A Dragon's Love (Young Justice)

The Tower's Tricks

(3rd POV:)

The ship was following Dracona to where the Tower of Fate was located. It was silent in the ship for the most part. "So, Wally," Artemis states, finally getting over the initial shock of seeing Dracona with wings, "When did you first realize your honest affinity for sorcery?" "Well, I-I don't like to brag, but, uh, before I became Kid Flash, I seriously considered becoming a wizard myself." He states, causing Artemis to roll her eyes. 'Hate to break it to you, Kid, but if you weren't born with magic, you wouldn't have been a very good wizard. Just saying.' Dracona tells him through the link M'gann set up so that she could be apart of the conversation.

'And what do you know about magic, Dracona.' He thinks back at her, annoyed. Not like she cared. 'A lot more than you, that's for sure. In my home, my kind are "next door neighbors", so to speak, with wizards and warlocks, not to mention I'd been living with Doctor Fate for eight years before coming to the cave.' She tells him. Kid crosses his arms, glaring out the window.

'We're here.' She tells them, going lower to land. 'But-' "Nothing's there." Superboy interrupts Miss M, all of them staring at the blank area. 'That's what you think.' She tells them. "Take us down." Aqualad instructs M'gann. Dracona looks around the area, seeing nothing but a stray cat running away. She turns back to where the ship is landing, thinking nothing of it.

When the door opens, Wally's the first one out, speeding away. "Kid! Get back here!" Dracona calls to him. The others simply go to stand next to her as she growls. "He's not listening at all." She mutters. He's back within seconds. "Nothing. This isn't simple camouflage." He states. "So what do you think, adaptive micro-opto-electronics combined with phase shifting?" Artemis asks. "Absolutely... not." He states, M'gann coming to stand by them. "Clearly mystic powers are at work here." Dracona growls at him.

She brings out the key, waving it in front of him. "Mystic powers. Ha! As if you really believe that." She says, walking over to where she remembered the door being located. "Stick close, follow me, don't stray. Are we clear?" She asks them. "The Tower likes to play tricks to those it doesn't recognize."

"And you would know how?" Wally asks, trying to be a Mr. Know-it-all. "That's exactly what happened to me my first year living here." Dracona states, shooting him down, and sensing that big smile of his deflate, which caused her mood to lighten a little.

(Dracona's POV:)

I stick the key through a hidden slot-hole, and turn, hearing a click. The Tower appears in front of us, and I'm standing in front of the door. I smile and knock three times. "I'm home." I whisper. "Remember what I've told you." I say, opening the door and walking in. The door closes behind us and disappears.

"Uh, where'd the door go?" Superboy asks. They all start looking around. "Relax. It's just a defense mechanism to keep unwanted 'guests' out." I inform them. An illusion of Kent appears in front of us. "Greetings Es-" "Emma." I cut off the illusion, "Please, Tower. Just Emma for now." The illusion gives me a knowing look. "As you wish, your majesty." I grumble, looking away. "You have entered with a key, but the tower only recognizes Emma. Please stand your purpose and intent." The illusion continues.

Before I can answer the question, Wally comes walking up to us. "We are true believers, here to find Doctor Fate." He says. My eyes widen. "No!" I yell. Too late. The illusion smirks before disappearing, and the ground crumbles beneath us all. My wings snap back out and I grab the nearest person to me, which happens to be Aqualad. I grab hold of him by both arms, holding tightly.

I look around us to see that M'gann grabbed Wally and was slowly falling closer to the lava pit far below. Superboy managed to save himself inches above the heated liquid, but lost his boots in the process, while Artemis held onto her grappling hook. "Having trouble... maintaining altitude." Miss M tells us, going farther down. "I'm so hot." She wipes her forehead.

"You certainly are." Kid replies. "Wally!" Artemis yells. "Hey, inches above sizzling death, I'm entitled to speak my mind." He comebacks. Kaldur starts panting. "My physiology and M'gann's are susceptible to extreme heat. We must climb out quickly."

"Wally!" I scream, "I'm going to kill you!" I look up at the top of the hole. "Tower, Red Tornado sent us to see if Kent and the helmet were safe!" I yell. Within seconds, a brick covered floor closes over the pit, and we all drop down to it. I make sure Kaldur'ahm's ok before marching over to where Wally's standing with Megan. "This platform, it should be red-hot, but it is cool to the touch." Kaldur notices.

"Don't worry, Megalicious. I got you." Wally states, wrapping an arm around her. "Enough!" I yell, pushing him away from her. I grab his shirt collar and pin him to the wall. "You're little 'Impress Megan at all costs' game nearly got all of you burnt to a crisp!" I yell. "When did this become my fault?" He yells back. "When you lied to that, whatever it was, and called yourself a true believer." Artemis states. "Do you have a death-wish or something?" I ask, "Because the more you insult me, the closer you are to having it fulfilled."

"Wally, you don't believe?" Megan asks, hurt. I let him go, stepping away. "Fine! Fine! I lied about believing in magic. But magic is the real lie, a major load." He says, crossing his arms. "Wally, I studied for a year at the conservatory of sorcery in Atlantis. The mystic arts created the skin icons that power my water bearers." Kaldur adds in. "Dude, ever heard of Bioelectricity? Hey, in primitive cultures, fire was once considered magic, too. Today it's all a bunch of tricks."

I send a fireball his way. It lands at his feet and he jumps away, startled. "Does that look like some sort of trick, saatrejat?" I growl. "Am I just some sort of fake to you, too? I have fire running through my veins, and I'm as real as you, and everyone else here." "You know, you're pretty close-minded for a guy who can break the sound-barrier in his sneakers." Artemis comments. "That's science." He remarks, "I recreated Flash's laboratory experiment, and here I am. Everything can be explained by science."

"Let us test that theory." Kaldur states, as I bend down to lift up a hatch. Wally stops me, pulling me back up. "What are you doing?! The back-draft from the lava will roast us alive!" He yells. "Well, then, I guess you should all get behind me then." I yell back. "No! It'll kill you!" He howls. I push him away from me and he falls to the ground.

"I am a dragon, be javyk! va anglux dracsun! I can control fire, I can breathe fire. It can't kill me!" I stop screaming, covering my mouth as I realize what I've just said. They know what I am now. There's no turning back. I quickly turn around and pull the hatch up, snow flying up as I jump through as quickly as possible. The others follow me, and I can feel them staring at my back.

"If you're really a dragon, then why do you look human?" Wally states, trying to call me on a bluff. "Wally, I have wings, I have scales. You've seen me use fire to my advantage. Dragons have the ability to turn human. Why do you think they're considered extinct here on Earth? Those of us that are here live human lives, we learn to live as humans do. Back in our kingdoms, we're allowed to transform whenever we wish. Here on Earth, people lose their minds when they see a giant firebreathing creature that's not supposed to even exist... Asha, I wish I could go back home." I state. A breeze passes over us and I shiver.

A faint, warm light passes over me, and when I look down I see I'm in a winter dress, with a white cloak. I smile, looking up to the sky. "Thank you, Tower." I call out. "Do you ever get tired of being wrong?" I hear Artemis ask Wally, smugly. Once they're all in the wintery wonderland, the hatch closes with a flash of yellow light.

"Well?" Artemis and I ask. "Ever heard of String Theory? We're in a pocket dimension." "Ugh!" We say together again. Kaldur, M'gann, and Superboy turn to look to the side. "What's that?" M'gann asks. I turn just in time to see Artemis and Wally both grab onto Kent's cane. "I got it." They say. It starts glowing. "I can't let go." My eyes widen, and I go to jump after them. "No!" I yell.