"We should just have her head and be done with it." Artemis grumbles at the small gathering of Amazons in an isolated forum located in the jungle. She is here as the official spokesperson for the Bana, with her is also Hippolyta, General Philips, Diana, Admiral Menalippe, a few scholars and Raven. Currently they are debating what to do with Terra, as Hippolyta had already announced her intentions for Ares. Artemis' suggestion has a few supporters.
Before coming here, they had made sure Terra had been secured in a cell far from the city with a sizeable detail of guards, while Raven keeps her mind's eye on her as well, but Terra seems to have lost all the fire in her, not even fighting back as she was manhandled to her new lodgings. Ares on the other hand was being moved to where Hippolyta wanted him, under even more careful eyes.
"Could always let Hades have her." General Philipus shrugs, the debate had quickly become rather one tracked, most of the people present want her dead, Diana included. "It would be just." They had all seen what Terra had done in her life during the interrogation in the throne room. So far Raven and Hippolyta have kept their opinions to themselves. "But what say you in this matter sister Raven? Does she not deserve death?"
"Deserve it? She does, many times over." Raven says for starters. "But why should we sully our hands with her blood? Her greatest crimes lie outside our borders and aside from the destruction caused during the fight, she did not take a life here."
"She almost took yours." Menalippe notes. "But am I not correct in there is more to your stand?"
"There is." Raven confirms. "I was dying after the beating I took. I had an encounter of sorts while my body stopped working, I met some of the people that Terra murdered, they claimed a being had sent them. I believe that no matter what we decide on, Terra's days will be over in the near future. The being I speak of is known as the Spectre, the Spirit of Vengeance. It's sole purpose is to avenge the murdered dead, Diana and I can attest his methods are beyond anything we could do."
"That his methods are." Hippolyta says quietly. "I have encountered this being before, and seen his work. If this spirit intends to avenge the dead, I see no reason to deny it."
"But is it not a threat to bring this thing here?" One of the scholars asks.
"It exists avenge those unjustly slain, it has never had cause to come here before." Diana mentions. "And it is omniscient, it already knows she's here, it just hasn't decided to punish her yet."
"Then this is my decision. For her actions here, Terra will suffer fifty lashes before she is provided an escort back to Man's World to face her punishment there. In case the Spirit of Vengeance proves to have been a hallucination; Sister Raven will be tasked with making sure that just punishment is metered out." Hippolyta says. "Do I hear any objections?" She gets none, not even from Raven. "Very well, it shall be so. Now, as we are assembled, I feel the need to bring up the actions of my former guards. I believed Sister Raven was an isolated incident, but Sister Artemis opened my eyes to the truth of the matter; that the Royal Guard had a routine of silencing of sisters who did not share their view of the world and had the courage to speak about it. The main antagonist seems to be Sister Alkyone, hers is the name that has been mentioned to me as being the leader of the group."
"Her service by your side has been long and honorable. But we would need to know when she began imposing her will on others." Menalippe says. "And how many sisters we are talking about?"
"The first rumor appeared some five hundred years after we arrived here, but the first confirmed incident happened some seven hundred and fifty years after our arrival. Out of our sisters, who are with us today, 132 have personally come to me with tales of the abuse they have suffered themselves and some 50 have come with tales from now deceased sisters who had told them of the abuse they suffered." Hippolyta replies, being the only one with the knowledge.
"Have Alkyone been questioned in this matter?" One of the scholars asks.
"We have yet, to confront her with the knowledge outside of her actions against Sister Raven." Hippolyta replies. "Diana, if you will prepare your lasso, Raven will go and retrieve her, I believe she is at the harbor." Both of them nod before Raven teleports away.
"Sister Alkyone, her Highness requests your presence." Raven says flatly after being directed to the former sergeant of the Royal Guard, finding her mending a hole in a fishnet.
"I figured this day would come outsider." Alkyone says dryly as she gets to her feet, before they are both teleported back to the gathering, where Raven retakes her seat, while Alkyone bows to Hippolyta.
"Sister, do you know why you have been summoned?" Hippolyta asks.
"I am about to be accused of having overstepped my duties as Her Highness' personal guardian." Alkyone replies without a hint of emotion as she falls into a waiting stance with her hands on her back and her feet slightly spread.
"Forgive us sister, but we must know if you speak truthfully." Hippolyta says, motioning for Diana.
"Of course your highness." Alkyone replies as she holds out her right hand, which Diana ties her lasso around before returning to her seat.
