Titans Resistance #21

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[starlord]

Titans: The Resistance
Issue #21: "The Ways of Magic" Pt. 1
Written by: Jay McIntyre
Cover by: Steven C. Cely
Variant Covers by: Brian Typhair, Joe Ngari, and Jonathan Biermann
Edited by: Brian Burchette

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I never did believe in miracles.
But I've a feelin' it's time to try.
I never did believe in the ways of magic.
But I'm beginnin' to wonder why.

--You Make Lovin Fun, Fleetwood Mac

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“That's the thing with magic. You've got to know it's still here, all around us, or it just stays invisible for you.”

Charles de Lint

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--1—

He sat before his scrying pool in a place that was not, properly speaking, on Earth. It was his sanctum, his private realm. Around him was a large room linked with books, alcoves and various paintings. There were nine walls in this main chamber, forming a room of odd shape whose pattern was seemingly random, but in truth was not. One long corridor had several doors attached to it leading to smaller rooms, and ended with a tall, mirror-like portal to elsewhere, glowing with power in various colors. Scattered about on several tables were various vials of liquids, and the occasional stopper bottle with ingredients inside that any medieval witch would have recognized.

But of course, magic had not stopped in the middle ages. It had just gotten....quieter.

He smiled to himself.

He stared into the pool and saw things few others could see. Other worlds and other times not least of them. But it was his own world that concerned him now.

“Crow,” he called softly, and the black-robed girl materialized beside him in a puff of teleportation.

“Yes, Deriven?” she asked softly, in her echoing voice.

“We will have guests soon. If they listen to reason, as I suspect they will, we will need to travel to the Seelie Court. Contact the Changeling. Make ready all the other necessary preparations.”
She smiled, bowed, and teleported away.

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--2—

The Titans stood on the deck of the Sweet Lilli, surrounding Ravager. Staring into the air. Or more properly speaking, what was in the air. A strange blue-green magical distortion of energy that defied any rational analysis by Green Lantern's ring.

“You can see why I called you guys to look at this thing,” Ravager said. Her pirate fleet had several island holdings throughout the world, and this...distortion....had appeared in the air near one of them.

“Perhaps we should ask the Themyscrians,” Anarky mused. He seemed more relaxed and happy than the others had ever seen him; almost in awe over what they'd found. “After all, magic is bred in their bones. Perhaps they know something of this.”

“It cannot possibly be magic,” Supergirl said flatly. “Everything has a rational explanation. Nothing is inexplicable; some things are merely unexplained. Yet.”

“What is Clarke's third law?” Robin asked mildly.

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,” Terra quoted.

“And the McCoy-Challender corollary?” Robin prompted.

“Any sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology,” Green Lantern replied.
“Impossible,” Supergirl shook her head.

“Supergirl, I've been from one end of the galaxy to the other and I've seen a lot of strange stuff,” Lantern said. “But I've never seen anything like this, and my ring can't find any rational explanation for it. And magic would be as good an explanation for several elements of the Green Lantern Corps' history as any.”

Supergirl did not argue the point; she knew the ring-bearer had seen more of the Universe than she had, as she had come directly from Krypton to Earth. But she did think she had researched more, studied more. Seen more raw data. “There is a rational explanation,” she said confidently. We will find it.”

“I don't know why this is even a question,” Argent said. “Of course magic is real. You think even our powers have scientific explanation?”

“Of course they do,” Supergirl said impatiently, knowing that to be true of her own powers.

“There are more things in heaven than earth...” Anarky began.

Ravager cut him off. “Okay, enough pretentious quotes for one day,” she said, which drew laughs from everyone except Supergirl. “Can we explore this thing, or not? I don't want to risk any of my crew on it. Especially after the battle for Themyscria.”

“It's a conduit to somewhere, I can promise you that much,” Lantern said. “Whether it's safe...” he shrugged.

“I will go,” Supergirl said. “In addition to wanting to find the truth of this, I am also perhaps best suited to withstand whatever dangers there are, at least physically.”

“I'll go with you,” Lantern said.

“Come back as soon as you can, if it's safe,” Terra said. “And if it isn't, well....come back sooner!”

More laughter, this time strained with nerves. In the back of his mind, Robin wondered if this wasn't a distraction from the business of fighting the Markovians.

First Supergirl, then Lantern floated into the distortion and disappeared. They sunk into it slowly, then vanished from sight.

