𝙐𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙨

𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙩 1: 𝙐𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙨

𝘿𝙞𝙖𝙣𝙖'𝙨 𝙋𝙊𝙑
  
"𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘍𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰'𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘳. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘸𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴.
  
𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘈 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥. 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘢 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘥𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘏𝘺𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘺𝘵𝘢. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥𝘴. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳. 𝘜𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘶𝘵𝘺 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯 𝘋𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘴. 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯.. 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘊𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘰𝘯'𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.
  
𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱. 𝘐 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘊𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭-𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨.
𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘢, 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘋𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘢'𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘺.. 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥."
___________________
  
It'd happened so fast. -𝘈𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨'𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳-, Nightwing'd said afterwards with a strange shiver. The rest of the Titans were fine. Shocked nontheless by the absence of their friend. There was disbelief and anger. Most of them'd already gone out to search for any clues. To Diana's own despair, she knew she couldn't tell them what'd really happened. She didn't want to drag them into this. Especially not Raven. Not if it wasn't needed. Circe was her responsibilty, not the Titans.
___________________
  
Prince'd left soon after, overthinking what the best way of approaching this dangerous matter would be. She'd known it was Circe right from the start. The way Dick'd explained it had made that clear. Circe would have to find a way inside of the prison and with Donna's knowledge, she could.
  
A long journey was ahead. That she knew. Even before she'd arrived at the entrance of the maze.
  
She stood there with a firm frown shading her features, a sudden wave of coldness ran down her spine as she watched the dying sun. It hang low on the horizon next to a magnificent mountain. It stood peaceful yet powerful in its ancient glory. Towering above a land of green. Clouds circling across the tops high above. And right in the middle of the massive rock, was a passage.
   
No, it wasn't. Well yeah, actually it was. For the trained eye. The entrance to the maze was only known by the Justice League, Titans and the Amazons. They were the only ones who knew it's whereabouts. Which had been part of the reason why Circe'd taken Donna. Without her, she wouldn't be able to locate it. Despite the fact Donna wasn't an Amazon by blood, she'd proven to be their sister and there were no secrets for family.
___________________
   
After several minutes of finding her way over the rocky, damaged road, Diana started slowing down her speed. Her eyes followed the cracks in an gigantic piece of history until she'd found the right stone. With a swift move her hand met the rough material. Yet before pushing it, she ceased in her actions. Something wasn't right..
It was already open. The entrance. Someone hadn't closed it.
  
This could only mean one thing. '𝘊𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘦'𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦.'
  
Another shiver made itself known. With refreshed anger, Diana reopened the door. Yet, just before taking her first step into the maze she froze. Something'd changed. Something wasn't like usual. There'd been a change in the atmosphere. A cold shiver that unknowingly had been creeping up on her. The Amazon only then realized that it had been there all along. When leaving the tower, Nightwing'd felt it. While starting her search. While crossing the passage. ...Someone else was here.
  
Her hand shot to the handle of her sword as she turned around. Her shield followed in the other hand with amazing skill as her eyes pierced through the shadowed mountain path like a tiger.
  
Sharp laughter resulted from Diana's actions.
"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦." She answered sternly, sword not lowering. It took a moment before the cackling seemed to lessen. Only for it to make place for a playful amount of snickering. A sound that seemed to be coming from any direction at the same time.
"𝘖𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺? 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸."
  
A short silence followed before the horned Croatoan walked out of his hiding spot. Eyes glinstering with pure excitement. "𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺." Diana frowned, gaze not leaving the smaller figure. She didn't understand why Klarion would find this a matter of his league. Of course, it had to do with Trigon and with Circe's quest of power. But it wasn't something the boy would usually find as a pull-factor. Klarion's reasons were usually artifacts. But the most important one: 𝘧𝘶𝘯. There was no way he would go somewhere boring.
  
It only then hit her as she eyed the boy. She missed something. Something familiar. "Where's Teekl?"
  
That comment didn't seem to land correctly. The amused grin that'd been parading all over Klarion's face faded within an instant, growing into an almost hateful glare. Willingly or not, Diana's question'd struck a gigantic nerve.
  
