Nathaniel Essex

A/N: Pat-reon: HelloDarkness07

Thank you all for the kind words and patience you showed with me. May you all get whatever you need the most!

—

Essex Clinic, New Jersey: 

In a seemingly normal Obstetrics Clinic in Camden, New Jersey, multiple couples sat in the waiting room, to wait their turn. Some of the women had visible bulges on their stomachs showing signs of pregnancy, while some were still in the early stages of their own pregnancies.

Some men looked nervous, some looked excited, some looked too tired, while some looked as if they didn't even want to be there. 

A gentle bell rings, and the receptionist looks up from her magazine, and calls out, "Mrs Connors? Dr Milbury is ready for you."

A couple stands up, and with a smile, the husband asks, "Are you sure you don't want me there, Amanda?"

Giving a sad smile, Amanda Connors says, "I don't want to disappoint you, my love. What if I lost this one too?" wiping her eyes she adds, "Besides, you fainted during the last appointment, if you remember. Just by looking at the charts too."

Joseph Connors sighs, a sheepish smile on his face, and says, "I will wait out here then."

—

As soon as she enters the Doctor's office, the smile on Amanda Connor's face slips off, and a look of annoyance crosses her face. 

"Amanda, I hope you're well." Dr Milbury says, as a greeting.

Putting her hand on her bulging stomach, Amanda scowls at Dr Milbury, and says, "Cut the crap, Essex. I have gotten tired of this game of yours. Take this abomination in my womb out as soon as possible, so I can move away and rest for a decade or two."

Dr Milbury smiles still, and asks, "Do you not like this arrangement, Ms Mueller? Do I not pay you handsomely for every pregnancy you are forced to go through?"

Amanda snorts, and as she starts pacing around the room, she says, "I don't mind being pregnant, or giving you the infants. What I do mind is not getting enough rest in between. It hasn't even been 5 years since my last pregnancy. And most of that time went in seducing the target you gave me."

Dr Milbury sighs, and says, "Very well. After this one, I will arrange for a vacation for twenty years, without any interference from me during that time. After that, however, it is back to our arrangement. Is that enough?"

Amanda nods, and after looking around, she asks, "Where's that blonde bint today?"

Dr Milbury stands with a smile, and says, "Unfortunately, my dear, Candra's tasks are not for you to know. Now, sit up on the table so we can check up on the baby."

—

Underneath the innocuous looking clinic, however, was something far, far more sinister than a normal Obstetrics Clinic. 

There was a large hall, covering an area of around 4000 sqft, with medical equipment neatly arranged around the room. There were two hospital beds, a large desk and a single chair. Near the walls were thirteen glass tanks, all of them going from the floor to the ceiling. The glass tanks had a multitude of pipes and rubber tubes, going from each of them to a different room, and some disappearing through the wall.

The glass tanks, however, weren't empty. There was some sort of translucent green liquid filling the tanks to the brim, and bubbles could be seen occasionally originating from the pipes. Along with that, however, was why the tanks were actually created.

Each of the thirteen tanks had something floating inside the green liquid. People, humans. The naked people ranged from children as young as 7 years old, to as old as 45 years old, and all of them were completely naked, save for a single oxygen mask connected to their face.

Within the otherwise empty space, there's a soft sound of whoosh, as the air is shifted away from a place, and suddenly, there's a man standing there.

Dr Nathan Milbury.

Tapping something on his wrist, he starts walking and after barely a glance at the test tanks filled with his experiments, he goes straight towards the flat screened computer on his desk. Turning it on using his technopathy, which barely takes a few seconds, Milbury goes over some data, and muses to himself.

He says to himself, "Subject 119 lost her left lung, a pity, right after the kidney she lost yesterday. Guess she's a failure too. The others seem to be going alright, but the X-gene seem to be conflicting with the intrinsic M-gene within them."

Humming, he turns the page on his desktop, and asks, "How is it then that Gellert Grindelwald managed to turn his Wizards into mutants, and how is it that natural born mutant-wizards exist?"

Picking up a file, he flips through a few pages, and whispers, "What am I missing?"

Dr Nathan Milbury, with the full backing of the US Government, had been doing something that the normal man would be disgusted at.

 Project: Black Womb.

The US Government wanted him to study mutations, and how they affected children. For ten years he had done that. Studied still-born mutants, babies, children, and even fetuses, by holding them in these Postnatal tanks.

He did not experiment on them, not when he was employed by the Government at least, but he studied everything extensively. 

