Interlude - Wanda

Wanda wandered through a forest.

Well it was more gliding than wandering, propelled by her immense magic but the ethos was there.

Wanda-ered, maybe?

She snorted with laughter and felt the slightest bit of shame at that.

Jay's style of humor. It had grown on her.

So silly, so simple. So sweet.

She was becoming more and more like him.

She didn't mind it.

She liked being closer to him, understanding him better.

Gods knew he wasn't easy to get to know. Not truly.

It had taken so much to get him to open up to her.

Making him hers.

A social porcupine, that one.

Her porcupine.

She smiled.

Another trait she had picked up.

That stubborn possessiveness he had about what was his.

A brief thought of that spell she found in the mirror realm crossed her mind.

A voice inside her whispered, edging her on.

They had already been one in mind. So many times before.

It had felt... Good. Better than good.

A pleasure she had never felt before.

Some part of her whispered to her.

How much more could it be- could they be if they just- became one!

Going one step further wouldn't matter that much, now would it?

She shook her head.

Jay mentioned the urges would disappear with time.

She knew he was right.

He was always right.

At least she hoped he was.

Something caught her eye as she passed a grove.

A fantasy fruit.

She zipped over and plucked it off the vine.

It looked delicious.

Like a cross between an orange and a peach.

Up above she could see some monkeys eating it.

She looked at them, then at the fruit.

Was it safe?

This was a fairly child friendly fantasy world, but you never know...

Then she saw the monkeys look at her with a surprising intelligence.

"It's not poisonous. You can eat it." A monkey said

"Yes. It's very good. Sweeeeeet." Another added, squeezing the juice of the fruit into it's mouth.

Maybe it was just the opium in the air but she could swear she heard the monkeys speak.

No. They actually spoke.

She was sure of it.

Jay had told her about the speaking animals but seeing it in person is... It's a whole different experience.

"You can speak?!" She asked astonished.

The monkeys looked at her with offense.

"You're very rude, you know that?" One monkey said.

A female monkey by the sound of it.

"Um..sorry? I didn't mean to-"

"Oh you humans never 'mean' to offend but somehow every fucking time-"

"You know what, I'll just uh.. leave. How about that?" Wanda just got up and awkwardly walked away from the tree.

"Yeah, you do that. Humph! Humans, I swear- Jerry stop looking at her ass. That's bestiality." She smacked her fellow monkey.

Husband maybe?

And was it even bestiality if he- oh, did she mean the other way around?

It was confusing.

"I wasn't-" He shrunk back to avoid another smack.

"Oh I know where your eyes are wandering mister. I seen the looks you give to the washerwoman's daughter when they come around...."

Wanda chuckled as the sounds of their argument drowned away in the distance.

Men are the same everywhere.

And she didn't mind.

Wanda was proud of her ass.

Jay certainly like it.

That's what mattered.

She took a bite of the fruit.

"Mhmmm! Sweet." She sang.

It tasted like honeyed persimmon.

He devoured it like a famished beast before she even knew it.

Wiping her mouth she wondered.

"Now where was I?" She scratched her head, momentarily distracted by the opiod air, "Ah, right. Keys! Let's find the coastline first. Then I can just follow the GPS."

She soared up into the sky, far above the planet and into the stratosphere, scanning the horizon for the ocean before spotting it.

"There we go!" She smiled and flew off, humming to herself.

.

After Island.

The location of the first key.

She could see everyone on the island milling around, going about their daily chores as she landed.

It was almost ten in the morning by the time she had arrived at her destination.

It wasn't her fault flying was so much fun.

Soaring above water, chatting with talking dolphins, making waves and trails in the water, the cold drizzle of mist as she flew by at mach speeds.

Everytime she flew by the clouds, every freefall dive from the sky, the butterflies in her stomach, the thrill in her blood.

She giggled.

It was endlessly entertaining.

Like a runner's high, but thousands of feet in the air, and hundreds of times better.

