Chapter 8: Chapter 8: Girls’ Night

Eve POV:

Having M’gann in my head was interesting. It was like there was a thought at the edge of my mind that wasn’t my own. I didn’t know if a thought could be described as ‘cute’, but that was the best word I had for it.

Honestly, M’gann was a bit of a nervous wreck. She would constantly worry about saying the wrong thing and what we thought of her. I tried acting silly and making a fool out of myself to show her that she didn’t need to worry. She did mellow out a little throughout the day, but I could still feel her anxiety.

We decided to grab pizza for lunch. M’gann wanted to try the human staple she had heard so much about and Donna didn’t mind. So pizza it was.

My plan was to have the girls on the team spend some bonding time together. Ideally I should probably have had the guys join as well, but with M’gann’s anxiety I think it might have been for the best that we left them behind. Donna also said that she appreciated a break from the testosterone brigade. They insisted I bring Zatanna along when I mentioned her though.

“Eve? Are you a shapechanger too?” M’gann asked as we were waiting for our pizza in Marco’s Pizzeria. Not the most creative name, but Zatanna and I favored it since they had private rooms where we could use magic without anyone asking questions.

“Huh? No, I use magic. Why?”

“Oh…” She blushed like she usually did when she got everyone’s attention. “Y— You changed your appearance earlier so I just assumed…”

“Oh, that!” I said as I realized she was referring to the ‘Disguise Self’ I had cast earlier. “No, this is an illusion spell. Here—” I took her hand and guided it to where my horns were still sitting invisibly on my head. “I haven’t changed how I look, just how you perceive me.”

“Oh!” She exclaimed excitedly, her eyes widening slightly. “So it’s like telepathy? You’re making our minds see something different?”

“Um, not exactly…” I hesitated. I really wasn’t very good at explaining the mechanics of how magic worked. Fortunately, we had an expert present. “Zatanna, you can explain it better than me.”

Zatanna beamed. Both at being included in the conversation and at being asked to talk about her favorite topic.

“Partially,” She started to explain. “The main part of the illusion is just bending the light to change what we see, but there is a small mental compulsion telling us not to look too closely as well. Now that you know it’s an illusion, you should be able to see through it if you focus.”

M’gann’s eyes narrowed for a few moments before they went wide.

“You’re right!” She exclaimed. “It’s like you’re shimmering! And your horns are translucent!”

Zatanna grinned and complimented her, “You’re pretty good. Eve has gotten pretty good at that spell, and the compulsion got stronger over time. It’s easier if you’re familiar with magic, of course.”

“Indeed,” Donna chimed in. “I have trained to pierce illusions, and even I have to focus to see through it. Even though I saw it being cast! It is an impressive piece of magic. You did well to see through it Megan.”

“Thank you…” M’gann said in a small voice. She was blushing up a storm in embarrassment at the array of compliments sent her way, but through the link I could tell that she was really happy as well.

“I do have a spell to actually change my appearance as well,” I commented. “It’s nowhere near as versatile as your shape shifting though. And it requires concentration to keep up. I can’t keep two concentration spells up at the same time unless I’ve mastered one of them.”

“Are you concentrating on another spell at the moment?” Donna inquired, her head tilted in curiosity.

“It’s called ‘Enhance Ability’,” I answered. “It improves a certain part of me when I use it. I’m trying to master it to the point where I don’t need to concentrate to use it.”

“‘Improve a certain part’?” M’gann asked. “How so? What are you improving right now?”

“My charisma,” I answered before grinning and throwing my arms around her, smooshing my cheek against hers. “After all, I want you to luuuurve me!”

She giggled and tried to push me off her, but our connection told me that she enjoyed it, so I kept smooshing until our pizzas arrived. By then, she was a giggling wreck.

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“‘Ekam ym deb reggib!’” Zatanna called out and threw herself onto her now double king size bed.

When Donna had mentioned our plans to ‘hang out in underwear’, Zatanna suggested we have a sleepover at the Shadowcrest. When we all agreed, she also made the executive decision that we should all sleep together in her bed. Which led to our current situation.

“‘Evomer ym sehtolc’! Eeek! ‘Ton eht reawrednu! Ton eht reawrednu!’”

We all giggled at her antics as she donned a blush that would put M’gann to shame. Now similarly dressed, we joined her on the bed. I could feel excitement from M’gann at doing such a ‘human’ activity.

“So, Donna,” I started as we all settled in a circle. “What is your story?”

She raised an eyebrow at me. “I was under the impression that you already knew everyone’s story,” She pointed out. “We were all characters in a comic book where you are from, no?”

I gave her a wry smile before answering, “You were famous for having your backstory changed all the time. Besides,” I added, “Not everything from those stories are necessarily true here. I think I know a lot of things, but I don't actually know that I know them.”

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As I said this, I could feel a spike of anxiety from M’gann. I realized she was worried about me knowing she was actually a white Martian. Which was silly, of course. Why would any earthling care about Martian cultural stigmas? I focused on the connection and sent as much love and reassurance as I could at her.

She actually yelped in surprise at what was essentially a telepathic hug. I still felt anxiety from her, but now it was tempered by hope and appreciation — then embarrassment as she noticed everyone was staring at her.

