บท 70: Evolution
A/N: Pat-reon: HelloDarkness07
Hey guys, just a quick message. One of my Pat-reon subscribers, and probably my most fervent supporter, has begun writing their own story on ffn. The premise is good, the narration is simply beautiful. They're a new author, so don't be too hard on them, they're learning.
But, I do see that the story will be a good one in the future.
The Premise: It is a Self Insert (my favourite kind of fanfiction, followed by crossover), within the Harry Potter/Marvel(Comics+MCU I think) Crossover. The rest, you can find out by visiting it.
Title: The Winged Wolf by AvidReader2425 on ffn.
Please, at least visit the story, read the first few chapters (there are four currently), and then decide.
Thank you! Now, read on!
---
"You know.. I might be able to create something to send you back in your own time." Phastos says, as we walk through the halls of the Sanctum, towards the Library.
I could have teleported us, I suppose, but sometimes too much laziness is bad for your health. And I'm enjoying walking with Phastos, since he has so many interesting conversation topics.
Of the other Eternals, Ajak, Thena, and Gilgamesh were in Kamar Taj, having decided to see how the Sorcerers trained. Knowing Master Ayesha like I do, she has probably asked them to teach the students a thing or two.
Sprite was inside the Library, still looking up ways to increase her height, size, and age. While she trusts me to at least try, she wants to do something herself, not wanting to just rely on me for that.
Druig and Makkari were in the town somewhere, having an outing together. They spent their last three days outside too, and just came here to sleep. I have yet to have an actual conversation with Druig, however.
Ikaris was.. out. He had gone out to fly the first day, and he hadn't returned since then. Sersi and Kingo were still inside the Sanctum, and would spend their hours either relaxing, reading, visiting the Vault, or just going out to town.
So, while they all had decided to take a holiday, Sersi and Kingo were the only ones to actually relax. I'd noticed that despite having spent literally thousands of years together, they weren't as close as you'd expect.
Gilgamesh and Thena were definitely in love with each other, but Phastos was sure to tell me that there was nothing going on between them besides sexual tension. The same was the situation between Makkari and Druig. They were both in love with each other, and would flirt relentlessly, but they didn't do anything.
Supposedly, they put their Mission above everything else.
Ikaris was clearly in love with Sersi, and Sprite was definitely in love with Ikaris, which is why her body age matters so much to her. She probably believes that as long as she's a child, Ikaris won't even look at her, and neither would anyone else.
Chuckling at Phastos's offer, I say, "I know you can. But I don't want someone else to solve my problems for me." Phastos opens his mouth to say something, but before he can, I say, "I appreciate the offer, Phastos, but I have already figured out a method of Time travelling into the future 20 years ago."
Phastos frowns in confusion, and asks, "Truly?"
I understand his doubt, because Time is not something that can easily be breached.
Nodding, I say, "When I come from, Wizards, or Mages, have invented an artefact called the Time Turner. There are hundreds of Time Turners within the borders of the land we currently inhabit itself. But, that Time Turner only allows one to go back a few hours at a time, with a cooldown period of twice the time you go back. I had the good fortune of coming across the journals of the inventors of the Time Turner, as well as an ingredient necessary to actually traverse through time. And so, I built one for myself."
"Magnificent." Phastos whispers, entranced by my tale.
Beaming with pride, I say, "My Time Watch, as I called it, could go back and forward for a day. And after some modifications, I managed to push it to go a Month at most."
Phastos stays silent for a few seconds, and then asks, "This Time Watch.. it is what brought you here, isn't it?"
Nodding, and not at all surprised at his deduction, I say, "I wore my Time Watch to a battle with a strong enemy, a Mage stronger than me even now. I won the fight through trickery, but he was ready for his death. He.. exploded, and the Magical explosion triggered a chain reaction within the Time Watch, which brought me here. 2000 years into the past."
Phastos wasn't the only one to hint at a way back home. Master Ayesha asked once too. But, as I said, I want to achieve this feat by myself. I have everything I could need to create a better Time Watch, and I wasn't going to let someone else be the reason for my success.
Phastos nods, as we enter the Library. Seeing Sprite reading through another hoard of books, I chuckle, making her turn towards me. Without a greeting, I throw a vial towards her, and say, "Plug your nose, and drink it in one go."
"What?" Sprite asks, confusedly looking at the vial of violet liquid she had expertly caught in her hand.
