Chapter 11- Talks About Infinity

  Citadel – 3rd Floor Private Sitting room- 2008- 10- 22 (Late Morning)

  Eric Lensheer- (Magneto)

  Erik reached over and plucked a grape from the bowl in the middle of the table as he spoke. "So that was your hidden weapon that even scares Nath'aniel here… It's prettier than I expected. What is it?"

  "It is the Time Stone," Gwynevere answered.

  “Rriightt, and that is?” The old man asked, feeling even older for some reason.

  "It's one of the Infinity Stones. And before you ask again, give me a moment." Nath'aniel requested, just ahead of him reaching for his own tea cup and taking a sip from it. Once he put the cup back on its saucer, he held his hand over the cup as he continued his expnation. "In very simple yman's terms, it is a unique magical relic.'

  “In more accurate detailed terms, it is a fact of life” Eirk frowned at that statement, and then he watched as red light began being emitted from the mage's palm. Then the other man continued to expin. "Kurt brought with him a handheld game simutor."

  “It’s called a PyStation Portable," Erik told him briefly.

  "Right, that. With it, he can py various scenarios, and in many of them he can pause them, and when he does a list appears and he can adjust things. Lower the challenge, change the music being repyed, various things… that stone and the others like it, are 'life's' adjustment list." As the mage gave his expnation, the mutant was distracted by the thought of such a thing being real. That he didn't notice that the mage's half-drunk tea was now bubbling again as Nath'aniel continued to reheat it.

  "What do you mean by that? What can that stone do?" he muttered slightly afraid but also hopeful.

  The mage pulled his hand away from his cup and looked the other man in the eye before answering. "That there are sixty seconds in a minute, is because that stone says there are. There are only sixty minutes in an hour, is because that stone says there are. Time goes only one way, because that stone says it does… A true master of that Stone could adjust how time works for everyone.”

  “Could you travel through time with it?” Erik asked, thinking about his own life briefly.

  It was the other magic user who answered him. "Not in its current setting. You must understand that there are unbearable levels of power in this thing, and so my order socketed it to this magic neckce, the Eye of Agamotto. The first reason was so we could hide its presence, as the mystic energy of the Eye is simir and strong enough to do so. However, our efforts were foiled by a mage's eyes.'

  "The other reason was to lessen the burden of its use. So we humans can use it. Even so, there are very few of us that can. In its current state, we can only use it to see what will happen or has happened in the user's life."

  “What would happen if we touched it directly?” The mutant asked still thinking about what he would do if he could travel through time.

  "Worse than what happened to your son when he removed my power cell that one time," Nath'aniel warned him.

  The father flinched at the memory, even mostly drain the boy had burned off the flesh of his right and forearm before blowing out his elbow from just picking up the power cell. Pietro had required the mage’s healing tonics to return his arm to the way it was before he touched the odd cube.

  "It's true, in my order to attention to my rank and title, you must be able to wield the power of the Stone. Before me, twenty-three people attempted to use it, and all died from losing control of the stone's power. Some not only died, they ceased to exist. Some of the things that they had done, were suddenly undone, like they never or rather that on one had never been there to do them. Only our memories of them doing the tasks remained.” The bald woman added.

  Erik's drifting hand quickly shifted to taking more grapes from the bowl, instead of subtly doing what he had been tempted to do. Reached out for her neckce with his powers.

  "Of course, your memories remained. The Time Stone has no sway over people's minds." The mage pointed out before taking another sip from his cup.

  While he did a construct walked the table offering fresh cups of tea to him and the sorceress. Both of them took more. While his cup was being refilled, he asked. “Does that bring us to the other one?”

  The mage agreed saying. “Yes, and the battle you saw.”

  She took a sip from the fresh cup, before speaking. "First, I did not see much of the battle itself, as my goal during these trips with the Eye, was to defend the New York Sanctum. I see the events, I do not control them." The two men nodded in understanding, and then she continued. "In all of the trips, the battle begins the same. A rge hole is opened into the sky and their army pours through."

  Nath’aniel interrupted her saying. “Don’t give us any details on the enemy.”

  Erik was surprised by this, so he asked. “Wouldn’t we want to know as much as we can about them? So that we can pn and prepare for the battle.”

