Chapter 141: Allies
5th June 2006, New York City
(Jasmine Sayre POV)
I spent another day trying to discover any hints of what future Wanda’s adventure in time changed. From Irene’s situation, it appeared to be quite a lot. Truth be told, I was thinking about just letting things be, but I couldn’t afford to lose the fight ahead.
This was pretty much the first time I genuinely had no idea what to do. My future vision stopped working, so I had no hints about what will happen, only the visions I had seen before. It wasn’t just my future sight that had been blocked, but everyone’s.
I visited pretty much every seer, every prophet, mutant or mage, it didn’t matter. Nothing was certain and the game of chess I have been playing was over with no winners. So far, I had only one avenue left, one last hope, Nimue, Merlin’s apprentice, or as she likes to call herself nowadays, the Ancient One.
I didn’t like to ask for favors from another immortal. They tend to be very tricky and could ask for something exorbitant in return. The Ancient One, for example, while she looks like the benevolent ageless master to her disciples, she was extremely manipulative and would sacrifice thousands of lives without hesitating for a second.
I don’t like it, but she’s the current sorcerer supreme and had access to the time stone. I could just steal it, but it would cause me a lot of headaches, which is something I don’t need in a time like this. Asking for help, while troublesome, is less of a hassle, in the long run.
I teleport to the entrance of the New York Sanctum Sanctorum. I had sent a message to Nimue, saying that I wish to speak to her. I knock on the door, revealing an Asian man looking at me warily. Oh, it seems that he knows who I am. He immediately introduces himself, “Hello, my name is Wong, The Ancient One is expecting you in the study. Please follow me.”
I just nod at him. I didn’t come here to partake in conversations. I followed him up to the study, ignoring the priceless paintings and artifacts on the way. It had nothing on my collection. I walk up to the study and open the door. Wong immediately walks away, probably scared to death of my presence.
I walk inside and see Nimue sitting, waiting for me. But she wasn’t alone, Stephen Strange was there as well. Huh, it was odd that she wants him to stay there, the only thing I can think of is that she’s planning on him taking over soon.
She smiled that weird knowing smile of hers, which actually doesn’t mean anything. I think that she perfected it just to mess with people. “It’s been a while, Morrigan”
I nod at her, “You too, Nimue.”
Strange looked startled at the name. Oh, right, he had no idea what her name was. It was a game she liked to play with her disciples, a way to mess with them, and get an air of mystery all the while. The former surgeon exclaimed, “Nimue. That’s your name? Isn’t that the name of…”
Nimue interrupted him, “Merlin’s disciple. Yes, I know. The man was a lot different from what the legends portraited him. But we’re not here for a history lesson. Why did you come here, Morrigan?”
Strange steeled himself and stopped gaping at the sorcerer supreme. I nod and answer her, “You know exactly why I came here. You felt what happened as well.”
The ancient one nodded, “Yes, I have felt the disturbance itself but not what caused it. I must ask you to elaborate on what happened.”
“Alright. Someone was able to go back in time to their own timeline. You understand what that means, don’t you?”
The sorcerer supreme stood up, “That’s impossible. It’s a law of Time, we cannot do that.”
“And yet it happened, and of course the universe reacted and removed the disruption in minutes but by then the damage was already done. It was able to save our reality, but with severe consequences.”
Strange looked confused, “How could few minutes cause so much damage? I don’t understand why you’re this worried about this.”
I look at him incredulously and turn back to Nimue, “He’s your successor. If I didn’t know of his potential, I would have been disappointed in you. This is stuff that he needs to know about.”
Nimue nodded, “I may have neglected this part of his education. This is why I’m brought him; it’s good experience.”
“Fine, I’ll explain. Do you understand the concept of a sonic boom?”
Stephen nodded, “Yes, it’s a loud explosive noise caused by the shock wave from an object travelling faster than the speed of sound.”
I nod at him, “A textbook definition. Now, as you know, traveling back to your own timestream while you’re not part of the events is impossible. But if it was possible, it has a lot more consequences than just messing up the timeline and creating a possible paradox. With every breath, something changes, even if they’re insignificant in the short term, they can change everything in the long term. Break the sound barrier you get a sonic boom, breaking the time barrier, you get a time boom.”
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“But how did they do it, how did they do something that’s supposed to be impossible?”
I sigh, “I’m not sure but I know that the Darkhold was involved.”
The ancient one interjected, “The Darkhold alone shouldn’t have been enough. There have been thousands of wielders of that abominable book, most of them would have done this in a heartbeat, no matter the consequences.”
“Yes, I suspect that someone, something, was letting them through, let them find the exact pieces to do this.”
Silence reigned with this declaration. A few minutes later, the ancient one interjected, “As fascinating as that is, it still doesn’t explain the purpose of your visit, Morrigan.”
I sigh, “I need to check if the time stone still shows you visions of the future.”
The ancient one nodded, “Oh yes, with the disturbance messing up the timeline, the abilities of any seer would suffer.”
I reply to her, “Yes, the only thing I got was from the most powerful seer on the planet. She said that she saw the stars going out. With what is coming, it is very concerning.”
