The Lone Hero: Dreams of the Magician
Chapter 9:
Though she felt refreshed from her day out and upcoming fresh start, when Zatanna got back to her apartment, she fell to the floor with tears. The entire day, her powers had been diminishing and she was feeling drained. The world turned to tunnel vision and Zatanna's pulse raced. She crawled onto her feet and stumbled to the bathroom. Zatanna opened the medicine cabinet and took out her antipsychotics as well as the bottle in her purse. She unscrewed them and tipped the contents into the toilet. Knowing if she threw out the bottles, Dick would see no evidence of her taking her antipsychotics so she refilled them with harmless sugar pills.
"I'm sorry, Dickie-bird," Zatanna wept, curling up by the bathtub "Without my powers... I'm not me,"
...The next morning...
Zatanna woke-up after a hard night of nightmares. She sat up and jumped back at the sight of water filling her bedroom. Everything began floating and Zatanna held her breath, convinced it was real. She felt herself float into the air and she kicked her legs out. She began trying to swim to the top for air but felt a chain tied around her ankles and she was pulled down to the floor by a cement block.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Zatanna looked around her room to see it completely dry. What was that knocking though?
"Zatanna!" a man called from outside her apartment.
She got to her feet and pulled a worn-out cardigan over her white nightgown. She walked through the apartment, yawning, and opened her front door. Standing there was [1]John Constantine, her college buddy who may have a thing for her.
"Constantine? What are you doing here?" Zatanna asked, yawning.
"Uh? Carpool? You're meant to come back to classes today and... you forgot," he said.
Zatanna rubbed the bridge of her nose.
"Sorry, I spaced," she apologized "Give me a minute to get dressed,"
"'Kay," said Constantine "Uh, Zatanna? I'm not getting a very strong magic buzz off you, what's wrong?"
Zatanna turned to walk away.
"My meds mess with my powers, a'right?" she said, bitterly.
Zatanna walked back out of her apartment wearing a black cup-sleeved t-shirt, violet jacket, black jeans and a JLA baseball cap with her ponytail threaded through the back.
"You okay?" Constantine asked as they walked down the stairs.
Zatanna adjusted her laptop case over her shoulder.
"Um, Constantine? My meds haven't quite taken affect yet so, uh, can you cover for my hallucinations?" she asked, nervously.
"Sure, Zatanna, I'd do... uh..." Constantine caught himself "Stop it, John!" he thought to himself "She's already found her true love! There is no way Zatanna'd leave Nightwing, son of Batman and Dark Prince of Blüdhaven for you,"
"Thanks, Constantine," Zatanna said "I can always rely on you,"
"You're welcome," said Constantine as he opened the door to his car for her.
Zatanna sat in the back of her class so she wouldn't be asked any questions. She looked outside and saw a hallucination of both she and Dick when they were younger. Zatanna watched them running in fright of something. The hallucination of Dick turned around with the hallucination of Zatanna behind him and he pointed a gun at whatever was chasing them. The real Zatanna was about to get up for a better look but Constantine gave her a nudge and she drew her attention back to their teacher who was saying something about the ancient Aztecs.
"Class dismissed," he suddenly said.
Everyone started getting their bags and started leaving. As Zatanna was passing, their teacher stopped her.
"Zatanna? Can I talk to you?" he asked.
"What's going on [2]Doctor Thirteen?" Zatanna asked, hoping he hadn't noticed anything either.
"Nothing, I just wanted to thank you on the behalf of [3]Traci," Doctor Thirteen said "Her powers are much more under control, though she's having trouble speaking backwards,"
"That's alright," Zatanna said "I'm glad she hit it off with the Team,"
"Especially that Blue Beetle," said Doctor Thirteen "Traci wants to be a superhero now. She's considering going by the name Girl 13,"
"Good to hear her powers are under control now, urban magic isn't that stable," said Zatanna, holding her laptop case "And, uh, Doctor Thirteen? Tell Traci having someone to love is good for magic," and she walked out.
[1]John Constantine is a magic guy from DC Comics. He had a relationship with Zatanna while she was apart of the Justice League Dark. This Constantine is 19-years-old and is yet to start a superhero career. He's also British.
THERE WILL BE NO ZATANNA/CONSTANTINE SHIPPING! CHALANT FOREVER!
[2]Doctor Terrence Thirteen is a guy Zatanna has also had a relationship with in DC Comics. He's sceptical of magic though his daughter is a Homo Magi. He has a secret identity, Doctor 13. Here, he is a college professor.
THERE WILL BE NO ZATANNA/DOCTOR 13 SHIPPING! CHALANT FOREVER!
[3]Traci Thirteen is Doctor 13's daughter. In the comics, she's in a relationship with Jaime Reyes. Here, she is 16-years-old and met Zatanna when her urban magic went out of control and is now Zatanna's kind-of potégé.
P.S: The way Constantine talks is accurate for a British person because I, myself, am a British person!