  "Only for us to get tunnel vision, this battle is to take pce several years from now, if we drill ourselves and our allies to face one thing, and then the enemy changes to another. We will only be weaker in this case, so no it is better that we prepare for anything, rather than one thing." The mage expined to him.

  The mutant leader rubbed his chin in thought, as he had to admit that the other man was right. One of the closest failures that he had suffered throughout his lifetime of fighting was when he encountered something unexpected. An Enhanced that wasn’t supposed to be there, or when Charles’ X-men interfered.

  So he wasn’t paying as much attention to the woman as he should have when she continued. “As I was saying, the battle always starts the same. The first time I saw it, the police were quickly overwhelmed, so by the time any formal military arrived to support them, most of Manhattan had been taken by the invaders. This vision ended, when the portal was widened enough to allow their mother-ship through, its defenses easily defeating anything sent against it, even jets, tanks, or even the nuke that the Americans unched at it."

  “What’s a nuke?” Nath’aniel asked.

  "It is short for nuclear weapons, they are weapons based on the splitting of unstable atoms to cause a massive energy reaction," Gwynevere answered him as Erik was busy taking another sip of tea.

  Although honestly Erik may not have been able to answer the question, as he was busy thinking of ways this battle could help him further the mutant cause. So the first thing he really heard was the mage muttering. “They are already that far along in their weapons development? Very industrious of you.”

  The sorceress continued her story saying. “The second time I saw the battle, there was a team of Enhanced already there and they held out long enough that the mother-ship never made it through, whatever defenses the ship uses must not have been active as they managed to get the nuke through the portal and hit them in wherever they had been waiting to attack form.’

  "However, in this viewing, while we managed to win the battle, it leads to a greater threat. During the battle, one of the Enhanced managed to get his hands on the enemy's general. This man beat and bludgeoned the general to death. So, in a few months after the battle's end… I am not sure if I should tell you this because it would reveal some details about the enemy."

  "I doubt the general will change as a result of our preparations, go ahead and tell us," Nath'aniel replied. Then he conjured an interface and added. "I am ordering some toast from the kitchen, do either of you want anything?"

  “Do you have English muffins?” Gwynevere asked.

  “Are they different from regur muffins?” the mage asked in response.

  “Yes, and no he doesn’t. I’ll have a slice of honeyed ham please.” Erik told his friend.

  “Oh, that would go well with this tea, I have a slice as well.” The bald woman agreed.

  As Nath’aniel tapped away at the hologram he generated, the mutant asked. “Who was the Enhanced that killed the general?”

  “I did not catch his name, but he was one of the rgest men I have ever seen, and his skin was green. If that helps you identify him.” She answered.

  He nodded muttering. "It will", but then the mutant remembered a man that he and the Brotherhood had tried to recruit. When there were rumors of a man that had an alternate combat from, a mutant by all counts with green skin. Only after trying to help him drive away the army did they learn that he wasn't a mutant, but an Enhanced so he also asked her. "Did he wear purple pants?"

  Gwynevere rubbed her chin for a moment before answering. “I wouldn’t say what I saw him wearing could still be called pants, but they were purple in color, yes.”

  Erik leaned back in his chair, taking his tea cup with him, as he thought. ‘So the Hulk will be at this Battle for New York, interesting.’

  When the mage made the interface disappear, the woman revealed the identity of the general. “Since you are alright with it, I will reveal that the leader and instigator of this battle. First, he is from Asgard.”

  “A lord or a warrior?” Nath’aniel quickly asks.

  “A lord, but worst… he is a prince of Asgard. He is Odin’s youngest son, Loki, the God of Mischief.” The sorceress answered.

  “And so a few months after the battle, a battle fleet from Asgard comes, demanding wergild.” The mage guessed. She nodded and took another sip of tea.

  "Why? We were the ones attacked, besides are they not our allies?" The mutant snapped at them confused.

  “It’s not that simple, an Asgardian Lord, a Prince, died on Earthen soil, by an Earthling’s hands. If they didn’t demand it, the other realms in the Alliance would think them weak and it would cause other uprisings or conflicts. And that’s not including a father losing his son, is often emotional for a time.” The mage tried to expin to him.

  Erik had to mentally remind himself that they were not humans or a sub-sect of humans, but rather were aliens in this alliance our ancestors had teamed up with. Who could had vastly different cultures than theirs and probably didn’t even have the same system of logic as Earth.

