An Imaginary Throne // Doctor Strange // Far From Home

Chapter Five // is that...?

STEPHEN STRANGE dives across the room, tackling Casey to the floor as the window shatters. Bullets smack into the timber where she had been standing, leaving the wood riddled with gaping bullet holes and shards of splintered glass.

Ears ringing with the sound of gunfire and head aching where it hit the floor, Casey hardly makes out the name. Her heart skips a beat when her eyes fly open and she scrambles closer to the shield he has projected around them, praying that isn't the whistle of an incoming projectile she's hearing. Through the cacophony of gunfire and what sounds like a helicopter, it's barely distinguishable but when an invisible force thrusts them back, her fears are proved correct. In the blink of an eye, the sanctum has gone up in flames.

The back of her skull thuds into a table edge, the sudden lack of momentum causing her head to spin and turning her vision black.

"Adria. Adria!"

A minute later, her eyelids flutter open, pupils constricting in the sudden bright light until they focus on the figure beside her. Strange stands before an open portal spewing heat from the Kamar Taj fire. She groans, grappling with the thought of what just happened, watching his lips move but hearing only an incoherent murmur. She must have been knocked unconscious. Soon enough, he steps back through the gateway and she carries herself to her knees, adrenaline turned to shock.

Sitting up, she peeks beneath the bandages on her upper arm, grateful to see that despite the renewed ache, her stitches have remained intact. She briefly considers returning to Kamar Taj but a glance at her hand reminds her Strange took her sling ring and the portal has closed in his wake. While she isn't nearly as injured as she expected, since the Ancient One removed nearly all memory of magic from her mind, no mystic weapon or tool would be much use. The events in London have proved to her she is incapable of casting even the simplest of spells. Despite her strength in the martial arts and the once vast expanse of her knowledge, without proper re-training she is practically defenceless.

As if in a drunken stupor, she stumbles to her feet, vision gradually clearing as she studies her surroundings. She walks past rows of occult materials sealed in glass cages, dead set on reaching the closest window. As she passes by, a silver crown depicting six intertwined snakes catches her attention. "The Serpent's Crown" reads the bronze plaque beneath and while she is tempted to linger, she continues through the aisle. Peering through the glazed glass, she sees busy streets below, filled with bustling civilians. One thing is for certain, this isn't Tibet. Though they appear busy they don't seem to be in a panicked rush and that, alongside their large numbers, tells her she can't be in London either- the city still reeling from an "elemental" attack. It seems to be midday, though again the gray clouds above the city skyline compel her to think otherwise. Realising she could be almost anywhere, she lets out a defeated sigh, slumping onto the frame with the tip of her nose smushed against the glass. On the window sill, right beneath her chin, rests an ornate vase, smothered in wet, dripping blue ink which she knows but can hardly believe is an illusion.

Casey presses her palms against the window, about to force it open when a rough grip arrests her forearm. Body acting before her mind knows what's happened, she whirls around, free hand raised defensively when her assailant slams her into the wall with surprising strength. Her arm flies out, almost knocking the vase off its stand before it latches onto his, nails biting through the navy blue fabric. Slowly, she arches her neck up, a flicker of recognition crossing her face almost immediately.

"Tell me that wasn't you." Strange hisses. His face is ashen, and crimson blood stains his robes, seemingly from a circular gash above his left cheekbone although considering the substance is also caked under his nails, she guesses there were other casualties.