2014.01.24 - This Isn't Hogwarts

Well, as it turns out, the time of the meeting was probably a little late in the evening. The observant might note that it was about twenty minutes after her last show of the day. Zee never really had to suffer through things like travel time. And twenty minutes was more than enough time for her to get ready - that is - grab a quick bite to eat, run a brush through her hair, change clothes...
 
...and disable the anti-demon wards on the outside of Shadowcrest manor. At least, make a little hole in them. 
 
Raven - if she had any sort of training at all, might recognize at least an uncomfortable feeling should she stare too much at the outside of the mansion, windows and walls both feeling incredibly forbidding. 
 
But for the most part, the wards on the outer walls were just a mystical 'keep out' sign. It was the ones leading further into the mansion that would try to fry intruders of a certain set. As it was - Zatanna was waiting in the foyer of her manor, sitting in a chair with legs draped over one end - she had changed out to a pair of sweats - purple in color, with gold ties, and a pair of sneakers. And had a glass of an amber drink in her hand as she awaits the arrival of the teen hero.
Raven hasn't had much formal magical training, but her senses are top notch. As much a curse as it is a blessing, she can't help but wonder if she's walking into a trap. After all, she knows that Zatanna is - at best - suspicious of her, and practically everything about this place is setting off her 'creepy haunted mansion' senses. Thankfully, she has a fairly high threshold on how much creepy is too much creepy. 
So she lets herself into the mansion, trying to ignore the scary 'creeeeeak' of the front door. The small, purple-swaddled bundle of grey and angst that is Raven shuffles into the foyer, and when she sees Zatanna... her eyes settle on the drink. 
"Do you always have a drink after your shows?"
As the young woman enters, Zatanna doesn't seem to move to even glance up at her, her eyes kinda looking up towards one of the portraits hanging on the walls. Yes, she supposed this place did have 'spooky haunted house' vibes, but to Zee? It was home. And that was obvious in how comfortable she was at the moment. 
 
When Raven says what she does, Zatanna lifts both her brows, and makes a little noise, bringing the glass to her lips to take another long swig of it - before placing the glass on an little stand by the chair. Swinging her legs up and off of the armrest of the chair, she sits in it correctly, her eyes flickering across towards Raven. 
 
"I wasn't sure if you would come at all," says Zatanna. "In spite of what you said at the end of our last meeting," she adds, fingers interlacing with each other. 
 
With a snap of her fingers, and a whisper under her breath, a chair starts dragging across the floor, to end up in front of Zee's own chair, the chair dragging across the floor with a horrendous screech. 
 
Lifting up a hand, Zee gestures to the chair. "Do you need any refreshments?" she asks, her tone of voice a bit... subdued. Thoughtful. Not quite suspicious, but maybe bordering on that.
Raven's features remain impressively impassive as the chair squeals its way across the floor. Her deadpan expression only gives way to the slightest shiver at the ear-piercing noise. The point, though, is not missed. To demonstrate that she's not entirely without tricks of her own, she doesn't walk across the floor, but instead neatly levitates herself there at a relaxed pace, settling down into the chair from above in a smooth vertical motion. 
"If I say I'm going to do something, I'll do it." She says, seriously. "... But no, thank you. I ate before I came." 
The young woman's hands fold into her lap, but her knees stay together, her back upright. She's still definitely not comfortable with Zatanna just yet; just as Zatanna isn't entirely comfortable with her. Its almost as though there's a barrier between the two women, neither quite certain how to pierce it just yet...
If the young woman allows it, Zatanna would just stare at Raven's features for the longest time after Raven levitates into her chair, the magicienne leaning forward, elbows on her knees. A beat, and Zee moves to pick up her glass of drink, kinda swishing it back and forth as she releases a long breath, straightening up to lean back in her chair. "So you have," says Zatanna finally. 
 
Another long moment, and Zee takes a bit more of her drink, looking out at Raven afterwards. "Tell me what you know - about magic?" she asks, tone of voice just a little deadpan.
Raven makes no effort to stop Zatanna staring at her, but the older magician might realize that engaging in a staring contest with her is like trying to outstare a cat. Raven's half-lidded, apparently disinterested gaze has driven many monks to distraction over the years, and it is likely the teen doesn't even realize just how irritating it is, trying to talk to someone who doesn't seem to *care*. 
The question, though, perks her interest. Eyes widen a little, and there's some animation in her voice. "I've been instructed by the Monks of Azarath." She says, "I know the names of most major and many minor demons, how to banish them - not, how to call them up or bind them, obviously. I know about the flow of magic, how to purify a space, and that my own magic is bound to my emotions." 
Her hands come up, and the hood is pulled back from her head, to reveal her features more clearly. One finger comes up to indicate her chakra gem. "I stay in control, my power stays in control. But everything I can use it for is... instinctive. The most advanced thing I've learned to do, is take on the pain of others."
Zatanna was realizing this. Not that Zee ever seemed to intimidate more than men hoping to date her, but she wanted to get a measure of the young woman. And all that she could come up with was a blank. 
 
