This story will now be taking on an overarching plot; I hope you're okay with that. Before I go on I would like to say that the plot point and setting in motion in this chapter is directly inspired by another fiction titled "I Still Believe." This fanfiction is a marvel to behold and should be read by any Christian on this site. It is a Sonic the Hedgehog fic and is nothing less than the finest Christian fic I've ever read on this site.
I'm a bit nervous about how much you'll like this. I hope you do and apologize if you don't.
Many say that there is only one universe, others that there are many. Still others say that a new universe forms each time we make a choice, corresponding to each choice possible, but this is an untruth spread by the enemy. While alternate universes form, it is a mystery as to how, sometimes it is choice, other times it is unknown what caused it.
The Earth the characters we have viewed are on an Earth labeled Earth-16 by the Justice League. But on a far flung Earth, an event set in that, though nobody knew yet, would have repercussions throughout both worlds.
The raid was glorious. The foolish town believed that their King could protect them from spears and arrows. The girl in green armor so dark it was almost black strode through the town imperiously as the sack continued. She shot the occasional arrow at a fleeing citizen, killing many. She saw a house that had been passed over and kicked down the door. She strode in and heard a frightened whimper. She walked into a room and looked for the source of the sound. After locating it she contemptuously kicked the bed over, revealing the curled up figure of a small boy, only 5 years old.
The boy looked up at her and she smirked, they were so weak.
"Are you going to kill me?"
She nodded, putting an arrow on her bow. The boys eyes registered fear at first but then to her surprise she saw the expression go to thoughtful, then to happy, and then to joyful. The boy looked at her and no trace of fear remained in his eyes.
"Okay, I'm ready."
He turned to his right and said to a seemingly invisible companion "I'll be seeing you soon now, face to face. Isn't that exciting?"
"Who're you talking to?" She asked the boy sharply.
"The King's holy spirit, he's always been around to comfort me, just as long as I believe in him."
"You're . . . not afraid to die?"
"Nope, not anymore, I know that when I die I'm going to a place where I'll never ever cry again."
She was perplexed by this tiny little boy, unafraid of the same thing that she feared almost above all else. She never thought about death if she could avoid it and whenever she did think about it she felt a gripping terror seize her. How could a child of barely 5 years old face the thing she was terrified of with such happiness, with joy even. It was beyond her understanding.
She wavered, unsure of what to do. Then a crash was heard upstairs and the boy said "that's my big brother David, he's a big swordfighter, he loves his white armor." She realized that David must be a King's citizen, blast! Well this complicated things.
A person in white armor that had to be David thundered down the stairs and stopped in front of her, sword and shield outstretched. She pointed her bow at the young boy and said "DROP YOUR WEAPONS OR I'LL SHOOT YOUR LITTLE BROTHER"
David looked at an empty spot in the room and asked "what should I do?" Then his face grew alarmed as he said "what! Why?" Finally he turned back to her and calmly dropped his weapons saying, "I surrender."
She got ready to fire but when the moment came she was frozen. She couldn't do it; she couldn't shoot either of them. Cursing herself for being a fool she said in a commanding voice "you will both come with me, stay close and out of site or I will kill you."
They both nodded after a second and followed; she picked up David's weaponry as they left. She led them throughout the streets very carefully so as not to be seen and finally led them away from the destruction of the town. She led them to a small hideout she had constructed for privacy. She led them in and said "you are to stay here, never leave or you will die."
The boys nodded and she turned to leave but one of the boys voices stopped her in her tracks.
"What's your name?"
She hesitated, then, reasoning no harm could come of it, she said "Artemis."
Then she left to rejoin the army.
It had been several days since the raid had happened and like the other days Artemis went to check on the boys. They were still inside as usual, wrestling with each other. Once Artemis came along though the younger boy, whose name she had found out was Rein, left the fight and hugged her around the knees. Artemis felt her cheeks go red, she wouldn't admit it but she found it slightly endearing that the boy liked her enough to do such a thing. It brought her back to memories of her mother and her. But those could turn into painful memories too so she didn't dwell on them.
David watched her impassively; being older he didn't trust her so easily. Artemis reached down and pried Rein loose and set him down in a chair. She got some food out of a cupboard and made sandwiches for both of them. When she gave Rein his sandwich he grinned widely and said "thanks Arty."
