What Time Acknowledges
The moment he crossed the portal, Owen realized he was standing in what appeared to be a wooden room belonging to a monastery. The place was simple and austere; there was only a small, low wooden table, upon which rested a porcelain tea set still releasing a faint, steady trail of steam, and two small cushions placed in front of it to sit on.
The Sorcerer Supreme sat down with complete calm, pouring himself a cup of tea with slow, precise movements. Then he took a second cup and offered it to Owen, who gently shook his head in refusal, while the sorcerer invited him to sit with a composed gesture.
Owen watched him closely before walking to the indicated spot. He sat down carefully and, for a brief instant, a flicker of pain crossed his face. The sorcerer noticed it immediately.
"A truly dangerous battle, right? It's interesting how you always put your life on the line, even after training so much just to survive what is yet to come. Perhaps you push yourself too hard," the sorcerer commented, studying him with quiet attention.
Owen lifted his gaze and fixed it on him. "It seems you know a lot about me," he said, without hiding his caution. Still, considering he was the Sorcerer Supreme and the Time Stone hung from his chest, it was hardly surprising.
"Well, I must admit it's a bit interesting when, all of a sudden, the universe rewrites itself to grant existence to a single individual," the sorcerer replied calmly, letting a disturbing amount of information fall all at once. Owen frowned as he heard it.
"What do you mean?" he asked immediately.
"I'm sorry. With what I just said, I said too much," the sorcerer added, slowly shaking his head.
Owen did not press that point. "Why did you bring me here? What could possibly require the Sorcerer Supreme to intervene?" he asked, going straight to the point. The sorcerer watched him in silence for a prolonged moment.
"As I said before, for now I will only answer some of your doubts," he replied serenely before taking another sip of his tea.
"I have many right now, so please, enlighten me," Owen said, crossing his arms.
The sorcerer let out a soft sigh. "I suppose your main concern is whether everything you worked so hard to change will truly amount to something, or if many people will die regardless. Whether all that effort was worth it," he began. Then he looked at him more seriously. "And I'll tell you this. It matters more than you think."
He paused briefly before continuing. "Many things can change, even if they are anchored. All it takes is constant change, perhaps so small it can barely be perceived. But those changes create a butterfly effect strong enough that even those anchors can eventually come loose. Your birth was the first flutter."
Owen inclined his head slightly, never breaking eye contact with the sorcerer.
"You are more special than you realize, Owen Colt. You are tied to great changes, whether good or bad. And the fact that you were the one who managed to have the Scarlet Witch take you to another universe proves exactly that," the sorcerer added.
Owen held the Sorcerer Supreme's gaze. His eyes were unreadable, yet Owen could still connect a few dots, understanding in part how the silences and movements of the man before him worked.
"You called me here to stop one of those bad changes, didn't you?" he asked.
The sorcerer smiled faintly, as if he had guessed correctly.
"I'll tell you something that might help you stop overthinking every single thing you do. You are part of this universe from the moment you were born. You have been part of our world since then, and you will continue to be. You are not an intruder or an outsider. Every change you make is acknowledged by time itself. And at the moment you were born, your counterparts were also born in every connected universe. There was never any doubt that you belonged to our multiverse or to our timeline," he explained with a kind smile.
Owen showed a slightly surprised expression. "The TVA…"
"Even if you believe you are changing the timeline too much, who says you are truly changing it?" the sorcerer replied with an amused smile.
Owen grew thoughtful, surprised and reflective at the same time.
"Am I an inevitable event?" he asked without hesitation.
"More than that, Owen. For now, I hope your doubts have been answered," the sorcerer said, as a portal opened beside Owen, allowing him to return to the place where he had been before.
Owen looked at the portal as he stood up, his mind filled with thoughts. He knew the sorcerer would not answer much more. He had already said enough. Still, before leaving, he stopped and turned one last time.
"With these words, did you manage to prevent a bad future?" Owen asked.
"I hope so," the sorcerer replied with a serene smile.
Then Owen departed, and the portal closed behind him.
The sorcerer remained there, holding the necklace on his chest for a moment, his expression turning serious. In his mind appeared an image that had only ever been shown once in the past, and it had been in another universe.
There stood Owen, facing absolute destruction. All the heroes lay fallen around him, drenched in blood. Different kinds of aura surrounded his body, overlapping one another. Scars marked every part of his skin, and his eyes carried an overwhelming, existential exhaustion.
"I hope so," the sorcerer murmured once more, observing that image as one of the many probabilities.
…
Owen had a lot to think about. On top of that, he needed to remain relaxed so his body could finish healing properly, which was why he decided to move somewhere quiet, beside a lake. The house was, obviously, bought with his own money. After all, he had plenty he had not used in a long time.
He had left all the work to Tony, as usual. Meanwhile, his resignation from the IN was accepted by the general, both from the military and from V.I.T.A.E. It was also a nearly perfect moment to disappear for a while, since many people had begun organizing protests against superheroes over what had happened in Sokovia.
Many blamed them directly for what ended up being the destruction of an entire country.
Even though it had been made clear that the artificial intelligence had nothing to do with them, of course people needed someone to blame. And despite having saved hundreds of lives, the Avengers and V.I.T.A.E. were now constantly harassed by those idiots.
Even the X-Men, who had remained relatively quiet, ended up being targeted. At such a bad moment, many mutants had awakened their powers, causing problems for civilians and further reinforcing the idea that people with abilities were a danger to everyone.
Owen, honestly, was lucky to have stepped away from all of that.
Just a few months ago, everyone adored them as the heroes who had saved them from the Chitauri invasion, and now it seemed they were looking for any excuse to hate them. It felt as though someone were manipulating things from the shadows, carefully and patiently steering public opinion.
Owen remained seated, still wrapped in bandages, staring at the calm surface of the lake.
"It seems that everything I worked so hard for couldn't save them from that. I sincerely hope they're not that stupid," he muttered, his expression annoyed yet strangely relaxed. As if, deep down, he no longer cared that much about what happened from now on, so long as the world did not end up on the brink of destruction again because of whatever those two idiots might do.
"What are you talking about?" Wanda asked, stepping out of the house just behind him while carrying a couple of drinks.
"Nothing. I was just thinking we could try taking a trip," Owen said, turning toward her with a calm smile.
"Sure. Where do you want to go?" she replied enthusiastically. However, when she noticed Owen's expression, her smile slowly faded. "What kind of trip?" she asked again, this time with a hint of fear in her voice.
Owen's smile said everything.
"No. Absolutely not. No. No," Wanda said immediately. "Don't even think about it," she added before quickly turning around and heading back inside the house.
"Hey, come on. Last time was fun," Owen called out in a teasing tone.
"It was not," Wanda's voice replied from inside the house.