Arc Nine. Chapter Two Hundred Forty-Five. Safe Haven

Stephen was reading from a book, giving Wanda a lecture on the different types of magic when the sanctum rocked. Not just a simple earthquake shudder, but the whole building seemed to tilt and then right itself

As Wanda picked herself up from the floor Stephen shook his head, "stay here, do not leave the sanctum or open any exterior doors or windows." and hurried away. Wanda dusted herself down and decided the safest palace would probably be with him and followed.

Stephen looked over a spell array. Its bright blue circles trailed and circled each other. And he cursed as he ran a finger over one. "There has been a dimensional attack. We need to wait until it stabilises and then we can see what has happened." but Wanda looked confused,

"Dimensional attack? But then how are we still alive?" and he sighed,

"What use is the Sorcerer Supreme if any attack on reality just erases them. The sanctum has wards that protect it, it's uh," and he frowned and nodded his head from side to side, "complicated. The sanctum technically exists within its own dimension, sealed off from the Earth."

"Wait, we're in another dimension?" and he nodded,

"Ite perfectly safe, but if we open a door, we let the wards down and it alters us too. So tea?" and he waved a hand and his favourite tea set appeared, "I'll pour."

Soon enough the blue circle indicating the wards shifted position and as he sipped his tea, he moved a hand over and spun one around, "It's safe. And it seems it was an Infinity Stone. My favourite." and Wanda looked at him,

"You know about the stones?" and he looked surprised,

"I'm more surprised that you do, care to explain?" and she looked guiltily at her cup, "I am your teacher you know, it makes it easier If I know what I'm dealing with," and Wanda scowled and sighed,

"Peter has the Mind Stone. But I did not think it could do that kind of thing,"

"It can't," and as Stephen waved a hand a pile of books appeared next to him, "start with the top one and work backwards," and Wanda took one.

"Uh, okay. What am I looking for?" and he smiled as he took the next one down,

"Simple. The easiest way to find what changed and when is not with a spell. You simply leave a selection of encyclopedias in a safe palace, outside the wards, and once the anomaly passes you see if they're still there. As they were, we now check each year, working backwards until we find out what changed."

Wanda was now even more confused, "but, if reality has been altered, how does that affect history?" and it was Stephen's turn to sigh.

"Of the six stones, there are two that are considered the most dangerous, the Power Stone, as it is just raw power, and the Reality Stone. See, while the Mind Stone, or the Space Stone, even the Time Stone can all be used for disastrous effects the Reality stone can affect all of reality, including space, time and peoples minds. Unlike the Time Stone," and Stephen waved his hands in front of it and the room was filled with a green light, "I can only alter events. So a to b to c becomes a to d to e. Anyone with the power to travel in time can reverse the events I created, but the Reality Stone can manipulate time itself, so rather than a, b, and c. It's x, y, and z."

And Wanda picked up the tome, "and we just check the difference in events until we find where reality changed."

Stephen smiled, and picked up a plate, "clever pupil, have a cookie." and as Wanda took one and bit into it, "but uh, please don't get crumbs in the ancient tomes, I think Wong was outside, and once he's back, he gets very grumpy about that kind of thing." and while Wanda brushed off the page, she rolled her eyes at him.

The pair sat in silence until Wanda stopped, "I found it. 1944. The events of the war are different. Right until the creation of Captain America," and she turned the book around to let him see.

Captain America, the results of a secret America Super Soldier Project.

The Ancient One.

A German scientist has made a startling discovery using a serum. I checked to make sure he was not dabbling in the dark arts, as so many of our German brethren have begun to do in efforts to aid their homeland. It is for all intents and purposes a simple chemical, but if his notes are correct then it will change everything.

During the experiment, a young technician, fleeing his home country, saved Captain Rogers and Dr Erskine from nazi collaborators. As a reward, I tracked the newly christened Captain America across Europe to the young man's home country. Latveria.

Saving it, and Europe from the Nazi's, Erik Von Duum was granted American citizenship, and with the help of Howard Stark began manufacturing Duumbots, a newly created robot army.

"See, I know this. During the war the nazis attacked Latveria and annexed it from the rest of Europe, they renamed it Sokovia and began to use it as a staging ground for the war efforts. Captain Rogers came in and liberated it, but like Germany, the European governments kept them separate, and Latveria fell into ruin." Wanda explained, "Captain America was saved, but we know Dr Erskine was not, he changed history, to change the future."

Stephen took the book, "that is more problematic than I had hoped. I can use the Time Stone, but unless you want to murder an innocent man, I would also have to deal with the Ancient One as well. There is nothing we can do for the cause." and as he closed the book and laid it back on the pile, "No, we need to find the Reality Stone right now, and use it to set things back the way they were."

