Explanations Are Hard

By Concolor44

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Epilogue F – Idyll

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Haute-Savoie, France, four years later

The massive mansion sat on a slight grade of brilliant green grass, backed up against a dark gray cliff of schist that towered a good hundred and fifty meters over the structure. In front, the wide sweep of alpine meadow came to an abrupt end as the declivity resumed, falling another four hundred meters before meeting the upper end of the valley below. To the right of the expansive dwelling, a waterfall burst from a hole in the rock and plunged straight down to help form the lively brook that fed farms farther down the way.

The view from the portico was nothing short of magnificent. Long sweeps of wildflower-covered slopes led to the intense green of vineyards, wheat fields, and orchards, bracketed by a pair of narrow roadways on either side of the valley. The shining ribbon that marked the swift brook meandered past it all, thinning to a hair in the distance. The sun would soon set, and western shadows grew long.

No roads – not even a footpath – led to the shelf upon which the mansion sat. Unless one rappelled down from above or free-climbed the tall rock face below, the only way to get there was to fly. Fortunately, that didn't prove to be a problem for the two women who lived there.

Nor was it a problem for the shape-shifter who had just come in sight of the place.

Currently in the form of a dragon, his shadow no longer sent the valley's inhabitants fleeing in terror. They would stop what they were doing (some of them) and stare or point (some of them) as the immense green creature floated by overhead, chuckling or shaking their heads before returning to their business.

Nearing Shadowcrest, Garfield Logan swapped forms, falling toward the greensward as a falcon, and resuming his human form upon landing, knowing he had to stop near the lip of the shelf, the manse itself being heavily warded. He had no desire to get up close and personal with lightning, or disintegration fields, or extra-dimensional portals, or any of the other cute little surprises Zatanna liked to hide around the grounds. It was a short walk to the defined boundary, where he stopped and waited.

Nor did he have to wait long. The front doors opened, and a miniature, blonde version of Raven shot out toward him. Grinning widely, he held his arms out in welcome.

"Daddy-daddy-daddy!" The little girl all but slammed into him, forcing him to spin to absorb the impact.

"Hey, there, Smidgen! You get cuter every time!"

"Daddy! You been gone too long!"

"I know, honey, but I'm back again now."

"You gonna stay dis time?"

"We'll see."

"If you don't, tan I go wiff you?"

"We'll talk to your Mommy about that."

She got comfortable on his hip, worked a tiny bit of magic on the ward-ring, and Gar walked the rest of the way to the huge structure.

Raven and Zatanna met him in the foyer. Neither one was smiling.

He stopped about three meters in front of them. "Hello, ladies."

The empath cleared her throat. "Your message was rather cryptic."

"I figured it would just be easier to show you than to try to explain."

"Can Daddy stay dis time?"

Raven met her daughter's eyes and then frowned at Gar. "Did you …"

"Hey, Felicity brought it up. I can't help it if I'm lovable."

"Actually, you can."

"After all those years of you telling me to quit being obnoxious, I finally take your advice and this is the thanks I get?"

His smile was infectious, but she successfully fought down her own. "Be that as it may, you know why we …"

"Yes, yes, I know. I get it. I got it the first fifteen times."

"Then what's the point in …"

Zatanna interrupted, "Hey, if you two want to polish off your 'Champion Curmudgeon' badges, do it later. John's gonna have dinner ready before long, and I don't want my duck cold." She waved at Gar. "Go ahead and say your piece."

Gar placed Felicity on the floor and gave the Magus an elaborate bow. "You are a rock of good sense, O Wise One." Urging his daughter in Raven's direction, he continued, "So I think I'll just go ahead and give you the demonstration you've all been waiting for."

In her best dry monotone, Raven deadpanned, "You can demonstrate maturity?"

His eye glinting merrily, he nodded. "Why, yes. Yes, I can."

Felicity floated up into Raven's arms and turned to watch her father. "Whatcha gonna do, Daddy?"

"Observe."

He backed away three paces, placed his palms together in front of his chest, and closed his eyes.

"Ooo, meditation," remarked Raven, dryly. "How novel."

"Oh, ye unbeliever. Just watch."

Growing very still, he began a low, rumbling sound deep in his chest. Then he began to swell.

Normally (and Raven knew this better than anyone else) his transformations took a tiny fraction of a second. He could go from flea to whale to kangaroo to albatross in the blink of an eye. There was only one form he had ever taken that came on slowly, and as she realized what was happening, Raven called up her soul-self as a shield around her and her daughter and her lover.

Garfield ignored that. Over some dozen seconds, he nearly doubled his height, and his mass increased ten-fold. Dense, coarse hair covered his body. His snout grew long, but in a cat-like way. Black, needle-pointed claws erupted from his fingers.

Those claws had been known to cut through armor plate on occasion, and Raven was taking no chances with them. She couldn't quite believe that he had used such subterfuge to gain her trust and get inside the mansion, but she'd make sure it didn't happen again. Zatanna also was muttering something under her breath in preparation for the attack she knew would come.

When his transformation into The Beast was complete, Gar gave his head a shake … and cracked his knuckles. Then he sat and folded his legs into the lotus position.

