The Cavern of Knowledge

OK, well, I'll give you one chance to guess what they found in here... Or you could just read, since you'll miss some stuff if you don't. Anyways, I wanted to point out if it seems like I really messed something up, say that in a review, and I'll check it. I wrote most of these while in Spanish class, so it is very likely that I did...

"What'd you find?" Beast Boy asked them when they were close enough to hear.

"Not much," Robin said, choosing to not mention his surprise and seeing Raven laying back like that, apparently of her own choosing, "but we think that this site has been excavated recently."

"But we did find some writing on the walls," Starfire added, "Tovar says you must read if for us, Raven."

"It's some sort of hieroglyphics… in a way," Slade elaborated.

"All right," Raven said, trying to rise. She actually pulled herself to a sitting position before she had to grab the rough walls to pull herself up. Beast Boy sighed and picked her up again.

"I can walk," she said feebly, still feeling strange about the conversation and her feelings for him. She tried to push him away, but it just caused her to fall towards him more.

"Yeah, sure you can," he said, starting down the tunnel.

She growled a reply at him, but other than that didn't think about it anymore.

After about a half hour of walking (and a five minute break so that Beast Boy could stretch his arms), they entered a large cavern. It was round, about a hundred feet across, with a dozen pillars forming a circle 15 feet in from the wall. These enormous columns glimmered dull orange and cast great shadows from the light that was put out by a lake of lava in the middle.

"Wow," Beast Boy said, almost dropping Raven as he walked to the nearest pillar. Raven nodded her head in agreement, looking around as energetically as she could.

"Yeah…" Robin said, "That was about the same as our reaction."

"The writing is on the walls, in the areas that are illuminated," Slade said, translating Tovar's signs. "He knows what you have to read."

Tovar led the little group over to a section of wall between the fifth and sixth pillars to the left. He then pointed silently to the wall and stepped back so that Raven could read.

"This is like nothing that I've ever seen before," Raven murmured, "Beast Boy, move closer."

Beast Boy grunted an agreement as he followed her instructions, stepping to a place about three feet from the wall.

The wall had about 20 lines of writing, in several different languages. Instead of having translations, with all the words from each individual language grouped together, the different languages were mixed together to make on large, multilingual passage.

There were mostly hieroglyphs, but there was also Chinese and Arabic. Beast Boy even saw English words scattered on the wall. He heard Raven gasp.

"There's more than one meaning," she said, "There're… three different passages in one."

"You mean that there're three different topics in the same passage, right?" Robin asked

"No, the words can be translated to talk about three different things. Give me a minute to read it."

The group waited quietly as she read. Once Beast Boy thought that he saw her glance up at his face, her eyes shining brightly. After a couple minutes, she told Beast Boy to turn so that she could see the others, and the crowded around. A quick glare from him and they backed up to give her some space, and she began to speak.

"According to the first meaning, the time is growing short for the two who will be lost. Apparently the 'wanderer' has already seen the cause of the accident, if this is correct," she said.

"Cyborg?" Starfire asked.

Raven nodded, and then said, "It goes on to talk about how the two must stay, but then it says something like 'but death in the caves shalt not be the end for the two'."

They looked at her, expecting more about the two but she said nothing else about it. The tone of her voice hinted that she knew more, however.

"The second meaning talks about Cyborg," the incapacitated teen continued, "It says he has to do something else that is important, but he will be safe. It also hints at the fact that he will return to the group."

She looked around the circle, seeming to shrink closer to Beast Boy and drinking in the image of her friends. After a long pause, she continued.

"From here, the remainder of the group must go west, to Africa, where they will get help."

"Is there any more specific information?" Slade asked her intently. His voice seemed to have a comprehension that the others didn't. He nodded as he met her eyes, as though she had told him something none of the others had heard. He looked up to the boy holding her as he waited for the answer.

"Unfortunately, no. One of the survivors will give the rest of you the information you will need."

She sighed and closed her eyes, and a great rumbling began, starting soft, but growing in a rapid crescendo that echoed down the tunnels until it was deafening.

"The accident has started." The Goth said as the pillars in the room began to fall, "Get out now."