Tenno POV
After a good nights sleep I finally came to my senses for the first time in a while. I was out of that hellhole of a big black nothingness and could for the first time in a while settle my thoughts on the subjects I wanted.
Somehow I neede to get back home, I needed to get Ordis back, preferably also my pack and Rhino. The Orbiter was seemingly stuck in the Void and my railjack, seemed to be lost. "Hopefully my crew is somewhat safe". I thought as I turned around in my bed to look at the room I was now in.
I sat up and looked around, my eyes wondering around the interior of this incredibly old looking place.
"So I was stuck in the Void all along" I thought as I stood up and moved through the room, pulling out some books from the shelves, but not able to read any of the languages I quickly lost interest and started wandering to the Window.
"Now a lot of things make way more sense then before, I could not feel the void, because there was nothing to be felt about it as the void is calm here. Only once I got frustrated I could feel that emotion, as I was in the Void and spread it on my own. Like that I could finally get a grip on it and get out of there in my spectral form" I thought as I started to put together the pieces that flew around me for quite some time now.
"And the many World's Theory seems to also be right. It's the most plausible option, from the data I "borrowed" from all the ravanger ships I had been to, clearly stating nothing about the Orokins, and not even mentioning anything I seemingly have gotten myself into again right now."
Looking out of the Window I could clearly see earth. Or at least a earth like plane, mountains and rivers, even grasslands like the ones from Idolon, stretched right before my eyes till the horizon. The sky was blue and there were many animals I only knew as extinct, walking around, minding their own business, the scene, giving of a sense of peace I had never felt before.
Looking out of that window I was lost for a long time, just sucking in this seemingly safe moment, an incredible contrast to the messiness that was my current situation right now.
After some time, I got myself to look away from that hypnotic view and settled my sight on the Woman sitting on the chair next to the table I was leaning on, who looked at me in a strange sense of fascination and pity.
"It's beautiful isn't it" she said after some time and stood up. "After earth joined the Nova corps, we declared all of it's wildlife as a sanctuary and used our new tech to completely shut them off from outside influences, we would unintentionally and inevitably bring with us from the stars" she further spoke, while stroking the glass of the window with a soft loving touch.
"But we are strict with our regulations, we have sadly seen from the front row, what happens to the wildlife of planets we went to without precautions. Our older and more developed biology just shredded everything noteworthy of scientific wonder and left behind a big rock filled with mold and insects, so we decided no human can ever interact with our own wildlife ever again". The sadness was inherent in her voice, probably being one of the beings, who were at least somewhat responsible for what happened in her story.
"But enough about my sad story's and regrets, why don't I first introduce myself".
She turned and looked down into my eyes, a light tickle running down my neck as I stared back.
"I am Wanda Maximo's, head of the earths Magic division and representative of it's interests in the galactic senat, where I am known by the alias, Scarlet Witch".
I kept our staring contest going, which seemed to be funny from her perspective for some reason.
"I don't understand anything you just said" I finally answered her unspoken question and she grinned.
"That is ok, you are just a kid after all and don't have to worry about politics for a long time". She knelt down to my level, now being a bit smaller then me, as she took my hands into hers as it began to glow.
"This is just a simple spell to check if you are really ok" she tried to calm me down, but I didn't even flinch, which she probably ignored as me playing tough.
"Now I have some questions for you, that would be incredibly helpful to be answered as we are in need of some informations you could possibly give us, would you be so kind and help us?"
I just nodded and she grinned, still thinking I was "playing tough".
"We found you by accident in a place called the Void, do you know how you got there in the first place" she asked her first question, as the spell she cast started to glow a bit more then before.
"So there are spells in this universe, or she claims them to be such at least, interesting, definitely something to look into" I thought as I just looked at her hands, simultaneously thinking about my answer.
"This was probably some kind of way to check if I'm lying, so I could maybe try to get away with some technical truths. It would be worth a try at least" I thought and decided to go with it as I prepared my answer.
