Fics I Read 2.0

Part 17.

The Tower of Fate.

As Jessica got dressed, I'd decided to send a text to John Constantine, since there was always a small chance he'd answer his messages for a change, and he wouldn't want me going off to meet with Lucifer on my own.

Not that I would be by myself, but he could guide me through my meeting. His presence would be helpful as all Jessica could do was offer me some moral support, even my powers would be nothing when compared to an archangel.

Rather unexpectedly John texted me back almost right away. This meant he was actually getting my messages and just choosing not to reply to them for some reason, or maybe I'd just caught him at a good time.

What mattered was that he'd promised to meet me alone, he didn't know Jessica was going, outside of the nightclub owned by Lucifer.

"Grab the trident" I read from my phone.

As in that broken trident in one of what I assumed to be some sort of trophy room or private museum.

I hoped that this meant John knew what it did and that it would come in handy during the meeting. Although knowing him it might be useful for whatever he was getting up to these days and have nothing to do with my important appointment.

I quickly grabbed the magical item and placed it in my pouch of holding before heading back to the entrance hall to wait for Jessica, who didn't take long to finish getting ready, before she joined me in the hall.

"Constantine will be waiting for us in front of the Lux," I told Power Girl.

I got the impression that she had been expecting me to say something else upon seeing her and because I am a man it took me a moment to realise what had changed.

"New top?" I asked.

Jeans were standard for her, but she didn't normally wear a blue top and this new piece of clothing showed off her breasts far more than was customary for her.

"New bra too," she said "Not white, my girls aren't so innocent anymore".

Good thing she didn't dress like this at the base or upon seeing her Wally would have a nosebleed worthy of an anime protagonist.

"Is it showing off too much?" she asked "It's a nightclub and I wanted to look good for you".

She looked great.

"You did a bang-up job," I told her "If I were willing to risk upsetting one of the most powerful beings in the universe by not going to meet him I'd take you upstairs and make more parts of you unsuited to wearing white".

But this wasn't the time to be thinking of such things.

"You can get to do that later" promised Jessica.

She was making it hard to focus, so I was glad when Constantine sent me another text, and then less so once I'd actually read it.

"We need to acknowledge our desire before meeting Lucifer" I informed Jessica.

Which made sense to me as I'd seen the show.

"What?" she asked "Why?".

Both were good questions.

"Lucifer can do something similar to my mind trick by asking you what your desires are, but his version is much more powerful" I explained "And as the devil he can use your desires to learn about you and to tempt you into making deals. He doesn't collect souls anymore, rather he likes having people in his debt".

Jessica gave the matter some thought.

"You know my desires, I just told you all about how I want a proper life, and I'm getting that" she said.

It wasn't her I was worried about.

"What about you?" Power Girl wondered "James, what do you want?".

This was something I'd been struggling with for a while and now I needed to make some sort of choice about what I would work towards.

"I'm going to become the Sorcerer Supreme" I decided

"I will become the most powerful magician in the world".

Even with the Celestial Grimoire that was not going to be easy. It could be years of work, but I figured that I could do it.

"Isn't that dangerous?" questioned Jessica "Not that our work is exactly safe".

It was, but this didn't worry me too much.

"Kent Nelson lived to be one hundred and six" I pointed out "And if anything comes up I can't handle that is what the Justice League is for. It's quite literally why the organisation exists. And as a last resort I have the Helmet of Fate".

I was leaving that special item here as even Nabu couldn't stand up to the fallen archangel and I didn't think taking something connected to a Lord of Order anywhere near the former ruler of Hell was a good idea.

"And you can call on the team if you need backup" promised Jessica.

She then frowned.

"Will you still be helping the team?" she wondered.

I had no intention of abandoning them.

"Offering support with mystical issues will be the main service I offer the League and it was the whole point of having me on the team in the first place" I said "So I'll be here if you need me".

Plenty of heroes have home lives, as well as jobs and they still manage to go off to save the world when are they needed. I just needed to balance going to college with any aid people needed while taking time to study magic. Not that much of a tall order.

