Bab 43: 6
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Part 28.
Lux. LA.
The demon that was either passing as a human while playing the role of bouncer or was wearing one simply nodded and allowed me to the club without so much as a word.
Either he remembered who I'd come here with the last time I'd visited and didn't want me coming back with John Constantine, or by now, I had enough of a reputation in my own right to get me this sort of treatment from mystical creatures.
I rather hoped that it wasn't the latter as I wasn't ready to be the kind of sorcerer who was well-known to demons. Although it might just be that they feared Nabu too much to mess with the guy whom the Lord of Order sometimes possessed.
Regardless I was glad of my new mystical defences that should stop demons and similar creatures from being able to have too much interest in me, and I doubted that anyone would be foolish enough to start trouble with me in the Devil's place.
Not that I needed anyone's help in that department, I could get myself into enough jeopardy just by seeking out Lucifer if I wasn't careful.
Rather than look for the former ruler of Hell in the crowd, I headed over to the bar and brought myself a needlessly expensive drink.
Mazikeen, one of the Lilim, a child of Lilith, was a demonic warrior of great power, as such she was someone I had no desire to mess with, as such it was rather odd to have her serve me a drink.
"Hello Mazikeen," I greeted.
She nodded at me.
"Gothic," she said.
The demon looked bored and that was doubtless a bad thing as what passed for entertainment among her kind tended to be rather unhealthy for mine.
"Is the big man here tonight?" I questioned, "I need some information".
Mazikeen leaned forward and I couldn't help looking down to admire how the corset thing she was wearing made her tits look very good.
I should not be looking at women that way as I should be committed to Jessica, but this wasn't the kind of place that encouraged people to behave.
"Where's the well-stacked hottie you and Jonny came in with last time?" she asked.
Not a simple question to answer, or at least not the first part.
"I don't know where Constantine is these days" I admitted.
Should I need to find him I felt fairly certain that I'd be able to given how many devices I had for scrying back at the tower, and since I might need his help later I would soon be looking for him.
"And the hottie?" Mazikeen wondered.
I decided not to give much away about Jess.
"She's doing something with friends at college" I answered.
Jessica was with Megan trying out to become a cheerleader and I knew that tryouts were going to be going on for a while. It all seemed like a lot of fuss just to have pretty girls dancing on the sidelines.
I got why Megan would be into that, as she wanted to embrace her life on Earth and act like the kind of American girl who only exists on television, but Jessica's motivations were harder for me to deduce.
I could only conclude that Jess was either going along with Megan's latest plan or that it had something to do with rebelling against Wonder Woman's ideals.
Since I wasn't against getting Jess into a short skirt and having her jump about I'd decided to let her get on with it even if I'd rather she only dress for me.
I had no interest in sports since I was an academic type, and Jess didn't seem to care if I didn't want to throw around a football.
Perhaps she'd grow tired of the whole cheerleader thing before long.
"I'm sure that the boss knows you're here," said the demon "Just take a seat and if he wants to talk to you he will".
He might not know given my new mystical defences, however, this club was his dominion, and he might have been able to sense that I was here even if he couldn't see me without actually looking at me directly.
Despite that taking a seat seemed like a good idea and for a little while I watched a young lady who no doubt had major daddy issues and a lack of self-respect do some pole dancing.
"Gothic, I didn't think I'd be seeing you again so soon" said the Devil as he took a seat in my booth "And on your own this time. Has the baby bird flown the nest?".
"Something along those lines" I replied.
Although acting on my own was hardly a new thing.
"What happened to your lady friend?" was the next question "Has she already realised that she's too good for you?".
That was insulting, but I didn't dare to complain since ticking off an Archangel is one of the stupidest things a human can do.
"No, she's still putting up with me," I informed the devil "I'm here about someone else. I need a favour".
That made him smile.
"Oh do tell," he said.
I took a sip of my drink before speaking. Taking a moment to gather my thoughts as this discussion was important.
"Can you tell me about Trigon" I requested.
Unlike others who knew of the creature, the devil was unconcerned when he heard that name.
"I assume this has to do with his little bastards," said the nightclub owner "They were running loose in Salem not so long ago. At least according to what I heard".
Since he already knew there was no harm in confirming this.
"Nabu got rid of them" I shared.
Not dangerous to share since Doctor Fate was the Sorcerer Supreme and the mystical guardian of this world. Getting rid of supernatural threats to this realm was his job.
"Do you know much about demons?" I was asked.
I shook my head. My studies had been mostly focused on the use of magic and the humans that wielded it.
"Demonkind come in all shapes and sizes, such as my lovely Maze," Lucifer told me as he gestured over at the bar "Most of them are fallen angels, the children of Lilith, or Hellions, those are demons born in hell, and even if a few humans who have become demons, as well as a few ancient entities who have been banished to hell and been changed by it".
Lucifer paused for a moment and I got the impression that he was remembering something.
"Trigon is not like them" I was told, "He's more like Armus, from Star Trek the Next Generation, you know the Skin of Evil".
I did know.
"You watch Star Trek?" I questioned.
My surprise upon hearing that was not at all hidden.
"Even the Devil takes nights off to binge-watch," he said before getting back to the matter at hand "And like Armus, Trigon is a personification of the darker side of a race of people. He is made from all the evil energies of Azareth that were cast off when the natives of that rather dull plane tried to rid themselves of all their darkness".
That made me wonder why the Monks of Azareth had taken Raven in. Did they feel guilty about what happened to Raven's mother? The woman who had been used by Trigon to give birth to a girl who could be considered an antichrist.
They had made Trigon and could be considered responsible for what the demon did. At least in some small way as it wasn't as they controlled the demon.
"Because of this Trigon is the physical embodiment of the sins of an entire race of people," Lucifer went on to say "And since pride is the most deadly of sins it will be his downfall. Coming to conquer this plane will mean his doom just as it has for so many other would-be conquerors".
I knew that Trigon had been defeated in other timelines.
"If you are worried there are a few baubles out there that can help keep you safe," Lucifer told me "But that kind of information isn't free".
Nothing in this life ever is.
"But first tell me, what do you desire?" I was asked.
For a moment I felt as if something was being pulled out of me, but then it stopped.
"Oh that's interesting," remarked the nightclub owner "It's rare for any human, even a sorcerer to resist me".
Even I didn't know for sure what it was I really desired so perhaps I could not share the information, or maybe one of my many powers had somehow shielded me.
"Tell me how you did that" requested the devil as more drinks were served "Tell me and I'll give you the information you want and I won't share what you tell me with anyone. I'm just curious".
Despite him being Satan I believed him since the fallen angel was famous for keeping his word and it wasn't as if I could stop him from finding out if he really wanted to, so I figured that I would share a little information.
"I came across a powerful relic that protects me against mind-altering magic," I said, "Among other things".
Lucifer sat back and pondered my words for a moment.
"It must be something powerful to resist my little trick" he commented "And it's another trinket that will help you with your demon problem".
I found myself leaning forward, eager to hear more.
"What you desire is a Ring of Azar" I was informed
I knew that long ago a mysterious woman known as Azar convinced a group of Earth humans to abandon their lives to embrace a world of peace and prosperity. Whether Azar was herself a native of Earth, or whether she originally hailed from Azarath itself has never been revealed.
What mattered was that she took her followers from Earth to the plane of Azarath, once there she guided and taught them the ways of peace.
These men and women established the Temple of Azarath and formed a mystic society that would one day adopt Raven as a member, at least for a time.
I didn't know if Azar herself had made the rings or if they were just named for her. No doubt Lucifer knew which.
"They were made by the same group of very dull people who made Trigon in the first place" I was informed "The Monks of Azarath created a barrier that protects them from Trigon, at least for now, and that barrier repels Trigon because it is made from everything he isn't. Chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, patience, kindness, and humility".
I could tell that the Devil didn't approve.
