Clean Sweep Ch. 32 (DC Comics) (Patreon)

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

A/N: More intensive magical lessons begin~ 

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Mystery’s contemplation runs its course and in the end she focuses an intense gaze in Zatanna’s direction.

“Obviously I think you should focus on Cole’s magical training above all else.”

Zatanna chuckles ruefully.

“Yeah, I suppose I should have expected that.”

Rolling her eyes in response, Mystery crosses her arms over her chest.

“It’s not simply because I’m sleeping with him or anything like that. Yes, I’m biased… but just because I’m biased doesn’t mean I’m not right. Cole is quite literally the only thing holding back Raven’s father from destroying this world.”

That brings a frown to Zatanna’s face. She had tried to research this ‘Trigon’ fellow in her father’s library the other night (it was one of the reasons she hadn’t been getting enough sleep these past few days) but truth be told it had been a fruitless endeavor. There was barely any mention of a Demon Lord called Trigon in the numerous texts she had access to.

“Right, I remember something about that… can you elaborate?”

Giving her a careful look, Mystery hesitates for a moment before spilling the beans.

“Raven is a doorway. If allowed her father the Demon Lord Trigon will be able to use her to enter this universe. The one who attacked Cole and Raven today was also one of Trigon’s get… a son sent to retrieve his wayward sister. Cole is the only one holding all of that back. His magic blocks Trigon from interacting with Raven directly, keeping the Demon Lord out of her head and rendering him unable to influence her thoughts.”

Ah… that was somehow both more and less than Zatanna expected. One thing was certain though; it sounded like Cole did indeed need protection.

“That’s why Raven said that so long as Cole lived, the entire world remains free of her father’s wrath…”

Mystery nods sharply.

“He is literally the bulwark… the guardian at the gate. And Raven is that gate. Trigon’s sons and other agents will continue to come after Cole and Raven so long as both live. There’s no escaping that fact. Which is why it is in your and your planet’s best interest to ensure Cole is as well trained as possible… because he already has the power to protect himself. He just needs to learn how to use it.”

Well now… Zatanna smiles ruefully once more, though this time for an entirely different reason.

“You make a compelling argument, Mystery. Give a man a fish and he’ll be fed for a day… teach a man to fish and he’ll be fed for the rest of his life, no?”

Mystery grins back savagely.

“Precisely.”

After all, Mystery was right… if Cole and Raven were going to be hunted for the rest of their lives, it wasn’t enough to just… guard them twenty-four-seven. And Zatanna doubted they would go for that anyways. The House of Mystery was an excellent source of protection, but it also made it impossible to keep a constant eye on them.

Besides, the Justice League had other threats they needed to focus on. This Trigon fellow wasn’t the only one with designs on Earth so they couldn’t really put all of their eggs in one basket. However, by that same logic… the rest of the League would handle those other threats, that was the entire point of the organization. Zatanna, meanwhile, was uniquely suited to helping with this threat.

“Alright… I’m convinced. That said, if I’m going to do this… I’m going to do this right. And you are going to help me.”

Mystery blinks… and then smiles broadly.

“It would be my pleasure~”

Zatanna gives her a bit of side eye at this. Somehow she didn’t think that Mystery and Raven were going to stop being quite so horny any time soon. And that could prove a source of distraction for her pupil. But maybe there was a way to offset that issue… if she just leaned into it…

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Cole yawns and stretches, rubbing sleep from his eyes as he pads down the hall towards the kitchen with Raven at his back. They’d slept really well the night before… really well, in fact. Despite everything that had happened during the day, Raven and Mystery had been quite… focused on ensuring Cole forgot all about those troubles and instead experienced a deep sense of satisfaction as he’d fallen asleep.

Specifically, the three of them had fucked for at least two hours and by the time Cole had finally closed his eyes, he’d been satiated and tired enough that his sleep was completely and utterly dreamless.

All in all, he felt good this morning… ready to tackle this new day with about as much gusto as possible.

… Unfortunately, he’d forgotten one thing in his post-coitus, early morning haze. Namely, that Zatanna Zatara had stayed over last night.

