Chapter 24 : The longest day of my life (Revelations)

 

Sanctum Sanctorum boudoir, Sanctum Sanctorum, Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York, 25th of January, 17:32

 

It takes me a while to gather my shattered pride back, but I can tell it’s going to be nothing more than a vain attempt at posturing when the Ancient One’s little smirk remains still firmly plastered on her face.

 

“Funny and unimportant details aside,” She begins, bringing a merciful end to my suffering, “The crux of the matter remains.”

 

Iris and I tenses anew, but it is not in shame on my part this time.

 

The Ancient One stares at us for a while, before sighing softly.

 

“Now, with that promise bonding you to one of the rare entities I absolutely cannot allow myself to offend, even if I wanted to,” She pauses, mulling over her next sentence, “I can neither imprison you nor deal with you in the vain hope that the many problems your arrival here have already caused may resolve themselves.”

 

Harsh, but I understand where she’s coming from.

 

Sort of, it still stinks.

 

I feel Iris’ grip unwind lightly, the pressure on my collarbones where her ‘arms’ lay lessening.

 

“The problems my arrival has caused ?” I ask politely, showing that her callousness does not really offend me.

 

Her gaze is calculating as she looks at me.

 

“How old are you exactly ?” The Ancient One asks out of the blue.

 

A little smile flutters on my lips.

 

“Pick your favorite answer : 42 years old, 16 going on 17, or just a newborn.” I cheekily retort.

 

“That explains why you remained unphased, I assume.” She comments archingly.

 

I answer with a one shoulder shrug.

 

“You deal with magical problems and I am apparently one. Being offended by something that is a fact wouldn’t make the conversation any more productive.” I tell her seriously.

 

She pauses again.

 

After a while, her mind seemingly made up, she speaks again.

 

“At the end of October of the previous year, the day before Saiman, I went to observe if the current of times had changed. I usually do so once a month just in case, being prepared is half the battle after all.” She relates, her hands coming to lay on the table, fingers crossed.

 

“Imagine my surprise when what I saw was completely different from what I previously foresaw.”

 

Fuck.

 

“Fuck.” I very eloquently blurt out.

 

“You resumed my reaction quite splendidly.” She deadpans, and I feel the corners of my lips curl up slightly at her retort.

 

“Allies I never had helping me in battle against enemies I was previously never going to face, visions of the mundane world suddenly getting murkier and…” She pauses, reluctance to speak further clear on her face.

 

“The point where your visions usually stopped has shifted.” I say softly in her stead, “Closer or further ?”

 

The fact that I said it so clinically startles her a bit and she answers me as she blinks.

 

“Unclear.” She admits, her teeth gritted just a tad, “Too many possibilities suddenly intersecting each other make it difficult to properly decipher a conclusive result.”

 

Realization dawns on me.

 

“That is why you were so generous with Raven, you want to pick Irene’s brain about those changes.” I exclaim.

 

The Ancient One blinks once again, the shadows of a scowl ghosting her face briefly.

 

“Of course you would know about her capacities, I should’ve expected as much.” She grumbles before sighing.

 

“That is part of the reason, yes.” She reluctantly admits, “That and the fact that Ms. Darkholme plays a major part in my dealing with the mundane in the next years according to my visions.”

 

I snicker and she arches an eyebrow at me, annoyance palpable.

 

I cough into my hand.

 

“Forgive me, it’s just that I realized that you were one of the very few that could call her a miss without it being either extremely condescendant or awfully wrong.” I explain awkwardly.

 

The Ancient One blinks, then chuckles politely.

 

“Because of her age ? Indeed.” She answers with levity.

 

“I approached Ms. Adler on the subject while tying her time to Ms. Darkholme’s, she admitted that her own visions dramatically shifted too, which gave her quite the scare.” She explains further.

 

“That is probably the reason why Raven went with my plan so swimmingly, if all of her previous ones suddenly got trashed three months prior.” I comment on the mind-link to Iris.

 

“[Agreement] : Your terms were enticing, but convincing a known mercenary with so little was a little far-fetched.” She acquiesces.

 

I mull over what the Ancient One just told us for a beat.

 

“But it cannot be my fault,” I realize aloud, “I did not have the power to curb both the visions of the most powerful natural farseer in the world and those granted by the Time Stone three months ago.”

 

The Ancient One gives me a flat stare.

 

“Yes, I do know about the stones.” I deadpan, not betraying my inner mirth.

 

She lightly shakes her head, expression sour.

 

“One of the most well guarded secrets of our order, and she just ‘knows about it’.” She complains aloud, “Ms. Dakholme was right, you hide it well, but you can be insufferably smug.”

 

Her statement leaves me a little peeved, since it’s already the second time today that I hear it.

 

How did she even catch that ? She wasn’t there !

 

Feeling my worsening mood and willing to help me stay calm and centered, Iris starts trailing little soft kisses on my neck as her grip tightens anew.

