Hippolyta's face was drawn in perplexed fury.

"Khadija what is the meaning of this embrace?" She demanded.

Relinquishing her grandson, the warrior faced her queen with equal ferocity taking hold of her joy. She pushed Damian behind her and posted her fists to her hips, besides her sword hilt.

"He is my grandson, Hippolyta, whom I have long since thought dead. My own, cherished blood." Khadija al-Azraq narrowed her eyes. "Is that a problem?"

Next to her mother, Diana looked on the scene with confusion, "Grandson? You mean Robin?"

Onlooking Amazons watched with eyes flicking from their queen to their sister, unsure of sides to take. Certainly, that was a male- dressed in a colourful costume and adorned with a wonderful katana on his back that some of them had admired a few moments ago- but only a young one, and the grandson of their sister.
The Amazons were not keen on men.

One of them, by the name of Anoushka, had almost started a fight with Superman no more than ten minutes prior over him sitting too closely to her. Though it had to be said, whilst the one whose suit was rather tight on his *ehem* posterior might have been a little eye-turning, he travelled with some beautiful people. Zatanna had already been approached by several Amazons (her cheeks were stained a seemingly permanent red from their romantic charm- the magician wondered what she saw in Constantine in comparison).

All that was rendered irrelevant, for the moment, as Damian's grandmother (the formidable warrior of Arab-Chinese origin, who Batman had faced) did what a nearby Raven could only describe as 'squaring up' to Hippolyta. The demon had to confess, Khadija al-Azraq was intense in person. Ordinarily a reserved person, Raven was fought between fear to even squeak out a word in her direction and the desire to babble a million fawning questions to her. More than anything, however. The demon looked to her boyfriend, behind his grandmother. How surreal must it have been for him?- Raven wondered. And however did she end up on Themyscira?

Hippolyta walked down from amongst the foliage and on to the sand, changing her focus from her sister-in-arms to the warrior's grandson. Damian kept eye contact, unfazed: grandmother was there; how could anything possibly hurt him?

Uh..Damian, I have heard of Hippolyta of the Amazons. Do you suppose that perhaps she shall notice that I-

"There is a strange force in this one." The queen frowned at Damian over Khadija's shoulder.

His grandmother stepped to the left, intercepting Hippolyta's line of view. "I am aware of that, it is not a cause for concern."

"And that child." Hippolyta looked in Raven's direction. "There is powerful darkness in her." She scrutinised the demon before addressing Batman and Superman (Jessica felt, once again, a little neglected until Hippolyta glared at her too). "You have brought to this island stranger creatures than even yourselves, friends of Diana."

Batman unfolded his crossed arms. Sensing a shift in mood, Selena raised an eyebrow and began the habitual pattern of tapping her claws on her leg when action seemed near. Her fingers itches towards the whip. Bruce glanced to Nightwing and the acrobat grasped his escrima sticks tighter.

"My son and the others came to help." Bruce said.

Hippolyta inhaled deeply, as if she were doing more than breathing, and pinned her eyes on the Batman. "The boy hosts a god."

The Amazons stirred.

"Egyptian. I have tasted the scent before, in millennia gone by. I know of the threat posed to our gods- that threat may very well come from the other divine beings. We may question Bana-Mighdall..." before any protests could be made, Hippolyta pointed to Raven. "This child houses a spirit of chaos more powerful than I have ever felt."

A tall, olive-skinned Amazon besides the demon picked up her spear.

Resolve was needed before the situation escalated. Diana was the one to provide it.

She moved past her mother to stand in the centre of the heroes and Amazons. "Mother there is no cause for concern. Robin is host to Anubis of Egypt. He has aided us greatly in defeating those who seek to destroy Olympus and the other realms. There is no question of his involvement in their downfall."

With an extensive knowledge of the language, Damian took Diana's words with a pinch of surprise, having never considered the Amazon's regard for him at all.

"And the girl? Far more than a simple witch like this one." Hippolyta nodded to Zatanna. "What know you of her? Diana? Khadija?"

The latter spoke first and Damian's eyes widened with Raven's as Dick looked between the grandmother and the demon in confusion- having picked up some of the Greek. Bruce too, was lost.

Selena had the luck of being the only one lingering in confusion- that is, until she remembered the useful feature Bruce had installed in to her mask: a little device that, amongst other things, provided immediate translation. She pressed a button near her ear and prepared herself for the hot tea.

"But of course I know her." Khadija al-Azraq smiled knowingly at Raven, then spoke in beautifully accented English, "You're Arella's girl, aren't you?"

"H-how do you- how did you know...?" Raven said, her tongue numb.

