Chapter Thirteen: Awakening Dead Gods

Raven dreamed…

A nightmare city lay beneath the waves. Taken on their own, no single aspect of the obsidian buildings could be said to be out of the ordinary, yet in their whole, their twisted angles, the dark red glow emanating from their pitch-black walls, the faint chanting that formed a permanent sonic backdrop, all of it seemed to- seemed to offend one's senses, giving anyone who saw it the same sick gut feeling they get when they see their murderer…

"Excuse me, Doctor," a nurse said, walking into the chief medical officer's office, "but I think there's something wrong with Patient 42."

"Something wrong?"

"Well, I was doing a routine checkup on her, and it seemed that her heartbeat was a little fast."

The doctor sighed. Surface dwellers- they read a textbook or two, and suddenly they're all lining up for their 'Nobel Prizes'.

That being said, it was time she checked up in Raven anyway- might as well use this as an opportunity to escape some boring paperwork.

Raven dreamed…

Beneath the terrible city lay a huge temple, nothing more than a massive underground dome, and within it was an army of abominations…

Beasts that looked like the bastard spawn of sharks and men, inscribed collars around their scaly necks.

Purple tentacle-headed beasts in repulsive violet and yellow robes.

All of them were shouting and cheering in their strangled language, their adulation directed towards the two monstrosities standing in the middle of the chamber: one, a reptilian beast clad in black and gold armour, its two jagged blades raised as a loud snarling coming from the canine mouth attached to its horned, snakelike head, it's two pairs of red eyes closed in exultation, while next to it stood an abomination that stretched all the way to the ceiling, hundreds of feet high, hundreds of feet of naked green corpulence, of a tentacled head anointed with ruby-red eyes, their unholy gleam still very much visible in the shadow of its draconian wings…

"Hmm, this is odd- this is far too much brain activity for REM sleep," the doctor mused as she perused the readouts. "Almost like she's trying to remember something." She turned from the console to the nurse behind her. "Nurse, get me some-"

Raven dreamed…

Atlantis was burning.

This once proud city, the true cradle of human civilization, was in ruins, save for a tower in the centre of the city, the last remaining structure of the home of Atlantis's King.

It was upon its battlements he stood and fought the reptilian demon, his mechanized spear bathed in a hellish glow by the light of the flames of his dead city. Even here, he found his eyes watering from the ash that wafted to this height.

His opponent however, relished it, its four serpentine eyes burning with the thrill of combat, its forked tongue hanging out of its mouth as it struck again and again in a murderous frenzy, and although the King found it easy to block each blow, the sheer frenzied madness of it had already worn him down, and he knew his end would soon come. But as his eyes moved upwards, to the topmost spire of the tower, he knew, as the demon prepared to deal the final blow that his inevitable death would not have been in vain.

And the demon realized it too, as it caught the look in the dying King's face. Howling with despair and anger, it turned back to the spire, and saw the Queen standing upon its zenith, a glow emanating from a device in her hand, and it knew that for all that the battle was won, all its efforts were for nothing…

Raven dreamed…

Flashes of- of 'memory':

A flash from the spire's pinnacle…

The army, wailing in fear and despair, fleeing back to their nightmare city, only to join their green-skinned 'god' in deathlike sleep…

Atlantis sinking beneath the waves, its few surviving inhabitants changed by the light forever…

And of the broken remnants of its empire, falling apart, and then picking up the pieces again, first in Egypt, then Mesopotamia, and then the rest of the world, their ancient legacy remembered only as legends…

Legends that never remembered the beast from beneath the waves, for it was rarely seen, and when it was, the sight drove all who beheld it mad, unable to tell others of the horror they had seen. All that humanity would allow itself to remember was the scaly demon that led its armies…

Apophis, Destroyer of the Sun, enemy of Ra…

Nidhogg the Dread Biter, who gnaws constantly the roots of Yggdrassil, the Tree of Life…

The many headed Hydra, which cannot be killed, for as a head is cut off, two more grow in its place…

The beast called Dragon…

"No sign of improvement, Doctor," the nurse said.

"I can see that," the doctor replied irritably. The last thing she needed was a surface dweller telling her the painfully obvious.

"Shouldn't we inform her friends?"

The doctor considered it. "No, not yet. What would we tell them? That, that- what was the patient's name again?"

