#whatever it makes sense in univerrse for reasons

[squiddybeifong]

Trek to Themyscira, Ch. 2

On ao3 here!

--

Victor let out a snort as she plopped down in the seat across from him, his eyes scanning the pages that he had laid out on the table. The note she had sent him as soon as her meeting with Mr. Wayne finished was lost under a sea of books he had already searched the library for, all containing even the smallest hint about the lost Themyscira.

But there was a slight furrow to his brows and Raven sighed; Kent's notes obviously weren't as up to date as she'd thought. She rested a cheek on her palm and downed another gulp of her tea, hoping that the librarian wouldn’t notice she had snuck the small jug inside. She shook her head as she gave the notes another once-over, her voice low as she clicked her tongue, "I know."

Dark brown eyes flicked up to her face, amused. Victor chuckled, sitting up a bit straighter as he twirled the pencil in his fingers, "Do you even know what you're commiserating along to?"

The zoologist grinned at him, "Not quite. But I can guess well enough."

She offered her cup and he took a sip, biting back a groan as the clock struck. Shaking his head, the engineer put his attention back to the notes, already planning his estimates for their course of action. Victor glanced at the young woman he could practically call his sister, his face softening at the trepidation that hid in the shadows of her face. To lighten the mood, he dipped the cup her way, "We're a quarter hour from entering your own personal Hell, Rae. Any final words?"

Gray eyes rolled but she couldn’t contain her growing smile. Raven tapped her nail to the metal in a faux toast as she quietly spoke their motto into the air, "What if not for the advancement of science!"

He laughed and repeated her, “What if not for the advancement of science!" Victor's eyes were bright and excited despite the unplanned additions to their expedition. Something in his usual pragmatic optimism made Raven smile just a tiny bit wider; as long as he was by her side, perhaps a quarter year with Zatara wouldn’t be too bad. She lazed back in her chair and patted down her skirt, wondering just how she and Zatanna would begin to put aside their feud. She herself had no real issue with Mr. Constantine and knew that while Zatanna didn't care for his age the anthropologist at least respected the strides Victor had made through his inventions.

But nearly three years of animosity wouldn’t be undone in an afternoon. Raven tilted her head back, listening to the scratch of Victor’s pencil against his papers. She closed her eyes and sought to steady her breathing, mentally preparing for the arguments and undercuts that were bound to occur.

After an incredibly long moment, punctuated only with Victor’s frustrated hums and quiet ‘Aha’ what must have been a few minutes later, Raven opened her eyes. She turned to glance at the clock that adorned Gotham Library’s front wall. Just underneath, the librarian was quietly stamping out an elderly lady’s books when the door opened, his white brows jumping an inch as he glanced at the two visitors.

The old man paid Mr. Constantine no mind and nodded once at Zatanna, the corners of his mouth quirking down. He had been witness to more than a few confrontations between the two scholars and was hasty to warn the anthropologist of Raven’s presence. It was the weekend, after all. Most of the library’s patrons probably wouldn’t appreciate being audience to an argument, whispered or not.

Raven reached out to touch Victor’s paper as she watched the three; she felt more than saw him look up at the interruption. A soft noise escaped the man and his large hand covered hers. The inventor squeezed her fingers once, reminding, “For science, Rae.”

She nodded and raised a palm to wave at Zatanna, taking a bit of pleasure in the way the usually unflappable librarian’s face went slack. The old man’s lips moved in what must have been a stutter and Constantine touched his shoulder, his reassuring smile somehow both strained and not.

Zatanna left the two men at the front desk, striding up to the paper-covered table. She didn’t smile, but she didn’t glare as she simply addressed the young zoologist, “Roth.” Her sapphire eyes flicked to Victor and she held out her hand, more respect creeping into her voice, “Mr. Stone.”

He shook her hand with a smile, “Please, call me Victor.” A brown hand patted the pages in front of him, “If we are to spend all this time together, we may as well get comfortable.”

His words were pointed and Raven ran a tongue over her teeth, “He’s right.” Gray eyes flicked to the Englishman as he strolled up. She nodded at him and he tilted his head her way. Tucking aside some of her hair (while internally cursing the pins that refused to hold her hair up), Raven suggested, “It may be best if Mr. Constantine--”

“Just Constantine,” The man piped up. “Or John if you’d like.”

“Constantine, then.” Raven gave him a tiny smile, her lips going back to a line as she focused on her rival again, “It’d do us both good if either Constantine or Victor are mediators for any arguments we may have.”

Zatanna hummed at the idea, “That’s fine for now. But once we reach Themyscira…”

Raven shrugged under the pointed look aimed her way, “Then we figure it out as we go.”

