Young Writers Society

Megara sat with her back against the wall, controlling the tears. Eddie had trotted off to sulk in his room alone, and she let him. She couldn't comfort him in this state, anyway.

She wanted to run after them. She wanted to run and beg them to come back, to apologize and apologize and apologize until she couldn't speak anymore. But she didn't. She couldn't. They had to leave her alone, for good. For Eddie's sake and safty, no one could know where they were. They'd risked that.

A tear dripped onto the back of her hand.

She drew a shaky breath.

She stood.

She had to pack.



Les tried to control his tears and managed to choke back enough of them to form words.

"I-I thought she'd be happy to see me," he said, his voice cracking. He had to fight back the sob that threatened to overtake him. "I thought she'd be....different. I-I didn't...Why is she so...Why can't she just go to the local lord if someone's threatening her?"

She was living in the woods with a kid. Was he her kid? He didn't look like her very much, and what her friends had said implied he was some kind of adopted...

A horrible thought struck him.

He wiped the tears and snot from his face and tried to gain some kind of composure. He failed miserably, breaking down in sobs once again.

"Did she- How did she get...Eddie?" he finally managed to ask. He wasn't sure about the kid's name, but he thought it was something like that.

His questions about the kid's name faded to the background as they revealed themselves to be distractions for the more horrible question. Meg was a criminal. No, Megara was a criminal, criminal wouldn't want a cute nickname. As a criminal, what would she want with a kid? How had she gotten him? Was she training him to be...to be like her?

Les cried harder, wondering what he was related to.

Runi didn't have any answers for that.

But Jason, who was far more versed in a life like Megara's - though his had never gotten as bad as hers - knew everything that Runi didn't know. And while Runi thought Megara was being an idiot, and while Jason wasn't exactly objecting to that comment in this particular situation, he could tell why Megara was so tense.

He rubbed his wrists.

"Her family is rich and powerful," Jason said. He sniffled a little, biting back tears he couldn't let fall right now. "I don't know much about the politics here, but we have our fair share of corrupt politicians where I'm from. So...So if Megara couldn't go to them, it's because she knows that her father has connections and would probably turn them against her."

Runi gave a tiny nod.

"He might not even have to do that," she quietly pointed out. Her voice was surprisingly cold, and Jason was terrified when he heard how those words sounded with the voice she had now. "Megara did illegal things. Her family might have forced her to, but they probably know how to make it seem like Megara did it on her own - she'd only get arrested then, and she's still legally dead."

Jason took a deep breath. He wished Ben was in the habit of carrying handkerchiefs like whoever Runi was had been - then he would have something to offer Les right now. Something that didn't require him to put aside the emotions bombarding him to play comforter.

He rubbed his wrists a little more.

"I don't know a lot about Eddie's past," he admitted. "They were together when I first met them. But...from some of the things that Eddie has said, I think something happened to his family. He kept talking about someone and how much he wanted them to..."

He faltered.

He already knew what Les was thinking about Megara. He wasn't as oblivious as everything back home thought he was. Megara had just yelled at him, and they had told him that Megara killed people for a living. He hadn't seen any of the reasons Jason liked being friends with Megara.

And he didn't want to make things worse.

"He wanted that person to be punished," he finally said. "I think they had something to do with Megara taking him in. And she's...she's not doing anything bad with him. She's really good with him. She makes sure he's safe, that he's happy, and..."

He faltered.

Then he took another deep breath.

"...I still don't know how either one of them are alive right now," he said. "I saw both of their graves. I think...I think they really did die, and Megara's just using that to her advantage right now. Eddie's grave looked older, so if Megara did really die, it had to do with Eddie getting killed..."

He wiped away the tears forming in the corner of his eyes with the palm of his hand.

"I know you don't want to believe me," he said. "But Megara...she's a good person. She just must have been scared by us showing the base to someone she didn't know - she...she has trouble trusting people. So please don't hate...."

He fell silent.

A second later, Runi looked over at Jason.

"Do you want to go home?" she asked.

He blinked, glancing back in the direction of the base. "Shouldn't we stay?"

Runi shook her head.

"I don't think Megara wants us to," she said, her tone just as cold and her expression just as emotionless as it was before. "I still have a little bit of the potion left. Seeing that I'm the one who knows it's creator, it makes more sense for you to use it to get back to normal."

Jason stared. "But what about-"

"You're the one with the family back home," she said. "I'll stay a little bit longer."

She reached into her bag and pulled out the potion.

He didn't want to go, but he knew that he couldn't stay here any longer. Megara had made her point. And even though she was supposed to be different, Jason knew that the only place he could go was back to Gotham.

He took the potion.

"Thanks," he softly said. "It was nice meeting you, even if..."

He faltered.

Runi gave a small smile. "It was nice meeting you, too."

Jason glanced over at Les. "I hope things turn out better - hopefully...hopefully she'll change her mind soon..."

His grip on the potion tightened.