"Raven, Doctor."

"-that Raven was having strange dreams? Please."

"But Doctor, I heard stories about Raven-"

"Stories, nurse, which have no place here."

"If you-" the nurse began, when she stopped. "Doctor? You hear something?"

They stood silent, and they realized the soft whispering they were hearing was coming from Raven.

"That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange æons, even death may die."

Raven dreamed…

A submarine, moving above an underwater canyon, Beast Boy, Cyborg and Aqualad standing upon the command deck…

Small silver globes gliding along the underwater walls, bright red lights blinking around their diameter- robotic probes, scouting out the area, unknowingly heading towards a sunken city, a city of wrong angles, of jagged obsidian…

Of where a low chanting could be heard, in a forgotten, strangled tongue, as old as fear…

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn…

Ia, Ia, Cthulhu f'taghn…

"I have to warn them!" Raven shouted as she awakened. Around her, lights flickered on and off, and machines began to malfunction. The medical staff in the vicinity all collapsed to the ground, some clutching their chests as they struggled to breathe, and some frothing uncontrollably at the mouth.

But Raven neither saw nor heard any of this. "I have to warn them," she whispered, slipping into the shadows.

(scene change)

Three days.

Three days spent waiting in silence.

In better circumstances, the Titans would have used those three days they spent at the Japanese-Atlantean joint research station to observe the research being done, work with Atlantean technicians on improvement and maintenance, assist the joint research teams on exploring the sea bed, perhaps even making new friends and enjoying the peace and quiet.

Instead…

"How is she?" Robin asked Starfire as she came up to him in the research station's observation post, his gaze fixed on the ocean depths.

"Raven is," Starfire hesitated, "Raven is not too well, Robin. I wish it could be otherwise, but…"

"Don't be, we've done all we can for her," Robin said, the assurance in his voice not felt within him. Turning to Starfire, he asked, "Any word from the others?"

Starfire shook her head. "There has been no word from our friends since they left on the Atlantean submarine," she said. "I will admit that this too, worries me."

"Well, you heard what Aquaman said- the fleet he sent out would have to keep comm. silence unless it was an emergency." He placed his hand on Starfire's shoulder. "To tell the truth Starfire, I think we'll have to go with his judgment on this one."

"It would not work, Robin!" Starfire said with such vehemence Robin was taken aback. "Have you not seen that Legion is most familiar with magic, not technology? This 'comm. silence' will not hide the Atlanteans from his sight, but it will hide our friends from theirs!"

"Starfire," Robin said firmly, trying to make himself heard to the semi-hysterical Tameranian. "Starfire, listen to me," he said again. When she had calmed down a bit, he spoke again. "We don't really know what kind of powers Legion depends on. Remember, he had to steal those artifacts from the Jump City Museum to cast his teleportation spell. We also cannot take any chance that he might detect us, no matter whether he's using magic or not. Besides," he said with a wan smile, "it is Aquaman's fleet, not ours."

Drawing Starfire closer, he whispered, "They'll be all right, Starfire. Even if they didn't have Aqualad and a small Atlantean fleet behind them, Beast Boy and Cyborg can take care of themselves."

Just then, a massive Atlantean war submarine passed in front of the window on its routine patrol, the markings on it indicating its position in the Atlantean Royal Guard.

"It would make me feel better if one of those submarines went with them," Starfire said.

"They are called the Royal Guard for a reason, Starfire," Robin said gently. "Have you checked up on Raven?"

Starfire hung her head sadly as she replied, "She is still asleep, Robin, I am sorry. I asked the doctors what was wrong…"

"What is wrong?" Starfire asked. "Why would Raven not wake up?"

"I wish I could tell you that, your Highness," the Atlantean doctor had replied, shrugging, "but as far as our instruments and experience can tell, she's asleep. About the only thing out of the normal we can detect is that your friend is experiencing a heightened degree of what the surface dwellers call REM sleep."

Starfire gasped. "Then why are you out here talking to me? You must go back in there and save-"

"Calm down, your Highness," the doctor had replied, bemused. "I was merely trying to say that your friend is dreaming, and in a manner consistent with deep sleep."

"But if all she is doing is sleeping, then why would she not wake up?"

"That, I cannot answer," the doctor said. "All I can say is that otherwise, all her other vital signs are normal."