"I'm not going to declare myself Sorcerer Supreme any time soon" I promised Jessica "That should make it safer for me. By the time anyone is ready to challenge me for the title I'll be prepared".

She seemed satisfied with that, so it was time to get going.

"We'll use the pathways to reach LA from here" I told Jessica "Moving around Earth is much safer than going to other realms and because this tower is a nexus point that means it is linked to many pathways. Put simply it will be like we are teleporting to LA rather than taking any kind of road".

Jessica didn't seem worried.

"Like the Zeta-Tubes," she said.

Not exactly.

"The Zeta-Tubes are part of a network and they don't go everywhere" I explained "The pathways do and since I know where we are going this won't take long. However, the pathways are more dangerous, so hold my hand and don't let go".

Jessica smiled at me.

"Golly, if my mother could see me now, holding hands with a boy" she joked while putting on a funny accent "You'll get me a bad reputation".

I ignored what must be an impersonation of some fictional character I knew nothing about and I transported us to LA. Moments later we appeared near Lux. It was also a mystical hotspot so it was quite easy to reach.

"James, Jessica!" a familiar voice called out.

Constantine was not hard to spot even in the crowd of people hanging around outside the nightclub. He waved us over and we crossed the street.

"Not one for the dress code," he remarked.

As it turned out this wasn't a place for casual dress. Everyone I could see was at least a little dressed up.

"It doesn't matter," I said, "I have an invite".

I doubted that the bouncer at the door would stop me from entering even if I only had a plus one invitation and there were three of us.

"We best not keep the big guy waiting" advised Constantine.

That would be wise so we made our way up to the door and ignored the line. I showed the letter I'd gotten to the man at the door and he waved us in, or nearly all of us.

"Not you Constantine" said the large man.

John smiled at the bouncer.

"Do we need to do this whole song and dance number again, Malphas?" John asked, "Gothic is my student. He doesn't go in without me and that means no meeting with your boss".

I suddenly realised that this bouncer might not be human, or at least there wasn't a human in the driver's seat.

"Fine," said Malphas "Just don't cause any trouble or I will throw your pasty British ass out of here".

Amusing as it would be to see John banish some demonic bouncer we were here for an important reason. So rather than have Constantine start something we all headed inside.

The club was not very busy despite the amount of people who were waiting to get in and aside from people talking the only source of noise I could detect was the man sitting at the piano. A man who looked exactly like the actor Tom Ellis.

"That's him over there," said Constantine.

While it might make sense to think of this version of Lucifer as the show version because of how he and Mazikeen appeared I knew well enough not to assume such things. After all, Jessica was this world's version of Galatea and she was certainly not an aged-up clone of Supergirl.

"He's just a guy" remarked Jessica "Shouldn't he have horns?".

Somehow had been watching too many cartoons.

"That's not his real face," Constantine told her.

We went to the bar and John ordered a drink for himself. Jessica and I had something soft.

"Come on, we'll grab a booth and wait for him to come to us" John was now saying "When he does let me do the talking".

That was fine by me, and it didn't take long for Lucifer to come over to join us. He did not seem happy to see John, but few people ever were.

"Constantine," he said with a frown, "I told Maze to make sure you weren't invited".

John seemed amused.

"Oh I wasn't at the tower when she arrived," he explained.

Lucifer soon turned his attention to me.

"So did Jonny boy tell you what to bring?" he asked.

I took out the trident. There was no point hiding it since if he wanted to take it could. I doubted even the tower could keep him out if he really wanted to get in.

"Oh this takes me back" said the devil as he picked up the trident.

Despite John's instructions, Power Girl spoke.

"What is it?" Jessica asked.

I'd been wondering about that as well.

"Back when I was still interested in running Hell there were a few demons who escaped. They tried to claim souls that weren't meant for Hell so I decided to make use of a few damned souls as bounty hunters" Lucifer explained "I created this trident to give one of those hunters the power to go up against some of the more nasty demons".

Then I could see why Kent had secured it in the tower. Anything created by an archangel would put my magical items to shame.

"It has the power to summon hellfire, banish demons and make gateways between this world and Hell, or rather it did" we were told "The trident was damaged and lost. I couldn't have something this powerful of mine lose here on Earth, and I meant to reclaim it, but by the time I'd settled here Kent Nelson was beyond caring about anything I had to offer in trade in order to get it back".

Jessica had something else to enquire about.

"If it is yours why are you trading for it?" she wondered.

She seemed very interested in what Lucifer had to say. Too much so, and then I recalled what kind of effect he can have on most women. I needed to get out of here as soon as possible. Before she fell totally under his spell.

"I made the trident, but I gave it to someone as a gift" the Devil explained "You can't repossess a gift and it was given freely to Kent Nelson who passed everything in the tower to your boyfriend. So the trident belongs to him".

Lucifer was known for honouring his deals and for telling the truth so I had no reason to think he was lying to me.

"So what are you offering?" asked John.

Lucifer passed something to me. It was a card that claimed that it would get a person out of Hell for Free. Like in the Monopoly game only this was hell, not jail.

"You're not the ruler of Hell these days" pointed out John.

Somehow I didn't think it would matter. He was still the Devil after all, and if he said this card would keep you out of hell then it would do that.

"I made it back when I was still the king" said Lucifer "It's valid. If you have that on you when you die then all the armies of hell couldn't drag you into damnation. That doesn't mean you'll get into the Silver City, but they'll be no Hell for you".

This was a really big deal.

"What's the Silver City" Jessica whispered to me.

"Heaven" I whispered back.

There was no way I would refuse this deal.

"I accept your terms," I said.

No sense dragging this out.

"Then we are done" said Lucifer "I look forward to seeing you again, James Nelson".

The fact that he knew my new civilian identity didn't shock me at all. What did was when he kissed Jessica's hand and she ended up with a stupid grin on her face.

"John" Lucifer said with a serious expression on his face "The card won't work if you steal it. Only James can give it to someone else".

As the owner of this club left I turned to Constantine and I did my best to ignore what Jessica had to say.

"He didn't ask me about my desires" she complained.

They were rather easy to guess.

"John, did you sell your soul?" I asked.

He at least had the decency to look ashamed.

"Three times" he said "But don't worry about me. I always get out of trouble".

I forced the card into the front pocked of his jacket.

"Lose it and I will lock you up in the tower" I promised.

He might be a crap teacher, but he was my mentor, and no demon was dragging him off to hell. My attachment aside I'd rather have John around because he did come in handy once in a while and I still had lots to learn. Not that the practical concerns were what motivated me.

"Don't waste it on me" he insisted.

I waved my hand.

"I'm immortal and there are no claims on my soul" I stated "You need it".

Neither of us spoke more on the matter as we didn't need to. Instead, we left the club and went our separate ways.

"James, take me to your place and do something nasty to me" Jessica requested.

One quick trip through the pathways later and we were back in the tower. Since I was the owner I could enter directly.

"Somehow I doubt you'll be thinking of me," I said to Jessica.

She smiled at me.

"Then you should make me think about you" she challenged.

I'm sure I could do that. I slapped her ass, which hurt my hand more than anything else, and I sent her to my room. Much to her delight.

"I'll be with you in a moment" I promised her.

My book needed my attention.

200cp

+200cp

400cp

I decided to do something I'd not done before and bank the points since I wanted to try for some more powerful stuff. I couldn't know if I'd get more valuable perks if I saved some cp, but it seemed worth trying given how often I was given a chance to roll.

Chances to do so had been quite frequent recently, and I'd rather focus on Jessica than anything else this evening.

Celestial Grimoire.

Part 18.

Casino. Las Vegas.

One of the advantages to staying under the thumb of the Justice League was access to stuff like really good fake IDs. The kind of fakes that could fool even the best casinos into thinking you should be here.

Aside from the IDs bank accounts could be set up for those fake identities to draw upon when the League and their allies were going undercover. Not that this was undercover work per se.