"Everything boring that the people in Azarath retained when they got rid of their sin and it's so alien to Trigon that anyone protected by that energy is untouchable by him"Lucifer shared with me.
I was eager to hear more.
"The Rings of Azar contain that power and will keep the wearer, and anyone around them safe from Trigon" Lucifer told me "Trigon or any of those brats of his can't hurt you if possess one of the rings. At least not directly".
Raven didn't channel her father's power, she used her soul self, so the ring wouldn't protect me from her if she ever turned on me. Not that I thought she would.
"The rings are simple things in looks, gold bands with Azarathian symbols on them" Lucifer said as he drew on a napkin "Where you can find a ring I don't know, but I think you have an idea of where to start looking for someone who deals with occult items".
I knew of both people and places where a person could go to find such things and the napkin showed me the symbols I was looking for.
"Perhaps we'll do business again," said the Devil.
With that, he stood up and began looking around.
"Thank you," I said.
Lucifer didn't care for my appreciation as he'd already found someone else to go talk to. Whatever amusement he'd gotten from me was already over.
Now, I would have to seek out Constantine and perhaps make a trip to the Oblivion Bar. There were also some magic users out there with a connection to the demonic, one of whom I'd been meaning to go look up, and the bar seemed like a good place to start.
While I felt the urge to go look at my book I ignored it for now, I wasn't planning on rolling any time soon as this was important.
However, I would return home for a short time to let Raven know that I would be staying out for longer as it would not do to let her feel abandoned.
Even she wasn't so introverted that she couldn't feel lonely or rejected in some way due to my absence.
Interlude - Lucifer
Lucifer Morningstar the powerful and defiant Archangel who was once given Hell to rule as his domain found himself thinking about a mere human.
He didn't normally pay much attention to the lives of humans unless they were amusing in some way. Oh he did them favours and collected on them, but that was just a bit of fun, he didn't really care about them.
Long ago he had cared about Hell, but after ruling over that plane for so many centuries, he'd decided that he no longer wanted to do what he believed was expected of him by his father, and so he'd abandoned Hell and retired to live his life here on Earth.
Since then his life had been mostly made up of wine, women and song, well not just women and he drank much more than wine. The point was that he hadn't been concerned with much more than his own pleasure.
There wasn't much else that troubled him and he certainly wasn't worried about the young sorcerer who had just left his club, it was just that the lad interested him a little.
This world was an upon book to him. He had seen all of creation and he even knew how it would all one day end, so it was odd for him to know so little about someone.
Gothic was not part of creation, or at least he wasn't from this part of it. That was odd in and of itself.
Oh, he was certainly one of his father's humans, the Presence was not limited to one universe or even a multiverse, his father was omni-versal, an entity existing in many forms and he went by many names in many universes, however, this Gothic would one day be more than one of his father's favourite monkeys.
Even Lucifer couldn't say for sure what that Sorcerer would one day become, and he was curious enough to wait to find out.
He wondered how long it would take for Gothic to become powerful enough to never need to worry about some demon lord and if the lad had any idea what immortality really involved.
Once at the bar the retired King of Hell, let Mazie pour him a drink as he looked around the club and while there were many distractions here the former Prince of Darkness found himself deep in thought.
The future was going to be interesting and while he knew that it would all work out well enough it would at least be fun to watch.
"Something on your mind?" asked Mazie.
Mazikeen had left Hell behind with him and had remained at Lucifer's side ever since. even before then, she'd been a loyal follower of his.
"Oh I'm just thinking about the future" said the former King of Hell.
Mazikeen didn't need any help to figure out who was on her boss's mind.
"You thinking about that sorcerer?" she wondered.
If he was a bother to her boss then perhaps he was someone she would need to eliminate. It had been too long since she'd been on a hunt and a mage could make for an engaging target.
"Yes," confirmed Lucifer "He's a bit interesting".
Mazikeen didn't know why. Sorcerers were mostly just humans with a few tricks. They weren't all like John Constantine who could be a complete menace at times.
"Since when do you care about some mortal even if he can use magic?" wondered the demon.
Lucifer waited for her to pour him another drink
before he answered.
"Well for starters he isn't exactly a mortal and he's not from this part of the omniverse" explained the nightclub owner.
The Devil had more than once talked to her about the idea of leaving known creation to start his own universe or just to see what was beyond.
That wasn't simple to do as the Presence hadn't left his creation unguarded there was the Source Wall to consider and there were things beyond this multiverse that even archangels were wise to avoid.
Besides, it wasn't as if they'd run out of things to do here on Earth, and even if they did there were other realms, and plenty of planets to explore in just this universe.
Mazie had even heard rumours about a totally new plane of existence having recently appeared. Perhaps
one day she'd go check it out.
"So what?" asked Mazie "He's from some dimension you don't know anything about".
It didn't seem worth thinking much about.
"My dear Mazie, it's not so much his past that interests me as the lad's future," said Lucifer.
Since he was an Archangel he knew aspects of creation that hadn't happened yet and might never do as the future was not fixed, and even the past could be altered.
"What's he going to become?" asked the demon.
She was a little curious.
"I'm not sure" admitted Lucifer.
Mazikeen was a little surprised to hear that as her master was nearly all-knowing. Angels were supposed to be, although if they were then Lucifer leaving Hell wouldn't have been so shocking, but generally speaking not much got past them.
"That is what makes him so fascinating" said the Devil "I don't know how he fits in or what the source of his power is".
Mazikeen didn't see why that last part was hard to figure out.
"He's a wizard" she said "He uses magic".
There was much more to it than that.
"No, it's something more" Lucifer explained "Something I don't know about".
Her boss seemed pleased by this, and while Mazikeen was a little concerned, she didn't focus on that, weird powers or not Gothic was just a human, and if he did turn out to be dangerous she had ways of dealing with him.
"Excuse me, my dear," said Lucifer, "I think I found someone else who wants my attention".
With that, the topic of Gothic was forgotten, at least for now, as the Devil went off to introduce himself to some who had caught his eye.
Celestial Grimoire.
Part 29.
Cafe. San Francisco.
As planned I'd returned to the Tower of Fate to inform Raven that I would be busy for a while and to attempt to contact my mentor as I might need his help tracking down as many of the Rings of Azar as we could find.
John Constantine had asked me to meet him in a small cafe in San Francisco, I assumed because he was tending to business in this city. What the business was I had no idea and I probably didn't want to know.
I had invited my student along as she needed to learn about this world, something that involved leaving the tower, and she needed to meet my mentor.
Since John Constantine was known for dealing with demons regularly and making deals with them I didn't think he'd be outright hostile to someone who was half demon and Raven did need to meet more magic users.
"You should eat something," I said to Raven as we took a seat at a table.
She looked over the menu.
"I don't know what's good" she told me "Can you order for me?".
After scanning the menu it didn't take me long to find something I was sure that we would both enjoy. Once I was ready, I signalled for the waitress to come over.
"Two orders of chicken and waffles" I requested.
I ordered some coffee for myself and water for Raven who didn't have much experience with anything other than the most simple of foods from what I
understood about her upbringing.
"The monks didn't feed me anything fancy," she confirmed.
While Lucifer's description of the monks hadn't been flattering he wasn't one for lying. That combined with what little Raven had told me led me to believe that her life so far had been a simple one with little in the way of enjoyment.
"Things are different with me," I said to her "I intend to spoil you a little if only so that you'll like me more than any of your other teachers".
Raven wasn't one for displaying her feelings yet I could tell that she was a little surprised at my statement or maybe amused.
"I already do" she admitted.
She then paused for a moment as if she'd not considered her words.
"You have a better library" she clarified.
Like me, she was a Ravenclaw at heart.
"Batman to Gothic"
The voice came over my comm piece.
"Gothic here" I whispered.
I used a menu to hide my mouth. I doubted anyone was spying on me as if they were then they would have much luck, but it seemed like the thing to do.
