With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

6th March 2013
03:15 GMT -5

Dr. Balewa crouches down, holding his hands out towards the Lazarus Pit like a man warming his hands on a fire.

"There are not many of these places in the world."

I nod. "And?"

"Your surmise was correct. The site is rejuvenated and can be used again. But I am not convinced thet this is the best use for it."

"We can resurrect maybe… Thirty people? How would you make that choice?"

"I would not. I am not God."

I nod. "Zauriel?"

"I am reminded of the Book of Job. Though the absence of those we love may be painful, the Lord of Hosts does not promise that the universe of His creation will be free from strife. These are tests for mortals to endure in life, with the certainty that it is in His most holy realm that a full accounting will be made."

"But you can't see any reason why this would cause any sort of demonic problem?"

"That is not the sole metric by which you should evaluate your actions, but no. That will not happen here. Those who died were heroic Christians, and their souls are moving towards unification with the Most High."

"And no one is going to throw a wobbler about this?"

Zauriel shakes his head. "No. A delay of a few decades is not offensive to the divine order. But even by your standards, I am not sure that their lives are more worth saving than others who have died. If it were my choice, I would give the damned a second chance, having seen the consequences of their decisions."

"I am afraid thet is not possible." Dr. Balewa pulls his hands in and stands up. "The bodies of all of those who died while they were exposed to the Anti-Life, their bodies were not purified. Restoring them to life would not be safe."

"That is unfortunate."

"You're sure that the Kings won't have a problem with it?"

"Unlike you, we accept the nature of the universe. That includes things that may temporarily remove things from the Lord's loving embrace. But have you reflected upon your own motives?"

"I don't need to. I'm doing it because I don't want Missus Hall to feel guilty."

"And not the minor divine Tisiphone?"

"Gosh, no. She could do with feeling more guilt. Might make her hesitate more before killing people for what they were because someone mind controlled them."

Zauriel nods slowly. "Yes. Guilt can be a powerful tool for moral education."

I turn towards Dr. Balewa. "Doctor, this hit me in the face earlier." I take the pie dish out of subspace and offer it to him. "Can you use it to track where Olympus is, and where Themyscira is?"

He moves it around in his hands, studying it carefully.

"No. The sudden removal of the Anti-Life and its replacement with the White Light has caused an upheaval in the thaumosphere. The old paths between realms are no longer stable or secure. Once things are calmer, then I can use it to track the gods of the Hellenes."

"Okay, thank you, keep it with you until then. I'll go and-. Go and get permission from the next of kin to attempt the resurrections."

6th March 2013
17:34 GMT +5

The young woman flails at me as I use a construct to pull her newly-reanimated body out of the pit. Empathic vision shows… Her mind is intact but confused, which is perfectly in-line with expectations. There isn't much point in trying to get through to her while the initial shock wears off a little, and… There isn't much that she could do to me. 'Naiad' has a small water-manipulation ability, most likely as a result of non-human heritage, but she's only ever been able to move relatively small volumes at not particularly high pressure. Honestly, she could do more working as a leak inspector for the Greek water authority, but if she wants to be a superhero then I suppose that I would be a bit of a hypocrite to tell her not to.

Perhaps this experience might make her reconsider.

I deposit her on the solid ground at the side of the now-exhausted pit and use my rings to remove as much of the residue as possible before recreating her costume around her. It's a bit basic -a wet suit with a logo sprayed on- but with a little luck the point of familiarity will encourage her to realise where she-.

I wince slightly as she pulls at the liquid inside my eyes as she stumbles to her feet. I can keep it in place using my rings but there's a slight delay and it feels really weird. Blinding suspects by making their eyes explode is discouraged in Justice League rules of engagement, but is not technically forbidden. I just don’t do it to other people because I have better options, but for a water-manipulator it's distracting and makes it hard to see.

A flash-bang would still be better.

"Naiad? Are you there?"

She's staring at me, not quite seeing but not looking particularly happy with the situation.

"Naiad?"

"Gwuh..?" The water in my eyes stops moving and her eyes become a little more focused. Good. "Wha..?"

"You were rather badly injured, and-."

"Fury! She wanted to know where Alpha Centurion is! She's going to kill him!"

"Thank you for the warning. You'll be pleased to know that the evil spirit that was controlling Fury has been removed and everyone is safe. You're the last to recover."

She stares for a moment, then reaches up to feel her neck.

"We fixed that. You should be fine, but if you feel any remaining injuries, let me know."

Zauriel was right. All of the resurrections went off without issue. Which I suppose means that I can assume that we can use these on non-damned monotheistic people.

Naiad looks around. "Where are we?"

"The Russian Federation." I transmute the material of the pit into soil. "Don't worry, I can take you home in a few moments. Your parents are expecting you."

"Okay. But… What happens now? I mean-. You know, right?"

"To Greece, or the world in general?"

"Superheroes. People who joined the Alliance because we-. We wanted to help."

"There's nothing stopping you from doing that on your own initiative. Fury… Isn't going to be available as a trainer for a while, but if you're interested I can have a word with Alpha Centurion. But I suggest that for now you just get on with normal life."

I send another message to the Pax Romana, to go with those of everyone else I've resurrected. These people got Anti-Lifed, died and when they got back up they still wanted to get back to it. Just looking for a little guidance.