"My mind is still clouded from all that getting pushed around, but I do remember feeling a pull towards these bands and then getting sucked into that dark place after that. After some time, they responded to a call or something and I changed places again, I think. After floating around again
for a bit, these bands began to interacted with a red fluid and after that I was here. It doesn't matter how much or how hard I try, more then that I can't really remember"
I told her with a scared face, while keeping the end of the sentence "about the whole transition period" in my head, hopefully making her believe I lost my memory. At least that was the conclusion I wanted her to have from these sentences I carefully crafted while playing the shy and scared kid.
"That's something we sadly see quite often," she sighed, buying my act. "When a mind comes into contact with such powerful energy, it usually shuts down. The human mind isn't built for forces like these."
"Do they come back, I mean my memories?" I asked, dodging her trick entirely, implying more with my question than by giving her an answer.
"Sadly it depends on the person and the power they were facing. We have a lot of experience with a lot of things but the Void was always a field we never dared to cross. The research only started once the Corpus appeared" She said, while her mind started to wander at the end of her monologue.
"The Corpus, I hope I didn't hear wrong" I thought, sensing a connection I may be able to use to find a way back home. "The corpus, what are they?" I asked again, breaking her out of her thought process, as she looked at my now carefully crafted, scared face with empathy.
"They are a bunch of very bad guys that came from far away and live only for profit. We may be at war with them, but our best man are fighting against them and you are very safe from them over here and most importantly, very far away" she said while canceling her spell or whatever that was as she started petting my head.
"Very far away does not sound good, I somehow have to get there and find out more about this, but maybe I can get some more information around here first" I thought while she took my hands again and her hands started to glow in another color this time.
She took her time and didn't say anything for quite some time, till she opened her eyes again and the glow stopped. "You have an incredible potential for Magic, something similar I have truly never seen before" she said smiling happily, while standing up and flattening her robe.
"Something like that, unchecked is an incredible danger to everyone around you, not even speaking about yourself, but don't fear anything, I will talk about that with my colleagues and we will find a common ground for sure" She said while leaving the room.
"Well, this will hopefully not take to much time" I thought with a bad feeling in my gut, while watching her close the door of my little prison.
Observer POV
Great bronze doors inside the Main hall of Kamar-Taj swung open while dust swirled in the courtyard, catching the light from prayer lanterns that hung between the tiled roofs.
For the Tenno, who had known only the inside of the Orbiter for an incredibly long time and the brutal memorys of battlefields though his Warframes body, the air here felt unnervingly calm.
He didn't trust calm.
At his side, Wanda walked slowly, a red shawl drawn across her shoulders, taking every step like with a little puppy next to her she didn't want to scare away. She glanced down at him the way someone might glance at a stray they'd taken in, protective, wary and a little cautious.
"Remember," she said softly, "this place is not a prison. It's a sanctuary. You may not be able to leave right now, but once you gain control of your powers, you can go wherever you want." while her tone carried the unspoken sentence of "though I hope you don't."
Ahead of them, a white man waited for them in full regalia, blue robes and an eye formed amulet at his chest. His arms folded, while his mouth became a thin line. "Sanctuary, Wanda? We brought a dimensional anomaly with negabands fused to him into the heart of Kamar-Taj. This is not a sanctuary anymore, it's a hazardous zone."
The Tenno didn't react to it, not externally at least. He tilted his head, watching the man's cloak strangely rippling completely against the wind's current. "Strange Cloaks are normal here it seamed." He thought, while listening to their conversation.
Wanda's voice stayed calm, though her fingers tightened around her wrist. "Stephen. I know the risk. But look at him. He didn't ask for the Bands. He didn't ask for anything of all of this. If we send him away, the next time we meet him will probably be as a weapon in someone else's hands or a catastrophic anomaly. And we already discussed this with the counsel" She whispered into his direction, while Strange's eyes just narrowed.
"You want me to believe this isn't already a weapon?" The Tenno smiled internally as he played along, wide-eyed. "I can barely hold a weapon, I don't understand how I could be one."
Wanda's lips curved almost imperceptibly, but Strange didn't laugh.
