Wanda's POV

"What do you mean 'gone'?" Artemis asked slowly, pointedly avoiding looking in the direction of our deceased friends.

I gulped, making vague hand motions. "I-I mean gone! As in kapoot! Nada! Nothing! I can't feel them anymore." I closed my eyes and took in a raggedy breath, trying to feel the scarlet energy once more. I felt nothing but disappointment. My eyes were filled with tears when I opened them once more and I choked back a sob. "I'm sorry...I can't bring them back."

Pietro was by my side in an instant, hugging me tightly as I cried. I felt like such a failure, not even able to help my friends in their hour of need. What kind of friend am I?

"Wanda, don't worry, we aren't mad at you." M'gann smiled sadly, her own tears cascading down her green cheeks. "A little discouraged, yes, but it isn't your fault. Nobody could have predicted this."

"Without our heavy hitter against Thanos, what are we going to do?" Dick sighed, uncharacteristically pessimistic.

"We still have Billy, he has similar powers to me." I sniffled, pulling out of Pietro's arms. "Who knows? Maybe he can bring back the others, too."

"With how badly I screwed up bringing you back, I doubt it." I jumped slightly, turning to the hatch in the bioship to see a sheepish looking Billy standing there. He smiled sadly, avoiding everyone's eyes but mine. "I'm sorry about your powers, Wanda. I should've been more specific with my chant."

Tim placed a hand on Billy's shoulder, smiling reassuringly. "Hey, you got her out of the Stone, right? That is something to be immensely proud of." Billy shrugged one shoulder, about to say something else when Tim cut him off. "Come on now, we can't have two moping sorcerers. We have work to do. Starting with finding out what you being a 'demiurge' means."

Demiurge.

Why does that ring a bell for me?

Oh well, I can figure that out later. Right now, we have some research to do.

We filed off the ship, all of us avoiding looking at our friends' bodies. We decided the best place to start would be to ask Zatanna, seeing as Billy said Dr. Strange seemed to give off the vibe that it was something mystic related.

"Hey, Z, can you make it to the Mountain? No, Thanos isn't here yet, but we do have a surprise for you..." Dick spoke into his cell phone, standing a few yards away. "Great, see you in a few."

"I can't wait to see Zatanna's face when she sees Wanda." Jason smirked, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. I grinned up at him, glad to see that the feelings I have for him seem to still be mutual from before I went into the Stone.

The zeta tubes announced Zatanna's arrival and I ducked behind Jason, Dick and Tim casually sliding over next to him to completely block me. Zatanna stalked up to the group, her gaze fixated on Dick. "Well, what do you need my help with?"

"Before we get into that, someone really wants to see you..." Dick trailed off and I took my cue.

I stepped out from behind Jason as Tim and Dick parted to let me through, a huge smile on my face. Zatanna stared blankly at me. "This better not be an illusion, Billy."

I snorted, rushing up to Zatanna and wrapping her in a bear hug. "Would an illusion be able to kick your ass even without her powers?"

Zatanna gasped, immediately hugging me back. I felt wetness on my shoulder as she started to blubber semi-coherently. "What? How- when- who-? Never mind that, I've missed you so much." She pulled back, tear tracks clear on her cheeks. "Wanda, it really is you, isn't it?"

"Do you want to test my knowledge or something?" I quirked a brow, smirking as she shook her head vehemently. I pulled her in for a quick hug before stepping back. "Z, we need your help with something."

"So I've been told." She quipped, eyes roaming the group. "I heard what happened to the others and I'm sorry, but I can't-"

"That's not it. We need your mystical knowledge." Artemis cut in.

"Okay..." Zatanna motioned for one of us to continue.

"What have you heard, if anything, about a 'demiurge'?" Billy asked, wringing his hands nervously.

Zatanna knit her eyebrows in thought. "Well, they are just a rumor as far as I know. But from what I've been told and have read, the demiurge is such a powerful enough sorcerer that they can rewrite time and space without consequence. That is, when they are fully trained and in full control of their powers." She stared at all of us, narrowing her eyes. "Why do you need to know this?"

"Oh, you know, maybe Thanos and Dr. Strange have both called Billy here demiurge on a few occasions." Jason shrugged nonchalantly.

Zatanna stared long and hard at Billy, making the poor kid look as though he would wet himself any second. "Billy, you listen to me and you listen to me good. It is extremely important that you do not use your reality altering powers until you have had proper training. Do you understand?" Billy nodded. "No, I need verbal confirmation. The fate of existence rests in your hands, we can't have you effing it up."

"I understand." Billy wheezed out.

Zatanna glared for another second before turning back to the rest of us. "Okay, now that that is settled, how did Wanda get here?"

We all averted our eyes to Billy and Zatanna face palmed. "He used his powers before we knew what the whole demiurge thing meant though!" I came to Billy's defense, feeling slightly more guilty that I was brought back at risk of the fate of the universe.

Zatanna stared at Billy again, a slight panic evident on her face. "Okay, this is fine. As long as your powers stayed blue." Billy paled, looking anywhere but Zatanna's face. "Your powers did stay blue, right?"

"Well, they swirled blue and scarlet right before I passed out. I figured that meant I was bringing Wanda back..." Billy gulped.

"Why? What does it mean if his powers don't stay blue?" Tim looked nervous, fidgeting with his gloves.

Zatanna took a deep breath before answering. "It means he is one step closer to fully becoming the demiurge. And without the proper training, he is capable of far more damage than Thanos."