Chapter 109: ASTRAL PLANE
[Next morning][3rd Person POV]
They put Peter in a wheelchair and took him to the main hall where the Ancient One was waiting. It was still early. The rays of the sunlight didn't reach inside the ancient building yet.
Ancient One led Peter's wheelchair to the garden.
"So, how do we begin?" Peter asked with a low, hoarse voice. He had woken up around an hour ago and had drunk the herbal medicine prepared by the healers.
Ancient One brought him under an oak tree and stopped the wheelchair, "To learn magic, you must know what magic is and the risks that come with it." She grabbed his neck and pulled out the soul of his body.
Peter's soul slowly flew out of his scaled body.
"Wow!" He looked at his body. A disfigured freak-show body. But his soul looks normal without any scales. "So, this is the Astral body?" He asked excitedly. "Are you going to throw me into the Astral Plane just like you did with Dr. Strange?"
"Oh, you seem to know a great deal about it. Have you ever been to Astral Plane before?" Ancient One asked. She had an idea about his real origin and knowledge, but it seems he is really confident with the information he possesses, so, this should prove to be more useful in his growth than she thought.
"Nope. First time experiencing it," Peter told the truth.
"Then, have a nice trip," She touched Peter's soul's forehead with a smile.
[Zooom!] A suction force sucked Peter into an endless pit as he fell backward and looked around the changing world. He didn't panic or feel scared, if so, he was excited to see the real Astral Plane. After going through a tube-like space, Peter suddenly got sent out as he saw a vivid, clear version of multiple webbed-like structures connecting and arching over an endless space, forming a vast and complex structure.
Ancient One's voice came to his ears, "The multiverse consists of an infinite number of universes which branch off of one another, making an ever-growing multidimensional web of infinite possibility. That is our universe. Some branches will never meet, while others will continue to intertwine over and over, crossing each other."
Peter saw countless possibilities coming from Earth, where there are not one, but tens and thousands of realities. In these worlds, some possibilities had similar paths, but with completely different endings, while other timelines and events deviated completely.
"What's interesting is you, Peter Parker," The Ancient One's voice reached his ears.
He looked around to find her, but couldn't. No sign of her was visible anywhere. Her voice didn't echo, and she was talking to him, no, it's almost like she's inside his head. He turned and looked around again before seeing a thread.
"As far as the laws of time and causality would allow, there are as many of you, the Peter Parker, as there are realities. With a few altercations in time and causality, any possibility can become reality."
Peter immediately followed the thread, trying to get a peek.
There were different Peter Parkers from different realities, ranging from different timelines. Some looked identical and were doing the same, others had different mutations, a couple had spider symbols, while others wore different costumes. He looked carefully to find what was different, but it was hard to tell from just looking.
[Zooom!] His world turned upside down along with the space around him. Countless mirrors crashing, shattering, continuously and rushing toward him with blinding speed. It was as if he was watching one of those augmented-reality shows like Ready player one, just the chaotic mirror pieces reflected many possible versions of himself from various realities.
Suddenly, an image of a ginormous spider sitting on a thick woven web appeared before his eyes.
"The hell?!" He rubbed his eyes, "What was that just now?"
"God, deities, higher beings. They are as real as any one of us. Their powers are not easily quantified as the vast and unknown forces operate in an entirely different system. Every existence within this universe is no more than a figment of someone else's imagination. An endless web of causality that stretches forward through the lives of billions of innocents and monsters alike. Beyond space and time are countless beings controlling all with merely a thought," Ancient One continued.
He suddenly felt a sense of dread at these words, especially at her nonchalant tone.
"However, there are some chosen ones. They were created with a destiny of either power or destruction, their fate lying entirely in the hands of these invisible forces, but some are irregular ones who appear every once in a while. Irregular ones who are not bound by causality. You are one such anomaly. Peter Parker of our Earth and timeline was supposed to be dead before he could become Spiderman. Gwen Stacy was supposed to become the Ghost Spider in your place, yet, here you are, defying the pre-written destiny without shattering the timeline and walking down a self-created path and challenging fate," The Ancient One explained.
