A/n: So here is a little announcement! If you're from tumblr, I started a Klarion ask blog about a week ago! It's actually so much fun to do. So, if you're interested, you should check it out! It's called AsktheWitchBoy. So far, so good, and I am really proud of it!
"The Covenant"
Chapter 11: Fragile peace
Hannah could not contain her laughter. The open sky, the freedom, the ability to fly without the fear of her powers suddenly being cut off.
Sure, the sky was unnaturally grey, but for the moment, she could care less. She laughed and giggled as she made backflips in the air, flying at high speed and narrowly avoiding floating bits of land.
She was flying! It was something she has been afraid to do extensively ever since Doctor Fate put his limitations on her. Flying uses up a steady flow of magic, activating the bracelets way too quickly for her liking. It would usually end with her falling down flat out of the air.
But now…now she was flying!
And nothing mattered to her at that moment.
Not even the fact that she wasn't really outside. She doubted that Klarion's Shadow Dimension could be considered such.
Hannah could barely remember how to breathe. The feeling of having magic, flowing freely without constraint, was too much for her. She couldn't even hear her own thoughts!
She snapped out of her daze only when an outstretched hand filled her line of view. The girl blinked, almost forgetting where she even was, before looking up and seeing Klarion, his hand outstretched towards her, inviting her to take it. Behind him was an open portal.
"Let's see what you are truly capable of, shall we?"
Hearing his voice, Hannah remembered how to breathe again. Yet the decision to put her hand in his was completely unconscious. She barely even registered how Klarion broke in to a satisfied smirk, clenching her hand securely before leading her through the portal.
"This is AMAZING!" Hannah yelled out, flying under a stone arch. Straightening out, she powered up two violet energy balls in her hands before firing them at the arch. She giggled gleefully when there was nothing but dust left. She threw up her hands in to the air triumphantly. The girl twisted her head around, searching for Klarion. When she found him standing on one of the floating islands, she giggled madly and dashed straight towards him, landing on the ground just a few meters away from the boy, only to close the distance between them in a few quick strides.
"Klarion! Thank you, thank you, thank you so much!" she bubbled, practically tackling the boy in an awkward, one-sided hug, her arms wrapping tightly around his waist.
Klarion let out a small wheeze, feeling her squeeze the air right out of his lungs. The girl was latched on to him tightly as she bounced on her heel, her head placed securely on his shoulder. He felt his hands twitch as he fought off the urge to push her away.
He felt a snarl form on his lips as the girl continued giggling and didn't make any attempt to remove herself from his waist. With a small groan, he griped her forearms and managed to pry her off of him, holding her at arms length away from him.
"While your gratitude makes me oh so sentimental…" Klarion felt slightly perturbed by her ever-grinning face "…I hope you realize that you are still a prisoner."
He watched as Hannah giggled once more, moving her hands so that she was gripping his arms as well "And I hope you realize that despite my gratitude, you are not going to get the location of the Helmet of Fate out of me."
Klarion could not help but feel annoyed by how loyal she remained to that old man named Kent Nelson. He did hope that taking away the magical barrier Nabu placed on her powers would get at least some information out of her.
But he didn't mind too much. After all, he was going to get the Helmet, with or without the help.
Putting a magical seal on the bracelets was just a perfect way to gain her trust. Of course, pissing off Nabu by messing with his magical artifacts was a plus.
His trail of thoughts was interrupted when he felt Hannah move in close to him again, enveloping him in another bone-crushing hug, cooing out "thank you's" once more. Klarion clacked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, both annoyed and uneasy with this development. He wanted her trust, but he didn't think that so much physical contact would be involved. He never guessed the girl for a hugging person. But, he guessed that having her magic at full strength was enough to make anyone overly giddy.
Peeling her off of him as gently as possible, he moved so that they were side-by-side, his hand latched on to her wrist. He lifted his other hand and a crimson portal appeared above them, floating still for a few moments before moving down and engulfing them both.
"I wanted to have fun some more!" Hannah let out a whine when she realized that Klarion transported them both to the dressing room. Klarion let go of her hand and took a few steps away from her "No fair!"
Klarion turned around, facing the now pouting blonde "You tested your powers enough, we know it works."
"Well I want to test them some more!" she pushed on, crossing her arms stubbornly. "And I can hardly do so in this confined space!"
