So something went funky on the formatting the first time I posted this; oops. Enjoy!
The pier was deserted. There was nothing but the single, blue light over the dock; darkness shrouded the surrounding area. The hooded figure stepped into the light, glancing around to ensure privacy. She crept towards the edge of the dock.
As she removed her hood, the woman stared out into the darkness. It was as if the murky water simply disappeared into an empty void. Perfect place for it, she thought, clutching the bag in her front pocket. He won't be able to resist this time.
Her gaze traveled over the small waves in front of her; she absentmindedly rubbed at the dark circles under her eyes.
Now or never. The blonde pulled out the small, sealable bag. Her gaze hardened at the sight of its dwindling contents; a sort of metallic red dust.
The woman emptied the bag into her palm, tossing the plastic away. A voice in her head murmured, Would you stop throwing things in the ocean? How would you like it if Kaldur threw trash at our house? The words were not new; she had heard them once, and had collected them in her head like all his words. But time was affecting her memory and his voice grew more distant every day. Not for long.
She locked the dust in her fist and held out her hand to the darkness. The wind picked up and she shivered in the freezing night. Last chance. Don't mess it up. She turned her fist over so that her fingers faced the water.
Her fingers unclenched. The wind picked up and swirled the dust around as she quickly recited, "Drol fo soahc." Her other hand swiftly pulled out a pocket knife that sliced open the neat scar on her right hand. She glared, unfazed, into the darkness as three drops spilled. "I nommus uoy." The wind began to swirl in a circle; as the drops hit the water, the red dust began to pulse like a heartbeat. Almost done. "Noiralk eht hctiw yob, I nommus uoy!"
The wind suddenly stilled and the dust fell to surface, glowing a dull maroon in the faint shape of a pentagram.
10 seconds, she thought. As she counted, there was nothing before her but darkness. 5... 6... As the time dwindled down, despair started to rise in her stomach. 9... 10... Nothing but darkness.
Ignoring the gash on her hand, she sank to her knees, staring at the void. "Please..." she murmured, a tear streaking down her cheek.
"Well that was unnecessarily complicated." She had never thought she would be so glad to hear that grating, whiny voice.
The blonde stood and turned, swiftly wiping away the tear. There he was, dressed in black with a bitter expression and a disinterested focus on his fingernails. "A phone call would have sufficed."
She was not in the mood for games, but her relief outweighed her annoyance for a brief moment. "I figured my phone plan wouldn't cover that kind of long distance."
He still did not look at her. "You sure went through a lot of trouble just to chat. That dust couldn't have been easy to get. Of course, you would still have some if you didn't waste it in the bathtub."
"The spell said 'a body of water.'"
He finally glanced up at her with a sour glare. "What do you want?"
The woman bit her lip. "You know already, don't you?"
He smirked. "Of course." His eyes flashed red for a moment. "But I wanna hear you say it."
"Can you do it?"
"I can, but I don't want to."
She clenched her fist. The woman knew this was coming. "What's your price?"
"Oh please, like you have anything I want."
For a moment, she was confused. "Don't you want... My soul or something?"
"Ooh how original," he quipped sarcastically. "I have thousands of those clogging up my cabinets."
She paused. "Then how can I convince you?"
"Bottom line is, you can't. See, fun fact, we Lords of Chaos have a few... Guidelines. What you want is definitely crossing that line, and if I helped you, I could be..."
"What? Demoted?"
He looked away, acting disinterested again. "No, they'll probably just take my powers or my immortality. Seeing as I'm not willing to risk any of those things for a pathetic little human like you, looks like you need a new way in."
Klarion was about to evaporate but she suddenly spoke. "Zatanna told me that opening the portals is extremely advanced magic."
"Pfft, it would seem that way to a baby like her."
"So you can do it? You can open the portals?"
"Of course I can but-"
"Then just open the portals and I'll do the rest."
He paused. "I like the way you think, but that will never work. I'm afraid your fragile human body can't withstand dimension hopping."
The woman glanced down, her mind racing. "Look I... I'll do anything. You know I will."
Klarion hesitated, then began to grumble a bit. "Well... There is one thing you can do, but it takes a long time."
She raised her head. "How long?"
"Who knows? What matters is if you're willing to go through with it." He turned to her. "There's very few creatures who can travel between dimensions. Because you have no superpowers, there's really only one way to get you through. You'd have to become... Not human."
The woman watched him, searching his features for an answer. Realization dawned on her. "I'd have to become a..."
"Now we get down to the fun part!" Klarion appeared inches away from her face, eyes glittering red. "So tell me, Artemis or Tigress or... Whatever. Are you willing to do it? Is he worth it? To become another species entirely only to break their laws for him? Because if you say yes, it's going to be a bumpy ride. I'll help you, but that's all I can do. You'll be tortured; mind, body, and soul. You'll experience pain like you can't imagine, fear that you will never forget. If you do this, you won't like what you become. So if he's worth it, worth your sanity... Say yes. But be warned that if you do... Things are going to get a lot more..." His face twisted into that of a demon. "Chaotic."
Artemis searched his red eyes. She weighed her options swiftly; she'd gone over worse outcomes hundreds of times. It made her next words easier to say. "We have a deal."
Klarion smiled wickedly. "In that case, let's go get your dead boyfriend back."