He walked off a little distance away, making sure he couldn't be seen by anyone or see anyone else. Then he concentrated as hard as he could on himself - on his shorter height, the clothes he had been wearing last, his numerous scars, his green eyes that sometimes glowed when he got emotional, and the little white tuft in his otherwise black hair.

And then, using the tech that had brought him there, he went back to Gotham.

That was where Alex found him a few minutes later: sitting on one of the couches in the Batcave, legs pulled tight to his chest as he sobbed and sobbed and sobbed.


Back on Megara's world, Runi accepted that she had just given away her one shot at looking like herself until she ran into Lucifer again. She could only hope he wasn't busy when she returned home later - it wasn't like she had any clothes in Cornyx's size.

"Want me to walk home with you?" she offered Les. "I don't really have anywhere to go right now, and you look like you could use the company."

Les sniffled and wiped his face. Home. He couldn't go home. As much as he wanted to, it was too far. A three day ride if they had horses to push to the brink, five days on foot.

Still, he wanted the company.

"I-I'm staying at an inn in the city," he said, "It-it's getting late, I-I could rent you a room for the night, or-or you could share mine." He was still having trouble breathing and stopping the crying. It was too much. He had come all this way, searched for so long, only to find out that his sister wanted nothing to do with him. Less than nothing. She wanted him gone.

Runi gave a nod and a small smile.

"That sounds like a good idea to me," she said. "I don't mind sharing your room - I've slept in the middle of forests before, so a wooden floor wouldn't bother me."

She moved a little closer, putting her arm around him in an attempt to offer the comfort she desperately needed as well - but comfort she couldn't ever ask Les for. He was the one who had just lost the sister he had been searching for; she had just lost someone she had only met a few times.

It was only when they were a little farther away from the base that it hit Runi. She hadn't thought anything of it a few moments before, but Les was a guy. She wasn't really. And sleeping in the same room honestly didn't bother her, seeing that she wasn't even interested in guys, but if Megara being nontraditional threw him off, how was Les going to react to the reveal that Runi wasn't exactly as advertised?

Yeah.

That settled it.

She wasn't going to breath a peep about her not being Darian Blackthorne. And while Jason had been called by his real name multiple times when talking to Megara, Runi's name hadn't ever really come up.

When she and Les went their separate ways, then she could be herself again. But, for now, Darunia Vain was going to take a break off stage so she could be Darian Blackthorne just a little longer.

Les leaned into the man as he walked, desperately needing the comfort as he walked. They made it back to the city and Les led the way to the inn.

It was a busy night. People dressed in white all around, ruckus in their revelry as they passed around drinks in a game Les didn't know. Another group, made up of people who appeared to be very capable of making one bleed, stood off to the side with scowling expressions and a pint a piece of what was likely mead or some other fairly weak form of alcohol.

"My room's on the second floor," he said for Darian's ears only.

Runi kept an eye on the people that they passed - both to make sure they were being followed, and to figure out how exactly this festival was supposed to work. She caught a few glances from the people that they passed, but she was pretty sure that was just because Cornyx was taller than almost everyone there.

"Okay," she said, still letting Les guide her. She hadn't come anywhere close to this area before; Les was the only one who could show her the way. Her voice was just as quiet as his as she spoke. "Second floor it is, then."

Les led the way to the second floor. His room was small, lacking in anything more than the necessities, but he hadn't planned on staying here for more than a night or two. He was going to stay with his sister.

"This is it," he said, leading the way inside.

She wasn't sure what she had expected.

She knew that Megara's world wasn't like Earth when it came to how advanced they were, but the room was surprisingly simple. It was small and just had the basic things anyone would want a room like this to have.

"It's a nice little room," she said, softly closing the door behind her.

Les nodded. He rifled through his bag, which was laying on the bedside table, for a moment. At the bottom of the bag were a few things. Gifts from mother, and from his siblings, for Meg. He closed his eyes, another tear sliding down his cheek. He wiped it away.

"You don't have to lay on the floor, if you don't want to," he said, "The bed's wide enough for two." He didn't make eye contact with him. This was one of Megara's friends. Les had no idea how they could know each other, like each other, and still have Megara acting like...like they were strangers, intruders, traitors, even.

He was coming to terms with the idea that Meg, the sister he'd imagined, didn't exist.

"Oh, sweet-" Runi started to say, only to pause when she realized the implications. If things did go sour and the little Darian thing fell apart, she didn't want Les to feel awkward and even more awful than he already did.

She gave an awkward smile.

"You know, it's probably better if I slept on the floor," she said. "The bed's, er, a little small for me? And I'm terrible when it comes to hogging the sheets."

The smile became a little more natural.

"Besides," she said, "I did some traveling a little while ago, so I'm used to sleeping on something other than a bed."

He glanced over at Darina with a half-hearted shrug, too lost in his thoughts to really care. He didn't realize how exhausted he was until the turmoil in his head had a moment to calm. Until the tears behind his eyes came up dry, to be replaced by a splitting headache, he didn't realize that, to his very core, he was drained.