"Sister Alkyone, for starters, we wish to know for how long have these actions against other sisters been conducted?" Menalippe asks.
"When I was personally selected to join Her Excellence's guard, I considered it a blessing of the highest order and I vowed to keep her safe from any and all threats from the outside and from within." Alkyone replies.
"So this had been going on for over three thousand years?" Menalippe continues.
"Yes."
"And how many sisters have felt your ministrations?" Philipus asks.
"While I don't remember the exact number, I hazard a guess at it to exceed 250."
"What action of others would prompt you into these choices of action?" One of the scholars asks.
"Speaking out against Her Highness, her position, her decisions and any threat to the Guard."
"In the outside world and here at home, I had long thought we could pride ourselves for our unity and for our freedom of speech. Indeed, Princess Diana attempts often to preach these values to all in Man's brutish world. Why would you seek to silence voices that should be heard? Perhaps their concerns were valid?" Another scholar asks.
"Impossible, Her Highness cannot be wrong and any who says otherwise is blaspheming!" Alkyone snaps, while a slight look of surprise passes her eyes before recovering. "We follow the Queens orders, we have to, or else our society will erupt in chaos."
"While we may have sovereign rule, one should not be deaf to the advice of others, it has been this way for thousands of years." Diana says. "Why attempt to silence advices so that our Queen could decide for herself what course of action was best?"
"I only acted against those who provided ill advices, the ones I felt that could jeopardize the peace of our land."
"I asked Sister Raven for advice on how to prevent more needless deaths amongst the Royal Guard, who had suffered the brunt of the casualties during the recent invasion. This was when she informed me of the practices some of you had begun performing, which frightened her due to the experiences of similar groupings in Man's World. She suggested two ways of combating this unhealthy development, one of which has already been implemented the other was extreme, yet I had asked for her suggestions and permitted her to speak freely. For me to be a capable ruler, I need sound advice lest I become a despot." Hippolyta says, breaking her long silence.
"I know your Highness, but let the voices you listen to at least be sound, let them come from capable minds. Not the riff-raff of the streets and the festering World of Man!" Alkyone exclaims, almost pleadingly, surprising them all.
"And who, would you consider a capable advisor Alkyone?" Hippolyta asks quietly, dreading the answer.
"Myself and those like me who only have your best of interests in mind." Raven sighs at this, as does Hippolyta while she shakes her head, the others look a little worried.
"Sister, I am the Queen of Themyscira, but I am humble in my own duties to our people. I serve you all, as you serve me, but in order for me to do this to the best of my abilities, I will hear the opinions of those who may disagree with me equally as I will hear those who do agree with me, be they guard, scribe or fisher. Sisters, please leave us for a moment, I desire some privacy with Alkyone." The others nod and leave the clearing, retreating some distance away before gathering again.
"Is it wise to leave them?" Artemis asks. "I mean, Alkyone might not take Hippolyta's stand too well."
"No, she is devoted to her." One of the scribes says.
"She is." Diana confirms, having grown up under Alkyone's watchful stare. "I do however worry that my mother might decide to prove what her decisions could be like without advisors." She gets a few nods of agreement.
"So sister Raven, what can this Terra expect in terms of punishment in Man's World?" Another scholar asks.
"Depends on where we drop her, I guess. But for the damage she has caused, she will either get a life sentence, where she will live out the rest of her life behind bars or she will be executed by either gas or be given a lethal injection. But that is only if she isn't 'saved' by her own madness, where I guess she will be returned to an asylum." Raven replies.
"But are you prepared to do what my mother tasked you with?" Diana asks.
"I am." Raven replies flatly. "It may not become a spectacle, but I am. Who knows, she might just vanish one day."
"But a warning to all it will hopefully become." Philipus says. "But I have to agree with Artemis' earlier suggestion; just having her head now is the safer option."
"It is, but it is also fast and painless." Menalippe adds. "Unless we feed her to Megalodons. Or I have her keelhauled."
"No, if it was still up for debate, I believe Her Majesty would grant her the sword." The scholar says. "But tell me, the burning at the stake, did that kind of executions really happen?"
"It did, hundreds of years ago, parts of Man's World had a period of hysterics where zealots and common folk sought to rid their immediate area of ancient practices of all sorts, labeling it witchcraft and claiming it was the work of evil. Somewhere between 40.000 and 100.000 is believed to have been executed over a 300 year period on that accusation, because of the methods used to coax confessions it is unknown how many of those were innocent. The irony would be that in my case, they would have gotten it right." Raven says, getting some grimaces from the others.
