Chapter 11: Immortals, Politicians, and Sovereigns

AN: Welcome back to another chapter! Okay so I'm sorry it took me so long to get back. I had to work on my primary story (Naruto Sauron) and in the mix of all that...my family got COVID. All but me and my dad have it. So I have been dealing with that development.

But I wanted to do right by ya'll so I wrote this ASAP.

As always PLEASE provide honest feedback, the more advice the better I can do. Once again big thanks to TurtleMan141 for Beta Reading.

Enjoy!

[Samuel Kim Music: Emperor Palpatine Theme: Medieval Style]

It had been some time since they watched Revan and his Mandalorians disappear into the inferno in the distance. After which the heroes wandered down to the courtyard with the Queen as her soldiers began repairs.

The violence and destruction was terrible, bodies, debris, and fire filled the yard, the towers, the walls. They had all been cut down viciously. But this was a battlefield, and could not come close to what was inside.

To the Carnage of Kasnia Hall

A carnage that was...as incredible as it was sickening. An unbridled wrath had been unleashed upon these halls, and with a power far beyond anything they had seen The Revenant possess…

Not even an arsenal of firepower could unleash the kind of destruction that they now bore witness too.

Walls and Floors had been torn...ripped apart.

The materials which had once been a part of the beautiful canvas that was the architecture...had been turned into a terrible macabre of shrapnel which tore apart the insurrectionists.

And they were the lucky ones.

For the Batman, he saw a scene all too familiar as the Gotham Docks: these men were butchered. He tried to keep his emotions behind his gruff poker stare. But this made his blood both boil in rage and freeze with fear. He now understood why he had seen such a horrified look on Wonder Woman's face as she moved her eyes along the ceiling and walls earlier. It was as if she had looked on, passed the stone itself to watch an unknown entity stalk the halls.

Revan's blade without the limiter was a ferocious weapon, for flesh, stone, even steel held no chance against it.

Limbs and heads were removed from bodies, others were simply bisected with vicious strikes. The lucky ones simply had scorched, burning wounds cleaved through their chest cavities.

And yet the variety of death did not stop there as those not cut down, were simply...broken.

Arms, legs, spines...throats, all had clear signs of blunt force trauma deforming their skeletal structure. All of which left bodies twisted and mangled in ways the human body was not meant to function.

The Queen for one...was simply horrified. She had never seen such terrible violence, and it shook her to the very core. Her face was pale and sickly as she covered her nose and watched as the bodies were slowly removed.

Her voice whimpered as she begged for an answer, "What kind of man can do such a thing?"

"This isn't the first time he's left carnage in his wake," Batman snarled as he crouched over a body to inspect the low red glow of the slash wound, "The butcher leaves devastation in his wake and hides it behind a mockery of justice."

As she looked upon the bodies however, Diana had to speak up in disagreement, "I'm not so sure Batman," she began, "I can still feel the emotional turmoil bleeding from the walls, like a rising tide of emotions before crashing in a wave of destruction. The chill of fear... it still echoes in these halls. Anger is scarred upon these walls, it tore up these floors."

"But all of that...it built into such a terrible hatred, not necessarily a hatred for these men...but of whatever he saw in his mind. He built up that hatred and used it to tear these men apart".

"No...this was not done purely for the sake of violence," she said as she looked down the hall, "This was violence with a terrible rage behind it yes, but far beyond simple anger or bloodlust."

She reached out and felt the heat coming from where the blade of fire had scarred the wall.

"This kind of wrath only comes from something...painful," she said as her eyes closed tightly, "like a traumatic memory began to haunt his mind as he walked these halls. That memory...it washed over him the moment I had felt that unbearable chill wash over me."

Audrey listened intently as she steps passed a body.

"Wait," she hesitates before asking, "What are you saying? Some traumatic event in his past could have led to such a terrible reaction?"

Wonder Woman looked back to the Queen and her fellow hero who also seemed curious about her analysis of the man. She hesitated for a moment, before she took a deep breath and spoke with a nod.

"Something about this crisis," she began, "It reminded him of something similar...and it both terrified and enraged him. It's a memory that scarred him, changed him...I remember hearing stories from my Elder Sisters during the time when the Amazons still fought for humanity."