This had allowed him to judge accurately what the results would be if he were to introduce foreign X-Genes within a mutant.

Unfortunately, those studies were not of much use in this case.

This time, Dr Milbury was not trying to clone Mutants, he was trying to clone Wizards- which was possible, although a lot more difficult and expensive.

The first obstacle came when only some of his clones even managed to grow past the age of two. Out of those that did, very few managed to survive at all, their organs failing them, and sometimes their minds not handling being brought back to life.

He later realized after some background checks that for some reason, Wizards that are alive cannot be cloned. So even if he had the genetic data of Albus Dumbledore, he wouldn't be able to create another Albus Dumbledore without killing him first.

The same for Mason Aves, whose hair he had managed to get. This one just refused to be cloned at all, failing right in the early stages in fact.

The second obstacle was the fact that the very few Wizard clones that survived were almost impossible to manipulate into serving him. He could use Telepathy, of course, but Telepathy could be detected. Later, if not right after.

Brainwashing, like what he had done with multiple children while working for Project: Black Womb, was not easily detected, and he could use it even from afar. 

Thirdly, he couldn't implant the Wizard clones with his spyware, since Magic had a tendency to make electricity go haywire. Some EMP shielding worked, of course, but not when the camera is supposed to go inside the clone's eye, or when the mic is supposed to go inside the ear. 

And lastly, and the most important obstacle, came in the impossibility of the clones to be possessed. He could control clones using Telepathy, he could possess their bodies, but no matter what he tried, he couldn't possess their magic.

He couldn't just transfer his consciousness to the mind of a Wizard and use their memories to use Magic. As soon as he enters their bodies, the Magic itself retreats away from him. And no matter what he tried, he just couldn't use Magic.

Which is what he's aiming for with these experiments.

Magic.

During his last fight with the Wizards, or with the Wizard named Mason Aves, he had realized that while most Wizards are very much inferior to him, there are some that can defeat him. Kill him, even.

It took him a while to regain his memories of that day, with some help from his new servant, but when he did, he immediately became angry. Angry at himself for not having prepared for this eventuality.

A Wizard defeated him, a Wizard killed him. And if it wasn't for the fact that he had preventive measures ready for such a case, he would have died that day even without fulfilling his revenge against Apocalypse.

He had tried a lot, since then, to overcome that barrier. First he tried approaching the Sorcerers, but they always saw through his tricks, and refused to teach him, just like it had happened for the last 100 years. Even the rogue Sorcerers that he hired to do a few things refused to teach him.

And they had the nerve to say that he had no affinity towards any Magical art. Him! He was Nathaniel Essex, the smartest man on Earth, he had an affinity for everything!

So, he had tried looking for where Magic actually came from. He found it, something he named the M-Gene.

The M-Gene was nothing but a variant of the Essex factor, or the Mutant Gene that grants mutants their powers. But this gene had evolved thousands of thousands of years ago, to grant every carrier the same power. Magic.

The one oddity he had found was that some Wizards have both the M-Gene, and the Mutant gene, sometimes overlapping one another, and sometimes sitting opposite one another on the strand. 

Funnily enough, some Mutants also had the M-Gene, although they couldn't completely be called Wizards. His servant was one of them, she had some Magical talents, but it wasn't enough to classify her as a Witch.

But the M-Gene was not the only factor in granting a Wizard his powers, as he had found out. The so-called Squibs had the M-Gene, and so did at least one of the parents of the Muggleborns.

And that proved right when Dr Milbury tried transferring the M-Gene from a Wizard to a normal mutant. His experience allowed him to make the Gene settle down peacefully, but sadly enough, the mutant did not gain any Magic, or any affinity to it. The M-Gene remained dormant, and maybe, someday down the line, his descendants would become Magical, but not anytime soon.

And so, his dreams of possessing Magic for himself remained just that, dreams. He couldn't inject the M-Gene within himself, since even if he succeeded, the Magic wouldn't suddenly become available to him.

A beep sounds, and a door on the other side opens up, letting someone enter the room. Without even looking up, Dr Milbury asks, "What did you find?"

The person walks forward, her hips moving tantalizingly (if Dr Milbury was actually looking, and if he was interested), and she says, "He is dead. It seems Atharva Joshi managed to catch up to him, and kill him. Here, you can read it all if you want."

Keeping the files down, Dr Milbury takes the offered newspaper and starts reading the article at the forefront of it, telling a tale of how Atharva Joshi not only killed Lord Voldemort and a lot of his Death Eaters, but he also appeared right inside the highly protected and warded Wizengamot chambers, and showed them the head of Lord Voldemort, hence proving his deeds.