Phastos goes forward, putting a Vibranium band on her wrist, and says, "That liquid supposedly causes anyone who drinks it to age up by 10 years. It is used by children who want to become inebriated, can you believe that?" Shaking his head he says, "Anyway, Atharva and I want to see if the liquid.. Potion, has any effect on your physiology, or your Energy Readings."
Sprite nods at that explanation, and with nary a second of hesitation, drinks the Potion, immediately coughing due to the vile taste.
"What.. the hell is that?" Sprite asks, resisting the urge to puke, as she glares at me.
"Goat liver, eye of newt, demiguise hair, crushed beetles, and cut up aloe vera, mixed over a steady medium heat, in water mixed with a Alpaca's spit. Together, it makes an Ageing Potion." I say, without hesitation.
Now, Sprite looks like she's really going to puke, but manages to gulp it back down. She glares at me, and hisses, "I.. hate.. you.."
"Nothing." Phastos says, as I chuckle.
I nod towards him, and say, "I expected that, but good thing we now have a confirmation."
"Confirmation for what?" Sprite asks, turning back towards me, although with a lot less hate.
I smile, and say, "Confirmation that Magecraft Potions don't work on you. Or any Eternal, as a matter of fact."
"So.. I drank that..piss water for nothing?" Sprite asks, looking pissed.
I frown at her, and say, "Not nothing. What I am trying to do has never been done before. An Ageing Ritual for someone not a human. This is.. not something I can just rush into. I need confirmations for every step. And now that I have my confirmation, I can move on to the next step."
"Which is?" Sprite asks, now a lot less pissed, but still annoyed.
I summon a scroll from Nowhere, which appears suddenly in my hands, and hand it to Sprite. Phastos joins her side to look at it, as she opens the scroll up.
There, within the scroll, was an Alchemical Spell, meant to be written on the ground. The spell was in circular form, with 21 Runes and Alchemical symbols in it, along with some intricate patterns.
I explain, "This spell is an Alchemical Creation of mine, meant to turn anyone that enters it into a human. But, for it to work perfectly, I need to write the Spell down on the ground using a mixture of Walnut ink, and the Subject's blood, meaning your blood, in a ratio of 7:1."
"When did you even.. create this?" Phastos asks, a bit shocked. And it is understandable, I did spend most of the last three days with him, figuring out how Eternals work.
I wave my hand in dismissal, and say, "About 8 hours ago, and then spent an hour testing it extensively on myself. It works."
Sprite frowns, as she asks, "But will this work on me.. an Eternal?"
I shrug, and say, "It works on me, a Mage, and a Sorcerer, with some more gifts of my own. The Spell made it so that I didn't have my Magic, my Telepathy, Telekinesis, or even my physical gifts of healing and nail claws. It turned me into a completely mundane, normal human."
And boy is it a dangerous spell. So dangerous, that I'm actually scared of it going into someone else's hands. The scroll in Sprite's hands was the only written data on the Spell, and it was under a Fidelius Charm. Unless I willingly hand the specific scroll to someone, they won't know about the Alchemical spell even existing.
And the spell also needs the blood of the subject, or victim, which means I'll need to be captured, which I won't allow to happen anytime soon. And even if I do, then my blood cannot be used without my permission anyway.
So no risk of getting hit by my own spell.
But, I'm also not a moron, and I am actually a bit paranoid.
And so, there rests a tattoo on my right leg, around my ankle, that prevents any such spells from working on me.
Sprite sighs, and offers her hand to me, whispering, "Take it. However much you need."
I conjure a Magic Silver syringe, one I had forged for blood extraction purposes only, and start taking her blood out.
"But the blood will rest with Phastos, whenever you're not using it. And you better not use the blood in anything else. I know how you Mages have curses that use blood." Sprite mumbles, seeing the syringe store a lot more blood than she'd expect.
The single syringe was actually 500 ml in volume, which was enough for my purposes. Magical expansion is a God send.
Snorting, I say, "Curses? You'll be lucky if you're just cursed. There are spells to whisper things into someone's ears, manipulate someone's subconscious, take over someone's will, kill, and of course my personal favourite, make their whole body start hurting at once. And not one of these methods counts as a curse."
