An Open Doorway | Stephen Strange x Oc (UNDER REVISION)

Six: Watch the Snow

Author's Note:  Hey guys, how goes it? I am back from my short uploading break!  I'll be uploading the few remaining chapters on schedule! But, anyway, guys. We've got over a hundred reads on this story! How incredible is that! I only have you to thank for reading and supporting my story, it seriously means a lot!

Welp, I'll get out of your hair now.

With lots of love

-Mundie

The tension in the air rises to almost palpable levels. That's when Hayden sees the marking on the Ancient One's forehead.

The same marking Kaecilius and his zealots sport.

"It's true." Mordo stares with wide eyes at the Sorcerer Supreme. "She does draw power from the Dark Dimension."

She looks briefly at Mordo, something in her eyes Hayden can't quite read, before refocusing on Kaecilius. They begin to circle each other, building the tension further. Hayden allows herself to lean on Stephen, willing the aching in her chest to go away. He gives her hand a reassuring squeeze.

"I came to you, broken, lost, and bleeding," Kaecilius says. "I trusted you to be my teacher and you fed me lies."

"I tried to protect you-," says the Ancient One. "-from yourself."

"I have a new teacher now." That familiar note of admiration enters Kaecilius' voice.

"Dormammu deceives you. You have no idea what he truly is." The Ancient One stops circling. "His eternal life is not paradise, but torment."

Kaecilius halts and his zealots hop nimbly from their perch and join their leader. "Liar."

The Ancient One raises her fans as Kaecilius and his zealots summon glass swords.

The fight breaks out a split second later.

The zealots attack the Sorcerer Supreme and she deftly blocks their blows and knocks their feet out from under them. Kaecilius chooses this moment to converge, clearly matching his former teacher in strength. They exchange several blows in quick succession, almost too quick for Hayden to follow.

She longs to join the fight, but she's far outmatched by Kaecilius and would only get in the way. She doubts Stephen would let her try to help regardless.

The zealots are back on their feet and attacking the Sorcerer Supreme alongside Kaecilius and in a flurry of blocked strikes and clean kicks, the zealots are again momentarily incapacitated and Kaecilius knocked to the ground.

He rolls with the force of the blow and hits the surface beneath him with a closed fist, creating a wave of cobbled stone. The Ancient One arches with the ground's movement and sends it back at Kaecilius with twice the strength.

A swell of admiration and awe goes through Hayden at the sight of the Ancient One's clear and precise control of the Mystic Arts.

One of the zealots leaps at the Sorcerer Supreme and Hayden refocuses on the fight, her hand tightening once again around Stephen's.

The Ancient One grapples with the zealot for several moments and knocks her away just as the second one attacks. She restrains the attacker, her mystic fan held against his neck just as Kaecilius lunges. She raises her other fan to block his blow, leaving herself wide open.

Kaecilius takes his chance and stabs through the zealot standing between him and the Ancient One.

Straight into her torso.

Hayden breaks away from Stephen with a strangled cry as Kaecilius opens a sling ring portal.

She goes airborne just as Kaecilius knocks the zealot aside and kicks the Ancient One in the chest. Hayden reaches out toward her and is just inches away from catching her before something extremely solid, a jutting chunk of ground formed by Kaecilius, knocks Hayden out of the air.

She hits the ground hard, the wind leaving her lungs. She sees stars as she forces herself onto her back and tries to catch her breath. She presses her hand against her chest in a vain attempt to alleviate the pain.

A split second later, Stephen appears in her line of sight and quickly helps her to her feet. He wraps an arm around her waist and she leans on him heavily. The cloak lifts them up and they get through the sling ring portal, followed closely by Mordo just before it closes. They land on a busy New York sidewalk and Stephen quickly guides Hayden through the crowd. They reach the center of the gathered bystanders and Hayden's stomach drops.

There in a crumpled heap among broken glass is the Ancient One.

Hayden pulls away from Stephen, wincing. "Go. I can stand on my own." She looks around, realizing Mordo is nowhere to be seen.

Stephen hesitates for a split second before going to the Ancient One's side. Hayden looks down on the Sorcerer Supreme's body, feeling a pang in her chest. If she had been a little faster, maybe the Ancient One wouldn't have suffered such a catastrophic fall. Maybe she could have prevented this.