"So the sentence has been carried out?" Hippolyta asks she receives the news from Raven in the small garden outside her palace quarters, where she is tending to a bed of flowers, which is an odd sight since Hippolyta is wearing a regular chiton while resting on her knees in front of a small hole she has been digging for some new flowers.
"It has your Highness." Raven replies having come directly as she had been ordered to.
"Good. We have received the request from America to have her turned over and I have sent Donna on an errand to retrieve an inhibitor from the Justice League, so she will be easily manageable, in case she tries to break free. Now tomorrow you will lead her escort to Man's World, make sure no harm befalls her while under your care." Raven nods at the order in understanding. "I am aware of your concern that the Spectre might choose to strike while she under your command and that you will stand no chance against it, but do not let it take her without opposition. Now, do you have any questions regarding your assignment?"
"Only as to where I am going and who I am leading?"
"You will only need to know you are taking her from our embassy to the police headquarters in Washington DC, I know it would have been most fitting having her delivered to Gotham City, but they do not have the resources to handle her. As for the escort, rest assured it is formidable." Hippolyta replies with a slight smirk. "You have some else to ask me?" She notes.
"I do your Highness, regarding yesterday… did you know?" Raven asks the question that had been gnawing at her since yesterday, Hippolyta nods slightly.
"While I wouldn't have known if you had chosen to move, I was aiming for you. And I will tell you why; I have come to understand the Batman is uncompromising in his fight for justice, with you having undergone his training, I wished to see if you shared his view. But yesterday had to be done, or I would have been above the law."
"He is not completely uncompromising." Raven says, knowing of several examples of this. "He once captured a simple thief, one who had once taken on a colorful uniform and name, but this time was dressed as a regular man. He found that the man had robbed a pharmacy for various medications, intrigued he learned that the thief was slowly dying of a disease, but the medications he stole would prolong his life for some time, long enough for him to see his daughter grow up. Batman let the man go, while compensating the store for the damage, and supplying the man with any additional medications he needed, till the day he died." She explains, getting a nod from Hippolyta.
"Hmm, I agree there are times when given laws are unjust, and that is why we hold a council over such crimes. But yesterday was also a test, to see how you would react if I gave you an order to do something you did not want to do. Also I have a standing task I wish you to undertake." Raven just nods though she wondered how many assignments Hippolyta planned on giving her. "It will perhaps be your most important function as my Champion; keep an eye on me."
"Ma'am?" Raven asks in confusion, wondering what she meant by that.
"We are an ancient people Raven and some, like myself, have been performing our functions for millennia. For as many years, I thought I was vigilant and everything was well and good here, the Royal Guard proved me wrong. And it's become clear to me that I may not perceive everything on Paradise Island, not even the changes we may undergo as the years pass. Raven, what I want you to do is to make sure that I do not lead us all astray. Your eyes and ears may be needed elsewhere, but I need you to train them on me as well."
"For… flaws?" Raven asks carefully.
"You may call it that." Hippolyta sighs. "I am empowering you Raven, in case you find flaws grievous enough, to alert the High Council so that they may take proper action. If the case is extreme, and time is up the essence… your sworn will be to remove me from power, by whatever means is needed to do so. Can you do that Raven? For your people? For your Queen?" Hippolyta asks as she looks Raven in the eyes, and in them Raven can actually see how worried Hippolyta is that she might one day, without her own knowledge, lead her people astray.
"Before I can promise you such a thing, I need to know why you would entrust me, the person on this island that's the most unstable, with such a task?" Raven replied having already imagined her other side somehow breaking free and dethrone Hippolyta through deceit and she knew it will already have gone into Hippolyta's calculations.
"During the invasion, you found me under the sway of that… Brother Blood. I fear that most of our sisters would not have done what was necessary to snap me out of it, you did however. And that is perhaps what I am seeking in you Raven, less blind devotion and more alert to what is real and what the true danger is."
"That… does not answer my question Ma'am." Raven continues as she see's Hippolyta wasn't going to continue. "What's inside of me is not a mindless animal and it knows what I know, should it one day return..."
"I have confidence in you that it will not, Diana has informed of how you dealt with it." Hippolyta replies confidently. "But in the unlikely event that it should, I am going to trust that we will be able to see it, if not in the color of it's skin, then in the way it moves, speaks and acts." Raven nods at this, she knew this before Batman gave her a course. It was Azar who taught her how to spot such things as shapeshifters and people possessed, how the little things changed, how they walked, how their routines were and so forth. Batman went over it again so she could spot people who wore disguises. It doesn't surprise her that the Amazons would also have made such observations, though apparently not with a purpose as it was with Azar and Bruce.