The article also went on to explain that Atharva Joshi threatened the ministry, telling them that a time of change is coming, and to be ready.

Dr Milbury clicks his tongue, and calmly keeping the paper down, he points at the picture of the brown skinned man, Atharva Joshi, and asks the woman, "Do you know who this is, Candra?"

The woman snorts, and says, "You may not remember this, Essex, but I was born just twelve hundred years ago. This man was a myth long before I was born. The only ones who might know for sure are my other siblings, but you're not going to approach them, are you? Because unlike me, they don't have an open weakness to take advantage of."

Dr Milbury, or Essex, stands up from the chair, his body shifting as he does. Now over a foot taller than before, and a foot and a half taller than Candra herself, he looms over her, and says, "I.. am.. not.. afraid.. of you, or your siblings. You'd do well to remember that even without your Heart-stone in my possession, you're still NOTHING.. in front of me."

Candra just smirks, staring at the blue skinned face of Nathaniel Essex. Stepping back, she looks behind Essex, and says, "Oh dear, it seems another one has failed you."

Turning around, Essex looks at the test tanks lining the wall, and sure enough, he sees the thrashing body of a child, around 13 years old. Within seconds, the thrashing stops, and a monitor next to it shows a flat line where a beat is supposed to be.

Scowling, Essex says, "It is not a problem. I have much more genetic data available to me. Besides, I will revive the stupid boy Riddle once again. Maybe this time he will actually do as he promised, as opposed to the last two times."

Two times. The first time Tom Riddle was revived happened in 1948, just a few years after his death. Unfortunately, Essex's attempt at giving him his magic back failed, and he was forced to grant him Telepathy and Energy manipulation, hoping that it will be enough to bring the Wizarding World to heel, and to kill Mason Aves.

Unfortunately, Tom Riddle turned on his creator at the first opportunity, and Essex was forced to kill him. 

A few years later, Essex managed to grant a new Tom Riddle his Magic, and instead of manipulations, they entered a deal. Essex had granted him his new lease on life, and he would grant him the resources to get to Britain, and get a wand. In return, Tom Riddle kills Mason Aves.

He knew Tom Riddle would have betrayed him, sooner or later, but as long as Mason Aves was dead, he didn't care. And now, five years later, he was dead, his one goal failed.

Candra chuckles, and starts walking back towards the door. Something in her chuckles, however, makes Essex stop. He calls out, "Candra?" When she stops and turns around, he asks, "Why do you believe this will fail?"

Because that's what her chuckle was. She already knew this was going to fail.

Candra smirks, and says, "Because while you do have the facilities to clone Tom Riddle's body again and again, you do not have his Soul. This time, there is no chance for even I to get his consciousness back from where it was sent by this Atharva Joshi."

"And where was it sent?" Essex asks, a bit annoyed at her looking down on him.

But he doesn't let it bother him too much. He knew Externals, thanks to his previous experience with Apocalypse. They're arrogant beyond anything he had ever seen, and despite her being subservient to him, Candra was the same.

"The Phoenix Force." Surprisingly, Candra wasn't the person to answer.

Spinning around, Nathaniel Essex condenses the molecules in his arm so that it has the same density as Titanium, and punches at the voice while at the same time sending a Psionic Blast at the person. Unfortunately for him, the punch is caught easily with one hand while the telepathy attack simply disappears. A simple twitch of that person's hand causes Essex's right forearm to suffer a fracture, as the hand is broken in two.

Instinctively, Essex fires his strongest Concussive blast, aiming at beheading at best, and pushing the enemy behind at worst. The Telekinetic blast is met by the enemy's own Telekinetic shield, which once again negates his attack.

Turning his left hand into a sharp blade, Essex cuts off his right arm, and using Telekinesis, jumps back. Even before he lands on the ground, however, he has a fully healed right arm once again.

He looks up, expecting a follow up attack, but finds the man standing right there, his back turned towards Essex, while he had his eyes on the experiments.

"So many people disturbed from their afterlife, all because one man couldn't accept that Magic was not for him." The man says, sounding amused and morose at the same time.

Essex looks around, hoping for some help from Candra, but finds her laying on the ground, unconscious, while another woman sat near her with Candra's head cradled in her lap. He tries to enter their mind, to find out their motives and to make them pay for attacking him inside his own clinic, but unfortunately for him, he doesn't even find a semblance of a mind.