"So many warriors, but of my own and those of Men had been scarred by the horrors of war," she continued, "some so terrible that they go into a blood rage if they see something that resembles that terrible day."

She gestured to the macabre scene around them, "This...is the work of a traumatised warrior, unleashing hell at the expense of his own soul...so as to prevent something worse."

Audrey took those words to heart as she began to think on that. On the man who had come to her rescue this day. Her mind was in turmoil as she walked outside and toward the cliffside facing the plume of smoke.

Thinking of the man who gave her the power to be Queen and then the chance to make her own choice. At first she thought it was just the wisdom of a scarred and tortured man. But now…

A tear slid down her face as a single question came out, "What kind of hell has he seen...that this is preferable?"

[Meteor Ground Zero: 1:20]

To anyone watching, it would look like The Horseman Death was walking through Hell. Yet Revan cared little about his appearance as he wandered through the hellish landscape. No, he was more fixated on the destruction itself. Yet another landscape that was once beautiful now reduced to splinters and ash.

The helmet filtered the stench from his nose and the ash from his lungs...but he had walked across such a terrible field of destruction many a time ever since the Genocide of Cathar that he did not need to breathe it in to know what it was like.

For even he had brought Hell itself to many a world. He had cracked planets, burned atmospheres, even crushed a planet and all vessels too close, all for the sake of bringing peace to the galaxy, and in turn saving his home. So many landscapes he had seen razed just like this one.

All to hold back the evil of those who would conquer and enslave.

And yet here was taking such action once more against a man who, according to records, security feeds, and Queen Audrey's own witness...he was an immortal, like him. Like that genocidal Sith who sought to consume all life.

The Dark Lord's thoughts seemed to amplify as he reached to the epicenter of the destruction: the Crater.

He looked over the edge and into the epicenter, and to his shock, he saw a man in nothing but scorched and tattered pants digging from the rubble.

[1:55]

"Impressive" he thought. Even in spite of such terrible destruction, the will to live in this man allowed him to fight his way up to the surface.

But as he looked at the hateful eyes which looked up to him...he only saw the genocidal Sith Emperor. And that thought both filled him with fury and a mind that made this man perhaps one of the most dangerous beings he'd ever face.

All other evil, no matter how great the terrible flame, faded with time...but an immortal was far more dangerous as his flame forever endangered all around it, capable of both being dim enough to pay no heed...and in that very moment become a furious inferno when the time was right.

Once more he was faced with the responsibility of bringing an Apex Predator to heel, to be the equally unyielding blaze that matched their own. With a darkened heart he stepped off the ledge and plummeted to the earth and landed in a crouch with a final resigning thought

Such was the Fate of All Dragons...

He could hear the voices in his head-set as the Mandalorians flanked the crater, giving orders and communicating with one another. He could sense as Wonder Woman, Batman, and Queen Audrey along with her Loyalists awaited his return with unease and a steady dread growing in their hearts. Could hear the massive engines of the Helicarrier which had arrived at the scene, their quinjets already plummeting toward the ground to secure the castle.

But Revan paid none of them any heed. Right now his mind was tuned into the Force, listening to it's whispers for justice. This was not this first time that both sides of the Force coincided, but while both sides of the Force agreed on the need for justice...the Dark Side wanted more. To humiliate this man who had dared declared himself superior to all others.

And whether it was the flashbacks to the Mandalorian Wars and the Genocide of Cathar, the battles with the Sith Empire, or the haunting similarity that this level of destruction held upon his mind...

Revan could only see the similarities between this man and the many would be conquerors of his time. A conqueror who needs to be put in his place.

But for Savage, who had painfully pulled himself from the rubble that scraped and carved at his vulnerable nerves, he looked on with more curiosity than fear.

"Is this what the Grim Reaper would appear to be?" he asked himself, "Have you come once more to claim me Death?"

He coughed up a bit of blood as his lungs finally healed and expelled the offending blood, "Once more you have failed."

He had been given no time to prepare as the meteor struck his base, killing his personnel, leaving him with nothing but pain and agony as his body sowed itself together as he crawled from the rubble. Breathing haggardly he looked up to this being who stopped only a few meters from him.

