tushanshu | [CONSOLE] VIDEO

[If it hadn't been for the urgency of what she'd discovered, Zatanna might have stayed away from the Network for a few days. Granted, those jerks had snuck up on her, attacking from behind before she could ever get a decent look, but she was the daughter of Giovanni Zatara, and a trained fighter in her own right. With magic. She should've been able to take a couple of street thugs without breaking a sweat.]

[Well, not only had sweat been broken, but there was a bruise on her forehead where she'd hit the ground, and the wrist that normally carried her bracelet--which had been moved to the opposite arm--was pressed firmly against her chest. Wrapped tightly in bandages. As if even the slightest movement caused her pain.]

[Needless to say, she didn't look particularly happy.]

[Worried, yes. Her weight occasionally shifting in her seat, lips pressed together in between sentences. Face slightly pale.]

[This was about more than just getting ambushed. Much, much more.]

Something's wrong.

[Stating the obvious, or what she thought was the obvious. From the furrow in her brow, even Zatanna wasn't quite sure. A glance down at her unsprained wrist, where the glimmer of her soul jewel could just barely be seen on the console screen.]

My--I was attacked too. They caught me by surprise--don't ask. [That part, she really didn't want to talk about] But the weirdest part was that, I went back this afternoon and found my bracelet again. Right where they'd gotten me.

Only...I can't explain it...I didn't even notice at first, but the longer I've had it on...

[She didn't even know how to explain it to people who didn't carry a natural affinity for magic. Who couldn't sense what she was sensing. Part of her still wasn't even sure she wasn't being paranoid. Reacting to the attack. Maybe it was nothing. She couldn't be sure. And she couldn't just sit by and do nothing. What if she was right?]

Anybody who's been attacked in the last few days? Check your soul gems. If you don't know how, find somebody who does. Especially if they were out of your sight for more than a minute.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Can you be any more specific?

['Something's wrong' is hardly particularly useful information. A brief pause.]

I've been told there are skilled healers here. Masochism or paranoia?

[Not wholly unkind, just prodding.]

[Yeah, she's just going to...ignore that latter question. ~~Possibly a little of both?~~]

It's like...

[She sighed. It had been a while since she'd used her magical sense. The only reasons she had immediately picked up on it was because it was her soul. Maybe...maybe it didn't even take magic to understand, after all?]

Have you ever had one of those really off days, where you're not entirely comfortable in your own skin? Or when something's not quite right, but you just can't put your finger on it and it keeps bothering you until you do?

Something like that.

[Well, it's not her business if Zatanna really prefers to have a nonfunctional arm. China lets that rest.]

Not for years.

[Said with supreme confidence. By years she means centuries.]

All the same, I believe I take your meaning. A nameless magical upset.

[There's a frown in her voice. That can by no stretch of the imagination be considered a good thing.]

Exactly.

[There might have been a slight sigh of relief. Somebody who understood made explanations so much easier.]

People are asking me if I'm sure it's the same gem as before. And it definitely is. I wouldn't know if it wasn't.

Maybe it's because it was stolen for a full day? I know we're not supposed to really take these things off.

So I've been told. Given the lengthy list of side-effects, however, I doubt it's something anyone has experimented with on purpose.

[...well, there are some masochists among the Foreigners, but even so.]

It doesn't seem you're the first, however. Wouldn't someone else have picked up on it by now if that was the case? It is a magical sense, as you said, but there are a good number of mages here.

[She might of doubted, but Zatanna wasn't so sure.]

But not everybody's been hit.

It's also possible that they haven't gotten to anyone who would know what to feel for.

Possible.

[A thinking pause.]

Have you shown yours to another mage who would know what to look for?

Actually, yeah. Another woman stopped over to get a better feel for the gem up close.

She agrees with me.

Does this mage have a name?

But she agrees even without knowing what your gem initially felt like. Interesting.

I think it was...Valdas? Valdez? It was something similar to that.

And it goes to show how strong the tainting of the gem really is. That big of a disturbance, you don't really need to know what it felt like before.

Valdis? I know of her.

[She's in the same category as Eliza Scorn for skillset, but China has yet to find a reason to want her dead. Which is probably for the best. Even so, it means she's someone to keep an eye out for.]

That certainly does say something of it. Concerning.

[China upgrades her conception of the possible threat.]

[Zatanna, meanwhile, didn't consider any of them possible threats. No more than average; certainly not to the degree of wanting anybody dead.]

Unfortunately, that's all I have to go on right now. A few years ago, we didn't even have soul gems. The closest we came were the lanterns being kept in our separate houses, but nothing ever happened to them.

[Everyone's a potential threat somehow. It's just a matter of how serious it is.]

I'll look further into it.

What changed?

[Coincidentally enough, it was her meeting with Valdis that helped her better frame her answer:]

It's like it got...darker, somehow. Like there's some sort of shadow or tint corrupting the stone.

[Oh, that is helpful. It's always shadows, isn't it.]

I see.

And the gems themselves were a consequence of whatever method you used to defeat your enemy, correct?

Not in the way you're making it sound.

[This was going to be a long story, but she figured she could abridge it and still give China a somewhat decent idea.]

You're right that we didn't have these things with us until after the battle with Malicant. But, before that, we did have soul lanterns. Which were...exactly what they sound like. Lanterns, rooted to the spot, that were kept in each of our assigned homes. It was basically a mandated curfew, because we would start to feel those separation effects if we were gone for more than a day.

Before that...I actually don't know what they did with our souls. Maybe they were still in our bodies at the time. I really couldn't say.

[That was roughly the knowledge she was angling for, yes. Excellent.]

It sounds like roughly the same purpose and side-effects.

If they were still in your bodies, what reason could there possibly have been to alter that? [None good.] Perhaps the people in charge of the magic didn't previously feel what they'd done with your souls was worth sharing.

Well...the Emperor had died.

[It had been so long ago, she couldn't remember if that happened before or after the Soul Lanterns.]

That, and we don't know exactly when Asti was...taken over. He was the one powering us all for so long. That could've played a part in it.

It would also explain why we still need to keep them close to us, even now.

Too much of this is speculation.

[She doesn't sound quite annoyed, but certainly dissatisfied.]

Is there really no record at all of the spell that drew us here?

[To someone who's spent her life dealing in books and the written word, this seems both irresponsible and unlikely. And also deeply, deeply frustrating.]

Afraid that's all we've got, unfortunately. Whatever it was, it died with her.

[There is, briefly, the sound of a now definitely annoyed sigh.]

You've been as helpful as you can. I appreciate it.

[Outright saying that she's grateful is right out, but she may be more inclined now to help Zatanna, should the opportunity arise without too much trouble.]

[She tried not to read too much into the as helpful as you can remark; it almost sounded like a backhanded compliment.]

Thanks. I think.

[It kind of is. But points for effort.]

You're welcome.

Do take care of yourself.

[CONSOLE] VIDEO

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