But he did sigh, the weary sigh of a man who knew the woman he loved wouldn't let this go. "Fine, he stays. But if he stays, he trains under our rules. No shortcuts, no secret rituals to boost his progress, we all know where that lead to the last time. And if I sense the slightest danger to the Sanctum, I will act immediately."
Wanda nodded and smiled triumphantly, "Deal" She just said, while the Tenno tucked his hands behind his back like a dutiful student, hiding the smirk that tugged at his mouth. He liked the opportunity to play a child for the first time, a luxury he never had before as far as he could remember.
The training hall smelled faintly of incense and scorched air. A dozen novices traced circles in the air with rings on their fingers, through which sparks flickered into half-formed portals, while Teachers moved among them, correcting hand angles and steadying shoulders.
Wanda led Tenno to the center mat. "Show him the basics," she said while prestenting him to a instructor and went over to the podium at Stranges side.
The instructor took a sling ring and slipped it onto his fingers. "Focus. Shape your intent. The ring does nothing without the will behind it." He drew a circle, and the air peeled away like silk, revealing a glimpse of some mountains beyond.
"Your turn."
The Tenno studied the motion, still enchanted by this new way of using his powers, he never would have thought of before. He'd seen wards and Void glyphs, but this wa snot Void infused tech, it had a strange structure he seemed to remember from some school books back from the Sariman.
Geometry. He raised his hands, copying the arc, as for a moment, sparks glowed. Then the circle collapsed inward and spat out a thin whip of energy that cracked across the floor, startling the novices around him.
Strange's eyebrow twitched as he spoke in bewilderment to Wanda. "That… was not a portal." he said after which both of them started to argue again.
The Tenno winced and feigned embarrassment next to the instructor. "Guess I don't get it."
Wanda went over to him, fleeing her argument with Steven and crouched beside him while she started to explain as she understood what he went through. "Don't force it. You already carry a different current then anyone else, I know how that feels. Let it flow through the ring, don't fight against it."
He nodded and tried again. This time the circle opened, but then turned sideways, becoming a window into nothingness that started humming, which surprised him as he stumbled back, his hands shaking from the loss of energy.
Strange snapped his fingers as the portal collapsed. "Interesting." He said while also coming over to him.
Wanda ignored him as she infused the Tenno's hands with her own energy showering him with words of comfort. "It is Progress, that's the most important part and we'll refine it"
Up on the balcony, other Masters watched. A black one with short hair whispered, "He opened a portal on the first attempt."
Another one, seemingly Asien, a little fat and also with short hair frowned. "Sloppy at best, that's pure Instinct, nothing year long discipline can't triumph above."
"But he adjusted on the second try. Most novices take months." A White Skinned Master with a Ponytaile answered, as he watched with interest.
"Or explode," muttered the Asien Woman, while turning away uninterested while leaving.
Down below, the Tenno tried again and again. He let the circles wobble, then "corrected" them faster each time. His senses filled the gaps, showing him where the circle wanted to stabilize. To the teachers, it looked was a miraculous learning speed, something never seen before, a fact they all kept as a secret from him.
To him though, it was just… familiar. It still felt like Different currents and he had to adjust and start anew, but all in all, it were calmer seas.
Steven noticed this from above and spoke again to Wanda, who stood next to him, fascinated by his progress. His voice cut the silence and woke her up from her stupor. "Don't be fooled Wanda. This isn't learning, he's remembering. There's a difference. I dont know how or why, that's how it is" He said while leaving as she finally gave him her full attention.
"I will keep my eyes on him at all times"
He said while tapping his amulet and leaving out of sight.
Wanda just sighed and looked at the Tenno, losing herself again in her glorious visions of this future prodigie.
When the hall emptied as the sun went down, the Tenno sat on the mat, completely drenched in sweat and incredibly fatigued, while Wanda sat beside him.
"You're picking it up faster than we would say is normal," she said carefully, not wanting to break the illusion they all agreed upon at the council.
He just shrugged, feigning innocence. "Maybe I'm just lucky." He answered, to tiered for an elongated answer.
