Title: Fellow Travelers (2/??)
Author: Allaine
Email: eac2nd@yahoo.com
Disclaimers: DC Comics, Cartoon Network, Bruce Timm, the JLA animated series, etc, etc. No profit intended from my infringement.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Up to the JL episode "Hereafter". Also occurs after the first eleven chapters of the _Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Bride_ fanfic.
Feedback: Please, please, please!!
Summary: Hawkgirl encounters three women, each like her perhaps forever cut off from their homes, and she begins to wonder if she might be happier with them. Takes place in the animated-JL "Always a Bridesmaid" ficverse.
_____________________
Chapter 2
"Are you sure you want to travel separately?" Hawkgirl asked again as she landed the jet in a New York park clearing where they often landed.
"We won't be staying long," Maxima replied, "and to be honest, the three of us have quite different interests. Besides, knowing Koriand'r, she wants to get her flying time in, and it's not like we can join her."
Hawkgirl looked at Koriand'r. "You can fly?" she asked.
Koriand'r nodded. "All Tamaraneans can," she said. "With a few exceptions," she added quietly. "Our bodies are capable of channeling solar energy, and the conversion of that energy allows us to fly. I've been to several planets, and it's always a surprise when I see how few people are able to experience it. Obviously you know what I'm talking about."
"If you're asking me to imagine what not being able to fly is like for humans," Hawkgirl said honestly, "then I can't, it's true. Well, since you're all new to this planet, I've asked two other members of the Justice League to act as your chaperones." She glanced out the window as she lowered the ramp. "And as usual, the fastest man in the world is late," she muttered.
Diana waved as the four stepped onto the grass. "Your sun is warm," Koriand'r observed, "but it does not burn as hotly as it does on Tamaran."
"Will that affect your flight capabilities?" Hawkgirl asked.
"I doubt it," Koriand'r responded.
"These are our visitors?" Diana asked as she approached, but before Hawkgirl could answer, a red streak arrived beside Diana.
"Sorry I'm late," Flash said, "but I . . ." His gaze had taken in all three women next to Hawkgirl, and while he was appreciative of Maxima and Raven, his eyes locked in on Koriand'r. And he stared.
Hawkgirl glared at him as she moved in front of Koriand'r. "These are Koriand'r, Maxima, and Raven," she said, gesturing to each in turn. "They're visiting Earth briefly before continuing on their journey, and we've offered to help show them around. Since Koriand'r can fly, I will go with her."
Flash was about to speak, and probably complain, but she didn't give him the chance. "Raven, this is Wonder Woman," she continued. "She'll spend the afternoon with you."
"It's very nice meeting you," Diana said. "Raven, is it? You'd better call me Diana. It's not quite as big a mouthful."
"Thank you," Raven replied. "But I don't mean to impose."
"It's not an imposition," Diana assured her.
"And Maxima, this is Flash," Hawkgirl added.
The two looked at each other appraisingly. "I suppose he'll do. Although he is a little on the skinny side," Maxima decided.
"You're forward. I like that," Flash replied, grinning.
He'd better, Hawkgirl thought. "You ready?" she asked Koriand'r.
"Now I am," Koriand'r said, basking in the sun's rays. She stretched her arms upward and floated a few inches in the air. Her bosom shook up and down briefly.
Flash whistled.
"Let's get out of here," Hawkgirl said, cringing inwardly as Koriand'r flushed. "Sorry about that," she told her once they were above the trees.
"It's all right," Koriand'r responded, sighing. "One planet I was on preferred their women to be small on top and big down below. It was a refreshing experience," she admitted.
Hawkgirl chuckled as the two flew out of sight.
Flash set his sights anew on Maxima. "Your chariot awaits," he said, offering her his hand.
She looked at it and sniffed. "I can walk perfectly well, thank you."
"You know, I don't think any pick-up lines are going to work on you," Flash said thoughtfully.
"I beg your pardon?" she began to say, but then he literally picked her up and vanished with her.
Diana shook her head. "Sorry you had to witness that. Flash is a good man, but his tongue is faster than his brain sometimes."
