Reckoning and Rebirth

[greatest_zatara]

Undoing his tie, Zach grumbled to himself as he stomped towards his dressing room. "'Greatest magician you've never heard of'... how dare that crowd-warming buffoon..." He was seething over the intro that he'd been given for his act tonight.

He didn't want to be here. Some nothing down in the midwest. Zanna had told him time and again 'take whatever

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[trigon_jr]

It looked like Zach had noticed Eddie. Eddie opened the door and gave a sheepish smile to his friend.

Eddie Bloomberg had met Zachary Zatara a while back while his Aunt Marla was filming a new movie, and they hired someone from the Zatara family to help with the special effects. That was around the time that Eddie had quit being Blue Devil's sidekick, Kid Devil, and his life went back to normal.

Then Aunt Marla died. It was a big blow to Eddie. She was always there for him, not like his mother and father. Eddie tried to make it in show business like she did, but he always failed miserably. He tried to become a superhero again, but no one can take 'former sidekick to Blue Devil' seriously. It seemed like it was all over for Eddie, that is, until just a few days ago.

"Hey Zach, what's up? Can you spare yourself for a minute.?"

[greatest_zatara]

Zach raised an eyebrow. Eddie.

...well, there were worse people it could be. At least it wasn't Zanna, come to poke at him over the dive he was performing in.

He tossed his tie and hat on the hat-stand and managed a lopsided smile for his friend. "What brings you here?"

[trigon_jr]

Eddie breathed an internal sigh of relief. He usually got thrown out when he got this far.

"Well, I needed a little help. I know your family is magic..." Eddie fished around through his hoodie pocket. "So I was wondering if you could tell me what this thing is." Eddie pulled out a red stick from his pocket, with a bit of string sticking from the top and demonic symbols carved into its sides.

"Some weirdo gave it to me while I was, uh, visiting Metropolis." He didn't want to mention that he was homeless at the time.

[greatest_zatara]

Zachary's eyebrow twitched as Eddie reminded him of how well his uncle and cousin had done for themselves, but took the item. He turned it over in his hands a few times, examining the markings with scrutiny.

"I don't want to know what parts of Metropolis you were poking around to find someone carrying this Eddie... but it's definitely a demon-blood candle."

[trigon_jr]

"Okay, that's kind of creepy and gross." Eddie said as he took the item back. "I figured it was a candle. Does it do anything?" He didn't want to say anything, but Eddie was starting to feel just a little excited.

[greatest_zatara]

"It's actually not that unheard of." Zach still eyed the candle. "They're not commonplace, but they're well-known. You light them, and it brings you to the demon whose blood it was made from. Summoners used to use them to keep track of escaped demons."

He turned to his sink, starting to wash his face, his back to Eddie. "You can probably get a pretty good price for it on the magical black market. A great price if you can find out who it's made from. None of the markings give any indication."

[trigon_jr]

Eddie was not paying much attention to the last thing Zachary said as he fished a lighter out of his pocket.

"So let's find out!" Eddie said as he lit the lighter and brought the flame towards the tip of the candle.

[lord_neron]

As the candle ignites, a blast of sweltering heat explodes from the flame, forcing the two young men to close their eyes. As the heat subsides and they can open their eyes again, they find themselves in a new location.

The cavern, lit by flickering flames, smells of sulfur and blood. Before them both is an armored figure sitting on a throne of bones, a glass of wine in his hand. He smiles at them as they appear, and he places the wine on the arm of his throne as he gets to his feet.

"Welcome, children. You may call me Neron."

[greatest_zatara]

Zachary's jaw fell open. The setting didn't faze him, but the demon bonded to the candle?

Neron.

BLASTED NERON?!

"Eddie... do you have a deathwish or do you PRACTICE this kind of incompetence?" He throttled the other boy by his shirt-collar. If he was about to die, he was going to vent his rage first. "I said it brings you to them! That's all! We don't get the courtesy of fealty or safe passage!"

His gaze went to Neron. As Zach could see it, his only option for survival was if the demon thought killing a Zatara was more trouble than it was worth.

[trigon_jr]

Needless to say, Eddie was startled. This wasn't what he had in mind at all.

"Uh, sorry?" Eddie managed to squeak. He turned his attention to Neron. In the time he had spent Blue Devil, Eddie had seen his share of supernatural beings, but none quite like this. This demon seemed much more threatening than the others, probably because of his more human appearance. Eddie was beginning to regret his impulsiveness, but he reckoned that he was already in too deep to back out now.

"Did you give me the candle?" He asked Neron.

[lord_neron]

"Who gave you the candle is unimportant," Neron waves. "What is more important is what you're going to do now that you're here." He steps forward with a smile. "Are you here just to sight-see? And then to return to your home, having had a chance at power, and turning your back on it? Or are you here to ask a boon of me?"

[greatest_zatara]

Zach shot Eddie a look, trying to implore him just to decline anything other than a way out for both of them. You simply do NOT make a deal with Neron and expect it to go well.

He knew better than to bad-mouth a demon of this level of power openly though.

[trigon_jr]

Eddie found Neron's words interesting, to put it best. The whole situation filled him with unease, and Neron looked too villainous to trust. Eddie glanced back at Zachary, as if silently asking what all of this meant.

"I...don't know." Eddie answers slowly. "I just lit the candle and....what do you mean chance at power?"

[lord_neron]

"You have always wished to be a worthy partner for the Blue Devil, have you not?" He opens his hand palm up, and flames leap from his palm, forming into the shape of Eddie's old mentor and hero. "You even went so far to create a suit..." The image in the flames shifts, revealing an image of Eddie wearing his old Kid Devil suit. "...but... that didn't go as well as you hoped, did it?"

[trigon_jr]

"No, it didn't." Eddie replied sadly. "Blue Devil never wanted me around, and I was always messing things up. Wait, how do you know about that?"

[lord_neron]

He pours a crimson fluid into a tall wine glass. "Is that really important, Edward Bloomberg? Or perhaps this is more important: I can help you."