16585/!citamarD gnirotneM

!citamarD gnirotneM
Date of Scene:	16 December 2023
Location:	Shadowcrest Manor - Bristol Township
Synopsis:	When you cannot turn to Batman for the best advice, you turn to the absolute expert. Phoebe makes a visit to Shadowcrest Manor to speak to the Lady of the House. Zatanna Zatara gets an update on the continuing issues Phoebe is having dealing with Phillip Cupp, and weapons that turn to ash.
Cast of Characters:	Zatanna Zatara, Phoebe Beacon

---

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Every window in the mansion is open. Rugs flutter over wide window sills. Dust dances in the sunshine. Seen and unseen hands polish under statues, lift books, and wipe bindings. Paintings and their frames gleam from the ministration of gentle handling. Behind the house in the courtyard attached to the garden rugs suffer under wicker beaters.

The mistress of the house, her hair covered by a red silk scarf, moves from room to room directing activity and giving nods of approval. Shadowcrest is in the midst of its end-of-the-year cleaning to ready itself to greet another year of its long life.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe loves visiting Shadowcrest. Nevermind that she and Charlie accidentallied a large magical fire ball while practicing control where order-and-chaos-magic decided to interact with fascinating (burninating) responses once upon a time.

    But it was a weird feeling of being both welcome to the manor and being in awe of it, as she turns off the street leading to Shadowcrest and crosses into the threshold of the yard, drawing off her heavy winter coat as she looked to the house with a smile.

    She steps up to the main door and rings the bell, as is polite, in spite of the fact that she retains a room here -- and occasionally even sleeps in it.

    "Hello, you beautiful, magical home." she coos.

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
The House saw her coming. The rug hanging from her bedroom window flaps in welcome and the front door opens wider, snatching itself from the hands of a young man polishing a brass knocker in the form of a phoenix. A distinct scent of warm cedar, sandalwood, and cinnamon wafts from its frame in greeting.

House holds Phoebe in a special place in its heart, though she might be hard put to know it at times. The manse had had some harsh feelings for the magic fireball that had singed its hardwood floors of rare Turkish cedar but kept its opinion of chaos magic more or less to itself. It would never go so far as to make someone it loved slip in the bathroom, but a favorite scarf, book, or sweater might be hard to find until it felt its point had been made.

Zatanna, though ostensibly the owner of the mansion, turns a blind eye to such small corrections or caprices. She knew its heart was sound. It had acted in loco parentis after her mother had died until her father began to take her with him on tours.

That particular tingle of magic that announces Phoebe brings Zatanna down the long staircase.

"House always appreciates your manners, Phoebe. And so do I! Welcome, it's good to see you." A question floats in her blue eyes and the tilt of her head for the young woman but remains unsaid.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe raises a hand to the rug waving at her, and she takes a breath out, and levels off as the house lets her in. She still hasn't found her purple headscarf at the Curio or Wayne Manor, so she supposes she's still being made a point of. She gives a smile, passing into the house as she lets out a breath, and she gives a bright smile to Zatanna as she spots the lady of the house.

    "Zatanna, it's always in me to be polite to a magical house. I definitely came away with positive lessons from my brief stay in the House of Mystery." she gives a grin, and she rubs the back of her head. "Besides, it's always nicer to be nice, isn't it?" she ventures and looks up to the taller master magician.

    "It's good to see you, Zee. I'm sorry I haven't been by as often as I would like."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Zatanna dismisses the notion that Phoebe is remiss with a wave of her fingers and a headshake. "Your room is always ready for you. House does not admit just anyone, you know," she smiles fondly. "Nor do I, for that matter. And yes, it's always nicer to be nice. As Elwood's mother would say: 'In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant.' And he said: 'Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant.' I endorse that, too. For the most part."

Leading the way into the house, she says over her shoulder, "If you want anything to eat or drink it will have to be in the kitchen. We turned it out yesterday so it's the only room that's not topsy-turvy.

"To what do I owe this 'rare visit?'

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "I know. Your house likes me, and really I should come by more often if only because the bed here's the most comfortable." Phoebe gives a smile, tucking some of her kinks and coils in dusty pink behind an ear as she goes to follow Zatanna.

    "Well, I'm afraid it's a business visit. There's been trouble in Gotham with some magicians associated with a peturbing gentleman running against Harvey Dent for DA." she explains, and she makes a slight face.

    "I can't find anything in my library at the Curio that has 'weapons that turn into ashes after one use' -- but they're strong enough that they've had an interesting effect." she lilts. "And I'm sorry that I've come in the middle of a cleaning spree -- I promise I'll put every book back the way I found it. And not eat cookies in the library."

    She pauses.

    "Again."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
The door to the kitchen opens of its own accord, admitting the two mages. At their entry, flames leap in the fireplace large enough to spit an ox and with room to spare for several capons.

"Oh, cookies are perfectly fine in the library. You might find sand in your sheets the next time you eat cookies in bed. House is particular about certain things." Zatanna frowns at the news of unknown magicians meddling with Gotham politics. She gestures to the table that is laid out with Phoebe's favorite drinks and cookies.

"Help yourself." The frown deepens, "But I don't follow why anyone would want weapons to turn to ashes after one use. Tell me while we have tea." She sits and takes the cozy off the teapot waiting for her.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Hot cocoa and gingersnaps. Phoebe's favorite from youth. It's comfort food that she's kept even from Alfred. Phoebe sits down at the table, and she looks up in thanks to the House before she snaps one of the cookies in two.

    "The issue is that they can hurt me. And negate my healing ability. So these anti-magic weapons are either being made or shipped into Gotham City. They don't 'feel' unique to me, like that witch bottle was the one time -- so I've concern with some of the younger magic-centric vigilantes -- Nico for one, Charlie for another. If they run afoul of these guys, they don't necessarily have martial training to avoid getting stabbed. It took *three days* for me to heal a cut on my cheek that should have been a nothing." Phoebe explains. "And the other night..."

    She pauses, looking at the second half of the broken cookie.

    "I've been getting nightmares and headaches going to certain parts of Gotham. That's new. And worrying. There's something weird going on."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Steam eddies into the air as Zatanna pours her tea, releasing the delicate perfume of Darjeeling. Taking her time, she adds warm milk and a lump of sugar. Behind them, the fire snaps a question at the word nightmare, and the delicate china of Zee's cup chimes as she stirs.

"Why haven't I felt them, I wonder? Both of them could blunder blithely into a new coven hiding itself." She lays her spoon down with a clink.

"Weird is an understatement. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Headaches and nightmares are worrisome. They speak of aggression and a desire to control more than politics."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "That is really worrying..." Pheobe states at the flareup.

    "Luckily Batman's strong dislike of magic *really* discourages a lot of people in the magic know to set up roots here. Us excluded, considering he trusts you and tolerates me." Phoebe considers.

    "I should have brought it to your attention weeks ago. I'd hoped it was a one-off event."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
Zatanna scrutinizes Phoebe over the lip of her teacup then sips.

"Well, have you seen them? Was that scar from trying to take them on by yourself?"

She sighs softly to herself in mild exasperation. "A bit of surprise, I imagine. I want to go with you next time. If you are alright with that, of course," she adds wryly twisting her lips. twisting her lips.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe gives a flat expression.

    "I do my job when I'm on Bat Time, Zee." she protests to her mentor, and she breathes out. "I've seen the weapons. A knife and a sword so far. The knife got me on the chin." she motions. "The sword just disappeared when dropped, but neither magic user has shown that they can make them a second time. And they're both in GCPD custody." she explains, and she gives a small nod.

    "I'll send out the alert for thext time we plan an encounter. I'm hoping that we cn outplan them. So far..." she rests her chin in her hand. "It's not working. THe root is a group trying to raise up pharmaceutical sales in Gotham city. They *happened* to employ two magic users, one who is attached to Phillip Cupp, who is running against Harvey Dent and thinks Bruce Wayne needs the help of a magical healer because he's secretly dying."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"Yes, you do and you do a good job of it." A smile plays on the edge of Zatanna's lips which she coverss with another sip of tea.

"So the encounter was a surprise. But they are in custody? They allowed themselves to be taken in? That's...puzzling or maybe indicative. They might have been pawns in someone else's magic game. What do you...

Phoebe's last words stop her from speculating aloud. "Dying? wait, secretly dying in Cupp's opinion, or really dying?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Cupp's jumping to conclusions." Phoebe states, and then opens her mouth, closes her mouth, and then looks down into her cocoa, and rubs at her left hand. The one that has a white tattoo encircling her wrist. "If Bruce was actually dying, pretty sure no one would know about it until after he worked himself out of it."

    And Phoebe purses her lips.

    "Cupp was one of the men who tortured me when I was kidnapped, before.... before everything with Leksandra went down." she explains. "He doesn't know how strong I've gotten. He thinks I'm still the girl he continued to break the hands and wrists of in THe Silo. When Tim's team came to get me." she explains.

    "He thinks Bruce Wayne was on the same mailing list he got that informed him of the 'investment opportunity' in imprisoning someone with a healing aura."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"Eyes closed to hide her outrage, Zatanna takes a long inhale, then opens them to fix Phoebe in her blue gaze. No hint of anger remains as she listens.

"Good. Good that he doesn't know. It seems karma may be having its day with him." Something like glee glints in her eyes.

"You will be the 'best investment' he never made in my reckoning. Does Bruce know all of this?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "There's never been a full debriefing... but BRuce knows. Along with Tim." Phoebe admits quietly.

    "Cupp is trying to manuever it so that he can marry me and have access to Wayne funds. At least, he *Was*, until someone broke his nose when he pursued me to the UNiversity to get me alone." Phoebe admits. It wasnt her that broke the nose. "But I don't know what his current plans are. OR what's going on in his head. Oracle has a harddrive and a computer tower that belonged to him and we're going to crack it to see if we can get additional info." she explains. "We're going to see if the mailing list information was on his computer, and if we can backtrack to how many people might have been there at the Silo." she explains. "This is all... I just... if we didn't know for a fact that Leksandra was gone, I'd suspect her behind it. BUt I'm at a loss."

Zatanna Zatara has posed:
"You answered my question. There is a power behind the throne. It wouldn't surprise me that it's her. And Cupp? He strikes me as too stupid to be the brains. Marry you," Zatanna spits out the last words.

"Do I know the person who fixed his nose for him?" Turkish and Jewish mothers have similarities as Phoebe probably knows. And the Turkish blood runs strong in the mage.

"I will investigate discreetly while I wait your call."