“So, what is this all about?” Wanda asked, sitting down across from Morgan at the table in the Hill Brownstone. She was totally aware that Morgan was a Clone of Dynamo, and the same Psychic Reformatting she had used on herself Morgan had used to become a nearly pure Caster.

Given Morgan was down here and not up with the High Guard, they socialized far more often, and Dynamo’s overwhelming physical presence actually made dealing with Morgan the easier of the two. Morgan was usually overseeing their mutual magical training now, as much or more often than Dealer. Dealer had somehow managed to become a famous party-thrower for extremely powerful beings, and had no end of requests to cook, cater, and entertain crowds of Named sorts, including gods, demons, and mighty spirits, let alone the galactic empires getting addicted to combicha... although Chef Julia on the Colosseum was handling a lot of that last.

Morgan took a deep breath. “You’re going to hate me for what I’m going to be saying, but you know that won’t stop me.”

Wanda hissed despite herself. “I so hate these difficult lessons of yours,” she admitted, her face scrunching up. “Why do you always have to be right about them?!”

“Curse of excess competency,” Morgan said with a straight face. “This is worse, however.” She kept Wanda’s eyes until the other frowned. “This isn’t about you or magic. This is about history.”

Wanda’s face twisted again. “This must be bad if you are talking to ME about history,” she murmured.

“Aye, because it’s your family history.”

Wanda stiffened despite herself. “You...” she didn’t want to say it, but swallowed despite herself. “You... found my mother?” she managed to whisper.

“You already know who she was.” Morgan set a book on the table before Wanda, and flipped it open.

Wanda knew the book, because it had the histories of the various Scarlet Witches who had come before her. Her mouth opened as the history of the most recent of them yawned before her, and she gasped.

“This...” she murmured, knowing the story of the Crimson Witch of Chthon quite well, the things she had done, and the atrocities she had caused. “This... this woman was my mother?” she gasped in disbelief. “You... didn’t you tell me that the Scarlet Witch is not passed down within a family?” she blurted out, staring at Morgan.

Morgan’s frown was icy cold, her green eyes almost glowing. “She used your father to find a way.”

“She... used my father?” Wanda repeated, slumping back. “But... he loved her! He loves her still!...” Although he had pursued more than one tryst and had no lack of women who sought to catch his eye, Erik Lensherr, the Champion of New Israel, had never remarried after losing her and Pietro’s mother Magda.

“He didn’t know she was the Crimson Witch of Chthon, either.” Morgan inhaled deeply. “A point of reference: there are no known other mutant gifts which intersect with magic.”

Wanda blinked in shock. “That...”

“That doesn’t mean that mutants cannot be magic-wielders. It means that mutant powers and magical bloodlines exist on different levels.” Morgan brought her eyes back down. “That means that The Scarlet Witch is not your mutant power. It REPLACED your mutant power, exchanged for it by your mother, who transferred the Title from herself to you when she gave birth to you atop Wundagore Mountain.”

Wanda was swallowing in disbelief as she heard that. “I was born on Wundagore?” Her expression showed she realized what that portended. The Great Bear had that place Sealed away and burning vivic at all times for a Damned good reason!

“You and your brother were consecrated to Chthon at birth there,” Morgan confirmed grimly.

Wanda shuddered, as suddenly all the dreams and images of her true mother became a total nightmare. “Morgan, I am hating you already,” she murmured, and Morgan just nodded back to her.

“It also shows why you still register as a Mutant, despite your gifts not crossing. You are, but your mutant power was traded away so that your mother would be free of the Scarlet Witch mantle, so you’ve no Mutant Core. If I am correct, you should have had the same power as Lorna... and the reason your mother seduced your father was because it took a gift of equal power to the Scarlet Witch to be exchanged for it.”

“I... was supposed to be a Master of Magnetism? Like my father?” Her eyes went wide at the implications.

“If not, then something of equal power, or this could not have been done.” Morgan’s hands flexed, and she looked very much like she wanted to say something, but frowned.

Wanda just groaned on seeing that. “Can I hate you more?” she asked softly.

Morgan made a face. “Yes?” she confirmed with a harsh smile.

“Beat on my emotions more, please!” Wanda sighed, wincing in expectation.

“I know how to reverse the process, and we have to do it, because this is making a precedent of passing down the Scarlet Witch through a Bloodline, which it has never done. While the Scarlet Witch passing down randomly is a thing, if it passes through a Bloodline...” Morgan let that trail off.

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Wanda swallowed. “My children...” she murmured, her hackles rising despite herself.

Morgan just nodded. “If you die, it will pass to one of them... or worse yet, all of them.” She took a deeper breath. “Worse, they may all just inherit it straight off, leading to multiple Scarlet Witches...”

Wanda closed her eyes and bowed her head, staring at the history in front of her. “This... was my mother such a horrible woman?” she asked softly.

“Your mother comes from a witch Tradition where Chthon is just one of the many gods and powers who might grant them mystic might, and they ignore the implications of His nature, confident in their dealings with Him. Combine that with the emotional power and instability of the Chaos Magic, and soon all that mattered was her will, and nothing more.” Morgan looked away. “Then she witnessed Sama Rantha slaughter a Summoned horde of N’Garai, as well as those who Summoned them, and it scared the total shit out of her.

