Lauriver Chronicles

Chapter 105

"When was the last time you actually talked to Richie?" Abby asked Constantine as they walked up to Richie's house.

"Not since it happened and from lack of trying. He hates me so much his whole place is warded to keep me out. The other reason I need you." Constantine said as Abby noticed all the warding symbols on Richie's house.

"Wow. Even I don't hate you that much. You'd think he'd let you in to help him find a cure for what you did to him." Abby said.

"I'm not proud of what happened back then and if I could go back and change things, I would. But I'm pretty sure that the last thing anyone needs is me buggering around the timeline." Constantine said.

"You're not wrong. You do enough damage to the present. We don't need to let you loose on other time periods or planets. Probably for the best that you'd never join the Justice League." Abby said.

"Not my cup of team that lot anyways. Next to no understanding of the mystic arts and I work better alone anyways." Constantine said.

"Yeah, though when you're alone, there's no one around to keep you from doing anything stupid. Maybe if you'd had help back in the day, Astra wouldn't be in hell right now." Abby said and Constantine chuckled.

"Is that your way of saying you miss this life? Because you're the one who walked away." Constantine said.

"And you know why I did. I couldn't stand to see the toll magic took on you. And now I have a nice stable life in Star City where I don't have to worry about people betraying me." Abby said.

"You're not still mad about Germany are you?" Constantine asked, before they came to stop in front of Richie's house.

"Okay, let's get rid of these wards." Abby said as she placed her hand on the closest warding symbol and simply concentrated on it to erase it, causing a chain reaction that removed the others, though keeping the anti demon warding in place.

"You've got to tell me how you're able to do that without even uttering a word." Constantine said, since he'd Abby pull off some feats of magic that no other homo magi could pull off, not even Zatanna or her father.

"If I knew, I'd tell you. All I know is that it dates back to my mom. My birth mom." Abby said, since she'd never known her biological mother, the woman who'd raised her was her stepmom, since her biological mother had left not long after Abby had been born and while Abby had tried hard to find her, she couldn't find any records of her mother, not even a last name and her father refused to discuss it. All Abby knew for sure was that she'd inherited her magical power from her mom.

"Still can't find out anything about her?" Constantine asked.

"Nope. And dad is no help, since he's still avoiding the topic whenever I bring it up. I mean don't get me wrong, I love my stepmom, but I'd like to know about my birth mother." Abby said.

"At least your father didn't blame you for killing your mother in childbirth and you have a good relationship with your stepmum. Some of us aren't that lucky." Constantine said.

"Right, all the incredibly terrible shit you've done over the years made me forget that you had a crappy childhood. That somehow justifies everything you've done." Abby said.

"I never said I was trying to use that as an excuse for my crap. I'm well aware that everything that's happened is my fault and I've never denied that I'm a bastard." Constantine said.

"Which brings up a question. Even if you do track down Nergal's bones, do you really think you'll be able to get both Astra and your soul back? You might have to make a choice between the two." Abby said.

"Which is the other reason I brought you in. To make sure that if I do have to make that choice, I choose Astra. She had her whole life ahead of her before I ruined it and she doesn't deserve to suffer for my mistake." Constantine said and Abby nodded, impressed.

"Maybe you're not the same man I left. But you're still an asshole. But now, let's get what we came for so I can get home and never see your face again." Abby said.

"Wouldn't have it any other way." Constantine said as Abby left him behind as she went to walk up to the door and he smiled at her.