"And that was all she told me," Starfire finished.

Robin fell silent, deep in thought. Normally, Starfire would have known better than to interrupt him while he was like this, but there was something about him that tempted her to do otherwise. Perhaps it was the worry he was trying to hide, or the fear…

"Robin?" Starfire reluctantly asked, afraid of what the answer might be. "Is there something you wish to say?"

"…Starfire, have you ever wondered why we're still here?"

"Huh?" Starfire asked, dumbfounded.

"Remember that night, when Raven almost-"

Perhaps unconsciously, he drew Starfire closer as he remembered what she had told him of that night. "When you and Beast Boy… Raven…" he trailed off.

"I remember," Starfire replied softly, before she saw something that surprised her more than any Earthly peculiarity ever could:

A tear running down Robin's cheek.

"I thought," he began. "I mean, I thought…"

He felt someone squeeze his hand, and when he turned to look at Starfire, the gentle look she gave him told him everything he needed to know. So he gave up trying to say what he felt like saying, knowing that with Starfire, he needn't have tried anyway.

But whatever embarrassment he felt would have been preferable to the dread he felt in the pit of his stomach as he continued, "I thought that things could have been much worse."

"Why, Robin?"

"Starfire, you know what usually happens when Raven loses control of her emotions, right?"

Starfire nodded.

"And yet that night, nothing happened- nothing much, anyway."

"How could you say nothing happened, Robin?" Starfire asked, shocked. "Is that not our friend Raven lying in the hospital wing?"

"That's what I'm trying to say, Star," Robin pressed. "Why do you think I and Cyborg went out to look for him? You've seen how powerful she has become, think about what you'd expect to happen if she lost control! The Tower should have been nothing but rubble by the time she was through- but instead, all that happened was that she went to her bedroom and fell asleep. She hasn't woke up yet, true, but still- that's it?"

"What are you saying, Robin?"

"Starfire, remember when we asked Professor Giles for help?"

"He said that Raven was undergoing a, a 'transformation', correct? He said her demon side was maturing," Starfire replied uncertainly, not knowing where this conversation was leading to.

"But what if he was wrong, Star? Think about it- all Professor Giles's knowledge comes from his books and studies about demons, right? But Raven's a half-demon, the only one we know about!"

He turned away to look into the ocean depths again, as if their endlessness comforted him. "She's the only one he knows about," he said, less forcefully this time.

"You are thinking that perhaps Raven's human side is having an effect on her demonic one?" Starfire asked.

"Not exactly, but close," Robin replied. That was another thing Starfire liked about him- unlike most people, he never mistook her naïveté for stupidity. Turning back to her, he continued, "What if Raven's demonic side isn't just maturing, Starfire? What if- what if it's taking over her?"

Starfire drew back, aghast. "Raven would never allow such a thing to happen to her!" Starfire said with iron-clad certainty.

"I don't think she has a choice, Starfire," Robin said.

"Even so, she will still be our friend, no matter who or what she is, yes?" Starfire asked.

"I… I really don't know about that, Starfire."

"You see?" Starfire said desperately. "You do not know! You do not know anything of demons taking over people!"

"But I do, Star," Robin said quietly. "I've seen it happen before."

"You have?" Starfire asked, taken aback.

"Well, not like this," Robin admitted. "But…"

Robin sighed. "When I was still working with Batman-"

(That was another thing Starfire had noticed about him- unlike the other Robins, he always referred to his working with Batman- never working for, or even helping Batman.)

"-I saw many people get taken over by their own demons. Forget the ones like Trigon or Legion, the ones in people are bad enough. Look at the Joker; sometimes I think he had something like that inside him all along, and all it needed was an excuse to come out. And when it did, it completely took over him. It was like the man he was before… died."

Again, his gaze swept over the abyss. "There were other people like that too- people like the Clock King, Clayface, Poison Ivy- all taken over by something inside them. People like Mr. Freeze and Catwoman, they managed to fight it, but…" he trailed off.

Suddenly, he felt Starfire grip his hand firmly, but softly. "And yet there are some who do manage to fight it."

"Like?"

"My sister, perhaps? And Mr. Fixit? Terra?" Starfire said matter-of-factly, before continuing in a more tender tone, as she drew closer, "You?"