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--3—

For a moment Lantern felt a sense of disorientation, then he was falling. Both of them were.

They landed with a hard but not painful thump on what felt like plush carpet.

“These are the guests you expected?” a sharp precise voice asked, with an uncertain accent.

“Some of them,” a calm, smooth voice answered. “Give them a moment.”

“Queen Evey will want news,” the sharp voice insisted.

Green Lantern shook his head and sat up slowly. The ride had been....a little bumpy, but he wasn't too disoriented. Across from him, Supergirl was already sitting up, looking around.

Standing over them was a red haired man in blue robes with piercing green eyes; and a short man, little more than a boy, really, by face and features. Except for the eyes....they were very, very old. There was also the fact that he had green skin and hair, and slightly pointed ears, as though he had walked out of the works of Tolkien.

“Greetings,” said the blue-robed man. “I am Deriven, the Mage of Fate. I have been expecting you, and the others of your group.” He gestured to the green-skinned boy/man. “This is the Changeling, emissary of the Fae Court.”

Green Lantern tensed up. “And what sort of purpose do you have in bringing us here?”

“Bringing you?” Deriven looked surprised. “We invited you, ring-bearer. You and your team of heroes. The time has come for magic to return to the Earth. Your liberation of Themyscria was one of the signs that the time was now. We have much to discuss.”

Supergirl shook her head. “Magic is impossible,” she insisted.

The Changeling snorted. “Foolish mortals, we are wasting our time....”

Deriven held up a hand to silence him, then addressed Supergirl. “Your people once knew magic, Kryptonian. Long, long ago. They never denied the truth of it; they simply chose a different path. This you know in your heart.”

For a moment, Supergirl seemed flummoxed, but then she became somewhat disdainful, and said “A heart is, amongst humans, a means for pumping blood plasma. The Kryptonian organ is--”

“It is the location of your chakra, the source of your life of energy, and the organizational principle behind your powers under a yellow sun,” Deriven interrupted. “But we can debate metaphysics later. This was not meant to be a confrontation, either physical nor verbal.” He stood to his full height and spread his hands. “Bring the rest of your fellow Titans through, please. There is much to discuss. I can use your help, and in turn I can help you.”

“And if we refuse?” Lantern said, ring glowing bright.

Deriven's face showed a momentary glimpse of surprise, then he slumped a little. “Then you will have missed a grand opportunity for a new ally in your war against the Markovians, and the reintegration of magic into your world will be slower and much more difficult. The choice, ultimately, is yours.”

Lantern powered down his ring and frowned thoughtfully. Definitely not the sort of answer he had been expecting from this enigma. He was certain they would experience a fight. Perhaps he was doing that too much.

“You description of energy manipulation as 'magic' is illogical and fruitless,” Supergirl said, “But your offer of aid is appreciated. We shall go to the others and ask them their views on the matter.”

Deriven sighed and bowed his head. “I can ask no more than that, at least to begin with.”

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--4—

Supergirl and Lantern came back through the portal, and were floating over the Sweet Lilli where it lay at anchor. The other Titans and the pirate crew looked up at them anxiously.

“Well?” Terra asked.

“A guy on the other side. Claims to be a mage--” Lantern began.

“Claims being the operative word,” Supergirl interrupted.

“Um, yeah. Anyhow, he says he wants our help.”

Robin and Terra looked at each other. Terra raised an eyebrow, Robin shrugged.

“Let's go then,” Ravager said.

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[centere]--5—[/center]

There were chairs in Deriven's sanctum/laboratory, against some of the odd-angled walls of the room, but none of them were occupied. At the mage's bidding, they had sat on the (admittedly rather comfortable) plush carpeted floor. Deriven sat with them. The Changeling scowled and came and went as the mood suited him, through the portal down one long winding hallway.

The lair was an odd mixture of the spars and the luxurious. Deriven evidently liked his creature comforts, but he liked them simple and unobtrusive. No luxury, just comfort. Scattered around were tables with laboratory equipment and spell components, which led to Supergirl further insisting that he was a scientist, and not a magician. Deriven tolerated this assertion with a rolling of his eyes.

There was, properly speaking, no “outside”. Deriven had explained this was his pocket dimension, his sanctuary, as it had been for all the aspects of Fate before him.