"Sometimes Maxima's tongue and brain act independently of each other," Raven replied.
Diana almost laughed, but she saw by the look on Raven's face that it was intended as a statement of fact. She didn't appear to be the kind of woman who joked often. "Is there any type of place in particular you'd be interested in seeing?" she asked.
Raven hesitated. "The . . . New York Public Library?"
Diana was startled. "You've heard of it?!"
"Hasn't everybody?"
She wondered if the library knew it had an interstellar reputation as well as a stellar one. "All right then, the library it is," she said.
_________________________
"Put - me - down!"
Maxima rocked him solidly across the face with her fist, and he dropped her squarely on her rear as he fell backwards.
"Quite an arm you've got there," he said, rubbing his jaw.
"That was why I was interested in Superman once," Maxima told him as she got to her feet. "He proved to be even stronger than I."
"Uh-huh," Flash replied. "Well, anyway, it doesn't matter, because we're here."
"Where?"
"Like I said, your chariot." He pointed behind her.
She turned around. "You've got to be kidding."
"She's a beauty, isn't she?" Flash asked, proudly beaming at his van.
Maxima looked away. "I can speak for all women when I tell you that monstrosity is definitely not a 'she'."
__________________________
"So you don't even know where your home is?" Koriand'r asked. "That's horrible, Shayera."
Hawkgirl shrugged. "I miss it every day," she freely admitted. "But Earth has become my second home, and the Justice League is my family now. And I can't complain. As far as I know, the Thanagarians are still out there. Both Superman and J'onn are the last of their race. Superman's birth planet of Krypton doesn't even exist any longer, and there are no more traces of J'onn's civilization on Mars."
She sat on the edge of the roof they'd landed on. The street was so many stories below them that it looked like the narrowest of stripes. "In fact, when you think about it, most of the League have lost their first family in one fashion or another. Maybe that's why we have remained together. But like I said, I can't feel sorry for myself. I'll find Thanagar some day." The look on her face suggested that she _could_ feel sorry for herself, and that the chance of returning home was all too slim.
Koriand'r sat next to her. "I wonder if I will call some planet my second home, too," she said pensively, a change from her vivacity.
"What happened to you on Tamaran?" Hawkgirl asked. "You said you used to be a princess. What went wrong? An usurper? A civil war?" She paused. "If you don't mind me prying."
"No, no, you're not prying," Koriand'r told her. "I've told my sad story on a half-dozen planets, embarrassed myself in the hope of moving someone with enough power to help me. After telling me about Thanagar, it's the least I can do in return."
She looked out over the city. "I was a sacrifice," she finally said.
Hawkgirl's eyes widened. "A sacrifice? I don't understand, Koriand'r."
"When Maxima mentioned last night that Almerac and Tamaran were under treaty," Koriand'r explained, "you might have noticed a hesitation on her part. Almerac technically doesn't have a treaty with my planet. Rather it's with something called the Citadel."
"The Citadel?"
Koriand'r nodded. "There are twenty-two planets in our star system. All but one are vassal states of this Citadel. Only Tamaran remains independent, but if the Citadel ever chose to crush us, they probably could."
"Tamaraneans are free with their emotions, and we can be quick to anger, but we are a peace-loving race. From what you've told me, in fact," Koriand'r said, "we're like humans in many ways. Anyway, one day the Citadel invaded, and my parents were given the choice of turning me over as a prisoner, or seeing Tamaran overrun." Koriand'r closed her eyes. "They had no choice."
"But why?" Hawkgirl asked, horrified. "What did they want with you?"
Koriand'r smiled now, but it was a bitter smile. "Remember when I told you that all but a few Tamaraneans can fly? My older sister, Komand'r, is one of the few, and so I was named heir to the throne. I learned not long after I became the Citadel's prisoner that she had arranged for the exchange, she resented me so. And so, I became a Citadel slave for six long years," she said softly.
Hawkgirl clenched her fists, feeling instinctively angered by her story. "You escaped finally, though."