"Barbarians." Artemis sighs. "Was it gender specific?"
"No, men could just as easily be labeled a witch or sorcerer. But the majority were women, because the belief was that women were more likely to turn to evil than men were." Raven says before rolling her eyes. "Thankfully those ignorant times are over in most of the world."
"Now we just have griffon riding Amazons, whose aim needs improving." Diana says, getting a smirk out of Raven.
"And I will improve it, but I doubt Talhybius will allow me to ride him again, he seemed to return to his old ways when he was healed again." Raven says, the beast had needed to be stared down by Hippolyta after its wounds were healed before it decided to injure someone.
"Well horse archery, is something I have been meaning to brush up on, also within the army." Philipus admits. "But I can't guarantee you any griffons." They all chuckle at this. "Actually, I have been thinking, with the increased threat from Man's World, perhaps now was the time to suggest some age old ideas of mine?"
"And I will hear of them, but at another time." Hippolyta says as she emerges down the path, followed by an extremely depressed looking Alkyone. "I believe you all know what has to happen now?" The others nod as she passes and follows her and Alkyone as they pass them.
They remain silent for the march through the jungle and subsequently the city, where only Hippolyta whispers something to a guard along the way who runs off. At the sight of the group many of the civilian Amazons stop what they are doing, in favor of following them as they march into the military quarter. Ending the journey at the far corner facing the jungle, where two thick wooden posts stand with manacles fixed to the top. Raven notes that Alkyone becomes even more depressed at the sight. There is a quiet murmuring from the crowd as they wait for a few moments before three guards arrive, one carrying a whip. Hippolyta nods them to Alkyone who doesn't resist the slightest as they shackle her to the posts, spreading her arms wide enough so that she can dangle from them with her back facing the rest, her toga is torn open to reveal the skin of her back to them.
"Sister Alkyone has been found guilty of imposing her will over those of others in my name! Silencing voices that should have been heard, she and others judged to be treasonous. She did these things out of misguided duty to me." Hippolyta says, addressing the crowd. "We are all equal to the law of Themyscira, be they fisher, tailor, soldier or monarch. And Sister Alkyone has been found guilty of seeking to impose her own laws upon others in the name of the Queen, for that there is punishment. But let it be known that she has agreed to take all punishment to spare those who aided her; 40 lashes." Hippolyta says as she takes the whip from the guard holding it, before unfurling it and sending it whistling through the air, landing with a sharp crack that makes Alkyone stagger as her upper back is struck while she bites down hard.
"One…" Philipus counts before the next one lands.
Forty times the whip cracks, 12 hits are taken with growls through clenched teeth like the first, 23 times Alkyone howls in pain the last five are taken with quiet whimpering. When Hippolyta is done, Alkyone's back and upper legs are bleeding from the many places the skin has been ruptured.
"Let her down." Hippolyta says quietly to the guards, who proceed to release the dangling, weeping, woman putting her arms over their shoulders. "Take her to the healers, she has recieved her punishment." Hippolyta instructs and the guards carry Alkyone away before continuing. "Alas, there is one, whose punishment she cannot take." Hippolyta says, seemingly growing grimmer by the second. "The one who should have known this was happening, the one who failed to protect her subjects from her own guardians." Hippolyta says, dropping the whip on the ground, to the shocked silence of everyone present. "Twenty lashes." She almost hisses before turning around sharply and walks to hug one of the posts. "I await."
"But mother…" Diana manages as the first to speak up.
"Leave if you have to Diana, but do not interfere!" Hippolyta snaps, Raven can see that Diana wants to argue, as can everyone else, but finally Diana decides against it and flies away. "I await." Hippolyta continues, somehow knowing Diana had left without turning her head, or letting go. "Well?" She asks after a minute of mumbling but no one is moving forwards to do the deed. "Do not let me think none of you will uphold the law?"
"But your Highness, it was not your fault." General Philipus tries.
"It is General, it is my fault for not investigating the rumors, had I acted sooner other sisters may have been spared Alkyone's attentions. Will none of you do what has to be done?" Hippolyta replies.
"No, we will not voluntarily do this." Artemis says sternly, Hippolyta sighs at the post making them all believe she is about to relent. Instead she lets go with one hand and without turning her head, draws an arc in the air with her finger before it stops.
