9th April 2013
13:48 GMT +3
John is looking unduly pleased with himself, and I'm not scanning Daphne because there are Some Things Man Was Not Meant To Know. She's either pregnant with the spawn of a Lord of Order/Lord of Chaos and a Constantine, or she's not. And if she is, we-. Themyscira's not a bad place for a magically inclined person to grow up, and if she wants to get into magic Atlantis should be back by then.
Or John could just stick her in the Tower of Fate.
"So what exactly did you
do? And also, 'why'?
"
John pulls a cigarette out of nowhere, lights it with a crimson crackle and then inserts the filter end in his mouth.
"Severance."
"Which means..?
"
"The Tower of Fate, most of it is space that's cut off from the Earth, you know? You can come in through the door, but if you don't-."
"I went in through the Dream, I do remember.
"
"So the beach is a boundary line. I traced it, then cut the island off from the world. Anti-Life didn't even know we were here."
"And you couldn't reverse it
why?
"
He raises his left eyebrow slightly. "Because we're cut off, aren't we? No doorway between here and Earth. Nothing to connect back to."
"You couldn't connect back to the Tower?
"
He winces. "Doesn't sound like the best idea, mate. Not until I go though the whole place and find out what else is stuck in there. Does us no good if I crash this place into some old demon's binding cell."
"
Yes." Mala nods definitively. "You will put this island back where you found it."
"Except I
can't, can I?" John shrugs. "Nothing's changed. So-."
"Can't you use my tattoos?
"
He pauses, looking thoughtful.
"Don't
think so, mate. I know what Earth's magic field
looks like; that's not the problem. I need an active connection to slot the island back in, and while you're here, all you're connected to is this place."
"What can do the job?
"
"Your ring got a map of exactly where the island was before I moved it?"
"Barring tiny changes in the structure of the ocean plate, yes.
"
"Alright, give me a ball of mercury. Two feet-"
"How old are you?
"
"-across." He gives me a mildly amused look. "Metres are
French. From The Terror. Like those stupid months they invented that no one used. I'd rather use the original-."
"And the post code system that deliberately didn't use existing regions in order to undermine regional identity. That doesn't change the fact that-.
"
Mala grasps our shoulders roughly. "Please focus on
doing something clever, rather than
sounding clever."
I fabricate the requested sphere of mercury, and John raises his hands. Flickers of gold and crimson light dart around and through the orb-.
"Have you got the hang of it, then?
"
"No. Just got the hang of throttling the power without bursting anything. It's… Temporary. Probably only works because we're isolated."
"Do you have an actual solution?
"
"Yes."
…
"I'd like a little more than that, John.
"
"Just copying Marvel's wizard, really. Find someone else to take most of the strain. One for Order and another for Chaos. Do a synchronicity walk when I get back, see who I run into. You need some sand."
I remove the construct I have holding up the mercury ball, and runes light up on its outside as John's magic takes the strain. Then I fly-. Ah,
just above the tree tops because I don't know how much 'up' John took with him and I'm not sure what happens if I fly into it here.
Probably nothing much, but it would be a stupid risk to take. The sand is a ritual component, so the best thing to do is take a little from the entire shoreline.
Shouldn't need to put every grain back in the exact place… My general knowledge of magic suggests that the spell should send them to the right place itself, followed shortly afterwards by the island. The whole point of this sort of spell is that it's
simple.
And that if John was actually capable of handling his full power he wouldn't need to bother with these steps. He could literally just reach through either the realm of order or the realm of chaos to get his connection, then fling the island back into place.
Ring, check my working?
Spell appears functional.
Yes. But like using a power ring, it's not just a matter of 'can this be done in theory, if yes, I can do it'. You need to marshal the energy and shape it into the key that turns the universe. I'm glad that John's being realistic about what he can do, even if it would be
really convenient if he could spontaneously learn to simultaneously juggle fireballs and waterballs in opposite directions using only his feet.
Vacuum construct and
fly. Just need a little, after all. And then hopefully John will be able to help work out what happened to Atlantis, and… And I told the Caliph that I'd take Jade to visit. Breaking that agreement -even if it was an informal, time permitting agreement- seems like a bad idea. And…
And go back to jumping on whatever emergencies raise their heads.
The lack of effective government means that we're in perfect 'easier to beg forgiveness than ask permission' territory, but there isn't really anything that I want permission to
do.
For a chaos-worshipper, I sure like order.
"Hah!
"
I shut down the vacuum and fly back towards John. Yes, that's how it works, the ole yin yang thing. Without order, there's no chaos. There's just a mess. And while Eris might personally be fine with it…
Must remember to ask her.
John-. The mercury doesn't look like mercury any more. Or like a ball. Reminds me a little of a video I watched on VidULike of someone
pouring molten metal into an ant colony. Runes… No, he's beyond anything I can understand with a simple visual analysis.
"Right." John closes his hands, and the thingy floats under its bound spells. "I've set this up to go along with you just about anywhere. 'Elle can send you to your girl, you fly back to Earth, put that where the middle of the island should go and then sprinkle the sand around. In that order."
"Fly to Earth, put the magical ansible into place, spread the sand around. Anything I need to do to turn it on?
"
"No."
"Alright.
" I fabricate a resilient combat spacesuit for myself, then add a couple of force field generators just in case.
"Ready.
"
Do not make us think of you in the heat of passion...
