Themyscira was many things: a paradise, a fortress, a cradle of ancient power. But even within its vast forests and ivory temples, there were places few dared to tread—forgotten places, buried beneath stone and time.
Koki Sarive stood at the edge of a crumbling staircase, vines hanging like serpents from the jagged walls. Cold, stale air rose from the depths below. Raven, Diana, and Zatanna flanked him, their expressions unreadable.
"This wasn't here yesterday," Zatanna murmured, tracing a glowing rune into the air. "The ground shifted. It opened up overnight."
"The Earth responds to old magic," Raven added. "This place was hidden for a reason."
Diana stepped forward, her spear held tightly. "And now it's awake."
They descended in silence, each step a whisper of dust and memory. Torches lit themselves as they passed, reacting to Diana's divine presence. The walls were etched with carvings—serpentine symbols of gods not known to modern myth, their eyes wide, devouring suns, their limbs wrapped around crumbling galaxies.
Koki stopped before one of the carvings, unease crawling up his spine. The figure was enormous, inhuman—its mouth open in a scream that spanned worlds.
"This one," he whispered. "I've seen it before."
Raven stepped beside him. "In your visions?"
He nodded. "When Infinity takes over… I see things. Fractured images. I thought they were just nightmares, but this… it was always here."
Zatanna frowned, turning to Diana. "These aren't Olympians. They're pre-Olympian. The ones that even your gods feared."
Diana's face hardened. "The Primordials."
Koki swallowed. "Theonix warned me about something ancient, even older than the gods that gave me this power."
"Then we're already behind," Raven said.
As they reached the base of the staircase, the tunnel widened into a vast underground chamber. Colossal statues lined the walls—each one shaped like a different cosmic horror. One held stars in its claws. Another wore a crown of black holes. All watched silently as the team entered, their stone eyes gleaming with eerie life.
At the center of the chamber was an altar. Floating just above it was a shard of obsidian, pulsing like a heartbeat. Veins of dark energy spread from it into the floor like roots feeding on the Earth itself.
Zatanna drew a sigil in the air. "It's not just a relic—it's a prison. Something's inside."
Koki stepped forward slowly. The shard tugged at him like a whisper on the wind, beckoning, recognizing something in his blood. His chest burned faintly, the Infinity mark pulsing.
"It's calling to me," he said. "I don't know why."
Diana's arm blocked him. "That's what it wants. Whatever is inside—if it senses your power, it could use it to break free."
"But what if it's connected to Infinity?" he asked. "What if this is part of what I need to understand?"
"No," Raven said, eyes darkening. "You can't open that door. Not without losing something."
Suddenly, the chamber trembled. Cracks webbed across the floor, and from the ceiling, dust and stone rained down. A voice echoed—not from the air, but from inside their minds.
"At last… my children come."
The voice was ancient. Not just old, but timeless. It carried gravity in every syllable, like the weight of dead stars. The obsidian shard pulsed faster. From the statues, shadows bled, rising from stone like ink in water.
Zatanna shouted, "They're manifesting! They're trying to take form!"
Raven's soul-self burst forth like a cloak of wings, surrounding the team. "We need to go—now!"
"No," Koki said, eyes glowing fiercely. "We need to know what this is."
Diana stepped beside him. "Knowledge means nothing if we die retrieving it."
The shadows lunged. Dozens of them—shapeless, screaming, clawing at the soul-shield Raven barely held. Zatanna chanted rapidly, glyphs bursting into light. Diana's spear sliced through the first creature with divine precision, and Koki's fists glowed with energy as he leapt into battle.
He moved like lightning, punching through one shadow after another. But for each one that fell, more took its place. They weren't trying to kill him.
They were testing him.
"You bear the mark of Infinity," the voice said again, now clearly speaking to Koki. "You are the key. Open the gate."
"No!" he shouted. "Tell me what you are!"
"I am what your gods fear. I am the root, the breath before creation. I am your beginning… and your end."
Koki's body surged with energy. His chest glowed—the Infinity symbol burning brighter. A rush of heat flooded his veins, and for a moment, he felt himself slipping. His hair began to lighten, strands turning silvery white. His eyes flickered gold.
"No," he growled, forcing himself to resist. "Not yet."
He struck the ground with his fist, releasing a wave of force that threw the shadows back. Raven's shield collapsed, and she dropped to one knee, breathing hard.
"Portal—now!" Zatanna cried, cutting the air with a glowing hand. A rift opened in the space behind them, swirling with white and violet energy.
Diana grabbed Koki's arm. "We leave together."
He nodded, teeth clenched, his heart still pounding with the echo of that voice. They dove through the portal just as the chamber shook again, the stone statues cracking, the obsidian shard erupting with black flame.
They tumbled onto Themysciran ground as the portal closed behind them.
Silence.
For a long moment, no one spoke.
Then Koki stood up, staring at his own hands—trembling slightly, glowing faintly with leftover energy. "It knew me. It knew what I am."
Zatanna exhaled, wiping sweat from her brow. "Whatever that thing was… it's been watching you for a long time."
Raven nodded. "And it's not the only one."
Diana put a hand on Koki's shoulder, anchoring him. "That was just a fragment. A shard of something much larger. But it told us something important—your power is tied to more than just the gods. Infinity might be older than all of them."
Koki looked toward the sky, clouds gathering over Themyscira like a warning. "Then we need answers. Real ones. And we need them soon."
Diana's eyes narrowed. "I know where we'll find them."