Disclaimer:
~Big thanks to DC comics for making the fun characters, and to Lilith Langtree for making the universe to play in.
Author's Note: The third part of Zee's story. It's a mostly filler chapter, but does provide some insight into what's going on. A very big thanks to my editor for helping with the edits.

Chapter 3

The car ride home was very quiet. My dad was focused on driving while Elissa tried her best to avoid looking at me. I felt like I was a stranger in my own body. It seemed to me that something was going on with me, I just couldn’t figure out what.

During the ride home, I was constantly looking at my altered body and was wondering what was going on. I was a lot taller than I used to be and my skin felt softer and smoother. My legs were a great deal longer with my thighs being a lot thicker and my calves seemed to be a bit curvier. As I looked at my arms, they seemed to be a little stronger but still felt soft to the touch.

I gasped as a thought passed through my head, ‘Was I becoming a girl? Was I a meta?’

Elissa glanced over to me after I gasped, but said nothing. She looked very nervous, as if she was afraid that she would get whatever was happening to me. That was a sobering thought, and I was hoping that she wouldn’t think that I was some sort of leper.

‘I can’t be a meta,’ I thought. ‘I haven’t displayed any kinds of special powers.’

I scratched my head as I tried to figure this out. As I did so, I noticed something else that had changed: my hair felt softer to the touch. I was starting to get a bit worried. I shook my head to try to stop thinking about the changes that were taking place, but I only got another reminder. I could feel my hair brush against my shoulders. I distinctively remember my hair being a couple of inches short of shoulder length.

My thoughts of what was happening to me were on my mind throughout the ride home, and up our long driveway. To me it seemed like my body had a mind of its own and that it suddenly decided to go through puberty in the most unusual way over the span of the last few hours.

I glanced up from my thoughts, and saw that we were pulling into the garage at home. Elissa looked over at me and asked, “You doing okay?”

I nodded and replied, “I need something to eat, you?”

Elissa replied, “Yeah, I could use some food.”

“Then why don’t you two make us some lunch and meet me in my study when you’re all cleaned up,” my dad interjected.

He rushed inside after asking that of us. I thought that my dad was acting very strange. However, considering what I had seen him do at school, it seemed like the entire world has been turned upside down.

Elissa and I pulled our bikes out of the trunk of the car and we set them down by the front door. Elissa inquired as she chained up her bike, “So, I thought magic was supposed to be all smoke and mirrors. What did your dad do, Zee?”

“I don’t know, Elissa. I just don’t know.”

“I’ll start getting lunch ready. You might want to go and find some clothes,” she suggested.

I looked down at myself and groaned. I forgot about my height change shredding the pair of blue jeans that was dangling from my waist, even my shirt was feeling tight on me. I shook my head and climbed the stairs to my room, hoping to find something that could work.

I looked around at my shorts and other pairs of jeans that I had, but it seemed like none of them would fit me, anymore. I had essentially outgrown most of my clothes in the span of a few minutes. I kept thinking to myself that this was really messed up.

After going through my closet, I huffed in frustration onto my bed. ‘Where am I going to find something decent?’ I thought to myself.

I looked at myself in the mirror and noticed that I still had a similar build to before I started changing. It looked like the only change in my appearance was the height difference, although my legs looked like they were longer than they should be. I thought for a moment about using some of Elissa’s clothes that she left over here when she would stay over the weekend, but decided against it since she and I seemed a little distant at the moment. Ultimately, I went with my gut and went to go rummage around in my dad’s closet. I was now about his height; although, I think he was still a little bit taller than I was.

I managed to find an old tee shirt of his as well as a pair of jean shorts. They were hiding in one of his dresser drawers where he kept most of his summer clothes. I tried them on and breathed a sigh of relief as they seemed to fit me for the most part. The only problem that I could tell now was that the cuffs of the shorts seemed to be a little tight, but I didn’t have any problems with them around my waist or hips.

I quickly glanced in the mirror to make sure that I was presentable. Everything looked alright, but this body was definitely going to take some getting used to.

‘Provided nothing else about me changes,’ I thought to myself as I made my down into the kitchen to help Elissa with making lunch.

As I walked into the kitchen, I saw Elissa had already begun to make lunch. She had pulled down a few plates, the cutting board and the bread, and then fished out the salami, lettuce, and tomato from the fridge. She was cutting up the tomatoes when I went to the fridge to grab the mayonnaise and mustard from the refrigerator door.

