Chapter Text
“That's it?” Hal threw his hands up, exasperated, “Your sending us to a place called ‘The Rock Of Eternity, ’ a place you specifically said treats time and physics like suggestions with nothing more than a ‘Find Marvel?’” Zatanna shot him a glare.
“I would like to second that.” Barry stated, raising his hand and catching the rest of their attention. “how exactly does this help us? I mean, I get we are already concern about whats going on with his kids- trust me, but how exactly do you expect us to be able to help with this magic mambo jumbo? Last I checked, your expertise was not mine.” Zatanna opened her mouth to speak but was cut off but Constantine who looked every bit as unhappy to be there as ever.
“Listen Mate, the rock of eternity is magic. Pure, raw magic and that all swell and shit except for when its not. Any of us going there is a recipe for a bloody fucked up shitstorm.”
“What he mean to say” Zatanna interrupts, “Is that the rock has protections in place to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands. Especially against magic users. John is walking with no entry if for no reason other than his previous dealings with devils and demons. Dr.Fate is lord of order and as such operates in a different dominion and can't enter either, which incidentally is also why I cant enter. I have too many strong ties to the lord of order.” She sighs. “Etrigan is a demon, and Deadman is well… a ghost, another conflict of interest as he technically should belong to a separate realm entirely, and while Raven is strong and knowledge, she is only half mortal, due to her father. She cant got either.”
“What can we expect going in?” Batman questioned.
“The Rock of Eternity is the epicenter of magic. The heart of magic itself. If The rock falls so does magic, and everything that magic is doing and supporting, so my advice? Don't expect anything, because magic will be everything. Physics may be more suggestions than laws where you end up. Its eternity though so don't expect time to move the way your used to either.”
“So expect anything and everything and time is gunna be weird. Thats all you got?” Hal huffed. “How are we supposed to find him? Comb through literally centuries?” Hals face dropped. “Please don't tell me we have to search through time.”
“I wish i could tell you more about what to expect,” Zatanna apologized before taking a steading breath. “The only thing I can tell you is to be careful. Magic, especially powerful magic, always comes at a price. Don't make any deals if you can help it. Start looking in Fawcett, see if you can find a way into the rock.”
“Any recommendations on where to look? Fawcett isn't a tiny town and none of us even know what we are looking for.”
“Gates, Doors, Bridge, buses Trains, Subways….” John take a drag of his cigarette, any liminal space is free game.”
“Liminal spaces?” Hal muttered, mouthing the word to himself, before Barry elbowed him.
“They are places of transition, the veil between realms will be thinner in those places.” Zatanna explained. “They wont have other people in them, the protection wards often have that as I side effect. You’ll be looking for empty schoolhouses that should be full. An empty hotel hall way, A main road somehow completely devoid of people. Empty buses, that kind of thing.”
“Into the backrooms we go.” Barry muttered and Hal turned to look at him in horror.
“Oh no.”
“Flash, Lantern, Focus.” Batman warned. “We have work to do. Flash can search the hotels, and schools. Superman, bridges, abandoned buildings, buses. Lantern, search for empty roads, or alley ways. See if you can spot anything from the sky. I’ll be checking the trains and subways.”
“We should stick together; if we spot a way in we don't know how long it will remain,” Superman suggested. Batman turned toward Zatanna, who nodded in agreement.
“Fine.” Batman growled out.
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That much was certain: Fawcett was a strange city. It had always been strange, but somehow, it seemed more off now than it did before. Each lamppost was built of thick, glossed-over iron. Several yards had full flower beds despite the fact it was almost October. The undersides of bridges were clean. There was no graffiti or peculiar markings. The entire situation set Hal's teeth on edge and the hair on the back of Superman's neck seemed to stand on end yet… they were no closer to finding a way into the Rock of Eternity. Long corridors of sickly yellowed hotel hallways brought nothing- except anxiety to Barry, who loudly announced that if he died like in a horror movie he was going to be very upset. The quiet of an unused airport, which when did Fawcett have an airport?
According to batmans research, Fawcett has had an airport as long as Gothem, though almost no flights seem to land there, or even remember it most of the time. Superman disliked the empty mall the most of all of the places they had explored so far. The wide empty halls without a door or window in sight left him feeling oddly unsettled. He knew he need only to activate his x-ray vision to set past the walls but there was that strange feeling that somehow, the sun itself went missing and the world suddenly shifted on its axis, (for however briefly) before everything resumed again.
It was Batman who suggested the abandoned subways. Apparently, there was an entire network of them built in the roaring 20’s that slowly seemed to just fall into disrepair.