Order on Its Own
Chapter 20:
Zatanna, Dick and Beulah walked up the mountain path. It was now the 30th of December and New-Year's was the next day. Zatanna kept her winter coat wrapped around her for warmth. Dick walked alongside her to keep her standing. She was continuously summoning inner power so couldn't focus on a lot. Beulah walked up ahead of them.
"It'll take all day to get to the top and another day for New-Year's to come," said Beulah.
Zatanna squinted as the Winter Sun reflected off the undestured snow. The power build-up was maddening but she needed all the power she could muster to perform the ritual. Her vision was blurring when she was suddenly pulled onto Dick's back.
"Take it easy, love, no matter how much we want Klarion gone," Dick said, carrying her on his back "your health is more important,"
Zatanna rested her head against him as he trudged through the snow. Beulah carried in a backpack her baby brother's skeleton. Zatanna wearily lifted her head up as her head spun. She repeated the steps for the ritual in her mind to keep it fresh. Occasionally, she needed to release some energy or suffer physical harm.
"D-Dick?" Zatanna stammered "C-Can you d-dist-distract me?"
"How, love?" Dick asked.
"Tell me a story," she said, laying her head back down "Think of it as practice for our future children,"
"Let's see... what stories do I know?" her fiance pondered "Hmm... Hansel and Gretel?"
"Only if you tell me Little Red Riding Hood after," Zatanna said "Artemis says that's *Lian's favourite... she... she reads it to her... w-when-ev-ever she... b-baby-s-sits her..."
Zatanna passed out on Dick's back.
"Beulah! We need to stop for a while," he said "Zatanna's out and she's vital to this plan,"
Beulah turned around and nodded. Having grown up in a forest 300 years ago, she new how to survive in the wild.
They found a large willow tree with thick branches that sloped downwards and made a canopy. They were safer from the elements and animals if they climbed up it some way. Dick easily climbed with one arm around Zatanna and the other to support them both from years of training with Batman. They got to where the trunk split outwards into branches and sat there. Due to space, Dick had Zatanna curled up on him with one leg dangling over and Beulah had her knees to her chest.
Dick put his hand to Zatanna's forehead and felt it burn through him at the touch.
"Zee," he said, gently shaking her and she lazily lifted her head "You need to release some energy, you have a fever,"
Zatanna had told him things to look out for which meant she needed to release energy. A fever was one of them. She gently breathed out and a light yellow mist left her mouth. Now she was cold and she shivered.
Beulah acknowledged this and made a fire in her hand. She held it between the 3 of them but slightly closer to Zatanna.
"I thought you were going to tell me Hansel and Gretel?" Zatanna whined, looking up at Dick with her eyes closed.
Her fiance awkwardly laughed, holding Zatanna in his arms.
"Well, okay," he said "Once upon a time, there was a boy named Hansel and a girl named Gretel and they were brother and sister. They lived with their loving father and wicked stepmother in a large forest..."
*On Earth-22, Lian became an archer under the name Red Hood because her favourite fairy tale was Little Red Riding Hood.