Chapter 27 Consequences and the Future

The embodiment of life and the passion of creation, the symbol of rebirth, and the nexus of all Psionic energy in the universe, the Phoenix Force herself, had apparently taken advantage of the tiny crack Harry made and crashed his kidnapping.

Orange and red flames spread through the plane, igniting the darkness and casting out the irregular forms it took.

The sky itself shook as the last vestiges of chaos burned away while shuddering out, "This isn't over."

The shimmering flames died down and gathered together into the form of a woman who stood before Harry. "We don't have much time Harry Potter. And there is much to discuss."

Harry said, "Didn't you beat him?"

She shook her head, "No, I've only driven him back. This is not the Nether Plane, but a corridor to the Nether Plane that exists within the Darkhold. He can never be beaten in his own realm but he can't drag others there from earth without consent. Chthon was trying to trick you into thinking you were in a hopeless situation so you were more likely to give in. You did remarkably well and I was able to use the fissure you made in the corridor to enter and purge its connection to Chthon, but only for a short time. During this time however I can freely speak with you as this corridor operates outside the rules of noninterference higher beings have with lower ones. I have been watching you use my gift Harry Potter and so far I like what I have seen."

"Your gift?" he asked.

"Yes. Myself, Death, Eternity, Infinity, and the Living Tribunal forged the aspects of this power for you. In doing so we granted you freedom to break fate and the ability to go against destiny. We have no opinions on how you use it and even if you burn the universe down, none of us will stop you, but I doubt you ever would without just cause."

Harry tried not to think about the fact that the Phoenix Force did in fact have the ability to burn down the universe if she chose to do so. And although this answered some questions, it also raised so many more.

She continued, "I'm telling you this for two reasons. First, you need to understand that any power that takes control of you can control the fate of the universe. That is why Chthon desires you. Second, I have a favor to ask."

"Um. Sure, what can I do for you?"

"Around the time you died, I encountered a young and powerful telepath on this world who tried connecting to the mind of a dying friend and in doing so almost died herself. Someone who values life should in turn be valued, so I saved her and granted her a connection to my power. In time she would have become an avatar of mine, but since then, that connection has been sealed. I want you to find her and break the seal."

Since there was much written about the Phoenix Force in Kamar-Taj's library, Harry asked, "As your Avatar, wouldn't she have to go around the galaxy burning away useless worlds?" One of the primary jobs of the Phoenix was to 'cut away' parts of the universe which would then 'regrow.' A world destroyed by the Phoenix would always have new life rise from it, no matter how trashy the planet was before. It was the nature of her power.

"Eventually, but not for a long time. You could just as easily do it for her once you have risen in strength or you could do together, it matters not which. Chthon was right about something Harry Potter, you are only aware of a fraction of your gifts. You are both Obscurus and Mutant in addition to the gifts you have been granted and until now you have only scratched the surface of your full abilities. Many of them however your subconscious has locked until your mind becomes stronger. In this I can assist you. Agree to my favor and I shall give you a small portion of my power, a seed you can use to grow a mind strong enough to control the powers you don't even know you possess."

Harry considered it but was hesitating.

The Phoenix Force noticed this and said, "My Avatar will not be controlled by me in any way. She will know what I know when accessing my power and understand what needs to be done, but it is by her own will alone that she may choose to do it. That however is only if the seal is released soon. If not, her mind may be crippled by the seal and she may end up controlled by others. I can assure you releasing the seal will not cause any harm to come to her, in fact it will prevent possible harm that may occur if the seal is not removed soon enough."

With that Harry had no more reason to refuse and said, "In that case, I would love to help."

The human form Phoenix Force held out her hand and a small flicker of orange flame appeared and floated over to Harry's chest. It entered him and he felt a small warmth spread throughout his body.

*Ping*

[Phoenix Flame Perk Acquired

Psionic Path has risen to Rank 10.]

The corridor shook and the Phoenix said, "We're out of time. You can't remove the Darkhold from your Inventory without help from inside your inventory, you need to find the Book of Vishanti."

Harry felt himself return to his body but shouted, "Wait, how will I find the girl?"

The Phoenix said, "My flames will guide you," before Harry woke up in his body.

He took a look at a clock and found it had been about a half hour since he saw it even though it felt like so much longer. Once Harry returned to his body, he felt the Darkhold within his inventory return to life and once more try to drag him into the Corridor. The darkness that tried to take him however was halted by the embers of the Phoenix flame left to him, but just barely. If he tried to actively browse through the Darkhold contents or if he tried to use Battle Meditation he would certainly be dragged back. And since he could barely peak at the contents of his inventory without seeing the Darkhold, that meant he couldn't access other books in his Inventory either.

