GG: I AM ALIVE! I SWEAR IT! And I'm sosososososososososososososososoSO sorry to have made you all wait for so long. The past few months have been brutal. First the computer I was using to write crashes. Then I had to use an ancient computer that ran so slow, it took an hour for it to turn on. Finally I get a new computer, and I have to figure out how it works. Not to mention SCHOOL. I had an extra WEEK with all the snow we got here on the East Coast. But I'm finally done, and I can come back and hopefully make up for keeping all of you lovely people waiting.
"Come on, hurry UP!" Zatanna called over the widening distance between herself and the two following her.
"Slow down Zatanna. I don't want you to hurt yourself." Zatara called back as he helped Kat over a stream in the middle of the path. Zatanna stopped and sighed inwardly at her dad. Her first training session in three weeks, and he wanted her to slow down? Un. Be. Leivable. It took a week for Kat to heal fully, with the help of magic, and another week for Zatanna to gain her full trust. Then it took another week of wheedling on both of their parts to convince her dad that Kat could be trusted enough to take with them to the clearing.
Finally the two caught up to the girl, who was practically bouncing off the nearby trees in impatience.
"You really should calm down Zatanna. The clearing where you found me isn't going anywhere." Kat said in her quiet way. Zatanna beamed back at her as they continued to walk, nearing the bend in the path.
"Yeah, but aren't you excited? You can finally see me do magic for real!" She replied, taking the younger girl's hand and skipping around the bend with her. Zatara smiled at the two and followed as they rounded the bend in the path into the clearing. The clearing itself was just as they had left it. Quiet and isolated, perfect for practicing magic.
"Okay Dad, what should I do first?" Zatanna asked from where she stood, rocking back and forth on her feet. Kat sat on a small boulder a few feet away.
"Why don't we pick up where we left off last time? With levitation?" He replied
"Okay! Kat, watch this!" Turning toward a stone about the size of her fist, she started the breathing exercises Zatara had taught her to concentrate.
"Etativel eht kcor." She said, and pointed at the stone. It moved around slightly in the dirt. Concentrating harder, Zatanna tried again. "Etativel eht kcor!" It wobbled into the air a few inches. Zatanna smiled. She'd been practicing. Time to try something new.
"Kcor, emoc ot em." The rock slowly tottered toward the three of them. Glancing at her dad, she saw his eyes widen. Looking back at the rock, she gave it another command.
"A elttil retsaf. Emoc otni ym dnah." The stone nearly flew into her hand! She squealed and twirled around. "Look Daddy, I did it! I made the rock come to me!" she said as she tackle hugged him.
"Yes my dear, you certainly did. I'm so proud!" Zatara beamed down at his daughter. Kat clapped at her friend's performance.
"What next?" Zatanna asked.
"You seem to have already become proficient at the lesson I had in mind for next. Moving things once you've levitated them. We can just practice that for now. Later we can work on light conjuring."
THIS IS A LINE
"That's it. You must keep your hand steady when first creating the light ball. Give it time to form before you start moving around. Once you've mastered the basics, we can try conjuring on the move." Zatara spoke as he walked in a circle around his daughter. She held a wavering flicker of light in her hand, and there where beads of sweat running down her face. They had been working with only small breaks all afternoon. It made Kat tired to even look at Zatanna. Time to interfere. She pushed herself up from her nice rock and walked over to the two magicians.
"Um, Mr. Zatara?" she said, lightly tugging on his shirt. He turned toward her. Looking down nervously, she fiddled with her necklace. "Sorry to interrupt, but didn't you say that you had something else you wanted to do here?"
"Ah, yes. Thank you Kat, for reminding me." He turned away from the nervous girl, and placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "Zatanna, it's time for a rest. I have something I want to do." Zatanna put her hands down, the light immediately extinguished. She blinked a few times to adjust her eyes to the sudden absence of light and looked around at her dad.
"Okay! I'll just sit with Kat. Did you bring any more snacks?"
"They are in the bag. I'm going to trace the magic that brought Kat here, so that we can find out where she came from." Zatanna nodded, and began to turn toward the bag. Then she realized what her father meant and turned back with a pouty face.
"But I don't want to find out where she came from! That means she has to go back!" she cried as she hugged the other girl tight. Her father simply gave an exasperated groan, and crouched down to their level.
"Zatanna… It is not fair to leave Kat without knowing where she came from, or who her parents are. You know this. Perhaps her parents will allow her to come over to play now and then once we find them." This seemed to perk up both of the children.
"Okay!" they said simultaneously, and skipped away. They came back with the bag, then sat on a rock and began examining its contents. Zatara's brow furrowed in confusion. Where had that boulder come from? It wasn't there a moment ago when they had run off to get the bag… It was no matter. He sighed and turned away, walking to the middle of the clearing to begin his spell. Kat would not be needed until a little later, so he let them talk and eat.
"Wohs em eht stneve fo eerht skeew oga." His vision went dark. He felt himself floating, the ground falling away from his feet. Suddenly he was thrown back into the clearing. It was darker, being later in the day. He saw the retreating forms of himself and Zatanna walking into the woods. A few moments later he saw Zatanna running back out of the woods toward her bag.