Artemis flinched at her nickname that he'd given her. She saw them both bow their heads in prayer and snorted "you do realize how stupid you look when you do that."
Rein opened an eye and said cheekily "saying "I gotta pee" can sound stupid but it don't change the fact that I gotta go."
Artemis opened her mouth, and then closed it, brought up short by the simplicity and truth of the answer. She cast about for something to say and her eyes alighted on the armor worn by David. It had a pure white belt around his waist with leather armor covering most of his body. On his breastplate was a crucifix in a dark crimson with a white outline. His helmet was a leather cap strapped under his chin and his boots looked like a hunter's boots.
"You do realize that armor is useless, I could run you through right now."
David looked at her with a smirk on his face "why are you so quick to judge on sight, eyes often deceive."
Artemis drew a sword and twirled it above her head and slashed a wooden pole as thick as a tree trunk clean through.
"This blade was made in the foundries of Lucifer himself, it can cut through diamond like a hot knife through butter. I'm sure it can cut through some flimsy leather armor."
David smiled confidently "try to kill me by destroying my armor then."
He closed his eyes and waited.
Thinking that he had brought it on himself by his stupidity Artemis twirled the blade and brought it down, not to kill him, but to cut off one of his arms to teach the boy a lesson.
The blade hit the shoulder pads and stopped dead in its tracks, shattering into a million pieces. The reverberations sent back down the blade stung Artemis's hands and she hopped about in silent screams of agony as the shards of sword turned into dark mist and floated away. When the pain finally stopped she looked at David and had no explanation for what hat just happened. Unless there really was something to all the talk the King's citizens said.
She finished breakfast with the two and walked back to camp.
She walked back into camp and was confronted by her commander, Kobra. The man lead a personalized force in pursuit of the dragon Lucifer's goals. She'd been snapped up quickly by him the second she'd joined the Dragon's army. She was his second in command and she faced him with military precision at the moment.
"Where have you been Artemis?"
"Scouting mission sir!" The lies did not slide off her tongue as easily now, they made her feel dirty.
"Why alone?"
"I function best alone, sir!"
Kobra nodded and told her to carry on. Unknown to her he watched as she walked off. He had seen potential in her to become one of the greatest proponents for Lucifer's efforts to lead the King's citizens astray. He knew she was well on the way but she was not there yet. He had to continue breaking her down, erasing her moral boundaries by constant exposure to evil. Then she would become confirmed in evil, it would consume her just as it did Kobra.
Kobra reveled in evil and the power it gave him.
Megan was so excited; she was going to a church in Happy Harbor. Robin was back at Gotham for the moment. She morphed into a human form that was almost identical to her normal form. She walked up to the doors and the greeter smiled and shook her hand. She shook back and walked in. She sat down in the middle of the congregation and waited for the service to begin.
She was pleasantly surprised when a boy with black hair and blue eyes walked up to her and introduced himself to her as Richard John Grayson, he called himself "Dick" for short.
"Do you usually go here?"
"I alternate between here and a Church in Gotham."
At that moment the pastor came up to both of them and said "well Dick, is this one of your friends from Gotham, I don't recall seeing her around here before?"
Dick smiled "I just met her actually."
"I live right here in Happy Harbor." Megan shook the pastor's hand "I've been hearing about Christianity from a friend and I wanted to come see it firsthand."
The Pastor smiled "well my name is Brian and I hope you'll enjoy our service. It's on the birth of Jesus Christ."
Megan smiled and both she and Dick sat down as the Pastor walked up to the front. The service began with worship that Megan enthusiastically joined in on. It reminded her of her old faith back on Mars; they had worshipped their lord in their temples on their holy day.
Once the worship was done everyone sat back down and the Pastor walked up to the front. He got behind the podium and opened up his notes as well as his Bible. He smiled as he addressed the large congregation.
"I am glad to see you all here. I notice today that many of you are new and some are very curious about Christianity. Before I got to work in my church office yesterday I asked God for help in writing my message. I feel that he led me to write a message based on Christ's birth to explain in many ways the origin of the greatest man who ever lived."
"I will start off with some background information. Israel at this point in time was under occupation by the Roman Empire, this Empire demanded taxes and Roman's to govern the Jews but let them keep their own beliefs. The current governor of Israel was a man called Herod. He will appear later."
