A/N: Greetings and salutations! It's been a while, yeah? Well, this chapter was REALLY hard to write because I had to come up with history/mythology/genealogy/descriptions of Ebeysa. So yeah, it's also a freakishly long chapter! I hope you guys have the patience to read it. Let me know if I need to cut it in half!
Disclaimer: I own nothing
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Chapter 2: Day One, Midmorning
It didn't look too different from where they were moments prior. There were countless tress around, but this time, Kaldur could hear the sounds of animals. The trees were still too thick to see through, and for a moment the boy wondered if people actually lived there.
"Wait, what?" Red Arrow exclaimed, "What the heck did you just do?"
Jane ignored his question, motioning to the three boys to follow her once more. "We must not talk now, not here. I must take you to King Caeros before the people awaken."
Red Arrow opened his mouth for a rebuttal, but an authoritative glare from Jane thwarted his actions. Instead, the archer sighed as he followed the girl, Kaldur and Robin following in suit.
Jane noiselessly moved away from the sleepy village and led the group through the trees. Wordlessly, they walked through the trees until they came to a clearing where Robin noted the steady river that seemed to flow endlessly in either direction. The blonde girl brought them to the river's bank, where a portion of a big rock poked out of the water's surface. She stood on top of the rock, her arm extended toward the moving water.
"Hrila."
Several rocks emerged from the water, forming a path to the other side of the river. The young warrior jumped to the closest rock, and continued this pattern until she was across the river.
The three boys looked at Jane, then at the rocks, and finally at each other. Disbelief was clearly written on each boy's face. First, she managed to transport them by way of tree, and now she can conjure rocks.
What have we gotten ourselves into? Roy thought to himself in awe.
Kaldur recovered first, and with cat-like grace he crossed to the other side. Robin and Red Arrow followed close behind. At one point, the red haired boy lost his balance and nearly fell into the rushing currents, but Robin was able to pull him back onto the rock before it was too late. Muttering a dark "thank you" to the younger hero, Roy carefully hopped to the next rock and eventually made it safely across.
Once everyone was across, Jane began to walk once more, this time eastward, toward the rising sun. As if they passed an invisible barrier, Jane's posture seemed to loosen, and she began to speak.
"It is said that Ebesya is where mankind originated," Jane began quietly. "Legend has it that the two supreme deities Azifra and Yundi, the gods of sky and earth respectively, created the Earth out of nothing. After creating all the landforms, plants, and animals, the god Azifra made a man and a woman out of air and earth to watch over the creations he had made. He called them Wrofi. But the Wrofi proved too irresponsible and many of the plants and animals died because of their thoughtlessness. In anger, Azifra banished them from Ebeysa as punishment. Much like the Adam and Eve story of your people," the girl confirmed, noticing the recognition on Robin and Red Arrow's faces.
"Unlike your story, the goddess Yundi wept for the loss. To console her grief, she created another man and woman, this time out of the earth and her tears. These creatures she created proved much more responsible than their predecessors. She called them Unije. It is written in the Analects of Ryoki that all Ebeysans are descendents of the Unije and those who live outside of Ebeysa descended from the Wrofi. It is said that all Ebeysans are born with the ability to commune with nature because the Unije were born of the goddess' tears."
Jane slowed her pace, and Kaldur could see a great structure not too far ahead. From what he could tell, it was made entirely of stone, and loomed several stories high above them. Four spiral towers stood on each corner, and along the walls grew some sort of plant, ivy from the looks of it. In a word, it was beautiful. As if it were created by nature itself. It wasn't hard to deduce that this building was King Caeros's palace.
The first thing Kaldur noticed once they were close enough was that there was no door. He looked to Jane, who appeared undeterred. She stood in front of the stony wall, and placed her hand on the bumpy surface of the wall. Her hand momentarily glowed green before the rock sunk into the wall. An opening suddenly formed in front of them, as if it had been there all along. Jane removed her hand from the wall and entered inside. As soon as the three boys entered, the opening closed behind them with a loud clapping sound. Kaldur placed his hand where the opening had been, and the stone that pressed against his hand felt cold and hard.
Incredible, Kaldur mused. He hadn't seen anything like this since his time in Atlantis. Whoever these people were, they were as much part of the earth as he was of the sea.
It was pitch black within the room they found themselves in. But before any of the boys reacted, a light appeared in Jane's hand. Upon further inspection, Robin realized she had a torch in her hand.
The four youngsters traveled down the passageway, which appeared dank and damp to Red Arrow. Jane suddenly stopped in front of the wall to her left, and once again placed her hand upon the stony wall. This time, a staircase appeared in the opening, spiraling up towards the heavens, it seemed. The girl began to ascend the staircase, and it was implied that the boys follow behind her.
