tushanshu | [radio]

We did it! He's still alive! I felt--no, better than that, I heard him!

[She sounded tired, but only physically. Just barely out of breath. Still, even that couldn't contain the excitement to her tone as she barely waited until the radio had turned on before addressing the network.]

[Allowing a full second for that bombshell to properly sink in, she collected her thoughts and elaborated.]

The spell I was suggesting. The one to see if there was something magical interfering? It worked. We got through, and I heard Asti's voice calling to me, begging for help. It was faint...like it was coming from far away--no, lots of far aways. [Wait, no, that didn't make sense, either.] Like his voice was...I don't know...fractured?

Anyways, that wasn't all. I also had another Vision. It wasn't like the last one. I'm not even sure anybody else but me saw it. There were stones. Black and White ones. They were forming arches at this underwater crossroad...only some of them looked like they were brand new, while others looked close to falling apart.

I think Asti sent it to me. But I don't know what it could mean. Second, third, and any other opinions are welcome on this one.

((ooc: Because of the nature of the subject in particular, Threadjacking to allow for open discussions is not only cool with me, but I even encourage it! Spread the word~))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Well, you know what they say about all the cooks in the kitchen. Something about broken eggs, I think.

[But she laughed. Either at her own (lame) joke, or because too many didn't actually mean as bad as it was normally interpreted as.]

Most other times, you get this many different styles of magic colliding, and that's what they do. They collide. I've seen maybe half a dozen work together in the past, but they were all mostly evil anyway, so that didn't really count.

We shouldn't work well together. But we do. And I think it has to do with where we are, and what kind of world this is.

[That doesn't sound quite right, but Raine can't place the original saying, either. Dubious:]

Broken eggs? I suppose I could see that.

[More relevant right now is the bit about different styles colliding.]

There are that many different types of magic in your world?

In my own, although elements and focuses vary, and the uses are certainly widespread, all magic at its base is shaped the same way. Working with another mage is simply a matter of learning their casting habits, not negotiating another style entirely. Perhaps that's why I sense the way others use magic here very similarly, despite how far-flung our origins are...

Or, perhaps, something about the spell that brought us here ensured that our magics would be compatible, tying them all to the same base. Is that what you're suggesting?

[Which, in some ways proved her point. Magic worked differently for them. For Raine. it sounded like it was meant to be shared. For Zatanna...casters could cast spells together, but there were certain times when they would either clash or cancel one another out.]

[Like, for example, if she ever went up against a goddess. No, really; there were rumours about Circe back home....]

Could be.

I mean. we know that all our powers are fueled by whatever source Asti provides us. Yours...mine...Jack's... Every person who has any sort of mystic or metahuman abilities. Last I checked, my powers still work the way I've always known they're supposed to, but I guess we don't know for certain.

That's true, we can't be sure. But it would make sense, at any rate, to design the spell that brought us so there was a minimum of disruption to our abilities, given that we were brought to fight.

[And it is impossible for Raine to be working with the source she usually does.]

I suppose we should simply accept the fortuitous circumstances that do enable us all to work together, but I still find myself curious.

[Also inclined to looking gift velocidragons in the mouth.]

Don't get me wrong. I'm not one to look a gift spell in the mouth. Especially not one that I know I can trust, after all these years.

Yes. It has been a while for you, hasn't it?

[A hesitation. She doesn't like what she's about to say, but it likely needs to be said.]

However, we trusted the visions of "Asti" we had, too.

[A frown. Yes, perhaps it did need to be said.]

They weren't wrong...exactly.

Weren't they?

I suppose in a way they were still communicating with the turtle, but... it makes all past interactions in that manner suspect.

[Wrong in the sense that the Source was a lie. But not necessarily the visions; not all evil shied away from what was true.]

It got us all to where we are now, though.

I mean, if you still want to doubt everything. I can't stop you. Trust me; I knew guys back home who could've written the book on paranoia. Still...that's not going to stop me from listening.

And subverted our will.

[She's not forgetting the consequences of that boon any time soon, but even so there's a pause while Raine considers.]

It's... simply something to keep in mind, that's all. All available information should be considered, of course, but so too should the sources.

[It probably meant something that Zatanna never had to deal with the boon ordeal personally. She'd known about the consequences. She'd even experienced mind control herself. On multiple levels, from multiple sources. She also knew that she'd been able to learn from the experiences. Every last one of them.]

Those are things I don't think I'd ever be able to forget.

[What will not come through the radio is the curl of Raine's fingers into the fabric of her jacket, over her heart, and the scar left over from that time.]

...Yes.

[And moving on.]

I don't think I have anything else to offer right now, but if I think of something, I'll let you know.

[Already moved.]

You know where to find me if and when you do.

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