Clean Sweep Ch. 26 (DC Comics) (Patreon)

(Every character depicted in the story below is a consenting legal adult over the age of 18)

A/N: Ending the first lesson with Zatanna on a good note~

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Cole sighs. Ultimately, his personal feelings about the man aside, it sounded as though Constantine wasn’t the evil to end all evils. He certainly couldn’t in good conscience blame Zatanna for associating with the other magic user, not if that association had helped to save lives on who knew how many occasions.

Giving his magic mentor a smile, Cole shakes his head.

“I do think it’s best if we end things here for today. But I’m also not going to cut all ties with you over one bad interaction with your ally. I’d be happy to keep learning from you, Zatanna.”

The gorgeous female magician doesn’t even bother hiding her relief at that, her shoulders slumping as she returns his smile with one of her own.

“I’m glad to hear that, Cole. You’re powerful… more powerful than you even realize I think. But power without tutelage and training is like a sword without a hilt.”

Cole nods, finding it easy enough to agree with that idea. Admittedly, his own magic had not steered him wrong yet. He’d had no issues using it so far. However, he could also acknowledge that so far he’d really just been playing everything by ear and doing what felt right. And while that had worked out so far, there was no telling what the future would hold. Even if his first lesson with Zatanna had been cut off early, he’d already been pretty interested in the things she’d been telling him.

That said…

“Perhaps our next lesson can be held at my place instead of yours.”

Zatanna blinks, her eyes darting to Mystery. The blonde just smirks and crosses her arms over her chest, arching a brow. There’s clearly some hesitance on Zatanna’s part as she considers Cole’s suggestion.

“I… perhaps. There are certain benefits to holding our lessons in Shadowcrest. It makes things a lot easier for me when I’m teaching you.”

When Cole mimics Mystery with a raised brow of his own, Zatanna quickly backtracks.

“… But it shouldn’t be too hard to gather most of the things I need and pay you a house visit. I just… need to get everything ready.”

Cole just hums and nods… before flashing Zatanna one last smile to show there are no hard feelings either way.

“Well, whatever works out in the end. I just hope our next lessons doesn’t get interrupted, wherever we end up holding it. I really do enjoy learning from you, Zatanna.”

A faint flush spreads across Zatanna’s cheeks and she puffs her chest out a bit, holding her head high.

“I’m glad to hear it! And that was just the start too. Not to worry, next time will be even more amazing!”

Heh, Cole has to wonder if she can truly back up those words or if she’s just trying to sound awesome. Either way…

“Well, we’ll see you later then, I suppose.”

Realizing that they’re standing outside of Cole’s home and ending things here for the day, Zatanna blinks and slowly nods.

“Oh… yes, of course. Goodbye for now, you three.”

With that, Zatanna returns to Shadowcrest. Cole watches her go for a moment and not just because he enjoys watching her leave. Finally though she disappears from view and he steps back into the House of Mystery with Raven on his heels. The door has barely closed before someone speaks up, but to Cole’s surprise it’s not him nor Mystery. Rather…

“She would look good on her knees before you, Master.”

Whipping around, Cole stares at Raven in disbelief. Where the hell had that come from?! Raven has a light flush on her face, but doesn’t shrink away from his shocked gaze. Meanwhile, Mystery definitely isn’t helping.

“Well, you’re not wrong about that. Say what you will about that one, she does rock that outfit of hers. But she’d rock a collar and leash even better… if the right hand was holding it.”

Cole sighs and reaches up to rub the bridge of his nose with his fingers.

“You two… are both way too horny. Not that I mind it mind you, but honestly… Zatanna Zatara definitely doesn’t see me like that. And I highly doubt she’s some secret submissive desperate to be dominated by ‘the right man’.”

Raven just makes a noise in the back of her throat. Mystery, on the other hand…

“Heh, you’d be surprised.”

