The last four months passed in a blur of bruised body parts and the orange sparks of the eldritch foundational arts for Wanda, Illyana, and Rintrah.
Under Satoru's tutelage, the 'misfits' had improved steadily.
Rintrah proved to be the standout pupil of the mystic arts. He was the first in Satoru's new batch of apprentices to conjure a stable foundational mandala, and with a few blunt pointers from Satoru, he mastered the Sling Ring without sending anyone back to Limbo in under two months. His talent of the spatial arts was really as exceptional as what Wong mentioned.
Wanda and Illyana followed a slower path in the mystic arts, but only because their attention was split. While the other apprentices spent their nights solely on eldritch sorcery, the two girls were buried in learning how to properly control their own magic along with sorcery. Because of this, they were often lagging behind when compared to the rest of their fellow apprentices.
However, the three of them had bonded in a way the larger groups hadn't. Being a group of three in a class of five-man teams meant they were the constant underdogs during Satoru's weekly 'free-for-all' brawls.
They finally understood what he meant by strength in numbers, mostly because they were usually the ones being ganged up on.
But as the months went by, the other apprentices stopped looking down on them. Despite their lack of numbers, they became the group no one wanted to face first because; Rintrah's unstoppable bulk and his use of the eldritch spells, Wanda's red psionic energy blasts and telepathic illusions, and last but not the least, Illyana's tempered instincts that allowed her to find the weakest point in any group's defense and her own unique blend of sorcery with magic.
Satoru didn't allow her to summon her broadsword which he eventually came to know was a Soulsword, because that thing was a bane to all sorcerers.
Satoru had been doing some 'independent study' on his own too, with his shiny pebble. He hadn't found a permanent remedy for the mental drawback of his Domain Expansion yet, mostly because he hadn't really been trying that hard.
Instead of diving deep into it, Satoru used the Mind Stone for something much more practical: mental storage. He learned to use the Stone's psychic depth to 'partition' his brain. By offloading the overwhelmingness from his Six Eyes and Domain Expansion into the stone, he could now use Unlimited Void: Nihility far longer without the immediate need to pull it back. Although that didn't do much to the drawbacks, it did tone it down a bit.
To be honest, he hadn't bothered with the Stone much beyond that. He was back to his favorite rhythm: taking things leisurely.
His mornings were dedicated to teaching his apprentices and watching them struggle, while his afternoons were reserved for 'sweet adventures'. Whether it was a trip to Hong Kong or scouring Paris for the perfect crepe through the Sanctums, he even went on a quick trip to Tokyo for a limited-edition mochi once with Wanda, Illyana, and Rintrah tagging along.
Satoru's leisure time wasn't just spent on pastries, however.
Two months ago, Tony Stark had sent Maria Hill to New York's Sanctum requesting Satoru and a Sling Ring. Knowing Stark would eventually try to build one out of scrap metal and sheer spite anyway, Satoru decided to help.
This led to their weekly collaborative project you've seen earlier, they've called it: The Bridge.
Unlike the portable brass rings used by sorcerers; The Bridge was a massive, non-portable gateway designed for normies to make use without the need for years of training in the mythic arts.
It was a headache-inducing blend of Stark's mechanical brilliance and Satoru's expertise in sorcery. They got the blueprint done and dusted, all that was needed was building the thing.
While Satoru and Tony were busy playing mad scientists, Satoru used the time to let his apprentices mingle with the new Avengers lineup in the same Upstate Compound. Mainly to let Wanda spend time with her twin and have the other two of his apprentices make 'human' friends outside of Kamar-Taj.
These visits usually devolved into informal sparring sessions. Stark and Captain America turned it into a weekly tradition, placing bets on whose team would come out on top.
Moreover, a week after her escape on Limbo, Illyana finally couldn't hold it anymore; she needed to see her family. With Wanda's help — and a crash course in how to use a smartphone without crushing it — she sent a message to Piotr through a social media account Wanda helped her set up.
The meeting was set for a quiet park near Westchester, just a few miles from a prestigious-looking estate called Xavier's School for the Gifted Youngsters.
Satoru, Rintrah, and Wanda accompanied her, mostly for moral support and partly because Satoru was curious to see what Illyana meant before 'like her brother' when he talked with her at the time.
It was also during that particular day that Satoru finally stumbled into mutants.
…
The group sat around the dining table adjacent to the television which was showing a news channel.
The house was a temporary housing provided to the Rasputins by the Headmaster of the institute they're in, Satoru still hasn't met the guy but Piotr told him he was a bald old man in a wheelchair. Not his exact words by the way, just the way Satoru interpreted it.
'Another baldy running a superpower organization, huh?' Satoru thought at that time, amused by it. 'I heard from Stark that the Avengers used to be bossed around by Fury too, another baldy. Is being bald a prerequisite for being at the helm?'
Alexandra Rasputin was busy fussing over everyone, piling extra helpings of beef onto Rintrah's plate despite the minotaur's polite protests.
Piotr sat beside her, his massive frame barely fitting in the wooden chair.
"Eat, eat!" Alexandra insisted, gesturing to Satoru. "You are too thin, Satoru. How can you teach magic if you don't have strength in your stomach?"
"Yes, yes, yes. I'm eating," Satoru expertly stabbed a potato with his fork after a showy twirl with his fingers. "I won't say no to your cooking. It's better than anything Wong tries to whip up. That man thinks crackers are a meal."