Without bothering to do more than kick off his shoes, he pulled himself under the covers and lay there. He wasn't feeling much aside from an almost tangible numbness all around as he closed his eyes. He felt the vague urge to maybe cry or move or break something, but the energy wasn't there to do any of that. All he could do was sleep.

Cornyx, apparently, hadn't sleep on the cold, hard ground in a while.

While Runi was normally very used to the sensation, Cornyx's body wasn't. She kept tossing and turning in an attempt to get comfortable on the floor. None of it was working. What did end up working was waiting another hour after Les fell asleep to fall asleep herself - and the decent amount of tears she let out while curled up with her back towards the bed.

Tears, after all, were a great way to feel exhausted.

And then she finally fell asleep.

Megara had no idea what drove her to do this. That was a lie. She knew. She just didn't know why, after all those years of training, she couldn't this once ignore it and move on with her life.

Eddie was asleep. Back at the hideout with his bags packed, curled up on his bed with no idea Megara was gone. She'd be back before he woke up. If she wasn't, he knew what to do. Where to go and where not to go. She just hoped he would follow his new instructions.

She pulled her hood down as she passed a merchant, who broke her train of thought with an offer of wares of some kind. Megara wasn't really listening as she ducked her head and continued on, a common gesture of the people in these darkened streets with a clear message.

Megara didn't look like the Megara these people expected to see. She was counting on that as she slipped into a door, walking down the steps to which it led into the quiet murmuring of the hidden tavern below. If whispers were as ruckus as shouts, this would be the most lively tavern in the city.

Megara paid the bar no mind as she made her way purposefully to the table in the back corner of the place. In a place like this, to walk to the corners tables, which were cast in shadow with only the candles upon them to provide any proper light, was to walk up onto the stage. Many of the quiet mutterings and whispers cut out as the other patrons looked over this unfamiliar girl. This brunette of average height, armed only with a round of throwing daggers around her left thigh, her face cast in the shadow of her hood.

The attention didn't last long.

Megara exchanged a few words and a few coins with the people at the table. There were three, each a collector of different kinds of information. She left the table with the name of an inn and a room number.

Not long after, Megara was picking the lock of a window, and then she was slipping inside. Two figures slept within the room. The shine of golden curls on the pillow told her that the one she was looking for was the one on the floor.

She knelt beside Runi and realized that she didn't know how to wake her up. Megara didn't know if Runi would shout, or if she would try to fight or how she would react at all to being woken up like this. That train of thought strayed a little too close to asking how much Megara really knew about Runi at all. Megara pushed that line of thought away, steeling her nerves. She made a decision and gently shook Runi's shoulder, placing a hand over her mouth just in case so she wouldn't rouse the boy in the bed when she woke.

Someone was waking her up.

Runi didn't have anyone to ever wake her up - the only thing besides herself that woke her up on a regular basis was her alarm clock. But her alarm clock didn't have hands, and wasn't here in this world, so the feeling of being shook was more than a little surprising.

And disturbing when she realized that someone had a hand pressed against her mouth.

Runi shot up with a start, flames already dancing at her fingertips as she darted back away from whoever was lurking in the darkness. She scrambled to her feet - bumping into the side of the bed - and went stumbling back away from the intruder.

Her eyes were still adjusting to the lack of light. The flames helped, a little, but it wasn't nearly enough to get a good look. All she saw was brown hair and a cloak, and Runi didn't know anyone with brown hair with an affinity for cloaks.

...In retrospect, maybe she should have texted Lucifer instead of crying herself to sleep.

The window was out of the question. So was leaving through the door. But Runi's type of magic wasn't exactly the best for a place like this, and she couldn't tell if whoever this was wanted her or Les. Probably her, seeing that she had slipped into Megara's family home, but who knew what trouble he could have gotten himself into?

Still, she needed space.

Runi maneuvered around the room - her movements surprisingly quick and fast, despite being unused to Cornyx's body - and moved backwards towards the wall with the door. But she hadn't been fully paying attention when they walked in, and she misjudged how close she was to the door frame.

There was a loud thump.

And then Runi was extinguishing the flames in one hand, cradling the back of her head as she winced in pain and gave a very loud, very noticeable, "Ouch!"

Well, if Les hadn't woken up before, he definitely had know.

Still wincing in pain - that hurt! - she said to the hopefully now awake Les, "Don't panic, but there's someone in your room who just tried suffocating-and-or-silencing-me!"

Megara watched from over the top of the hand that pinched the bridge of her nose as the lump on the bed shifted and Les sat up, his curls a wild mess that Megara knew would take many hours to get looking presentable again.

He rubbed his eyes, "Wha....? Don't kill my...my money..." he blinked at the scene in his room, the look on his face showing that he very clearly didn't understand what was going on at all.

Megara decided she didn't much care what he understood. She focused on Runi with a sigh and lowered her hood, her hands moving swiftly to her belt where a small vial hung. She downed it and the illusion that made her face unrecognizable to those who saw it broke.

"It's me, moron," she said with a long-suffering sigh that somehow came out sounding somewhat affectionate.

Les was still too confused to do anything but mumble nonsense as he tried to remember, first, how words worked.