From Isolation To Home: The Adventures of The Hellblazer's Daughter

Two: The Grass Isn't Always Greener

Wish we could turn back time, to the good old days
When our momma sang us to sleep but now we're stressed out

Maria knew the unmistakable smell of vanilla. It reminded her of her mother. It always calmed her down. 

Vanilla is one smell that was always around. No matter where they lived. That was a constant. Zed told the twins that the scent would keep the demons away. The reality was that most of the places they stayed had landlords who never asked questions for a reason. They stayed in some awful places. With some of them, not even a dodgey paint job could hide the damp and mould. Fire Hazard here, out of date cladding there and nobody could explain the odd stains on the carpet.

Zed hated the moving the most, although Marius would be the most vocal about it. However, Zed did everything for the preservation of her children. She knew Chas couldn't protect them forever. He was trying to protect his own family as well as searching for his friend.

The children wouldn't remember too much about Chas. He came in an out the millhouse. They spent years safe in that millhouse. Seven and a half years to be precise.

In that time, Chas gave up searching for his friend. Wherever he was, he just had to hope he'd come back. Chas knew he was strong. That was when he returned. He needed to be there to watch his granddaughter grow up.

Of course, they needed to move when people found the supposedly impenetrable fort. With the owner dead, and Constantine not around to keep it up, the magical protection was weak.

Maria's greatest memory in the millhouse was looking up to see a man suspended in the air by his ankles, screaming like there was no tomorrow. She concluded this man was a complete dork.. He was harmless.. Marius was taking great pleasure in throwing things at him.

Naturally Zed freaked, mistaking him for someone else. As he was still terrified out of his mind, he didn't even think to introduce himself before they fled, taking a few books with them.

The story that would relay back once Ava Sharpe and the Legends came to save the man was that Gary Green had got caught in a gravity trap. The blood rushing to his head (and probably an unhealthy mix of berries he'd eaten before coming in) had caused a hallucination.

This was something that nobody was going to let go of. This joke would go on for years, even passing on to the next generation of Legends, who were probably a few years older than the twins, and maybe even beyond that.

Zed and her children travelled for a long time. The first place they arrived would be a very trashed place in Gotham City. Only the bravest dared rent out a place near what was universally known as "crime alley". Any time you looked out, chances are there was a junkie passed out or if you were really unlucky, a body.

The streets were the unsafest it had been in a long time. It had also been the dirtiest it had been. Arkham was nothing but an empty shell of what it used to be. No police. No heroes. Just anarchy. Any remaining civilians were very well hidden, probably holding out for the day the notorious Bat would return.

They didn't stay long. Zed knew they were coming. It didn't take them long at all to find her.

Who was "them"? They were what could only loosely be described as family. They were a cult, headed by Zed's father. They wanted to bring about a new age, and believed that dabbling with demons was the way to do so. At first, they tried to use Zed. When the time had come, in other words when she finally came to them seemingly compliant, the demon had rejected her for being impure. That was thanks to a very cocky scouser who owed her anyway for helping him in Atlanta during the rising darkness and Manny incident. At least that was their justification. Zed would be lying if she didn't say she wasn't somewhat in love with him.