Her smile was more genuine this time. "Raven saved me," she said calmly. "She has various powers that always astound me, you see. Mainly she's an empath, which is probably a big reason why she's a healer. She feels other people's emotions. One day she had passage on a space freighter - even then fleeing her father, without any kind of real destination. She told me later that as her ship approached the planet I was being held on, my pain was so great that it called to her across the atmosphere." Koriand'r looked up into the sun, and unsurprisingly it did not blind her. "She appeared to me from the shadows, and I thought that Death had come for me at last. Instead Raven healed me, and she took me away, and she has become my truest friend."
Hawkgirl nodded. "I can believe that. I've seen the two of you interact. But I can also see why your search hasn't been successful. It's not one planet we're talking about here. You would have to go against an entire system of planets."
Koriand'r sighed and spread her hands. "You're kind not to point out that even the one planet would be a great task for most. But yes, you're right. Maxima says I should lie, get them on the hook, as she puts it, for a little, and then say it will take more than I thought. But I can't lure someone into a conflict with the Citadel through deception. So I continue with my fool's errand. Perhaps I'm not even looking for help any more. Maybe, like Raven, I'm looking for refuge."
Hawkgirl watched her silently. "And maybe something can still be done," she replied.
____________________________________
"Let be be finale of seem," Raven recited in a whisper. "The only emperor is the emperor of ice cream." She closed the book. "I'd heard it spoken so many times. It's odd seeing it written down."
Diana had observed her carefully as Raven, after an initial phase of wonderment at the massive book-filled structure, sought out specific authors and texts. "What's your connection to Earth?" she asked quietly.
Raven became still, the book of Wallace Stevens poems inches from its place on the shelf. "I have never been on your planet," she said.
"Perhaps not, but you know someone who has," Diana replied. "There's no way you could be familiar with this building, and certainly not the stories within it, unless you've met someone from here." She reached a hand out toward Raven, and though she shrank away, Diana touched her shoulder. "It's not something you should be ashamed or afraid about. I just want to know."
"I'm not ashamed of it," Raven answered softly. "It's just not something I enjoy talking about."
Diana let her hand fall away. "But it's true. You do have a connection to this place."
Raven nodded. "My . . . my mother. She was born on Earth."
"Then you're human too," Diana realized.
"No," Raven corrected her, her face twisting. "I'm different."
"I understand you have powers," Diana told her, "and I know some people with powers want to be normal."
"It's not my powers," Raven said. "They're connected, but only because the thing that makes me different gives me my powers." She glanced around. "This isn't private enough," she continued, even though that section of the library sounded as still as a cemetery. "Could you meet me on the roof?"
Before Diana could answer, Raven vanished in a thin puff of black smoke.
Diana looked around, but there was no sign of her. "Impressive," she said before she quickly exited the building and flew to the top.
She found Raven waiting for her, legs crossed meditatively, her hood hiding her features as her face looked down at her lap. "Is this better?" Diana asked.
"I suppose," Raven said indifferently. "My father is a demon."
"I'm sorry, what?"
"My mother was lured into an Earth cult where she was indoctrinated in the belief that she was meant to be the bride of a being known as Trigon," Raven told her. "It was only when Trigon came to her that she understood his true nature. The shock almost drove her mad. She managed to escape from the cult while she was carrying me, however, and eventually she found refuge in a place known as Azarath, where she gave birth to me."
Diana slowly digested this. "So you're half-demon, and this cult is looking for you."
"They don't have to," Raven said, shaking her head. "I am a living connection to Trigon. I am to be his conduit to this plane of existence. If I let him through, his powers are such that he could overwhelm entire star systems, perhaps even the universe. So I hear his voice in my head. Even now he calls to me with a siren's song, promising me the world." Raven looked at Diana forlornly. "I do not want what he offers me, and yet he is a part of me, and that part wants to yield to his allure. It is only because of years of teachings on Azarath that I am able to resist."
"Then why didn't you stay on Azarath?" Diana asked.
"I was afraid for them," Raven confessed. "If Trigon took control of me while I was living there, I would have killed them all, including my mother. I needed to find someplace far away. I am alone, you see. I cannot even permit myself to feel emotions. To feel emotions, as I was taught, is to lower my defenses. Therefore I must remain cold, clinical, logical."
