Guess who's back, bitches??? Just kidding, you guys aren't bitches. But I am back after, what, six months? I decided to do this to test the waters. If you guys want me to make this into a separate story I will. If you don't say so and we'll just burn it with all my other terrible ideas. At least try to enjoy this, okay?

OoOoOo

"Celeste!" called fourteen year old Prince Damian into the thick forest. "Celeste!" He groaned in annoyance. "Dammit, Mother and Father are going to skin me alive if I don't find her."

His twelve year old sister was a sweet child, but she was also quite mischievous. She didn't like wearing dresses or her crown, always opting for clothing similar to his own. She liked getting dirty and playing pranks, no matter how many times their parents had told her not to.

She also liked to hide when it was time for her royal lessons, which meant he had to find her.

With a sigh, Damian leaned against a nearby tree. "Look, I know you hate your lessons," he sympathized. He knew she was in this area, he just didn't know where. "but you can't hide from them forever. They're teaching you how to rule."

There was silence for a moment before he heard, "Maybe I don't want to rule."

He raised an eyebrow. "You don't want to be Queen one day?" he inquired. At least he was getting somewhere with her. "Why not?"

Celeste finally made herself known, popping out from behind a nearby bush. "Because then I have to make all the big decisions," she told him sadly. "And I'll be so busy. I won't get to train or fight or even hang out with you!" She flopped to the ground dramatically. "And I'm going to mess everything up!"

Honestly, he should have expected this. Celeste was getting older, and getting smarter. She had never been good with responsibility. Heck, she had trouble keeping her room straight! She saw what their mother did and she was obviously afraid since she was next in line for the throne. He'd trade places with her if he could, but he wasn't a legitimate heir to the throne.

As much as the family liked to pretend otherwise, Damian wasn't the Queen's son. He was the King's son, sure, but that wasn't what mattered.

Damian was born before his father, Bruce, had even begun courting Queen - then Princess - Diana of Themyscira. He wasn't her biological son. He knew this, the entire kingdom knew it too. He had never met the woman who had given birth to him and he frankly didn't want to. 

He was quite content with the family he had, he had no desire to meet the woman that had abandoned him. He had his sister and father and a wonderful woman who might as well have been his mother. That was all her ever needed to be happy.

Back to the situation at hand, Damian approached her, laying a hand on her shoulder. "Sister, you are going to be a great queen," he promised. "Mother will only step down when she feels that you're ready, you know this."

Celeste continued to pout, but seemed to be listening to what he was saying. "I know..." she admitted.

"And you know that I will be with you," Damian continued. When they were younger, they had joked that since she was to be Queen, he would be her royal adviser along with being crowned Duke.

She grinned at him. "Then we can get rid of Shady Slady!" she proclaimed gleefully.

He bit the inside of his cheek at the jab. Slade Wilson was the royal adviser to Queen Diana and he had given off bad vibes to both children at a young age. Celeste had come up with the name "Shady Slady" when she was around six and they had referred to him as such in private ever since.

Honestly, Damian couldn't stand Slade. He was controlling and manipulative and the only reason that he still had his position was because he was appointed by their grandfather, the old King Hades and their mother wanted to honor his last wishes.

"Are you ready to head back now?" asked Damian after a few seconds of silence. "Mother and Father nearly had heart attacks when you disappeared."

Celeste snorted delicately. "I'm sure they did." She took something from behind her back and held it up for him to see. "But I had to get Liberty."

He rolled his eyes. "You obsess over that damn thing."

She held that cat close to her, glaring at him. "Liberty is not a thing!" she seethed defensively. "She's my cat."

Damian shook his head. "Just come on, brat." He swiftly dodged a swing at his head and began running back towards the castle, his sister on his heels.

OoOoOo

A rumble of thunder emitted through the air later that night, startling the Princess out of her deep sleep. "Damian," she hissed to her brother. They didn't technically share a room of course, but they were only separated by a door. Some thought it was improper, but their mother had firmly stated that they were very close siblings, so there was nothing wrong with living in close quarters.