Even if Harry left it alone, the constant subconscious allure the Darkhold had would eventually draw him back. He considered pausing to see if the Darkhold's connection to Chthon would still be there if time stopped but when he tried he found that the Pause feature was not working. Harry figured it might be similar to the fact that Harry's wizard magic didn't react well to frozen time and the Chaos energy connection the Darkhold to the Nether Realm may have had the same property.

Harry took a few deep breaths to calm himself. He found himself wishing that Memory magic had an effect on him but the best he could do was use Occlumency to store the memories of what happened as far from his mind as possible.

Harry tried to create a portal to the Ancient One's study but he found that he was unable to do so due to the Dimensional Energy in his Heart Palace fusing completely with his Exotic Energy. He could still use Exotic Energy on its own but he'd never be able to use just Dimensional Energy on its own again unless he purged the energy from his body which was ridiculously dangerous and would make things worse. Every action he once did with Dimensional Energy he would have to relearn to do with his new dimensional energy.

Harry decided to just apparate to the park in front of the London Branch of the Sanctum Sanctorum and ran inside as fast as he could. He noticed that the Ward didn't look very hard at him since much of his energy was now invisible but that was the only real benefit at the moment. He entered the building and ran to the portal to Kamar-Taj on the upper floor and from there ran to the Ancient One's room.

On arrival he found the Ancient One and Wong having a discussion. She was about to give him a reprimanding glare but from the fear she saw on his face she realized the situation was outside the ordinary.

She asked, "Bad news I suppose?"

Harry gave a half hearted smile and said, "Very."

Her eyes widened just a little in surprise as Harry's definition of very bad closely resembled her own. It meant potential news of the world ending variety.

She turned to Wong and said, "I am sorry but it seems this will have to wait."

Master Wong didn't question her and left for the door.

Harry cast several wizard spells which would ensure the conversation could not be eavesdropped through any means and said, "I'll tell you the whole story later but the Darkhold is currently inside my inventory and Chthon is trying to drag my spirit into it so he can control me. The Phoenix Force showed up and told me to get the Darkhold out I need the Book of Vishanti. I have no idea where it is and if I don't get this thing out, Chthon will use me to rule the universe."

The Ancient One shook her head and said, "I shall decide on your punishment later. Follow me, the Book of Vishanti is in our possession."

Harry felt a wave of relief over that fact but had to tense himself up right away as the Darkhold tried to use his lapse in concentration to drag in back once more. He really wasn't to last much longer at this rate.

The Ancient One led Harry to the portal Harry which linked Kamar-Taj to the New York Branch of the Sanctum Sanctorum and up two flights of stairs to where the Relics were usually kept. Harry saw several items he recognized and several he didn't. A strange hovering cloak waved at him from behind a class case.

The Ancient One said, "The Symbol of the Sanctum Sanctorm is in fact the Symbol of Vishanti so we prefer to always have his book on hand. How much do you know of it?"

Harry answered back, "Ultimate book of White magic. Zero attack spells. And pretty much the Anti Darkhold."

"And you are aware of the risks of using it?" she asked for confirmation.

"Yeah, it falls into the same category as using the names of others to cast spells. They won't mind you doing so as long as you use the power of their realms as they would, but doing so means you owe them a favor and if they come to collect, you can either do the favor or permanently strip your access to their realm."

This was the main reason the Heart Palace was so valued. If Harry spent three months connecting to, absorbing, and tuning himself to Dream energy, he could summon a mist which could put people to sleep. If a Sorcerer who knew the approximate feel of Dream Energy simply shouted that they were calling on the Mists of Morpheus, the Lord of the Dream Dimension, they could achieve the same result or perhaps an even stronger effect. However if Morpheus himself asked of them a favor, they would have to do so or face the consequences. Harry however was not bound by this as he didn't use the assistance of others to use magic, only his own power.

There were no free lunches in the universe. Even the Phoenix Force could only give him access to her power after he promised to do her a favor to balance things out.

If he used the Book of Vishanti however, there was a risk the Vishanti would call upon him in the future. However it was a risk worth taking. The Vishanti were the three backers of the Sanctum Sanctorum and freely gave the power of their spells for its Sorcerers in order for them to protect the earth. If they ever did call upon him for a favor, it shouldn't be a bad one at least.

They entered a room and the Ancient One closed and locked the door. She then called the Dark Energy within her to dominate the space and an empty area folded away, revealing a hidden space containing a pillar and the book. What was impressive about it was that before the Ancient One opened the folded space, even Harry couldn't feel the presence of the book.

She picked it up from the pillar and handed it to Harry. He took it and said, "I'm going to set this spot as my respawn point. If this doesn't work.. You know what to do."

The Ancient One nodded without difficulty. How to kill Harry should he ever need to be killed was something they had in fact gone over more than once. It was one of the requirements for her to fully trust him and give access to her private collection.

Harry placed the book into his inventory and felt his existence tremble. His spirit was being drawn in, but not by the Darkhold. Harry concentrated with everything he had and dived in. He hoped this wouldn't end badly.

When Harry's eyes opened in what seemed to be the next moment, he found that his hand had been placed on the Orb of Agamotto which the Ancient One seemed to have brought out. It was glowing the same pure white color it had before when he touched it two and a half years ago which had Harry let out a sigh of relief.

The Ancient One noticed his eyes opening and his own relief which caused her own tension to lessen just a bit. She asked, "How did it go?"

Harry placed his hand into his inventory and pulled out the Cook Book with a ribbon tied around it and a moment later he pulled out the Book of Vishanti. Harry said, "Better than I expected. What do you want to do with the Darkhold? Place it on the far side of the moon?"

She shook her head, "No, it might still be found by the people living there if we did that."

Harry still had no way to tell if she was being serious or sarcastic.

The Ancient One cut the ribbon of the cook book and opened it to reveal the hollowed out portion that contained the ancient black book authored by Chthon himself. After just a moment of hesitation she closed the book once more. Harry wouldn't comment on the fact that she checked to make sure it was actually there and not still in his inventory. The Darkhold was temptation personified and if she didn't check, she would always have a tiny doubt.

She said, "I recognize the material this cover is made of. It will only hide the Darkhold for a short while longer. If it is removed from Earth, Chthon will be able to act in order to retrieve it and return it to Earth since it is only on earth that he is restricted. There is nowhere it is truly safe."

Harry thought about it and remembered something Chthon himself did. Harry said, "What if we sent it into the future? And the person we sent it to could send it further into the future, and so on and so forth? Chthon told me he allowed it to be sent into the future in order to get it to me, so if he hasn't retracted that from what he allows of his book, couldn't we take advantage of it?"

The Ancient One gave a pensive moment of silence before stating, "The Darkhold is not just a force of evil, it is also a tool for balance. Complete removal from the timeline would throw off the balance, so that wouldn't work or would have consequences worse than the Darkhold itself."

Harry considered it and realized she was right. If there are five bad ways for something to happen and you prevent all five, a sixth bad way will appear. If they tried complete removal, something would probably happen and make it worse in order to correct the balance. Harry said, "Then we pass it to someone from the future who keeps it hidden in that time for a year and after a year passes it once more to the future."

Harry took a few items out of his inventory and said, "I have an idea."

It didn't take long for the Ancient One to catch on to his idea though she was surprised Harry had acquired so much mithril and adamantium. Although Harry was still a fledgling crafter compared to the makers of the relics stored in the Sanctums, he was already very skilled for a human. Harry used some straightforward crafting spells to make a simple Mithril-Adamantine alloy and shaped it into a cloth paired with a small tablet. He then wrapped the cloth around the Darkhold until it was completely bound and asked the Ancient One for two drops of her blood. She knew he couldn't use his own for this so she consented.

The blood acted as an encryption which paired the charms on the cloth to the charms on the tablet. Once the spell completed, the cloth-like alloy was no longer cloth-like and had become not only hard, but completely indestructible. The only way to remove the cloth was the tablet and the tablet could also be used to find the cloth no matter where it was. In other words, the tablet's existence could remain in the world, taking the place of the Darkhold so that if the forces of balance required someone to use the Darkhold, it could still be accessed.

A moment after the spell was completed, a purple portal opened up in the room and a tall, beautiful blond woman wearing strange armor and a massive glowing heavy sword on her back came through.

The Ancient One and Harry both readied themselves for combat until she lifted her hand and showed them a tablet identical to the one Harry had just created. She gave the room a glance before taking a long look at Harry. Faster than either could move, she ran over to him, scooped him up into a hug and shouted, "Oh my god you're so small and cute!"

The Ancient One cracked a smile and said, "You are from the future I assume?"

