Agatha portaled into the base and took a moment to look around at the runic spell that was carved into the room. Then she looked down at Ebony as she asked, "You sure know how to get into trouble, don't you?"
"Meow."
Agatha chuckled and her voice had a hint of sarcasm as she said, "I'm sure it was just luck."
Agatha walked forward out of the portal room with Ebony at her side and stopped when she saw a silver haired man leaning against the wall reading a little orange book. Ebony moved in front of her and hissed at the man who glanced up at them. He let out a sigh and put his book away as he said, "Just when I was getting to the good part."
The man turned and started walking down the hallway as he said, "Follow along, we don't want you to get lost."
Ebony hissed again then meowed a few times. Agatha nodded her head as she moved to follow the thing that looked like a man and said, "That girl knows better, I am sure she has an explanation for what is going on."
Agatha studied the thing in front of her as she walked. It had no soul, with only a faint hint of life force. The thing would most likely die sometime tomorrow if it was lucky. What was most puzzling is she couldn't sense anything demonic from it. Normally a creature like this would have demonic energy leaking from it with noticeable mutations on its body. It should be in the end stages of its host's life and it should be searching for a new host to take over right now.
It wasn't long before they arrived in front of a door, which the creature pointed at and said, "This is your stop."
She watched as the creature leaned against the wall, pulled out its book and started reading again. When she didn’t move for a few moments the man continued reading while he said, "What’s wrong? Did you get lost on the path of life or something?"
The man waved his free hand in a shooing motion as he said, "Go on now, it's impolite to keep people waiting."
She looked down at Ebony for a second before she moved to open the door. As she did, Ebony moved behind her and watched her back as she entered the room. Inside of the room, a group of people were seated along with another soulless creature. Surprisingly she recognized two people, The Ancient One being the main person and Steve Rogers a war hero who everyone thought was dead.
As she glanced at everyone in the room, they also studied her. Agatha Harkness wore a tight, body hugging knee length purple dress, with a dark purple shawl draped over her shoulders. She stood almost six feet tall with a voluptuous body that was highlighted by her alluring face and piercing blue eyes. She had a single streak of ghost white hair running down the right side of her otherwise thick raven black hair that framed her face and flowed down to the middle of her back.
After she took in everyone in the room, Agatha’s gaze stopped on Tao and she said, “You have a lot of explaining to do, young lady.”
Ezekiel smirked and elbowed Tao who was seated next to him as he said, “She just called you a young lady. Can’t she see you’ve gone bald with old age?”
Everyone tried to hold in a smile except for Tao and Agatha. Tao shot a quick glare at Ezekiel as Agatha also looked at him before she said, “Be quiet you soulless demon, I didn’t come here to talk with you.”
Ezekiel grabbed his heart as he said, “Oh it hurts, you just had to target my insecurities… Do you have any idea how much this’ll cost in therapy?"
Before Agatha could speak, Tao slapped Ezekiel so hard he turned into a puff of smoke. Agatha turned a questioning gaze to Tao who shrugged as she said, “Sorry, sometimes he is a little too much.”
Fury rolled his one eye as he said, "More like most of the time." While Peggy and a few others nodded in agreement.
Agatha started to speak but was cut off as the door opened and in walked the silver haired man who said, “Now that was just rude. It’s a good thing I had Tobirama work on improving the formula so everyone now gets the memory packets.”
Tao glared at Ezekiel as she said, "Try to be serious this time."
Agatha watched as the creature walked past her and turned back into the other creature that just disappeared. She was surprised when it happened since its life force became weaker afterwards.
Ezekiel sat back down as he said, "Fine, mom."
Tao raised her hand slightly as she said, "Test me."
Ezekiel lowered his head as he said, "Sorry master, please don't spank me! I'll be a good boy, I swear."
Tao smacked Ezekiel again and he disappeared into another cloud of smoke. Then she looked at Agatha as she said, "Please take a seat and don't mind the idiot."
Agatha glanced around the room and noticed almost everyone was trying to hold back another smile. She moved forward and took the empty seat at the table across from Tao. After she sat down and Ebony had moved behind her chair, Agatha looked at Tao as she asked, "What exactly is going on here and what was that thing?"
Ezekiel answered as he walked through the door and said, "It's impolite to call somebody a thing."
Ezekiel walked around the table and moved his chair away from Tao this time. He shot a quick glare at her as he sat back down, which she returned with a smug smile. He grumbled, "Rude." under his breath before he looked at Agatha as he said, "As for what I am, you can think of me as a projection from my real body that has a physical form."
"That doesn't make sense, you're solid and life force energy is slowly leaking out of your body. With those factors and your lack of a soul, you show all the classic signs of a demonic possession."
Tao nodded as she said, "I thought the same thing when I first met him. But it's one of his innate abilities. Try looking at him through an advanced viewing spell for seeing spirits."
Agatha weaved her hands together as she chanted a spell. When she finished, she looked at Ezekiel for about a minute before she said, "Fascinating…Is it a new magical spell? Possibly a magical construct? I would love to meet your creator and talk with them."
Ezekiel shook his head as he said, "Unfortunately Tao is the only person who has met the real me and I don't plan to change that anytime soon."
"Who's Tao?"
Ezekiel pointed at Tao as he said, "Calling her The Ancient One is a mouthful and since she won't tell me her real name, I shortened it to Tao."
Agatha smiled the tiniest bit as she said, "I happen to know her name."
Tao frowned as she said, "You wouldn't."
"For the right price I would, it's just your name after all dear. Nothing really important."
Fury cleared his throat before he said, “As interesting as all of this is, some of us have more important things to do. So can we get to the main reason we are here and then you can go back to discussing stuff that doesn’t really matter.”
Agatha glanced at Fury as she said, “Alright child, why did you invite me here?”
Fury had a vein pop on his forehead as he asked, “What part of me looks like a child?”
Ezekiel smirked as he said, “She called Tao young lady and she is closing in on being a thousand years old. I think almost everyone in the world is considered a child in her eyes.”
Agatha nodded as she said, “While it’s impolite to ask a woman her age, just know I was alive well before Atlantis fell below the ocean. Now, why was I called here? I know it wasn’t because of Ebony’s little stunt early.”
Everyone glanced at Tao and waited for her to speak. Tao smiled a little as she said, “You’re right, I asked you here so we could invite you to join us.”
Agatha took another quick glance at everyone in the room before she asked, “And what exactly would I be joining?”
“A secret group that is plotting to change the current world order.”
Agatha turned to look at Ezekiel, while Fury let out a groan of annoyance. Peggy spoke up next as she said, “While Ezekiel is correct, he could word it better. Our main goal is working to make the world a better place for everyone. That means humans and meta humans.”
Agatha nodded before she said, “With some like Captain America here, I assumed as much. But what about people who practice the mystic arts? Witches, warlocks, shamans, witch doctors and others? Would you make the world better for them too?”
Ezekiel shrugged as he said, “Sure if they act like decent human beings and don’t do stuff like kill virgins, bathe in the blood of babies or summon demons. You know classic dumb shit that only losers would do because their parents didn’t love them enough.”
Ezekiel smirked a little as everyone went quiet except Agatha who started to laugh. When she stopped she looked at Tao as she said, “I like him, he reminds me of a young Yao. Is the real one like these constructs?”
Tao nodded, which made Agatha smile as she said, “Great, I’ll join your little group on the condition that I can meet him.”
Fury raised his eyebrow as he asked, “Really? You don’t need to know anything else?”
Agatha shook her head as she said, “Not really, since The Young One here is working with you. Even though I am surprised she is. Last time we talked, her main concern was keeping the timeline in check.”
Everyone looked at Ezekiel who smirked and waved as he said, “It was my fault. She can’t really see the future with me in the world.”
Ezekiel then shook his head and said, “Anyways, it's not my call on meeting the real me. Give me a few minutes to let the boss know what you want.”
