*Salem*

[doctorfatejsa]

His head is still ringing from Solomon Grundy's attack. His unconscious layers of defense kicked up, but still ... he's got a headache no amount of Excedrin's going to fix, and he's only so willing to let magic fix it all. Sometimes it's good to remember pain

Comments

[gemma_masters]

She's angry. Realistically there was nothing she could do and the fact she wasn't hurt was a lucky thing but she's still angry. That old well nursed friend that simmers below her skin right now.

She hates to be helpless, she's worked her whole life to not be caught in situations where she's someone helpless captive because with her Uncle John that was a very real situation that cropped up in her life. And now twice in the last few weeks she's been left completely out of control. Her parents deaths had left her sitting in a flat waiting for something to happen and then the attack on Hector's friends and team mates.

Well damn it, this wasn't happening anymore.

The moment they came back to the tower she opened the books and started to study. She was beginning to understand the attraction to short cuts.

[doctorfatejsa]

Hector and Lyta break apart -- still awkward with each other, but mending. Hector observe Gemma at her studies.

"I think, all things considered, maybe we start with some basic defensive spells."

[gemma_masters]

She looks up from her book.

"Anything would be better than nothing." And when she's mad she sounds more like her uncle than Hector would expect.

[doctorfatejsa]

Hector notes the resemblance to her uncle, and it almost gives him pause, but he pushes on.

"Good then. We'll start with some basic wards and shields."

[doctorfatejsa]

"Some people would say that," says Fate, levelly. "Indeed, some would argue that it's the intentionality behind the action that corrupts the magic, not the other way around, and they may have a point."

Fate brings his focus into Faust's dark energy, and allows Gemma to see it through his eyes. It snaps sharper into focus.

"But there is a difference in where you draw from. I, for example, derive my power from the forces of Order, who keep the universe aligned. Note, I did not say "good." Evil, too, has a place in the order, and much good cna come of chaos. Faust draws directly from forces of evil. He has made deals with devils for selfish purposes, and seeks only personal gain and to harm others."

[gemma_masters]

"But that seems to bear out what I was asking. It's not the magic itself it's where you get it from. Water's water, but the container can be tainted, or the spring can have parasites, doesn't make the water any different but it makes using it dangerous." There's a little frown of concentration on her face as she studies the energy he's showing her.

"So you take water from a tainted spring it taints or kills you, isn't this the same?"

[doctorfatejsa]

She's sharp. She's getting it fast.

"You're not wrong," he says, and suddenly the glow extends throughout the Watchtower, soaking into the metal. "Everything is connected, nothing is fundamentally good or evil, only actions and intents. But the difference -- the important thing to keep in mind -- is that magic can be and has been directly affected over untold millenia. The magic Faust uses, again, is the same magic used by devils to cause torments. The magic is the same magic my predecessor, Kent Nelson, used to protect America during the war. Becuase energy cnanot be created or destroyed, and the same holds true for magic. Whatever power you are using has been used before."

[jla_extras]

So, basically," says Zauriel with a smirk. "Know your grocer."