The door of the New York Sanctum was unlocked. When Sigyn entered, there was no one to welcome her. She remembered where the portal to Kamar-Taj was, so she directly made for the door at the end of the corridor on the left. When she opened it, she realized the Ancient One was already waiting for her on the other side. She was exactly as Sigyn remembered her. She hadn't aged a day.
"Lady Sigyn… It has been a long time."
"Do you know why I came here?" she asked as she crossed the threshold.
"You're looking for answers."
She looked at the Eye of Agamotto, which stood in its usual place on the pedestal, tightly closed. "Will the Eye give them to me?"
"Hopefully."
"I don't understand… The Time Stone is at your disposal. Why don't you use it yourself?"
"Do you think I haven't tried? For some reason, I cannot see what is beyond my own death. It's not my fight, as I said before. It's yours."
At that moment, the Eye flew open, as if it wanted to prove the Ancient One right. Sigyn put it on.
This time, the vision started with a circular ship above New York. There were two Iron Man suits racing after it. One was red and gold, the other dark blue with bronze highlights. They caught up with the ship, and managed to enter before the doors were closed. Their helmets melted into the rest of the suits, revealing the familiar faces of Tony and Ana. They took some time to explore the ship. There was a mortal man down on the lower deck, being tortured by a despicable, twisted creature. He seemed too busy with his prisoner to notice the Starks. They began arguing, their voices were but whispers.
"Honey, you need to go back." Tony was almost begging his daughter. "This is a one-way ticket. You know it is."
"I do. That's exactly why I'm coming with you."
"No, Ana, look…" He pointed at a small screen on his left. "These must be the coordinates of the ship's destination. Once this is over, once Thanos is dealt with, you can come find me."
"I've never done anything like that before!"
"If there's anyone who can tear a hole in the universe for me, it's you. Plus, my suit has a tracker. All you have to is to pin down the right planet, then you can track my signal."
"No, Dad. I'm coming with you. Once we take care of Thanos, we can find a way to return home."
"And what if we can't? What if there is no way?"
"Then I'll be very glad that we're together."
"Ana, you're not thinking logically. If you don't leave now, we're both going to die stranded in another galaxy, light years away from Earth. The truth is, I don't want to die. But more importantly, I don't want you to die. I can't watch you die, Ana. Don't do this to me. Go back to Earth now."
Tears pooled in her eyes. "Dad, I can't," she whimpered.
"Come on, kid. Do the math yourself… Where's that Ice Princess when I need her?"
She was still crying, but she chuckled through the tears. "I just don't want you to be alone…"
"Uhm, he won't exactly be alone…" a young boy in some kind of spider costume broke in nervously.
Tony became even more horrified when he saw the boy. "Oh, God, this is a nightmare…"
"Peter?" Ana cried.
"You should not be here!" Tony hissed at him.
"I know what you're going to say, and I was going home, but I just stuck to the side of the ship. This suit is ridiculously intuitive, by the way. So, if anything, it's kind of your fault that I'm here." He paused, then added quickly. "I shouldn't have said that. I…"
Tony turned to Ana again. "See? Now the kid's counting on you, too."
"Then send him back. He's younger."
"Honey, I'm not asking you to return only because you need to bring us home. It's also because we both know the key to stopping Thanos is in your head. I wish I could give you your memories back, Ana, but I can't. There's only one person who can."
She clenched her jaw angrily. "I don't need help from the Maximoff bitch…"
"Look, I don't like her either, but you have to. Vision has the Mind Stone. You have to warn the team, and find out what it was that Reyes wanted you to forget so badly. Then you have to warn SHIELD as well. We're going to need all the help we can get."
"Really, Dad? Do you really want me to go to the people who cut my skull open and messed with my brain? Not to mention that one of those people was supposed to be my best friend?"
"Does SHIELD do that?" Peter gasped.
"Yeah, it's called the TAHITI Protocol," Ana explained curtly.
"Ana, come on," Tony urged her. "This ship is moving too fast; this is your last chance. If you don't leave now, don't bother."
"Fine!" she gave in, and hugged her father. "I'll come back for you."
Tony kissed the top of her head. "I know you will. Now, go."
She released him, and looked at Peter. "Take good care of him."
The boy nodded solemnly. He seemed very proud that Ana trusted him with her father. They held onto something while Ana's helmet materialized again and she cut a small hole in the outer wall of the ship with some kind of laser beam. In the blink of an eye, she was sucked out. Tony sealed the hole after she disappeared. For a brief second, he looked at the sealed hole with a sad look on his face, but there was no trace of that sadness when he turned to face Peter.
"Come on, kid. We got a situation."
Ana was back on Earth, talking to Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanoff, and a few other people Sigyn couldn't recognize. One of them had to be Vision, for the android had the Mind Stone on his forehead, and another the "Maximoff bitch" Ana had been talking about, because Ana was asking her to restore her missing memories. The redhead wasn't willing to do it.
"Wanda," Vision, who seemed torn between the two girls, said softly. "I know Ana made too many mistakes in the past, but she deserves a chance to redeem herself. Please do it. For me."
Wanda eyed Ana suspiciously. "If this is another one of your games…"
"I'm asking you to look into my mind. What can I possibly gain from that?"
"We'll see," Wanda said, and shot scarlet energy waves from her hands. They penetrated Ana's head, and Wanda closed her eyes like she was trying to focus, as her fingers controlled the energy waves. A few seconds passed before she withdrew completely. Both girls gasped, and looked at each other in shock. Vision's eyes were warily darting between them.
"Wanda?"
But Wanda didn't even hear him. "What are you going to do?" she asked Ana.
"I'm going to find Coulson," she muttered in resentment, and stormed off. Vision went after her.