Diana nodded. "So how do you explain Koriand'r? And Maxima?"
"Maxima is merely a means to an end," Raven said quickly. "My ability to teleport is utterly useless for long-distance travel. I need a ship for that. Although," she added quietly, "Maxima is a better person than she makes herself out to be. I am grateful to her."
"You didn't answer me about Koriand'r, though. I saw you together earlier. She obviously thinks of you as a friend."
Raven seemed to grow more subdued, if that was possible. "Koriand'r was in so much pain when I first met her. I could not abandon her. And now . . . I do not know. She is probably not safe with me. I should part from her company. But I cannot. She - she lets me feel alive in a way that my father seems unable to take advantage of. I am an empath, Diana, and her personal warmth seems to warm me as well." Her face grew almost frustrated. "I violate my teachings by remaining with her. And yet if I left, I would feel as alone as I did when I left my home. So I stay," she added simply.
Diana moved closer. "Do Koriand'r and Maxima know the truth about you?"
"Maxima does," Raven said. "I told her when I first came to Almerac. Every planet I have fled to, I have felt obligated to tell them of the danger they were in if I was permitted to stay. Koriand'r knows some of it, but she believes I will never yield to my father. I wish I had her confidence," she sighed. "But neither of them know my mother is from your planet."
Then she looked curiously at Diana. "You miss her too, don't you?" she asked softly.
Diana blinked. "Who?"
"Your mother. I can sense it within you. You miss your mother, and your home as well." Raven's look became one of compassion, a look Diana felt sure Raven could have seen on her own face. "I am sorry if I have offended you, but I felt it strongly. It saddens me that we have this in common."
Shaking her head, Diana rubbed at her eye. "No, I'm - I'm not offended. It's just uncanny how you were able to sense that so quickly." She looked at Raven. "Is that all you sense about me?" she asked. "That I miss my home?"
"No," Raven replied, and her sadness lightened. "You miss someone else that you love, but you will see her again soon. And you have many more friends than I who are special to you."
Diana pondered Raven's choice of words. "You sense my love for Audrey?"
"It is very strong, Diana. As strong as anything else."
"What do you think will happen to you now?" Diana asked.
Raven shrugged. "I will leave with the others. Perhaps one day Koriand'r will find a home. She wants that home to be Tamaran, but I can sense her doubts. Wherever she ends up, maybe I can stay there. Otherwise I will have to go elsewhere."
Diana stood up. "Come with me, Raven. There's something I want to show you inside."
Surprised, Raven took the hand that was offered her and stood up. Then she allowed Diana to pick her up and fly with her back to street level.
With Raven following behind, Diana eventually found the book she was looking for. "The Greek plays are an essential part of learning on my island," Diana said, opening the book. "Did your mother tell you about them on Azarath?"
"No," Raven said. "She prefers poetry."
"There's a play called _Oedipus at Colonus_," Diana explained, "where a man has been cast from his home for a crime he was ignorant of. And he has wandered all over Greece, but no one will grant him permission to remain in their lands because of the stain of his crime. In the play, however, he is taken in by the Athenians and made a citizen before he dies." She offered Raven the book. "Raven, it's not in my power to decide whether you stay or go. It's not in anyone's power other than your own. As far as I know, you cannot be compelled to leave Earth except by force. And I swear to you that if you wanted to make this planet your home, and someone else wanted you to leave because of who your father is," Diana promised, "I will fight for your right to stay. I don't believe I deserved to be banished from my home, and you don't deserve to be a wanderer any longer."
Raven looked at the book in her hands quietly. "Thank you," she whispered. "When Koriand'r and Maxima leave, I will be going with them, but your words give me hope that somewhere else, someone will say such things to me."
Diana nodded. "Very well, but if you change your mind, let Earth be your Athens."
" . . . Do they have good food here? I have not eaten in some time, and some of the recipes my mother Arella cooked for me in Azarath were from Earth," Raven said tentatively.
"In New York, I'm sure we can find something," Diana replied with a smile.
