Hey guys! I'm back already! This is a relatively short chapter, but I promise I'll release a longer one soon enough.
STANDARD DISCLAIMER APPLIES.
After their adventure in Egypt the team decided to return to Mt. Justice and inform Batman of what had happened. Kal took over the debrief with Batman while Nightwing guided Napir to his room. Given that Napir was a rather thin boy, it was decided that he would fit Nightwing's clothes best, since the other boys on the team were broader than them both. Then the witch boy was introduced to the modern shower, much to his apparent amusement.
"What's so funny?" Richard asked him when Napir began smirking.
The Maleficar turned to him with a smirk. "It's about time you humans figured out water systems."
Richard raised his eyebrows at that. "You mean indoor plumbing? Your people already had it?"
"And much more. Except our bathes used magic, not… lightning." Napir nodded, the wording of his sentences was awkward due to inaccuracies of the translation spell. "Much has changed. I suppose I will have to learn about the world all over again."
The young man suddenly seemed much older than his looks, ancient even, as the air around him turned despondent. A man lost in time.
"How old were you when you… uh, went to sleep?" The hero asked as they turned the shower on and waited for the water to warm up.
"Hm… I had not yet celebrated a millennium. My apologies for being vague, but my head is still muddled from Dium Somnium." Napir murmured as he pulled off the fraying tunic that he had been buried in.
Richard was a little startled at the sudden nudity, before he remembered that ancient humans had been much more comfortable with being naked (public bathes and such). He began to look away before something caught his eye.
"Your… your back!" The young hero hissed at the sight of white scar tissue crisscrossing along the Napir's back.
The witch boy blinked, reaching up to briefly touch his shoulder, before he finally remembered what was there. "Ah yes. That."
"What… what happened?" Richard asked, horrified at the evidenced abuse.
"I was a slave, a long time ago." Napir said calmly, shrugging his shoulders as he tested the water in the shower. There were other scars on his body, evidence of a long life of conflict, so many that they were impossible to count. "Do not let it bother you. Those people are long dead. Even before I entered the dream."
Richard wanted to say more, but Napir was already pulling back the curtain and stepping into the shower. "Well, uh, I'll go get a spare change of clothes and leave them on the counter. There are fresh towels on the rack and… I guess I'll come back and check on you in a couple minutes."
Napir gave a noncommittal hum from the shower as Richard backed out, making a hasty escape to the main room where Kal and M'gann were speaking with Batman. His thoughts were whirling at the memory of Napir's scars. It had never occurred to him what Maleficari must have witnessed in their long lives. Human history was filled with war and struggle, and no doubt they had witnessed much of it. If the Maleficari had seen and suffered half as much as the humans had throughout history, Richard really couldn't blame them for hating humanity so much.
Those were whip lashes on his back. Richard thought with a mix of fury and sadness. Slavery. How old was he when it happened? He must have been quite young, if he was powerless to help himself.
Nightwing was lost in thought as he entered the main room, Miss Martian and Batman instantly sensing his unease.
"Is something wrong, Nightwing?" Batman asked him pointedly.
"No, sir." Nightwing shook off his dark mood. Napir's scars were his story to tell. "Where did the others go?"
"Wally and Artemis had to hurry back to school to take some exams." M'gann informed him, still looking at him with worried eyes. "Connor went to feed Wolf. He should be back soon."
"And Zatanna is still pestering Constantine to teach her more magic." Kaldur chuckled. It was amusing to see the older Brit become so frustrated by the young sorceress, Zatanna following him around with a star struck gaze. "He went outside for a smoke. She followed."
Even Batman seemed amused by the interaction of the two magicians, his mouth softening into what might have been an extremely faint smile. "Constantine is a talented sorcerer. If anyone is qualified to teach someone as powerful as Zatanna, it would be him. If she can convince him to, anyway."
"His defenses are weakening. I give it another week or so." M'gann giggled, turning back to Nightwing. "How is Napir adjusting?"
The three heroes noticed Nightwing hesitate for a moment before he answered, "He is taking things well, for a boy waking up two thousand years or so in the future. So far nothing seems too shocking for him. He mentioned that the Maleficari had a system of indoor plumbing before, and he hasn't commented much on our use of electricity, other than to say that the Maleficari used magic as their power source instead."
"Magic instead of electricity?" Kaldur asked, looking intrigued. "Sounds similar to Atlantis. I wonder how close our two empires were before they fell."