Damian peeked into her room. "What's wrong?" he whispered back.

Celeste blushed. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay," she confessed.

He rolled his eyes. "Just go back to sleep and stop being such a wimp," he muttered, disappearing behind a now closed door.

She crossed her arms, pouting. "I'm not a wimp," she mumbled, laying back down and closing her eyes. The Princess once again drifted off into peaceful slumber.

OoOoOo

Deep in the forest where the two had been earlier lurked a creature in the night. She wasn't quite human, but definitely had the appearance of one. She wasn't alone, either. Beings like her were also watching, waiting.

Some poor, low-ranking guard happened to catch sight of them. "Who's there?" he demanded. "Declare yourself, in the name of Queen Diana!" He caught sight of them due to the lightning and fired an arrow, which missed by a long shot. Seeing that he was outnumbered, the guard fled. 

The poor fool.

She pulled her hood over her head and propelled herself forward, giving chase. She used the tall trees to her advantage, leaping from one to the other and gaining the upper hand. Finally, she landed in front of him, causing him to fall backwards into the mud. Dark purple energy began to swirl in her hands.

The guard tried to fire another arrow at her, but she merely kicked his crossbow to the side. She held her ominous, dangerous energy to his throat with every intention to kill.

The guard's eyes were wide with fear as he cowered in front of her. "P-Please," he begged. She ignored him, inching forward ever so slightly. "Who are you?"

The creature tilted her head up slightly, revealing her dark amethyst eyes, thunder crackling behind her.

However, she made the mistake of looking into his own. His eyes full of fear for his life. He was pleading, begging her for mercy. He was helpless, completely defenseless! She had the perfect opportunity to end his life.

So, why didn't she?

Instead, the creature pulled away, allowing the guard to put some distance between them. She finally looked away from him and he scampered away from her.

She watched him escape and sighed to herself. How could she be so weak as to let him live? No one else like her had this problem, so why did she?

OoOoOo

Queen Diana yawned as she joined her husband and adviser in the meeting room. "What's so urgent that I had to wake at this hour?" she demanded, hands on her hips. She had never been an early riser, so she was definitely annoyed to be woken up so early.

Lord Slade bowed. "Forgive me, Your Highness," he apologized. "but it is most urgent."

"Apparently, a guard on patrol was witness to assassins attempting to penetrate the border," Bruce told her, her mouth forming that thin, serious line.

Her eyes twitched. "You both woke me up this early for that?" she snapped, a servant handing her a cup of tea. "There are attempts at my life everyday and we always deal with it."

"Normally, I wouldn't have alerted you so urgently," said Slade. "but we have reason to believe that these assassins were Azarathian."

This caught Diana's attention. "Azarathian?" she repeated. They had been told for eons that Azarathians were the deadliest assassins known. They were known for being ruthless, hiding in the shadows and never stopping until their target was slain. "How did the guard even survive?"

"There was a storm," Slade pointed out. "The rain, the mud, anything could have thrown it off. The point is, My Queen, that they are coming. They are already here."

She thought for a moment. "Even our best guards won't be enough," she thought aloud. "Send for General Donna at once." Skilled fighters though she and her husband were, it was only with the help of her sister that she could fend off the Azarathians. Her children were both very well-trained, but it wasn't enough to fight one of them.

Bruce's mouth was still in that grim line. "She's all the way at the west port," he reminded her. "She'll never make it in time, even if she flew."

Diana raised an eyebrow in thought. "And I suppose tonight's a full moon?"

"Yes, My Queen."

She sighed. "Just perfect." Everyone knew that Azarathians were at their most powerful when it was a full moon.

"We stand no chance at defense," Slade told her.

Diana nodded. "Then we won't."

The adviser blinked. "Pardon?"

Bruce quickly caught on to what she was saying. "Without your sister and her battalion, we won't stand a chance. Azarathians are at their weakest during the daytime. 

Diana nodded in agreement. "We have to attack. Today."

OoOoOo

The creature leapt through the tress, inwardly cursing herself. Why, why had she let that damn guard go?! Her people were expecting her to come back, able to claim that she had killed the guard and left no evidence.

Now, she had nothing. She was going to be-

Something suddenly caught her eye. Berries! Red ones, too. If she played things of right...

Half an hour later, the creature entered her camp where the other Azarathians were. Their leader, Azar, was waiting for her. "Raven," she greeted. She glanced at her red-stained garb. "I see you've completed your mission."

Raven tensed. "Uh, yeah," she answered too quickly. "Made quite a mess."

Azar raised an eyebrow. "I can see that," she commented. "You should clean up. Blood stains clothes quite awfully."

Raven nodded, casting a quick clean-up spell to wipe away the berry juice. She gave an awkward nod to her mother before stalking away.

Azar, that was close.

OoOoOo

Back in the kingdom, the Prince and Princess were causing trouble as usual. Well, more like Celeste was causing trouble and dragging her brother into it. "I told you to leave the damn cakes alone," he hissed at her as they jogged back to the castle. As the Prince and Princess, they knew they wouldn't get in trouble, but Celeste - Damian too, he just would never admit it - enjoyed the chase.

She pursed her lips. "But Alex's pastries are so good!" she defended herself. "Besides-" She held up her cat. "Liberty was hungry."

Damian glared at her. "You shouldn't be feeding that mangy thing in the first place," he pointed out.

Celeste rolled her eyes. "Eating one once in a while won't kill her."

He raised an eyebrow. "Uh, it might." He caught sight of the town clock tower and sighed. "And now we're late for training."

She shrugged at him. "We'll kick Rose's ass anyway," she reminded him.

Rose Wilson was Slade's daughter who was about ten years older than Celeste and was trained alongside them by Phillipus, captain of the Royal Guard. Rose was good, but Celeste, being an Amazon, was a fast learner and Damian... Well, he was just very competitive. He worked twice as hard as both girls, just to prove he was worth just as much as his sister.

OoOoOo

Damian grinned victoriously, standing over the fallen girl. "I win again, Wilson," he boasted in triumph. "You really should work on that footwork." His sister happily encouraged him on the sidelines.

"Good job, big brother!" she cheered.

Rose Wilson glared up at him. "One day, Damian," she vowed. "One day I am going to kick your ass."

"Tt, that day is not today."

Rose glowered at him. "Just you wait, Step-Prince," she threatened.

Damian's eyes narrowed. "What was that?" he growled and Rose actually looked a bit frightened. Even though he knew that he wasn't actually Diana's child, it was still a sore subject when people pointed it out. Some people even respected him less than Celeste because of it, something he did not appreciate.

"Pardon me, Prince Damian."

Damian looked to see their butler - really, more like a grandfather, though he'd never say it out loud - standing behind him. "Yes, Pennyworth?" he asked.

Alfred Pennyworth hadn't served in the palace originally. He'd been the butler for Damian and Bruce before they had become royalty. When they had moved, so had he.

"Your parents have requested you and your sister's presence," Alfred explained. "They said that it's urgent."

Damian nodded and looked to his sister. "Mother and Father want us," he told her. She nodded and followed her brother into the castle.

OoOoOo

Damian knocked before opening the grand door to the strategy room. He peeked inside, Celeste copying his movements.

Diana spotted them and smiled at them warmly. "My children," she greeted, approaching them. "How would the two of you like to go on a little... 'trip?'" Immediately, he knew something was off.

She has said the two of them, not including her and Bruce. Were they sending them somewhere alone? Why? What reason could she possibly have for that?

Damian raised an eyebrow. "To where, exactly?" he asked.

