Chapter 175: The Monarch and the Witness
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"This," Arthur said simply, "is Didi."
Didi smiled gently at the group, stepping to Arthur’s side without hesitation.
"Hello," she said, voice soft and clear. "I hope I’m not intruding. Arthur invited , though he didn’t know it yet."
The words made the air shift. Beast Boy’s brows furrowed, Jai blinked, and even Dick straightened slightly at the odd phrasing.
Arthur remained standing, silent beside Didi. His expression was unreadable but shadowed with sothing... cautious. Not fear but not comfort either. His hands were in his pockets, the corners of his mouth tight, like he was holding sothing back.
Didi stood beside him, then she spoke again. A voice like cool wind, gentle. And though the words were simple, the effect was imdiate everyone felt it. A tension they hadn’t noticed uncoiling from their shoulders. Beast Boy stopped fidgeting. Jai’s grin faded into curiosity. Even Starfire’s radiant warmth llowed into serenity.
"It’s a beautiful fire," Didi said, gazing into the flas. "Fires are honest. They burn until there’s nothing left to give, and then they go out. But while they last... they make even the darkest night feel a little less lonely."
No one replied right away.
Then Cyborg chuckled faintly, scratching behind his head. "Okay. Not gonna lie. That’s the most poetic thing I’ve ever heard soone say about a campfire.. Not that I heard many..."
Didi turned to him, smiling softly. "Sotis the smallest things carry the most warmth, Victor."
Cyborg and the titans were a bit surprised hearing her say his actual na.
She said his na like she’d known him for years.
Arthur finally moved, stepping forward and lowering himself down beside Raven. Kara followed without needing a word, sitting next to him with the casual ease of soone used to being by his side. Didi was the last to sit, folding gracefully onto the sand with her legs tucked to one side. She looked small, serene.
Beast Boy cleared his throat and leaned forward. "Sooo, what brings you to our little slice of paradise, Didi?
Didi didn’t answer right away. She tilted her head toward the fire again, watching it intently, as if it were telling her secrets only she could hear.
"I follow stories," she said at last. "Wherever sothing ends, I find myself near. Not to change the ending. Only to witness it. It’s not always sad. Sotis, it’s peaceful. Like the final note of a lullaby."
Beast Boy was bewildered for a mont and then he forced a laugh. "That’s pretty good!... what does that an though.. "
Didi just smiled. "I like your laugh. I hope you keep it for a very long ti."
Beast Boy was overjoyed with that complint that he couldn’t find the proper words to respond to that.
Kara leaned forward slightly, eyes narrowing. "You’re... not just so friend of Arthur’s, are you?"
Didi looked at her. No smugness. No mystery for mystery’s sake. Just kindness.
"I am, always has been."
Starfire’s voice broke the tension with her usual warmth. "You are most welco here, Didi. Any friend of Arthur’s is a friend of ours."
Didi turned her serene gaze toward her, the smile widening just slightly. "You have a kind soul.. I like that."
****
The soft crackle of the fire filled the silence between small bursts of chatter and laughter, but Raven wasn’t laughing. She hadn’t said a word since Didi sat down.
From her place near the edge of the group, her violet gaze was fixed, unwavering on the girl. Didi. Everything about her scread off, but not in the usual demonic or cosmic energy kind of way. No this was more subtle, older, quieter. one you couldn’t un-hear once you noticed it.
Her eyes slowly shifted. To Arthur.
He sat straight-backed beside her, one hand resting against the sand, the other... clenching and unclenching absently. That was rare. His body language spoke volus. To anyone else, he seed simply contemplative. But to Raven, who had morized the way his shadows moved like breathing, he was on edge.
Raven leaned closer to him, her lips barely parting as she whispered, her tone deceptively light. "She knew Cyborg’s na. First try. No hesitation. Either you told her or..."
Arthur didn’t react.
Raven’s hand gently found his under the blanket she’d pulled over herself earlier. Cool fingers slid into his grasp, and her whisper ca again lower now. "Are you two hiding sothing?" Her words ca in soft rapid fire. "Is there anything.. you want to say? Is she... your ex?"
Arthur blinked, turned his head ever so slightly to glance at her, expression blank and sighed.
"it’s nothing like that," he muttered, voice hushed for her ears alone. "She’s... an old friend of mine."
Raven raised an eyebrow, unamused. "Right."
She stared at Didi again. "I’m getting the sa vibe from her that I get from you," she said bluntly. "Sa... feeling."
