Capítulo 44: Champions
"Can we not?" I took a step toward the exit. I didn't feel much enthusiasm for such painted constructions.
"Hm, - the sorceress thought, - it is necessary to measure your magical potential, and simply to check for various surprises."
I still had my doubts. In the comics, Zatanna was a force for good, but I remembered the issues when she brainwashed all the villains, giving them amnesia and a hundred and eighty-degree change of mind, and I'd recently played for the bad guys, and I wouldn't say I was white and fluffy now, given my various machinations. As if she did not think of squeezing all the honestly earned hard work.
"I don't know...
"I don't have time to argue with you. - The Enchantress looked at the two of us carefully, then suddenly said, "I'll let you pet Mr. Fluffy.
"You know it won't work on me, right?" I asked, glancing ironically at the naive brown-eyed beauty.
"On you, maybe not, but on her, fine.
The magic words were very effective: before I knew it, Harley was standing in the center of the pentagram, shuffling from foot to foot with impatience.
Eh, as if my favorite with such an attitude, some demon did not take her as a slave, promising in exchange a cool animal.
Though her intuition and intelligence aren't particularly inferior to the original Joker, so maybe she's doing the right thing?
"All right. Don't move for a couple seconds. - The illusionist moved closer to the drawing. - GNIKCEHC.
A faint haze rose from the lines and enveloped the blonde standing in the center, creating a translucent silhouette, then the weightless mist curled into a spindle at the level of the solar plexus and shot itself into Zatanna's forehead, causing her to sway slightly.
"Hmm. - She frowned, running the magic scan again, and then again.
"Will you be there soon?" Harley hurried her up.
"Yeah... I think I'm done with you. You can come out now.
My faithful assistant practically teleported out of the circle with an expectant look at the pensive magician, who was clearly absorbed in her own thoughts.
"Mr. Fluffy. - The harlequin said demandingly.
"Ah... Right. Now..." The brunette snapped her fingers, and a white rabbit flew into her hands from somewhere in the corridor, flicking its legs in the air as if it were floating. - Here. - She handed the pet over, and then sat down on the edge of the low upholstered furniture, massaging her temples.
"Are you all right?" I asked, moving a little closer. Surprisingly, even Harley was distracted from her meditation, noticing the strange behavior of the mansion's owner.
"Lots of information and now my brain is trying to put it all together. And then there's the weird thing.
"And how is it expressed?
"Then, first, I'd like to test you to confirm my hunch.
"Huh, okay. - Grinning I stood in the center of the pentagram. Hopefully Me's superstructure can save me from possible brainwashing. My intuition is silent, though, not suggesting any trouble.
I felt nothing at all during the test, not even the phantom sensation of touching the haze.
"What can I say?" The illusionist said, after the scan. - My fears were partially confirmed, and to be honest, your case is quite unusual.
"What did you find out?" I was absolutely calm, realizing that everything was possible in this world, and I just had to accept the inevitable... Accept it for a couple of seconds, and then think about how to get out of it, because DC's world gives a lot of possibilities up to becoming a god.
"Wait a couple minutes. - She left the room, closing and reopening the door through which we had entered. When it reopened, I could see the edge of a veritable book maze, with towering three-meter-high cabinets filled to overflowing. And here was the magical library. My want *-*.
It took about three minutes of waiting before the sorceress returned, carrying a thin, tattered book that looked more like a hardcover magazine made of a grayish-yellow rough material.
"Before you familiarize yourself with this, I must warn you not to say the names given here out loud, and mentally you should not repeat them often, otherwise you will attract attention.
"The Endless" I read the brief title on the cover... Here we go... I had my suspicions, but I tried to ignore them, realizing what kind of problems the attention of such creatures could cause.
Well, we can't do anything about it. We'll figure it out.
I took the pamphlet and sat down next to Harley stroking the rabbit, opening the annotation that duplicated Zee's words about not saying names. Those powerful siblings can even hear thoughts, but it's one thing to hear a quiet, low whisper that's of little interest, and quite another to call out loudly. This is approximately how I understood the explanations of the author with a strange and something familiar Arabic name Abdul al-Khazred.
For the most part, the pages contained the information I already knew about the seven Endless, who represent various aspects: Dream, Death, Destiny, Despair, Desire, Delirium and Destruction. The only addition, consisted in the approximate description of their appearance and the manifestation of their characteristic traits in the apostles. Though it was not quite correct to call the people they noticed apostles, for these powerful creatures were self-sufficient, and needed no one's worship: they drew their powers from the very concept of intelligent life. Sometimes the Aspects simply observed the life of a creature they liked, so that it could adopt some of their traits, but they rarely did so, preferring to incarnate in the real world for their own amusement. After all, even a couple thousand years of a superhuman's life is only a brief moment on the canvas of history for entities as old as the multiverse itself.