"You're meeting has been cancelled. Report to base. If Raven is with you then bring her"
He didn't say anything else since he was a man of few words. As for me, I flagged down the waitress.
"We're going to need those waffles to go," I said.
Raven didn't need to ask and I didn't require empathic powers to sense her confusion.
"I've been ordered to report to base" I whispered "And you're coming with me".
For Batman to call us both in it must be an all-hands-on-deck kind of situation.
Mount Justice. Happy Habor.
While Jessica was happy to see me at first, she frowned upon seeing that I'd brought Raven along via the pathways. The young demi-demon didn't respond to Jessica's look and seemed interested in checking out the base.
"Everyone this is my ward, Racheal Roth or Raven as she's more commonly known," I told the group.
Batman had set her up with an identity very quickly.
"Raven, this is the team I work with" I told her as I gestured to each member "This is Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Artemis, Superboy and you already know Power Girl".
She might be here with permission of the Dark Knight, but none of the team knew about her, not unless Jess had told them, and either way Wally had to try flirting with her.
"Hello, Goth goodness," he said.
Lucky for him he didn't look threatening enough for his leer to come off as anything other than silly.
"Goth goodness?" Raven asked.
To be fair she did walk around in a black, long-sleeved leotard, some sort of leggings, a purple hooded cloak and purple boots.
If the cloak was not closed up her outfit drew attention to her body. Not that I minded as while she wasn't fully developed I still thought she was pleasant to look at.
"Ignore him, Wally doesn't have much in the way of tact," I said.
Jessica got very close to me, and I didn't fail to pick up on the fact that she was doing this to show some sort of claim.
"Did you get me a new sword yet?" she asked.
As a matter of fact, I had. I took out a fancy-looking sword with a golden blade.
"It's enchanted to unbreakable, even if that has limits, to do extra damage to the undead and to be extra sharp" I told Jessica "Not something you'll want to use on a human, but if we have to deal with any monsters it should come in handy".
Robin stepped forward as Jessica took her new weapon. One that I visited the Minecraft world to make and enchant, even creating a scabbard for the sword.
"Is that made out of gold?" he asked.
Before I could answer the Zeta Tube made a noise as the lights inside the device shined brightly, the computer announcing the arrival of Batman, who had called me not so long ago and told me to come to the mountain.
"Computer, national news" he commanded.
A second later some computer brought up a screen showing a news report that involved information about some giant plants attacking Metropolis.
Superman and various members of the Justice League were defending the city from the giant vines, and having a tough time of it by the looks of things.
"There aThe other giant plants are appearingies on the eastern side of the country," Batman told us.
"Should we get out there?" Robin asked.
Batman turned away from the screen to face the team
"No, the League will soon have the situation under control that's not why I'm here," he said before pulling up a smaller screen that showed the villain known as Sportsmaster, "We now know where the venom that Sportsmaster stole from Cobra ended up".
I recalled that mission. It seemed like a very long time ago.
Raven didn't know what we were talking about so Batman took a moment to better explain what was going to her and perhaps Artemis didn't know the full picture either.
"Some time ago a fanatical group called the Cult of the Kobra took control of the island of Santa Prisca from Bane, any enemy of mine who uses a special drug to enhance himself, a drug called Venom, the cult began to use Bane's Venom, which was being produced in a factory, and they combined it with another enhancing drug known as Blockbuster. This produced what we call Kobra-Venom, a much more dangerous substance than either could be on its own, and its effects can be permanent unlike performance enhancers".
I could fill in the rest of the details later.
"Which a mad scientist and super-villain known as The Brain used to create his animal army," Robin added as well "He had a base in India where he used Kobra-Venom to mutate many local animals, including elephants and vultures".
"Including wolf," said Superboy as he petted the creature.
The archer of the group verbalised what most of us were no doubt thinking.
"Batman, is it possible these plant things are juiced up Kobra Venom too?" Artemis asked.
Another screen showed the result of some sort of test on a cell.
"I had Green Lantern run an analysis" the Caped Crusader told us "He discovered that the cellulose of the plants contain a trace amount of some sort of Kobra-Venom variant".
Which meant The Brain must be involved in some way even if he was just a supplier.
"These cannot be coincidences; unrelated criminals are cooperating worldwide," Aqualad said.
The Team signalled their agreement.
"Exactly. It's cleOur have formed some kind of…. secret society for Super-Villains. I believe that the attack on the cities is only the beginning," The Dark Knight stated.
The idea of some sort of counter to the Justice League was nothing new to me or the DC multiverse, there had been plenty of versions of the Legion of Doom throughout the years.
This was the news report changed to another channel despite no one having messed with the controls. Robin tried to get the live image back with no success.
"Someone's cutting into the satellite. All the satellite signals!" The Boy Wonder said.
Before long the screens came back online, but instead of scenes involving the plants attacking cities, a man with a white face, red lipstick, green hair, and a purple suit could now be seen.
He tapped against the glass of the camera before speaking.
"Ladies and gentlemen. We interrupt your regularly scheduled mayhem to bring you this, important announcement. "the Joker said to the camera.
The view changed to show that standing with the Joker were six supervillains, Black Adam, Count Vertigo, Atomic Skull, Poison Ivy, Wotan, and the Ultrahumanite,
"From the Injustice League," said the Joker with a sinister chuckle.
Count Vertigo spoke next, the view shifting to show him.
"We are responsible for the attacks on your cities. If you wish to save them, a ransom of ten billion American dollars is required. Delivery instructions have been sent to the United Nations. There is no time limit. But, the longer your governments wait- "
He trailed off as the rest didn't need to be said and the video soon came to an end with the Joker laughing some more.
Meanwhile, Batman called someone on his comm device to arrange a ransom as a fallback, as he did that Robin rewatched the recording, and kept it muted as he studied the faces on the screen.
"Seven heavy hitters, probably behind everything and everyone we've faced" The Boy Wonder deduced.
I was somewhat sceptical about this and I wasn't the only one.
"So they spend all this time manipulating events behind the scenes, and they come out of hiding and ask for money? Doesn't that seem strange to anyone else?" questioned Jessica.
It did seem a little weak.
"Perhaps after we discovered their base in India, they realised that we were getting close to the truth and saw no point in hiding any longer," Aqualad suggested
I could understand his reasoning. What was the point of hiding something that was going to be found soon enough? Although I couldn't help shaking the feeling that Jess was right about this all not adding up.
"Yeah? That was their mistake, right now I say we go and kick some plant creature's ass," Kid Flash said excitedly as he hit his fist against his palm.
No one bothered to point out that plants have no butts to kick.
"The Justice League will handle the plants. I have a different assignment for this team." Batman said "With the plants attacking so many locations at once, there must be a central control station. Your mission is to destroy it"
Zatara, who was apparently The Team's supervisor at this time, came over to us with a concerned look on his face that I didn't think had anything to do with Raven's presence.
"You realize what you're really asking them to do?" he asked.
Batman just nodded.
"We can't afford to hold back" the Dark Knight stated.
Robin summoned a holo map of the world as Zatara stepped forward and began chanting a sentence in reverse. He cast a spell to show the location of the Injustice League's location. A map marker lit up somewhere in the southern United States.
Odd that it was easy to find given that a member of the Injustice League was Wotan, a dark mage known to be rather skilled at the magical arts.
"This is too easy" I commented.
My words fell on deaf ears.
"Coordinates locked, the Louisiana Bayou," Robin said.
The Team began to move out as I felt my book get my attention. Which I ignored as whatever it wanted could wait.
"Then we are on our way," Kaldur said.
Raven pulled on my sleeve.
"I've never been on a mission before" she pointed out.
Perhaps she shouldn't come along.
"You can stay here" I offered "Or tag along and keep your distance unless you can help. If you do come along just remember what Wildcat taught you".
She decided to do the latter and while throwing someone in the deep end wasn't normally a good idea it did seem to work in this universe. It had sort of worked for me.
