"Monsters only remain monsters until someone looks at them and smiles."
---
The Edge of a New Morning
The dawn over the new Lazarus Island didn't burn green anymore. It shimmered soft gold over the sea.
Children's laughter echoed where once warriors fought and died.
Nika sat at the shoreline, her boots half-buried in wet sand, staring at her reflection in the calm water. The faint white of her skin—marble-pale, traced by veins like silver lightning—was clearer in the sun.
She didn't blink as Damian called out behind her.
"You're going to miss the boat." He said, arms folded, trying to sound stern but failing miserably.
She didn't turn.
"Maybe I'll live here forever." She muttered. "Teach the kids how to throw knives."
"Nika." His tone softened. "You promised."
"I promised to try."
"Then try today."
She finally looked back. "You know what happens when I walk into rooms, Damian? People stare."
He stepped closer, kneeling beside her. "Let them. They don't see what I see."
She tilted her head, half smirking. "And what do you see?"
"Someone brave enough to face life after death. Plus a very beautiful girl."
He extended his hand. "Come on. Gotham Academy isn't ready for you but it'll learn."
Her eyes softened; she took his hand. Behind them, Ravager waved from the tree line with a grin, while XXL! shouted,
"Don't burn down the school, Flatline!"
"No promises! Also it's Pulseheart now." She called back, laughing for the first time that morning.
The Return to Gotham
The ferry sliced through the waves. Gotham's skyline rose, wrapped in a faint blue shimmer—the new atmospheric filters that WayneTech, LexCorp and Atlantis jointly developed. The air was cleaner, even the sea was less foul.
Yet the city still looked heavy. Still Gotham.
Nika sat beside Damian, clutching her bag, fingers twitching nervously.
"They'll hate me." She whispered.
"Some might," He admitted. "But some will love you. That's how it starts."
"You always sound like your dad."
He smiled faintly. "Then maybe he's right sometimes."
She leaned her head on his shoulder, watching the city grow larger. "You'll stay with me?"
"Always."
Gotham Academy
The morning crowd of students parted instinctively as the black car pulled up near the front gate.
Damian stepped out first, immaculate as ever in his uniform. Then Nika followed.
Gasps. Whispers. Phones subtly raised.
Her outfit was her own: a blend of dark goth and fashionable practicality—black lace sleeves, combat boots, bone-white crossbone patterns that matched the pale lines on her face. The faint skull motif around her eyes gave her a haunting, beautiful edge.
A boy near the entrance whispered, "Is she from Arkham or something?"
A girl answered softly, "She's… kinda gorgeous though."
Damian threw the boy a look that could have frozen lava.
Nika hesitated, clutching her strap until...
"Hey!"
The cheerful voice broke the tension.
Ace jogged up, her black hair streaked blue today, a backpack slung sideways.
"You made it! Welcome to the madhouse."
Nika blinked in surprise. "You study here?"
"Duh. Top of my physics and art class, thank you very much." Ace grinned. "Come on, cafeteria's this way. Before Damian gets mobbed by admirers again."
"They're not admirers." Damian said through clenched teeth.
"Sure they aren't, handsome." Ace teased, pulling Nika along by the arm.
Lunch and Light
They sat beneath the tall oak in the academy courtyard—Ace, Nika and Damian sharing sandwiches that Alfred packed with surgical precision while Ace shared her lunch, a mix of flavours and chaos.
Nika relaxed slowly. The tension in her shoulders eased as Ace animatedly gossiped about teachers and classmates, occasionally flicking bits of psychic illusion into the air for effect—tiny dancing lights shaped like chibi bats and skulls.
"You're so good with your powers." Nika said, eyes wide.
Ace shrugged. "Took time. You're the third person who actually likes them. Plus had help from Harley and King."
"I do. They feel alive."
Ace smiled. "So do you."
Damian's gaze lingered on the faint smile on Nika's dark lips—the first genuine one since they'd left the island.
The Song on the Field
Afternoon sunlight slanted across the football pitch. A few students lingered as Nika, emboldened by Ace's encouragement, stood near the bleachers.
"You sure?" Ace asked. "Old Russian song in a Gotham prep school?"
"My grandmother used to sing it. And… it's me."
Nika inhaled and began softly—
"Расцветали яблони и груши…"
Her voice carried, clear and haunting. It wasn't perfect, but it was real.
The melody of "Katyusha" rose above the field like a memory of hope too stubborn to fade.
By the final verse, the whispers had stopped. Students stood quietly.
Ace clapped first—then Damian. Then, surprisingly, others joined in.
When she finished, cheeks flushed, Nika looked at Damian.
He only said, softly,
"Told you they'd learn."
Evening
As the sun dipped, Damian walked Nika and Ace toward the gates.
"So," Ace said, elbowing Nika, "first day—success?"
"Maybe… a little," Nika admitted. "It felt like the world didn't hate me for once."
"That's the trick." Damian said. "You give it something to love instead."
Ace laughed. "Okay, poet-boy. Calm down."
Nika smiled. "No. Let him talk. I like when he does."
The three walked off into the fading light—an odd little constellation of reborn souls, still learning what it meant to live in a world that finally began to heal.
Read 62 chapters ahead on P.A.T.R.E.O.N
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