Which didn't help her much. At least when the question was asked, she got a reaction from the half-demon girl. And it was subtle, but Zee was seeming to relax a tic when the hood comes down again - Raven would no doubt be able to sense such things. "Empathic healing? That's quite a trick for anyone to teach anyone - it's like they were hoping that you'd run into a situation where you'd have to bleed yourself dry for someone," says Zee. But then again - a half-demon - how would Zee train her? 
 
Zatanna's eyes lift to the gem as it is brought into clear view. "And what happens when you go out of control, Raven?" asks Zatanna, tilting her head a bit to the side as she watches the other young woman. "What happens to the world?"
"I taught myself. After I showed the aptitude, the monks helped me hone it." Its a minor correction, but the quickness with which Raven makes it implies it is very important to her. For all that she and the monks of her home had their disagreements, she'd never let anyone get the impression they wanted her dead. If they had, she'd have died many times over. "Besides." She continues, and there's just the faintest hint of a smile. "... They never wanted me to use my powers at all." 
The girl's jaw tightens at the last, needling question, and she takes a deep breath. "I've never lost control completely." She says, "But, strong emotion makes me vulnerable to my father's influence. I can always feel it. If I lose control, then yes, people get hurt." And now she feels she has to justify herself, bristling, "But I've saved lives, too, and I've never... *killed*." 
But, whispers that voice in her mind, /you came close/.
The slender finger of Zatanna drags along the rim of the glass she holds, watching Raven carefully as the young woman speaks. The pertinent question on Zee's mind? Why? Why does strong emotion let her father in? Do they expect her to simply not feel? The conflict on Zee's face might be visible. If what Raven was saying was entirely true... then there was very little hope at all. Eventually, Raven would channel a demon into this world, and everyone's gentle words and treatments would just let it in close to their hearts. 
 
It was foolish to consider letting Raven into her home further. Hell, it might be foolish to even let her live. 
 
Zatanna watches the eyes of the young woman. "Llet eht hturt nehw I ksa eht txen noitseuq," says Zatanna, and a mystical compulsion to not lie would try to seize Raven. But it might not work quite as planned on someone like Raven. "Have you /ever/ lost control to the point your father influenced this world?" asks Zatanna, her tone of voice perhaps a little sharper than she needed to be. "Could you?"
"The Darkness imprisoned me in my own soul and tortured me, which caused me to lose some control. Through that, it was able to use some of my father's power to hurt the Sorcerer Supreme, before it was drawn out of me and I could recover." 
The words come too quickly, too easily, and even if Raven might not have realized she was bewitched instantly, she does when she realizes what she just said. The girl's eyes widen, and there's a flash of anger, betrayal, and... humiliation! Her grey cheeks pinken as she rises up to her feet swiftly, and the chair she'd been sitting in is surrounded by darkness. The black energy covers the furniture, and unless Zatanna acts quickly to save the chair, it'll be flung up to the ceiling where it will break apart. 
"You... you... how DARE you?!" The half-demon growls, hands seizing her hood to pull her cowl up about her. "I'm done with this."
Zatanna does not move to save the chair. She could magic it together again, for one, and for two - she kinda deserved it. But it was gratifying to know that her spells - at least some - could work on the young half-demon. Of course - remaining so casual may be asking for trouble, Zee does set her drink aside as the chair smashes into pieces - bits and pieces of it raining down between the two. 
 
"I /dare/ because I want to trust," says Zatanna smoothly, the magicienne watching Raven levelly. "If I had any good sense at all, I would have struck you down the moment you stepped past those wards - closed them, and sealed you in until I could figure out a way to end your father's influence once and for all," says Zatanna. 
 
"I /want/ to believe you. Want to help you," says Zatanna, rising to a stand as the cowl comes up, knocking a hunk of wood out of the way with a sneakered foot. Raven could tell that much was true. Suspicion wrapped her like the very cloak that Raven wore, even if it wasn't as tightly wound. 
 
"So this was a good first session," says Zatanna. "But I might have traded a little of your trust in me, to trust you more," she says, inclining her head to the young woman. "If you want to continue, same time next week?" she says lightly. "If you do not... then hopefully, you're still you when I see you again," says Zee, her normally pleasant voice bearing a bit of a sharper undertone.
"No. You used your magic because you CAN'T trust me, not because you want to." Its, the first time that Zatanna has really seen an emotion out of Raven - and it is also probably gratifying to know that she can be this angry without completely turning into a monster. Yes, she had to keep her emotions under control - but that doesn't mean she's an automaton. Its quite possible that the monks exaggerated the degree of control she has to maintain - but then, when dealing with threats like hers, it is understandable to err on the side of caution. 
"And you could not bind me. I'm not just a demon. I'm as much my mother as I am my father. You want to see what I'm capable of? Fine. I'll SHOW you." 
And Raven is quite surrounded by that dark energy herself. A large black bird of crackling force, which envelops her completely. The power of her soul, called forth into the world. As the bird's echoing cry resounds throughout the foyer, and Raven sweeps out in a burst of magic, back to her room in an instant, it is clearly a sign that the girl is not nearly so wise or mature as her carefully stoic demeanor tries to make out... throwing her frustration out in a flashy display...
... such a human reaction. She is, after all, just a teenager.
Category:Log