As the two of us made lunch for the three of us, we said very little. I wasn’t sure who was more uncomfortable, me or her. We just stood in the kitchen making sandwiches. A few minutes later, as I was putting something away, I pulled out the jar of pickle wedges and placed a spear on each plate. Elissa had put a bunch of barbeque-flavored potato chips, while I was messing around in the fridge.

I pulled out a can of Pepsi for me and a can of Sprite for her. I assumed that my dad would come out from his library to get his food. Elissa and I grabbed our lunches and sat down at the kitchen island.

We sat there eating for a little while before I decided to break the ice.

“Elissa, is something wrong?”

Elissa didn’t answer as she just stared at her plate and eating quietly. I inwardly groaned, got up from my stool, and walked over to her.

“Elissa,” I said softly, trying to get her to talk.

She just kept on ignoring me. I groaned again and said, “Elissa, we need to talk.”

She whipped her head over to me and said, “Talk? Talk about what?”

I sat down on the stool next to her and said, “Recent events, what else?”

“Oh, and here I was thinking that it had to do with our history project.”

“Elissa….”

“What do you want me to say, Zee? That I understand what’s going on? That I’m not afraid of what’s happening to you?”

I looked a bit sad during her rant. For some reason, my feelings felt a bit closer to the surface than they usually were. I could feel a tear start to form in my eye.

“Zee, I’m scared of what’s going on,” she said, continuing her rant. “First, there was that talent show accident and you don’t have that wound. Then, we were chased through the school by some loony who looked like the principal. Finally, your dad shows up to defend us and does something crazy to manipulate the bike rack into chaining up our attacker.”

I sniffled a bit, with a few tears in my eyes, as she laid out all of the events that had happened. I did agree with her that things were not at all like they should be. I shouldn’t have a body that is changing this rapidly, Dad shouldn’t have strange abilities that could make inanimate objects change shape and obey his commands, and we shouldn’t have been chased by some crazy person that could look like anything.

“Elissa,” I said, starting to cry, “I’m sorry that you got caught up in whatever this is. Nothing is making much sense, and….”

I broke down into tears, and I could feel Elissa reaching over and trying to comfort me.

“Zee,” she said softly, “I don’t blame you for any of this.”

I sniffled and cried some as I looked up into her face. She embraced me in a large comforting hug. It seemed to help me feel a little better.

“We will just try to get through it as best we can,” she continued. “And, I’ll be there with you every step of the way.”

I sniffled as the crying seemed to subside for the time being. I reciprocated the hug that Elissa gave me and whispered in her ear, “Thank you.”

“Aww, Zee,” she replied, handing me a paper towel to blow my nose in.

After I dabbed my eyes with the other end of the towel, she said to me, “C’mon, let’s go find your dad.”

I nodded and we both left our stools. I grabbed my dad’s plate, and the two of us walked down the hall to his study. As we walked, I couldn’t help but wonder what my dad wanted to talk about. I hoped that he was going to answer several of the questions that now weighed heavily on my mind.

Elissa and I entered the study a couple of minutes later. We both looked surprised when we saw that he wasn’t there. I set my dad’s lunch down on his desk, and Elissa said, “Well, where is he?”

“I don’t know. We know he didn’t leave, since the car is still here,” I replied.

“How do you know that?”

“The kitchen windows overlook the garage, remember?”

“Right…,” she said with realization. “So, where is he then?”

“Maybe in the bathroom?”

“Okay,” she said, taking a seat on the leather couch that my dad had by the window. I took a seat next to her a short time later.

The two of us began talking about our history project. Elissa had a few ideas, and I bounced them back to her. We had a good idea what we wanted to do for it. However, my mind was not on the project, not by a long shot.

I was starting to get a bit anxious as I just sat on the couch waiting for dad to get back from wherever he is. I think Elissa was starting to sense my anxiety, when she said, “I wonder if your dad is alright.”

“Me too,” I said.

“Do you think we should go look for him?”

I sighed and rested my head into my hands, with my elbows positioned on my knees. I thought to myself, ‘Why is my dad being so elusive?’

I rested my face in my hands, trying to figure out what to do next. I noticed that my hands seemed to be more delicate than I had remembered. The fingers were longer and so were my fingernails. My changing body was really starting to frustrate me. I didn’t have any clue into what I was becoming, but it still was bugging me.

I looked up from my hands and turned to look at Elissa. When I looked towards her, I noticed a crack of light coming from the bookcases.

“What’s that over there?” I asked, pointing.

“Hmm?” she replied.