Before Arthur could answer, Didi glanced over at them with a gentle smile, and Raven imdiately sat back expression shifting from suspicion to cool indifference. But Kara leaned in, resting her arm on Arthur’s shoulder as if it weighed nothing. Yet to him, it might as well have been a boulder with the way her grip was tightening.
"Not the first ti...this woman.." Kara said, voice low and slightly sharp. "She’s been looking at you this entire ti..."
Her fingers almost crushed his shoulder as she said it, but her tone carried no hostility only mild jealousy.
Arthur exhaled long and slow. He didn’t even try to defend himself anymore.
Victor grinned, leaning back with a burger in one hand. "Wow." he said, loud enough for everyone to hear. "No offense, O’ mighty Shadow King..."
Arthur slowly turned his head in his direction, unimpressed.
"...But are you sure she’s your friend?" Cyborg continued, gesturing lightly at Didi with a half-smile. "Because damn, she’s... incredible. Like, radiating peace-and-wisdom type incredible."
Arthur muttered under his breath, "You get that from a single conversation with her?"
"Yup," Victor answered instantly.
Dick stirred next to Starfire, who was still staring at Didi like one might regard a perfectly still moonlit sky. "I have to agree with Vic," Dick said, arms crossed. "The way she talks... it’s like she already knows everything."
"Maybe," Arthur said with a dry note, standing up.
He dusted sand from his pants, then turned toward Didi, whose head tilted slightly, a knowing little smile forming on her lips. His eyes glowed with a soft, eerie blue as he spoke her na.
"Dea—" he caught himself, jaw tightening, "Didi. Let’s talk. Privately."
Her smile grew ever so gently.
"Of course," she said, standing with the kind of grace no one could mimic.
As they began walking away, Didi turned back briefly, looking at the group still gathered by the fire. The flickering light painted her features with a warm gold, and her tone was calm, clear, and soft as silk.
"I’ll be back shortly," she said.
Beast Boy’s eyes followed the pair, his head tilting in slow motion. Then, with theatric dread, he clutched his chest like he’d been struck by a revelation.
"Uh oh," he declared, dragging the syllables with wide-eyed dramatic flair.
Everyone turned toward him, so confused, so expecting nonsense. He didn’t disappoint.
He leaned toward Raven and, in a conspiratorial whisper that was anything but subtle, said, "You sure that’s not his secret girlfriend? ’Cause that whole ’I’ll be back shortly’ line? That’s the kinda stuff a cool, mysterious ex says before..."
Whack.
A beach sandal smacked the back of his head with precision force.
"OW! What the.."
Beast Boy turned and saw Kara standing there, arms crossed, a second sandal already in hand and eyes narrowed. Her expression said say another word.
"Just trying to lighten the mood..." he grumbled, rubbing his head and muttering, "I expected that from Raven though..."
The others who had clearly been about to chi in went completely silent after that. Jai had opened his mouth halfway, but closed it like soone had hit the mute button. Victor looked away and casually sipped from his drink.
Only Dick dared to speak up, voice asured. "She seems like a cool person," he said, eyes still on the path Arthur and Didi had vanished down. "But I’ll still have to investigate her after this."
"Oh, please do," Raven muttered, her arms folded across her chest. "Because sothing is definitely off about her."
****
The sea murmured softly at the edge of the shore, distant from the crackling campfire and laughter echoing faintly.
Arthur stood there, his posture was tense, arms crossed as if shielding himself from sothing far colder than the ocean breeze.
Behind him, Didi approached, her bare steps making no sound, Arthur opened his mouth, then cursed under his breath. "Shit... I forgot that Ka—"
"You don’t need to worry," Didi said, her voice cutting gently through. "No one can hear us here. There is only ... and you... in this space."
Arthur blinked, his glowing blue eyes narrowing slightly. He glanced around not just with his eyes, but with his senses.
A pocket of silence. An unnatural calm. A bubble of stillness in a world that never stopped moving.
"Okay..." he said slowly. "Then I’ll be direct."
He turned toward her fully now, his face unreadable but his gaze sharp. "Death of the Endless... why are you here? What’s your purpose with ? Why do you follow ?"
Didi didn’t answer right away. She took a single step forward, then another closer than he expected. Close enough for her presence to feel less like a concept and more like a reality that pressed on the edges of his soul.
She tilted her head, smiling with a grace that was both childlike and eternal. "Is that what you think, Monarch of Shadows?"
The title sent a quiet ripple through the air between them.
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If you Like this story! Check out my other stories! Solo leveling in Westeros.
&
If you wish to read more or simply support
than check out my patreon at
"spatreon/FrenzyAren"
You can Get Access to 3 More Chapters OR 7 More Chapters if you want
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