When Zatanna's mom woke up after a minor amount of Body work? Well, that set Zatanna off crying. Which made her mother pull out the hugs and crying... And John just sort of awkwardly stood there not knowing what to do and really out of place and…
Point is, John was now relaxing in a chair outside her hospital room. And looking over the recent box loot!
…Said loot was frustrating. "Half of this isn't even Magic, damn it! It is just pure intent combined with raw emotional energy, twisted in a way that forces reality to do stuff. Lame."
Like the chains for example. Made from some sort of bone, likely pulled from their owners after/during torture, bathed in all sorts of icky things and juices and emotions, soaked in specific intent overloaded situations… With some random magical runes carved in at some point. "For goodness sake, half these stupid runes don't actually DO what they seem to be trying to do! They just convince anyone in the area they work, and that's good enough for reality to fudge the numbers."
So. Frustrating!
[[Jessica: At least we have lots of Scans of Zatanna doing those practice spells while your spine fixed itself…]]
Meh. "All her magic can be summed up as 'Make a wish, shove power into it'. It either works or nearly knocks her out if she tries to force something beyond her skill level… And I think there is some sort of mental connection between her powers and some sort of prophecy? She had WAY too accurate information about how much her various 'spells' would cost to cast, even when it involves variables that she couldn't have known in advance."
John's theory was that these magical people could see themselves casting their spells in a theoretical future, telling them how much energy it would cost or any related side effects.
That would explain how they knew what was or wasn't possible, but still could be blindsided or countered by an opponent… Their data was coming from a theoretical future where only they could take actions.
That was why physics and chemical reactions and stuff could easily be accounted for, but someone throwing a fish at her wouldn't be.
And no, John apparently wasn't allowed to throw any fish at Zatanna. Not that he would have! It had just been an example! Sheesh! "So uh… Can I eat some of this stuff yet?"
[[Grace: No.]]
[[Jessica: John, do not eat the magically cursed bondage equipment.]]
[[Temptation: I dare ya!]]
[[Grace: SISTER! My Lord, do NOT listen to her!]]
…So that was two 'no's and one 'GO FOR IT!', which meant not snacking for now. "I mean, I ate that radioactive junk and that matter that seemed to be Conceptual decay personified, it shouldn't be THAT bad, yeah?"
They didn't say anything, but he could feel the no reverberating through the link. Oh, and also Temptation grinning with a desire for chaos egging him on, but she did that a lot. "Fine. Besides, I'm sure when Zatanna's mom gets out of here she can at least tell us more about the junk we collected, she's probably seen all sorts of Magic stuff over the years…"
And then he could eat some of it!
Did Magic taste different than Essence or Conceptual residue? Would it be zangy? Maybe crunchy?
Heh, he couldn't wait to find out!
~~~Pocket System~~~
Zatanna wasn't sure how long she had cried in her mothers arms… Or even remember how long it had been since her mom was strong enough to even try and hug in the first place.
All she knew is that everything was alright because mom was here.
She sniffled a bit more as warm arms easily held her close and felt the woman humming some nothing into her hair. "I'm alright, my baby… Everything is alright…"
She didn't want to move. "I was scared, mommy."
The hug tightened.
Zatanna focused on that warmth. "I used everything I had to hide you, because I wasn't strong enough to hide both of us… And when I woke up, everything was dark. I was in… Some sort of box or chest. And the magic felt angry and sad and hidden and heavy. I didn't know where I was, or if you were okay, or if dad was coming to save me, or if anyone knew where I had been taken… And the darkness was heavy and it made it hard to breathe and I felt so trapped…"
Her mother rocked her in her embrace easily. "I'm so sorry, my baby… It's gone now, I'm here… Everything will be alright…"
She squeezed tight, even as she felt her raw emotional energy and all that recently relieved stress driving her to falling asleep. "And don't let John make you into a robot. Robots can't give good hugs."
That seemed to give her mother pause. "...Alright?"
Mmm, good. "And… And don't let him throw fish at me. He promised he wouldn't…"
Mom probably responded to her sleepy plea, but she wasn't awake to hear it anymore.
After all, it had been a long day.
But everything was alright now.
~~~Pocket System~~~
The change occurred a while ago, at the moment when the soulless corpse of a magical mother decayed after months of delaying the inevitable.
