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[It's absently on video, from her suite, and Annabeth looks a little distracted. So much so that it's a good few seconds of looking deep in thought at something off screen before she remembers to speak up. She adjusts herself, sits up a little straighter.]

Is there anyone who might have asked the Emperor about their futures? I've heard she can show you, in a sense. I need to know what that entails. I doubt it's something she'd offer for free.

[that's probably only the tip of what's distracting her atm tbh. If anyone thought she was intense before, it's like there's a little extra dark circles now. ]

ENCRYPTED 100%; ZATANNA
We need to talk. As soon as you can.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[...well, that didn't sound good.]

What's wrong?

Not here. Can you come to my suite? Or somewhere else.

[she is too wary of Zatanna's suite right now, with the prior bugging, even if it was unrelated. And too wary of breakable encryptions, even if Leo perfected hers.]

[A nod. She understood immediately; no matter how many times she or Kyle or anyone swept for bugs...one never knew for certain. And what they knew was too dangerous to risk it.]

Somewhere else might be best.

What about where we met up last time? That work for you?

[She nods.]

Yeah, that should be fine. When?

I can be there within the hour.

[The sooner, the better.]

Okay. Me, too. I'll see you there.

[Roughly 45 minutes later, Zatanna stood at the base of the fountains display in the Water sector. She was starting to spend more time here than she did at 'home' (using that term very, very loosely). Her arms were folded, and she was staring up at the sky as if it would give her any answers.]

[A thousand thoughts were running through her mind. What was it Annabeth wanted to tell her? Something had happened, that was for certain. It must've had something to do with the Zombies. Or the Emperor's recent announcement. She couldn't think of anything else it could be.]

[Annabeth's already there, but invisible. After a quick casing to be sure the coast is clear, she pulls the hat off her head and comes around from the other side of the fountain.]

Hey. Thanks, for coming so quickly.

[In spite of the circumstances, Zatanna offers a faint smile towards the older girl. She had yet to notice her appearing out of thin air, assuming she had just arrived and must be as overwhelmed by everything as she felt right then.]

Of course.

What's up?

No build-ups, sorry.

I contacted Eva. I wanted to leave you unconnected, in case something went wrong, or I would have told you before I did. I wanted to ask her about the Emperor's announcement, the sewers. I found something else entirely.

We're potentially at risk. Part of it's my own fault, my own offers. [She pauses.] Eva might be coming here.

[Her mouth went slightly agape when she heard Annabeth contacted Eva...and it remained that way throughout the--thankfully--short, but concise debriefing.]

[...oh.]

[...okay, then...]

She's coming here?

[We'll focus on that first, and altogether ignore the part where Annabeth contacted her without letting Zatanna know first. It wasn't like she needed permission. The how didn't really matter; she assumed Eva had given her a cell phone too. Although...]

What do you mean your 'offers'? What did you do?

Apparently, the zombies from our little dive? They're bodies from the Mausoleum. Every corpse came to life, just after the turtle ceased landfall. She's been fighting them off, but - but she said she may need to come here, as a last resort.

I told her I'd help her. If she got here. She was in bad shape, and I couldn't just... do nothing.

[She gives Zatanna an apologetic look, for not bringing it up beforehand, for getting herself involved without checking first.] I wanted to warn you. I have no idea what could happen over this.

[There's a fleeting, slight glimpse of pain her her eyes at the reference to the zombies. She had to look away.]

Not all of them were.

[But, no, focus. Eva was coming and apparently in bad shape. Already, Zatanna was waving a hand in dismissal of the apology. She couldn't blame Annabeth; she probably would've done the exact same thing in her place.]

How bad is she? Does she need healing?

[She frowns with concern over the look, but she doesn't push it right now.] The original ones, at least.

One side of her face was charred. I don't know how long ago it happened. Is healing something you can do with your magic?

A little.

[She visibly winced at the mentioning of charred skin. Something told her Annabeth wasn't exaggerating.]

I'm not sure if I could fix an injury that bad...but I can try.

You don't have to get involved, not if you don't want to. We both know Eva's no friend of the Emperor, and given everything going on in that announcement of hers. [It's not that she doesn't think Zatanna could handle it, or that she's too afraid. It's just an option, and Annabeth will always lay all options on the table.]

I'm still the only person who knows what you agreed to do. I haven't told anyone. I couldn't, not after I asked you to keep my name out of your own conversations. Your connection is weak through me.

[She sighed inaudibly, rubbing at one temple with her hand. Out of sheer frustration at everything than any semblance of fear. Part of her was afraid of what the Emperor could do, but it wasn't enough to keep from doing whatever she could.]

Pretty sure it's a little too late for that, Annabeth.

What about you? Do any of your friends know yet?

No, it's not. Eva practically refused my help. If she's telling the truth, she may not seek you out.

Percy. [That's almost instant.] He knows everything, except about you. I haven't told Leo about Eva potentially coming, but he knows what I agreed to do for her.

You told Percy.

[Of course. It made sense. Only, now Zatanna felt slightly guilty for not doing the same when she had the chance.]

[She took a deep breath.]

Whether or not she refuses, if you think I'm just going to stand by and let all this happen without me, you're sorely mistaken. We're in this together. All of us.

There's not a lot I don't tell him.

[That actually kind of gets a smile out of her. It's a bit of a relief, having people on her side finally. If only Yelena were still here.] And hey, if things go wrong, we've literally got the whole ocean on our side.

But you told him this.

[It was an important distinction to make.]

I don't know about the whole Ocean. Far as I can tell, my pendant still doesn't do much more than just keep me from drowning. You know, as long as I remember to keep it on.

I couldn't imagine not telling him something like this. [Because it's literally not even the most dangerous thing they've done.]

Oh, no. I meant Percy. He can control the ocean. But your pendant's invaluable, too.

He can?

[Immediately, she starts wracking her brain to see if Annabeth had mentioned this before. Her thoughts were a barely coherent jumble right then.]

[A nod.] He's hydrokinetic. That's how we got out to the turtle. It's kind of a family trait.

[...which she should probably mention her own soon, too.] Well, in his case.

[The pieces were slowly starting to fall into place. They might mean something. They might not. Still, she couldn't resist asking.]

What about yours?

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Video || Encryption 100%

Video || Encryption 100%

Video || Encryption 100%

Video || Encryption 100%

Video || Encryption 100%

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