"While I will pray I will never have to exercise the power you have entrusted me with, I will keep my eyes out." Raven replies. "And hope you will have it written it down somewhere." She adds, since they are alone, she couldn't actually count on Hippolyta backing the permission up in case she ever had to summon the High Council.
"It has already been added to your list of duties." Hippolyta replies with a small smirk, getting an amused huff out of Raven. While she hadn't read it yet, she knew there was a scroll in the library that detailed all of her duties, permits and other such things and what actions Hippolyta was allowed to take against her for failing in those areas, but she only knew this because she knew there was a scroll for every rank and station of importance in Amazon society, even one for the Queen.
"But in regards to yesterday; I know you don't know me as well as any of the others, but was there no other way?" Raven asks.
"It was a quick decision on my part, think nothing more of it." Hippolyta shrugs, before seemingly noticing something. "You need not stand there in the sun in full armor while addressing me. Remove it." She says, Raven raises her eyebrows for a second before beginning to pick off the pieces, leaving her standing in a slightly squashed chiton a few moments later while the armor has been deposited on the steps in a neat pile.
"And I seem to have gotten used to have to take it on and off normally." Raven notes.
"Now you are fit to come aid me in my garden." Hippolyta says with a smirk. "These roots are a stubborn lot."
"I might have to mention I have no idea about gardening." Raven replies, unable to think of anything better to say, but it is true, the only plant she ever had was a cactus Starfire had given her and it had ended up dead, something that didn't surprise Raven at the time.
"Then come learn from me." Hippolyta says waving her closer. "Also I wish to know how you came to ride my personal war mount?" She asks as she hands Raven a small shovel and some uprooted flowers.
"He insisted." Raven replies as Hippolyta points at a spot for her to plant the flowers. "I tried getting around him when I found him outside the palace but he moved to block me. Thought he wanted me as a snack."
"That would be a correct assumption under normal circumstances, but he has a great amount of loyalty to me." Hippolyta replies as she continues her own work as Raven begins on hers.
"May I ask how you tamed him?"
"Through determination and much hardship, I found him wounded on a mountain shelf. While he was at first hostile towards me, I defended him from a flock of vile harpies till he was strong enough to fend for himself. While they are terrifying beasts, griffons like Talhybius are very intelligent, in it's own way, I believe it thinks to owe me a life debt."
"So we can't exactly expect to see more of them with riders." Raven says. "That is if you would allow more?"
"Ah, Philipus' suggestion of taking our sisters to the skies. No, I have never banned anyone from acquiring their own mounts, no matter what they might be. And I think griffons are quite capable of being domesticated if acquired at the correct age, which was my original plan. Perhaps we should encourage our sisters of this?"
"Think we need to learn how to handle less aggressive mounts before we attempt the likes of the griffons." Raven says as she stops digging. "Grabbing the bull by the horns is all very well, if you don't end up on the menu if you fail."
"A little deeper sister, the roots need to be completely buried." Hippolyta notes as Raven tries to place the flowers in the hole. "But do you think it is possible?"
"I do, but I think you are right in trying to acquire a younger griffon, perhaps it is only possible to tame them straight from birth?" Raven asks.
"Hatching, they lay eggs." Hippolyta corrects. "But you are correct, they most likely need to identify its rider as its… mother. That's how it works with the falcons and eagles we raise."
"It will be a dangerous quest to secure the eggs." Raven notes, she knew enough about birds to know that a nest was rarely if ever left unattended.
"Very." Hippolyta agrees. "Question is, should sisters have to offer their lives for the chance to acquire one?" Raven is silent for some time before replying as she thinks it over.
"It should not be an order, but if they want to try, it would be their choice and everyone has the respect for them to not go rush in blindly. But then again, our primary foe lies beneath us."
"Now you need to water it to make the dirt set properly." Hippolyta says as Raven gently presses the earth down around the flowers. "Hmm, perhaps the daring quest I had in mind may prove too dangerous." She muses while Raven retrieves a small bucket of rainwater.
"A griffon rider may prove a suitable leader for a squadron of pegasi, if they can stand together." Raven notes as she walks back.
"Indeed." Hippolyta continues as Raven pours the water. "A little more." She notes as Raven stops. "Would you be up for the task?" Raven looks up to gauge is the Queen was making fun, finding her to be dead serious.
"I can fly on my own, now that is." She replies.
"Indeed, but in case you should be drained again, or completely?" Hippolyta continues.
"I would need to learn how to handle the bow properly from the back of a moving horse first, Your Highness, but I will consider the option. That reminds me, I will ask permission to bring my own method of flight here, when I am pretending to be someone else?" Now it is Hippolyta's turn to raise her eyebrows at Raven. "I promised General Philipus to try and bring it along for teaching purposes, in case it like's are ever employed against us."
