Even as she drifted towards awareness, she fundamentally knew something was so wrong.
Her core self, on a level that bypassed memory and touched upon the magic within, was screaming in fear… But she couldn't force herself to act on it.
All her energy had been focused on surviving. Lasting another day for her daughter, another hour for her loved ones.
The doctors said she had weeks left to live.
Her husband knew she should have died months ago.
Now, as she slowly pulsed between delayed death and magical exhaustion, her mind was still attempting to scream in horror…
Her daughter.
Her baby.
Where… Where was she? Where was her baby?
The pain tried to cloud her mind, but her willpower had long since overcame such petty concerns.
The drugs attempted to distract her, but her own genetics had slowly been adapting to them over the weeks of treatments… Reducing their ability to keep her alive, but also allowing her to resist the call of slumber now when it mattered most.
Denial tried to convince her that little Zatanna was at home, being watched by loved ones and waiting for her husband to read another bedtime story.
But logic, always so heartless and cruel, forced her weary mind to focus on the truth.
The medical staff hadn't shown up for hours.
Her watchers also stayed away, something they'd never do willingly.
And her few attempts at calling for anyone failed as those passing by walked along unhearing, unseeing, unmoved.
Sindella Zatara fought for each fragment of memory.
Her daughter, staring in horror at her hospital door.
Casting something, far too powerful for one so young.
And the magical backlash causing Sindella to lose her grip on her own energy, for just a moment…
Had her little girl been taken? It was so unclear, and she had gone unconscious…
She had lost potentially DAYS of false lifespan from that one lapse of ability… Not that she cared.
For now that she could focus, even as her strained power failed to recover, her daughter was no longer here.
No one was.
Whatever her daughter had cast, whatever effect she wrought when so desperate and fearful… The ability lingered. Cradling Sindella, desperate for affection even as it denied the world from recognizing she was here and in need…
It would be trivial to dismiss the ongoing spell. A flicker of thought, a touch of power…
But such was too costly. Just a moment more of distraction may lose her days of life, or kill her instantly… It was too hard to say, considering that logic, science, and even magic had determined that her lingering like this was near impossible.
She'd hoped… SOMEONE would have been motivated enough to pass close by once more. Just… Just one person, so she could make noise, hopefully have their focus disrupt this weakening spell keeping her hidden…
Allow her to expose her existence without the cost of her lifespan, so she'd last long enough to TELL someone that her daughter was GONE, that her baby was MISSING!
But now it was evening, and the night staff wouldn't pass by for hours.
And her energy, always under strain, was reaching a limit. One that would normally have her going into the usual meditative coma to conserve focus.
That couldn't be done this time.
Not with her little one at risk.
…She'd have to do this fast.
Abandon all self preservation, dispel this effect, and send of a magical alert to everyone she knew… Hopefully before her final breath.
If she wasn't so unsure about LIVING long enough to actually TELL someone about her daughter's probable capture, she would have done this HOURS ago, and damn the cost to her own life!
As it was, her woozy mind was still unclear of how long it had been since her existence had been hidden, since her daughter was taken.
Yes, as she fought for focus, the glimpses of memory made it clear: Her little girl needed help.
Sindella began gathering what few magical traces she could grasp, and then…
"I KNOW my mom is here somewhere! I just know it!"
…My baby?
"But you are SURE she isn't in here? In this one room that you are positive she isn't inside?"
"Of course not, that is an empty room."
That… That was Zatanna! She was HERE!
"Hmm… Hey Zatanna, do me a favor, alright? I want to quickly test something."
She focused all her energy on sensing outside her room…
"Do we have to do this NOW!? My mom needs help!"
"Just humor me. Could you please point as far away from your mother as possible? Like, just twirl in a circle and point towards the one place you are SURE she can't POSSIBLY be in, if you could."
Her body tried to relax through the pain… It WAS her little girl! Not another hallucination or fractured memory, nor some sort of trickery!
Her husband must have found their baby and brought her back safely, of course he did!
…But why was she with a young boy?
"Eugh, fine! I guess THAT way is the one way we can ignore. Now, can we please get going? I want mom better as soon as possible!"
"This way, huh?"
[[Knock knock… Knock-knock knock!]]
Huh?
"What are you doing?"
"Oh, just going in the wrong direction. To find someone who isn't there, in a place she can't possibly be. Just one more moment…"
[[Knock knock… Knock-knock knock!]] [[THUNK!]]
"What the!?"
"Huh, would you look at that? The door that wasn't there is still not there, but now it is also not opened by a small crack! How interesting, yes?"
"John, we don't have TIME for this, we need to find…"
"I'mma gonna go in."
"...Go in where?"
"I'mma gonna go into the door that isn't there, and see if the mother who isn't inside is also the same woman that can't possibly be resting in the bed that hasn't been placed within."
"...You're making my head hurt."
"Meh, you just have to start learning how to work without data while doing impossible things. I've got a lot of practice at this sort of mess, ever since I began interacting with future and past versions of myself that both don't and do exist depending on when you realize they aren't there."
"What?"
"Nothing. It doesn't really matter because I'm not allowed to remember any of it." Her hospital room's door opened, and to her bemused astonishment a young boy with solid black and white hair walked in while her daughter stomping angrily behind him. "Oh would you look at that! Hello, are you not Zatanna's mom?"
Her daughter froze. "Wait, my mother's HERE!?"
