Zatanna allowed herself a little bit of time to bask in the warmth of the new family's love before slipping away to give the new parents time alone with their child. {This... This is how we'll win... By staying human in the midst of horror and keeping sight of what's important... Life... Love and the simple joys of a moment...} . o O Zatanna thought as she wandered through the secret castle's corridors, making her way to the ritual chamber. She sighed and let her line of thinking go as she settled herself into a more disciplined state before entering the chamber and smiling at the 12 people who had volunteered to be numbered amongst the Whisperers, as the neophyte mystics had come to be called by the rest of those on the island.<br/>.<br/>The 12 were individuals with the kind of mental flexibility and solid self discipline that is required of a student of the mystical arts. She'd begun teaching them simple but intricate mundane skills, how to palm small objects, how to misdirect the attention of a viewer so what they saw wasn't what happened, and she taught them 'patter', the magician's way of adding a special rhythm and cadence to their speech to lull others into a receptive state. Once her students showed some success with these new skills she began teaching them the theories that undergirt tje arts arcane, teaching them how to sense the ebb and flow of energy around them, so they could hone in on ley lines, the naturally occurring conduits of mystical energy that wound around the world.<br/>.<br/>"The key is not to /do/ anything... This is an always occurring thing, the energy is in motion constantly, with or without our intention. Once you can see it, feel it and understand it... You'll be able to touch it... Connect with it... And ask it to flow, as a favor, where it's needed most..." Zatanna said as she reached out to the ley line and asked it to swirl around her like she was standing in an eddy in a river. It did so gladly, washing around and around her and as her students focused on what they'd never known was there they saw it for the first time, it began as a ripple in the aether between them and Zatanna then became a rush and a current winding around and around her, making her shimmer and glisten in the half dark chamber. Many of them gasped in surprise while others giggled and laughed, taken by the elegant simplicity of it all. "Now... You try... Stand 10 feet apart and close your eyes... Don't focus on anyone else but you... And the ley line," Zatanna said in a patient and encouraging way as she set this challenge to her students.<br/>.<br/>Zatanna coached and assisted her acolytes for a good hour or so before dismissing them and praising them for a job well done. They'd had different measures of success, but all had worked diligently. She encouraged them to go find dinner and then made her way up to her room at the top of the highest tower so she could spend a few moments in quiet contemplation as she watched the sun set and paint the sky with fire before it turned inky and black and festoon with stars.