"How did you do that?" I ask, my eyebrows furrowing at Zatara.
He paused, pulling his half-finished drink away from his lips. "The bourbon? I conjured it with magic."
"Yeah, yeah, I know that. But… it'sreal. Not an illusion or a temporary manifestation of magical vitality, but actual liquor."
Zatara didn't seem to get what I was getting at. "Yes?"
Batman was watching the exchange silently.
--
Okay, magic on Earth is evenmorefucking bullshit than it was in Atela.
"So… you just think of a spell, say the words backwards… and it just works? What about the magical formulas that you'd have to articulate for something like that? What you're doing is a matter of intrinsic arcane harmonics that are too complicated for you to just…make up without any rhyme or reason to it beyond speaking Common backwards."
Zatara was rubbing his chin, carefully rolling my words in his head. From how attentive he'd listened to my questions, I don't think he got to talk-shop with a lot of his colleagues…
"I've never considered such a perspective of my abilities. I awakened, or shall I say reawakened, my family's lost practices after uncovering the spellbook of one Leonardo Da Vinci, an ancestor of mine. So I am afraid to say that I'm ignorant of the basis of my abilities, as I have only ever known their fruits."
"What's Common?"
I sigh, and turn to Batman. "What?"
"Common. You used the word Common to describe Zatara's backwards incantation."
What the…
"It's the language we're speaking right now?"
Zatarra and Batman share a look. "...Adam, we're speaking English."
"No, we're speaking Common. Here…" I walked over to one of the dusty scrolls Zatara had brought out to help explain his abilities to me and began to read.
"And so while blood from a homo-magi is capable of acting as a magical catalyst for the purposes of ritual work and spells that require a liquid, written, or drawn component, it has been found that mercury, after going through the process of transmutative alteration is a superior and more sanitary and ethical alternative for these purposes that do not explicitly require blood...See? Common." I held up the scroll as proof.
Zatara seemed flabbergasted.
"Adam. That scroll is written in Ancient Egyptian."
What is he even talking about… Common is Common. It's not like I'm speaking in Elvishor something. Hell, there should onlybeCommon as the mortal tongue in this world, without any other sentient beings…
"No, it's written in Common."
"Common isn't even a language, Adam, it's a word."
"It is a language. I'm speaking it to you, and I just read it."
--
"I fail to see how making me light up like a Christmas tree solves anything." I say, looking at the glowing lines and markings Zatara had managed to visualize on my body while I sat down shirtless in the middle of a chalk circle.
"Those 'christmas lights', as you say, are sympathetic representations of the magics currently being housed in andonyour soul." Zatara replied, lifting my arm to better see one of the three large, detailed pentagrams curving along on my torso. "Though I must say, these… mystical batteries are remarkable in their own right, acting as secondary pools of energy beyond your central manapool."
Yeahhh, this must be what a doctor's visit feels like, being poised and probed by an older gentleman with a stick.
"H-hey, that tickles!"
"Apologies." Zatara said, not sounding sorry at all as he continues tapping my side with his walking stick. "You have so much fey magic protecting you… do you know what the one around your hairline does? I can't seem to grasp the conceptualization of… three parts?"
"Aaaah, oh. That's a mental ward. Keeps enchantment magic from working on me."
Zatara blinks. "I see… Yes, so the three blank spaces are…"
"Anchors." I said, not at all willing to reveal what exactly those anchors are.
Zatara nods, grabbing hold of my left arm, examining a small six-sided star bound my three circles with a dot at the center. "This is… Ah, a pre-loaded spell with… my that's quite a bit of power for a mere illusion."
I shrug. Mystic Arcanums were a known thing in Atela, powerful and potent spells that were gifted by Patrons to powerful warlocks. The power behind them tied directly to our Patrons, so our own magical reserves remained untouched when we used them.
Having more than one basically means that we're on the same level as low-level Archmages. But since I only had the one, I wasn't quite there yet. Still, the idea that I was getting close to that level of power...
I should probably practice casting it before using it in combat though.
Zatara moved on to my back… and stopped, his walking stick pressing against my right shoulder blade.
It burned like fucking hellfire.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, what gives!?"
"My apologies, Adam, but it seems this particular spell wants to stayhidden." Zatara said ominously, his walking stick/wand turning like a key in a lock… "Tel neddih scigam eb delaever erofeb em!"
Oh my fucking shit.
"Aaaaaaaaaaah!" I screamed as I fall forward, my nails scraping against the metal floor, spit falling to the floor as my very soul felt the light and heat causing me to scream bloody murder...
What the fuck!? That's divine radiance! That's not supposed to fucking be there!