Immediately, mental images fill Cole’s brain that make him want to retch. He gives Mystery a betrayed look that causes her to lift her hands in surrender, though her grin remains intact.

“Oh, no… I wasn’t talking about her and Constantine engaging in that kind of thing while they were together. And yet… I don’t think you should give up on taming your sexy magic tutor just yet, Master. She might surprise you with her… hidden depths.”

If he didn’t know how happy it made Raven, Cole would re-revoke both of their rights to call him ‘Master’ here and now. Because obviously it was putting some really strange thoughts in their heads! In the end though, he just shakes his head some more.

“I’m not planning on taming anyone. You two perverts are more than enough for me as is. I definitely don’t need to add someone like Zatanna to the menu.”

Mystery just giggles while Raven pouts. Cole looks between the two of them, sensing the trouble that they’re going to get him in at some point in the future. He doesn’t know what form that trouble will take, only that it will almost certainly be troublesome. It’ll also probably be Mystery’s fault because for all that she’s a half-demon, Raven is also an innocent cinnamon roll who can do no wrong.

For now though… he just sighs and shakes his head.

“What am I going to do with you two, honestly?”

A sudden glint appears in Mystery’s eye.

“Well… would you look at the time. Hm, you know, since your lesson with Zatara ended early, there’s still some time to kill before lunch. I’m sure we could think of a few ways to do so~”

Cole gives Mystery a deadpan stare at that, but Raven is already descending to her knees in front of him. With a sigh, he just puts a hand on the back of his half-demon familiar’s head as she gets to work down there.

These two really were going to be the death of him… but maybe if he ‘fed’ them both enough, they wouldn’t get him into nearly as much trouble with others. He just had to keep them satiated… and how hard could that be?

-x-X-x-

A few hours later, having had his fill of Raven, Mystery, AND Mystery’s home cooking, Cole and Raven depart from Mystery’s front door once more. There’s still a lot of daylight in the day after all, and after what had happened that morning… well, Cole had learned the value of putting all of his eggs in one basket.

“You both be careful now, alright? Any sign of trouble, don’t hesitate to run to me. I’ll keep you safe~”

Smiling softly, Cole gives Mystery a nod.

“Don’t worry. We’ll play this cautiously. Still, you agree with us that we shouldn’t be relying entirely on Zatanna Zatara at this point.”

Mystery nods decisively.

“Yep. She’s probably a good source of knowledge, but if you were going to completely saddle your horse to her wagon, you might as well have made it an official apprenticeship. Since you haven’t, there’s no reason not to try and expand your horizons elsewhere at the same time, now is there?”

Damn straight. Cole liked Zatanna, really he did… but he also didn’t fully trust her. Not that he thought she had bad intentions, but he knew he couldn’t possibly be her main priority. She was a member of the Justice League after all!

And that was fine. He would be his own main priority. With him and Raven firmly back on proper Earth outside of Mystery’s wonky dimensional boundaries, Cole nods to Raven.

“Go ahead, Raven. Let’s see what you can find.”

It was the same thing they’d done to find their money, in the end. A scrying spell. Except this time, rather than scrying for abandoned wealth, Cole was having Raven scry for abandoned magic. Risky? Maybe a little bit, but they were going in with both eyes open. Cole knew it might be dangerous, but he felt the benefits outweighed the risks.

After a moment of Raven’s eyes glowing black, she slowly nods.

“I feel something, Master. That way.”

She points and Cole looks over only to feel foolish a moment later. Of course he wasn’t going to see anything, whatever she was feeling was probably pretty far away. Still, it was good to know the scrying had worked. Or rather, specifically it hadn’t pinged off of Mystery or anything. She wasn’t abandoned to be fair, but Cole had still been a little worried.

“Alright, let’s head over. Mystery, we’ll see you soon.”