Blood Magic has an actual reason for being banned, least of which is that there's no way to defend against it other than tattoos such as mine, or similar artefacts. But, thankfully, the Blood Magic spells are really hard to come across, and almost impossible to do so in the future.
---
A few hours later, Phastos, Sprite, and I stand in the Ritual Room, now staring at the Alchemical Spell painted on the floor. The intricate circle was 1.4m in diameter, so that even if Sprite tires too much, and wants to sit down, she can do so.
I wanted to carve the spell on an arm band, but it was.. restrictive, and took too much time to take effect.
Checking for errors, and not finding any, I nod in satisfaction, and float a vial of blood towards it. This vial contained 100 ml of Sprite's blood, which had been kept inside Nowhere so that it wouldn't grow stale.
Phastos keeps his hands pointed at the Spell, wanting to analyze everything that's happening, while Sprite stands behind him, biting her lower lip in anxiousness.
As soon as the vial of blood touches the ground within the Spell, the Symbols all flash into a bright yellow color, the same colour that Sprite's Energy takes right before forming into illusions.
And then, the colour dulls down until the Spell now looks as if it was painted with Gold, instead of Walnut ink and red blood.
Phastos helpfully commentates, and says, "The blood.. it's losing its Cosmic Energy.. fast. No wait, it has stopped losing, now holding on to only 60% of its original Cosmic Energy. There's a steady flow of energy between the Universe and the blood and the Spell, keeping the Cosmic Energy levels steady at 60% within the blood. It.. it's doing something to the blood.. wait.. what?"
I chuckle at his reactions, as Sprite looks on wide eyed, and explain, "The spell has now calibrated itself to your Blood, to your Energy signature. And now, it will begin Transmuting the blood into that of a completely normal, mundane, human, without any harmful side effects to your blood."
Sure enough, Phastos confirms my words, as within five seconds the entire process is done. I still wait a few minutes, until Phastos confirms that the process is safe for Sprite to go through.
"The blood belongs to you, but to a human version of you, that is 14 years old. The worst you'll suffer is exhaustion, thanks to all that Energy being inaccessible to you. Take a deep breath, and enter the circle." Phastos explains to Sprite calmly.
I can tell he cares for her, a lot more than most Eternals care for each other. But, Phastos is just a gentle man. He cares for everyone.
Slowly, with small steps, Sprite walks towards the Alchemical spell, now reassured by Phastos's words, and crosses the border. As soon as she's inside, she clenches her fists in pain, as the Spell flashes golden once again. And then, within five seconds, she drops down to her knees, exhaustion taking over.
I see Phastos try to run towards her to help, but I stop him by forming a Telekinetic force field around him. As he glares at me, I say, "If you interfere now, she might face a backlash from the Energy that my spell is holding back. She will recover, trust her."
Although reluctant, Phastos says, "I'm trusting you, but if she's harmed then you will have me as an enemy."
Isn't that a scary thought. I'd rather fight Ikaris than Phastos. He's a lot more dangerous of a threat than any of the other Eternals as far as I'm concerned.
Just by one meeting, he managed to find out that I'm a time traveller, that I have stolen mutations, and he managed to scan my Magical signature. If he wants to find me, there isn't a place on Earth that he won't be able to.
Nodding at him, I turn back to looking at Sprite, who has just begun to gather herself once again. She stands up, still tired, and says, "This.. is uncomfortable. I cannot even feel my Energy. I doubt I would be able to cast a single flower illusion right now."
I nod, and say, "Your Energy is still within you, removing it completely would have killed you. But the Spell is making it so it is inaccessible to a human Sprite. The same thing happened with me and my Magic."
Sprite sighs, and asks, "Now what?"
Smirking at her, I bring a familiar vial out, and say, "Drink up."
"Again?" Sprite asks, groaning, as Phastos chuckles despite the seriousness of the matter.
I nod, and say, "If the Potion works on you inside the Spell, then and only then I can move on to the next step. If it doesn't, it's back to testing out another method."
Sighing, Sprite catches the vial I throw at her, and frowning, she asks, "Won't this spell suck the magic out of this too?"
"Nah, the Spell is painted using your blood. It'll only work on stuff that already has your blood in it. The Potion is completely safe, don't worry." I say, feeling a bit amused at her attempt at refusing the Potion.
"Fuck it." Sprite mumbles, and then downs the second vial of Ageing Potion of the day, once again grimacing at the taste.
