Sell you a Bridge

by MalcolmTent6730

Have you ever gotten an email telling you you've won a free cruise? Or one for a work out that will get you ripped in ten days? Wouldn't it be crazy if those offers were legit? Well for Morgan O'Malley they can be. Spam becomes real life when his meta powers finally manifest. Hopefully the perks of the super life aren't false advertising.

55. Chapter 55

June 7th 2016 The Nightside 12:00 PM EDT

The next day found us all gathered together, waiting to head out on a little trip that Sindella had arranged. Despite multiple rounds of questioning she categorically refused to tell us what the Arcadia Project was, though she sent Taylor out to secure us a few entry spots. Julian had actually had to go with him because apparently the place was exclusive enough that even Taylor's terrifying rep couldn't get him in. Suzie had gone along too, mostly because she seemed to want to be away from Sindella, who she'd been openly glaring at for the entire night.

Sindella, aside from being friendly, sweet, and as warm as my own mom was, impressed me by not flinching even a bit at the glower. Suzie was a scary woman, not just to us but in general people seemed to treat her like a walking nightmare. Sindella just ignored her obvious animosity though, being perfectly friendly the few times they had actually interacted. Say what you wanted about Mama Zatara, but no one could claim she didn't have guts. Hell, even I was kind of afraid of Suzie, and I was basically unkillable by mundane means at this point.

While we waited for everyone I pulled Zee against me for a long kiss. She threw her arms around my shoulders and after she pulled back, rested her forehead against mine. The feeling of love and affection through the bond was indescribable as I held her against me. She stared up at me with gleaming eyes. "I can't describe to you how happy I am Morgan. My mom is just...she's everything I remembered and more. I feel so at peace having her back. Talking to her, sharing all the things we've been through..."

I stroked her cheek. "Of course. I'm glad I could give her back to you. So, did you talk to her about everything with your dad? She's going to find out what happened from someone. It's better if it comes from you. Don't think I didn't notice all that spin you put on the story you told her. It's clear that you don't want her to hate him. Does he really deserve all the effort you're putting in after everything he did?" Thinking about the nights since we'd been back that I had to hold her while she cried because that coward couldn't shake off his soup pot puppetmaster just made me crazy.

For a second I thought I might have upset her but when she pulled back she just gave me a soft smile. "I know you don't like him. You saw some of his worst character traits, and I won't try to excuse that. He was controlling and distant and he was especially awful to you. But he was still my daddy. He taught me how to read, how to ride a bike. He took me out to dinner to celebrate when I did well learning a new spell and put on special magic shows on my birthdays just to see me smile. I love him. I'll always love him." She gave me an arch look. "Or do I need to explain why I care about my imperfect father."

I stepped back, putting up my hands in surrender. "Of course not. I never asked you to sever ties. The guy royally pissed me off but I'd never try to control who you cared about. I know he had sides to him I didn't see. Just saying that your mom maybe deserves the unedited version. I'm not saying you should throw him under the bus, but she's been gone a long time. If she goes into their meeting with rose colored glasses its only going to hurt all the more when he shatters those illusions. If nothing else he's been dwelling on her death for a long time. That can change a person."

My tone was gentle. I didn't want her to feel like I was trying to pressure her. They were her parents and this was all her choice. I loved Zee, but I didn't own her. She'd given me space to make my own mistakes and do things my way, and I'd give her the same. From her despairing sigh though she knew I was right. "I'm afraid of whats going to happen Morgan. My mother left behind a charming charismatic husband and a loving father. She's coming back to a deeply bitter and probably slightly broken older man. How do they make that work?"

Drea's voice cut in, and I almost collapsed with relief. She was much better at this. A factor of having some empathic abilities. "It might not." Zee turned to look at her with hurt in her purple eyes, but our goddess just smiled at her sadly. "It's the truth, love. Nothing in this world is permanent except for change. Your mother has been gone a long time. The person she is now might not have room in her life for your father as he is. That doesn't mean she doesn't have room for you. Your family unit hasn't existed for a long time, but you never stopped being her daughter, and you never will."

She stepped up and pulled Zee close to her, pulling me in with her for good measure. We stood there like that for a while, me just holding my girls. Finally though we heard a soft throat clearing noise. Sindella was standing nearby. She'd been out of the room getting something ready but had come back into Julian's entryway. I'd been too distracted to notice. Even the best detection skills in the world only work if you use them.

Zee looked conflicted, but Sindella stepped up as we retreated from our sorceress, pulling her into a hug. "Oh, askim none of this is meant to be your burden. I am so proud of the strong and loyal woman you've become, but you're still my child. Leave me to my matters. I can handle more than you might think." She kept her tone gentle, but firm. She turned to us. "The two of you impress me more every moment I know you. I can see why she's so fierce about her care for you. I'm glad she was able to find such love. Any mother would wish for as much."

That actually made me blush. I'd only ever been good at the emotional thing when talking to Zee or Drea. They both got through my defenses in different ways, Zee because of her sunny optimism and attentive care, and Drea because of her calm and helpful affection. Aside from with my girls though, I didn't really discuss my feelings with people, and having Zee's mom just lay that out there was embarrassing. It was also flattering, and I stuttered out a thank you.

Despite all the good vibes though, I had to ask a question that had been burning a hole in my head since she got back. "What does that mean for you? Despite everything that has happened Zee is sixteen. Why legally and chronologically she's eligible to live on her own by virtue of skipping five years, are you planning to make her move back to Shadowcrest with you? Not that we don't want you around, you're welcome to live with us on the island if you like, but I don't think Zee really wants to go back to the manor."

