AUTHOR'S NOTE-
SORRY! I know that it has been a little while, but I am trying to get better at writing and posting all during school. This is my longest chapter so far. Anyways, let me know what you guys think of the story so far! Should I move faster or write in more detail…. Let me know! Reviews are much appreciated! Enjoy!
Chapter 8:
New York City, USA
December 2017
The day had been uneventful, with Strange attempting to make a traditional Egyptian dinner, Koshari. Giving up, he picked up a pizza. Meanwhile, Cleo had consumed 2 more mugs of hot chocolate while reading the book Wong brought her on Astral Projections.
Christine had dropped off the items around 9 pm, her hair all messed up and looking exhausted, Cleo thanked her profusely. Putting the new items in her room, Cleo was almost done cleaning the room when Strange knocked on the door, "Come in" Cleo called, folding her new shirts into the drawer.
"Everything alright?" Strange asked stepping into the room, past the numerous plastic bags on the floor, "Everything fit alright?"
"Yes, she outdid herself, I wish I could repay her somehow," Cleo said, looking at all the bags, feeling embarrassed.
"Don't worry about it, the important thing is we get you clothing that actually fits," Strange said with a smile.
Cleo nodded her head as she continued folding the shirts.
"Cleo," Strange started again.
"Yes?" Cleo responded, turning towards Strange.
"I just wanted to tell you not to worry. Mordo will not get to you." He stated, confidence in his voice.
"Thanks, Strange." Cleo said, hugging her arms.
"I want you to know that this is not only your residence, but is now your home. I'm not good at conveying emotions, as I have been told, but I will try to be that support for you." Strange said, conviction in his eyes.
"Thank you," Cleo said wiping a tear from her eye, "I appreciate it."
Smiling, Strange said good night and that training starts early tomorrow, so be sure to rest up.
Waking up early at 5 am, Cleo quickly regretted staying up all night reading the book from Wong. Jumping into the shower, Cleo quickly dressed in leggings and a workout shirt. Putting several notebooks and pens into her new blue backpack, she rushed out of her room to the kitchen to eat breakfast before class began at 6 am.
Making herself toast with eggs, she made herself a cup of tea, since the hot chocolate had run out since yesterday. Finishing eating and washing the dishes, Strange had instructed Cleo yesterday to meet at top floor with the collection of relics.
Reaching the top, Cleo looked out the large circular window, the sun wasn't up yet in New York City. Looking around, Cleo noticed a light coming from a room behind the staircase. Peering inside, she found Strange floating in meditation in an empty room with only padding on the floor. Knocking on the door, Cleo entered.
Strange floated down and opened his eyes. After greeting one another, Strange began explaining, "We will start your studies in Astral Projections, they are most useful if your body needs to rest but you want to continue using your mind. Astral Projections are also useful in a fight if your astral-self is thrown out of your body, it helped me once before. After, we will focus on the use of a sling ring, since they provide an easy escape in any situation. I understand that much of your studies were on non-offensive spells and simple charms, we will expand on those concepts once we have these basics down."
Cleo said on the floor crossed legged, holding onto every word Strange had said, nodding along. With that Strange began with his lesson.
"No. Again Cleo, your mind is busy." Strange said as he paced around Cleo who was trying to project her astral-self.
"I'm trying," Cleo grunted as she squeezed her eyes, focus, focus, focus, she chanted in her head.
"Clear your mind of any thoughts and worries, picture yourself floating." Strange continued as he stopped in front of Cleo.
Cleo's form began to shimmer as a transparent second Cleo began to form around her. "That's it," Strange said in a quiet voice.
No thoughts, just me floating, floating in the sky Cleo thought, sweat running down her forehead. Just as quickly as Cleo had cleared her mind, her mind brought her back to the vast purple clouds.
"Ah!" Cleo exclaimed opening her eyes, the shimmer gone.
"What happened? You almost had it?" Strange exclaimed, growing irritated. He was a doctor not a teacher, he did not have the patience for teaching.
"I'm trying!" Cleo shouted, clearly annoyed as well. Reading the time as 6 pm on her watch she stood up. They had spent the whole day focusing on astral projections, the only break was a half an hour for lunch. "I'm done with this, it's pointless." She says, making her way to the door.
"Where are you going?" Strange asked, hands on his hip.
"To find a book on offensive spells!" Cleo called out over her shoulder.
Strange pulled his hand towards himself, shutting the door before Cleo could leave. Turning around quickly Cleo responded, "What do you want? We've been at it the whole day and I am clearly bad at this. This won't stop Mordo from coming to get me."
Taking a deep breathe, Strange began, "It is important to start from the beginning, given your natural affinity for magic, astral projections should not be difficult for you. You just need to empty your mind."
"Because I wasn't doing that before?" Cleo responded rudely.
"Watch your tone." Strange said coolly.
Cleo continued to glare at Strange, irritated with herself for not being able to perform the projection and for allowing her mind to return to the purple clouds. The thought of her mother continued to pop into her mind, the images of her beaten body and bloodied face.
"I'll try once more, but if I don't get it, we change subjects." Cleo reasoned with the Doctor.