He couldn't even find any of the minds other than himself, at the moment. Which was worrying, since he should have at least felt his clones.

"I have to say, I never expected you to be Atharva Joshi.. Mason Aves." Essex says, looking at the brown skinned, golden clothed man standing in front of him.

The man hums, and says, "My wife gave it away, didn't she? But I suppose the days of me hiding this identity from you are gone. You knowing that Atharva Joshi and Mason Aves are the same man won't change a single thing."

Essex clicks his tongue, not liking how the man was looking down at him. Since the woman was ignoring him in favour of Candra, he ignores her while still keeping an eye on her, and says, "Just because you defeated a weak body once doesn't mean you will defeat me now."

Atharva Joshi hums, and suddenly Essex finds a fist buried in his stomach, making him choke, and fall down to his knees. Joshi pulls Essex by his hair, making him look up, and says, "No matter how many mutations you add, no matter how many experiments you carry out, you're still a weakling, Nathaniel Essex. That is why Apocalypse will always be above you, and that is why you will always be beneath me. Well, if I ever let you survive that is."

His eyes widening, Essex uses his technopathy to activate his Teleportation device to get some space. In the very short moment that he gets to heal himself, Essex pulls something out, and glares at Joshi.

He lifts the red gemstone, Candra's Heart-stone, and as Joshi watches him in a bit of amusement, he promptly puts it in his mouth, and swallows it whole.

"The complete Life force of an External." He grits out, as he feels said energy enter and strengthen everything about his body. His mutations, his strength, his enhancements, everything kept increasing, without showing signs of shopping. "IS MINE TO CONTROL!"

Suddenly, however, something lifts him by the neck, and he feels the energy start leaving his body. Essex panics, and starts trying to pull the energy back within himself, but no matter how hard he tries, the energy keeps on getting pulled out of him.

Finally, when Essex feels the entire energy contents of the Heart-stone leave his body, he opens his eyes and glares at the brown eyes in front of him. Joshi then lifts his other arm up, and shows a red gemstone, the same one he had just eaten.

Joshi looks at it, and says, "Candra's Heart-stone. I was wondering what you had on her to keep her under your control. She really should have listened to me, when I told her that the Heart-stone is a bad idea. Sure, she got perfect immortality even when any External or a God killed her. But, as soon as you destroy the Heart-stone, she becomes weak, barely an External. And I suppose, the fact that it gives a boost to a mutant's powers is not something that can be ignored."

Joshi throws Essex back, into his computer desk, and turning back, throws the Heart-stone towards his wife, Selene. He says, "Take care of that, will you?"

Selene just nods, and controlling the shadows to cover her, disappears along with Candra. Standing up, Essex looks at Joshi, who was once again observing the experiments he had lined up.

Sneakily taking an energy gun out of his desk, Essex points it at Joshi, and shoots. Right before the energy bullet can hit the man, however, it disappears, and it is only his instincts that make him jump to the side to avoid being killed by his own gun.

Essex snaps his head back, and sees a Sorcery portal close, making him scowl even more, and curse himself for forgetting that fact.

Suddenly, Essex finds his body moving without him asking it to, and he finds himself seated on his chair. He tries to regain control, but no matter what he tries, his body remains outside his control.

Telepathy, Telekinesis, Body molecule manipulation, technopathy, it all failed to do anything to whatever Atharva Joshi was doing to him. His body remains frozen in the chair, eyes following Atharva Joshi as he went from one test tank to the next.

"You made a lot of mistakes, Nathaniel Essex. Cloning Tom Riddle, asking Candra to gather his consciousness and his Soul from the Astral Plane and Limbo, respectively, was just the stupidest mistake of yours." Joshi says, putting his hand on one of the test tanks.

He then turns towards Essex, and says, "And that was a miracle in and of itself. You managed to clone a Wizard, with science. You managed to not only clone a Wizard with science, Essex, no, you managed to retain the man's magic, his essence, and his entire being. His body was a clone, but his mind, that was entirely his own. And you, Essex, were very, very lucky that this happened."

"You may be wondering, why did all my other experiments fail, why didn't other Wizards get cloned successfully. Do you know why?" 

Essex suddenly finds freedom in his face, and he snarls, "Because I don't have Magic?"

