Changing Hearts

Prologue

The chimes echoed through the silent night of Kamar-Taj, not a trace of a single student in sight. The moon shone brightly and stars danced in the sky, lighting up Kamar-Taj with a blue and silver light that could take one's breath away. Everything seemed to be peaceful and tranquil, or so everyone thought. A shadow darted past the chimes that echoed through the night hung on a pillar, heart beating wildly and breathing heavily.

Remi Ramirez raced up the stairs as sweat beaded down her forehead. She had to hurry, for her senses were telling her that something was wrong, very wrong. Pulling down the hood of her dark red cloak, she wiped the sweat away and continued on, opening the doors that lead into Kamar-Taj. With one quick look to make sure no one was following her, she sighed with relief and closed the doors behind her.

Her footsteps echoed down the hallway as she raced passed bedrooms, training halls, and meditation rooms towards the library. Once she reached her destination, she took a minute to rest. Her chest heaved up and down with each passing moment, her chest heavy filled with the weight of a sense filled with dread. She looked around the enormous library, books filling the shelves and tables stacked in front of one another filled with chairs, a good 30 or more students could fill this one entire room. However, as she looked around, she realized that this was not the room she was meant to be in.

"No, this isn't right!" she whispered to herself as she raced to the other room next door. Running inside, she looked around at the books chained to the metal shelves. She saw some that were thick with a blueish hew and symbols in the middle of the leather covers. Her senses started to kick in once more, telling her to go over to the first shelf. Jogging over, she looked around for the certain book that was being tampered with, her senses warned her, and before she knew it, her eyes came to the top of the metal shelf. The Book of Cagliostro sat finely chained up, nothing appearing out of the ordinary.

"Here it is!" Remi sighed with relief. She unchained the book and started to flip through the pages, but when she came to the middle of the book, her eyes widened in horror. Two of the pages were missing, having been ripped from the middle of the seam. She continued to flip through the book, worried that more pages had been tampered with, but realized that the two she saw were missing were the only ones to have been ripped out. She quickly put the book back in place and began to eye the others of the collection before she heard the sound of heavy footsteps directly behind her.

"Master!" Remi informed. "The Book of Cagliostro! Someone tore out the forbidden ritual pages!" her head whipped around, but to her horror, it was not the librarian she had expected.

"So…you know," it was a male voice, deep and dangerous. Remi saw he had on orange and brownish-grey robes, orange guards over thick heavy boots, long grey hair tied back into oriented braids that went down in a ponytail. She saw more people begin to form around her, young men and women, the same facial expressions spread across their faces like his.

"Kaecilius," Remi realized, a scowl forming her facial features. "Where is the librarian?!"

The man, Kaecilius, stayed silent, but unfolded one hand behind his back and tossed something right at her. Remi gasped in shock and covered one hand over her mouth, her light amber eyes widening when she saw a severed human head right at her feet. Much worse, it was the head of the librarian that Kaecilius had ruthlessly slain while invading the Kamar-Taj library. Remi's body began to shake uncontrollably and she shakily bent down to her knees, staring at the severed head before her.

"M-mast-ter…" Remi whimpered, putting both hands to her mouth to prevent an utter scream of terror. Kaecilius only stared at the frightened young woman, but looked from side to side at his followers and signaled two of them forward. A young man and woman stepped from behind him towards Remi, who was busy staring at the grizzly sight in front of her to notice them. Once her head darted up, two sets of strong arms wrapped themselves around hers, pulling her to her feet. Remi struggled in their grasp to free herself, kicking her feet and wriggling herself to try and escape, but it was no good. The two students lead her over towards Kaecilius, stopping in front of him with the frightened young woman.

"Once the Ancient One realizes what you are doing, there is no hope to save you!" Remi warned him, her amber eyes filled with hatred and anger. She groaned when she felt a strong hand roughly grab her chin and pull her towards his face, Kaecilius smirking evilly.

"I would think so, but enough petty nonsense. It is time for you to come home, Remi Ramirez," Kaecilius told her. Remi gasped as the two students pushed her towards Kaecilius, who wrapped his strong arms around her. Remi screamed for him to let go, but his grip was too strong for her to run away from. Before Kaecilius could make his exit, a strong, feminine voice echoed through the air.

"Master Kaecilius," he turned towards his left and saw a woman with an orange hood draped over her head. "That ritual will bring you only sorrow."

"Master!" Remi groaned as Kaecilius's gripped tightened around her. Kaecilius watched as the Ancient One walked towards him in a dangerous manner ready to fight, but looking at his followers, he signaled them to head for the door of one of the sanctums. Kaecilius lead them out of the library towards the sanctum that lead to New York City, his students following him like soldiers. The Ancient One watched as he escaped, Remi towing right beside him. Her eyes widening, she knew there was another way to prevent them from escaping.

Looking around, Kaecilius ran down one street, leading his students through a crowd of confused, wandering eyes. Remi was forced to tag along, digging her heels in the ground to try and slow them down. Kaecilius knew what she was up to and jerked her forward each time. As they crossed the street, Kaecilius came to a sudden halt, pulling Remi forward with him. He could see a crack in the scenery beginning to form around him and his followers, and before they knew it, they were surrounded by a glass-like structure. Angrily turning around, he saw the Ancient One behind them.

"Hypocrite!" he snapped. Remi smiled with relief when she saw she was there, but Kaecilius was less than thrilled. Eyes darting from her towards the Ancient One, he realized he had no choice. He tossed Remi aside and began to fight with the Ancient One.

"Remi, come!" The Ancient One commanded. She did not have to say otherwise as Remi got to her feet and ran beside her, ready to fight just as much as she was.

"Once she is dead, bring her back alive," Kaecilius motioned towards Remi, and his followers began to run at her.

The Ancient One rose her hands and the scenery began to tilt, causing them to jump in the air onto the buildings above, Remi got into a fighting stance ready to take them head on, but the Ancient One held out a hand in front of her, giving her a look from underneath her hood that read "Go back to Kamar-Taj. They are already after you, let me handle them." Nodding her head in understanding, she unhooked a small ring from her belt and began a circular motion with two fingers, an orange portal in front of her opening.

Two of the followers noticed Remi escaping and tried to go after her, but the Ancient One wrapped two giant orange whips around their throats and tossed them in the air. Remi watched her continue to fight Kaecilius and his followers before jumping into the portal to safety.

To Be Continued…

Well, here it is, the first chapter of my new Doctor Strange story! Please pardon my writing, I know it's not all that great, but the writing juices are flowing once again and I could not help myself. I am still working on it, so chapters may not be up right away, but in order for a story to be just right, planning is always a must. :)

See ya for the first, official chapter! :D