Titanfall
18th June
13:52 GMT -3
Shock.
Stillness.
Queen Mera is avoiding looking at anyone. I don't know what she's thinking. I
doubt that she's thinking of the equivalence between King Orin's relationship with Kako and his mother's relationship with Thomas Curry. I can see the violet strands linking them. Theirs isn't a political marriage as his mother's was. I
hope that when I considered the recent history of an elder surface-born son inheriting the throne in place of the Atlantean-born heir presumptive, I was worrying unnecessarily.
King Orin himself is staring at me, though his eyes aren't precisely-
"How long have you known?"
-focused. I could ask exactly what part he was asking about, but under the circumstances I think that an open and honest answer would serve us best.
"I discovered Koryak's existence and probable parentage ten months ago.
"
That focuses him. "
And you didn't think to tell me!?"
I look him directly in the eyes.
"Sir, I didn't know that you didn't know until just then. Early in my stay on this Earth I discovered any number of things that I would imagine people would
rather I didn't share. So unless I've got a mission-related reason to do so-.
"
I watch as his jaw clenches, biting down his initial response. A moment later he's got a slightly better grip. "
We'll..
table this for now." He turns his head left, towards the Atlantean officers. "Do we have communications with the surface yet?"
One of them nods. "Telephone only, majesty. The zeta tube won't be repaired for another hour. The Saremites knew exactly what to damage in order to wreck it."
King Orin closes his eyes for a moment before glaring at me. "I assume that you have her phone number?"
I nod.
"Yes.
"
He takes a deep breath, then turns to Mister Kent. "I'll speak with Kako, but I think it would help if Batman and Fate visited the scene. If it really was
my brother, he doesn't know much about surface world criminal investigation techniques."
"Majesty, I-." Another Atlantean officer hesitantly speaks up. "I don't see how it
could be P-. The
former Prince Orm. We all saw him
dead."
"There are
ways to come back from that.
"
"
If my brother had been dealing with Demons-!"
"The Lazarus Pit." King Orin stops immediately he hears Queen Mera speak. "I performed an arcane reading of the zombies as the attack began. I had hoped to be able to undo whatever spell animated them. There were two distinct forms welded together to grant them their unnatural animation. One, water magics such as any Atlantean battlemage might command. The other, I did not immediately recognise." She looks at me. "The only thing I have felt like it was the samples of material taken from Ra's al Ghul's Lazarus Pit which you sent to the Conservatory."
Diana nods. "If Ra's al Ghul
did show Orm how to create Lazarus Pits, he could well have had one prepared in advance of his execution."
I knew that was going to happen! As soon as the body disappeared, I
knew-! Ra's
had been hoarding the knowledge, but if he started teaching people… We can't rely on
anyone staying dead. I'm going to have to suggest that the League formally recommend that all executions include the body of the deceased being… Rendered mystically inert or something. And I'm going to have to talk to Nyssa about tracking down every single potential Lazarus Pit location on the Earth. If that's… Even how they work here.
I suppose logically there's no reason to assume it was Ra's. Nyssa does
work for Lex Luthor. And several League of Shadow members would have the required knowledge. No. Ra's… That actually makes a lot of sense. I had thought it strange, how quickly Ra's was able to hide from ring scans. What if he just went to Orm? Orm would have any number of places he could hide a few surface worlders… Certainly he could block ring scans. And if he asked for the secrets of the Lazarus Pit in return, well… Ra's wasn't in any position to turn him down.
Mister Kent looks at each of his colleagues in turn, his eyes skipping over
me. "Every member of the Justice League was attacked today, but this was the only attack that appears to have a larger objective. Does anyone have ideas what he could be planning to do with it?"
"Oceanus." /
"Oceanus.
"
Diana and I look at each other for a moment, then she resumes. "The Saremites worship Oceanus, and those Elemental creatures which we fought reeked of his magic. Orm could only have gained their aid by offering to assist them in freeing their patron."
Mister Freeman frowns slightly. "I have not heard of a supervillain or sorcerer by that name. The only 'Oceanus' of whom I have heard is the mythological Titan."
Diana's face is more sombre than I've ever seen it before. "That there are myths about a thing should not be taken as a sign that it does not exist. Oceanus is the Titan of the Seas. Though he did not side with the other Titans during their war against the Gods, he quarrelled with the Olympians later as they established themselves. Quite what was done to him I do not know, but usually those Titans who made themselves the enemies of Olympus were bound in some way which prevents them from using their powers against the mortal world."
Mister Kent looks concerned. "Just how powerful
is Oceanus?"
"He is the eldest son of Gaea and Uranus. Every Titan has the greatest arcane power over their own domain, and his is the oceans and all they contain."
"He's a god?"
"No. Most Gods are far younger than the Titans, and their domains are far less a part of them. I don't know precisely what he can do with it, but it is reasonable to assume that he is several orders of magnitude more powerful than the creatures we encountered when we first arrived."
"And he's definitely hostile?"
Diana frowns faintly. "I can't say for certain. Only the Gods and other Titans would have met him in person."
King Orin clenches his right hand into a fist. "I doubt that Orm would do all this to liberate him if he had friendly intentions. Do you have any idea where Oceanus is being contained?"
Diana shakes her head. "No. But just as soon as we're done here I can petition the Gods of Olympus to give me that information."
King Orin nods. "I think that it would be best if you learned that location as swiftly as possible."
Diana nods. "Agreed. Does Atlantis require any further aid?"
"No. We can manage the cleanup ourselves. I should be able to send forces out to attempt to locate Orm's base of operations within a few hours."
"Sirs.
" Four sets of eyes alight on me, one most unfriendly.
"When Hawkman, Hawkwoman and I confronted Satanus outside the Hall of Justice, he mentioned that he'd been acquiring Atlantean thaumaturgical writing.
"
Queen Mera frowns slightly. "We do not make a habit of sharing our research with Demons."
"No, your majesty, but if Orm still has supporters in Poseidonis… Possibly amongst the student population..? They might have been sharing information with him, then he could share it with his allies.
"
There's a slight
glow from her skin. "Then I will locate them exceedingly quickly."
Diana rises from the table, followed by Mister Kent and Mister Freeman. "Orange Lantern, we will need a zeta tube."
I nod, transition to the far side of the table and create a zeta tube construct.
"Recognised, Wonder Woman, zero three, Superman, zero one, Icon, one eight, Orange Lantern, B zero six."
