space girl | wally west

i. star-gazing

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Tower of Fate

July 27, 21:40 EDT

On one of the higher levels of the Tower of Fate, a teenage girl peered into the eyepiece of a telescope, aimed at the sky above. No cloud was in sight with clusters of stars on display, greatly contrasting its dark blue background - it was the perfect night to star-gaze.

So why was she alone?

The girl stepped away from the telescope, dramatically falling onto a gingham blanket spread out on the ground. With the snap of her fingers, a phone appeared by her side. It was one of those older, landline phones with a cord. She brought it up to her ear and raised her index finger, swirling it around in the air as did the rotary dial, "Hey, pops. Where are you? You're missing out on a wonderful night. If you've lost your phone again, call me." She said before hanging up, tossing the phone back to its rightful place.

Lying flat on her back, she stared at the sky above. It truly was a beautiful sight, the twinkling stars which seemed to shine brighter when she looked at them, it as if they were calling out to her. This is why she enjoyed star-gazing, although she enjoyed it more when she had company. Where was that old man anyways? It was very unlike him, he never missed their night together, no matter what. The last she heard from him was that he was prowling the streets of New Orleans, exposing magic frauds. Usually, when he did this, he returned by at least sundown.

It was midnight.

But she trusted that her great-grandfather would return soon, he always did. So she waited and waited until the sun began to rise. That's when she decided to call it a night - or morning. You never know, he might be there when she wakes up.

It was actually quite comfortable where she slept. Although it was on stone brick, her blanket and pile of pillows cushioned the hard ground to make her slumber pleasant. Her nap didn't last long as the sun continued to rise, shining directly onto her face. The girl groggily sat up, stretching her arms until she heard a faint crack. Letting out a sigh, she looked around her. Everything was the same as it was the night before and she was still alone.

This cycle repeated for a couple more days as she had faith in her caregiver that he would return soon. It was an entire week since his disappearance but she remained calm, continuing with her usual routine. It was simple, really. She slept, ate and practised magic. She was quite proficient, her skills almost on par with that of Zatara, all thanks to her great-grandfather's support and encouragement. Although, she used a different type of magic.

Realising this, the girl wandered over to his office, trying to find anything that reminds her of him or even a clue to where he was.

It was a pristine room, kept in an orderly fashion with books organised neatly along his shelves and furniture all lined up, only upon her request to increase the feng shui and good energy in the room. She dug around the drawers of his desk, as well as the tabletop. It was weird, everything seemed... normal. Well, that wasn't like him.

The girl put her finger to her chin as she thought back to all of the time she spent with her guardian.

And it was like a lightbulb went off.

She remembered multiple times where he would reference various Greek Gods, using them to compare to real-life experiences. He was wise but also a bit cuckoo in the head.

The girl spotted a statue of Hecate, the goddess of magic and witchcraft who also happened to be her favourite goddess of them all. She tapped her nose with her finger, pointing at the statue and back to her nose, signalling an understanding. She searched the statue until she found an interesting ring on one of its fingers.

"Oh, shiny!" She exclaimed, taking the ring off of the statue before putting it on her own finger. "Amethyst, my favourite!" She admired the silver ring on her hand, it complimented her greatly. But as she did so, a faint thud was heard. Slowly looking up from her hand, she saw the statue descend and be replaced with a podium, on which was a telephone and note. Quickly, she picked up the note and read it,

'I knew you couldn't resist that ring. Inza made it herself when you became interested in astrology and crystals, so what better than a birthstone ring? You always reminded me of her, so feisty and unique. That's why...'

"Geez, pops. Why'd you write so much?" She asked to no one in particular. Skim reading most of the note, she began to read once more when the writing was in bold.

'CALL THIS NUMBER IF I AM EVER IN TROUBLE, X.'

Bingpot. Though it is odd the number was only one number... but who cares?

Using the given telephone, she punched in the number written down and didn't even wait for the dial tone before speaking, "Hi, yes, my name is Stella Nelson. My great-grandfather, Kent Nelson, hasn't returned home in over a week and he left a note to call this number and-"

"Okay, Stella. Stay calm, we're here to help and we'll send a team when an opportunity opens up. If you need anything else call this number again and ask for Bruce."

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a/n: i know batman probably wouldn't actually give his name but let's say stella is a bit... secluded and old-fashioned. she isn't very up-to-date with such nuances and bruce knows this.

p.s. claudia usually does this nose signal thing and so does stella :) this is what i meant: