3 Chapter 3: Earth 199999(MCU)

Melizand'r woke up on something other than a cold hard cell floor for the the first time in years. It was a mattress so soft that it almost made her unwilling to get up in fear that this was all a dream and the moment she got up, it would all disappear and she would find herself back inside her cell. That was until she remembered the events that had taken place recently. She had against all odds, escaped her captives and has now been taken in by a stranger. A stranger who she still couldn't ascertain to be a friend or foe.

She got up from the bed and began looking around. She was inside a room made from wood and thatch. Her saviour had taken the liberty to dress her in a set of robes. She saw no guards or anything meant to keep her captive inside the room making her slightly lower her vigilance.

"Ah. You're finally awake." She suddenly heard the stranger's voice from behind. Melizand'r immediately turned around to find herself in a different room altogether. The woman in question was kneeling on a mat. A small table lay in front of her unfamiliar cutlery.

"Please have a seat." the woman asked her in Tamaranean pointing at an identical mat on the opposite side of the table.

Melizand'r knelt on it, mirroring the other woman so as not to show disrespect to the latter.

The woman then took a kettle and poured a drink that had a pleasant aroma into a cup and gently passed it to her before pouring herself one as well. After brief moment of trepidation, the princess took the warm cup and took a sip. As the liquid went down her throat, she felt reinvigorated and felt more at ease. The woman smiled a little before drinking from her's as well.

"I'd like to thank you for your timely rescue. X'hal knows if I would have been alive if it weren't for you." Melizand'r was the first to speak.

"Think nothing of it. It was simply your good fortune that I happened to come by when I came to investigate an incursion." The woman replied humbly.

"Nevertheless. I thank you. I will see to it that you are adequately compensated once I am able. "The girl thanked her once more.

" If you do not mind asking though, who are you? " the girl asked.

" The woman gave her a slight smile and said. "My actual given name has been lost to time. However, you may address me as the Ancient One. I am the Sorcerer Supreme of this dimension, Protector of Earth and and Master of the Kamar Taj." she said before giving slight bow.

"Why would one need to protect earth. *Gasp* Is there not enough in this planet to cultivate crops?" She asked.

The near immortal woman was flabbergasted by the princess's reaction before she remembered how her kind tend to be. She let out a chuckle to responding.

" No that's not the reason princess. This plant has plenty of cultivatable land. Its just that the name given to this planet by its inhabitants is Earth."

The Princess frowned at her words. "Just Earth? Doesn't it make them sound..."

"Lazy? Yes. Although to be fair, they are not yet entirely aware that life exists outside of their planet."

The Princess honestly couldn't process such a scenario. Tamaraneans, had ability to survive the vacuum of space and were capable of interstellar travel. As such, there was not a single point in the recorded history of her people that they had thought they were the only people in the universe. The teachings of X'hal also supported this. To think that there were any civilisation that thought that they were the only species in the entire universe, was unfathomable to the Princess.

She was about to inquire more about the people inhabiting this planet when the Ancient One interrupted her.

"I'm sure you have many question. However I have many of my own. Questions I'm sure even you are curious about."

The princess swallowed whatever she was about to ask before nodding. The Ancient one wasn't wrong. She too wanted to get to the bottom of what happened so that she knew where she was.

"Of course. What did you want to know?" she asked.

"Shall we start from the very beginning? Starting with who you are exactly." the older woman asked.

In response, the Princess sighed deeply before beginning her story. Starting with her life in Tamaran. The invasion by Darkseid. The genocide of her species. Her captivity under the Citadel and later the Psions. Her escapade and the Wormhole that brought her to that desert. The Ancient One merely nodded along as she recited her story. And when she was done, the Ancient One stood up before gesturing her to follow.

"Have your scholars taught you anything about the multiverse?" she asked.

The Princess shook her head before replying with a no. The Ancient One then stopped before turning to her.

"Imagine if there are two doorways in front of you. And you have to choose one to go through." she said as a illusion of two doors manifested in front of her.

"Now say if you went through the door on the left. The theory of multiverse states that if you went left in this reality, that there is another reality where you chose to go right instead each existing side by side. And just like this example, there are countless other factors that will deviate from one another across different realities basically creating infinite possible realities. Are you following me?" she asked.

The Princess nodded a bit reluctantly. And the Ancient One continued to speak.

"Now normally, it is impossible for a normal person to traverse realities. One would have to be extremely skilled in the mystic arts, such as myself or utilise a special artifact or need the power of extremely powerful being in order to do this or simply unlucky enough to be caught in a dimensional anomaly to go to other universes

"Wait lady Ancient One. Are you implying that I am currently in a different reality?" The Princess asked while panicking.

"Yes. More specifically, you were brought here. While you were resting, I took the liberty to examine the energy fluctuations where portal was formed. And suffice to say that this was not a natural phenomenon. There is also..... this." The Ancient one then walked up to the Princess and snapped her finger and full body sized mirror manifested behind the Princess. She then walked upto the Princess and slightly undid her robe so that her back was exposed.

And from the reflection of the mirror the Princess noticed a mark in the shape of a 7 sided star.

"Whoever brought you here has branded you." The ancient on said.

"Why?"

"Even I do not know, if I am being honest. His powers are beyond what I can comprehend. But what I do no is that he will be watching you."

"And you are sure that I am in a different reality?"

"Yes. You see, back in my youth, I perused a artifact to travel to other realities. It was on one such journey when I first encountered a Tamaranean. And let me assure you. Tamaran does not exist in this reality."

"Then can you help me get back? You said you have gone to my reality before. Right?"

The Ancient one could only shake her head sadly at her words.

"No. I said I went to a similar reality. I cannot be certain if that was indeed your reality. And even if it was, I won't be able to send you there. Because the artifact that had let me traverse the realities has long been destroyed in a battle. Without it, I cannot traverse beyond a limit without allocating a lot of time to ready the spell. Time I cannot afford to waste, not while dark forces vie for this reality. "

Upon hearing her words the Princess slowly crouched on the ground while clutching her head while tears threatened to fall from her eyes. A part of her wanted to deny the older woman's words, not willing to believe that there was no way for her to avenge her family.

"But that doesn't mean all is lost for you." The Ancient One spoke softly. Causing the princess to raise her head and look into the eyes of the woman.

"I may not be able to send you home, but what I can do is teach you. Train you in the mystic arts. To use magic to traverse the multiverse. It wont be easy and it won't be quick without the help of a artifact. But if you want to go back home, this is the best I could offer." she said as she knelt down towards the Princess while extending her hand.

"So tell me. What do you say?" she asked.

The princess took several breaths to compose herself. She then steeled her resolve before taking her hand, using it to get up. She then began following the Ancient One with renewed determination. After all she survived Darkseid, the Citadel and the Psions. But she was nowhere near strong enough to get her revenge. Especially against Darkseid. And so she would learn from the Ancient one, master the mystic arts gain power through any possible means to prepare herself for her return. The brand may not allow her to go back yet but in the end she would prevail.