The table erupted into laughter at Satoru's dig at Wong. Even Illyana let out a short chuckle.
Piotr poked at his peas, his brow furrowed as if he was debating on saying something. Under the table, Alexandra's foot nudged his ankle with an expectant pressure.
Satoru caught the subtle movement, but he didn't say anything and simply waited, twirling his fork around.
Eventually, Piotr cleared his throat and looked Illyana in the eye. "Illyana, Mom and I have been talking. What do you think about moving here? Permanently."
Illyana's fork paused halfway to her mouth. Wanda and Rintrah abruptly stopped eating and looked at Piotr.
"You're a mutant, just like me," Piotr continued, his voice earnest. "The Professor has a place for you here. It would be better for you to be around people like us, in a home that isn't a thousand miles away in the mountains. Don't you think?"
"Yes, sweetie," Alexandra added quickly, leaning forward with hope in her eyes. "Don't you think it's about time to leave the temple? You should come here and be alongside your brother. You've learned enough, haven't you?"
Rintrah looked down at his plate, suddenly very interested in a piece of broccoli, while Wanda watched Illyana silently.
Illyana set her fork down with a quiet clink. She didn't look at her mother. She looked at Satoru, who was currently balancing a salt shaker on the tip of his finger, appearing completely unbothered by the fact that he might be losing an apprentice.
"Learn enough?" Illyana repeated quietly. She looked at her scarred hands, then back at her mother. "Mom, I spent eight years in a place where 'normal' was a death sentence. I'm not just a mutant. I have things inside me that the Professor's school can't teach me how to handle."
"But the Professor is a genius, Illyana," Piotr insisted. "He helps everyone."
"That genius sure wasn't showing when I was snatched off this planet under everyone's noses," she countered that made Piotr frown and Alexandra teary eyed at the memory even when both of them haven't heard of the full story yet. "Also, the Professor helps people with their minds. He can't help me, but Gojo does."
Rintrah and Wanda nodded at the side.
Piotr looked like he'd been punched in the gut at the mention of her kidnapping.
"Illyana…" Piotr started, his voice thick with guilt. "We didn't know. If I could have done anything—"
"I know you couldn't," Illyana interrupted, her voice softening just a fraction. "That's the point. The world is full of things that don't care about how strong you are, brother, or how smart the Professor is. Kamar-Taj is the only place where those things actually make sense to me."
She turned her head back toward Satoru, who was casually spinning the salt shaker on his fingertip. "And he's the only one who isn't afraid of what I brought back with me."
Alexandra wiped a stray tear from her cheek. "But you're so far away, sweety. We just got you back. All you've done was train, train, and train. You haven't even spent a full day with us once."
Satoru let the salt shaker down onto the table with a soft thud.
"Actually," Satoru said, leaning back and lacing his fingers behind his head. "You should stay here for a few days, maybe even a few weeks, Illyana."
The table went silent. Rintrah and Wanda both shot Satoru a look of pure confusion, the kind of look that said, 'Are you really just giving up yourapprentice because of a good steak?'
Illyana herself frowned, her eyes narrowing in confusion as well.
"What?" Illyana asked flatly. "You're kicking me out, Gojo?"
"Not kicking you out, just giving you a leave of absence," Satoru waved a hand dismissing her assumption.
"I'm going away for a bit. There's an errand I've been holding back for a while now, so I won't be around to supervise your training for the next week or two anyway. Honestly? I don't even know how long I'd be away, it might be a day, it might take months, who knows?"
"We can just go with you," Wanda blurted out. "Is it another of those 'sweet adventures' of yours, Master Gojo?"
"Is it dangerous?" Rintrah asked.
Satoru chuckled, shaking his head. "Sorry, guys. It's something personal."
He shifted his gaze toward Piotr and Alexandra, who were looking at him with expressions of profound gratitude.
"Besides," Satoru added, his voice softening just a fraction. "Your mom is right. You should spend some time with your family. Try to make up for some of that 'lost time'. You can't learn to protect the world if you don't even remember what it's like to live in it."
Satoru shamelessly quoted one of what the Ancient One had told him in one of their conversations through the years.
Illyana looked at her mother, who was beaming through fresh tears, and then at Piotr, who looked like a massive weight had been lifted from his shoulders. She looked back at Satoru and finally gave a stiff nod.
"Fine," she muttered, though she didn't look entirely unhappy about it. "But if I come back and the rest of the apprentices, including Wanda and Rintrah, are much further ahead than what they are already now with eldtrich threading than me, I'm stabbing you and them."
"I shall endeavor to be mediocre for your sake, Illyana!" Rintrah promised with a goofy grin, partly frightened from her words.
They talked a bit more, but the noise of the television suddenly spiked in volume which drew their attention.
A reporter from WHiH News was speaking over grainy footage of a chaotic street of a city. The headline scrolling across the bottom read: INCREASE IN UNREGISTERED PHENOMENA: NEW SUPER-POWERED INCIDENTS REPORTED IN MULTIPLE CITIES.
The footage showed people looking terrified, or worse, looking at their own hands as they accidentally emitted sparks or shifted in physical form. Panic and havoc seemed to be the theme of the week.
Wanda watched the screen. "The world's been a little twitchy since Sokovia disappeared from the sky," she said quietly while gazing at Satoru.
Satoru's lips twitched at her words and at the feel of her gaze.
"Yeah," Satoru murmured.
...
[ Author's Notes ]:
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