Author's Note: The events of "The Deal" happen just after Raven left Bruce in the data facility and shortly before he is summoned by Trigon.
CVIII
The Deal
In a moment where time had stood still in a data facility… As her husband teetered on the brink of insanity, staring down the Abyss at the death of seven billion people, Raven placed her hands upon his flushed cheeks, and stared deeply into those blue eyes she loved so well. Hopelessness overwhelmed him in the thought that Ra's al Ghul had ensured his final victory over humankind.
But there was another hope…
"Forgive me for what I must do, my love…"
She kissed her husband for perhaps the last time… leaving him alone with the swirling black smoke of her sudden departure. There was nothing he could do now.
She reappeared one hundred and ninety feet above the desert, levitating as she peered into massive yellow eyes shining in the night that were half as tall as she. Her sudden arrival had not shocked this crimson giant who held their last possible chance…
"Mighty Trigon… I beg of you…"
"Only you, daughter? You're missing two people to beg of me."
His voice echoed with power throughout the night sky. She was aware that his omniscient power made him conscious of every action taken on Earth. But still, perhaps his eyes did not view far Elysium…
"My mother is dead."
"A pity. No matter, I was going to kill her anyways. I will accept the fire-hair in her place."
"Mighty Trigon, of my own free will, I beg of you…"
"Call me father. You're the only living thing in the Universe that could."
"Father... please! Humanity will perish in moments unless…"
"Another world falls, Raven. Do not be disheartened. There is a beauty in this that I can teach you. I will show you everything! I will offer you a Universe of your own making! What matters of the fate of this world that cares nothing for you?"
"Father…You had offered me a choice – to destroy this world by my own hand. That choice is rendered meaningless... Your disciple has engaged my husband's weapon to destroy all people in but brief moments. Ra's al Ghul has usurped my right to accept or deny your lesson."
"There was a lesson to be learned here... had I not grown bored in the waiting and the predictability of that choice. You care nothing for your potential and too much for these wretches who despise you. But let us make a deal, shall we?... I will spare this world from your beloved man's device, and then you will follow me."
"I will."
"Bah, what use has the mighty Trigon for a mewling human child obsessed by moping love? These terms are unacceptable. Let us raise the stakes then… I will spare this loathsome world from your mortal's device. And then... this mortal man you love, Bruce Wayne, will choose your fate…"
"…I do not understand."
"Simply this: If your lover Bruce Wayne, of his own free will, chooses to abandon you for another… then he has forfeited Raven and she is mine. If he would cast aside the love he holds for you, then that love is gone… forever! Raven becomes the true and loyal daughter of Trigon, as she was destined to be. And then - by my blessing - it shall be your hand that destroys this world, the first of many… Do you agree, Raven?"
"Bruce will be allowed to choose freely? It will be him, as he is now, that makes the decision?"
"Of course, the decision will be his alone. Hurry, little Raven, the Eastern sky begins to match the color of your frightened eyes…"
"…Three times! You can only tempt him three times, father. And it must be with a fate where he and I have never met. I will not be used as the tool of his decision."
"Clever, girl…Agreed… I shall only tempt him three times with worlds where you have never met. And should he choose another, the two of you shall never meet. Is this acceptable to you?"
"I agree to your terms…"
…Time and space disappeared around her the instant she finished that sentence.
She found herself once again in a familiar place… even if she were to close her eyes tightly, she knew where this place was… The infinite distance which had taken Raven hours to cross with Barda in tow, her father had now traveled in the blink of an eye with a power far superior to her own.
Bathed in the light of the Source once again, she stood beside her father, shrunken to only eight feet tall, in the realm of Fate. Had he grown to a thousand feet, it would not have mattered. Before the enormous tree Yggdrasil, with its width stretching beyond the limits of her eyesight, all size was inconsequential.
Before them she saw the three Norns; Urd, Verdandi and Skuld bowing. Each of the Fates held an ancient watering bucket that had been plunged infinite times into the Sea of Oblivion which lapped upon their shores. But now these three buckets awaited Raven and Trigon. This was a ceremony.
"Let Fate itself bear witness to our deal, daughter… so it must be for the thread of iron."
Using his black thumbnail, Trigon slid it quickly across his crimson fingertip to draw black blood. As a drop began to form, he held it over the bucket of Urd, so that one droplet of his ichor fell and coiled like a serpent in the water below.
"To change the past."
He then moved his finger onto Verdandi's bucket, allowing another drop to fall.
"To cast the present."
Finally, he placed his bleeding finger over Skuld's bucket for one final drop.
"To create the future."
"And now my part is done, young Raven. Will you spill your blood for the Deal?"
Her mind raced as she considered all possibilities. Bruce's love for her would have to be absolute yet they had been together for a year! Their love was strong, but would it be strong enough?... Would he choose her over all others? But the consequences of inaction were far too severe. This man she loved - his mind, even his very soul - would be shattered if his engine of destruction engaged.
The fate of the entire world… worlds…. would depend upon the love they shared.
"I accept."
Trigon smiled gleefully as he offered his thumbnail to Raven, for her to draw blood from her own finger and take the vows…
"Please Mistress; it would favour me greatly if you were to use this."
Raven felt the extreme anger arise from her father as Verdandi suddenly presented the young woman with a silver needle the Norn had drawn from her leather belt. As the bright needle was held beside the demon's thumbnail, Raven noticed a small gleam of his black blood across the jagged edge. Trigon was incensed…
"My blood already flows through her veins, Norn!"
"Lord Trigon, it is Mistress Raven's blood who flows through her veins. The light of the Source does not shine from within her."
There was a history here, but Raven had no idea what it meant. The Source within?... She would have contemplate it later.
"Thank you, Verdandi… I would be honored."
Raven carefully took Verdandi's needle, and instantly felt the immeasurable magic of creation radiate around it. It was Verdandi who was the Weaver of Fate, and this was the very needle of its eternal tapestry…
With a deep breath, Raven held her finger above Urd's bucket, her father's black blood swirling like an eel below. In her mind she pictured Bruce… so that we may never forget one moment of our time together, my love… Raven pierced her finger with Verdandi's needle, watching the drop of blood fall to the dark water below as she recited the verse:
"To change the past."
She then placed her finger over fair Verdandi's bucket, pricking her finger as her mind recited her true thoughts… so that my love may be with you every moment…
"To cast the present."
Finally, she placed her finger over young Skuld's bucket, watching the last drop of blood fall… for hope, my love, that may it live in our hearts forever…
"To create the future."
Reverently, Raven placed the needle back in Verdandi's waiting hand so that she slipped it back into her belt.
"Thank you, Verdandi."
All three Norns dutifully carried their buckets to the edge of the Great Tree and emptied the liquid contents at its edge. The blood of Raven and Trigon spilled against Yggdrasil to be drawn into its mighty trunk to be cast into the branches above.
Her fate - and the fate of the entire world - now rested solely in her husband's hands. Should his love falter… should Trigon lure him into temptation, this world ended by her hands.
The three Norns turned to face them once more, speaking as one to confirm the covenant had begun.
"The deal is done."
Trigon smiled wickedly at his daughter as he placed a powerful hand upon her shoulder. The crushing weight of the world suddenly bore down upon her once more. Before he transported them back to the sands of Kahndaq, he gazed at her in mirthful contempt with all of his four leering eyes…
"Love teaches a painful lesson in betrayal, my child. Learn it well."