Memories of Sokovia had swept over her like a nightmare once more.
She missed her home. She missed her brother Pietro.
The overwhelming grief and longing had transformed into uncontrollable chaos magic, projecting her heart's desires onto reality.
She just wanted to turn back time. She wanted everything to return to the way it was.
But she didn't know that her small wish was a catastrophe of terrifying proportions for this fragile reality.
Just when everyone was at a complete loss—
A leisurely figure, hands clasped behind his back, strolled into the red force field that everyone else was desperately avoiding, looking for all the world like an elderly gentleman taking a post-dinner walk.
It was Cloud.
"Hey! You! Get back here! It's dangerous in there!" Captain America shouted urgently the moment he spotted him.
But something bizarre happened.
Those wildly reality-warping energies, upon approaching within three meters of Cloud's body, melted and smoothed away instantly—like snow meeting its nemesis.
Wherever he walked, the winged taxi crashed back to earth; the cancan-dancing streetlamps straightened up; the jelly-like apartment building regained its solid texture.
He was like a mobile "reality stabilizer," casually strolling through the absurd nightmare, restoring it bit by bit to how it should be.
Outside the field, everyone who witnessed this scene was left slack-jawed.
"My God..." From beneath Tony Stark's faceplate came an incredulous murmur. "Is he... overwriting that girl's reality with his own reality?"
"No," Natasha's expression grew infinitely complex. "He's not overwriting. He's correcting errors. He is this world's one and only correct answer."
Cloud passed through layer upon layer of bizarre illusions until he finally reached the girl curled up on the ground.
He could sense the immense chaos magic within her—power rivaling that of a Sovereign.
He could also sense her soul, shattered and lost from sorrow and fear.
What a poor child, cursed by her own power.
Cloud sighed inwardly.
He didn't try to wake her like the others had, nor did he attempt to suppress her with greater force.
Because he knew that for someone already trapped in their own inner world, everything external was false. Forceful intervention would only deepen her fear and cause her power to spiral further out of control.
What he needed to do was enter her world, then guide her out from within.
He crouched down and gently placed a hand on Wanda's head.
His gaze became infinitely deep and gentle.
"Your world is too chaotic. Too sad."
His voice, like the gentlest lullaby, resonated directly in the depths of Wanda's soul.
"Let me take you somewhere cleaner. Just sleep for a while, okay?"
He activated the law power that had long been integrated into his very soul.
"Mirror Realm Divine Domain!"
A force of absolute truth—formless yet irresistible—instantly spread from his palm!
This power held no aggression, no destructiveness.
It merely stated a fact:
—What is false shall return to falsehood. What is true shall manifest as truth.
Wanda's chaos magic, confronting this deeper power—a fundamental axiom of the universe—could not resist at all.
She felt her body lighten. The nightmarish visions before her shattered like a breaking mirror, piece by piece.
When she opened her eyes again, she found herself in a pure white, endless space composed of countless mirrors, smooth and pristine.
And the man with the gentle voice stood before her, watching her with a smile.
"Where... is this?" Wanda's voice trembled with unease.
"This is the real world," Cloud answered.
He pointed at the surrounding mirrors.
"Look."
Wanda followed his gesture.
In one mirror, she saw the reflection of the winged taxi she had created in reality. But then the image flickered, and the taxi reverted to its original form, parked quietly by the roadside.
In another mirror, she saw the ruins of Sokovia.
Her heart ached. She was about to look away when she saw the ruins in the mirror begin to "rewind" rapidly, transforming back into the warm home where she and Pietro had grown up together.
Then the mirror shattered with a crack.
"In here, all illusions are reflected back to their true forms. Any existence that doesn't conform to the logic of reality will be corrected—or broken." Cloud explained.
In that instant, Wanda understood.
Her chaos magic, her wish-fulfilling power—in this world where only truth existed—had been completely sealed.
She had lost the only power she could rely on.
Overwhelming fear and helplessness surged over her again. She hugged her knees, like a child abandoned by the whole world, and began to sob quietly once more.
Cloud watched her without speaking.
He walked slowly to her side and sat down.
Then he extended his arms and gently pulled the trembling girl into his embrace.
He said no comforting words.
He preached no grand principles about "with great power comes great responsibility."
He simply transformed the purest life-force essence of his Orochi Soul into a warm, gentle golden glow—like a mother's embrace—softly enveloping Wanda.
This power carried no will, no ulterior motive.
It simply told her:
You are not alone.
You are safe.
Sleep. Sleep, and everything will be alright.
After being experimented on by HYDRA... after losing her family... after being feared and rejected by the world...
For the first time, Wanda felt such pure, unconditional warmth and kindness.
That heart of hers—always wound tight, full of wariness and anxiety—finally, completely relaxed.
She stopped sobbing. She stopped trembling.
Like a long-drifting boat that had finally found harbor, she curled into that warm embrace, a small, peaceful smile on her face, and fell into deep sleep.
...
The real world.
The crimson energy field that had engulfed three city blocks dissipated silently, like a popped balloon.
Everything returned to normal.
As if that cataclysmic reality distortion had been nothing but a shared hallucination.
...
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