The Greedy Frog
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DC: The Enchanter Chapter 31
🕑 Added 2023-07-20 11:56:55 +0000 UTCChapter 31: Ferris
"Are you alright, miss?"
Well, she wasn't. She was shaken to the core from the scene. Mostly traumatized, and if she has a weak will, she might need a bit of therapy for sure.
But it barely meant anything to me.
I know Penguin asked me to minimize the damages and that I did – retracting the metal spikes, restating the seats, removing the lava, cleaning off the obsidian – all within a few minutes, of course.
But he didn't tell me anything about minimizing psychological damages. It is the problem of the Ferris family to deal with that.
However, I was responsible for getting her home – at least, until Penguin got the information about her safety.
But to my surprise, despite being shaken, she tried her best to regain her composure.
"Y-Yeah," She said, slowly walking towards me – possibly shocked to see the remnants of the fight vanishing right in front of her eyes.
"T-Thank you."
Woah…
Now that is something that I did not expect to hear.
Especially from the woman who was being a bitch since the moment I saw her.
But guess people change with trauma and experiences.
Stockholm syndrome? Nah, I wasn't the villain.
She looked around herself, seeing the dead bodies lying all around her, surrounded by blood.
Remember, they were war casualties; cleaning off the blood wasn't my responsibility.
Though making sure that her private jet didn't suffer damages was.
She was mournful, seeing the people that served her die right in front of her.
"Could you not have saved them?" Surprisingly, this time around… it was not an accusation but merely a question.
And that was something that I could answer.
"In this profession, if you try to act heroic and bite off more than you can chew – you end up dying." I said, "Till that moment, I wasn't sure how strong they were. If I went around blindly and tried to fight with her… and if she had superpowers, I might not have survived, which means you would have died too."
She knew that I wasn't wrong.
But she still felt the pain of losing her loyal followers.
"What… about those two?" She asked, pointing at the unconscious assassins.
I assured, "They are my responsibility. You do not have to worry about them."
"We might find information about the person who hired them if we inquire about them."
I shook my head, "Highly unlikely. Assassins of their caliber are trained to never reveal information even during the worst tortures. And from what I know, your father already has a clue about the person behind the incident."
"What will you do with them?" She asked, making me smile.
Oh, you don't have to worry about it. I have my plans.
"Don't worry about it, as assassins, they can be useful to me and Penguin."
I was definitely not going to let Penguin get his hands on them.
"What if they escape?" She was worried, rightfully so.
"They won't," I said as assuringly as possible.
"I hope the pilot is alive." I said, not wanting to go through another cliche of a dead pilot and a crashing jet.
This made Ferris immediately use her phone-ish intercom to talk to the pilot.
"Captain, are you alright?" She asked, and thankfully for us, the pilot replied.
"Y-Yes, miss Ferris!" He replied, "Are you safe?!"
"The situation has been taken care of; you can be assured and fly towards our estate."
At Ferris' reassurance, the captain felt relieved.
"Roger that!"
I am glad that he was alive as while I was pretty confident that I can make sure that we don't die.
It was too difficult to save the plane.
It was possible in my head, but it was all theoretical, and I had to think of how to practically apply that theory.
And yes, oftentimes what I did was in magical territory, but even so, I had to believe it myself that the phenomenon was possible for it to work.
And it was difficult with a situation such as a crashing plane.
But thankfully, the rest of the flight was peaceful with me trying my best to make small talk to lighten up the mood a little.
And I am glad that Ferris followed up with her own questions and answers.
I came to learn a lot about Ferris Aircrafts and her story. While she learned about me – lies and made-up stories for the most part, but stories nonetheless.
And just like that, our trip came to an end as we landed on the billion-dollar Ferris estate.
And to a normal person, it would feel like an empire, while to the Ferris, it was one of their many 'modest' estates.
"Carol!"
Her father was ecstatic, "My daughter is safe!"
He seemingly flew towards us, engulfing the heiress into a bear hug.
"D-Dad! Can't breathe!"
It was funny but also quite nice to see a family reunion.
Carl Ferris didn't pay any attention to what she said as he tightened his grip.
"I am so glad that my daughter is safe."
It was honestly a nice scene.
And witnessing the show for a while, the man finally acknowledged my presence.
"And you must be Jasper Hughes," He showed a kind smile, "I have heard a lot about you from Oswald."
The fat man knew how to sell, so of course, Carl had heard about me.
"It's an honor to meet the legend who established one of the most profitable companies all by himself."
Hearing me say that, he laughed.
"Someone with your skills must have met countless people like me; I am anything but a legend," He was humble.
The old man had a likable personality, possibly one of the reasons he was at the top.
"You think too highly of me, sir," I said, trying to match his humbleness.
"How about you join us for dinner?" He asked, looking at Carol.
Carol surprisingly didn't say anything.
"That… would be nice."
"I think that would be too troublesome for you, sir." I said, not sure if I should be wasting any more time than I already was.
"Nonsense!" He laughed, "It will be my pleasure to have my daughter's savior share his stories over dinner!"
I honestly wasn't sure if I should be agreeing.
I had two assassins chained up and a bounty to collect from Penguin.
But…
I guess, I can spare a little bit of time for food.
"If it isn't too much trouble for you, then I accept." I showed a smile which made the man grin.
"Excellent!" He grinned, "Come right over!"
…
…
"That is not practical, Zatanna," The man who had been with the Zatara circus for even longer than Zatanna said, "We have lost the circus. No one will loan us considering our poor financial records."
"It is true, Zatanna." The jokester Leroy said, "We were indebted to your father, we are, and we will always be. But it is time we let go, it is time… you let go."
This made Zatanna disheartened.
"You are young, Zatanna," Tall girl Bella said, "Unlike us, you have your whole life ahead of you. Move on, you can achieve so much more in your life. So much greatness, don't stay trapped in the shadow."
She felt her heart break hearing this.
"W-We kept this circus going even after my father left," She tried convincing them, "We can do it again! We can start from scratch again."
She tried to convince them, but most importantly, herself.
However, it wasn't easy.
They all shook their heads, "Be realistic, Zatanna. We have lost the circus, don't lose yourself in it. Go out and be free." The aerialist said, "For us and for your father."
Zatanna was lost.
She thought that they would be with her forever; they were her family.
But now even they were leaving.
And there wasn't anything she could do about it.
"Please, Zatanna," Lucas, the guard said, "Let us go and let go of this circus."
She recalled Jasper's words.
They were coming true right in front of her, despite her not wanting to believe them.
Yet, she did not want to give up.
Not yet.
"No…" She said, "I will keep my father's legacy alive. If not with you all, then without you."
The crew looked at one another and then at her with pity, but they couldn't stay.
They had families to feed, and despite wanting to support her, the Zatara circus was gone, and her father's legacy was lost.
But Zatanna wasn't going to let it get lost so easily.
'I will keep it alive, one way or the other.'
