Chapter 377: Scarlet Closure
15 June 2018, Sayre Manor, New York City
(Wanda Maximoff POV)
Wanda Maximoff woke up next to her fiancé, Jean Grey, like she did every day. She got to her kitchen and saw her usual cup of coffee ready for her, courtesy of her mother's house elf. Well, her house elf now. Even three years after Jasmine's death, she still had some trouble considering what her mother had left her as her own.
She knew that Jasmine was rich and very influential, but honestly, that barely scratched the surface. The Marvel Media Company alone was responsible for most of the news broadcasts in the world, even in foreign countries. It was the producer of over three quarters of any media company, from books to movies, in the country. It wouldn't be a lie to say that Jasmine literally controlled public perception, well Selene did, most of the time.
Jasmine's tragic death meant that Wanda had control over all of that, and also a few hundred companies that were each worth more than entire countries. And that's not even mentioning the countless priceless artifacts whose number is large enough to build dozens of museums. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that Wanda became the richest person in the world overnight, and that was terrifying.
What was also unsettling was the godly figure that she became to the entire world after the invasion. Wanda had coordinated the defense of the planet, and the entire world knew it. Governments all around the world wanted to know about the conflict and Wakanda had no choice but to reveal the footage, revealing the technologically advanced nature of the country, as well as the military of Genosha.
Thankfully, the sorcerers were assumed to be mutants as well, so that wasn't that big of a deal. It wouldn't do for people to realize the extra-dimensional threats that the sorcerers keep fighting. People would start summoning demons left and right, and that was just bad for everybody.
Anyway, the nations of Genosha and Wakanda revealed their existence and formally allied themselves. Mutants became the saviors of humanity overnight, and the biggest assets against extra-terrestrial threats. Which was very useful, since Thanos dying at the hands of humanity meant that humanity was on the map on a galactic scale. The Mad Titan was very well known in the Galaxy, and his death was celebrated in thousands of systems.
Young mutants stopped being persecuted and instead became something akin to celebrities. Already, there were plans for 'Hero Schools' all over the world, and with the rising number of mutants, it was a good way to handle this. Mutants needed to register in the government to get access to facilities to train their powers, which they were allowed to use in public if they did not inconvenience civilians in any way.
Yeah, it was the mutant registration act, but only done properly. The changes were gradual, slow, but very welcoming. And with Stark and Richards designing planetary defenses, the world was strangely in peace.
Just as Jasmine planned it would be.
And wasn't that a surprise, to see Jasmine's office reveal a secret passage after her death, one designed for her, that had the details of her assets, the location of thousands of caches of treasure that she just left around out of boredom, and her plan for uniting humanity.
But amid this newfound harmony, there was a sense of bittersweetness. The absence of Jasmine, the architect of this transformation, was acutely felt. Her foresight, her determination, and her belief in the potential of both mutants and humanity at large had paved the way for this reality. And yet, she wasn't here to witness her vision become a reality.
For Wanda, Jasmine's passing brought a flood of emotions. There were countless unsaid words, regrets that lingered like shadows. The estrangement between mother and daughter during Jasmine's final years weighed heavily on Wanda's heart. She longed to apologize for her silence, to explain that she hadn't understood the depth of her mother's pain and struggles. The incident with Rose, a turning point in their relationship, had created a rift that was never truly healed.
Speaking of Rose, she had finally stabilized the wizarding world's economy after Jasmine practically destroyed it. She had accepted a position as the headmistress of Hogwarts after McGonagall's retirement and was pretty much internationally recognized as one of the main pillars of the magical world.
Soon, after humanity fully accepted mutant kind, the Statute of Secrecy would be abolished, just like Jasmine planned. Wizards and Witches would just be accepted iterations of mutants, and the separated humanity would finally be at peace and united.
Fucking hell, that woman thought in the long term. Her vision had transcended generations, and her impact continued to shape the destiny of the world. In the end, Jasmine had lost faith in her dream, not because she thought that it was impossible, but because she just stopped caring about it. Such was the creature she became in the end.
There were a million things that Wanda wanted to say to her. She wanted to apologize for not helping her with her condition. She wanted to apologize for seeing her lose hope, but choosing not to do anything about it. There was no doubt in her mind that Jasmine knew that she was going to die, and it was obvious, yet Wanda did nothing. Perhaps she thought that it was a mercy, in a way, to die and not become something so inhuman that it could barely be categorized as alive.
But most of all, she wanted to ask, "Why did you have to leave?"
"Because, I was needed, of course," a soft voice answered behind her.
With the voice, came a particular sensation. The air seemed to grow heavier, and a subtle hush fell over the garden that Wanda inherited from her deceased mother. Wanda turned, her heart instinctively quickening at the sight before her. A figure stood at the other side of the garden, in the shadow of a large willow tree, yet her voice was projected as if she was next to Wanda. She dressed in a flowing ebony cloak that seemed to drink in the light around it. The cloak was embroidered with countless intricate patterns, resembling stars and galaxies woven into fabric. Her raven-black hair was breathtaking, each strand glinting like starlight caught in an obsidian river.
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The figure's back was to her, their head slightly tilted as if listening to the whispers of the wind. Wanda was about to demand the woman to leave, but froze when she turned.
The woman was pale. No, it was better to say that she was chalk white, which contrasted starkly with the inky darkness of her attire. She had a silver ankh pendant nestled against her chest, a symbol of life and death intertwined, a delicate balance she upheld, but this wasn't what made Wanda freeze.
It was the eyes. Her emerald-green eyes that glowed with an intensity that reminded her of a single person, "Mom?"
The figure appeared right next to her, "In some ways yes, and in many others not…"
"I don't understand…"
"The woman that was your mother is a part of me. She became me, in a way. It's a funny way of seeing life, I guess. It all just disappears, doesn't it? Everything you are, in a moment, like a breath on a mirror."
Wanda didn't really understand, "But you are my mother…"
"And I always will be. But times change and so did I. Everyone changes, when you think about it. You're all different people all throughout your lives. And that's okay, as long as you remember all the people you used to be. I guess I'm not any different, which is a funny thought, now that I think about it."
"What happened, Mom? Jean said that you were dead, and that you took Entropy with you…"
The woman snickered for some reason, "I guess that's one way to look at it. Entropy was never the endgame; he was the catalyst. He was never meant to exist, naturally I mean. His domain was always mine, after all Entropy is just a facet of Death. I just let him gain consciousness because he was necessary. It's pretty complicated, but it's all so convoluted that I don't know how to put it into words."
This was getting pretty annoying, "Then try…"
"Oh, so demanding. If you were younger, I would have grounded you."
"Just explain it, please," Wanda asked.
"That's better. I raised you better than that. But are you sure you want to know? The truth isn't something that you will like."
"I am. Sure, that is," the reality manipulator asked.
"The truth is that your mother's existence is a time loop. She was selected when she was born, her soul warped in a way, forced to live, experience life in a prison made of Time, Fate, and Destiny. She needed to experience life at its fullest. Love, Hate, Contentment, Agony, everything. And then, when she was finished, she needed to lose everything that made her willing to live until she accepted herself and became me. Every single moment of her life was scripted in the biggest play the multiverse had ever seen, all so that I would be born of the ashes of her life."
Wanda trembled, "So, you tormented her, broke her, destroyed everything she was, everything she wanted to be, and for what? For you?"
"I am different than her, but I am still her. I remember being her. Every moment of agony was also mine. Isn't it fair if I'm the one suffering alongside her?"
"And who are you?"
The woman shrugged, "I am Death."
Oh, that's it, Wanda wanted to punch this woman in the face, "You mean Death, the cosmic entity that made Jasmine's life a living hell."
"Yes, exactly. My existence is necessary for anything to ever exist. Trust me, I decided to take a break once because no one seemed to appreciate what I do. Let's just say that the other entities started to respect me a lot more after that. But for Death to be born, it needed to know the value of life. I needed to live the fullest life there was, and your mother did experience that."
"But why did it have to be Jasmine?" Wanda asked.
"I am not the one that decided. I wish you could perceive Time like I could. My existence was a time loop, and I needed to resolve it. I remembered being your mother, so I made sure everything happened the way they did for me."
"So, why were there so many other iterations of the fight with Entropy?"
Death answered with a snort, "There was only one iteration and I ended up overpowering Jasmine to cripple him. We then allowed an iteration of you to come back into the same timeline to set things in motion in the exact way I remembered. I just lied to her, just as Death lied to me when I was in her position."
"Then tell me, why are you here?"
"To speak with my daughter of course. I learned from the last time I did it to not just disappear on you. It's cruel to just think that I was dead."
Wanda frowned, "But aren't you staying?"
"I have responsibilities, daughter, ones that I'm already ignoring just to speak with you. I am here to bring you closure, nothing more. I'm sorry to say that this will probably be the last time I'll contact you."
"But what about the others? What about Hogwarts and Rose?"
Death snorted, "Hogwarts is thousands of years old, Wanda. She has seen more life and death than you could possibly imagine, children she cared for were massacred. I watch over her sometimes. She was sad to hear about my Death, but she moved on. Rose doesn't even know that I'm alive, telling her would be needlessly cruel, but you have my permission to give her Avalon. She's definitely earned it by now. You are the only person that still mourns me, Wanda, is it really bad that I wanted you to live your life once more. Jean is already worrying about you, especially considering the parallels to how I was behaving after Selene betrayed me. When I was Jasmine, when I was the Morrigan, I wanted you to be my heir, my successor when I retired or died. Now, as the last part of your mother that still remains, I want to ask only one thing of you. Just one. Live."
"You're leaving me again," Wanda said, ignoring her eyes getting wetter.
"I guess I am, but I want you to know that I will keep watching you, and that I will never forget you. I will never forget one line of my life as Jasmine Potter, as the Morrigan. Not even a single day, and that I swear. I will always remember being your mother. Goodbye Wanda."
With a blink of Wanda's eyes, Death disappeared, and the world resumed. A part of her wanted to pretend that it never happened, but she knew deep in her heart that it did. Her mother had come to say goodbye, one last time.
Was she right? Did she really forget to really live after Jasmine died. Her thoughts were interrupted by Jean kissing her, "Good morning, Wanda."
When she noticed the tears on Wanda's face her expression turned concerned, "Are you alright?"
Clearing up the stains, the Scarlet Witch nodded, "Yeah, just some sad thoughts. You know what, Jean, I've been thinking. We've been working really hard in the last few years. How do you feel about having a vacation, just the two of us?"
Considering the surprised and delighted expression on her fiancé's face, this was a good decision. Her mother was right. She needed to start living once more.
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