[Jaunt-Locked] || [Some time after Phillip's Message]

[backwordscompatible]

 --no!

[The transmission--a sudden, sharp burst of mental screaming--carried with it a wave of terrified panic...for those would could sense it.]

[There was a pause.  Time to realize what was happening.  What had happened.  Where she was.  The fact that she was safe now.  That lingering pain in her chest?  A ghost wound, no longer physical, but a reminder that she hadn't dreamed it.  That she really had died.]

[Again.]

[And now her fear was being broadcast for all Investigators.  Too late to take it back.  She didn't even have time to sort through her jumbled thoughts.]

The castle.  Something calling...not the bracelets...no, different...except...didn't want us there...couldn't help myself...had to look...and then...flash...a knife...

[Wait, no!  She didn't--]

[Why did it broadcast?  She didn't want that.  She just needed...time to think.  By herself.  Whenever things got too much for her, she would isolate herself.  Better than letting them see her freak.  Or worse, cry.]

[She needed something else to focus on.  Anything.]

...my...familiar.  The tiger.

What happened to him?

Comments

[turbedon]

[On the one hand, he's so relieved to hear her alive that he nearly has to sit for a moment.

Oh the other, he can tell she's headed for a breakdown and immediately barks in his best Batman voice:]

Zatanna, take a deep breath, calm down, and report. Are you in Liminal Space?

[backwordscompatible]

[The good news was that she wasn't hyperventilating. Yet. In part, because her breath had caught in her throat when his voice first rang in her head. She swallowed, closing her eyes and focusing on that voice.]

I...yeah. Yeah, I'm here. In Liminal.

[turbedon]

Good. Is it safe there and are you injured?

[backwordscompatible]

I don't know. I just woke up and--

[Another breath. She forced herself to look around. Liminal Space didn't always guarantee a set, certain location, but at least she could see that her attacker was nowhere in the immediate area.]

Yeah. I think so.

And...my chest hurts, but that's about it.

[turbedon]

How does it hurt? Broken rib type of hurt or bruised kind of hurt... or fist in the heart kind of hurt?

[backwordscompatible]

More like a...sharp sting in the heart.

From a blade.

[turbedon]

That should fade at least.

I think Leonardo's going after you so... Just rest a little. Don't jump right back in.

[Stay safe. For his peace of mind, please.]

[darkhourdear]

[oh! she's back!]

Are you ok? I'm sorry I couldn't help any... But, um, your tiger's ok. I can take him with me when I escape if you want.

[backwordscompatible]

[Oh. It's him. He was with her when it happened, wasn't it?]

What do you mean 'escape'?

What's going on?

[darkhourdear]

Um, she kind of threw me and your tiger into cells, but I can get out with my shadow stuff so I've just been trying to figure out what's going on.

[backwordscompatible]

[Shadow-stuff?]

Oh. Like...how you managed to get us through the walls.

[She winced. On the one hand, he didn't sound panicked. If he really could get out at any time, then it did make sense to try and learn something in the process. Still...]

I'm sorry. For getting you trapped.

It he okay? [The tiger.]

[darkhourdear]

[Phillip shrugs, even if she can't see it.]

It's ok. I'm fine.

Yeah. I mean, he's kind of mad, I think, but he's ok.

[backwordscompatible]

[He's kind of mad. She actually laughed, if for no other reason than it was a great alternative to crying.]

I'm sure he is. We...the girl I was supposed to be...they were close. I can still remember.

[volving]

[ concerned ] Zee? Are... you safe?

[backwordscompatible]

[There was something to be said about her current state that hearing multiple voices calling to her was actually a source of comfort.]

I am now. I think.

[volving]

Good.

[ she doesn't really know what to say but feels bad she let something happen to her by... not being there... ]

Who had... the knife?

[backwordscompatible]

[Telepathic conversation aside, Zatanna felt a chill travel up her spine as the face flashed in her mind again. She hadn't realized it then, but she recognized it. From a prior conversation. One that had only gone slightly better, and that wasn't an exaggeration.]

She'd called herself...Lucifer...when we first met. But I don't know if she was mocking me, or if that was real.

[volving]

[ There's a faint growl, like an angry cat, and it may or may not be Cass. She doesn't make that sound out loud. Anymore. She thinks it, though, and... ]

Where?