After about five flights, Robin started to feel dizzy from the circles the staircase made. He was about to ask when the stairs would end when a door appeared in the distance. The youngest member of the group inwardly sighed in relief. As they got closer, Robin squinted his eyes, for he thought he saw figure in front of the door.
Two guards stood in front of the door the wooden door, their faces impassive as the troupe approached them. The chain mail they wore appeared very light in material, allowing them the flexibility to move quickly. The swords they held were long and light, the tips curved upwards like a sabre. Through their apathetic visages, Robin could detect suspicion in their eyes as Jane addressed them.
"These young men are friends of Ebeysa," she stated, her voice commanding, "I ask that you allow us to pass. His Majesty requests an audience with them this morning."
The two men looked over the crew of teens once more, as if evaluating them. Seeming content with what they saw, one of the guards nodded as they stepped aside. Jane dipped her head in deference as she led the boys inside.
The room the boys found themselves was strikingly different from where they were moments previous. This room was circular and incredibly bright. It took Roy a few minutes for his eyes to adjust. Once he could actually see, he noticed that the light was from the now risen sun as its rays shone through the grand holes in the wall, much like the sun shone through his window every morning. In the centre of the room sat a grand throne made of mahogany. Five smaller thrones circled around it, forming a semi circle. A statue of a woman towered behind the thrones. Her long hair cascaded down the front of her marbled body, reaching her midsection. Her arms were outstretched, holding up a giant agate basin. The basin was pointed downwards, and out if came water. Kaldur's eyes followed the water as it fell, and he saw that the water from the basin created a moat-like barricade between the thrones and the rest of the room. How water continuously flowed from the basin, Kaldur knew not to question.
The man sitting in the centre throne stood up, commanding the presence of the room with his regal authority. Jane immediately knelt down, and was soon joined by Kaldur, who was all too familiar with being in the presence of royalty. Robin knelt as well, his head bowed. With some amusement, he watched the tiny ladybugs as they crawled over the room's floor. The only one who remained standing was Red Arrow. Whether he was not familiar with royal protocol or simply didn't care, it was uncertain. Kaldur, who realized his fiery friend was still standing, managed to yank him down so that the boy was forced on his knees.
"King Caeros," Jane spoke her head bowed, "The warriors from the Outside have arrived."
"You may rise, young warriors," the king boomed, his voice loud but jovial. The three boys and Jane stood up, and Kaldur took in the king's appearance.
He was elderly, but the young Atlantean could feel the power radiating off of him. Surely King Caeros was a frightful man in his zenith. But now, he was quite frail, his face sunken and eyes hollow. But beneath his snow white hair laid intelligent sky blue eyes. On top of his head rested a crown of holly, giving the man an air of ancient royalty. Though he looked fatigued, his voice was hospitable as he greeted the weary travelers.
"Welcome to Ebesya. I trust you've had a warm welcome."
"Yeah, if you call being attacked a warm welcome," Red Arrow muttered to himself, promptly receiving an elbow to his ribs courtesy of Kaldur. The redhead winced, glaring at Aqualad ferociously.
A smile graced King Caeros's tired face. "Fear not, warriors. The rest of your stay shall be merry. You are guests of the royal household tonight."
Kaldur bowed his head. "That is most gracious of you, King Caeros."
"It is the least I can do to repay you for escorting my daughters to Holwhey."
One of the girls sprang to her feet at the king's words. "What?" she exclaimed, clearly outraged, her face becoming almost as red as her wavy hair. "But father, I—"
"I will not tolerate insolence, Cassandra. I have told you that you are not to fight with us." King Caeros responded harshly. "You and your sisters are at too much risk here."
Another one of the girls rose from her seat, her gunmetal grey eyes sizing up the three boys. "And we are not at risk traveling with them? They had a hard enough time battling Jane, how can we trust they are adequate in their combat skills? Perhaps we would fair better out on the battlefield than in the care of incompetent little boys."
"Oh, no you don't!" Roy cried out furiously. "Where do you get off—"
"Roy, manners." Kaldur hissed, cutting off the fiery boy's tirade.
"I want to fight, father!" Cassandra insisted, her brown eyes flickering in anger, "I will not stand idly by and let our lands be taken by Uchisa and his men."
"Father's right, Cassandra," a third girl chimed in calmly, "Without knowing who shall take father's place on the throne, none of us can risk our lives, even if it is for a good reason. To ensure the kingdom's safety, we mustn't endanger ourselves." Her hazel eyes watched the fiery redheaded girl closely. Cassandra's resolve seemed to weaken under the gaze.
The last girl, who looked to be the youngest, nodded. "Aerabella makes a good point. And Sonya," she added, addressing the raven-haired girl, "We cannot judge these warriors so quickly."
