Hey everyone! Felt a little creative and gave myself a deadline so...starting the next chapter. Please enjoy!!!
With a deep breath I raised my sword into the air and closed my eyes. What did Nyx or Akantha matter? We had faced danger and foes mightier than them before. Bruce fought beside me and if there was one thing I knew, no one would defeat the Batman when he still had breath in his lungs, though that very thought made my heart lurch. I did not doubt that Bruce would lay down his life for mine. Warmth flooded my chest and pounded through my veins, flowing into my hands and finally I felt as though I could no longer control it. I gasped as it exploded from me, the golden light bursting from my sword even more furiously than before. The light dazzled and a metallic shimmer drifted around us.
The horde began to frenzy, even as Nyx tried to reassure them of their duty. How had I managed to forget that love was always the answer? I laughed as I remembered those all around me that I had come to love. Kal with his boyish charm and unwavering morals, Wally with his inexhaustible sense of humor, Shayera with her friendship, I had been blessed by my goddesses in Man's World just as much as I had been in Themyscira. Home brought another rush of thankfulness. I had my mother and my sisters, many years of peace and joy, my goddesses and now...I realized not only did I love Bruce, but my sense of home included him as well.
My home was where he was, whether I joined him here in Gotham or if I stayed at the Watchtower. Home would be wherever we were together. Why had I taken so long to realize that? Yes, Gotham was Bruce's city and I had to accept that he may never let me protect it in the same manner he did. Did I like the idea? Not at all, but it was worth it to hold on to the man I loved, just as he would be willing to accept the baggage I had carted all the way from my island. We would have to find our solid ground, our own place where our differences met and became one.
My katana became fiery in my hands, painful to the touch even, but I held on with all my might until it finally burst, sunlight blinding us all. I reached up and turned off the mask that still adorned my face, dropping the weapon that had dulled and cracked. The sword then shattered, the fragments left in my hands crumbled into dust. I turned my palms toward my face, expecting them to be burnt beyond all recognition, but they were complete unblemished. In fact, all my cuts were gone. My muscles no longer ached and my body felt light...almost as if I could fly. My heart leapt as my hands grazed the cord of my lasso, the coarse fibers silky and smooth as they had been before this nightmare began.
I had been restored! My armor gleamed as though it had been freshly smithed, not even bearing the gore of battle, and my tiara, well I immediately put that to good use. As the sunlight spread, the shadows had begun to wither away, some slinking back to whatever dark hole they could find, but Akantha still stood before us. I flung my tiara as hard as I could, channeling all the frustration I had accumulated since my powers had left me, sending it hurtling like a discus straight for the woman's head. With a sickening clunk it made impact, forcing her head toward the side. I half expected her to fall to the ground as I had thrown the object with all of my newfound strength, but she managed to keep her feet while leaning heavily on her spear.
She laughed mirthlessly, swaying as her body absorbed the pain, but it was Nyx's voice that echoed back to us. "You may have incapacitated my shadows, Diana, but you forget that I have already eaten away the minds of your friends!"
As if they had been offstage waiting in the wings, my friends and allies began to amble like zombies to join Akantha's non-existent forces. Zatanna, Aquaman, Flash, Superman, Green Lantern, and more stared back at me with jet black eyes, vacant and haunting. I lifted my hand to catch my tiara as it boomeranged back to me, standing tall now that I was back in my element. Batman's voice rumbled behind me. "Your powers have returned."
"I'm guessing we weakened Nyx's grip on their minds enough for them to question their decisions. They probably-" My thoughts were shaken suddenly, as though it was reverberating through my bones, as a pulsing beat bursted across the bridge. The sound waves were at a decibel that almost nauseating and the members of Nyx's ragtag zombie army began to drop to their knees and cover their ears with those such as Kal with super hearing being the first to crumple. For a moment I couldn't comprehend the assault on my senses, but then I noticed that the thrumming drowned out the sound of Nyx's voice in my head.
As I listened to cacophonous chords, I realized it was a mixture of various discordant harmonies laid over top of each other and was enough to make your skin crawl. Robin ran from the Batplane's ramp over to where we stood, beaming like a kid on Christmas. "The different frequency waves counteract her on ever channel. It's like trying to tune into a broadband radio station only to have a stronger signal overlap. Whatever the plan, we should do it quick before she finds a different frequency or a way to turn off or block my signal."
I turned to see our friends stumbling and trying to stand. Many of them had hands to their heads, I could only imagine the headaches they must have, and some of them were pretty badly injured from the fighting before Nyx claimed their thoughts. Bruce spoke before I did. "Dick, see who's un-injured and see if they can help you transport those that are to the watchtower for medical assistance. Diana and I will take the fight to Akantha. Do your best to keep the signal going." Almost as an afterthought, Bruce leaned forward and awkwardly rumpled Dick's hair, causing a lump to lodge in my throat. Maybe one day, they would truly understand just how much they meant to one another. Nyx may have intended to spread her dark plague, but she had unintentionally brought a glimmer of light to Gotham's unending night.
