Justice League of Amazons: Fire & Blood
Chapter 7
…
After eating his midday meal, Aegon asked Shayera if there was anything that needed done. Shayera had responded with, "Well, there isn't much besides some peacekeeping missions and clean-up detail, but I wouldn't want to risk exposing you," she said carefully.
"Why not?" Aegon asked.
"Well, the video is still fresh on social media and I thought you might not want to be seen in public for a while," Shayera replied calmly.
"I know that, but I don't want to be stuck up here for the rest of my life," Aegon said. "One reason the dragons of my house died out was that they were in captivity, and I feel I would suffer the same," he explained.
"Well, I can't really argue with that logic," Shayera said. "But if you're gonna go out in public, you're gonna have to wear some form of protection," she reasoned.
"Is my armour not good enough?"
"Well, unless it's made of indestructible materials, they won't do much good against modern day threats," Shayera said to Aegon who nodded in understanding.
"Perhaps I can help?" Zatanna chimed in. "I know a couple of spells and I have some artefacts that could help," she said with a smile.
"Well, let's hear it then," Shayera said.
"Well, first we'll need to go to my home so that I can show you," Zatanna replied. "Anyone else want come along?" she offered.
"I think a few of us should stay on the Watchtower and monitor things from here," Shayera said sagely.
"Well, then perhaps just you, me and Aegon then?" Zatanna suggested.
"That sounds wonderful, Lady Zatanna. Shall we go?" Aegon asked.
"Alright, just stand next to me please," Zatanna replied as Shayera and Aegon stood next to the magician.
"Tropsnart su ot tsercwodahS etatsE!"
In a puff of blue coloured smoke, the three were suddenly in an atrium of what could only be Zatanna's home. Warm lights from candles filled the atrium and suits of armour lined the walls and paintings hung from the walls as well.
"Where are we?" Aegon asked after reorienting himself. It was his first experience with magical teleportation, and it was a little disorienting to say the least.
"My family home, Shadowcrest Estate," Zatanna replied.
"So that spell… what kind of spell was it? A transportation spell of some sort?" Aegon asked as he looked around.
"My focal point of magic is logomancy, or speaking what I want to happen backwards," Zatanna said. "So, the spell I used to get us here was me saying 'Transport us to Shadowcrest Estate,'" she added.
"Can anyone learn this style of magic?" Aegon asked in interest.
"Well, my magical powers are genetic, I inherited them from my parents," Zatanna said and Aegon was slightly saddened at that. "But, if you'd like, maybe I can perform a scan of you to tell if you are capable of using magic?" she offered.
"I'd like that very much, my lady," Aegon said respectfully and a smile on his face. Zatanna smiled pleasantly in return.
"Well, given that you have to use your voice to cast a spell, it'd be easy to gag and tie you up, wouldn't it?" Shayera asked.
"It would be, but luckily I'm a well-trained escape artist," Zatanna said with a smile. "But depending on who's tying me up, I might end up enjoying it," she added giving Aegon as playful wink. Aegon blushed at the thought of tying Zatanna up and having his way with her.
"Never took you to be into bondage roleplay," Shayera said with an amused smile at how uncomfortable Aegon looked at this conversation.
"Well, if it's the right person…" Zatanna giggled girlishly.
"Is this really the time for such talk?" Aegon asked timidly.
Shayera and Zatanna just grinned, both enjoying watching Aegon squirm.
"Well, anyway, let's head to my artefact room, what I have in mind should be there," Zatanna said as she led them down the hallway past some doors.
"Where exactly is Shadowcrest Estate?" Aegon asked as they walked down the hallway.
"Usually, Shadowcrest is on the outskirts of Gotham City, but it can move just about anywhere I want it to," Zatanna replied. "Right not, Shadowcrest is located in the Hamptons of Upstate New York," she said.
"Fascinating, it seems there are no limits to magic," Aegon said in awe.
"Even so, but magic always has a price that must be paid in the end," Zatanna said seriously. "And some of the darker magics have terrible costs to make use of them," she added warningly.
