Chapter 20 : A sister's thoughts

[Author note : New Iron Lad squib chapter. Also, in other news, I got Covid-19 this week... I didn't go to work but unfortunately, I spent most of my time sleeping. To me, the disease was kind of like a powerful cold or a flu, with symptoms piling up every few days... However, I don't know whether it's the meds or the disease, I'm soooo sleepy and when I wake up, I'm still feeling drowsy and stuff... Oh, and I feel pain in my back every now and then.

Anyway, except the scheduled stories, I haven't posted much this week.

If you're interested in my stories or want to encourage me, please check out my Patréon : https://www.patréon.com/user?u=66371596 (replace the é by a normal e) or look for Cathbel on their website

KoSP : 2 advanced chapters

The Squib who became Iron Lad... In DC : 3 advanced chapters

AoH : Prologue + 6 chapters (exclusive)

MoH : 8 chapters (Exclusive)

VOG : 6 chapters (exclusive)

Enjoy and please tell me what you think of it !]

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Susan was sitting in a theater, surrounded by hundreds of no-majs who had all come to watch Zatanna Zatara, daughter of the great Giovanni Zatara ! Susan knew him by name and her friend had told him about what he did for a living… Frankly, it baffled her sometimes how stupid the government's decisions were. Giovanni could openly use magic to entertain the masses and make money, but her brother couldn't sell his… techno-thingies to the no-majs because it risked exposing them ? Sure, most people thought it was just a magic show using illusions and special effects and the Wizard cast a weak confusion charm on the audience to make them more susceptible to the idea… And if people opened up her brother's machines, they'd no doubt figure out that they didn't follow the same logic as the ones they were building. Nevertheless, Susan thought it unfair and dumb !

So, now that she was sitting and waiting for her friend to walk on stage, she considered all this. Ned was under the constant threat of being discovered, his identity as Silver Lad exposed or figured out. Meanwhile, Giovanni, and now Zatanna were openly using magic and fighting demonic or other magical threats… And MACUSA wasn't bothering them. She was curious what they were doing different. The way she saw it, they must have been bribing the right persons in the Ministry.

Suddenly, smoke started billowing on stage and the lights in the room were put out, only leaving a few to illuminate the stage. And then, in a flash of light and purple smoke, her friend appeared (or rather apparated), bowing at the waist with her arms extended to the side and her hat in one hand. Instantly, applause rang out for the impressive appearance. Not wanting to stick out, Susan clapped her hand as well, a wry smile gracing her lips. She wondered why the hell she even invited her here… It's not like she wasn't aware that her 'magic' were not full of tricks like the rest of those 'magicians' : it lowered the appeal to know the mystery behind the magic. Perhaps it was the same for the illusionists ?

As the show started and Zatanna started conjuring birds and rodents on stage, Susan looked at her. More precisely, she paid careful attention to her outfit, the one she made for her. She also thought of the one she made for her brother…

« I always wanted to be a healer but… »

On the one hand, she wanted to help people, heal them. On the other, her passion and hobbies lied in fashion, drawing, designing and tailoring new clothes for herself and her close ones. She frowned in thought. Was her ambition enough to hold on studying for the half decade she'd have to apprentice in the hospital ? Or would she get discouraged ? Also, could she make a living of her passion ?

She nodded :

« Something to consider… I'll talk to mom and dad about it ! »

While she, along with the rest of the audience, continued to watch Zatanna's show, she continued to let her mind wander. She thought about her brother and his involvement in the No-Maj world. Unlike Zatanna and her father, whose bread-maker consisted solely of entertaining no-majs, Ned had other options. Sure, at first, he programmed or wrote software he sold to them, and then, with the help of their parents, he invested a sizable amount of money in what he called the stock market… It made him relatively wealthy. Nothing as rich as the British Malfoy, the French Flamel or even the American Green family… If anything, he barely registered on the radar for rich people. The fact that he blew most of his money on materials and equipments as he built his company didn't really help him…

So she could understand why he kept his ties with the no-maj world. But now ? Now, his company had taken off something fierce ! In the US, he had a firm foothold in pretty much every Wizarding family and even some first generation Witches and Wizards. Moreover, the government had an exclusive contract with him to provide phones for every employees… Apparently, they made it easier to get things properly done. From something as mundane as setting an alarm clock, to snapping pictures, shooting videos, taking notes or recording conversation, lessons and putting reminder or organize your calendar, the phones were good for a lot of things. Moreover, it allowed them to keep in contact with correspondents and liaisons in other countries ! And from what she could understand, Ned was gradually spreading his products and influence beyond the US border… He didn't really need to do business with the No-majs now. In fact, it was detrimental to him. Not only the conservative people, but also most of the government saw his continued contact with them as a threat to the Statute. According to Ned, it was just a result of bigotry and envy. As for why he continued to do business on this side of the world, she understood it too…

Ned was convinced that the Statute was coming to an end. In fact, before his address on the Wireless for all the Wizarding world to hear, their whole family regularly argued about it. Not in a toxic way where they tore at each others' throat or anything. More like a lively political debate… And although, at first, Ned was losing. He always came back for more, finding new examples, arguments and proof. It was safe to say that Ned had rehearsed his speech from the Wireless with them. And now… Well, they couldn't help but agree, even though they didn't want to.

