Stolen Legacy
Written by Hellacre13
Chapter 3:
Two female figures circled each other in the training arena.
Slowly. Methodically. Warily.
One carried an electrically charged whip. The other an electrically charged sword. Both wore tunics, body fitting pants, boots and the neck collars; the uniform of all trainees of Granny Goodness' orphanage. They were being watched by Kanto, Bernadeth, and some of their peers from the sidelines.
One of the figures was none other than the former Amazon princess who was now fast becoming one of the most impressive of all the young trainees. She not only possessed great abilities but she had a drive and a great discipline that the others seemed to lack.
Her opponent was called Lashina, who was just two months short of turning eighteen. Who had high hopes of winning her place as a Fury when the next Running of the Gauntlet took place in six months time.
It was also vital that she did so as any trainee who failed in that contest was sent to the Brothel that Granny stocked for the pleasure of the upper echelons of Apokolips. Every female would, some way or the other, have to earn their keep and not be fed and sheltered for nothing.
Lashina flicked her energy whip delicately and skillfully. She was so precise she could flick the wings of a fire-gnat from the ear of a demon dog without burning it. She could brand the face of anyone if she chose to as seen by a scar on the face of the Vuldarian, Dalmar, who stood dourly on the sidelines. And right now she wanted to do nothing more than flick her whip across the smooth, oval cheeks of the one the majority of Furies sneeringly referred to as the "little princess".
Now fifteen years old, Diana had suddenly changed in the last year from being wiry and gangling to being tall, lithe and perfectly proportioned. She had an aura of radiance and ethereal beauty that was a rarity on such a harsh world as Apokolips. Not even the most ill fitting uniform or the way they had kept her midnight hair short could hide it.
This very beauty and her own gifts made her stand out. It made her a dangerous rival. And having Barda and the master assassin as her teachers only seemed to give her an extra advantage.
Lashina went after her with the whip. The tendrils curled around the blade and Lashina pulled. Diana dug her heels into the ground and she gritted her teeth and resisted. Diana was able to pull her sword free but not before she saw Lashina's fist coming at her. She ducked and somersaulted in the air and landed a few yards away from her.
Lashina snarled. She hated that trick. But there were no rules in the arena. The girls had been taught to use every thing they had to win. She drew her arm back and with a sharp flick of the wrist sent the tendrils at Diana again.
Diana was driven back, as she slapped back each attack with her blade.
Bernadeth shouted, "That's it! Drive her back!"
The energy whip hit Diana's hand and forearm and she gasped in pain and dropped her sword.
Lashina kicked it away and grinned. She had her now.
Kanto snapped impatiently. "Stop dawdling and just use what I taught you!"
Diana looked up at that and she took a breath. When Lashina came at her, she stepped away with the grace of a dancer and pivoted around her. Diana was swift and she was soon behind Lashina and sharply slammed her fist into the small of her spine. Lashina gasped in pain and Diana caught her around the neck, and gasped the arm that held the whip.
She twisted it back sharply so Lashina had no choice but to drop it. Lashina gritted her teeth and elbowed Diana in the stomach and dragged her over her head and threw her heavily to the ground. Diana saw the whip coming down upon her and she rolled swiftly. She used her hands to lift her body up and she took to the air and whipped her leg high so her foot hit Lashina's jaw.
Lashina fell heavily to the ground. When she tried to move, the tip of the sword was at her chest.
Bernadeth cursed and Kanto smiled.
"I think my pupil bested yours."
Diana looked down at Lashina and put her hand out for her to rise.
Lashina glared at her and stood up without accepting her hand. Diana did not look surprised. She shrugged. They walked off the sparring ground towards their mentors.
Bernadeth hissed at Lashina, "You let that human get the better of you?"
Lashina flung her whip to the ground. "She was lucky this time… I am sick of these energy whips. They can't reach her fast enough. As long as she can fly, she has some advantage…Still, I burned her hand though…"
Kanto looked at Diana as she winced and looked at the burn on her hand. It would heal but for now it was an angry, deep welt.
