The Hunt ⋆ Young Justice (o.h.)

twenty-seven : the prophet

( CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN : THE PROPHET )

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"AS GREAT AS IT IS TO SEE YOU, I DON'T THINK YOU JUST STOPPED BY FOR A VISIT."

Hearne sighed as she watched Brucely and Bandit play together, toppling over pillows and knocking into the table. "I wish, Wall. I'm sorry that I've gotten so busy, just with Jaime and Calypso, and everything with Athena--"

"There's no need to apologize," Artemis said, resting a hand on her friend's shoulder. "It's just good to see you."

They watched the dogs play, their playful snarls filling the air as Hearne crossed her legs in her chair. "You remember who Calypso is, yes?"

"The myth," Wally said. "Yeah, that's--that's kinda hard to forget."

"Well, if you remember the myth, her father is Atlas. The Titan who held the sky for thousands of years after he fought against the eldest gods. Logistically, it would be impossible for him to leave his punishment under the sky, just as it would be impossible for Prometheus to leave his punishment on the rock. But there is ways around it, they have both escaped before. Atlas usually through trickery, Prometheus through pity. But escaping, still."

Artemis' knuckles went white around her mug. "So, you're saying that . . . that this titan might be out now? That Calypso's father might be free?"

"Exactly, yes. He's free." She snapped her fingers for Bandit to stop chewing on a table leg. "He's working with mortals, with Ra's al Ghul. He's going to the Lazarus Pit, it's the only thing left in this world that could heal him, his muscles would be much too damaged for the Styx. He may be a Titan, but--I think he's planning on working with them. The al Ghuls have always been involved with demigods and gods, and I doubt they care whether it's Atlas or someone else."

"...Well, shit," Wally said, rubbing a hand down his face. There was a bit of stubble and it made an audible sound when he rubbed over it. "Do you have to go away again?"

"No, I can't, not with everything going on right now. With the Kroloteans and Athena and--and Kaldur." Her chest twisted. Wally knew, but Artemis didn't. For her, she thought that Kaldur was a traitor, that he had broken her best friend's heart purposefully. "I can't go away for long. I have to let this play out . . . I can tell Themyscira, they need to know, and they'll alert other demigods that can help. And--I can't tell Cassie, but god, she needs to know."

Artemis grimaced. "Right. Cassie's mom doesn't want her knowing anything about that side of her, does she?"

"No, and I get it, it's complicated, it's dangerous." She ran a hand through her hair. "There is so much there, and once you get involved in it there's no going back but--you can't ignore it. I did that for years and it never worked. One day Cassie's going to have to figure out where she fits in this world as Zeus' daughter, and, by the gods, I hope her mother prepared her enough for that."

Wally shrugged. "She'll figure it out, she's strong. She actually reminds me a lot of you when we were her age." He laughed. "Y'know, aside from the mysterious part. Cassie isn't exactly scary like you were."

"I wasn't--I wasn't that scary." No one objected. "Artemis, come on, I wasn't that scary right?"

"The first time we met you took down a super-sized man with his own hook-arm and managed to almost take down my League of Assassins sister." The blonde bit her lip to hold back a laugh. "Take a guess."

"I even tried really hard to be seen as normal, that's the reason I didn't go all 'cut-throat' on Cheshire!"

Wally let out a choked laugh. "That was you holding back? God, you really were a scary kid."