THE OLDEST MAXIMOFF | Stephen Strange

3.1

FLASHBACK
ENGLAND
2016

Nadia Maximoff had fled with Wanda after her and Steve had broken everyone out of the raft prison. Nadia knew she couldn't go on with both Wanda and Vision anymore and that she should go off on her own. That's why she sat across from her little sister in their small motel room with the words on the tip of her tongue.

"I think it would be best if I went off on my own," the brunette spoke to her now red-headed sister. "It's not that I don't want to be here with you and Vision but I need to find answers about what's happening to me and I can't do it bouncing from motel to motel," Nadia defended after seeing Wanda's face drop in slight disappointment.

Nadia thought for a moment that Wanda was going to advise against leaving and tell Nadia that she couldn't leave but the words that the youngest Maximoff spoke were the opposite of Nadia's thoughts. "We can write to each other for updates as a way to stay in contact."

Nadia held a small grin at Wanda's words and the fact that Wanda wasn't fighting against Nadia. "So....," the dark-haired woman started after a moment of silence. "You're not upset with me?" Nadia's voice was skeptical as she quietly questioned her sister.

Wanda understood Nadia's need to leave and even though she didn't want to say goodbye to her sister as they were the only family they had left, Wanda couldn't get in the way of Nadia finding herself. The red-head shook her head for a short moment. "No," she whispered as Nadia moved to sit directly next to Wanda. "I could never be upset with you."

Nadia sighed out in relief. "Oh, thank God. I don't know how I would handle it if you were," she let out a teary eyed chuckle as they embraced each other.

"I know you can handle yourself out there but please be careful," Wanda muttered into Nadia's brown hair.

Nadia pinched her eyes shut and let out a breath she was holding and nodded slightly. "I will," she pulled away to lock eyes with her sister. "This isn't forever, Wanda. We'll see each other soon. I promise."

Nadia didn't know it at the time but this moment would be the last time she saw her sister for seven years.

PRESENT DAY
KATHMANDU

It had had been a couple of days since Nadia had arrived in Kathmandu and the Ancient One had decided to start guiding Nadia in her journey to retain her magic. Mordo was the one training her and since Nadia was new to the mystic arts, he wanted to make her start out with books. Therefore, Nadia was in the library as Wong handed Nadia books that she could start with. The enhanced Maximoff had made no progress with her magic but she had learned the basics of the mystic arts and she often sat in wonder when she retired for the night that she had no idea that this was all real before arriving to Kamar-Taj.

Nadia sat at the dark wood table while she studied the old book in front of her that held pages that had been yellowed from age. She sighed in frustration at not finding any information about her type of magic and shut the book and slid it away from her. She was feeling drained and her eyes felt strained as she had been reading all day long. As a result, she made the executive choice to leave the darkened library and try to read outside in the sunlight.

She quickly grabbed a couple of books and snuck away while Wong's back was turned to her and left the library.

"You think I was wrong to cast him out?" The Ancient One asked Mordo after dispersing the other masters. She stood in front of a pillar that held the Eye of Agamotto and looked up toward the ceiling.

Mordo walked closer to the current Sorcerer Supreme as he answered her. "Five hours later, he's still on your doorstep. There's a strength to him."

"Stubbornness, arrognace, ambition," she listed off qualities that she found to be negative within Stephen Strange. "I've seen it all before."

"He reminds you of Kaecilius?" Mordo commented his theory as to why the Ancient One kicked Stephen Strange out.

Her eyes were still trained on the ceiling as she moved around the eye, she responded to her fellow master. "I cannot lead another gifted student to power....only to lose him to the darkness."

"You didn't lose me," he reminded. "I wanted the power to defeat my enemies. You gave me the power to defeat my demons. And to live within the natural law."

"We never lose our demons, Mordo. We only learn to live above them," The Ancient One advised him.

Mordo then decided to bring up their other resident that had arrived a few days before Stephen. "And what of Miss Maximoff?"

The Ancient One stopped looking up and glanced over to Mordo as he mentioned Nadia but didn't answer his question about her. "Kaecilius still has the stolen pages. If he deciphers them, he could bring ruin....upon us all. There may be dark days ahead. Perhaps Kamar-Taj could use a man like Strange and Nadia could be a real asset."

Nadia noticed the light from the sun dying out for the night and made her way back inside the building. She balanced the books in her arms while walking down the hallway to her room but her body was slammed into something after she turned a corner and her books went flying out of her arms and landed on the floor of the corridor. She had ran into a man she had never seen before. His hair was outgrown and messy and was unkempt and he had a beard and mustache growing out. "Oh, I'm sorry," Nadia fretted and physically felt her eyebrow twitch uncontrollably. "I really need to pay attention to where I'm going."

The man was silent as he bent down to help her pick up her books, his eyes never leaving Nadia. She made eye contact to thank him for helping her and noticed his eyes were blue but also looked to be green in the poor lighting in the hall. Mordo pulled Strange away from Nadia as she got back up to her feet. She watched for a few moments of their retreating figures down the hall before entering her own bedroom for the night.

"Who was that?" Strange asked Mordo when they stopped at his room. Doctor Strange followed Mordo inside the room, but before he did, he glanced behind him over his shoulder to notice Nadia shuffling into her own room.

"No one you need concern yourself with," Mordo answered the former surgeon as he didn't want Nadia losing her focus of getting her magic back. "Bathe. Rest. Meditate....if you can. The Ancient One will send for you," Mordo handed Strange a slip of paper. "The Wi-Fi password. We're not savages," Mordo answered Strange questioning about it before shutting the doors behind him.