Chapter 8: Chapter 8
"Peace, Dante. I am not your enemy. I merely wished to speak to you in private. You may call me Ancient One."
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"Very well. What is it that you needed from me then?" I ask this woman. Not dropping my guard, I try to analyze her, looking for an opening should she be lying.
Her clothes remind me of the monks in Kathmandu, in the same style and colors of yellow, tan, and black. Her head is entirely bare of hair except for her thin eyebrows. She called herself 'Ancient One' but outwardly only looks to be in her late thirties or early forties.
She stands serenely still. Her once-raised, defensive hand is calmly returned to the long sleeve of her other arm held at her stomach.
"I came to speak about you. Who you are. What you are. And what you can be," she speaks with a calming voice, "I first noticed you when you settled in Kathmandu. I watched to see what kind of man you are. One such as you can become a grave threat when power goes to their heads."
"So it was you who sent those monks to watch me. So, what did you see then? Do you now consider me enough of a threat to deal with personally?" I ask her, still trying to figure out exactly who I'm dealing with.
"I see much, Dante. I am the leader of a group of people who guard this dimension against threats that would try to consume it and plunge it into darkness. We use energies from other dimensions to affect this one, much like you can with your ability," She turns to the side and slowly traces a circle in the air with one hand that bore a two-fingered ring.
Golden sparks ignite in the air and follow her arm as she slowly spins it around until, eventually, I see the space within the circle dilate and become a majestic view of the mountains in Kathmandu. Cold mountain air, along with snowflakes, blew through, ruffling her robes.
"Come. We can discuss it over tea," she beckons me before stepping through the portal."
It's not exactly the wisest of decisions to follow an unknown entity, especially one who had managed to block my power, but it looked like I had no other choice.
Grabbing the case off the table, I walked through the portal and found myself in a temple courtyard with the 'Ancient One' waiting patiently as the portal shrank and fizzled away behind me.
Six monks wearing white robes occupied the courtyard in pairs as they traded and countered techniques. They all had a ring similar to the Ancient One's. Summoning chains and bolts of energy at one another, forming shields to block the other's attacks.
Another monk in red, overseeing the group, looked over at us and gave the Ancient One a slight bow before returning his attention to the group.
She nodded back before gesturing me to follow her around the courtyard to a large room with a tatami floor and a sitting table in its center, with a prepared tea set. She took a seat, and so did I, setting the case down at my side.
She begins to prepare tea while she speaks,
"To continue, we call ourselves the Masters of the Mystic Arts. As you have just seen, this is one of our temples, Kamar-Taj, where many have come from all over the world, for one reason or another, to learn. Whether it be about themselves or because they had a natural affinity towards sorcery,"
She sets a cup in front of me,
"Okay. It's admittedly interesting. So you saw what I could do while healing the people here in Kathmandu and... what, wanted me to join?"
Picking up the finished teapot, she pours my cup, then hers, before setting it back down. Taking a slow inhale of the steaming tea, she gently sips it before answering me,
"Yes and no." she smiles, "I witnessed the good in you, helping others without seeking payment. But I've also seen that you will do what is necessary to put an end to a perceived threat,"
I don't see condemnation in her eyes as she says it, but understanding.
So these monks have some teeth, then, huh?
"What I wish to offer is guidance in the hopes that one day, when the world needs you. You will help us," Her smile slightly wanes as she sets down her cup,
"Your power has the potential to be greater than our founder's. You have only scratched the surface. And with the stone now in your possession, your understanding of 'space' will grow exponentially," she gestures toward the case.
I tense slightly,
"So you know about that as well. My question is how. Where did you learn of it?" I question her.
She slowly raises both hands in front of her chest, crossing her forearms, and concentrates.
Energy starts to flow around her as a chain and a large medallion with the image of an eye on its face materialize around her neck.
Uncrossing her arms, she places both hands on either side of the medallion. Slowly, the eye opens, unleashing a flood of bright green light. When it was fully open, I saw what it held: a jagged green stone floated in its center.
"This is the Eye of Agamotto, an artifact passed down from one Sorcerer Supreme to the next since our founding. He used the time stone it holds to protect this dimension. As you might guess, this is what I have used to see you. More importantly, the effects your very existence caused to the time stream." she explains.
Not one, not two, but three of the most powerful objects of the universe are currently on this one planet. If I've learned anything, so many 'coincidences' don't happen without something interfering.
"Why are you telling me any of this?" I ask her, "What is stopping me from just taking that stone now?"
She wasn't angered, in-fact, she laughs,
"You may be strong, but you are nowhere near skilled enough now to 'take' it from me, maybe after you finish your training. I would not have told you about the stone, but in the future, soon, I will be the one needing your help." She glances out the window toward the mountains,
"I'm very old if my pseudonym hadn't given it away. I've lived longer than I should have, using energy from the Dark Dimension to sustain me. I need your help to free me from its tether."
What do you say to something like that?
I'm struck silent for a while, taking this in. It was only days ago that I was happy living a peaceful life healing those in need. Now, I'm dealing with 'gods,' aliens, and extra-dimensional threats. Not to mention the crystalized essence of the universe sitting next to me.
*sigh* "You just had to drop something that heavy on me the first time we met?"
I gave her a scathing look, only to get another smile from her. I can feel that it is going to get annoying.
"Very well. When do you want to do this?"
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She took us to a sub-dimension she called the Mirror Dimension before I got to work on seeing if I could rid her of the dark dimension's energy.
It took quite some time for me to finally hone in on it, never having dealt with it before, but when I did, it became apparent that it was in almost every inch of her body.
I took my time as I purged it from her, as well as revitalizing the cells simultaneously to counteract the rapid aging when the energy was banished. By the time I was finished (she said time worked differently here), every speck of dark dimension energy was gone, and her body had returned to being the same as a thirty-five-year-old.
She took some time after I was finished to sit and meditate. But after she was finished, she immediately started walking me through utilizing the Space Stone to resonate with it. To gain more of an understanding of its power and my own.
It felt like days since we first entered this place. Most of it was spent meditating the way the Ancient One taught me, to feel and control the minute changes in space as I pushed my power farther.
She eventually left me here, alone. To use the understanding I've gained to free myself from this spatial prison by replicating the sorcerer's portal technique.
I spent hours trying to breach this dimension. I had managed to create portals through space, but they only led to other locations here.
It was days later that I found a small link between this dimension and my own and used what I had learned from the space stone to grab hold of it, focused on opening a doorway back to Kamar-Taj, and forced it open, creating a pathway for my exit.
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Stepping through the portal, the Ancient One is waiting for me,
"You managed it quite quickly."
"I guess that is relative. It felt like I'd spent weeks there. How long has it been?" I ask her.
"Oh, about two days. It is more about your affinity to space and reality. Most sorcerers spend years, if not decades, in training. Some more than others."
"Not as long as it seemed then. I don't mean to be ungrateful or curt after you've taken the time to teach me, but there were some important issues I had to deal with after the whole Loki business. And you can find me again if you need my help.
She gives a light nod,
"Yes. You don't need to worry. I'm thankful for your help as well. It means more than you know at this moment." she says with a far more relaxed smile than I've seen from her before.
I give a respectful bow before focusing on the helicarrier, open a pathway through space, and step through.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone