Visions & Preparations

The sun had set and the streets of DC were quiet as if there had been a spell placed on the city. Inside of an apartment complex, a man could be seen walking around his room with a white tray that carried white flowers.

He sat the tray down on his livingroom table next to an offering bowl and set the flower petals on fire, letting the aroma spread around his home.

"Obanla o rin n'eru ojikutu s'eru." Desmond spoke softly as he spoke praise to his Orisha. He moved the white veil from his face and sat down, fixing the white robe he wore.

"O yo kelekele o ta mi l'ore." He reached next to him and placed the white feather of a dove into the offering bowl and closed it again, placing a white necklace around the lid.

"O gba a giri l'owo osika. O fi l'emi asoto l'owo." He moved his hands towards the smoke of the burning petals and seemingly washed his hands in its essence.

"Father of the Sacred Grove, owner of all blessings, increase my wisdom." He closed his eyes as he inhaled the smoke and and exhaled it softly.

Taking the white necklace into his hands, Desmond clasped his hands together and kissed the necklace three times.

"Prosperity, Purness, and Peace. The child of Obatala, humbly serves his high father." Desmond spoke imbetween breathes of the smoke.

He could feel a strange sensation coursing through his bodily figure with every breath.

"Great Father of all that is pure and wise, I seek guidance in the journey through life and servitude. Praise the father, Obatala." Exhaling, Desmond opened his eyes that heald a calm clarity as he leaned his head down below the table and bowed.

He placed the necklace back around the bowl lid and got up, letting the flower petals burn completely as a nice auroma floated around his apartment.

It's been a week since he cleared out the impure beings from that butned down Oscorp factory site. In that week, Desmond came to the decision to actively take his role in the practice of Ifa as he seeked clarity and wisdom within himself.

It had been years since he last had done a praise ceremony, but the actions of his elder never left his mind. After completing the session, he felt as if his life had no darkness and his insight deepened.

He stood up and put on an all white beaded bracelet and walked to the bathroom. His tube had been filled with hot water as he prepared his bath before doing the ceremony.

Flower petals, white laces and choppings of white melon floated around his bath as he undressed and sat into the water.

"Ahhhh." He closed his eyes and sank into the water, completely submerging his body.

His mind was clear as he focused on the sensations of his body. Inside the tub, he opened his eyes and found himself in a vast land covered in a thick white fog.

He was completely naked, yet he didn't feel anything around him. Strangely enough, he was able to move around and so he did, walking the plains of fog with no clear destination.

"Where is this?" He counld tell that he wouldn't get the answer just from asking, so he continued walking. After an unknown amount of time, Desmond came into an area with less fog permitting it and gasped looking ahead of him.

A huge man with skin like charcoal stood at a tree, he wore a white robe with a matching crown that had a veil made of white stones attached to it covering the face of the man.

His staff was all pure white and the three crowns glistened with excellence. A dove sat at the top of the staff like a statue, but suddenly turned its head towards Desmond shocking him with its glowing eyes.

"You are him. You're-" Before he could finish his sentence the being pointed his staff past Desmond, causing him to turn his head and when he did, he woke up.

Gasping for air as his raised up from the bathtub, the view of that figure was engraved in his mind.

"The High Father, it was you…"

Getting out of the bath, he dried himself off and put his locs into a ponytail and changed clothes before leaving the house.

***

The Avengers Tower

"And so in this vision, you saw some glowing man fighting things that looked like demons and then that was it?" The man downed his shot of tequila and turned towards everyone present.

Tony Stark; also known as Iron Man, looked at Wanda as she nodded her head.

He then looked at the expressions of the other Avengers and sighed.

"So where you able to notice any defining features of this man?" Steve said as he leaned in. While Tony approached the situation skepticaly in a world where the Avengers existed he didn't rule out the possibility that what she saw was real.

"I couldn't see it clearly but he did have some shining beads attached to his dreads. Other than that he was glowing too brightly for me to notice anything else." Wanda looked at her hands wishing she could've seen more.

"Other than that, you were back in the room you stayed in when you were with Hydra right? Could that mean anything?" Natasha asked.

"Nothing that I can think of."

"Hmmm…" Humming to himself, Bruce Banner tapped his knee and spoke up.

