2nd Gen- To Give Chase

"Nadia, please, calm down," it was odd, having to be the one saying it for once. But Dorothy found herself in the middle of a crisis, an off-kilter Nadia on the other end of her phone-line.

"No! I can't calm down! You have no idea what havoc she could bring if left to her own devices for too long!" Nadia's voice was frantic, hints of her mixed accent floating through the earpiece of Dorothy's cellular device.

Dorothy sighed, running a hand through her short hair. It was still very early in the day- her day off, as well.

"Look, it's too early for me to be Ozma and look for her on my broom, but today's my day off, I can look for her on foot." she said, looking for her bag.

"Thank goodness you're the wolf, then," Nadia's voice seemed to calm down after a pause. "Tracking is your specific ability."

"Yeah, I know, you told me a hundred times," Dorothy checked her wallet, her keys weren't there. She must have left them on the counter. "Besides, Jill's pretty distinctive. Shouldn't be that hard to find her."

"Finding her won't be the problem," Nadia replied. "It's catching her that I'm afraid you'll have a problem with. She stole my locket, and..."

"I don't see what a locket has to do with anything," Dorothy raised an eyebrow, though she knew Nadia wouldn't see it.

"... I'll explain it later, just find her for now and bring her back here," Nadia said, hanging up on her.

"So much for shoe shopping." Dorothy sighed, putting her phone in her bag and picking up her keys. But then again, it was early in the day... Surely she can pick up new boots and then find Jill.

"Besides, teenagers love the mall, I wouldn't be surprised if I found her there," Dorothy chuckled to herself as she left her flat. "Maybe with a little luck, I'll just find her there, hopefully not terrorizing everyone."

The drive to the local mall was very uneventful, and the sun was shining brightly that warm spring day, giving everyone a fresh look of newness in that first true Saturday free from the grips of the winter.  Dorothy was glad that sweater season was officially over, she could finally let her arms breathe again in her tee.

Though, admittedly, the best part was that the stores had the last of their winter stock marked down cheap as can be, and Dorothy had a mind to get in on the deals.  However, something caught her eye as she walked by a store selling accessories. She backed up a few paces and peeked inside.

"She doesn't look like she's about to cause damage..." Dorothy murmured to herself as she watched the girl from behind.  It had to be Jill, no one else in Gotham wore their long black hair in braids, and certainly not with purple ribbons. But there she was, delightfully looking at each and every pair of earrings on the shelf. She turned around, and her green eyes locked with Dorothy's, her smile immediately dissolving when she recognized the brunette. Dorothy saw that she was indeed wearing a locket- the round sort with a mirrored finish on the top, with a shining silver chain. They held their stare for a long moment, then Dorothy took a few steps forward.  Jill stepped towards a spinning rack for sunglasses, ducking behind it, which prompted Dorothy to walk over. However, Jill was not there.

"Strange, it's not like she vanished... Right?" Dorothy mused to herself, before looking at the clerk, asking her: "Did you see a young woman with black hair come through here? Like, long hair? Down to her waist, and braided?"

"Yes, she was right over..." the clerk gave a look of confusion as she pointed to the empty corner. "Hmm, she must have left already. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, she's a friend. I just lost her and I'm trying to figure out where she is." Dorothy said, giving a small nod and shuffling out. Now, that was rather odd, as people don't simply disappear. Certainly she was still in the area, and with that in mind, Dorothy put the image of Jill in her head, letting her magical instinct help her pinpoint the girl. She kept her eyes closed for a moment as her senses singled out a resonance.

"Second floor. Huh," Dorothy looked over at the escalators. No possible way someone could get from here to up there that quickly. However, her senses had never betrayed her before. So up the escalator she traveled, following her internal radar.

This time she saw Jill in a small pet store, looking at the white rats with her face almost against the glass, obliviously delighting in the rodents. Dorothy crept up right up behind her, but her reflection was caught by the plastic containers. Jill straightened up, whirling to see Dorothy.

"Jill, I need you to come with me, ok?" Dorothy said, smiling. She offered her hand, and Jill back up a pace, looking at it like it was some strange object. "Please? Nadia's really worried."

"... Then let her be worried," Jill said after a pause, shaking her head. "I'm not going."

"Oh, really?" Dorothy reached for Jill's arm, who took another step back, straightening up and glaring down at Dorothy.

Dorothy was taken aback for a moment there. She had never really seen Jill at her full height, as the girl had always stood with a droopy slouch all the previous times she had seen her. But now Dorothy could see she was about Nadia's height, though perhaps an inch taller.

