"I think there's something you need to see." Superboy's muscular arms were folded across his chest.
"What is the problem Superboy?" Aqualad rubbed the sleep from his eyes. The outside sky was only just morphing into a myriad of pink, yellow and orange hues, and after returning from their previous mission well after midnight, it was an understatement to say that Kaldur was tired. His minor concussion only contributed to his fatigue.
"My super-hearing picked up... I mean, I heard screaming."
"Is everyone alright?"
"Well, yeah. When I got there they were just sleeping."
"A-are you certain?" A bemused expression flitted across Kaldur'ahm's features; he was failing to see what the problem was.
Superboy tensed, his patience ebbing. "Look, just come with me."
They arrived outside of Zatanna's room. The door was slightly ajar. Kaldur's lips formed a surprised "o" shape as the two stepped inside.
Zatanna, Artemis, M'gann, and Robin were sprawled across the floor, their hands linking them together. Their chests rose and fell simultaneously, but their eyes were moving rapidly in different directions.
"Have your tried waking them?"
Superboy shook his head. "No luck. They're in some kind of trance. I think."
"Is it possible that some sort of sorcery is behind this?" As per usual, Aqualad's voice was level and calm.
"Dunno." Conner knit his eyebrows, running different scenarios through his mind.
Time slipped by, and their four unconscious teammates remained in the same state. Superboy and Aqualad heard a whoosh from behind, and Wally appeared behind them, dressed in his civilian clothes.
"You guys had a slumber party and didn't invite me?!" It was hard to determine whether he was merely mocking them, or genuinely offended.
"KF, it is good that you are here. Something has come over the team, but we have not been able to rouse them."
At that very moment, M'gann screamed out, her voice laced with pain. Superboy darted to her side, worry and concern seizing his features. Burn marks began to run across her skin. "Do something!" Conner yelled. He gripped Megan's shoulders, stunned by his feeling of hopelessness.
Several minutes later, Artemis cried out too. Her face glistened with moisture. Her hair was damp. She coughed and spluttered, evoking even more alarm in the three members of the team who remained awake.
Wally's green eyes widened, any hint of humor gone from his words. "Kaldur, what do we do?"
This was the hardest part of being a leader. Having to make impossible choices, that sometimes meant doing nothing.
"For now, all we can do, is wait."
Black spots ringed in white burst across Zatanna's vision. She opened her eyes, and, not surprisingly, was back in the world she had earlier so desperately tried to escape from.
"Oh, we are so not in Kansas anymore," Artemis commented, tucking loose strands of her blonde hair back into her ponytail.
"You okay Miss M.?" Robin asked.
Miss Martian examined the pallor of her skin and gulped. She was too pale. They'd notice. Using her last bit of energy, she forced her flesh to take on its regular greenish tinge. "I'll be fine. Taking us here just took a lot. I'll need to rest."
No sooner had those words left her mouth, when a blazing red flame shot out from nowhere and licked its way up her body, eliciting an anguished cry from the martian.
"Emalf nrut ot retaw!" Zatanna yelled rapid-fire.
The fire obeyed the Mistress of Magic—changing instantly to water—but it was still under Klarion's control. The crimson water spurted towards Artemis as if it had a life of its own. It swirled around her face. She choked and burbled breathlessly, stumbling backwards as she tried to escape drowning... again.
"Etaropave!"
Artemis clawed at her throat as the water evaporated into steam.
"You okay?" Robin asked.
Artemis voice was little more than a whimper as she choked out, "oh, just trying to stay whelmed." She was starting to develop a case of hydrophobia, but that didn't mean she was going to show any weakness in front of her team.
The rush of steam was undulating like a heavy red fog as it curled towards Robin. "Wha—" As he inhaled, the steam rushed into his lungs. The irises in his eyes faded to a dull white, and he sunk to his knees. He lifted his head and stared vacantly. Then, Robin slowly retrieved a batarang from his utility belt and flung it straight at Artemis.