From the holier than thou and superior attitude Wizarding kind had been raised to have toward No-majs, Susan and her parents had developed a newfound respect and fear : their opinions had changed. In fact, Ned had a theory that, because of magic and the fact that the Magical World had cut itself off from the no-majs', their society was stagnating. Their biggest achievements were either extremely old or they were copied or downright stolen from the No-majs… For example, the Hogwarts Express in the UK : stolen ! Portkeys had been invented in the 14th century… In fact, the Floo Network might be the most recent notable achievement which belonged solely to their society and Susan wasn't positive Wizards (or Witches) invented it. Could be goblin, hags or centaurs for all she knew… Merlin knew they liked to steal stuff !

« I'm going to need someone from the audience for my next magic trick ! » The voice of Zatanna said after another round of applause. But at this point, Susan was only distractedly paying attention to her friend.

She and her father also knew that their society was on the brink of exposure. In fact, according to Zatanna, Magic itself seemed to want to come out of its imposed isolations. Magical artifacts, lost for centuries, even millenias were starting to resurface, often landing in the hands of No-majs, and lost bloodlines were popping back up : demons, nephilims, angels and others… Faes and their kind, for example, had started to connect back with their dimensions. And Zatanna also talked about something called Gemworlds.

It was impressive how much ZeeZee and her father knew about magic and its History really… But also, extremely frightening as it added weight to Ned's theories and worries. It wasn't just the budding madness geniuses were often associated with now. It was real ! Or at least, it would be.

« You, there ! Yeah, the one who's lost in her thoughts ! Come on up here, please ! »

After she looked at her friend owlishly, pointing a finger at herself, she got up from her seat while swearing under her breath :

« Dammit, Zee ! »

Feeling the pressure of a hundred gazes, Susan made her way to the stage…

* * * * *

Ned looked at the immortal witch a few dozen feet away from him while considering his chances. They were slim and that was putting it mildly ! The truth was he was shit out of luck ! Not only had he drawn attention to himself, the witch in question seemed to have figured out his identity somehow. Either she was more observant than the entire Magical World (discounting Jacinth since she isn't really a part of it as far as he could tell), or she used magic… Divination, scrying, blood magic… He didn't know. The fact of the matter was, despite his genius and his understanding of magic, Ned lacked the systematic knowledge offered to every witches and wizards. What he learned and studied, he only did so in order to put it in practice on his armors. His fields of expertise were mostly enchanting and magical smithing… For the rest, it was comprised of a patchwork of knowledge from all subjects he could use or practice, either without assistance or with his armors.

As for Circe… Well, comparing their two knowledge was like comparing the size of the sun to a grain of sand. She had lived for a very long time ! Enough to earn herself the moniker of Goddess of Magic. She must have access to magic so old as to be considered primordial, or at least divine.

« To tell you the truth, Miss Circe, helping powerless people… » He gestured with his hand to her : « …Like you said, is more of a happy collateral. If I fight aliens, thugs, supremacist dumbasses and now, beautiful goddesses, it is to continue to forge and improve my armors, use them in situations where I'll have to draw their fullest potential or risk my death. That said, I do not consider myself powerless. » With a pause to allow the foci in his hands to build up a new spell involving light, he pointed them towards her and continued : « Even without it, I'm still a genius, a millionaire, building on becoming billionaire and a pioneer. Now… Will you please stand down ? »

The Goddess started to chuckle before it built up into a full blown laughter. Wiping a tear from her left eye, she looked at Ned and told him :

« You are confident, aren't you ? Child ? » She snapped her fingers and hundreds of daggers were conjured hovering in the air behind and around her. With a smile that didn't reach her eyes, she asked him : « Still confident ? »

With the armor on, his expression was unreadable, and it was only possible to tell what he was feeling by his body posture. When he froze, she knew he was rattled and inside his armor, Ned felt the cold sweat flow down his back.

It can't be… Ned thought. It must be an illusion. Or at least, part of it is. She can't conjure so many weapons otherwise… She'd be a One-Woman Army.

Inwardly, he shook his head and pumped himself up. This was an illusion. Not something to fear. And even if it wasn't, his armor would protect against those toothpicks !

So he started to fire at the same time the witch flicked one finger at him. The daggers flew at him fast, but his light beams were much faster and broader, shooting down a few at a time. However, the problem was that they needed some time to charge so he couldn't fire them consecutively.

Wonder Woman took the opportunity given to climb the steps with one powerful leap and dashed toward Circe to body check her. The next instant, she passed through her body that turned into mist. The witch's laughter resounded from above the two of them.

Ned was still shooting down and dodging the daggers when suddenly, Supergirl tried to shield the squib with her body. Instantly, Ned slammed his foot down on the ground, erecting a marble wall.

Supergirl looked at him inquisitively and he just said :

« Magic can hurt a Kryptonian ! »

He deactivated the hoverskates briefly to take to the air. After all, Circe's house wasn't exactly the cramped place they were designed for. In this case, the Silver Lad needed more mobility. As he prepared for the next round of battle, he sent a mental command to Mel.

« It'll take some time… » The tech spirit told him in his earpiece. « The witch has warded her house. »

« Alright. Do your best and we'll do the rest ! » Glancing at the blonde floating beside him, he instructed her : « Try to keep a distance if you can. Otherwise, avoid any sharp projectiles. Conjured weapons might work on your physiology… »

« Alright ! » The Kryptonian nodded.