Raven's mouth fell open. "Wait a minute!"

He just grinned at her (a rather unsettling sight, considering how much ivory that showcased). Closing his eyes, he touched his thumbs to his middle fingers and made a sound sort of like "Ommm" … that is if, say, a large piece of construction equipment could say "Ommm".

Zatanna stared in wonder. "You mean to tell me that you got The Beast under control?"

He nodded. His mouth's current configuration didn't lend itself to oratory.

"Holy shit! That's … that's incredible." Looking at Raven, she said, "Do you have any idea how powerful that makes him now?"

"Um, yeah, I've got a pretty clear notion of that: Very."

Gar unfolded himself and lay down on his back, then slowly resumed his human shape. "I'm still workin' on being able to talk while in Beast form. He doesn't want to give up his fangs, but I can't make myself understood that way."

Felicity jumped on his belly, knocking some of the air out of his lungs. "Do it again, Daddy!"

Never being one who could deny any request of his daughter's, he quickly regained his larger self. The little girl leaned over into his face and cackled. "Gwammaw! What big teeff you have!"

Raven rolled her eyes and walked over. "I don't think he qualifies as 'Big-Bad' anymore, kidlet."

He scooped her off his chest and held her straight up in one paw. Then he rolled himself up and pressed into a one-armed hand-stand, using her as a counterbalance.

Zatanna's eyes were huge. "You really have gained control over it."

Flipping upward and landing on his feet, he held his giggling daughter out to Raven, then shrank back to normal. "Actually, no. I think 'control' is the wrong word."

A cocked eyebrow was Raven's response. "What word would you use, then? Because your lack of control was what led to our current, ah, less-than-optimal situation."

"We struck an agreement."

"What, you and The Beast? You're treating him as a separate entity now?"

"The same way you think about Wrath or Desire or Recklessness as separate entities, even though they really aren't. He's a part of me, but we usually have different goals and motivations."

"You can say that again." She moved over and wrapped an arm around Zatanna.

Gar walked up to the two women and dropped to one knee. Taking Zatanna's hand, he said, "The Beast wants to formally request your forgiveness."

"Um … well …"

"He's not really expecting it, though. It'd be nice, but he'll understand if you're a bit … wary."

"Maybe I'd be somewhat less wary if I knew what brought this on."

"It's really very straightforward." His other hand sought one of Raven's. "The Beast had identified Raven as its mate."

"Yeah. We know. And I was in the way."

"Yes. But doing things his way didn't work out the way he'd thought it would."

"I don't recall him doing a whole lot of 'thinking'. Mostly just attacking."

"He's a simple soul. Things aren't complicated. If it's a threat, he takes it out."

The Magus gave a small, involuntary shudder and mashed that memory back into its hole.

"But if it's something important to him, he will do whatever is necessary to protect it." Looking deep into Raven's eyes, he said, "You are that important to him."

Those violet eyes widened considerably.

"It took me a while to get to the point where he'd listen to me, and longer than that to get him to understand certain, ah, nuances of our relationship, but once he got it … well, as you can see, he's on board."

"So he doesn't have a problem with Zee now?"

"What he had a problem with was being separated from you." Rising to his feet, he squeezed both their hands. "What he came to understand is that you and Zee are a package deal."

A narrowing of Zatanna's eyes led to, "Whoa. Hold up. He's not thinking I'll …"

"No-no-no. He's not interested in you, because I'm not interested in you … ah, that way. But I LOVE Raven. He gets that, although his responses are a lot more basic than what we think of as 'love'. Anyway, we talked it over – a lot – and he now considers you to be sort of an extended part of Raven."

"What about John?"

"… What about him?"

"The Beast doesn't see him as a threat, does he?"

"Is John interested in Raven?"

"Oh, my word, no!"

"Then there's no problem. As long as he doesn't attack any of us, he's just furniture as far as The Beast is concerned."

"But I'm not?"

He shook his head emphatically. "You're … necessary. She needs you, so now you fall under the umbrella of his protection."

"… That's a far cry from last year."

"I know. And don't think it wasn't a hell of a lot of work."

Raven frowned at him. "Language."

"Eep. Sorry." He lightly scratched Felicity's head. "Pay no attention to Daddy's potty-mouth."

"I know what dat word means, Daddy. Mommy goes dere sometimes."

"Eh-heh. Right." He gave Raven a hopeful look. "So …"

"Yes?"

"So I was wondering if I could move back in. You know, not being a terminally terrifying, Force-of-Nature-level death machine anymore."

She had to smile at his terminology. "You know I've missed having you in my bed. And Felicity's missed having her Daddy around all the time."

"I figured that."

"I guess we could do a trial period."

"I'd appreciate that more than you can possibly know."

Zatanna added, "I think I'll keep myself warded, though. Just in case. At least for a while."

"Sure, if it helps you sleep. But you need to understand that The Beast is now every bit as invested in protecting you as he is in protecting Raven or Smidge. God help anyone who attacks any of you if I'm nearby."

Raven snaked her free arm around his waist. "I guess a little extra site security wouldn't go amiss." And she kissed his cheek.

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