Observer POV
„So, will I get some Mission objectives, or is it just a get-in, find her, bring her to the coordinats type of mission?" Tenno asked as he sat down across the table.
"No, of course not, it will be a bit more complicated than that," he said with a smile as he went through his pile of paper till he found the one he was searching for and started reading it out aloud.
"The rescue mission of Carol Danvers, aka Nova Prime, has the highest priority and no budget limitations. The target must be rescued under all circumstances and brought back alive into Nova Force territory.
The Mission objective has priority Alpha, so the participants are prohibited from choosing the lives of Many over the Mission's aim.
The Mission has a Gamma-rated Possibility of failure and a clearance level of Alpha. Personnel of lower levels are not to be involved under any circumstances because of a possible Memetic Cognito Hazard.
At the moment, the following members of the Nova Empire are assigned to this Mission: Steve Rogers, Steven Strange, Wanda Maximov, and Tenno (unclear).
Mission parameters and details are not to be recorded in any way or form, and only kept in the memory of biological life forms while only being passed on by verbal speech in the vicinity of a reality anchor or other reality-strengthening structures of similar or higher output."
He let the paper fall onto the Desk and looked up at Tenno while folding his hands.
"At the Moment, you don't have the clearance to know the specifics, but once the ceremony is over, the Mission will start. You will get to know the details," he leaned back into his chair and let out a sigh. Then he straightened and stood up, signaling Tenno to do the same.
"I think the preparations are ready, let's go."
As he went over to the door, stopping to turn the handle and look back at Tenno. He nearly looked conflicted, which was rare for a war-hardened veteran like him, but a Child soldier seemed to do the trick for him.
"I…" he began, but stopped as he shook his head with a sad face, while opening the door and walking with Tenno at his side, to the festivities that were happening in the city below.
An immense festival thrived outside. People were dancing and laughing, while children watched the sorcerers do some spells. As they walked around, many people recognized and congratulated him, while some seniors who had helped him in his studies even smiled and acknowledged him, which was rare in the world they lived in.
He himself quite enjoyed the situation he found himself in. The food stalls and other activities the children liked to do were something he found completely lacking in the original system.
At the thought of it, his mood suddenly soured. He was angry at himself that, in his time here, he had started to think about his home less and less. He knew they were in danger, his people, the normal civilians of the SOL system. With him not around and keeping their most dangerous individuals in check, if not personally, then at least with the fear of his appearance, should they overstep a particular line.
Then he suddenly realized something. Carol Danvers was to this universe what he was to his SOL system. Suddenly, he found the urge to leave everything here behind grow even stronger than he ever thought possible, even though he had begun to love this place because it reminded him so much of home. Even though it felt like he did a Time jump, back a few millennia.
Then he saw it, the Stage. It was magnificent, surrounded by at least a dozen Eldridge constructs.
"More than half of them had to be solely cosmetically in nature, right?" he thought to himself, always one to keep the eyes of the masses on himself as much as possible. He knew, after all, the biggest enemy of a warrior was his Ego, and his inability to act or not act on something because of it. And, as he was, at least psychologically, somewhat related to humans in nature, he had to keep himself from situations he knew would lead to humans developing a condition called "Main character Syndrome".
When he separated from Steve to head to the stage, Wong, Strange, and Wanda were already waiting for him. As he stepped through the wards, allowing only specific individuals passage, the crowd grew excited, finally witnessing the youngest Sorcerer ever ascend the steps to Masterhood.
As he finally, accompanied by thundering applause, reached the top, Wong began to give his speech. But Tenno hardly listened, as he already knew the content from the archives; every Master's speech had been the same since the beginning of Kamar-Taj after all, probably because the famous ancient one had lived so incredibly long and because of that held tradition from long ago, till now. Too bad she wasn't alive anymore, he would have loved to meet her somehow.
Instead, he focused on the crowd, watching the young, some of whom were witnessing the famous speech for the first time. He knew they would grow up to be formidable sorcerers one day. Something the society they lived in saw as a great privilege, but he did not. He knew what it felt like to grow up, knowing only training, and then, one day, only war. A lot of things that the people he protected would describe as usual, he never got to experience. Like something as simple as love, a thing most philosophers believed to be the meaning of life. But he had long found peace with the way he lived. He knew that he would one day die in the shadows so that others may live in the light, but that didn't mean it wouldn't hurt sometimes.
"Hey there, Tenno," Wanda's voice suddenly spoke up in his head.
"Hey, Wanda, always nice to have you in my head without further notice," he thought sarcastically, while giving her a playful look, before focusing again on Wong, doing his thing.
"You just looked so much in thought, and might I say, even a little sad, or envious as you watched the people."
"Well, what can I say? A normal life is not given to people with talents like ours. After all, with great Power comes a form of responsibility for society."
