Doctor Adriana Horvat gripped tightly on the ropes holding her while she descended to the darkness below. She was beyond excited to be the first one to enter the newly discovered cave, not for from Vinjerac in Croatia. She and her team of scientists were looking for undiscovered mikroorganisms in subterranean territories. When she was lowered to the cold stone, she undid her carabiner, pulled it twice and the rope started to ascend back to the surface, to bring down her collegues.
Doctor Horvat looked around in the dark cave, and was amazed by the beauty of it. It was obvious that it has been untouched for millenia, letting life flourish here like nowhere else on the planet. Even though she has been in countless caves all around the world, they never ceised to amaze her. She felt a little sad that they would disturb the natural beauty of the underground chamber, but she reminded herself that it was in the name of science. Besides, if someone else would have discovered it before them, they would most probably have made a tourist attraction of it, destroying the wildlife within.
As she waited for her companions to join her, she walked a little further inside, deciding it was safe enough to explore a alone. She spotted a strange looking bug on one of the walls. It looked like a white moth, but it was almost tranclucent in the light of her head light. Excited, she took notes in her notepad, and after scribbling down a few notes she continued to explore the cave.
A few steps later, however, her lights flickered, and went out completely. She cursed quietly, and started to feel around on her belt for her spare lights, when she noticed a faint light coming from ahead. She followed it, careful not to trip or slip on the smooth stone, while her curiosity rose the closer she got. Finally, she entered a bigger chamber of the cave, with amazing stalactite pillars rising from the ground and growing down from the ceiling aswell.
She looked for the source of the light, which was growing a little stronger as she went near the water in the centre of the chamber. When she looked down, she saw that the warm light was coming from inside the crystal clean water. But as she looked harder, she noticed something under the gentle tides of the pond. As she leaned closer, she turned on her flashlight and directed it to the surface of blue.
The water was fairly low and so clean that you could easily see the bottom of it. Under the water the shape of a horse lying on it's side was clearly visible, and Doctor Horvat could have sworn it had wings too. Next to the steed, a man was clearly visible, lying on it's back. At first sight he seemed to be the source of the light, but as the scientist looked closer, she saw that the man was holding a sword, which was the center of the white glow. As Doctor Horvat reached for her radio, shaking from excitment and the adrenalin coursing through her body, the glow faded and bought the cave back to it's millenia old darkness.
~ˇ~
The first thing Sir Justin felt was pain. As he slowly opened his eyes, he felt the muscles on his left side ache with a lifetime of pain. As if death had been ripped off of his skin. His lungs burned, his head throbbed, and his legs and arms felt like they were made from lead.
'It seems like resurrection is just as painful as death' pondered the knight as his eyes slowly cleared out. At first, he only heard deafening silence, the kind that makes people crazy. But as he slowly came around he started to hear some distant noises, almost as if people were talking around him, although he didn't understand any of it.
As his sight slowly returned, he saw blinding light above him, which made him squint. He tried to look around, but it was like his neck was made of stone. He heard a strange, high pitched noise beeping rithmically on his left, and felt some kind of wires sticking to his chest. He noticed that there was something under his nose just above his mouth, and could faintly feel air coming out of it.
He finally managed to turn his head and check out his surroundings. Everything seemed so alien to him. He was in a mostly white room, surrounded by some weird box-type things that had strange lights flickering on them. The one that gave out the high pitched beeping sound had numbers on them that were constantly changing. He noticed a tall metal rod next to him holding some kind of liquid, with a wire leading down towards his wrist.
The daze of his resurrection soon wore of, and Justin felt his panic rising. He started to squirm, and he heard the beeping of the box become more rapid. He pulled the wire out of his wrist, and blood started to pour from the wound. He pulled the wires off his chest and the beeping changed into a constant, high piched sound.
As he turned around, he saw a tall, skrawny man accompanied by two ladies looking towards him alarmed. They all wore long, white robes of some kind. The man put his two hands up in a surrendering gesture, and started talking to try to calm him.
"Sir" he said to the frightened knight "Sir, please, you have to calm down. Can you understand what I'm saying?"
Justin, not understanding a word the man was saying, shoved him to the ground, stormed past the terrified women and found himself in a long hall. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw one of the women hold something to her ear and talking urgently to someone. He looked down both ways, eventually deciding to go right.
He walked as fast as he could, the pain subsiding a little as he made his way to an iron door. He tried to open it, although it didn't seem to have a doorknob of any kind. Just when he was about to force it open, the doors slid sideways. Justin was taken aback from the experience. He has never seen anything like this before. But then again, this whole place was very alien to him.
When he entered, he saw two men advancing towards him, a green archer and a man in a blue shirt, white pants and a big hat on his head, pointing something towards him in both hands.
"All right buddy, take it easy, we don't want to hurt you." started the archer, while he held his weapon ready. "Why don't we have a nice chat in the common area, what do you say?"
Justin's anger rose. These men dared to threaten him while he was unarmed. They must have been the lowest criminals this place could offer.