"Have you checked in with the scholars in Atlantis about the runes?" M'gann asked him, referencing the photograph of an ancient Atlantean temple from Dr. Thompson's notes.
The Atlantean shook his head. "Not yet. I'll call later today."
"So you are an Atlantean!"
They all looked up to see Napir walking into the room, wearing Richard's clothes, which were too long given their difference in height, but at least they fit width-wise. Napir had rolled up the sleeves and the cuffs of the jeans, feet bare. The sand had been washed out of his hair, dark black curls pulled into a low ponytail, the dirt scrubbed from his face so that his skin shone golden-tan.
He's... quite handsome. M'gann couldn't help but notice.
"You know of us?" Kaldur asked the witch boy, wondering just how old the boy was. Atlantis had sunk into the sea several thousand years ago – surely the boy wasn't that old?
"I do." Napir nodded as he came to stand beside Nightwing. "Though sadly, I never got to see it. I was born many centuries after the Flood, but my sister visited once."
"The girl that was buried beside you?" Batman clarified.
Napir turned to study the dark knight critically, as if just realizing his presence. "Yes. Her name is Nazidha. She is much older than me."
"If she has visited Atlantis before the deluge, then she must be at least 5,000 years old!" Kal exclaimed in shock.
"Indeed." Napir answered, chuckling at their incredulous looks.
"So then how old are you?" Batman asked him in a gravelly voice.
"Why is everyone so fascinated with my age?" Napir shook his head. "Most of my memories are still jumbled from Dium Somnium. My earliest memories are of Egypt under the Macedonian occupation."
"Dium Somnium? Latin for 'the long dream'." Batman murmured. "And the Macedonian occupation, you say? Do you mean Ptolemaic Egypt?"
"That would make you over two thousand years old!" Nightwing's mouth dropped open.
"Yes, unfortunately. Inbred sycophants." Napir curled his lips at the thought of the false kings that had taken over his country.
"That's not nice." The Martian scolded.
"Actually, they really were inbred." Richard told her. "The ancient Egyptian pharaohs were only allowed to marry within the royal family. Most ruling couples were siblings or cousins."
"That's… that's awful!" M'gann exclaimed, horrified. Even Kaldur winced beside her at the thought. "Inbreeding causes so many genetic mutations and deformations and–"
"Yes. We know." Batman interrupted her before she could give a scientific lecture on genetics. The dark knight was still focused on Napir. "But this Dium Somnium means that you did not age while you were asleep?"
Napir nodded. "I entered the long dream a few years after my ninth century. So technically, I am only nine-hundred."
"Only nine-hundred, he says." The Atlantean shook his head. "Only nine-hundred."
"Wait, why do you still look so young?" M'gann asked in shock.
To their astonishment, Napir chuckled."My people are immortal. As we grow older, we age much slower."
Nightwing snorted at that. "Basically eternal youth, huh? Wow."
"What are your powers? Can you fight?" Batman continued without pause, looming over the witch boy and watching him suspiciously. Napir only seemed amused at Batman's attempt at intimidation. He leaned his weight on one leg and crossed his arms.
"The Maleficari have a wide variety of magical abilities." Napir began slowly, as if unsure of how much to tell them. "We are trained the basics of warfare as children – combat training, tactical strategies, and more. After completing our basic education, we go on to an apprenticeship and specializations."
"And yours are…?" Batman prompted.
"I can fight with almost any weapon, but I have a preference for dual blades." Napir answered him, taking a moment to mourn the loss of his favorite set of daggers. "I was part of the Maleficari army, and specialize in combat magic and Daedric summons."
"Wait, wait!" Constantine's voice sliced through the room as he entered through the sliding doors, Zatanna hot on his heels and hissing at him under her breath. Probably still nagging him to train her. "No one's summoning demons in my house!"
"This… isn't your house." Aqualad told him in a dry voice.
"Tis a figure of speech." Constantine stuck his tongue out at the Atlantean, much to their collective amusement.
"Why are we summoning demons?" Connor's voice was added to the mix as he walked in with Wolf in tow.
Napir's eyes lit up at the sight of the genetically modified wolf. "You have a familiar?"
"A what now?" Superboy raised an eyebrow.
"A familiar is an animal partner that works alongside… whatever it is you do." Constantine quickly interjected. "So technically, yes, you have a familiar."