"A woman call Mary was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph who was a carpenter. But one night she was given a message from God. She was to have a child and name him Jesus. She was still a Virgin and hadn't been with a man before. She began showing signs of pregnancy and Joseph thought that she had cheated on him. But he was a good man so he was going to leave her privately. But he also was visited at night and the message was "do not be afraid, Mary has not betrayed you for she has conceived by the grace and glory of God." So Joseph shared with her what he had been told and they continued with their marriage."
"Now the current Emperor of Roman, Caesar Augustus, decided that there should be a census. To all who don't know, a census is when you count how many people are in a certain area, in this case the entire Roman Empire. The census required that you travel to your hometown so Joseph and Mary, who was well into her pregnancy by now, traveled to Bethlehem."
"Now, Bethlehem was in itself the fulfillment of an age-old prophecy or rather a promise. Many of you know of David, he was one the greatest men in the Old Testament. God made a promise to him that the savior of all men would come of his line and would come from his home town, which was Bethlehem. In the Bible there is listed a Genealogy which shows Jesus as a direct descendant of David, Noah, and even Adam. They came safely to Bethlehem but they found it full because of the census. There was no room available for them at the inns. But one innkeeper said "see here, I do not have a room available for you but I can let you sleep in a stable, there's hay to sleep on."
"They accepted and Mary had her baby that night. Now away outside in the fields the Shepherds were out with their flocks. Suddenly an angel appeared before them and they were afraid. But the angel said "be not afraid. But rejoice for tonight a savior is born in a manger in Bethlehem. The shepherds then with amazement went into the town and, finding the manger and the baby Jesus they fell down and gave glory and honor to him."
"Now, it had been foretold that when the savior was born that a certain star would herald his arrival. Now the Wisemen of foreign countries saw the star and knew what it meant. They packed their belongings and left, following the star. Along the way Herod became aware of their journey and had them brought to him. He inquired to the nature of their journey and was jealous when he heard that they were going to see someone who would purportedly become the king of the Jews. He cunningly asked the Wismen to inform him where Jesus was once they had found him under the excuse that he wished to worship Jesus himself."
"The Wisemen followed the star to its final resting place and found Jesus. They prostrated themselves before him and gave the family great and expensive gifts of gold and perfume. The classic trio is Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. They were then warned in a dream not to go back and report to Herod so they traveled home in secret. Herod grew impatient so he gave a drastic order. Any baby boy in Bethlehem at and under the age of 2 years old was to be killed. But Joseph was once again visited and in a dream was told to flee to Egypt until God told him to return. So he took Mary and Jesus and they did as God had said and fled to Egypt until after Herod had died."
"Now, there are many symbolic things at work here. I have heard many people say that God, since he lives above it all, doesn't care about us and is a selfish jerk. But God himself became incarnate through his son. God, who lived in Heaven in wealth and splendor where there is no suffering, no pain, I repeat no wrong or evil thing exists in Heaven. God decided to descend into the carnage that was the world, into the mess that world had become because he loved you that much. God became man, fully man. Jesus was subjected to every temptation that men have. Many people say that we cannot be perfect and thus we shouldn't try. But Jesus, who was both God and man, but most importantly, Man, took every temptation thrown at him by the enemy and never sinned once. I doubt any of you have been offered the whole world by Satan himself, face to face, I certainly haven't. Because that was what Satan offered to Jesus if he would bow down to him."
"Now others have compared Jesus to being the rich man who doesn't care as I've already said. But again, Jesus wasn't born in a mansion, or even a normal inn, he was born in a manger, in other words a stable. The scriptures say that they wrapped him in swaddling clothes which is to say, rags. Jesus could've been born to Ceaser himself but instead he chose to, in addition to giving up Heaven, to be at the bottom of the social ladder. This is to show that his gift of salvation is not for the rich or even those who earn it. It's for everyone, all you have to do is ask."
"Now to further illustrate the point I have just said, I will mention other evidence. Jesus was worshipped by men of varying social castes when he was a baby. He was first worshipped by the "normal" people, the Shepherds. They were in a sense the "everyman" of today, they were not wealthy but were among the first informed of Jesus's birth and the importance of it. Then the Wisemen, they were among the scholars and the wealthy, they were not excluded because of their riches but rushed to Jesus's bedside as fast as possible and gave him gifts as well as honor. Now you see that Jesus wasn't meant for any one person or social group but for all men."