"Adam!" Batman shouted, in the distance. Or at least it sounded like it was from a distance… which is odd, since he shouldn't have been more than ten feet away…
So many… flicking... sparks...
My vision becomes white and gold.
--
"Zatara. What. Happened." Batman growled up, intimidating even as he applied burn cream to the…brand in Adam's shoulder blade.
"Cough, cough..." Zatara spits out a glob of sizzling blood, a hand going to his heart. "Laeh…Cough, couch, couch…. Kah!"
Normally, Batman would be worried about Zatara, but he could heal himself better than most of the Leaguers could. Right now, Adam took priority as he had been the one the explosion of energy had rippled out from.
"I… was not expecting the spell to be of divine origin." Zatara choked out, wiping some blood off of his chin. "I assumed it was a nefarious curse placed by some Unseelie court member."
"Divine?" Batman…questioned, yes that was the right word. It wasn't so much a question so much as it was… disbelief and a desire for clarification.
"Yes. An ancient one that I've only read about." Zatara said, sitting down on his butt as his magical reserves were near completely drained from protecting himself from the near death experience.
"You recognize it."
Zatara chuckles, looking upwards at the stalactites that dangled above the Batcave. "Yes.The Mark of Babel. It seems our young Warlock is a native speaker of the very first human language. Which, quite frankly, should be impossible. On multiple levels."
"You're a wizard who can alter reality by speaking backwards. I'm a rich billionaire that dresses up like a bat, and my greatest enemy is a psychotic clown. I own a secret satellite in orbit above the earth that is one of the best kept secrets on this planet. And you visit every other month to attend meetings with a solar-powered alien that loves apple pie, an Amazon demi-goddess that was sculpted from clay, a man who can run around the world in less than twenty-four hours but can't be on time to a meeting to save his life, a telepathic martian that we accidentally teleported from Mars, and a sentient robot from the 1940s that has wind powers."
Zatara chuckles louder, before succumbing to another bout of coughing, his body slipping to fall on his back. "Cough, cough…Yes, we're all quite colorful characters, aren't we?"
"...Do you need help standing up?"
"That would be much appreciated, yes." Zatara wheezed out.
--
It took the better part of the day for me to return to consciousness and for Zatara to regain his energy and fully heal himself.
"...It's impossible for me to have something like this." I say as I flick through the religious myth of the Tower of Babel and how different languages came to be.Different human languages…such a weirdass concept. Sure, there were some local terms and stuff in Atela, but different human languages…
I scratch at the white bandage taped to my shoulder blade, to Batman's silent disapproval.
"Yes, well, the mark on your soul says otherwise." Zatara said, flipping through a book he'd conjured, presumably from his personal wizard's tower.
"No, I mean it's impossible because I'm not from Earth. I'm from a world called Atela."
Batman and Zatara both stopped and looked at me.
"Explain." Batman ordered.
"Okay… there was this magic deck of cards, called the Deck of Many Things. Could basically give you everything or take it all away depending on the card you draw, stupidly powerful magic. I ended up drawing Void, which… brought me here. To Gotham."
"Zatara, is that possible?"
"It would… not be the most unbelievable magical artifact I've ever encountered." The magician hesitantly said.
Batman takes a moment to ponder this. "...Why didn't you tell us about this before?"
"It never really came up?"
A beat of silence.
"Adam, you were living on the streets."
"...Yeah?" What'd that have to do with anything?
"We may need J'onn's help, Batman. He will be able to validate and shed some light on the type of world Adam hails from."
Batman nods, pausing for a moment… "He can stay with the Team while I set up his documentation. He'll need a birth certificate along with other records."
...The Team?
"You intend to have him join them?"
"No. But he can't stay in the Batcave unsupervised. And those mercenaries had cameras on them, so we can't exactly let him back out on the streets."
Shit, they didn't mean Robin and his flunkies did they?
--
Of fucking course they meant Robin and his flunkies. And there weremoreof the little sidekicks than last time too.
"This is Adam White. He will be staying here in the Cave for the time being." Batman curtly stated.
"But Batman, Paws is a renowned thief. What if he sells off the location of the cave?" Robin, who was now dressed in normal clothes and sunglasses, asked.
He made a decent point actually, the location of hostages for the League would be valued information for super villains…
Batman turned to me.
"Oh come on, like I'm stupid enough to do that." Pissing off a pantheon of heroes was not on my bucket list, thank you very much.
Batman nods. "Any questions?"
"Yeah,why is he here?" Superboy Jr. passive-aggressively asked.
"He, Catwoman, and Poison Ivy were targeted by a squad of mercenaries, and were the targets of an attempted assassination attempt by a prevoiusly unknown group. They have been removed to appropriately protected safehouses, and I've deemed this the most suitable place for Adam to stay while I investigate their assault in Gotham."
