"I can't believe you talked me into this." Raven grumbles as she approaches her destination during the early morning hours of Central City.
"Relax, it will be fun." Wally replies.
"For you." She notes under her breath, as she lands on Wally's driveway in time to see Linda exit her front door with a cup of coffee and a stack of paper in her hands. "Miss West?" Raven asks, startling the woman.
"Oh Jesus, don't do that!" She says as she jumps away from the door.
"I got someone who would like to talk with you." Raven says without missing a beat, opening a portal besides her and Wally steps out.
"Hi honey, miss me?" He asks.
"Wa…Wally." Linda gasps as she drops her coffee and papers, Wally moves fast enough to save the papers, but lets the coffee fall. "WALLY!" Linda shouts as she leaps into his arms, making him drop the papers again. As the two engage in a kiss, Raven smiles before she disappears behind them, there are others who requested the same sort of surprise. "God I've missed you."
"And I have missed you most of all, but I am back, all thanks too…". He says while turning around finding the spot empty, getting a snicker out of Linda.
"She disappeared while you weren't looking, come on, I am definitely taking the day off for this." She says before dragging him inside the house. A split second later the papers and the cup disappear as well.
Lois Lane is sleeping peacefully in the Metropolis apartment that has felt so empty these last weeks to her. Unlike Clark, who is a natural light sleeper due to his hearing, Lois is the opposite and Clark usually has to get her breakfast or something else to get her up on the few days they agree to take off and let newspapers be newspapers, which is one of those days. Which is fortunate for the shadow that creeps over the floor and into her closet for a few seconds before coming back out, only for it to creep over to the bed. Lois manages a surprised yelp at the sudden cold as she also disappears.
"Whoa!" Lois cries as she is dropped, landing in the arms of someone apparently somewhere in the middle of the night as the moon is still in the sky and the air smells of countryside.
"Yes honey, you are actually in Kansas right now." The man holding her says, making her focus on him.
"CLARK!" She cries in recognition and embraces him. "Oh, don't ever do that!" Behind the in the house a light is turned on.
"Express Delivery honey." Says as he waves to the sky, knowing the recipient is long gone before picking up the bag that landed beside him along with Lois.
"What's going on out here?" Jonathan Kent asks as he appears in the doorway behind them.
"Hi Pa, mind if we stay for a few?" Clark asks as he turns around.
"I didn't think you'd want to make a spectacle out of it." Raven says to the last person she is dropping off as she appears in Themyscira's market square in the midday sun much to the surprise of the Amazons there.
"I don't often get the opportunity to do it to her." Diana replies, as Raven folds back her hood and begins marching up towards the palace, ignoring the looks she receives along the way. Arriving at the palace, she is quickly provided with an escort of eight of the Royal Guard who follow her inside. "Wonder if you could take them?"
"I hope I never have to find out." Raven replies as she is escorted inside the throne room to face Hippolyta who remains stone faced as she sees Raven appear alone, but Raven can tell she is quickly descending down a spiral of grief and rage.
"I see you have returned… alone." Hippolyta says, struggling to keep an even voice and Raven goes down on one knee before her.
"My Queen, know that this… is all Diana's idea." Raven says as a portal is opened besides her that grows in size to let Diana stroll casually out of it, with a wide smile on her face.
"Hello mother, you look as radiant as ever." Diana greets cheerfully, still remembers the numerous ways she tried to figure out how to explain herself while returning the Themyscira for the first time after she stole the armor.
Hippolyta nearly falls out of her seat, as she drops her staff and rushes down the stairs to grab Diana in a hug that lifts her off the ground. "Diana! By the Gods my prayers have been answered!" She cries happily as Diana returns the hug the best she can.
"You can stand up now sister." Diana says noticing Raven is still kneeling, which she stops doing as Hippolyta separates herself from her daughter to regard Raven anew for a few seconds before Raven also finds herself embraced by the monarch, which to her reminds her of one of Starfire's sort of hugs.
"I am most honored you would join us Sister." Hippolyta says, after she pulls away again. "And I will hear of your labors to make my dreams come true, before I pass sentence."