The last thing Zatanna saw before she felt Klarion's breath on her neck was M'gann, weak and collapsed; Artemis, still in shock; and Dick, being somehow controlled by the eerie fog.
Klarion wrapped his arms around Zatanna possessively. "How rude of you to bring uninvited guests," he sneered, slowly kissing her jawline.
Zatanna wrenched herself out of his hold, a shiver running down her spine. "Don't touch me Klarion!"
"You didn't seem to mind earlier."
Before she could utter a retort, Klarion clapped his hands lightly and Zatanna's lips clamped shut.
"Now that should occupy those brats for a while," he gestured to Artemis who was struggling to battle Robin, "but I need you with me."
A dizzy sensation was creeping over Zatanna, and as Klarion dragged her away from the fight, she found she had little resistance, and since she couldn't speak, she also couldn't spell cast.
"You know," he said as they stopped at the pinnacle where the soulwell rested, "I'm glad you left when you did. It gave me time to think."
'How nice,' Zatanna thought angrily.
Klarion smirked as the magician's silent thoughts penetrated his mind. 'Oh yes. In fact, I realized where I went wrong in my plan to kill you. Why lose a perfectly good toy when all that was needed was just a bit of your blood?'
Klarion traced a circle in the ground, and a cruel looking blade magically appeared in his hand. Zatanna's heart pounded in her throat as she stood, frozen in place. He held the knife up to her face and drew several drops of blood from her. He flicked the fat droplets onto the ground. Upon landing in the circle, her blood glowed a brilliant red.
"Chaos."
He reached over the soulwell and a purplish light flooded the circle.
"Energy."
Klarion turned back to Zatanna. 'All I require now is power. And since you possess half the power of the key, I need you for this.'
'I won't help you.'
Klarion smiled. His smile was condescending, as if he were an adult trying to explain something to a very small child. "What will your life be like five years from now? You've lost your father to Fate. You're magic will take years to further train and control. The Robin of yours won't want anything to do with you now that he's seen us together. You're fighting for the losing side."
'I'll accomplish more with my friends than I will by helping the likes of you!'
"The most you'll be able to accomplish in your short little life will be to gain a spot on the Justice League. And even that is unlikely. Join your powers to mine and you'll beat mortality. What do you say?"
The magic sealing Zatanna's lips shut dissipated. She took another moment to find her voice. "I could never help you."
'When I'm finished you and I will be queen and king among mortals. The world will be our personal palace.'
A single tear leaked from Zatanna's eyes, and once it reached a patch of dried blood on her cheek, it ran down her face like a single red streak. He was only telling her what she wanted to hear.
Klarion held his hand out to her and she moved hers to take it. But at the last second, her hand darted sideways and tipped the soulwell over.
"No, no, no!" Klarion screamed and struck his hand against Zatanna's face. Thousands of trapped souls went flying in all directions. Wind whipped Zatanna's raven-black hair, and dust flew into her eyes. But that didn't prevent her from hearing a soft, "Thank you." She squinted and saw the little boy who had rescued her, holding a rose in one hand, and the wrinkled hand of an old woman in the other.
Klarion screamed again, loudly and angrily as the souls he'd worked so hard to collect were freed, and could finally move on.
Strangely, all Zatanna felt towards the Lord of Chaos was pity. He'd manipulated her, toyed with her, and injured her. But his world was one of chaos, and hatred, and the closest thing he had to love was lust. So when Klarion hurled a bolt of energy towards her, she simply waved it away with a counter spell.
"We. Could. Have. Ruled." She heard the tremor in his voice. He was shaking with anger.
Zatanna could still sense the unspoken bond they shared, but regardless, she turned away from him, confident that he wouldn't land a fatal blow. She was ready to return home. But before that, she had one last thing to say. "In the end a palace is nothing more than a glorified prison, and a king and queen nothing more than its finest prisoners."
Whether her words were directed to Klarion, or a reminder to herself, she didn't know. But she had learned something valuable through all of her experiences—that the mind can be either a palace, or a prison. It all depends what you choose to make of it.