He didn't like it when people gossiped about his familiar. Though the worst part of it all was that it made him think of earlier. How Circe'd caught him off guard. HIM OF ALL PEOPLE. Oh they'd been having the time of their lifes. Just messing around in Gotham while the Bat was busy with some clown-related problems. It'd been the best timing to get themselves some free sweets and chaos. Weren't it for the sudden ambush that'd followed.
  
It'd been a ridiculous pathetic attempt on defeating him. They always had to target his precious little Teekl. He needed his familiar's presence to exist in this reality. But this had not been an attack pointed at him. No, this was specifically for Teekl. His Teekl. Someone needed them. But for what? It'd been so obvious after Donna'd disappeared. Yes, he knew. He'd been spying on the Titans now and then. Even earlier today. Right before Circe'd attacked him.
  
"𝘞𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵. 𝘚𝘰 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪 𝘸𝘰𝘯𝘵, 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘰𝘯?" Klarion almost snapped, breaking the tension as he crossed his arms. In addition to that, the Witchboy put a lot of attention on the word '𝘛𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘺,' wanting to make sure that Diana understood this would be over once they got what they wanted.
  
The Amazon had her doubts. She didn't trust this blue-looking witch-child for one bit and it wouldn't surprise her if this was a trap. For all she knew, Klarion was working with Circe. Though if Klarion'd spoken the truth and if her assumptions about Teekl had been correct, they were both in need of assistance whether they liked admitting it or not.
  
It wasn't an easy decision. Though at the end the Amazonian withdrew her sword. But instead of completely getting rid of her weaponary, she reached for the lasso hanging on her hip. Then wind it around her own wrist. She looked at the other, awaiting him to understand her gesture.
  
The Witchboy clearly didn't seem to like what Diana was referring to but eventually did take a step closer, holding out his arm with a wicked smile on his face.
Diana took this as a accepted request and wrapped the lasso around it.
 
Within a second it lit up a bright color of gold.
"𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶." Klarion grunted in a tone of disgust. Seemingly annoyed by the forced truth as his smile vanished. The black haired female responded. "𝘔𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳." Fair enough. The Witchboy didn't expect Wonderwoman to trust him either way. He'd always been a huge pain in the ass for the Justice League and their allies, and it didn't seem like this was going to be any diffirent.
  
"𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘈𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘥. 𝘕𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘢𝘭. 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵?" Wonderwoman spoke. A Tiny, mischievous smirk appeared on Klarion's face upon hearing her. He found it quite hilarious how she'd to be confirmed about this by her magical lasso. "..𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘧 𝘐'𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭." The truth got forced out of him. "𝘐'𝘮 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘭, 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘚𝘰 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘈𝘮𝘢𝘻𝘰𝘯." The lasso lit up painfully to Klarion's despair.
  
It was a lie. One that confused Diana. "𝘖𝘬𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦- 𝘍𝘐𝘕𝘌. 𝘐'𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘊𝘪𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦!!" The pain and the golden light disappeared immediately.
  
This casted a small smile coming from Diana. "𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵?" Klarion threw his hands in the air, offended. "𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘧- 𝘈𝘏!!!" He winced when the lasso tightened around his wrist again. She'd yanked it, causing the Witchboy to almost tumble forwards. Then WonderWoman looked down at him. A sudden frown dancing over her face. It caused Klarion's black pupils to turn red of the sudden rage sourcing through his petite figure. "𝘕𝘰 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘐'𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘨𝘶𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘍𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳." The Amazon stated.
  
It hadn't been a question. She wouldn't allow him, nor herself to get distracted. Usually she wouldn't even let someone come with. But this was personal. Personal for the two of them.
  
His eyes'd widened a little. Soon after, Klarion gave a muttered noise. Eyes growing back to normal. Miraculously he accepted that if the only way to safe his familiar was to play fair with WonderWoman, then so be it. No betrayal, no back-stabbing. "𝘖𝘬𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦. 𝘕𝘰 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴." Nothing happened. No light. No pain. This would be a long day. That for sure. Especially if Diana would continue to threaten him like that.
  
She knew it was the truth. The lasso didn't lie. Nor did Klarion this time. Despite not trusting him, she knew that he wouldn't betray her any longer. He came for the sake of his cat. No, for the sake of his best friend. The League could say anything they wanted about the blue-skinned witchboy, but that cat was the only thing Klarion had. And she knew that just like she would for Donna, he'd die for Teekl.
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[𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 2]