It takes a good two hours before Hippolyta is satisfied, if not a little shocked at the events Raven had to go through to bring Diana and the others back. Often asking the pool for repeats of certain events, such as the revelation of Raven's winged form which was swiftly followed by a demand to show it. Also the battle with Black Adam and the siege of Talazzarr comes under careful scrutiny. As a ruler, she is quite pleased to see Philipus come into her own during the cavalry charge. Hosts of questions follows, who the people were that Hippolyta did not know, it took some explaining to whom Sam was, why Raven chose to sing such terrible music and a great many questions directed at the demons below.
Diana did not escape scrutiny either, but her questions tended more towards behavior, which Raven could tell was mildly embarrassing for the princess. Also Hippolyta demanded a description of Azerath and its people from her, which was listened to with great care as the Azerathian's now lived the life the Amazons one day hoped to achieve, once freed of their charge. Thought Hippolyta admits they had perhaps lived this way for too long to change their way of life. Finally she expressed a desire to one day perhaps visit Azerath. Diana had a single counter to her mother's many questions, which was whispered in her ear and left her staring holes in the wall for several seconds before admitting that it was true and that Mr. Garrick was a nice man, though not as hard on the battlefield as she would have wished him. It had not escaped either of the two, that as soon as Diana had been revealed, a scribe had quickly and discreetly taken up a seat near the columns and begun writing with a large feather and ink.
"Now, there is the matter of judgement." Hippolyta says as the two now stand before her. "As I said weeks ago, I still saw failure in your deeds." Raven appears emotionless at the mention. "Yet you have yet to ask, what I was that I saw."
"I have yet to completely grasp the laws and codes of conduct I must follow." Raven admits. "But I trust your judgement is true."
"Never mindlessly obey an order young one, when I visited Man's World all those years ago, I heard the tales of commanders that needlessly had their men march to their graves, and none of them were to have questioned their wisdom." Raven is silent for a second going over Hippolyta's words.
"What is my flaw then, your Highness?"
"The first flaw will be your personal rejection of the Zandian diplomat's offer. Let me finish." Raven quickly shuts her mouth again as she was about to protest. "While it is true that we are strong in our faith, we are not to appear to be immune to the advances of others. Now, what was it you wished to say?"
"Call it part of my upbringing your Highness, but the Church of Blood is not something that should be spread. With your permission, I will bring forth one who was once a believer." Hippolyta nods before Raven's features change those of Arella who bows slightly before Hippolyta.
"What is your name?" Hippolyta asks.
"I am Arella." She replies. "And it was true, I was once a faithful of the Church of Blood. I was young, homeless and desperate for company. They gave me that when I unknowingly sought refuge in their church. They preached peace and love to me, of a benevolent god that would lead his chosen to paradise on the anniversary of his child's birth. The truth however, was another. I was chosen to be his bride, to carry his prodigal child. That night I learned what he truly was and I fled after he burned the church and his believers to the ground."
"And what was he?" Hippolyta asks.
"He was Trigon, and the night I speak of, was the night I began carrying Raven."
"I see, we will heed your warning. But Arella of Azerath, you need not feel shame from your child." Arella smiles slightly at this.
"Thank you your Highness, it has been a long time since I have felt shame because of her." She says before Raven resumes her own shape.
"But now I ask, with the fiend swimming in Styx, where do the Zandian's prayers go?" Hippolyta asks.
"I do not know your Highness, I fear if I reveal myself to them, they will turn to me, if they know of his demise."
"Hmm, and what do their practices include?"
"Blood sacrifices amongst others, donated by the faithful, but I have heard rumors of it being taken from other, less willing, sources." Hippolyta nods at this.
"Very well, we shall have it recorded as a foul cult for future reference, but remember all suggestions must be taken home in case of them being genuinely useful. Now the second flaw, as you mentioned yourself, the lack of urgency of which you reached my daughter. Now I know you took the throughout approach and left none to threaten your backside as you advanced, even took time to aid your unfortunate companions. But I wish to know if you could not have prevented the mistreatment of Diana by being faster?"
"I could have, but I feared the captives would have been used against me when I had to return with Diana. At the time of my decision I knew not how long I had been out or in what condition Diana would be in. If you will forgive me for saying so, Diana may have been lost for all I knew and had I rushed to find her leaving everyone else behind, many more lives could have been lost."