Bruce came up next to his wife, wrapping and arm around her waist. "To the south lodge," he answered smoothly.

Celeste mimicked her brother's face and he shuddered. They didn't look much alike, but sometimes they made similar faces and it freaked him out. "But that's the winter lodge," she reminded their father. "And it's spring."

Diana smoothed back her daughter's hair. "Well, winter is coming," she pointed out.

Celeste frowned. "But it'll be boring," she told her mother. "Everything fun there needs snow and ice. What'll we do?"

Their father winked at her. "Use those smart heads of yours," he suggested. "I'm sure you can think of new games to play just like you do here."

"Hera knows they torment the kingdom with them," muttered Diana. She turned her attention towards Damian, looking at him knowingly. "Listen, this is something we need you both to do." 

Damian said nothing, just looked at his mother's face and tried to analyze what she was trying to tell him. It was important that they did what their parents asked of them, he just didn't know why yet.

"But, Mom-" Celeste began to protest.

"It's decided," cut in Bruce sternly, his voice leaving no room for argument. "You'll leave before sundown. Go pack your things."

Damian sighed. "Of course, Father." He beckoned his sister to follow him. "Come, Celeste." They exited the strategy room, the door shutting close behind them.

Celeste looked up at her brother sadly. "Why are they sending us away?" she asked softly. "Do you think something's wrong?"

He put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure Mother and Father have everything under control," he assured her. "We should go do as they say."

She nodded and the two made their way to their adjacent quarters. On the way, however, Damian couldn't help the nagging feeling in the back of his head. Why would their parents just send them off without any explanation? It didn't make sense. Something was definitely wrong, he just didn't know what.

Of course, he wouldn't tell his sister that. No use in worrying her over something like this. She was only twelve for crying out loud.

As they were walking, Damian made eye contact with Slade - who looked more than annoyed at him for whatever reason - through a window. He was talking with Rose about something and it looked like he wasn't allowed to know what.

Slade had never liked him and the feeling was mutual, but he couldn't help but think it had something to do with why their parents were worried.

Damian glared at the now closed window before turning back to his sister. "Celeste, stop playing with that thing and go pack," he snapped. Celeste stuck her tongue out at him, but ultimately didn't argue.

OoOoOo

Damian confronted Rose as she and a handful of other guards prepared to leave. "I'm coming with you," he insisted. He had heard what Slade said about the Azarathians before he shut the window. They were going to kill the Queen! No one was hurting his mother on his watch. 

Rose glanced at him and rolled her eyes. "No, you're not," she said dismissively.

He crossed his arms. "I know what's going on," he revealed. "And I'm coming with you."

She rolled her eyes. "Damian, you may be good with a blade, but you're still just a kid," she reminded him. 

Damian huffed in annoyance. "I'll be fifteen in two months," he said in annoyance.

"Ooh, fourteen and three quarters," drawled Rose sarcastically. "Wow."

He mounted a nearby horse. "Five-sixths," he corrected her. "Wilson, she's our Queen. And she's my mother. It's my duty to help her."

"Well, technically, she is your stepmom," Rose pointed out, drawing out the step. "but I'm sure it's similar." She gestured for him to be removed from the horse before leading the guards out of the castle grounds.

Damian glared in irritation as she left. One day, he was going to kill Rose Wilson. He didn't understand, he was much better than Rose in sword fighting. Heck, his little sister was better than Rose in sword training! So why was she leading them and not him?

OoOoOo

"Over a thousand years ago, the humans crossed into Azarath," spoke Azar to the small team, her voice passionate and strong. "They stole the scared gem and murdered its guardian, the all-powerful Fortios. Tonight, fulfill our bounded mission." She held up a simple knife and began marking each Azarathian with it.

Raven winced and looked at her wrist. She was powerful, one of the most powerful of her people. Yet, she was still bound. Bounded by Azar and to Azarath. She had to complete this mission, or lose everything in the process.  

