Shayera was flung back through the wall, debris spewing in every direction as her body fell to the ground. Disrupting their magic should have been so much easier, but they were cunning as they were bold and Diana, who'd never suffered mistreatment of her gods gladly, had worked her way through talk before going for the solution much preferred by the Thanagarian. In any event, Shayera decided she was owed a dinner, at the very least.
Shaking away the dizziness resulting from the coursing pain, she struggled to her feet just in time to catch sight of a relatively drained goddess stretching her arm out towards one of the cultists. The effect was immediate. One touch and the woman was writhing on the ground. Best not to know; Shayera flapped her wings, lunging into the air just to swoop down upon her enemies, mace brandished in a perfect arc. The path of her strike was cleared of many a skull and she found herself closer to the goddess. Diana was still fending off a stubborn few who did not know when to quit. Unfortunately, they had also enhanced their natural abilities with magic. In time they would be defeated, no doubt, nonetheless. Shayera kicked another foe to the side and finally made it to the target. Getting the goddess out of her bonds was easy enough work, but she had to hold the deity up, lest Persephone, Queen of the Underworld, find herself sprawled on the ground without a shred of dignity.
"Shayera, get her out," Diana called to her over the fray.
The goddess attempted a weak protest, but her words were slurred. She truly looked as though she were hanging to her last thread of strength. "On it," Shayera called back, ignoring the mutterings as she picked the Queen up in her arms and hurled the both of them into flight.
She'd just made clear of the building when her eyes landed on the men, standing outside the barrier. The ruler of the Underworld stood head and shoulders above the rest, eyes only for his beloved wife, it would seem. The weight of his gaze was almost enough to knock her out of the skies. But Shayera stubbornly held to her course, gritting her teeth against the sense of foreboding which came upon her.
She landed to the tune of questions, not that Flash actually waited for a response. Instead of wasting her breath trying to keep up with the speedster, she handed the goddess over to the waiting arms of her spouse, somewhat taken aback by the tenderness with which he held her. The goddess dissolved into tears, her mumbling growing ever more frantic. Hades would surely bring her to a calmer mood.
To her great dismay, though, the god's eyes shone with wonder steeped in apprehension but a moment later. He looked to the barrier, as though a mere glance might crumble it. And then Persephone shrieked. Her cry was so shrill that Shayera was forced to cover her ears, flattening her palms to the sensitive appendages in hopes of lessening the ringing. The prolonged sob went on and on, the goddess clawing at her chest, them clutching as if trying to grip her own heart.
"My daughter," she wept. Hades held her fast, tendrils of darkness creeping like sinister vines around them. It was useless for Persephone to reach back for Diana. The barrier glowed bright for a moment, the blinding light forcing more than a pair of eyes closed and then, when the terror of the moment lifted, there was nothing to be seen. It was as though the universe had folded onto itself and wiped a small portion out of existence with the ensuing bleeding of one part into the other.
"Wonder Woman!" Batman's voice boomed like thunder and he was off. Flash followed. But it was useless; the little temple was gone, razed from existence, not even a column left and all those unfortunate enough to be within taken along. Bringing one hand to her comlink, she tried reaching Diana, hoping against hope that she might get an answer.
There was nothing.
There was no rubble to search, nor any pit to explore, just empty land which should not have been so.
The sobbing Persephone was holding onto Hades."I cannot feel her. Please bring her back. Please!" The sharp little whips of darkness crowded around her, sliding up her limbs. Hades muttered something in his wife's hair and, as in a trance, she closed her eyes. Her breathing evened out. The goddess slept.
"You know something," Shayera accused, bringing her mace before her threateningly. "What happened there? What does she mean she can't feel Diana?"
"She is gone." Spoken barely above a whisper, the words shook her nonetheless to her core. "That part of her soul which has been ours is extinguished." Frowning, Shayera demanded a full explanation. The god's dark eyes sparked with threat at her, but it seemed he recalled their position, for he spoke after in an unwavering voice, "It bears no delving into, but we were the architects of Diana's soul; we crafted hers with care from our own. That our kin took her from us and bound her into clay cannot erase that. I feel it too, the hollow her disappearance has created." Thin lines of blackness stroked back dishevelled hair. Hades would give her no more.
Heart-sick at the revelation, the Thanagarian did not quite know what to say. She turned her back on the couple; best to help Bruce and Wally, or maybe share her knowledge with them. Her wings spread wide, Shayera crossed the distance to where Batman was taking soil samples, as though he would find something if he looked carefully enough. The red blur that was Wally came back then with news that Wonder Woman was nowhere to be seen in the vicinity. "I can't reach her comlink either. We should contact the Watchtower."