I swear I didn't fix this roll it just worked out really well for the direction of the story.
Celestial Grimoire.
Part 30.
Bioship. Louisiana Bayou.
As I looked out of the cockpit viewer I saw that the BioShip was flying over the expansive swampland and this reminded me of when the team and I had put Grundy back to his rest. I hoped this operation went half as well as that one had since it had been a breeze.
While M'gann was focused on flying, Robin was going over this equipment, making sure that he had lots of stuff to throw at people. Meanwhile Kid Flash was making sure that he had enough calories for the fight ahead.
As for me, I was making sure that I had my potions. Using materials from my supply world I was able to brew Healing Potions, Potion of Fire Resistance, Potions of Strength and ones that granted temporary invisibility, night vision, and the ability to breathe underwater.
"What's in the bag?" Jessica asked me.
She'd noticed me reaching deep into my bag of holding and upon hearing her words I pulled out a pair of fancy leather bracers.
"These are for you," I told her "They enhance the speed you can swim at and they mend themselves. I think they will look good with the rest of your outfit".
I was still working on making Jessica a proper superhero outfit with lots of enchantments.
"Fear me, for I am Jessica the warrior princess," she said as she put on the bracers.
People found this to be a little amusing.
"A good start" Jess praised as she put on the magical items "I can't wait to see the whole thing when you are finished".
Artemis gave us her attention.
"Finish what?" she asked.
Jessica turned in her seat to address her friend.
"He's making me a superhero outfit with all kinds of magical features," she let our teammate know.
The project would take some time.
"I haven't figured out how to imbue an item to allow its wearer to fly" I mentioned.
Those words brought Connor into the conversation.
"You can make people fly?" he asked.
Not yet.
"It's something I'm working on," I told him
Artemis leaned closer to me.
"Can you make magic arrows?" she wondered.
I reached into my bag and took out some golden arrows.
"They aren't magical" I explained "But the heads are gold, and much stronger than they should be, maybe you can put them on display, or you can just sell them if ever need some quick cash".
Artemis was understandably surprised.
"I can just have these?" she asked.
Gold was easy for me to gain access to. Not that I explained this as I was enjoying the annoyed look on Wally's face. He couldn't compete with the kind of gifts I could give out and while I had no interest in the blonde girl it was fun to see him fume like that.
"I made them for you, but you use trick arrows so I guess they are just decorative," I said "I got the gold for free, and you might need the money one day".
Artemis might have thanked me if Megan hadn't gotten our attention.
"Ugh," Miss Martian groaned as he gripped her head.
Superboy and Wolf both looked very concerned.
"You all right?" Superboy asked.
"I'm feeling dizzy" she explained
No one else seemed affected.
"Do Martians get airsick?" Robin wondered
"She does look a bit greener than usual." Kid pointed out.
How could he tell?
"Not me, her." Megan tried to explain.
We all wondered what she meant by that.
"I feel fine" Artemis said as she turned to Power Girl "You okay Jess?".
Jessica nodded.
"Better than ever," she said.
We all looked at Raven who had been keeping to herself and just watching. Which was exactly what I wanted her to be doing.
"She means this ship" Raven told us "It's in some sort of pain".
It was easy to forget that craft was alive and since my ward was an empath she would be able to sense its distress.
"She's trying to shield us, but..." Megan said before trailing off.
Outside of the ship, we saw that the air had begun to crackle with power and suddenly the BioShip lost the camouflage that had been keeping us hidden. There was a storm raging outside and something struck the ship as seat belts were provided.
We hit the ground hard and yet this provided no reprieve for us as almost at once vines came out from under the water and latched on to the ship, trying to drag it under.
As a group we moved to get out of the craft, only for Black Adam, who must be the cause of the storm, to rip a hole in the top of the BioShip as Megan screamed in pain.
"He's hurting her!" Megan screamed.
Superboy did not like hearing that. He moved so fast I could only just follow his movement as he leapt into action, punching Black Adam off the ship with his sister not far behind.
This didn't end our troubles as the vines continued to drag the ship under, and soon swamp water was flowing into the ship.
Everyone who hadn't already left, managed to get off the ship before we could drown, not that Kaldur need have worried since he has gills, and while I had potions just for this sort of situation there were easier ways to handle this situation.
I just grabbed Raven and teleported us out by moving into the pathways for a moment before exiting again on what passed for dryland around here.
We all got in time to see the vines drag the ship almost fully underwater, but the swamp wasn't deep enough to fully submerge the alien craft.
"She's in shock. She'll need time to recover," Miss Martian informed us.
Before anyone could say anything we all dropped to the ground as dizziness washed over me. It was only because I had practised with shields so often that I was able to form one to protect us, and when I did I saw that everyone had been affected.
"Vertigo" I heard Kid Flash say.
The posh-looking gentleman was not pleased to be addressed in such a way.
"Count Vertigo to you, peasant." the man said.
I saw Aqualad take out his Water Bearers before he pulled water from the swamp and threw it at Vertigo who was knocked away from us by the unexpected attack.
"Robin, Miss Martian, disappear. We will keep them busy. You two fulfil the mission objective" he commanded.
Miss Martian engaged her camouflage and disappeared as Robin did his ninja thing. I looked at Raven and without a word she stepped into the shadows to vanish. She was here to observe she would only take action if she felt there was no other choice.
More vines began to appear, no doubt intending to restrain us, so I set them on fire with my powerful elemental magic.
"Watch what you're burning!" called out Kid Flash.
He didn't need to worry.
"My magic doesn't hurt my allies," I said.
Wally didn't believe me, I could tell that, however, we had no time to debate the matter as Aqualad ordered us to move so that we could assault the base.
This did not go very well and soon most of us had been captured by the vines and I was having trouble using fire to hold them back.
Knowing I had no choice I then took Nabu's helmet out of my pouch of holding. I didn't like wearing it, but I didn't see that I had much of a choice.
The Wonder Twins were not a match for Black Adam and Vertigo had nearly taken the rest of us in a single attack. We needed the big gun.
Injustice League Base. Louisiana Bayou.
I could only vaguely recall what Nabu had done when we became Doctor Fate as he was in the driving seat but by the looks of things he'd carried the day.
The members of the Injustice League that hadn't escaped had been captured, and the control centre had been taken down.
Wotan, the immortal sorcerer, who's been using magic for centuries, had become something other than human and so Fate had banished him from this dimension during the battle.
Once that was done it was mostly a matter of Fate dealing with Black Adam while the team handled the rest. The Wonder Twins had been able to distract him while Nabu bound Black Adam.
A few members of the Justice League had arrived to take custody. Much to the amusement of Count Vertigo who claimed that he would be free to leave soon due to diplomatic immunity while also claiming to have been forced to speak on behalf of the Injustice League.
"Diplomatic Immunity doesn't protect you against charges of terrorism" declared Superman "You'll be held for trial like the rest".
Despite the words of the big blue boy scout, I didn't think that the Count would end up in prison as he would have enough money to bribe his way or to hire the best lawyers who would twist the situation.
They would make it seem as if Vertigo had been forced to act as the spokesperson for a terrorist group, then they would tie up the legal system in enough red tape to ensure that Vertigo made bail and never went to trial.
Poison Ivy and the Joker would end up back in Arkham Asylum before long just so they would escape again to threaten more lives.
It made me wonder if there was much point even playing the role of a superhero if the bad guys kept escaping prison and ended up doing what they were doing before they got captured by some hero yet again.
Overall it felt rather pointless to keep risking my life like that as it wasn't as if we got paid to capture the crooks. If I had been a bounty hunter I might have been pleased by this arrangement as it would mean job security.
"You're frustrated," remarked Raven.
She had appeared from the shadows and no doubt she could sense my disappointment. Not that this stopped her from eating her waffles and having a bit to eat seemed like a good idea so I reached into my bag of holding for the food stored there.
