Watchtower|

February 14th, 2016|

10:42 PM, GMT|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~=YJ=~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hal stepped into the room. Koriand'r was instantly annoyed, Krystallo noted, but she said nothing. She gently landed on the floor, the sound of her heavy boots hitting the ground not at all softened by her descent.

"Captain Atom sent me to check on you guys, is everything al- whoa!"

Hal's eyes set on Koriand'r, her hair specifically. The woman was staring daggers at him, her annoyance growing and very slowly turning into rage.

"I guess they got you out," Hal said finally.

"They did indeed," Koriand'r hissed.

"How- You can speak English?"

Hal blinked and Krystallo moved between them in an attempt to diffuse Koriand'r's anger. Koriand'r looked at her, then back at Nightwing and Raven and stepped back, her head held high and staring indignantly at Hal. Krystallo turned to Hal and attempted proper introductions.

"This is Koriand'r. Her people can assimilate language through physical contact. She… did that and now she can speak English."

Hal walked over and offered up a hand to Koriand'r.

"Hal Jordan."

The woman look at the offered hand, looked him up and down, looked at his hand again and turned away.

"I will have nothing to do with a Maltusian soldier, thank you."

"A mal-tusa-what now?"

Hal looked at her in confusion. Krystallo was just as confused. Koriand'r rolled her eyes.

"Playing the fool does not become you, Hal Jordan. You wear their symbol, do you not?"

Symbol? Hal bore the symbol of the Guardians of the Universe, of the Green Lantern Corps. And she thought it was a symbol of Maltusians? Krystallo was confused.

"I'm sorry, Koriand'r, what are Maltusians?" she asked.

Koriand'r looked at Krystallo as though she were a fool. Krystallo figured she probably was a fool in Koriand'r's eyes. She seemed to regard 'Maltusians' with hatred and fear, if she thought Hal was associated with them in any way, then it made perfect sense to regard him with as much vitriol as she did.

"The Maltusians are beings that roamed the universe, seeking what, I do not know," Koriand'r explained. "When my home star-system was still young, before any native peoples were capable of interplanetary travel, they created the Psions and then abandoned the system not long after."

"I… I'm getting the sense that there's a lot more to the story than just that," Krystallo said.

"There is," Koriand'r agreed. "There is much more. The creation of the Psions led to the destruction of many worlds, among other things."

"…What other things?" Hal asked.

"If you do not already know, perhaps you'd be better off ignorant," Koriand'r said.

The phrase was filled with the pure rage Koriand'r felt. Moreover, her words had stirred a sense of confusion in Hal. He had always been one to question why and how things were done in the Corps, nearly more so than Guy. Such an accusation already roused suspicion from Hal. However, Krystallo doubted Hal did not think that these Maltusians were evil. However, he was probably still wondering whether or not they had anything to do with the Guardians. Hal jumped on lot of things, but conclusions were not one of them. No, Krystallo suspected that his confusion and subsequent fear stemmed from the idea that the Guardians had possibly abandoned anything. That hardly seemed like the ways of a group devoted to the protection of the entire universe.

Krystallo would have to agree.

"What is your home star-system, ma'am?" Hal said, doing his best to keep cordial.

"The Vega system," Koriand'r supplied.

"Wait… Vega?" Hal asked, surprised. "That entire star-system is off-limits of every Lantern. Going there is grounds for immediate court-martial."

"Why?" Nightwing asked.

"…I don't know."

With that, Hal turned and left without another word, still processing and slightly numb. Krystallo looked over at Raven, who was completely unconcerned. Perhaps that was a good thing. Krystallo looked over at Koriand'r yet again and watched as she settled. The absence of the Green Lantern allowing her to calm down.

This was still quite the conundrum.

Koriand'r was still light-years away from her home; her escape had potentially brought Gordanian attention to their star system; and now there was a possibility that the Guardians of the Universe were in some way responsible for the creation of said slave-traders. Krystallo sighed and turned to Koriand'r once more.

"Well, this is a problem, usually the Lanterns are in charge of interplanetary travel, and since they can't take you home you might be stuck here a while until we can figure something out for you."

"That will not be necessary," Koriand'r said. "Do you have any star maps?"

"Uh… That would also be the Lanterns' affairs," Nightwing said, "but we could ask the Hawks instead?"

"The Hawks?" Koriand'r asked.

"We'll show you," Krystallo said.

Nightwing led them out of the room and Koriand'r followed. He led them to Shayera's lab. They found the Hawks hard at work on… Something. Upon seeing them, Koriand'r gasped.

"Thanagarians!"

Their attention was drawn and they stopped. Shayera's attention was on Koriand'r, some form of recognition in her gaze.

"You're the girl who escaped?" She asked.

"Yes," Koriand'r said.

"I recognize those clothes," Katar said. "I remember a few escapees wore them. They were from the arena."

"They forced me to fight for their entertainment," Koriand'r said with a nod.

"How did you escape?" Shayera asked.

Shayera was never one for small talk. The Hawks listened carefully as Koriand'r explained in detail, her capture, servitude, and slavery under the Gordanian Empire. She explained that she was being transferred to a larger arena elsewhere, and that her escape had been aided by the arrival of rebels.

"Were there any Thanagarians with them?"

Everyone blinked at the question. Krystallo could sense she was as earnest as she sounded. Krystallo did not blame her. She had heard the stories. The Hawks had been stranded on Earth due to a Military Experiment gone wrong; attempting to create what would have been Zeta-beams on a much larger scale. They had joined the Justice League and had been working on a way to return home, when Hal broke the news to them.

Thanagar had been destroyed.

The planet had been incinerated, having been pushed off its axis and thrown into its sun. Shayera was hoping that some of her people had survived the planet's destruction. Krystallo had to admit, she was hoping so as well.

"Yes. Three of them, actually," Koriand'r said. "One of whom was the group's leader."

Shayera's wings quivered and she could not help but smile. Katar was just as excited. This was wonderful news.

"Do you remember what they looked like? Did you get their names?"

"I remember one name: Iriquil."

Shayera's smile dropped and her mouth hung open slightly. Katar wrapped his arms around his wife and kept her steady. Zemirah could feel the flurry of emotions passing through them. Joy, shock, amazement, and hope.

"Are you sure that's what she was called?" Katar asked.

"Her wings!" Shayera cried, drawing their attention once more. "What did her wings look like?"

"Uhm…" Koriand'r struggled for the words. "They were… grey with… black tips and… red, where they curved."

She said the words slowly, as if cataloguing the vocabulary as she spoke. Shayera was stunned and relieved. Turning to Katar with a beaming smile.

"She's alive, she's really alive!"

Shayera was so elated; she seemed to pay no mind to the other four who were confused. Kystallo was almost as please as Shayera was, but that did not mean she was any less confused.

"When Shayera was a teenager, one of her friends went missing during the war," Katar finally explained. "Her name was Iriquil."

Understanding dawned on the others and Krystallo and Koriand'r smiled. Shayera approached Koriand'r with a restrained smile.

"Thank you so much, you have no idea how much this news means to me."

"I am glad to be the messenger," Koriand'r said.

Koriand'r was at a complete one-eighty from her earlier attitude. The woman filled with righteous anger and distain and disappeared, and in her place was a pleasant and charming young lady who had now delivered some of the best news to a pair of refugees. While Nightwing spoke to Shayera and Katar about the battle, Krystallo turned to Koriand'r.

"Well, Koriand'r, I'm beginning to think you're a very polarizing person," Krystallo said with a grin. "In the span of less than two hours you have managed to upset one superhero and then charm three more."
"Katar, Shayera, I'm back. You said you needed me for- oh, hello."

All six of them turned at the sound and found Superman standing in the doorway. He awkwardly introduced himself to Koriand'r who simply stared at the symbol on his chest before speaking. However, her words were not English. Nor were they the sound of what they surmised to be her native tongue. No, Koriand'r was speaking a completely different language. And by the looks of it Superman spoke it too.

"You speak Kryptonian?" Superman almost shouted.

Krystallo blinked.

"Make that four."