THE APPRENTICE III

22

I WILL REFER TO ALL OF THEIR VARIANTS WITH THEIR LAST NAMES.

Example:

STRANGE = VARIANT STEPHEN
STEPHEN = MCU STEPHEN

*
It was almost like whoever was inside could sense their presence, like they've been expecting them. The doors opened without any prompting and it revealed a foggy room that was filled with dark and chilly waters. They climbed up the staircase with hesitation and the heavy doors slammed shut behind them.

"I want you to stand behind me. Don't try anything funny, get it?" He had a serious and intense look on his face when he turned to Hazel.

They reached the top of the staircase and to the Sanctum's living room. He gestured for her to hide behind the pillars, where the light couldn't see her. She leaned on one of them and began to flip through the pages of her book in preparation.

"Hello?" Stephen's voice echoed from all around. The living room was clattered with different kind of relics, scattered with cobwebs— it looked downright miserable.

"Stop where you are. How did you get here?" The other Strange's voice sounded. There was a shiver down her spine when she heard his hoarse voice.

"By accident,"

"Who are you? What are you?" he questioned. Hazel couldn't see him from where he was and was tempted to peek from behind.

"I'm just...one of us,"

"From the multiverse?" He asked and he nodded. "Prove it."

Hazel rolled her eyes at his skepticism and shook her head— who else would he be? She blew air off her mouth like his question was one of the most obvious things in the world.

"We had a sister, Donna. She died when we were kids." He revealed. Stephen increased the volume of his voice hoping that the woman was listening to this. Hazel perked up at this information. "We were playing on a frozen lake and, uh, she fell through the ice. I couldn't save her."

Hazel debated on going over to the man. They had so much going on in the present and were so occupied with the future due to the stone, that they didn't really get the chance to talk about their pasts.

"That sounds about right." The man finally came into the light. He was pale, almost bluish, and had an even more gaunt face that the her Stephen. He looked so lifeless and lonely that it made her heart ache. "We don't talk about that, do we?,"

"No, we don't." He shook his head. He briefly looked back at the sorceress. "And we never want it to happen ever again."

A gasp came from Strange as he eyed something from behind Stephen. He turned around slowly and found Hazel, who was hesitating to give him a hug from behind. She pursed her lips and stood beside him, then held his shoulder.

"H-Hazel?" Strange looked like he had just seen a ghost. Slowly, a smile creeped on his face. It was a slightly off one, like he didn't know how to do it, anymore.

"You'll be okay. I'm sorry." She gave her Stephen a comforting smile and looped her arm around his. The man blinked slowly, slightly conflicted as he was annoyed with her disobedience.

"Hazel, hi!" He roughly shoved her Stephen away and engulfed her in a bone crushing hug. He held her tightly as tears welled up in his eyes and kissed at her head. "Oh, my girl! My baby girl. Oh, how I've missed you,"

"Hi." She gave him a sad smile and pulled away. All the other Stephens seemed to be way more affectionate than the one she had. "What happened to this universe?,"