Young Writers Society

She thought for a moment, focusing on his question with maybe too much intensity. She wasn't going to be honest about why.

"...You're not afraid of the water, are you?" she asked. Skull and his friends hadn't really deserved a warning, even if she had thought to give one, but Jason was different. He derserved a lot more than just a warning and an instruction to never come back, but she couldn't give him anything more. He couldn't come back, even if there was a way for him to back in his world. Eventually one of them would run out of favors to get him back and forth, or her hideout would be discovered by the increased traffic to and from it, or his connection to her would he discovered and he'd be grabbed and used as a hostage against her. There was too much that could go wrong. He couldn't come back.

"I'm not," he reassured her.

Then he paused and looked her over, just distracted enough that his silent sobs weren't nearly as strong as they were before. A memory flickered through his mind from his time as Robin. It felt like so long ago now, even though it had only been a year at most.

"Are we going under water?" he asked.

"Yes," she confirmed, "The university that teaches trans-dimensional spells is in the realm of the mer. The specific student we're going to is a prodigy of such magics."

Ciel was a prodigy alright, and a prick. Quite literally a royal one. But she would help. She didn't have a choice when Megara was the one making the request.

Jason gave a nod underneath his cloak's hood.

The memory returned again, this time stronger than before. He had been underwater with Bruce, once - they needed to visit Aquaman, so they had gone to his home. It was a strange, surreal experience, but Jason hadn't been exactly terrified of the water.

"Magic and underwater places seem to hand-in-hand," he said, though the comment was more to himself than Megara - he doubted she wanted to hear him talk.

"They do," she agreed, then, after a pause, "Whatever I do down there, do not intervene. You won't be able to get back home if you do."

She was talking, of course, about the threats she'd have to give to most everyone she came across, and the lies. Most people didn't like liars. It was fine if he didn't like her, though, because she'd never see him again. That's what she told herself, pretending it didn't hurt.

He nodded again.

A pit in his stomach formed at her comment, but he tried to push away any doubt he had. There was no reason to think that what she would do would be morally questionable. He was just jumping the gun.

...But he still felt nervous.

They walking in silence to the water's edge and Megara did the same thing she did for Skull and his friends, telling Jason to stay back and going to show the mer the armband and request the spell. Passage and the spell were granted and she went back for Jason.

"Walk into the water. You'll be able to breathe once submerged, as will I. Once under, it's important to move quickly. The university is a little way into the city. You'll see." She gave him the instructions beforehand more as an act of kindness than anything. Skull and his crew were annoying enough not to deserve it, Jason deserved a hell of a lot more than just a few extra warnings before she dragged him out of his comfort zone.

Jason felt like all he was doing was nodding, but he nodded yet again in response to what Megara said. It made sense. The procedure had been slightly different when he had gone with Bruce into Atlantis. Still, it was the same idea, and he knew it was better to listen to what the person with experience said instead of jumping to his own conclusions.

And then he walked into the water.

Once they were both under the waves, it was a quiet trip to the edge of the city.

It came into view slowly, as it had before, just the peaks of the towers at first, then the glow os the runes, and more and more until they were right at the edge of the cliff, looking out at that view. Megara took a moment to admire it this time, and she realized why Skull and his friends had been stunned. It really was beautiful from here, just as much so from the ground. Why had she been so callous before?

She looked over at Jason, unable to read his face through the helmet, but trying still to figure out what he thought by his posture.

Jason didn't realize that Megara was studying him - he was too in awe of the sight before him. It didn't matter that he had been under the water before; Aquaman's home hadn't looked like this. But it was still a somewhat familiar sight, so his posture immediately relaxed.

She couldn't help smiling a little. He liked it, her world. He enjoyed the sight of it, at least. It was a small joy to know that he'd at least gotten to see one of the wonders this place had to offer before he left for good.

She gave him a long moment to enjoy it before stepping to the edge of the cliff and offering him her hand.

"We have to jump down. Gravity is strange underwater, we'll land unharmed."

He faltered for a moment when he saw her extended hand, but grabbed onto it a second had passed. "I'm ready jump when you are," he said, giving her a smile that she couldn't see behind his helmet-

-and then immediately losing the smile, because he remembered that Megara was just doing this to solve a problem and not to show him something beautiful.

She took a deep breath and stepped over the edge.

They landed and Megara released him. The glow of the runes filled the water with their hazy light, the reds of the ground levels mixing with the blues as the runes went up and the swarms of mer swam about.

"Are you alright?" she asked, looking him over. People weren't usually hurt in the jump, but it had been known to happen on occasion with some flaw in the spell.

He took a deep breath and looked around them, glowing green eyes wide with awe.

"I'm alright," he confirmed.

He finally drew his gaze away and glanced over at her. "Where do we go next?"

"This way," she said, angling her head in the direction of the university as she began to lead the way.