Disclaimer: Abuse described. Also, this hasn't been thoroughly proofread. I apologize if this chapter is a bit clumsy.
The sun was just beginning to set. The temperature was dropping. Raven sat near the fire, by herself, her hands playing with her hair soothingly. Her mind went back to the tent.
(3 hours earlier)
The atmosphere when Damyan and Raven returned to the tent was less hostile. Cassie shot Raven glares here and there, but everyone else behaved for the most part. Raven hugged herself as the group discussed battle plans, only speaking when asked a question.
"We don't have enough Nth metal to go around," Jhon's father said. "We'll have to be smart about it."
"Okay, so we have a plan," Diana smiled. Damyan scoffed as Artemis stepped forward. "With all due respect, Princess, we're still vastly outnumbered. You and Kal-el literally have the blood of the gods flowing through your veins."
"Hey, I do, too," Jhon frowned.
"But the rest of us – we'll die of exhaustion before we even breach the army deep enough to reach Slaede."
"What do you suggest?" Queen Hippolyta frowned. "It's only a matter of time before Slaede finds Themyscira. Do you have a better plan?"
"Well, and I can't believe I'm about to say this," Artemis turned to Raven, "why don't we use the magicians in Slaede's palace?" Raven frowned.
"Are you insane?" Cassie spat. "Trust her?"
"You have siblings, right? They have powers, too?" Artemis ignored Cassie.
"Yes, that's right," Raven frowned, not liking where this is going.
"They have no love for Slaede?"
"They don't."
"There," Artemis rested her case, "we use them."
"My siblings are young," Raven argued desperately. "The youngest is five."
"Five?" Hippolyta looked up in horror. "There are still Azaratheans of child-bearing age alive?"
"Yes, but they don't have any powers. Magic is in their blood, though. He uses them as weavers."
"Raven has iolite woven into her clothes," Damyan offered.
"I see," Princess Diana said.
"I see no other way we survive," Artemis said, "at the very least, they can be decoys."
"You want to use my siblings as bait?"
"More of a distraction." Raven felt numb. "Do you know where they're being held?"
"Of-of course," Raven answered.
"Do you think you could get them a message?"
(present)
Raven stared at the flames. Her whole reason for being Slaede's sorceress was to keep her siblings away from the fight. Now, it seemed like once more she was being forced to make decisions she didn't want to make. "Mind if I join you?" a friendly voice asked. Raven looked up to see Queen Hippolyta looking down at her with a smile. Raven scooted over just a bit, making room for her. "Thank you," the queen smiled. At first, the queen said nothing, and Raven sat there awkwardly. "I knew your mother," Queen Hippolyta said, shocking Raven.
"What?" Raven asked, completely befuddled.
"It's true. Even you and I have met, though you don't remember. You were two years old at the time," the queen smiled at her. "Yes, I knew Arella and Azar," she turned back to the fire. "Azar reached out to Themyscira about a month before Slaede invaded. She said that you'd been having a recurring, vivid nightmare."
"A vision," Raven whispered as she remembered, "I just didn't know it at the time."
"Yes," Queen Hippolyta nodded, "she wanted to know if any of our oracles had seen anything. I told her 'no' because they hadn't. Neither had any of Azarath's. Just you."
"Yes, I remember," Raven said tersely. Why is she bringing up the destruction of Azarath?
"Azarath, Metro Polis, Gothame, Themyscira…we were an alliance. Azarath didn't have many fighters. Pacifists. They did, however, have the strongest sorcerers and magicians, the most beautiful cloths, beautiful scenery, and healing lakes that sparkled and glistened with magic in the spring." Raven listened bored. She knew all this…well, she hadn't known about the alliance. "Metro Polis, Gothame, Themyscira agreed to keep Azarath safe and lend our armies in exchange for safe passage through their lands and access to their waters. Azarath agreed. A month before the invasion, we received a message from Azar. She was convinced a great evil was on the horizon, and that we needed to come together and combine our resources. She sent messages to Metro Polis, Gothame – all the major cities." Raven's heart raced in her chest as she listened to the story. "We all ignored it. None of our oracles or consulting sorcerers saw or sensed anything. We figured it was just a child having nightmares. Two weeks before the invasion, Azar reaches out to one of my oracles. She was in distress; but still, none of our magicians saw anything. Three days before the invasion, I decided that I would lead a retinue of soldiers to Azarath, just to reassure them that they were safe. They had nothing to worry about." Here, Hippolyta paused, and Raven was surprised to see tears in her eyes. "I'll never forget that day. It was a beautiful, sunny day. Then we saw the smoke in the distance. At first, I thought it was bonfire…but the closer we got…" Hippolyta wiped her eyes. "Fires were still burning. The bodies had just cooled. We saw a huge army in the distance. I thought to give chase but knew it would be in vain." Tears came to Raven's eyes. Hippolyta turned to Raven and tearfully said, "I am so sorry, Raven."
