**That's probably not true.**
Alan shakes his head at me as we descend to float over the surface of the lake. **Don't do yourself down, Paul.**
See? The wise and hopeful man gets it. Heck, she had a specific response contingency set up for a specific line that only he would have uttered. I bet she doesn't do that for just
anyone.
**You don't think your gods will like me?**
**Ah, no, no, that's not it. But you remember how Paul used to get when he got exposed to magic?**
They'd probably be fascinated by someone so
Protean. Especially if they learn that Mars has a relatively quiet pantheon and there are potential converts about.
**You mean like he was drunk? You think that could happen to me?**
**Maybe. You aren't as protected as I am, or Paul or Donna are.**
Honestly, I'd also be worried about Match, since his purer kryptonian biology is more vulnerable to magic than a human.
I feel Mitchell's eye-roll. **But you're fine with me coming along. Thanks, Con. Really feeling the brotherly love.**
**Ah-.**
And I see they maybe
forgot that where Mitchell didn't.
Nice response, though. Shows how far he's developed since being decanted.
**No, no, I get it.**
**I just-.**
I get a mental picture of it as M'gann's eyebrows rise. **So you just don't think that I can handle it?**
Danger, Superboy, danger! High risk relationship question detected!
Then I hear the mental laughing.
**This isn't funny. Mitchell and me are a lot tougher than you, and there are plenty of things we could run into who aren't affected by telekinesis.**
Ah, if only this were the Renegade's M'gaan, with her unlocked Red magical potential...
**Then if we run into those things, I'll back off.** The bio-ship lands, and the rear hatch opens. **But until then, I'm coming.**
Perhaps tired of the soap opera, Donna is the first to fly out, landing over by a small copse of trees. "Thana?"
She's always seemed a bit more
mature than most of the team, after all. And is college-age by now, so she's a bit past the teenage drama thing.
There's a slight shimmer as Thana removes Lord Hades' helmet from her head and steps out. "Princess Donna?
Donna nods. "Alan decided to call me in."
Well, at least divinely-empowered artifacts still function. Then again, they can probably run off local magical energies...
Thana… Looks around owlishly. "No, I meant-. I can only see as well in the dark as a normal woman, and your raiment looks like the night sky. I can't see where you are."
"Oh, right." Donna turns to me. "Paul, could you-?" I generate a giant orange floodlight. "Thanks."
It's actually surprising how hard it is to hide in the dark. Black actually
stands out under most low-light conditions. Dark blues, reds and greys work a lot better.
"Ah!" Thana smiles and starts walking towards the bio-ship as the rest of the team pile out. "Prince Kon-El. Prince Mitchell Kent. Miss Martian. How… Many of you can breathe water?"
M'gann shoots a smug glance at Kon. "I can!"
So the gateway is underwater? I suppose that's one way to keep errant visitors away, unless they have Beowulf-like lung capacity. (Surprised some DC hero hasn't used
that name yet...)
I raise my right hand and Alan nods. Mitchell smiles and shakes his head while Kon frowns.
"Wait, there's actually a way into Erebos under the water? I thought that was just a myth."
Well, Shades aren't exactly going to be bothered by the trip on their way to the great rivers.
"It was a gateway." Thana walks towards the shoreline and Donna drifts behind her. "Lord Hades closed it during the forties after the Germans tried to carry out a ritual here. I believe that the magics which Lord Hades has shared with me will allow me to reopen it."
Kon glances at the lake. "Okay, so what do you need-. You can't breathe under water."
And she'd presumably like a life support method
other than filling her mouth with a SCUBA apparatus, because there are magic words to be said?
"No, Prince Kon-El. I will need your help getting deep enough to perform the ritual."
"And… What if it doesn't work?"
Huh. Sounds like it was
deep down. And even a near-superhuman like an Amazon can't get around the physical limits of unprotected diving, huh?
"Then it doesn't work, and we are no worse off than we are now."
"Actually, we're better off, because we'll know something about how the relationship between Earth and Erebos has changed." I sigh. "If only we had enough thaumaturgists to actually do something about it."
I mean, surely there's
someone in the trenchcoat brigade you can track down.
Ambrose Bierce, perhaps, or
Willoughby Kipling?
Or perhaps some
other unlucky chain-smoking street magician OC who gets confused for John Constantine, given that there
always seems to be one around.
Thana stands on the shore-. Noticeably closer to Alan than to me, which is… A little insulting, but pretty fair, really. He makes a platform and floats it towards the centre of the lake once she steps onto it.
"Is there anything you need the rest of us to do?"
Plus, he
is a lot nicer on the eyes for mature ladies like Amazons.
"I am not completely sure that the angry shades that the Germans conjured were ever pacified. That was why I came here."
Alan nods. "You want us to watch your back."
So, anti-magical weaponry and devices at the ready.
She nods as he extends a bubble over her head. M'gann shifts her neck so that it has gills and dives into the water, her eyes already growing to see better in the dark. Donna drops to the surface of the water and mutters a prayer-. Interesting that her patrons are still answering her. Or… Maybe it's something built into her instead? Did Cronus have traces of his siblings' magic and use that on her? Probably doesn't matter, but…
"Donna?"
Would be amusing if she's asking Oceanus for water-breathing.
She pulls back from the water she was about to dive into? "Yeah?"
"Do you..? Actually get direct feedback from the titans when you do that?"
I would presume it's like any clerical spell: The magical equivalent of PM'ing a request to the god and them going 'eh, okay' and dropping the effect on the intended recipient. No further contact necessary...
"How do you mean?"
"I mean, do they directly speak to you, with words?"
...I mean, that
might be an accessible route to reach Tartarus, I guess? Be a bit tricky to tap into, though.
She frowns. "Why do you-?"
Then her eyes widen slightly, and she raises her right hand in a warding gesture.
Aw, hesitant at the thought of OL offering some advice about clever power usage?
Or perhaps it's a bit more
serious than that? I mean...
Donna dives into the water. Kon snorts in amusement as he and Mitchell attach their breathing equipment.
"She heard about the Justice League taking over the world. I guess she doesn't want you to blow her mind twice in one day."
...He
does have a
knack for that sort of world-shaking philosophical rhetoric.
"Do you actually want an environmental shield, or are you fine-?"
"If you wanted her to talk to you, you shoulda told Cat Grant 'no comment'."
And pass up the chance to look smart on public TV? Man, you do not OL as well as you thought, Kon.
"By now I thought that everyone realised that I was a course hazard."
I extend my environmental shield to Kon and Mitchell and together we fly down through the water. They face downwards while I remain in a standing position, shrugging at Mitchell when he flashes me an interrogative glance.
Hey, when your flight power is able to give a big middle finger to things like air resistance, why should
water be any different.
I pull a runestone out of a pouch and give it a wave-around. Higher than normal background magic, but nothing special. On the other hand, gateways don't necessarily need all that much raw power.
Though… Persephone appeared in Brazil. Could Euanthe open a gate there? Or could Sanderson open a portal to the Dream? I'm not sure that the gate from Erebos to the Dream works in both directions, but if we've got the time to focus on it then it would be worth a go.
'Don't need much power', especially if they're locked shut, either. As for the Dream, I suspect
another visit might get a face-to-face meeting with the Lord of the Realm, whether you were aiming for one or not.
Wait a… Second…
"Hey, Alan! I think I've got a solution to our-!"
TEETH!
Ah, interrupted by the cliffhanger.