The Witch Boy could barely hold in the chuckle that threatened to escape him. Her childish behavior was certainly amusing. He turned around fully and made his way back to her. "It will have to do." Klarion cooed, moving so to take one of her hands, forcing her to uncross her arms "I will take you to my pocket dimension again tomorrow, so you can make up all the magic you could have used but were so horribly prevented to." He spoke to her in an almost sympathetic voice, his hands clutching hers close to his chest, in a way to show he empathized with her.
Hannah's eyebrows arched up and she imitated him as she moved her other hand to put over his, her voice in a similar tone as his "Oh, Klarion~" she started "You are not getting the location of the Tower of Fate." She finished flatly.
Klarion let out a small laugh as he dropped the act from before "I'm pretty sure we'll get that information from that old man sooner or latter." He let go of her hand "I am actually being very sincere with my actions towards you."
"Out of Mr. Kent? Good luck with that." Hannah crossed her arms once more. "He's more stubborn than me."
As she finished her sentence, Klarion actually let out a small laugh "See you latter alligator, I have some unfinished business."
"Wait, what?! Wai-" before she could finish, Klarion already disappeared in a red portal. She puffed up her cheeks, more than annoyed "Wait…did he just really say 'see you later alligator'?" she let out a small laugh "What a dork."
Klarion let out a whistle when he walked in to the dressing room. If he could even call it that anymore. It's been a day after he visited her last, and while he did know that the girl was definitely going to use her newly freed powers to the max, being greeted with such drastic makeover was not what he quite expected. The little scrawny and dirty dressing room was transformed in to an elegant and luxurious Victorian bedroom, with a giant canopy bed placed in the middle of the room, thick violet drapes and extravagant mirrors lining the walls. Even the grey walls were now covered with a wallpaper of an ornate design.
Teekl, who was following close behind him, wasted no time in speeding past the Witch Boy and climbing on to the comfortable bed, snuggling in to the warm covers.
"A golden cage is still a cage." He heard Hannah's voice and it took him a moment to spot her. She was just coming out of the little toilet, probably freshening up "But, I'd rather spend time in a golden cage than in one covered in grime and dirt." Klarion chuckled at her words. "So, are you just going to stand there and admire my magnificent sense of interior design, or have you come with a reason?"
Klarion looked at the girl smugly before moving his hand, a faint red aura dripping from his fingers. Acting almost like smoke, the aura remained in the air for a few seconds lazily, before it started moving faster, twirling together in to a small orb. In a flash, the orb expanded, taking the form of a delicious looking cake. "How about dinner for a reason?"
Chuckling, Hannah walked towards Klarion, her feet lifting in to the air mid-step. She bended her knees and was completely in the air, floating carelessly "You feed me with nothing but sweets. If that is all you eat, I can't help but wonder how you manage to look like a twig." Looking over the cake, Hannah frowned. "I'm more fond of chocolate." With a single movement of her hand, the cake changed color from pink and white to dark brown.
Mimicking her, Klarion was now also floating in the air, but unlike Hannah, who tucked her legs neatly under her mermaid-style, the boy had his legs crossed. "Too bad. I like strawberry." Red smoke enveloped the cake, changing it back to pink.
There was a small moment of silence between the two. And then, almost at the same time, both raised their hands, their magic hitting the cake, leaving it multicolored as the flavors mixed unevenly.
A sigh left Hannah's lips "I do not have the patience for this." She moved her hand and a perfectly cut piece separated from the cake and floated towards her, landing gently in her palm. She held up her other hand, holding her index finger and her thumb close, and out of violet smoke which floated around her, a teacup suddenly formed, its handle held tightly between her fingers. Above it, a kettle took shape, and as soon as it did, it tipped over and poured tea in to the teacup.
Watching her interact so absentmindedly with her magic was incredibly captivating, Klarion concluded. Up until now, she was always so careful not to use up to much, as if walking on glass, every time she would use magic was so calculated and thought of.
And now, her every move was dripping with her magical energy, always creating something, always bubbling.
And it couldn't help but completely fascinate him.
"I owe you one." Klarion blinked, suddenly awoken from his daze by Hannah's voice.
"What?"
The girl took a bite out of her piece of cake "I said that I owe you one. For blocking Nabu's bracelets." Klarion opened his mouth to speak, but Hannah interrupted him before he made a sound "But let it be known that does not include telling you where the Tower of Fate or the Helmet of Fate are."
