Chapter 4: Chapter 4: The Magician’s Daughter

Eve POV:

With the exception of revealing my intimate habits to the entire Justice League, my visit to the Watchtower went pretty well. After the SNAFU, Wonder Woman took over my questioning. Well… after a brief recess to allow Green Arrow the time he needed to control his laughter. When we reconvened he sported a bright, red mark in the shape of a hand on his cheek and would occasionally snicker quietly, prompting Black Canary to pinch his thigh.

During the recess, Batman had approached me and apologized. I accepted immediately because, embarrassing as it was, I knew his only priority was the safety of Earth and the League. I told him as much, and added that I already considered it more funny than embarrassing. Also, having The Caped Crusader apologizing to me made it all worth it. I swear I could see him suppress a smile at that.

Afterwards, under the power of the Lasso of Truth, I swore that I would not reveal any secret identities without the explicit permission of the person concerned. Or it was a matter of life or death and I genuinely believed that the person themselves would want me to reveal it. The League also made me agree that if they decided unanimously that they wanted me to reveal a name, I would entrust it to Batman.

As for the matter of Trigon’s potential daughter, it was decided that I would not reveal it. Surprisingly, this was because Captain Marvel of all people spoke against it. He argued that age did not diminish the importance of a secret identity, and since there was no evidence at all that she was in any danger, revealing it would be a breach of privacy.

He later pulled me aside to confirm that: yes, I knew he was actually ten. No, I wouldn’t tell anyone. Yes, his costume looked awesome. No, I didn’t know about any superheroes that were younger than him. And finally, yes, we could be friends. I decided that I really liked that kid.

I eventually told them all I knew about potential threats. Which, admittedly, wasn’t much. Batman was surprised when I told him The Joker’s real name was Jack Napier. Apparently he hadn’t known that, but in the end, it didn’t really change anything. Superman was pissed but unsurprised that Lex Luthor might be trying to clone him, and the Flash was already familiar with Reverse Flash. After telling them all I knew about the ‘League Level’ threats like Brainiac, Darkseid and Doomsday, the meeting was called.

After that, Superman spent some time formally introducing me to some of the other members.

Wonder Woman was, as I should have expected, excited at a new prospective heroine and I received an open invitation to Themyscira. She even let me try ‘Identify’ on her lasso after I explained what the spell did. It didn’t really tell us anything we didn’t know. Forged by Haephestus using the Golden Girdle of Gaea and empowered by the Fires of Hestia. She was a little surprised when I told her that even gods were powerless to resist it, though.

Black Canary forced a still chuckling Green Arrow to apologize and offered a willing ear whenever I needed it. She even introduced herself as Dinah Lance and gave me her number! I didn’t have a phone yet, but promised I’d call her as soon as I got one.

Most of the others didn’t stay longer than to introduce themselves, but Giovanni Zatara was very interested in my magic. He also wanted to introduce me to his daughter, Zatanna, claiming that it would be good for both of us to befriend each other. I was more than happy to befriend a young Zatanna Zatara, so I accepted his invitation to come visit. Which led to me, three days later, knocking on the door of Shadowcrest, the ancestral home of the Zatara family.

Gotham seemed like a strange location to choose for a mansion that could be wherever the owner wanted it to be, but I’m sure there was a reason. I remember reading that Gotham was supposed to be a nexus for many kinds of magic, so maybe that had something to do with it.

“Yes? Can I help you?”

A young girl in her early teens with long, black hair and grey-blue eyes opened the door. She was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, sensibly forgoing the stage magician outfit in her own home.

“Hey! Zatanna, right?” I asked. “I’m Eve. Mr. Zatara invited me over. He didn’t mention?”

“He did…” She drawled skeptically. “But the picture he showed me didn’t look anything like you. So, who are you, and what do you want?”

“Oh!” I dropped ‘Disguise Self’. “Sorry! I figured going through Gotham incognito would be safer. Figured my appearance would kinda draw attention; even in Gotham.” Her eyes widened a bit.

“Oh, wow! You really do look like a tiefling!” She exclaimed before getting nervous and started rambling. “Um, from Dungeons & Dragons, I mean. Uh… That was what I thought when I first saw the picture. Not that that’s bad or anything, I just—!”

“You play D&D?” I interrupted her before her face could turn any more red. “No one else picked up on it! And—” I summoned the Maginomicon, opened it, and handed it to her. “-here. All my— I permit Zatanna. All my spells seem to be from D&D too! It’s really weird, right?”

I was suddenly excited at the prospect of venting about my situation to someone who actually knew about D&D. The Kents didn’t understand what I was on about, and Clark just said ‘all magic is weird’, so no help there.

Zatanna flinched back in surprise but took the book and started looking through it.

“‘Detect Magic’, ‘Mage Armor’, ‘Unseen Servant’...” She mumbled to herself as she flipped through the pages. “You’re right, these are all— wait. ‘Barkskin’ isn’t a wizard spell…” She kept flipping through the pages. “You have all the classes?!”

“Spells from them, at least.” I nodded. “Oh, I don’t seem to have any resurrection spells and, thankfully, no ‘Wish’... I don’t even want the temptation to use that.” I shuddered. “They’re 5e spells though, so you might not know all of them— You’re still on 3.5 here, right?”

“Wait,5e? You’re from the future?!” She looked stunned for a second before continuing. “Ah, and we’re on 4e… but it sucks so we still use—”

“Zatanna!” Mr. Zatara’s voice sounded from inside, interrupting our nerdout. “If that’s Eve, why don’t you welcome her inside?”

Zatanna’s blush returned again, briefly. “Oh, right! Eve is welcome in Shadowcrest.” She spoke out, seemingly to the mansion itself. Must require permission to pass the wards or something, like the Maginomicon. “Um, come on in! Oh! I’m Zatanna, It’s nice to meet you!” She extended a hand, and I took it with a smile. “I’m sorry about the… um…”

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“Don’t worry about it.” I waved her off with a toothy grin. “When you’re told to expect a tiefling, you expect a tiefling. Entirely my bad.”

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Zatanna POV:

Eve was so cool! She was smart, and kind, and beautiful. The red eyes and horns were a little unnerving to begin with, but I quickly got over it.

She was also a nerd, just like me! We could geek out together about both magic and D&D. I always had trouble connecting with other girls my age since all they were interested in were make-up and boys. Playing D&D with some of the guys from school was fun, but they didn’t understand anything about actual magic. But Eve did! Well, she didn’t know all that much about it yet, but she was learning quickly with me teaching her.

And that was another thing. I was teaching her! And she was listening to me! She was four years older than me — an adult — and she was listening to me and treating me like an equal; not a child. I loved my dad, I really did, but he was still treating me like I was seven!

Oh, and she got along great with dad as well. Her magic wasn’t a bloodline ability like ours was, but it had similarities. Namely that no one else could use magic the same way she did, and she had trouble casting magic any other way; just like us. We had spent hours discussing all the similarities and differences. We! Whenever dad drifted off in a direction I couldn’t follow, she actively included me by asking me to ‘dumb it down’ for her or something. She was just… the best!

After talking for hours we had to get take-out because we all forgot the time, and dad suggested she spend the night. We were currently laying in my bed together going through ‘the Maginomicon’ as she called it, and discussing creative ways her spells could be used.

“Hey, Eve?” I asked during a lull in the conversation. “How do you do it?”

“Hm? I told you earlier, right? I make a construct in my mind and—”

“No, not that.” I interrupted her and breathed in deeply before letting it out. “How are you so… great? I mean, you talk to both me and dad like we’re all equals, and he treated you like an equal back. Even if you’re so much younger than him. Heck, you even managed to make him treat me like an equal! He usually always treats me like a child…” The last part I grumbled more to myself, but I’m sure she heard it.

“Hmm…” She drawled for a moment, as if she was thinking seriously about how to answer, before finally deciding. “I don’t think I have an answer to that.”