  "These events have not transpired yet, they are just things I saw while using the Time Stone, and both of those viewings were before I met either of you," Gwenevere said to try and reassure them. Then she added. “I did a third viewing of this event after our battle at the Sun Temple.’

  "In this third viewing, it was much like the second, but now Thor, Loki's older brother also partook in the battle. Loki was not killed but was crippled, and Thor swore to take the bme as he cimed that he technically led them in battle."

  All three of them take a moment to sip their teas. As they did the door opened and in walked another pair of Utility constructs carrying their requested food, hams for the two humans, and four pieces of toast for the mage. A metal cradle holding four types of syrup jars was pced beside the bowl of grapes, as well a small tray of various jams was added to the table closer to the mage's pte.

  Erik reached out with his powers to lift and rotate the cradle till he saw the jar with the mage letter for bck on it. He then reached out with his actual hand to pull the jar to him before adding a small amount of bckberry syrup to the slice of ham in front of him. The mutant heard the others prepare their own snacks, as he spread his syrup out, before cut his first bite.

  After the three of them took their first couple of bites, the Ancient One asked. "Do you want me to do another viewing while I am here?"

  "No, I doubt you will see much more than me joining the battle. But could you close that? The Stone is getting a touch distracting." Nath'aniel said between bites.

  She did the reverse motion with her hands, and the neckce's centerpiece closed concealing the Time Stone.

  "Why?" Erik asked, after swallowing a mouthful of ham and syrup. While the aftertaste was still there and he waited for an answer, the mutant added a touch of the tea to his taste buds.

  "You mean besides stopping an invasion in its birth?" The mage asked, when Erik nodded, the other man continued. "We need to ensure that the other Infinity Stone leaves Earth. If the invasion succeeds it clearly won't leave, and there is a chance if things go against Asgard's favor the country hosting the battle will try to horde it for themselves. The risk is too great with the Time Stone already here. The other Infinity Stone must be pced elsewhere."

  “Again, why?” The mutant asked before taking another mouthful.

  Nath'aniel lowered his piece of jam-covered toast before answering. "Because the Stone's power is not addictive, it is multiplicative. Two stones do not have the power of two. They are closer to three, having three is closer to having six. You get the problem don't you?"

  "Not really," Erik admitted.

  "There are only eight of these stones in our entire universe. Gactic empires will sign peace treaties with lifelong enemies so that they can free up armies so that they snatch up that kind of power. Allies will betray one another to steal that kind of power… the risk of having two Infinity stones is a major risk, by the Great Rebellion, if a third were to make its way here who knows what kind of danger that would attract." As his friend ranted at him, Erik saw something he hadn't ever really seen in the other man's face, fear. Nath'aniel was afraid of things in the wider gaxy and that worried him.

  There was a moment of silence after his rant, but the Ancient One broke it when she asked. “Are you sure there are only eight?”

  The question brought a small chuckle out of the mage, before he answered. “Yes.”

  Gwenevere blinked and looked anywhere but at the mage, as she started to ramble. "I am not doubting you. You understand the subject better than I, Founder, but there are so many names for some of them…”

  Nath’aniel held up his hands, raising a finger each time as he named them off. “Time, Power, Creation, Soul, Mind, Space, Reality and Change… Those are the eight Infinity Stones that regute our reality.”

  Erik had a rough guess what a person could do with half of them, he was a little shaky on Power and Soul, but the one that really made him question the list was, so he asked. “The Change Stone really?”

  The mage snapped his face to look at him before answering. “The Change Stone is perhaps the most powerful. With the Change stone, I could be made a woman, not that I’d want that. With it, your Mosul-gene could be turned into a Cedra-gene. With it, Gwenevere could be turned into a mage.”

  Erik frowned at the term Cedra, he understood that Mosul was what the mage called the X-gene, yet he couldn’t ask him about it as the woman across from them asked. “I could be made into a Founder?”

  Nath’aniel blinked and looked over at the woman as well, before saying. “Well, yes, our baseline genetics aren’t that far off, I have a few more than you Tribesmen of the Land, but yes it’s within the Change Stone’s power to do that. The point is that we are always changing, even as infants in the womb. The only time we stop changing…”

  “Is when we are dead.” Erik finished for him.

  DLRhanna