This time, however, we see the effects happening immediately. Her skin begins to bubble, reminiscent of the Polyjuice potion, as Sprite begins growing up. Thankfully, her Eternal armour grows with her, still a perfect fit.
I need to study that material too, but later.
Slowly, bit by bit, inch by inch, Sprite goes from a measly 5'2, to a height of 5'6, which is not much, but is still enough to show her growth. Along with that, her face becomes more lean, losing the small amount of baby fat, as well as the freckles on her face.
Her body, meanwhile, becomes a bit more.. feminine, as her chest grows a bit to show actual breasts.
Phastos sucks in a breath, shocked at actually achieving a result, as Sprite takes in the changes done to her body. Tearfully, she runs her hand over her face, and then just barely refrains from touching her breasts, which would have made me chuckle if I wasn't so amazed at seeing my spell work at the first attempt itself. She then snaps her head over to me, and before I know it, I'm catching a running Sprite into a hug.
Only now, she's back to being a 14 year old, instead of the 24 year old she just was.
Just stepping outside the Spell brought her Eternal physiology back, and so.. the Potion was cleansed out of her system.
Sprite cries, as she clenches her arms around me tightly, almost painfully tight even for me, and asks, "Did.. did it fail?"
Chuckling, I reassure her, and say, "Nope. The test succeeded, spectacularly so, dear Sprite. Your body had inside it, the Ageing Potion, which is.. temporary. As soon as your Eternal self returned, the Potion was cleansed, and the effects reversed. When you go through the Ritual, it will be permanently grafted into your body. Not even your Cosmic Energy returning will be able to reverse that Process."
Or so I hope.
Rituals really are permanent. There's no way to reverse any type of Modification rituals. If I gain something in one Ritual, I can't just sacrifice it in another Ritual. Even if I go through a Ritual to sacrifice my Mutations for something else, Victor Creed's mutation will remain in my body.
This will also have a side effect of the Ritual deeming me a cheater, and punishing me.. severely. So there's that.
But.. I also know almost nothing on how the Cosmic Energy will react to the Ritual effects. Would it accept the changes peacefully? Or would it reverse the changes? Or.. would it become volatile? I'm going to have to make a lot of calculations to guess that.
Sprite nods, accepting that answer, and slowly, dozes off. It's understandable, she just went through an Alchemical transformation from Eternal to human to Eternal, on a very deep level. Her energy might not be spent, but her body is tired.
As I hand her over to Phastos, he says, "Thank you.. I didn't actually believe you would succeed, but you proved me wrong."
I look at him, seeing the guilt on his face, and softly ask, "You've already tried to age her up, haven't you?"
Phastos nods, and says, "It is why I was so shocked before. Whenever I tried, no matter what device I created for the purpose, Sprite's body didn't grow a single inch, nor did it change one bit, even temporarily. It was as if her body just refused to become older. And now.. seeing her grow into a young woman, even if temporarily.. I'm glad we met you, Atharva."
"You're a good man, Phastos. You've tried to help her, when no one else would have even bothered." I say, patting Phastos on the shoulder.
Chuckling, with tears in his own eyes, Phastos says, "My science failed her. It seems she needed some Magic in her life."
I chuckle, as I crack my neck, and say, "Well, it's almost midnight. I'm going to go and sleep, since I haven't done so last night. I'll begin working on the Ritual tomorrow."
"Take your time, Atharva. Take your time." Phastos says, as he walks out towards the guest rooms, with Sprite in his arms, cuddling around him.
I watch them leave, wondering if I'll actually succeed to make the process permanent. Theoretically, Rituals should be permanent, but Cosmic Energy is strong enough that I have some doubts.
Sigh, hopefully a way will show itself soon.
---
Tatiana ran her hand on my chest, both of us breathing hard after our activities. She asks, "What do you think? Will you succeed?"
I take a deep breath, and say, "I sure hope so. She might be thousands of years older than us, but whenever I look at her, I see a young girl. I see a child."
Tatiana smiles up at me, and says, "I hope so too. I just hope she doesn't become too disheartened when the arrogant man rejects her."
I sigh, knowing that Sprite will actually be sad. Ikaris.. he's too much in love with Sersi. I doubt anything will change that anytime soon. And Sprite.. I can see it on her face. She hopes that once she's bigger, physically older, Ikaris will begin to look at her as an option too.
