Lights → Doctor Strange

{I don't think you have a choice}

Riley stood in the library in Kamar-Taj with three large tomes in her arms. Each one was old and faded and pulsed a sick feeling into the air. She took them to the nearest table and slammed then down. The top one opened, the pages smelling faintly rotten. Riley skimmed through the words as she flipped through the pages. There was only one subject she was interested in; how to steal someones magic.

She flipped through the pages as the time slipped away from her. Nothing turned up and she shut the first book angrily, moving on the the next one. Halfway through she heard a scuffle behind her. She whipped around, startled by whoever else was in the library. Strange watched her read, standing a careful distance behind her. His hands were bandaged in clean white gauze. Seeing them made her sick, because the burns under the bandages were all her fault.

He turned to leave, but she called out to him. He paused, "What do you want, Riley?"

His voice was calm and still, but he wanted an answer. He wanted her to give him a reason to stay. Riley looked for something to say, but it died in her throat before she could push it out.

"I'm sorry," she called.

Strange didn't turn back to her, he just stood there, wondering how she could have changed so drastically in so little time. It was only weeks ago she was sweet and kind, with pure gold magic and a smile on her face. This Riley was a mystery, with hate and black magic coursing through her veins. Was it really hate that changed her like this, or was it a side effect of the surgery and the loss of magic?

"Why didn't you heal it with magic?" she whispered softly.

She wondered if he had kept the wounds to remind her of her mistake. She didn't need reminded. It had weighed heavily on her mind since the moment she had done it.

"I can't," Strange muttered, "That's the problem with dark magic."

Riley's throat tightened as the books in front of her leeched a cold chill into the air. Her eyes were cast downwards at the book in front of her, still mindlessly skimming the words. Her eyes caught on the passage she had been searching for. She glanced up at Strange before reading through the passage.

There it was. The answer to her problem.

Strange walked out of the room in a dejected haze. Riley's eyes followed him as he turned the corner and walked out of sight. Well, the book had the answer to one of her problems. She gathered the book under her arm and headed back to the sanctum.

<>

Riley was asleep in the living room, curled on the couch and clutching the book to her chest like she could soak the knowledge in while she was asleep. Strange watched her for a moment. Her peaceful form looked much like when she was in a coma. His hands flared with pain as he gently pried the book from her sleeping form. He wanted to know what she was so keen to learn about.

He had felt the book's cold energy seeping though the house as soon as she got back from Kamar-Taj. The whole thing set his teeth on edge. He couldn't bear to have any dark magic in the house, and Riley was giving off the same feeling. His bandaged hands fumbled awkwardly as he opened the book to the middle, where Riley had dog-eared a page.

Strange's eyes skimmed over the writing and his blood ran cold. He closed the book, throwing it down roughly on the table beside him. It landed with a loud bang. Riley jerked awake, her eyes bleary with sleep. She pressed a hand to her chest, her heart racing, "You scared me to death, Strange!"

His eyes were blazing with anger as he looked down at her, "You want to steal Mordo's magic?" Riley wouldn't meet his gaze as he thundered at her, "You want to do the same thing he did to you? I can't believe you!" Riley opened her mouth to defend herself, but Strange wouldn't let her. "If you do this, you're no better than he is," he shouted, "You're the same thing, a filthy leech of magic."

Riley got to her feet, jabbing a finger into Strange's chest, "A leech? That is what he is! I'm going to correct his wrongs, I am going to get revenge for all the sorcerers whose lives he ruined! I'm going to take our magic back!"

She took a deep breath, her temper flaring dangerously. She couldn't trust her magic now that it was fueled by her anger. It was liable to spark with the smallest infraction. Riley shoved a hand through her short hair, feeling the soft fuzz growing on the right side of her head. It was a reminder of why she was doing this, of why she hated Mordo with such a passion.

Strange ground his teeth together as he registered her words. It made sense, sickly enough. To steal Mordo's magic, not only would Riley get her magic back, but Mordo would be powerless. Lives would be saved. But the magic needed to rip someones magical life force from them... It was dark. Terrifyingly dark. And Strange was afraid that once Riley had a taste of the power of it, she wouldn't be able to stop.

He took a shuddering breath, letting his anger seep out of him. "I understand why you want to do this, Riley, and I understand that you have all the right reasons on your side. But once you take his mystic life force, once you use the dark magic needed to complete this task, do you really think it will be that easy to turn away from? Many mystics have used dark magic for good causes only to have it swallow them whole. I don't want that fate for you."

Riley inhaled sharply, "I can handle it, Strange. We can't let him go free. Trapping him in the Mirror Realm didn't work. You don't have a plan to take him down, and you don't have somewhere to keep him where he can be imprisoned. He has the strength of a hundred sorcerers behind him. I don't think you have a choice."

Strange just watched as Riley took the book from the table and stormed upstairs. He sat down heavily, putting his head in his hands. He couldn't let her go through with it, he couldn't let her use such dark magic. It could destroy her. It could destroy him.

But on the other hand, Riley was right. He didn't have much of a choice.