CXXVI
Once Upon A Time…
Once upon a time, in a magical world called Apokolips, there lived a vile and arrogant Goddess name Heggra, whose great beauty never seemed to extend beyond the confines of her own mirror. Yet young Heggra insisted to any who would listen that it did.
Heggra had a mighty brother named Steppenwolf, a warrior of great renown, who felt it was his familial duty to declare war upon any kingdom who dared to slight his dear sister. In truth, Steppenwolf needed very little excuse to engage his snivelling neighbours in war, but these countless battles to defend his sister's honor soon came to cause great calamity upon all of Apokolips…
King Yuga Khan the first, a powerful monarch, woefully agreed to take Heggra as his bride… on the condition that her family ceased all wars with their fellow subjects on Apokolips. To be sure, the King cared little for this new bride, but it seemed to make his subjects happy. Besides, the King often worked abroad, spending most of days visiting other worlds… to destroy them.
So, for a time, there was peace on Apokolips.
Heggra bore two sons, each foretold to change the very course of Destiny. The eldest was named Drax, a feisty young lad who resembled his mother in appearance, but possessed the daring and commanding demeanour of his father. The second little lump was named Uxas, who inherited his father's stone flesh yet possessed the quiet, scheming mind preferred by his depraved mother.
Young Drax became known far-and-wide as a master of the hunt, a connoisseur of the finest wines, a master of the raucous feast, and a lover of all immoral woman. The Crown Prince of Apokolips was a pleasure to all... but none so much as himself.
His brother Uxas was a student of history, a scholar of science, and a well-known miserable bore. His stone heart was unmoved by the earthly pleasures his brother so ardently pursued. Uxas cared nothing for women or the frivolities of love… until that day he gazed upon a beautiful and powerful enchantress…
Suli.
Truly she was the embodiment of the Goddess who had birthed Apokolips itself! A testament to its power and beauty! The young God could not resist her.
Aware of his change in mood, wise Heggra vehemently warned her youngest son against the dark arts this conniving witch had employed to make Uxas's stone heart come alive. His mother knew them only too well. Suli could not be trusted! This scheming bitch only wanted to usurp Heggra's position as the beloved Queen of Apokolips…
But to young ears in love, the only sounds that can be heard are the lust-filled promises of the night… which Suli filled those ears with constantly.
How Heggra's heart broke the day Uxas married this presuming, promiscuous witch.
One year later, Suli had bore Uxas a son… a monstrous, stupid thing called Kalibak. This was proof that Fate had not smiled upon the union that Heggra had despised. But still, her second son refused to heed her words of warning…
As Kalibak grew in bulk and stupidity - attempting to fill the void left by his parents' neglect at the dinner table – amorous Suli became pregnant yet again… Heavy with twin daughters who would be Goddesses born.
The first daughter was called Abraxas, a thing no one could see, nothing more than a needful emotion.
The second, a quiet infant of polished, translucent crystal was named Zareah, the Goddess of the Seen.
Heggra informed her court that her daughter-in-law had given birth to a ghost and a crystal ball... useful tools for witches!
(Like their mother though, both daughters were powerful in the sphere of magic.)
Shortly afterwards, Heggra's wrath knew no bounds when her son Drax quietly confided that it had been he who had sired Abraxas… That Suli had had used her feminine charms to seduce Heggra's eldest born – forcibly pulling him to her bed in a moment of drunken stupor - only to conceive a child… A daughter who was the first-born of the first-born, the true Crown Princess of Apokolips!
There is a poison even the Gods fear, and Heggra loved it well. She summoned her royal physician to her side… Suli had been tired and depressed since the hard birth and the Queen had just the thing for such an ordeal. An easy tonic to make a tired mother rest…
Eternally.
Uxas had been devastated by the loss, but the compassionate, maternal Heggra explained why she had done this wicked deed. Suli had only used the younger brother to get to the elder one... and then bear his bastard child. To bypass her husband's own claim to the throne! Enraged, Uxas allowed his broken heart to return to stone. He would love no more…
How pleased Heggra had been when poor, jilted Uxas drafted the Paix Arcana, securing the non-aggression treaty of the doltish Guardians and disposing of the unwanted twin Goddesses - all in one fell swoop! Though no one seemed more relieved than carefree Drax.
And how unfortunate it was when ambitious Drax was later lost in the Pit of Infinity, leaving only Uxas to claim the Omega Effect… Poor, embittered Uxas - who could never find it in his dead heart to forgive his brother's betrayal - had now become a God, taking the name Darkseid. A fitting future King for Apokolips!
With her son now a God named, wise Heggra arranged for Darkseid's second marriage. And in time, a second grandson was born to Heggra, the fiery Orion, who would be eagerly bartered to New Genesis by his plotting father. Truly, Darkseid did not care for the boy, or its vengeful mother…
Darkseid cared for no one. His heart was stone.
After the bitter war, an older Heggra sat across from her greatest triumph, the son she had cast in her own clever mould of deceit. The proud mother raised her goblet to toast the accomplished son... To the God of Tyranny, the Inheritor of the Omega Effect, the future King of Apokolips, the Founder of The Pact, the Architect of the Paix Arcana, and the Dread Lord of Apokolips… to her mighty son, Darkseid!
Basking in all of his dark glory, Heggra drank of the cup that had been tainted with the same powerful poison she had used long before on Suli. As the doting Queen fell finally dead across the bountiful feast upon her table, the son allowed himself a rare smile… then raised his own glass to his departed mother.
"May the fires of Hell shine upon you always… Long live the King."
Author's Note: A little more back-story regarding Darkseid's origin. Apologies to the character of Suli who is being assassinated (literally and figuratively) from the point-of-view of her tyrannical mother-in-law, the despicable Heggra. Boo! Hiss!
Next Chapter: Down but not out… Back to Bruce, Raven and Friends!