A/N: To avoid any confusion, this entire chapter is a memory of Tessa's 😊

Also WandaVision Ep7? I obviously see the good in people too much because when I tell you my jaw dropped...

If you know, you know and if you want to talk about it try to avoid spoilers for everyone else! 😄

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"Fight?"

"Yes. But do not worry, I shan't hurt you, little one."

"But what do I fight with?"

"Conjure a weapon, any weapon you can think of."

Ten-year-old Tessa stood before the Ancient One in the hidden courtyard of the New York Sanctum. She wore small white robes, resembling that of her elder novices, and her short auburn hair had been styled into a French plait. While the Ancient One appreciated the children of the sanctums and Kamar-Taj learning early, she never liked to pressure them into the mystic arts, knowing how dangerous they could be, and most certainly never would have taught them to the extent that she had been teaching Tessa. But, then again, Tessa was a different case entirely: since she had bonded with the Entity, the Ancient One noted that her magical skill was quite unlike that of the peers her age.

At ten, the Ancient One wished to see what the child could really do through a series of small tests, the first being combat.

Tessa drew in a breath, readying herself before she motioned with her arms, swiftly conjuring her Eldritch sorcery to bring about the Tao Mandalas, only to have them split their full circle and form Tessen instead. The Ancient One smiled at seeing her own signature weapons mimicked by the young girl - a testament to their own bond.

"Are you ready?"

"Yes."

"Begin."

And then they were off. While the Ancient One herself was a skilled martial artist, Tessa, at merely ten years old, proved to be quite the match herself and with little training. Her reflexes were faster than that of some of the adult novices, her stamina practically matched the sorceress's own and her agility was fairy-like - sharp, quick, surreal movements. As the Ancient One had promised, she brought no harm to Tessa, exercising and executing control over her actions with ease. The girl's defensive and offensive strategies were unusually skilled for a child that had not been training long.

"And enough."

The pair stopped, a sparkle in Tessa's green eyes as she slowly removed her arm and let the fiery magic fade.

"Was I okay?" Tessa asked, barely out of breath.

"Child, you were more than okay. You were exceptional." The Ancient One looked at her in awe, "Cosmic forces certainly favour you."

"Cosmic forces?"

The Ancient One smiled, "A subject to be discussed another day. Come."

The Sorceress Supreme beckoned the little girl to follow her and they returned to the sanctum, specifically to the library. They both greeted the librarian but quickly moved along to the private section. The Ancient One skimmed the books that were chained up before her, placing her hand on the one she required. She unclipped the book from its place and turned to show it to little Tessa, the golden circle on the front gleaming dully.

"Do you know what this book is?"

She tilted her head and thought for a second, "The Book of...Cagliostro?"

"Fascinating. Do you know how you know this?"

Tessa shook her head, "I kind of just...knew."

Curiosity burned in the Ancient One's gaze as she ushered the child to one of the few library desks. She motioned for the child to sit as she placed the book down in front of her. Keeping her hand on it for a moment, she walked to face her from the opposite side of the desk.

"Can you read Sanskrit?"

Tessa shook her head, "What's Sanskrit?"

"Another language, one from long ago and rarely spoken today." She paused, opening the book and finding the page with the diagram of the Eye of Agamotto, "Try and read this passage for me."

Tessa shuffled forwards in her chair and pulled the book to her, "First, open the Eye of Agamotto..."

The Ancient One listened, mesmerised by child's skill and knowledge but knew it was not solely hers. That didn't take any of the novelty of the situation away though. For a moment, the Ancient One wondered if her successor was to be a unique universal hybrid, part-human, part-cosmic being.

"Did I read it right?"

The Sorceress Supreme blinked at the child, giving a slow nod as another amazed smile crept across her face, "You read the Sanskrit perfectly well, word for word."

"But I don't know Sanskrit?"

"And how odd that must be for you. Hardly a bad thing though. Come."

She removed the book from the desk and returned it to its place within her private collection before walking around the bookshelves in search of another book. When she found it, she unclipped it, leading Tessa out of the library and to the training rooms on the top floor. She excused some sorcerers from one room and slid the door shut, book under her arm before turning to face the child with a reassuring look.