“There have always been aspects of Fate,” Deriven explained, “As far back as there has been living memory. And that is longer than human memory, mind; the Kryptonian will agree with me on that much, at least.”

“Of course,” Supergirl nodded.

“For many generations of human aspects of Fate, the incumbent was called “Doctor” Fate and wore a helm that protected and guided his or her powers.” Deriven nodded to a golden helm sitting on a library shelf along one wall. “The Markovian conquest changed all that, pushing the balance of magical power from Order to Chaos.”

“I would've thought....well....that the Empire was a force for order,” Terra said, “Albeit an evil and ruthless one. Not that I'm defending it, you understand,” she added hastily.

Deriven smiled at her the way one would at a favored pupil. “Yes, I understand, princess. We are discussing Order and Chaos at a fundamentally different level then you are visualizing. You are thinking in terms of mundane human politics. I speak of Order on the metaphysical level; the organizing principles of life as you know it. Even the most libertarian or anarchist soul.” he nodded to Anarky, “cherishes that sort of order; indeed you take it for granted. Without it, the Chaotic monstrous forms of life are....well they're hard to describe. The human author Lovecraft comes closest, though even he got many vital details wrong.”

“Now it sounds like you're talking about religion,” said Anarky, sounding a sour note for the first time in this affair. Until this point, he had been willing to take the believer's viewpoint against Supergirl's rational skepticism; but religion was entirely another matter for him.

Deriven gave another professorial smile. “I am not preaching worship, nor spreading rules of behavior, my young Anarchist. You will come to see, in time.”

“You said you needed our help,” Robin broke in.

“Ahem, yes. As I said before, the Markovian conquest shifted things towards Chaos, and most magic as you understand it was forced to flee the Earth, and elsewhere, hence the majority of Supergirl's disbelief. Amongst other things. But the forming your group, and the liberation of Themyscria particularly, began to shift the balance back once more. But it is not a simple matter of simply restoring spell-craft to the world en masse. The disruptions would be massive. Rather, it should be a gradual process. The beginning of which would be for me to accompany you back to the world.”

“So you are a missionary of sorts, after all,” Anarky said.

Deriven sighed. “I had not expected any of you to be so against me, let alone two of you. I am not preaching rules of behavior; I am simply allowing people to find knowledge previously hidden. After all, is not one of your concerns that knowledge should be free?”

Anarky grunted.

“I am not against you in the way you mean,” Supergirl said. “Clearly there are scientific energy manipulations that you have access too that would be beneficial. But it is not magic; because there is no such thing.”

“You will see,” Deriven said, unperturbed by her declaration, which even the other Titans thought was beginning to be something of a hard sell.”

“But it's not that simple, is it?” Green Lantern said. “If it was, you would have just come to us to begin with. Rather than having us come through that....thing.”

Deriven nodded. “Yes. Chaos still has the upper hand, at the moment. You've met the Changeling,” he nodded to the half-Sid he who was even now wandering the room and muttering irritably to himself,” And you will soon meet another ally of mine, the Crow. Her sire was, for lack of a better word, one of the personifications of Chaos, and he is one of those that oppose us now.”

Robin stared. “You want us to face a...a Demon Lord?”

“For lack of a better term, yes. And hopefully we would not be facing him directly, just his agents and minions. And certainly you would not face him without all the help I could give you, the Changeling not least of said help.”

The Changeling snorted irritably and continued his pacing. “To save our own lands, aye.”

“For someone who says that magic has been away from our world for so long, you seem to know a lot about us through your....” Ravager waved an uncertain hand. “....divinations.”

Deriven blew out a sigh. “It is difficult to see the world now, yes. Even further difficult to breach a portal there. That is part of the reason I let you come to me, rather than the reverse.” He paused. “You can, of course, say no.”

Robin turned and looked at the others. “Conference,” he said.

The others gathered with him in one corner.

“I can listen in--” the Changeling began.

Deriven waved a hand. “Let them make their own decision without interference, or even surveillance. They must choose.”

The Changeling snorted, and Deriven let out a shaky breath.

This was a lot harder than he thought it was going to be.

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--6—

“I haven't ever heard someone talk so much since I last wasted my time listening to a politician,” Anarky said. “I thought I would have to rename him Basil Exposition.”

Ravager chuckled. “He's not much older than us. I don't think he's been the 'Mage of Fate' or whatever for very long. He's covering his nerves with talk.”