And spoke.

"You have denied Death for far too long," the mechanical voice growled across the scarred land, "So I have been sent to carry out your penance."

Savage snarled at this, "And who might you be to take such a role?"

At this the armored man only answered, "I am the one who cast you from your stolen throne, usurper."

At this a great anger swelled over Savage, "Sooo...you are the one responsible for foiling my efforts. Yes...Revan if I recall, already you leave your mark on the Underworld."

"I'll remember the name, for you...have made an enemy today," he said with a groan as his body finally healed to its fullest.

"One with quite a long memory," he said menacingly. Instead of fear or a simple retort, a sudden dread came over Savage as Revan's own tone darkens. And as lightning begins to dance between the man's fingers, he speaks as he began to stretch out his right hand.

"Then permit me to carve into that memory, Vandal Savage," Savage barely registered the unknown soldiers surrounding them suddenly backing away as Revan finished his words, "just what kind of man you have named your foe!"

[2:35]

In an instant, tendrils of vicious lightning charged the downed immortal. For a time he simply grit his teeth in an effort to defy the man who had unleashed such terrible pain upon his still recovering form. Even as his body tried to repair the damage, this unnatural barrage of lightning tore through his body even faster. Keeping him in a constant state of pain that was unbearable.

Before long, his defiance gave way, and the terrible, painful screams of Vandal Savage could be heard from the Kasnian Palace where they saw the flashes of blue light appearing among the hellish flames.

"Great Hera..." Wonder Woman gasped, as she felt the unyielding fury and saw the flashes of blue lightning shoot through the ash clouds. The screams resonated around them and into their very souls.

"It is as though Hades himself has come to punish your foe," she shivered as she turned to the Queen.

"I almost pity the man…"

[Kasnian Palace: End OST]

Already her responsibilities were at her door, for her UN Rep was informing her that an Emergency UN Meeting is called regarding Revan's Invasion.

"My lady!" he called out in desperation at her marching back, "the Global Community will demand an answer to what had happened today. Many will call for his head!"

The moment she heard this, she whipped around, the Justice Leaguers and UN Rep saw the fire of a Ruler already alight in her eyes. With a fury Audrey defended Revan.

"If they wish to crucify the man who saved not only my people, but theirs as well, they will have to get past me first!" she snarled, it was unfamiliar to those who knew the party girl, but Wonder Woman could only smile as she saw the Party Girl was now a Competent Queen. One that would not cow to others.

"That man saved my life and the lives of my people!" she roared, "How can so many fools be running their countries?"

The UN Rep could not help but nod, "Of course my lady, but still...they will demand answers, perhaps request he provide testimony to the events."

Before she could retort, Director Fury came to her side, "He is right, your Highness, this should have been handled by SHIELD and UN forces, not an outside entity that none know either origin or intent."

Seeing the fire in the Royal's eyes he deeped it proper to clarify, "I appreciate his efforts, but the Global Community is afraid, and it is my duty to answer to and protect people across the world from internal and now external threats."

He then rubbed his still working eye, "And right now, based on his unknown force's capabilities alone, this man is perhaps among the most dangerous men alive."

At this, she whipped around, "Dangerous!? He-"

Before she cut herself off, knowing that screaming would no one any good at the moment. And so with a sigh she relented, "Very well, I will speak with him on it when he returns, but for now...I would see Vandal Savage as my feet."

And so Hero, Agent, and Queen awaited his return, and before long Revan had dropped the scorched Savage at the feet of Queen Audrey. His body was twitching and shaking and his eyes were wide in pain. Immortal he may be, it made sense considering he had been engulfed in flames a short while ago.

That did not, however, explain the lightning scars that were slowly vanishing from his flesh, nor the electricity dancing across his hair and his fingers. All such considerations were kept back however as Revan addresses the Queen.

"My lady," he spoke, "I believe you wished to have words with your husband?"

Throwing him at her feet, he stepped back for them to speak. For a moment Audrey stared down at the man with nothing but disgust and contempt. Any more ferocity in her eyes and both Wonder Woman and Batman would have expected Heat Vision to tear through him.