[backwordscompatible]

[If Zatanna were in a better frame of mind, she might have taken the time to think bout what that sound meant. And whether or not she should be more concerned for Cass' sake...or "Lucifer"'s]

The castle.

It's...there was something there. I didn't get to see it, but I could sense it all the way from outside. It led me there. I still don't know why.

Action, in Liminal Space.

[howexciting]

[Liminal Space has now been transformed into an observatory and a radio telescope... only, the backyard these two buildings are situated in is far too big for such buildings. Against the midday sky (which is not unlike the colorful tapestry of a midday sky in Questing Country), the blades of grass are tree-sized, dewdrops swelling with enough dew to fill a swimming pool. Each dewdrop contains an entire aquariums' worth of tropical fish within, swimming merrily around but avoiding the edges of the dewdrops as if they were glass.

It is all beautiful, and rather interesting. But Leonardo is not here to gain a hint, or to explore Liminal Space. He's here for Zatanna and Zatanna alone. He paces at the ground floor of the observatory, waiting.

The initial scream over the Network catches his attention, and he immediately perks up. Then, a clatter and a frightened gasp, coming from above him - it had to be her. Leonardo immediately rushes up the stairs to find Zatanna in the telescope dome, alive.

Wordlessly, he comes to her, sinking to his knees while simultaneously reaching out with his arms to pull her to his chest, in a comforting, and more importantly, protective hug. Only then does he dare speak:]

Shh, mia Carina. Sono qui. È sicuro.

[backwordscompatible]

[Her eyes had been closed at the time. Focusing on those comforting voices in her mind. Robin. Cass. Asking question, but not too many of them. Helping to take her mind off the pain. That lingering, sharp tug in her chest where she had felt the blade pierce skin and bone alike.]

[Footsteps. An approaching presence. She tensed reflexively, even though she knew there was no logical reason for her to have followed her back to--]

[Arms around her. Warm. Strong. Comforting. Accompanied by a familiar voice in that soothing, Italian dialect.]

[Leonardo. Her nonno.]

[It took longer than it should have for her body to catch up. Relax. Melt into his hold and allow him to console her. Her vision had blurred, but she hardly noticed. Instead, burying her face fully into his chest so he wouldn't see the hot tears still threatening to spill over. She didn't trust her voice right then. Nodding against him in response to his words. Acknowledging she heard him. Understood.]

[Safe.]

[She was safe. And, equally important, alive.]

[howexciting]

[A large yet delicate hand reaches upward and gently strokes Zatanna's hair, slender fingers combing through it a little. He can feel the tears soaking through the robes he wears that are the spitting image of Ezio's but in green. But he doesn't try to stop her. He understands the value of a good cry, as little as he does it.

She'll let him know when she's ready to talk. Until then, he'd be there to comfort her.]

[backwordscompatible]

[That gesture. The way he gently stroked her hair. It was so much like the way her father used to comfort her when she was a little girl that, for a fleeting moment, she could close her eyes and pretend it was him. Giovanni Zatara. Freed from Fate, or perhaps having never been taken in the first place.]

[Over time, the sobs subsided. Her breathing evened out. One might have guessed she'd fallen asleep in his arms if she didn't gently pull back after a time. By some miracle, her eyes were glassy, but neither red nor puffy. She kept her eyes lowered, as if embarrassed he had caught her in such a state.]

...think I got your outfit wet. Sorry.

[And, since wardrobe decisions made for an excellent tangent--]

It looks familiar. Where'd you get it?

[howexciting]

[He gives a small, gentle smile when he sees the spark of Zatanna's humor come back. Out of habit, Leonardo catches the edge of his sleeve and gently brushes away the remnants of tears.]

You need not apologize to me, carina. It is not really my outfit, anyway.

[Leonardo's smile turns just a little wry, then.]

Questing Country adapts your body to your idealized version of a hero... it is why some have become the opposite sex, grown taller, or appeared younger. Seeing as I already have the male form and the broad shoulders and the strength of my idealized hero, Questing Country gave me his clothes, instead. They are not quite the same, so they have some of my own personal flair... but they are exact copies of his in every other way.

[... he seems to know his idealized hero quite well indeed, to give such a description.]

[backwordscompatible]

[She didn't flinch when his sleeve brushed against her cheek. The gesture felt so natural, she never even considered the possibility.]

Who's your hero?

[The name was on the tip of her tongue; maybe if she heard him say it, it would trigger something in her memory.]