"Sometimes I think that this line of work isn't for me," I told as we moved away from the crowd "I've been devoting myself to becoming Sorcerer Supreme and cutting back a lot on my time with the team, and since then I've felt better about what I've been doing with my life. Compared to that dealing with stuff like this seems unsatisfying. I don't see the point of locking up criminals who can twist the system or claim insanity to escape a proper punishment".
I paused for a moment.
"Perhaps it is time for me to quit the superhero life and focus fully on the Sorcerer Supreme role, and only offer magical support when the League needs it" I mused.
This wasn't the first time I'd considered that and it was more or less what I'd been doing unofficially. The only difference would be me dropping out of college since I would no longer concern myself with what the League wanted.
That could cause problems for me and Jessica, but I have no enthusiasm for the hero life and I could do more for this world as its Sorcerer Supreme than in any other role.
"I'm with you no matter what you do, Gothic" said Raven "I'm your apprentice and the League made it clear they don't want me around their sidekicks".
Given that no one had objected to her presence here as an observer, I wondered if the vote hadn't been as straightforward as I imagined.
Rather than mention I diverted my awareness as I felt my book needed me and this time I gave it the attention that it seemed to desire.
500cp
+100cp
600cp
Bank or Roll
Only a hundred points this time? The grimoire must be giving me less up for some reason. Not that I really minded as it had helped more than enough already.
I wrote to roll.
-400cp
Kamar-Taj
Doctor Strange
Kamar-Taj is one of the main strongholds possessed by the sorcerers and their forces. This sanctum will come fully staffed with a few hundred students of the mystical arts and a few dozen masters in charge of teaching them.
This area is capable of using the magic of its inhabitants to defend the area. It was capable of stopping the Scarlet Witch using her full power for a few minutes. This is much more impressive than it sounds. Secondly, it will prevent any inhabitants from being influenced by beings outside.
200 cp
I felt that I had the option to put Kamar-Taj in a pocket dimension or somewhere in this world. Given that the sorcerers would have Sling Rings that would allow them easily to Earth there was no advantage on setting on this plane so I wrote to have Kamar-Taji in a pocket dimension. Which I knew could be accessed via the Pathways if you knew where to look.
"Whose the Scarlet Witch?" wondered Raven.
The rest could make sense to someone who'd never seen the MCU movie called Multiverse of Madness, but the mention of Wanda would require some explaining
"I'll tell you about her later" I promised "I'll make an excuse to leave and I'll show you what Kamar-Taj is".
It would be much more interesting than this swamp even if it didn't compare to the tower of fate in terms of magical power it would be a better learning environment for her.
Commissioned by the generous asdo.
Celestial Grimoire.
Part 31.
Kamar-Taj. Pocket Dimension.
This latest gift from the Celestial Grimoire was worth far more to me than any powerful item or bit of magical knowledge, as it was the home and training grounds of an order of magical warriors known as the Masters of the Mystic Arts.
In the MCU it was located in the city of Kathmandu in Nepal, and I could have decided to have the monastery somewhere in the DC world I was supposed to be helping to protect. However, that was a dangerous world so I felt it would be better to keep this version of Kamar-Taj hidden.
Raven and I had just used the Pathways, mystical roads that allowed certain people to travel around Earth with ease and far beyond the mortal world,
It wasn't much different than being able to teleport if you stayed in the realm that contained Earth, reaching other planes of existence was also possible via the Pathways, it was just much more difficult.
My new pocket dimension, which I knew could end up containing more than Kamar-Taj, was now linked to these strange roads, but the Pathways were not easy to navigate and the monastery was well protected from hostile forces so there was only one way in.
Looking around I could see a blue sky with clouds, and there was a small forest around us, I wondered how many of those trees were real. This was a pocket dimension and therefore it was of limited size. One day I would have to find out just how big it was.
As soon as we entered Kamar-Taj, Raven stopped in her tracks, and I was worried about her for a moment, but she seemed physically fine.
"Is something wrong?" I asked.
The goth girl smiled for a moment.
"I can't feel my father's presence," she told me "I mean, I can, I know he's there, it's just so weak. I don't think he can influence me as long as I am here".
This soon began to make sense.
"The grimoire did mention that this place prevents any inhabitants from being influenced by beings outside of it," I said.
While the Scarlett Witch managed it in the Multiverse of Madness movie, I don't think that could have happened with his version of Kamar-Taj since we were so cut off.
This would be something to ponder and discuss later as right now there was a large group of people here who looked as if they wanted my attention.
In the courtyard were dozens of masters, they were older looking than the students, and behind them were the pupils. They were a group of men and women made up of many races as well as species. Not all of them were human, and not all that looked human would be the same species as me.
They were all humanoid and wearing robes. The students wore simpler outfits, more suited for exercising, which was likely what they had been doing before I arrived, and the Masters wore robes meant for comfort rather than style.
A man in gold-coloured robes stepped forward and gave me a short bow.
"Welcome Socerer Surpeme Gothic, to Kamar-Taj," said the man I knew to be called Wong.
The rest of them also gave me a quick bow and I was not used to this sort of treatment. It was a little embarrassing, to be honest, but I maintained my cool and tried to get on with the business at hand.
"Thank you," I said.
They seemed to be waiting for me to say something else.
"This young lady is Raven, she's my apprentice" I informed everyone.
Wong smiled at the goth girl.
"It is good that you already have a chosen successor," said the Asian man.
I could see that Rachel was a bit shocked to hear that. It did put pressure on her and I figured that it would be good to discuss it with her later. At least, she didn't need to worry about replacing me any time soon.
"You can all back to whatever it was you were doing" I ordered.
As it turned out they were training and they all went back to it. Aside from Wong who offered me a tour after giving the two of us a slip of paper each.
"I am Wong" introduced the man who didn't go back to training "I am the Librarian here at Kamar-Taj".
An important position given how vauable knowledge was kept here, and that included the information on the slips of paper.
"Shamballa" Raven read out "I don't get it".
I sniggered in amusement.
"It's the wi-fi password" I told her "Although how we get the Internet here is a bit of mystery".
The answer was likely that a wizard did it.
"This place is huge" commented Raven "Bigger than it should be".
She wasn't wrong and it made sense since this place had to house hundreds of people.
"The students have simple rooms" Wong informed "The bigger rooms are taken by the masters".
Rank does have its privileges and I assumed that as the Sorcerer Supreme, I would be entitled to a greater amount of luxury.
"We have a communal eating area and kitchen" Wong told us "The students take turns preparing the meals".
It seemed as if this would create a tight-knit community and with the ability to use sling-rings then no one could be stuck here.
When we entered the library I was impressed by the number of books here and amused by the image I got in my mind. One that involved having to drag Raven out of here kicking and screaming.
"No knowledge in Kamar-Taj is forbidden. Only certain practices" informed Wong.
There were rules even I would have to obey.
"What sort of practices?" I questioned.
"Necromancy, demon summoning, blood magic" listed Wong "The Dark Arts. Any magic that can corrupt the soul must not be practised here".
By now we had moved towards the back of the library where Wong kept his desk.
"Why are some of the books chained up?" questioned my apprentice.
"Those books are far too advanced for anyone other than the Sorcerer Supreme," said Wong "Even the Masters need permission to read just a single book".
While Kamar-Taj houses spellbooks that contain many dangerous spells, for some reason the warnings come after the spells rather than before, which would be a common practice anywhere else.
"Between this place and the Tower of Fate you have more than enough books," I said to Raven "And you're going to be spending time training with the other apprentices".
Rachel didn't argue about that. I knew that she would be eager to learn all she could about the mystical arts. I didn't need to be an empath to sense that she thought this place to be wonderful and that she had a desire to uncover its secrets.
"While most of the training takes place in the courtyard" Wong was soon saying "There are indoor training areas for smaller more private lessons".
We got to see some of those rooms. They looked like dojos to me.