It was why she preferred flying over teleportation.

She looked around to see everyone staring at her, stopped in their tracks upon her appearance.

"Uh.. hi? I came to see the priest about a key?"

"Are you a god?" A child asked.

"No. No, I'm not- actually, technically I am a god. Or maybe not here, since this isn't my real body? It's a bit complicated." She explained to the child, but it clearly went over his head.

His mother came running over, worried and bowed to Wanda.

"I'm sorry he gets out of hand sometimes. Kesel, come. Don't bother the magic lady anymore."

"No, no, it's not a bother. And-wait! Where's the priest?" She called out but the woman just retreated back into the crowd, and the rest remained silent, just looking at her with a mixture of curiosity and caution.

"I hear you're looking for me, visitor from the heavens! Perhaps I have been judged worthy of a blessing by the great gods?" He announced.

This man..... She couldn't help but feel a little annoyed at him.

She knew his story from the briefing.

Father Poe as he called himself now, was a charlatan.

A conman.

He was in possession of the Illusion key, the first of the seven keys, that allowed him to create an illusion of his greatest fear, in his case, a shadow bat. Apparently, it was meant to induce growth in the questors, making them overcome their greatest fear to get it.

The illusion however couldn't actually hurt anyone. It's just scary to look at.

Using this illusion, Father Poe scared a community on After Island into becoming his faithful flock, appointing himself as the leader.

Of course, to maintain the illusion of an actual threat, he had to occassionally kill some villagers himself while everyone else hid in their huts, but their deaths were a price he was willing to pay to keep himself in power over what? 40, 50 villagers?

What bullshit.

Wanda scoffed.

And now he was trying to use her appearance here to further boost his powers?

Not a chance.

While she was in no place to judge him from a moral high ground - she had seen and even helped Jay do the same to much larger masses - at least Jay had the courtesy to do it efficiently and professionally.

Father Poe on the other hand?

She could see the bodies being sent out into the ocean by the pier.

The cuts were uneven. Too clean to be dealt by claws. To far apart as well.

Just sloppy work.

Anyone with two braincells to rub together could figure out it wasn't done by some animal.

She couldn't help but cringe.

But since Father Poe had so kindly given her divine authority already.....

Wanda smiled.

Why not have some fun?

"Yes. Indeed it is the old gods who have sent me!" She announced, and watched as Father Poe's eyes lit up.

Hah! Sucker!

"To judge this sinner and charlatan!" With a wave of her hands she seized Father Poe in her telekinetic grip.

"Wait, no! I think there has been a misunderstan-"

"Shut it you!" Wanda took away his voice.

He gasped and croaked to no avail as no sound came from within.

"No! Spare him angel! Father Poe is a good man!" A woman came forward from the crowd.

"Yes! He protects us from the monster!" A fisherman in the crowd added.

"Does he now?" She asked, a mysterious smile on her face, as she pulled out the key from Father Poe's pocket and applied it's divine power.

Instantly, a cry echoed across the island as a great shadow cast upon the village.

She could feel the palpable fear in the villagers as they screamed and rushed away, only to be caught in her grasp, frozen in place.

"That." Wanda pointed out with the key, is no beast. It's an illusion. Watch."

Using the key like a laser pointer she diverted the monster to come down onto the frozen crowd, and watched them flinch as it passed right theough them like smoke.

"See? Just an illusion. An illusion that 'Father' Poe has been using to command your submission for years.

"No! That cannot be! I lost my son to the beast! It cannot be an illusion!" An old woman sobbed.

"Oh poor you." Wanda floated over to the old woman, caressing her face, "It wasn't the beast who killed your son. It was him."

She reached into Father Poe's coat robes and pulled out a well used knife, still stained with hints of blood and rust from improper care.

"Check for yourselves. The bodies are still in the pier." Wanda pointed out. The fisherman who had come to Father Poe's defence earlier was the first to come forward, grabbing the knife as he made his way to the pier.