"Really," Jill replied, walking past her. However, it was curious, as the air around her shimmered until Jill quite neatly blurred and walked into thin air.

".... What." Dorothy rubbed her eyes, but it did seem that Jill was nowhere around. She checked her mind, and her magic found Jill at the other end of the mall.  Dorothy blinked, then took out her smartphone with haste, making a very urgent call.

"Did you find her?" was how Nadia greeted her when the other line responded.

"No, but I'm on her trail. Just one question," Dorothy said as she made her way through the crowd. "What exactly can she do? She was right in front of me and now she's halfway to nowhere."

"She is Hecate's Oracle, remember?" Nadia said, giving a sigh. "And what is she the goddess of?"


".... Witches?" Dorothy said after a pause. "You'll have to excuse me, the most I know of Greek mythology is the Odyssey and Disney's Hercules. She didn't exactly play a big part in either."

"Well.... Yes, she is a goddess of witchcraft. But classically, crossways and entrances." Nadia responded.

"So, Jill can teleport, is what you're saying?"

"In a sense, but-"

"Oh wait, I see her," Dorothy cut Nadia off, spying the elusive younger woman. "I think I can sneak up on her this time."

"But-" Was all Nadia could speak out before Dorothy ended the call, ducking her head down as she got up behind Jill in the crowd.  She reached out and grabbed Jill's arm.

"Gotcha." Dorothy smiled as Jill turned around. Jill made a quick motion to get out of Dorothy's grasp and began to disappear again, only this time Dorothy made another just as she was, being pulled between dimensions with her.

She made a sound of triumph, but her breath was choked in her throat. The place they had paused in was a red hall, with that stale feeling of being somewhere very deep down and very cold. She couldn't even breath, because it felt like there was no real air to breathe. Her head was pounding, half because of the suffocating feeling, and half because there was a presence in the back of her mind that she couldn't ignore, a looming, dreadful thought that was not her own.  She crumpled to the floor.

All she could do was keep an eye on Jill, who was frantically opening the doors on either side of them. She found one that seemed to be acceptable, and grabbed Dorothy under her arms, dragging her out into the dim lights of the indoor parking lot. Her senses came back to her as she drug herself onto her knees, coughing and sputtering. Jill nervously knelt down, her big green doe eyes hectic with worry, on the verge of tears.

"Okay, you're okay, that's good, Nadia said that you might be able to be okay if you were there...." She was muttering, mostly to herself, but partially to Dorothy.

"Jill." Dorothy got her breathing under control, and touched Jill's hand. "No more doing... Whatever that was. I won't bring you immediately back to Nadia if you answer some questions."

".... Can we get lunch too?" Jill asked.

"What? Yeah, sure," Dorothy shrugged, standing up. "You really don't want to go back to Nadia's, do you?"

"Not really," Jill nodded, rubbing her arm. "She's not a very good sister."

"She's your sister?" Dorothy blinked.

"Half-sister, actually."

"She never told me that... But it does explain how she even got a hold of you," Dorothy once again shrugged. She gave a look to the locket around Jill's neck. "So, uh, what's so special about that locket there?"

"Uh..." Jill wrapped her fingers around it delicately, hesitant. "Well, it... Nadia put my... Well, it keeps my 'heart', kinda. Or at least something like it. Not my literal heart, that'd be a bit scary, but more like... Well, that part of me."

"You mean 'heart' like... Like how you're completely different from how I'm familiar." Dorothy ventured.

"Yeah, like that!" Jill nodded. "Nadia can kinda... Take parts of a person and put them in separate places. For safekeeping, she says."

"That's mildly disturbing."  Dorothy stated, looking around for the entrance back into the mall.

"Yeah, but that's not all, without this, I don't even have the will to... Well, 'hop'. Between here and there, like I can do." Jill continued, following Dorothy.  "It's an awfully hollow feeling."

"I can imagine!" Dorothy agreed, but then went quiet as her mind went to work again. Nadia will definitely have a lot of explaining to do after she was done here at the mall.  She turned back to Jill. "So.... Where do you wanna go eat? The food court or somewhere in town?"

"Oh, well," Jill gave a pause, before smiling. "The food court sounds just fine. I caught a scent of just the most appetizing Chinese food!"

"You're using appetizing pretty broadly there, Jilly," Dorothy says with a tut. In her mind, she reminded herself to get those shoes right after lunch.