"You were careless and took too long to commit. Stop wasting time and energy." He looked at her arm. "You will heal by tomorrow. I want you to stop hesitating. Lashina is one of the better ones and on any given day either of you could take down the other. But experience is on her side and she will try to adjust any weakness she has. By the time your turn comes to Run the Gauntlet you will have no rival. In time, you will more than likely even push Barda from her position."
Diana raised her brow. "Barda? But she is my mentor…"
Kanto said coolly, "I am the best and therefore anyone taught by me would be the best. Darkseid rewards service. You could be the leader of the Furies in less than four years. There is no loyalty where ambition is concerned. Even Barda knows that. Now go and get that wound bound and attend to Esak for your lessons. And next time you spar with Lashina, beware. She will not use the same tactics twice."
Diana bowed and she moved towards the sidelines. The trainees, which included Miri and Nira, were talking to Lashina and casting dour looks at Diana.
Only Dalmar waited apart from the group.
The Vuldarian smiled. "You were brilliant."
"Kanto thinks I wasted time." She lifted her injured arm.
Dalmar's eyes clouded as she touched her own scarred cheek and her eyes dwelled on Lashina. "She will make you pay for this defeat."
Diana said coolly, "I expect she will. Like the last time she tried setting an unbroken demon dog on me."
Dalmar sniffed. "I think she was stunned to see it begin to play with you. How did you do that? All the hounds love you. Even Granny's dog, Mercy, who is known to tear anyone limb from limb."
Diana shrugged. "I do not know. They just do." Diana did not tell her the truth that she could commune with all lower creatures. It was something she could always do even when she used to live with the Amazons that abandoned her all those years ago. It gave her a form of satisfaction to hold knowledge that they did not all know and to annoy Granny Goodness on some level. Granny was never amused to see Mercy wagging her tail and going towards her.
Dalmar said as they begun walking out of the arena. "Time for lessons with Esak. Are you coming?"
"I need my wound attended to."
She left her when they came to the main building of the Orphanage and headed down a winding path that led down a dark subterranean walk to none other than the infirmary run by Doctor Bedlam. As she did she encountered guards along the way. Some of whom glanced at her with something in their eyes that made her rigid and stare hostilely at them.
These stares she had noticed had become increasingly obvious in the last year and she found it unsettling. She did not like the way some members of the Elite would come down at times to just stare as she trained. It even included Graven and Virman Vundabar at times. She did not understand why they did. But somehow she connected it to the occasional visits of some male members of Apokolips to the chambers of the Furies. Gillotina, Harriet and Stompa were very crude at times and made jests about whom they had used and who had measured up. Anatomy and physiology lessons did explain some of it but there was a part of Diana that seemed to sense that males could be brutish when it came to procreation and mating.
She hurried towards the infirmary.
Diana met with the non corporeal form of energy of the scientist and physician who summoned one of his androids to attend to her wound. He was too busy experimenting on Lowlies to see how his new paranoid pill formula was working.
Diana clamped down the revulsion she felt as she saw Dr Bedlam give a Lowly, who was having tactile and auditory hallucinations as a result of the paranoid pill, a knife. The man began to cut his flesh to shreds.
She turned her head and avoided the screams and sight. She could not bat an eye lid. Death was not new to her. It was common place to see Lowlies dying and even used for sport but for some reason this sort of violence always made the bile rise up in her mouth. She hurriedly got off the table once her arm was attended to and left.
It was when she reached a corner of the dark corridor, she knelt down and retched. Diana held the wall and breathed in deeply.
She felt something ruffle her hair and spun around sharply as if to slap the movement or touch away. But it was nothing. She wiped her mouth and straightened her back. Time to go to back to the orphanage to sit down and listen to Esak teach them about the history of the other primitive worlds beyond their own.
As she walked away, a shimmering presence with a caduceus and winged sandals seemed to sigh.
Diana hurried up the path. As she came around a corner, she halted abruptly. Standing there was none other than her mentor, Barda, and the one called Scott Free. Both were standing facing each other, talking earnestly. Scott's hand was on Barda's arm.
When they heard the foot steps, they drew back from each other. Diana stared at them and frowned. Scott said something quietly and headed down a divergent passageway.
When Diana reached Barda, asked, "What did he want?"