"Cool." Connor shrugged and patted Wolf on his large square head. The Wolf rumbled in agreement.
"All Maleficari have demonic familiars." Napir told them, everyone's attention turning back to the witch boy. "They are an integral part of our fighting abilities."
"But the only Maleficar we've seen with a familiar is Klarion." Zatanna pointed out.
Napir smirked at that, much to their confusion. "Klarion's familiar can fit in this world. Most of ours cannot."
"What does that mean?" Batman asked in a cautious tone, but Constantine answered this time.
"The world of Inferno is much larger than our own." The British sorcerer told them. "There are many demons who could never fit their true bodies on Earth. They are too large. Instead, they either possess a body here on Earth or craft an avatar of some kind."
"Klarion's Daedra - or what humans like to call demons - is small compared to most." Napir nodded in agreement, his smirk widening. "No wonder the boy has issues. He's got a tiny Daedra. Everyone else's is bigger."
"Ha!" Constantine patted the witch boy on the back, much to everyone's surprise. It took some of the younger teenagers to understand the subtext, and then there were several coughs, smirks, and blushes all around.
"What are your experiences in fighting?" Batman interrupted their snickers, looking slightly frustrated at the teenagers and their antics.
Napir shrugged off Constantine's hand as he straightened. "I have fought for hundreds of years and in several wars. I have many experiences. Why?"
"Klarion is building an army of Maleficari. What for, we don't know, but it can't be good." Batman said. "We need to stop him before –"
"Oh, he wants to destroy humanity." Napir hummed as he walked over to Wolf and let the animal sniff him before scratching his large ears. Wolf's tail thumped loudly against the floor.
"I'm sorry, repeat that?" Constantine asked as the entire room turned to stare at Napir.
The witch boy looked at them over his shoulder with a bored 'what-did-you-not-hear-me?' look on his face. "He wants to destroy humanity."
"Not another one." Nightwing groaned.
"Right." Aqualad sighed as he rubbed his face. "Of course he does."
Superboy shrugged. "I don't blame him. Humans kinda suck."
Constantine nodded in agreement. "Yeah…"
"Connor!" M'gann chided him, sending a glare at Constantine for encouraging him.
"And how does he plan to destroy all of humanity, exactly?" Zatanna piped up.
Napir looked at the strange little sorceress, sharp eyes studying her with a calculating gaze. She was strong, for a human, and so was the man Constantine, for that matter. They were nothing compared to a Maleficar, but it was still a surprise to see that magic still ran through human veins. She was untrained, however, which was a pity.
"There was a civil war before we fell to ruin." Napir sighed, looking ashamed of the actions of his people. "It was brutal and ugly and without regard for those caught in the crossfire. Thousands of humans would die in a single battle between our factions. Klarion is resurrecting our warriors to finish that fight. This time, there will be a final victor, regardless of the cost of that victory."
"But why?" Zatanna looked horrified and confused.
Napir hesitated. "It… It is not easy to explain. Our history with humans is tumultuous at best. But I think… I think he just wants to bring back our people. But there is not enough room on this world for both human and Maleficari civilizations."
"But surely there is another way!" Zatanna shook her head in denial.
Napir sent her pitying look. "One must fall before the other can rise."
Klarion smirked to himself and ran his fingers languidly down the arch of Teekl's spine, the demonic cat purring like a motor in his arms. He looked over the crowd of Maleficari that were gathered in his pocket dimension, slowly but surely acclimating to this new world.
He had fashioned his pocket dimension after the temples of the old Maleficari dominion. The dimension was shaped like a building, white marble arches reaching for the illusionary sky, colored glass windows painting the tiles floor with rainbows. The walls were painted with moving pictures of magical creatures frolicking through a forest, now lost to myth or hunted to extinction by those nasty humans. Much of the building was open to the gardens that surrounded it, a simple spell keeping the insects from wandering in through the open entryways. The gardens outside were filled with flowers of every color, even a few magical species that were extinct in the human world. Flowers grown of crystal winked in the light like scattered diamonds, birds in the trees singing with bell-like chirps, flashing iridescent feathers.
A fountain bubbled happily in the center of the courtyard, filled with glittering silver fishes and a friendly baby serpent splashing one of the Maleficar that sat on the edge reading a book. The girl, a petite little thing from Scandinavia with pale blonde curls and a cherub face, gasped and lifted her book out of the way of the droplets, glaring down as the serpent twisted down into the pond with a playful thrill of its gills. The little witch humphed as she reached up to wipe the moisture from her face, revealing fish scales on the underside of her forearms, with two thin fins protruding out and ending at the elbows.
