Soothsayer ⚡ Barry Allen

One With the Demon

Andy's back

I heaved my body onto the ledge and rolled onto the flat, dusty surface, thanking myself for sticking to rock climbing classes. I laid there for a long moment, my joints aching and my body sore. I opened my eyes at the sound of something being unsheathed, staring down two curved blades held by assassins in black. "Why have you come here?" one of them asked, though I could only see their eyes.

"Parlay," I breathed, watching their eyebrows come together in confusion. "I seek audience with your leader, Rā's Al Ghul." The two guards shared a short glance before one grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet while the other placed a black bag over my head.

They dragged me across the terrain for fifteen minutes, I was sure my ankles were cut and bruised from stumbling over the rocks protruding from the hard sand. For a few more minutes after that, I was dragged across smooth floor, and from the bottom of the bag I could see it was mostly a beige-ish stone. When I was finally stationary with my own feet supporting me, as well as a hand on either of my arms, the bag was removed and I took in the warm lighting of torches and candles around some altar looking pool and the powerful man that stood before me.

"Kneel before Rā's Al Ghul, Head of the Demon," he spoke in a bored tone, waving his ringed fingers in gesture to the floor. Simultaniously, the guards released me and dropped to one knee with bent heads, so, hesitantly, I followed suit. "Why have you come, Andromeda Cane?" My eyes snapped up to him when he spoke my name, everything about him set off red flags, but he was the last thing I could put my faith in.

"I wish to strengthen myself. I am fully aware of the injustices in todays world, once took part in them myself, but I fear that in those situations my skills had a lack of potential. I could not progress," I explained. I had been warned that I would have to renounce everything I held dear, I couldn't tell him I came here to learn how to better protect Barry.

"Most men bring me treasures or riches for a place in my ranks. What is it you have to offer?" I took a deep breath and my eyes drifted to the long sword sheathed at his hip, watching the way his fingers boredly drifted over the details of the hilt.

"Only myself. I have been persistant at adapting to whatever situation I may find myself in and I believe my skillset will prove useful to your League." I dropped my eyes to the floor again when I finished speaking, wanting to be as respectful as possible. I just hoped I was doing this right.

"Rise." When neither guard moved, I took that as my queue to stand, slowly meeting his eyes. "Andromeda Cane is dead. She lives only in the past. You are Al Kahin; the Soothsayer." Well, at least giving up that piece of myself will be easier than the rest. Andromeda was, in fact, dead. "You will renounce all ties and claims outside of the League, familial or otherwise." When I was sure he had finished, I nodded.

"I understand." Rā's motioned his fingers upwards and the guards stood, taking hold of my arms again after recieving a stern look from their master. My master, as well, now.

"Your training starts here. Andromeda Cane is a memory, all that remains is Al Kahin." The Head of the Demon gave a simple nod and the bag returned to my head. "This will take time to instill. Time to put your alleged adaptation to the test." My heart skipped a beat in fear as the guards began dragging me deeper into the lair; from this point on, I would only sink deeper into the League of Assassins.

⚡

I thought I had experienced pain before, but the League gave me a new definition of the word. Rā's was intent on breaking my stubbornness, he knew I was still grasping onto some piece of myself, but if I forgot what I was doing this for I'd never leave. I know it, even now; chained to the floor, the tremors long since left my body, my muscles finally adjusting to the pain and soreness that hadn't left me since I began the ascent to Nanda Parbat.

They had cut my hair, even with some time to grow out it didn't even fall half an inch under my chin, not enough weight to gain any waves so it hung flat and straight. They tortured me for hours on end, if it weren't for faint rays of light that occasionally slipped into the carved, intricate window like decorations of my holding cell I wouldn't have a guess on how much time has passed. As they did it, they repeated the same phrase over and over, "Andromeda Cane is dead. She lives only in the past. You are Al Kahin."

By now, it was true. I gave up on everything but Barry. He hadn't given up on me, even when I tried to throw it all in his face to keep him away, and now I'm the one who had to go away, but I was going to make it back to him. It is possible to be released from the League. I would just spend my time here earning it. My attention was reeled in by the sound of the door clicking as it was unlocked. I wasn't surprised when I found the face of Talia Al Ghul, Heir to the Demon, staring down at me.

She had an elite branch of her own assassins, one I was told I was likely to join the ranks of. When I wasn't being tortured or held up in this cell, she was the one to train me. "It is time, Al Kahin." I nodded and pushed myself into a sitting position, holding my hands out as I waited for her to uncuff me from the moderately long chains strongly bolted into the floor.

She was slowly teaching me Arabic, the primary language that we use. It was only slow because as good as I was in all other respects, I wasn't the most book smart. It took me a long time to get Greek down, and that was learning it on my own. With someone insulting me everytime I slipped or messed up didn't help. We walked down several empty halls with her hand on my left shoulder before she pulled me to a stop. "Remove your shirt." When I gave her a questioning glance she added, "For ceremonial purposes."

With a short nod, I slipped the light fabric from my shoulders and allowed Talia to adjust my chest bindings before she stepped up to the the door and nodded me forward. After a deep breath, I took the steps, the room opening up to reveal four posts on a raised platform, two leather strips dangling from high above it. Several members of the League stood around the room and shut the doors as Talia followed me in, Rā's waiting for me at the side of the platform.

Knowing what was expected of me, I stood with my back to the room, taking care to wrap the leather tightly around each hand. "Today you renounce all that once bound you to the name Andromeda Cane and accept your place as Al Kahin," Rā's started, his voice loud in the small room. I could hear him pick something up as he walked around to my tattooed back. "Fire is the most purifying substance," -- he pressed some heated metal poker to my back, having to fight all my instincts not to flinch away -- "and pain brings out one's true self. Embrace the pain and become your true self."

I repressed my whimpers as much as possible and clutched hard at the leather, knowing that the placement of whatever brand I was bearing was interfereing with the artwork on my skin. Rā's held the thing to my back for almost a minute before returning the branding iron to whatever torch was closest. Taking in great deals of air, I slowly relinquished my hold on the leather and panted as I adjusted to the pain across my lower shoulderblade. I was slow to turn and face the room of assassins, each of the suited men and women holding swords to the middle of their faces.

Talia and a man I assumed to be Bane, the man Merlyn rumored to be Rā's' successor, stood beside our master, taking me in as the monster they had molded.