"He was just telling me about a little problem with some of the prisoners of war we brought in from our last raid. They managed to escape. The parademons are hunting them down."
Diana looked at Scott's retreating form suspiciously. "Oh."
"What is the matter?" Barda looked at her casually.
"Nothing." She then blurted out, "I thought Steppenwolf was your bed mate."
Barda blinked. "Who told you that?"
She said a little perplexed. "There is talk in the orphanage and they say he is."
Barda replied, "He wants to be. But he is not."
"Have you a bed mate?"
"Why are you asking this, Diana?"
"Gillotina and the others have males visiting them. I…must I have one when I become a Fury?"
Barda winced inwardly. The truth was that Apokolips could be a very brutal place and sometimes the girls had no choice in becoming sexualized. If some were lucky they had sex with another of their own free will. If they were not, they were assaulted and raped, be it by members of the Elite who looked upon them as chattel or when they were tossed into the Brothel or the Pits. It was one of the advantages in becoming a Fury or a member of the Elite. No one could touch anyone that did not want them. But during the time that an orphan was training was a perilous time. Barda had been fortunate not to be raped as she had been a big and powerful female and was capable in fending off any would be predators. And when she was able she had relationships with those that she chose to be with. She knew several other orphans who were on the attractive side and not as strong had not been as fortunate. It was perhaps another reason why they disliked Diana even more. The only reason no one had gone after Diana yet was because Kanto and herself were her mentors. Her beauty was as troubling as it was startling.
Barda said diplomatically, "Yes. If that is what you want. Until then no one must touch you."
Diana confessed somewhat embarrassed and yet peeved, "They look at me. I don't like it."
Barda tilted her chin. "Remember everything we taught you. Do whatever you have to. If you ever are to lay with anyone, let it be of your own free will."
"Kill him now," cackled Mad Harriet from above in her flying pod to the tall, red haired vampire on the barren ground of the Hunger Plains.
Miri, or Bloody Mary, as she had been nicknamed due to her abilities smiled at the terrified Hunger Dog in her grasped and sank her teeth into him. The bald man began to shrivel within her grasp. From a body of flesh and blood he turned into a dried up outer shell. She dropped him as she absorbed all his energy and licked her lips.
"Well done," smiled Gillotina, who floated in a kind of chariot. "Who is next?"
All eyes turned upon Diana.
They had brought the recruits out into the plains to hunt and kill the downtrodden enslaved population who lived to serve the pleasure of Apokolips. They had managed to chase and corner a group of five. A male, female and three young ones. A family.
Mary had taken down the father. Lashina had already broken the mother's neck.
Diana came forward sword in hand. She looked at the three children huddled against a rocky recess. They were looking at her in terror.
She said, "But they are little ones."
Bernadeth said scathingly, "Three little ones equate to one big one. You managed to hunt them down, now do something about it. They are Hunger Dogs. Mindless slaves for our pleasure. If you cannot kill some cubs, how can you even be counted to be a Fury? Furies are warriors and disposing of your opponent is vital. Now stop wasting time and do it."
Diana tightened her hands around the sword. She drew closer. She could see two older boys and a smaller girl. They were crying.
She raised her sword and suddenly felt that gentle ruffle on her hair again and this time she had a strange sense of promnesia. She did not know why but the sight of the little girl seemed to make her feel disgusted and dismayed. The panic in the children's eyes made her lower her sword.
She stepped back and said icily, "I am not doing this!"
There were gasps from the others.
Gillotina looked at her incensed. "You cannot refuse an order!"
Diana said stubbornly, and threw her sword down, "I am not killing them."
Gillotina looked at Mad Harriet as if at a loss. No recruit had ever refused to do what they ordered, at least not at this stage in training. And if they did they would be severely punished on the spot. But this was a different case.
Harriet gritted. "Take her to Granny Goodness."
Granny Goodness' sturdy hand slapped Diana's cheek. Hard.
She bellowed, "You refuse? No one refuses the Furies! No one refuses me!"
Diana was kneeling before her, Mad Harriet's hand on her neck keeping her on her knees. Gillotina was looking on with interest.
