The seconds ticked away, soon turning to minutes. Those minutes would stretch into hours, and in turn become days, then weeks, and then years. But in this dark, quiet place Zatanna had no comprehension of time.
She felt hollow inside. Anger, despair, and even pain from her injuries, should have been bubbling up inside of her. But there was nothing. She felt nothing. And there was nothing around her. Just emptiness.
The sad thing was, she didn't really care—she was too far gone to care.
The veil between worlds was a strange place. No sky, and no ground, and no way to tell whether she was hovering, floating, or standing.
But then a sudden, desperate though struck Zatanna. 'I need to help my friends!' But why exactly did they need help? And who were her friends?
So she just stayed where she was. Partly because helping her 'friends' no longer seemed so urgent, and partly because she wasn't really sure how to move. How long until she melted into the shadows and became part of the vast black void surrounding her?
A space in front of her rippled, and shimmered, and a brilliant white circle opened up. The sudden light was like needles to her eyes. Out of the circle stepped a small boy with ashen skin, sunken eyes, and bones that jutted out. The largest part of his legs were his kneecaps. The boy stared animatedly at Zatanna, before offering his outstretched hand.
She hesitated. Who was this little boy? Why was he here? Zatanna could find no reason why she should go anywhere with him, but something about his gaze, the innocence it held, pulled her back to humanity.
Their fingers interlocked and she followed him through the white circle. The veil faded away.
"Thank you. You saved my life," Zatanna breathed.
The boy nodded. He opened and closed his mouth, like a loose hinge, but no sound came out.
Zatanna narrowed her eyes. "Tnarg siht yob hceeps," she cast, sparks of magic dancing across her fingertips.
"Can you save me?" he asked earnestly. He touched her arm (thankfully not the burnt one), and an image imprinted itself on her eyelids. The soulwell. "Can you save all of us?"
She gulped. There was no way she could pretend that her magic rivaled Klarion's demonic abilities. But she owed this little boy her life. And that kind of debt was not easily repaid.
"I promise I'll do anything... everything I can to save you. All of you."
The boy smiled, and just like the old woman Zatanna had earlier encountered, crumbled to dust.
Kladur pinched the bridge of his nose. As the leader of the group, he was the voice of reason. But regardless of the sensible direction he tried to point him and his teammates in, Robin often proved to be reckless, straying ahead of the group before a plan could be properly formulated.
"So," Kidflash asked, "wadda we do?"
"Let's just follow Robin," Artemis said simply.
"Shouldn't we come up with a plan first?" Miss Martian wondered aloud.
The four of them turned to Kaldur for direction. Sometimes he felt a bit whelmed being the unspoken leader of the group. Whatever happened to any of them on their missions reflected on him. He swallowed.
"We should do as Artemis suggested," he said finally. "Time is of the essence."
Kidflash sped ahead as the rest of the group hastily made their way to the secret entrance. Aqualad brought up the rear, but was the first to approach the entrance. He entered tentatively, and found himself on the inside of a high-vaulted cave, lined with lit torches. "Follow me," he beckoned quietly, wary of any echoes that would reveal their presence.
The Team plodded forwards, an eerie silence taking hold of them. Aqualad stared at the cave wall, searching for a figure where the light failed to touch. His shoulders were tense as he listened and watched for any trace of movement.
Aqualad noticed that Miss Martian had stopped abruptly, but he kept pace. "I think I'm sensing something but I—" her sentence was cut off as a glowing red knife sliced through the air. About twice as large as the average sized person, it moved of its own accord.
Aqualad was just able to make out some sort of symbol affixed to its hilt, when he was forced to dodge left.
"What is that?" Superboy gasped aloud.
The blade grazed Kidflash's shoulder. "Slice 'em and dice 'em," he winced. Artemis shot a volley of arrows, but the moment they made contact with the sword, they burned away without leaving so much as a scratch.
"It appears to be of supernatural origin," Aqualad concluded through gritted teeth, as he struck the sword with his water-bearers.
His bare arms made contact with the sword, and he was blasted backwards, his flesh now raw as he smacked into the cave wall.
"Kaldur!" Artemis' voice suddenly seemed faint.
Aqualad slumped forwards and he knew no more.
"Come out, come out little birdy," Klarion cackled, casually examining the birdarang Robin had flung at him. His soul had been detached from his body when Batman's little sidekick had arrived, not yet released from his subconscious dimension, but his magic permanently encased him in an invisible protective shield. Now that he was conscious, he was going to get revenge on this disturbance.
"Don't you want to know what happened to your little friend? You know, the baby magician? Oh, what was her name again?"
Klarion was met with dead silence. "Oh, you're no fun at tall," he sighed. "Teekl, why don't you go finish off the tweety bird, and I'll go and play with my other pet. As I'm sure she'd put it: ti lliw eb nuf."
Robin retreated from his cover in the shadows and stepped into the light. "Don't. You. Touch. Her."
Klarion grinned toothily, his teeth warped into sharp fangs. He paused before replying, savoring the anger he'd provoked in Robin. A second later, one of Robin's gadgets exploded near the opening into this particular cave tunnel. Stalactites and rock tumbled from the roof of the cave, sealing them in.
Klarion narrowed his eyes into slits, hatred contorting his face. He couldn't believe he'd let one of the super brats catch him off guard.
He was about to cast a spell, when a deafening blast of energy resounded from behind. The lord of chaos whirled around only to see a ripple of light. It had to be Zatanna. But how could she possibly have—?