To be continued . . .
Author: Allaine
Email: eac2nd@yahoo.com
Disclaimers: DC Comics, Cartoon Network, Bruce Timm, the JLA animated series, etc, etc. No profit intended from my infringement.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Up to the JL episode "Hereafter". Also occurs after the first eleven chapters of the _Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Bride_ fanfic.
Feedback: Please, please, please!!
Summary: Hawkgirl encounters three women, each like her perhaps forever cut off from their homes, and she begins to wonder if she might be happier with them. Takes place in the animated-JL "Always a Bridesmaid" ficverse.
_____________________
Chapter 2
"Are you sure you want to travel separately?" Hawkgirl asked again as she landed the jet in a New York park clearing where they often landed.
"We won't be staying long," Maxima replied, "and to be honest, the three of us have quite different interests. Besides, knowing Koriand'r, she wants to get her flying time in, and it's not like we can join her."
Hawkgirl looked at Koriand'r. "You can fly?" she asked.
Koriand'r nodded. "All Tamaraneans can," she said. "With a few exceptions," she added quietly. "Our bodies are capable of channeling solar energy, and the conversion of that energy allows us to fly. I've been to several planets, and it's always a surprise when I see how few people are able to experience it. Obviously you know what I'm talking about."
"If you're asking me to imagine what not being able to fly is like for humans," Hawkgirl said honestly, "then I can't, it's true. Well, since you're all new to this planet, I've asked two other members of the Justice League to act as your chaperones." She glanced out the window as she lowered the ramp. "And as usual, the fastest man in the world is late," she muttered.
Diana waved as the four stepped onto the grass. "Your sun is warm," Koriand'r observed, "but it does not burn as hotly as it does on Tamaran."
"Will that affect your flight capabilities?" Hawkgirl asked.
"I doubt it," Koriand'r responded.
"These are our visitors?" Diana asked as she approached, but before Hawkgirl could answer, a red streak arrived beside Diana.
"Sorry I'm late," Flash said, "but I . . ." His gaze had taken in all three women next to Hawkgirl, and while he was appreciative of Maxima and Raven, his eyes locked in on Koriand'r. And he stared.
Hawkgirl glared at him as she moved in front of Koriand'r. "These are Koriand'r, Maxima, and Raven," she said, gesturing to each in turn. "They're visiting Earth briefly before continuing on their journey, and we've offered to help show them around. Since Koriand'r can fly, I will go with her."
Flash was about to speak, and probably complain, but she didn't give him the chance. "Raven, this is Wonder Woman," she continued. "She'll spend the afternoon with you."
"It's very nice meeting you," Diana said. "Raven, is it? You'd better call me Diana. It's not quite as big a mouthful."
"Thank you," Raven replied. "But I don't mean to impose."
"It's not an imposition," Diana assured her.
"And Maxima, this is Flash," Hawkgirl added.
The two looked at each other appraisingly. "I suppose he'll do. Although he is a little on the skinny side," Maxima decided.
"You're forward. I like that," Flash replied, grinning.
He'd better, Hawkgirl thought. "You ready?" she asked Koriand'r.
"Now I am," Koriand'r said, basking in the sun's rays. She stretched her arms upward and floated a few inches in the air. Her bosom shook up and down briefly.
Flash whistled.
"Let's get out of here," Hawkgirl said, cringing inwardly as Koriand'r flushed. "Sorry about that," she told her once they were above the trees.
"It's all right," Koriand'r responded, sighing. "One planet I was on preferred their women to be small on top and big down below. It was a refreshing experience," she admitted.
Hawkgirl chuckled as the two flew out of sight.
Flash set his sights anew on Maxima. "Your chariot awaits," he said, offering her his hand.
She looked at it and sniffed. "I can walk perfectly well, thank you."
"You know, I don't think any pick-up lines are going to work on you," Flash said thoughtfully.
"I beg your pardon?" she began to say, but then he literally picked her up and vanished with her.
Diana shook her head. "Sorry you had to witness that. Flash is a good man, but his tongue is faster than his brain sometimes."
