Chapter 7
The screen shows Lilia dressed in a pink dress and wearing a crown falling with a black background
Everyone was confused "why is Lilia falling?" Kamala asks "and why is she dressed like that?" Kate asks, nobody answered either questions
Cut to Agatha and Billy walking the Road "you'll give yourself a nosebleed trying that hard to read my mind" Agatha says "I'm not" Billy responds, Agatha makes an expression showing that she doesn't believe him
Wanda glowered at screen, she was happy to see Billy but hated that he was with Agatha Harkness "calm down Wanda" Vision says placing a hand on her shoulder
Agatha tells him that he can ask his questions aloud "where's Rio?" Billy asks "not that question" Agatha says
"Rio is no doubt with Alice, guiding her" Clea says "guiding her where?" Carol asks "over" that just got her more confused looks from everyone causing her to sigh explosively "to the next life" Clea said slowly getting annoyed with everyone
"Any other queries for your old babysitter. I mean I am your mom's ex best friend?" Agatha asks "she's not my mom, I have a mom" Billy says
Everybody winced as Wanda stared at the screen in shock and sadness "makes sense to me" Loki says "it does?" Clint asks "the Kaplans are the only parents he has known for the last three years so it makes sense that he views them as his parents" Loki explained "as long as our son has people who care about him, then I don't mind" Vision says "Vis!" Wanda says a little outraged "Wanda Loki is right, we haven't been there for him, with me being dead and you running off with the Darkhold. He would naturally latch onto the people who showered him with love and affection" Vision explained causing Wanda to nod her head agreement
Billy asks if Wanda is really dead, Agatha says her answer is yes, then changes it no before saying maybe "did you see a body?" "I did" Agatha says but is unsure if anybody else saw it when Billy asks about it "you want straight answers, ask a straight lady"
Agatha's response causes several to chuckle
Eventually the pair of them find the trial, which is a gothic castle, Billy questions whether Agatha has ever been on the Road as her experience would have been helpful
Stephen frowns "it sounds like Agatha has never walked the Road" "she could've, but she did say that the Road changes for the coven, so maybe the trials are different everytime" Wong says
Agatha and Billy walk into the trial and are revealed to be wearing different outfits Agatha as Elphaba, The Wicked Witch of the West and Billy as Maleficent. Agatha says Elphaba is based on her "prove it" Billy says as he goes to check his reflection, Agatha notes that he's pleased with his look "well if the cheekbones fit" Billy says
America raised her eyebrows "damn Lilia is not going to like that" she says "I have to say he looks good as Maleficent" Peter says "she's the Mistress of Evil, I wonder if that's his outfit is because of his actions last time" Shang-chi wonders before flinching when he saw the glare that Wanda sent him
Agatha wonders if the table in the centre of the room is important. Billy recognises the cards as Tarot "I know this kinda" he says picking up the deck, which causes the hourglass to start
Tony frowned "I can't help but notice that Billy seems to start a lot of the trials" he says "now that you mentioned it, you're right he finds the clues and the trial starts right after" Natasha says thinking back "what do you think it means?" Wanda asks. "The Road might know that his the Son of the Scarlet Witch and therefore is responding to him or" Clea says "or what?" Vision asks "or nothing, it's a magical space the rules don't apply"
Billy decides to read for Agatha, he pulls out a card "the horse drawn carriage" Billy says "The Chariot?" Agatha asks. She says that the name is written on the card, Billy fumbles his way through its meaning "oh you have a real gift" Agatha says a little snidely, Billy tells her the card doesn't come up much for him and he places it on the table, a sword hitting the ground draws their attention they look up and see swords on the ceiling
Wanda sighs "that complicates things a bit" Clint says "they have to do a successful Tarot reading to pass the trial" Clea says "the trial is for Lilia" Thor realises
Billy pulls out the Seven of Swords "at least your on point" Agatha comments, Billy says that the card represents deception and betrayal "but it's reversed, that means your being truthful"
Clea sighed 'that is close to what the card means reversed'