"Let's just hope that she gets over it, and starts looking for someone else to make a life with." I say, and snuggle close to Tatiana. I then ask, "What does Sersi think about our experiment?"
Tatiana, being the least busy of us two, had had to entertain Kingo and Sersi a lot, these days. She had struck some sort of friendship with the Master of Transmutation.
Tatiana snorts, and says, "Sersi is hoping it works, of course. But she doubts that simply Transmuting Sprite to human and back to Eternal is a good idea. Says that it isn't possible to Transmute living beings, that she has tried to do it before."
"Considering that I succeeded an hour ago, I can say that that's something she's definitely wrong about. Maybe her Energy just doesn't allow it. My spell does use Universal Energy, as well as the Earth's Magic to fulfill its purpose. Together they must make one hell of a team up." I say, as I close my eyes to go to sleep.
Tatiana hums, and says, "Well, I've learned from you one thing. Don't say anything is impossible until you yourself try it first, multiple times."
I chuckle, and then we both stop conversing, to go to sleep.
---
The next morning, we sit at the dining table, having breakfast that I had cooked up. Onion Poha, along with ginger tea.
"What are you hiding?" Druig suddenly asks, after staring at me for a few minutes.
"Druig!" Sprite, Sersi, and Phastos, all say at once, while Makkari slaps the back of her hand on his upper arm. Kingo remains silent, but looks as if he expects some early morning entertainment.
The others, Ikaris, Thena, Gilgamesh, and Ajak, were not here.
Druig smiles bashfully at Makkari, and then as he turns back towards me, his face changes to become calculative. He looks at the other Eternals, and says, "What? Don't tell me you're not suspicious. He welcomes us, strangers, to his home, sweetly talks to everyone, forgives Makkari for her theft, and offers Sprite to help with her problem? His entire demeanor screams ulterior motive."
"He doesn't need to explain anything to you!" Sprite yells, defending me by slamming her hand on the table. As everyone looks at her, she says, "I know empty platitudes when I see them, I know when people are humouring my condition when I see it. And Atharva is not it, he's sincere about his intentions, and as you know, he has done more for me than anyone else."
Druig rolls his eyes, and leans forward. He then asks, "That is the point, beloved Sprite. You're young, so maybe it might have slipped your notice, but it hasn't done mine. How did he.. a mortal human, Sorcerer or not, find the solution to a problem that we haven't found the answer to in these 5000 years? Phastos and Ajak know everything there is to know about Eternals, our Energy, our bodies, and it is him, a human that found a way to age your body? No, I don't buy it."
Scoffing, Tatiana says, "How hard is it to understand that Magic might have ways your Eternal Knowledge might not have even considered possible?"
Druig looks at Tatiana with annoyance in his eyes, and I just see him make an impulsive decision. Before he can try anything, I appear behind him, Durmagol positioned on his throat, my right palm placed behind his heart, and say, "I would suggest you stay out of my Tatiana's mind."
Druig looks up, smirking at me, and says, "I don't need to. I have you."
And then, something fast strikes my hand, sending my sword crashing down on the ground, and something else slams into my Mind shields with hundred times the force of any enemy I've faced before. I drop down on the ground, the force of the Mental attack putting a strain on my mind, as Druig stands over me, his eyes now glowing yellow.
Almost involuntarily, I appear inside my own mind, to see Druig's mental representation trying to punch through my mental shields. The shield shudders with every punch, telling me that I won't be able to hold him off any longer.
Slamming my palms together, I chant, "By the Might of the Phoenix!"
Immediately, a flaming bird forms out of the shields surrounding my mind, and screeches loudly. The high pitched vibrations send Druig back to his own mind, and making a split second decision, I follow after him.
Opening my eyes, I see that Druig had been sent flying backwards thanks to my spell, thank you ancestor mine, and was now looking at me with horror in his eyes.
I look at Makkari, who had knocked the sword out of my hand, and see that she was buried waist deep into the floor, and Tatiana stood over her body with her Basilisk Venom dagger pointed at her neck. Thankfully, she had refrained from killing her immediately.
I turn back towards the fallen Druig, glare at him, and whisper, "You dared to attack me, inside my own house? You tried to break into the sanctity of my Mind?! Now, you will face the punishment of a Sorcerer!"