Klarion instantly closed his mouth in a pout. Hannah could not help but giggle.
MOUNT JUSTICE
AUGUST 19, 19:39 EDT
"Fail: Aqualad."
"Black Canary taught me that." Superboy exclaimed, almost proudly, to his fallen comrade. After he dusted off his hands, he walked over to Kaldur, offering a hand to help him up, which Kaldur gratefully accepted. The two were interrupted by a hatch above them opening, Red Tornado flying down in a gust of wind.
Wally, aka Kid Flash, took no time to zap over to the robot. "Have a mission for us?!" he boomed, excited.
"Mission assignments are the Batman's responsibility." Tornado responded.
"Yeah, but The Batman's with The Robin, doing the dynamic duo thing in Gotham. But you're headed somewhere, right?" Wally turned on the charm "Hot date? Or, a mission~?"
"What's the deal with the bird?" Superboy chimed in. Wally stopped, suddenly noticing the crow seated at Red Tornados shoulder, observing the team with its mismatched eyes.
"Wait a minute…" the ginger narrowed his eyes "I know you!" he pointed a finger at the crow "You're Hannah's bird! Greg, or Gabriel, or something…" the bird snapped its beak, missing Wally's finger by a hair "Hey! Watch it!"
"Grigor." Kaldur spoke up, correcting his teammate "But that could not be her familiar. Hannah and Grigor are inseparable."
Artemis and M'gann looked at each other, confused "Hannah?" the blonde raised an eyebrow "Who is Hannah?"
Red Tornado was tempted to let out a sigh, but decided not to. There was no way the Team was going to let this go. "Indeed it is her familiar." He turned around, a screen with data appearing as he did. "This is Kent Nelson; a friend. And he has been missing for 23 days. Kent was a charter member of the Justice Society, the precursor to your mentors Justice League."
"Nelson was Earth's sorcerer supreme. He was Doctor Fate!" Kaldur remembered.
Wally let out a snort "Morel like Doctor Fake." He whispered to Artemis "The guy knows a little advance science and Dumbledore's it up to scare the bad guys and impress the babes."
Tornado turned around to face the Team "Kent may simply be on one of his…walkabouts. But he is the caretaker to the Helmet of Fate, the source of the Doctor's mystic might, and it is unwise to leave such power unguarded."
"He is like great sorcerer priests and priestesses of Mars!" M'gann declared passionately "I would be honored to help find him!"
"Me too!" the young Martian turned around when she heard Wally practically yell "In fact, soooo honored I can barely stand it! Magic rocks!"
Behind him, Artemis rolled her eyes.
Kaldur shook his head before turning to Red Tornado "You said that Kent has been missing. What about Hannah? Isn't Kent her current guardian?"
"We have tried contacting Hannah, but we were unable to do so." Tornado elaborated. He turned his head to look at the crow on his shoulder "Then, two days ago, her familiar, Grigor, has appeared in the Batcave. He seemed to have some already healed injuries by the time Batman had found him." He raised his arm, Grigor instantly hopping off his shoulder and on to it, his claws slipping a bit on the metal before he steadied himself "But we can't be sure what has happened. Take him with you and return him to Hannah."
"You take him Kaldur, that thing always gives away the impression of wanting to claw my eyes out." Wally gave Kaldur a pat on the back, giving him a small push forward.
The Atlantian nodded and almost instantly, Grigor flew from Red Tornado's arm and on to Kaldur's shoulder. He let out a soft smile and petted the crow affectionately "I'm pretty sure his dislike of you comes from the time you mocked Hannah about her magic."
Wally pouted "I was just joking. He didn't have to try and claw my entire face off!" he let out a yelp when he saw Grigor ruffle up his feathers threateningly at him, but let out a relieved sigh when Kaldur once again petted the bird, calming it instantly.
Red Tornado handed them the key to the Tower of Fate and the Team was headed off to Salem.
A/n: And so, "Denial" finally starts! And just when Klarion and Hannah started growing a feeble friendship. Even if it is quite obvious that Hannah may be developing a touch of Stockholm syndrome.
And of course that the initial members of the team, aka Robin, Kaldur and Wally, would know of Hannah. She is, technically, a sidekick, in a way.
I had to change the canon up just a bit to fit her in though. Not much, just a smidge. You will probably notice these changes in the future chapters, if you notice them at all.