"You train to fight a lot" commented Raven "The Monks of Azarath are like that, but they don't fight, they just use martial arts to help develop focus and discipline".
Wong nodded as if he understood, and most likely he did.
"We avoid fights if we can. Just keep in mind that the Masters of the Mystic Arts are committed to protecting the Earth from otherworldly threats," he told Raven "So sometimes we must fight and we will use our minds, our magic, martial arts and weapons to achieve victory".
It's smarter than it might seem to train sorcerers to fight hand-to-hand because most magic users are rather bad when it comes to fighting close-up.
Since enemy mages will try to fight at range by throwing magic around it also makes sense for the Mystic Masters to focus a lot on the creation of shields.
"The original Order of the Masters of the Mystic Arts was founded by a sorcerer called Agamotto thousands of years ago. Following his discovery of other dimensions, Agamotto found ways to draw power from these alternate universes to create magic spells" Wong said before he turned his attention solely to me.
"More information about that is kept in the special book that can be read only by the Sorcerer Supreme. The book will be waiting for you in your quarters, Sorcerer Supreme" I was informed.
I looked forward to reading it.
"Realizing that these dimensions could also present existential threats to Earth, Agamotto established the Masters of the Mystic Arts" Wong was now saying to both of us "Like them, we are a league of sorcerers dedicated to safeguarding the world from extradimensional evil".
Raven stopped walking for a moment.
"Threats like my father" she stated.
I was already starting to formulate a plan to handle that situation.
"Yes, young one," said Wong "As well as dark sorcerers, ghosts, demons, and dark gods that would enter their universe with malicious intent. We may end up dealing with threats that are native to this universe. Although we should leave most of those to heroes such as the Justice League".
We entered a room that contained a projected image of Earth.
"To aid in their mission, the Masters created three sanctums in New York City, Hong Kong, and London respectively, generating a ward that kept certain entities from entering this universe" Wong informed us.
I gave this some thought.
"Could we set up a ward to keep out a certain threat?" I questioned.
If so then it should be possible to keep Trigon and his brats away from Raven even when she was on Earth.
"Wouldn't a ward like this keep me from returning to Earth?" questioned Rachel "If I was ever banished".
She didn't need to worry about that.
"Wards protect against hostile entities" Wong explained knowing a lot about wards as I did "As long as you have no intent to harm Earth or its people you would be able to pass through the barrier".
Hostile demons wouldn't be able to be used as their very nature is destructive.
"Surpeme One, we have the tools and resources required to create the three sanctums" Wong informed me "But we don't know where they would be best positioned as the leylines in this version of Earth will be different that in the world of the MCU".
It was good that the Mystic Master knew that the Earth we would be defending against supernatural threats was not a Marvel version of Earth. If nothing else it saved me from having to do a lot of explaining.
"I'll need to consult with some experts," I said "And to get them onboard with the idea of setting up the three sanctums. They will need to be protected".
If Trigon and his unholy bastards weren't able to travel to Earth the demon lord might then work through intermediaries, he could promise power to those who served him, and use them to attack the three sanctums.
"We can assign a master and a few students to each of the three sanctums" Wong let me know "But first I suggest consulting the Socerer Surpreme's handbook. It might offer some guidance if you want to set up the Ward".
As the librarian, he would naturally think that the knowledge I sought could be found in a book and he was most likely right about this.
"I will" I promised.
Raven and I would need to settle in first and get used to this place before we started training. I figured that it would be wise for me to focus on my combat training for a while before I started learning more magic.
I should at least try to find out if I could get support for a worldwide ward as soon as possible as getting approval from those invested in mystical matters might take some time.
This was when I felt that my grimoire wanted my attention, but I would ignore it for now and let the points build up for a while.
"Do you, I mean we, keep any magical relics here?" I questioned.
I should make sure that there was nothing too dangerous here.
"We have a few minor relics, mostly weapons that can be used to channel mystical energy in battle" Wong answered "Nothing like the Dark Scepter or the Arrow of Apollon".
That was a little disappointing as some Marvel magical artefacts could be useful, but I was hardly lacking for magical items so it wasn't a big deal.
"You should check out what kind of training they have here," I said to Raven.
As she went for a look around on her own I turned to the librarian.
"I'd like to see what plans you have for the ward," I told Wong.
Soon we were on our way back to the library and I figured that I would be in there for a while.
Commissioned by asdo21
Author Note
If anyone fancies making some AI art I wouldn't mind having a picture of Raven dressed in the robes of Marvel's mystic masters.
Celestial Grimoire.
Part 32.
Tower of Fate. Salem.
"A deal is struck," said Doctor Fate.
That had gone better than expected. I'd offered Nabu a deal involving different students of the Mystic Masters serving as a host for him for a week or two, depending on how busy Doctor Fate would be before a different student took their place without any fuss.
Since Kamar-Taj had hundreds of students and a few Masters who wouldn't mind spending time in the Tower's library even if it meant losing a week of their lives. As such, Nabu was never going to lack a host as long as he didn't mind them getting rotated.
This way no one had to give up more than a few weeks of their lives and the Order of the Mystic Masters gained a powerful ally. As a bonus, Doctor Fate would be around to aid the Justice League.
This should result in the world becoming a safer place for me to live in if nothing else.
Despite this new arrangement freeing me from any responsibility as Kent Nelson's successor, even though I got to keep using his name and wealth, in exchange for giving up the tower, it still felt odd.
I wasn't sure if Kent Nelson would have agreed to share his legacy like this, even though he was only one of Nabu's hosts, it still felt as if this tower and everything in it had been an inheritance.
Overall the benefits outweighed what I had lost, I was no longer Doctor Fate, not that used that title, and now this world would have a great protector available at all times.
On his way out Nabu took a moment to glare at my apprentice. He made no threatening moves nor did he demand she be banished from the tower, but it was clear that both he and Rachel would be more comfortable once we had left.
Although I would still be welcome in the Tower of Fate as I was one of those suitable to be a host for the Lord of Order.
"He doesn't like me" commented Raven.
Since demons are creatures of chaos she couldn't be a host for Fate and since he is an embodiment of order even a part demon is repulsive to him. If she weren't my apprentice he might have banished her from this reality.
"It's nothing personal," I said as I sat back down behind a desk that was no longer mine by any right "You are fire, he is ice".
I looked over at Raven who had entered the study as Nabu was leaving to see that she was wearing her new robes.
They were blue and by wearing them she was showing that she was committed to her training as a member of the Mystic Masters.
As for me, I preferred my dragonhide coat and more casual clothing. Although perhaps I should change
now that I was the leader of an entire mystical order of warrior mages.
"Are you packed?" I asked.
Raven patted the bag of holding at her side.
"Yes, sir, I didn't have much to put away," she said.
Since I'd decided to leave everything other than my personal effects behind in the Tower, this meant that I would need to go to the Minecraft world to restock and purchase more interesting items, it also meant that there wasn't much for me to carry either.
"You don't need to call me, sir," I told her.
There was no need for such formality between us.
"As you wish, Master" she replied.
While she kept her face straight, I knew that she was making fun of me a little by saying that.
"Don't take this wrong way, but does this world even need the Mystic Masters if Doctor Fate is going to be around all the time?" questioned Raven.
I put a few things in the drawers away before answering.
"Nabu can handle the big stuff" I answered "However his interest is in maintaining the balance so he won't get involved in the little things. John Constantine handles the smaller stuff, like minor demons possessing people, angry ghosts, that sort of thing, but he's just one man, keeping the people of this world safe from all the mystical threats is going to take a small army of sorcerers".
By now the study was looking much more organised.
"I want the Mystic Masters to be able to deal with at least some of the magical problems before they happen" I was now saying "That means securing dangerous relics, banishing and destroying enemies rather than just locking them in prisons that they can escape from. And I want Kamar-Taj to become a haven for people like us. I think we could prevent a lot of young mages from embracing the dark arts if we offer them an alternative".