"Hmm, I see. Now the last flaw, our coliseum lies in ruins because of you." She says sternly. "We believed an earthquake had struck the island and the tremors were felt across it. Now this is my sentence;" She says as she stands up while Raven and Diana go down on one knee. "Raven of Themyscira you are hereby tasked with repairing the damages you have wrought this island, perhaps this labor will remind you not to bring such battle's to Themyscira without announcing it. And Princess Diana, seeing as you have been on your backside for these past weeks, you are to assist her." Diana looks up in surprise at this. "Perhaps your next jest will be less cruel to your mother. You are dismissed Sisters." The two rise to their feet and bow to Hippolyta before turning and heading out the doors, both suppressing their amusement as they are handed a long list of stones needed to be cut and where they belong and a note that two bronze statues needed to be raised from the harbor basin.
"Well, I did warn you." Raven says as they go over the list.
"It was worth it." Diana chuckles while looking over her shoulder. "We will need a change of clothes for this humble task."
"Agreed, should we restore Poseidon and Apollo for starters?"
"Meet you there in a few minutes." Diana says before racing off, Raven just smirks before teleporting to her room, finding it slightly dusty in the corners.
The pair arrives at the harbor almost simultaneously, to the surprise of the fisherwomen and the guards, before setting to work. Diana by diving into the water; raising the statue by hand, while Raven floats over the water and has the statue come to her. After inspecting the pedestals the statures stood on, they add new ones to the list of stones needed to be cut, as the old ones had almost crumbled away. Leaving the two statues to dry near the administration building; the two fly to the open quarry that had supplied Themyscira with stone for the last three thousand years. Finding it mostly in an abandoned state except for a small area that had seen recent use, Diana guessed Hippolyta had ceased all reconstruction when she learned of Raven's battle when she was last here.
"So do we do this by the honest way?" Raven asks.
"She never said we couldn't be quick about it." Diana replies. "If you can cut the stones, I will take them to where they need to go."
"Sounds good." Raven admits as she sits herself down in the center of the quarry before her powers spread from her and seeps into the quarry wall. First clearing off the vegetation and dirt before they set to work and dig into the stone. But she soon pulls back. "Think it's time I try and do this the way John would."
"Oh?" Diana asks as Raven flies up to the rock she was beginning on. Forming a barrier around her eyes, she forms a circular saw blade that soundlessly begins spinning. "Ah." Diana smirks as Raven begins anew, quickly carving through the stone, but casts up a great amount of dust and splinters. Having carved the two edges, she puts her hands on the block and lets her magic do the work on the sides they can't see. The stone heaves slightly as it is separated from the wall.
"And there we have the first."
It takes Raven a few moments to carve each stones needed and it takes Diana the same amount of time to move them to where they need to be and get back. Like clockwork they keep this up for almost six hours before all of the stones are complete, leaving Raven covered in a thick layer of dust and Diana in a thinner one but with slightly stinging palms from the sharp edged stones.
Having decided to begin at the harbor and work their way up, they continue to support one another. Alternating in their tasks between one holding up a structure where needed, the other moving the stones into place. There were a few tricky places where too much pressure would result in more cracked stone that would need replacing. In one instance, they had to carefully deconstruct a building front before replacing the stone and then rebuild it, making it fortunate that when bigger stoned were employed the Amazon masons didn't bother with mortar.
It doesn't surprise them that they are watched during the entire ordeal, but rarely addressed, during the short breaks they take, they speculate Hippolyta had prepared the island for this and made it so. But they also notice that a few seem to appear near them a little more often than others; a short red-head, a tall dark haired woman, one blond and a wide shouldered woman with short hair. Actually Diana noted one of them being herded away by a pair of guards, but she couldn't tell who it was.
"So, just the arena left?" Raven asks as they are walking through the interior of the last destination in the early evening.
"Yes, and I can't wait till we are done. As much as I don't like to admit it, Mid-Night was right." Diana replies.
"Unfortunately Bruce's regime didn't manifest out here." Raven agrees as they walk out the door and into the arena, finding some twenty stone blocks inside the arena. And a group of five loitering around the closest, a wide flat stone that needed to replace the cracked one under the throne. "Now I wonder who they are?"
"Why Sister, have you forgotten us already?" Antiope asks.
"Well you have been following us around since noon." Diana adds.
"Told you they'd notice." Artemis whispers.
"So you have also returned?" Raven notes at Philipus, the one neither she nor Diana had noticed during the day.
"Arrived this morning, courtesy of Dr. Fate after he got back. And here I learn you have been playing with rocks?"
"Well I did break them all and Diana got to tag along since she decided to jest at first." Raven replies.
"We are adamant about hearing of these wild tales Philipus brings us, while you two finish up." Penelope adds.
"Actually, since you four are so adamant about being a part of this I think you should join in." A stern voice from the audience seats has them look up, finding Hippolyta sitting in her seat.
"Too smart for our own good." Io adds. "Well ladies, let's get to it."
The group quickly relieves themselves of anything that would get in the way before adding their aid to the project, while Philipus retreats to the seats closest to Hippolyta, where they quietly begin to chat as the others begin to move the stones around by hand. One by one the stones are replaced; Raven and Diana deal with the two stones needed to be replaced at the top the others would need a scaffold to reach.
"Am I reading that one right?" Anitope asks, looking at the last stone.
"I am afraid so." Diana sighs. "Better go ask humbly if we are allowed to place it." She says before the group heads up to the audience seats.
"No, I will not move." Hippolyta replies flatly at the request before taking a sip of the glass of wine she had been provided.
"But mother…" Diana's protest dies on her lips at the glaze she receives.
"Then, I am afraid we will have to do without." Raven says, motioning for the group behind her, carrying the last stone.
"I better not spill my wine." Hippolyta replies casually as Raven focuses and Hippolyta and her seat float gently into the air. Diana is quick to remove the cracked stones underneath the seat before the others moves the new stone into place before Hippolyta is gently lowered back onto the stone, exactly where it was on the old platform. "Well done sisters, your punishment is concluded, and faster than I had anticipated." The Queen says as she stands up. "Indeed, I may have to think of something else, should you transgress again." Diana and Raven manage to look slightly worried about that prospect. "Now I have one last thing to ask of you sister Raven before I retire."
"What would you ask of me your Highness?"
"A small request to know if your military capabilities are at our disposal and a small demonstration if possible." Raven seems to think for a few moments before answering.
"Truthfully I do not know if I can. But I know someone who might." Raven says before receiving a nod before she summons her sword and draws it. "Enlighten me Apollyon, can I summon the creatures from the Pit onto this plane?" She asks as she stares into it.
"You can your Highness, I shall with your permission impart the knowledge to you." The screeching metallic voice says before Raven nods at it before her eyes glow red for a second.
"I will need a little space." Raven says before jumping down into the arena, changing shape into her winged appearance before stopping near the center. Using the sword as a pointer, the flames that normally lick up its length shoots forwards and slowly carves a circle of fire in the center of the arena that seemingly falls away into a black hole with a loud crunch. "Rise!" Raven commands before a huge shape walks out of the pit, Diana and Philipus recognizes him as the only challenger to Raven's position below; Thrakmar.
"What is your bidding?" The towering creature asks as it goes down on one knee before Raven who just turns to face the group still standing on the audience four shocked and one stern and two amused, Hippolyta just nods in satisfaction.
"You may return to the Pit." Raven says without turning, the creature nods before getting up and walks down into the hole that reforms after it disappears, leaving no trace of its presence as Raven flies over the others, changing back before landing.
"Very well sister, but what was that beast?" Hippolyta asks.
"That was the captain of the Trigonian Guard, I'd hazard a guess it will equal the Royal Guard here, in standing."
"There are more of those?" Artemis asks, before realizing she spoke out loud.
"Not as big as him, but there are seven other in the guard and I don't know how many of the same breed outside of it."
"And not the largest from my impression." Hippolyta says. "That beast you rode?"
"I would say its legs could span over the stadium?" Raven asks looking at Diana and Philipus who nod in confirmation.
"Very large stone spider." Philipus adds.
"Very, but I will hope you won't ask me to become the sole guardian of Doom's Door because of this?" Raven asks Hippolyta.
"No, it is our tasks as Amazons to keep the abominations inside, but should we one day fail I may ask you to bring them forth." Hippolyta says, inwardly Raven is relieved about this. "Now, I bid you all a good night after you bathe." The Queen says before departing.
"And I know just the place for us." Penelope adds after she leaves.
The group spends a good two hours at the secluded lake, with Raven, Philipus and Diana spending most of their time explaining their journey and their battles. Philipus reveals she had been learning a little from Inza and the Android while Fate was out cold and that she had brought a chessboard with her home. When Raven and Philipus had a little alone time, Philipus revealed the presence of Argent's ghost at Stonehenge which had Raven say that she would have to visit the site again at some point.
Other than that the others let on Themyscira had been a very quiet place since news got out about Diana's condition, leading to some mean-spirited rumors about who was to blame, which Raven just shrugged off. The questions inevitably lead back to the winged form Raven had acquired, which led to a demonstration that had Artemis landing in the middle of the lake. The others had shared a look between them before they all charged Raven in an attempt to get her off the cliff as well. With Raven standing on the edge already she merely teleported aside at the last second, to watch the four fall into the water themselves, much to their cursing when they got up. They got back at her later when she changed back.
Unlike the last time they all leave as a group to have the dinner none of them had gotten yet before retiring, Raven was a bit suspicious when Diana left after Philipus and Antiope. Her suspicion was enough for her to head to bed as well. As Robin both the old and the new had found out, sneaking up on Raven was a near impossible task. Diana finds out this the hard way when she silently tries entering through the window, only to get yanked into the room and onto the vacant bed.
"Figured you'd try again." Raven says as she leans against the far corner as Diana recovers from her own surprise.
"I just felt lonely in my own room." Diana admits.
"So that's why you brought your lasso?" Raven asks dryly, noting that besides the nightdress, the golden rope is the only thing Diana brought with her.
"Well, I did have my hopes." Diana admits. "And I am sober this time." Raven smirks at this.
"Maybe some other time, but you can stay. It has been a very long and tiring day."
"Aww, oh well, even my credentials won't get me past that." Diana sighs before discarding the lasso on the ground and crawls beneath the sheets. "How is it in there, now that we are out?"
"Quiet, very quiet. It's almost disturbing really." Raven admits as she gets in bed as well.
"How much of a difference did we make?"
"A lot really, I guess it has to do with personalities and way of life. Each of you, except J'onn, made more noise than all of Azerath does." Raven admits.
"You didn't seem that badly affected?"
"Comes down to experience with watching my emotions, Bruce was the worst."
"I can guess, even if he doesn't show it, he does care a lot for Zatanna but as a friend only. How are you feeling about her now?"
"No one should have had to go through what she did, but I think I can develop a working relationship with her, if she feels the same way now that Bruce is out, time will tell. Now, good night we need this rest of ours."
"Agreed, good night."
Early next morning the two wake up wrapped in each other's arms, though they don't remember waking up during the night. To avoid strange questions and possibly a fuming monarch Raven opens a portal so Diana returns to her own quarter without being seen before dressing herself and heads out herself in search of breakfast. Meeting up with the others, who immediately began to grill her over where she and Diana had spent the night, to which Raven simply replied they had both been asleep the whole night without saying further.
After breakfast Raven is summoned to the Palace to receive a note that she and Diana are invited to attend an exclusive party at a certain mansion in Gotham during the afternoon. Needless to say, both quickly look to Hippolyta for approval because of the events at the last party the two attended. With a stern warning that she did not want a repeat of the last time, she allowed them to go after reading the aliases of the other attendees, all Founding Leaguers and Titans. Also Raven was to report on the Satellite for a special mission at around Themysciran noon, which got a sigh of annoyance out of her.
This time it is Raven who heads down to Sabina's shop with Diana in tow, since she decided she better surprise the others with something that Richard had not picked out for her. Arriving at the small shop, they find Sabina at a point of rage at the people who had ruined her creations, nearly driving the two into a corner before the seamstress calms down. But she was pleased to hear that they had been appreciated and even more so when they asked if she could make new ones. It turned out Sabina had actually been preparing for that request ever since she heard about the attack so the two could leave after an hour with new ones.
The rest of the time was spent on doing nothing other than reading, on Raven's part after Diana decided to hit the archery lanes. The letters written in the book make it a slow but enjoyable affair for her, but an altogether too short one before she has to leave the book have lunch and redress before being teleported to the Watchtower, after persuading Diana to bring her dress with her when she left.