"Do not speak sister, I do not wish to know who you are, but you will uphold the law and you will not coddle me!" Hippolyta says, getting another round of shocked murmurs from the crowd. While the chosen one stands dumbstruck at the order given to her, quickly sending silent pleading through looks to those around her, receiving only mixed expressions of shock and pity. "Do not make me turn my head to see who you are." Hippolyta pleads. General Philipus and the others send the appalled Raven a curt nod, getting a sight out of her before she reluctantly picks up the whip.
"Be strong your Highness." Philipus says as she notices all emotion retreat out of Raven's eyes, while she moves to throw Hippolyta's long hair over her shoulder before moving aside.
"One!" Hippolyta snarls through clenched teeth as the whip hits her back, while Raven has never handled the instrument outs of the cave before; she is currently armored so her strikes hurt a lot more. "Two…!"
Hippolyta continues keeping her own count through clenched teeth though her voice looses its fierceness eventually, the last six being outright cries. After the last strike has landed, Hippolyta finally sinks to her knees, panting and sweating with the pain coming from her bleeding back while Raven throws the weapon to the ground in disgust.
"Sister… Raven… your assistance… please." Hippolyta pants, resting her head against the wood, as Philipus leans down next to her, the bald woman quickly waves Raven over, who without a word, hurries over, still squashing all emotion, and summons her healing powers and the wounds close. "Thank you, but I believe I need to rest. Please assist me." Hippolyta says.
"And rest you will have." Philipus says before nodding to Raven, and the two throw Hippolyta's arms over their shoulders before they help her to her feet and make for the palace, passing the mute crowd.
Half an hour later, the Royal Palace.
"It was a thankless and unpleasant task, but you did well." General Philipus says as she sits down on the bench next to Raven in the courtyard where the team that went to Tartarus for Raven once spent an afternoon.
The two had of course met a grim faced Diana on their way back, as the Princess was loitering around Hippolyta's chambers. She hadn't spoken to them, but she was angry, hurt and concerned, and both Philipus and Raven knew it, while Hippolyta had lost consciousness during the journey. Diana elected to stay with her mother after she was gently placed on her bed. Raven had quietly said that they should put her on her stomach as she would still be sore and it would allow her chambermaid to clean the blood. After quietly leaving, Raven had quickly excused herself and come here, in need of solitude that had only lasted so long as it took for Philipus to find her.
"Seems I get picked for a lot of those." Raven sighs, having taken off her helmet. The task had been a double edged sword to her, because she felt the pain Hippolyta felt when the whip landed. "Was it really within the law?"
"I know you have an exceptional memory, but yes, twenty lashes for failing to remain vigilant in ones duty, no more, no less." Raven sighs at this confirmation of her own memory. "No one wanted this to happen, but you were just unfortunate to be chosen."
"I think she knew." Raven says. "She would have remembered where I stood."
"Alas, that is possible, but it still means someone had to do it." Philipus continues. "But think no more of it, whats done is done and she ordered you to do it. Now I want to hear your opinion to some of those ideas I've had for our standing forces." Raven smiles slightly at the suggested distraction, but it is a welcome one.
"I am all ears." She says as she turns to sit cross legged while facing the general who mirrors her actions.
"With the tales brought back from Man's World, I have learned that, while far from as gracious as Princess Diana's craft, Man's World is not without it's armed flyers, though none made it to our shores during the recent invasion?"
"Man took to the skies some one hundred years ago and Princess Diana, Donna and Cassandra managed to prevent any of the craft from taking off." Raven replies.
"And fortunately so, without yourself, and those gifted with flight, our aerial capabilities are limited to Queen Hippolyta, who is the only one to ride flying beasts. It has not been necessary before to have any other and Hippolyta has been a symbol when riding them."
"But with our enemies, no longer bound to the ground or the sea, you believe it is necessary to have our armies capable of flight as well?" Raven asks.
"Precisely. While our archers are sharp eyed, we will be in danger if the copies of Diana's craft or the flapping craft's I heard about are to be employed against us. I believe we need to be able to contest the skies against these contraptions." Philipus nods before continuing. "But that is not all, if we face more invasions from Man's World, I wonder if it is also time to expand the cavalry. I assume you know why we have so few combat ready riders?" She asks.
"For so long, the only enemy has been buried under our feet inside of a cave, neither horse or anything flying can actually get inside." Raven replies, the stairway leading to Doom's Door was barely wide enough for a horse to make the way down there.
"Exactly. But on our beaches, we have the sky above us and the land to roam, but so do our enemies. While we can all ride, we need to expand the amount of horses at our disposal and trained for battle. Now I figure we will need some time to prepare a flying squadron, first by getting the approval from Hippolyta as the first obstacle, and then with breaking the mounts I have in mind. So far, the only one to have tried taming a Pegasus, has been Hippolyta herself." Philipus explains.