"So quick to jump to the aid of the defenseless, are you not Keena?" Sonya retorted, annoyed.
"Hold on," Robin interrupted before another verbal brawl could commence, "Uchisa? Kingdom's safety? What exactly is going on?"
"Perhaps I can explain," the last figure, and only male aside from the king spoke up. He too had hazel eyes and brown hair like Aerabella. Robin briefly wondered if they were twins. "I was the one who contacted your Batman to aid us in our time of need. I am Aarlod, priest of Ebeysa. Within the past few months, we have received word that Uchisa has been planning on attacking and taking over Ebeysa."
"But how can he do that? You're like protected with that weird tree thing." Roy commented.
Aarlod nodded. "Yes the veil of Azifra protects us from the outside world. But it is not impregnable. Those who are born of Yundi's gift can enter the kingdom, if they know where to look."
"I beg forgiveness for my confusion, but who else possibly can possess this gift outside Ebeysa?" Kaldur politely inquired.
"Only those descendent of Yundi's creation carry this ability. We are of noble heritage, and once thought off as without the ability to be corrupted. My sisters, father, and I are direct descendents of the god Mikor, son of Azifra and Yundi and the mortal Zara, a descendent of the Unije Mikor is the god of war and as a result, his progeny inherently possessed fighting skills that could not be rivaled. Naturally, the gods favored Mikor's descendents as rulers of Ebeysa and thus blessed the coronation of Mikor's first son, Izo, a man known for his integrity and natural leadership abilities. His sister Reinja was blessed as priestess of Ebeysa. While Izo was responsible for the military safety of the kingdom, for at the time Ebeysa was not protected by the veil of Azifra, Reinja's duty lied in appeasing the gods to ensure the prosperity of the land and the people. Working together, Ebeysa flourished. And when the time came, Izo took a wife continued the legacy. As priestess, Reinja was forced to take a vow of chastity, so once Reinja died, Izo's daughter became the new priestess, blessed by Yundi. Izo's son, naturally, was blessed by Azifra as king once Izo passed.
"This cycle continued harmoniously for centuries until the time of Obrex and Evrina. King Jinwa's wife Hyu had given him two daughters: Evrina and Obrex. It was unprecedented, and nobody knew for certain who the heir to the throne would be. The general consensus was that Evrina, the eldest, would become queen. However, once King Jinwa passed, Azifra blessed Obrex as queen while Yundi blessed Evrina as priestess.
"Evrina was furious, claiming it was her birthright to be queen and not her younger sister's. So wrought with ire, the priestess attempted to commit an act unheard of in Ebeysa: murder. One night, Evrina attempted to murder Obrex. She failed, for one of Obrex's guards managed to protect Obrex from harm.
"The gods were displeased by Evrina's cruelty, and as a result they exiled her to Lekith, or No Man's Land. They exiled her to death. However, one of the gods, Q'ro, another son of Azifra and Yundi, was taken by Evrina's beauty and had mercy on her. Once the priestess was exiled, Q'ro saved her, and she was spirited away to the land Kuhub, a land far from Ebeysa. Q'ro brought her to a village in Kuhub, where the people took her in as their own. Evrina soon found herself with child, and gave birth to Pyec. Q'ro is the god fire, and soon after Pyec's birth. it was made quite clear what the relationship between Q'ro and Pyec was. Because of Pyec's fire abilities, he was soon leader of the village. But it wasn't enough for him. He grew up hearing his mother's story of the cruelty she faced in Ebeysa, and with her dying breath, she made her son promise to get revenge. Fueled by rage, Pyec soon conquered other villages and formed his own kingdom, which he called Xlt'hua. Once he had gathered a strong enough force, he set out for Ebeysa.
"It looked hopeless for Isdul, who was king of Ebeysa at the time. They were outnumbered and many people died fighting for Ebeysa. Isdul's sister, Katyr, fled to the temple of Arila and prayed for Ebeysa's safety. It is written that the goddess Iuris, goddess of justice and daughter of Azifra and Yundi, appeared before Katyr. Katyr pleaded for her kingdom, but she soon realized the help of a god would come at a grave price. In exchange for Iuris' help, Katyr sacrificed her life as payment. Her death saved Ebeysa. With Iuris' help, Pyec and his forces were driven back. The serendipitous windfall that had graced his victory overjoyed Isdul, but his joy was short-lived. Soon after the battle was over, he discovered his sister's body in the temple of Arila, crumpled before the statue of Yundi. Overcome with grief, Isdul created a funeral pyre for his sister, and constructed a statue within the palace commemorating her selfless act. This statue, in fact." Aarlod paused and gestured to the statue behind the six thrones before he continued again.