"Get that thing out of my sight…" she snarled to her guards who stepped forward, "at this however, Savage composed himself and his wicked grin returned."

"Do your worst child...I'm immortal," he snarled, though a grin met his own.

"And judging from what I heard," she said with a grin, "immortals can suffer a great deal of pain. Perhaps we will find a way to bring you down."

As Savage was taken away, the Queen made perhaps a sudden request to all, "I would speak with Revan and his personnel in privacy."

There was a great deal of hesitation at this request, but after a moment, Diana turned to see behind her firm stature was a quiet plea to Diana. And so, with a small nod and smile with Wonder Woman, Diana led everyone out.

Though the Dark Knight was certain to leave a bug upon one of the unknown soldiers as they left.

Soon only Revan, the Mandalorians, and her own personal guard stayed in the room as Revan stood at the base of the stairs as Audrey sat upon her reclaimed throne. After taking a deep breath, the newly crowned Queen spoke.

"It appears I am in the debt of a man who's name I don't even know," she began with a soft smile, "This throne would still hold that treacherous monster had you and the heroes not intervened."

The armored and cloaked man before her only shook his head, "No debt to be paid My Lady, too many a tyrant has attempted to claim dominance through lives taken. I merely had the means to stop him with the least consequence and thus took action."

"As for my name: I go by Revan," he added simply, a name that sparked a thought in her mind.

"Ah yes," she nodded, "the Revenant, the vengeful spirit returned from Death to exact vengeance for those wronged."

She leaned back and spoke with a knowing voice, "And yet...I sense there is much more to the man before me."

Revan and the soldiers at his back were silent, and so she continued, "I sense a fellow ruler before me…" causing the man to shift softly. She was on the right track.

"I saw the footage of the soldiers of the American Blizzard, your own efforts at the Battle of New York, and of course the elite soldiers at your back," she listed, "Those alone place you at a place of respected leadership."

Revan still remained silent, "And yet...the way you spoke in the Operations Room. You spoke not from vaunted wisdom but from the experience of such burdens."

Revan was silent, a mild respect for the woman who was only a girl a few days ago, "Am I wrong?"

Revan was silent for a moment, though perhaps this was a blunder as he forgot something crucial...he had Mandalorians at his back.

He did not wish to reveal too much...but the Mandalorians were known for two things: their skills in battle, and their bravado. But for those who knew…that included perhaps a lack of subtlety as well.

Something that even the Mandalore at his back seemed to not be invulnerable against as she answered.

"More like a ruler of rulers," such a phrase caused Audrey's brow raises in both surprise and concern while Revan turned to Mandalore the Avenger. Already her helmet had been removed so that the two women could lock eyes.

"I stand as a leader of my people," she explained, "and yet I will gladly follow this man wherever he may lead, as do many others of different backgrounds, cultures, and beliefs."

Revan turns to the Mandalore who only looked to him with a smile, "He has earned my faith and my loyalty not by his titles, nor political grace, but by his capability to both stand by his beliefs and convictions not from some gilded throne, but by being the first to take action."

Audrey hums for a moment before smiling, "An Imperator then."

Revan looks up to the Queen and after a moment nods before answering coldly, "If that is the role I must play…"

Audrey again was pondering his words, "Must?"

Revan was silent, and Shae knew she had risked saying too much judging by the sudden look he had given her, and so she too remained silent. Though she knew he appreciated her words all the same, as his posture seemed to shift softly when she had spoken.

[Arrow OST: Returning Home/Scars]

Audrey too is quiet for a moment, before smiling softly...yet sadly. With a knowing smile she finally waved the guards away and as soon as they were gone, she spoke again.

"So...this is what became of the kind-hearted boy," she said softly.

Though the Mandalorians were not familiar with the phrase, the sudden shift in Revan's posture suddenly put them on edge as they now understood it could only mean one thing…

She knew!

Though the rank and file had only got a minor amount of details...Shae Vizla had made it clear to every faction in Revan's Alliance was that his privacy, while not permanent, was paramount to the success of their mission.

And so like all others, Shae was quick to act. The sight of these soldiers gripping and readying weapons was chilling to Audrey, but with a raised hand from Revan they froze in place. A very tense moment passed as she suddenly realized her words could have had deadly consequences.