Atharva chuckles, and says, "If that was it, then Tom Riddle would have failed too. No. The reason is that all of the souls belonging to Wizards go on to the afterlife. Some in heavens, some in hells, while others decide they want to live once again, in a new life. Tom Riddle, meanwhile, had the bad idea of creating a Horcrux, which caused him to be stuck in a state of Limbo. Not alive, but not dead, stuck in Space, and Time, until the end of Time and until the end of space. He should have only been freed when the Universe ended, when he would have been consumed by the Cosmic Egg. But even if he had revived in that new Universe, he wouldn't have been Tom Riddle. He wouldn't have had his memories, his Soul would have been pure once again, complete."

Essex moves his head around, since he could only do that, and since Joshi was in such a good mood, he asks, "Who are you? Really? The Mason Aves I met 15 years ago wasn't as strong as you, he wasn't someone that was alive when Candra was young. He wasn't Atharva Joshi."

Joshi chuckles, and answers, "That Mason Aves died when Grindelwald died, and I took his place."

Mason Aves was dead? And this was just an imposter? Essex didn't know what to think about this.

Joshi then stands up, and says, "I would love to sit and chat with you, dear Nathaniel. But I'm afraid you won't get the opportunity to say anything else any more."

Essex widens his eyes, realizing that this man wants to kill him. "Wait!" He yells, desperation clear in his voice.

Joshi, who had lifted his hand up to Essex's head, stops, and looks at Essex.

Taking the cue, Essex says, "I can help you, I can work for you. You know me, you know how much of a genius I am. I can make you stronger, I can make you a God!"

Joshi smirks, and as his hand finally lands on Essex's head, he says, "There is nothing you have that interests me, Nathaniel. As for me becoming a God? Do I look like someone who wants that?"

Essex's face freezes, showing no emotion, and he says, "Well, don't say I didn't give you a chance."

And suddenly…

BOOOOOMMMM!

There's a loud explosion as the entire laboratory explodes, destroying everything within its confines. Even the Essex Clinic above ground blows up. Thankfully, it was night time and there weren't any people in there. But a few of the neighbours find their eardrums damaged, as the explosion rocks their head.

The explosion is so loud, so extensive, that it is heard a mile away, and all the people within that area wake up, holding on to their ears tightly. The grounds shake, glasses break, and the road shatters, as a manner of highly volatile explosives blow up underground.

Far, far away from the explosion, in his old Black Womb Laboratory in New Mexico, Nathaniel Essex opens his eyes, now in a new body. He gets up, already making plans to recover from the loss of that one lab, while deciding to stay low for a while, before he can go after the man, Atharva Joshi, once again.

Suddenly, however, Essex freezes in place, his mind nor his body under his control.

"You thought you could get away with it all?" He hears Joshi say, who he realizes is once again inside his private labs. "Your actions led to Tom Riddle killing a whole lot of people, your actions led to the death of a dear friend of mine. You experimented on Wizarding children, muggleborns, and squibs. You tried to clone Wizards. And that's not even counting everything that you did before this. You, Nathaniel Essex, have lost any right to live freely."

For the first time since the man known as Apocalypse went back to sleep, Nathaniel Essex feels fear, knowing that this man, this Atharva Joshi, is dangerous. He can't kill him, and nowhere he goes is safe enough for him.

"But I'm not going to kill you, not just yet. First, I'm going to make you pay, and only then will you die." Joshi moves Essex's body around, so that he faces the Golden armoured man, and says, "You, Nathaniel Essex, are from now on.. my bitch. You will do as I say, when I say, and then, you will die. Completely. Just like Tom Riddle, there will be no resurrections for you."

And then, Nathaniel Essex blacks out, any semblance of freedom gone from his mind.

When he wakes up, Nathaniel Essex, the owner of clinics and laboratories all around the world is no longer a scientist. Instead, he declares himself to be a philanthropist, with his first good deed being creating a Charitable Trust for the Safety and Education of Children.

—

"Is she okay?" I ask, as I enter our house.

Selene looks up from Candra's glowing red body, and says, "The separation with her Life force has weakened her. It will take a few days for it to merge back together completely. Honestly, what was she thinking going through with this?"

I shake my head, and say, "She wasn't. She thought that amongst Externals, she was the weakest and so, she needed one up on us, in case we turned on her. And eternal life with unlimited resurrections was something she felt would give her that. I assume Apocalypse had a hand in pushing her in that direction."

Selene sighs, and I take a moment to look Candra over. She was healthy, since Selene had just knocked her out without hurting her. There was a red glow covering her body, while a small spot over her heart glowed the brightest. It must be where the Heart-stone is.

