1 - A Time To Fight

Billy spins as he slips past Granger's guard and tags him with his sword. The man swears an oath and brings his sword back around to swing at Billy. But Billy is already away and rolling around to tag the man one his shin. This brings another oath and renewed attempts to hit Billy.

Billy breathes as he retreats for a moment, his eyes watching his opponent. The heat of the sands of the coliseum beats upward at him like another weapon, and he can feel weariness in his muscles and bones like a weight. The sun beat down and his skin was slick in some areas with sweat. A loincloth and a long gauntlet were his only coverings, aside from the sandals that protected his feet from hot sand.

It had been eight weeks since he had arrived here, tossed onto the sands of the nearby beaches like an abandoned piece of shipwood. He still had no idea who he was captive too, or why The Six had sent him here. He was supposed to be on his way to his Quest, his trial, but instead... Eight weeks of this.

Eight long weeks of fighting, slaving for these unknown overlords, playing to the cheers and boos of the faceless crowd. Eight long weeks in Hell.

Time has flown by, but each day has seemed hellishly long, driven by blood, sweat, pain, and tears. He had tried, early on, to use his magic, but the place had a barrier of some kind, something keeping everything inside, in, and everything outside, out.

Time has flown by as he learned to fight all over again with new weapons, and in new styles, and learned to fight to survive, and to defend himself.

Time has flown by as he has refused to kill, even on pain of being placed in the Punishment Box between games.

Time has flown by and even with long hours to think, he has been too tired and too focused to think about his troubles, his worries and his problems from Before. Everything before the Games, everything before the chains, has receded to a dull roar, part of the Things Not Necessary To Survive.

Time has flown by and he is still fighting on this day, his fifteenth birthday, as Granger charges, his blade ever so slightly too high. It is the mistake Billy has been waiting for. He moves, feet sure, and twists under the blade sweeping towards him, using his size and flexibility to go down and then up again, this time inside Granger's guard. His sword comes down, flat side first on the temple of the larger man and Granger half cries out, half-grunts, and falls. Billy reverses the blade and slams it down again, this time behind the man's tilted head, and his opponent slumps, unconscious.

The crowd roars in approbation, then stills as the Prelate, faceless as always, stands. He looks down at Billy and then raises his hand... and then points downward.

The crowd hushes even more for a long moment, for Billy has yet to take a life.

When his blade hits the sands with a hush, the crowd roars again, this time in fury, and there are quickly guards coming for him. He fights, as they know he will, taking out four of them, before they take him down, and make him watch as they kill Granger. Then he is surrounded and chained, and they take him towards the dark tunnel down into the rocky surface.

He knows where he is headed.

Another week in the Box.

Another week in Hell.

***

Weeks pass, time flies, and days speed away. Billy gets stronger, and tougher, and roughened. But he still does not kill.

Four months in Hell, and he is still undefeated, even against two opponents. Four months in Hell and he spends all his off time either training or in the Box. He goes willingly into the Box, now. He spends the time concentrating, meditating, and praying. What he doesn't do is think about the outside, think about the past,

Somewhere in the four months, his heart stopped aching, his mind cleared, and his body stopped feeling the after effects. Somewhere in the four months, he moved on.

Four months in Hell pass, and he is there when the attack comes, when the Justice League finds the place and frees the captives. When he sees them, at first he doesn't believe his eyes and when he does, he finds himself crying, shocked, and confused.

He cries off and on for a week, and even his fellow heroes aren't sure how to treat the man he has become.

Four months lost in Hell, and when he returns to Earth, he finds it worse off than he believed it could be. He intends to take time off, to try to take time down. This, of course, fails, as crisis and chaos spills out.

Life as usual on Earth. He dives in again and tries not to think of the past, of the trauma, of the darkness, or of Milliways.

And time passes.

Chosen Quest - 2 - A Time To Run

Four months lost in Hell, and he returns to Earth. Four months lost and he changes the rules. He finds a way, suing the help of eight of the strongest magicians ever, to maintain the Rock and not live there and the joins the fight with the others, to help the Universe and world he loves to live on.

It is a running battle, time going on and passing by. Every moment, every day, is precious.