Without letting Harry down who didn't bother struggling she said, "Yup, Illyana Rasputin, current, or should I say, future, Sorceress Supreme. I beat little miss Stark for the position last year and it's already been a wild ride. It's a pleasure to meet you Ancient One." She fully showed how honored she was to meet her yet treated Harry like a stuffed doll she won at a carnival game.

The reason Harry wasn't bothering to struggle was because he was too busy getting shocked at the power of the woman. She didn't have a heart palace like himself and the Ancient One, yet she contained massive reserves of white, black, soul, psionic, and even death energy. And yet she carried it all without difficulty. This was a woman who could heal, purify, summon demons, fight with a sword, and use telekinesis and necromancy.

The Ancient One had already used a few spells to determine the same thing Harry had and was equally if not more shocked.

After getting her fill of hugs, the future Sorceress Supreme put him down and said, "Stay put for a moment, I want a picture." She then got out what seemed to be a mobile phone and with the sound of a shutter took several pictures of Harry and the Ancient One.

The Ancient One got over her shock just a little quicker than Harry did and asked, "Who was your teacher?" She took a long glance at her glowing heavy sword then gave a small, but noticeable glare at Harry who simply shrugged.

She said, "Well, I was taught by a few people but the one I considered my teacher was Ororo Munroe, two of them actually. Different versions of the same woman from different realities. And yes, Harry did teach me his Wave Sword Style. I didn't ask for my Soul Sword to be this gigantic."

She removed her sword and displayed several moves that Harry often used when wielding his Eldritch Heavy Sword which confirmed the story for the most part. She continued, "Stephen taught me a bit as well but we have different specialties so I didn't learn much of him."

The Ancient One perked up at this and asked, "Are you Dr. Strange's replacement?"

She shook her head for a moment, "No, he retired into marital bliss a few decades ago and Wiccan succeeded him. Wiccan however has been stretching himself pretty thin on a lot of projects so he wanted someone who could devote more time to the actual combat part of defending the earth to replace him and if you hadn't noticed already, I'm a badass."

The Ancient One gave a slight glance to Harry who was still analyzing the readings he was getting off the woman and said, "Perhaps you should not reveal so much of the days to come."

Illyana smiled and said, "Naw, I was told that you already have your life and death planned out and nothing anyone says will change it. Harry on the other hand can't be changed. He, and I'm quoting here, 'takes all information as both truth and fiction and acts accordingly and not at all.' So nothing I say will change anything Harry intends to do in the future because he'll take into account both the possibility I'm telling the truth and that I'm lying. For example." She turned to Harry and said, "One of your future wives will be responsible for the deaths of countless people."

Harry remains unphased at the accusation though the fact that she mentioned wives, as in plural, was surprising.

Illyana turned back to the Ancient One and said, "Now that I've told him that, he'll consider that I could be lying, but also that I could be telling the truth. However he won't take any action other than what he feels to be right which won't change. There have been attempts to travel back in time and direct Harry before but none of them have ever worked thanks to his stubbornness. And due to the creation of the Time Shield, no one has been able to travel back into the past without clearance so that isn't as big a problem as it used to be. I have clearance of course." She pulled out a badge Harry recognized as something that contained not only Time energy but Exotic energy, his Exotic energy.

She put it away and said, "Alright, last thing before I take the book." She took a card out of her wallet and said, "Harry, think of a number between one and ten."

Harry recognized the question as a specific contingency he had and thought of the number 'Three.'

She then said, "Banana," and showed the card to Harry which had a picture of a banana on it which caused Harry to smile. That was the correct response, his thinking the number three was to throw off mind readers.

Harry handed her the bound Darkhold which she took and said, "Oh yeah, there was one thing I did have to say. I was told I already said this, so it's a self fulfilling prophecy and yada yada. Harry needs to start practicing control over his mutant powers and complete his highschool education at an actual school. I was told the Ancient One knows the one I'm talking about and he should start in the fall semester."

The Ancient One rose her eyebrow slightly at this and Illyana took another look at Harry and said, "Remember, don't take over the world, eat all your vegetables, and place silencing charms around your room when having sex."

Harry blushed at that last statement and heard the shudder of a camera and the shout, "Yes! I got it!" before the blond jumped back into her portal which then vanished.

Once she left Harry said, "I am so gonna prank her when I see her next."

The Ancient One smiled at that. Harry had to remain silent as there were specific guidelines one had to follow when conversing with a time traveling you've met in the future. You could ignore those rules of course but there were usually consequences and Harry didn't feel like dealing with them.