As such, when he gets to the kitchen, lured in by the smell of Mystery’s delicious home cooking, Cole stops dead in his tracks and stares for a long moment. Zatanna is seated at the dining table, reading a newspaper and drinking a cup of coffee.

However, if he was just caught off guard by Zatanna’s presence, that would be one thing. He’d pause for a moment, go ‘oh yeah that’s right she stayed over’ and then continue on with his day. What keeps Cole frozen in place isn’t Zatanna’s mere presence in the kitchen… no, it’s what she’s wearing.

Gone is her signature costume, a cross between the classic stage magician’s tux and the stage assistant’s leotard and fishnets. In it’s place, Zatanna has changed into what Cole can only describe as the classic ‘sexy librarian’… or maybe ‘sexy professor’?.

She has on a pair of smart looking half inch heels along with dark gauze-like stockings to replace her fishnets. She also has on a black pencil skirt with a white button up blouse tucked into its waistband. And finally, she’s done her long black hair up into a professional looking bun and is wearing glasses of all things on the bridge of her nose.

Cole is pretty sure those spectacles don’t even have a function, especially given the way she looks over the top of them at him from where she’s sat. They’re just there to… complete the look.

“Ah, Cole. You’re finally awake. Good. Sit and eat up, will you? We’re going to be continuing our lesson from yesterday as soon as you’re done.”

There’s an authoritative tone to Zatanna’s voice that Cole feels was absent yesterday. Maybe it’s the look, but she just seems a bit more confident than she was when he and Raven had gone over to her mansion for his first magical lesson.

Cole wants to ask of course, he has like a dozen questions burning in the back of his throat as he stares at her… but in the end, he finds himself tongue tied. So he forces one foot in front of the other and moves to the table to sit down.

Before his ass is fully in the seat, Mystery has already placed a plate of breakfast in front of him, along with a glass of orange juice. The delicious smell has Cole digging in immediately, even as Raven also starts to eat right beside him.

Food, it turns out, is precisely what Cole needs because the more he eats the more the brain fog is cleared up and he’s able to concentrate on more than just how good Zatanna looks in stockings and a pencil skirt. Swallowing down his umpteenth bite, Cole looks to her curiously.

“So… does this mean you’re taking me up on my offer to hold our lessons here instead of your place?”

Zatanna just smirks, exchanging a glance with Mystery.

“… Indeed. Mystery and I have come to an… arrangement.”

When Mystery nods, looking as smug and pleased as Zatanna does, Cole can only blink in stupefaction. When had that even happened? Sometime this morning while he and Raven slept, he supposed? It wasn’t like Mystery needed to sleep and Zatanna was proving to be a very early riser.

Still, he would have thought it would have taken days of negotiations and a dedicated mediator to get Mystery and Zatanna on the same page. It had seemed clear to Cole that Mystery barely tolerated Zatanna and only because Zatanna wasn’t actually Constantine but merely involved with him.

… Well, it wasn’t like Cole was going to look a gift horse in the mouth or anything like that. Finishing his last few bites of breakfast, Cole shoots Zatanna a different type of hungry grin.

“Alright then… how do we start?”

Snapping her newspaper shut (where did she even get one?), Zatanna finishes her cup of coffee with one last gulp and then rises to her feet. Cole tries not to stare too much at her figure despite her clothes clearly being designed to invoke precisely that.

“This way, you two.”

He and Raven follow Zatanna out of the kitchen and down the hall and in mere moments class is back in session as they step into one of Mystery’s many rooms to find it converted into a proper lecture hall. Even better than the haphazard makeshift one that Zatanna had made up back at her place.

Sitting down with Raven at his side, Cole is ready and eager to learn, even as Zatanna moves to the front of the room.

“Now then, where were we?”

Cole blinks as Zatanna gives him an expectant look. She’s not just asking rhetorically… she’s involving him directly. Fortunately, it was only a day ago so…

“We were caught up in figuring out exactly what I am, ma’am. We learned that I was a Full-blooded Homo Magi but also that my magic is untrained and therefore instinctively blocking certain spells.”

The proud smile his recap receives makes Cole’s stomach flutter as Zatanna nods.

“That’s exactly right, Cole. Now that we’ve covered the many ways people can get their magic, I think it would be best to extend that lesson into the different kinds of magic.”

With that, she turns to the blackboard, incants a spell, and a piece of chalk rises in the air to begin to write for her. Turning back to them, Zatanna crosses her arms under her chest, lifting up her bust as she begins to speak.

Surprisingly, Cole finds it rather easy to focus on what Zatanna is saying despite how she’s dressed. She knows exactly how to make a lecture engaging and he’s soon hanging off of every word that leaves her mouth.

It makes sense that this second lesson would follow the first, because in the end the different types of magic were largely intertwined with the different kinds of magic users.

Homo Magi used innate bloodlines to utilize mystical energies of all sorts. Sorcerers and Ritualists tended to make pacts with other entities that granted them their power. Champions and Avatars of certain entities were granted power, usually by divine beings and allowed to channel that divinity, albeit for a cost. And finally there were those who were completely normal on their own but relied entirely on external magical objects, such as Flying Stag with the Manitou Stone.

“However, all of these forms of magic tend to hew in one of two directions, Cole. The overarching battle between two of this universe’s primordial forces… Order… and Chaos.”

Cole shudders at that, feeling something rush through his being at the way Zatanna says both words. His mouth opens but he finds his throat to be dry. Raven offers him a cup of water before he can even cough though, the half-demon beaming at him when he blinks at her.

Offering her an appreciative smile, Cole takes a long drink of water before looking back to Zatanna.

“How do you… know which side you’re on?”

Zatanna smiles indulgently and shakes her head.

“The thing is Cole, most people aren’t necessarily on either side. Not in the way you’re thinking anyways. Everyone tends to lean one way or another, but very few magical practitioners are completely Order or completely Chaos. And just because someone leans more Chaos than Order doesn’t mean they’re evil or need to be fought, necessarily.”

Her smile drops and she hesitates thoughtfully for a moment before continuing on.

“… For instance, there’s no denying that I lean more into Order than I do Chaos. I’m a member of the Justice League and I fight to stop pure anarchy from raging across our streets. However, I also do not support the tyranny of pure Order either… people deserve to make choices, they deserve to have free will.”

That… made sense, Cole supposed.

“And then on the flip side, you have someone like John Constantine. Your own personal feelings about him aside, he does mean well enough. He’s trying to help in his own way… but his own way does skew heavily in favor of Chaos. Still, he uses his magic largely for good, to keep things like the Hells from invading our world and conquering it.”

Pausing, Zatanna smiles again.

“I hope you can see from just those two examples that this isn’t so… black and white. Personally, I believe that Order and Chaos need each other to coexist. Order without Chaos is stagnation and the tyranny of boredom… but Chaos without any Order would be pure pandemonium.”

Slowly, reluctantly, Cole nods. Zatanna is a good teacher. She’s explained it all perfectly. It’s just that… well, something within him rebels against the thought that Order and Chaos need each other. He’s not sure why. Also he still doesn’t fully want to admit that John Constantine might not be so bad. The dude was an asshole.

“The only beings who truly take part in the overarching battle between Order and Chaos are their respective Lords. The Lords of Order and Lords of Chaos are effectively sworn enemies and will stop at nothing to try and defeat one another. A Lord of Order is what I confused you for at first after seeing the aftermath of your decisive victory over Chemo.”

Right… that all made sense. Cole lets out a breath he hadn’t even known he was holding and offers Zatanna a grateful smile.

“Thank you for explaining everything.”

Smiling right back, Zatanna snaps her fingers and the blackboard begins to clean itself off.

“Of course! Now then… shall we go and do a bit of practical training?”

Oh? Now that sounded interesting. Even Raven beside him perks up at the idea.

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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/1-D7oaB9TXFAWlnK7Jo3-h1qOymiNSZRyXtZo94P08vw/edit?tab=t.0