"I see," Aegon mumbled in a small voice. "I'll keep that in mind from now on," he said cautiously.
Leading them to a door, Zatanna said to Aegon and Shayera, "Here we are, the artefact room," she told them. "A room where my father and his predecessors gathered and accumulated all sorts of magical knick-knacks and occult items over the centuries," she said as she turned the latch of the door and it swung open. Candles flickered to life, illuminating the room. Aegon stepped into the room and looked around; all sorts of strange and bizarre items were displayed in glass display cabinets and cases. Some looked to be weapons, others were grimoires and tomes, others were jewellery and others looked unidentifiable to Aegon.
"So, what is it in here that can help me?" Aegon asked Zatanna.
"Just a moment, please," Zatanna replied as she consulted a nearby ledger, poring over the yellow parchment. "Here we are, this should do you nicely," she said with a nod of her head before closing the ledger.
Then pulling out a wand from her hat, Zatanna waved it and almost immediately, a class cabinet was illuminated brighter and was drawn forth. Aegon saw inside the cabinet was a gorget, spaulders and vambrace made of silvery metal.
"What are these?" the Valyrian asked Zatanna as he looked at the metal pieces of armour.
"The gorget of St George the Dragon slayer," Zatanna informed him. "This gorget is actually a suit of armour made and enchanted for St George during his years in the Crusades and for his battle against the dragon that made him famous," she recited the history.
"It doesn't look to provide much protection," Aegon said. "It's just those pieces of armour," he added.
"Well, the armour is enchanted to store itself in the gorget until it is needed, upon which it becomes a full suit of armour, complete with all the bells and whistles," Zatanna replied. "Why don't you try it on? See if it fits?" she suggested.
"I hope you are not exaggerating, Lady Zatanna," Aegon said dryly as the display cabinet was opened and he took out the gorget, spaulders and vambrace. First, he slipped the vambrace onto his forearms, upon which they shrunk down to mould themselves to his arms comfortably. Next were the spaulders which reshaped themselves to fit his shoulders then the gorget was put on and it resized itself to fit snugly on Aegon's collar.
"How does it feel?" Zatanna asked Aegon.
"It feels comfortable, very light in weight," Aegon remarked as he admired the pieces of armour. "So, how do I summon the whole armour itself?" he asked.
"Just say the phrase 'To arms,' in a loud clear voice," Zatanna said with a smile.
Shrugging his shoulders, Aegon then semi-shouted, "To arms!" From the gorget, spaulders and vambrace, more pieces of the armour folded out and encased the rest of Aegon's body in silver metal. A visored helmet formed itself over Aegon's head and now he was covered head to toe in armour.
"Seven Hells!" Aegon cried out, his voice echoing inside the helmet.
"That's pretty cool," Shayera said, looking mildly impressed. "But wouldn't it restrict Aegon's movement?" she asked Zatanna.
"Contrary to what most people think, a full suit of knight's armour isn't that restrictive. In fact, it's quite flexible and easy to move around in," Zatanna told the Thanagarian.
"Yeah, but I imagine it'd be a tough time to use the facilities when you really need them," Shayera quipped.
"Yeah, but with the gorget of St George, you can recall the armour to store itself away until you need it again," Zatanna replied. "How does the armour feel, Aegon?" she then asked Aegon.
"It feels good, Lady Zatanna," Aegon replied as he walked around in the armour. "It is almost like it weighs nothing at all!" he said in amazement as he hopped up and down a little.
"I thought you might like it," Zatanna said with a smile. "And if you want to recall the armour, just say 'Return to gorget.'"
"Return to gorget!" Aegon stated and instantly, the armoured stored itself away, leaving only the gorget, spaulders and vambrace. "I could get used to that," the Valyrian said with a pleased smile. "Much easier than having to take nearly an hour to put on full armour," he commented.
"Yeah, but I should warn you: while the armour can take a beating, it's not indestructible," Zatanna warned him. "It can repair itself over time, depending on the damage done, but the time it takes depends on how damaged it is," she said.
"What if it was hit by an Nth metal weapon?" Shayera suddenly asked.
"Well, if the armour has taken a few hits from an Nth metal weapon, it'll take longer to repair itself," Zatanna replied. "Hopefully, we won't run into many people armed with Nth metal," she said.
"But it has a few added features; if someone managed to tie you up while in your armour with say a rope, the rope will fall completely slack and you'll be able to get out of it."
"Truly?" Aegon asked. "Can we test that out?" as he then summoned the armour again
"Why not? Eit nogeA pu ni sepor!" Zatanna called out and out of nowhere, ropes sprang out and wrapped themselves around Aegon. The ropes tightened briefly before falling to the floor completely slack.
"That'll be useful should anyone get ideas about tying me up," Aegon said confidently.
"I hope there will be times you wouldn't mind being tied up," Zatanna said flirtatiously and Aegon felt his cheeks go red and he looked away out of embarrassment. Zatanna giggled at how embarrassed and flustered Aegon got. Shayera rolled her eyes in amusement at Zatanna's blatant flirtations.
"Well, in any case, now Aegon's got some form of protection on him," the Thanagarian said wisely. "But beyond that, we'll need to train you up on some things," she added looking at Aegon seriously.
"What sort of training would I need?" Aegon asked.
"Well, how to use technology for starters," Shayera said. "It's going to be hard to teach you how to use something like a cellphone for one," she added in mild frustration.
"You needn't fear, Lady Hawkgirl. I'm a quick learner," Aegon boasted.
"We'll see, won't we?" Shayera raised an eyebrow under her helmet. "Well, if we're done here, shall we head back? Something might've come up while we were gone," she said.
"Of course, can't let the others run amok while Mother Hen is gone," Zatanna teased.
"'Mother Hen?'" Aegon parroted and he looked at Shayera and realised what Zatanna meant by the jest. "Ah, I think I understand the jape now," he said as he gave Shayera's wings a once over.
"Yeah…" Shayera muttered grouchily as she flapped her wings a little.
"Well, if it is any consolation, Lady Hawkgirl, my foster father was something of a mother hen to me," Aegon said with a chuckle. "Hardly let me out of his sight, and I got used to it over time," he added ruefully.
"I guess you do," Shayera said dryly. "Well, so long as you don't make any jokes about my wings or me laying eggs, then we're good," she added.
"Well, I will say that your wings make you look quite… exotic, in a way," Aegon said and his cheeks were tinged pink.
"Exotic?" Shayera deadpanned.
"In a flattering way, I mean," Aegon quickly said. "I'm reminded of the stories of the Harpy of Ghis, but different as well in some respects," he added thoughtfully.
"How so?" Shayera asked now curious to know.
"Well, the harpy of myth where I'm from has wings like a bat, the body of a woman, the legs of an eagle and a scorpion's tail," Aegon replied. "But you do not possess bat's wings, but feathered wings of an eagle and while you possess a woman's body, you do not have the legs of an eagle nor the tail of a scorpion," he said.
Shayera smiled a little and said, "Well, any other observations you care to make about me?" she asked sweetly.
"You have…." Aegon faltered as he tried to find some flattering words to describe Shayera. "You have beautiful eyes!" he blurted out.
"Really?" Shayera smirked as she folded her arms under her chest, pushing her breasts up a little higher.
"Y-Yes! Although your helm hides near all your face, your eyes stand out," Aegon was sweating bullets feeling like he was only an inch small.
Shayera snickered and said, "Well, you have nice eyes too, Aegon. Very pretty, they almost make you look like a girl," she teased.
Aegon hung his head a little. "But don't worry about that," Shayera said to him reassuringly. "The rest of you is completely male," she told him with a sly wink as she raked her eyes emphatically over Aegon's body, lingering on his loins. Aegon hoped that Shayera could not tell how her words affected him but the blush on his cheeks grew warmer which Shayera noticed and grinned wider.
"Is there anything about me you like?" Zatanna asked Aegon sweetly as she subtly thrust her chest out. Aegon felt his cheeks grow even warmer; there was much about Zatanna he liked, to be honest.
"Your… hair?" Aegon offered timidly.
"My hair?" Zatanna blinked.
"It's very… shiny, and looks like it was spun from silk," Aegon said quickly, trying to find something that would flatter the magician and hopefully not have him be turned into a newt.
"Not bad as compliments go, but I'll give you points for that," Zatanna giggled. "You have nice hair too, very rare to see natural platinum blonde hair on a person," she said pleasantly.
"There are those with nicer hair than I," Aegon tried to deflect. "And hair like mine is common among those of the dragon blood," he said. "Eyes too," he added as afterthought.
"Yeah, but I like yours better," Zatanna said. "I've seen comments on the web about of women saying how they want similar features for their children," she added in good humour.
"I suppose they would say such words about my features," Aegon said dryly.
"Yeah, they are," Shayera said, having read some of those comments as well. "And if all goes well, this world will be teeming with silver-haired and purple-eyed children," she added.
"I don't know how I feel about that, to be honest," Aegon said softly. "I almost feel like I would be called a Second Unworthy," he added bitterly.
"Unworthy? Are you talking about one of your ancestors?" Shayera asked.
"Yes, Aegon IV Targaryen, called the Unworthy for a myriad of reasons, one such reason being was that he sired hundreds of bastards on any woman he took a fancy to," Aegon replied with some venom. "Highborn lady, field wench or common whore, no woman was off limits to him. Many lords bought offices and positions in the court by giving the Unworthy access to their daughters, he even gave away a dragon's egg to a lord to spend the night with the lord's three daughters," he said with some anger.
"Sounds like a charming fellow," Zatanna remarked with some disgust.
"Yes, Aegon IV greatly misruled Westeros and laid the seeds of rebellion on his deathbed by legitimising all his bastards, chief among them were the Great Bastards he had sired with notable highborn women," Aegon said. "He even gave away Blackfyre to his bastard son Daemon Waters and that in itself was the first seed of rebellion to be sewn," he added.
"So, he wasn't well liked, I take it," Shayera said.
"He was liked by those who had bought their offices and titles by whoring out their daughters, but there were those who went against him," Aegon said. "Chief of which was his lawful son, Daeron II or known as Daeron the Good," he added.
"Guess it must've been hard having an Unworthy king for a father and having so many half-siblings, and lords who enabled the misrule," Zatanna remarked.
"It was, from what I read on the subject," Aegon replied. "Aegon IV was ruled by his lusts and passions and could not rule himself," he said. "I almost feel like I would be a second Unworthy by having an entire world of my children," he added.
"Well, you're not actually having sex with every woman on this world," Shayera told him.
"I know that, but they'd still be bastards," Aegon replied.
"Guess being a bastard has some stigma to it in your world, huh?" Zatanna asked.
"In many ways, yes," Aegon said uneasily. "Bastards are often seen as being born of lust & shame, and many are seen as untrustworthy," he added. "I try not to think too much of it myself. I just never pictured myself having bastards."
"Well, that's one thing we're gonna have to work on with you," Shayera said firmly. "If you wanna live in this world for the foreseeable future, you're gonna have to drop some of those values you've been taught," she pointed out.
"I suppose I must," Aegon muttered. "I just wonder what Lord Jon would think of all this," he said sadly.
"You miss him, huh?" Zatanna asked. "Lord Jon, I mean," she clarified.
"I do. The man raised me from a bean and was as close to a father I would ever have in my life," Aegon said fondly. "I can only imagine him trawling through every corner of the world looking for me or trying to find someway to reach me," he added.
"He cares about you a lot," Shayera commented.
"He does, I am his Prince's son. He was great friends with my father, or so he told me," Aegon replied. "He would often tell me stories about my father, of how good and noble he was, how he was the perfect prince, the Last Dragon," he said.
"Well, he couldn't have been that perfect, if the way he left your mother for another woman," Shayera pointed out.
"Don't I know it," Aegon said. "I often wonder why my father left the wife who loved and bore his children for another woman," he added bitterly.
"Well, I can't rightly comment on that," Zatanna said sagely. "But I imagine there was some reason your father left your mother," she added.
"Well, one story Lord Jon told me about my mother was that after I was born, it nearly killed her and was told she could no longer bear any children lest she risk death by childbirth," Aegon said, his brow furrowing in thought. "I don't know if that is the reason my father left my mother. Another story I heard was that my father fell in love with another woman, Lyanna Stark, who was betrothed to the Usurper Robert Baratheon," he added.
"Was your father betrothed to your mother?" Shayera asked.
"Yes, he was," Aegon replied instantly. "There were a great many offers from many great houses of Westeros, but my Grandfather had my father trothed to my mother Princess Elia Martell of Dorne," he said.
"So, was there a possibility that your father didn't truly love your mother?" Zatanna asked.
"I… I don't know," Aegon said falteringly, a look of uncertainty in his eyes.
"Well, that's something we're gonna have to work on," Shayera told Aegon. "We're gonna have to get you up to date on how marriage works on this world," she said.
"Are betrothals not done on this world?"
Shayera shook her head at Aegon and replied, "In the past sure, but these days not so much. There are still arranged marriages in some Earth cultures, but these days, marriage is less about politics and more for love," she explained.
"How can that be?" Aegon asked. "Isn't marrying for love more for the smallfolk?"
Zatanna and Shayera glanced at each other before Zatanna replied to Aegon's question. "Well, would you rather marry a person you love who loves you for you? Or would you marry someone who hates your guts for political gain?" she posed the question.
Aegon blushed and he didn't know how to answer that question before he said, "Well, I would be expected to make a good marriage one day, and I would hope that in time I would come to love my wife and she would love me in turn," he admitted.
"Well, you're gonna have your eyes opened to a larger more complicated world," Shayera said to him.
"C'mon, let's head back to the Watchtower," the Thanagarian then said as they left the room and headed back to the foyer where Zatanna used a spell to transport them back to the Watchtower.
TO BE CONTINUED…
A/N: there, the seventh chapter of this done and dusted! Apologies if this seems like a pointless filler chapter, but I hope it makes the grade. Hopefully in the next chapter, we'll have some action of Aegon helping the JL out with some peacekeeping missions and a certain criminal organisation will start making attempts to muscle in on every city on Earth to expand their empire and they'll be under new leadership.
Anyways, not much more to say about this chapter, but I do have a couple of other bits of news to tell.
I've recently decided to rewrite my Injustice/Elder Scrolls crossover because it had been over 5+ years since I had touched it and when I looked at it, I was wondering what the hell I had been smoking when I wrote. And there were a lot of things I found wrong with the story pertaining to the canon of Injustice such as characters and such. So with that in mind, plus other reasons, I've decided to rewrite the story and hopefully make it better the next go round and I've set up a romance poll and so far, Koriand'r/Starfire has taken the top spot which I'm pretty cool with.
Another bit of news is that I'm thinking about writing a Game of Thrones/Dungeons & Dragons (the game, not the cartoon!) crossover, but instead of a high fantasy/sword and sorcery D&D setting, I was thinking of using a Wild West D&D setting but blended with the D&D aspects such as the races, e.g. Elves, dwarves, orcs etc. and the land used would be a D&D-fictionalised version of America with some changes or additions to history such as the slaves of the south being orcs/goblins/trolls and vampires being involved in the slave trade and necromancy being used in the War for Southern Independence/Northern Aggression and the following exodus to the West.
It's just an idea at this stage as I'm trying to figure out how to world-build a D&D Wild West-America setting and I've found a couple of PDFs that can help me with that.
Anyways, that's about all I have, so I'll see you all in the next one.
Be kind to one another,
Angry lil' elf.