"Slaede didn't begin his slaughter and reign of blood until two months after the attack," tears streamed down Raven's face. "You didn't come for us."
Hippolyta looked away in shame. "We were planning- "
"You were planning?" Raven interrupted her angrily, her voice barely above a whisper. "Planning? Do you know what Slaede put us through?"
"Raven," Hippolyta said her name calmly.
Energy crackled at Raven's fingertips. With it came a wave of pain. I really hate that stupid iolite! "The men and boys were of no use to Slaede, so he dispensed of them easily. The elderly were killed on the spot. Children with no powers – throat slit. As part of the royal family, my mother and I were kept in a separate cell. I could hear the screams of other women echoing through the dungeon. Of course, at the time, I didn't know what they were doing. Then one day the soldier came for my mother. I don't know all that happened to her that night, but I do know she was returned bloody, bruised, barely alive. She then told me how she convinced Slaede that once a sorceress loses her virginity, she loses all of her power. Again, I had no idea what that meant. All I knew was that Mother was hurting, and because of the pretty dust in the air and jewels lining the walls, I couldn't heal her.
"For four years my mother kept me safe by warming Slaede's bed. Four years into my capture, Maya was born, and my mother died giving birth to her." Raven paused. "Of course, she wasn't his only bed warmer. He used other women, too. More children were added to the cell after Maya. The sorceresses that Slaede hadn't forced himself on, he used to predict the outcome of his battles. Of course, not every sorceress is given the gift of visions, but Slaede didn't understand that. Every time a sorceress failed him, we were tortured with iolite and that sorceress was put to death. When I turned 14, it was my turn to appear before SLaede and show what I could do. Of course, I lead Slaede's army into a trap. Do you know what he did? He gave his pervy son four hours with me. Graent wasn't allowed to rape me, but he was allowed to do other things...like make me strip and have me sit in a tub of iolite. Do you know how painful that was?" Tears streamed down his face. "What I didn't know until the next day was that three of the youngest children had been beheaded. Slaede showed me their bodies. He said he was sick and tired of putting people to death. He then promised to stop assaulting the women if I promised to be his sorceress. He promised to keep Graent away from Maya. I agreed. I haven't led Slaede wrong since."
"Raven," Hippolyta tried to interrupt.
"For so long I've convinced myself that I'm a terrible person worthy of death, and maybe I still am. But you could have come for us, and you didn't. You could have stopped all of this. My mother would still be alive. I wouldn't have had to make the decisions I've made. You guys are all cowards!" Raven then turned back to the fire. She could have stormed away to Damyan's tent if she wanted to, but she wasn't in the mood to talk anymore. Instead, she let the tears run down her face.
"I am so sorry, Raven," Hippolyta said. Raven didn't even glance her way. She kept her eyes on the flames. Eventually, Hippolyta excused herself and left Raven alone.
Damyan sharpened his sword as he sat silently in his tent. "I thought I'd find you here," a bubbly voice said. Damyan looked up in annoyance to see Cassie with a silly smile on her face. No doubt she was pretty, Damyan just wasn't attracted to her. He'd told her multiple times.
"What do you want Cassie?" he rolled his eyes.
"Aren't you going to invite me in?" she asked coyly.
"How many more times do I have to reject you?" Damyan glared at her.
"Why didn't you kill her?" Cassie demanded.
Damyan paused in his sharpening. "Circumstances."
"Circumstances, right," Cassie scoffed. "I recognize the tunic she's wearing."
"I'd think very carefully about what I'm about to say next if I were you," Damyan warned.
"How long did you wait before you fucked her – agh!" The words were barely out of her mouth before Damyan had a sword to her throat. Blood seeped out from where he pressed his blade. "You have 'til the count of 3 to leave," Damyan threatened. "One." Cassie fled from Damyan.
Damyan shook his head, returning to his spot on the ground. Picking up a rag to clean his sword, he frowned when he was disturbed once more. "Damyan!" Jhon rushed in.
"I just want a moment of quiet."
"Did I just see Cassie exit your tent?"
"Why are you here?"
"You know how when I'm bored, I'll sometimes eavesdrop on conversations?"
"Yes, it's rude."
"You'll never guess what I just heard from Queen Hippolyta and Princess Diana."