Diana began, "They are just young ones…"
She felt another slap on the other cheek. "You think you are better than my Furies! You think you are above them! This is not about whether they should be killed or not! You were given an order! You are not here to think! You do what you are told!"
Granny fumed and stood back. She went to a table with instruments of torture. She picked up a farhen knife. "You need to be taught some humility…I thought Desaad had purged you of all that pride. But it seems you still have it." Granny came to stand over her and put the knife against her cheek. "This burns you from the inside. I am sure you have seen Bernadeth use it. How about if we carve up some of that pretty face of yours?"
Diana closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable pain, but it did not come.
Instead there was a shout. "Stop!"
It was Kanto, and Barda was with him. Kanto put his hand on hers. "You will not touch her!"
Granny glared at them. "How dare you stop me? It is my right to punish any orphan. Do you know what she has done?"
He said coldly, "Yes. We were told. But this is not your domain. She is our pupil."
Granny gave him a dagger-like look. "This is MY orphanage to run how I see fit! How dare you? You little, ungrateful, alien thief…I took you in…I…" She waved the farhen knife at him and his hand went for the hilt of his sword.
Barda stepped between them both. Her hand went to gently but firmly touch Granny.
"Granny, Darkseid has sent for her."
"What? How does he know? He never interferes in my discipline of pupils…"
"You know nothing escapes him. He has spies everywhere. He has an interest in her and wants to see her himself."
Granny glared at Diana and spat, "Well, little princess, let us see you face the Dark Lord himself."
Darkseid regarded her with a look that could only be described as astringent and menacing. His red eyes seemed to be sparking as he beheld the Amazon kneeling before the throne. Barda, Kanto and Granny stood behind her. His sons and other members of the Elite stood on sideline, along with Desaad.
The Dark Lord had followed the Amazon's progress but it has been a while since he had actually seen her. Now he was taking note of the ripening beauty before him and the way his sons and every male was staring at her with lust in their eyes.
The beauty of Aphrodite indeed.
But the stubbornness and pride that had not been weaned off. He appreciated it. But he would not have any one defying the will of Apokolips.
He said, "Why did you refuse to do as you were ordered?"
Diana lifted her head and replied, "I do not see how killing three Hunger Dog children would make me a better warrior."
"That is beside the point. You are here to obey. Not question."
"I am here for your glory and I will fight anyone who is on par with me and will give me a balanced fight and which will be worth the effort. You are great because you do not choose to engage those that beneath you. You are a God and destined to rule the universe. You do not waste your time on primitive worlds…."
He said dryly, "All well and good to fawn over me but you have not answered the question to my satisfaction."
She said, "Those three children are a waste of time and effort. I am not here to butcher solely for the sake of bloodlust. I am here to become a warrior and your best Fury. Give us opponents worthy of achieving those ends. Not Hunger Dogs and certainly not children. It is no wonder so many fail at Running the Gauntlet."
Granny gasped. "The arrogant vixen! Let me teach her some manners, my lord!"
Darkseid 's lips twitched. The wisdom and strategic thinking of …which deity? Ah yes. Athena. The Olympians were foolish indeed to lose this one so easily.
He said almost amused, "So you think you need a better opponent. Very well." He looked at Kalibak and Graven. "Which of you would like to teach the "arrogant vixen" some manners on behalf of Granny."
Kalibak stepped forward. He was still smarting from a memory of six years ago when she had embarrassed him. Graven had other ideas and they did not involve battling the lovely creature. He allowed his brutish half brother to step up.
Diana was allowed to stand. Darkseid gestured for everyone to clear the floor of the throne room.
Kalibak looked at his father a little strangely. "Here?"
"Yes and put down the beta-club. You will go hand to hand."
Kalibak handed his beta club to Graven. "This will take one minute."
Graven folded his arms. "I am not your lackey."
Kalibak growled and pushed the beta club into the hand of a guard. He went towards the girl. He cracked his knuckles. "Time for some manners."
