Young Justice: Salem

August 17th, 2010

Zatanna was already at the Tower when I arrived, curled up on one of the armchairs in the sitting room with a thick, leather bound tome balanced on her knees and a tall glass of iced tea on the table beside her. Officially, the Tower was the only place she was allowed to go outside of Shadowcrest, and that had taken a huge amount of effort on both Zatanna’s and Kent’s part to convince Giovanni to allow it. Theoretically she was under strict orders not to be here whenever I came by for lessons, but neither I nor our teacher seemed keen on enforcing that particular rule of Giovanni’s.

She looked up when I came in, the wall behind me sliding shut with the soft grinding of stone on stone. She smiled and scooched over slightly, allowing me to settle down beside her. I put a hand on her leg and leaned over, peeking at the page she was reading. “Good book?” I asked curiously.

She tilted the book so I could see more clearly. “Uh, kinda? It's a bit dense and too wordy, but the author had some clever ideas about how to utilize spell resonances. Pretty sure the book would have been half as long if he wasn’t constantly trying to show how smart he is.”

I hummed thoughtfully, my eyes scanning quickly across the page. It was written in some local variation of vulgar latin and I probably would have had a lot more trouble reading it if I wasn't a Planeswalker. Speaking and reading any language wasn’t the most exciting ability I’d ever heard of, but boy was it useful.

“Thus the countenance of the spirit must be aligned with the angle of the setting sun and the light of the brightest star at the moment of true nightfall as written within the book of God,” I read aloud. I shuddered . “Ugh. I see what you mean.”

Zatanna sighed and rubbed her eyes, then shut the book with a resounding thud. “The whole thing is like that. I like reading, but this idiot makes it a real slog.” She sat up and carefully set the book down on a different table than the one holding her glass, then leaned back against me.

I snaked my arm down past her back and loosely wrapped it around her waist, pulling her gently against my side. Zatanna craned her neck to look up at me, an impish smile on her face. I rolled my eyes, then leaned down and lightly pecked her on the lips,

Zatanna’s smile widened and she relaxed back against me, her head leaning against my shoulder. “Have I ever told you that you’re very comfortable, Hydrys?” she asked me dreamily.

I laughed and kissed the top of her head. “Let me think. Well, there was yesterday back at the Pub, and of course Saturday during that movie you dragged me too, and let’s not forget––”

Zatanna butted her head against my chest. “That was rhetorical,” she mumbled, her voice muffled by my shirt.

We sat together in silence for several minutes, Zatanna quietly humming a tune into my chest while I mentally reviewed some calculations I’d been working on earlier in the morning. I’d always had a good memory, but with my occlumency I could easily remember the papers I’d been writing on with nearly perfect clarity. I would still double check things by hand later of course, but it was a good way to make sure I hadn’t made any stupid errors in my arithmetic.

Eventually, the wall beside us slid open and Kent floated into the room. He was holding his cane loosely in one hand, had a small package tucked under his arm, and was hovering a few inches above the ground, his body and cane shining with a pale golden glow. Ever since we’d saved him from Klarion and Abra Kadabra, he’d been mostly relying on his flight to get around. Though they’d only had him for a single day, Kent had been injured quite badly and his body was still slowly healing from the abuse it had endured.

He landed just past the doorway and took two slow steps towards us. “Ah, hello there Hydrys. You’re a little earlier than I was expecting, but I think you’ll be rather pleased with what I have for you today.” He tapped his cane against the ground and the package under his arm slipped out of his grip and bobbed through the air until it landed beside me on the arm of the chair Zatanna and I were sitting in.

Zatanna leaned in to take a look but I snatched it and tucked it behind me and out of her sight, “No peeking,” I warned. I had a feeling I knew exactly what was in the package, and, if I was right, I wanted it to be a surprise.

Zatanna pouted but I managed to harden my heart against her tearful gaze and instead looked up at Kent. “And you managed to figure everything out with…” I trailed off, tilting my head meaningfully down towards Zatanna.

Kent’s smile widened and he nodded a fraction of an inch. “Take as much time as you need. I’ll just be over in the next room when you’re ready.”

“Thank you sir.”

“Of course!” And then he lifted back up into the air and floated out of sight into the small dining room connected directly to this room.

“Hydrys?” Zatanna asked curiously.

I covered her eyes with my hand. “Patience, my dear. Isn’t that one of those things that ‘school’ you go to is supposed to teach you?”

Zatanna tried to bite my hand but I quickly pulled it out of her reach. “So is chastity,” she shot back.

I raised an eyebrow and she winked, then lunged forward and licked my hand instead, her tongue giving her just enough extra reach that I didn’t quite manage to pull it back in time.

“Zatanna,” I said flatly.

“Hydrys?” she replied innocently.

I sighed. “I was raised to be a proper gentleman, you know.”

