NOVEL NEXT Chapter 64: "Truths of Yore"
Sorry if it's just a couple of chapters. I had to go to the ENT doctor, and later I have to go buy a new phone, so I don't have much time. Besides, other people need to use the desktop computer.
"Truths of Yore"
At this moment, I, Stephen Flamel, stand before what could very well be my destiny. Hell, right?
Did I really think I could live a peaceful, carefree life, swimming in money? But what I have in front of me is something I would definitely call a concern.
A young woman—quite beautiful, one might say. Well, I have to admit it: her face is about 75 to 80% similar to mine, which raises her attractiveness level. Of course, her features are more feminine, and she has long red hair cascading down her back.
The most interesting thing about her is her eyes—identical to mine. A bright blue with the same intensity, a testament to how magic can do some fascinating things. Of course, my eyes have the same issue, so I have to use a bit of magic to hide the glow. I don't want to be walking around at night with two flashlights for eyes, do I? That would be weird.
Well, I'm getting sidetracked. The problem here is quite abstract, like some cosmic joke. The person in front of me could quite literally be called my twin sister.
After all, she had the same kind of birth as I did. Yes, if we consider magic as the father and the world as the mother, then technically, we were born from the same "parents."
Normally, I'd be happy to find a blood-related sibling—in this case, a sister—but the problem is who my sister specifically is. I was born after Stephen Strange died.
And yes, as you've probably already guessed, the person in front of me is Wanda—or more specifically, an alternate version of Wanda. That chaos-and-destruction-crazed woman, the same one who forced me to self-destruct to stop her, is sitting here in front of me, flashing an innocent smile.
I feel like punching her, but I know my grandmother would crush my skull if I did.
"By the way, Strange, why are you making those weird faces at me?" Wanda asked, interrupting my inner monologue.
To explain what happened, we need to rewind a day, right after my talk with Aunt Maxime.
— Flashback —
After my deal with Aunt Maxime ended gloriously, I was preparing to return to Hogwarts so I could pla— I mean, study properly.
"Stephen, your grandfather and I are going to meet my friend's granddaughter. If you need anything, you can call me," Grandma Perenelle said as she held my grandfather by the collar—probably stopping him from creating some useless contraption to compete with the twins.
"Alright, Grandma. I'm heading back to Hogwarts; I've got a few things to finish up," I quickly said, making my escape before they could ask me to go with them.
After transporting myself to Hogsmeade through the fireplace—something that always leaves people covered in soot (which I hate)—I mentally complained. I can't wait to turn 17 and finally be able to use portals.
For some reason, when you're in a hurry, something always gets in the way. My problem? My popularity.
"Boss, we need your help understanding the Tao Mandala spell," Seamus said as he approached with Neville. A few other classmates followed behind them, ready with their own questions.
Popularity and wisdom…
These guys are still struggling with the same spells from last year. For example, Seamus still keeps blowing himself up. Seriously, how does he even manage that? I even tried doing it wrong on purpose to see if I'd explode, and I couldn't. That's not how the Mystic Arts work. It's incredible… in the worst way.
After a few minutes of patiently explaining, I got fed up and left them to their fate. The explosion behind me? Not my problem.
Then I ran into Hermione, who had questions about astral magic; Lee Jordan, who was looking for the twins; Angelina Wood and the others, who wanted to create a game similar to rugby but with magic.
After that, Ron and Harry showed up. By then, I was exhausted, so I smacked them on the head with a notebook that Professor Flitwick had asked me to deliver to McGonagall.
"What was that for?" Ron asked, both annoyed and confused.
"Shut up, or I'll shove your disgusting rat where the sun doesn't shine," I replied as the rat, terrified, scrambled into his pocket. At that moment, I felt like I was about to remember something, but my phone rang, so I let it go.
"Hello."
"Stephen, I need you to come. I'll send you the address… and bring Harry with you," said my grandmother.
"Did something happen?"
"It's hard to explain, just hurry," she said before hanging up. Great. Looks like I won't be having fun today.
I have to admit that ever since I created the virtual reality pod, I've gotten a little addicted to gaming. But hey, you can't blame me. The only memories I have are of training my whole life in a monastery where we could barely use cell phones, and before that, the most advanced console was the PlayStation 3.
"Harry, let's go. Grandma wants to see us," I said, already resigned to my fate. For some reason, I had a bad feeling about this.
"I hope this bad day doesn't get any worse," I thought.
I grabbed a confused Harry and we headed to Hogsmeade. Obviously, Harry had his permission slip signed by Grandma, though the professors didn't want him leaving too much because of the whole Sirius Black situation.
Did they really think a Flamel would go out unprotected? Even my underwear has defensive enchantments.
We arrived at our house in Hogsmeade, which we now use as a transport hub. No one lives there, though Misty occasionally sends Dobby to clean it. From there, we traveled to Flamel Island and the International Fireplace—modified by my grandfather.
"Harry, if you mess up with the direction again, I'll kick your butt," I said as he nervously stepped into the fireplace. I was already pretty annoyed and didn't feel like chasing him wherever he ended up, like that time at one of the Weasley neighbors' houses.
We quickly transported to France. We could have used the permanent portal, but we still had to use the Flu Network, so it didn't really matter.