She hesitated, feeling the pairs of eyes locked onto her. "I don't think there's anything we can do," Shayera said after a long moment of silence. "Her own creators can no longer feel her presence." That stopped Batman dead in his tracks. His silent demand for an explanation was satisfied without delay.
"She can't be dead!" Wally protested vehemently. "We haven't looked everywhere." She didn't want to accept it either. "This is Wondy we're talking about. She wouldn't fall so easily." Wally rushed towards the god who'd remained unmoving in his pose of grief. "How do we find her? You must know something."
"I wish I did." Shadows whipping about him, signalling perhaps his turmoil. Within a moment more, the presence of the gods was extinguished. Flash let out a string of profanities.
Shayera looked towards Batman, hoping he would say something, anything which might bolster the thin, frayed thread of hope ready to snap within her.
"Get J'ohn down here and call in Superman. Flash, check our surroundings again." He turned, surveying the empty site stretching out before them.
"What will you be doing?" Shayera doubted Wally heard her question as he sped off; it might have been useful to have him along. Alas, she'd have to deal with Batman on her own.
"I'm getting Zatanna." It had to be a testament to the dire nature of the situation that he was calling on the magician, but even more so that he was willing to share the fact with her. Shayera found herself nodding.
Without further delay, she saw to her task, letting the Caped Crusader be off on his way. Thankfully, J'ohn was easy enough to reach and once acquainted with the situation made all haste to arrive on the scene. Superman, who was caught up in an evacuation mission, was rather tardier in arriving. Nevertheless, when both were at long last present, she spared no time in laying out the facts. "We've combed the area. So far, nothing."
"We'll turn something up," Superman stated with determination. That he had yet to do so even by just sitting there, where he should be able to hear Diana's heartbeat from so short a range, did not inspire a great deal of trust in Shayera. Still, she had to hope.
The Martian Manhunter concentrated all his power on reaching the Amazon's mind. "I cannot find her," he admitted after a time.
It was then that Batman arrived, magician in tow. Zatanna cast out one of her spells, the jumble of words floating in the air. In both predictable and disconcerting a fashion, her efforts turned up nothing new. "We might need more help here. I'm getting nothing."
"Who do you suggest we bring in?" Superman questioned, pausing in what was likely his scanning of the area.
Zatanna frowned. "Constantine comes to mind." Shayera thought of Doctor Fate. Perhaps he and his wife could be of aid as well. She submitted the notion to her esteemed colleagues. The sooner they deployed their resources and solved the issue, the sooner they got Diana back.
In any event, their first night of searching turned nothing up and Shayera was forced to return to the Watchtower, sapped of strength and patience. Though her limbs trembled under the weight of exhaustion, she could not think of a better way to let out frustration than by engaging the training droids.
Her mace wreaked havoc upon the unsuspecting machinery, taking down droid after droid as her mind worked over the mystery of Diana's disappearance still. Something was not adding up. They'd dealt with similar situations in the past; Superman had been disintegrated before their very eyes yet still came back to the League. A zap of energy hit her right wing and she collapsed to the ground with an oath. An enraged yell rang out in the training room and her mace sang its sing of destruction.
The simulation came to an abrupt end as the door opened. She whirled around, just about ready to give whoever interrupted her a piece of her own mind. "I heard what happened to the Rookie." Faced with John and his sincere concern, she forced herself to swallow the harsh words. "Any way I can help?"
She shrugged, allowing her mace to hang down from her wrist. "So far neither magic, nor science has yielded anything. Batman suspects she might have travelled to a parallel universe, which is rather troublesome since we have destroyed the single piece of technology we have capable of bridging that particular gap." She sighed. "I don't know, John. Even if we somehow find a way to make that journey again, there must be an incomprehensible number of worlds to search."
"We'll take it one step at a time," he replied, bracingly putting his hand upon her shoulder. "So what's the plan?"
"The Founders will be meeting up tomorrow. We must decide if we are to contact the Lords of not. I am flying to Themyscira. Someone has to tell the Queen about her daughter." She just hoped she returned all in one piece. He leaned in slightly. Shayera drew back. "Just do the right thing tomorrow." Looking about her in dismay, she shook her head. "I need some sleep. It'll be a long flight."
John called after her, but she would not turn. She could not. The prospect of facing an island full of angry Amazons left her ill at ease and the disastrous mission had her head pounding. A bit if rest, even undesired, would help clear her mind. She would go to the Queen tomorrow and say all that was proper, then she'd return o the Watchtower and see whether they contacted the Lords from the base or from the Batcave. That was all there was to it. She took a deep breath as she reached her quarters and punched in the code none too gently.