“And I’m supposedly Catholic.” She paused, tilting her head to the side. “Though, despite being a literal witch, I’m pretty sure I’m still one of the least sinful girls in my class.” She winked again. “At least for now.”

I chuckled and patted her on the side. The first time Zatanna had made a joke like that, barely a handful of days into knowing one another, I hadn’t really understood what she was implying. Since then however, she’d dragged me to enough muggle films and I’d immersed myself sufficiently in the culture to understand the stereotypes about Catholic school girls.

“Minx.”

“Old codger!”

Oh that was a new one from her. “Hilarious. Now, close your eyes so I can take a look, and no peeking.” I paused for a moment. “Or spying with magic.”

Zatanna looked far too innocent as she hid her face in my shirt again. I tapped my wand against the side of her face and mumbled, “Finite Incantatem.”

“Hey!” Zatanna exclaimed. “You don’t know that I was going to peek!”

“I do now. And I know you.”

She huffed, but it was more out of amusement than anger. “Fine. You win.”

I tapped the side of her head a second time, conjuring a soft silk blindfold over her eyes and sticking it in place with a charm.

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Zatanna pulled away from my side and pouted up at me. Well, in my general direction at least, she wasn’t quite facing the right way. I kissed her on the forehead and then turned away, finally reaching for the package that Kent had given me.

It wasn’t a very large package, nor was it particularly heavy. It was about the size of a spellbook or perhaps a purse. Out of an abundance of caution I checked the box for traps and, while there was something magical inside, it did not feel hostile in the slightest.

A tap of my wand opened the package and from it I removed a pair of thick letters and two thin metallic tablets about the size of the ‘debit card’ I’d received from the bank. I opened the letter with my name on it first and scanned the first page. As I’d expected, it was my application to visit Atlantis. Well, ‘Poseidonis’ technically. Atlantis was the name of the kingdom, while I’d applied to visit the Conservatory of Sorcery, which was housed in the capital city of Poseidonis.

It had been accepted, and the letter included a number of expectations for how I should behave while there and a sizable amount of other important information. The little tablet was my permit and I was supposed to keep it with me at all times while within the city. It included my name, a small picture of my face, my reason for visiting, and who had approved my visit, along with a number of other minor details. I had a feeling that seeing King Orin’s name and official seal on a card like this wasn’t exactly very common and might buy me just a bit of extra slack if I ever did something unfortunate.

Setting my permit and letter aside, I pulled out the matching pair left in the box and found Zatanna’s smiling face peering back at me from the little token. Her’s had been approved by one ‘Queen Mera’ and I was amused to see that it had actually been approved several days before mine, even though I’d only mentioned the idea to Kent a full week after he’d submitted my paperwork. Kent truly had some friends in high places, and I wasn’t just referring to Doctor Fate’s occasional habit of floating ominous above the Tower.

I had thought long and hard about something special I could do for Zatanna. If we had been back home, it would have been easy. I knew plenty of places in both Britain and on the continent where I could bring a wonderful young woman like Zatanna. France had some absolutely beautiful beaches and parks that had been warded to prevent muggle incursion, there was this wonderful wizarding restaurant in Italy that I just knew that Zatanna would have loved, and my family owned many gorgeous properties around the world.

However, here, I was all but lost. Zatanna knew muggle things so much better than I did and was more than happy to drag me to whatever muggle attractions she wished to visit. Furthermore, centuries of muggle expansion without wizards to stop them, along with several major global conflicts, had completely obliterated a number of natural wonders that still existed in my home Plane, if they had ever existed in the first place.

Eventually, I’d realized that I was going about things the wrong way. Zatanna loved learning magic almost as much as I did. Thus, if I wanted to do something truly special, that had to be a factor I needed to take into account. From there, the idea was simple enough to reach. After all, hadn’t she already expressed her interest in Atlantean magic several times before but mentioned never having an opportunity to study it?

Of course, there were a number of issues with that idea. Firstly, I needed to actually get permission for her to go to Atlantis. Then she needed a way to survive in the frigid depths of the sea. Finally, and most difficult of all, I needed to convince Giovanni that it was a good idea and that I was in no way involved with it.

Thus, I’d decided to approach Kent, though I didn’t exactly coach it as a romantic gesture, even if he clearly saw through me in this instance. He’d thought it was a splendid idea and had readily agreed to help me put in an application in her name and also took it upon himself to talk Giovanni around. From what he’d said off hand when I’d met with him yesterday, that had likely been easier than I would have expected, mostly since Kent pitched it as a way to get Zatanna as far away from Gotham, and thus me, as possible. Giovanni had still been thinking it over yesterday, but it seemed as though he’d finally come around.

With that out of the way, making sure that both Zatanna and I would be alright during our visit fell to me. Apparently there were portions of the city that were intentionally kept water-free to allow for visitors and certain forms of magic and manufacturing, but I did not want to be so limited, nor to rely on the magic of others to keep me safe below the waves.