We arrived at an old mansion, quite well decorated. In front of the fireplace, my grandparents were waiting for us.
"We're here, Grandma. What's so difficult to explain?" I asked, noticing the strange expression on her face.
"It's hard to explain, but I think we found your twin sister," Grandma said, leaving Harry and me stunned. Obviously, Harry knew I was adopted, though we hadn't told him the whole story.
"Grandma, I think you should know that's impossible," I told her.
"No. I think it's not as impossible as we thought, kid," Grandpa interrupted, a mocking smile on his face, clearly enjoying the situation.
"You'd better see it for yourself," Grandma said, pointing to a door.
"Okay… I guess," I replied, slowly approaching the door she pointed to.
I thought it was just a silly joke, so I stepped in confidently. But when I saw what was inside, I walked back out without saying a word or making a gesture.
I looked at my grandparents, and the first words out of my mouth were:
"No!" Then I pointed to the room and said again, "No! No, no, no."
"Haha, good joke, Grandpa," I said, laughing like a maniac, ignoring the looks my family was giving me.
"It's not a joke, Stephen," Grandma said, serious.
"No!" I quickly grabbed my phone and called.
"Who are you calling, bro?" Harry asked, confused and not understanding anything.
"The military. I'll ask them to bomb the place. I recommend you all stay a few hundred kilometers away," I said while trying to remember the French muggle military number.
"Give me that," Grandma snatched the phone from my hand.
"I think that was the firefighters' number," Harry said, looking over Grandma's shoulder.
"Shut up, four eyes. Maybe I was calling the firefighters to prepare for the bombing fire," I wasn't even sure what I was saying anymore.
"Alright, don't take it out on your brother. Go in there and talk to her," Grandma said, tired of my antics.
"Go in there? To that place? Are you crazy, Grandma?"
"I'll forget that you called me crazy, but if you don't go in right now, I'll give you a beating," Grandma replied, staring at me with no emotion.
I think I dug my own grave.
"Alright, alright," I said, raising my hands in surrender. Then I went back inside, but not before giving my family one last look.
"Okay. But just in case, call the French Aurors, also Aunt Maxime, maybe the British Aurors too, and Dumbledo—"
"Just go in," Grandma interrupted me, clearly angry.
"Fine," I responded, defeated, as I went back to the room, now without the confidence I had before.
"Deep breath," I muttered, and opened the door again. Inside, I found my worst nightmare and the worst enemy I had faced in any life I'd had.
"Hello again, Stephen. I must say you look very different from before."
"Wanda. And you too, if it weren't for the clothes and hair, I wouldn't recognize you," I said, recognizing the person in front of me. She was wearing the specific outfit she wore when she fought me: a mix of Scarlet Witch's attire with a red phoenix on the chest.
"Oh, this," she said, referring to the clothes. "It was to make sure you recognized me easily." Then she waved her hand, and her outfit changed to an elegant, noble style, like the ones royalty's children would wear.
"It's uncomfortable, but my grandma would make a scene if I didn't wear it," she said, observing my expression when she changed into a dress.
"It's not fair. You've got your damn magic and I had to start from scratch," I said, a little jealous.
"Oh, well, I also started from scratch, but it was pretty easy," she replied with a smug face.
"How did you know it was me?" I asked, without giving her another comment.
"Seriously? Mystic arts under the alias Strange, a million-dollar company under Tony's name… though, for a moment, I doubted if it was the real Tony. But knowing him, he would be pretty skeptical about magic," she explained calmly.
"How did you get here? No, wait, I already know. Why are you here?" I asked, correcting my question midway.
"I don't know. When I woke up, I was a baby in front of a mansion door. I don't know the reason or purpose of my existence here, but what I do know is that I'm glad I'm no longer out of control."
Hearing that, I gave her a confused look.
"First of all, I should apologize and explain a little about what happened."
"I'm all ears," I replied.
"Well, to begin with, since I was a child, I was marked by a demon whose name I won't mention, because even if we're in another universe or whatever, I don't know if it could come here."
"The chaos magic is his, so to speak. To escape my fate of being his vessel, I tried to control a force beyond what I could handle: the Phoenix Force. Obviously, I failed, and things got complicated when the Goblin Force also got mixed in the fight," Wanda explained calmly, not looking away.
"Now add the Darkhold, and the result was… me."
I was a bit stunned. With all those forces combined, it was no wonder she had become a dimensional atomic bomb. But something bothered me.
"So, in your state of madness, did you come to find Vision from my universe, and that's how everything ended?"
"Vision? No, I came to find you," she said quickly.
"Me?" I was in shock.
"Yes. Between dimensions, there were only a few who could stop me, and you were one of them," she said calmly.
"If there were others, why me?" I asked, a little angry. The fact that I had to die before enjoying life was frustrating, wasn't it?
"Well, to be honest, because I thought you were pretty annoying," she said with a smile.
"Damn!" I exclaimed, angry, and about to hit her…
—---
You might notice Wanda's personality is a little different, and that's because I brought her in to be Stephen's foil, giving him a bit more comedy.
And an enemy doesn't always need to be to the death; bothering someone's life is enough for me.
—-
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