She chuckled. "You sound just like Peter, but I guess you're right. A totally everyday life will never be possible for folks like us. But we can try. If that's what you desire, someday you might achieve it somehow. Especially with your little secret, I would say you have some time to figure it out. And what did you say again that time when you tried to explain quantum theory to me?
That if something is even remotely possible, and you have an infinite amount of time, the probability for it to happen becomes 100%"
He grinned. He liked it when she threw his own arguments back at him. The problem with her argument was that the same was true for him dying one day, but he didn't want to sour her mood like that, so he played defeated.
„And just so you know, I'm proud of what you've achieved. Not many have done what you did, and even if you are not as young as everyone else thinks, the amount of knowledge and talent in itself is awe-inspiring. And I know you have to go; I know you have also left from somewhere and left people behind, a good reason for wanting to return. Just know, you always have a place here to stay. Please, stay safe."
She seemed to think deeply about something, and Tenno focused on Wong again, whose speech slowly came to an end.
"And I know we had a good time together."
She continued. "We grew close over time, and it was fun finally having someone who could relate to the problems I had. What I'm trying to say here, I think, is Tenno I…"
The rest he couldn't hear, as he was forcefully pulled out of the connection by Wong, who spoke directly to him, asking him the most critical question of the evening.
"Tenno, would you please recite the vow of the Masters now?" he said, with a slightly annoyed smile on his face, as it was clear their little shenanigans between his big speech had been uncovered.
"Of course, Master Wong," he said apologetically, clearly having missed the part where he was supposed to say it on his own.
"Where others falter, I shall stand.
With spell, with thought, with steady hand.
From hidden realms to mortal lands,
I guard the worlds until the end."
And as he spoke, a golden crown descended upon his head, dispersing into thousands of runes that plastered themselves all over his body, while turning invisible. This spell granted him the authority of a Master of the Mystic Arts within the Nova Empire, while simultaneously being the most potent mind protection spell known to the Nova Empire.
Even politically, the rank was significant, as Masters could lead fleets and wage war independently without question asked. As in this line of work, simply knowing something could mean certain death, unless it involved a master's mind seal.
When he rose from his kneeling position, he was presented with the Master emblem, which Wanda affixed to his chest with tears in her eyes. She clearly wanted to say something, but couldn't. So he ignored it for now.
The emblem depicted the Earth and its three sanctums, their runes glowing in the atmosphere, in all their glory, as runes and glyphs everywhere started to channel toward him, gathering around it, and finally vanishing into it.
She laughed once, as a single tear ran down her face, while she came over to hug him.
After she reluctantly let him go, between sobs, he couldn't tell whether it was sadness or happiness. Every other Master, one after the other, came over to him.
It was pretty pointless altogether from his perspective, as he already knew which ones supported his ascension and which once were against it from the acknowledgment he once sought from each of them. Still, it was nice altogether, gaining public approval, even though some of them were obviously faking it.
After all the handshaking and nodding, as they were presented to the few essential politicians who were on earth, they passed through the crowd. This was the part he liked the most about the ceremony, as they were always the reason he did what he did. The common folk. They greeted him with thunderous applause, and for the first time in a while, he felt truly touched.
After more walking and waving, while admiring the smiling, laughing children who were oh so happy to see him, they eventually reached Kamar Taj.
Inside, the atmosphere grew heavy as the four of them made their way to the Ritual room, created specifically for the Missions parameter by Strange and Wanda, while he received the instructions for the Mission.
Strange went in already, saying he needed to finish some final adjustments, while Wanda and Rogers stayed outside with him.
"So this is it, I guess, a final goodbye before our youngest goes to War?" Steve said with a playfully womanized voice, as he straightened Tennos Master's robe like a melodramatic Mother.
"It will be over in a second, Ma, I promise," Tenno retorted, playing along.
"Good, I hope so, or else," he said, playfully straightening a finger and waving it around Tennos's nose before giving him a manly hug and going over to the observer room.
"I guess that's it," Tenno said as he turned Wanda's way. "The goodbye before the dangerous Mission with no guarantee for success or return."
Wanda chuckled and just went over to him, while giving him a slightly too-long hug.
"Just stay safe and do everything as we practiced," she said, while avoiding his eyesight.
"I will," he said before heading to the door, as Wanda reached for his hand, but failed to reach it, and he just went in without realizing.
So there she was, alone outside the room, again not able to get out the words that hang in her throat since morning.
She finally straightened her posture, preparing for what was to come, promising herself to tell him once he was back, as she also went in.
Inside the room, they all took their designated positions as Steve watched from above, checking the parameters of the reality dampeners.
Strange and Wanda began to chant as their voices filled the room with flickering echoes of an ancient language, and a rift in space opened right before Tenno's position.
He didn't hesitate, as he had experienced far more dangerous ways to access the Void.
Smiling at Wanda as a final goodbye, finally channeled his void energy from within his bands around his body, before turning himself into blue energy, leaping into the rift via void jump, as it closed behind him.