"I will end on this note: Jesus was born so that we could have salvation. The way that people were able to cleanse themselves of sin was through sacrifice of a perfect Lamb, no other would do it had to be perfect, without blemish or defect. But the law was still imperfect in a way. God could've just left us as a failed creation and moved on to somewhere else to star anew, but he loved us too much to leave us, so he sent his son, God made flesh, down to Earth. He would bear every pain and abuse that we have ever had. In addition to all of his physical torment when he went to the cross he accepted the burden of every sin that ever was and will be. He was the perfect lamb, the "Lamb of God." He was the perfect sacrifice, the once-and-for-all payment. We were all in a way the property of Satan because we sinned, but God through Jesus ransomed us, he paid the price once and for all. Not for just the people back then but for all of us. Every time you have sinned you in a sense add to Jesus's torment. Jesus died because you sinned, not because of others but you. The whole point of his birth was to ransom us from the hands of the Devil."
"I now ask any of you who don't know Jesus, maybe you once knew him but now you don't or maybe you never did. I offer you a chance now to get to know him, anyone who wants to be saved can come up to the front and pray with the prayer team."
Megan sat in astonishment. She'd thought this sounded familiar, and now she knew where she'd heard it from, from her own home planet. On Mars she had been a follower of a faith known as Ch'Rith after its founder "Ch'Rithen. Ch'Rithen was born of a White Martian and a Green Martian and had nearly the same story as Jesus. He had been born in a barn for the animals and had had shepherds and scholars worship him. He had also died but had purportedly risen from the dead.
Then Megan realized something. Jesus and Ch'Rithen was the same person. God must've died for each Species so that they would each know him personally. The fact that Jesus was here on a planet with little to know contact with Mars, with roughly the same story as Ch'Rithen, could not be a coincidence.
She heard the Pastor say "I'll give one more call to the altar for those of you who haven't come yet." Megan hung her head, shame flooding her, she once had been a fervent follower of Ch'Rithen but she had left him behind as she grew older. She had nearly forgotten about him when she had come to Earth with her uncle. But now she felt almost as if a warm comforting voice was encouraging her to come back, to reestablish her faith in a brand new way. After all, since she was planning on living on Earth long-term, why not come to know Ch'Rithen in his Human manifestation.
Megan walked out into the aisle and up to the Altar. Many other people were there and most of the prayer team was taken. The Pastor smiled and motioned her towards him. When she reached him he asked "what is your prayer?"
"I once knew him, but I became more focused on my life and forgot about him. But now I want to know him again."
The Pastor smiled and said "then know him, pray with me."
Megan repeated the words the Pastor told her with every amount of sincerity she had "dear Jesus . . . I want you to come back to me . . . I'm sorry for forgetting you . . . I need you back in my life . . . I make you lord of my life . . . I receive you as my savior . . . from this day forward I will serve you and worship you . . . in Jesus name I pray . . . Amen."
As Megan walked back to her seat she felt a supernatural joy fill her. Dick Grayson smiled widely at her as if he'd been waiting for her to go up there. He clapped her on the shoulder, congratulating her. She was overwhelmed with joy as she stared up at the statue of Jesus.
Artemis was visiting the two kids again. Kids, she couldn't even call them prisoners anymore. She snuck away from the camp and to her secret hideout. The two were sleeping on a bed. Artemis laid her bow and arrows on the table and glanced at the two sleeping boys. David had his hands on his weapons, even though he was more comfortable around Artemis he still didn't fully trust her. He'd obviously had Rein sleep right next to him, but in the middle of the night Rein had crawled to a more comfortable spot. Rein was sucking his thumb as he slept peacefully. After a moment watching him, Artemis allowed a small smile to visit her face, not a smile of greed or of enjoyment of carnage, a simple smile. Such an expression had not been seen on her face for a long time, and the change it made was astonishing. Many would not have recognized her for a soldier who had killed many in cold blood.
She sat down on the couch besides Rein and pulled his hair out of his eyes. He slept on with a look of childish innocence. Artemis pulled him into her lap and let him cuddle up against her. She was astonished to find that she didn't mind, she enjoyed it, perhaps greater than anything Kobra had ever offered her.
She didn't notice it but David was awake. He was watching her through his eyelashes. She didn't seem to want to hurt his little brother but then again these people were crafty. Still, he had been told to surrender, that God had a plan. He supposed he'd just have to go along with God on this one, after all, when had he ever let him down.
David gave a great yawn and stretched, alerting Artemis to the fact that he was awake.
"So, what's for breakfast?"
Artemis smiled "there's bread in the pantry."
David went and made sandwiches for the three of them. He added some Honey to Rein's sandwich, Rein loved Honey.
By this time Artemis felt Rein stirring, he opened his eyes and stared up at her.
"Hi auntie Arty."
Artemis scowled but Rein just giggled, knowing she liked it inside. He gave her a hug and then sat up. When he saw the sandwiches he cheered and made a beeline straight for his. They all sat eating and Rein suddenly started talking.
"Arty, why do you serve those bad people?"
Artemis gave him a condescending look, "I don't serve anyone, I do what I like."
"Then why do you do what they tell you to."
"I-" Artemis began, but then she stopped. She had no answer, she suddenly realized that she never had really stopped to think about what her superiors told her to do.
"Why don't you leave?" David was speaking now.
Artemis thought for awhile, and then she said softly "Nowhere else worth living in would take me. I have nowhere else better to go."
Rein grinned widely "I know, you could come with us to the King's land!"
Artemis looked at him with another condescending look "why would I want to go to a tyrant like the King. Besides, they'd just kill me rather than let me set one foot inside their borders."
Rein looked insulted and shocked, Artemis noted this was the first time she'd seen him look so "Tyrant, no no no Arty. He is a kind King, no one is greater than he, he loves us all. And his citizens would accept you if you wanted to become a good guy."
Artemis looked at him with a look like Scrooge would've had if someone had told him Santa Claus was real. But when Rein looked hurt her expression softened. Just because she didn't believe it didn't mean she had to spoil it for him did she. But Artemis realized with a pang of guilt that that was what she'd been doing for years. Worse, she'd been killing the King's Citizens for their faith and for what? Enjoyment? The thought of killing anyone like Rein now made her sick to her stomach. She realized she no longer knew who she was; she wasn't a cold blooded killer anymore. She dreaded to think of what she would do the next time Kobra told her to deal with a King's Citizen. But she also was afraid that if she let herself become part of these Citizens that she would be betrayed, and that she would be killed for what she'd done. She didn't think Rein, or even David could do that, but others, yes the others would certainly hate her.
She wasn't sure what to do anymore so she tried to distract herself with small talk and playing with the kids. She found herself immensely enjoying herself and only just remembered she was due back at camp. She said farewell to the kids and walked back to camp.
As she saw the soldiers and the demons that she worked with and the taste of Bile filled her mouth. How could she have agreed to work with these monsters in the first place.
She grabbed a few soldiers and they went out on patrol. Artemis still didn't know what she was going to do. Luckily, an answer was waiting for her.
Robin was excited to learn that Megan had become a Christian. The Pastor himself had given Megan a Bible. Megan now felt like she was consumed with a holy fire. She read her Bible almost every chance she had, and studied other aspects of Christianity when she wasn't reading it.
The team had other views on it. Robin of course was very excited and Aqualad and Superboy were glad to see she'd found something that made her so happy. But Kid Flash and Artemis had different views. Artemis thought that Megan was taking it a bit too seriously but was fine as long as Megan didn't try to force her to become a Christian. Wally on the other hand didn't tell his thoughts until much later on.
One day while Megan was sitting at a table reading her Bible when Wally zoomed to her side.
"Hellooo Megan! Want to go see a movie, it's at Happy Harbor and starts in 5 minutes. I even got us tickets."
"Not now Wally, can't you see I'm reading my Bible."
"Man, you spend way to much time on that thing, why are you so obsessed over a stupid book."
Megan looked hurt as she bookmarked he page and turned to face Wally.
"What do you think of Christianity then?"
Wally looked uncomfortable, and then he decided to come clean. Holding up his hands he said "fine, I think that Christianity is a bunch of fairy-tales. I mean come on, a guys coming back to life, how's that scientifically possible back then. And a talking snake in a garden, ridiculous! Oh, and what about the Red Sea parting to make a highway, impossible! As far as I'm concerned, the Bible is just a bunch of myths made-up by lunatics. The only thing amazing about it that I can see is that it's lasted this long."
Megan felt her face grow sadder and sadder as Wally kept talking about how un-scientific Christianity was. Finally, Wally noticed her face and he blanched. He quickly turned on his heels and ran off before Megan could call after him. She walked after him. She wanted to talk to him, she wanted to give him a piece of her mind.
She felt a compulsion to go to Wally's room and look for him there. She walked to his room and knocked on the door. Hearing no answer she opened the door and walked in. Wally wasn't anywhere to be found. Megan strolled into the room and wondered aloud "why is Wally always saying that Science is the only real thing?"
"For many reasons."
Megan whirled around, there was no one but she had assuredly heard a voice in her head. She heard it speak again and then saw that the Dr. Fate helmet's eyes were glowing.
"Fear not young one, God is well pleased with you."
"You know who God is?"
"Yes. I am an angel."
"I thought you were a Lord of Order?"
"True, that is my title. But what many leave out is that I am also an Angel and that I serve the one true God. God has given me a message for you."
"What? For me? What is it?"
"He says "I rejoice that you have come back to me. I have a journey for you in which you shall come to know me even more."
The glow increased and Megan felt herself getting dizzy. She fell to the floor and just before she fell unconscious she heard Nabu/Dr. Fate say in a comforting voice "God will look after you . . . always."
Megan woke up and the first thing she saw was a monster. The creature looked like the stereotypical demon, except it was all covered up in black armor. Some people may laugh and say such a being is more comic than scary but as Megan looked at the creature it was perhaps more frightening than any other being she'd looked upon. It was a being that was completely devoid of anything good, all it knew was evil. It had long since turned away from God and would never turn back.
She heard someone clear their throat and turned to see the last person she'd expected to be in the company of demons, Artemis. Except that she was dressed in black armor that was blacker than midnight. She carried a bow with a quiver of arrows and Megan got the distinct impression that this wasn't the Artemis she knew. Artemis saw the book in Megan's hands and recognized it for what it was, a Bible.
"You are one of the King's Citizens. I shall give you a chance to recant."
Megan wasn't a master at reading peoples face or body language. But she got the feeling that Artemis was almost as nervous as Megan herself was. She didn't even know what recanting was but it left a bitter taste in her mouth. She opened her mouth but didn't know what to say. They just stared at each other for a few seconds, then Artemis sighed and said "very well, take her to the cage."
The demons grabbed her and it did not even come into Megan's mind to resist. They dragged her to a camp and threw her into a hole in the ground with a wide entrance that was covered by iron bars. Megan saw a man walking up and converse with Artemis, and Megan with a shock recognized it as Kobra. Kobra saw her staring at him and smiled cruelly. He gave an order so that Megan could hear it "Artemis, I want you to stand watch by our little prisoner. I shall enjoy breaking her."
Artemis stood by the doors of the prison. Though they didn't know it, both girls were wondering what to do. But then Megan remembered something Robin had told her, that no matter the circumstance, God could hear her prayers. She knelt down and began to pray to God.
"Dear lord god, I don't know what's going on but you told me I had a job to do. I will do it but I would like some comfort in this difficult situation."
She felt a supernatural peace steal over her as she remembered Nabu's words "God will look after you . . . always." She leaned over and fell once more into a deep sleep.
Artemis watched the girl kneel down to pray and felt a pang of regret. She couldn't think of what she was going to tell Rein and David. She watched the girl pray for a minute or so and then lie down and go to sleep. She was astonished the girl was able to sleep with so many horrific beings nearby. Her respect for these citizens continually grew.
She stood her watch, waiting for her relief. And wondering desperately what she was going to do.
"Rein" means "pure" in German. I chose the name to describe the character.
I hope you like it. All credit for the idea goes to Starvix a fellow author. I hope it isn't too confusing.
I hope you aren't annoyed by the change of style. I will try to get the themes I discussed already involved in the story.
Thanks to all of you who reviewed it.
Good Day and God Bless :)
Sincerely, LordGodsServant