I flexed my hands, somehow whole and yet feeling naked without the sword that had become a safety netting for me. Akantha had looked as disoriented as the rest of us when the chaos broke out, but now she looked sickly. Was Nyx's power all the was keeping her going? Her clear eye now looked glassy as if she was feverish and her spear arm had begun to droop. I almost felt like if I fought her it would be like fighting a child. I made slow steps to her side and took a knee. "Akantha, if you can hear me, Nyx is now out of your mind. Gather your strength and resist her. She is defeated."
The woman shook her head listlessly. "No, Diana, no. Darkness cannot be defeated, only quelled. Once she is in your mind and you have embraced her, she is your mistress. She will hound my steps until I draw my last breath. If I am unlucky she will even chase me through Hades's gates and into the very pits of Tartarus itself. She dwells there, you see, and I will never be free of her. She has called me 'Akantha', telling me that I will be a thorn in the side of her enemies. She has given me a true name and I have no choice but to answer." I reached out slowly and took her hand. "Akantha, you have told me that Nyx has given you a true name, but it is only true as long as you remain as you always have been. As people we change every day, our experiences morph us into something utterly new. Do you regret joining Nyx's legion?"
Akantha nodded, tears streaming down her face and I could see her begin to wither before me. "See! You are not who you were just a few weeks ago. The Akantha we met on the street would have never been ashamed to call Nyx mistress. You are no longer who you were and yet not who you will be. Serve the light. Pick a new destiny. Who is the warrior kneeling before me?"
Akantha sobbed. "Helia, so I remember who I need to serve, even if it is for such a short while. My wounds go deep. Nyx does not understand nor care how fragile we are." As Nyx's power faded from her even further her breathing began to rattle. "Diana, she will not take this defeat lightly. She will come for you once she has gathered her strength." My eyes lifted to meet Bruce's as he stood uncomfortably before us. "Well, when she does, she will have to deal with us all once again. And once again she will lose. Go to the light, Helia, and may the goddesses carry you in their arms to Charon's ferry or to the very stars above."
As Akantha, now Helia, drew her last breath, the music stuttered to a halt. I froze expecting Nyx's mad ravings to return to us all, but everything was eerily quiet. "Well done, Lady Diana." The voice of Hera was soft but yet it rippled through your bones as if every word contained an earthquake. Her long dark hair was braided with peacock feathers and her long blue toga matched her warm eyes.
I cautiously laid Helia's lifeless body to the ground and properly kneeled before my goddess. "Queen Hera." Her soft hand touched my shoulder gently before moving to my face, lifting me up until I stood before her. "You have done well, my dear. Even though we were lost, you fought for what was right and just. You have served us proudly though we were lost to Nyx's venomous words. We hereby restore you of your powers and title." She lowered her hand and turned to Bruce who was trying to blend into shadows that no longer existed on the sun kissed bridge.
"As for you, Dark Knight, you have truly lived up to your moniker and served your Princess faithfully in her hour of need. You are a credit to your gender that her goddesses will not easily forget or deny. Though Diana is not a prize we offer you to win, you have proven yourself a worthy companion to her and we would not be against a more permanent alliance with her, if that is what she wishes, as long as you continue to support her in the same manner as you have." Hera stepped back and turned to leave, but I stepped forward.
"Pardon me, My Queen, but what has become of Nyx and Helia? Will she truly return? Has she been stopped?" Hera's blue eyes grew wary as she thought for a moment before answering me. "Nyx can never truly be vanquished...she is as ancient as Ouranos or Gaia and if they were truly defeated the world as we know it would be at its end. No...she is merely beaten back to the shadows where she belongs. You see, your love for the man behind you and his ward, as well as that for the rest of your friends, roused Aphrodite enough to gather Iris and Helios to fight back the shadows. Helios and Nyx are parts of the same whole, they cannot live without one another. Aphrodite, however, is a force that even Nyx does not dare to trifle with lightly. She mislead Aphrodite first, knowing that if love failed there would be no stopping the darkness. Take this to heart, Diana, never lose your ability to love. Your love for Akantha was what kept her soul from the pits of Tartarus with her mistress. She will be judged by Hades like all the rest, but he will see the remnants of love in her heart and have mercy. Even he is not immune to love."
Just the epilogue left everyone!!!! I am going to do my best to have it uploaded by tomorrow night so I can keep my goal of having this story done by the end of September ;) I am also planning to go back through the first few chapters and fix typos. If you enjoyed please let me know or give me a shout out. FF has been broken and it's not letting me see traffic stats so I haven't been able to see if anyone has read my stories since the beginning of September.I have gotten a few favorites and an awesome review though to keep me from getting disheartened so thank you all!!!