The two of us got off of the couch and walked over to the bookcases. Between two of the bookcases, a tiny sliver of light was shining through what appeared to be a crack.

“Uhh…,” Elissa started, “something tells me that shouldn’t be there.”

I nodded and replied, “Oh yeah. I never saw this before.”

“Hey, one of the bookcases is extending farther than the others,” Elissa said, pointing it out.

“Let’s see if we can pull it out,” I suggested.

Elissa nodded and the two of us began to tug on the bookcase to try to pull it further out, like trying to free a jammed doorway. We pushed and pulled, and even tried using a wedge to force the door open, but nothing seemed to work.

We tried for a little while longer, eventually just collapsing to the ground tired.

“Your dad really knew how to wedge that bookshelf in,” Elissa said, breathing heavily.

“Yeah,” I replied, “it’s like it’s stuck that way.”

She nodded and walked around a bit, trying to catch her breath. I began looking at the books on the shelf, seeing if my dad left some kind of clue behind.

There were several kinds of books on that shelf. They ranged from works of fiction that featured magic in one way, shape, or form to books that dealt with magical superstitions through the ages. I was impressed with my dad’s collection, and wondered why they were all lining this bookcase that apparently also functioned as a doorway to some secret passage.

I looked through all the various titles that were on the shelf. My dad had several books that were recently published or several hundred years old. There were all seven of the Harry Potter books, 1001 Arabian Nights, The Lord of the Rings, the Sword of Truth series, and the Sword of Shannara series to name a few. As I perused the books, 1001 Arabian Nights caught my eye for some reason. It seemed to stand out from the other novels that surrounded it.

I pulled that title of the shelf and examined the red leather bound book. There didn’t seem to be anything special about it. I flipped through the pages, and noticed several titles within its pages. I was about to put the book back on the shelf, when I realized that this book was a collection of stories, whereas the others that stood next to it were all stand-alone novels in a series of books.

“Elissa,” I said, “I think I know how to get in there.”

“Oh?” she said, as she looked up at me. She was crouching on the ground to trying to find a hidden switch or lever on the bookcase’s frame.

“What if we need to say the magic words?”

“Magic words? Well, that does seem to fit, since your dad uses them quite often.”

I nodded. “Then, how about we take a page out of this book?”

I held up the Arabian Nights and she said, “You think the words are ‘Open sesame?’”

The bookcase didn’t budge when she said those words. I was hoping that those would be it.

Elissa huffed, “I didn’t think your dad would make it that easy.”

As Elissa headed back to the couch, I kept thinking about it. ‘Would Dad leave a clue lying around to opening this door?’

Arabian Nights stood out on that shelf against those other books. Ali Baba said those words to open the door to a magnificent treasure trove where the forty thieves kept all of their stolen goods. I thought of what my dad did against our attacker today, how he had said something and it pinned the attacker to the ground.

I snapped my fingers as I realized that my dad said what had happened backwards before it actually happened.

‘Maybe I need to say “open sesame” backwards to open this door,’ I thought to myself.

I looked at the bookcase and said, “Emases nepo.”

There was a low grinding sound as the bookcase opened up and revealing a passageway. Elissa turned around and looked wide-eyed as she saw the bookcase open.

“Okay,” she said, “I stand corrected.”

The hallway exposed by the bookcase looked like the other halls in the house. However, this one was illuminated by candlelight. I could see various pieces of artwork decorating the passage.

As I turned to go down the passageway to look for my dad, I looked at Elissa and said, “You coming?”

She turned around, headed over to me, and we started down the dimly lit hall. The hall was lit by rows of candles. It gave me a feeling that I was walking down an older mansion, or some kind of haunted house. The décor and the overall feel of the hall was different than walking along one of the other halls. Along this dark hallway, there were a few hall tables with strange objects on top of them. Elissa and I looked at them briefly and we couldn’t figure out what they were for. To us, they looked like simple items that you would find in various stores in the mall. Why they were just sitting out in this strange hall was beyond me.

“Creepy…,” Elissa said, as we walked down the hallway.

“You’re telling me,” I replied.

We continued down the hallway for a while, and I was beginning to wonder where my dad was at. It seemed like the hallway could continue on forever as we passed door after door.
After a few more minutes of walking I said to Elissa, “Do you hear something?”

“What?” she replied.

“Shhh…. Listen!” I whispered.

I cupped one of my ears to try to pick up what I heard again, it sounded like someone talking to someone on a phone. I thought, ‘But, there’s no sign of any electricity down here.’
Elissa broke my thought process again and whispered, “It sounds like it’s coming from a few doors down.”