She gave a sad chuckle. "I expected that question, as did my daughter. We discussed it. While I would like nothing more, I recognize she's far too old and far too different than the girl I used to put to bed to expect to take over her life like that. I'm essentially a stranger, and as you said, legally she's in her twenties in any case. I will happily take you up on your offer to move to your island, at least for a time. I suspect my home is not as I left it. Regardless, you need not worry about me taking her away from you. I'm proud of the life she's made for herself. I won't do anything to get in the way."

I exhaled in relief. Zee had already covered that I guessed. At almost seventeen Zee was technically eligible for emancipation even if it wasn't for the time skip, but it was a lengthy and annoying process, and usually hurtful to the family. If nothing else her dads bullshit with Doctor Fake had kept him from trying to control what she did in her life after we got back, which was nice.

As much as our ages made it seem to some that we should be under the aegis of others, the truth was we didn't live in that world. The world of combat and adventure where we spent our lives had more in common with an ancient society. We were warriors, and warriors matured early. We were also way too powerful for conventional systems of limitation to actually affect us, so there was that. I thanked the gods my mother was as understanding and supportive as she was. I couldn't have imagined fighting about this with her all the time. It seemed Zee's mom understood the same things.

Before the situation became awkward, Sindella gave us all a wide smile. "No need for any of this grim talk. It's a happy day. I'm back with my daughter and I get to spend all day getting to know the people she loves most in the world. In the spirit of that happiness I've arranged a little day trip. I'd love to extend it for longer, but even managing to wrangle enough slots for the lot of us for a single afternoon cost me favors I wasn't sure I even had anymore, not to mention what poor Johnny and Mr. Advent paid."

I noticed she referred to Julian in a very respectful way, and I assumed it was because he had been around for decades and had probably already been a big name when she lived here as a girl. She was right though. This was supposed to be a nice day out. I felt bad for derailing it, even if I was also insanely relieved I wasn't going to have to resort to constantly breaking into Shadowcrest to spend time with Zee. I would have done it, but that whole process sounded tedious to an absurd degree.

I looked around and saw that Wally, Artemis, John, Suzie, Taylor, Jim, Tommy, and Julian had all arrived and were getting ready to head out for wherever we were going. Once everyone arrived, Sindella grinned widely and led us out to the street to catch a carriage. The inside of the thing resized to fit us all, which was interesting, but it was the same kind we'd taken various places so in general the ride was pretty unremarkable.

We spent the whole time chatting with Sindella, who was trying to get to know Drea, Artemis, and I, while deftly ignoring the vitriolic glares she was getting from Suzie. I wondered how she was planning to deal with that mess, because I didn't see the blonde bounty hunter as the type to hug it out, but she'd known the woman way longer than I had so I didn't see how I could do much about it.

When we finally stopped and climbed out of the carriage we found ourself in...an alley. I wanted to make a sarcastic comment about the alley so badly I could taste it, but I was trying to earn brownie points with Zee's mom so I kept my mouth shut and just waited. Sindella led us down the alley to a steel door, which she rapped on smartly in a specific pattern. After a minute of waiting a slot in the old dull metal door slid open. Sindella passed a piece of paper through it and there was a grunt before the slot closed and the door swung open. As the brilliant light behind the metal flooded out, washing the alleyway in a warm glow I thanked past me for not making a sarcastic remark. This had definitely been worth the trip.

June 7th 2016 The Nightside 1:00 PM EDT

The other side of the door was...unspeakable. As we stepped past the frame, the world shifted in an instant, the environment changing from a dingy alley to what could only be described as a paradise. The bright, golden sunlight shone down over an idyllic landscape of the most emerald green grass I could imagine, reflecting off of the clearest, bluest water I'd ever seen, and sifting through the leaves of the most perfect trees.

The light from the bright golden sun overhead wasn't hot, or uncomfortable, and it didn't seem to even cast shadows through the trees somehow, as if shadows couldn't exist here. The shine of the sun seemed to pierce through my body itself and into my very soul, as if this place was literally bathed in happy memories and good vibes. The wind was crisp and clear while still being gentle and there was a light sweetness to the fragrance that reminded me of beautiful flowers and sweet treats I'd loved as a child.

The song of the birds around us echoed off every stone and blade of grass in a perfect acoustic festival of joyous melody and the ground under our feet was springy and elastic without being too soft. All in all this place was an absolute feast for every possible sense and sensation that any of us had, and my heart was overflowing with joy and optimism in a way that I'd never experienced in my life.

It wasn't magic, or mind control, or any sort of manipulation. This place was just halfway between the real world and the world of dreams. Like we were somehow standing in that golden moment between waking and sleeping where all your hopes and wishes are a reality. Happiness wasn't an effect of being here, happiness was where we WERE, and I felt tears actively leak down my cheeks at the beauty and majesty, as well as the simple joy of being in such a wonderful place.

I put an arm around each of my girls, holding them close and basking in the feelings of love and affection that being here was amplifying in all of us, our bond creating a sort of feedback loop of adoration. I wasn't even self conscious about the tears, because there was no room for anything like that here. There was no pain, no doubt, no fear, just peace. Just love. I blinked, and found myself at a river bank, staring down into the clear blue water as the light played across the surface of the rippling depths.

I didn't remember walking here, but then, it was hard to focus on singular moments here. Every second felt like it was an eternity of joy, but they all passed far too quickly and were dearly missed after they were gone. I sat down, trying my best to focus on savoring the time here, since I knew it wouldn't last. If I just let it wash over me like I had I would miss out on this experience, and that was the last thing I wanted.