“You think he's lying?” Argent asked.

Ravager shook her head. “I didn't say that. But I think he's talking to cover his own nerves. He's like us; he's new to this. He needs us, he admitted that much. He's smooth, polished, I'll give him that. But he's also scared out of his wits. If we don't help him, he's screwed.”

“Agreed, but can he be trusted?” Robin asked. “That's the key question, to my mind.”

Ravager shrugged.

“We all asked that question of one another when we started this,” Terra said. “Now we ask it again, of him.”

“Only one way to find out,” Argent said.

“I'm surprised you haven't spoken more against him,” Robin said, turning to Supergirl.

“I'm against his terminology and his embrace of superstition over science,” Supergirl answered. “I'm against the ludicrousness of him calling everything 'magic' when it isn't. But I think no ill of him as a sentient being. He's just clinging to foolish thoughts and ways of expressing things. There are far worse faults than that.”

“I admit to being wary,” Lantern said. “I admit to expecting a fight from him. But if he is for real, he might be able to tell us things....to tell the Green Lantern Corps things, too. I really want to talk to Alan about this.”

“I don't understand why it's even a question,” Argent said. “I knew he could be trusted from the first moment.”

“So we're agreed to at least give him a chance, then?” Robin asked.

Nods all around.

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--6—

“I haven't ever heard someone talk so much since I last wasted my time listening to a politician,” Anarky said. “I thought I would have to rename him Basil Exposition.”

Ravager chuckled. “He's not much older than us. I don't think he's been the 'Mage of Fate' or whatever for very long. He's covering his nerves with talk.”

“You think he's lying?” Argent asked.

Ravager shook her head. “I didn't say that. But I think he's talking to cover his own nerves. He's like us; he's new to this. He needs us, he admitted that much. He's smooth, polished, I'll give him that. But he's also scared out of his wits. If we don't help him, he's screwed.”

“Agreed, but can he be trusted?” Robin asked. “That's the key question, to my mind.”

Ravager shrugged.

“We all asked that question of one another when we started this,” Terra said. “Now we ask it again, of him.”

“Only one way to find out,” Argent said.

“I'm surprised you haven't spoken more against him,” Robin said, turning to Supergirl.

“I'm against his terminology and his embrace of superstition over science,” Supergirl answered. “I'm against the ludicrousness of him calling everything 'magic' when it isn't. But I think no ill of him as a sentient being. He's just clinging to foolish thoughts and ways of expressing things. There are far worse faults than that.”

“I admit to being wary,” Lantern said. “I admit to expecting a fight from him. But if he is for real, he might be able to tell us things....to tell the Green Lantern Corps things, too. I really want to talk to Alan about this.”

“I don't understand why it's even a question,” Argent said. “I knew he could be trusted from the first moment.”

“So we're agreed to at least give him a chance, then?” Robin asked.

Nods all around.

--7—

“We tentatively accept your terms,” Robin said.

Deriven smiled and bowed.

“I have one question though,” Green Lantern said. “More logistical than anything else. Why, when we came through your gateway, didn't we arrive via your portal?” He pointed to the glowing mirror down the twisting hallway, which they were somehow able to see clearly despite its relative distance and the odd angles and turns of the hall.

“Because gateways to Earth are still difficult, though not as much as they once were. I have to make one from scratch, which means the arrival is as rough-hewn as the departure.” Deriven gestured to the portal. “Fortunately, we can use the portal properly for this journey, because it is not to Earth. It is rather to the realm of the Changeling's people. And perhaps after we arrive there, the Kryptonian, at least, will understand the truth of what I say.”

“Travel to an alternate universe does not involve magic,” Supergirl said, as though speaking to a child.

Deriven rolled his eyes. “As you will. Crow?”

A short, plump girl in black robes materialized in a puff of black smoke. “Are we ready?” she asked.

“We are. Let us begin.” Together with Changeling, Deriven and Crow stepped into the portal and disappeared.

“An alternate world,” Terra breathed. “Never did I think we would travel so far.”

“That Crow chick gives me the creeps,” Ravager complained.

“Given that her father is one of the bad guys, that’s hardly surprising,” Anarky said.

Ravager started, then look sad, then shook it off. “Right, whatever, let's go then.”

One by one, they stepped through the portal......

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To be continued!