Somewhere along the way, he meets a girl. It may be one he knew once, it may be someone new. But he lives and he learns to make his heart free to love, on the run.

Somewhere in there, he learns to let go of the shadow of the past, and set his eyes on the future.

He fights, he lives, he loves.

Billy is Captain Marvel. Billy is the Wizard. Billy is a member of the Sentinels of Magic,a group dedicated to stopping evil at it's source. Billy is in love.

Billy? Is no longer alone.

And somewhere in there, he learns it is okay to be happy.

And time passes.

Four months after Hell, four months after rescue, a fifteen and a half year old Billy Batson looks back and he remembers.

***

Billy sits in his chair, watching the sunset, watching the day end.

It has been a good day, he thinks, and smiles. Out across the waters of the lake he lives by, he can see the birds swooping after fish. Life is happening out there.

He leans his head back against the chair and remembers, casting his mind back.

Milliways, Zuko, Steph, Blodwen.

All if it, is in his mind, entangled, but clear as ever. He smiles softly as he remembers Stephanie, and her smile. He sighs as he remembers how Zuko and he treated one another. And he takes a long breath as he remembers what happened with Blodwen and after. He looks long and hard at it from a distance of eight months of a full, incredibly different life, and finds that the wounds have scabbed over and truly begun to heal.

He looks back on it and is surprised that he now wishes Zuko and Stephanie well. He doesn't like Zuko even now, but he hopes the boy can find peace and happiness. He hopes there is a chance for him.

He smiles with his eyes closed as he hears his girlfriend inside the house.

She has been his friend, his ally, his best friend, for just a few months,and truthfully. He knows it will end soon, but it is okay. They both know it, and they both understand it, and they share that caring. It isn't love, and never was, but it is a kind of care he knows and trusts.

He has learned communication is a two way street and so is understanding. You both have to listen and speak. Otherwise, it doesn't work.

Billy smiles as he thinks of the time passed. It has been a running battle, even building this house and getting the land with the help of his friends took a lot of little steps in the middle of a lot of crises and fights and entanglements.

He hears the faint chime of the doorbell and knows that his guests are arriving. He hears her call his name and he rises, then as he takes hold of the door to step inside, he glances out at the lake again. He grins as he enters, thinking.

Four months after hell, four months of life and running, life is happening out there. And it is happening in here too.

Chosen Quest - 3 - A Time to Go On

Life goes on. This is a surety that we all forget at one time or another.

Life goes on and we go on.

And in the end of it all, life keeps on.

For Billy Batson, Life has been good and bad.

For Billy, time has flown, crawled, dragged, cried, slowed, sped, and run.

For Billy, twenty years is a long time.

Twenty years after Milliways, he is a man, and his body has changed.

He has been married and has a child, and is Captain Marvel in his own right now, bearing the powers of the Gods all the time.

At age 35, Billy is called William more often than Billy, except by Clark, who gets that privilege by being a friend and a former mentor, and by Bruce, who gets it by just being Bruce. Both are retired, from their old roles, anyway. Bruce runs things, and creates things, and is generally still a pain in the ass. Clark is a teacher and an editor in chief, with two children, and two grandchildren, each. He teaches both reporters and new heroes, and is learning to pass on the past. William helps sometimes, being one of the few whose powers match Superman's.

William wanders the world, fighting as he must, doing his best by his child. His daughter. His. Some days he cant believe it, and somedays he can. It still boggles his mind and melts his heart when she comes running at his call and calls him 'dada', and 'Papa'. He strives ever day to be worthy of her, his little blessing, even as he misses her mother. She left, because she had to, some time back. He knows what happened, why she hasn't returned, but he never thinks about it. If he thinks about it too hard, it will make it real, and he would rather it just be a possibility, half-known.


And so, at 35, William Batson lives, and breathes and is a hero, and a father, and a man.

He has learned to control his temper, and to control his impulses. He has learned,in the end, to live.

Time passes, and William keeps on.

And he smiles as he goes.

Chosen Quest - 4 - A Time to Remember

One hundred years after Milliways, William smiles. And remembers.

Time passes.

The Earth is not enough and mankind climbs to the stars and when they go, William Batson goes with them.