"Igazán alávaló gazfickók lehettek ha fegyvertelen emberre támadtok" spat Justin in his native hungarian tounge.
"Ah have a feelin' he didn't hear ya brother" commented the man with the white hat.
Justin weighed his options. The two men weren't attacking just yet, but they were threatening him nonetheless. He was hurting, unarmed and outnumbered. He was sure that if he'd have a weapon, he could easily take on both of them. He loked around quickly to find something, anything that could serve him as a weapon.
On his right he noticed a rod, the same kind that held that package attached to his wrist in the other room. He grabbed it and charged the archer before he had a chance to shoot. But he was quick to react and dodged out of the way of the incoming weapon and rolled to the side, trying to get distance between himself and the raged knight. The other man started running in Justin's direction. Justin swung the rod in his way horizontally, but the nimble man dropped to the floor and with his momentum still carrying him forward he slammed into the legs of the knight. He fell on top of him, and they started wrestling.
Their bodies clashed, Justin on top, both of them trying to give a punch while holding back the other. Justin felt the other man's muscles tense as he sat on top of him. Suddenly, the man got his legs around Justin's neck, grabbed his left arm and pinned him down to the floor, gaining the upper hand in the duel. Justin squirmed until he was on his back, facing his attacker head on.
Their faces only inches from each other, Justin's sky blue eyes met with a pair of golden brown pools, fierce and mischievous. His face was hid under a red cloth, but the furrow of his brows and the tensing muscles on his forhead indicated his struggle to hold down the knight. He smelled like smoke, mixed with something Justin couldn't identify.
Collecting his strength, Justin managed to shove his enemy off him, and quickly stood up in fighting stance. The man rolled gracefully, and stood to face him too. They looked each other in the eye for a few moments, then almost at the same time attacked.
Justin took two quick steps forward, and just when they were about to hit each other, he ducked and slammed into the man's stomach. He doubled over in pain, gasping for air and Justin took this opening. He balled his right fist and slammed it in the face of his attacker with brute force. Before the man could fall back though, Justin grabbed his shirt and slammed him into the nearest wall, and heard a loud thump as his foe collided with the wall and fell to the ground with a loud "oof".
Suddenly he felt something hit his back, hard, and in the next moment he was trapped in a net of somekind. He looked behind him, and saw the archer taking the high ground, reloading his weapon, no doubt to fire a deadly shot at him.
Not hesitating a moment, Justin rolled behind a low wall of somekind and started to tear open the net he was trapped in. When he was almost out, he felt a fast projectile racing away above him. As he looked up, he saw the arrow turn back towards him in mid air, and he managed to get out of it's way barely in time. It hit the wall next to him, and a heartbeat later, it released somekind of gas. Coughing and covering his mouth and nose, Justin quickly ran towards another door and started running down another hall, very much like the previous one.
Running like a coward was not one of his proudest moments, but there was a difference between courage and boldness. He felt a littly dizzy, and his body still hurt from whatever it was that happened to him. He desperately needed to find a weapon and an exit.
As if God had heard him, he cought a glimpse of his armour and sword as he was passing by one of the rooms. He murmured a small prayer of thanks to the Lord, and quickly started to put on his armour. He only managed to get on his golden vest and helmet, when he heard quick footsteps approaching. He quickly grabbed his sword and stood in a fighting stance as he waited for his capturers to come.
He was slightly taken aback when a beautiful lady with midnight hair and peircing blue eyes stood infront of him. Her stare was intense and intelligent, her posture striking and demanding attention. Justin felt his cheeks burn, for she was hardly wearing anything, her long legs, her breasts and shoulders out in a blasphemous way.
- Hölgyem - he adressed the tall beauty in hungarian - Nem áll szándékomban bármilyen módon bántani téged, de kérlek, állj odébb, mielőtt én állítalak félre. / I do not wish to harm you in any way, so please, step aside, before I make you./
The woman didn't seem alarmed by the comment in the slightest. Instead, she stepped a little closer, but put her hands infront of her, indicating that she was not here to fight. As she came closer, she started speaking in Hungarian, which surprised the Shining Knight.
-Uram, megértem hogy össze vagy zavarodva, de engedd meg hogy segítsek. /Sir, I understand that you are confused, but please, let me help you./
-Te tudod, hogy hogy kerültem ide? /You know how I got here?/
The woman furrowed her brows, like she was struggling to understand him, but finally answered.
-Részben. Kérlek, nyugodj meg, és ígérem, mindent elmondok amit tudok. /Partially. Please, calm down, and I promise, I will tell you everything I know./
Justin didn't understand everything she said himself, but he got the general messege.
She told him how they found him in Croatia the best she could, and that they braught him to a doctor to check if he was okay. Justin still had a thousand questions, but didn't even know where to start. The woman spoke tentively, as though she knew something he didn't.
- Mi a neved? /What's your name?/ - she asked.
- Jusztusz - answered the knight after a few moments.