I heard a voice off to one side, but it took a second for me to actually process the sound of my name and look over to where Sindella was smiling at me. She was sitting on the bank next to me, and I noticed that Zee and Drea had wandered off. I could still feel them with me through the bond so I hadn't really noticed the lack of physical closeness until just now. Sindella seemed amused by the time it took me to shake off all of...this."Are you having a nice time?"

Her voice seemed to become more melodic as it traveled through the air, as if even by using this place as a medium for sound it was given happy and uplifting qualities. I had to swallow and process what was happening before I could respond. It kind of felt like my brain was on a delay. Not in a bad way but just as if my emotions were slowing down my perceptions somewhat. "I...I've never been this happy. What is this place?" My throat was dry and raspy and I wondered how long I'd been sitting by this river.

Without thinking I leaned down and scooped up a cupped handful of water, and as it poured down my throat I closed my eyes in eager joy. It was the coolest, most refreshing thing I'd ever had to drink. I forced my eyes back open, and saw Sindella still smiling at me. When she was sure I was listening she answered my question. "The Arcadia Project. There are a lot of bad things in the Nightside, but there are beautiful and wonderful things here too. The Arcadia Project was an attempt by a powerful group of sorcerers to recreate heaven on earth."

I must have been making a confused expression (I honestly couldn't tell) because she laughed. "Heaven and Hell are forbidden from interfering here. Anywhere else in the world an attempt to surmount the houses of the holy and create a perfect paradise would be punished as hubris. Here though, anyone is free to engage in any pursuit they wish. Not all of those pursuits are terrible and evil. Granted, this place is mostly used to drain the resources from rich hedonists these days, but still, it's truly wonderful. Don't you think?"

I nodded enthusiastically. "I do. This place is like the best therapy in the world mixed with what I assume ecstasy feels like, with a dash of mood stabilizer thrown in. I've literally never felt this free or at peace. I'm surprised people don't stay here forever once they come in." Hell, if they did I wasn't sure how they would be able to tell. It was pretty clear that this place seriously compromised the perception of time.

She giggled at that. "Some do, though most can't afford it. It took several favors and lots of reputation to get us in here for an afternoon. Though enough money would do the trick too I suppose." She stared down at the water contently. "I needed this. Despite the strong front, I've been more than a bit disturbed since I returned. Luckily, slowly dying of cancer makes one much better suited to keeping their faculties in scary and unfamiliar situations. This might be unsettling, but it's not more than I can handle. Still, it's nice to be free of the burden for a while."

Though her words were indicative of mental scars, her voice was completely free of pain or worry. Being in this place was letting her put down all her burdens without much trouble, and I imagined it made talking that through much easier. Since this was the perfect place for a therapy session, I decided to give her one. I'd gotten lots of practice and studied up on psychology when I was working with Tina. The young god had been in bad shape mentally when freed from Darkseid's control, and she had needed lots of guidance from both Drea and I to get herself even as right as she was now.

I put a hand on her shoulder. "I get how you feel." She looked at me, face still pleasant, but I couldn't imagine what her feelings were like under the influence of this place. "When we ended up on New Genesis time passed much faster. We were gone a month, but we came back five years later. I know how it feels to be in a world full of familiar strangers. To try to fit into a hole in your life that seems to have partly closed without you there to occupy it, and how much that chafes emotionally to attempt."

She gave a slow nod, and for the first time I saw sadness on her face. It was more wistful than truly painful, but it was there, a negative emotion even through all this happy juice. Her sadness wasn't self inflicted though, it was aimed at me. "Yes. I heard. I'm sorry. Sorry you had to go through that. As much as I appreciate it, I wish my daughter and the people she loved weren't familiar with the pain I'm feeling. You children don't deserve that. No one does really, but certainly you less than most. I am thankful your first instinct is to help me with that knowledge. My little girl got lucky."

I gave a wide, warm smile. I pulsed me love and affection through the bonds that were so everpresent here as I spoke. "I'm the lucky one. Through all the madness and chaos, she stands by me. I can't describe what she means to me. I don't have the words. But I love her more than anything. She, Drea, our daughter. They're part of me. Will always be part of me." I didn't bother telling her I was being literal. That I could feel them in my heart. She didn't need to know that to understand how serious I was. Besides, that was private.

She reached out to ruffle my hair, which I normally would have been a bit annoyed at, but at moment just made me roll my eyes. "I know. I can tell how much you care. Thank you. For loving her and for taking care of her as best you can. She told me some of the things you've been through and you've kept her safe every step of the way. You even created a new species for her." She raised an amused eyebrow. "I'm not entirely thrilled with every aspect of it. But that girdle was a powerful artifact and that power has made her strong, so I won't quibble about methods too much."

That made even me flush a bit. The whole sexual aspect of my girlfriend's elven heritage was a bit awkward to discuss with her mother. It hadn't exactly been my call, the girdle had just been the most easily accessible powerful artifact to use, but it was still a bit cringy to discuss with her mom. Oddly, that sense of cringe helped me balance my head because it wasn't really a negative emotion but wasn't positive either. With my newly gained clarity of mind I decided to change the subject. "So, are you staying here with us or heading back to Gotham. We'll be here for a while. We can meet you at

Shadowcrest and bring you to the island if you decide to stay with us, but you don't need to stick around if you don't want to."