“Sorry…” She said weakly and gestured to Donna. “Go on, please.”

“Ah, yes. Well,” Donna started her story. “I am not completely sure about my true origins. I was discovered on the steps outside the palace on Themyscira, wrapped in a blanket that was later made into the costume I use for hero work. It is divine in origin, and with my strength, it can be assumed that I have divine parentage. We do not know who, though. I must admit, I was somewhat hopeful that you might be able to give me some answers. But alas.”

“Hmm…” I gave it some thought before airing my thoughts. “Your costume looks like someone took a piece of the night sky and made it into clothes, right?” She nodded in confirmation. “Well, maybe your mother is Nyx.”

She frowned and gave me a doubtful look. “While certainly not impossible, Lady Nyx is quite elusive and rarely — if ever — interacts with mortals. I can not imagine her being in a situation where she would end up with a child.”

“Wonder Woman is the child of Gaea alone though, right?” I pressed. “Sure, Hippolyta made her body out of clay, but it was Gaea who gave her life. Unless Amazons usually reproduce geologically, of course.”

“Pff!” Donna snorted at my joke. “No, we do not reproduce geologically.” Then more thoughtfully she admitted, “What you say is true though. However, unless Lady Nyx herself sees fit to confirm or deny it, I’m afraid we will never know. I have long since stopped worrying about it. Diana is like a mother to me, and that is enough.”

“Now! Zatanna!” Her demeanor suddenly turned jovial as she turned to the youngest girl among us. “Would you tell the story of how you and Eve became sworn sisters?”

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M’gann POV:

I couldn’t sleep.

Eve’s emotional bomb earlier made it clear that she held nothing but feelings of love and compassion for me. The memory alone made my chest feel warm. I couldn’t imagine her feeling that way if she knew, but the suspicion wouldn’t go away. I had to be sure.

The girls — my friends — were all lying sprawled on the bed. Eve had been careful that her horns didn’t accidentally hurt anyone, so she was lying out on the side. Which was perfect. I carefully crawled close and shook her shoulder.

“Wuh?” She mumbled sleepily, and I could feel her waking up through our telepathic link. It was incredible how open her mind was. The strength of connections like this depended on trust, and from how well I could sense her mind it seemed like she trusted me completely. Donna and Zatanna — who had also insisted on creating a link — were the only other humans I had connected with, and their minds were much the same as the average Martian. I only sensed their presence and intense emotions.

With Eve though, I had to actively prevent her surface thoughts from reaching me. Her trust in me made me instinctively trust her as well, and I knew she could sense my emotions too. Not as strongly as I sensed hers, but clear enough to make sense of them.

“Can we talk?” I whispered when I sensed that she was awake enough to actually hear me.

She looked at me bleary-eyed for a moment before she nodded and got out of bed, careful not to wake the others. She headed to the door and waved for me to follow.

As she led the way down to the kitchen I took note of her emotions. There was the ever-present love she seemed to have for everyone she knew, as well as some sleepiness. I did feel bad for waking her, but I needed to do this. Beyond that there was compassion, as well as… determination and… hope? I didn’t know how to make sense of that.

“Milk?” She asked as she grabbed a bottle from the fridge. She didn’t wait for a reply though as she just poured a glass for each of us and mumbled, “Milk is good for talks.”

Then she sat down at the table and just looked at me expectantly.

“Um…” I started, hesitantly. ‘Hello, Megan! I was the one who wanted to talk so I should be the one to start!’ I didn’t know how though, so I ended up just staring at the glass in front of me until Eve finally sighed and did what I couldn’t.

“I think I know what this is about,” She said. “And you don’t have anything to worry about.”

I looked up from my glass to see her staring intensely into my eyes, waves of reassurance nearly radiating off her.

“...Do you know that I’m a…” I trailed off in a whisper.

“Yes,” She answered bluntly. “And I don’t care. The girls won’t care, the team won’t care. Hell, no one on Earth would care. But it’s your secret, so I won’t even speak it out loud until you do.” Then she grabbed my hand and leaned forward, forcing me to look her in the eyes. “You’re my friend and I love you. If you want to know exactly how little I care, you can look in my mind. I trust you.”

I gaped at her. It was all I could do. She would let me look in her mind? Even among Martians, that was a rare sign of trust.

“A— Are you sure?” I eventually asked. Eve had done more than enough to earn my trust. I did trust her. I didn’t need to look in her mind… but I really wanted to. Just to assuage my anxiety. To be sure I wasn’t just imagining things.

“I am sure,” She said, and I gave in.

I looked her in the eyes as I touched the connection. I didn’t even need to try as her mind welcomed me in like an old friend. And then I saw.

I saw how she had loved me before we even met. How she admired the young heroine that always tried to do good even when she was struggling with her own inner demons. I saw how she was rooting for the heroine as she became more confident and her skin changed from green to white. I saw her joy as the now white-skinned heroine was accepted for who she was by everyone around her. Then I saw her excitement when she finally met the heroine in person.

So engrossed was I in her kind and beautiful mind that I lost track of what was happening outside of it. When I finally came to, my eyes were bleary and my cheeks were wet. Even through my joyful tears, I could see the face of my best friend smiling warmly at me.