She nodded at me and materialized the Eye of Agamotto. She made a hand sign revealing the glowing time stone. The stone started to truly shine but then Nimue gasped in shock. I look at her in worry.
“Don’t worry Morrigan, I wasn’t hurt. You were right. The stone is being affected as well. I could only see darkness.”
I sigh, “I thought so. I hoped it wasn’t the case.”
Strange spoke up, confused, “Is it really that serious that it would mess with the time stone?”
Nimue nodded at him, “The disturbance altered the timeline irrevocably. Until it stabilizes, the universe remains in some sort of time lock, as to not strain reality even more. There will be no time travel, to the past or to the future. The only thing left in terms of time manipulation are relative time manipulation, by stretching and compressing time. It’s relativistic and doesn’t really affect the timeline.”
The ancient one looked at me, “Morrigan, what’s going on, really? I know you. You wouldn’t have come here unless you were truly desperate. A few decades without future sight wouldn’t be that hard.”
I sigh in exasperation. Should I tell them? With all my plans in ruins, I only have Selene as an ally, and she’s just as lost as I am. Perhaps, I should ask for help occasionally. The situation is severe enough to set aside my pride and ask for assistance.
“Something is coming. And I don’t mean the war for the stones. Something bigger, something worse, a lot worse. I have been playing chess with it, trying to create a path with the best chance of victory over an invisible enemy that I know absolutely nothing about. What I do know, is that they’re invested in Thanos’ snap. They want it to happen. They have been manipulating events for a long time, trying to make the stones as easy to get as possible, on this particular planet.”
The sorcerer supreme started to pale, “Do you have any clues about who this is?”
I shook my head, “I’m afraid not. All I know is that it’s a cosmic entity of some sort and one that has a presence in many universes. Before the disturbance, I was able to get the odds to around 50/50. I spent decades planning carefully for this. But with me not being able to see the timeline anymore, I’m back to zero. All my preparations were nullified. I need every advantage I could get, especially with the conflict affecting the entire multiverse and not just our reality.”
Nimue’s eye’s widened, “You think he wants to use the snap to affect the entire multiverse.”
I nod, “Considering the state of the dimensional barriers at the time, it’s a very strong possibility. It’s the only reason I could see a cosmic entity choosing our universe in particular where I could oppose them.”
Nimue nodded, trying to think of the consequences. Strange though, looked absolutely confused, “I didn’t understand a single thing you just said.”
I sigh in exasperation, “Look, Nimue, I don’t have time to babysit him. Explain it to him later.”
Nimue nodded but I could tell she was still distracted with my revelation, “I will.”
I turn around to leave; this was a waste of time, “Morrigan,” I look at Nimue, “I don’t know how I could help you, but I will try my best. You have allies in the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj.”
I nod at her, grateful for her help, not that it means much in the grand scheme of things. But every little helps. As I leave the sanctum, I choose not the go home, and prefer to take a walk and clear my thoughts.
The situation was quickly getting out of hand. Why did Wanda have to do this? I understand loss, I really do, but what she did was so idiotic, so immature, so illogical that she should have realized the probable consequences of her actions. I was disappointed in her; I had thought that I had raised her better, I wanted her to be my replacement, my heir, when my time comes. I was planning on teaching her everything, of making her a genuine protector of the world.
I am angry at her, but I didn’t know how to deal with this. I love Wanda, she’s pretty much a daughter to me. But doing something like this was akin to a betrayal of everything I have been teaching her. At the first sign of despair, she broke and became the opposite of what I wanted her to become.
I admit to not being as close to her as I was. It’s just hard to see the face of my daughter and not see the woman who pretty much damned the universe for her selfishness.
I can only handle so much before I would actually say something that I regret. I shouldn’t have kept her at a distance. I need to make it up to her, as much as I could.
I walk by a park, and I hear a voice saying, “It’s very amusing to see how you’re acting, Morrigan. Like a child who had just lost its toys.”
I turn around and look at the person who knew my name. I hadn’t sensed them at all. It was a skinny pale man, relatively tall, with black hair and black eyes. He was wearing a black Armani suit with a black shirt. He really likes black, doesn’t he?
“You seem to know my name, but I don’t know yours. Who are you?”
The man smirks at me, and I suddenly feel his power. I hadn’t felt something like this since the fall of Atlantis, this was a cosmic entity, and with a fully materialized body.
“Oh, my dear Morrigan. We’ve been playing together for years, trying to get the better of each other. It was quite entertaining, our little game of chess. It’s sad that it had to end with no winner. One piece of advice, young Morrigan, when you’re not sure whether you’re going to win, then cheat. There are no rules about playing fair.”
Oh shit, this was the cosmic entity that I have been fighting all this time. What the fuck am I supposed to do now?
I suddenly receive a distress call from Wanda. This was not the time for this. I need to get her, quickly. I was going to teleport, before I heard, “Ignore the message, Morrigan. You have bigger problems in front of you, now.”
Before I could think about responding, the world around us shatters.