A Natural Progression | Shazam

Chapter 37

- - -

"I can explain."

- - -

It took longer than he'd expected to explain everything the Wizard had told him about Circe, but by the time he'd finished, Billy was fairly certain they got the gist of it. 

He'd been put back on the medical bed while he talked, Alfred looking over the marks and checking him for any kind of injuries.

"The Wizard said that I had to remove these runes if I wanted to cut Circe's magical ties with the land and send her back into exile," Billy explained, thumbing the edge of the shirt Alfred had fetched him.

"So we just have to find a way to do that, and we're home free," Dick said with a grin.

"Well..." Billy trailed off, getting a roll of the eyes and a groan from Damien.

"Magic...it's always something."

Billy couldn't help the touch of color that bloomed on his cheeks as he reached up to rub the back of his neck. "I uh- I can actually get them off already. I'm magic's protector, so I- my magic is really strong. The Wizard said I had the power to take these runes off..." he bit his lip.

Trust. He needed to trust them.

"...but?" Jason asked, raising a brow.

"...but it would tear my soul to shreds if I didn't have it anchored to the world of the living."

Bruce let out a sigh, bringing a hand up to his face to rub it tiredly. "Okay. So what do we have to do?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. "How do we tie your soul to this world?"

Billy blinked- he hadn't actually expected them to offer any help, but he probably should have. "I- uh... I don't know. Maybe an artifact could do it? Something with a strong enough magical signature to it that I could, I- I dunno, tie a theoretical string to,' he explained, glancing down at his legs in thought. 

"John might have a spell that could enchant something... with his signature as a part of it, I might be able to pass by the-"

The 10-year-old realized he was muttering to himself and stopped, glancing up and around the group. "Sorry. I uh- I think that John could really help us with this. He's way better at figuring out magical solutions than I am."

"Well, sounds like I got perfect timin' then," a voice said, causing the boy to light up and whip his head towards its source.

John was standing in a portal, thick spellbook under one arm with the other in a sling. He stepped through the portal and glanced around at the collected Waynes before looking at the kid. "There's a whole slew of magical artifacts in the House that could be used to tie your soul to this plane."

A small smile graced Billy's face. "Now come on," the blonde turned his attention towards the rest of them. "We could use all the help we could get."

The 10-yeara-old lit up light a Christmas tree, sliding off the bed excitedly. "Come on, the House of Mystery has got to have something useful," he said, grabbing hold of Jason's hand as it was closest to him, and tugging him towards the portal.

"Whoa, hold on, who in the what now?" Jason asked, glancing back at his father as the group began to make their way towards the glowing entrance.

"The House of Mystery. A temporal pocket that exists outside of time. A cursed house that's constantly moving," Bruce supplied, following Billy as he tugged Jason through the portal after John.