"Sometimes Maxima's tongue and brain act independently of each other," Raven replied.
Diana almost laughed, but she saw by the look on Raven's face that it was intended as a statement of fact. She didn't appear to be the kind of woman who joked often. "Is there any type of place in particular you'd be interested in seeing?" she asked.
Raven hesitated. "The . . . New York Public Library?"
Diana was startled. "You've heard of it?!"
"Hasn't everybody?"
She wondered if the library knew it had an interstellar reputation as well as a stellar one. "All right then, the library it is," she said.
_________________________
"Put - me - down!"
Maxima rocked him solidly across the face with her fist, and he dropped her squarely on her rear as he fell backwards.
"Quite an arm you've got there," he said, rubbing his jaw.
"That was why I was interested in Superman once," Maxima told him as she got to her feet. "He proved to be even stronger than I."
"Uh-huh," Flash replied. "Well, anyway, it doesn't matter, because we're here."
"Where?"
"Like I said, your chariot." He pointed behind her.
She turned around. "You've got to be kidding."
"She's a beauty, isn't she?" Flash asked, proudly beaming at his van.
Maxima looked away. "I can speak for all women when I tell you that monstrosity is definitely not a 'she'."
__________________________
"So you don't even know where your home is?" Koriand'r asked. "That's horrible, Shayera."
Hawkgirl shrugged. "I miss it every day," she freely admitted. "But Earth has become my second home, and the Justice League is my family now. And I can't complain. As far as I know, the Thanagarians are still out there. Both Superman and J'onn are the last of their race. Superman's birth planet of Krypton doesn't even exist any longer, and there are no more traces of J'onn's civilization on Mars."
She sat on the edge of the roof they'd landed on. The street was so many stories below them that it looked like the narrowest of stripes. "In fact, when you think about it, most of the League have lost their first family in one fashion or another. Maybe that's why we have remained together. But like I said, I can't feel sorry for myself. I'll find Thanagar some day." The look on her face suggested that she _could_ feel sorry for herself, and that the chance of returning home was all too slim.
Koriand'r sat next to her. "I wonder if I will call some planet my second home, too," she said pensively, a change from her vivacity.
"What happened to you on Tamaran?" Hawkgirl asked. "You said you used to be a princess. What went wrong? An usurper? A civil war?" She paused. "If you don't mind me prying."
"No, no, you're not prying," Koriand'r told her. "I've told my sad story on a half-dozen planets, embarrassed myself in the hope of moving someone with enough power to help me. After telling me about Thanagar, it's the least I can do in return."
She looked out over the city. "I was a sacrifice," she finally said.
Hawkgirl's eyes widened. "A sacrifice? I don't understand, Koriand'r."
"When Maxima mentioned last night that Almerac and Tamaran were under treaty," Koriand'r explained, "you might have noticed a hesitation on her part. Almerac technically doesn't have a treaty with my planet. Rather it's with something called the Citadel."
"The Citadel?"
Koriand'r nodded. "There are twenty-two planets in our star system. All but one are vassal states of this Citadel. Only Tamaran remains independent, but if the Citadel ever chose to crush us, they probably could."
"Tamaraneans are free with their emotions, and we can be quick to anger, but we are a peace-loving race. From what you've told me, in fact," Koriand'r said, "we're like humans in many ways. Anyway, one day the Citadel invaded, and my parents were given the choice of turning me over as a prisoner, or seeing Tamaran overrun." Koriand'r closed her eyes. "They had no choice."
"But why?" Hawkgirl asked, horrified. "What did they want with you?"
Koriand'r smiled now, but it was a bitter smile. "Remember when I told you that all but a few Tamaraneans can fly? My older sister, Komand'r, is one of the few, and so I was named heir to the throne. I learned not long after I became the Citadel's prisoner that she had arranged for the exchange, she resented me so. And so, I became a Citadel slave for six long years," she said softly.
Hawkgirl clenched her fists, feeling instinctively angered by her story. "You escaped finally, though."
