Smallville High was almost out of session by the time Zatanna had gotten back to the high school. She'd made a quick pit stop home first in order to shower and change. Who knew that speeding around the world could get so much dirt in your hair and pores? Feeling more comfortable now in strappy heels, cropped trousers, her trademark fishnet stockings, and a trendy blouse than she had been in the more conservative attire she'd worn to the museums, Zatanna strode confidently into the Torch office, to find Clark typing away at a computer. Worry etched his brow and Zatanna knew that while he was probably writing something for the Torch, his mind was on Lana and her resurrection.
"Clark," Zatanna said as she entered the room.
"Hey," Clark replied, looking away from his screen. "Anything yet?"
"Bart's gone to get some information for me, but we may have something soon. Checked in on Lana and everything seemed to be the same."
Clark nodded and said, "Yeah, I checked on her as well. People have been asking about her though. It's not like her to completely disappear."
"We should have called in sick for her or something. No worries though, by tomorrow, she should hopefully be up and running again. Have you spoken to Chloe or Lois?"
"Nope. I've been avoiding them like kryptonite. I don't want to see them until I can tell them something that doesn't sound too fake."
"Not the best place to avoid them, is it?" Zatanna pointed out. "This is the Torch office. Chloe's domain more or less."
"Yeah, but I made sure she's busy before I got here, though I probably should get going soon."
"Yeah…well, I just wanted to check in with you. Listen, Bart's gonna meet me back at my place. Maybe you should meet us there too. We need to figure out what it is we need to do. I was going to go to Xan's place, but I wanted to wait until Bart got back to see what information he had with him. I might need to go there later tonight, if you and Bart want to join? As far as I'm concerned, the three of us are in this together."
"We'll be there," Clark promised.
"Great. And Clark? Lana will be okay," Zatanna said flashing him a warm smile before she left.
"God, whoever discovered that sticking pineapple with Canadian bacon, pepperoni, and mushrooms would make a to-die-for pizza was seriously a kitchen god," Bart said that evening as he shoved half a slice of pizza in his mouth. Pizza sauce sputtered out of his mouth and onto Zatanna's countered. The sorceress gave the reverse spell and sent the sauce back onto his face, causing her to erupt with laughter, and Bart to look at her shyly. Clark stood next to them, silently picking the pineapple off of his pizza as all three of them studied the blown-up photographs of the temple walls.
"I seriously wish the translating spell had worked," Zatanna said as she reached for another slice of pizza. "Would have made some of those things so much easier to read." She pulled one photograph close while Clark and Bart switched their photos for some others, looking for something, anything, which might help them.
"Guess even you don't have infinitesimal power," Bart said.
"I'm still a fledgling magician," Zatanna offered. "A mere spellcaster, if you will. Maybe my powers will grow? Kind of scary, that, but yeah."
"There's nothing here either," Clark said as he tossed another photograph.
"Hey, I think I might have found something here," Zatanna said as she picked the photograph she was studying up. "Yeah, definitely found something here," Zatanna said. She picked set the photo back down and showed it to Clark and Bart. The picture depicted a young woman, seemingly a witch, taking the scarab and opening it down the middle. Next to her was a mummy. The next image depicted the figure of a goddess bursting free from the bandages.
"Guess we've found our rebirth tale."
"What does it mean?"
"Apparently what we need is inside the scarab. It's so typical! Why hadn't I seen it before?"
"Inexperience?" Bart offered, trying to be helpful. Zatanna shot him a look so full of spite that he backed away instantly. "I meant too much stress!"
She smiled at him as she wrinkled her nose. "That's better. Come on, I say we get back to the caves and bring our girl to life."
"Think this will work?" Bart asked as the trio gathered inside the inner chamber of the caves. Lana's body was still there, kept inside a bubble that Zatanna had created earlier to stop the body from decaying any.
"It should. I mean, we are dealing with an ancient power here…and they're usually the most powerful. Undiluted by changes in the world," Zatanna said as she pulled the scarab out of her bag. Along with the scarab, she also pulled out a set of clothes for Lana to wear, and some other ingredients she might need to aid in bringing Lana back. As soon as she had set things up by placing some protective wards and preparing a few vials of potions that she'd need if she accidentally unleashed the ultimate evil, Zatanna turned to Clark and Bart and said, "Hey, it might be better if you guys wait outside. I don't know how what's in the scarab will affect you guys, and I'm not too keen on taking any more risks."
Clark nodded. "Yeah, no problem. I'll close the cave wall while we wait."
"Yeah. There aren't any other openings in here, right?"
"Not as far as I know."
"Good." Zatanna smiled. Clark nodded and walked out, followed by Bart, who bade his current crush good luck before he stepped out of the chamber.
Zatanna watched the walls close and then turned back to the scarab and Lana. She picked up some of her supplies and anointed Lana's body with some herbs and creams. Zatanna then picked the scarab up off the floor, shuddering slightly with the power that emanated from it. The sorceress brought it close to Lana and then said, "Nepo."
The scarab did nothing.
Zatanna narrowed her eyes at the scarab and then pulled a book out of her tote. The book carried a list of simple translated words that Zatanna could use as a spell if she needed to. She opened the book and quickly flipped through it, coming across the translations for the word 'open.' She found the ancient Egyptian word for it and – checking to make sure her pronunciation was correct – set the book back down. She then walked over to Lana and gave the command for the scarab to open again – this time in Egyptian.
The scarab started to pulse in Zatanna's hand as the hieroglyphs slowly started to fade off of the scarab. The scarab then lifted itself out of Zatanna's hand and glided over to Lana, placing itself where Lana's bellybutton would have been. The top of the scarab, where it's mouth would be, Zatanna guessed, opened, and an odd looking essence came pouring out of it. It looked to be thick, and tar-like, but it shimmered from somewhere deep inside. The substance smelled somewhat floral, but with shades of rainwater. It would have been a pleasant scent if it was a little less stale.
The substance, or the essence, whatever it was, surrounded Lana, snaking around her dead body. The essence snapped Lana's jaw open and went straight into her mouth and down her throat. Zatanna watched in horror as Lana's body started to writhe and jerk around as the essence poured itself into Lana's body. She saw Lana's body slowly come back to life, though, with the sudden growth of skin and hair. As Lana's body twirled slowly in mid-air, Zatanna also noted the slow return of Lana's mysterious tattoo.
Soon, the last dregs of the mysterious essence from the scarab had been taken in by Lana's mouth, and the scarab detached itself from Lana, falling to the floor and bursting in a shower of sparks. Lana then fell to the ground, coughing and retching. Zatanna rushed over to her, lifting her up slightly.
"Lana? Lana are you conscious?"
"Wh-where am I?" Lana rasped, gasping for air.
"You're here, you're with us," Zatanna said happily. It had worked. Zatanna got no weird witchy vibe from Lana. "You're with us again."