Diana was thrown against the doors and it dented inwards with force. She gasped and sat up and spat out some blood. She felt heavy cruel hands grasp her by the hair and drag her back to the center of the room. It was as if he would pull the hair out of her scalp. Blood was pouring from her nose and lips. One eye was already swelling shut and her wrist hurt as if it had been dislocated. She could see through her haze the worried face of Barda, the irritated one of Kanto, and the smug one of Granny Goodness.
Kalibak was strong and he was three times the size of the young Amazon. What had kept her so far from being savagely beaten were her speed, flight and agility. And the moves taught to her by Kanto. But Kalibak had been able to mete out real punishment to her. It would be only matter of time when he would strike a telling blow and take her down. She was still inexperienced; she was barely sixteen and still not yet attained her full potential.
Kalibak stood over her, short thick powerful legs spread on either side of her, about ready to smash her face in with his thick boot. Diana suddenly used her fist to punch him hard in the space between his legs. His face contorted and he doubled over. Diana scrambled. She moved swiftly and this time she was up and both her fists went high and she smashed them on his head. Kalibak fell and she grabbed his feet, and with all her strength lifted him and began to spin him, faster and around and around until she got enough momentum to send him flying and smashing right into the wall behind Darkseid's throne.
Everyone nearest the dais scrambled to avoid the crackling lintel and Kalibak's body falling to the floor. Darkseid alone did not budge despite debris falling around the dais.
Granny and nearly everyone gaped in amazement. Diana fell upon one knee as she wheezed to get back her breath. Barda hurried to her to assist her up.
Kanto smiled smugly and asked, "Well, my Lord?"
Darkseid rose. He looked at his son and gestured to the guard in disgust. "Take him out of here." He stepped down the dais and looked to leave the room.
He said to Diana, "Well fought."
Diana bowed and croaked. "Thank you, my lord."
He looked at Granny before he left. His words were final "Her punishment is forfeit. And let this be the last I hear any pathetic complaints about trainees. If she needs disciplining, she has her mentors to do it."
The newest Fury was given her instruments of appointment.
Lashina stood proudly upright; carrying not only an energy whip, but now wore flexible steel arm and leg bands which she was able to mentally control. She no longer wore the uniform of the orphanage. She was now in a fitted black body suit with her long dark hair in a high pony tail. She wore a protective helm that covered her head and had a horizontal nose piece. Her eyes and lips were visible.
Barda, Bernadeth, Stompa, Mad Harriet and Gillotina, the entire orphanage and some members of the Elite which included Steppenwolf, Scott Free, Kanto and Virman Vundarbar watched as Granny paraded her on the concourse before the Citadel. Darkseid looked down from the balcony with Desaad at his side.
He nodded briefly at Granny as if to acknowledge Lashina's new elevation but his eyes lingered on Barda. Then on Scott Free.
Desaad remarked, "Our Furies are becoming a powerful unit. Soon we will be able to hunt down the rebels led by Himon."
Darkseid turned away from the scene below. "The Furies are not going to be wasted on searching out rebels…We will have other things to occupy us."
Desaad looked at him confused, not quite sure what he meant. The rebel, Himon, according to spies, was a New Genesian who lived secretly among the Hunger Dogs and was responsible for some of the insurgency that had begun to occur amongst the lowest classes. There was even some rumor that some of the Elite themselves had been making contact.
Treachery was something that Darkseid never tolerated and the Furies were responsible for stopping any subversive activities. But for some reason they were never able to locate the rebel cell.
Desaad wondered if Darkseid knew everything and simply just was not doing anything about it.
The orphanage buzzed.
The news had spread that Granny Goodness was on the rampage. And Darkseid had broken the treaty and pronounced war with New Genesis.
She was angry and they could hear her bellows even from the training arena.
Diana turned and looked up from where she was practicing with a double bladed ax. She could hear Bloody Mary and Nira whisper.
"What is going on?"
The vampire replied, "I hear Scott Free cannot be found. It is rumored that he was able to teleport out of Apokolips…"
"What? But how? The boomtubes are not accessible to anyone without the guards knowing…"
"I know…but it seems he found another way… And that is not all…apparently…Scott Free was the son of the HighFather, ruler of New Genesis.
"What?"