A snort of derision cut off my words right before I even finished talking. "Please. I know what you're all planning. I'm not letting my daughter try to break into HIS place without me. I appreciate you wanting to keep me out of it, but there's no chance I would leave when I know Zatanna is going to be engaging in such a dangerous activity. I trust Johnny with my life, and my daughters too, but even he might not be able to keep her safe in that place." Her tone wasn't mean or chiding, but it was firm. There was no way she was going to let this shit go. I supposed I couldn't fault her for that. I'd have gone if Rana had been in a situation like that.

My thoughts were derailed by a sound behind me, and I smiled as I felt through the bond and confirmed it was my girls without even looking. Sindella stood up, dusting off her pants as she looked over her shoulder at them. "In any case, I'll let you three spend some time together. I'd like to get to know the only other member of my daughter's species. Plus I need to meet her young man. Have to make sure my daughter's sister has a suitor worthy of her." She waved goodbye and headed off down the bank as Zee and Drea sat down beside me. I put my arms around them and pulled them close. I wanted to enjoy this place as much as possible. There would be time for bigger concerns once we left.

June 7th 2016 The Nightside 8:00 PM EDT

Leaving the Arcadia Project was rough. Even the absence of the joy and contentment felt like pain and there was a massive come down once we stepped back into the alley. I saw Zee subtly wipe away a tear as we all felt the weight of the world crash back down on our shoulders, and I felt for her. Still, rather than be depressed or upset, I was just nostalgic. Even the memories I'd made in the Arcadia Project were free from darkness and pain, so they weren't having a negative impact on me.

We all remained quiet as we made our way back to Julian's place, and when we arrived we quietly bid each other goodnight and headed upstairs to bed. We didn't go right to sleep, but climbed into bed anyway, Zee and Drea cuddling up to me, as exhausted as I was. Despite having done almost nothing throughout the trip, we were all wiped out. It was tiring being in a heightened emotional state for literal hours on end, even if it was a happy one. Even my vitality didn't seem to be enough to ward off the exhaustion.

Still, i didn't go to bed right away, I looked down at Zee. "So...did it help?" It was obvious in retrospect, hell it had been obvious beforehand, that Sindella had arranged the trip as a sort of extended deep dive therapy session. Her insistence on talking to all of us one by one made it clear she'd been doing her best to feel out where Zee at least was mentally and try to help her move past the pain she'd been put through. She'd at least tried to avoid being too obvious and focusing exclusively on her daughter, but it wasn't hard to guess her motives.

I liked her even better for it. It was the sort of thing my mom would have done if she'd had the chance. Hell, she'd even tried to help me, even if she'd been more subtle about it. Looking back it was obvious she baited me into talking about the aftermath of our trip. Sindella was a sweet lady with a good heart. I was glad for Zee to have her back, she deserved a parent who wasn't a controlling despotic asshat. Not that she even had that one left anymore. Someone really did need to do something about Doctor Fake.

Zee's expression was...radiant. It warmed heart to see how content she looked. She nuzzled into my side, Staring into Drea's eyes as our goddess rested her head on my chest. I played with both of their hair gently. When she finally answered, her tone was almost reverent. "That was...the perfect day. The people I love most, my mother back, that beautiful place. This is the best day I've ever had in my life. I've never had memories I treasure this much. My only small bit of regret is that Morana wasn't there to share this with us. She would have adored it."

I let out a long sigh. I'd had that thought myself. I wished we could have brought her. "If we ever have the chance to come back, maybe we can arrange for her to visit that place. Hell, maybe there are other entrances. It's a pocket dimension or something, so it wouldn't be too weird for it to have access points both here and in greater London. We should look into who the Arcadia Project belongs to. Your mom seemed to know them pretty well, maybe she can introduce us. Or worst case we can just have Jim help us break in."

She burst out laughing. "Can someone steal peace of mind? Though I guess if they could Jim would be the first person I would expect to pull it off. Maybe John could help us find it from the London side. John the elder I mean, not Junior." I found it sweet that she called him John when I just thought of him as Taylor. She was obviously looking at him in a somewhat parental light. Not as a father figure, but maybe some kind of uncle. Though his obvious crush on her mother was clearly going to make that awkward.

I was deeply glad I wasn't Taylor, personally. Suzie scared me shitless, and I couldn't imagine dealing with her jealous, which she definitely was. The only minor saving grace was Sindella still being married technically, but somehow I didn't expect that situation to continue once she heard everything Giovanni had been upto in her absence. Rapunzel-ing their kid tends to be something most loving mothers frown upon. Granted most things weren't that simple, but I didn't imagine she would be happy with things at the very least. Best case scenario ol' Gio had some serious groveling to do.

I looked down at Drea. "How about you? Did you have a nice time? I know you're much more at peace and self actualized and all that shit, but at the very least it was incredibly pretty there. I hope you at least enjoyed the scenery even if, as the most well adjusted of us, you didn't actually need the place for a therapy blitz."

She smirked at me. "Just because I'm 'self actualized and shit' doesn't mean peace isn't a balm for my wounded soul Morgan. I have plenty of traumas and that place is a powerful tonic. It was a wonderful experience, and I had quite a nice discussion with Sindella. As did Artemis, and surprisingly Wally. Apparently Sindella knew his Uncle before she died. She was a big fan of his, and enjoyed getting to know Wally. Speaking of our redheaded cohort, he seems much more relaxed and at peace than before. He'd been slowly getting more unhappy during our time here, but with this visit the stress seems to have been wiped away."