Ezekiel turned into a puff of smoke and Fury stood up as he said, “I have other stuff to do, let me know if she joins and I will factor her into future plans.”
Everyone else started to leave the room with different reasons until only Agatha and Tao were left. Agatha gave a little smile as she asked, “So how long has this been going on for?”
“About two years now.”
“I’m a little surprised you didn’t reach out to me before this.”
Tao gave a little shrug as she said, “We’ve been busy and I didn’t think you would be that interested.”
“You’ve changed.”
Tao frowned the tiniest bit, which made Agatha smile as she said, “That right there is what I am talking about. Don’t worry, showing emotion is good for you. I always thought you were too stiff and needed to loosen up since you took over from Yao. What happened to the young excitable girl I met who just enjoyed learning magic?”
Tao frowned a little more as she said, “I grew up.”
Agatha laughed before she said, “Bullshit. You just used that stupid eye too much. You know you don’t have to pick the optimal path right? Yao didn’t, why do you think he gave up the spot to you? It was because he got tired of it and you were the best replacement he could find.”
“That’s not true.”
Agatha shook her head as she said, “When he comes back again you should talk with him about it. You will find that Yao was a lot more flexible than you realize."
Before Tao could speak again, the door opened and another Ezekiel walked in. He paused as he saw the tense atmosphere and asked, “Did I interrupt something?”
Both women shook their heads before Agatha asked, “So do I get to meet the real you?”
Ezekiel nodded as he said, “The boss agreed since it's you. But he has two requests.”
“What are they?”
Ezekiel smirked as he looked at Tao and said, “First you will need to tell him Tao’s real name when you met. You’ll also have to swear on your magic to not tell anyone who he really is, where he lives, or anything about his family.”
“That’s a little strict, isn’t it?”
Ezekiel shrugged as he said, “He’s paranoid and wants to protect his family. Tao swore on her magic before she met him.”
“Well I can’t be outdone by a youngster, now can I?”
Agatha portaled into the base and took a moment to look around at the runic spell that was carved into the room. Then she looked down at Ebony as she asked, "You sure know how to get into trouble, don't you?"
"Meow."
Agatha chuckled and her voice had a hint of sarcasm as she said, "I'm sure it was just luck."
Agatha walked forward out of the portal room with Ebony at her side and stopped when she saw a silver haired man leaning against the wall reading a little orange book. Ebony moved in front of her and hissed at the man who glanced up at them. He let out a sigh and put his book away as he said, "Just when I was getting to the good part."
The man turned and started walking down the hallway as he said, "Follow along, we don't want you to get lost."
Ebony hissed again then meowed a few times. Agatha nodded her head as she moved to follow the thing that looked like a man and said, "That girl knows better, I am sure she has an explanation for what is going on."
Agatha studied the thing in front of her as she walked. It had no soul, with only a faint hint of life force. The thing would most likely die sometime tomorrow if it was lucky. What was most puzzling is she couldn't sense anything demonic from it. Normally a creature like this would have demonic energy leaking from it with noticeable mutations on its body. It should be in the end stages of its host's life and it should be searching for a new host to take over right now.
It wasn't long before they arrived in front of a door, which the creature pointed at and said, "This is your stop."
She watched as the creature leaned against the wall, pulled out its book and started reading again. When she didn’t move for a few moments the man continued reading while he said, "What’s wrong? Did you get lost on the path of life or something?"
The man waved his free hand in a shooing motion as he said, "Go on now, it's impolite to keep people waiting."
She looked down at Ebony for a second before she moved to open the door. As she did, Ebony moved behind her and watched her back as she entered the room. Inside of the room, a group of people were seated along with another soulless creature. Surprisingly she recognized two people, The Ancient One being the main person and Steve Rogers a war hero who everyone thought was dead.
As she glanced at everyone in the room, they also studied her. Agatha Harkness wore a tight, body hugging knee length purple dress, with a dark purple shawl draped over her shoulders. She stood almost six feet tall with a voluptuous body that was highlighted by her alluring face and piercing blue eyes. She had a single streak of ghost white hair running down the right side of her otherwise thick raven black hair that framed her face and flowed down to the middle of her back.
After she took in everyone in the room, Agatha’s gaze stopped on Tao and she said, “You have a lot of explaining to do, young lady.”
Ezekiel smirked and elbowed Tao who was seated next to him as he said, “She just called you a young lady. Can’t she see you’ve gone bald with old age?”
Everyone tried to hold in a smile except for Tao and Agatha. Tao shot a quick glare at Ezekiel as Agatha also looked at him before she said, “Be quiet you soulless demon, I didn’t come here to talk with you.”
Ezekiel grabbed his heart as he said, “Oh it hurts, you just had to target my insecurities… Do you have any idea how much this’ll cost in therapy?"
Before Agatha could speak, Tao slapped Ezekiel so hard he turned into a puff of smoke. Agatha turned a questioning gaze to Tao who shrugged as she said, “Sorry, sometimes he is a little too much.”
Fury rolled his one eye as he said, "More like most of the time." While Peggy and a few others nodded in agreement.
Agatha started to speak but was cut off as the door opened and in walked the silver haired man who said, “Now that was just rude. It’s a good thing I had Tobirama work on improving the formula so everyone now gets the memory packets.”
Tao glared at Ezekiel as she said, "Try to be serious this time."
Agatha watched as the creature walked past her and turned back into the other creature that just disappeared. She was surprised when it happened since its life force became weaker afterwards.
Ezekiel sat back down as he said, "Fine, mom."
Tao raised her hand slightly as she said, "Test me."
Ezekiel lowered his head as he said, "Sorry master, please don't spank me! I'll be a good boy, I swear."
Tao smacked Ezekiel again and he disappeared into another cloud of smoke. Then she looked at Agatha as she said, "Please take a seat and don't mind the idiot."
Agatha glanced around the room and noticed almost everyone was trying to hold back another smile. She moved forward and took the empty seat at the table across from Tao. After she sat down and Ebony had moved behind her chair, Agatha looked at Tao as she asked, "What exactly is going on here and what was that thing?"
Ezekiel answered as he walked through the door and said, "It's impolite to call somebody a thing."
Ezekiel walked around the table and moved his chair away from Tao this time. He shot a quick glare at her as he sat back down, which she returned with a smug smile. He grumbled, "Rude." under his breath before he looked at Agatha as he said, "As for what I am, you can think of me as a projection from my real body that has a physical form."
"That doesn't make sense, you're solid and life force energy is slowly leaking out of your body. With those factors and your lack of a soul, you show all the classic signs of a demonic possession."
Tao nodded as she said, "I thought the same thing when I first met him. But it's one of his innate abilities. Try looking at him through an advanced viewing spell for seeing spirits."
Agatha weaved her hands together as she chanted a spell. When she finished, she looked at Ezekiel for about a minute before she said, "Fascinating…Is it a new magical spell? Possibly a magical construct? I would love to meet your creator and talk with them."
Ezekiel shook his head as he said, "Unfortunately Tao is the only person who has met the real me and I don't plan to change that anytime soon."
"Who's Tao?"
Ezekiel pointed at Tao as he said, "Calling her The Ancient One is a mouthful and since she won't tell me her real name, I shortened it to Tao."
Agatha smiled the tiniest bit as she said, "I happen to know her name."
Tao frowned as she said, "You wouldn't."
"For the right price I would, it's just your name after all dear. Nothing really important."
Fury cleared his throat before he said, “As interesting as all of this is, some of us have more important things to do. So can we get to the main reason we are here and then you can go back to discussing stuff that doesn’t really matter.”
Agatha glanced at Fury as she said, “Alright child, why did you invite me here?”
Fury had a vein pop on his forehead as he asked, “What part of me looks like a child?”