The mark, a red "S," glowed in sync with everyone else's.

"When our mission is completed, I will send up a flare to alert the King that the deed is done," Azar told the group. "We strike when the moon is highest." Everyone began to disband, but she approached her leader. "What is it, Raven?"

"What if they know we're coming?" Raven asked bluntly. She couldn't give away the fact that if they did know, it would be her fault. She was the one who let the guard live, she was the one who failed.

"We have the advantage of surprise," Azar told her. "If we act fast, we will accomplish our goals without sacrifice." She walked off and Raven lowered her head in guilt.

OoOoOo

Damian burst into his room where he saw his sister fooling around with her cat- as usual. "Celeste what are you doing?" he demanded. Due to his earlier encounter with Rose, he was not in a good mood.

Celeste smiled when she saw him. "Hi, Damian," she greeted kindly, holding out once of her stolen treats. "Want one?"

He glared at her. "No, I do not want one of your insipid pastries," he fumed, looking around at her strewn clothes. "Why aren't you packed yet? You know we have to leave soon."

She frowned. "But you're not packed," she pointed out.

"What do you think I'm doing?" snapped Damian, stuffing his own things into a bag. He accidentally stuffed a cake into the bag, causing her to laugh softly. Well, that set him off even more. "You just don't get it, do you?"

At her confused look, he continued. "Celeste, why do you think they're sending us away?" he asked harshly. "Because they're coming to kill her!"

Celeste looked up at him, confusion, hurt, and shock reflecting in her sapphire eyes. She steeled her gaze before turning and running into her room, slamming the door shut behind her.

Damian looked stared at the closed door, silently berating himself. He shouldn't have gotten so angry with her. It wasn't her fault she didn't know. In fact, he wasn't even mad at her. He was frustrated with their parents for keeping this from them and had a burning hatred for Slade and Rose, but not Celeste. Never Celeste.

Good going, you fool, he thought. The one person who's always on your side, and you yell at her. Idiot. Liberty must have had similar thoughts because she gave him a look before going through her door to his sister's room.

Damian sighed and resumed his packing.

OoOoOo

The Azarathians busied themselves with preparing for that night. Most of them were readying their weapons (poisoning arrows, sharpening swords, etc.) when a small, silver, winged creature landed on Azar's hand.

The woman stared at it before realization flashed in her eyes. "They know," she hissed to her team. They all jumped up, ready to defend themselves. Before anyone could say anything, she cast an unrecognized spell.

Within a blink of the eye, all of them disappeared from view. Raven couldn't even see her reflection in a nearby puddle.

Guards stopped by and Raven's breath hitched. This was her fault. Because she let that guard go, she tipped them off.

The leader approached and shook her head. "And the magic moth is useless," she concluded. "not surprising anyone. We'll have to wait for them to come to us." With that, she led her men away.

One man in particular hesitated, however. He seemed to stare right at her before shaking his head and following the other guards.

In a flash, they all appeared once more. "You lied to me!" seethed Azar, approaching her. "You didn't kill him!"

Raven looked down. "Azar, I'm sorry. He - the human - looked at me and I saw that he was scared. Scared for his life. I just couldn't do it."

"Of course he was scared!" Azar exclaimed incredulously. "But you had a job, a duty to your people!"

"He did nothing to harm me!" defended Raven. "How could I take his life from him?"

"You let him live!" the older woman shouted. "But you've killed us all!"

Raven's eyes went wide as the words hit her. By sparing that human, had she doomed them all? Had she condemned her entire team, her entire species, to death because she had a moment of weakness?

By the way everyone was glaring at her, she was guessing that she had.

OoOoOo

So, The Dragon Prince is a new show on Netflix and I actually really like it! It was made by the creators of Avatar, so that's always a good sign. Anyway, I hope you liked this and tell me if you want this to be a thing or not. Fun fact: this is the longest chapter I've ever posted on this site.

Well, ta-ta for now my lovelies!