Harry sat down and looked at the tablet he just made and had been surprised that the plan he came up with on the spot proved to work so quickly. The future Sorceress Supreme would have to hide the thing for a year and then someone with the tablet and their own security measures would find her and take the Darkhold from her. The Tablet could always track the Darkhold, even through time, which is why she was able to come directly to them moments after its creation.

The Ancient One said, "We shall discuss this another time. For now, please tell me what happened today."

Harry obliged. He told her about the cooking contest and the book which was mailed to him and then told her about being drawn into what he thought was the Nether Realm. He gave the details of Chthon's seduction attempt and offer and why he refused. He told her about the fight, the permanent fusion of several of his energy types with Exotic Energy and his idea to use his rage to do something outside of Chton's plans which unlocked his suppressed knowledge and Dragon Chi. He then told her the spell he used from the Grand Grimoire and its near failure and the Phoenix Force's arrival. And last, he told her about Phoenix Force's request which he agreed to.

The one thing Harry did not tell her was the relationship between Chaos Magic and Wizard Magic. The more who knew that, the worse it would be. It was only because he knew of their relation that he knew that wizard magic could be used to bind the Darkhold when other forms of magic would likely be destroyed by the Darkhold itself.

After thinking it over for a few moments the Ancient One said, "All things considered, you did well. Resisting Chthon's temptations and manipulations in his own territory, even if it wasn't his realm, is not something I have ever heard done before and I must admit I am impressed. Now, tell me what happened when you placed the Book of Vishanti in your inventory. It has been three hours since then and I doubt it was so simple as placing the Book of Vishanti and removing the Darkhold."

Harry nodded, "To be honest, I'm not entirely sure what happened. It seemed shortly after I placed it in, I was able to pause. I don't know what I did while paused. Afterwards, I unpaused and did some stuff I don't know and lastly, I took all the knowledge I gained from both the Darkhold and the Book of Vishanti and locked it in my subconscious along with the memories I had while sorting it which is why I can't really recall what I did. I can't actively use the information and I don't even know what I know, but it seems if needed, I'll become aware of specific pieces of information that I may need."

"But you once told me you could not forget things or alter your own memory."

Harry nodded, "Yeah, my Psionic Path Rank increased from 10 to 17 while paused so I'm pretty sure I must've used some of the practices of Occlumency using Psionics to rearrange my head in a way which allows it. Most of my head seems a lot less cluttered than it was before, that's for certain."

That meant that Harry had in fact memorized, likely the full content of both the Book of Vishanti and the Darkhold, but was keeping the knowledge from himself unless he needed something specific. The Ancient One would have been more worried about that had she not just seen proof of the future just a moment ago. She had never really been able to get over the fact that she couldn't see into Harry's future, but the fact that a future Sorcerer Supreme cared greatly for him removed the last shred of doubt she had for Harry Potter. That and the fact that Harry had been able to resist the temptation of Chthon himself, something she doubted she herself could do was impressive. And that was even knowing how terrible of a being Chthon truly was.

Both Harry and the Ancient One knew that Chthon could not be trusted. For example even if Harry had accepted Chthon's offer, he likely would have been corrupted by 'her' and though Chthon promised not to personal take lives or cause the death of humans, Harry under 'her' control would not be limited by that promise and if he gave himself to 'her,' killing everyone for Chthon would be perfectly reasonable for Harry.

That however was only obvious in hindsight, thinking of it at the time would be close to impossible.

The Ancient One said, "Although it is not entirely your fault, you must still be punished for dropping your vigilance. Recently, there have been a few requests from some of the younger acolytes and I want you to take care of it."

"What kind of requests."

The Ancient One shook her head with a sigh, "They are requesting we install Wifi in Kamar-Taj and the Sanctums."

*Author's Note*

I came up with the idea of sending the Darkhold into the future on the spot and that scene practically wrote itself.

This will likely be the last of the paths Harry will be getting. I wanted an eventual OP Harry but I wanted him to get OP slowly through mostly legit means which was the entire purpose of Arc 2. I honestly dislike all the Kamar-Taj fics in which someone comes out of Kamar-Taj with just a sling ring and the time stone since that place has so, so much more.

To those interested, other paths include the Trainer Path which is the physical version of the Scholar Path. Then there is the Spy Path for infiltration, espionage, covert operations, information gathering, and assassination skill. There would also be a Beast Tamer Path, a Commander Path, a Healer Path, a Law Path, and pretty much a path for every dedicated area people can focus their lives into.

Arc 3 will be where he actually interacts with people his own age and starts to have an actual life.