𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘴 ۞ 𝙙𝙤𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚

1

***

Every night, haunting her dreams. A tall man stood before a big and powerful creature, unfazed. He spoke of a bargain to him but the creature had never let him speak for it would immediately kill him. But he would come back, unscathed, a green light emanating off of him everytime he reappears. She stood at the sides, fear racking her whole body, the ground covered both her arms and legs, unable to move and forced to watch him be impaled and crushed the moment he steps in and talks to the creature.

He was wielding something powerful that gave him the ability to come back without a scratch. She could tell what it was once she dropped her gaze upon it.

The eye of Agamotto, the relic containing the Time Stone.

When she brought her gaze back at the person, who was dying many times in front of her before he'd come back, alive and well. Her stomach churned at the sight of him getting crushed on, stabbed, even bend in inhumanely ways. But despite all of that, the man in front of her kept going, shouting the same words over and over with no intent of stopping.

Dormammu! I've come to bargain!

The words echoed throughout the world the two of them were currently standing on, she could see the creature getting angrier by the minute, frustrated because of the man in front of her. He had been appearing a lot in her dreams, mostly this one, Which brought her the question;

Who was he?

She opened her eyes, a soft breath escaped her lips as the sounds of birds chirping by her window rang in her ears. Another day, same dream-she thought. The dream had been appearing to her every night and everytime she wakes up she had forgotten most of it, except for the man in the red cloak. It didn't bother her much but sometimes she would be too curious that it was getting in the way of her duties.

The most recent one being the time when she bumped into Wong in the library, throwing the pile of books in his arms out of balance and fall to the floor.

She left her bed and made her way towards the bathroom for a quick bath. She had many questions but kept them in her mind, doubting anyone had any answers for them, however there was one person she could think of. The Ancient One, whom took her in when her real parents had left her alone in the footsteps of the New York sanctum. She took care of her like she was her own and taught her the ways of the Mystic Arts became one of the teachers in Kamar Taj.

But she couldn't bring herself to ask her right now, with Kaecilius running amok. Not a week had passed since the attack on the library occurred, when she and the others had arrived there, all they had seen was the former librarian's decapitated head and the Book of Cagliostro on the floor, with a pages torn from the book.

Trying to solve the mystery behind her dreams should be the least of the Ancient One's worries.

Once dressed in her dark red robes, she walked out of her chambers and made her way down the stairs and walked through the training grounds where the students of Kamar Taj started to pile up. One by one, each one of the students took their spots while Karl Mordo stood in front of them, keeping a stern expression across his face. But upon noticing the female sorcerer walking by, a smile grew on his face.

"Good morning, Master Lenore." He greeted with a curt nod, "Care to join us later for classes?"

She responded with a nod before she walked past him and made her way to the Ancient One's office. When she saw her standing in the middle of the room, she contemplated whether to talk to her or not. But what she didn't know is that the Ancient One felt her presence and whirled around, much to Lenore's surprise.

"Ah, perfect. I was just expecting you, Master Lenore." The Ancient One broke her concentration upon sensing the blonde girl standing by the door.

"Me?" She stammered whilst pointing herself.

"Exactly, come!" She beckoned for her to approach which then Lenore obeyed but shot her a confused gaze.

"You seem awfully chipper today, Mo-I mean, Ancient One."

The Ancient One smirked, she had no problem with Lenore addressing her that way, after all, she had been the one who had taken care of her all these years. It's a mystery to her as to why she still refers to her as the Ancient One despite the times she nearly called her Mother.

"I have a task for you." She said once Lenore joined her side, "I want you to come with Master Mordo in the market this afternoon, help him find the people who seek Kamar Taj."

The news brought a smile on her face, she rarely goes out of the place but when she does, it was only to buy fruits for her students. So hearing this made her a bit elated.

"Why?" she asked, watching the Ancient One as she approached the table, taking two cups of freshly brewed tea before handing it to Lenore.

"Are you expecting someone?" She added before taking a sip of her tea, letting out a soft hum of delight as the warm liquid touched her tastebuds, tasting the hint of honey added to it.

"I do." She answered abruptly as theAncient One approached one of the bookshelves and pulled a book from it. "Someone special is coming to Kamar Taj."

She didn't say who it was but living here for most in her life, she knew it was a person who wants to be healed. It wasn't long ago that one of them had left, a paralyzed man who learned how to use his abilities to be able to walk, soon after learning this, he left Kamar Taj for he only wanted to heal himself from his paralysis, nothing more.

So they concluded their conversation at that though Lenore wanted to tell her so badly about the dream, but opted not to. But she didn't know that the Ancient One could tell that it was troubling her.

She went to the training grounds where she found Mordo observing the students one by one. They were being taught how to summon Tao Mandalas.

When she met his gaze, she gave him a curt nod and joined him. Between the two Masters, Lenore has always been the encouraging one; helping the students who were having a hard time. When Lenore spotted one, she approached her, who was now muttering soft curses under her breath after not being able to conjure a portal.

She placed both of her hands over the student's shoulders, giving it a soft squeeze while telling her what to do. She does it in the same manner of how the Ancient One used to tell her when she was a young child who was trying to learn. The student's face softened at her words and took a breath as she went to try it again. Lenore stood back, giving the student some space as the magic spewed before her.

Soon, she successfully made one but not as perfect as the others.

"Very good." She gave her a soft smile before walking off to help another student.

Afternoon soon came and it was time, after they dismissed their students, the two walked back inside the temple and put on their hooded cloaks before she and Mordo headed out to the busy streets of Kathmandu. She kept her eye open for wandering tourists, specifically for the ones who were looking for Kamar Taj. The Ancient One didn't exactly gave her an idea of what the person she was expecting to look like, making it hard for Lenore at least.

Lenore and Mordo walked around until the two stopped near the markets.

"Kamar Taj?" A voice sounded behind behind her, prompting her to turn around. Her eyes caught the sight of a tall man, with disheleved hair and a long beard. He asked a couple of people walking past him, eyes filled with confusion as every single person that he had asked didn't give him an answer.

She tapped Mordo's shoulder to get his attention and once the man turned around to face her, she said;

"Looks like we found him."