These resources meant that I was enjoying my time in Vegas, and it made me chuckle to think that while the rest of the team was off on some mission I'd spent the last few hours just wandering around a few of the glitzy casinos,

While they worked I got to enjoy, the slot machines, the live performances and all the other distractions this city offered for its visitors. There were plenty of them.

I would have gone with the team, but I'd been taken off active duty so that I could finish moving into the tower and take time to process Kent Nelson's death. Which apparently required more time than I'd already been given.

Knowing the man as I did I felt sure he'd want to live my life rather than stay in his tower while feeling depressed, or at least that was an impression I'd gotten from him.

Another reason to go off on my home was because Jessica was coming on too strongly for me, and I figured that some time apart would be a good thing. That way if she had an actual interest in me she'd wait and if she just wanted to hook up with someone, well there were other people around.

As a matter of fact, this city was one of the places that I'd wanted to visit ever since I'd started my new life, as in my old one I never had the means to travel so far. Now that I could I would make the time to take advantage of the fact.

Despite appearances, I wasn't here just to have fun. I'd come here partly to meet with Giovanni Zatara a magician, a member of the Justice League, and the father of much more well-known Zatanna.

Zatara was a middle-aged man with green eyes and a prominent black moustache that made me think he was an intelligent and serious man. The few times I'd seen him I'd taken note of his formal attire, something that I was wearing in order to blend in.

It felt strange not to be wearing my dragonhide jacket and to have my magical item out in the open, but this was the kind of crowd that required men to have a certain standard of dress.

Although I made sure to keep my rings on in case anything bad happened, and my pouch of holding with all my other stuff was on my person. I wasn't going to lower my guard too much.

I knew that the League and my team wouldn't approve of me coming to this city, however, since I would be busy come September I wanted to have some fun now and there was no harm in doing so while trying to get a meeting with Zatara.

To me, it made sense to seek out some of the other magic-users in this world, the more friendly ones at least, and to introduce myself, to let them know that I was around if they needed me.

If I could get some of my mentor's time I'd ask him to introduce me to Jason Blood in case I ever needed to work with him or his scary other half on some matter involving demons.

While my mind wandered I found myself coming across a curtained-off area that had two large men standing guard before a velvet rope. Clearly, it was a VIP area open only to the wealthy, and normally that would exclude me, but now things were different.

I was a little startled when both of the guards tensed up at my approach, I was wearing expensive new clothing so I should have looked to them to be another high roller, yet their actions suggested that they saw me as a possible threat.

"Hey, guys. How's it going?" I said with my most charming of smiles.

So far no one was committing any acts of violence, which was good as I badly wanted to see what was behind the curtains.

"I'm sorry sir, but this area is for high rollers and special guests of the casino only," one of the guards stated "Please go about your business".

With little effort I could have gotten past these guys, they were hired muscle, not metahumans and as such I could Jedi Mind Trick them if I needed to or blast with magic if I was inclined.

"How much money does it take to be a high roller?" I questioned.

I had plenty of money, enough to keep comfortable for a very long time, as long as I didn't go crazy and waste it all. There were ways to refill my coffers as well.

Not that I would use magic to cheat at the games of chance to increase my wealth even if that was tempting because Kent had warned me about using magic to directly profit.

It can bite you in the butt, and while my powers might not allow for that to happen due to their strange nature, it wasn't worth risking when I had plenty of money.

"You need to be willing to convert at least fifty thousand dollars into chips in order to play the games here sir, that would make a gold member," the slightly smaller of the two guards informed me "Either that or you need permission from the manager".

While fifty thousand was a lot of money. It wasn't as if I had to actually spend it all and could afford to lose some. The Tower was full of stuff that the different hosts for Nabu must have collected over the years and I'd already made on profitable deal for an item that I had inherited.

"I'd like to make a fifty thousand dollar deposit," I told the guard.

My thinking was that they would have a special cashier for such high rollers. You couldn't move that kind of money around with an ATM card.

"Certainly sir, please follow me" the second guard stated with a totally different tone while unclipping the velvet rope "Right this way".

