Taking Precautions

After everything that had happened at the restaurant, it was impossible for business to continue as usual. Once Coulson and his team left, the restaurant's management decided to close for a week. All the staff were given paid vacations as compensation, which helped ease the tension caused by the earlier events.

Despite the unnerving experience of being mind-controlled, Triya couldn't help but smile at the thought of a week off. She parked her car in the lot below her building, greeted a neighbor, and carried groceries from the supermarket upstairs to prepare a nice meal for her son.

Work had been keeping her extremely busy lately, and she often came home late. Triya had a nagging feeling that her son, Abel, was hiding something from her. But, considering his age, she figured it was normal for a teenager to have secrets.

After the day's strange events, Triya felt relieved that things seemed normal again.

Holding a paper bag full of groceries, Triya was about to open the door when she ran into a courier. After signing for a package, she went inside and set the groceries down in the kitchen.

She glanced at the package, noticing Abel's name on it. "Abel, sweetie, what did you order from eBay?" she called out as she opened the package.

"I've got a school project for handicraft class, so I ordered some wood for carving," Abel replied.

"Handicrafts? You know I'm pretty good at that. Want some help?"

"No thanks, Mom. We're supposed to do it ourselves," Abel said with a smile.

"Alright, well, dinner will be ready soon. You can go finish up whatever you're doing. I'll call you when it's ready."

"Okay," Abel said, taking the package to his room.

Once inside, he unpacked the wood and examined it closely. He nodded in satisfaction. Although he wasn't sure if it would work, the type and age of the wood were right. It was indeed pine heartwood, at least a hundred years old—perfect for his project.

Abel retrieved a box from under his bed and opened it. Inside were tools he had used many times before, along with several wands he had attempted to craft. Some had failed, and others simply hadn't worked. Wood in this world was different from what he had used in his previous life, and magical trees were rare. This century-old pine heartwood had been his most expensive purchase yet, costing nearly half his allowance.

He got to work, already proficient in crafting the wand's body, a skill he carried over from his previous life. With the small amount of magic he had managed to recall, Abel shaped the heartwood into a thick wand embryo, 13 and a half inches long, by the time dinner was ready.

Next, he would need to drill a hollow within the wand for the core, carve the magical runes and ancient symbols into the interlayer, and coat everything with a special oil that would seal and empower the wand. Luckily, he could make the oil with common ingredients, or he wouldn't have been able to afford it.

"Abel, dinner's ready!" Triya called from the kitchen.

"Coming!" Abel set aside the wand embryo and joined his mother for dinner.

Tonight's meal was a Chinese dish that Triya had made, adjusted over time based on Abel's feedback. It now tasted authentically Chinese, much to Abel's approval.

"How does it taste? Did I get it right this time?" Triya asked, watching her son closely.

Abel swallowed a bite of spicy chicken and smiled. "It's great, Mom. Really good."

"Good. How's school going?"

"Pretty well. How about work at the restaurant?" Abel asked, carefully observing her reaction.

Triya frowned slightly as she recalled the day's events. However, due to Kilgrave's mind control, her memory of the incident was fuzzy, leaving her with only vague impressions. This was a small blessing in disguise, Abel thought.

Seeing that his mother was indeed alright, Abel felt a sense of relief. All his efforts to kill Kilgrave had been worth it, knowing that Triya was safe.

Still, Abel couldn't shake the worry that he had drawn too much attention when he killed Kilgrave. Despite his best efforts to erase all traces, he had a feeling that someone would eventually catch on. The process of making his wand needed to be sped up. With a proper wand in hand, he'd be able to protect his peaceful life with Triya. Even if the wand didn't perform as well as he hoped, he had backup plans.

Abel always had backup plans.

Living in New York had one major advantage—the New York Sanctum. If worst came to worst, Abel could try reaching out to the Sorcerer Supreme, the Ancient One, and trade some of his magical knowledge from his past life for materials to make a proper wand. But that was a last resort. He would only turn to the Ancient One if absolutely necessary.

Abel was acutely aware that the Ancient One and her mages at Kamar-Taj were the true protectors of the mystical world. While S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers might guard the physical realm, the Ancient One safeguarded magic and the supernatural. If she ever deemed Abel a threat, his life could get complicated fast. He knew from his past life that even Voldemort would have struggled to contend with the Ancient One, let alone Abel.

After dinner, Triya washed the dishes and settled on the couch to watch her favorite show, Desperate Housewives, which Abel had recorded for her. Abel vaguely remembered the show from his past life, though it had been so long he couldn't recall much. Now, he had little interest in watching American dramas.

He wished his mother goodnight, took a plate of fruit back to his room, and locked the door. Abel picked up the wand embryo he had been working on and began the next phase of production. Tonight, he planned to finish the wand body and see if it would prove useful.