A Magician in Gaea
Chapter 8:
The Streets of Atlantis
Zatanna squeezed Dick's hand as he led her to a rickety bridge that led to the island nation of Atlantis. Since they were both fugitives in the eyes of the Light Dragon empire, they had to sneak in. They both had brown ponchos with hoods on to hide who they were. The rope bridge alarmingly swayed as they walked across and Zatanna held onto the ropes in fear of falling. It didn't help that Dick stepped on a plank and it fell hundreds of feet down to the sea. The end of the rope bridge was cut off by the wall around the island.
"Get on my back," Dick said, looking up at the cobblestone wall.
Zatanna blushed as she clung to his back like a little monkey. He began climbing up the wall, sticking his feet in the graps and taking grip of the stones with his hands. Zatanna turned to look at the ground when they were halfway up and she put her head over Dick's shoulder in fear of the height.
Dick pulled them both over the top of the wall and back down the other side but he lost his footing when they were almost down to the ground. They landed on their sides in a heap of leafs and they groaned as they got up.
"Youch," Zatanna said, rubbing her wrist "I wish I hadn't held onto you so tight,"
Dick chuckled at her disgruntled face as he stood up and gave her a hand. Zatanna picked up her backpack and put it back on.
"Where are we going?" she asked, holding onto the backpack straps.
"The Flash Family Tavern. Wally's uncle, Iris's husband, owns the place. He helps the rebellion with a place to regroup in Atlantis," said Dick "The others probably know about Knight being here and came too so we'll probably find them there,"
Zatanna nodded and followed him as they snuck out of whoever's backyard they had fallen into.
The crowds in the streets of Atlantis were a tight squeeze. Hanging above the middle of the city was an upside down pyramid balancing on the tip of a right side up pyramid on the ground.
"I can't believe King Orin let the Light Dragons take Atlantis like this, what is he teaching Prince Arthur and Princess Mareena?" Dick complained, pulling Zatanna through the crowd.
The people were so packed in that Zatanna couldn't see Dick and the only indication he was there was the fact they were holding hands. The crowd kept getting more compact and their entwined fingers were being pulled more apart. Their hands were suddenly pulled away and Zatanna was knocked down to the ground. She curled up in fear and looked around. No one noticed her and she was scared of being trampled. It bore a terrifying resemblance to when she got lost in Times Square on New-Year's Eve...
"Daddy! Daddy!" Zatanna shrieked as tears ran down her chubby cheeks "Daaaaaaady!"
The crowd was so thick. She didn't intend to let go of his hand. It just happened! Zatanna buried her head in her hands and sobbed.
"Zatanna! Where are you? Zatanna Zatara!"
"Daaaaaaaadyyyyyyyyy!" she cried.
Giovanni grabbed her from the ground and hugged her close to him. She clung to him with all her 7-year-old might and cried hot tears into his shoulder.
Zatanna's bottom lip trembled from the sudden flashback and she felt like that 7-year-old girl again. Tears began to blur her vision and she opened her mouth to cry out.
"DI-" she was interrupted by a hand being put over her mouth.
"Don't shout my name," he whispered to her in a serious tone "Light Dragon soldiers will swarm us faster than you can say 'dragon tooth' if you do,"
Zatanna nodded, turned around and threw her arms around him. He blushed and awkwardly got to his feet with her still hugging him.
"Don't leave me again!" she sobbed, too emotional to think of being embarrassed by her embrace of him.
Dick gently smiled and hugged her back.
"Don't worry... I won't..." he said to her and she stepped back "C'mon, let's take the alleyways to the Flash Tavern instead... it'll take longer but it's much less crowded,"
Dick took her hand with a firmer grip this time and pulled her from the crowd to an alleyway where there was just a begger sitting on a mat leaning against the wall. He shook a tin cup at them and Dick put some silver pieces in for him. The begger tipped his hat in thanks and the two went on their way.
It was true the alleyways were much less crowded but the few people there didn't look trustworthy. Dick held Zatanna's hand in one hand and had the hilt of his sword in the other.
"Just look down and don't show anything of value or they'll follow us, slit our throats while we're sleeping and steal anything they can make a profit off of," he whispered, keeping his steely gaze forward.
Zatanna squeezed his hand and took hold of his upper arm with her free hand.
"If you don't mind me saying, Di-" she stopped herself from saying his name "Gaea is a very violent world,"
"And the Mystic Moon is inhabited by pacifists?" Dick whispered to her.
"I didn't say that," Zatanna responded.
They came to a stop when a group of men stood up and blocked their way. Dick pushed Zatanna behind him and drew his sword.
"Get out of our way," he said.
"That's a nice sword you have there. How 'bout a trade?" the one who seemed like the leader said.
"Its not for sale. Now, get out of our way!" Dick demanded.
"Seems to be made out of Nth metal but Nth metal swords are extremely rare," said the man "I'm Slade Wilson, by the way,"
"If this worthless piece of crud is Nth metal then I got a huge deal with the guy I traded with," said Dick "Now, get out of my way so my friend and I can pass,"
"Boys, teach this boy some manners," said Slade, turning his head to look at his goons.
Dick jumped into action, knocking away the men with ease. He couldn't kill them or he'd attract unneeded attention. Dick aimed his sword at Slade and ran at him. Zatanna gasped in worry and stepped back. Slade pulled out his own sword and they crossed blades. Dick didn't know why but he hated Slade as much as he hated the Light Dragon clan and that was... a lot!
Please review!
