THE APPRENTICE II

23

The sound that whatever was before her was grim, predatory, and high pitched. Hazel was lying on a stone table of what seemed to be a temple, with statues of dark deities such as Dormammu displayed by the altar. The monstrosity's skin was disturbingly close to human flesh, except it was completely hairless, cold, and slightly rubbery— like the skin of a chicken. It had 8 legs, sprawled out like a spider. It's torso was human like, but its face was almost reptilian.

Hazel clenched her jaw and took a deep, sharp breath.

"Focus." She told herself, and attempted to conjure up a spell. However, the creature only let out a gurgling cackle. "What the fuck?"

Slimy tentacles sprung from behind her and held her down as the creature grabbed a cone shaped tool from the end of the table. Her breathing quickened as she struggled to break free.

"Wait, wait wait!" She cried "I want terms—a negotiation! I'm sure we can talk this out. You serve Dormammu?"

The creature only growled at her. The cone bloomed into a rod that was razor sharp, and he placed it on her right cheek. The metal was searing hot and she let out a scream.

"I can still access the time stone! It's not over yet! I can control time!" She exposed and a loud rumbling sound from the sky sounded. The creature stopped for a moment, took a sword like weapon, raised its hands above his head, and aimed for her stomach.

*

The flickering, green lights from Hazel's room at 8 in the morning made the sorcerer supreme squint his eyes. There were faint sounds of her grunting and moaning in pain, and a rattling noise followed. He rushed to the area and discovered a dark, reptilian creature from the dark dimension creeping up on her.

He drew out a lasso and struggled to force it back into its habitat before it could get to her, just in time for the girl to jolt awake.

"Hazel!" Stephen called as she gasped for air, shaky, trembling. She looked around and an expression of gratitude dawned on her. She held onto the sheets of her bed and sighed.

Hazel got up from where she was and approached the mirror. There was a red mark on her cheek, like ones you would get from touching a hot pan— nothing too bad or puffy, but definitely irritated.

"Are you alright? There was a creature from the dark dimension in your room. What did you see? What happened? I- oh." The man quickly turned away when she unwrapped her tunics open to expose her torso.

There was a gash on her upper abdomen that was oozing with blood. Her initial shock was replaced by curiosity and fear as she investigated it.

"Look." She called onto the man and he turned around. His eyebrows tensed as he knelt down to check on the wound.

"Who-,"

"I was in the dark dimension. None of the light spells would work. I was powerless." She explained. The wound started to close up.

"The only one who can perform this type of magic is Dormammu." He hummed as she re-did her tunics.

"I know. I told him I could still access the time stone." She said, and the man had a look of worry. "What? It's true,"

"You shouldn't have done that." His voice went stern and he clicked his tongue. "Hazel, that'll put a target on your back!,"

"Well, clearly, there already is one." She abruptly replied and went to the foyer of the New York sanctum. A portal from the library appeared from behind the man, and Wong walked in.

"What is it that you need?" He inquired and took a bit out of his apple.

"I need you guys to spot me. You know things about the time stone, you're book-y." She explained as she sat down in a lotus position.

"Sorcerer supreme here." he raised his hand with annoyance and she rolled her eyes at him.

"You heard her, I'm book-y." He teased and gave him a light punch on the arm. The two went completely silent when she started her ritual.

Hazel shut her eyes and took a deep breath. She detached from her body and let her spirit take the lead. She scrambled for any signs of the stone, any familiar energy.

After a few moments, the energy of the time stone tinged her soul. She focused on the source, and green rings once again appeared around her arms.

The two were speechless by the sight. They turned their heads to one another in bewilderment, until Hazel cautiously stood up.

"Nobody distract me." She demanded and took slow steps towards them. She tilted her right hand, and Wong's apple started to replenish itself. She played with the cycle, letting it rot and ripen repeatedly.

Slowly, the green light was turning into a gold light, that was ombré and fading into a white one. Everyone had the same look of curiosity.

The apple shrunk and shrunk into a seed, at the same time, her eyes were glowing with the light. As it fell to the ground, it sprouted a stem, the gradually grew to a bark, then a full tree with fruits.

Mandala and lace like patterns glowed on her skin as it sizzled. She gritted her teeth in pain but pushed through with determination.

"How are you doing this?" Wong breathed out.

There was a glitch like blinking that occurred in the area. The patterns on her skin fade. Screeches and wails sounded from all around while the familiar darkness began to imprint itself around Hazel's eyes. Her eyes flashed with purple before she let out a cry.

The darkness diminished, and she placed a hand on her head. The two rushed to her aid.

"Are you okay?,"

"I'm fine." She shook her head and sat down on the floor.

"How did you do that? I've never seen a spell like that in my life. The time stone, it can only manipulate one timeline at a time." Stephen thought out loud as he teleported them to the kitchen. Wong followed with cups of tea and set them on the table.

"You created a new one. That isn't possible." Wong added, and they waited for her answer. She seemed to be just as puzzled as they were.

"I...don't know." She confessed and shrugged. "All I remember is thinking of a way to push it farther, to maybe...push the limits of its matter. Agamotto's power, it was too time-focused— it wasn't enough. So I just...drew power,"

"From?," Wong asked

"I don't know. From someone. Maybe from everyone? Then the darkness came." She recalled and took a sip of her tea. "But it hurt. My skin, it was-,"

"It had runes all over it. Runes from multiple sources." Stephen leaned in to investigate on her flesh. "But no scars or anything,"

"Something's definitely been going on." She concluded and sighed. She stood up from the seat and turned away from the two. She walked over to the refrigerator to hide her trembling.

"What do you wanna do, then?," He continued "it's your call."

There was a moment of silence as she leaned on the the structure for support. After taking a stabilizing breath, she forced a smile on her face.

"I wanna go to the zoo."