The older scholar narrowed her eyes as she took a seat next to Victor. Constantine sat across from her and tapped his wrist when Zatanna crossed her arms. Glad that her braid was tucked up today, the anthropologist observed, “You’re calmer than I assumed you would be, Roth. Come to grips with everything this quickly?”

Both brows jumped above graphite eyes, making the young woman's face so much more mocking than usual. Raven smirked as she glanced to the side, taking in Constantine for a moment. “I’m a zoologist, Zatara.” She picked up one of Victor's notes, humming as she read her name jotted amongst the potential uses that some of the tools were used for. Certainly they'd be able to research quite a few species when they got there, but for now…

Raven met Zatanna's gaze again, “I’d expect that Constantine’s own projects have exposed you to the spontaneity of field work, but your research rarely leaves the city, correct?”

Under the table, Victor nudged her boot with his own. He didn’t look up from his notes, “Behave, Rae.”

Constantine reached for one of the pages, a grin sliding onto his face at the sight of the flower petals. Zatanna glanced at the engineer’s notes, her words laced with thinly laced disdain, “You do know how to do proper note-taking according to Gotham University’s guidelines, correct? Victor obviously can but if we do find as much as Mr. Wayne supposes we need to have synchronized summaries.”

She looked the young woman over, “Preferably with washed hands and no traces of fur on the reports, mind you.” Raven bristled at the reference to her first foray into her field, her words cut off before she could retort.

“We’re getting along, Zee,” John sing-songed, shaking his head good-naturedly as the academics sized each other up. He reached into his coat’s front pocket, grinning as he brought out a rectangular page, “And I’ve got good news.”

Victor’s brows jumped, “Is that a supplies list?”

The Englishman winked at him, “Straight from Mr. Wayne himself. Apparently, he’s given us two 75-foot carracks.” John’s brows jumped with the others as he re-read the order. Cerulean eyes sped over the page, muttering, “Seems the old chap’s pretty certain of us bringing back something.”

"You don't get to his wealth without gumption," Victor shrugged.

"True." Clearing his throat, John read aloud, “‘Of the 71 men allotted, there are to be 51 sailors and 20 guards, with 35 men assigned to the first and the captain commanding 36 on the second ship carrying the four scholars. The trip will take approximately four weeks and three days’ worth of travel each way, with three weeks of exploration and itemization under the guards’ protection. A third year’s worth of food supplied and a battle’s worth of ammunition for each ship.’”

John’s nose scrunched up, “Certainly not a lot of time.”

“We can handle it,” Victor mused. Hickory eyes flicked around the table, lighting up as they landed on the youngest, “And unless we hit a snag, this trip should be the picture of the three Es.”

Zatanna raised a brow, “The three Es?”

Raven’s shoulders shook as she took a sip of her cold tea. She tapped the paper that Constantine held, “The best expeditions, whether for land or for academia, are educational, easy, and extraordinary. Although we usually can only get two of the three.”

John let out a laugh, smothering himself as the librarian glared their way, “No disagreements with that.”

The anthropologist crossed her arms, “Does the extraordinary usually hold you up? Certainly just studying animals isn’t too hard, I’d imagine. Otherwise Mr. Wayne would’ve asked another then--”

Raven cut her off, partly just for fun and partly for her own sanity, “Then what, if not for the advancement of science, Zatara?”

The men gave each other a look, deciding to let the not-quite fight play out as Zatanna drawled out, “How poetic. That something you say before going out into the field?”

“Of course not,” A pale finger pointed Victor’s way. The zoologist grinned, “That’s what I told him the first time he almost lost a limb running from a bear. It was our…” Gray eyes squinted in thought, “First year together on the field? Either way we were beginners to the whole ‘work outside of an office’ type of work.”

Raven leaned forward and folded her elbows on the table, fighting back a smirk at the way Zatanna’s nose scrunched at the unladylike act. Her hand waved in the space above the table, “Insufferable or not, I’ll try to keep you free from any harm a novice might fall into.”

She held up a hand and used the other to make a cross over her heart, “Scholar’s honor.”

Zatanna glared.

--

Constantine groaned as the ship swayed again, the back and forth making his head throb. How much of that was the seasickness and how much was a consequence of his half-empty flask, he didn’t know. All he could do was clutch his head, grumbling out a “Bloody Hell.”

Victor let out a grunt of agreement, his cheeks ashen as he fought off a bout of nausea. God above, he was a fan high speeds but there was a difference. Whipping down the muddy cobblestones with only the horses’ reins and the hope that the carriage’s wheels wouldn’t give out was fun, having no control as the seas swung the only thing keeping them all from a watery death was something else entirely. Honestly, as much as he loved Raven Victor preferred Zatanna’s method of science. Safe and sound in a furnished room, lit by candlelight and serenaded by the city’s sounds all around him until he was ready to see his work in action.