"Since Hydra was brought up, then maybe SHIELD would have something to do with. I mean, I can't guarantee it but it's definitely possible."

"You really think that guy could help us with this?" Sam asked.

Before anyone could speak, a blazing ring opened up in front of them.

"If you think Nick Fury is going to help you, then you won't get anywhere with this. The person you saw was most likely the same as you, Wanda. A descendant of a deity."

Dressed in ancient attire and a mysterious cape, Doctors Strange, stepped through the portal to offer his assistance.

"A man shining with a glamorous white light, fighting cursed entities and demons, purifying the world of darkness and bringing prosperity to all. The envoy of peace and the destroyer of impurity. What you saw was the last envoy of a dying deity."

Listening to his words, Wanda didn't know if he was right or wrong, but she couldn't disagree with his words. In her vision the man certainly did seem like the last light in a world of darkness, but her interest was piqued by something else.

"What do you mean by him being like me? The descendant of an deity?"

"Wanda, you're currently the only fragment of chaos, cursed or blessed with the power of Chthon an elder god that lived since time began."

"Great, so just to be clear we have a wizard man, witch with the powers of a god, and some crusader that's essentially here tp purify the world. Did I get that right?" Tony said as he stepped up and offered Strange a shot.

Pouring the shot into Tony's glass, he summoned a grimoire.

"I think this matter is way bigger than something a tin man can deal with. We're dealing with Gods here or at least it's avatar."

"Either way, we're still the protectors of this planet, is there any way you could contact this avatar?" Steve asked as he finally stood up.

"It'd be hard to contact him since I only recently caught a vision of his power, but I can still remember the feeling he gave off. It felt as if he could bring the world to it's greatest state of peace, but could also reduce it down to its greatest state of destruction. It'll have to make some preparations."

"And you need my power to draw him out." Wanda looked at Stephen and as she surmised, he needed her or rather her power to use as bait for him.

"Are we sure about this? What if he's the type that can't quite control his power yet and something bad happens? I think we have enough things on our plate that we don't quite understand yet. No offense to you Wanda."

"None taken, but Bruce is right. If we end up provoking something that we don't understand there could be a disaster."

"Well we have to try something right? At the very least we need to know it's current location." Natasha said as she clearly understood the severity of the situation."

"First aliens and now gods, I feel like we skipped over something." Sam said sarcastically. The leap in danger just went up 10 fold and all he could do was fly around.

Steve cleared his throat, catching everyone attention before speaking.

"Since we have so one capable here, then we should at least give it a try." He placed his hand on Wanda's shoulder and assured her they would be protecting her the entire time.

"We're a team after all, we look out for each other. Doc, how confident are you in being able to restrain him if something does go wrong?"

"I wanted to do the ritual in Kamar-Taj, so after setting up some defenses I'm sure I can contain him if anything happens. I am the Sorcerer Supreme."

"Ah, that's the name I was looking for. I always referred to you as the wizard man in my notes." Tony said with a laugh.

"I guess I'm honored."

"Well you should be. Now, let's start looking for this 'deity', shall we?"

With everyone agreeing to what Doctor Strange had planned, they got ready and proceeded to Kamar-Taj.

****

Back in DC, Desmond had just vanquished a few curses from the neighborhood whilst experimenting with techniques he was trying to make. However, projecting his energy outside of his body was harder than it seemed.

The concentration needed was on a completely different level than just containing it and empowering himself. Along with that, every time he tried to put his energy into something it would just break down, not being able to handle his energy which he expected.

"Alright, I'll take a break for now." Wiping the sweat from his face, Desmond gulped down his entire water bottle and leaned against a building wall.

"Trying to do this without being seen is so annoying. Just running away from the damage is tough since so many people crowd around every corner."

'I need more options…'

After catching his breath, Desmond walked around the streets pondering about what he could do to use his power more efficiently.

Looking down at his wrists an idea suddenly appeared in his head as he came to a realization.

Spiritual items were able to contain his power and even make it seem like he didn't have it, so they should also be able to handle his power in different manners.

"I'll have to try it regardless, so it's no harm in starting now. Well, maybe after clearing out a bit more of these curses." Turning his head, Desmond blitzed the curses behind him, exterminating them easily.

Preparation being made on all end, something was bound to flip everyone's expectations.