The boy waved her off. "No, of course she isn't. If she WAS though, then I would be asking her some questions so I can get her all fixed up and healthy like I promised."
Her daughter was focusing, trying to understand the convoluted logic. "John, whatever it is that is going on now… Will doing this help my mom get better?"
He didn't even hesitate. "Yep! As long as we are just worried about something as simple as normal cancer, it'll be done in a jiffy!"
Zatanna huffed. "Then… Then do what you need to quickly, so we can leave here and find mom as quickly as we can. She's been really hurting recently."
The boy gave the girl a thumbs up! "Will do! Now, good evening person who isn't here! My name is John Doe, and I am here to help!"
It hurt to do nearly anything, but she tried to… Well, do anything. "...Help?"
The boy tilted his head… "Huh, I can't hear her since we know she isn't here. That's a bit awkward… Still, easy enough to work around. But it looks like she's in rough shape… One second, I'm going to get some healthy samples of my non-existent patient! [[Pocket.]]"
A slight sting, almost unnoticeable to her after all the shots and so such, and he nodded. "Right, a LOT of her body is damaged… And doesn't exist. I mean, not just that she isn't here right now, I mean the person who isn't resting on that bed over there that isn't in the room is actually missing half her organs and stuff, forcing her body to run on raw magical power to continue functioning."
What?
He seemed to be looking at nothing as illusions began flickering in front of his eyes… Oh, he was a magician too? A powerful one from what she could tell… Maybe one of the new superheroes that Giovanni worked with these days?
Her daughter blinked. "What do you mean? Missing organs?"
John nodded. "Yep! ALL her body is damaged, but she's managed to force almost all parts that are not REQUIRED for continued living to be repurposed, supporting what's left to keep her alive while using power to simulate all the stuff she had to recycle along the way."
Really? Her body had gotten that bad, despite all their efforts? No wonder she hurts so much these days…
Suddenly, Sindella felt something vibrate and twist and f̢͡͏̢͟ơ̸̛͞c͏̴̕ų̴̕s̴̀͢ on her as the boy seemed to glow.
What… What spell was THIS?
John grinned at someone he couldn't see. "Got it! A full untainted sample of DNA, a copy of a non-existent Mind, and a solid grip on her Ş͞͝͡ò̵̸̡u̧͞l̶̨̀͠!"
WHAT!?
That wasn't possible, what was he even TALKING about!? "What…"
Her daughter, unable to hear her as the spell continued to hide Sindella Zatara as intended, jerked back in surprise! "Wait, you found mom's soul!? Where!?"
John was doing SOMETHING with his hands as he absently responded. "Specifically, I found her Ş͞͝͡ò̵̸̡u̧͞l̶̨̀͠ right over there, outside of this layer of reality. Souls exist on a sort of metaphysical plane or something, not exactly sure and it changes from one Realm to another… Anyway, your spell to hide your mom was focused on hiding her physically, so this doesn't count apparently."
And suddenly Sindella couldn't move as a grip of benevolence pulled her from her decayed former body… And tied her together. Held her close, against the cold.
Casually repelling the universal forces of decay and the pull of the afterlife, she saw her former body rapidly collapse and convert into magic even as the pull of a so-called 'child' defied logic, reality, and all magic she'd ever known or studied!
This impossible being (A god? Some sort of demon? An eldritch entity from beyond the dark?) turned to her undefended daughter and… Looked embarrassed? What?
John coughed. "Hey Zatanna… Can I ask you a quick question?"
Her daughter blinked. "Yes?"
He nodded. "How old is your mother?"
…What?
Zatanna also looked caught off guard. "What do you mean? Why do you want to know that now?"
The boy (Deity? Angel? This power didn't FEEL demonic…) blushed. "I uh… I forgot to ask her when I was collecting biological samples from the not-a-person who wasn't there. And I don't want to risk hacking into local computer systems and stuff, I'm trying to be low key here, you know? Super stealthy, secret agent stuff."
The Soul of Sindella Zatara, bound elsewhere with raw power beyond understanding, stared down at her daughter as she seemed confused. "I uh… I don't know? I think she's super old though."
WHAT!?
John blinked. "She didn't LOOK super old…"
Her TOTALLY GROUNDED little girl leaned in to whisper. "I think she's like twenty five or something, but my uncles said to never talk about a woman's age cause she'll get mad."
Sindella would have blinked if she could. Twenty five? She'd been 24 when her daughter was born, and that had been over a decade ago…
Maybe she could give her little one a pass this one time.
John blinked. "Twenty five?"
Zatanna solemnly nodded. "That's practically forever old, like a grandma I think."
Totally grounded for life. And no allowance. Ever.
John hummed. "Well, uh… I'm just going to Craft her a Body that's around twenty three then. If she wants to be older, we can fix that later I guess."
Say what now?
Her daughter was staring at the impossible boy with suspicion. "You aren't going to make her into a robot or something, are you?"
WHAT!?
John waved that off. "I already said not without consent! I'm just going to Craft a Body using her genetics, age it up to twenty three, reinforce the skeleton, enhance the muscles, clear out any genetic defects or whatever, and improve her immune system a little bit. You know, the basics."
Sindella was stunned into stillness.
Her shocked state wasn't exactly improved when a young supermodel version of herself was suddenly summoned from nowhere into her hospital bed as if it were a trivial act.
What exactly had her daughter brought into this hospital!?