Khadija smiled again at the demon, with all the benevolence of a grandmother, before saying, "There will be time for explanations later my dear." She returned to Hippolyta, in Ancient Greek. "This is the cambion daughter of the human Arella Roth, and the demon Trigon."

Harrowed, the queen of the Amazons said, "Not the demon lord...I have heard of this creature. Not of any of our realms, Greek, Aztec, Egyptian or otherwise... how are we to trust her?"

Herein it was Raven's turn to have her praises sung.
By the end of the joint contributions of friends and associates, it was fair to say she was blushing a little...okay a lot. Dick and Zatanna had rushed to assure that Raven was 'a lovely and righteous sweetheart' who 'has fought for good in the face of her father' and 'would be an angel if she wasn't half-demon'.

Batman chipped in the praise and Raven thought she was going to crumble in to a million pieces. Even Selena was shocked at his kind words- a moment later, she sighed as she realised that he'd basically adopted another one. He'd said with no hesitation, that she was 'a kind, empathetic soul' with 'mastery over her powers' and 'obvious innate goodness'.

Richard broke the hassled rush to ensure Raven's moral character was well-explained with a snort. He looked at his dad with a raised eyebrow, then smirked at his little brother.

"You might as well say your 'I do's right now Dami- you've got parental consent."

But there wasn't the time for niceties or unnecessary questioning. Diana reminded them of this, carrying the message of the gods back with her (the oracle had too returned, and was being seen to by their main healer).

Having only disclosed some of the situation to her mother, Diana silenced the queen's questions.

"We have not the time." She said. "The gods have spoken. I carry their message and the blessed mark of Zeus." Diana ignored her mother's intake of breath and closed her eyes. When she next opened them, her eyes were liquid lightening: her father's eyes. The colour of her blood shone through her skin, terrifying and brilliant and brighter than burning magnesium. She commanded an end to the show of power and addressed her Justice League colleges, "It is imperative that we return. The gods have found the source of the chaos- Darkseid."

The word sent a ripple through her teammate's that accumulated to generate waves of panic and strategy formation, rendering Themyscira the temporary base of operations in fledgling plans against the godly usurper.

Zatanna and Damian's grandmother poured over how Darkseid could have slipped his way through the physical world and grasped his bloody fingers around the metaphysical- the tiny rears between realms. The young Titans, with Anubis also providing his council (spoken by Damian), contributed the ideas they'd gathered in their previous searches for a way to cure Damian of his godly attachment -to no avail. Then, overhearing as she flitted between the military forces and the magical ones, Jessica interjected the wizened enchantress' speculation.

See, these here were magicians, some of the greatest of their time and others before. Khadija al-Azraq was the stuff of legends: Zatanna had studied her works throughout her life and seeing the woman now made her breath catch every few moments. And yet, they were magicians of the Earth and it's corresponding realms. They knew not of the magics across the galaxies.

And Jessica had a pretty, powerful, emerald ring on her finger, that would open doors untold. Alien magic. Oh yes, it existed in a multitude of forms on most inhabited planets in existence. A force behind scientific understanding, capable of being harnessed- that was magic. There was so much to cover.

With the Lantern's ring manifesting a screen-like construct, the hustle was halted by a disruption in the water. Khadija sensed it first, then Diana turned her head, followed by Raven. Hippolyta hadn't the time to command the cause of their pause when he broke free of the water.

Thrust on to shore, the Atlantean king rose from his knees, planting his trident in the sand. Queen Mera, besides him, took in Themyscira appreciatively. He met the eyes of his colleagues with relief.

The Atlantean looked to Mera to speak first, figuring that she'd be better received by the matriarchal society of te island.

"We have been granted passage," she spoke in fluent Ancient Greek, catching her husband off-guard , "by Poseidon. He contacted us in Atlantis and opened a channel to Themyscira."

"Atlantis?" Hippolyta marched to meet them, the white horses rolling over her boots. "Atlantis was dead to the sea long ago."

"Here we are- your majesty- all the same." Arthur Curry smiled. "The King and Queen of Atlantis- thriving beneath the surface. I would offer you to visit, but we've got bigger fish to fry- so to speak."

"It will take both the Amazons and the Atlanteans- if what Poseidon has told us is correct- to defeat Darkseid."

A.N:

Welp! That's this week's chapter! I'm excited to get shit moving along. The problem is, I always end up writing a lot about a little, so every scene lasts forever😓 but I'm happy with it anyways! I hope you guys enjoyed this week's chapter and I love you all! Mwah!

Thank you!

-Bats :)