"Is he dead?" Selene asks, still looking at Candra, and I have no doubt that she was angry.

Externals.. we don't have any love towards one another. But there's something that makes us connected. Selene would have killed Candra without a moment's thought if Candra had threatened any of our loved ones. But an outsider threatening an External and enslaving her is not something any external will tolerate.

Shaking my head, much to her anger, I say, "Not yet. Nathaniel Essex will have a month to give away everything belonging to him. His labs are currently being destroyed by the Unspeakables and Cassiopeia's MIS, and I've made sure that nothing within those labs survives. At the end of this month.. Nathaniel Essex will die."

As for his prisoners, that was why I got the MIS involved. There are multiple mutants that Essex captured, as well some of the mutant and squib clones that survived. Their brainwashing will take some time to get rid of, but after that, they'll still be strangers to this world.

The MIS will give them a chance to learn how to live once again. Training, along with credentials will allow them to do whatever they want in their life, in exchange for a short period of 5 years of contractual employment in the MIS.

Sighing, I say, "Nathaniel Essex won't be a threat to anyone ever again, Selene. Trust me. If he manages to get free, which he won't, I will kill him without any hesitation."

Selene nods, accepting that. 

As Selene keeps staring at Candra, I say, "Well, I'll go and check up on my Golem. It's just about ready, I think and I still have one agreement to honour before I can do what I said I would."

"Are you sure about that? Do you really want to go through with it?" Selene asks, as I start walking towards the door.

Stopping, I turn back, and looking a hell of a lot sad, I say, "You've seen what muggles can do, Selene. Tell me, how long do you think the Wizards will manage to remain hidden from them? How long do you think Wizards can fight if the muggles decide they want to experiment on Magic just like Essex did? No, this has to be done. I don't want to be forced to fight, Selene. Not the entire world."

Because I know that if it came to a war between the Magical and muggle worlds, and I was forced to choose a side, I would always choose the magical one. It has its faults, a lot of them, but still, the Magical world is mine. And so, this has to be done. Soon.

Shaking my head, I apparate to my Alchemy lab, not willing to discuss it right now. Looking at the dark brown potion that had been bubbling for a few years now, I sigh, and summon something from the Nowhere.

The Resurrection Stone.

While holding the stone in my left fist, I pick a bone from the table, and slowly drop it inside the Alchemical solution. As the Potion bubbles, and lifts up into the air, taking some sort of small humanoid shape, I close my eyes, and whisper, "King Ragnuk the First!"

Well, time to temporarily resurrect a Goblin.

—

A/N: Hey guys, I'm back. So, yeah, my grandmother is dead. I had gone back home, or to my parents house I'd say, along with all of said grandma's descendants. Her one brother was still alive, and he came too, along with a lot of our family friends and relatives.

The funeral happened the next day itself (5th may), but in my religion the funeral rites go on for 13 days. We did the 12th and 13th day rites yesterday itself (yeah, I don't understand the logic either), and I came here(back to my flat) this morning.

We're recovering, not completely yet, but we are. It wasn't a shock, since her health was bad for a long time, but still, it hurts ya know. She's been a constant presence in my life for the last two years, when I stayed at my parents' house during and after covid. And now, she's gone.

But I need to move on. I'll miss her, but I can't just keep wallowing in sadness forever. So, here I am, back to posting and back to writing.

Now, on to the story!

Nathaniel Essex is completely under Mason's control right now. Mason doesn't want his money, or his labs. I know people will be disappointed, but I don't want to have Mason step into the field of science at all. He's a wizard, and he will remain a wizard.

So, his money will be donated, and he has a lot of it. His labs destroyed, specimen destroyed, his berserk slaves killed, and any genetic data erased. His laboratory equipment (which you might have noticed is way too advanced for that era), will also be destroyed since Mason doesn't want Earth's science to become so advanced so soon.

Candra and her Heart-stone. She basically separated her Life force from her body using a Magical Ritual, and since she's a Witch as well as an External it didn't kill her. As long as the Heart-stone is safe, she will remain unkillable and even other Externals and Gods won't be able to stop her from resurrecting.

Unfortunately, it also weakened her enough that Essex managed to defeat her when the Stone wasn't in her possession.

Selene and Mason had a small disagreement, but it obviously isn't enough to break them up. They've been in love for 2000 years. So, yeah.

Just a few chapters remaining, where it will be revealed what this plan of Mason's is, after which, MCU!

Anyway, thank you for your support and kind words! Thank you!

Tata!