“That’s when she realized being the Scarlet Witch was going to get her killed, and she managed to make a cold sober choice for the first time in decades. She concocted the scheme using your father, gave birth to you, got rid of the Scarlet Witch power, dedicated you to Chthon so He wouldn’t come after her, and then fled to a village in Spain to live in what passes for peace for most of the last two decades.” Morgan’s lips thinned coolly. “Murdering everyone who managed to find her, naturally, as well as anyone else who found out she was a witch, including four of the local children.”

Wanda was trying to hide her horror, and failing. “That... is what being the Scarlet Witch leads to?” she asked softly, her lips trembling.

“Well, having a demon god of black magic whispering dark promises in your ear doesn’t help,” Morgan noted for her. “Has that started happening yet? Hers started pretty young...”

Wanda’s hand went to the platinum Necklace she wore all the time, her eyes widening suddenly. Morgan smiled wryly at the gesture. “You... you knew something like this might happen?” Wanda asked, stunned.

Morgan just waved her hand at the book between them. “Given the precedents, I would rather have been proactive than not, and Protection against Evil works perfectly well against Hell, as well as against Chthon,” she pointed out.

Wanda slumped in her seat in disbelief. “You have been watching over me for so long...”

Morgan’s hands stole across the desk to clasp Wanda’s own. “I watch over all my friends,” she said calmly, “especially the most amusing ones.”

Wanda tried not to laugh, and failed as she clutched Morgan’s hands. “What... what has become of my mother?” she finally managed to squeeze out.

“I sent her soul to Death personally. Do not pass Go, do not go to Chthon, or any of the other Entities who might want to collect it. She has no gravestone nor body, only dust in the wind and a history that few know and fewer will care to remember.” Her voice was flat and unapologetic. “I also had to settle the unquiet spirits of all those she’d murdered. I do not regret getting rid of her, Wanda, although I AM sorry to have to tell you this.”

Wanda sighed and clutched Morgan’s hands tighter. “It would be so easy to hate you for this, Morgan,” she whispered. There was only the slightly crackle of crimson around her hands, but whispers of silver still rose to neutralize it.

“Yes.” Morgan didn’t deny it.

Wanda sighed. “And you can take this... Curse she gave to me away?” she murmured.

“It isn’t a Curse, much as you might think it is. It is simply very powerful. If it wasn’t for the precedent it sets, I would far prefer that you keep it, as unlike many of those who had it before you, you have a kind heart, and kindness is a terrifying force to temper Chaos Magic with.

“Another thing I blame your mother for. You could be the most magnificent Scarlet Witch ever, but to doom your children to battle this for the rest of their lives, and their children as well...” Morgan just shook her head, and sighed again. “Also, I have no right to throw this ‘gift’ away to another. If I remove it from you, Wanda, I must be the one to take it up. There must always be a Scarlet Witch.”

Morgan’s grimace was unfeigned, the flash in her green eyes sharp and troubled. Wanda didn’t miss any of it, but then again, none of the Ouilettes were good at lying at all.

“If you were anyone else, I would suspect them of wanting my power for themselves,” Wanda said softly.

Morgan’s chuckle was low and harsh. “Like I need farthing Chaos magic to do what needs to be done,” she sniffed haughtily. “I intend to be the most pathetic Scarlet Witch ever.” Her eyes glittered nastily. “Chaos Magic is woven through the essence of your magic and your skills, and has been since your earliest days, Wanda. However, it synergizes with absolutely none of mine, and I have exactly zero skills, disciplines, Masteries, or spells devoted to employing it. While I will certainly devote some attention to controlling it, that will be simply to minimize any and all effects it would have on the rest of my magic.

“My skills with true Chaos Magic should ideally never rise to the level you yourself command.”

Wanda’s eyes widened. “Morgan, I am not a complete fool in magic. The magic of you and Dynamo and Dealer is, is leagues beyond what I can wield, even with Chaos Magic.”

“That is true, and that is because our magic is designed to feed into and strengthen itself as part of a greater whole. The style of magic that Chaos Magic prefers is not part of our paradigm, merely a random energy type we can choose to never use.

“I might become a Scarlet Witch, but that does not mean I have to use Scarlet Witchery.” Morgan made a dismissive shooing gesture off to the side. “It can just sit off there and stew as I don’t use it properly. About all I would do is use it as a barometer of actions that I have to take to offset Law, which doesn’t actually require wielding the power of Chaos, as Strange can inform you.”

“Ah!” Wanda nodded, seeing the point. “Will it not try to infiltrate your magic, however?” she asked quickly. “I... can tell you how seductive it is...”

“Oh, I am fully aware of it. I imagine that at some point I will inevitably have a use or need for it that is very specific and optimal, and it will try to leverage that into more frequent usage. Just, ugh.” Morgan sighed despite herself, staring at nothing for a moment, then shaking her head. “I can only watch for it, and hope it doesn’t mindbend me from within. Happily, I have a great many others who will be watching.”

Wanda nodded slowly. “What do we have to do to do this? And... what happens to me when it is done?”

“We can do this at almost any time. The complex way is calling over some of my sisters and doing a full Ritual, calling on the power of the Vishanti to undo the magic, reversing what was done and returning you to what you were supposed to be while dropping the Scarlet Witch on me.

“The easy way is to do a Uni-Merge and just Invoke the spell together, sifting things back and forth much more simply.”