Another, older woman was practicing with an ancient instrument in another corner of the gardens, fingers flying across the keyholes as a reedy, haunting sound drifting in the air and seeking eager ears. Her face was less youthful than other Maleficar, the rare sight of the lines on her mouth and eyes telling him that she was ancient, even by their immortal standards. He had found her buried in an ancient tomb in the Middle East, older than even the civil war. After several millennia of magical exposure, the physical manifestations were strongest on her: horns sprouted from her forehead, each one directly above her eyes, curving upwards for several inches. Her ears poked out from her head, large and round like a doe, and her eyes were yellow with a vertical pupil.
Two more Maleficari rush by, twin sisters chasing each and laughing as their fox familiars scampered after them. Straight black hair flowed like a river of ink behind them, almond shaped eyes glittering with mischief. They had been tied up and buried alive in the mountains of Korea, the Dium Somnium kicking in by pure instinct and preserving them for centuries. They had fox ears, a gift from their daedra, and bright orange eyes that reflected light, just like their familiars.
At the edge of the garden stood the first of his allies, Anori, the woman he had unearthed in the church in Massachusetts. She stood at the silver-wrought gate that was merely a false door to the illusion of a world beyond the gardens. Klarion had based the pocket dimension on Arteminus, the capital of the Maleficar Imperium, to cast an illusion to make it seem like his gardens overlooked the ancient city. The crystal city floated in the distance, surrounded by satellite islands also tipped with estates and temples. The sky surrounding them was in a constant state of dusk, pink and orange and gold blending together like watercolors bleeding together on canvas.
Anori, Dux Primus, a general of the Imperial army before the fall, stared at the illusion of her home, a sad and haunted look on her face. She had pale white hair, falling like silk down her back until the tips brushed her thighs. Her skin was just as pale, making her bright red eyes stand out in stark contrast. She would have been beautiful, save for the ugly scar that cut diagonally across her face, starting from the left side of her forehead, down across the bridge of her nose, and ending on the ridge of her right cheekbone. Her ears were pointed like an elf's, the edges pierced by little golden hoops that continued from the tips down to the earlobe. Her fingers were tipped with black nails that were naturally sharp and pointed, and when she spoke, he could see the flash of canine teeth.
"Klarion." She greeted him without turning around. She stood tall, taller than most men even, with her shoulders pulled back, posture straight, legs braced apart, hands clasped behind her back. Standing like a soldier.
"General." He nodded, Teekl meowing loudly in his own greeting.
She chuckled. "You are not old enough to have joined the army, child."
Klarion huffed at that, wrinkling his pert nose in indignation.
"You have created a wonderful refuge here." Anori mused as she looked away from what had been lost and looked back towards the gardens filled with the Maleficari that had awakened from the long dream.
"But it is not enough." Klarion said as he looked out into the illusion beyond and spied the beautiful city that had been the crown jewel of the Dominion.
"It will never be enough." Anori stated with a dark look. "The world belonged to us before it belonged to the humans. We will rebuild what we have lost. At any cost."
"I am at your disposal." Klarion bowed his head.
"No." He was startled at her negative reply. "You are the only one among us who knows the human world. You must take a position of leadership in this."
"But I am too young!" Klarion protested, though he was secretly pleased.
"This world has changed so much since I entered the dream." Anori sighed as she looked down into the boy's eyes. "And our forces are still quite small. We will need to strategize. There is no room for mistakes, this time."
"I know where we can find more of our people. Many more. All in one place." Klarion summoned Dr. Thompson's notes into his hands, ruffling through the papers. "The Templars split up the clues between their descendants and sent them off to explore new lands, hoping to keep the information scattered. Lucky for us, humans are curious creatures. I found a man that had managed to track down enough of the clues to decipher several of our resting places – yours included – as well as a… mass grave, of sorts."
"A mass grave?" Anori growled.
"I suspect most of them are merely in Dium Somnium." Klarion hummed.
"And where would it be located?" Anori asked him.
Klarion chuckled at the irony of it all. "Rome. The home of the Church itself."
She gave a wicked grin.
mmmmOER BAD GUYS!
Elyon and Lyra will probably appear in the next chapter. Wondering where they've been? Cause I have too lol.
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