"Me?" Robin asked, surprised. "What did I do?"

"I have heard, and read, of many humans who lost their parents when they were young, and then grew up to become evil criminals," she said softly, "but you did not. Why?"

Robin felt tears well up within his eyes; he rarely spoke of his parents, the memory of their deaths still as painful now as it was so many years ago. "Batman took me in," he replied curtly. "Why are you asking me-"

"So what if Batman took you as his own son? Could you not have learned his methods, then went on to become an evil man yourself? It would have been easy, would it not, to have misused Batman's methods to aid yourself instead of others? Why did you not do so?"

"Because I didn't want to!" Robin exploded, pulling himself away from Starfire. "Because if I did, it would have made my parents' deaths meaningless! Because I didn't want other people to suffer the same way I had to! There! You happy?" he said angrily, hot tears streaming down his cheeks, and uncaring of how he looked to Starfire, nor her undoubtedly angry response.

A response that never came. Instead, Starfire smiled at him, as she once again, took his hands in her own. "That is right, Robin- you chose not to. You could have become a truly evil being, driven to darkness by your parents' deaths and Batman's knowledge, but you chose not to."

"So what? You're saying that just because I wanted to be a good guy, Raven will miraculously jump out of bed happy and shiny?" Robin asked sarcastically, the bitterness and anger within him not completely gone yet.

"Yes," Starfire said simply. "Do you not see who you are? Who you have become? Trigon cannot be said to be Raven's true father, and her mother had left this world long ago. Whether you or Raven know it, you have become both mother and father to her. She trusts you, Robin, and learns from you, just as any child would from their true mother or father."

She drew him closer as she whispered, "I will admit that I do not know much about your world, or even mine, but I do know that it is your choices who make you who you are. And I know our friend Raven will make the right choice- because you have."

Robin fell silent for a few seconds, his eyes closed tightly as Starfire's arms came around him. "Thank you, Star," he finally replied, his voice husky, quiet, as he placed his own arms around the Tameranian. "Say, can I ask you a question?"

"Yes?"

"Was it true? I mean, what you said about me and Raven?"

Starfire's only response was a contented nod.

"And what about the rest of you guys?" Robin asked softly, the load on his heart lightening by the moment. "Am I your dad too?" he joked.

"I do not know about Cyborg or Beast Boy, but I…" Starfire trailed off, as she drew closer to Robin, and Robin to her. Their lips brushed against each others'-

"We have to help them!" a ragged voice shouted from the shadows behind them.

Starfire and Robin jerked apart, reflexively moving into battle stances, but as their memories recognized the voice-

"Raven?" they said in unison.

She looked normal, until you saw her eyes. Not weren't the four red slits the Titans had seen, and had learned to steel themselves against- these were the simple, stark eyes of a madwoman.

"We must get them out… of… there…" Raven said, before she collapsed, Robin and Starfire already running to catch her.

(scene change)

It was times like this that he treasured most.

Such were the musings of the captain of the small Atlantean submarine detachment that was escorting Cyborg, Beast Boy and Aqualad. The serenity of traveling in peaceful seas, with only the gentle hum of his small submarine's machinery and the soft murmur of the crew as they went about their daily routines, while he watched from above, a raised platform serving as his bridge.

For this peace, he had given up far more prestigious postings aboard far more magnificent warships, had given up the hustle and bustle of Atlantis and its other undersea colonies…

And as far as he was concerned, it was worth it. Even this interruption to form a search party for a friend of his King's adopted son wasn't enough to put him off his good mood.

"Sir? Sir?"

"Hmmm?" the captain asked, the first officer's questions interrupting his musings.

"Course change orders from Aqualad, sir," his first officer said, handing the captain a small sheet of semi-transparent film. "We're to proceed to these coordinates, and search this sector."

The captain looked at the writing on the film, and nodded nonchalantly. "Very well- give navigation the new coordinates."

"Yes sir."

What's to find over there? the captain wondered, as his first officer relayed the new orders to the helmsman. Radar probes had mapped out that patch of ocean long before the research station had been set up; the captain just didn't see any point in treading old ground.

He didn't mind it himself- if he had a choice, he would have liked to live his entire life out in his submarine, in the peaceful depths of the ocean; however, he was more than aware of he fact that his crew did not share his beliefs. The fact that they saw this mission as a favour for some surface dwellers didn't really sit well with them either.