The two of us took off at a jog, but we stopped short when we came to the first intersection that we had seen throughout this entire mysterious corridor.

“It figures,” Elissa started, “we get a clue and then a curveball is thrown our way.”

I rolled my eyes and told her to be quiet. We listened hard for what seemed like hours, and then we heard the voice again, louder and closer than before.

“It’s coming from the middle path,” I whispered, as we started down it.

We didn’t get very far when we saw a light coming from a crack in the doorway. As I was about to open the door, Elissa put her hand on my shoulder and whispered, “Don’t you want to find out who he’s talking to?”

I thought it over for a few seconds. She did have a point. Who was he talking to that he couldn’t use the phones in the house proper? We leaned next to the wall next to the door and listened to his conversation.

“Why did you go and let her do that in the first place?” a female voice yelled.

“I didn’t think she would get hurt doing it. It’s a simple trick,” my dad replied.

“Simple to you, yes. But, to her?”

“She was learning my tricks well enough. I thought that she could handle it.”

“I didn’t say she couldn’t handle learning your illusions, only that you should’ve been more careful.”

“Careful about what?”

“Careful about letting a troublesome audience member getting that close to sabotage your daughter’s trick!”

Elissa and I glanced at each other and we both had a look of surprise on our faces. We both thought that my dad was talking about Elissa. But, from the sounds of it, he and whomever he was talking to was talking about me! But, I wasn’t a girl! However, there was another thought in the back of my mind. That other voice sounded familiar somehow. Like out of a dream or a distant memory.

“Cindy, I couldn’t even begin to predict something like that would happen,” my dad said, reassuredly. “But, now that they have become active, the true form is emerging.”
‘True form?’ I thought, ‘What was he talking about?’

“I wish you the best of luck in helping her through it then. I’m still working on the curse that was placed upon her that forced us to go into hiding.”

“Want to switch jobs?”

The other voice giggled. “Nice try, John. Keep a closer eye on her. I doubt that’ll be the last assassin after her. I’ll be in touch. Best of luck to you.”

“Thanks, Sin,” my father replied glumly. He then said, “Ffo rorrim.”

The door began to creak open and I could hear my father sigh deeply. Whatever was going on was definitely weighing heavily on him.

“What am I going to tell her?” my father said to himself, not watching where he was going.

He managed to walk straight into me. He only staggered around, but I got nearly knocked to my feet.

“Uhh…, hi Dad,” I said, trying to look innocent.

“Zee! How did you–,” he stammered. “Ugh! Never mind.”

“Dad, what was that conversation all about?”

“What conversation?” he said, trying to look like he didn’t know what I was talking about.

“With that woman? Is she in there?” I said, looking into the room.

However, when I looked inside, all I saw was a large full-length mirror staring back at me. The wall had a couple of lit torches, but, for the most part, that was it for this room.

“Dad, what’s going on?” I said, now starting to freak out.

“Zane, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“Something?” I said, skeptical.

“Okay, a lot of somethings, and in the library.”

-----------------------

We walked back into my dad’s library a few minutes later, Elissa went and grabbed the two of us some water, while my dad grabbed his lunch and sat down in the armchair across from the couch. I looked at my dad, as he sat there and ate his sandwich. He didn’t want to start explaining anything until Elissa got back with the water. I didn’t argue with him. I wanted her here to lean on for some support.

“Good sandwich,” my dad said, after swallowing a good bite.

“Thanks,” I replied.

“Dad?” I asked after a moment of silence, “what’s going on?”

Elissa at that moment, walked in the room carrying a few glasses and the Brita pitcher of water from the refrigerator. I thought that was a good move by her, since I’m sure that this was one talk that was going to take a while.

My dad finished his sandwich, set the plate down on the coffee table, sighed, and then said, “I guess I had better start at the beginning.”

I nodded, but didn’t say anything since I wanted to hear it all.

“It begins with your heritage,” he started. “Your mother and I are both members of a nearly dead species, the Homo magi.”

“The Homo magi?” Elissa interrupted, “what are they?”

“The magi are a breed of humans that have evolved alongside humanity after being exposed to the wild forces of magic. We have the ability to tap into magic in a variety of ways and use its energy to our wishes, to a limited extent. We were nearly wiped out millennia ago.”

“What happened?” I asked.

“No one knows for certain. Most of that legend has been lost to time. I’ve been trying to piece it together, with little success. But, that’s a story for another day. The original point was that you are also a member of this race. You can tap into the magical energies that permeate this world.”