"You have heard of astral projection, yes?"

Tessa nodded, "I remember...before...mum and dad used it to talk when they didn't want me to hear them talking...will mum ever come back?"

"Little one, your mother is...far away." She paused, "Your mother and numerous other sorcerers were very brave and ventured out into the plethora of dimensions there are, searching for knowledge and keeping us aware of any threats towards our own reality. I know you miss her, Tessa, but your mother is doing us a world of good."

"When will I see her again?"

It was impossible to say. An expedition such as the one her mother and the others had undertaken hadn't been done before and if it had, those previous had never returned. But she had faith in this group of sorcerers. They had received information, albeit few and far between, but they were still communicating with the sanctums. The Ancient One had even sent a message back to them, to Thea, informing her of her husband's passing and asking if she would come home to take care of her daughter - she hadn't yet received a reply.

She disregarded the question completely, "I would like to help you learn astral projection - or rather, I would like to see how you learn it yourself because I doubt you will need my assistance."

"But only apprentices learn that. And you said we had to be adults too. I'm neither."

"You, Tessa, are a very special case. You may not think it yourself but, judging by how well you have done today, I believe you are more than capable of learning such advanced sorcery." She paused, "What do you think?"

"What if I fail?"

She shrugged, "What if? The worst thing that can happen in this situation is if you fail, you fail. But failing isn't necessarily bad. We learn from our mistakes, Tessa. Failing is merely an opportunity to grow."

"And what if I do it?"

"Let's find out, shall we?"

The Ancient One directed the child over to the centre of the room and both knelt, facing each other. The sorceress slid the thick, leather bound book over to the girl and motioned for her to open it.

"Take as long as you need to absorb the material before you."

"Won't it take me all day? And won't we miss dinner?"

A soft laugh left her lips, "Little one, I have a strange feeling that your natural ability will mean we finish just in time for a little tea with honey and in time for dinner too. Focus now, Tessa."

The young girl smiled before opening the book. To her, the words looked funny, like the hieroglyphs from Ancient Egypt but she knew it was similar to the writing in The Book of Cagliostro. Therefore, the girl's own conclusion was that the writing was also Sanskrit. She still couldn't work out how, but Tessa found it easy to read the words, so much so that she realised she could skip entire sections of the book that spoke about the theory behind it - she could learn about the theory later; right now, she just wanted to do it.

"What are you doing?" The Ancient One enquired.

"They go on a lot of...segments."

"You mean tangents?"

"Yeah, that word. I need them to get to the point."

The sorceress nodded, amused by the child's criticism of such a ancient book. She admired how young children had little filter - it made them more honest.

Tessa continued to skip sections until she got to the part that finally taught her how to do it. Skimming the pages, she took in the information, absorbed it like a sponge, until she was confident enough to try it. Then, she closed the book and lay down, shutting her eyes and meditated, readying herself for the transition from her physical form to her astral form - and she had reached this stage in a matter of less than thirty minutes.

The Ancient One had watched, absolutely mesmerised by the capabilities of one so young. She would have to talk to the Entity again this evening while Tessa slept to learn more about their idiosyncratic bond. As she thought, in the air before her appeared shattered glass and little Tessa's astral form popped her head through with a wide smile.

"This is so cool! I can be invisible, and I float! Almost like a ghost!"

"Stellar work, Tessa, well done." The Sorceress Supreme smiled, "You, little one, are most certainly one of the most powerful sorceresses I know."

Tessa giggled, sharing her joy with her mentor.

* * * * * * *

At night, New York lit up like the Milky Way galaxy surrounded by thousands of stars. So much light amongst the darkness made for a very beautiful contrast. Everything popped out at you: cars, moving adverts, streetlights, buildings - everything was special and unique and all at the same time. Little Tessa adored looking out of the Window of the Worlds. She found the sights captivating and couldn't wait until she was old enough to explore on her own.

"I thought I might find you here." The Ancient One spoke up, drawing Tessa's attention away from the window, "Come. Time for bed."