"Hmm, I will allow it, but only once." Hippolyta says after some contemplation. "But no showing off or Io will become intolerable."
"You have my word." Raven replies, knowing Io might become intolerable just from the glimpse and so does Hippolyta. "So, how long have you tended to this garden?" Raven asks assuming now was the time to change the subject.
Later that evening:
In the hour after the last rays of the sun sets upon Themyscira, a dark shape emerges from the window of a certain building and climbs to the roof, taking careful note of the surroundings, particularly at how many are walking the streets and the weather that has been growing worse since the afternoon now having covered the sky in thunderclouds. Having plotted the course to her destination, she begins the trip in silence.
A quarter of an hour later, she shoots a grapple hook up a building, to climb to its roof and lie flat on her stomach on it, while carefully taking in the building in front of her. The palace is going to be more difficult to get into by the aerial method, she notes, the guards stationed around the building are silent and unmoving, undoubtedly alert.
"Just time it right." She thinks and sets to wait for the right moment, that occurs a few moments later, the guard shift. With the window of a moment or two, at most, while the guards distract each other, Raven stands up and leaps off the building, spreading her cape wide, letting her glide noiselessly to a lower part of the palace roof. "And now the tricky part." She adds after landing in a silent run, with several objectives she agreed with herself to complete before heading out and she knows she doesn't have much time.
"Rest well, your Highness." The guard says quietly as Hippolyta enters her darkened personal quarters, getting a nod from the monarch before she closes her door. Almost instantly she realizes that something is amiss, or at least subtly different. Carefully she scans the dark room, but can see nothing that shouldn't be there. However it fails to reassure her, carefully she gets the flint kit to light the closest brazier, the oil fails to ignite at first and she has to try a few times before it lights, casting the shadows of the room back to the corners. To her surprise, nothing is out of place, nothing seems to have been touched, she is almost releases the breath she is holding, before she spots the small square piece of paper lying on her pillows.
"Bold, very bold sister." Hippolyta whispers as she reads the note, while written in Hellenistic Greek, it is obvious to Hippolyta who the writer is.
Your Highness, I apologize for post phoning your rest, but I believe this to be the only time where I can show you this without alerting the entire island. I have by the time of writing been over most of the palace and altered a few things, moving only under the power of my own body and the tools I have on my person. If you wish to see me, you must follow the 4 notes I have left behind. The second note is under the upturned vase outside the armory.
PS. The guard will be in the bushes.
The last note has Hippolyta look up in surprise; she had heard nothing other than her own sounds and the slight sound of the wind outside. Immediately, she heads for her door, finding the guard that was standing outside gone, as the note promised she finds her lying in the bushes just besides the archway that runs past Hippolyta's room, unconscious but without a mark to explain why.
"Very well then sister, the hunt begins." Hippolyta says quietly after picking up the guard and placing her in her room before making her way down the long corridors, constantly feeling like she is being watched. Passing through the throne room, the feeling is enough to have her spin around to look down the way she came, seeing nothing. A slight noise has her turn her head towards Athena's statue, swearing she heard something, but she sees nothing, the statue remaining as immovable as always.
"Is something amiss your Highness?" One of the four guards in the room asks.
"I believe we have a visitor, come with me." Hippolyta replies before resuming her walk, followed by the guards. "I will bring my own element into this." She thinks before they turn the corner leading to the armory, finding both guards usually stationed outside missing and one of the two huge vases flanking the door turned on its head. "Turn it." Hippolyta says and one of the guards does as commanded, finding a small piece of paper under it. "Let me read it."
The guards are unharmed and inside the armory. Now I suspect you will have brought the four guards from the throne room along with you. The next note you will find in Diana's room, it wasn't easy. The note reads.
"Your Highness?" One of the guards asks as the note is crushed in Hippolyta's hand.
"My daughter retired an hour ago?"
"She did your highness." One of the others confirms.
"They are in here." One of the guards notes as she pushes open the door to the armory, finding the two guards sitting slumped against an armor rack. "They are alive." She confirms after checking their breathing. "What is going on?"
"We have a visitor, it has been in my daughters room, follow me." Hippolyta replies before the five make haste down the corridors, making their way to Diana's quarters, much to the surprise of the guard posted there.
"My Queen, is something amiss?" The guard asks as they stop.
"I need to see Diana, stand aside." Hippolyta says, before gently pushing the door open without a sound, revealing the dark interior with the room's inhabitant soundly asleep, Hippolyta motions for silence before walking inside, unsure if Raven had the means to keep the notorious light sleeper Diana in her current state, while taking a careful look around the room for the next note.