It wasn't long before he was back and announced the results of his search.

Wanda watched as the gears in the crowds head turned and the pieces of the puzzle clicked together.

"Is this true? Is that why my wife had to die? So you could keep up an illusion?" A man in the crowd asked as they broke into an uproar.

Wanda just smiled, satisfied and pocketed the key before dropping Father Poe into the crowd for some well deserved mob justice.

If you're going to be evil, at least be smart about it!

She huffed, and turned around, flying away with a sonic boom.

.

Within minutes she was within spotting distance of the fast approach curtain of pure darkness, draped over the horizon at the easternmost edge of Fillory's seas.

The Abyss.

A hive of darkness and dragons.

And also, the location of the fourth key, the Abyss key.

Wanda pulled up the file Jay had on it.

The Abyss key, like all the other keys also had a special ability.

Self reflection.

The key forced it's holder to see a darker reflection of themselves that challenged their every belief, taunted them and mocked their very existence, 24/7 till they either countered it and conqured themselves or killed themselves out of the suicidal ideation it tended to induce in it's wielders.

Based on the famous phrase by Nietzsche, "When you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back.'

Or something. Wanda shrugged.

She was never big on philosophy.

In the show, it was a very bad match for almost anyone who held it, including Mr. Depresso himself, Quentin Coldwater.

The only to survive it without a shred of guilt or malaise was one selfish, self-centred and sociopathic woman.

Her target and the current possessor of the key.

The dragon obsessed field researcher, Poppy Kline.

She snorted upon reading the report.

"And he tells me I make biased reports." Wanda muttered to herself.

Pot meet kettle!

This Poppy sounded like a fine woman. A strong, independent- Oh.

That's why Jay didn't like her.

He wasn't a fan of unpredictable people.

Eh. Jay was just being paranoid as always.

Still, she would do as he instructed.

Better to be safe than sorry.

He knew better and it was no skin off her nose.

The GPS on the glasses showed that she was straight ahead, some 30 miles in.

Close enough.

Wanda smiled and increased her speed to Mach 4 as even more sonic booms rang out behind her.

Within minutes she was there, and with a simple casting of night vision, she could see the woman, fiery red hair, just like herself, floating along on a crudely improvised raft.

"Hello!" Wanda greeted the woman as she descended to her level, her shoes dipping in the surface of the water.

"Is someone there? Or are you just another hallucination? Actually, scratch that. You probably are a hallucination." A cheery voice greeted her, "Either way, welcome to the Abyss. I'm Poppy. But you probably knew that already, being a figment of my imagination and all that!"

"Well actually, I am not a hallucination." Wanda clarified.

"That's what the last eight said but here we are, right guys?" She looked around ....at her hallucinations? Imaginary friends?

Whatever.

Not that it mattered.

"Uh huh? Can a hallucination do this?" Wanda snapped her fingers and a dazzling ball of crimson light appeared int he Abyss, lighting up the surroundings.

"Holy shit, you're real. Holy shit- wait shit! Turn it off, now!" Poppy cried out suddenly.

"What? Why-"

The waters beneath them churned and trembled as something surfaced with the force of a torpedo.

"Delicious morsels! Come to daddy!" A dragon with oitch black scales appeared, towering above them, his eyes glowering with an ethereal green flame.

"That's...why." Poppy gave out a resigned sigh.

"It was nice knowing you, floating lady. At least I won't die alone. And dying to an abyss dragon...!" A slight flush colored her face, her breath growing ragged, "It's always been my dream!" She eyed the dragon, "You have no idea how much dragon vore porn I have jacked off to-"

"Aaand I'll stop you right there." Wanda blushed, putting the crazy dragonologist to sleep.

"That just killed my appetite." The dragon made a sick face.

"Does that mean you won't eat us?" Wanda asked innocently.

"Oh no. I'll still eat you." It said, baring it's teeth.

