The Watchtower was colder than normal.
Drama still hung in the air from the aftermath of the harem debacle. Zatanna had immured herself in the magical library. Diana spent hours training in the simulator rooms. Raven floated in and out of the astral plane, keeping her distance from everyone including me.
And I couldn't blame them.
We still had work to do, though.
The Source Wall was cracking, unleashing energies older than time itself. We didn't require sheer strength or raw magic. We required balance. Precision. Artifacts forged in godly insight and cosmic purpose.
So I constructed them.
Not in the fires of Earth, nor even within the mystical depths of Atlantis or the technohalls of New Genesis but within my own inner space: a pocket universe where time curved to my whims and the very stuff of creation was pliable.
I was at its center surrounded by churning star particles and melted magic pulled from lost stars. The instruments were rough in look hammer, chisel, thread but all of them were tied to the source code of the multiverse.
For Zatanna, I designed the Vox Aeternum a black obsidian choker inscribed with silver runes, one for each forgotten tongue of the gods. It amplified her voice, her will, even a whisper becoming binding reality. With it, she would not only cast spells she would command them.
For Diana, the Aegis of Oathfire a gauntlet hammered out of the embers of Mount Themyscira, imprinted with the raw essence of combat itself. It permitted her to harness divine flame into her attacks, incinerate her lasso with heavenly truth, and deflect any deception she touched.
For Raven, I wove a cloak made of her own shadow. The Veil of Azarath. It followed her thoughts, reached across other planes, and protected her emotions from external intrusion granted her full access to the darker energies that she kept chained deep inside.
I made more: a spear for Aquaman, made from Leviathan's tooth; a visor for Batman, attuned to interdimensional frequencies; lightning gauntlets for Flash that stabilized the Speed Force in unstable dimensions.
Every piece was intimate. Tethered by my purpose, their soul, and the requirements of what was to be.
When I came back, they were waiting.
I stood in the War Room, every item wrapped in floating crystals, glowing with the essence of their selected owner. The League stood in quiet regard.
I swallowed hard. "These are not weapons. Not really. They're tools of what you are. Implements for what is to come."
Diana's eyebrows furrowed. "Is this how you're trying to buy back trust?"
"No," I said. "This is how I'm ensuring that you live.
She moved first, extending to take the gauntlet. It slid onto her hand like liquid gold, then hardened. Her knuckles pulsed with a flame of light. She nodded, unspeaking.
Zatanna touched the choker, mouth clamped tight. She didn't look up at me.
Raven waited last. She didn't move until the others had received theirs. When her fingers touched the Veil, it enveloped her without hesitation. She gave a small nod of approval. "It's. perfect."
"You did these yourself?" Flash asked, almost disbelieving.
"I did," I said. "And I didn't just make them to assist you."
I imaged the holographic projection out of my mind. A tear along the edge of the Source Wall was expanding. The readings were not cosmic. They were apocalypse.
"They're coming," I said.
"Who?" Diana asked.
"The ones who dwell outside of time. The gods even the gods fear."
No one said a word.
Then Bruce did. "And these. artifacts. They'll be the difference, right?"
"They'll keep you alive."
That was enough.
As the meeting ended, they dispersed each lost in thought. But before Raven walked out, she stopped beside me.
"You're trying to fix everything."
I shrugged. "I have to."
She looked up. "You won't succeed alone."
And just like that, a crack in the cold began to thaw. Not forgiveness. Not yet. But understanding.
A start.