A part of him wondered where Raven was, but she’d always been good on the seas so he disregarded the thought. Especially as another heave threatened to escape him. The captain jogged past, laughing as he clapped the two land-dwellers on their shoulders, “The first week’s the worst, lads!”

John’s eyes widened and he leaned over the rail, dumping his breakfast into the blue waters. Victor winced, “Will it ever get better?”

The captain’s laughter boomed in the air and he put his hands on his hips, unfazed by the carrack’s tilt, “Just gotta grow your sea legs, men. The trip back’ll go swimmingly, promise.”

--

Zatanna raised a brow as she opened her door, blinking as Raven deadpanned, “We need to talk. Urgently.”

“Well no need to sugarcoat things,” The older woman held open the door as she let Raven in, her jaw setting at the papers that the zoologist clutched to her chest. Taking a breath, she closed the door and watched as Raven laid out three pages on her desk.

From her spot she could see the one page was filled with the now extremely familiar lines of Kent’s notes, one was crammed full of Raven’s own handwriting and the last must have been a copy of one of the library’s books. Zaranna crossed her arms over her chest, expectant when all the scientist did was look at her.

Raven rolled her eyes before a stare-off could begin. She impatiently waved her temporary ally over, “Look at these, Zatara.”

The older of the two bit back a hum at the rare fire of emotion that shone from Raven’s eyes. But still, she stayed put. In fact, just to rub in the fact that neither was superior to the other on this expedition (let alone Raven’s status above hers), Zatanna leaned until her back rested against the door, “And why are you asking me?”

A vein over the younger’s eye twitched, “You’re the anthropologist. I need your… opinion.” She patted the papers once, “About the possibility of there still being Themyscirans alive. Today.”

Zatanna wanted to think it a joke, but she stepped forward at the look on Raven’s face. Her focus immediately went to the inkblots that emphasized certain sentences. Raven leaned forward to tap a marked section, getting to business without another moment's waste, “They apparently called themselves Amazons, although they disappeared before news of the New World really gained traction.”

That got her a blue side-eye and another bout of condescension, “Themyscira only used their sailing for martial reasons, Roth. Their spears aren’t…” She paused, her lips tightening into a thin line as she considered if her idea had any merit.

Ultimately, Zatanna didn’t think that it did, “Name aside, what we know of their gods and that their culture definitely contained eurocentric ideals. Same as all the surrounding countries and islands alike.”

She ran her fingers over the sketches again, reading one of the notes that Raven had written near an inked boat, “‘They kept to themselves but weren’t hesitant to send distresses if truly needed.’ Surely they must have just been surprised by the hurricane.”

As if on cue the boat creaked with an especially large tilt and Raven slowly closed her eyes as a thump preceded Victor’s call of “Damn it all to Hell!” Her smile faltered at the feel of Zatanna’s eyes on her and spoke, “He has a bad habit of trying to sleep off his seasickness and not using the bed’s straps to hold himself down.”

Zatanna hummed at the look on her face and the tone to her words, “You think the Amazons were the same? That they were able to escape?”

“At least some of them. If any had lived past the storm then they would have been spotted around the island--” She held up a hand before the older woman could interrupt, “--the vegetation and terrain is far too wild to see anything of their everyday life while on any boat. But there wouldn’t be Themysciran technology washing up on Greece’s shores if they were confined to there.”

“You think they’re isolating themselves on purpose?”

Raven bit her lower lip, “Or on accident. I’m not sure how this could have come about, actually.”

“The most recent tool washed up just a few months ago, so if there is a population it must be floundering,” Zatanna mused. Her fingers drummed on the desk, “Sixteen decades is a long time to be cut off from a world that’s so close.” She glanced at the shorter woman, “You think their husbandry has anything to do with this?”

“Not their husbandry,” Raven stressed. She ran a hand through her hair, “There aren’t many maps of the surrounding islands, but I believe they’re crucial to this mystery. Might even have some ruins there too.”

Zatanna raised a brow, “There are… other islands?”

“Themyscira is the start of an archipelago,” Raven explained, pulling a crinkled pocket-map out of her pockets. She unfolded the paper that had obviously been well-worn prior to the expedition and pointed at the shaky lines, “They’ve never been explored. The Amazons made sure of it when they were alive and the storms have only just started to really erode the surrounding rocky reefs, but some zoologists hypothesized that they were concealing another Madagascar.”

