Invisible {Doctor Strange/Civil War}

3

"Your time will come if you wait for it"

"No... No! No, no, no, no, no, no, no! No! Open the door! Please!" Ella watched Stephen as he begged to be let inside. She jumped as his fists began to beat the door, the sound echoing throughout the temple. She floated away from the door when Mordo walked past. It seemed like he was going to try to convince the Ancient One to let him in.

"Thank you, Masters." The Ancient One dismissed the other Masters as the pair walked into the room. "You think I'm wrong to cast him out?"

"5 hours later, he's still on your doorstep. There's a strength to him." Mordo commented, a light smirk on his face.

"Stubbornness, arrogance, ambition... I've seen it all before." The Ancient One said, dismissing the idea.

"He reminds you of Kaecilius," Mordo realised.

"I cannot lead another gifted student to power, only to lose him to the darkness."

"You didn't lose me." Mordo remarked, gesturing to himself, "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." Ella said, softly. Their eyes turned to her. "We only learn to live above them."

"Kaecilius still has the stolen pages." Mordo changed the subject, "If he deciphers them, he could bring ruin upon us all. There may be dark days ahead." He paused.

"Perhaps Kamar-Taj could use a man like Strange."

The Ancient One was quiet for a moment, looking down at her hands. She glanced over to Mordo, nodding. Mordo grinned, walking out of the room.

"Don't shut me out. I've nowhere else to go." Stephen whined at the door, collapsing against it. Suddenly, the door swung open, causing him to fall back into the temple.

"Thank you." He muttered. Mordo walked Stephen through the temple, showing him to his room.

"Bed. Rest. Meditate... if you can." He said, gesturing around the room. "The Ancient One will send for you." He went to leave, pulling out a slip of paper. Mordo handed it to Stephen who looked at it oddly.

"Uh, what's this? My mantra?" He asked, reading the word.

"The Wi-Fi password. We're not savages."

The next morning, Stephen and the Ancient One sat in the main temple floor, kneeling in front of each other.

"The language of the mystic arts is as old as civilization. The sorcerers of antiquity called the use of this language "spells". But if that word offends your modern sensibilities, you can call it "program"." The Ancient One explained, spreading her hands to form an energy square, which shifted, forming smaller circles and patterns. "The source code that shapes reality. We harness energy drawn from other dimensions of the multiverse, to cast spells, conjure shields and weapons to make magic." The pattern she displayed stretched out in front of Stephen, amazing him.

"But... even if my fingers could do that, my hands would just be waving in the air. I mean, how do I get from here to there?" Stephen shook his head, raising his hands.

"How did you get to reattach severed nerves, and put a human spine back together bone by bone?" She asked.

"Study and practice. Years of it."

The Ancient one smiled, nodding her head as her answer. She gave him the books he needed, and left him to read. The next few days for him were filled of reading, soaking up as much information he could. Once Stephen had finished, he went to the library to fetch more books for himself.

"Hey," He called out, trying to draw the library guard's attention.

"Mr Strange." The guard said.

"Uh... Stephen, please. And you are?" Stephen corrected.

"Wong." He answered.

"Wong. Just Wong? Like... Adele? Or... Aristotle. Drake. Bono. Eminem..." Stephen trailed off as he noticed the same young girl as before, walking into the library.

"The book of the invisible sun. Astronomia Nova. Codex Imperium. Key of Solomon. You finished all of this?" Wong asked, putting the books to the side.

"Yup." Stephen answered, his eyes still focused on the young girl. "Wong, who is that?" He pointed the girl, who walked deeper into the library, her fingers trailing against the book's spines.

"Come with me." Wong said, not hearing his question. Stephen followed Wong deeper into the library, where rows of

"This section is for Masters only. But at my discretion, others may use it." He unchained one of the books, slapping it into his chest. "We should start with Maxim's Primer. How is your Sanskrit?"

"I'm fluent in Google Translate." While Stephen answered, the girl unchained another book, handing it to Wong, who handed it to Stephen.

"Read it. Classical Sanskrit." Wong turned, "Thank you," He said to the girl, who nodded and began chaining the books she held back up. Stephen watched her when a book with a glowing cover caught his eye.

"What are those?" He asked, walking over to them.

"The Ancient One's private collection." Wong answered.

"So they're forbidden?"

"No knowledge in Kamar-Taj is forbidden. Only certain practices. Those books are far too advanced for anyone other than the Sorcerer Supreme." Stephen unchained the book, gazing at the cover. He opened it, looking at the fold of the book.

"This one's got pages missing."

"That's the book of Cagliostro. The study of time. One of the rituals was stolen by a former Master. A zealot called Kaecilius. Just after he strung up the former librarian, and relieved him of his head. I'm now the guardian of these books. So if a volume from this collection should be stolen again, I'd know it. And you'd be dead before you ever left the compound." Wong explained taking the book from his hands and chaining it back up.

"What if it's just overdue? You know? Any... late fees I should know about? Maybe, perhaps, uhm..." He trailed off when Wong didn't respond "Uh, you know, people used to think that I was funny."

"Did they work for you?"

"Alright. Well, it's been lovely talking to you, thank you for the books and for the horrifying story and for the threat upon my life."