"Yes…it seems the two kingdoms had come to a truce by exchanging heirs. The idea was that neither would attack the other. One of Darkseid's own sons had been exchanged with Scott Free. Now that Scott is gone, Darkseid sees the truce as broken…"
Diana saw them suddenly stop talking and move apart as Granny appeared and shouted, "I want everyone here back to their cells! You are barred for a week! All of you!" She was red in the face and spluttered as she stomped on, "I raised him as my own and this is the gratitude I get! If I hear of any one of you getting ideas to join any rebel cell or escape, I will personally tear the skin of your flesh and cut out your entrails myself!"
Barda went in search of her protégé. She checked the training arena and did not find her. She was not near her cell or the record and archive house either. Nor was she out with any of the others. There was only one place she could be. That was the one place that she went to be alone. The roof of the orphanage that she would often fly up to, so that she could stare out at Amagedda and the Fire Pits.
Barda made her way up to the third level and swung up easily upon the roof. She saw her sitting on the ledge.
"There you are. I have been looking all over for you."
Diana turned and looked up. She looked to rise as if in apology.
Barda gestured for her to sit. She joined her and they stared out at the ecumenopolis in silence.
Diana said, "We were taken on a raid and I killed again today."
"Yes, Kanto told me. You were efficient and swift. It is often the best way."
"Have you killed many?"
"It is part of being a warrior. You dispatch those that are the enemy so you can survive."
Diana picked at her tunic. "Hunger Dogs are the lowest of the Lowies…How can they be the enemy?"
"They may be low but they have the power still to defy Darkseid and since Scott left us a year ago, the Elite have been doing all they can to find this cell run by Himon. Darkseid sees everyone as the enemy. Even his sons. Now that we are back to war with New Genesis, everyone is suspect."
"But it seemed more likely these had nothing to do with Himon and the rebels."
"That may be but the objective here is to learn that you are part of a team and what the team decides is for Apokolips." She touched her arm. "You do not have to be like the others to enjoy bloodlust. Do your duty. It will make life simpler."
"It is simple for you?"
Barda looked out at the plains and the fire pits as they licked the air. She could smell the sulphur. "This is our life. Our choices are limited. We can survive or die. You are sixteen now. You have two years again before you run the Gauntlet. You have earned Darkseid's interest. Ensure you keep it. It will keep Granny and the others in check. You know they dislike you."
Diana frowned. "I do not understand why they do. I work as hard as everyone here."
Barda looked at her curiously. "Do you remember when you first got here?"
Diana crinkled her brow and shook her head. "It is hazy. I remember only growing up here."
"Do you remember where you came from?"
"The Amazons of some back water planet. An arrogant race that are pawns of their Gods."
Barda studied her rigid profile. "You know why they call your Princess?"
Diana clenched her fists. "It matters little what I am. I am neither an Amazon nor a princess. They did nothing to protect me. They cared nothing to find me. Even with Gods as their patrons. Apokolips won the right to own me. I am the spoils of war. It is why we all are, is it not?"
She was saying the right things but Barda wondered if Diana really believed them. "Yet you find it hard to do what Apokolips asks of you sometimes?"
Diana took in a deep breath. "I will do better. You and Kanto expect it of me."
Barda ventured carefully, "I see Graven has been visiting the arena recently. Has he said anything to you?"
Diana colored. "No."
"He and Lashina have an …understanding. She will not take it lightly if he throws her over for you."
"I do not encourage him!" she replied defensively.
"I know. He is Darkseid's son and he has the right to do as he pleases. Court or bed whomsoever he pleases. He has leeway that many of the Elite do not. Be careful."
Diana was in the house of records and archives. She was one of the few who seemed to relish historical facts and reading about Apokolips and the other kingdom of New Genesis. It was with her teacher Esak that she had her most interesting discussions about the universe and other dimensions and worlds. She would often, when she could find the time, come to the building and sit and view the many discs full of information on the digital consoles.
The chamber was quiet. There was the keeper of records and two guards. Diana was absorbed in reading and she did not see Graven appear. He looked at the keeper with his red orbs and the man bowed timidly and departed. The two guards simply moved out of the chamber and closed the doors.
Diana heard the footsteps behind her and turned around swiftly.
