Hey guys. First of all i wanna apologize for my LONG hiatus. There were some developments in my life that honestly I wished never happened. Long story short i became addicted to alcohol, this happened as a result of Extreme depression suffered by the deaths of some of my friends and family. For the longest time I was struggling to find a balance within myself to give myself time to heal.
It was only until now that I found that peace at last.
Anyway, enough about me and my sad life. I am restarting the Buried Past Series with a whole new structure and honestly better English writing. I hope you guys will enjoy this series better than the last.
WELCOME TO BURIED PAST 2.0!
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Chapter 1
Our Tale begins in a town called Jump City. Home to the Teen Titans and a beacon to humanity's future. Through many years and many disasters this city has withstood it all. From the tyranny of Trigon, to the invasion of Darkseid. This city and its people have endured countless terrors and everytime they have rebuilt stronger than the last.
But on this particular year after an invasion attempt from brother blood, a small part of the town was uncovered during the battle. The town's construction crews were baffled by the discovery, as they found what looked to be an ancient Japanese style temple. It was exposed under layers upon layers of concrete and ancient stone. Like the world was trying to swallow it whole. Archeologists revealed that the temple predates the town's supposed history, making historians question the city's origins.
Inside the temple they found the walls lined with scrolls and other documents. Almost like this temple served as a makeshift library. But what intrigued the Archeologists was one single chest sitting in the back end of the temple. It was inside what seemed to be an altar of sorts, the chest covered in paper seals and lined with damascus chains. A foreboding sign.
This discovery, as you can imagine, was spread worldwide. News channels, Newspapers, and even the National Historian Society (N.H.S) all came together to find answers as to the temple and the town's origins. It became a national craze.
When the Archaeologists brought the mysterious chest to they're lab to study it they encountered problems. The lab's deep penetrating x-ray machines were unable to look inside the chest. As they inspected it closer the chest had activated several security systems. The chest was locked by magical means. So with that in mind the Head Archaeologist contacted the Titans. Hoping to get in touch with a certain raven haired sorcerer.
* 2 hours later *
"Ah Titans! Thank you once again for coming, I trust this isn't an inopportune time?" he asked as he was rubbing his hands together in an apologetic way.
"Not at all Professor, This chest has everyone curious. I hope we can be of help." said robin shaking the head archeologists hands.
"Yes it is...perplexing. Nothing we do seems to make a dent in that chest. Do you require anything before setting in?"
"No but thanks, what can you tell us about the chest?" asked Robin motioning the group to move ahead.
"Well that's just the thing. We don't know anything about it other than its security system. When we tried to open it the chest unleashed a curious guardian."
"Guardian?" Raven stepped forward intrigued by this aspect.
"Yes. anytime we move close to the chest it seems to attack anyone in range. Our weapons are ineffective against it as it seems to regenerate any damage it has sustained."
"Mmm ...what makes it curious?" asked raven trying to piece together this object's function.
"Well…believe it or not it's a living terracotta statue. It's odd because terracotta statues are supposed to be Chinese in origin. But the chest was located in a Japanese temple. We can't make sense of it."
The group approached the door leading to the labs x-ray facility. Several window shards and pieces of equipment were strung about the place, Indicating a struggle. Raven saw the chest sitting in the middle of the room. Scratch marks lined the walls and sections of the floor were smashed in. but what caught everyone's attention was the lone figure standing in front of the chest. Indeed it was a terracotta statue, armed with a polearm and a shield on his left. It stood menacingly as if ready to attack at a moment's notice.
Robin examined the soldier carefully, making sure to make note of every weapon and tools he was carrying. Studying its stance and posture, Robin determined it was authentic.
"Raven?" asked Robin trying to get her input
"The Chest is lined with Chakra and Hanko seals. Whoever did this doesn't want anyone to open it."
"Chakra?" asked Beast Boy scratching his head in confusion
"An Ancient energy system that emerged in the writings of the Vedas (ancient hindu philosophical texts….im not lying this shits real) Supposedly Buddhists used them to heal the injured or even prevent disasters. But the art is somewhat lost on people, either forgotten or misinterpreted through the years."
"That is indeed what we found so far based on the examination of the chest, But what do you suppose is in there that would warrant such a system?" asked the Archeologist rubbing his chin with his fingers.
"Whatever it is, someone went through alot of trouble just to hide it, Titans….approach with caution." Said Robin unsheathing his bo staff.
The group entered the room facing the entity. Each member encircling it, weapons ready. The lab's staff had locked the door behind them to remove the possibility of escape. Cyborg scanned the entity trying to find any weakness in its defense, he had found at least 16. Too good odds to be true, this thing was hiding something….a trump card perhaps.
Beast-boy swallowed hard, the pressure in the room was intense. This reminded him of one of those old western movies, where the sheriff and an outlaw stand against each other waiting for the other to draw. His teeth started to clatter.
Raven's throat was starting to get dry. Something about the chest overwhelmed her. The energy it was putting off was intense. It was nothing she ever felt before save for her father Trigon, but even he didn't emit this much energy. Whatever was in there was indeed powerful.