"Ana, please!" he said. "I don't know what Wanda showed you, but please don't go. This is not a good time to start another fight among ourselves. Come to Wakanda with us."
"I have to go."
"I… I'm scared. I want you to be there with me."
"You have Maximoff," she said coldly. "And I've heard Princess Shuri is much smarter than I am. You'll be in good hands."
"JARVIS doesn't care how good they are. You're the only one he wants. He's scared, too."
Upon hearing that, Ana's expression changed completely. "I'm not going to SHIELD to cause drama. I'm going to find a way to kill Thanos. JARVIS has nothing to fear. Neither do you."
The scene changed. This time, Ana was arguing with another girl, in front of what looked like some kind of infusion chamber. Agent Coulson was there, too, along with a bunch of other people. Sigyn couldn't hear them. Their voices were muted, as if the Time Stone didn't want her to hear what they were saying.
"You had no right!" Ana yelled at them at some point.
"It was what he wanted," the other girl said in a small voice.
"I don't care whose idea it was. Thanos is coming, and there's no time to create the Nexus." She placed a hand on the chamber. "This is the only other way."
"You can't force Daisy to enter that chamber," Coulson said in a protective, almost fatherly manner.
"You're right. I can't. Even if I could, I wouldn't. I'm not like you guys. But know this: If Thanos wins, all that blood will be on your hands. Because you chose to eliminate the only heads-up humanity got in time, and now, you're too scared to use what you have!"
The scene changed again. This time, Tony was standing amidst dust and rubble, his face bleeding, his armor shattered. Sigyn's heart jumped when she saw Thanos approaching him. He was wearing the Infinity Gauntlet, and he had all the six stones, but the gauntlet was charred, along with his arm.
"If you want me to fix that, don't bother," Tony said. He was standing tall and proud, but he seemed to have accepted defeat.
"I want to show you something. Come." He grabbed Tony with his free hand, and teleported them onto a ship. Then he urged Tony to look out the window.
When Tony obeyed, he saw the remains of Midgard. Only a small part of it had remained in its usual orbit. Millions of pieces of rock were floating around, like crumbs of bread.
"Why are you showing me this?"
"Oh, Stark… Don't you recognize your own home?"
He started shaking his head frantically. "No. No, this is one of your tricks… You're using the Reality Stone on me."
"This is real. You know it is."
Thanos waited patiently until the reality sunk in for Tony. When it did, he collapsed on his knees. "Why? You said half of humanity would still be alive… You promised!"
"I did. This wasn't me. Your world was already destroyed by the time I came for the Mind Stone. Now we're truly alike. In fact, your story is even more tragic than mine, for this is your own daughter's doing."
When he heard Ana's name, he got back on his feet again. "Leave her out of this, or I swear I'll find a way to kill you this time."
"Oh, but it was you who brought her into this. She was coming to Titan with you, wasn't she? But you sent her back, told her to warn the others against me. Of course, she knew that wasn't going to be enough. You both did. So, she did something no one else was brave enough to do. She turned that Inhuman friend of hers into a weapon that could stop me. It would've worked, if they hadn't accidentally destroyed the planet first. Ana tried again and again, until she realized she had to give up to break the loop. That's when I came."
"What loop?"
"It doesn't matter anymore. Do you know what the Kree call her, the Inhuman?"
"I don't know, and I don't care."
"The Destroyer of Worlds," Thanos answered nevertheless. "Fools. "Daisy Johnson was nothing but a tool, and tools are… disposable. Nevertheless, she was what the Kree wanted, so I gave her to them. Let them flaunt themselves."
"Where's Ana?" As impossible as it might sound, there was a hint of hope and relief in his voice.
"You've proven me wrong. I didn't think you'd forgive her so easily."
"She's my daughter," he stated firmly.
"She killed your woman, too."
Tony made no reply, but the tormented look on his face spoke volumes. Even Thanos looked like he respected his agony. He gently squeezed Tony's shoulder. "You should be proud, Stark. For you fathered Death herself, the true Destroyer of Worlds."
And then, Sigyn was back in Kamar-Taj. She took out the Eye of Agamotto, and put it back on the pedestal hastily, as if it were burning her skin.
"So, we know what went wrong," the Ancient One said thoughtfully. "We can never let it happen again."
"No, we can't," Sigyn agreed. "I'll find a way to prevent that future without harming Ana."
"Is protecting that girl still your priority?"
"Yes. I owe her grandparents that much. I've always considered you and your order an ally, Ancient One, but should anything happen to Ana Stark, I'll hold you responsible. Is that understood?"
"And if the Earth gets destroyed, the Masters of the Mystic Arts will hold you responsible," she replied with a threatening smile, and Sigyn realized these people could find a way to survive even such a catastrophe. Still, she wouldn't hesitate to declare war on them to protect Ana.
"Then we have a deal. I have to ask, though, do you have anything to do with the vision Princess Shuri received?"
"No," she answered, but she didn't seem surprised to hear about Shuri either. "Ana Stark has awakened ancient forces, forces greater than we can imagine, when she went back in time. I believe it is one of those forces that is at work in Wakanda."
Sigyn believed her, so she returned to the New York Sanctum and then to Tonsberg. Once again, she had so much to process.
A/N: Since there're many flashbacks in this chapter, I think this is a good time to ask you guys about my new idea. The original trilogy will end with this story, but would you be interested in some extra stuff? Like, an AU that explains what happened in the other timeline? I'm planning on to focus on Ana Stark in that story, for she seems to be my most popular OC. Also, I'm thinking of writing two shorter ficlets, one focusing on Edwin Jarvis' last days, and the other Ana's childhood in Malibu, because my imagination has got out of control recently. Let me know what you think!