Graven stood behind her and smiled. "You are a scholar, I see."
Diana's senses were instantly alerted to the fact that they were alone. She took off the console and rose. "What do you want?"
"To speak to you, Diana. You are very hard to impress, you know." He came around the console to face her. "Why did you not accept my gift?"
Graven had sent her a beautiful and deadly looking three bladed dagger, encrusted with precious gems a few days before. She has sent it back to him via his servant.
She said icily, "I do not take what I do not earn."
He smiled. "I can give you the chance to earn it."
Her blue eyes clouded as she saw his eyes seem to strip her of her clothing. "I am not interested."
Graven made sound as one soothing a hound. "Oh come. You must be the only sixteen year old virgin left in Apokolips. Such beauty untapped and going to waste. It is not bad as you think, you know. It can be very pleasurable. Just ask the others."
Her lips curled. "If I want a lover, I will choose. Go back to Lashina."
He laughed. "Lashina? She does not own me. Nor I her. She is a Fury now and can bed others. We take pleasure off each other when we need to. It is not a contract."
Diana moved to leave and said politely. "I am not interested in you."
His eyes seemed to spark and his voice was mocking. "This is where you do not understand, little princess. I am Graven. I do not ask your permission."
Diana felt him yank her by the arm and he was suffocating her lips with his own. She gasped and felt his tongue invade her mouth. She struggled and managing to pull away, she slapped him. "Brute!"
His face seemed to grow ugly and he pulled her back by the hem of the tunic. Diana began to fight and kick. Graven was prepared for this. Having seen her take on Kalibak, he sensed she would be a handful but he did not expect her to deny him outright. No one ever denied him.
She found that he was strong. And better trained than the hulking Kalibak. He was able to counter her punches and kicks. He grabbed her by the neck and pushed her down upon the console. Diana choked as the breath seemed to cut from her wind pipe.
The tunic ripped under his free hand, exposing her breasts and Diana felt cold almost granite lips bite the flesh at her neck and chest. She screamed when the hand went to the band at her waist.
"No!"
Graven kissed her again and then licked her cheek. "You smell and taste like nothing I have ever had…I will enjoy taking you. If you lie still you might see you can enjoy it too…"
"I will tell…"
"Tell whom? No one cares. You are an orphan. An earthling. A human. You are lucky to gain my attention."
Diana's hands tried to get to his face but his hand kept her down by the throat and her head was swimming. Her lower body tried to heave him off her but he was strong.
He was about to tear her pants off when he heard a sound and the shifting of the air. One of the screens behind them hummed and the disc Diana was looking at and listening to suddenly came on with a loud noise.
It was enough to distract Graven for a moment. He spun his head to check the noise. Diana felt his hand ease on her throat and she used her forehead to smash into his own when he turned back to her. His weight eased off her and she was gasping and struggling to her feet. Blood pouring down her brow onto her face. She saw him holding his head and cursing and she took to the air. She was dazed and unsteady but she remained air borne. She flew straight out the high window shattering the pane and disappeared.
Hermes watched Graven kick and punch the nearest piece of furniture as he realized she had gotten away.
Graven was in his chambers. He was looking sourly out the window. His head ached a little still. No one knew what had taken place earlier that day. The little princess was feisty indeed. There would be a rematch and next time, he would make sure he got her. She would not be so stupid as to even complain about him.
He turned when he heard the door open. There stood Darkseid.
"Father…" he said surprised. Normally Darkseid never came to see him.
Darkseid entered and walked in. His arms behind his back. He looked around at Graven's chambers with some derision and walked to his trophy cabinet that hosted the skulls, scalps, bones, weapons, ornaments taken from fallen opponents.
Darkseid picked up blue ring with a lantern shape on it. "You are a master collector, Graven. You like to show off your triumphs."
"It is a reminder of my battles. Hard fought and won. In the name of Apokolips."
"I appreciate that. But there are some things that are not trophies. That cannot be displayed. That is not up for collection."
He looked a little confused. "You have lost me, Father."
Suddenly, Graven felt his feet off the floor and being lifted by the throat and his back smashed into the cabinet. His father's face was level with his and he could see into his eyes. The Omega Effect just about being held in check.