Her gaze softened. "No. You're gifted. That's why you need guidance. Power without guidance breaks people. I won't let that happen to you. You have potential, incredible potential, but even that takes it's time. You cant rush anything related to magic"
He looked down, his heart thudding slower the longer he sat still, as he slowly started catching his breath. The words should have comforted him. Instead, they stung. He remembered his objectives, all the things he needed to to before even finding his way home.
All that had to be done as quickly as possible he had no Time, it had to be quick, but time was the one thing that he always seemed to be lacking the most.
So he just nodded and went with her to get some food, his body's needs not being one of the things he missed at all from the time back in the Orbiter.
Time blurred at Kamar-Taj. Days spilled into weeks, weeks into months, training only disturbed by sleep or meals served at long wooden tables. For the Tenno, the rhythm felt alien, no alarms, no gun shots, no hiding.
For the first time in a long time, he could breathe without the weight of constant responsibilities gnawing at his mind, as he couldn't do anything about his situation anyway, "why not just enjoy it".
The courtyards trees were filled with beautiful candles, the stones were warm in the morning sun and while meditating, he found himself smiling from time to time.
Yet he couldn't let go of one thought, the Void.
The Void here was not the roaring, hungry storm he remembered. This one lay beneath the world like a calm ocean, steady, almost… gentle. It hadn't tried to crush or drown him. It had carried him, while he was in it. But now, that he wasn't there anymore, he had trouble to find a connection again.
When he practiced with his bands though, he could use his void powers like before without any problems. He learned to Control them again, letting the Void flow through them instead of himself which he found troubling.
The days went on and everything felt even somewhat good.
Sometimes he even caught himself wondering, if he could live here forever, half prodigy, half child, finally fully free.
But freedom was never his end goal to begin with.
Inside Stranges office at the London Sanctum, the mood was heavy. Strange stood by the tall window, his arms folded, while Wanda sat opposite Steve with her hands pressed together, gaze hard, while Steve himself leaned over the desk, the holographic projection of their galaxy's shimmering faintly before him.
"She's still gone," Steve said, his voice carrying the same even weight he used in war councils, but Wanda could hear the strain beneath. "Carol doesn't just vanish and don't tell me again that the only working theory we have is that of the child with memory loss"
Wanda's jaw tightened. "We've tried reaching her through the Bands. Tenno's connection should be strong enough. If she were anywhere accessible…"
"She would have answered," Strange interrupted. "But she didn't, we nearly reached "him" though, that nearly lead to a disaster"
They had guided Tenno through the process of using the bands to communicate across dimensions with other wielders. His mind had stretched outward like he was told. At first there was silence. Then, a murmur, a presence, some heavy and slow, wrapped in chains of slumber.
Strange had cut the link instantly, shattering the circle of runes before he could make a real connection.
In the office, Strange's expression was iron. "That was the Negative Zone. You know who is in there. He must never know that Tenno exists, a new wielder of the bands is easily corrupted."
Wanda's fingers dug into her sleeves. "So we keep him blind? Keep him guessing why we first helped him develop that ability and then forbid it?"
"We keep him safe," Strange snared angrily, while Steve exhaled slowly. "Maybe it's time we stop talking around him. He's not a soldier. Not an adult. But he's not helpless either. He lived in the Void for who knows how long, time works differently there after all. He knows it in ways none of us do. Maybe, if his hypothesis is correct and Carol is still in there, trapped where he was before, out of our reach and they can somehow change places again, she may be able to come back, while he is free to do whatever he wants and out of our hair."
Wanda's jaw set. Over the months she had started to like the little one more and more and even thought of him as her apprentice "You want to use a child for something, a Master of the Mystic Arts would be needed for"
"I want to give him the choice," Steve retorted, as his eyes softened just a little. "If we treat him like a child, we'll miss an opportunity to resolve all of this mess. We need carol here, right now"
For a long moment the office was quiet, broken only by the hum of the projection.
Steven turned from the window, seemingly having reached a resolve. "Once he reaches the rank of a Master, I will ask him. The boy is talented, it won't take much longer."
Steve just nodded at him, while Wanda looked at him in conflict, not being able to say anything though, as her argument was used against her.