My Mind probe, which had followed after Druig's own retreating Mental probe, immediately reveals itself already in the middle of his Mind. It glares at the mental representation of Druig, and says, "You should have left me to my work, Eternal Druig."
"By the Might of The Phoenix! Psionic Flames!" I yell, while inside his mind.
A gigantic Flaming Phoenix, this one ten times as large as the one that defended my mind, erupts from my hands, right in the centre of Druig's mind, in between his memories. It immediately starts flying around, setting fire to random memories, causing Druig to start screaming out in the real world.
Someone familiar touches my hand, and I look to my side, to see a concerned Tatiana look at me while Druig screams in pain in the background. She drily asks, "Is this really necessary, Athreos?"
I stare at her for a few seconds, looking to see if she's hurt. Finding nothing to even hint it, I turn towards Druig, and point my hand at him. Flames erupt out of his nostrils, and towards my palm. As soon as the flames touch my palm, a Runic Spell shows itself around it, as the flames are absorbed back into my body.
Druig stops screaming, and becomes unconscious, the pain and the loss of his memories proving too much.
Sighing, I turn towards the Eternals, towards the terrified Sersi and Kingo, the latter of whom had put himself in front of Sersi, a worried Phastos, and a distracted Sprite, and say, "He won't remember a few random memories, my spell took care of completely destroying them. And so, he will think twice about forcing his way inside anyone else's mind from now on."
Tatiana smacks my arm, making me scowl, and says, "He means he's sorry."
"No he's not." Sprite whispers, looking at Druig with wide eyes. She then turns towards me, and says, "He.. might not have deserved all the pain you gave him.. but I understand why you did it. He did not just doubt your honour, he spat on your help, and tried to violate you. On his behalf, I.. I apologise."
"I do too. I should have restrained him earlier." Phastos says, looking sincere, and more than a bit upset.
Nodding, I say, "Speaking of, I want Makkari and Druig out of here. I actually liked Makkari, but she did help Druig disarm me."
Phastos sighs, and says, "I'll make sure to send them back." He then pauses, and asks, "Are you.. are you the Phoenix Host?"
I roll my eyes, finally understanding why Sersi and Kingo looked so afraid, and why they had yet to say a thing. I say, "At least two of my ancestors were Phoenix hosts, and I was trained by one of them in the art of Psionics. No, I am not a Phoenix Host, but don't consider my mind any weaker than an actual host. Now, on this note, I will retreat to the Ritual Room to begin my work. You may join me whenever you're free, Phastos, Sprite."
And then, before they can say anything else, I take my plate of breakfast, and disappear with Tatiana. Putting the plate down on a table on our bedside, I bring Tatiana on my lap, and ask, "Do you think I was wrong to do it?"
Druig.. is a far better Telepath than I. Far stronger than me, his Mental attack would have penetrated my Mind within a few seconds, if I didn't have my connection to the Psionic Realm. Being at least 5000 years old, and having the backing of an energy as impressive as the Cosmic Energy is definitely half the reason for that.
But, he thought me completely helpless, he didn't know about my connection to the Phoenix. He didn't know I had been trained by her to withstand focused attacks by enemies similar to him. And so, he failed. And now, the fear of the Phoenix will make him think twice before trying the same shit once again.
Scoffing, Tatiana says, "In an ideal world, the suitable punishment for his crime would have been death." Which does make me smile. She then says, "Unfortunately, we are currently hosts, and killing our guests over one crime will set a bad precedent for future encounters. The loss of a few memories, and banishment will be enough for now. And if we happen to curse him with 200 years of bad luck, well.. not our problem."
Say what you will, Tatiana is as devious as me. Chuckling, I say, "You prepare the Curse. I'll go back to the Ritual. No reason why Sprite should face the consequences of Druig's stupidity."
But.. this does give me a leverage over the Eternals. Druig just gave them a bad reputation, and I doubt Eternals will want that. Ajak won't want that.
But, I won't mention anything before they do.
---
Three days later, Sprite and I stand inside the Ritual Chamber, with the eight Eternals, Tatiana, and Master Ayesha in the adjacent room. The wall had been Enchanted to be see-through, while still being durable enough to handle almost anything, so that they could see the Ritual happening.
Obviously, Druig and Makkari weren't invited, and they're already barred from entering the Sanctum Wards without my permission, or any Sanctum without the respective Master's permission.
Sorcerers are vindictive like that.
