Chapter 324: Truth and Consequences

16th May 2013, Sayre Manor

(Jasmine Sayre POV)

Wanda looked back at me with her eyes shining, "Were we nothing but pawns, all this time?"

I shook my head, "Wanda you are my daughter, Jean might as well be one as well, and I love you both. I will help you in your endeavors, but I believe it's time that the human race should learn to grow up, and take off the training wheels. I leave the world in your hands."

Jean gave me a sad look, "What happened to you, Jasmine?"

I raised an eyebrow and she continued, "Wasn't Rose your sister as well? We went to talk to her. We know that something happened. You're not your usual self. Are you going to do the same for us? Get us to forget you as well?"

I restrained myself from palming my face. This was going to be a long conversation, and probably not a pleasant one.

In the end, I simply muttered, "Oh! I assume you have questions."

Wanda didn't seem happy with my answer, "Of course we have questions. You removed Rose's memories of you. Why would you ever do that?"

I released a sigh, "It's been a long time coming. It wasn't some thoughtless, cruel decision. It was calculated, and it was the best way I could think of."

"How could erasing Rose's memories of you be a solution to anything?"

"I realized that Rose was not like the both of you. She was open minded, an adequate apprentice, and a dear sister, but it wasn't enough. She was still marked by her lonely childhood and kept hoping that I would one day forgive her family and come back as her parents' daughter," I replied.

The two girls looked at one another, probably understanding what I was getting at, "So, you changed her memories because she was clingy?"

I shook my head, "No, I had accepted that part of her. As long as it didn't impair her judgement in her duties, I didn't care what her ambitions were. Everything was fine until I sent her her first assignment. Do you know what the Court of Shadows is?"

Wanda snorted, "The magical Illuminati wannabe, right?"

Amused by the description, I nodded, "Yes, that's an apt description. The British branch of the group was hunting me down, because of my duel with the Celestial Ego. And wanted to use Rose to get to me. I instructed my sister to deal with them, politically at least. I didn't want to mess up the economy of an entire nation, which is why I didn't just wipe them out."

Jean questioned, "Did she fail?"

"She didn't just fail. She was betrayed by her brother and captured. The Court wanted me under their control, a foolish idea. Before I could kill them all, they perished at the hands of Nathan's best friend who betrayed him as well, I killed the witch afterwards. In the end, Rose lost her brother and I let her grieve with her parents, as she should have. She was angry with me for not being in as much pain as her over the loss of her brother, she was angry at the world, confused between hating Nathan for betraying her, and loving him as his family. She said some very hurtful things, and I forgave her for it. I let her go back to Britain, to grieve her brother with her parents. I also tasked her to deal with the economic collapse that was going to happen with the Court wiped out, it was her fault after all. I chose to focus on the Ragnarök matter and chose to let Rose do as she wished."

Wanda nodded, with tears in her eyes, "So, you wiped out her memories because she said hurtful things?"

I shook my head, "No, I did it because a few weeks later, she teleported to my mansion, attacked two Asgardian princes without provocation, and blamed me for a genocide that I did not commit, that ended up causing her parents' death in a roundabout way. It was such a stretch, with no proof, no thought, only that I was the cause of all her pain, that I chose to spare her the suffering. I realized that I couldn't count on an heir this close minded, one that kept blaming me for her every suffering. I was already behaving erratically because of something Selene did, and I just realized that I had failed Rose, and she had failed me. And so, I chose to detach myself, end our relationship, and end our apprenticeship. I made her forget about the larger world but let her keep her magic, provided that she won't teach it to anyone. She forgot about me, about the end goal, and instead will focus on improving the magical world. She will find a good partner, husband or wife, I don't care, and her name will be cemented in history, but she will not be anything more than a powerful witch."

"You brainwashed your own sister?" Wanda exclaimed.

"It was mercy," I replied, "She would not have been happy continuing her role as my apprentice, a woman that she would continue to blame for her every misfortune. I regret what happened, but my decision, while cruel on the surface, was better for the both of us."

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I took a sip of tea and looked at the two bewildered women before me. Jean spoke up, "You left her alone with no family left. You abandoned her when things were getting too difficult. How is that any different from what James and Lily Potter did to you?"

It was a low blow, and the redhead knew it. Still, I learnt not to let my guilt impact my judgement a long time ago, "Perhaps I did. But it was for her own good, and it was mine as well. I told you before, I am wiping my hands of humanity. As far as I'm concerned, you are all free to massacre each other without my involvement."

Wanda's eyes were tearing up, "What happened to you, Mom?"

I tilted my head, "I don't understand…"

"When did you stop caring about humanity, about us? You did so much over thousands of years, fighting for humanity, manipulating the world so that it could prosper. You even essentially created the mutant race just so that magical children could use their abilities without fear of being hunted down. You practically changed the entire human race for them, and now, that the magical world is burning, you just let go of them? Why would you do that?"

