Unknownfate
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Chapter 161
🕑 Added 2025-06-17 10:55:28 +0000 UTCThe Ancient One was well aware of the situation in France. She had seen chaos rise, then fall away as light returned and peace followed.
She knew that it would happen before it actually happened; she had known when it would happen long before it actually occurred. And she knew who was behind it all.
She had every chance in the world to end it, to stop it all before it began.
With the Eye of Agamotto, she glimpsed countless outcomes: the deaths that would occur if she stayed her hand, and the endless waves of demons poised to invade.
The conclusion she reached was that something was very wrong. A gate like that, if she didn’t handle it, should be causing great damage to Earth, and all of France might fall to demonic forces as the lords of hell send their armies to harvest souls.
Yet, as she looked into the future, she saw things going entirely differently, but she couldn’t see the cause of the change.
Strangely, the best outcomes unfolded when she interfered the least. It was strange for sure, but she had an idea of what caused the change.
There was one presence she could never clearly perceive through the Eye of Agamotto: the Goddess from a parallel Earth, Arthuria Pendragon.
She could only see the outcome, seeing the Goddess herself was very difficult, so yes, it was likely that if she herself didn’t act, Arthuria Pendragon would. And that outcome was the best one.
Knowing this, the Ancient One began planning every step needed to secure the best outcome. She couldn’t act directly, but she could ensure that Arthuria would—and even shape events to go better than perfect.
It was after countless hours spying on possible timelines that she found the best places to interfere without interfering too much. Places she could station her own sorcerers to deal with a few demons.
She would even journey into Hell herself, drawing attention in that direction. She couldn’t explain why, but she sensed it would help.
Among the sorcerers she dispatched was one in particular—someone eager for a chance to get close to Arthuria Pendragon. The Ancient One was aware of this, but she did not meddle in the desires of her disciples.
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Kaecilius had joined Kamar-Taj after the death of his family. Like so many others, he was a lost soul—drifting, seeking the impossible: a way to bring them back."
He had prayed to every god he knew of, and plenty he had never heard of before his loss. He sought out every person who promised him a chance to speak with his wife and son.
It was all for nothing—just scams and liars. But in the end, the real fool had been him. Even knowing the truth, he kept seeking them out, kept paying—again and again—for nothing but lies.
That was when he discovered something real, found a hidden side of the world, and uncovered the truth.
Magic was real. Gods and demons were all real.
He had given up everything, not that it mattered, because he’d already lost everything that mattered. So he threw it all away and joined the order of mystic arts.
He bowed down and begged the Sorcerer Supreme to teach him, to be allowed to learn. And he threw himself into training with everything he had.
Never before had he worked so hard, never before devoted himself so fully to anything.
It was only after losing them that he really understood how much he loved his family, how much more he should have appreciated them.
Guilt filled his heart. If he had done more, been a better man, could he have saved them?
No matter how often he was told not to blame himself, he did, and that guilt fueled him to work hard, to learn everything he could. Because he wasn’t naive—he knew exactly what he was chasing.
He understood just how impossible his goal was. To undo death itself wasn’t a trick—it was a miracle, something fit for gods. A miracle of divine proportions.
Many had wished for it—and all had failed. Why? Was it truly impossible? No. Not when the Sorcerer Supreme lived for centuries. Not when gods walked the Earth. It wasn’t impossible—just so difficult that most gave up trying.
To avoid sharing their fate—failing to bring his loved ones back—he would have to work harder than anyone before him.
Thankfully, he seemed naturally gifted in the mystic arts. Quickly became one of the brightest disciples of the Sorcerer Supreme. He gained access to even more knowledge, yet he never felt like he had come any closer to his goal.
Sure, he could now have saved them, ensured that they wouldn’t die, but that didn’t help him get them back.
He was slowly starting to lose hope.
And then—she appeared
Arthur Pendragon, or after the truth was revealed, Arthuria Pendragon, the ancient legendary king of knights, had appeared again, and she wasn’t alone.
The Ancient One had explained to him, when asked, that she was a Goddess and hadn’t truly died. As the legend went, she rested in Avalon, a mysterious secret dimension. There, she transformed from a mortal into a true Goddess, and finally, she returned to the real world.
He was naturally interested in that, how someone could become a god, but what truly interested him was the fact that she wasn’t alone.
No, she returned to the modern era alone, but seeking companionship, she somehow brought the knights of the Round Table back.
These were people who had died—and she brought them back!
She knew the secrets of bringing the dead back to life.
Sure, there was clearly something more to it, because those knights weren’t normal human beings; they possessed powers beyond anything humanly possible.
But despite everything, the fact that Arthuria Pendragon had brought the dead back to life could not be ignored. So what if those resurrected gained tremendous power? If anything, that only made them safer. His wife and son would be far better protected if they returned with such gifts.