By now, he is merely called Marvel by most. And none of those who were there when he started still are. Some of their grandchildren and great-grandchildren are. But not them. Even so, he is not alone. He has been adopted, some time back, by quite a few families, as he helped teach their children and pass on gifts and dreams. Marvel is a man who gives. For, somewhere along the way, he learned to live, and, in living, he learned to love making people smile.

One Hundred years has passed since he was at Milliways, last, and, in truth, after everything that happened there the last two times he had been there, and after a few years of sometimes wishing the Door would open again, and sometimes not, he stopped thinking about it on a regular basis.

Somewhere in the past, he learned to wish his friends well, and to hold them in his heart. He learned to know when it was time to let go, and he learned that he had to just love without holding them.

He has lived these last hundred years without aging at all. That was startling at first, but in time, he knew it was what he expected. The destiny he had forgotten wasn't so easily escaped. He wasn't immortal exactly, but he was very hard to kill, now, and he didn't age.

Ironically, though he couldn't catch any disease, he still got bad allergies, every single year. it became something of a joke in time, with Kleenex's being a popular gift. He took it in stride, and with good humor,

He had to. Otherwise, he started thinking about what he was losing, and that was something he wouldn't do. Instead, he loved, and lived, and kept going.

One hundred years after Milliways, he smiles at the thought of the place as he hovers over New Earth, watching the careful negotiations of the two fleets of Teraanis and Comela Ten. After making sure none of them died in a misguided war over his home, he wasn't about to let it all go to waste.

He smiles as he remembers the tavern with all his friends, and with those he didn't call friend.

He remembers Rachel, with both a smile and a grimace. He remembers Ace and Faith, and Barry and Sara, and Zuko and Stephanie, and Cassie and Mel, and Max and Hank, and all the rest. He remembers them all, and smiles.

The Bar is long in his past now and he knows he will never see it again. Why would it not have appeared before now if it would ever?

He smiles anyway, for those he saw there, those he learned from, he will never forget.

There is a shriek as two soldier ships from opposing sides try to close the distance and start the whole conflict over again. William sighs, and then goes to work.

As he dives towards the trouble makers, he smiles. He remembers Milliways, for the things he learned there, and will always love it, but he lives on.

And that isn't a bad thing at all.

Chosen Quest - 5 - A Time To Teach

83, 263 years later, give or take a few, the world was long gone.

Earth was dead, but humanity was not. It had expanded beyond the solar system, beyond the galaxy, and into worlds and systems undreamed of.

Captain Marvel, as he thought of himself most days by then, had retreated eventually, tired of all the years of time passing.

Magic had been in decline, and, with it, his necessity had declined as well.

So he retired to the Rock of Eternity, and slept, and watched, and helped where he could. One crisis forced the Rock into the material universe, and he stored it far away from space and time where humans lived.

And 83,000 years later, a world had formed around the Rock, drawn by it's power and oddness, and given life by magic. And eventually, it was settled by humans.

Underneath their feet, Captain Marvel slept, as he had for thousands of years, until one girl, and one time needed him once more.

He awoke, and came to their aid. But, in truth, it was no longer his time, and even legend had forgotten him. He fought his pride, and won. And he recruited one young woman, who dared to be brave and honest, to be the new champion. No child this one, but a teenager, he told her to say his name. And she did, and a new champion was born, who came to be called Thunder, a hero of two times, two worlds, and two dreams.

And he smiled and taught her, and rested.

And it was good.

Chosen Quest - 6 - A Time to Die

15,000 years, give or take a year, later...

He lay in his bed, eyes slowly blinking.

His breath was slow, labored, and hard in his ears. It had been a good run, and the time, the sands, were running out. He lay in his bed and he knew he was surrounded by his loved ones, but he couldn't see, couldn't hear any of them.

All he knew, was that the light was growing stronger and his heartbeat, the slow thrum of it, was slowing down.

His breathing slowed as well as he smiled.

***

And in his room, his descendant felt a smile cross her face as well, as the old man, relic and legend of a far long past age, breathed his last...

***

He was in a light, with no pain, no troubles, and he felt like he was floating. There was a brilliant light ahead of him, drawing him, but even as he floated towards it, it changed, shifted, and there was a door, a door that looked strangely familiar.