It also didn't help that their circular search path meant that they were now less than half an hour away from the research station. The temptation to just break off and go home was stifling.

"It is our duty," the captain reminded the first officer, upon hearing his aide's grumblings. He didn't get along very well with the first officer, seeing as the younger man was a great deal more ambitious.

Ah well. At least it enabled the captain to appreciate the peace and quiet more.

"Our duties are as soldiers of the Atlantean Navy, not as some glorified child minders for a lost surface dweller that couldn't take care of itself," the first officer responded. "Even if they needed help searching the ocean, why would they need to waste Atlantis's time and resources to do it?" He sniffed disparagingly. "I thought our King was immune from the madness of surface dwellers."

"Perhaps he is," the captain reminded him. "Perhaps there is something about this particular surface dweller that makes it important to him."

"With respect, sir, I think this is all a waste of time." As well as being an example of nepotism at its worst, he thought, but didn't say. Tolerant though his captain was, he was utterly devoted to the Royal family, and would never-

"Captain!" a voice called out from the navigation console. "We have reached the coordinates. Reports from the docking bay indicate the T-Sub, Aqualad and Beast Boy have departed on their search. Launching remote observer probes as well."

The captain nodded. "Very good, hopefully we'll see some results this time."

"With all due respect sir," the helmsman replied ruefully, "I'd rather see my wife."

"You and half the crewmen of the fleet!" someone shouted from the communications console, to general mirth; the beauty of the helmsman's wife had become a local legend in the small fleet.

"All right, all right, that's enough, all of you," the captain said with almost fatherly indulgence. "Just let these other children see that there's nothing to find here," he said pointedly, "and we can all go home."

(scene change)

Cyborg ran his hands across his face; more than three days of almost no sleep at all were beginning to take a toll even on him. Stifling a yawn, he checked his battery power indicators, and wasn't surprised to see that he was running on the barest minimum available to him.

"Man, what'd I give for a cup of coffee," he whispered to himself. Aiming to get a few minutes of rest, Cyborg put the T-Sub on autopilot, and leaned back, letting his eyes wander across the sights of the ocean, watching as the lights of the T-Sub illuminated wonders one would not find on land; even at this relatively shallow depth, he managed to see multi-coloured jellyfish flashing their lights to attract mates, thin, needle-like fish darting in and out of sight, a few hundred feet of underwater rock rising in a wall in front of-

"Whoa!" he yelled, pulling the T-Sub upwards in the nick of time.

As soon as he managed to breathe again, Cyborg took a look at the T-Sub's various indicators, especially those regarding system integrity. As far as he could tell, the sub was in perfect shape- so why didn't its sensors 'see' that rock wall?

A beeping emerged from the T-Sub's console, interrupting Cyborg's musings. Consulting his radar, Cyborg saw that it was coming from Aqualad. Turning the T-Sub in the direction of the sonar burst, Cyborg in turn sent similar bursts to the Atlantean fleet and Beast Boy. They had agreed on sonar signals, so as to make anyone who might have been listening in believe this was yet another test done by the research station.

But as to how the station managed to miss what came into Cyborg's sight…

"Oh man," Cyborg breathed outwards in a mixture of astonishment and dull terror. "Oh man, oh man, oh man…"

What lay before him were… not ruins, but the perfectly preserved remains of what was obviously a sunken city, sitting in a massive crater- although a city of what, Cyborg did not want to know, considering the non-Euclidean geometry the city seemed to possess. Almost without realizing it, Cyborg sent a sonar wave towards the city, and watched in disbelief as the signal passed right through the buildings as if they weren't there.

He looked back out the window, and saw that Aqualad held the ghoulish structures with the same terrified wonder as he did. Cyborg wondered if his own face was as pale as the Atlantean's.

Cyborg turned to Beast Boy, who, having taken the form of a swordfish, had joined them, but he was already gone, speeding off towards the general direction of the Atlantean fleet. Various console displays told Cyborg that Beast Boy's adrenaline levels had skyrocketed to levels consistent with blind terror. He turned back to Aqualad, who nodded with unspoken agreement, and the two of them turned around and followed Beast Boy.

With a great deal of inexplicable relief.

