Landing in New York, I reached out to my old mentor Zatanna. The next day we met and I confided in her all that had happened in the past several months; Jason's death, then Joker's, the end of Batman and Batgirl, Bruce and Alfred leaving Gotham, all except the darkness I could feel creeping up in me. After everything was out in the open I felt as if there was a little less weight on my shoulders.
"So you've been busy these last few months," Zatanna started, "But why come to me now?"
"John Constantine. You once told me that name and said I should find him in the future. That future is now." She looked in my eyes as if she were looking into the very essence of my being, "Why now?"
"I failed Jason. I wasn't fast enough. I wasn't strong enough to save him." I breathed. "I can't do that again, fail someone I love, a member of my pack. I need to be strong enough to protect them."
"I'll accept it. John is notoriously picky about taking on students, he will test you long before he accepts you as a student." Zatanna said, I breathed a sigh in relief. "You have to be very aware that he is both an extremely well trained sorcerer and a complete and utter asshole."
"Trying to warn me off," I laughed.
"No, I don't think anything could do that, now."
Northumberland County, England, or as I call it the middle of absolutely nowhere.
I stood in front of the fountain, looking up at the dark, imposing house in front of me. This was where John Constantine lived, I wondered idly, I considered the house, it was completely secluded no one would ever notice any odd happenings that could result from any magical fuck ups. Retrospectively it was the perfect place for a sorcerer especially for one in training. I walked up to the door, reaching to knock it swung open before I could. I hesitated for a moment before cautiously walking in eyeing my surroundings. I could scent the Alpha in the air. "Hello," I called out as I set down my bags. Dead silence you could have heard a pin drop.
The world spun. When it settled I was not in the gaping foyer I had been in seconds before, instead I was in a solid rounded room made of what appeared to be some type of glass like material. I hoped this was the test Zatanna mentioned and not some security measure to trap uninvited visitors. I settled cross legged on the ground. Closing my eyes, I focussed on my power pushing it out around me feeling the space I was in. I felt my power pushing at every inch of the space searching for cracks in the foundation. Finding none I focused on how desperately I wanted out of this room and I kept pushing my power outward against the walls until I felt it crack.
I stumbled barely managing to stay on my feet, I was back in the foyer. In front of me stood an Alpha almost a foot taller than me with dark blonde hair and deep brown eyes. "John Constantine, I presume."
"Chloe Kane." He scoffed at me, "raw power in spades, skill and experience obviously lacking."
My eyes narrowed, "I wouldn't have been able to get out of your stupid trap if I lacked skill," I spat at him.
"You used a brute force attack to smash your way out of that." He turned to me, eying me speculative, "Train her Zatanna says. It'll be good for the both of ya. Bah." He started mumbling under his breath.
"So will you train me?"
"I assure you this will be the single most hellish experience of your life. And I most certainly don't do anything for free."
An asshole Zatanna claimed, I think insane was more accurate.
"Sigils are a way to channel the magic around you to complete a task without draining your own power."
"Rituals draw power from ley lines or celestial events to offset the power a spell demands from the caster."
"Yes, Mary, I'm absolutely fine."
"Where are you?"
"Not sure exactly, somewhere in England."
"Pocket dimensions are holes in the fabric of space and time that can be manipulated to serve any purpose."
"It is imperative you master Ancient Greek, Latin, Aramaic, and Sumerian if no other languages. The bulk of recorded spells, potions, and rituals are recorded in them and not every text has a translation."
"I'm Natalie and this is my daughter Astra," the unfamiliar beta gestured to the young girl by her side. "I'm an old friend of John's. Is he around?"
"Chloe. He is somewhere around here, I'm not one hundred percent sure where though," I said hesitantly.
"It's nice to meet you, Chloe. Do you mind watching Astra for a few minutes while I talk to John?" She said, turning to leave the room before I could answer.
"So, what do you do?" I asked Astra awkwardly.
"Objects can be laced with powerful spells and magics that can be tapped by anyone with the skill to do so."
Errands suddenly I'm an errand girl. I could kill John with a smile on my face. My darkness practically purred at the thought.
"Magical bonds are ties between two magical beings. They form all manner of connections between the bonded beings even before the bond is complete. Fledgling bonds want to be completed; they create a pull to draw the two beings together."
"A locator spell can be used to track anyone or thing on the planet. For people you need to use part of them or something they are bonded to. It gets a little tricky with objects but everything has a signature that leaves marks of it's presence everywhere they go."
A fucking locator spell something so simple that I could've used to find Jason.
I was in a long hallway that had no visible end. With no other choice I started walking in one direction. I have no clue how long or how far I had walked, time felt fluid, and everything looked exactly the same. I stopped reaching out, I trailed a hand along one of the walls leaving a burnt line as I resumed walking. What seemed an eternity later I reached the beginning of the trail I had left. This had to be some kind of illusionary loop that, or I hadn't noticed myself walking in a circle. Either way I was trapped, fucking John Constantine, the model of an asshole alpha.
I focused lightly pushing my power into the walls, I searched for the source of the magic holding me here. I tugged when I found it pushing more power into it, I identified it to be a pocket dimension with misdirection spells weaved into it. I slowly started unraveling the misdirection spells. The hall started shifting branches appearing to the sides, corners that hadn't been there before. I pushed farther pulling apart the constructs holding the pocket dimension together and the halls started dissolving before me. I found myself in the foyer I had first entered all those months ago. I heard clapping behind me, "Congratulations, love, I've got nothing else I can be bothered to teach you."
Briefly stopping by John with a quiet, "Thanks," I walked out the door by the end of the week. I was pretty sure I wouldn't miss him.