Colorful stars, limitless energy, chaos and destruction, new planets, dying planets... Peter saw everything as his soul continued the journey.
"Magic is the most flexible form of energy. You can shape reality, time, space, and anything you could imagine. Those who are powerful enough, like Gods, can even manipulate life and the multiverse and twist the very fabric of reality itself with their very presence," The Ancient One kept on explaining things, but Peter's mind was on something else entirely.
'Everything that is created will, one day, die. This, too, will someday crumble into ash. Life is born only to one day be destroyed by time. Everything will repeat in an eternal cycle. Everything is perishable but time remains,' A realization washed over him as a revelation struck him like lightning, sending shock-waves across the sea of his emotions and awakening something deep, deep within. 'I need to bend time to my will. Make it my slave. It's only when I do that will I be truly powerful, only when time cannot touch me will I remain true and powerful. Fuck! That was deep. What the hell am I even thinking? Hahahaha... But..."
The space shifted again and he fell like a burning meteor as it tore the void and slipped into something different, where he suddenly came to a stop.
"Dark Dimension," the Ancient One explained as he soared across the chaos, through the enormous chaotic power as dark energies raced alongside them.
There was a gravitational pull that tried to snatch him away, but it felt weak, and insignificant in the presence of chaos. His body wasn't his own. He could sense something, an unusual and terrifying consciousness emanating through the empty nothingness, a looming presence with eyes focused upon him.
"A place of endless darkness and mystical beings... However, here also lies vast arrays of knowledge and conflicts. This place is closely connected to Earth, with various mystical portals and gateways allowing beings to travel between the two realms," She explained.
'Travel between realms!' Peter finally found the answer he had been looking for.
[Zooom!] With a gravity pull, Peter instantly found himself floating in the garden back on Kamar Taj.
"So in the end it's limitless, huh?" Peter looked at the bright light and soft-green leaves above him.
Ancient One continued with her speech, "Infinity... From an eternal slumber, a beginning without ending, or a dream from a forgotten realm, one has said it best; 'through the five Infinity gems, all will fall before the powers of one god.'"
"Well, that's a long stretch. Anyway, so, how about teaching me something quick to heal that scaly body of mine? Then, we can take it from there?" He asked enthusiastically.
Ancient One smiled mysteriously.
"How about we start with something basic till you get a grasp of magic?"
"Well, yeah, why not? But what are all these weird strings floating around us?" Peter flew up higher in the sky as he looked around. After the journey through the Astral Plane, things have become much clearer for him. His senses were heightened even further. He could see the magic flowing around the place.
'How did he?!' The Ancient One took a step back in surprise. He learned how to view the astral aura around everything the second he visited the Astral realm. Normally it takes months if not years to see these, let alone traversing through the Astral space freely like moving a limb. She saw Peter flying around freely examining every little thing that can be observed through the Astral sight. 'This is too fast and dangerous.' She pulled his soul back to his body.
"Oh, come on, it was getting fun," Peter complained as he stood up from his chair and pointed his finger at the Ancient One, "Pull my soul out again." He saw the woman before him smiling and suddenly realized that he was standing on his own. "Wow! I can feel them!" He mumbled as he examined his arms. He could feel each and every single scale on his body as if they were part of his body. It feels comfortable.
'Bingo! I don't know what or how it happened, but...' He manipulated the scales and pushed his imagination, forming a proper exo skeleton armor around his body. It's like a black Spiderman suit with a glossy texture. He clenched his fist as he felt way more powerful than he was before.
*****
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Next, Ch: 109: Peter & Wanda
Ch: 110: Spidey & Scarlet Witch
Ch: 111: Wanda's weird confession
Ch: 112: Training & fun
Ch: 113: Magic & Chi
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AN: Sorry, but no chapter tomorrow. Got a message from our electric supply office, they will be cutting some trees and fix electric polls around the area[fuckers doing this after the storm passed and trees fell on the line], so, no electricity for the entire day. Damn, after over 24 hrs of no electricity, again another day without electricity.
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