I glanced over at her only to find a contemplative expression on her face. After a moment longer I pressed again. “So, what? You’re just naturally more mature? Why are you bothering with being so friendly with me then?”

“Hah!” She barked out a laugh. “First of all, that really made you sound like a child.” I winced, but she just grinned and continued. “Second, I don’t think I’m all that mature. Honestly, I think I’m pretty childish. I just don’t really care about being mature. Third, I’m being friendly with you because you’re awesome!”

Then she glomped me. Despite the dour direction my mood had turned, I couldn’t help but laugh as she tight in her arms and wiggled as if trying to get even closer.

“Eve, stop! That tickles!” I shrieked through my laughter, but she just held on harder. Despite being four years older, she was about the same size as me.

“Don’ wanna!” She pouted, the sound muffled by my own pyjamas. “Zatanna happy when glomping. So I keep glomping!”

The impromptu wrestling match continued for several minutes before we were both tired and panting for breath. Eve loosened her grip, but kept holding me in a tight hug.

“Hah…” I panted. “Can’t believe I thought you were ‘mature’!”

“Told you!” She chuckled. “...but you are feeling better now, right?”

I froze, feeling a blush coming on as I realized she had used a playfight to distract me from feeling down. Like a child…

“I don’t think you need to be more mature.” She continued as she began stroking my head. And it felt nice, damnit!

“You’re smart, kind and beautiful.” Echoing my exact thoughts about her from earlier. “You’re enthusiastic and outspoken, and yes, a little childish. But all of those things, and a few more that I’m looking forward to discovering, makes you 100% Zatanna. And Zatanna is my first real friend in this world, and I don’t want you to be anyone else.”

I could feel tears escaping my eyes as her words brought all my anxieties and insecurities to the surface and stripped them away. Ever since mom died, I had been feeling alone and I hadn’t realized it until now. Yet in one evening, Eve had filled all the holes in my soul and more. She really was the best.

My tears kept falling, but for some reason I wasn’t embarrassed. All I felt was relief at letting it all out, and happiness at having Eve’s comforting arms around me.

Eventually, my tears ran dry and I fell asleep with a smile on my face. It was the best night’s rest I had had in years.

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Two days after Eve left I still felt the same calmness in my heart I had felt since that night. One of dad’s books had mentioned how the soul could become damaged. One way to heal it was apparently to expose your soul to another and have their soul fill in the missing parts. I couldn’t help but wonder if that was what had happened, because I certainly felt more whole than I had since mom passed.

Did that mean I had a part of her soul inside mine now? ‘I wonder…’

“Wohs em ym lous!” I spoke and channeled my intent into the spell.

The next second a glowing sphere floated out of my chest. I could tell it wasn’t actually my soul, just an illusory representation of it. It was grey-blue, the same color as my eyes. Which made sense. ‘The eyes are the windows to the soul’ after all.

I noted there were a few lines of darker blue swirling around — the color of my dad’s eyes — as well as— My breath hitched when I spotted swirls of steely grey. “Mom…” I whispered. My heart spun as I realized I still had a part of her inside me.

Enthralled, I kept staring at the little grey-blue ball in front of me. It was, as Eve had put it, ‘100% Zatanna’. Parts of mom, parts of dad, but still 100% me. And… a spec of crimson? Like a whale in the ocean surfacing for air, a swirl of bright crimson appeared before sinking back beneath the cloudy surface. Was that…

*Knock, knock, knock!’

A knock on the door blasted me back to reality and the illusory image disappeared as I stopped feeding it mana.

“Coming!” I yelled as I rose from the kitchen table and went to see who the heck would visit at this time of the day. It was barely past noon on a weekday. Sure, it was summer break so school was out, but none of the kids from school even knew where I lived! And most adults would be at work.

I cautiously opened the door and saw a familiar purple-skinned girl standing there with a big, toothy smile on her face. In her hand was an old travel suitcase.

“Hey! I talked to your dad and he said it was fine!” She raised the suitcase as if to demonstrate a point. “I’m moving in!”

Her eyes were a bright crimson.