Billy places the card down and another sword hits the ground, Agatha takes the deck from Billy "Tarot is a con, like any other there's no magic, no skill" Agatha says "that's not true, it's about intuition knowing which card to pull and divining their meaning" Billy says. Swords fall from the ceiling as Agatha places random cards down, Billy is forced out of his chair to avoid a sword
Wanda hissed "she could've killed him" her eyes glowing red which makes everyone lean away from her
Agatha tells Billy that they'll keep going until they get the right cards in their right spots "or until the ceiling runs out of swords" "I don't know how much math you did in Salem, but that would take forever" Billy snarks Agatha remarks that they still have time gesturing to the hourglass. The rim on the table starts to turn, Agatha and Billy look up and see the ceiling slowly come down "I wish Lilia was here" Billy says
Vision was glad he wasn't human because he was pretty sure he would've had several aneurysms and heart attacks from watching Billy go through the trials on the Witches' Road "can't they have one trial where there's no chance of death happening?" He asked wrapping an arm around Wanda who looked as stressed as he was "they all knew that the Road is dangerous" Stephen says
"I was falling" Lilia says before looking around the tunnel her and Jen were in "yeah we both were" Jen says, Lilia asks where they are "you clearly said we have to follow this gross tunnel and look for shelving" Jen explained, Lilia says she doesn't know what that means, Jen doesn't either but chose to listen to Lilia
Clea nodded her head glad that her theory about Lilia's flow of time being fragmented was correct
Lilia remembers that Teen kicked them off the Road "the Son of the Scarlet Witch kicked us off the Road" Jen says "what? Teen is the Son of the Scarlet Witch! How do you know? Lilia asks and is shocked that she told Jen that
"Lilia is just weird" Kamala says "she is not weird, I did say earlier that those with Sight or who work with Divination their flow of time tends to be more fragmented, meaning that when Lilia told Jen those things it was Lilia from the future who had that information" Clea explained "however as 450 year old witch, she should have it under control unless she's not well-versed in her craft which is highly unlikely"
"You said this might happen, but your being extra wispy, kooky" Jen says, it slides back to the second trial "which is it am I wispy or am I kooky?" Lilia asks, Alice tells her that she's kind of both "Alice. Alice don't" she goes back to the first trial "try to save Agatha" with Agatha saying she loves that plan
Clea pointed at the screen with a smug look on her face "told you" "so all those random things she was saying?" Bruce asks "was her future consciousness taking over" Clea said, Tony rubbed his head he could feel a migraine coming on 'I hate magic it doesn't make any sense' he thought
Lilia goes back to her first lesson with her maestra "ah your visiting" maestra says
"That's the woman from her hallucination in the first trial" Thor says
"How long has it been?" Maestra asks "centuries" maestra comments that's a long time for Lilia. "We're having a lesson?" Lilia asks looking at the cup in front of her "yes your first" maestra says, Lilia tells her that she was always bad at tea leaves "that is fiction you tell yourself" maestra says
"If someone told me they were speaking to me after that long I would freak out" Kamala says "her maestra has been around for a long time, so this is something that wouldn't worry her" Clea says
Back in the tunnel Lilia gasps drawing tje attention of Jen who says Lilia is confused again "I am not confused" Lilia says "I haven't heard them since the subway station" Jen says "I'm talking about the Salem Seven" "I know what you're talking about" Lilia says defensively
Tony had a look of confusion "subway station?" He asked looking at the magic users who shrugged "of course the Salem Seven would be in those tunnels with them" Clint says throwing his hands up
"You think I'm batty is that it?" Lilia asks argumentatively "you look at me and you see some doddering old broad" Jen asks her what more is she supposed to see when she looks at her "you mentioned something about gaps"
"Is that because of the fragmentation you said was happening?" Peter asks looking at Clea who nodded "most people who are deemed to be crazy or impaired are usually people like her, like I have stated multiple times"
"The flow of time is an illusion Jen, not many people realise that" Lilia says close to tears, she reveals that she experienced her life out of sequence as a child and that it's getting worse