[0:45]

Lowering his hand, the robed being only said two words, "Leave Us."

Even Audrey and Shae felt a sudden chill at that tone, even through the mechanical growl masking his voice, it's own tone held no debate as he demanded their obedience. And so the soldiers all departed the room, though they stood guard outside the door.

As silence came across the room, Revan only stated one word, "How?"

Seeing that she was not in immediate danger, Audrey stood from her throne and began to descend the stairs. Before long she stood on the same level as Revan. Though he towered over her, and she had seen the kind of carnage he had wrought...she felt no fear.

"Come with me," was all she said softly, turning and walking back through the side door of the throne room. Though she did not look back, she could hear the boots that marched behind her.

Though all artificial light had been snuffed out, the Moon itself had cast it luminance through the scarred halls. And though the bodies had been removed she could still feel the air of death around her.

"My mother and father used to chase me down these halls," she shared, almost as if lost in thought, "I was a handful, even then, but oh how I loved playing with them. Even as King and Queen they made time for me"

She turned back to the towering shadow that followed her, "They spoiled me you know? I imagine that made my party days all the more wild."

Still he was silent, wondering what her point was, "Yet even as a little girl, I dreamed of the day that I would be married and become queen of my people."

Her eyes caught a cracked mirror which reflected the moon's light upon gems of her wedding dress. She paused a moment as she suddenly realized that tonight was supposed to be her wedding night. The sudden brave face she held suddenly fell as tears fell down her face.

In spite of her relief to be rid of the monster, she still felt...sorrow that the night she had dreamed of as a little girl was turned into such a horrible nightmare.

"A marriage so very different from this one…" she admittedly in a sad tone.

[1:40]

Then she looked to the man who stood behind her, glimpses of his scarred armor reflected the mirror's light as the rest remained in shadow. If someone were to look upon the pair they would perhaps be compared to an angel and demon respectively.

A demon that had saved the angel from her shackles.

"A fate that you, my guardian saved me from," she put emphasis upon the word to reaffirm that she did indeed know who was behind that helmet. Yet this was not to mock him, in fact her smile only seemed to brighten at the thought.

After a moment pondering that thought, she turned and turned to look down the damaged halls.

"Now these halls will never be the same…" she said sorrowfully as she traced a place in the stone that now had a molten gash, now cool to the touch, "but they also will bear the marks and memories of the day that my friend charged into hell to save me."

Revan continued to stand there silently, though his mind was racing.

How did she know?

Turning the corner, Audrey finally led him to her private chambers and opened the door. The fires in the far distance, though they had died down to only a soft glow, still remained in the distance, contrasting the full moon in the sky.

"There will be no prying ears or eyes here," she said as the man walked past her and into the room as she closed the door. She turned back to look at the man who stood in the shadows, his hood and robes concealing him from the moonlight with only a few beams glancing off his armor.

She watched the man stand there like a shadow in her chamber, before breaking off to step onto the balcony where Revan finally spoke, he only repeated his question.

"How?"

Audrey smiled, walking over to lean back against the balcony so she looked up to the man who only stared at the place where the meteor struck.

"It's strange," she admitted, "from the moment you put that helmet on you seem a completely different person, even your accent takes upon a more...proper dialect. The closest thing I can compare it to would be British."

Revan thought on that...it would be the closest thing to compare to Core World's dialect. He had taken up the accent so that his voice was better understood to those who listened and to mask his nature as an outsider. Yet it was nearly second nature now whenever the helmet was upon his head.

She slowly placed a hand upon his chest, feeling the gashes and scars in the armor, "Your words of wisdom, however, before we fired that meteor...were near identical to the kind man who encouraged me atop the Eiffel Tower."

She felt him twitch as she continued, "They were kind, comforting, yet also reinforced that I must act in the best way to serve my people. To take action as the protector and servant of my people, not simply in the manners in which I am expected to behave."

Revan internally commended her for her keen mind...before he saw a small smirk come across her face as she teased, "That...and you are the only one man has ever dared calling me 'Little Princess.'"

