Bruce Wayne crashed hard against the pavement.

He groaned, struggling to lift himself from the ground, watching as the truck drove without him. Inside, he could hear the sound of the men inside laughing.

He sighed, picking himself up from the ground. He'd known he was going to be free from that prison for a while, and it was a freedom he'd dreaded. As Cinder had said, he was lost. His original intentions had faded away, and that prison was a place of comfort from the harsh, cruel maze of the world beyond. A maze he couldn't find an exit to.

But Cinder's words echoed in his mind; a guide through the maze.

Off into the forest he walked, away from the civilization of the Kingdom of Mistral behind him. His eyes surveyed the greens of the forest, searching for the blue flower Cinder had mentioned. He wasn't sure how long into his journey it had taken to find it. But, not too long into the journey, he finally spotted something blue.

Bruce knelt down, plucking the small plant from the dirt, and observing it. It was no flower he had seen before, even after the years he had spent outside of Vale. But then, he'd spent most of those years in that prison.

Still, Bruce had many memories of flowers from the garden of his old home, and he didn't remember any blue flower like this.

He lifted his head, looking up at the mountains, Cinder's words passing through his mind again.

"If you can carry it to the top of the mountain, you may find what you were looking for in the first place."

What he was looking for in the first place, he didn't remember. But something deep down inside told him that whatever Cinder was offering, it would not only bring him off this lost path, it would help him find whatever it was he'd been looking for in the first place.

Seconds turned to minutes. Minutes turned to hours. Bruce had lost track of time long before he had ever been sent to prison. He didn't know what day of the week it was, let alone how long it had been since he'd left home. All he knew was he'd been gone for a few years now. And he wasn't good with keeping track of time. A minute was sixty seconds. An hour was sixty minutes. He knew what minutes and seconds were, but couldn't seem to keep track.

But that didn't matter. Days, weeks, months, all of it was a slow process for him. He remembered days being much faster back at home. Now it all seemed to slow out here.

Bruce had never imagined what it would be like out here back in the mansion. It was in these moments as he climbed the mountain Cinder had referred to to get to his unknown destination that he realized how far he'd come; how alien the thoughts of his home seemed.

Then, as he started to get to the top of the mountain, he noticed something. It looked like a house. A massive, wooden house, which looked older than the house Bruce had lived in back at Vale. And yet, it was even bigger, taking up the majority of the mountain-top.

Bruce stepped up to the doors. Exhausted from the climbing, he gave a slow, unsteady knock. He expected it to take a few minutes at least for someone to get to the door, if his knock was heard at all, judging by how massive the building was. Instead, the doors were opened almost the instant after his hand had fallen to his side.

His eyes widened as he gazed into the house. There was no turning back now.

Bruce slowly stepped inside, pulling his hood off, and staring into the first room of the house. It was a large, circular room, with pillars not too distant from the walls. At the back end of the room, he could see a woman. Her skin was a deathly pallor, with jet black sclera in her eyes and glowing crimson irises. She wore a very long, short-sleeved black robe.

"Salem?" he said through short breath.

Before the woman could answer, he heard a creaking sound behind him. Bruce spun around, and saw someone shutting the doors he'd walked through seconds ago. He could hear footsteps around him, and he spun around, seeing a small army of men closing in around him. He wasn't afraid, though he was rightfully tense at the situation.

"Wait!"

Bruce turned to the source of the voice, and saw Cinder stepping in between him and Salem. He felt comforted to see the soft, gentle gaze of her amber eyes.

"What are you seeking?" Salem asked, her voice stern but soft.

Bruce felt nervous at the question. He had been wondering the same thing on his journey to this place, searching for the answer deep within his mind, to no avail. He looked from Salem to Cinder, who gave an expected look.

Then, he felt his lips move, and words escaping outside of his control.

"I seek the means to fight injustice," he said. "To turn fear against those who prey on the fearful."

Cinder stepped forward, with a look Bruce was having trouble reading. Satisfied? Intrigued? Malicious? He hoped it wasn't the latter.

Regardless, he reached into his pocket, carefully pulling out the flower he'd plucked, and holding it out for Cinder to take.

The woman reached for it, taking it, and holding it close to observe. For a moment, Bruce was worried he'd brought the wrong flower, and his worries were neither reassured or made worse when Cinder turned back to Salem, holding the flower out to show her.

Salem stared at the flower for only a moment, before looking back to Bruce.

"To manipulate the fears in others," she said, "you must first master your own."

She stood up from her seat, approaching Bruce. She placed a hand on Cinder's shoulder, urging her to step aside, as she took the flower from her.

"Are you ready to begin?" Salem asked, staring directly into Bruce's eyes.

Bruce shook his head. He had spent so much time out in the forest, climbing this mountain. He was having trouble even getting his words out. How was he supposed to begin now?

"I can barely stand--"

Suddenly, Salem shot her arms forward, and rainbow-colored blasts fired from her hands, crashing into Bruce's chest, and knocking him to the ground.

"Death does not wait for you to be ready!" she shouted, stopping for only a moment, only letting Bruce get to his knees before blasting him again. "Death is not considerate or fair!"

She stopped, stepping closer to Bruce as he struggled to stand, energy coursing through his body, but not in a way that felt satisfying.

"And make no mistake," Salem continued. "Here, you face death!"

Again she fired her energy blasts, but this time, Bruce rolled out of the way, and stood to his feet, fists raised and prepared for a fight.

She smiled, admiring the bravery of the human before her. Not many knew of her existence, but very few ever showed any form of bravery when facing her.

Bruce ran towards her, swinging fists over and over. But Salem backed away. As pathetic as this display was, with some work, he could at least lay a finger on her.

"Skilled," she said, grabbing his wrist. "But this is not a dance."

Once more, she blasted Bruce, sending him tumbling back to the wood of the ground below him.

Salem stepped up to him, and knelt down to make eye contact with him. Bruce's vision was growing hazy, the world around him becoming a blur. And yet, those eyes of hers were clear as day.

"You are afraid," Salem said, tilting her head in curiosity. "But not of me."

Bruce struggled to move, but he was stuck. Unable to do anything.

"Tell us, Mr. Wayne," Salem said, placing the flower on Bruce's shirt, "what do you fear?"

What did he fear? Bruce could see it as she spoke. The blur of the world around him turned into something much worse.

The flutter of wings. The feeling of fangs sinking into his neck.

Fear.