 

It does work splendidly and I relax instantly.

 

The sole witness of the scene takes a while to compute what she’s seeing.

 

“I must say it aloud at least once, just to clear my mind of it, but the intimacy the both of you share is disturbing to watch on so many levels.” She admits, a little googly eyed.

 

“I am a rather tactile person so…” I explain, gesturing vaguely to convey what is best left unsaid.

 

“That would explain it.” She nods, still a bit weirded out, the vision probably clashing pretty hard with what she took for certain, “No matter.”

 

The Ancient One exhales, eyes closing for a beat.

 

“Yes, it cannot be your fault.” She answers my previous statement, “You came to possess your previous body after the incident his former owner sustained, correct ?”

 

She probably took a peek with the Eye of Agamotto yesterday’s evening when Raven barged into the Sanctum and noticed the discrepancies.

 

“I did,” I start, “And just so you know, I found his mind trapped by an unknown construct in the Astral Plane when Iris was operating on me. I even managed to bring him back by grafting his mind onto another body.”

 

She winces lightly.

 

“All this time alone in the Astral ? Is he mentally sane ?” She asks

 

“He wasn’t, but I managed to bring him back from the very edge of insanity by providing him company and counsel into a time accelerated construct built inside the realm.” I explain further.

 

The Ancient One contemplates what I just said for a beat.

 

“That is surprisingly clever.” She finally admits, “You thought on your feet there.”

 

“It was a gamble, but one that was worth taking.” I answer humbly.

 

“What about the construct ? What can you tell me about it ?” She carry on.

 

“Because it could be a clue, isn’t it ?” I realize aloud.

 

The Ancient One silently nods.

 

“I’ll do even better, I’m going to draw you a sketch of what I remember.” I decisively say.

 

Iris wordlessly brings some paper and a pen without me asking, and I start quietly drawing the strange cubic construct inside which I found Flashy this morning.

 

The silence stretches for a while, only interrupted by the scratching of my pen on the paper while the Sorcerer Supreme of earth calmly watches me doing so with rapt attention.

 

“There.” I declare as my pen is swallowed back by my sister and I slide the sketch toward the Ancient One, “This should be accurate, except its color that was uniformly blue teal. I made a note indicating so.”

 

She grasps the sheet of paper, observing the various sigils that I’ve witnessed earlier today with unparalleled focus.

 

When she drops the sketch back, her expression is sour and conflicted.

 

“So ?” I ask, a little bit impatiently.

 

“Those runeworks are totally unknown to me.” She reluctantly admits.

 

I swear under my breath, prompting another salvo of little pecks by my blood-sister.

 

“So, let me resume what we know so far.” I say, tired of the unproductive silence that is now stretching uncomfortably, “My arrival and Eugene Thompson’s subsequent entrapment coincides with the start of a major alteration of this universe’s timelines, both magical and mundane.”

 

Gathering some steam, I carry on.

 

“Barring evidence to the contrary, the phenomenon is supposedly of magical nature and the runework used was previously unseen before, if we theorize that it is consistent in both cases of the shifts in time and me highjacking Eugene’s body unwillingly post-mortem.”

 

I raise my head, locking eyes with the Ancient One.

 

“Am I safe to assume that all of this is the responsibility of a magical entity, whose power is at least on the level of an Infinity Stone, and who presumably hails from Outside Creation ?”

 

The Sorcerer Supreme stays silent for a beat, her fingers rhythmically tapping the table in nervousness.

 

“That is the most likely scenario,” She admits and I cannot help but swear under my breath again, “Except that I wouldn’t attribute the timeline getting shambled this way to some spell, but rather its arrival.”

 

I silently nod since it makes sense.

 

“But why me ? Why give me Eugene’s body ?” I ask aloud, not really expecting any answer.

 

“You inferred that you had previously died, correct ?” She asks.

 

“I did, and I’m fairly confident it really happened.” I answer without letting any of my emotions show.

 

Marie’s face gets paler than a ghost when the oncologist tells us that it is too late for me…

 

“Some magic, prohibited ones, makes use of the energy released by a soul when it leaves its vessel to accomplish more than they normally could.” The Ancient One slowly explains.

 

“Are you telling me that I was used as a magic battery ?” I ask incredulously.

 

“In a way, the occurrence of your death was, yes.” She answers clinically, probably getting the hint that the subject is touchy, “You also probably weren’t the only one it happened to.”

 

“But why am I here then ? Alive and kicking ?” I ask almost plaintively.

 

“I’m not sure, but if I have to guess…” She starts, straightening herself, “You coincidently got brought over by whatever process they used to come from Outside Creation at the same time they did.”

 

“And my soul left to wander would have eventually landed on Mistress Death’s desk, making her realize that something fucky was going on.” I slowly say, feeling myself getting paler.

 

What is the paler version of matte gold anyway ?

 

Iris’ hug tightens, her nuzzling intensifying in the crook of my neck, quieting my erratic heartbeats.

 

“They probably had knowledge of that fact too, and, if we admit that both of the ‘portal’s’, or whatever was used, locations coincided roughly in both cases, meaning it stayed consistent and spawned near this earth in this universe since you lived onto yours previously, they looked for a solution, and reincarnating you was the cheapest and easiest one to avoid further notice.” The Ancient One explains further.

 

I mull over her conclusion for a beat, my hand absentmindedly petting Iris’ head.

 

“I got a second chance to buy them more time. And Eugene nearly got short-changed pretty badly for it.” I remark aloud, feeling like laughing at the absurdity of it all.

 

“A mix of pure happenstance and commodity on their part.” The Ancient One nods to me, “It could have been anybody that was in a coma at the time, since their minds are the easiest to confine in the Astral. I’ll have to study this runework a bit more to draw more conclusions.”

 

She lightly taps my sketch with her index for emphasis.

 

“While I do not know the language, magic, like science, follows guidelines that are hard to circumvent, at least in this Creation. I should be able to decipher some of its meaning with further research.” She adds, her brows furrowed.

 

“At least we know that they cannot play nor hinder with Fate.” I remark pensively.

 

The Ancient One looks at me archingly, motioning for me to carry on with a vague gesture.

 

“Whatever they did to put me into Eugene’s body didn’t stop me from meeting with Iris.” I elaborate, “I did not only hijack his flesh, but parts, if not all, of his Fate too since he would’ve been the one destined to meet a Klyntar. There’s no other explanation for her vessel landing near me while I was randomly taking a hike in Central Park. And it was a pretty big oversight on their part since they pretty much handed me a loaded gun by doing so.”

 

I sigh aloud, pinching my nose.

 

“I’ll have to meet the Great Weaver at some point to get some clarifications about that and I’m really not thrilled by the idea.” I mutter aloud, eyes closed in annoyance.

 

The Ancient One nods slowly, taking in what I’ve just said.

 

“That should indeed be a good move, but going to its temple alone would be unwise.” She points out.

 

“Anansi should be amenable to at least having a little talk with me if I come along with two of his protegees, but I won’t point them in the right direction without them being ready first.” I tell her.

 

We stay silent for a beat, staring at each other while Iris is apparently getting very close to dozing off, her motions getting gradually slower.

 

Guess all the action since this morning managed to tire her for the first time since we bonded.

 

“How do you see the future unfolds ?” The Ancient One finally asks.

 

I mull over my words for a moment before answering.

 

“Are you still amenable to pay a closer look to the magical potential of two spider-totemites ?” I start.

 

“I am.” She answers immediately, “If only to ascertain that their ties to the Underweb are valid and not stolen, I do not want to risk an outbreak of magical spiders in the middle of New York City because the Great Weaver becomes miffed by their continued existence.”

 

Yeah, that would be bad.

 

“I can assure you that they check all the marks that I know off, but I understand where you're coming from.” I agree genially, “In this case, I would like to propose to you an alliance.”

 

Rather than immediately dismissing me, the Ancient One remains silent, a calculating look in her eyes.

 

“I would like for us to exchange information regularly, since reading the future is apparently a tall order right now.” I start, “And I’m wondering if us,” I gesture between the dozing Iris and I,” and the teammates I gathered could make use of the Mirror Dimension with the help of one of yours to provide us with an access when they do not have any other prior engagement to train our capacities while safely hidden.”

 

I pause for a beat.

 

“If the two spider-totemites are amenable and you do find some potential in them due to their ties to the Underweb, I would also like for them to be trained in the specific branch of the arcane they can access.” I carry on.

 

“This way, you would gain intelligence and proper footwork in the mundane world with some agents willing to take care of problems that do not yet hinder the magical, but could in the future.” I conclude my presentation.

 

Her eyes narrow a bit.

 

“You ask for much, while giving very little, only promises.” The Ancient One observes calmly.

 

“Please,” I roll my eyes theatrically, “Do not pretend that the sole possibility of observing two benevolent totemites isn’t rewarding enough in itself, especially considering the fact that you’d be the first. What I’m suggesting would also enable you to gather some momentum back now that you cannot divine the future anymore, or, more accurately, with enough precision to effectively plan ahead. We’re all going to have to play it by ear in the not so far future, and you know just as much as I do that having powerful allies is a necessity in troubled times.”

 

I pause, considering.

 

“It’ll also allow you to keep an eye on my golden magically problematic self, which you would have done anyway.” I add eventually.

 

We stare at each other for a beat, until the Sorcerer Supreme finally sighs, shoulder sagging.

 

“Very well, an alliance it is.” She concedes, eyes closed in calm resignation, “Where do you wish to start ?”

 

Mentally pumping my fist hard enough for it to jolt Iris out of her quasi-asleep state, I start to expose the beginning of my plan to the Ancient One.

 

“For starters, how about…”

 

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