Little

Chapter 11

A few weeks later... 

Stephen was having lots of trouble progressing with his sorcery skills. Naturally, he blamed his hands. This day was the same as the others: wake up, get dressed, the usual morning stuff. Then he would give Peter his schoolwork, eat, then go to train. Today, they were trying something new.

"Mastery of the sling ring is essential to the mystic arts," Mordo said. He pointed to a box filled with odd-shaped rings. 

"They allow us to travel throughout the multiverse. All you need to do is focus. Visualize. See the destination in your mind," he continued. Stephen waved his arms, trying to do what Mordo said. Nothing happened

 "Look beyond the world in front of you. Imagine every detail. The clearer the picture, the quicker, and easier, the gateway will come," Mordo said, emphasizing the last bit, as he looked at Stephen. Still, nothing happened.

The Ancient One walked into the courtyard. "I'd like a moment alone with Mr. Strange," she told the other trainees. They all left the courtyard, leaving only Mordo and Stephen alone with the Ancient One.

"My hands," Stephen complained.

"It's not about your hands," she replied.

"How is this not about my hands?" Stephen asked.

"Master Hamir," she called out. The master walked out. He rolled up his sleeve, to reveal his left hand missing. Despite this, he still cast a shield spell. 

"Thank you, Master Hamir," the Ancient One called out as he walked away. "You cannot beat a river into submission," she told Stephen. "You have to surrender to its current, and use its power as your own."

"I... I control it by surrendering control?" Stephen asked, completely bewildered. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Not everything does," she said, nonchalantly. "Not everything has to. Your intellect has taken you far in life. But it will take you no further."

She waved her hands and a portal started to appear.  "Surrender, Stephen," she said. "Silence your ego and your power will rise. Come with me."

Stephen walked through the portal and was immediately hit with a blast of snow and frigid air. What he could see was white mountains and snow flying around everywhere. It was also hard to breathe. Which most likely meant one thing... 

"Wait," he said, shivering.  "Is this..."

"Everest," the Ancient One said, not looking at him. "It's beautiful."

"Y-yeah, you're right," Stephen said. "Beautiful. It's freezing, but... beautiful." How much longer was he going to have to stand here and freeze to death?

"At this temperature, a person can last for 13 minutes before suffering permanent loss of function," the Ancient One said, as if she was leading children on a field trip and sharing facts with them.

"Great," Stephen said. He seriously hoped they were done soon.

"But you will likely go into shock within the first 2 minutes," she said, with a hint of amusement in her voice.

"W-what?" Stephen asked.

"Surrender, Stephen," she said, in a sing-songy voice, as she walked through the portal.

"No, no!!! Don't!" Stephen shouted.

The portal closed, and he was left alone.

Back in the courtyard, the Ancient One stood, watching...nothing. Just waiting for a sign to appear, anything that would point towards Stephen being alive.

"How is our new recruit?" Mordo asked, coming from behind her. He stood next to her, watching the same empty space as she did.

"We shall see," she said. "Any second now..."

More seconds passed. It was still quiet. She fidgeted with the fan she held in her hands.

"No, not again," Mordo said, sighing. "Maybe I should..."

The Ancient One held up a hand to stop him from doing anything. Just as she did, orange sparks appeared and a portal opened up. A cold, frozen, snow-covered Stephen fell through.

He'd finally managed to do something with his hands, and he felt something that he hadn't in a while.

He felt proud.

Later that evening, he finally decided to do something about his messy hair and beard. Using a pair of scissors and a borrowed razor, he trimmed his long and unruly hair and gave his beard a well-deserved shave. When he was done, he came out looking and feeling better than he did before. He felt good, like he would do anything for anyone.

Peter sat at the desk, fiddling with his toys. Stephen went up to him. As he approached, Peter looked up and noticed the difference.

"You shaved," he said, pointing at Stephen's face. Stephen bent down to get eye level with him. "Yeah," he said, with a faint smile.

Peter giggled and touched Stephen's face. "Finally," he said. Stephen chuckled. He patted Peter's hair. "What do you want, ice cream?"

"A chocolate chip cookie," Peter replied, in a feisty yet playful tone.

Things were beginning to get better.