"So what, you're dumping him on us because he's our age?!" Speedy whined out.
"Yes."
Wow, Batman, so cold…Snickers.
And so, I'm left alone with… One, two, three, four,five superpowered teens. And they didn't have their voice of reason around…
I really hope they don't get any stupid ideas. For both of our sakes.
"So, I'm Miss Martian, but you can call me M'gann! It's nice to meet you, Adam!"
I blinked up at the levitating perky green girl.
"Thank you?"
--
Honestly, getting set up at Mt. Justice, andyesit was the most obvious name in existence for a place like this, wasn't as much of an issue as I thought it'd be. Robin, Speedy, and Artemis didn't live in the facilities, so they left pretty quickly due to how late it was when I was introduced. Though Artemis seemed a bit reluctant for some reason, no doubt curious about the infamous 'Paws'.
Superboy just grunted and walked off, thankfully, so I only really had to ignore him in turn. M'gann was a sweet girl, trying to connect with me, but she'd backed off when I said that I needed a bit to get my stuff situated and adjust. She'd understood, apparently having had to take a few days to become accustomed to the Cave herself.
The bit about arranging my stuff was actually true, since Batman had let me replace all of my clothes and potted plants from Selina's apartment, now an active crime scene with Ivy's blood and my duffel bag of cash lying around. All on his dime of course, since I wasn't getting that duffel bag back.
Zatara had also been kind enough to get me some magical tomes to study and brush up on the plethora of local pantheons and magical lore Earth had, including a decent registry of known Fey Lords and Ladies. They made a nice little assortment on my bookshelf.
After getting my boxes of clothes and pots lined up against the wall, I started exploring the area on my own.
There were a surprising amount of facilities. Gym, library, fully stocked kitchen… Though the communal showers were going to be…difficult if I was going to have to be civil with the other boys. With how their little stunt in Gotham went and all...
Whatever, I'd just shower when there wasn't anyone in there so Speedy and Robin wouldn't have any excuses to bitch about me to Batman or the awakened wind golem. It's not like I'm planning on staying here longer than a month or two.
Still, I'm not seeing any abjuration magic protecting this place, which was weird considering all the money put into this place and the fact that relatives to the Justice League were living here. Maybe long lasting spells like that weren't in Zatara's capabilities? Yeah, his magic seems better for instantaneous stuff, not long-term protections…
Still, I should probably bring it up next time I see him.
I mean, if they could afford to buy a whole mountain, they could afford whatever materials they needed to ward it… Oh, maybe they hid it with a coat of illusions to keep enemies from observing and trying to crack them?
That would be smart…
But, that's just speculation.
I had a bit of magic of my own to do! That talk with Zatara had given me an idea for my bracers…
--
Let's see… They have plenty of fruits and some honeycomb which will be useful. I open the ridiculously large winter box they have… Hmmmm, aha! Chicken wings should work…Yup, this isn't that boneless stuff like with the chicken from convenience stores.
But I probably shouldn't use a kitchen bowl for my little ritual, so I didn't give the fey access to the kitchen itself…
I run back to my room, and dig around a bit for the bronze brazier I'd requested from Batman. It was a good piece of metalwork, around two feet in radius, and shaped almost like a shield so the lip wasn't too high. He even got it lined with the Sylvan runes I asked for without causing any imperfections in the bowl itself!
I was about to leave, before I remembered to grab my bracers.
So, I brought my ritual brazier and bracers into the kitchen… where the M'gann was waiting.
"Oh, Adam! Were you the one who got all this stuff out? Are you going to cook something? I don't think I've heard of any Earth dishes that need chicken wings and fruits, but honey might be a good sauce!"
"Uuuugh, hey M'gann. This… isn't really for eating. You can feel free to watch though?"
It's not like this was going to be particularly black magic anyway…
"Oh, sure! But… food is meant to be eaten. Is it some kind of preparation? Oh, or a religious ceremony?" Where did she… oh, I guess the bowl did look a bit ornate with the runes and stuff…
"Nnnn, kinda?" I squeaked out uncertainty. "Not really though."
But M'gann was still eagerly watching me, so I guess this is what we're doing.
"Do you know if there's anywhere in here that opens up to the night sky?"
M'gann tilts her head, thinking… "Not really inside the Cave itself… Hello, Megan! There are doors that lead outside!"
I smiled, M'gann's excitement was kinda childishly magnetic in its honesty, though she didn't seem to have a huge level of charisma like I could command when I really tried working someone. "That'll work."
I gathered up what I needed, and M'gann led me out to a cave… garage door I think it's called?
"Oh perfect, it leads out right into the forest."