I shrugged, "Because it's a thankless useless ideal. All my life, I hoped to replicate Atlantis, or at least what it should have been. I hoped that humanity would band together, forget their differences and grow as a race. But greed, anger, and hate are ingrained deep in the human mind. I could save countless races, and yet discrimination will continue. The cycle of suffering will never stop, I realize that now, and it's futile to try. Even as their guardian angel, they would have sought to enslave me to their whims. I know that, and the both of you know that too. If I had allowed Rose to become my heir, she would have failed. She was too tainted by her suffering, by her pain, that she would have burnt the world in her anger."

Jean protested, "You didn't see her. Rose was doing nothing but drinking, whatever remained of her family rejected her, and she was all alone. You could have spared her all that."

I nodded, "I could have, but I chose not to. Rose forgot my existence past my faked death. She has the power and knowledge to rebuild the magical world into a better society, and I am giving her the choice, for the first time, to do as she wished. This is a test, as much as it is a punishment. Should she rise above her self-pity and anger, and prove herself worthy, she will regain her place at my side, and become my heir once more. If not, then she wasn't worthy of becoming my heir in the first place."

Wanda shook her head, "What you've done was cruel, logical, but unnecessarily cruel. Something is wrong with you, not in general, but due to something recent. Something has changed. You're more ruthless, more pessimistic. So, tell me, Jasmine, what happened with Selene?"

I snorted. My daughter knew me very well, "Selene betrayed my trust. She was the one responsible for the Court's genocide. She wanted Rose's words to shock me, to cause me to despair, at least enough that her enchantment would take hold. I found out later on that she put a compulsion on my wedding ring, to get me to escape my emotional suffering by using my death abilities as a buffer. When Rose told me that she regretted the fact that I was her kin, I was emotionally vulnerable enough for the enchantment to take hold and lose a large chunk of my humanity in my grief. I seem different because I am different. I still retain a shard of the woman I used to be, but I am more, now, and with it comes a newfound perception of the futility of some of my actions. I decided that it was time for me to stop being a crutch to humanity, that you all would learn to grow on your own without my interference."

Jean looked at me with tears in her eyes, "And what happened to Selene?"

"I banished her to Avalon."

Wanda looked at me with eyes wide, "You did not kill her?"

I shook my head, "No, I did not. I don't think that I can. She is my wife and for all her failings, all the cruelty, I love her."

Jean and Wanda stayed silent for a minute before the redhead spoke up, "So, what now?"

I shrugged, "Now, I am focusing on the fight with Entropy. I guess afterwards, should I survive, I will simply leave the planet, and go on vacation. God knows that I need one after all this work."

Jean snorted at the joke, but Wanda's eyes were still tearing up. Confused, I asked her, "Why are you so sad, Wanda?"

My daughter looked away and replied, "Will you abandon me too, make me forget about you if I do something wrong?"

I chuckled, "Of course not. Wanda, you're my daughter, you'll always be my daughter, and there is nothing that can change that. When I banished Rose, I wasn't thinking straight, I was overwhelmed by my new way of thinking, and I did something reckless. Sure, I can see the reasoning behind it, but now that things have stabilized, I can see other ways I could have done it. Trust me, Wanda, even if you betray me, I will never abandon you."

Wanda looked back, "I wish I could believe you, Mom."

I was saddened by my daughter's lack of faith in me, even if I understood where she was coming from, "It's alright to be scared Wanda, just don't do anything rash."

Wanda nodded, "Yeah, I know. I need some time to process things a bit. I love you, Mom."

"I love you too, my daughter."

Wanda turned and left, her girlfriend followed after her, but did not leave without telling me, "Don't worry, I'll make sure she won't do anything drastic."

"Thank you, Jean."

As the both of them left the mansion, I wanted some time to think about things as well. From what I understood, the UN was probably going to start moving with the superhuman accords soon, trying to bind anyone with superpowers to their collective governments. I teleported to a beach and started walking on the pier.

Suddenly, a voice interrupted my thoughts, "It's a beautiful night, isn't it?"

I nodded without looking at the source of the voice, "Yes, it is."

"Yes, it's nostalgic. It's been a while, Medusa."

I stiffened at the name; very few people knew of that identity. I turned towards the source of the voice. It was a short woman, with kind brown eyes, and long auburn hair. I didn't recognize her, but there was a deepness in her eyes, a smoldering intensity, a warmth, that was familiar yet strange.

Immediately, like a bolt of lightning, I knew who this woman was. But it was impossible, "Hestia?"

The familiar smirk on her face was enough proof that my guess was correct. How was this possible?

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