The silence that greeted her was a question enough. She gazed up at Zatanna, a small part of her proud to be teaching Zatara something she had no idea about, “Madagascar’s ecosystem doesn’t have the large predators that other areas of Africa bear.” Her voice lightened at the familiar topic, “No large cats or dogs, no dangerously fatal territorials like hippos or rhinos, and early humans hardly made a presence. It’s the only place on the planet where lemurs and other small monkeys live and thrive natively.”

Zatanna added on, “So if the Amazons ensured that only they knew how to navigate there, they could’ve stayed without any worries.” She nodded to herself then raised a brow at the uncertain look on the zoologist’s face, a scoff erupting out of her as she easily guessed the direction her thoughts were going, “I know you’re not acting like a child, but you might as well think like an adult if we’re even discussing this.”

Raven’s lips pursed at the insult then she hummed out, “It’s only childish to assume that the most bizarre answers can never be true.” Pale hands went back to her pockets as she looked for her world map, air escaping her as she unfurled it. Paying no mind to how Zatanna curiously peered at the animal sketches that spotted the page, Raven ran her fingertips over Africa’s border, “Now, disregarding humans the larger primates were spread between middle- to north-Africa and Asia,” Raven muttered.

Her nail tapped Madagascar on the map, “But the small ones thrived closer to the equator.”

Zatanna shrugged out her guess, “So any undisclosed primates that Themyscira may have known about would be big, like gorillas?”

Raven pushed her glasses up, “Exactly! I’d have to ask Victor if he brought any of our past notes on primatology, but physical tools aren’t necessary if humans are constantly in close proximity.”

Her hands clasped behind her back she hesitated, reluctant as she turned to meet Zatanna’s stare, “Which leads me to my… idea. More of a proposition, really.”

“Oh?”

The zoologist bit the inside of her cheek, “I don’t know if I could get Victor to agree, but we could temporarily split off from the group.”

“You and Victor?”

“You and myself.”

Zatanna shifted and she pressed on, “Three weeks is nowhere near enough time to thoroughly record all we find on Themyscira and get even the tiniest sniff of the rest of the archipelago. Victor may not be trained for zoology, but he knows how I record my findings. And I’d imagine Constantine is the same with you.”

“Where are you going with this?”

Gray eyes shut as she proposed her idea, “Look, I’m saying we search as scheduled for a fortnight, then leave the men to finish up any extra discoveries while we go to the second smallest island.”

It was quiet for a long moment, the air filled with only the splash of water against the carrack’s wood and the sound of Zatanna brushing her hair off her shoulder. The anthropologist didn’t give an answer, only queried, “Is that the closest one?”

Raven nodded. “We won’t have to go searching too hard, just a quick circle around on the carrack and maybe we can anchor down if we spot anything that may suggest Themyscira still lives on.”

Their gaze met and Zatanna’s lips pursed, “Why?”

A sigh escaped the young woman and she straightened her posture, her respect less begrudging as before, “As much as I know about how animals and humans interact, your expertise would be more than helpful. Especially if we do find any evidence of the Amazons.”

Her chin tilted towards the door, “Obviously, none of the sailors would let us take a raft to the shoreline if my hypothesis is correct so anything you can notice by sight would be vital.” Raven briefly motioned to her glasses then clicked her tongue, “Not to mention Mr. Wayne knows the importance of asking for forgiveness rather than permission. If we find anything substantial then he’d approve of a longer, more extensive expedition. Think of what we could accomplish individually, let alone together.”

The boat swayed again and Zatanna crossed her arms, thinking everything over. Raven let a bit of hope bloom in her chest when a minute passed without a rejection, her fingers lacing together above her stomach. Finally, what felt like eons later but really was only seventeen tilts of their ship, Zatara grunted out, “This plan is ridiculous, even for a child like yourself.”

A hopeful graphite stare made her pinch between her eyes. Zatanna shook her head in disbelief of her words as she added, “But as meritless as it is, what if not for the advancement of science?”

Raven's smile lit up the room.

A foreign, miniscule piece of Zatara thought it a comforting sight but she refused to let her mind  wander; she’d heard enough from Constantine on how well they could’ve gotten along if their rivalry had been a mentorship instead and one agreement wouldn’t change their past. Physically shaking her thoughts away, all the older woman did was sigh as she motioned to the door, “It’s getting late, Raven. Give me until dinner to find all that I can from my own notes then we’ll discuss a plan of action in the morning.”

The zoologist nodded, her head tilting as she added, “May I ask that this stays between us? At least for now.” Her lips quirked down, “I hate lying to Victor but we need our strategy to be foolproof before we introduce them to the idea.”

Zatanna considered her words and agreed, “Very well, then. We still have three weeks; that’s plenty of time for the likes of us.”