on the other side of the street, her hood looking like it was blown off and her hands posed like she had just shot a beam of ice at the masked women. It wasn't too far from the truth, judging by the patch of ice that stuck to the woman's arm.
The woman hissed. "There's two of you now?"
"Apparently." I stared at the other girl, watching as she kept her hands up and pointed towards the woman, silently daring her to move again. She carefully stalked across the street, towards me, without losing sight of her.
She crouched next to me. "Can you get up?" Her voice was quiet and hoarse, as if she barely used it, and I could barely hear her over the blood roaring in my ears.
It took awhile for me to find my words. "Yes, but I don't think walking's an option."
She chanced a glance down at my leg, the blood running down it, and the unnatural twist of my knee. Trust me, it hurt a lot more than it looked.
The woman remained at bay while the girl used one hand to point it at her and the other to help me stand. She draped my arm around my shoulders and I took that to mean I could lean on her. I took full advantage of that.
"Cheshire." The two of us glanced at the woman as her hidden comm went off. "Doctor's finished with the virus."
The woman I now knew to be Cheshire growled. "We leave now."
With one last reproachful look sent our way, Cheshire slinked into the shadows and disappeared. I have never been more relieved in my entire life.
Well, except for that one time- oh, wait, nevermind. That's a long story.
The girl that looked like me helped me limp to the side of the road, where she lowered me to the ground and leaned me against a lamp post.
"Who… are you?" Oh, it was hard to talk right now.
She smiled mysteriously and pulled her hood up. "A friend."
I managed a small smile. "Somehow, I do not believe that. Why…" I let out a short gasp of pain as I shifted my position, "Why do you look like me?"
Her smile disappeared and I could see a deep, old sadness in her eyes. She didn't say anything as she stood up.
"I'll- I'll find you," I grunted, trying to climb to my feet so she wouldn't escape again.
"No. You won't."
She formed a hard layer of ice across her hand and hit me over the temple with it. My vision turned dark at the edges as I tumbled to my butt again. The last thing I saw before blacking out for the second time that night was her retreating figure.
(Rough) Translations
L'ancien Contre le Nouveau (French) - The Old vs the New
Je vais te transformer en une statue figée pour le musée desidiots! (French) - I will turn you into a frozen statue for the museum of idiots!
Al porto infonte reen, al baunte infonte spurgo, tant algula nafarte, al onteo ono santiogo (Silvan) - No pain shall rise, no blood shall spill, this awful night all will be still.
Extraodinaire (French) - Amazing