Clea put her hand up to stop the questions she knew was coming "I've already explained what happens with people who have Sight multiple times. I am not explaining it again"
Jen asks why it's getting worse "maybe because I'm close to the end" Lilia says "of the Road, like your full powers returning?" Jen asks Lilia says she's not sure she wants it back, as soon as she says back Lilia is in the trial on the ground with Agatha on top of her "Agatha what are you doing?" She asks "did you not see imminent impalement in your future? Agatha asks pointing at a sword in the chair
Bruce rubbed his head "this is getting hard to follow and that's saying something" he says getting Tony and Peter nodding in agreement
Billy asks if Lilia is alright, she grabs him by his collar and pushes him into a pillar "I thought we were cool" he says "we are not cool Teenager" Lilia says "damn using his full name" Jen says dressed as the Crone from Snow White
The teenagers and a few adults shuddered at being called by their full names "I only ever get my full name if I'm in trouble" Kate says
"I'm sorry I shouldn't have lashed out at you like that" Billy says before he starts responding to things that haven't been said "your reading my mind" Lilia says in realisation "only because it's so loud, no offense" Billy responds "I remember you now, your Bar Mitzvah" Lilia says
Wanda cocked her head "didn't he have the exact same problem in the Hex after the Halloween episode?" She asks "he said that his head felt noisy" Vision says "he probably has more control now then he did back then"
Jen takes Lilia aside who asks her if she's furious "I mean always, but collectively we've moved on" Jen says, Agatha cuts in that it was at Lilia's prompting and then calls her Dory "back off Agatha she's having a day" Jen says protectively "the flow of time is an illusion right? So trust me when I say you're not mad at the kid anymore" Lilia decides to focus on what their wearing and says it's demeaning "focus up Calderu we can be culturally offended later" Jen says snapping her fingers
"The ceiling is coming down, can they get back on track?" Wanda asks "they always seem to finish a trial with only a few seconds left" Loki says
Lilia asks what went wrong with the reading, Billy asks if Lilia was the one who cast the sigil on him "I saw what was going to happen to you that night and who you would become. I knew you would need time" Lilia says, everyone screamed as several swords hit the ground "we didn't even put any cards down" Jen shouts "maybe no cards is bad as the wrong ones" Billy says "what went wrong?" Lilia asks
America threw her hands up "because of that sigil, I was chased through the multiverse" she said "well given how batshit crazy Wanda was during that whole thing. It was probably a good idea for Billy to have a sigil on him to protect him from all that craziness. No offense of course" Shang-chi says, Wanda couldn't help but nod after seeing her future self would do
Lilia goes back to the third trial where things are flying around "I hated this the first time" she says "Lilia's being weird again" Billy says, then she goes back to the first meeting with Agatha and Billy where she was screaming "stop, stop stop" she says as she goes back to her maestra
"Damn that's just wild" Peter murmured "I would go insane if all that happened to me" Kate says "Clea has stated that most do" Kamala says
Maestra asks about Lilia's life "are you nimble with your craft?" "If I was, I wouldn't be here" Lilia says "do you have a coven?" Lilia scoffs "a witch requires a coven" maestra says "it didn't work out for me the first time" Lilia says before continuing that it's easier to be a hermit and a fraud "so much fear even now" maestra says Lilia asks for help in how to control what's happening "your duty is not to control but to see" maestra tells her
Clea nodded her head "Lilia's maestra is very wise" a smile graced Wong's face "she reminds me of the Ancient One" Stephen couldn't help but agree with that statement
Lilia is back in the tunnel with Jen "I was kind of hoping to skip this part entirely" she says looking around "you did miss the champagne brunch back there" Jen says jokingly she asks if Lilia gained any new information on her mental walkabout "I know what the next trial is" Lilia says and is shocked when Jen reveals its Tarot "why didn't you say that?" Lilia asks "because your the one who told me" Jen replies
"I know she doesn't have control over what's going on, but I'd be very annoyed right now if I was Jen" Loki says
Lilia picks up Billy's spell book "you said this used to happen when you were younger. Why'd it stop?" Jen asks Lilia tells her because she wanted it to and that she put it away "because all I saw was death". Lilia and Jen hear Billy and Agatha's voices, they turn a corner and see a bookshelf, they push it and fall as it opens into the trial