“Seriously? That’s crazy. I’m an ordinary human like anyone else.”

“Are you?” he said, raising an eyebrow. “Last time that I checked, humans don’t spontaneously grow nine inches in a two-day span.”

“He has a point, Zee,” Elissa interjected.

“Okay, so I’m not exactly human. Then, why am I changing like this?”

“Because, your mother and I cast a spell on you to seal your powers away until they were needed.”

“But, that shouldn’t have any physical transformation.”

“It does when we also hid your true form away along with them.”

“True form?” I said with a great deal of skepticism and surprise. “Dad, what are you talking about?”

“Zane,” he said, with a huff. “You are not my son, you are actually my daughter, Zatanna.”

“WHAT?!?!” I yelled, jumping to my feet.

“Calm down, Zee. Let the man talk,” Elissa said, grabbing my arm.

I was wondering why she was acting so calm. Her world was changing along with mine, although to a lesser degree. But, she had a caring, sympathetic look on her face as she held my arm. I sat back down onto the couch and let my dad continue his tale.

“Zatanna, we did this to hide your abilities from the world. There are a number of mystical forces in this world that would try to use you and your magic for their own ends. Your mother and I could not allow that.”

“Then where is my mother?” I asked, heatedly.

“Somewhere with the Hidden Ones, I don’t know. She does send all her love, though.”

“You’re talking with her?!”

“I believe you overheard some of the conversation I had with her, earlier.”

“That was…my…mom,” I said, tears starting to form.

“Yes, it was.”

I couldn’t believe that I had actually heard my mom’s voice. That’s why the voice had sounded so familiar! Also, could some of my tendencies lately have come from me being a girl underneath my parent’s disguise?

“Can I see her?” I asked nervously.

My father shook his head sadly. “No, since there was another reason for your disguise.”

“What?” I said, with tears starting to form in my eyes.

“When you were a young, we don’t know who, but someone placed a curse upon you.”

“A curse?”

My father nodded. “So far, we only know what the curse does. If you and your mother should ever look at one another in the flesh, then both of you will die.”

Elissa gasped and my mouth just dropped open.

“That’s just not right!” Elissa exclaimed. “Who would want to do such a thing?”

My father simply shook his head in grief and said, “We don’t know. But, we think that they were hoping that no motherly influence would affect your development, which is why we had to turn you into a boy and forcing you to become our son, Zane.”

Tears welled up in my eyes and I broke down sobbing. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. My feelings were all jumbled up with sadness and anger being the most dominant. I was feeling sadness since I couldn’t see my mother, whom I probably haven’t since I was a baby. The anger was stemming from the restrictions that I couldn’t see her, and that most of my life had been a lie, for my own protection.

“Zee,” Elissa said softly, trying to comfort me.

I grabbed her hand that she had placed on my shoulder and held it tightly. I tried to rein my feelings in, but it was just too much at the moment. I just felt like I wanted to be left alone, but for some reason I had to know more.

“Is there anything else, Dad?” I said through the sobs.

“Yes, you’re going to start to learn how to control your magical abilities, starting tomorrow.”

“So soon? Why?”

“Haven’t you noticed that pieces of your disguise are falling away, instead of all at once?”

“He’s got you there, Zee,” Elissa said jokingly.

“Also, I’m betting that since it has accelerated to an extent that some of your magic went off during that run-in.”

I nodded at that, there were a few things that happened that couldn’t be easily explained.

“I guess that means you won’t have an easy Sunday, huh?” Elissa quipped.

I smiled at her, and she added, “Well, no matter what happens, I will be with you, Zee.”

“Thanks, Elissa,” I replied, giving her a big hug.

“Elissa, I need to swear you to secrecy. You cannot reveal Zatanna’s true nature to anyone who doesn’t already know about it.”

“I wasn’t planning on it,” she answered. “I’d rather die than betray my best friend.”

I saw my dad nod, but I was touched that she would do that for me. It just brought a little warmth and happiness to me, helping to douse the anger and grief that I felt. I saw my dad chant something under his breath, and for a few seconds it seemed that he and Elissa were glowing. It lasted only a few seconds, but something did happen.

“Uhh…,” I said. “What just happened?”

“Elissa is now magically sworn to secrecy. She can’t forcibly break her word now.”

“Okay, but who would want to take advantage of me and why?”

“I don’t know, but I will try to find out. Now, why don’t you two go and have some fun. It’s going to be a busy day tomorrow.”