That had been one of the first things I'd noticed when we came out actually. Wally seemed overjoyed. He'd been on a hair trigger since he got here, unusually quiet most of the time, and far more serious than I was used to seeing him. Wally had accepted there was grey in the world, but the Nightside was worse than grey, it was pretty much charcoal. I truly believe he would have tried to do something about it, if not for the knowledge that A the local government forbid it, B he couldn't handle a full scale assault from all sides, and C, if he went down he would drag Artemis with him, as well as stop me from finding my cousin and her from finding her friend.

Wally loved Artemis far too much to do that to her, so he'd been tearing himself apart ignoring all the things we'd seen, though to be fair I was pretty sure Taylor had been subtly helping us avoid the worst of it. Still, for someone who was raised with the kind of morality Wally was, it was a tough pill to swallow. Luckily I'd seen enough of his aura to know he hadn't just inherited staunch moral superiority from his mentor, he'd also inherited kindness. The Flash was well known for being the lightest of the League when it came to dealing with his rogues, and that tolerance was what was allowing Wally to even function in this situation.

So the Arcadian Project had come at the perfect time, helping him put everything in perspective and healing the wounds and strain on his heart and psyche. It wouldn't completely fix him, but at the very least it would buy us time before he was damaged in a way he might not recover from. Honestly, seeing the change in him just highlighted how bad it had been before, and it gave me one more thing to worry about. I'd have to keep an eye on him going forward, though I was pretty sure Artemis was already on that. She was even better at reading people than I was (at least without aura sight) so there was no way she'd missed all that.

I let out a loud sigh. "Well, at the very least we got some time off. We have the eye now, so tomorrow Jim can start scouting out Griffin Hall, and once he has a layout of the wards he and Zee can start work on cracking them." I looked down at my girlfriend, already starting to look sleepily cute as she fought to keep her eyes open. "What are we looking at for a timeline on that baby? I know you haven't seen them so you can't really say, but just ballpark it for me. Best guess on the turnaround."

She nuzzled into me, shrugging. "Impossible to say." She let out a long yawn. "I'm sure Jim will be able to make good time. Wards are what he does. I'll help as well as possible, but he's the expert, as we saw back on the moon." She let out a frustrated sigh, pouting cutely. "Honestly, I just don't have the time to do everything. There are so many branches of magic to learn. Ward cracking is useful, but I just don't have the time for it, especially given Jim already knows more about it that I could learn in twenty years."

I burst out laughing. "Poor Zatanna, she has so much powerful magic at her fingertips she doesn't know what to do with it all. Any other complaints? Should I hold back more in bed? I bet the sex is too good." I made sure my teasing tone was obviously teasing, but her pout intensified anyway.

Her offended snort was exaggerated as she turned her head away in annoyance. "Sure. The sex is way too much for me. I need a break. How about a month. Drea and I will both take some time off and you can handle it yourself." I put on a faux horrified expression and pulled her face over to kiss her soundly. She melted against me without any resistance, making it clear she'd been playing around.

When she pulled back she was flushed and her pupils were blown wide, but she shook off the distraction, giving me a look promising we would pick this up later. "Anyway. Yes, there are far too many types of magic to learn. I've managed to kind of cheat by specializing in rituals though. Ritual magic is a fascinating field because it uses principles from any other school of magic to create structured effects without necessarily needing to be able to cast them yourself. Unfortunately the knowledge base required for that is staggering. Without my intelligence stat boosting my recall and learning speed I'd have no hope of making real progress."

I hadn't known it made that much of a difference, though I supposed quantifiable intelligence at least ten times higher than a normal person had to do SOMETHING. But that left me with a question. "If you're specialized in rituals then why do you spend so much time studying void magic? You dedicate hours of time every day you have available to that grimoire. Isn't that kind of ignoring your roots?"

Zee's face lit up in a way that only happened when she was excited and wanted to share. "Because I'm not studying void SPELLS. I'm studying void structures. Void magic's ability to operate in multiple dimensions simultaneously is unparalleled. Learning to construct rituals on several layers of reality allows me to refine my rituals to a level that other casters can't. These principles already exist, obviously, but they've been baked into most rituals at the core because normal magic users have no way to mess with them. It's the difference between learning to use a bunch of expensive programs and how to code things yourself."

She continued talking, filling me in on all the amazing aspects of void magic and how it related to her specialty. I shared a warm smile with Drea, who found this side of her as adorable as I did, and we both settled in to listen. In all honesty I didn't care that much about what she was talking about, but I did my best to listen for her sake. Besides, magic trivia is a great sleep aid. She was still talking when I drifted off.

June 12th 2016 The Nightside 8:00 AM EDT

The next few days passed by in a blur. The adrenaline dump from leaving the Arcadia Project had balanced out, and the good memories didn't have the same bittersweet feeling after a few days with my girls and reminding myself that the real world had good times to experience too. The experience in there also helped me take a breath and slow down. I wanted to help Kit, but rushing wouldn't do that. All I could do was take things on step at a time.

In the spirit of that sentiment I tried to relax while Jim scouted Griffin Hall. During this time we mostly just relaxed and spent time getting to know Sindella better. Zee was over the moon that her mother was around, and Sindella was gleefully embracing her role as mother, not just to Zee, but to all of us. Despite us all having moms we were close to Sindella made it her mission to get to know us and treated each of us like her own, talking to us, cooking for us, and just generally showing interest in our lives.

I could see where Zee got her bubbly nature and natural magnetism. Sindella was one of the kindest most charismatic people I'd ever met. It was impossible not to like her or want to be around her. She even managed to win over John, who had always been kind of aloof and separate from the group. The slightly older british punk was completely besotted with the nurturing older woman, and even her couldn't bring himself to turn his normal snark on the perpetually beaming face of Zee's mother.