"I'll take you back now."

 

6th March 2013
22:21 GMT

I pull open the door to-

"Are you looking for a book?"

-a reading room off the library of Queen Triskele's domain.

Hm.

The man in front of me has pale skin and black hair, slightly receding. He's wearing a well-tailored black suit, jacket open and showing a white silk shirt beneath. He's holding…

Ah.

"Yes. That one."

"It's a good read." He closes it and looks at the front cover. The other books on the bookcase next to him don't look disturbed. He knew what he was looking for in advance. "'The Expunged Memories of Children?' That's not something that most demons would trouble themselves with."

"Oh, how clever you are. Clearly it has some particular value to me." He raises his eyebrows very slightly. "I'm not in the mood for messing about. What do you want in exchange?"

"Direct." He looks mildly upset, and walks away from the bookshelf where their mother hid their memories and sits behind a desk decorated with the spine of a snake, bones wrapped around the edge of the upper surface. He lays the book under his right hand, fingers drumming on the leather. His left rests on what looks like a human skull. "I was hoping for something a little more thought-provoking."

"I've been here for five days. Nothing about Hell recommends it to me and I really just want to get this over with."

"It's not really supposed to recommend itself to you. If it does then we're doing something wrong."

I nod. "True. So?"

He tightens his grip on the skull, tilting it and then tapping the jaw against the table three times. "What do you know about demon society?"

"It's a brutal bastardocracy with as much order as the people with the most power choose to impose. There appear to be certain built-in limitations on the locals -the no lying on contractual issues thing is mildly surprising- but that's a matter of the structure of the demons' own magic rather than a sign of actual morals."

"But what's it all for, do you think?"

"Hell? Demons? Let's see…" I frown. "As the New God of Conquest, I'd say that the realm is monstrously inefficient at achieving any purpose. As such, what it's for cannot be any particular end. As an educational example of how not to do things, it fails because few people can actually see what goes on and are instead forced to rely on rumours and ancient texts of dubious authenticity. I am aware that demons are alleged to like the setup and find beauty in it, so I suppose it could be an installation art piece where the audience are the participants. And of course the dull option of a place of punishment for the souls that have done something to offend the Source. Or perhaps it doesn't really have one and the people confined to it are just doing whatever."

Something about that provokes a smile.

"Inefficient?"

"Souls don’t last, torn apart for parts or just falling apart when overstressed. Demons are inevitably short-sighted people more dependent on mortal stupidity than really being capable of corrupting someone who wasn't heading that way anyway, and they both love and hate the place by turns. If it was up to me I'd just tear the whole place down."

"It's been tried. Hell was reopened by popular demand."

"Turfing everyone out isn't tearing it down, it's inflicting it on other people. No, no, if you've decided that the point is to tempt the souls you don't want in Heaven into disqualifying themselves, don't keep them around to slowly break them into parts. Just get rid of them."

"Render them down straight away?"

"What are you making machines for? Making artefacts for? Home improvements? In Hell? Please. Frankly, it looks like Hell is over-staffed to me. There aren't so many summoners that you really need more than… What, a few thousand Succubae? And they're the popular sort of demons. Half that many financial specialists, and then a mere handful of other classes, focusing on the most powerful and flexible. Everything else can just be expunged from the universe at essentially no loss."

"I see you've got plenty of ideas."

"Oh, and communications. If you want to let anyone who feels like getting damned get damned then you need to get the word out. As it is, most of the people who would take a deal can't make direct contact."

"The sort of people who would make a deal would be coming here anyway."

"Right, but they might wise up as time goes on. Better to get things on paper. And speaking of paper, have you finished with that book?"

"This?" He picks it up one-handed. "How would you like to make a deal?"

"I would like to make a trade, but I suspect that you're talking about something more complex."

"Humans can be impressive innovators. I've never had a New God down here. Are you as creative as they are?"

"Within my domain, no. I'm not creative, I just do it right. Outside of my domain, it varies. Are you going somewhere with this?"

"Have you heard of 'outsourcing'?"

"In theory, it means a company contracting specialists to deal with a subject outside of their core competency. The idea is that a company that has focused on something can do a better job than someone for whom it's only a part of their job."

"You disagree?"

"It's a question of motivation. If they make a mess of things and your company collapses, they can shrug, walk away and say 'got your money'. Someone who works for your company directly can't. Or, at least, can't as easily."

He nods. "Are you a gambling man?"

"No."

"Alright." He lays the book down and pushes it slightly towards me. "A deal, then. I will give you this right now. You can even use it on your children if you want. No payment up front."

"That sounds pretty darn dodgy."

"In return, you become Hell's efficiency consultant."

"No."

"You should hear me out."

"I have a job and a life and my nature won't let me deliberately half-arse it. You're trying to give me a job that is probably literally impossible."

"But you'd take it for a time."

Hm. Would I?

"I'd want to see a written contract, with deliverables and end point clearly stated. But yes, I think I would. If the Source had an actual problem with this place existing, then it wouldn't exist."

He smiles, and offers me his right hand. "Then we have a deal."

"Written. Contract. Oh, First of the Fallen."

"Glad to see that you're on the ball." He pulls his hand back but leaves the book in place. "I think you'll fit in fine."