There was always a chance that I would end up with my own Kaecilius once I devoted myself to becoming the Sorcerer Supreme, a title that Nabu was happy to let go of in exchange for a supply of willing part-time hosts.
"As you did for me," Raven said.
Goodness knows what would happened to her if I hadn't gotten between her and the Sons of Trigon.
"Exactly" I replied "Kamar-Taj is huge and there must be other people out there who will be outcasts because of their supernatural natures. We can give them a home".
And I wasn't ignorant to what it meant that I had a small army of warrior-mages at my command. I'd become a much more powerful player in the game.
"It's basically what I had planned while living in this tower" I said "Now I'm just going to have a lot of help".
Which should make things easier.
"I'd like to be a part of that" stated Raven.
We could discuss more later on.
"I've got a meeting with the League's mages" I mentioned to Raven "Do you want to come along".
She decided that she would rather than wait for me to return. Until she had time to learn how to use a Sling Ring she'd need me to take her in and out of the pocket dimension.
I took us both to Mount Justice via the Pathways to find it oddly empty. Only John Constantine and Giovanni Zatara were within the base.
"Where are the others?" I asked.
I couldn't help feeling concerned even with my familiar having tagged along. Phosphor had a calming presence and that should be helpful during this rather important meeting.
"The Team and Zatanna are on a mission," said Zatara "It has to do with why Speedy was replaced with a clone. Power Girl went to Paraside Island with Wonder Woman to attend to some sort of family business".
His tone of voice made it clear that I wasn't going to be told any more than that. Zatara hadn't liked me before now because he was envious that Kent Nelson chose me as his successor. It didn't help that I had chosen to take a demi-demon as my apprentice.
It was also clear to me that Zatanna was starting to take my place. The Team needed a magic-user and they hadn't called upon me. Despite it being my choice to move on and lead my organisation it still hurt a bit to be replaced.
Also, it was worrying that Jess had gone to Paraside Island without so much as leaving me a note. I hoped that her Amazon family were okay. If the island was in danger it would explain why she'd rushed off.
I took out a special crystal ball from my pouch of holding, one of the magical items the Grimiore had granted to me since I'd come to this universe, and it was able to show me anyone whom I was familiar with.
Despite my familiarity with Jessica, I could only see a little of her, the magic protecting the island must be causing interference, and from what I could see she was training with some of the other Amazons.
She had mentioned more than once to me about taking the role of a warrior so I shouldn't be surprised that she'd gone off to learn from a group of warrior women who had been around for centuries.
"So what did you want to talk to us about?"
questioned John Constantine once I was done spying on my girlfriend "Is this about you leaving The Team".
That was something to discuss another time.
"I've made arrangements for the Helmet of Fate to be shared among a few people so that Nabu will always have a host," I told the two magicians "I'm sure he'll approach the League on his own and why this matters is that now I free to work on something else".
From my pouch of holding, I took out a map that highlighted three locations on a version of Earth.
"Each of these locations appears to be a focal point for mystical energies," said Zatanna's father "But these locations aren't on a confluence of ley lines, this map is wrong".
I'd suspected it would be.
"It's not from this world" I explained "But the idea is sound. A building in each of these locations makes up part of a ward designed to keep out a dark power. In this case Trigon and his bastard sons".
Constantine took out a map of his own, placed it on top of mine, and then ran his hands over the two maps while muttering something in what sounded to be Latin. Once he took his away I saw that my map of the leylines had changed.
"Little trick that was popular during the Age of Sail" Constantine told us "Not much use for it these days unless you find some old treasure map and need to make a copy".
In a time of GPS and digital maps on search engines, there wasn't much need for paper maps.
"These locations would require some sort of protection," said Zatara
I took out another piece of paper and unrolled it on the table we were standing around.
"This is a Sanctum Sanctorum," I said "One will need to be built at each location or a suitable property will have to be modified".
John leaned closer to see the diagram.
"Where did you get this from?" he asked.
I didn't yet wish to expose myself as the leader of a group of warrior-mages. At least not in front of Zatara.
"We can talk about that later," I promised John "For now, I just want to know if I can get support for the project?".
The two more experienced magic users had a look at the map and the diagram.
"If we set up the main house in Gotham, then given the flow of mystical energy, the other sanctums would need to be in England and Egypt," said Zatara "John, your home in Northumberland could easily be modified".
It was on a leyline, that was most likely why the house had been built there.
"Xi'an would be another good location if we go for seven rather than three, but the Chinese mystics might cause us problems, nevermind the local government" John was now saying "Themyscira might work if we can get the Amazons to build a Sanctum and they can staff it themselves. I can talk to Wonder Woman about it".
This was quickly growing beyond anything I had planned.
"Our other options are Atlantis or Uluru in Australia, but that site is part of a National Park so we might have trouble getting permission to build there" Zatanna's father mused "Atlantis would be better as it is a well-defended site".
"Then there's Batman," said my mentor "He can be more uncompromising than Aquaman about people messing with his city".
The Dark Knight's stubbornness was the stuff of legend.
"So are you two interested in this project?" I asked.
They seem to have forgotten that Raven and I were even here.
"Yes," said Zatara "It has the potential to safeguard this world from than just Trigon. But for it to work on that scale the League will need to take charge of the project. We have the connections and the resources to get it done".
While I disliked the idea of having this taken from me he was right. I didn't have the pull to make this happen.
The Amazons had no reason to work with me and neither did anyone of importance in Atlantis. Batman was at least willing to hear me out, but he was protective of his city and might see having a Santcum getting placed there as something that only further endangered the citizens of that city.
"Zatara you better run this by the League" advised John "I think Gothic and I have a few things to discuss".
The man dressed as a stage magician took his leave. Soon my mentor, if I still needed one of those, asked about what was on his mind.
"Where did you get this design from?" he wanted to know "These plans require a lot of information about the leylines and warding. I know I never got the chance to teach much about that sort of thing".
It would be easier to show him than explain everything verbally.
"I don't want the League or the wider world to know yet that I recently got something from the Grimoire that could upset the balance of power in this world" I told John "So for now please keep what I am about to show you to yourself".
After saying that I began to lead the three of us into the Pathways.
I knew that I couldn't keep the existence of my pocket dimension hidden forever as already Nabu knew about it since he was using members of the Mystic Masters as hosts, and if my new group was to find its place in this universe it could do with more allies.
Constantine could sure use some backup when he went on his missions and if he was willing to share knowledge then I could provide him with aid.
Commissioned by asdo21
Celestial Grimoire.
Part 33.
Kamar-Taj. Pocket Dimension.
As the leader of the Masters of the Mystic Arts and the current Sorcerer Supreme, my room was large and well-furnished, even if the design seemed somewhat old-fashioned.
The walls were covered in shelves filled with books, ones not containing dangerous spells and other things a magician should have in his private space.
On these shelves, I had several crystal balls a couple of brass scales for the weighing of potion ingredients, and writing implements.
All of which was at odds with the modern comforts around me, such as the television, laptop and games console. Despite being a pocket dimension, they all worked as they would have if we were on Earth.
The bed I was resting on was a massive four-poster one. The mattress and pillows were not cheaply made, having been stuffed with some sort of feathers, and the sheets were made of a material I didn't even have a name for.
I'd gotten to know this room well as I'd been concealing myself within it over the last few days. Ever since I'd gotten some bad news which led to feelings of depression and a desire to isolate.
While Wong had been giving John a tour of Kamar-Taj and letting him inspect the library, I'd realised I could send Jessica a letter via my phoenix. Distances and magical defences didn't mean much to my powerful familiar.
He'd waited around for a reply before returning with a letter for me. Since then I'd been understandably depressed as it turned out that Jessica was planning on staying with the Amazons for the foreseeable future.