"Yeah, it's such a nice place to! It was my first time camping, and it was really fun! Come on, I'll show you the clearing."
It was only a bit of a walk to the aforementioned clearing, but it opened up nicely to the night sky. ...Even if the sky feel seerily cold without the twinkling stars. It was wrong for the sky not to have stars. Like something that an Aberration from the Far Realms would aim for…
I shake my head. At least there was the moon, and the night air was a little crisp, but not cold.
I take my pocket knife, and start tracing two circles in the dirt, lining them with some protective sigils just in case. M'gann was of course watching with baited curiosity.
I put the bowl, bracers, and food stuff outside of the first circle, and sit down inside of it. I gesture to the second circle. "You can sit in that circle. Don't try to speak or move until I'm done, alright?"
"Oh, thank you! Sure, no moving or talking." M'gann agreed with a smile, zipping her lips as she sat down with her legs crossed. "So, what are you doing?"
"Just a little trade."
She seemed a bit puzzled at that. But that wasn't really my problem right now.
I brush off my pocket knife with my pants, and place it to the side inside of the circle.
I breathe in. I breathe out. Breathe in… breathe out… In. Out.
And open my eyes, opening up my magic to the forest and to the forest behind the forest.
"Spirits of spite, spirits of night, spirits who back away from the shine of light." I tap the bronze brazier with my knife, causing the piece of metal to vibrate in the air.
"Hear me now, oh Court of my pact's enemies. Hear me now, oh Court of rot and disease and shadow. Hear me now oh Court of the unseen and the unheard. Hear me now, Unseelie Court, here me now."
The wind dies down, leaves floating in the air as if suspended by time. And then it begins to blow in the opposite direction. No, it begins to swirl around me, in a counter clockwise fashion.
M'gann was behind me, so I'm not quite sure what kind of face she was making.
"I call the Marquess of Marrow. The Duke of Decorum and Dignity. I call the Marquess of Marrow. The Duke of Decorum and Dignity. I call the Marquess of Marrow. The Duke of Decorum and Dignity."
Fey titles of nobility are weird like that. The Prince of the Unseelie probably just picked up words from the mortals that he liked and went from there without any real thought to the exact structure of the hierarchy. But that's not really important right now.
"Thrice I have spoken, thrice I have been heard."
It was unlikely that the Marquess I was reaching out to had a counterpart in this world, as he hadn't shown up in any of the books Zatara had despite his importance in the Feywild of Atela. But his Name would still have some level of power, simply by my knowledge and exchanges with him. And the Fey were beings that were dreamt up by humanity in the first place, so even if they didn't actually exist, that's not the same as them being powerless.
The fact that my mental wards were still holding firm was proof of concept.
"I give these offerings in exchange for audience."
I use my pocket knife to start peeling the oranges, leaving the skin to the side as I meticulously took each naturally segmented piece of fruit and layered them in the brazier like a flower.
Once that's done, I peel and start slicing the banana, allowing the circles of yellow flesh to fall into the center of the 'flower'.
When dealing with the Unseelie, it was always a good idea to offer them fruits and flowers that wouldn't naturally grow in their parts of the Feywild. It was exotic to them, and intriguing.
I quickly use Prestidigitation to clean off my knife before I continue, slicing up a generous bit of sweet honeycomb, and balancing it on the knife above the already made offerings.
"I offer thee honey in exchange for your blessing."
I carefully place the honey atop the pile of banana slices… And pull my hand away as Fae Fire bursts from the brazier, shining with flickering purple light.
I hear M'gann gasp, but I ignore her. So much as looking back could bring undo attention to her.
"I offer these pieces of flesh and bone so that you may imbue them with your power."
In goes the chicken wings, which are instantly consumed by the supernatural flames. I felt a shifting in the air around me. The presence of something… noble. Controlled. Respected.
Honestly, I kinda liked the Marquess when I got to work with him. He was already the right hand man to the Prince of the Unseelie in my world, and he did his best to work with me in mediating conflicts between individuals of the two Courts.
"I thank you, Marquess, for accepting this attendant's offerings in good faith. I thank you, Marquess, for answering this call. I thank you, Marquess, for accepting this deal and granting this one a small measure of your power."
The purple Fae Fire gains some green highlights…
"The offerings are given. The blessing is granted. Our deal is done."
The wind stops circling me. The forest ruffles in the wind, as though it's breathing out a sigh of relief.
And as the Fae Fire snuffs itself out, I'm left with the metallic smelling, tar like liquid that the offerings were reduced to.
"Oh… my…. God…."
I turn over my shoulder to look at Miss Martian… who seemed to be vibrating in place.
"You're an Earth sorcerer-priest?!" She shouted excitedly.
...I'm a what now?