Back to the approximate description of appearance. It is approximate, because they can change it within a wide enough range, but they prefer to leave some hints for mere mortals. The first and oldest is Destiny, who appears as a blind elder with a book chained to his right wrist, in which the past, present and future are written. The second oldest - Death, looks like an ordinary girl with black as the night itself hair, and the Egyptian symbol ankh (Coptic cross), which can be tattooed on the open area of the body or be in the form of a separate piece of jewelry. The third, Dream, can look anything, but leaves a clue in the form of all-black eyes with distant stars twinkling in their depths. The fourth, Crush, looks like a large red-haired, bearded man.
The book went on to describe the younger ones, who have been quite active in interfering in people's lives throughout history. The fifth or fifth, Passion, can be either male or female, but one thing remains the same: striking beauty and the ability to fit into any setting. At this point, I distracted myself from reading, looking closely at my favorite blondie, finding that she too was squinting at me as if figuring something out. Heh, and this is unexpectedly pleasant, but it was hardly the aspect that drew attention to us. Next up was Misery, a fat woman with flabby skin, long greasy black hair, and razor-sharp teeth. Lives in the looking glass, from where she watches desperate people, aggravating their condition until she drives them to suicide. Last, the youngest and favorite of all the siblings is Madness or Delirum. She can change her appearance as her left heel wills, but she can always be recognized by her multicolored eyes: green and blue with a violet cast... Well, there weren't too many options in fact, and I remembered something about Joker from my previous life, and since the original has thrown off his hooves, she decided to watch his legacy in the form of one cute blonde. As much as I'd like to, I'm as close to the original as I am to the moon, and on foot.
"Mm-hmm, so I'm an apostle?" Harley said thoughtfully as she finished reading.
"My father did research on the subject when he was trying to get rid of the curse... The terminology used here is a bit outdated, so you're more of a chosen champion.
"You?" I questioned in surprise, opening the book again and quickly looking through the necessary pages. One aspect is one champion.
"Yeah. I'm kind of surprised, too, but the scans don't lie. You're both under the influence of the same Eternal. In fact, maybe that's why you're relatively normal now.
Or maybe it's the system that's giving me back my clear mind. So, should I raise my sixth sense, so that I can control myself more easily? Or should I raise my spirit, because it's responsible for the emotional component?
"Do you have any other questions? If not, let's begin the lecture.
"Bingo!" Me and Harley shouted at the same time.
With a nod of my head, I yield the right of the first question to my faithful assistant.
"If you hold the wires with your hands and stand on the tracks with your feet, will you ride like a streetcar?
~Slap~
Zee's "Chelodlan" is really good. Such a rich and beautiful sound, just music to my ears. But the answer to this question is obvious and requires technical rather than magical education:
"Not unless you put an electric motor in the rear and put the resulting structure on rollers.
"Oh, thank you, Mr. J. - Harley pats my forehead gently.
How sweet and affectionate she is after all, like a cat. I lifted her beautiful face, my gaze lingering on her attractive red lipstick lips. I wondered what she tasted like. Harlequin waited for me to continue the action, holding her breath...
"HELL!" The sorceress shouted, and we were splashed with water, instantly wetting our clothes.
"Haha! What the hell!" I jumped up from the couch, staring menacingly at the illusionist. It was a good thing the book was on the coffee table and not soaking wet.
"Wheeeee, wet t-shirt contest!" Harley also jumped up, pulling on the fabric of the garment. - Damn, I'm wearing a bra. One second.
"Hold it. - I gently hugged my faithful companion, who had her hands under her clothes, clearly intent on getting rid of the extra underwear, and kissed her cheek. - Have you ever thought about the purple monkey?" When I noticed the sorceress preparing to cast something again, I shook my head vaguely, glancing at my girlfriend.
When the smoothing of the emotional peak was engaged, it was as if a shroud of unhealthy mirth fell from my mind. I guess that's how the influence of an aspect manifests itself, when you think about it a lot, and not only did we read her name from the book, but we're also champions, which she should be able to hear well, plus the right image in my mind also influenced the final result.
"Uh, isn't it white? It's an ancient parable about a wise man. - She wrinkled her brow in amusement. - I think there was a coffin and Nasreddin...
"That's right. All true, but I thought a purple monkey would look cooler. Purple thick fur, purple face, and even a purple butt! And it all shimmers from dark purple to light purple in different lighting.
"Hmpf, yeah, it's hard not to think about that. - Harley smiled, snuggling into my arms.
"That's fine. Just getting back to the aspect issue, don't think about the purple monkey. - I finished more seriously.
"Oh... - Only my faithful companion said, glancing at the handwritten product of invaluable knowledge.
"Phew, you've felt the passing influence of one person. - Zatanna said, relaxing. - I don't know how you managed to shake off the obsession. - Two suspicious brown eyes stared at me.
I just shrugged, not wanting to enlighten the brunette in the sexy outfit about having a system in place.
"Okay, you don't want to, suit yourself. AKSHUSH. - Just one phrase and my faithful assistant and I are completely dry. - I thought you had a question, too? I hope it was more... - the magician snapped her fingers, choosing the right word, - on topic.
"Uh-huh. - After answering, I took out the Swamp Thing's gift from my bag. - Can you check this thing for surprises?
"Oh, wow. I haven't seen one of those in a long time. - The sorceress scrutinized the flower in my hands, while applying a scanning spell. - Usually such things are given by flower children... Fairies. - She clarified, noticing my questioning look (I was practicing raising one eyebrow in front of the mirror to make it more expressive). - The thing is quite useful: it repels insects, has a pleasant look and scent, and is recharged from the natural background of the planet. Did your green friend create this?
"No, Harley got it as a gift from Swamp Thing.
"Hmm... It's a little more natural magic, I guess I liked it, but usually you give such things in exchange for a favor. - The sorceress replied with a shrug of her shoulders. - At the same time, this monster isn't a fairy, so I have no idea how his brain works.
"Speaking of favors. This swampy git made a unilateral deal with me: he drained the swamp and promised to give me a hectare of forest if I put the immortal to rest.
"Now, I'll tell you more about it from now on. - Zatanna asked, sitting down on the chair across from her.
After my story, the mistress of Shadow Peak thought hard. She obviously had a solution to the problem, but she didn't want to talk about it. It was strange, because Grundy was a magical creature, but she didn't want to put him to rest.
I didn't insist on the answers, so I didn't bother with them. The question about the cylinder and access to the library was decided to leave for the next meeting, which would be a hundred percent, but for now we started to study magical OBL.
***
Whew. The intensive five-hour lecture was over, and now I was trying to neatly sort all the knowledge I'd received into shelves. There was a lot of information, and all of it was quite useful. It turns out that there is a lot of magic in the world, as well as mages themselves (not pure HomoMagi, but operating with this mysterious energy) with a lot of mythical and semi-mythical creatures, but they prefer to hang out in conjugate dimensions or away from large cities. They mostly live in isolation, but there are a few exceptions (not counting extremely advanced users like the Green Lantern Corps).
Atlanteans: a race of magically gifted underwater creatures who are quite technologically savvy. Terrible racists who hate landers with all their hearts because they pollute the oceans. A couple thousand years ago they were a very formidable force, but all that changed when their continent went underwater. Some of them now live in the Mariana Trench and have long since lost their minds, turning into monsters. Among the distinctive features - water magic, which is owned by literally everyone from small to large, but its level varies greatly. The strongest individuals are able to send multi-meter waves or create a large whirlpool, and the weakest can simply accelerate themselves when swimming.
Amazons: warrior women who worship the Olympian gods. They live on an island hidden from the eyes of mere mortals in the Ionian Sea, near Greece. They are magic wielders with various amplifying buffs that make them at least ten times stronger than ordinary people, but they are not dangerous if you do not approach their land.
The next category that Harley and I should be wary of is dark mages. They have various spells and they, like ordinary mages, draw power from themselves, but at the same time they try to strengthen themselves by using dubious methods, like pulling energy from other mages, plus these individuals are quite vain and often try to organize some bullshit, like enslavement of mankind. Their most famous and largest association calls itself the "Chaos Lodge" and has been harassing Zatanna at small intervals in an attempt to infiltrate the Shadow Peak.
The last and most dreadful group are the occultists. The last group is the occultists, who are the ones who have sold their souls to demons, dark gods, or some other bullshit. In fact, they have no source of their own and draw their powers from a patron who demands bloody sacrifices or creating a breach in the real world. Guess what method is used? That's right: mass blood sacrifice. The enchantress could not say for sure whether we are in danger of losing our souls when we get to the altar because of the presence of an aspect, which even a hundred Lords to one tooth, but it is still not worth it to get to such a point.
The next lecture should be on magical creatures, but for now it was decided to take a break.
Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder