The Shape of Things to Come

23

Vegas was fun. She'd caught Zatanna's ZZZ act, courtesy of one Bruce Wayne, and then used the backstage pass he'd given her to talk to the woman who was one of the most famous stage magicians and most powerful sorceresses in the world. The conversation had ended with Zatanna inscribing a handful of mystical glyphs onto Kara's soul, which was a rather weird process, but short of some sort of talisman, it was the only way the magics could be made permanent.

Most of the glyphs were simple yet powerful protection spells. A ward against lightning, a ward against sonic attacks, a specific ward against banshees, which had led to a couple of playful digs about Irish ex-girlfriends, which made Kara gag a little, which only made Zatanna laugh harder. Kara was pretty sure, from the speed with which Zatanna had performed the ritual, she'd done the protective glyph thing more than a few times before.

The glamour had taken a bit longer, and Zatanna has explained that it was entirely related to the need to make the glamour both dynamic, and permanent. Glamours were usually spells cast at need by the user. Zatanna had told her that normally, she would have simply taught the person asking to cast the glamour themselves since most humans were tuned in enough to mystical energies that they could manage simple glamour and charm work, even if they couldn't sling anything like a real spell.

The problem, she said, was that Kara's mystical connection was tapped into the Kryptonian magisphere. So, while it was a strong connection, strong enough that Kara could have slung some seriously heavy duty spell work, Zatanna didn't know anything about how to teach Kryptonian magic. That's why the full protection package had been necessary. Zatanna had branded the protection glyphs onto Kara's soul as a way to forge a connection to Earth's magisphere. That connection was weak, but it gave her enough power to trigger the glamour which Zatanna had imbedded within another glyph.

When Zatanna was done, Kara had marveled at the result. She could pick any color she wanted, just as long as she could picture it in her head and say the name backwards. Saying 'normal' backwards would cancel the glamour, returning her to her natural hair color. Then, Zatanna had dragged Kara out for a night on the town.

Kara was profoundly glad, when she arrived back in National City a little after 6:30 AM, that she didn't need sleep. She was also profoundly grateful alcohol didn't affect her, because if it had she was pretty sure she'd have done unspeakable things to Zatanna. The girl was beautiful and more than willing. Worse, Kara could see the kind of understanding in Zatanna's eyes that had attracted her to Sara. The kind of understanding that only came from loss. Even sober, she'd been hard to resist, and if Kara hadn't known her in the future and known the kind of relationship she might destroy before it could even start, she might have given in anyway. Instead, she'd spent the night playing the oblivious dork, a role which fit her rather well, and left Zatanna with a goodbye hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Then she'd flown home, taken a cold shower, and rushed out the door to Noonan's with a lovely head of auburn hair. Sally, her usual waitress, had barely recognized her at first, which was a good sign. Three sticky buns and two breakfast burritos later, she'd picked up Cat's latte and headed for the office.

---

"Wow," Winn said. "That's new."

Kara smiled as she sat down at her desk. "You like it?"

"Yeah, but, isn't it a bit risky? I mean, Supergirl's a blonde and you're a blonde. You become a redhead, and suddenly, so does the Girl of Steel?" he asked in a whisper.

"I can switch back and forth," she said.

"That's a wig?" he asked.

"No," Kara said. "I'll explain later, but I will tell you, my stylist was hot."