A/N: Sorry for the late update! It's been a crazy weekend.

Chapter 10: Ningirsu

Cassie smiled as her old mentor walked into the coffee shop.

"Cassie," Diana greeted with a smile, holding her arms out for a hug. Cassie stood up and wrapped her arms around the older woman. "It's been too long since I've seen you," Diana said, squeezing Cassie. "How are you and Tim doing?"

Cassie blushed at the reference to her boyfriend. "Good. Tim's been given more responsibility on the Team lately. He's really stressed about it, but I think that he's doing a great job. He was trained by the best, after all." Diana pursed her lips at the statement, considering it to almost be an indirect insult.

"I think you had a pretty good trainer as well."

"Of course!" Cassie exclaimed, eyes widening. "I wouldn't trade training under you for anything in the world. The day you agreed to train me was one of the happiest days of me life."

"I was only teasing you, Cassie," Diana said with a laugh. "You don't need to get so flustered. Now, what did you want to see me about?"

Cassie sat back down as she grew more serious. "Are there any gods in this world other than the Greek gods?"

"I know there are," Diana answered, "but I don't know a lot of specifics about most of them. What gods are you wanting to know about?"

Cassie leaned forward to prevent other customers from hearing her. "The Team is fighting a new organization called the Order of Lagash. A sorcerer working with the group called upon the power of Bau and Ningirsu to use magic. Ningirsu and Bau were gods worshiped by the ancient Sumerian civilization, and Lagash was an important city in ancient Sumer. The Team was wondering if the ancient Sumerian gods were actual beings."

"I don't like that sound of that," Diana said, a look of worry crossing her face, "though I don't believe I've ever heard of any gods of ancient Sumer. We should go to Themyscira and ask the gods themselves for their knowledge."

"Can you go now?" Cassie asked eagerly.

"I had a feeling you were calling me over something big, so I cleared my whole day for you," Diana said, her worried look easing into a smile.

~.~

"Do you think Athena will answer our plea?" Cassie asked as they walked up the steps to the goddess's temple.

"Athena has always been a friend to the Amazons," Diana responded. "We loyally worship her and heed her advice. I see no reason why she would not help us now."

Cassie hope Diana was right, but didn't say that out loud. It wasn't that she didn't believe Diana's heard, she'd just never summoned a god or goddess before. She always paid the rites to and prayed to them, as her mother taught her, but she had yet to speak to any of them face to face.

They reached the alter of the temple and Diana laid down their offering of laurel leaves and wine.

Cassie kneeled down beside Diana and peeked at her friend out of the corner of her eye. "Oh great goddess of wisdom and war," Diana began, "please accept our humble offering and grant us your knowledge."

Diana stopped and they waited. Cassie tried not to fidget and jumped when a brilliant white light glowed above the alter, the next moment, a fifteen foot tall woman stood before them in a white toga with gold accents. Cassie stared up at her in awe, having never seen anyone so beautiful in her life.

"My daughter Diana, my daughter Cassie," Athena said, looking down upon them, "what would you have of me?"

"We seek knowledge regarding the gods of ancient Sumer," Diana explained. "Were they true beings and do they still exist?"

Athena stared down at them with an unreadable look upon her face. "Why would you ask me of this?"

Diana and Cassie cast troubled looks at one another. "My team fought a sorcerer who called upon the names of some of these ancient gods," Cassie said. "We need to know more about this group and their power. That's why we've come to you."

"Did this magic work?" Athena questioned.

"Yes," Cassie said, remembering that Nightwing and Aqualad returned from their mission temporarily blind.

"This is not welcome news," Athena said with a shake of her head. "The Sumer gods, also worshipped by the corrupt Babylonians and the bloodthirsty Assyrians, were banished more than two thousand years ago. The Sumer gods were too cruel, too power hungry, for the rest of us to stand by and watch. They were far worse than of the gods of the Greek pantheon, so we banded together to lock them away. If this sorcerer you speak of was able to call upon of the power of any of the Sumer gods…I do not know what this means."

~.~

"Wonder Woman and I talked with Athena," Cassie told the Team later that day. "And it wasn't good news. Athena said that the gods of ancient Sumer do exist, but they were banished over two thousand years ago by the other gods for their cruelty."

"If the Order of Lagash is relying upon the power of Ningirsu and Bau, maybe the Sumer gods aren't quite as banished as Athena seems to think," Rachel said, still trying to wrap her mind around the idea of Wonder Girl talking to a Greek goddess.

Before anyone else could comment, M'gann walked in, having left the meeting earlier to answer a call from her uncle. "Jon said that one of Queen Bee's military stations was attacked and that the damage matches what happened at the Louvre. The Justice League thinks the Order of Lagash were the attackers."

"Looks like the Order wanted revenge for Queen Bee lying to them about the tablet," Nightwing said.

"What's our next move?" Superboy asked. "We still don't know what the Order of Lagash is up to other than that they want the Tablet of Destinies."

Aqualad turned to look at Robin. "Well, Robin? You are still leading this mission. What would you have of us now?"