Her smile was more genuine this time. "Raven saved me," she said calmly. "She has various powers that always astound me, you see. Mainly she's an empath, which is probably a big reason why she's a healer. She feels other people's emotions. One day she had passage on a space freighter - even then fleeing her father, without any kind of real destination. She told me later that as her ship approached the planet I was being held on, my pain was so great that it called to her across the atmosphere." Koriand'r looked up into the sun, and unsurprisingly it did not blind her. "She appeared to me from the shadows, and I thought that Death had come for me at last. Instead Raven healed me, and she took me away, and she has become my truest friend."
Hawkgirl nodded. "I can believe that. I've seen the two of you interact. But I can also see why your search hasn't been successful. It's not one planet we're talking about here. You would have to go against an entire system of planets."
Koriand'r sighed and spread her hands. "You're kind not to point out that even the one planet would be a great task for most. But yes, you're right. Maxima says I should lie, get them on the hook, as she puts it, for a little, and then say it will take more than I thought. But I can't lure someone into a conflict with the Citadel through deception. So I continue with my fool's errand. Perhaps I'm not even looking for help any more. Maybe, like Raven, I'm looking for refuge."
Hawkgirl watched her silently. "And maybe something can still be done," she replied.
____________________________________
"Let be be finale of seem," Raven recited in a whisper. "The only emperor is the emperor of ice cream." She closed the book. "I'd heard it spoken so many times. It's odd seeing it written down."
Diana had observed her carefully as Raven, after an initial phase of wonderment at the massive book-filled structure, sought out specific authors and texts. "What's your connection to Earth?" she asked quietly.
Raven became still, the book of Wallace Stevens poems inches from its place on the shelf. "I have never been on your planet," she said.
"Perhaps not, but you know someone who has," Diana replied. "There's no way you could be familiar with this building, and certainly not the stories within it, unless you've met someone from here." She reached a hand out toward Raven, and though she shrank away, Diana touched her shoulder. "It's not something you should be ashamed or afraid about. I just want to know."
"I'm not ashamed of it," Raven answered softly. "It's just not something I enjoy talking about."
Diana let her hand fall away. "But it's true. You do have a connection to this place."
Raven nodded. "My . . . my mother. She was born on Earth."
"Then you're human too," Diana realized.
"No," Raven corrected her, her face twisting. "I'm different."
"I understand you have powers," Diana told her, "and I know some people with powers want to be normal."
"It's not my powers," Raven said. "They're connected, but only because the thing that makes me different gives me my powers." She glanced around. "This isn't private enough," she continued, even though that section of the library sounded as still as a cemetery. "Could you meet me on the roof?"
Before Diana could answer, Raven vanished in a thin puff of black smoke.
Diana looked around, but there was no sign of her. "Impressive," she said before she quickly exited the building and flew to the top.
She found Raven waiting for her, legs crossed meditatively, her hood hiding her features as her face looked down at her lap. "Is this better?" Diana asked.
"I suppose," Raven said indifferently. "My father is a demon."
"I'm sorry, what?"
"My mother was lured into an Earth cult where she was indoctrinated in the belief that she was meant to be the bride of a being known as Trigon," Raven told her. "It was only when Trigon came to her that she understood his true nature. The shock almost drove her mad. She managed to escape from the cult while she was carrying me, however, and eventually she found refuge in a place known as Azarath, where she gave birth to me."
Diana slowly digested this. "So you're half-demon, and this cult is looking for you."
"They don't have to," Raven said, shaking her head. "I am a living connection to Trigon. I am to be his conduit to this plane of existence. If I let him through, his powers are such that he could overwhelm entire star systems, perhaps even the universe. So I hear his voice in my head. Even now he calls to me with a siren's song, promising me the world." Raven looked at Diana forlornly. "I do not want what he offers me, and yet he is a part of me, and that part wants to yield to his allure. It is only because of years of teachings on Azarath that I am able to resist."
"Then why didn't you stay on Azarath?" Diana asked.
"I was afraid for them," Raven confessed. "If Trigon took control of me while I was living there, I would have killed them all, including my mother. I needed to find someplace far away. I am alone, you see. I cannot even permit myself to feel emotions. To feel emotions, as I was taught, is to lower my defenses. Therefore I must remain cold, clinical, logical."