"How come? I mean, I know they seem rare, but I have seen a herd once, but have no one else ever tried?" Raven asks.
"The beast seems skittish and we never had cause to approach them, Hippolyta tried because she thought of it as a suitable challenge. Later she wished for griffon." Philipus explains. "But what are your thoughts about these things?" Raven thinks for a few seconds before replying.
"I think your suggestions need to be implemented, flight has become a crucial part of the modern battlefield and wars have been lost and won thanks to air superiority or the lack of it. I also agree that the cavalry should be expanded, while I have never witnessed the real thing on Earth, I have seen the effects in some works of fiction that some describe as being accurate. And their speed might prove useful if motor vehicles are employed. But you say nothing of the fleet?" Raven asks.
"Alas, the fleet I fear we cannot hope to compete against man's world, if more of the metal leviathans exists. We simply do not have the resources to produce something like it, nor the troops to crew one." Philipus sighs, remembering how eager Menalippe had been to see the huge craft, but Dr. Fate had dismantled it before she could inspect it up close.
"Well, I can provide some comfort that their numbers are very few, even for the largest of navies." Raven says. "Actually if I can get permission to do so when it has been rebuilt, I might be able to help with demonstrating how one of the flapping contraptions, as you called them, work and look like." This gets Philipus to raise an eyebrow.
"How?"
"I pilot one on occasions." Raven replies with a smirk. "But I cannot promise you that I can get permission to take it with me."
"But you have flight under your own?" Philipus says with a raised eyebrow.
"Let's just say I spent much of my time in Man's World as someone else, while I am myself when the situation warrants it. But please leave it at that." She explains, she had made it a point to keep Themyscira oblivious about how she spent most of her time, which worked well enough on its own due to how it had gotten used to Diana, Donna and Cassandra.
"Hmm, you are a strange one champion, but I will comply with your request, though I hope for enlightenment." Philipus says after a few seconds. "But thank you for being open minded about my suggestions. Perhaps we need to look over some more at a later date."
"You still outrank me by far, General." Raven smirks.
"That I do Sergeant." Philipus replies.
"Did you really have to do it?" Raven looks up from her meditation, having moved back to the secluded forum, spotting the person who's reaction she feared the most; Diana. But Wonder Woman looks more downhearted than furious or disdainful.
"Guess it is that obvious?" Raven sighs as she floats down to the ground, an odd sensation, she was just getting used to her powers not working.
"It wasn't meant to be a secret." Diana replies as she sits down on the lowest row seats.
"Does she know?" Raven asks, sighing when Diana nods. "She said she didn't want to know who it was."
"She told me. And that I shouldn't be angry with you. But did you really have to?" Diana asks.
"Seemingly at random she pointed me out of a crowd with her back turned… I don't know… really I don't." Raven mumbles off. "Believe me, I didn't want to… but it's just that I find it hard to refuse her... even when it was that."
"It is a remarkable power my mother has, only few of our sisters can resist her orders when given directly." Diana says. "Guess it is a blessing really."
"For a leader." Raven agrees. "But no, I guess I should have said no or walked away."
"No, then you would have been next at the post for disobedience." Diana says, getting a strange look from Raven. "I think my mother wanted to test your commitment to upholding the law, even when you didn't necessarily agree or even like it."
"She knows what I am doing in Gotham." Raven sighs, realizing the random selection was not random at all. "I am sorry I had to harm her."
"Don't be, she told me this really had to happen, one way or the other. Alkyone may have taken the punishment, but she and others like her, who believe my mother to be divine, must be made to see that even she can fail, bleed and that no one is above the law here." Raven nods at this, though it fails to cheer her up.
"She is back on her feet I guess?"
"Her back is sore, but she is currently debating General Philipus' suggestions, but I hear you have heard some of them?"
"She wants to have more of our sisters in the sky and on horse incase planes and helicopters are deployed against us. Personally I think it is a good idea." Raven replies.
"It is, in case we cannot be here." Diana agrees as she gets up and makes to leave. "Terra will receive her punishment tomorrow, we leave the day after that. My mother requests you are present there, incase Terra's fortitude is not up to the task."
"I will." Raven says, pausing as Diana heads out. "Diana, are we still ok?" Raven asks suddenly, getting the Princess to turn around, revealing her to be smiling sadly.
"It would take much more than this to ruin our friendship Raven, I just have to accept this." She says before nodding at her and takes off.