The doors opened, allowing her entrance. The lights flickered on at the push of a button. Shayera stared out into the darkness of space, still contemplating what was to come.
Diana shivered as the heavy rain continued to beat mercilessly against her naked shoulders. She hugged herself tightly and continued to rub her arms with vigour. Frustration dogged her every step. She'd been upon an uncharted path for some hours and no sight of civilisation had yet emerged. She could not fly and she could not run, her strength was depleted, she felt sore all over and exhaustion called her to lie by the wayside and give it all up. But if she stopped, she suspected there would be no getting up. So Diana walked.
She stomped about until, at long last, somewhere far ahead, she could make out what looked to be a faint plume of smoke. Hope spring in her breast. She could make it. She had to. Determined, she pushed herself harder, cutting away at the distance between herself and a rather small building. A cabin of some sort, if she were not mistaken. When she was perhaps fifty paces from the door, it opened with a thin wail and a man stepped outside. A very familiar man. Diana checked her step, staring at a face she recognised all too well.
He did a double-take as well, though she guessed that had more to do with her garments. He frowned, looking her up and down. "That's a mighty odd outfit, ma'am," he called out over the sound of the outpour. The voice was different.
"Mighty cold too," she called back, shivering. She did not have her powers, but she guessed she might still be able to take him in a fight. In fairness, while the face was very much like Bruce's, there were faint differences. She hoped one of them was that he was not an expert in several martial arts styles. The man motioned her over, moving to the side so she might enter. Taking the gamble was a moment's work. She made straight for the fire burning merrily in the grate, grateful for even that small amount of warmth.
"Little wonder you're cold, ma'am. That covers barely anything." Despite those words, he was not looking at her, Diana learned when she turned. She could make up a lie, but she doubted it'd prove believable.
"Where I come from, it's adequate," she offered in the end, though he did not seem convinced. She saw his rummage throw a drawer before pulling out what looked to be one of his shirts. He turned around, holding it out to her.
"Ain't much," the man admitted, rather chagrined, "But it's clean and it's your best bet for now." She took it with a few words of gratitude for his trouble. He was proving to be quite the gentleman, turning around from her as soon as the garment was in her hands. "Mind telling me how you found yourself on my lands, miss," he trailed off, clearly fishing for a name.
"Diana," she supplied, buttoning up the shirt. Given her height, it covered as much as could be expected. "Diana Prince. And to be honest, I have no idea how I got here and would very much appreciate knowing where here is. It must seem incredible, I know."
"It does; but it don't seem to me that you're fibbing." He cleared his throat. "You are several miles out of Gotham Town. Charles Wayne is the name, by the way." That explained the familiar features. Diana accepted the blanket he handed her and wrapped it around herself.
"Pleased to make your acquaintance, Mister Wayne," Diana answered. They were so close she could make out the colour of his eyes. Unlike the ice-blue of Bruce's cutting stare, the Mister Wayne before her had kindly dark eyes. He was, she found upon further inspection, not nearly as broad as Bruce, lacking the muscles.
He invited her to have a seat and served her a warm meal. Diana took the time to gather her thoughts as they ate together. Conversation was sparse, whether because her host was shy or distrustful she could not yet tell. For her own part, she observed her surroundings with a critical eye. Having been in Man's World long enough to learn a thing or two of their history, she could discern she'd ended up somewhere in the past. It did not explain the silence of her gods or the disappearance of her powers, but she was willing to take what answers she could get.
That night she slept on a straw-mattress, wrapped in a heavy blanket, feeling rather bad for having taken the bed. They could not have fit in it even if she were so inclined to suggest they squeeze together, which she was not. Charles Wayne had been kindness itself, but she'd known him for a mere few hours. Which was what led to her fitful rest along with thoughts of those who would worry for her.
Her mother would be none too pleased at her disappearance. She assumed that because she could not summon the gods, neither could they find her, which put paid to any hope of being found by that method. Then there were her teammates. They too would do everything in their power to find her. It gratified her, to some degree to place Batman in the same category. Despite that who could tell how long it would take.
She would have to adapt to her new surroundings and her new circumstances. Her sole ally for the time being was this Charles Wayne who she was certain had some tie to her Bruce. Hopefully, he would be able to find her some garments soon enough. If it was somewhat galling to depend on a stranger, Diana did not let it cloud her judgement. The various men in her life had proven time and again that some prejudices were highly unfounded and some traits grossly exaggerated.
By the time she fell asleep, with the rapid rapping of fat raindrops on the roof, she had a whole plan in her head about what and how she was going to accomplish.