This morning had us all gathered in the kitchen, eating cheese blintzes that Sindella made from scratch as we listened to Jim reporting on his most recent venture to Griffin Hall. "So, the good news is that I can get us in there. The bad news is that it's going to take me a while to actually crack the defenses. I've been consulting with Mr. Constantine and the lovely misses Zatara, and the three of them have been quite a help, but even with plans and countermeasures a certain amount of the spellwork needs to be handled on site."

We'd expected that. I turned to Tommy. "That would be where you come in teach. Making sure we get ignored is right up your alley. Do you think you can help us out while our magic users play can opener?" My own magical foundations were entirely in summoning and void magic, so I doubted I'd be much help with deconstructing defensive wards. All I would be good for was security and muscle.

The existential detective gave a lasseiz faire shrug. "Shouldn't be an issue. Things like being ignored aren't too much trouble. The existential can often be used to conceal. How long do you all think you're going to need though? Even with a suitable bit of leverage I can't use my power non stop."

That wasn't something I could comment on so I looked over to Jim. He gave a helpless shrug. "I'm not sure. It shouldn't be more than a few hours. We've been researching methods to crack each ward and we have measures prepared, but there's no such thing as a perfect plan. Not to mention we're bypassing the wards without actually tripping them, which is much harder than just going right in."

Sindella sat down at the table, a big plate of blintzes in front of her. She was always the last to eat, making sure everyone else got fed. She took a big bite, closing her eyes in satisfaction, before opening them with a relaxed sigh. "I love this recipe." She shook off her reverie. "In any case, yes, the task of bypassing the wards has been difficult. I've been studying magic for my whole life, and I still wouldn't have been able to make much progress without Mr. Craddock's expert counsel."

She shot Jim a beaming smile, and I was pretty sure if I could see my mentor's face right now he would be blushing. Sindella really did have a way with people. As it was he just coughed lightly. "My dear lady, you are truly too kind. Your compliments do me proud, but you aren't exactly untalented yourself. While your grasp on ward principles isn't as firm as my own, the counterspells have been mainly your work. I am in awe at your brilliance when it comes to spell construction."

Zee slammed her hands down on the table and we all turned to her in surprise as she leveled the most venomous glare I'd ever seen from her at Jim. "You stop that right now! Don't think I don't know your tricks. My mother is not joining your harem of mature beauties, and if I so much as get a whiff of you flirting with her, I'll curse you with impotence for the next hundred years! She is married." Her tone was fierce, and she was so clearly serious that Sindella herself blushed bright red at the insinuation.

Taylor meanwhile, was looking at Jim suspiciously, Suzie was seemingly interested in the fact that her rival might end up with the ghostly man, and John surprisingly looked mildly disturbed by the thought. Jim, who had taken an urbane sip of tea after his compliment, coughed and sputtered as he choked on the mouthful of hot liquid. "I say! I'm not some sort of ravenous beast. You speak as if I've never met a woman I haven't tried to seduce!"

I was about to speak up for him, thinking Zee was oversensitive because of her parents marital problems, and maybe she was, but when I stopped to think about it I gave him a suspicious squint. Talia, Mary, Paula, Claire, basically every woman over the age of thirty we'd met Jim had either already slept with or at least flirted with. I shook off the suspicions, since it wasn't my business, reaching out to Zee through our bond even as I put a hand on her arm. "Peace, love. I'm sure Jim was just acknowledging your mother's talents in magic. No need to jump to conclusions."

Zee, who had been winding up for more, suddenly deflated. I felt her pain through our connection and my heart broke for her. She'd been hiding it pretty well, I hadn't even noticed before just now, but she'd had her worries percolating. Now that her mother was back she had a shot at a happy family again, but she knew deep down that her dad wasn't the same man, and that might not happen. She sighed, giving Jim a sad smile. "I'm sorry Jim. That wasn't fair. I'm...I'm not feeling hungry right now, I think I'm going to go upstairs to meditate for a while."

She pushed back her chair and stood, walking slowly and sadly out of the room. Jim sighed as well. "Poor girl. The good comes with the bad I suppose." He turned to Sindella. "Not that your resurrection isn't a joyous occasion. But it's bringing up a great many issues she hasn't ever really dealt with. Curse that old fool for never getting that girl a therapist. Trust the meddling busybody to project his own insecurities onto his daughter."

I cut him off. "That's enough Jim. I'm not exactly a fan either, but this isn't really our business to talk about." I chucked my chin meaningfully at a now uncomfortable looking Sindella. I shot her a smile. "Look, I'm not going to pretend I like your husband. He's a giant ass. But he loves his daughter more than life itself, which isn't something everyone can say. Whatever you hear about him, at least know that much. And whatever you hear it won't be from us. Regardless of our position on things, it's not ok to bad talk someone's loved ones. I avoid doing it in front of Zee and I owe you the same respect."

Not that avoiding it in front of Zee mattered when we had an empathic connection, but I still tried my best. It hurt her to hear me deride him, and I'd never do that if I could help it. Sindella gave me a warm smile, raching out to put her hand on top of mine. "Thank you Morgan. I'm very glad my daughter has you in her life. You're a wonderful young man." She stood up with a sigh. "I'll let James fill you in on the details here in any case. I need to go check on her. I've missed far too many moments like this in my daughter's life not to support her now that I'm here."