Klarion flicked a finger in Robin's direction and the bird boy was frozen in place a midst the shadows. A petite figure stepped through the circular portal. "Thank you," she whispered over her shoulder to someone. To no one. When she turned, she met Klarion's eyes.
They stared for a moment. Zatanna noted that the torchlight bathed Klarion in an orange haze, his normally blue tinged skin now almost gold. Her own body was framed by the soft light and flickering shadows danced across both of their faces.
"How's the arm?" Klarion smirked, penetrating the silence.
She cradled her wounded arm, and the taste of bile pervaded her mouth. "Better," she muttered, and the pain had indeed lessened. But she felt something else, some sickening feeling coursing through her, that seemed to stem from her burned flesh.
'Don't lie,' Klarion advised silently. Zatanna's blue eyes widened. Even outside of Klarion's subconscious his voice still echoed in her mind. How long would this connection linger? What had even caused it?
'I know you can feel it. Corrupting you.'
"What?" Zatanna demanded aloud, not wanting to continue the conversation telepathically. Not wanting anything to do with him, especially something so intimate.
'The chaos isn't just in your bloodstream. It's merged with your DNA,' Klarion paused to let his words, or rather, thoughts, sink in. 'Soon you'll realize just how tantalizing chaos really is.'
Not a single expression was painted across Zatanna's face. Maybe she was stronger than Klarion thought. But her lips quivered ever so slightly, betraying her emotions.
Klarion took a step towards her. She took a step back. 'Don't you want to know what true chaos tastes like?' He risked another step, but this time Zatanna didn't move. He leaned into her and cupped her face in his hands.
Zatanna took a sharp intake of breath, and realized that she couldn't pull away. It wasn't attraction, she told herself, but the hunger those few droplets of pure chaos had planted in her. The hunger for more. More chaos.
Klarion's fingers brushed against the nape of her neck. He kissed her heatedly, and tugged at her ebony hair. Her hands stayed firmly at her sides, but regardless, she kissed him back, drinking in the moment.
Robin could only watch unblinkingly. Unable to move, unable to tear his eyes away. His heart was slowly sinking in his chest.
Artemis tried to run to Aqualad, but had to veer away as the sword targeted her.
"How do we beat this thing?" Superboy's hands were clenched into taut fists.
Kidflash set his jaw. I'll run ahead and find Rob. And Zatanna." He was a blur of yellow and red.
Miss Martian's eyes flashed. "Wally no!"
As fast as Kidflash was, the sword proved even faster. The red weapon exuded chaotic energy as it prepared to land a fatal blow. M'gann levitated Kidflash out of the way without a second to spare. "Everyone stop moving! The sword, I-I think it's attracted to movement."
They did as they were told, and the sword froze, hovering in midair. "Now what?" Artemis asked out of the corner of her mouth.
"I have an idea. Everyone, slowly form a circle around it. And then, um, when I give the word," she stumbled across her train of thought, not accustomed to giving the orders. "When I give the word," she repeated, 'we walk around it slowly. It should be pulled into different directions."
"Ring-around-the-rosie," Kidflash murmured, "I can handle that."
Artemis, Wally, and Conner did as M'gann advised, and in a moment, the sword dissipated into reddish smoke.
Superboy turned back to Aqualad. "One of us should stay with him. I will, I guess."
Miss Martian nodded in agreement, and then the three of them ran deeper into the cave.
Klarion's lips traveled up the expanse of her neck, and Zatanna felt her own hunger for chaos swell. Pure, wild, manic chaos.
His nails lightly grazed her skin, but as their lips met again, his grip on her intensified.
Zatanna's eyes flitted open for a moment, and she spied a face obscured by shadow. It looked like... 'Robin.'
Zatanna broke away from the kiss, and her lust was for chaos melted away. Klarion tried to capture her lips once more, but she moved out of reach.
"Esaeler," she waved her hand with a flourish, and Robin was no longer frozen.
"Zee," his voice was soft and indistinct.
"Dick," tears welled in her eyes, "I'm so sorry you had to see that."
He cleared his throat. "But not sorry you did it."
Klarion reveled in their discomfort as Zatanna squirmed.
The magician averted her gaze, and crossed her arms over her chest. Zatanna could feel Dick's gaze boring into her. She uncrossed her arms and let them dangle awkwardly at her sides.
A million excuses worked their way to the surface of her mind, but she knew that there was a line between admitting and confessing. And there was no way she could brush something as serious as making-out with Klarion — a member of the Light, an enemy of the entire League — aside.
So they just stood, facing the other, guilt and hurt as clear as day.
Robin fixated on the few tears that had slipped from Zatanna's eyes. He'd seen her with Klarion, yet there was still a part of him that wanted to wipe her tears away. He didn't want to be part of the reason why she cried.
Klarion laughed to himself. "Well, I think I'll be going. Let's do this again sometime. Ta-ta." He scooped Teekl into his arms and teleported away.
"Robin! Zatanna!" a muffled voice yelled from behind the layer of rock that, thanks to Robin's explosives, blocked them from the other side of the tunnel.
"We're here!" the mistress of magic called back halfheartedly.
'I've enabled the psychic link,' Miss Martian informed the Team. 'We're clearing the rocks away, but it'll be a while before we can get to you.'
'No hurry,' Robin responded.
Zatanna sunk to her knees and they waited in sheer silence, a silence that weighed heavily on their chests. Would things ever be the same again?
Robin's thoughts were running along a darker path. The witch boy had acted nonchalant about how Zatanna had pulled away from him, but Robin knew better. Klarion liked to finish what he started. And he wasn't done with Zatanna yet.