Ch. 218 - Scarlet Witch Rising (unedited)

That night, as we settled in for bedtime, I felt a knock on my door.

Weird, but a quick look outside showed it wasn't Star as usual but rather Wanda.

Hn?

Right.

She's probably sad or something and wants to talk. I can understand that.

I yawned, opened the door and pulled out a chair for her.

Wanda stood in the doorway, striped pajamas and undone hair, cascading down her chest like a waterfall, pillow and blanket in hand and looked at the chair before shaking her head.

No?

"What happened?" I asked, handing her a glass of water.

She gulped it down, pale and sweating.

"Um...I ...can't sleep. I just don't want to be alone tonight. Can I sleep here today? Please." 

I raised an eyebrow, and she blushed.

"It's not that. I'm just. I see him, in my dreams. Pietro. I'm scared. It's like a nightmare."

Ah, of course. 

It can be a terrifying thing, the death of a loved one.

I can relate to her pain.

I remember having nightmares for weeks after my grandfather's death.

It was horrible. I still miss him. Even more than I miss my parents. 

It's weird how he made more of an impact on my life than both parents combined and yet I couldn't even muster up the courage to be with him in his last moments. He called out to me from the hospital room as I walked out. I could still here his weak cries.

And I am ashamed of myself. To this day. 

I still regret not having the balls to witness his passing.

I sighed.

So many regrets.

"Sure. Come on." I patted the bed beside me.

"No. I'll sleep on the floor." She waved me off.

I flat out refused her though.

"None of that now. There's enough room on the bed for two. And I won't sleep well if I know you're there on the floor." I pulled her into bed, and she fell into my lap, flinching.

"Don't worry. I don't bite." I teased and she blushed like a rose, scooting off me and over to the other side as I laughed.

"Idiot." She muttered, relaxing noticably as her shoulders eased up and she fell flat onto the bed.

"I heard that." I said, poking her side.

"I meant for you to." She stuck out her tongue at me.

I laid back on my side of the bed, tickling her to laughter.

She giggled like a wind chime, sweet and tinkling.

"You're surprisingly feisty for someone who's scared to be alone." 

She just replied with a soft smile, looking back at me.

"I'm not alone anymore." 

"Uh-huh?" I rolled over, "That's good." 

With a thought the night light switched off.

"Good night." 

"Wait, just like that?" She muttered.

"Why?" I teased, "Were you expecting me to sing you a lullaby?"

She blushed, giving me an indignant look.

"I wouldn't mind one." She shot back trying to regain ground.

Oh is that how we're going to play, eh?

"If you want." I smirked, clearing my throat.

"Somewhere over the rainbow way up high

There's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby

Somewhere over the rainbow skies are blue

And the dreams that you dare to dream really do come true..."

I sang as she hummed along, until she began to feel sleepy.

"You know...." She mumbled, hugging my arm, "You have a nice voice." 

"I know." I said, pulling the blanket over her, putting her to sleep.

.

Streams of crimson energy streaked across the plateau, racing through it's little chasms, through crevices and holes, tears in space and golden portals, striking out at random, never where expected, causing entire chunks of the plateau to disintegrate and crumble away into nothingness, sending out a cascading wave the decimated the rest of the plateau, like ripples in the water.

And Wanda stood beside me, panting, a proud smile on her face as she looked at me for approval like a puppy.

It was so cute, almost irresistibly so, the way the crimson wisps of chaos energy wrapped around her.

It ....she was enchanting.

Which reminded me.

Now that Offee was trapped at the end of a very long time loop, the kids will need a new mother.

Could I go and save Offee right now? 

Sure. I had an idea where she was, the time frame by approximation.

But....what if the reason the future me put her there was because it was necessary. 

I knew I wasn't strong enough. If I brought her back now... could I truly protect her from the old gods I intend to slay? Or will I lose her forever?

And if that wasn't enough, there was the other clue. Her singing. That song she liked, the one she heard in her vision...it was a fucking goldmine of clues.

Especially the line, "You were playing god with me and I bought it all completely." 

It could well mean that I couldn't save her and keep her unless I was able to turn her into a god or at the very least be a true god myself.

Or it could mean anything else. But I wasn't going to risk playing with things on a scale as grand as this just to get Offee back only to lose her in the process.

No. I need to look for an alternative.

Just then my gaze fell on her.

There stood Wanda. She could protect herself, the kids liked her, Star even called her mama sometimes by accident and she did want to have a family, be a housewife.

Maybe I could subcontract her for motherly duties?

I wouldn't mind spending another artifact as payment if it meant my kids grew up in a wholesome home without mommy issues, especially now with Luminara in the fold.

"Hey....how did I do?" Wanda tugged at me, looking deep into my eyes and....I almost got lost in the glowing ruby red of her bottomless pools.

I shook my head and sighed, something she didn't miss. I could see a smirk on her face.

She knew.

She had been making her moves this past month and I wasn't blind to it. It was the whole reason I even considered her for the motherly position. 

And I....I did like her. She was cute, her button nose and beautiful eyes always did draw me in.