To that end, I’d spent quite a bit of time enchanting four silver rings with a number of spells that would allow Zatanna and I to survive under water for an extended period of time. Each ring was identical and contained the full suite of spells, but I didn’t want to have a single point of failure between either of us and the crushing depths of the ocean.

It had been a surprisingly interesting challenge. The key spell on each ring was a modified bubble-head charm that covered the entire body in a thin layer of air with a slightly larger bubble around the head. However, that was not nearly enough. For one, it would leave our voices terribly distorted and would make touching things and moving around quite difficult.

To solve those issues, I’d tested and layered a number of other charms that would allow us to swim around as though the bubble didn’t exist, ensured that our voices moved clearly from the air to the water, and kept us warm and dry despite the depth and temperature. The rings also included an emergency portkey that was designed to trigger if anything attempted to disrupt the other spells on the ring. That way if something did happen, Zatanna or I would be safely deposited in the Pub and not stranded drowning in the depths.

I pulled two of the rings out of my pocket, placed them on top of her card and letter, and then turned back to Zatanna. “You can look now,” I told her, amused by the way her hands were hovering just inches away from the silk covering her eyes.

She tore it away and then blinked at the stack of objects I was trying to hand her. “Uh…”

I sighed, flipped the card over, and then showed her mine as well. She looked between the card held loosely between my fingers and her own face on the other permit. Then she looked up at me with wide eyes. “We’re going to Atlantis tomorrow. Kent says your dad already agreed to everything, though obviously he doesn’t know that I’m also going to be there.”

Zatanna stared at me for several seconds longer, then practically squealed in joy and wrapped me in a brief but crushing hug. Then she snatched the letter out of my hands and tore it open, her eyes shooting back and forth as she swiftly scanned the top few pages.

I waited patiently, and was rewarded when Zatanna eventually set everything aside and hugged me again, slightly more gently this time. “Oh I’m so excited!” she exclaimed, “This is going to be amazing!”

“I’m rather looking forward to it myself.”

Her grip slackened, though she didn’t make any move to pull away. “But Hydrys, how am I going to––”

I preempted her question by showing her one of the rings she’d dropped in her excitement. “All taken care of. These aren’t perfect, but they should be good enough for a few weeks underwater.”

Zatanna carefully plucked the ring from my hand and mumbled a spell under her breath, then squinted at the ring. “Have I ever told you how amazing you are, Hydrys?” she asked.

“I could do with a reminder from time to time.”

“Well, I wouldn’t want you to get a big head…But you are pretty amazing.” And then she kissed me. It wasn’t like our very first kiss outside Shadowcrest, nor the chaste peck we’d shared when I’d arrived. Zatanna’s lips parted and our tongues danced clumsily together. Zatanna’s hands moved across my back and she held me tightly against her, even as I had to restrain the urge for my own hands to move down past her bare, slender waist.

When she finally pulled back, we were both breathless and flustered. Zatanna picked up the ring that had fallen into the hollow between our bodies and slipped it into the pocket of her shorts. “Maybe for next time,” she took a deep breath, “you can try to figure out a way to bypass the breathing issue entirely, not just provide a steady source of fresh air.” Our eyes met and she languidly licked her lips. “Or maybe we could work on it together. I’m sure we can find a good use for something like that. Together.”

I carefully picked Zatanna, who had at some point ended up stradling my legs, up by the waist and set her down beside me. “That does sound like a fascinating project.” My mind was already racing with ideas, far too few of which actually involved the spells I’d need to use.

“I bet the Atlantians know a bunch about how to let people survive under water.”

“Probably.” We sat in silence for several seconds, and then I gave Zatanna a one-armed hug. “I’m so glad I met you,” I said honestly.

“Awe, you do care!”

I sighed heavily. “Why do I even try,” I mumbled. “Let’s go talk to Kent so we can figure out the details. I’m sure he has more important things to be doing than waiting for us.”

Zatanna shifted until her head was once more nestled against my shoulder. “He can wait a few more minutes.”

“Perhaps, but do you want to be the one hearing pointed questions about what we were up to for the entire trip?”

Zatanna laughed. “Maybe not. Let’s go talk to Uncle Kent!” She had a huge smile on her face as she leapt out of the armchair, and I was pretty sure my face matched hers as I hurried after her.

We were both still smiling when we stepped through the Zeta Tube with Kent the following morning and emerged into a world painted in shades of blue. Poseidonis, the capital city of the Kingdom of Atlantis. There was a small group of people waiting for us, and Kent cheerfully waved at them as they swam towards us. I didn’t recognize any of them for obvious reasons––I knew exactly two Atlantians and both of them had their own responsibilities on the surface––but Kent clearly did. I made sure I looked presentable, double checked that both of my rings were in place, and glanced over at Zatanna. She smiled at me and then we both turned to face our welcoming committee. I was very excited for the coming days.