"You had your chance and you lost it. The Amazon is not here to be your whore. She won this battle and you will not plot to sully her like you have done the others. She is destined for other things."
Graven choked. He was gasping for breath. Much like Diana had been earlier.
"Touch her again and I will hang you onto the Source Wall myself. Our Lowly population is on the wane. Prepare yourself to go and find us slaves."
He dropped him scornfully and left. Graven held his throat and spluttered to catch his breath.
Barda touched Diana's shoulder as she lay on her bed. She flinched.
"Tell me what happened?"
Diana said nothing. Barda turned her and saw the bruising on her neck and large laceration of her brow. She knew the signs. And Kanto, who had his sources, had heard that Darkseid had visited Graven and commanded him to go and look for slaves. A task that was considered beneath one as Graven, considering his skill could have been put to better use in the ongoing war against New Genesis.
Barda asked pained, "Did he…?"
Diana blinked. "How do you…?"
Barda persisted. "Did he?"
"No…I fought him off."
"I do not think he will touch you again…"
She huddled in a ball. "I did nothing to attract his attentions. I tried to keep away from him and still he came and forced himself upon me…"
"Diana, you are extremely beautiful in face and body. Men…even women…will respond to it. Some in ways that is cruel."
She whispered, "I do not want to be beautiful if that is what must happen. I wish I were hideous. What he did made me feel…like an animal. Used. Like the hounds just when they are about to be broken…It is a horrible feeling…I have no control…I swear, none will ever touch me again. How anyone can enjoy or do that is beyond me."
Barda looked a little troubled. She began, "Carnal knowledge and sensation is not all bad. There are times it can be pleasurable and if you care for another and it is mutual then it is worth the effort.
Diana looked up at her. "Care for another?" The concept seemed alien to her.
"Love…"
"Love? Esak says love is an emotion for the weak. It blinds you to reality. Clouds your judgment. I will never subject myself to that." She turned on her side. "Please leave me alone now."
Barda sighed inwardly. She longed to tell her the truth. But she dared not. It was too risky. Too many eyes and ears. Additionally, she could not tell how Diana would react now if she were to tell her about her what she intended to do.
She bent and did something totally out of character for a Fury to a recruit. But it was in keeping with the sisterly, even almost maternal feeling she felt for this girl, who seemed such a paradox in Apokolips. And the fact that she was feeling guilty and she knew that Diana was not in any place to understand what she had to do.
She bent and kissed her on the top of her head.
Diana stiffened. It was a tender gesture that she had not felt for years…for a long time. She had a hazy feeling; a distant memory; that somewhere there used to be someone who would kiss her when she was lying on a bed.
Barda whispered, "Take care, Diana." It was almost a farewell.
She left her. Diana stared at the wall and willed herself not to let the tears in her eyes fall.
A few days later, she was sitting eating her meal with her peers when Lashina came in with a cynical smile.
Lashina's eyes seemed to deliberately seek hers out.
"Well, we have another incidence of treachery. It seems to be a theme these days on Apokolips."
All the trainees looked up puzzled.
Lashina announced, "Our very own head of the Furies has fled Apokolips."
There were gasps.
"Yes, she has joined her lover Scott Free. Where they are headed, we do not know. But Granny will see that they are hunted down."
There were murmurs of disbelief.
Barda? Lovers with Scott Free? The head Fury defecting? It was unbelievable!
She came to stand opposite to Diana, who looked pale and her eyes shocked.
She declared, after the murmurs died down, "If it is one thing we must take out of all of this…never trust anyone. Not even those who profess to always love, die for and serve Darkseid."
Author's Note: It has never been clear how old the Furies are exactly but all are powerful and some immortal. This made it easy for me to have Lashina closer to Diana's age and set her up as a rival. The perspective is mainly from Diana's eyes and the confined world of an "orphan" as she grows up in Apokolips. I chose to highlight events that define the harsh existence there for her.
In comics Darkseid knew of Scott Free's activities but he did nothing about it because he wanted a reason to break the pact with New Genesis. It is possible he also knew of Barda's defection as well. But he only acts when it suits his agenda.