I followed the smaller guard through the curtained doorway and into a gold and marble-filled area. The room looked like an attempt to recreate a Roman palace. They even had fountains and a lot of greenery in the middle, to make it look like a courtyard I figured.

Also, I noted the private bodyguards of some of the players, and the hint of cigar smoke in the air. I could hear the sounds of muffled conversations as the dealers announced the winners or losers.

Then I walked past a roulette table where several older men in expensive suits were playing and enjoying the company of some very much younger ladies. Well-paid escorts I didn't doubt.

A short and rather attractive young woman with blonde hair kept in a ponytail, stood behind the cashier's desk, which unlike the others in the casino was not protected by bars or bulletproof class.

"How may I help you, sir?" she questioned.

I couldn't help but smile at her, she was pretty in a way that wouldn't get her onto the big screen, but she was a regular cutie.

"Hi" I greeted "I'd like to deposit some money and get some chips".

Transferring large sums of money didn't turn out to be as complex as I had imagined. This made sense because why would the casino want you to struggle to lose your money?

"Here you go sir, fifty thousand dollars in chips" the cashier told me as I was given my chips "Have a nice day".

There was a lot of plastic in front of me so I was about to ask for something to carry it in, only there was no need.

"I'll take care of that for you, sir," the guard said.

The tough guy in the suit loaded all my chips into a special case that he then locked with a key the cashier gave him.

"Enjoy," he said when he passed me the case.

I looked around for a table that had a spare seat and I found one with just an attractive-looking woman sitting at a table all alone.

She was much more exotic-looking than the gold diggers around here, and she had a touch of sophistication about her. It was plain to see from the way she sat and sipped at her drink.

"Is this seat taken?" I asked her once I was at the table.

She gestured to the seat and I took that as an

invitation.

"So what's the game?" was my next question.

I hoped it wasn't poker I'd never been much good at that game.

"We are playing Blackjack" she replied "Mr...?"

I gave the name on my current Fake ID. I kept my real first name when using fake cards as James was a normal sounding enough that didn't attract attention, and it went well with many different surnames.

"Talia" she introduced "Talia al Ghul".

I was pretty sure that I failed to keep my face neutral when I heard that name, but Miss Ghul didn't seem to be paying me much attention so it was possible she didn't notice my reaction.

Still, I considered leaving however decided that doing that would be too suspicious, so instead of running away, I got some chips out and got ready to play. It would be smarter to play a little and then wander off.

Some part of me was urging me to run as this woman scared me much more than even the devil himself. Another part said to stick around to see what happened and to try to find out what the daughter of the Demon's Head was doing in a casino.

"It's your turn," Miss al Ghul said.

My inner monologue had taken longer than I had imagined, and there was only the two of us playing so I was holding up the game.

"Hit me," I told the dealer.

I didn't notice the card I had been given or the one I already had.

"Oh Bruce" I then heard Talia al Ghul say "Over here".

There could only be one Bruce she could be calling out to, and if was here then something was going on, and I was sure that I didn't want to be involved even if they were here as lovers rather than enemies.

That was when the final empty seat at the table became occupied by one of the people I wanted to avoid even more than a member of the al Ghul family.

Lex flipping Luthor was now sitting down right next to me. I'd seen him on the news enough to recognize him on sight.

Now I knew the universe was having a joke at my expense, and I just had to get out of this casino. Lex Luthor and Tali al Ghul were not people who I wanted to see my face. Batman was someone I'd rather avoid unless it was mission-related.

As I walked away, somewhat slowly but still with urgency, I realised that I had done something wrong.

"Damn it" I muttered.

I was steps away from the cashier when someone called for me.

"Excuse me!" a male voice shouted.

That was when I realised that I'd foolishly left my case of chips behind at the table and that Bruce Wayne was coming over to me with it.

"You forgot this," he then said.

I had a feeling that he was going to take me aside and berate me for getting in the way of some undercover operation he was on.

Only he never got the chance as something else got our attention.

