Bruce Wayne/Batman POV
We jumped to attack Joker as soon as he dropped Ariana, and we ignored the sickening crunch that echoed up the alley as we parried and returned blows. How Ariana managed to keep up a fight against this guy solo, we'll never know. Joker gives us a mocking salute and flees, and we go to see what's up with Ariana, who was sitting at the bottom, scowling at her ankle.
"I rolled my ankle. Now I have to limp around for the next day or so"
"How did you fall forty feet and only roll an ankle?" Damien asks
"I slid down the wall I fell from, used so momentum to jump to the other wall, and by the time I reached ten feet, I just fell off and landed poorly. I'm having an off day" She shrugs, then used the wall to pull herself up, testing her rolled ankle gingerly
"Can you show us how to do that?" Tim asks. She nods
"When my ankle is better. Total of" She thinks for a moment "Two days-or today If I can get to a water source" She shakes back her hair and rests her weight on her right foot, the uninjured one. "I know you guys are going to be confused about how I can get over a rolled ankle in a day-don't ask" She stems the question forming on Damien's face, then limps off.
"Shit. She's serious" Jason says "How long do you think she's been fighting?"
"From the way she does things? Longer than us, by a fair margin," Tim said
"She must be metahuman if she can heal that fast," I said "But-She cursed in Greek. Diana might know something. Finish patrol, and we'll continue this back at the cave" The family dispersed
Ariana's POV
F*** f*** f*** f***. I had just gotten entangled with the vigilantes of Gotham again. The Mist was a great thing, making them think Kaldur left of his own accord and I never showed up that day I disturbed the meeting, but again? Why me? Why Gotham of all places? And now I had a rolled ankle and a group of fighters who want to know how I survived the fall (I mean-I lived through worse) and wanted me to show them. I limped toward the nearest source of water, a small pond in the backyard of a big mansion. I pull the water out and wrap it around my aching ankle, letting it mend the torn muscle and throbbing bones. I sigh in relief and jump the wall around the property, stopping in a patch of woodland a few miles away, and send up a prayer of thanks to Demeter for allowing trees to grow here and settle in for the night.
I blink frost off my eyelashes and stretch my back, and see the odd pattern of snow-Jack's charm kept the snow from falling on me all night. I smile, then realise he would be freaking out about me just dropping off the grid. I felt my pendant hum softly, and I tap it twice, letting the Iris message out
"ARIANA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING JUST LEAVING LIKE THAT?!" Jack shouts "I got really scared"
"I'm fine Jack. I just need a break from...Being me" I shrug "I'm in Gotham right now. See you in a few days" I slash my hand through it and wander back out to the street, and buy myself another coffee because coffee. (Anyone else a coffee fan?)
I listen to two boys who are murmuring, they look a lot like the guys who wanted me to show them how to do the wall slide. They are the guys who wanted to know how to do the wall slide. I write a note on a napkin "Meet me in the nearest alley to the left if you want to know how to wall slide----Ariana" And, perching atop the awning of the coffee shop, I dropped it to them and jumped away to the alley, where, about an hour later, they show up
"Finally, you guys show up" I roll my eyes.
"How did you know we were there?" One asks
"I was having a coffee when you showed up and got drinks-Duh" I roll my eyes again. I climbed the wall "I'm going to show you the wall slide" I shouted down, and did it without flaws this time "You try"
They failed, and one smacked his head hard on the ground.
"Welp, that means we're finished," I say, pulling the concussed one to his feet "Want help getting home?" I offer
"Normally, I say no. But we have a concussed person, so yes" The other boy scowls, and we guide the concussed one back to...Wayne manor. I hesitate at the gate but keep going because the not concussed one is looking a bit worn out from the trek across town and concussed one is just plain unable to walk straight or walk without support as we get further down the driveway. Another boy is at the door as we come down the path, and notices me
"They tried to do the wall slide I did last night," I say
"How do you-" I cut him off
"Blood type. Same as last night." I pull the concussed one's arm off my shoulder "Got himself concussed"
"Great" Another boy is standing at the door "Tim got himself concussed" He takes Tim inside
"Well, cool. I'll be off" I turn around as a black car pulls up in the driveway, and the boys behind me let out an almost inaudible groan as the guy who was dressed like a bat last night steps out. Great. Now I have to explain to big daddy bat what happened, but the boy who was doing the wall slide stepped up first
"This looks bad, but I have a reason" I claim
"It better be good. Why is she here?" He crosses his arms
"I was teaching them the wall slide from last night-Batman"
The look on his face was priceless.
"How did you know?" We were in the big sitting room
"I'll give you a quick explanation. I'm what you call a metahuman. I manipulate water and anything water-based, along with healing in the water much faster, Meaning I can control blood in a tight situation. I knew it was you with your association with the boys I was teaching the wall slide and your blood type" I said
"That's a lot to process. But you are spending time helping civilians, which is good" He said "And Tim got concussed?" I nod
"He was doing very well, but he misjudged his timing on the leap to the ground and tucked into a roll too late" I explained "But you probably want to know why I'm in your city"
"Yes" he sighs
"My group operates in New York. The state, not the city. I left to remove myself from my responsibilities and take a break. I've been doing this for twenty years, and I want a day off I just can't get" I groan "I'm one of the more powerful in our group, my twin is close behind"
"How old are you, if you've been doing this for twenty years?" he asks
"I'm twenty. My whole life, I've had responsibilities I can't shake" I say "I can tell you've been doing this for a while now too, by the way you hold yourself, with a kind of hurt authority, like you had to watch someone die to get what you have now"
YOU ARE READING
Ariana's Trials
FanfictionSecond book after "Percy and Ariana Jackson" Ariana and the rest of the demigods sent to Berk had defeated Aegir and slowed the other enemy's arrival. Ariana, who has taken the place of Thalassa, the goddess of coral, needs to complete her trials in...
