M'gann's cascade of reddish-brown hair framed her face as she sat cross-legged on the floor. Her amber eyes glowed green. She couldn't understand why her telepathic powers were suddenly failing her.
She had the ability to track Zatanna's whereabouts, but for some reason she just couldn't locate her.
If Zatanna was in danger, it was up to the Team to save her. Though no one exactly turned to M'gann for answers, everyone knew that this was her field. She should've been able to find her. "This is hopeless," M'gann whispered, breaking the trance.
There was a firm knock on the door. "Come in," she called.
With a creak, the door opened a crack. It was Conner. "Any luck yet?"
For a moment M'gann was caught in the ocean of his eyes, his intense stare a tidal wave that stole her breath and held her beneath the surface of reality.
"Oh, um, nothing yet." A faint blush crept up her neck. "I-I just don't know why it's not working," she babbled on, "I mean, as long as Zatanna uses her magic, there should be a way to track where she is. But it's like she's completely disappeared and—"
M'gann's eyes flashed, and she clenched her jaw in concentration.
"Wha—" M'gann held up a finger to silence Conner. She needed to focus.
After a minute she smacked herself upside the head. "Hello, Megan! Of course! The reason I couldn't trace her is because she hasn't used her magic. Until now, anyways."
"So you know where she is?"
"Load the bioship. We're setting course for the Bialyan border."
Zatanna had screamed herself hoarse. Her arm trembled violently. 'What's happening to me?' Her skin was raw and red from where the chaos had touched her, accentuated with faint rings of black. Some time between the vial breaking and her screaming, she'd collapsed to the ground.
Klarion watched her passively. "See what happens when you side yourself with order?" He shook his head disapprovingly, and, after indicating to his cheek where some of the chaos had made contact, added, "this is how chaos rewards its followers." He was already absorbing the the chaotic power.
But despite the vigorous effect the chaos had on him, Klarion was rather vexed that his meticulous plan had been wasted. If everything had gone accordingly, the ultimate weapon of destruction would've been his. The mortal world would've been in complete pandemonium.
"Laeh ym seirujni," Zatanna managed to choke out. She felt a momentary reprieve from the pain, but the excruciating sting came rushing back all to soon. 'Make it stop,' she pleaded silently.
Klarion just laughed. 'But you're so much more fun this way.' Zatanna felt a sudden surge of hate towards him. She hated hearing his voice in her mind. It was so much more intimate that way. She hated that he had the power to make her pain go away, but didn't. She hated feeling helpless.
Klarion lowered himself to her eye level. His eyes danced with malcontent, and he grinned.
Zatanna wanted to stand proud and tall, to show Klarion she was not inferior to him, but the energy to do so had completely deserted her.
"You didn't really think you stood a chance against a Lord of Chaos, did you?" He grabbed her festering arm and examined chaos's touch. Her veins now had a blackish tinge. An average human would've been dead within a minute of being infected. His curiosity was piqued. Would the chaos evoke a darker side of her, or would she simply die?
Silent tears rolled down Zatanna's cheeks. Don't cry little girl. Tears won't help you now. Klarion felt somewhat disgusted by her weak display of human emotions. Tears were such useless things. Fascinating, in their own way, but useless nonetheless.
Klarion's nails grew longer and sharper, and he ran his index finger down the thin trail Zatanna's tears had left on her cheeks, causing a small stream of blood. "I'd love to resume our little game, but I have places to be. Now that my powers are working again. But don't go anywhere. I'll most certainly be back," he paused to laugh. "Toodle-oo."
Klarion dissipated like smoke, and reappeared at the other end of his subconscious dimension. He stood, facing a nearly invisible doorway. It was the only way out. And there was no way that Zatanna would ever discover it.
After meeting the Team at the rendezvous point, Aqualad and Robin boarded the bioship.
"Miss M., are you positive that Zatanna's in Bialya?" Robin inquired automatically.
"That's what I saw," she said with a shrug.
"But are you completely sure?" Robin's voice came out louder and more forcefully than he'd intended.
'Dick,' Aqualad laid a hand on his shoulder, 'we must trust M'gann's judgement. While I do not know how Zatanna could have been transported there, it is the only real lead we have.'
'Thank you Kaldur,' M'gann said with a rush of gratitude at his support.
Dick shrugged off his hand and slid into a seat. He stared out the window as the ship took off.
"Dude, it gonna be okay. We'll find her," Kidflash assured him.
Robin didn't voice a reply. It was a quiet journey.
The scenery became a blur as the they neared their destination. After what seemed like ages, the ship finally landed alongside a looming rock structure. The Team stepped onto the desert terrain and followed Miss Martian's lead.
M'gann pressed her delicate green hand against the rock. "I sensed Zatanna here, but there's no way to get in," she squinted, running her hand further along it, "no door."
Conner pulled his arm back. "Then let's make one."
"Wait!" Artemis blurted. "If Zatanna's in there, the last thing we want is a cave-in." She readied her bow, and shot an arrow about fifty feet from them. A section of the rock simply vanished.
"Are you serious?!" Kidflash exclaimed. "How did—?"
Artemis smiled smugly. "I saw part of the 'rock' in that area ripple. Figured it had to be an illusion."
"A clever observation," Aqualad noted. "Perhaps we should devise a strategy before entering. If Zatanna is being held against her will, we do not want to tip her captive of our presence." Kaldur turned to where Robin had stood only seconds before, but the boy wonder was no where to be seen.
"Klarion," Zatanna called out, but he was long gone. Why was it his name on her lips? She felt so weak, so pathetic. At this point, death would be a welcome release.
Klarion's familiar watched her unblinkingly for a moment, and then, with feline grace, scampered away.
"Tel em wollof eht s'railimaf spets," her voice barely more than a whisper. Black and red spots danced across her vision as she used up even more of her life force. The world was spinning like a carousel as Zatanna's nearly lifeless body was pulled along by her spell.
After a bit of erratic wandering, Teekl paused to stretch. Zatanna's spell stopped pulling her along a few paces behind where the familiar had stopped. She watched with labored, uneven breaths, barely clinging to life.
Teekl seemed to be staring intently at something. He lifted his paw and it vanished.
'Of course!' Zatanna realized, 'Familiar's can travel through worlds!'
Despite her dizziness and pain, she was relieved. That was the doorway out. If she could enter it a split second after Teekl, she'd be able to enter back into her world. If she didn't time it right, however, she'd be trapped in the veil between worlds, a blackened, endless abyss, supposedly impossible to escape from.
Zatanna inched closer. After a moment, Teekl walked through the invisible gateway. She forced herself to follow in the cat's wake. The dimension around her peeled away. She was a snake shedding its skin. It was like being reborn. A freeing, dizzying feeling.
But a second later it occurred to her that everything had gone completely and utterly black. She'd been a second too late. And that split second had changed everything.