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Chapter 31 - Delve Into The Unknown

(General P.O.V)

Caitlin was afraid. Not for her well being mind you but just generally afraid. She had finally looked at the information Jin had sent over to her and to say it was a heavy load was an understatement. Wells was actually an evil speedster from the future who had come back to the past to kill Barry? Then he had been stranded in the past after killing Barry's mother instead? To ensure that Barry would still become the flash he had taken over the Walls persona and instigated the particle accelerator explosion just to create the flash? She wasn't dumb enough to actually take anything Jin said at face value but after a little investigation everything seemed... obvious after looking closely. 

So what in the fucking hell? Caitlin rarely swore but after finding out that info… even though she hadn't completely believed it, it had been enough to send her on a drinking spree. Good thing she called in sick the next day. Jin's packet of information had also warned her that Wells might have cameras at her place and the others to study their movements.

She'd of course checked and confirmed their existence, leaving her creeped out and disgusted. At least he hadn't put any in her bathroom. She didn't take them down though, not wanting to give Wells any idea that she knew about his lies. She would have to bide her time. Jin left this information in her hands because he trusted in her ability to use it well. The team was caught up in trying to deal with Captain Cold so hopefully Wells would be too focused on that to track her movements. She looked at the address again. It was an abandoned warehouse out in the docks. Hopefully she'd find more answers. Answers on how to beat a speedster from the future. 

(Jin's P.O.V)

Turns out the conservatory had a fully stocked kitchen. Everything was perfectly preserved by magic. The staple food for Antlanteans seemed to be…yes you guessed it sea-food. Luckily there was a variety of vegetables and even frozen meat, that I didn't get sick of eating the same stuff every day. Yes, I had been here for a week already. Grand Master Zoren had restricted us from roaming outside of the conservatory and that had annoyed Yuki and I. Especially me. I could still feel something reaching out to me. Pulsing with power each time my heart pumped. I had already figured out the direction it came from. The palace. Once I told Grand Master Zoren that, he'd looked at me mockingly and said, "You still don't learn. Your destiny does not lie with the trident of Poseidon. Continue pursuing this foolish endeavor and you shall tighten the chains holding you more. Now leave me be, foolish acolyte, I have preparations to make."

I had been stunned in place for too long as I soon found myself hauled out of the tower.

"Gah. Crazy old man."

I muttered under my breath while Yuki laughed at me.

"Come here!"

I grabbed her and started tickling her.

"That's what you get for laughing at me."

She was helplessly trying to get away while laughing uncontrollably. I finally let go of her and sighed in impatience. Zoren was still preparing for the operation to enable me to use runes. I had asked what his motivation was for helping me and he had shrugged and said, " Nothing else to do."

"Hey Yuki. Let's go to the library, there's still a lot of things I still want to read on."

She cutely nodded and flew to sit on my shoulder. I started walking towards the library while thinking. I hadn't hesitated to devour the knowledge of magic in the library. The whole building was set up to 3 floors. The floors were divided into the acolyte section, practioner section and the master section. The first floor stretched out for hundreds of meters all around and contained high bookshelves loaded with books about magic. 

Incidentally the first floor was also the only floor we were allowed into. The knowledge contained in the acolyte section alone was enough to turn a freshly minted acolyte into a sorcerer of great might. The knowledge on branches of magic was divided into 6 main disciplines. They were Elemental magic, Psionic magic, Rune magic, nature magic, Alchemy and spiritual magic. The displines were further split into smaller sections. An example of which would be, illusion magic being a part of spiritual magic. Telekinesis and telepathy being part of psionic magic.  Healing and curse banishment being a fusion of nature magic and spiritual magic. 

Elemental magic was pretty much straight forward. It was the manipulation of the elements. Every awakened mage could use any of the elements to varying degrees of mastery but everyone was partial to mostly one element. Most Atlanteans were better suited for the water element and it's advanced forms like cryokinesis and mist manipulation. Some also possessed the lightning element. Yuki had been diligently studying on how to add healing properties to her water manipulation. The divine water had a restorative effect on me because of my unique biology. Yuki was trying to learn healing to help Logan and others if they were injured. What a kind hearted gal. Luckily, although she was born of divinity, her power over all forms of water granted her the ability to do anything with it. Anything, within the scope of her element of course. So the studying was mostly referencing the material to add more to her skill-set. 

In this universe it was hard for demigods or legacies, those descended from divine parents to learn magic, if their divine parents didn't posses a magic domain then magic was exceptionally difficult for them to awaken. The trade off however was stronger bodies overall and inherent abilities related to their godly parent. The inherent abilities could be passed down through generations. That's how the king of Atlantis ruled over the seas. The trident of Poseidon was a powerful artifact, passed down the lineage of the royal family, who were legacies of Poseidon himself. Even without it, the direct heir to the throne and the king could command the ocean in a scale only lower to Yuki and I. With the trident however, I don't know how i would match up. Yuki was a beast.

Rune magic was the most versatile discipline but also the most volatile. That was because, sorcerers had adopted the use of runes in almost everything. In this universe magic didn't seem to have a rocky relationship with technology. But it it also wasn't easy to combine the two. For such a thing to be possible, a rune Grand Master would be needed. To achieve such a high level of rune mastery however was almost impossible. Or so Grand Master Zoren told me.

Back to rune magic, it's use was predominantly through the inscription of magical crests. Used in their raw form Atlantean runes would grow unstable after a duration of time. So the past generations of sorcerers had come up with a way to perfect the process of rune creation.  Magical crests were runes inscribed in a stable formation that smoothed out the transfer of mystical energy smoothly. To ensure that the formation wouldn't deteriorate over time, they used a wondrous metal with the ability to suck natural magic and convert it into the power needed for the continued up keep of the formation! They had effectively figured out clean and potentially endless energy.

The metal in question could conduct magic like none other. It's name was Orichalcum. Another alternative to powering magical crests would be mithril but it wasn't as efficient as Orichalcum. In the writings, Orichalcum wasn't merely a gold alloy but the metal itself was blessed by Hecate the goddess of magic so you could understand just how powerful it really was. The metal would be turned into it's liquid form through transmutation and then inscribed through a magical pen like artifact called a Cursive Tip. 

The one inscribing the runes needed to have steady hands and an eye for detail. Magic couldn't be used to control the Cursive Tip because it would mess up with the amount of magic imbued in the crest. Atlantean runes had one rune for each of the letters of the alphabet and an additional 3 runes for ch, sh and th. The runes were drawn in a flowing font. The Cursive Tip had inlaid enchantments that could enlargen the rune formation in the crest or make it small depending on ones wishes.

Crests were powerful and Atlantean magic was widely understimated. In the Young Justice universe, Aqualad primarily channeled his magic through the tattoos on his shoulders and hands. Something told me that those tattoos were a magical crest to increase his capacity and smoothly control his hydrokinetic and electrokinetic abilities. Of course that was all but speculation on my part. I didn't have proof or anything like that.

The library contained a lot, as I said before in the Acolyte section. I made my way to the rune part because I finally had an inkling of what Grand Master Zoren wanted to do. The operation to enable me to use rune magic was going to be risky, yes. But it was also going to let me branch out. Endless possibilities awaited me and they all began with me going the extra mile. I had so many things to do and a lot of people were counting on me. Alfred, Logan and Yuki. I couldn't stop now. I didn't want to stop now. 

Luckily, all wasn't lost, the bare-bones of a plan were already forming inside my head. A plan that would utilize all my meta Knowledge. Not only the knowledge on the Arrowverse but other universes as well. It wasn't the best plan but it would ensure that nobody would control me again. And the universe had just opened the first door for me. 

It was time to Delve into the unknown. Magic.