I almost feel bad for Makkari, who's a sweet girl that just has a close relationship with a dick like him. At least she looked remorseful while apologizing, which I cannot say for Druig. He just looked terrified and angry when Ajak forced him to apologise.
Turning towards Sprite, still clad in her sea green Eternal armour, I ask, "You ready?"
Sprite takes a few breaths to calm herself, and nods, a bit unsure. I place my hand on her shoulder, to which she looks thankful, and whispers, "Let's do this."
Nodding, I sit down on the ground, outside the Ritual Circle, and say, "Go and sit in the Centre, and don't touch any of the markings."
Mutely, probably too nervous to say anything, Sprite follows my order, and walks into the centre of the Ritual Circle, standing in an attention position. I then wave my hand, floating a brush over to her, and draw a dot on her forehead, followed by a circle outside it.
Sprite scrunches her nose at the smell, and asks, "What was that?"
I sigh, and say, "A paste of your blood mixed in dragon dung."
Sprite looks grossed out, and tries to wipe it off, to which I use my Telekinesis to stop. I softly glare at her, and say, "Unless you want to be stuck in this size, I advise letting it be. The Marking is necessary for this Ritual to work."
Nodding, albeit reluctantly, Sprite drops her hands back to her side.
Taking a deep breath, I look to my left, where the 5 litres of Ageing Potion was kept in a Pewter cauldron, inside the Ritual, and then to my right, where another cauldron bubbles on a flame inside the Ritual too. This second one was a binding agent, one I had to create to work together with my Alchemical Spell that had a place right outside the Ritual Circle, to make the Ritual effects stick.
Nodding in satisfaction, I close my eyes, and whisper, "Oh Great Mother Oshtur, give this Ritual your own blessings, so that the effects remain even after the restrictions are gone."
And then, I activate the Ritual.
Immediately, the cauldron containing the Ageing Potion flies towards a wide-eyed Sprite, who remains frozen in her place by the Magic of the Ritual. The entire cauldron slams into Sprite's stomach, and then rises up into the air, pouring the contents on her body.
Sprite still remains unmoving, when the boiling hot binding agent moves from its position, and does the same, dunking its contents on Sprite's head.
Unwittingly, although guided by the Magic of the Ritual, Sprite drinks a few sips of both the liquids, while some even goes through her nose. The potions also seep through the gaps in her clothes, until every inch of her body is covered by the two Potions.
And then, I smile, seeing her start growing right in front of my eyes. As her frozen body starts bubbling, the Runes that made up the Ageing Ritual start spinning in a spiral, and approach Sprite. One by one, all the Runes climb her body and sink into her skin, while she keeps getting bigger and bigger.
This time, when Sprite stops growing at around 5'7, she doesn't even have time to celebrate, before she's knocked unconscious because of her tiredness. I allow the other Eternals to run into the room, as I float Sprite out of the Ritual circle, but pause before I can take her out of the Alchemical spell.
Taking a deep breath, I bring her out of the Spell, and pause with baited breath. No one says anything for a few seconds, not even Ajak, who was running her hand over Sprite's body, to heal whatever is wrong with her.
"Phastos?" I call out, as I start diagnosing her body.
Phastos joins me and Ajak, as all three of us silently observe the changes within her body.
"Her Cosmic Energy is returning, although.. it has changed a bit. Her Energy signature itself has changed, which.. I didn't even know it was possible." Phastos mumbles.
Nodding, I voice out my own observations, and say, "The changes show no signs of reverting, and the Energy within her has settled. I.. I can feel some Magic within her, but I doubt it will remain so."
Her Cosmic Energy will just drown it out if she keeps the Magic unused.
Ajak takes her own turn, and says, "Sprite.. has evolved. The first Eternal to do so. She's not just an illusionist anymore. Phastos?"
Nodding, Phastos confirms it and says, "I'm guessing her Illusions have evolved to grant her some Shapeshifting capabilities, although to what measure, I don't know."
I take a step back, look at Ajak, and say, "Sprite needs rest, preferably in a Cosmic Energy rich environment. She's grown 10 physical years in a single minute, and so, she will be tired, irritated and hungry when she wakes. Don't be alarmed if her Emotions are all out of order too."
Nodding, Ajak turns towards Phastos, and says, "Take her to the Domo. I will be right there."