Her short letter didn't even explain why she'd suddenly left Mount Justice. Only that she had to leave rather abruptly and to let me know that she was sorry about cutting off all contact between us without any warning.
There were many reasons why she could have left despite seeming to enjoy her life. My theory was that it had something to do with Speedy's clone and perhaps CADMUS as they could have created the clone along with the Wonder Twins.
I considered questioning Conner about this as if anyone would know why Jessica had left it would be her brother.
So far I hadn't as I didn't see the point, knowing more wouldn't change anything and I didn't wish to become one of those people who get all obsessed with their ex.
If Jess had wanted me to know she'd have informed me via the letter she would have just sent or she'd have found some way to supply with me the desired information. John could have easily dropped off a message at the Tower of Fate.
One of the things I'm sure I knew about Paradise Island, is that when one of the Amazons stays on the island they don't age so Jessica could be there for a long time, and that's even without the possibility of the passage of time being different there.
Perhaps we'd meet again one day, and until that day I wasn't sure what to do with myself, at least romantically. Should I wait for her? Try to move on with someone else. Maybe start a harem like many other Isekai protagonists?
There was a soft knocking at my door and I looked up from the book I should be reading more carefully as it was full of things I needed to know as the new leader of the Mystic Masters.
No one here seemed to mind that I'd gone into seclusion. Perhaps they assumed that I was learning about my new role or making plans for the future. It did seem like the kind of thing the new Socerer Surpeme should do.
Perhaps my new followers thought I was in here trying to comprehend the nature of the multiverse or whatever it was the Ancient One had during her hundreds of years of life when she wasn't fighting or teaching.
Regardless, members of the Mystic Masters were happy to bring me meals, and I thought the person now knocking at the door would be one of them despite it being rather late in the day.
"Come in" I invited.
To my pleasant surprise, it was my apprentice who had come to see me. She wore blue robes rather than her Teen Titan outfit and it was a good look for her.
The robes covered up her body yet she seemed as if she was somehow opening up herself more to the world by wearing them, or maybe she was simply embracing the path of the Mystic Masters.
Either way would be good as with Raven having turned against her father and having no interest in carrying out his plans she needed a new path in life.
In my view, there were worse things she could do than study magic and protect people from supernatural threats.
"Can I help you with something?" I asked.
I was a little worried because if Raven of all people had come to visit me then it meant I'd spent far too much time in my room by myself.
"Since I'm an empath I can sense your depression" she stated, not bothering to beat around the bush by asking how I am "You shouldn't be isolating yourself like this, and yes I am aware of the irony of me of all people saying this".
It was rather like the pot calling the kettle black.
"What has you so down?" she asked.
I decided that I might as well share the source of my despondency with someone. To that end, I showed her the letter sent to me by Jessica.
"She doesn't seem the type to retreat to an island full of women," remarked Raven.
Anyone who knew Jess even a little would agree. She'd been enjoying her life. She'd wanted to be a college student, to have a boyfriend, to be on a superhero team. Jess had also enjoyed spending time on her grandparent's farm.
As such, it was odd for her to so suddenly leave all of that behind.
"I've checked on a couple of times" I admitted "Using magic and she doesn't seem to be under any kind of duress".
Raven gave me a look of concern.
"I only checked to make sure she wasn't in any danger" I insisted "I couldn't simply rule out that someone or something had taken control of the Amazons or that they were forcing Jessica to stay with them for some political reason. She is the granddaughter of the current queen".
Perhaps that was just an excuse because if the Amazons had wanted to make a claim on Jessica they could have done it a while ago.
Still, it just didn't make any sense to me, and that made me think that there was something big going on that I simply knew nothing about.
"Sulking in your room won't make things different" stated Raven "And it's not like you can go and confront her about it".
This was true as Themyscira was a strictly no-boys-allowed club. My lack of a vagina disqualified me from getting a visitor's pass.
By that logic perhaps I could send Rachel, or one of the female Masters of the Mystic Arts, as the title was gender-neutral, as an ambassador, and get them to enquire, but I wasn't sure I wanted the Mystic
Masters to become involved with the Amazon Nation.
"Screw it I need a drink" I declared.
Raven, who had by now taken a seat on my bed, was taken by surprise a little when I got off the very well-stuffed mattress and made my way over to where my dragonhide jacket was hanging up.
Despite the suddenness, she was already following me out of Kamar-Taj. We needed to leave as the Pathways could only be accessed once you left its main gate.
"Is that going to help?" enquired the demi-demon.
I had much to teach her about life.
"Not really" I admitted "But it is a time-honoured
practice among my ancestors".
When she caught up at the gate she had a look of confusion on her face.
"The Celts?" she asked.
I smiled at her.
"Nope, my people are the men who got recently dumped" I answered "And aside from that it's about time I showed you how to find the Oblivion Bar".
It would soon make sense.
"John took me there, it's where I obtained my familiar from the Grimoire. It's also a place for our kind of people to hang out, meet with our peers, and sometimes to gain information" I told her.
We took the Pathways to the city of Metropolis and then I quickly showed Raven the entrance to the Oblivion Bar that I'd used before.
"It's just a bar" my apprentice commented "I am underwhelmed".
She would change her mind later on.
"It's not the bar itself that matters this is just where people like us meet," I told her.
We went over to the bar and I placed down an emerald that I had acquired from the Minecraft dimension.
"That should cover my tab for a while," I told the barman
I ordered a beer and then turned to the adorable girl next to me.
"What are you having?" I asked.
Raven gave me a look of mild annoyance.
"I'm underage" she pointed out.
Well she didn't look twenty-one, but I didn't know how old she was, she'd grown up in a mystical realm that didn't make use of months and years as we did in this world.
"We don't care about age here," said the barman.
She didn't think much about her options.
"Do you have any tea?" Raven enquired.
As it turned out they did and when we went to a table my apprentice showed me some papers she'd been keeping on her person.
"Your teacher left these for you" she mentioned "He was in the library for a while before he left".
John had made plenty of notes about the ward project. There were going to be seven sanctums in total and they would keep out more than Trigon.
Many of the suitable locations for a sanctum were not places I had access to, and given that one would be set up in Gotham it was good the sanctum themselves were warded against evil influences.
"Aren't you upset that the Justice League took the project away from you?" questioned Raven "They never seem to show you any respect".
I wasn't bothered at all.
"If they want to put in all the time, effort and resources into this then let them," I said "And it's not a bad thing that they keep underestimating me. If nothing else it keeps them from getting in our way".
I began enjoying my drink.
"Besides, I do have other things I should be doing" I mentioned "Now that I am the Sorcerer Supreme I need to spend more time studying magic and there's a lot to learn from the Sorcerer Supreme guidebook".
One of the things the leader of the Mystic Masters needed to do was to connect students to other planes of existence and you could only do that with planes the Sorcerer Supreme had visited. This meant I needed to visit the other realms.
Not that recruitment was much of an issue as I already had hundreds of students, but some of them might leave or die and need to be replaced.
So it would be good to devote some time to study and then to worry about expanding my influence outside of the pocket dimension.
"Master, it still seems disrespectful" Raven commented.
Rather than respond to that I reached for my grimoire as it now wanted my attention.
400cp
+100cp
500cp
Bank or Roll?
I wrote to Roll.
-400
100cp
The Black Books
The Elder Scrolls - Skyrim
Based on those created by Hermeous Mora, Daedric Prince of Knowledge, these seven books are tomes of esoteric knowledge with a special property to them.
By reading them, you will be taken to an island within a simulation of the realm of Apocrypha, and subjected to a test. What this test is differs from book to book, ranging from complex puzzles to a gauntlet of combat.
If you die in the books, you will be returned to the real world unharmed, but should you succeed you will be granted powerful abilities.
"Now this could be useful" I commented "And a good chance to practice my abilities".
Of course, Rachel wanted to know more so I took some time to explain to her what the terms such as Apocrypha and Hermeous Mora meant.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone