Life of the Batfamily

Research

"You're getting the hang of the minor spells" Vera says earning a sigh "Why is this so hard?" "How does Luana usually control her magic?" "She's in a bad mood most of the time, just not around Tim, Lea, mom and me", they sit in silence for a moment "You tend to switch back to water when you panic" "I'm aware, no one told me I could be an elemental wizard" Liana says taking a sip of her hot chocolate "You have a lot of magic reserves, someone should've seen it" "Dad probably, he encouraged me to learn ice magic after the festival, but I can't ask him anything" Liana says looking down "And I know fire magic is mostly fuelled by negative emotions" "Not always, while fire mages are generally irritated or annoyed it's not the only way to use it, however it is very unpredictable and hard to master for those not taught from a young age, but with a lot of patience you'll get there" "But with water magic you're usually calm, ice magic isn t much diffent, but fire magic is just so hard". Vera sighs, of course she had expected it to be insanely hard, considering Liana has used water her entire life, but this was unexpected "Did Luana describe what she felt when she used it around her boyfriend last week?" she asks "She didn't, but she wanted to protect him, I could tell by how relieved she was when he was safe, that and she didn't stop hugging him" Liana explains "Well that is one way to control it, through your desire to protect someone you care about" "I'm sorry this is taking forever", Vera puts a hand on Liana's shoulder seeing the girl look down "You don't have to say sorry little one, no one ever said being an elemental wizard is easy" "But dad made it look easy" "That he did" Vera says.

With little to no progress Liana plops down next to Artemis "No luck?" the archer asks "No, I keep messing up and panicking, which results into me switching back to water", Vera is watching the group while Alfred is in the kitchen "I need to leave for a moment" she says looking at Batman "She panics too easily" "Well she did grow up with both her sisters, but she never told us if something went horribly wrong" "I have to find out" Vera says "A water mage being scared of fire is never a good thing, but something tells me it's not that simple" "Well when the villains had a plan to use Luana to try and free their parents she couldn't control the flames by using water" Batman explains "She flooded the room, but she was still struggling" "So she left the water wizards to protect her sisters before she finished learning everything she could, her father must have taught her the rest, but she learned ice magic just fine on her own".

Damian, being unable to sleep that night, is wandering around and he hears cursing from the hangar "Jay's in bed" he mumbles walking over "Lia what are you doing at this hour?" he asks "Eh practicing and failing, I'm scared I'll mess it up and can't put it out again" she explains looking down "Why's that?" Damian asks "Because fire magic is generally used in combat, how am I supposed to learn if I can't control it?", she's surprised when she's pulled into a hug "Learn to control it, remember how dad and I found you crying after you froze your room solid?" "That was emberrassing" "No Lia, it is a learning process, I don't really know how magic works, but if you don't try you'll never know, you told us that ice magic is one of the hardests ones to learn and you taught it to yourself", Vera, who had also been for a walk decides to leave the two, until Liana says something interesting "But I wanted to because it was fun and the chances of hurting someone weren't there, being scared isn't fun Dami, I don't wanna hurt anyone" "And Artemis told me you put out the fire that Wally started", Batman finds Vera leaning against the wall, the mage mentioning him to be quiet "Because it could've hurt people and I was just glad to leave the awkward situation" "That's it" Vera mumbles "It's surprising how much she tells a non mage at night" "She opened up to him first, he probably reminds her off Lea" Batman explains.

The next morning Liana and Damian are sleeping in, but that's fine, since it gives Vera time to ask about different situations "Go back, she faced a group of lightning mages with no magic and without being afraid?" she asks "Yes, she did it to protect master Bruce, who lost his memories" "Ah, so there's nothing wrong with her magic, it's just that she's afraid about not being able to control it" "It probably doesn't help that miss Luana loved teasing her with fire ghosts she would make bigger with each attempt to put it out" Alfred says earning a nod "I can see why that'd terrify her, but that gives me an idea, thanks Alfred". Lia isn't sure what to expect when she enters the hangar, but it's not a giant game of whack a mole "Sometimes the only way to beat fire is with fire" Vera says handing her a hammer "Infuse it with fire magic and try to score as many points possible" "I have to whack fire moles?" Liana asks "No, fire ghosts, but you can pretend they're moles" Vera says and she wonders how bad it was when Liana goes pale "Or you use what I taught you yesterday to change them into something you want to hit with a hammer" "B-but they're fire ghosts" "Think about something fun".

When Alfred goes to get the two for dinner he smiles "You made it a game" he says earning a nod "It is easy to forget some of them are still kids Alfred, besides, it helped, she changed them to Kid Flash" "It is isn't it?" Alfred asks "I shall get her to bed" "Please do, she tired herself out, maybe next time Luana teases her she could make a hammer and whack it instead" "No, she has been around Master Jason too long to let something like that go without returning the favor", Vera laughs at that "He does seem like a good influence on her" she says "He is, when they first arrived she was constsntly scared of the smallests things, over time she started hanging around master Damian and master Richard" "Ah, and Jason after that" "Yes, it was fun to see them all act like they're actually siblings, but I think her sisters weren't very happy with it", Damian smiles slightly hearing the training went well "A game of whack a mole?" Jason asks "Let me try!" "It's fire magic" Tim comments dryly "I can infuse the hammer for you" Vera says "Hold on, let me grab the hammer and wait in the training room".