“I’ll get started on dinner~”

Despite having just eaten lunch, Cole unconsciously licks his lips. Honestly, the only food that was even comparable to Mystery’s cooking was Rafael’s breakfast sandwiches. Otherwise, every meal she’d made so far had blown anything Cole had ever eaten out of the water.

“… We’ll be there.”

Smirking as if she can read his mind, Mystery gives him a wink and closes the door… though not before also swishing her dress enough to show a trickle of something white running down her inner thigh, something he had left inside of her.

Cole huffs at his lewd house’s behavior before letting Raven take him by the hand and Shadow Travel them closer to their destination. They come out in a dark, empty alley a moment later and from there step out into the street… where Raven refuses to let go of his hand, intertwining her fingers with his and squeezing tightly.

He could have told her to let go and she would have done it, but Cole isn’t that black hearted. He can tell how much she enjoys holding hands with him. Regardless, they walk for a little while longer, about a block… before arriving at a small antique shop. Cole can’t help but get a little excited as they do. Aside from an old cozy bookstore, this was basically exactly what he was hoping for.

The bookstore would have been number one on his wish list, if only because the ‘abandoned magic’ would have been in the form of tomes, hopefully. And other forms of learning magic outside of Zatanna were high on his priorities.

But this was definitely the next best thing and as he and Raven step inside, Cole can’t help but have a bit of a pep in his step.

“Ah, welcome in!”

There’s a kindly old lady standing behind the counter of the store and Cole makes sure to give her a courteous smile and nod as they walk by. She doesn’t ask if she can help them with anything specific… this definitely isn’t that kind of store.

No, rather, it’s packed to the brim with all sorts of one of a kind items, shelves filled with weird looking lamps and knick-knacks galore. It’s a true antique shop, the kind of place with heart and soul to it.

Cole can’t quite help himself… as he and Raven disappear into the store, he reaches out and cleans what he can. This sort of place, it’s almost like he can feel the passion and love that went into it. Getting rid of the dust and saving the old lady’s back in the process only seemed right.

Of course, there’s just one minor issue… this is a store. By that logic, nothing in here should be abandoned, right? And yet, Raven’s scrying spell had brought them here anyways. Cole isn’t sure what to expect. The abandoned magic isn’t likely to be an item on a shelf here, since they all have places and prices associated with them.

Finally, they arrive at their destination all the way in the back of the store. Raven glances at Cole and then back at the large cabinet on the back wall. In turn, Cole steps forward, running his hands over the cabinet, furrowing his brow. He doesn’t… feel anything magical.

Slowly, he pulls open the cabinet’s refurbished glass doors, being as careful with them as possible. He studies the interior and once again finds nothing but an empty space with some empty shelves.

Hm… Cole’s eyes slide down to the ground, where there’s easily half a foot of darkness under the cabinet. Shrugging, he drops to his belly and looks under it. Or rather, he tries to look under the piece of furniture. It’s pitch black down there so in the end he has to take out his phone and use the flashlight to illuminate the space.

There, in the very back of the space, Cole sees the faintest glimmer of something against the wall. Something… abandoned? Luckily it’s not too far away for him to reach. He has to stretch, but eventually his hand closes around something that fits in the palm of his hand and he’s able to drag it back.

As he’s standing up and brushing himself off (while casting cleaning magic on himself, the floor, and his surroundings all at the same time) Cole looks over his find. It’s… a stone?

“What are you two doing back here, exactly?”

Before Cole can study the stone further, they’re interrupted by the owner. Which is fair, when two mysterious young people walk all the way to the back of your antique store with purpose in their stride, you’re bound to get suspicious.

Fortunately for Cole… he’s pretty damn wealthy at this point. So he gives the old lady as big a grin as possible and holds up the faintly humming stone.

“How much for this, ma’am?”

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A/N: Remember to Vote, leave a Like, and let me know what you think!

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Google Doc Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1v_VHXfygXkgTO2llpmfMHhgRSpq-1aPJTiH7HoYDVBk/edit?tab=t.0