It was at that moment, that the near deadly spellwork of secrecy soaking every Concept of Sindella Zatara cracked.
When reality itself suddenly remembered the woman existed again. And not just her daughter, who was missing.
And now Giovanni Zatara stood frozen, surrounded by the most recent gathering of demonic corpses, completely soaked in the tainted blood of cultists and monsters.
His wife.
Why… HOW could he forget his own WIFE!?
Was… Was she targeted too!? She had to be, after all Sindella would have NEVER allowed their daughter to be taken if she had any way to prevent such a thing…
He was already forcing himself out of this most recent fortress, thankfully an easier process as all the spellwork was focused on keeping threats out instead of preventing him from leaving.
Find his wife, make sure she was alright.
Investigate the area, as NOW he could remember that his daughter SHOULD have been in the hospital with his darling…
THEN claw back his child from whatever corpses had DARED to touch that which he protected!
He snarled as he passed more layers of defenses… This was taking too long. "[[Erutpur! I dnamed lla ekam yaw!]]"
And without hesitation, he carved a path towards his loved one... Hopefully, BOTH loved ones.
~~~Pocket System~~~
"Could you come in please, John? Quietly, my daughter is sleeping."
John blinked as he heard a woman's voice being Magically projected. Um… Sure? "Be right there…"
Forcing himself to fully focus, he checked his clothing and… Huh. "I just realized that people and stuff here aren't taller than I expected… I have become short once more."
Damn it. "I've reverted in age again, haven't I?"
[[Grace: A certain amount of temporal flexibility was required to survive exposure to the environment when you arrived, and…]]
He stared at nothing. "Grace. How old am I?"
[[Grace: …Maybe 11. Probably 10.]]
Frog damn it. "Alright, I can work with that. Don't suppose I can just swap out for an older Body and save me some headaches?"
[[Grace: Considering how flux exasperated your temporal matrix is at the moment, I'd prefer if you stay with this setup while the side effects are Scanned and analyzed. Hopefully we can prevent events like this occuring in the future.]]
[[Temptation: Plus you are SUPER adorable like this! Look at your little hands! Look at them!]]
Sigh. "I was trying so hard to look reliable earlier too… I bet I just came off all 'big boy' or something cutesie like that… Damn it." No, focus. "Let's get this over with."
John walked back into the hospital room, and paused. "Uh… Are you supposed to be glowing like that?"
Sindella Zatara gave him a LOOK that reminded him of his sister. "No." She flicked her hand to the side, causing her daughter to float off the medical bed, sleeping in the air. "No, I am not."
Huh. "Weird."
The VERY attractive woman sighed… And then straightened in her bed looking very official. "I, Sindella Zatara, am beyond grateful that you have found, freed, and returned my daughter. This boon has been recognized by the Zatara family, and shall be rewarded."
…Huh? "I mean, alright? Though to be honest I wasn't trying to free your daughter when I found her."
John pulled out the box from his Pocket. "At the time, I was looking for this! It is a super magical box, one that was bound in magical bone chains and guarded by this real jerk of a statue who was manipulating time and stuff!"
He shoved it back in storage and felt a bit awkward. "Don't get me wrong, I would have been GLAD to save Zatanna if I had known she was in there before I got to it… Even if she isn't a box child belonging to a secret species of box people, I mean. I just didn't KNOW she was there before I started unwrapping Time and reversing Decay and stuff."
It was all a bit embarrassing, really. "I mostly went after that stupid box in the FIRST place because it was out of the way, no one seemed to be monitoring it, and I thought it would be a quick and easy thing to Scan and try to learn how it was doing Magic stuff."
The woman blinked even as the hospital room shifted slightly around her. "...I'm going to circle back around to the time and decay comment later, but regardless: Thank you. Seriously, my baby was missing and I was too hurt to even TELL anyone that she needed help…"
She gave a serious stare. "Again: Thank you for saving my little girl."
Damn, he was probably blushing. "No problem… ANYWAY, what's with the glowing trick? Did I mess something up when making your new Body?" Oh, shit! "Do you feel ANY urge to absorb some Sun or ride zambonis!? Just… Uh, hypothetically? Hypothetical zambonis?"
He hadn't accidentally included any Template shenanigans, had he!? System!
