THE APPRENTICE II

7

Hazel slammed the door from the hotel room and entered the bathroom. She clenched her fists and took breaths while looking up to prevent tears from spilling down her face. She tapped her foot impatiently against the marble floors and straightened her posture. She observed the shiny sink, gleaming mirrors, and fragrant soaps to calm herself down.

A portal out of golden lights opened before her, but it wasn't leading to the Sanctum.

A pool of black and purple flashes sucked her inside as a prickly, crawling sensation snaked her leg.
Her body hit a stone floor and she discovered a pair of bone colored talons gripping her leg. With a scream, she kicked the red-violet hand off her body and the creature let out a screech. It retreated its arm that was limp and at least 3 feet long. Different, animalistic noises sounded from the room, which made her stand up to make sense of the situation.

Creatures that were only encountered in stories and movies were sitting above her in a circle- she was in a pit, like she was going to be fighting a bull. The planet was dark, bleak, and cold, clearly wretched. There was only one planet so damned with creatures like that:

"Havoc- how can I be in Havoc?" She breathed to herself and searched the crowd for any other sorcerers in the crowd. She remained calm and decided to take the diplomatic approach. "To what do I owe this visit?"

The different creatures let out growls, snarls, cries, roars, caws, and all the other horrid sounds she could think of.

She frowned at their reaction and felt her patience running thin. "Alright, what do you want?"

A bony, tall, and slender creature that much resembled Ebony Maw stepped through the crowd and clasped its hands over its torso. The only difference between him and Maw was it's skin color: a healthier yet pale blue. It was dressed in a beige robe and had a wooden stick to aid it.

"Hazel Wolfe of planet Earth, you are being tried for your crimes against Havoc and its inhabitants!,"

"Crimes? I'm sorry, am I missing something?" She scoffed and crossed her arms, then proceeded to run all the questionable inter-planet related things she has done. Her lips pulled down "No crimes, you've got the wrong person, so...get me outta here,"

"6 years ago!" He raged and walked down a few benches. "You murdered one of our inhabitants in cold blood. He was from the tribe of Habilith,"

"I've never murdered anyone, all the more any creatures from- oh." An epiphany flashed in her head and memories of her first battle, specifically with Gyor, returned. She ran her hands through her hair when she remembered the large monster with multiple beasts' parts as limbs- Gyor's beast. "Uh...can I at least get a lawyer?,"

"What?,"

"Never mind. Look, I did it to preserve my own life because he tried to kill me first." She explained and slowly paced towards the creature. "I didn't even mean to kill him, it was an accident,"

"It was your staff and your people that took him!,"

"It wasn't me, It was Gyor!" She raised her voice and held out her hands. "He must have cast a spell on him and manipulated him into killing me- he was my enemy. He used one of your creatures to get to me,"

"And where is this Gyor?,"

"Dead. He died, along with the others and I should have too, but my magic saved me,"

"Your magic? The one you used to kill the Habilith? So you admit that he died because of your magic and not this Gyor's?,"

"I do, but it was because the fate of the entire planet and later, the universe was at stake." She sped her breathing and winced when she tried to recall the events of her past. "What Gyor was trying to steal was the Staff of Agamotto, which contained the time stone that I am bound to. If anyone other than me or my confidant were to get their hands on it, everyone on earth would have died. And- and more than that: if none of it happened, the blip wouldn't have been reversed,"

"The blip?" He asked and tilted his head curiously. He stepped down closer, clearly giving it some thought.

"Remember when half of the population disappeared because of Thanos? Yeah, they came back because of us." She lifted her chin up to seem more confident, when in reality, her heart was beating rapidly. "Trust me when I say that I would never kill anyone if I didn't have to. My job, as a sorcerer, is to protect not only the people of my planet, but any threats in the universe."

The creatures once again let out beastly sounds, but this time their spokesperson communicated back with aggravation. It turned to her and massaged its temples, then sighed.

"The act of murder is an unforgivable crime in the planet of Havoc." He started and lifted his hand before she could respond. "However, you will not be executed due to complex circumstances; the cosmos will decide on your fate, through the Judicial Labyrinth,"

"Wait, what? No, I'm not doing that, send me home, you know this is unfair."

The creature walked down to her hastily with wrinkles on his forehead and his fingers fumbling. He took small and quick steps but had sympathetic eyes for her. "Hazel Wolfe, the creatures of Havoc do not know what forgiveness means. Their souls feed on revenge, even when justice is not in their favour! The Judicial Labyrinth is the only way you can leave this planet alive, you know that the divine sources of energy do not provide us with their power. You will not be able to do magic here!" He secretively hissed and put his shaking hands on a shoulder.

"W-what? Can't you sneak me out?,"

"If I were willing to die, we would still have to cross the Labyrinth for you to harness energy. Outside it, if you succeed, is what we call the blessed land- the only place where the divines have bestowed energy in." He stressed and rubbed his forehead. "The only way is through, but I will do my best to guide you through it."

Hazel was picked up and thrown over the shoulder of an ogre-like creature with blue skin and a long tail threw her over its shoulder. Her stomach ached at the impact of its feet to ground due to its massive size.

"Hey, wait! Let me go!"