"Now we know how they got in" Clint says
"It's alright baby we're cool" Lilia says to Billy "we are?" Jen asks shocked "hey things are looking up" Agatha says pointing to the ceiling, Jen is shocked to see the ceiling coming down with swords hanging from it "who massacred this spread?" Lilia asks looking at the table, Billy and Agatha blame each other. Lilia asks who the querent is "you mean the subject? Me, I guess I'm the queerent" Billy says
America let out a chuckle getting weird looks from everyone "what? I thought it was funny" she says defensively "it wasn't that funny" Peter says
Lilia instructs Billy to shuffle and cut the deck, Agatha tell her there's no time "now ask a question" "how are we getting out of here?" Agatha asks "Teen must ask" Lilia says Agatha repeats her question to Billy, Lilia says the question must be vital to his journey on Earth. Jen and Agatha insist that Lilia speed up "proper Tarot takes time and discipline" Lilia says "and leads to large gaping wounds" Agatha says "am I William or am I Billy?" Billy asks, the ceiling stops moving
Wanda couldn't help but frown at that "sounds like the boy is going through an identity crisis" Carol says "I went through one when I discovered the Kree was lying to me" Clea noticed that Wanda had tensed up "it's not your fault Wanda. I mean it kind of is but you couldn't have predicted this" she says putting a hand on Wanda's arm, Wanda nodded
Lilia says that's a good question, she begins to explain the table "this is the Safe Passage Spread, this is you the Traveller, next comes What's Missing, the reason for your quest, next is the Path Behind: lessons learned. Next is the Path Ahead: a space for growth and discovery. Of course you'll face Obstacles preceding a potential Windfall, you must overcome all to reach your destination" Lilia says and then asks if there weren't any snide remarks
"I never knew Tarot was so deep" Tony says "there's a lot you don't know about magic Stark" Stephen says getting a glare
Billy pulls out a card "the Magician, you have enormous potential and the ability to turn your goals into reality" Lilia says it's very fitting, she places it on the table and a sword hits the ground "I don't want to question your methods" Agatha says Lilia tells her not to "next card What's Missing" Billy gives her another "The Sun, good fortune, joy, reunion" Lilia says she places the card down and another sword hits the ground "how are we supposed to get right when Tarot is subjective?" Agatha yells out "pick again, Path Behind" Lilia says, Agatha tackles Lilia out of her chair as another sword falls
Clea frowned "Tarot isn't subjective, if your skilled in it you know what card means" she says "do you have Tarot in the Dark Dimension?" Natasha asks "yes we have our version of Tarot, plus I have my own deck of cards from your dimension. They help me in avoiding Dormammu when he's in a mood" Clea responds
Lilia goes back to when the coven is in Agatha's basement "get off me" then back to when everyone was sitting around the fire after the second trial "you know we really kind of hated each other in the beginning but now" and back to the first trial "I love you guys" Lilia is back again with her maestra
"That explains all those weird things she was saying, she was saying them out of order" Clint says everyone nodded
"What am I missing?" Lilia asks, "why are you on this journey?" Maestra asks Lilia tells her that she didn't want to come "then why did you?" Lilia tells her that she came to get her powers back and that she's a forgotten woman "then remember yourself" "what's worth remembering? That you died, our entire coven wiped out by a fever? I told you but it didn't change anything" Lila says "death comes for us all" maestra tells her "you say it like it's a comfort" Lilia says bitterly maestra says that's what everyone has in common "when will it come for me?" Lilia asks, "I was falling, I will fall" she says in realisation "yes what will you do with your remaining time?" Maestra asks
"Lilia's maestra is correct, death is one thing we all have in common" Clea says "just because we have it in common, doesn't mean we have to like it" Thor says
Lilia is back in the tunnels telling Jen to wake up "the Son of the Scarlet Witch telepathically kicked us off the Road, we sank beneath the surface and now we're here" Lilia explains, Jen says she has a lot of questions
"I would have questions to" Bruce says
