The fires along the encampments were supposed to hold through the night. They didn't. That much was clear when the white monsters extinguished it.
Finn was already at the pits when Ciri found him, moving along the tar line, checking it section by section. He crouched at one point, pressed his fingers into the surface, then moved on.
Ciri stepped down beside him, curious about what was going on inside his head.
"What happened here?" she asked.
"The fire went out," Finn said. "All of it. In a snap. Look at this. The tar's surface… it's hard, like it's been frozen."
He pressed again at another section. The tar was indeed hard on the surface, though still gooey once it's pressed and the hard layer broke.
Ciri watched him for a moment, then her gaze shifted to his arm as he moved. The sleeve had pulled back slightly. She saw something that made her curious.
She reached out and caught his wrist. He paused at the gesture as she turned his wrist. A thin dull white scar ran across his skin, which made Ciri raise her brow. "What is this?"
Finn pulled his arm back. "Don't worry about it."
"...Hm."
She let it go. They moved along the trench together after that. Finn kept checking the tar, pressing and scraping at intervals. Ciri scanned the ground for anything that did not belong. She stopped first and crouched, finding something.
"Finn." she called.
He stepped over. "What?"
She brushed aside a darkened patch. Something caught the light in between.
Finn leaned in. "There."
Ice.
Ciri shifted and inspected it, her eyes tracing the edges where it met the tar. She tapped it once with her finger. It didn't break.
"It's a thin layer," she said. "Definitely not natural."
Finn nodded. "Not after the big fire that was supposed to be here in the first place."
She faced him, as if she had an epiphany. "Someone used magic to extinguish it."
Finn exhaled and scanned the trench. "Do you see any footsteps that could lead to whoever did this?"
Ciri shook her head. "Not likely. With the battle, it's most likely gone now. Do you know any magic that could lead us to the culprit?"
Finn scoffed. "I don't know any of that."
Ciri tilted her head. "So you are a sham mage, then?"
"I said I'm kind of a mage. I didn't mean I know everything."
".. So you admit that you are a mage?"
"... Like I said, kind of."
Her arms crossed. "Explain."
"It's complicated."
"You said that before. Explain the complication."
Finn shook his head. "Like I said, I don't want to explain the complicated intricacies of magic across worlds right now."
"We have time," she said. "You led me here to 'investigate' the cause of the extinguishment of the fires around the encampment. Speaking of which, why do you want to investigate it anyway? I thought you don't like getting involved in things?"
"Do you want me to get involved or not?" Finn said. "Someone inside definitely helped the white monsters to extinguish the flame, you know? Or let's just leave this place and don't turn back. By the way, I made Prince Wayne promise to give us some lodging after all of this is done for us to stay for a few months. I sure hope that the stay won't be bothered by this suspicious thread, like our stay had been disturbed by the Wild Hunt back at the Pokemon world..."
Hearing this, Ciri smiled, just faintly. She let the question pass.
"Alright," she said. "Then as you look for another clue in this… 'thread', mind telling me this 'complicated intricacies of magic across worlds'?"
"...I'll tell you on the way to the castle."
—
They left the trench and made their way back through the city. On the way, Finn explained to her the intricacies of magic that he had found so far.
"So, sometimes magic exists in a world, Sometimes it doesn't." Finn said. "And the nature of magic in one world might be very different from the nature of magic from another world."
"Meaning?" asked Ciri
"In some worlds, magic exists in everything," Finn said. "In another, it's given by a deity. Or it only works under certain conditions. I most likely can't use magic that I learned from another world here."
"Why?"
"Because the source of that magic might not exist in this world. So even if I studied magic for decades in a world," Finn continued, "once I moved here, I'd be as useless as a peasant, because the source of that magical knowledge that I studied for decades might not even exist here in the first place."
She was quiet for a moment. "Then why can I still teleport?"
Finn smiled slightly. "Which brings me to my next point."
He reached into his bag and pulled something out.
A blue crystal. Dull. the crystal that was once lodged on his mechanical staff.
"If I bring that source with me," he said, "artifact, crystal, or something that carries a magical energy, or hell, even using a type of magic that is interdimensional, then I can still use magic."
Ciri looked at the crystal, curiously inspecting it.
"Or blood," Finn added. "Like yours."
She said nothing about that added fact.
"The example is clear," he said. "You are a child of the elder blood. That blood holds a magical source. So you can use it anywhere."
He lifted the crystal slightly.
"This is a hextech crystal. It stores a large amount of magical energy. I can use it through runes that it understands. It's dead now. At least for now. There's a paper that I read from where it comes from, that theorizes that every crystal is connected. They act like a gateway to a pure arcane world where that energy comes from. So theoretically, I can still use it. I just need more research on how to use that power."
He put it back into his bag.
"Which is why I said that me being a mage is complicated," he said. "I am a mage of some sort. Just not a reliable one."
Ciri looked ahead. "How do you know all this?"
Finn let out a quiet chuckle. "Trust me. I learned it the hard way."
—
When they arrived at the castle, they requested an audience with Prince Wayne. The servants lead them to a room, and once they enter it, Finn could feel a slight unease permeating from it.
Batman stood near a table. An urn rested on it. He did not turn when Finn and Ciri entered.
"Alfred," he simply said.
Finn stepped closer. "I'm sorry for your loss, my prince."
Batman continued. "He was killed by an underling of Waller. Deadshot."
Ciri remained near the entrance, preferring not to talk right now. Let Finn handle it.
"Waller said that when he killed him, he wanted none of the Martians to live in the Kingdom of the El," Batman said. "He's dead now. Both of them."
Finn nodded, as if affirming Batman's sadness. Then, he brought up what they found.
"We checked the tar pit," he said. "There's a thin layer of ice under the burn. It was definitely not natural. Someone used ice magic to extinguish the fire."
Batman answered immediately. "...Captain Cold."
Finn frowned. "Where is this Captain Cold?"
"He's supposed to be at the castle," Batman said. "Tightly guarded by General Waller and her right hand man, Deadshot."
"...That fits."
"Deadshot might've freed Captain Cold to do the deed," Batman said. "But Deadshot has already been killed by Waller herself after he killed Alfred. So we couldn't ask him."
A brief pause settled inside the room.
"But why would Deadshot want to kill Alfred but let the White Martian into the encampment if he hates all aliens equally. Unless…"
Finn exhaled. "Waller," he said. "A Martian has telepathic power, don't they not? He must've read Deadshot's mind. Deadshot is an underling of Waller. Quite convenient that he was instantly killed by Waller. I would think the general wants to interrogate the man first if he's her underling, to see if there's any more hole in her squad."
Batman turned instantly. He walked toward the exit.
Finn watched him go. "Where are you going?"
"To gather the guards," Batman said. "And execute a traitor."