"…ay right there!" she shouted over her shoulder. He saw her go to her bag and pick it up. She looked around and turned to go. Then Zatara saw what he had come to watch. It started as a pinprick of light, and began to grow. He heard the voices, starting as a whisper and growing along with the light. He saw Zatanna crouch down and scream. He saw himself fly out of the woods toward his daughter. He saw the force field go up, the light become blinding, the whisper become a scream. He heard the voice rise above the rest. And then, as the past him turned away from the blinding light, he saw a portal open in the middle of it.
He saw a pair of arms dropping Kat into the clearing. He saw a flash of fire. Then the light disappeared*.
"Pots. Og kcab." He jumped back in the flash back to when the light first appeared. "Nigeb, ylwols." The light expanded slowly. He blocked out everything else, trying to get as much information as he could. Zatara observed the portal opening in the light. He saw the arms reach through.
"Rewols." The image moved at a snail's pace. Zatara moved forward to take a closer look. What he saw was not what he had been prepared for.
He saw a family.
The arms that he had observed reaching through the portal belonged to a young woman. Behind her stood a man with his arms raised. Neither could have been more than thirty years old. They stood in the middle of a small room with walls of stone. It was furnished sparingly, with nothing but a large book open on a small table, surrounded by three chairs. The woman was cradling Kat in her arms.
"I love you, sweetheart, my darling baby Kathryne. May you be safer there than here." The woman said, a panicked and sad expression on her face. So, this is Kat's mother, and Kat's real name is Kathryne. Oh, the irony. The man behind her must be Kathryne's father. It would appear that he is preforming the spell. Zatara thought.
"Momma! Poppa! I don't want t—" Kat began,
Suddenly there was a flash of fire behind them. A shard of stone flew through the air, hitting Kat on the head. The blast caused her mother to jolt forward, nearly throwing Kathryne into the clearing. Kat cried out in pain and fear as she landed on her right arm with a crack.
"They're he—!" cried Kat's father as the snapped shut behind Kathryne. The light disappeared, and the past Zatara and Zatanna began to stand up.
Zatara felt a tug on his arm. The vision of the past fell away, and he returned to the present.
"-addy! Dad! Wake up!" Zatanna stood next to him, pulling on his arm. Kat was also staring worriedly at the kind man who had cared for her. Zatara blinked and rubbed his face, trying to stay his exhaustion. He sat down on a nearby boulder with a sigh. He still had more work to do.
"Are you okay, Mr. Zatara? It's starting to get late, and you were standing there for a long time." Kat asked. Zatara was starting to notice that she had a habit of playing with her necklace when she was nervous. He rubbed his eyes again and smiled.
"I am fine, Kat, thank you. Zatanna, could you fetch me a water bottle?"
"Oh, here. We were gonna throw it on you if you didn't wake up soon." Zatanna grinned sheepishly as she handed her father the bottle. He cocked an eyebrow as he accepted the bottle and drank. When he was done, he put the bottle into the bag, and looked at Kat.
She was playing with the beads on her necklace. This was the first time that Zatara had taken a good look at the necklace. It was comprised of four beads on a string. The beads were held apart from each other by knots. They each appeared to be made of a different type of precious stone. One was a bright fire opal, another a white moonstone sphere, one was a tear shaped lapis lazuli, and the last one was a rough cut emerald shot through with brown stone. Kat saw him staring and looked away sheepishly.
"Um… Mr. Zatara? You said that you wanted to trace the spell that put me in the clearing. Did you… Did you find anything?" she asked shyly.
"I did, though I need to know more." He replied. She perked up some.
"What did you find?" she asked.
"I saw your parents. They performed the transportation spell that brought you to this clearing." Her eyes widened. He withheld the information about the explosion, and her mother calling her Kathryne.
"W-why?" she asked, distraught. He crouched down and put a hand on her shoulder.
"That is what I intend to find out, my child. And for that, I will require the help of both of you." Zatanna, who had been sulking nearby, started paying attention at this.
"Help? With what?" she asked.
"I am going to reopen the portal, but I am tired. I am going to need your help to obtain the necessary magic required to do the spell. Take both of my hands. Kat, I need you to stand in the circle formed by our arms." The two followed directions, and they were soon in position.
"Now Zatanna, repeat after me. 'Nepoer eht tropsnart lleps taht saw demrofrep ereh eerht skeew oga.' Ready?" he received nods from both girls. The trio closed their eyes and began the spell.
"Nepoer eht tropsnart lleps taht saw demrofrep ereh eerht skeew oga. Nepoer eht tropsnart lleps taht saw demrofrep ereh eerht skeew oga." The magicians chanted.
The pinprick of light reappeared. It grew, and the voices began again. Finally, the portal grew enough for the trio to step through.
Then they were gone.
GG: TA-DA! I'm finally done! You have no idea how great it feels to update!
Thanks to Ria Dalrado for reviewing, and thanks to PrettyKitty and StarGirl for continuing to read! Cookies for all! (::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)(::)
*I was SO tempted to stop here, but nothing had really happened in the chapter at this point, and I promised excitement, so I didn't. Y'all are lucky. Still managed to end on a cliffy though! MWAHAHAHAHAHA
Disclaimer: Nope.