Ezekiel smirked as he said, “She called Tao young lady and she is closing in on being a thousand years old. I think almost everyone in the world is considered a child in her eyes.”
Agatha nodded as she said, “While it’s impolite to ask a woman her age, just know I was alive well before Atlantis fell below the ocean. Now, why was I called here? I know it wasn’t because of Ebony’s little stunt early.”
Everyone glanced at Tao and waited for her to speak. Tao smiled a little as she said, “You’re right, I asked you here so we could invite you to join us.”
Agatha took another quick glance at everyone in the room before she asked, “And what exactly would I be joining?”
“A secret group that is plotting to change the current world order.”
Agatha turned to look at Ezekiel, while Fury let out a groan of annoyance. Peggy spoke up next as she said, “While Ezekiel is correct, he could word it better. Our main goal is working to make the world a better place for everyone. That means humans and meta humans.”
Agatha nodded before she said, “With some like Captain America here, I assumed as much. But what about people who practice the mystic arts? Witches, warlocks, shamans, witch doctors and others? Would you make the world better for them too?”
Ezekiel shrugged as he said, “Sure if they act like decent human beings and don’t do stuff like kill virgins, bathe in the blood of babies or summon demons. You know classic dumb shit that only losers would do because their parents didn’t love them enough.”
Ezekiel smirked a little as everyone went quiet except Agatha who started to laugh. When she stopped she looked at Tao as she said, “I like him, he reminds me of a young Yao. Is the real one like these constructs?”
Tao nodded, which made Agatha smile as she said, “Great, I’ll join your little group on the condition that I can meet him.”
Fury raised his eyebrow as he asked, “Really? You don’t need to know anything else?”
Agatha shook her head as she said, “Not really, since The Young One here is working with you. Even though I am surprised she is. Last time we talked, her main concern was keeping the timeline in check.”
Everyone looked at Ezekiel who smirked and waved as he said, “It was my fault. She can’t really see the future with me in the world.”
Ezekiel then shook his head and said, “Anyways, it's not my call on meeting the real me. Give me a few minutes to let the boss know what you want.”
Ezekiel turned into a puff of smoke and Fury stood up as he said, “I have other stuff to do, let me know if she joins and I will factor her into future plans.”
Everyone else started to leave the room with different reasons until only Agatha and Tao were left. Agatha gave a little smile as she asked, “So how long has this been going on for?”
“About two years now.”
“I’m a little surprised you didn’t reach out to me before this.”
Tao gave a little shrug as she said, “We’ve been busy and I didn’t think you would be that interested.”
“You’ve changed.”
Tao frowned the tiniest bit, which made Agatha smile as she said, “That right there is what I am talking about. Don’t worry, showing emotion is good for you. I always thought you were too stiff and needed to loosen up since you took over from Yao. What happened to the young excitable girl I met who just enjoyed learning magic?”
Tao frowned a little more as she said, “I grew up.”
Agatha laughed before she said, “Bullshit. You just used that stupid eye too much. You know you don’t have to pick the optimal path right? Yao didn’t, why do you think he gave up the spot to you? It was because he got tired of it and you were the best replacement he could find.”
“That’s not true.”
Agatha shook her head as she said, “When he comes back again you should talk with him about it. You will find that Yao was a lot more flexible than you realize."
Before Tao could speak again, the door opened and another Ezekiel walked in. He paused as he saw the tense atmosphere and asked, “Did I interrupt something?”
Both women shook their heads before Agatha asked, “So do I get to meet the real you?”
Ezekiel nodded as he said, “The boss agreed since it's you. But he has two requests.”
“What are they?”
Ezekiel smirked as he looked at Tao and said, “First you will need to tell him Tao’s real name when you met. You’ll also have to swear on your magic to not tell anyone who he really is, where he lives, or anything about his family.”
“That’s a little strict, isn’t it?”
Ezekiel shrugged as he said, “He’s paranoid and wants to protect his family. Tao swore on her magic before she met him.”
“Well I can’t be outdone by a youngster, now can I?”