"Shame." Wanda shrugged, and slapped her hand in the air as a phantom force swept over the dragon, an immaterial hand slapping him across the cheeks, detoothing the ancient beast in one blow.

"Hrwaaargh!" The dragon roared in pain as his gums bled, teeth plopping into the deep dark ocean like little raindrops.

"You beast-woman! How dare-"

SLAP!

Another phantom slap struck the dragon, completely turning him into a toothless lizard as it recoiled in pain.

"Will you leave now or do I have to break your jaw?"

"Okay, okay I'll leav-"

Slap!

"Whahahay?" It cried at the injustice, propping up it's broken jaw with it's tail.

"Because I felt like it. Now if you aren't leaving, I can try something a little mo-"

Wanda didn't need to complete the sentence, as no sooner had she spoken, did the beast dip into the water and disappear, swimming away at full speed, much to her amusement.

She chuckled as she rummaged around Poppy's jacket with her telekinesis and carefully stired the Abyss key in a box, making sure to not touch it.

The effect of the key only applies to the last holder of the key after all.

And Wanda wasn't so sure she could handle her inner demons so well.

Finally, she placed the memory extractor on the dragonologist and copied her memories before teleporting back to earth, onwards to the next key.

.

Lieden, Denmark.

Wanda appeared in an alleyway, and immediately cast a Dreamcatcher spell, meant to capture demons and low level supernatural entities who held powers over dreams, emotions and the desires.

Like the Traumesser, a demon that fed on the happiness of others, that held the fifth key, Unity.

She entered a pub nearby, following the Dreamcatcher's design and spotted the demon sitting next to woman, watching her show off her ring.

In fact the entire pub seemed to be filled with the woman's relatives and friends.

An engagement party, Wanda realised.

She must be happy. A prime target for the Traumesser.

Silently, she walked over to the demon and placed a hand on his shoulder. But he wasn't surprised.

"Ah, I was just waiting for you, dear." His appearance changed, the voice.....the face....it was Jay's.

"Thanks for getting the groceries, honey." He said, taking the... grocery bags from her hand?

"When did I?"

She looked around and...it was the- this is the villa. In the microverse.

"Mommy!" Star ran up to her- No. NO!

This isn't real.

She shook her head, raising her hand, brimming with chaos magic to shatter the illusion when-

"Hey sis!" A blur zoomed through the house, coming to a stop before her.

"Did you bring the cheez-its?"

"P-Pietro?" She stumbled in her attempt to cast, caught off guard and for a moment she fell prey to the illusion.

The Traumesser watched in delight as she teared up.

"You're....." Wanda snapped to look at the Traumesser, announcing in a chilling tone, "Dead."

In an instant, the world around them shattered, blood seeped from the walls and the house turned into a field of crimson fractals.

"Who gave you the right to mock my brother's life?!" She caught the Traumesser by the neck, raising him high as pure rage colored her eyes.

"It's a test. It's all just a tes-"

"I don't care. Die." She crushed his neck as blue blood splattered all over her arms.

The demon's head lolled and the light left it's eyes and a single golden key clinked as it fell to the floor.

And in an instant, they were back in the pub, in full view of the utterly horrified guests.

Wanda sighed, wiping her tears and scanned the room.

No magicians.

Good.

With a swipe of her hands, she wiped their memories, cleaned up the evidence and disappeared as if she had never existed.

Not to the next target, but rather, home.

She needed some me-time to process her emotions and she certainly wasn't going to go into a mission half cocked.

It never went well.

Perhaps a hug and a cuddle from her beloved.

No. Definitely some cuddles. Maybe more.

____________________

Phew!

3000 words!

That's a hefty boi!

Tell me what you think of the chapter!

Extra chapter at 400 powerstones.

A Wanda interlude for a change of pace.

Next time, banishing spell and the god of the underworld.

The finale of the arc nears!

Just twenty more chapters.

Thanks for reading.

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