The Last One (young justice/robin)

37. the two months pt. 1

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I cried out the moment I woke up. It wasn't the harsh white lighting of the unfamiliar setting, or the ache surging through my center. It was someone breaking my fingers one by one. Pulling them beyond their limit until they gave and snapped.

I wept through all of it, eventually passing out again from the exhaustion. 

They next time I came to, my eyes seared as they adjusted, and my mangled hands were chained to the floor. 

"Oh good. You're awake."

A woman knelt down before me. Silver hair, a lab coat, and eyes that made the pain in my stomach double. 

Deep pools of purple, heavier set than mine.  A living, breathing Ethera. 

I thought I might be dreaming, or I've died and this is what follows.

"Water?"

I shuddered at the sight of the glass in her hands. My mouth felt so incredibly dry. My breathing so incredibly shallow. And my hands... I couldn't bear to look at them again.

In short, water sounded incredible.

She raised the glass up to my lips, and I nearly accepted, until I realized I was this woman's prisoner, and they had rendered me completely powerless. 

The last thing I should do is accept her water. 

"It's alright." She took a sip from the glass. "See? Just water." 

This time when she offered, I drank. I finished the glass and fought the urge to beg for another. 

"I'm so sorry about your hands. It's more of a precaution for my lab team than anything else." I hated the way she tried to feign sympathy. "You sustained quite the injury on that ship. I think we might have to re-bandage you in a few—" 

I winced when she touched my side. Half out of pain, and half out of fear of what would come next.

"I know you're in a lot of pain right now," she plastered on an accommodating smile. "And I'm sure you're very anxious waking up in a foreign place, seeing one of our kind in... how long have been on Earth now?"

"Six years." 

It may not have made sense to reveal any personal information to the stranger who broke my hands and held me hostage. But we were the only two left. I needed to know as much about her as she did about me.

"Through a portal?"

"Yes."

"What were you banished for?"

"Banished?"

"They only dispense criminals for the highest of offenses," she said. "So, why did they send you?"

"You're a criminal?"

"According to Arcane law." Her composure slowly revealed anger. "But I just wanted to change things. The Arcanes... they are the true criminals, and Lord Orion is the highest offender of them all." 

I stuttered upon speaking. "You know Lord Orion?"

Her eyes darkened. "He was the most powerful Mayili of my time."

I also knew Lord Orion.... from history books. He was the Arcane Supreme who defeated Neretha and her Etheran army. He was the great, great grandfather of Lord Arae, the supreme of my time. 

"You were alive during the Zphsafda?"

"That's what they call it?" her face dropped. "Like we're mere pests they exterminated?"