"As Katyr's funeral pyre burned, Isdul prayed. He prayed that Katyr's act would never have to be repeated. Azifra heard the king's prayer, and had mercy on the mourning king. He created the veil to surround and protect Ebeysa. It was made clear that the veil could only be passed through by creatures of Yundi. To ensure that future generations of Pyec's lineage could not infiltrate the veil, Yundi created portals that were tied to specific trees on Earth that required not only certain words to open it, but exact times in the day that the veil could be passed. You entered Ebeysa during one of those times: sunrise. The other, naturally, is sunset."
"But why have a portal at all?" Robin asked, enthralled by the Ebeysan history.
Aarlod smiled at the young boy. "To live in a world with only one culture, one language, one religion would be a sad world to live in, do you not agree? Before the Cyrian War, the people of Ebeysa had encounters with cultures of your world: the Celts and Romans, just to name a few. From them, we learned and they from us. We were forced to live in this isolated world by Pyec's people. It was not our choice. The gods knew, and took pity on us."
"How do you think we learned to speak English?" Jane asked, "After Azifra's veil surrounded Ebeysa, the role of the priest and priestess expanded. He or she was chosen to go out into the outside world, learn about its cultures, and come back to educate the rest of the Ebeysans."
"Yes, it is through this role that I discovered the Batman and the Justice League," Aarlod added, "It is how you came to be here. Recently, one of our scouts discovered footprints and the emblem of Uchisa, the current king of Xlt'hua on the outskirts of Lekith. Lekith is located in between Xlt'hua and where Ebeysa used to be. It is deserted and is said to be where the spirits of the fallen warriors from the Cyrian War rest. As a result, nobody has gone near the area in centuries. The fact that Uchisa's clan has neared it suggests they are coming to Ebeysa. While they may not be able to get into Ebeysa, we fear they may know the veil's weakness. If they destroy the trees that the portals are connected to, it will weaken the veil and reveal our whereabouts. These trees are not ordinary trees and destroying them requires divine intervention. The only god who would be willing to aid Uchisa is Q'ro. We did not forsee this as problematic, for Q'ro was punished by the gods for fathering a child with the traitorous Evrina. According to the Analects of Ryoki, the priestess after Katyr who wrote down the complete history of Ebeysa, the goddess Iuris appeared to Ryoki in a dream and revealed that Q'ro would forever be imprisoned in the underworld for his act of treachery, guarded by the keeper Hadrij. However, a few months ago I was visited by Iuris warned him that the trickster Q'ro had found a way out of the underworld. With a matter this great, we must take action immediately, which is why we have enlisted your help."
"We continually send scouts to survey the area, and the most recent update is that they are nearing the outskirts of where Ebeysa used to be. We still have a few day's time to prepare, but we wanted to make sure the princesses were as far away as possible," Jane stated. "You will leave tomorrow tonight, under the cover of nightfall. Holwhey is a three-day march from here. Once the girls enter the sanctuary, your mission will be completed. The elders of Holwhey will help transport you home."
"You three must be weary from your travels," the king suddenly said, as if uncomfortable with talks of the future. "Do not worry yourselves. For now, rest and enjoy the beauty of Ebeysa! Jane will take you to your quarters."
Jane bowed to King Caeros before turning back to the boys. "If you will follow me."
"Whoopey…another game of follow the leader," Red Arrow exclaimed sarcastically before tersely bowing to the king. Robin snickered at the boy's outburst before paying his respects to the king.
Kaldur bowed deeply. "Your Majesty, I promise we will protect your daughters with our lives."
King Caeros nodded solemnly in thanks, but remained silent. Aqualad looked at each of the princesses. Cassandra was still fuming and Sonya looked positively bored. When his eyes reached Aerabella's, she smiled warmly at him, comfortingly. Kaldur's eyes finally rested on Keena, who too smiled at him, her green eyes wide.
As he followed the others, Kaldur thought about the mission ahead. It definitely wasn't one of those run-of-the-mill escort assignments that he had originally thought it would be. He couldn't help but wonder what lied ahead of him. He thought of every possible scenario he could and tried to mentally plan what he would do.
But not even the great Kaldur could predict what happened to them.
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A/N: Did you guys get that? Did it make any sense? PLEASE let me know what you thought of this chapter, I worked SO HARD on it. I swear, I've never worked so hard on anything before. It only takes like five seconds to review, while it took me like five hours to write this. A fair trade off, I say ;) The more review I get, the faster I'll update! The action starts in the next chapter, I promise! It'll get interesting from here on out! Thanks again for reading and reviewing! I really hope you liked it!
Oh, and thanks to Sunahu, kenZibenZi, Kokyou Konran, and sweetpea999 for the use of their characters and of course to Ranger for the use of Jane once again.