At this Revan's head snapped to her, his reaction clearly displaying shock at his mistake. Such a reaction caused her to giggle loudly until she caught that he was silently ridiculing himself. She stepped closer and rest a hand on his arm to get his attention.

"Hey...hey..." she cooed, "do not berate yourself. I feel you do enough of that for a great many things which I may never know."

"But please, not this," she said calmly, "Never berate yourself for trying to help a friend in her darkest hour."

For a time the warrior before her was silent before turning away and retreating inside. She watched as he planted himself like a statue next to the fireplace, his form rigid and firm like he was at attention. After a moment, she followed after him cautiously, watching as he stared into the small fire. Revan was akin to a dark monolith reflecting against the blaze: still, silent, and yet…

To the Queen she did not see a Dark Lord who had only moments ago torn apart her halls and left mangled, scorched bodies in his wake. For some reason, she could only imagine the battles Diana alluded to which marked his armor with scars and torn his robes and hood.

She imagined it was once beautiful and polished to a shine, like a knight of some mighty and prestigious Order.

But whatever he had faced had taken its toll on more than the amor. Not to mention the scars on his own flesh which the armor could not defend him from.

Pressing both her hands against his scarred armor she traced the many imperfections inflicted upon the armor, even tracing a terrible gash across his helm's faceplate that resided over his right eye.

"Diana described the kind of battles it would take to create the kind of man capable of the carnage downstairs," she whispered with tearful eyes, "what kind of hell did you march into to make you into this?"

For a moment Revan was silent, turning his head to the fire, "It was...nothing..."

At this she grew steadily concerned, he was just about to say it when he once more locked down. She had seen this before, whenever her father thought of something horrid in his own past. Yet this man was different, her father shared the burden with his closest friends and comrades.

"And your allies," she added, "did they march there with you?"

Revan still did not move his gaze, "All gone now...gone for a long time."

She had seen the scars on his face, and in spite of them she had seen a kind and friendly smile, a joyous laughter, and a warm, gentle.

Now...she needed to see it again.

To thank not the faceless warrior, but the kind man she had met only hours ago who had taken up arms in her defense. She stepped in front of the fire, ignoring the heat at her back to look up at the warrior. There was a considerable silence with only the crackling fire filling their ears, before the Queen mustered up her courage.

For as much as she needed to thank him, she could sense that for the sake of his soul, he needed a moment, just a single moment….

Where he could lower his guard and feel peace.

[Arrow: Oliver Returns/Thea Learns Secret 1:50]

Slowly Audrey reached up toward the helmet, only to have his gloved hands snap up and stop her inches before she could touch the scarred and scraped metal. Audrey looked into that tinted visor that hid the blue eyes she knew were behind them.

She could feel the grip on her own wrists were strong, like she had been caught in stone. And yet they did not crush her. They simply kept her in place.

Seeing this, she smiled softly and whispered, "How long has it been, since the boy behind this armored shell was comforted?"

From behind the helmet she heard him grunt in surprise at the question, though the hands that held her seemed to twitch answering her question. She spoke again.

"Since he was held?"

"Since someone genuinely thanked him?"

"Since someone was strong for him?"

Though Revan said nothing, his hands shaking as they held her own. Such a reaction made her frown in concern. She had struck the weak spot in his armor, by what she feared to be the questions that no one ever asked of him. She could feel the conflict in his hands, and though she hated to push and press through his weakness...she felt...compelled to continue from something she could not explain.

Maybe it was her own need for comfort that she felt a kindred soul that needed the same, or perhaps she had seen something that none others had atop the Tower of Paris when he seemed to melt into her hand.

With a gentle whisper she whispered, "It's okay...I don't know how long it has been since you could truly accept that, nor do I know what hell you will face tomorrow...but in this moment, everything is okay."

"Rest now," she cooed, "My warrior...my Warden...my Guardian."

Revan was still for a moment, before he released her and pressed two fingers to a button on his helmet hidden somewhere beneath his hood. She heard a sudden hiss of air as it was depressurized.

She watched his shaking hand as he tried to reach for his helmet...but even now he seemed hesitant. Just as she stood on the tower, he once again seemed unable to peel off the armor that protected him alone.

Yet this was quite a literal sense.