But it didn't feel right. What if I'm just imagining it or if she's just desperate for something.

The thing with Offee worked out but that was like hitting a jackpot. 

Most relationships born out of such situations don't work out and I don't want to give my kids hope only to have Wanda rip it away once she loses interest.

Or maybe I'm thinking too much.

Probably the latter.

Actually, why am I worried. Sheesh!

I'm like a maiden in love or something.

I chuckled.

Nah. Fuck it. I'll do it. I'll ask her out. 

What's the worst that could happen?

But that's for later.

For now, I focused back on Wanda.

She was getting closer and closer to true reality warping now, especially after I infused with Arishem's essence and awakened her godly domain   magic with the Asgardian Ichor turning her into the same race as me.

A half god, half celestial.

Now it was time for her final test.

"Yup. You're ready. Ready for your final test." I grinned.

Finally, my time here is coming to an end.

She tilted her head curiously. 

"Test?"

"Consider it a graduation exam. Your final project to show that your training is complete." I explained, smirking, " I might even give you a little graduation gift, if you do well." 

I had prepped a whole magical armory for her over the past year.

I was going to give her the artifacts one by one as payment or rewards 

"Uhun, a gift?" She considered, "Can I choose what my gift is?" 

"Sure, I guess. Why not? Pick anything you want from the vault if you succeed." I shrugged.

She looked at me mischievously.

"Anything?" 

"In the vault, yes."

She suddenly got pumped up, and nodded enthusiastically.

"Let's do it then." She said, almost bursting with energy.

How cute!

I smiled, and opened a portal to Michigan. The current hiding place of Agatha Harkness, the wielder of the Darkhold. 

"You see that building there, the rundown one?" Wanda nodded.

"It's covered in magical wards. Illusion ones too. To make people ignore it unless they are specifically looking for for it." She explained.

"Yes. In there lives a witch by the name of Agatha Harkness. She has an artifact called the Darkhold, a true Grimoire of deep magic. Perfect for you. It'll round up your powerset nicely. So here's your mission. Kill Miss Harkness and take the Grimoire for yourself." 

"Yes-wait, kill her? Why? Can't I just steal it?" She asked, hesitant.

Ah right. It was her first time killing someone not outright antagonistic to her.

It was understandable.

Even though I had slowly begun to desensitize her to killing with hunted game and alien criminals, killing a human was still a big step for her.

Not everyone is as decisive and ruthless as me.

I get that.

"Yes, you can. But then she will curse you and everyone you love. Remember, the Darkhold is a powerful artifact and she has had it for a long time. She knows a lot spells, curses too. And if it makes you feel better about it, she is also planning to kill you and steal your powers once she finds you. In an alternate future she killed your kids and husband, just to make you surrender your chaos magic to her. 

She even tortures innocent civilians for fun. So ...she is kind of like your natural enemy." I replied.

Wanda frowned, looking me over but ultimately decided to trust me.

"I did say I'd do anything." She muttered, resolutely "And only family matters. No one else." 

I nodded, patting her back in praise as she reached down to grab my hand one last time for reassurance, as her power burst forth, wisps of bewitching red, embodying chaos itself wrapped around her like a bridal gown.

She looked so beautiful, her eyes glittering like stars. I couldn't take my eyes off her.

I always did love chaos. I thrived in it. And she was a walking reservoir of it.

I couldn't help myself.

As our fingers intertwined in one of many small but intimate moments we had had this past month, I felt butterflies flutter in my stomach as a warm fuzzy feeling spread through my chest.

Yup. I'm making her mine. I have no doubts about that anymore.

No excuses.

Just straight, honest truth.

"Wanda, finish it quickly. I have uh..um something to talk to you about." 

She looked up at me with a knowing smile, and nodded.

"I know. So do I." She let go of my hand and flew up in the air, casting wards around herself.

"Be back in a flash." She said, and disappeared.

Then the building exploded in a crimson eldritch typhoon, rising up high into the sky, ripping a hole through the clouds, casting a bloody shadow upon the city, as a streak of burning black struggled to keep it's place against the tides of the storm, fruitlessly, like a leaf in the wind.

Lightning crackled, crimson arcs shot out, decimating the building, shattering the wards as Agatha Harkness fell from the sky, and dropped like a stone to the ground, splattering on the pavement, painting the sidewalk with her own signature graffiti.

With a bright red flash, Wanda appeared before me holding a bag and a tattered book. The Darkhold.

"What's that?" I asked.

"A bag of holding. Bigger on the inside. Like a magical pocket dimension. She was using it to escape with all her things." 

"But she didn't stand a chance. Do you feel guilty about it at all? Any feelings popping up that you didn't like?" I asked just to be sure.

"Nope. Not even a little. It was a bit anticlimatic, in my opinion." Wanda complained, her hesitation about killing finally gone.

I grinned, satisfied. 

At least the indoctrination worked.

I turned to open a portal back home, and snapped my fingers.

"Good. Now then, shall we-" 

"Ahem!" Wanda cleared her throat, "You had something to say to me?" She asked.