18 Chapter 17

I knocked and entered Madam Han's room and immediately felt the mood shift. She had been writing something at her desk when I entered and she motioned me inside before locking the door with a wave of her hand. It was clear she wasn't going to reprimand me which unfortunately meant that the situation was even worse than I imagined. I felt my heart beat increase at the thought of her finally revealing what she was hiding. I wasn't a fool, I read between the lines, saw the small clues from the writings in the journals and her studies, enough to know that she was keeping things from me. Things I may already suspect but ones I had wanted to confirm from her own mouth.

"Harriet. I'm sure you're wondering why you're here?"

"Is it because of my battle with the Lizard?" I feigned ignorance partly to let her come clean herself so as not to overwhelm her and partly because I wanted to dispel some of the tension.

"You know that's not it. I may not be well versed in Pathomancy but I do have some empathetic powers. I know that you suspect something. You have for months now." she snapped. There was no rage, just exasperation. And then she dropped the bombshell, confirming my suspicions.

" Yes. Theodore Hampton is your ancestor. Your grandfather to be specific. "she said.

Despite having suspected it, I was dumbfounded by her confirmation. I tried to open my mouth a couple of times, unsure of what to ask before settling on a question that has been nagging me for a while.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Madam Han, conjured a bottle of sake and a cup before pouring herself one.

"To answer that question, we must first look at your grandfather. Tell me, do you know how he embarked on the path of a mage?"

"Yes, he met one during the Spanish flu and that person took him under his wing."

"And then?"

"And then,... well there isn't much details about what he did. Just some snippets about his experience learning a specific spell or rune."

"Very well. Then do you know why our magic differs so much from the magic learned at Kamar Taj?"

"I assume its because we draw power from the Astral realm which has no patron."

"Thats part of it. But the real reason is because we are from a different Earth entirely."

My mind went blank at her words.

"What?" I demanded.

"Yes. Both me and your Grandfather are originally from a different alternate universe. One which didn't have any higher beings interfering with our dimension. Its is said all such being just, disappeared one day. As such, the mages and the sorcerers were not able to access any other dimensions except for the astral realm.

You see, while the Astral realm has the ambient interdimensional energies from the entire multiverse. Drawing power from it is like trying to stop a large tidal wave. It's sheer power will overwhelm you and destroy from within. Which is why we are trained to slowly absorb its energy and store it within ourselves for use. This is why we are reliant on mana potions while sorcerers like Strange can cast so long as he's not tired. "

"Anyways, after your grandfather finished his studies, his next goal was to explore the astral realm, using it as a gateway to travel to other universes. His desicion created a rift between the magical community. On one hand, were the mages who didn't want to risk him bringing back and malevolent entity into their dimension while on the other side were the more younger generation of mages who wanted further improve themselves and perhaps discard the restrictions provided by the astral realm by replacing it with a better dimension.

Unfazed by their words, he spent the few decades going back and forth between dimensions acumulating knowledge and picking out the better versions of spells and magic from across those dimensions and recording it in the grimoire. Then one day, he came back with a woman on his arm, your grandmother. She was from a race of elves who draw power from the moon.

With her at his side, your grandfather then began the architecture of his greatest creation. You see, while he travelled across those universes, he was like many of his peers, trying to find a better source to draw his power from. Especially after he witnessed the might of the previous sorcerer supreme and the Odin. But he didn't want to swear fealty to a being who might just abandon him on a whim or if he refuses to obey it. And so naturally he went with plan B. If he couldn't find a dimension to draw power from, he will just simply create one.

And it was a success.

Unfortunately, the good news didn't last as our entire dimension got invaded by a higher being called Amon. When his spies told him how Theodore created his own dimension, he wanted it and the knowlege of it for himself. His invasion went unopposed as he apparently had killed most of the deities that resided in our universe millenia ago.

Now left with no choice, your grandparents decided to send both me and their newborn daughter along with grimoite far away into the multiverse with the same artifact he used to travel the multiverse. All the while they stayed behind to keep Amon at bay, to the bitter end." she finally stopped before taking a swig from the sake bottle ignoring the cup she had conjured.

As for me, I was obviously dumbfounded. At worst I was expecting a evil cult behind my grandparents absence not a freaking entity. I honestly didn't even know what say or how to react. I mean how does one react to something like this.

"This is why you have been training me so much. You think this Amon may come after me." I said.

"I know he will. With that in mind, I want to talk to you about something else. I want you to unlock the fourth seal on the grimoire by the end of this year. As such I want to send you to a special training program that I have prepared for you." she said.

" Wait what about my parents? What happend to them?" I asked.

Madam Han held sad, contemplative look in her eyes as she stared at the bottle.

" Tell you what? Unlock the seal before the year is up and I will tell you about your mother. " she replied.

I tried to protest but the look she gave me stopped what I was about to say. Her eyes, it was pleading me not to ask more about the topic. It was filled so much sorrow and sadness that I couldn't bring myself to ask about my parents. I gave her a nod before leaving the room hearing her take another swig from the bottle as I closed the door behind me.