Her first question is answered the instant Hippolyta pushes one of Diana's boots aside by accident, making a slight noise as the heel scrapes against the marble floor, as if she was waiting, Diana bolts upright, instantly awake and angry at the waking, glaring at them while covering herself with her bed sheet.
"What are you… Mother?!" Diana asks in confusion as she recognizes Hippolyta. "What is the meaning of this?"
"I believe you have been used as an example of how stealthy one can be." Hippolyta replies, suddenly a little relieved she had not tried to remove the note stuck in Diana's hair, her daughter would have struck before realizing who she hit.
"What? Oh… why the nerve." Diana growls as she picks the note out of her hair, seeing her mother was looking over her head, instantly recognizing where the note came from.
"I will handle it, return to rest." Hippolyta says as she holds her hand out for the note, Diana sighs through her nose after a few seconds and hands it over. "Sleep well Diana, without further interruptions."
"Goodnight mother." Diana sighs again before lying down as Hippolyta exits her chambers.
Undoubtedly I am now in deep trouble with Diana, but that is my trouble. The final note is placed outside of the palace; at the forum where judgment was passed. Hippolyta reads as a distant rumble of thunder can be heard.
"I will require a change of attire." She announces before walking off.
Armed and armored, and with the four guards behind her, Hippolyta makes her way into the night. Carefully they walk to the secluded forum, housed on a small hill that leaves one side free to see the ocean if one was to face the wrong direction as the center faces the jungle. Hippolyta remains stern and silent during the whole journey, keeping her eyes on the path before her, still feeling like she was being watched but still does not catch sight anything that could be watching her.
Arriving at the forum, the note is easy to find, with a white rock with an arrow drawn on it resting near the base of one of the center columns.
"Spread out sisters, I will retrieve it." Hippolyta says, waiting for them to do so. "Sisters?" Hippolyta asks when none of the guards enter her field of vision making her turn around, finding herself completely alone, with no trace of the four she brought with her. This sets off Hippolyta's alarm and she whips her sword out to stand in a ready stance, slowly backing closer to the rock while keeping her sword tip pointing at the jungle. Making it up the stepped seats to stand besides the rock she scans the surroundings carefully, wary of ambush, her eyes finally catch sight of something, completely dressed in black, but with something yellow on its chest and a flowing cape. "Sister?" Hippolyta asks without letting her guard down, the figure remains silent as a flash of lighting washes over the forum, the monarch blinks several times, the figure is gone, no sound, no movement seen. "Very impressive sister, I would ask if you have been following me through the palace, but I am certain you have." She says as she kneels down to retrieve the note trapped under the rock.
Keeping her sword in one hand she casts a quick glaze at the note, finding it to only contain two words; Behind you. Hippolyta's stomach drops when she reads it, instantly knowing she could be dead right now as the point of something is pressed against the side of her neck, where her armor does not shield her; she swallows while freezing completely.
"This is how I work in Man's World, a silent fear of those I hunt." Raven says behind her.
"How did you get into the palace, if you did not use your powers?" Hippolyta asks.
"My cape can go rigid if I want to, allowing me to glide on the wind. I took off from the house of scribes while the guards changed."
"And you have been following me ever since?" Hippolyta asks.
"After you found the note in your chambers, yes, by the roof. You almost saw me in the throne room, but I was looking down through the opening behind Athena." Raven replies as she relaxes and steps back, letting Hippolyta turn around and face her, she can tell Hippolyta is gauging her while keeping the sword point facing her.
"Once again you prove the point of how effective camouflage is and how quiet you can be. And no doubt I am outclassed, but explanations have to be given about what happened." Hippolyta says letting on a slight smirk, as the lightning flashes it is Raven who is almost caught off guard as Hippolyta charges her with her sword raised and cry on her lips.
It had been difficult, Raven admits, but Hippolyta had been sufficiently defeated, enough to make it seem very believable that she had fought some kind of demon unleashed by Hades, one she had ultimately vanquished before its body disintegrated as it fell off the steep side of the hill.
"It will be a lot more difficult if I have to do that again." Raven mutters as she appears in her room and closes the shutters, Hippolyta had proven to almost learn how Raven moved on the fly, expertly adapting to her opponent.
"No, you will not be doing that again." A voice says behind her right before a rope closes around Raven's chest and she is yanked backwards onto her bed, landing on her back to see the outline of Diana standing over her. "Not without knowing there is a price to pay for you to sneak into my room at night." Raven swallows something knowing what sort of payment Diana was going to extract for this one, the evening could have been worse.
Author's Notes: You'll just have to fill in those blanks on your own :)