Mentors and meetings.

".....and that's the deal with the whole Lady Death situation." I slapped my thighs, and leaned back into the couch.

Wanda and Pietro looked a bit concerned but the most vivid reaction was Riley's.

Her face was twisted in a permanent scowl, brows furrowed, eyes moist.

"I will need some time....to think through this." Wanda sighed.

"Same." Pietro added, "And it's not our place to say anythi- ow!"

Wanda pinched him, sending me an apologetic look.

I smiled.

"You'll get plenty of time to think where you're going.

But honestly, there's nothing to think about. Take it easy. Don't worry about me. I'll handle my business well enough. Now as for you two...." I said, reaching into my coat and pulled out a box, when Riley interjected.

"Can't you remove the curse?" Riley asked.

"I can. Easily. It's barely an inconvenience." I assured her.

"But you won't?" She dug in between the lines and plucked out the real meaning behind my words. She had been getting really good at it recently.

"No, I won't." I replied, setting the box on the table.

"Why?!" She cried.

I sighed.

"What do you think Lady Death will do if I remove the curse? Will she just let me go?"

Riley fell silent, and bit her lip, fists clutched.

"See. Now relax. I'll do something about it. Find a way. I always do. Trust your Papa, will you?" I ruffled her hair, and went for the box, as she sniffled a bit.

"If you had let her take me.... would you have been able to kill her?" She asked.

"That's negative talk. Dr. Wong told you di-"

"Would you?!" She snapped.

"Maybe. It would have been a start at least. But we can't be sure-"

"Then why?" She asked, now sobbing.

"Riley!" I scowled, "Are you asking me why I didn't sacrifice my daughter for a small chance at killing some two bit entity? Do you hear yourself?"

"At least you wouldn't be stuck like this! At least I won't hurt anyone anymor-".

I pulled Riley into a hug.

"Shhh!" I rubbed her back, "Don't say that. You don't cause pain to others Riley. It's not your fault."

"It is! If I-"

"It's NOT your fault, Riley."

"Don't lie! You kn-"

"Riley." I said, looking her in the eyes, stern and sincere, "If you got hurt, Papa would be very sad. That would hurt me more than any curse can." I kissed her forehead, patting her head gently.

"So don't you dare say anything like that, okay?"

"I-i-i!" She sniffled and sobbed.

"What you did in the Nine. It's in the past. Remember this Riley. I will never blame you for what Jack made you do. You are not a monster. You're not hurting me. You can never hurt me." I assured her.

How did I not notice this before?

This situation... it's eerily similar to what happened to her parents.

Of course she's acting like this.

She still blames herself for that tragedy. And trauma doesn't wash away that easy.

Once she calmed down, I turned back to the twins who had sat through the three minutes or so quietly, and saw them shift awkwardly in their seats.

I chuckled.

"Now you guys need to relax too. I've got a year to prep for alternatives.

Not to mention, your pay is already in the system. Even if I die, you'll get paid in full. So don't worry about that."

"We're not worried about the money!" Wanda sputtered.

"Why not? Are you an idiot? You should be worried about your money! Hell if I was in your place I would've asked for a raise, scammed a lot more stuff from my boss!" I laughed.

"How can you be so ....so relaxed?! You met death! And...and she threaten you!" She asked.

"First, you need to work on your english. Actually, more on your Sanskrit and Latin too, soon enough.

But more than that, I've seen worlds die and fought off Chthulu. I even had my body, below the shoulders meltled and sublimated when I fought an alien god." I made a decapitating gesture as they shivered at my casual mentions. "Lady Death is a bad Thursday for me.

Now secondly ...." I opened up the box on the table, and pushed it towards the twins.

"Here. This is for you."

Wanda looked down at the box and raised an eyebrow.

"Earrings?" She asked.

"Earring." I corrected, pointing at the one I was wearing, "One for each of you. It's an open channel to the ship. It will allow you to come and go between the ship and Earth with the portals."

"Earrings are girly. Sis can wear both. I will just come and go with her." Pietro refused.

"That's not going to work. You two are going to be training in separate facilities, on the other side of the world. And unless you never plan on coming back, I suggest you suck it up buttercup. Besides, you're a handsome fella. And girls are into guys with earring. Especially, platinum blonde ones."

"I ... will try it out." He smield sheepishly, and put it on.

"I knew you'd see reason." I chuckled.

"When you want to go somewhere, say 'Computer, send me to' and then name the location. For example." I stood up and turned to face a wall.

"Computer, send me to London."

A portal opened up, and we could hear the sounds of traffic, honks and engines on the other side.

"Computer close the portal."

I sat back down, and continued.

"Usually, the portal will close automatically after one minute, even if you dont say the command, but I would highly encourage doing it this way. Whenever you want to come back to the ship, say 'Computer, take me home'. By default, it will bring you to the quarantine zone 8 I brought you guys in through. From there you know the way to your rooms via shuttle, right?"

They nodded.

"Good. Now, before you guys go, a final warning. I am giving these to you two out of trust and good will. Do not abuse it. These are solely to bring you to and from the ship. If the computer detects anyone other than the two of you entering through the portal, it will instantly close the portal, doesn't matter whether you're in or out or even in the middle. So use them carefully. And do not betray my trust in you. Got it?"

"Yes, sir." Wanda nodded furiously while Pietro gave a short nod and went back to eating the pistachios I had left on the table.

"Good. Let's show you each to your teachers. Shall we?"

I snapped my fingers and a portal opened up.

"Follow me." I said, and walked in, Wanda scurrying close, as we exited onto the courtyard of the Nepali Sanctum.

"You're late. And cursed by Death itself. Wonderful." The Ancient One said, from behind us, spooking Wanda, who was looking around like a tourist, eyes bugging out at the beautiful scenery around her, while Pietro wandered to the edge of the yard and looked down at the clouds below like a kid.

She squeaked in fright and froze, slowly turning around.

It was cute.

"And a good morning to you too." I said, sarcastically.

The Ancient One rolled her eyes.

"Wanda, meet the Ancient One. She will be teaching you magic or as they like to call it, 'The Mystic Arts'." I boomed through the speakers on my headphones, much to the practitioners' annoyance and my enjoyment.

"She's an 800 year old Celtic woman because the writers didn't have to balls to make her Tibetan and offend the almighty Chinese government."

"What?" Wanda asked, confused.

"I know, child. He speaks in the most frustrating ways. And you.... don't you know it's rude to point out a woman's age?" She smacked me on the shoulder.

"Ow!" I feigned, "Is that how you treat your guests Ancient One?"

"Only the ones who have overstayed their welcome. Now shoo, I have a lot to teach this young woman and you're in the way."

"Yeah, yeah. Gotcha. But here's the thing, I'm in the habit of staying where I'm not welcome." I smirked.

The Ancient one raised an eyebrow.

"To annoy the hosts?" She asked.

"Got it in one!" I praised, and dodged a smack, only to run into Mordo.

"Oh hey, Mordo. How did that demon hunt go?" I asked.

He narrowed his eyes.

"Poorly. But we managed to banish it with only minor injuries. No thanks to you, by the way."

"All thanks to me actually. It was my detector that helped you find the demon." I corrected.

"And your cameras that brought him to us in the first place."

I poked him.

"Sheesh, loosen up will you. So uptight and serious. You're never going to get laid with that attitude."

"I am not here to get laid. I am here to pursue the higher mysteries-"

"..of how to dry up pussies within a mile, yes?"

"You impertinent!-" He raised his voice but caught himself before the Ancient One got to him.

He looked at her and then at me, before shaking his head.

"I have better things to do." He said.

"Good. That's the attitude a student should have." I praised

He looked at me confused before he shook his head again and left.

"You did that purposefully, didn't you?" The Ancient One asked.

"What do you think? That attitude of his will get him and everyone else in trouble. You know what happened with Kaecillius, Ancient One. You should be the first to correct such character flaws. How did you miss this?"

The Ancient One sighed.

"I have many duty on the daily. And time....is one thing the Time Stone does not provide, as counterintuitive as it sounds."

"Pity then." I shrugged, "So what do you teach first?"

"Are you asking for lessons?" The Ancient One perked up, putting on that smug grin that made me swallow the words on the tip of my tongue.

"What? No..... nope. Just asking. You know, as a visitor."

"Visiting hours are over. And if you don't want help ...it might best for you to leave. You're causing disturbance in their training." She pointed at the other students in the courtyard.

"I see. Alright. I suppose, I don't have all day either." I turned to Wanda.

"I will see you at lunch then. Bye!" I waved and snapped my fingers, opening another portal.

"Pietro, come. Time to go."

"What about sis?" He asked.

"She'll be back for lunch. And so will you. Now come. The morning's slipping away already!"

"Alright." He turned and waved at Wanda.

"Bye sis! See you at lunch!"

And off we went, through the portal and onto a street, just as a burst of lightning flashed by us, coming to screeching and burning halt by our side.

"Hey there! Pietro, meet your new mentor. The Flash!"

"What?" Pietro asked, startled.

"What?" The Flash exclaimed just as confused.

"See you're already on the same page!"

____________________

Surprise Flash!

And MC begins a second plan!

Next chapter soon!

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