"This is a robbery!" someone suddenly yelled

I forgot about the case and turned to see the source of the noise. I got there just in time to see someone indiscriminately firing into the ceiling with a weapon that was not a normal gun.

The security guards, who had dived behind slot machines for cover, something I'd joined them in doing, pulled out their weapons in an effort to get a clear shot at the members of the criminal group that was attacking. However, their bullets had little effect on the bad guys who all wore armour.

"Intergang" I realised.

This was no ordinary criminal group. Intergang had access to advanced, possibly alien tech, and they weren't above slaughtering people to get what they wanted. I'd read about them while researching the crooks of this world, and I didn't doubt that they were why Batman was here.

What connection they had to Lex Luthor and Miss Ghul I hadn't a clue, and I decided not to stick around long enough to find out. There were other places I could go. Places where people wouldn't shoot at me.

Perhaps I should have done something that would result in me exposing that I wasn't exactly a regular Joe, but before long Batman turned up and I figured that I had for sure wandered into one of his undercover operations and that it would best to get out of his way as quickly as possible.

I grabbed my cash of chips and headed out of the casino, intending to come back and change them later once things had cooled down here. Whatever was going with Intergang it wasn't my business.

For now, it seemed wise to seek out Giovanni Zatara who was performing at another casino so that I could make my introductions before getting the heck out of this city.

"What a messed up universe" I muttered to myself.

Zatara wasn't hard to find and after greasing a few pockets and using my Mind Trick I was knocking on the door of his dressing room. When the well-dressed man opened his door he was surprised to see me.

"James, can I help you?" he asked.

This was not going as I had imagined. I'd just intended to stroll in here and let Zatara know that I was taking my new role seriously. He might need my help one day or access to the Tower of Fate.

"Yes, Mr Zatara I just wanted a quick word," I answered.

I got the impression that he wasn't alone and that I wandered into some sort of League operation.

"Sorry," he said before he closed the door "This isn't a good time".

Had I just walked in on a League operation or was I just having a bad day? I decided not to endure it any further and to return home. I'd worry about my chips some other time, it was time to get out of here.

With that in mind, I went to my hotel room, which I'd paid for in advance, and grabbed what little that I didn't keep hidden in my pouch of holding. This was when I felt the urge to look into my book.

400cp

+300cp

700cp

Might as well roll. Maybe I'd get something that would make me feel better about this disaster of a day. I was not disappointed and suddenly the disaster of this vacation no longer seemed to matter.

-400cp

300cp

The Triforce of Courage

You have been blessed by Farore, one of the three Goddesses and the creator of life.

In addition to the great bravery that you now possess- which allows you to fearlessly face terrifying monsters- you are also at the peak of physical fitness for your race and are naturally talented with weapons and adventuring tools, mastering the basic techniques as soon as you pick them up and learning the more advanced skills very quickly.

As a bonus, you can take the form of a wolf at will, and you can resist body or mind-altering magics much more easily than before.

Finally, you possess one-third of the legendary Triforce- an omnipotent power left behind by the goddesses after they created the world.

Although its power is greatly diminished on its own, bringing all three pieces of the Triforce together will grant you unimaginable power.

Rather than give me a magical item I felt the power of the Triforce of Courage fill my body and a new strength full me. It wasn't a physical boost it was more spiritual and mental.

Then a burn feeling as a mark appeared on my arm. I suddenly understood that I had only one-third of the complete Triforce and that it was possible to get more. If the Grimoire gave me all three parts then what would I become?

I knew that in there if one is able to get all three then they are granted one wish, and there was something about having a balanced heart.

To have a balanced heart you do not need to be good or evil. You simply must have a balance of wisdom, courage, and power. Was that something I could ever achieve?

What would I wish for if that was how the Triforce would end up working for me? Something to ponder later as it might never happen.

For now, it was time to take the pathways to a location more relaxing. Maybe a nice beach where I could sit and read. Somewhere with girls in bikinis and that served fruity drinks.

Although knowing my luck I'd run into a sea monster or something like that. Maybe some Altantians as well just to make it a bit more stressful for me.

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