"But how, we don't know anyone or anything about this new world. Even if we can find the Stone, how do we get it?" and Stephen gave her a small smug smile,

"Peter Parker has the Mind Stone. While I have many things I cannot tell you about the powers of each stone, or what knowledge the Sorcerer Supreme has, there is one thing I can tell you. If he has the Stone, then the Reality Stone could not have altered him. As long as he still has his powers, he'll still be the same."

"But Peter is not a sorcerer or an Augment. He was given his powers. If those events didn't happen, he would be an ordinary person, stone or not."

Stephen sighed and his brow furrowed, "The Mind Stone requires power to use. If he is a normal kid, then the Reality Stone would have changed him, we can still use that though. You have one of his creatures don't you?" and she nodded, allowing Hexen to cover her,

"We know the Peter, and we will help,"

"Good, Your memories of him, coupled with the Stone will be able to resist the influence of the Reality Stone. We'll need to bring him here though. There might be side effects of having two sets of memories, and he might not want to follow."

Wanda smirked and gave Stephen a look. "You think he can resist me?" and as Hexen shrunk into a scarlet mini skirt and form-fitting blouse Stephen shook his head

"You can't. For all we know, that will get you arrested for indecency," and Wanda nodded and Hexen became a set of more conservative clothing, a long skirt and cardigan over a top.

"I will still head out. We should be able to find him faster, as long as New York is more or less the same."

"I will remain here and see what else had changed. For all we know it could be a paradise out there."

Wanda paused and stared at Stephen with a shocked look on her face, "You mean, if it is better you would leave it?" and he nodded,

"Altering reality is dangerous, altering it back even more so. If the condition of the outside world is not worse than the world as it was, then yes I will leave it alone rather than risk destroying all of reality to set it to what it was."

Wanda was shocked, "no, what about all the lives that have been changed, or lost?"

Stephen shrugged and poured himself meow tea, "And what of the lives that have been made better and created? As Sorcerer Supreme I have to weigh the risks of complete reality collapse against those factors. Wanda, I'm not refusing to help, nor am I saying that I won't attempt to change it back. It could be a warzone out there, it could be a utopia. While we can pour over books, the only way to find out how bad it actually is, well, is to go out, and with two of us, I can stay here."

"Stay safe you mean?" Wanda said, huffing and crossing her arms.

"Yes, that and I have never met Peter, so you are the obvious choice. You know where he might be, or where any of his companions might be. I can search the whole city and not find him, you can look for five minutes and bring him here." Stephen put his cup down, "this isn't about staying safe. This is about the most practical and time-efficient way of dealing with the problem."

Wanda frowned, "I still don't like it." and she sighed, "but, you are right." as she checked her clothing, she took out her phone and set an alarm, "I will stay out for one hour. If I am not back, something has happened to me. Checking a phone book for a list of names should not take longer than that."

"Assuming the Library still has one" and Wanda raised an eyebrow at him,

"I can change my mind Stephen, and you can go." and he raised his hands in surrender,

"Okay, Okay, I will give you one hour." as he called up the control spells for the wards around the sanctum, Wanda prepared herself.

"I pulled them back, once you leave I'll extend them back around the whole building again, and see what changes have been made if any." and Wanda nodded, "And good luck."

Wanda pursed her lips, "I hope I don't need it," and turned and walked out of the study. She felt a slight buzzing against her magic as she walked through the ward but nothing changed. The rest of the house was still exactly the same as before but as she turned to tell Stephen she noticed the milky white bubble across the doorway. Half-heartedly shrugging Wanda made her way outside, and as she stood on the steps of Bleecker Street, she needed a few moments to compose herself.

To her New York was grey, and without admitting it, slightly depressing. She was used to fields and sight of evergreen trees, and the grey concrete of where Peter and the others lived was unpleasantly drab. This, however, was worse. The mix of architecture that dominated New York, from art deco '20s to modern glass and steel were all gone, replaced by uniformed blocks of either houses or offices. From the outside, their uniform concrete walls bore no difference. Even the windows all had uniform curtains and with no lights on in any window, it was impossible to tell what the inside was like.

The streets themselves were busy though, and the crowd flowed down the streets as if this was a normal New York day. Wanda cast an eye over the attire of women as they walked and Stephen had been right. Long skirts, cardigans or jumpers, and hats. It seemed like fashion had been frozen in the '50s and as Hexen shifted slightly her outfit changed into a more sedate brown and grey colour.

Suitably disguised, all she needed to do was find Peter, and then they could begin to fix things.

As she stepped off the small set of stairs she lifted her head as she heard,

"Unregistered Mutant Detected. Please Remain Calm, Citizen."

And the crowd scattered.