Lilia tells Jen that Billy and Agatha are in the trial and that its Tarot "who's Billy?" Jen asks "the Son of the Scarlet Witch, try to keep up" Lilia says and goes on to say that she won't remember any of what she's talking about and that they have to look for the bookshelf. They notice a subway station "is that a way out of the Witches' Road?" Jen asks
"Oh now that makes sense" Clint says "they had a way off the Road and didn't take it?" Kate asks
Jen and Lilia hear the Seven and hide as they walk past whispering about finding Agatha "I'm going to take this path to the trial and I hope you join me" Lilia says "why?" Jen asks "because you are my Sister in the Craft" Lilia says "I know what went wrong" Lilka turns around and is back in the trial
"I'm starting to get whiplash from her going back and forth between time periods" Peter says holding his head, Tony and Bruce nodded in agreement
Lilia says she is the Traveller, it cuts back to when she's younger "The Queen of Cups" "now you see" maestra says, Lilia pulls out the said card "empathetic, intuitive, inner voice to be trusted" Agatha tells her to put a card down. Lilia places the card down and Jen asks why the ceiling doesn't stop "What's Missing" goes back to the eviction notice she was writing the coven's names on which had three pentacles on it "Three of Pentacles" Lilia draws the card "community, collaboration, singular voices waiting to harmonize. I needed you my coven" she places the card on the table "Path Behind" goes back to Alice in the third trial blasting her magic "Knight of Wands" Lilia pulls the card which is in the same position as Alice "full of fire, fights bravely" the card is placed down. "Path Ahead" it shows Jen back at Agatha's house with the painting behind Jen and a lamp on either side of her "High Priestess" the card is drawn "immense spiritual power, unable or unwilling to use it" the card is put down and everyone is forced to get on their knees as the ceiling gets lower "Obstacles" cuts to after the second trial where three branches that looked like swords were behind Agatha "Three of Swords" the card is drawn "heartbreak, sorrow, grief" the card is put down "Windfall" it shows William who is in Lilia's tent at his Bar Mitzvah, in the crystal ball the reflection of tower upside down is shown "Tower reversed" the card is drawn "disaster, destruction, sudden upheaval, but reversed it means miraculous transformation" the card is also placed down "and finally the Destination" Lilia is back in the tunnel when she and Jen first fell in
Tony swore "did that have to happen?" He asks he was strangely invested in the reading, 'she had been saying those cards ever since meeting Agatha and Billy, now I know why' Clea thought
Lilia sat up and saw a figure in the darkness "whose that?" She asks "don't you recognise me Lilia?" Rio asks, Lilia thinks back to all the things Rio has said and done since joining them "in the end all roads lead to me" Rio comes into the light, holding her dagger in one hand and a black heart in the other with half her face being skeletal
Everyone except for Thor, Loki, Clea and Natasha suddered at the sight
Lilia pulls out the death card and stares at it, Agatha places it down. The ceiling goes back up and the iron maiden opens showing a way out "Rio's Death" Lilia says shocking everyone, Billy asks Agatha if it's true "what can I say, I like the bad boys" she says
"How do you get involved with Death romantically?" Clint asks the magic users shrugged
Everyone hears the Salem Seven and head over to the iron maiden, "when she calls you a coward hit the deck" Lilia tells Agatha who was confused, Lilia gives Billy his spell book. Jen refuses to go before her "your the Path Ahead Jennifer" Lilia says making her go "I loved being a witch" she says closing the door of the iron maiden. The Salem Seven enter the trial "you may not know this about the Road, but when you successfully complete a trial like I did, it's not a good idea to overstay your welcome" Lilia says as the Seven change into their human forms "usually something terrible happens. Disaster, destruction, sudden upheaval like the Tower upright" Lilia changes the Tower card from reversed into upright position. The entire room suddenly changes as everyone falls to the ceiling while Lilia holds onto the table, the Seven are impaled on the swords. Lilia lets go of the table and falls with a look of peace on her face as a young Lilia sits at the table with her maestra who asks if she's ready to begin.
"She was always supposed to surrender herself" Clea said "I've got a headache from all the going back and forth Lilia was doing" Tony says Bruce nodded in agreement