To Tony, a man who saw the universe as a intricate machine, Aryan had just become the ultimate black box, a living singularity.
His mind, which could model galaxies and deconstruct the laws of physics, recoiled from the sheer impossibility of his friend.
The system's refusal to show Aryan's future was a fundamental law. It was as if the universe itself had placed a sign on Aryan's destiny that read: "Do Not Touch. Paradox Hazard."
He realized, with an intellectual chill, that Aryan was the one variable in all of existence that could never be fully calculated, the one force whose true impact could never be predicted.
He was a walking quantum state whose observation could collapse reality.
To T'Challa, a king who understood the weight of destiny and the sacred trust of a nation's soul, Aryan's status was a truth of a different kind.
He saw a parallel to his own role as the Black Panther, the embodiment of Wakanda's spirit, but magnified to an unimaginable degree.
The inability to see Aryan's future was a right. The destiny of a true sovereign, especially one whose sovereignty encompassed all of reality, was not a story to be read in advance.
It was a history to be forged, moment by moment. He felt a kingly empathy for the crushing weight of the burden his friend now carried.
To Namor, a monarch who viewed the world through a lens of primal power and ancient hierarchy, the concept was simple.
There were things in the cosmos that were forces so fundamental that to even attempt to scrutinize them was an act of supreme arrogance that invited annihilation.
In the laws of his own kingdom, one did not gaze upon the face of the deep leviathans that slept in the trenches. One did not question the crushing will of the ocean.
And one did not, under any circumstances, attempt to pry into the fate of a being who was the living heart of reality. The system's refusal was a sign of necessary deference to a power that existed on a higher plane than their own.
And to Wanda, her connection to the chaotic magic of the universe gave her a unique perspective. She could almost feel the truth of universal theories.
When she let her senses drift towards Aryan, where she usually felt a comforting warmth, she now felt a terrifying duality. On one hand, she felt the familiar man she loved.
But beneath that, there was a labyrinth of unwritten paths. And at its center, there was a light so blindingly powerful, a potential so immense, that her own magic instinctively shied away from it. It was like trying to look at the sun and the abyss at the exact same time.
She understood, on a level beyond logic, that Aryan's destiny was a fire that was actively forging the future and to look too closely would be to burn.
He was a man who cast such a large shadow across time that even a god like entity had to tread carefully around his destiny.
The revelation transformed their understanding of Sefirah Castle. It was a cosmic safety protocol, a set of rules and limitations built around a single, walking, talking law of reality.
They weren't just being protected by the system, the system itself was being protected from the potential paradoxes that its most important member could create.
Wanda was focused on a more emotional thread. Her heart ached for the man she saw, so powerful yet so vulnerable, a man who had to navigate the most important destiny in existence completely blind.
But another question, one that had lingered in her heart since their first real conversation in the mansion's garden, now resurfaced with a desperate urgency.
"You said... you were here alone for a year," she said softly, her gaze intense and full of a hopeful love. "When we first met... properly... you told me I was an 'anchor' to you. That you helped me because you had seen a future where I mattered to you. During that lonely year... after the system refused to show you your own future... What else did you ask?"
Aryan's gaze softened as he looked at her, his expression filled with an affection so profound it seemed to warm the mystical air of the castle.
"I asked one more question," he confessed, his voice dropping so only she and the rapt members of the table could hear. "After learning my own fate was a closed book, I felt completely and utterly alone. So I used the Omniscience feature one more time. I asked the system, 'Will there be anyone important in my life?'"
He took her hand, his thumb stroking the back of it. "It could have given me any answer. A 'yes' or 'no'. But the system only gave me two words."
He looked directly into her eyes. "Wanda Maximoff."
A wave of emotion so powerful it made her eyes burn washed over her. It was that he had been destined to find her.
That a cosmic entity had named her as his partner in this impossible burden.
"After that," Aryan continued, his voice gentle, his performance seamless as he held Wanda's gaze. "After the system gave me your name... I knew I had to know who you were. So, during that long year, I paid the price to see your original timeline.... your original future. The life you were supposed to lead."
He took a slow breath and a flicker of genuine pain crossed his face. "Wanda... I don't want to tell you everything I saw. The future that was meant for you... it was not kind. It was... very cruel."
PS: Come on guys, we just need 44 more Power Stones for a bonus chapter. Let's push it, haha.