Without protest, the young girl fled from the window, hurrying after and racing past the Sorceress Supreme. Ah, she thought, how children had so much energy at hours as late as these. It made her smile.

Once they had reached her room, she promptly hopped into bed, but rather than lying down, kneeled, looking at the Ancient One curiously, sadly. As the sorceress sat at the end of her bed, she sensed the change in tone.

"You wish to ask me a question?"

"Why can't I come and live with you?"

"Do you not like your Uncle?" Honestly, the Ancient One wouldn't blame Tessa if she didn't.

"He's okay...it just doesn't feel...right. He feels bad."

"Has he hurt you?"

"No. He just...doesn't seem right. So why can't I live with you?"

"Little one, you know the role of the Sorcerer Supreme."

"It might be dangerous, but you said today that I was one of the most powerful sorceresses you know. I can fight and - "

"Shush," The Ancient One said softly, "Tessa, you may be one of the most powerful sorceresses I know, but you are still young. You need time to grow into the power you possess. Think of yourself as a tree: right now, you are still a mere seedling, still growing, still learning, but one day you will become fully-grown - strong and powerful, able to stand up to the mightiest of winds and persevere through the harshest weather."

"I need more time to grow?"

"Exactly. And a good amount of sleep will certainly help you with that so, lie down, close your eyes, let yourself drift off into your mind."

The child did as she was told and lifted her blankets, curling up under them as she let her head hit the pillow. As her eyes fluttered shut, the Ancient One gently pressed her thumb to the girl's forehead. The dark dimension symbol disappeared as quickly as it had appeared as she uttered one word directed towards the Entity in her mind:

"Wake."

"Yes, Ancient One?"

"Your relationship, your bond with Tessa, she appears to be far more advanced than some of the adult novices here. Can you tell me how that is?"

"The way I understand it, not only are our minds fused together but so are our mystical bodies. She feeds off power from me and I can feed off power of hers should I wish but I am more powerful and need not to."

"It was fascinating watching her work today. At ten years old she is almost able to match me in speed, strength, agility and stamina. She possesses knowledge beyond her years and can read 'dead' languages. Performing more advanced sorcery also requires little effort on her part...and all at ten."

"Is this an issue?"

"Not at all. Tell me, will she grow stronger as she gets older?"

"I can enhance what she knows ten-fold. The child has access to aeons of knowledge I have collected over the course of my lifetime as well as...darker powers. As long as I sleep, her power will grow naturally, and I will add to it in a minor sense."

"What do you mean by darker powers?"

"Remember the temple in Nepal?"

"Yes."

"You create Eldritch sorcery. The shadows and black smoke you saw her create are solely our own power. For me, it changed to shadow when we bonded, a kind of dark sorcery, whereas once before my powers and my body manifested in light as bright as your sun, not too dissimilar to the Eldritch power you harness."

"You are saying that you are a hybrid that was never meant to exist? A...forbidden bond? That is the reason for the change in power?"

"Or we have bonded to become an ultimate universal being with unique power. I honestly cannot be sure. This situation is...as novel to me as it is to you. Aeons of knowledge and not even I have known another Entity to bond with another being."

"You said your power changed when you bonded...Tessa's power...will it remain as Eldritch sorcery?" The Ancient One now began to worry about the nervousness it might cause the others should they know that Tessa is and would be a formidable force to be reckoned with.

"As far as I can tell, yes. As long as I remain dormant in her mind."

"I see. Thank you."

"Of course, Ancient One."

The sorceress sent the being to sleep and for a moment looked at Tessa sleeping peacefully and became anxious. What did the future hold for this child? She left the room in a hurry, heading back to the doorway that led to Kamar-Taj. Once there, she grabbed the Eye of Agamotto and brought it to her own private bedchambers within the compound.

She sat down, cross-legged, before performing the ritual to open the eye. A green glow emanated from the amulet and she shut her eyes, attempting to view all the possibilities that Tessa's future would take but every time she reached the girl's age of twenty-seven, the visions would stop. All was fine and well before that, as long as she kept up with repressing the Entity in Tessa's mind for her own safety. Once the visions stopped, she sighed:

"Oh, little one, we do not have forever."