- Az én nevem Diana.
She seemed to think a little before decifding to ask him what she feared.
- Jusztusz, Mikor születtél? /Justin, when were you born?/
Justin was taken aback by the question. Why was that important to her? Though she didn't look dangerous, Justin knew that looks can be very decieving.
- Milyen kérdés ez? /What kind of a question is that?/
- Kérlek... csak válaszolj. /Just... answer it please./
Her face was... almost sad. Uncertain. Like she knew something but didn't want to tell. It was making him nervous and angry at the same time. Why wouldn't she tell?
- 1060. - He answered fianlly.
Diana's face went from sad to empathic. Resigned. She knew something.
- Jobb lesz ha leülsz. /You should probably sit down/ - she told him.
Seeing that he didn't intend to sit, she told the truth. That he slept through almost a millenia. That the Hungary he once knew was long gone. The language he speaks is so different from the modern one it is almost unrecognisable. That the people he once knew have all passed. His Culture, his king, his friends, his family... all of them.
The world he once knew has disappeared into the unforgiving sands of time.
'That's insane' he thought to himself 'it is not possible'. But the more he thought about it, the more sense it made. The strange devices, the strange people. But what made him certain was the look of pity Diana had on her face.
He suddenly felt sick. The world was closing in on him, and he fell to the ground, panting, out of breath. Diana tried to help him, but when she stepped towards him, he qickly lifted his sword towards her, and she stopped abruptly.
-Ne. Érj. Hozzám. /Don't. Touch. Me./ - he snarled.
Diana stepped back, and stood in silence for a few minutes. After what seemed to be an eternity, she stepped closer again.
-A lovadat is megtaláltuk. Itt van. /We found your horse aswell. She's here./
At the mention of his Pegasus, his head snapped up, his sky blue eyes glazed with emotion and the smallest spark of hope.
- Gyere utánam. /Follow me./
She turned on her heels, and exited the room. Justin waited a few moments before deciding to follow her.
They walked for a little while, passing other rooms and patients, who resembled the archer and his companion. The people they passed didn't seem to notice him much, they just glanced at him and continued on their way. They all seemed to be wearing purple uniforms, and a few of them wore rather colorful clothing, like Diana.
Finally entering into a quieter room, Winged Victory was galopping around in circles, her ears darting around nervously.
- Victoria! - he shouted, tears flowing down his cheeks at seeing the beautiful white stallion well and unharmed. The horse looked in his direction, her ears pointed directly towards him. After a few moments she whinnied in joy, jumped a few times in the air spreading her wings and galopped happily towards her human.
Justin dropped his sword to the floor, and spread his arms wide as the stallion ran to him. When they met, he hugged his broad neck while Victory galopped him around excitedly. He talked to the horse gently, petting her and patting her in the neck. The Horse nudged him playfully, and Justin nudged her back, eventually laying her on the ground, hugging her close, crying tears of joy, sorrow, and pain at the same time.
~ˇˇ~
Diana's heart ached as she watched the touching scene between the knight and his companion. She knew what it was like being in a strange new world with no way of going back. But she at least knew what she was signing up for, and had a choice in leaving. Justin, as far as she knew, was here against his will, without anyone to turn to. The Pegasus is the only one left from his previous life.
As she watched, she felt Green Arrow and Vigilante stand next to her, no doubt wondering about the strange knight.
- So, what is Mr. Shiny up to? - asked Green Arrow , crossing his arms.
- Reuniting with his only living friend. - said Diana, sadness tinting her voice
Arrow looked at her incrediously while Vig glanced at the Amazon.
- Shit - was all Arrow could comment.
- Shit indeed. - added Vigilante. - So what's his deal? Ah mean Ah dunno who the guy is, but he sure throws one helluva punch.
- Yeah, a guy who can rip a steel net is interesting to me too.
Diana, still looking intently at the knight pondered on the question. She had vague ideas, but they seemed to be accurate ones, considering the circumstances of the situationn.
- His name is Jusztusz.
- Come again?
- It is the old eastern european version of Justin, originating from the latin name Justinus. I think our knight comes from somwhere around the Karpathian Basin. The language he speaks is somewhat similar to hungarian, but since he was born in the eleventh century, it is very different from today's language. I've had some trouble understanding it in the beginning, but could mostly figure out what he meant.
- A Lady who can fight crime in high heels and speak a dead language. If Ah wasn't impressed until now, Ah should have known it would come soon.
- Amazons can speak all languages. - added Diana nonchalantly.
- Well isn't that a surprise... - commented Arrow in a cocky tone.
They watched the knight in silence for a few more minutes.
- What'll happen with him now? - Asked Vig the million dollar question.
- I'm not sure. We'll give him a place to stay until we can figure this out.
Vig nodded and looked back at the knight, still lying on the ground with the white horse. Altough their relationship didn't start on the best of terms, he felt very bad for the guy. He could not imagine what he was going through.
He had the feeling he didn't want to.