Her words had a hint of an order to them, as every Eternal starts walking out the door, Ikaris now holding on to Sprite's unconscious form.
Ajak then turns towards me, as Tatiana and Master Ayesha enter the room, and says, "We owe you, Master Joshi. You helped us, despite having no obligation to do so, and you kept your word, despite Druig's actions being more than enough reason to stop the project. Ask for anything, and we shall provide it to you if it is in my capabilities."
I had expected it, and while I wasn't a dick, I was also an opportunistic bastard. I say, "I know that while Druig's actions were of no fault of your own, they do look bad on the Eternals as a whole. As such, I am willing to look over it in exchange for a couple of favours."
Smiling, Ajak says, "You've already thought this through. Very well, name them."
Nodding, I say, "First, I want the armour that Druig wears."
The material is.. weird. I can't smell it at all. And so, I am going to either study it, or use it in something. I asked for Druig's armour, because I am petty.
Ajak nods, sighing, and says, "I will make sure you get it before Sundown. And the second?"
Smiling, I say, "I want to borrow Sersi for a day. I have a few things I'd like her to Transmute for me."
Ajak chuckles this time, and shakes her head. She says, "While I promise to mention this to Sersi, and impress upon her the reason for this favour, I cannot promise her to do it immediately. I am their leader, but I cannot order her to do something she doesn't want to."
"That is fine. Tell her that I am willing to see if she can learn Sorcery, if she does these favours for me." I say, not minding it one bit.
My.. feud with Druig is over. Well, at least the active actions from our side are over. Druig will face 200 years of bad luck, and he will be unable to disable his empathy for that long. Which means he will feel the emotions of every person around him for 200 years.
As I said, Tatiana is devious.
And these two favours are just for Druig's slight against me, his host. I am not going to take any payment for helping Sprite. I actually enjoyed the challenge, although it wasn't much of it. Seriously, a problem that troubled the Eternals for 5000 years and I solved it within 7 days.
Seeing Ajak walk out the door, to return to the Domo, which is their spaceship, I turn towards Master Ayesha to see her looking at me in disapproval. I ask, "What?"
She says, "Did you have to ask for the man's clothes?"
Scoffing, I say, "He tried to enter my mind, and he wanted to enter Tatiana's mind before I stopped him. Besides, their Science is good enough to create new clothes for him anyway. It's not like I'm forcing him to remain naked for eternity or something."
Tatiana chortles, and says, "Although, that does seem like a better punishment now."
I smile, and say, "Hindsight, as they say, is.. perfectly clear."
20/20 vision is not a thing yet.
Kissing Tatiana on her lips, ignoring Master Ayesha's disapproval, I say, "I'll be back in a few hours, okay? I need to pop over to the Sanctuary to prepare a few things, and then, I will be right back."
Tatiana nods, and says, "If Sersi comes before then, I'll call for you."
I nod, and then, apparate out. Tatiana will handle the Sanctum for now. I need to prepare the material I need transmuted, and I need to document the results of the latest Ritual.
---
A/N: Eternals Arc is done, for now. Sersi won't appear on screen, at least not yet. What she will do for Mason will be told in the next chapter, but it'll be as a short paragraph or something.
Druig.. is not evil. Or at least, the MCU version isn't. He's arrogant, impulsive, and he's a bit of a control freak, but he's not evil.
He was worried that Mason was cheating Sprite, or going to hurt her feelings, and he was curious about how Mason found an answer so soon.
Despite his reasons, however, he attacked the one who had hosted him in his own house. And so, the punishment.
Makkari.. I love Makkari, seriously. But from what I know, she will help Druig in his tasks without a question. And so, she also faced the punishment of being barred from the Sanctums.
As for his capabilities, Druig is a far stronger Telepath than Mason. He's an Eternal, with the Cosmic Energy inside him amplifying his gifts however much he wants. Mason is a human, an impressive human, but human still.
But Mason is more subtle, has training from the Phoenix Force herself, who is the originator of anything Psionic, and he has Spells to help him fight his battles.
In a completely Psionic battle, Druig wins, but in an actual battle, Mason takes over immediately.
I am sorry that I didn't bring more Eternals to the story's forefront, but it was getting a bit.. crowded with just Phastos and Sprite.
For those who watched the movie, feel free to tell me if I screwed anything up regarding their personalities.
Thank you for your support, thank you for reading!
Tata!
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