It was Robin who broke the thick air by stepping forward
Suddenly the warrior lunged his polearm forward, nearly piercing his throat. Robin had ducked merely out of instinct, if he hadn't he would've been dead on the spot. Cyborg charged his cannon and shot the warrior in the face, shattering the clay into pieces. But that didn't stop it, the warrior twisted its hips in an unnatural way to swing the polearm towards his neck. Thankfully Starfire caught the blade to save her friend before charging an energy bolt and blowing a hole through its chest, the warrior's top half cracked and crumbled to the ground leaving only its legs standing.
Sure enough the head archeologist was right. In less than a mere 5 seconds the warrior began to repair itself. Bits and pieces of carved stone fixed itself into familiar groves. Before its head was complete however Robin swung hard knocking the pieces to the other side of the room.
"Raven! Get the chest open, we'll cover you!" said Robin kicking the warriors bottom half in the same direction.
Raven scrambled to the chest examining all its seals. Undoing them carefully so as to not release another security measure. The fight raged in the background as Beast Boy had turned into a bear to fight it and starfire threw her starbolts in its direction.
The Warrior seemingly dodging all of her darts weaves past her and launches itself towards Beast-Boy. It swept his legs from under him, knocking him off balance. Beast-Boy tries to upright himself but the warrior palm thrusted his chest, planting him further into the concrete creating a crater. That was the last thing he remembered before he blacked out. Starfire, now enraged by the harm of her friend, tackled the warrior and threw it towards the x-ray machine with mighty force. The machine obviously did not survive the impact.
Raven halfway through the job encountered a problem, the impact from starfires throw rattled her hand a bit, missing her target and burning the wrong seal. A hand had grappled her throat and was choking her. Another stone hand. The creature's form had arisen from the chests seals, it was indeed another statue. This one however was equipped with a longsword.
"RAVEN!" shouted Robin seeing Raven in distress, he pushed away the other statue and ran towards her with haste. With a thrust he pierced the warrior's chest and broke its arm releasing its grip on Raven. Before Robin could check on her the warrior's head turned its head toward its back facing Robin in an unnatural 180 degree fashion. Partly startled, Robin dodged the longsword that was aimed for his heart. These things knew how to fight.
Catching her breath Raven quickly resumes her task and burns off the remaining seals. The Statue with the longsword tries to interrupt her but Robin jumps on top of it pulling it back towards him.
"Oh no you dont!" he said shifting his body weight backwards, flipping the warrior on its back. Cyborg smashed its face in with his foot.
The chains on the chest started to creak. The lid pushing the chains back with increasing force the more seals Raven burned off. And as the last seal burned away the chest swung open. Unleashing a torrent of black smoke into the room. Now blind, the group tries to recover they're senses before the smoke threatens them all. Raven had opened a portal to a new dimension sucking all the smoke out from the room. When it cleared there now stood six Terracotta statues surrounding the chest each with a different weapon. Startled Raven moves back to her group ready to defend herself. But they didn't move. They stood there weapons ready at the chest, as if expecting something to come out.
"Ummm…why are they ignoring us?" asked Cyborg Confused by the situation.
"They have bigger problems to worry about then us." said Raven trying to sooth her throat.
"What?"
"They're not guardians…they're wardens" she said, finally understanding the situation. It had started to make sense as to why these creatures were so protective of the chest. No one would go to the trouble of hiding an object inside the chest when things can easily be replaced. The chest was a prison. The seals had described themselves as Containment charms. Meant to keep something…or someone from escaping.
Slowly a hand arose from the chest. A pale white bony hand curled its fingers on the ridges of the chest. Before another move could be made a Statue holding a warhammer tries to smash the hand to dust, only for a figure to stand behind it and reduce it to dust.
It happened so fast, sparks of lightning cascaded the room blinding the Titans. Sounds of battle arose from the light if it were a thunderstorm. As it died down all that was left of the warriors was piles of granulated sand. The figure now fully out of the chest was a thin pale figure with long blonde hair and a strange mark on his stomach. Chains adorned his wrists as well as his neck, his piercing blue eyes captivated Raven for an unknown reason.
The air was once again heavy with uncertainty. As the man had paused to look upon his work. The question going through everyone's minds…is he a friend? Or a foe?
"Huh…I thought they would be stronger than that. Should've packed more of them Z-" he was interrupted by a cough that came from Robin getting his attention. He turned looking at the group with a peculiarity and a curiosity.
"Who are you?" asked Robin sternly scanning the man for weaknesses he could find. He had found none.
"Before that…you green one, what year is it?"
Perplexed by the question Beast-Boy answered regardless.
"2023….why?"
The figure grabbed his chin and released a heavy sigh of contempt
"Damn…i guess im 10,000 years late for Dinner!"
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And Boom! Whew, it feels good to write again! I hope you guys will enjoy this series as much as i enjoyed making. UNTIL NEXT TIME!
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