[2:40]

And so she reached up once more, pulling back his hood before slowly grabbing the helmet. Even rising onto her toes, Revan had to tilt his head forward for her to cast off the hood before removing the helmet.

A sudden chill washed over her as she looked upon Revan Unmasked.

The sight made her shiver, for though she saw the same man she knew to be underneath the helmet...she very nearly did not recognize him.

For though his features were the same, the way they rest upon his face could not have been more different. The once humble, joyous, and friendly man was replaced by a man of power. His jaw was firm, his lips were tight, his brow was furrowed, in that moment she truly saw a fellow ruler.

Yet perhaps that which truly caused the chill in her heart...were those eyes that now seemed to peer into her very soul.

Gone were the calm blue she had seen only a few days ago...replaced by demonic, sulfuric yellow, ringed by a menacing crimson. These eyes were unnatural, predatory. These eyes were vicious, cruel, ferocious...a killer's eyes.

These eyes locked with her own, as if reading her emotions and thoughts without a hint of surprise. She could feel them upon analyzing her every movement, and though she did not feel violated, she perhaps never felt so naked...vulnerable.

Yet in spite of the shock, she still saw the man who had shown her kindness. For it was these hellish eyes that had turned against her enemies and directed it's hellish wrath upon them.

[3:07]

Slowly she lowered her hands, and in a moment that was perhaps of a spontaneous nature, the helmet slipped from her grasp before suddenly wrapping themselves around him in a warm, vice-like hug.

Neither of them registered the resounding boom that echoed in the room as the helmet struck the wooden floor, for such an action caused Revan to lose his footing and fall into the large chair behind them with Audrey falling on top of her.

"Thank you," she whimpered, finally breaking from the persona brave queen, returning to the scared girl she had been only hours ago. Revan was stunned by the sudden reaction. Apart from his family, it had been three centuries since he had been given such a warm embrace.

And never with such a genuine sense of gratitude and relief as that which he felt washing over her. He could hear her weep into his armor plating, whispering thank you repeatedly, as if afraid that the moment she stopped the nightmare would begin again.

Slowly, his own arms wrapped around her in a comforting gesture. It was stiff and unfamiliar, but it too was sincere as he felt her shuddering shoulders slowly relax and lose their tension. After a moment she looked up and to her surprise...those hellish eyes were gone, replaced by those familiar blue she had looked upon days ago.

Reaching up she placed a hand on his face, watching him once again close his eyes and become enveloped in her touch. It was in that moment, she saw him truly at peace. Such a sight made her smile as she gently stroked the scarred skin. Whatever tormented his soul seemed to be banished while she held his focus.

She felt a sudden urge that she acted upon, and with a deep to strengthen her resolve, she met her lips with his.

She heard him grunt in surprise, but he did not pull away, and so she deepened the kiss. A small time passed before she broke the kiss and kept her face down in embarrassment. Such emotion faded as she felt his arms slowly wrapped around her.

Their eyes met for a moment as they looked to each other. That moment seemed to stretch for eternity before they both gave in, resuming and deepening the kiss as the fire began to fade away. Leaving only embers to provide a faint glow for the two who took comfort in each other.

For the moment, at least for this evening...both their hellish burdens were freed from their shoulders.

AN: And so the Kasnia Arc has come to an end. The Dark Lord has made his mark upon both the World Stage, as well as the Underworld now that he has crushed the secret Leader of the Light's initial plan for world dominance!

And even a little vulnerable moments and romance between Revan and the Queen who knows his secret identity!

Sorry ya little pervs who were hoping for a lemon haha. To be honest, I've never written one so not much chance there haha. But I felt that scene was crucial to show perhaps the one thing that would save not only Revan but also pull him from his Darker Nature.

But no, Queen Audrey will not be his final pairing, this would be a...let's call it a moment of emotion and compassion for the two.

The final pairing is still open, but I am thinking of him dating around (Add a little extra drama between both human and superhuman communities hehehehe picture Spidey pissed off at Revan or Warden dating MJ or Gwen? Or Batman's anger at the Dark Lord dating Batgirl?)

So I'm open to all thoughts.

But please let me know what you think of the chapter!