Robin gulped, but stood up straight. "I want to send Blue Beetle and Miss Martian to Ash Shatrah, Iraq, where the city of Lagash used to be. It's just a hunch, but I want M'gann and Blue Beetle to investigate the area and see if there's been any suspicious activity around there lately. M'gann, I want you to shape shift to look like one of the locals, and Blue Beetle will mentally translate the language for you so that no one suspects anything out of the ordinary. Blue Beetle, you'll have to go in a disguise other than your armor."

"Got it," Blue Beetle said with a nod.

"Everyone else can go home for now," Robin said. "We won't make our next move until we see what Blue Beetle and M'gann find out."

The Team began filing out and Rachel hurried to catch up with Nightwing. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" She asked.

"Sure, what's up?"

Rachel pulled Nightwing into the empty living room. "I think I might know where the Tablet of Destinies is, but I don't want to bring it up in front of everyone until I know for sure."

"Where do you think it is?" Nightwing asked, lowering his voice.

"Back at the Louvre," Rachel said. Nightwing quirked one eyebrow up and Rachel continued. "There's an ancient Sumerian artifact in the Louvre called the Stele of Vultures. It's a stone monument celebrating the victory of the city of Lagash over a neighboring city-state. One side of the monument depicts a history of the battle, while the other side depicts a picture of Ningirsu and some supposedly mythological tale, but what if the Stele of Vultures is the Tablet of Destinies? What better way to hide such an important artifact than to disguise it as a record?"

Nightwing looked intrigued. "But if the Order of Lagash is so obsessed with the Tablet of Destinies, wouldn't they know whether it was the Stele of Vultures monument?"

"Don't you remember how they smashed everything, even before they reached the Ancient History exhibit? Like you said, it seems like they were looking in every possible place for the Tablet, which gives you the idea that they don't really know what they're looking for."

"There's no harm in tracking down every lead," Nightwing admitted, "and Queen Bee did tell the Order that they would find the Tablet at the Louvre. She may have lied to them, but she may also have been telling the truth. We'll check it out, but I think we should bring along a magic user to help our investigation. I know the perfect woman to ask for help."

~.~

"So, you were kidnapped by the League of Shadows but don't have any memory of it?" Zatanna asked Rachel as they moved through crowds of museum visitors.

"I don't have a memory of anything," Rachel replied. "The first thing I really have a memory of is waking up in Nightwing's hideout after he rescued me."

"Huh. And M'gann couldn't help you at all?"

Nightwing sighed. "You know, maybe this isn't the best place to discuss this topic."

"Oh, it's fine," Zatanna brushed off. "You're so paranoid. Barely anyone here speaks English and no one is paying attention to us anyway." Zatanna turned back to Rachel and said, "He's always been this way. He's über careful about every step he makes. It's a wonder the man gets anything done with all the precautions he takes."

"I'm right here," Nightwing pointed out. "And no, M'gann wasn't able to help her. M'gann couldn't find any trace of Rachel having any memories at all."

"Blank slate," Rachel said, "that's what M'gann called my mind."

"Well, maybe there's something I could do to help," Zatanna offered. "I could at least look into it, though it would help if I knew what had been done to you."

"Unfortunately, that's a question only the League of Shadows can answer," Nightwing said quietly. "But thanks for the offer, Zatanna. It'd be awesome if you could help Rachel get her memories back."

"Have you remembered anything at all?" Zatanna asked as they came to the first exhibit destroyed by the Order of Lagash and stopped. The entire area was roped off and plastic curtains hung to obstruct visitor's views from the mess. They waited until the hall emptied before ducking under the rope and pushing past the curtain.

"No." Rachel answered. "I still don't remember anything from before I was kidnapped. The only things I've learned about myself are that I know how to fight, and I can speak six languages."

"What about that gem on your forehead?" Zatanna asked. "That's gotta mean something. Have you looked into it?"

"The only thing I found regarding head jewels is bindis from the Hindu culture. Although, the word bindi is Sanskrit, which is a language I speak, but I don't think my jewel is meant to be a bindi. Not that I would really know one way or the other."

They fell silent as they reached the Stele of Vultures. Rachel had read that the Stele of Vultures was originally carved out of a massive stone slab, but only seven fragments remained today. Rachel took her time studying the historical and mythological sides of the monument before nodding to herself. "I think I've got it. I believe there's a spell encrypted on separate parts of the stele that if said will reveal the Tablet of Destinies. Zatanna, I want you to repeat the words that I say to you, I don't think the spell will work for someone without magic."

Zatanna nodded. "Ready when you are." Rachel read off the tablet and Zatanna repeated the ancient Sumerian words, not stumbling once over the difficult pronunciation. As Zatanna finished the spell, the seven pieces of the monument rose into the air and glowed brightly before merging together. The words and pictures on it shifted and swirled, rearranging themselves entirely. When the tablet finally settled, Rachel stared at it in horror.

"What?" Nightwing prompted. "What does it say?"

"It…it details how to resurrect Ningirsu." She turned to look at Nightwing. "That must be what the Order of Lagash is planning."

A/N: And because I'm sure many of you are thinking this, no, Rachel reading the words would not have activated the spell because not only does Raven have no memory of her powers, but she also has no access to them for reasons that shall later be revealed.