And he staggered-floated towards it and then....

and then.....

Chosen Quest - Epilogue - A Time to Live

...he steps out of the door and blinks as light flares.

He staggers back, and his back meets wall, a familiar one. His body feels... different. He looks down and something like shock fills his mind as he sees his young, small body. The body of a kid! What was happening?

He looks upwards and sees the Six, and recognizes the trial room, and confusion fills his mind.

"HELLO, BILLY BATSON. WELCOME HOME."

"What... what happened? Why am I here?"

"YOU HAVE FINISHED YOUR TRIALS. YOU HAVE COMPLETED YOUR QUEST AND PROVEN YOURSELF WORTHY TO BE THE CHAMPION AND THE WIZARD. WE ARE SATISFIED."

He is gaping. His mind scrambles to grasp what they mean.

"What? But, I was dead... what do you mean?"

"YOU WERE SET A TRIAL TO PROVE YOURSELF, AND TO LEARN TO EXCISE THE DARKNESS WITHIN YOU. YOU DID BOTH, BY LIVING THROUGH THEM, AND BY GROWING PAST THEM. AND YOU SHOWED US YOUR DEDICATION WITH A LONG LIFE OF SERVING AS CHAMPION AND WIZARD BOTH. NOW, THE TIME HAS COME TO REJOIN YOUR TIMELINE WHERE YOU SHOULD BE. EIGHT MONTHS HAS PASSED SINCE YOU ARRIVED HERE. EIGHT MONTHS IN WHICH YOU LIVED OVER THOSE 100,000 YEARS."

He is gasping as tears flow across his eyes and down his face. His knees tremble and give out.

"I... don't... how?"

Even as his panic and confusion rise, a gentle touch of warmth fills him and he feels the panic wash away.

"FEAR NOT. YOU SHOWED LOVE AND COMPASSION, HONESTY AND STRENGTH. AND YOU PROVED YOURSELF THE ONLY WAY A PERSON CAN, BY LIVING A GOOD LIFE."

Then the room dissolves into whirling light as he takes a breath, and then the room fades back in as he exhales, and he is standing in his rooms on the Rock.

He blinks as he looks up and into a mirror. His face is young... so very young.

He feels a wave of weariness wash over him, overpoweringly, and he staggers over to his bed, falling onto it, and into a deep sleep.

As he sleeps, the last of his healing happens. Memory of the past 100,000 subjective years slowly integrates with his mind. Memory of that time becomes a mist of lessons, thoughts, and deeds, and specifics, many are lost, but the attitudes and deeds and wisdom he gained remain. He remembers those. How to live, how to survive, how to fight, how to love, how to let go, how to give, how to receive.

He sleeps and forgets,and remembers, and he heals.

And, come morning, he wakes up.

When he wakes, and remembers the end of the quest, he cries, silent tears carrying poison out of him and bringing him peace.

Then, he smiles a tremulous smile at himself, and he rises. He was still shaky and would be for some time, but right now, it wasnt time to worry about that.

It was time to live.

(no subject)

He's fifteen and a half years old and he remembers how to fight.

It is an unusual style, filled with pieces of what Max, Faith, Miho, and Ted taught him, as well as the new stuff he learned in Hell. He remembers pieces of it, and, those first few days,days that roll into weeks, back on the Rock, he practices. Hard.

He runs and works himself hard and feels the toning he can't fully remember earning. He has more muscles then he knew before, and his body knows instinctive moves, things he has never known before.

So he practices, and works hard, and finds his body has shifted. He has a touch more strength and speed then he used to have, and he is taller, and he weighs more.

His time at the Rock has changed now, as well. He doesn't have to be Captain Marvel any more. He still retains a connection to the magic, for the core of it is inside him all the time, even though the bulk of it is elsewhen. He can even leave and go on missions again, even if he has to live on the Rock.

A lot of time passes, for him, as he deal with life, and with changes.

He smiles one day as he notices a familiar Door once more shimmering as he passes it.

He takes his time though, getting ready, before he finally faces the door again and hefting a pack, opens it, and steps into Milliways.