He wanted her secrets. He wanted nothing more than to approach her and learn them.
But Kaecilius was no longer the naive fool he had once been. One did not simply demand something from a goddess.
He spent countless hours poring over tomes and seeking all the information he could about Arthurian legends. He learned that Merlin had once been the Sorcerer Supreme and sought all information about him.
He watched every interview, every recording of her, each and every public appearance; he made sure to miss nothing, to learn everything he could, and the more he learned, the more certain he became. Arthuria Pendragon was his answer.
The Ancient One confirmed many things. When a being like Arthuria appeared, it was the duty of their order to assess and, if necessary, intervene. But no intervention came. Why?
And while he would gladly have helped her in return for his wife and son being brought back, it was clear that it wasn’t possible.
He wasn’t an evil god, far from it. He read about countless gods and godly beings, and when compared to those records, she seemed unbelievably benevolent.
Sure, she brought back harsh punishments and forcefully deported hundreds of thousands of people. Yet, while she was good to those she acknowledged as her people. She used her godly powers to grow food for them. She made deals with people like Tony Stark for impressive technology.
She did everything she could for her people, and in her actions, Kaecilius found many important clues, yet none compared to his teacher’s words.
Many asked in the beginning, why allow her to rule? She was not a human, but a God, even if she had been human before, should they just sit back?
Doubts filled the temple of Karma-taj.
He, being one of the most powerful masters had a rare chance to get these questions, these doubts answered.
It wasn’t that The Ancient One didn’t want to deal with this Goddess, but that she just couldn’t. Or at least not without paying a price that was far too great.
She was asked how that could be, and everything he learned made him sure, it filled in the blanks.
Why did she seek out Stark? What did that man have to offer, and what did he get in return?
That was when he learned that Stark had been dying and healed.
That was when he learned of the power Arthuria Pengradon possesses: the power to heal all wounds, ward off death, and become immortal, not just from time, but to achieve true invincibility - the power to be fully impervious to all harm and reverse it.
While not resurrection, it wasn’t far off.
He learned of her ability to ignore time itself, an ability that allowed her to counter one of The Ancient One’s greatest weapons.
Every bit of knowledge just reaffirmed his belief that she was the key.
Another key aspect was the mention of the Holy Grail, not something often associated with the King of Knights, but she apparently had it, and if the Ancient One was to be believed, it was indeed a powerful artifact.
Able to answer the holder's wishes, able to fulfill them.
Could that be how she brought the dead knights back to life? Granting them their powers?
He didn’t know, but in the end, did it matter?
The key was that she could do it; now he just needed to figure out how he got her to help him.
He was unable to force her to help, if not even the Ancient One was willing to go against her, what chance he did have?
Which left only negotiation.
He began with the basics. Contact. Positioning. Favor.
Arthuria Pendragon was not simply a goddess; she was a ruler. A queen. And queens responded to loyalty, usefulness, and legitimacy. She had no reason to care for another magician from the East—unless he made himself valuable. Indispensable.
Though, how to go about that?
He had a few clues, but it wouldn’t be easy, nothing ever was.
Countless hours spent researching how to best make deals with the divine, how to please them, and more so, how he could earn the favor of this one in particular.
Still… he had been hesitant to step forward. He had hidden in the shadows, afraid that if he asked and was turned down, it would become that much harder in the future.
He continued to gather information, to try and find out if there was something she wanted, something he could offer, because while he knew she needed a proper court magician. He didn’t think that alone would be worth resurrecting the dead.
He understood well the possible consequences of such an action. If it spread that she did that for him? Who wouldn’t come asking for it? So it had to be something truly special he offered. Maybe some rare magical artifact, or something else beyond just his own loyalty.
He also thought about dealing with that witch Morgana, hoping helping her kill this evil enemy might be enough, but even Kaecilius had to admit that he wasn’t sure he could do it.
So he just waited, preparing, until now. A mission suddenly allowed him a rare chance to see Arthuria Pendragon up close. So he was hiding, a few of his fellow sorcerers covering for him so he could observe his Goddess in action.
Deep under the city of Lyon, a portal to one of the Hell Dimensions had been opened, and rather than close it, he was tasked with just making sure not too many demons made it into the city itself.
He let the other do that, and instead, he watched the portal, waiting, and finally, she arrived.
(End of chapter)
Yeah… I did that, I sent Arthuria into a portal to hell and then spent the following chapter focusing on someone else.
What are you going to do about it?
But Kaecilius is someone I have planned to touch for a long time. With Arthuria's return, her actions and the feats she has shown, a lot of people would be drawn to that. One of them being Kaecilius himself.
And now it was finally time to show that no, I didn’t forget about these people hiding in the shadows.