(scene change)

"You okay now, Beast Boy?" Aqualad asked as Beast Boy joined him and Cyborg on the command deck as they stood with the captain and the first officer.

"Yeah, I think so," Beast Boy replied, but the exhaustion in his voice didn't fool anyone.

"What happened out there?" Cyborg asked.

"I don't know," Beast Boy said, rubbing his head. "I was all right until I saw- until I saw that place," he replied. "Then, well, I guess my animal instincts kinda took over, I guess. What can I say?" he said ruefully, "that place just seemed wrong."

"It just seemed wrong?" the first officer said, eyebrow raised. In return, he managed to elicit a black look from Aqualad.

"Now, now, that's enough," the captain said placatingly. "I'm sure that there is a reasonable explanation for all this. Perhaps your green friend saw a rock formation, which, in the darkness of the ocean, appeared a bit more frightening than usual, especially when combined with his exhaustion."

"Hey-" Beast Boy began, but Aqualad beat him to a scathing reply.

"If that's the case, then he must have a really strong imagination, because whatever he saw, both I and Cyborg saw it too."

"And what exactly did you see?" the first officer asked, before the captain and Cyborg stepped in.

"Hey man, cool it," Cyborg said to Aqualad, as he placed a calming hand on the Atlantean's shoulder.

"Sound advice," the captain agreed, stepping in front of his first officer. "There is no harm in investigating this," he said in tones of finality. "At worst, we will be less than an hour late back at the station. At best, we'll have succeeded in our mission." He turned to look downwards. "Helmsman, launch remote probes as soon as possible."

A voice came from the navigation console. "Launching probes… now. Putting displays on the main screen now, sir. Nothing detected so far, sir."

"Turn off all scanning devices," Cyborg said. "No radar, no sonar, no nothing. Just give us a visual feed."

"That's highly irregular-" the first officer began, when the captain waved his objections off.

"Do as he says, helmsman," he said, ignoring his second-in-command's increasing irritation.

"Oh, now what do we have… here…" the captain trailed off, as his eyes, as well as those of the bridge crew, took in what lay before them.

"By Atlantis, what is that?" the first officer asked, not knowing whether to stay here and appreciate the magnificence of what he was seeing…

…or whether to take over the navigation console, turn the submarine around, and 'run like hell'- a surface-dweller term he had taken quite a liking to.

"Told you I didn't imagine it," Beast Boy said, turning away. Having been proven correct, he felt anything but smug.

As the fast moving probes moved closer and closer to the sunken structures, several members of the crew started to suffer that curious nausea associated with fear. One crewman even leaned over and started retching.

Nobody noticed. All their eyes were focused on-

"What's that?" someone shouted. "It looks like… it looks…"

"A Deep One," the captain breathed in sharply.

"A Deep what?" Cyborg asked.

"It's like the Atlantean version of the boogeyman," Aqualad replied, his voice flat and his words banal with terror. His voice steadily moved towards a whisper as he replied, "When I was a child, Mother would make me clean my room by telling me the Deep Ones would eat me if I didn't."

"We have to get out of here, captain! We have to get out!" the first officer shrieked hysterically.

"Damn you, get a hold of yourself!" the captain replied, seizing his subordinate. His own uncharacteristic behaviour, however, showed just how close he himself was to losing his own sanity.

"But those are Deep Ones!" the first officer babbled, "And that's their city! That's their city and we were so close to them all this time! All this time! We have to go back, captain! Go back and warn Atlantis! Please, captain, we cannot stay here! That's their city!"

"Uh," Beast Boy began, "what's so bad about - wait, you guys hear that?"

It was a sound that moved through the water, and seemed to continue into one's spine. Had Raven been there, and in full possession of her mind, she would have been able to tell them that this was because the language they heard wasn't just spoken with the mouth, but with the mind.

Ia, Ia…

Ia, Ia, Cthulhu f'taghn…

Ia, Ia, Cthulhu f'taghn-

Ia, Ia, Cthulhu f'taghn-

Ia, Ia, Cthulhu f'taghn-

IA, IA, CTHULHU F'TAGHN!

(scene change)

Darkness.

"Hey Blackfire, wake up."

Darkness.

"Blackfire? Heh, have it your way."

Darkness.

"Just wanted to tell you:"

Darkness.

"It's almost time."