Diana nodded. "So how do you explain Koriand'r? And Maxima?"
"Maxima is merely a means to an end," Raven said quickly. "My ability to teleport is utterly useless for long-distance travel. I need a ship for that. Although," she added quietly, "Maxima is a better person than she makes herself out to be. I am grateful to her."
"You didn't answer me about Koriand'r, though. I saw you together earlier. She obviously thinks of you as a friend."
Raven seemed to grow more subdued, if that was possible. "Koriand'r was in so much pain when I first met her. I could not abandon her. And now . . . I do not know. She is probably not safe with me. I should part from her company. But I cannot. She - she lets me feel alive in a way that my father seems unable to take advantage of. I am an empath, Diana, and her personal warmth seems to warm me as well." Her face grew almost frustrated. "I violate my teachings by remaining with her. And yet if I left, I would feel as alone as I did when I left my home. So I stay," she added simply.
Diana moved closer. "Do Koriand'r and Maxima know the truth about you?"
"Maxima does," Raven said. "I told her when I first came to Almerac. Every planet I have fled to, I have felt obligated to tell them of the danger they were in if I was permitted to stay. Koriand'r knows some of it, but she believes I will never yield to my father. I wish I had her confidence," she sighed. "But neither of them know my mother is from your planet."
Then she looked curiously at Diana. "You miss her too, don't you?" she asked softly.
Diana blinked. "Who?"
"Your mother. I can sense it within you. You miss your mother, and your home as well." Raven's look became one of compassion, a look Diana felt sure Raven could have seen on her own face. "I am sorry if I have offended you, but I felt it strongly. It saddens me that we have this in common."
Shaking her head, Diana rubbed at her eye. "No, I'm - I'm not offended. It's just uncanny how you were able to sense that so quickly." She looked at Raven. "Is that all you sense about me?" she asked. "That I miss my home?"
"No," Raven replied, and her sadness lightened. "You miss someone else that you love, but you will see her again soon. And you have many more friends than I who are special to you."
Diana pondered Raven's choice of words. "You sense my love for Audrey?"
"It is very strong, Diana. As strong as anything else."
"What do you think will happen to you now?" Diana asked.
Raven shrugged. "I will leave with the others. Perhaps one day Koriand'r will find a home. She wants that home to be Tamaran, but I can sense her doubts. Wherever she ends up, maybe I can stay there. Otherwise I will have to go elsewhere."
Diana stood up. "Come with me, Raven. There's something I want to show you inside."
Surprised, Raven took the hand that was offered her and stood up. Then she allowed Diana to pick her up and fly with her back to street level.
With Raven following behind, Diana eventually found the book she was looking for. "The Greek plays are an essential part of learning on my island," Diana said, opening the book. "Did your mother tell you about them on Azarath?"
"No," Raven said. "She prefers poetry."
"There's a play called _Oedipus at Colonus_," Diana explained, "where a man has been cast from his home for a crime he was ignorant of. And he has wandered all over Greece, but no one will grant him permission to remain in their lands because of the stain of his crime. In the play, however, he is taken in by the Athenians and made a citizen before he dies." She offered Raven the book. "Raven, it's not in my power to decide whether you stay or go. It's not in anyone's power other than your own. As far as I know, you cannot be compelled to leave Earth except by force. And I swear to you that if you wanted to make this planet your home, and someone else wanted you to leave because of who your father is," Diana promised, "I will fight for your right to stay. I don't believe I deserved to be banished from my home, and you don't deserve to be a wanderer any longer."
Raven looked at the book in her hands quietly. "Thank you," she whispered. "When Koriand'r and Maxima leave, I will be going with them, but your words give me hope that somewhere else, someone will say such things to me."
Diana nodded. "Very well, but if you change your mind, let Earth be your Athens."
" . . . Do they have good food here? I have not eaten in some time, and some of the recipes my mother Arella cooked for me in Azarath were from Earth," Raven said tentatively.
"In New York, I'm sure we can find something," Diana replied with a smile.
To be continued . . .