She headed upstairs and I felt Jim look over at me. Even without being able to see his face I could feel his steady regard, and I could sense his guilt. Not through some sort of magic or metaphysical intuition, but because he was my mentor and my friend. I knew him, and he was probably feeling like shit right now. I shot him a comforting smile, and gestured for him to follow me so we could talk in a more private room. We headed into a nearby study. Julian really had too much of those. Once we were there I gave him an apologetic shrug. "This is going to be a bit messy until they sort it out. Sorry if I cut you off earlier, Sindella was just starting to look pretty upset."

"It's fine." He said, waving me off. "I was caught up in what was going on and didn't consider the situation. Miss. Zatara is a lovely woman. I never met her when she was alive, that old bastard and I weren't on good terms, and all our meetings were in combat, but I'd heard about his wife and how much he loved her. I can see why he adored her so, she's a warm hearted and compassionate person. She reminds me quite a bit of Zatanna, actually."

I smiled fondly. "That she does. She's a lot like Zee. Just lights up the room around her. Seeing them together is really heartwarming. Of everything my power has ever accomplished, I think this is probably the most amazing to me. Being able to give back someone she lost...I've never been so grateful for what I can do." I shook my head quickly to clear it. "Anyway, enough sappiness. You never finished giving me the details on the job. I assume you have some kind of plan besides 'show up and let Tommy keep us secret?' right?"

"Obviously." His voice was scathing as he retorted. "Do I look like an amateur to you boy? I've been casing the target for days, mapping not just the wards, but their intersection with the natural environment and how they react to changes in the nearby situation. Without any sunrise here our time window is a bit less relevant, but there are still external factors that can have an effect. Not the least of which is guard rotations. Which I've obviously spent days deducing. Did you forget everything I taught you?"

I put both hands up in surrender. "I wasn't suggesting you were. I was asking what the plan was. I haven't forgotten anything old man. I never forget anything. You know that." I gave him a smug smirk. Jim had expressed jealousy at my memory ability in the past, and I didn't blame him. It was an incredibly useful trick. Maybe someday I'd pick up something for him just like it, he'd never gotten any abilities from me so he could still gain one. In the end that was a matter for another time though. For now I just thumped into a chair and gestured for him to continue. "So, go ahead and tell me the rest. Somehow I get the feeling it's going to involve quite a bit of effort on my part, isn't it?" His ominous chuckle did not put me at ease.

June 12th 2016 The Nightside 9:00 PM EDT

We all headed for Griffin Hall together after making preparations for the break in. We headed in at nine PM eastern, which is two AM London time. In the Nightside it's technically always three AM, but people here DO sleep, and we needed the Griffin to be in bed when we got in there. Or at least, we wanted that. If he was unconscious it would be exponentially easier to use clairvoyance to figure out where the hell Neron was hiding. My only solace was that with the current resources we had, there was no way Kit and her boyfriend were ahead of us.

I'd been hoping we might run into them, but apparently the Nightside isn't as small as normal London, and Taylor says it's unlikely for us to stumble across them that easy. Now we were standing outside of Griffin Hall, and all I c0uld think about was how fucking huge it was. It had taken us fifteen minutes just to get here from the edge of the estate, not counting the twenty minutes Zee, Jim, John, and Sindella had needed to crack through the primary ward layer and get us past the walls with Tommy providing cover.

Once we got in, we'd managed to avoid the patrols due to Jim's careful notes on their rotation and not a small amount of stealth magic, now we were standing at the edge of the treeline of the forested outer estate, looking across a massive well cared for lawn at a sprawling palatial manor. I knelt down next to Jim. "Ok, so we're here. I take it you'll be doing your best to crack through the wards while the rest of us stand guard. Speaking of the wards, and chance I can use that eye real quick? I want to compare what I see to my normal aura sight recon."

"I suppose." Jim said in amusement. "There is no harm in allowing you a peek. Let me know what you think of the defenses. I realize your magical education on wardcracking is somewhat lacking without access to your aura sight, but you should still remember the basics at least. You even got through Zatara's wards at one point, did you not?" His tone was somewhat accusatory, and I had to shrug helplessly.

"Well, yes, but the circumstances were a bit different. Wardcracking was never my forte, I just used my powers to cheat a bunch." I had to struggle to keep the embarrassment out of my voice. "I had a ton of things to memorize when you were training me, since I worked with you I chose to put that time to memorizing the artifacts and object we would need to be able to identify on the spot when actually stealing. Plus there's no way any Nightside ward is entry level, much less a ward on someplace like this. Or am I wrong?"

He did that hat tip think that made it clear he was rolling his eyes even when I couldn't see his face and passed over the eye of odin for me to look through. I pressed the magic object to my face and was treated to a massive cascading curtain of light. It was...heavy. Zatara's wards, when I'd last seen them, were a massive weave of interlocking ward constructs. Lines and structures built around each other in a huge interlocking wall of magical energy. This was like that, but only in the way a hot wheels is like a full sized functional Ferrari.

The structures here reminded me more of my void magic grimoire than anything else, and were obviously pinned in several timeline rather than just the one. The spellwork here was only in four dimensions, so it wasn't quite as complex, but it made up for that in terms of sheer scale, because quantity definitely had a quality all its own here. I blinked and handed the eye back to Jim. "Yeah, I've got nothing. That's way beyond me in terms of scope as far as wards go." I patted him on the shoulder. "But hey, good luck with that, I'm going to go elsewhere."