[[HOST only used approved biological material when Crafting new Body for user 'Sindella Zatara'.]]
Oh thank Frog!
The woman just… Blinked at that. "Do I feel…? Um, I… Do not think so?"
Good!
She flexed one arm, which caused it to shimmer. "As for the 'glowing trick', I am pretty sure this is a side effect of you 'making my new Body'... Although I am too concerned to actually attempt a full magical scan of myself at the moment."
John winced. "Right… Uh, so what did I do?"
She began counting on fingers. "You forged my new form at beyond possible levels of health and fitness." Another finger. "During creation, if I am understanding this correctly, my body has been touched by aspects beyond my comprehension… Which has enhanced the mysticism of my existence to some degree."
Sindella counted once more. "I am biologically younger, which means my adaptability and raw potential has skyrocketed… And yet I haven't LOST all the effort and training I had worked for during the years that you somehow reversed."
Glancing to one side, she tapped the nothingness… And glittering lights began dancing in patterns. "My powers had been forcibly TRAINED by necessity to reinforce and 'recover' my own life as much as it could for months now, and then you suddenly reformed me with FULL power reserves for it to use... So I am being enhanced on a magical level as if I was constantly performing some VERY deadly rituals and procedures."
She sighed. "And on top of all that?"
Her focus left the lights and went back to her hand. "You didn't heal me. You pulled my Soul out from my dying body, LET IT DIE, then constructed a NEW, more perfect one for me to inhabit. I'm going to need YEARS to fully determine all the side effects, but I'm pretty sure I am now considered as a 'reincarnated Soul' AND a 'magical newborn', the process in which has over DOUBLED the power of my Soul at least, not to mention the concepts that form my self identity…"
The woman clenched her fist, causing the room to flicker and change in strange ways… "I'm overflowing with power right now. It's actually taking me mental effort NOT to cast anything, and until I get it all under my control? Casting ANY spell using my normal methods seems like an INCREDIBLY bad idea."
Oops. "I, uh… I don't know how to fix that. I don't really understand Magic yet. I haven't even gotten a chance to eat the stupid demon statue or anything…" Come on John, think of something! "I could… Craft you another Body? See if that fixes it?"
Mrs. Zatara stared at him. "No. At BEST that would change nothing. At worst? That could exponentially boost my power even FURTHER, causing me to corrode everything around me due to raw magic."
Oh. "That… That is a good point." Shit. "Don't suppose changing you into a robot would help?"
She didn't even blink. "That would just alter me into an overpowered magical robot. Assuming my magic wouldn't just alter that new form into something else entirely… So no. I do not believe turning myself into a robot would help."
Damn. "Then I'm out of ideas for now. Maybe after I eat some stuff, get my sister's secret agents to research Magic for a while, let my girls go over the data… But yeah, you might be stuck like this for a while. Sorry."
She stared at him for some reason… Was that exasperation? Then she flexed her hand, bringing the quietly snoring Zatanna back onto the hospital bed. "I suppose I have to accept your apology for accidentally empowering me to near divine levels of ability and giving back my youth."
Huh? Oh! "Right, the age thing! Your daughter didn't know how old you used to be, and I was worried about guessing wrong and stuff, so I made a few changes when Crafting your new Body. It should be optional now!"
John missed her expression as he quickly Crafted an instruction booklet. "LIke I said, I don't know how to do anything Magical or whatever, so I tied it directly to your Concept of Self and Presentation. Read this booklet for the mental tricks you need to use, at least until your Magic learns how to do all the work instead… But THIS way you can just pick how old you want to be at any time!"
He glanced at his stupid short arm holding the booklet. "See, I keep having problems where I would make new Bodies for myself and they were too young or too old, and sometimes you'd run into issues like my CURRENT one which has my existence sort of twisted through time or something, which made me biologically regress a bit… But I'm hopeful that this NEW Body design will simplify the whole issue entirely! I mean, it may cause a FEW problems when people realize you've forgotten to get older or… Uh…"
…Why was she staring at him like that!? Oh! Of course, she'd want to look over the instructions herself!
John awkwardly held out the booklet. "...Maybe you'd like to look it over? Just ask me if anything in there sounds confusing… "
Damn.
It was a good thing he hadn't gone over the other enhancements yet, she looked a little bit overwhelmed.