I walked over to stand with the rest of the group back in the trees. I nodded to Sindella, Zee, and John. "I'm good if you guys need to go help. But if not, I was wondering something. I had a question for you Sindella, if you don't mind me asking." She gave me a warm smile, nodding her head. "Zee told me that you grew up in some kind of weird commune in Turkey, and that you met her dad outside there. She didn't mention the Nightside, even when we brought it up. Why didn't she know about your time here?"

Sindella sighed. "Because this isn't a place I ever wanted her to come on her own. I did originally move here from Turkey, but I met Giovanni near here, not near there. I altered the story because I was worried Zatanna would try to find the Nightside if she knew it existed. Gio and I met in London actually." She flashed Zee an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry askim, we wanted to tell you about the details of where we met later in your life, but we never got the chance. As you've seen this place is dangerous. Coming here unprepared, would have been...bad. Death is one of the kinder things that can befall people who get into trouble here."

"It's fine." Zee didn't sound upset at all. "I know about it now, you can just tell me the story later." She was never one to hold a grudge or care much about things like that. Back when I'd told her about my power she'd hardly cared I kept it from her. Zee lived in the moment and didn't really sweat things like deception when done for a logical reason. It was one of the main reasons I think she accepted me so easily, despite me being a fairly secretive and deceptive person at my core. She was, without a doubt, far too good for me, and I absolutely adored her. She shot me a smile as she felt the rush of love, returning it with a warm grin of her own.

Sindella put her hands on each of our shoulders. "It warms my heart to see how much you two care about each other you know. I remember when Gio and I used to look at each other like that. I admit, the idea of your relationship being so advanced as teenagers was a bit daunting to me at first, even if I felt like I didn't have room to complain after being gone so long. But seeing how much you love and trust each other, it was easy to quickly accept that things between you are genuine." She squeezed my shoulder. "I already told you this, so you know that I approve, but I just want you two to know how unspeakably proud I am that my daughter ended up with such caring people."

She looked over at Drea. "Not just Morgan either. You and I have talked quite a bit over the last few days, and I've grown to trust you as a mature and kindhearted person. I think they'd be lost without you, and the three of you together are much more stable and connected than I think I could manage in your situation." She stopped talking, giving a light chuckle. "Sorry. Listen to me go on. I'll go help James with the preparations. I just wanted all of you to know how much I care for you." Her face flushed as she averted her gaze. "This is the first really dangerous thing I've done since I died, and I felt the need to to make things clear beforehand."

Zee's eyes widened and she stepped in to give her mother a tight, sudden hug. "Hey, this isn't some kind of suicide mission mom. We did our research and Jim, Morgan, and Artemis are pros at this kind of thing. This is going to be fine, we slip in, get the info, and slip out." She paused, muttering a word and conjuring a small wooden bird carving, which she proceeded to knock on. "Sorry, can't be too careful in the Nightside. But given we've prevented and jinxes, which are probably real here, we should be fine."

Sindella chuckled at her daughter's antics, squeezing her tightly for a few minutes before pulling back with a nod. "I know askim , it's just me being silly. I've done things like this before, but being dead changes your perspective. I'll be fine, I just need to get past the idea that this is all temporary and that I might just die again. I have no plans to leave you a second time, but if I do, I want it to be knowing that your mother loved you very much. I plan to make sure everyone I care about knows how much I adore them every day from now on, even if they get annoyed from hearing it constantly for the rest of what I hope will be a very long life."

I understood that impulse. The urge to make every day count, the terror of losing someone you loved and not having told them how much they meant to you. I imagined it was much more intense for Sindella, but I got where she was coming from. She shook her head, continuing after her speech. "Sorry, I guess dying affected me more than I expected. I'm going to go help James. Thank you for humoring my meaningless blather." She squeezed Zee again and then slipped off before we could say anything else.

Zee looked upset by the exchange, and I didn't blame her. Sindella was obviously much more affected by her death than she'd been letting on. Looking back on it, I'd adjusted to the time jump way better than a normal person really should have. I suspected that my inhuman nature helped, and the girls probably managed for similar reasons. Wally had been in bad shape when we got back actually, and had needed to go see his family for a while to recover.

I'd been applying those same standards to Sindella, and it was obviously a mistake. Just because she was keeping it together and putting on a happy face didn't mean she was just magically ok, and even though the Arcadia Project probably helped, I imagined she was still getting used to everything that had changed. I cursed internally at not being able to use my fucking aura sight, which could have helped me see what she was going through earlier.

In the end though there was nothing we could do to help Sindella we hadn't already been doing. Spending time with her, helping her make new memories and showing her she had things to live for. This world must be really scary for her, the same and yet so different from her old life. Hell, we'd had it loads better because we'd been together during it all. We had our loved ones with us to help us through, and people we knew understood us. Sindella didn't even have that, not really.

We understood her a bit because the time jump, but it wasn't anything like the support we could give each other.

Promising myself that we would all spend more time with her and try to coax her into talking more about how she was feeling, I grabbed Zee by the hand and trailed after her. I'd been planning to leave this to Jim, but I figured Sindella might benefit from having Zee nearby with the excuse of wanting to watch. Having her daughter around was probably the closest thing to stability she had right now. We came to a stop near the spell work, and I was amazed watching them work, the normally invisible warp and weft of the magic becoming observable under the influence of their spellwork. Then we settled in to watch. This would take a while.

Alright folks, the end of the arc approaches. I've been setting the stage for this for most of the story and I think everyone is going to be pretty surprised where this is going. Still a few chapters in the Nightside though, so don't worry about missing out on some of the fun things we've yet to see. As usual pat-reon has the advance chapters at that site /malcolmtent . Hope you all enjoy and let me know what you think.