"Fine. But you need to try your hardest to rid your mind of all thoughts and concerns. Give it 100% before you give up." Strange said in a steady voice.
"Deal," Cleo said, taking her place on the floor once more, darkness and street lights pouring into the room.
Strange sat in front of Cleo, looking as she closed her eyes and took deep breathes.
In and out, In and out. Just like that, Cleo. You can do it. Just float, float in clear blue sky. Cleo chanted to herself. Her body began to shimmer once more, Cleo felt her mind began to float as well, the weirdest sensation. Feeling that she was doing it, she continued to take deep breathes but just as quickly as she felt successful her mind raced back to her mother.
"Come on, I know you have a practical test tomorrow and Senhu would scream if you came late to his class again, but let us go watch the stars tonight." Cleo's mother said. No! Why am I thinking of this!? Cleo thought as she opened her eyes, quickly turning around to wipe her tears.
"You almost had it, Cleo!" Strange said exasperated, seeing her so close just to throw it at the last second killed him. "Why did you stop?"
Cleo got up and turned back around to Strange, "I don't want to do this anymore." She responded in a quiet voice.
Sighing, Strange gave up. "Fine. Let's work on meditation."
"No." Cleo said, glaring daggers at Strange again. "I want to learn offensive spells."
"You're not ready to learn offensive spells, Cleo. Besides, it's better for you to learn defensive spells and improve on your shield conjuring." Strange responded firmly.
"You're being difficult, Strange." Cleo said crossing her arms.
"No, you are being difficult, Cleo. I promised your mother that I would train you and prepare you for what's to come. At this pace, you're obstructing your mother's wish. Stop acting like a child and sit down and mediate." Strange responded harshly.
Cleo glared on Strange, "You must be riding on a high horse, Strange. Screw off." Cleo growled as she began to sit again.
"Thank you." Strange responded sarcastically.
Once on the floor, Cleo kicked her legs out and knocked Strange off his feet, landing on his butt.
"Hey!" He yelled, starting to get back up.
"You're right, I don't need offensive spells, I can just fight with my fists instead." Cleo gloated, as she got up and made her way to the door again.
Annoyed Strange conjured a golden rope and threw it around Cleo's legs knocking her to the floor with an humph. Turning around on the floor, Cleo took a hold of the rope and tried to untied herself.
"You want to spar and let off some steam, be my guest, but never be prideful." Strange lectured as he snapped his fingers and the rope vanished. Standing quickly, Cleo pulled her curly hair into a low ponytail.
"Fine." Cleo growled, angry, "Let's spar."
Strange entered a fighting stance and paused. They both looked at the other, fists raised, waiting for the other to strike first.
Cleo started.
Throwing a punch at Strange, he blocked it with both hands covering his face.
Turning, Cleo back kicked him in the stomach, winding Strange.
Stepping back, Strange regained himself and charged at Cleo with a cry.
Dropping her stance, Cleo blocked a front kick and grabbed onto Strange's leg.
Pulling his leg, Strange fell to the floor a second time.
Cleo still holding onto his leg, "Yield?" she asked panting.
"Nope," Strange responded, bending his knee and kicking Cleo over him.
Cleo flew through the air and landed on her wrist. Letting out a yelp, cradling her arm.
"What happened?" Strange asked, getting up from the floor.
"Nothing." Cleo said, tears in her eyes.
"Let me see," Strange responded, holding the wrist gently in his scarred hands. Strange cursed quietly, "I am sorry, Cleo. You sprained your wrist when I kicked you over. I'm sorry."
Sighing and tilting her head back, Cleo made no attempt to stop the tears. "No, it's my fault for starting it. I'm just so frustrated." She said, holding her wrist.
"What are you frustrated with?" he asked as he began to wrap her wrist with gauze from the first aid kit in the room.
"Every time I tried to concentrate, all I could see was my Mom and what Mordo had done to her." Cleo replied, wincing as Strange applied pressure to the gauze.
"I'm sorry, Cleo. I'm not used to teaching others, and that showed in my frustration at you today." Strange apologized as he tied off the gauze.
Standing up he continued, "Let's end training today so your wrist can heal. We'll start again in the morning and pick up where we left off." Helping Cleo stand up.
"Sounds good, I'll try working on clearing my mind." Cleo offered as they exited the training room. They entered the study where the fire was burning.
"I think Wong left me a serum for fast healing, let me go get it. In the meantime, relax and try to process all your thoughts." Strange suggested gently as he left the study.
Cleo took the seat closest to the fire and closed her eyes and tried to rid her mind of all thoughts of her mother. Finding it difficult to process her feelings, Cleo took to the window again, people watching. The city was dark even though it was only 6:30pm, winter in America causes the world to darken so fast, Cleo thought.
Looking at the night sky, Cleo could only reminisce on the night she went star gazing with her mother all those years ago, which felt like a life time. Sighing, Cleo placed her forehead on the cold glass and closed her eyes, picturing the warm nights at the House with the sound of music flowing from the dining room. She could almost smell the desert and the warm goose bumps on her skin. Humming a tune to herself, Cleo began to tap the beat on the window glass.
"I found the ointment!" Strange exclaimed triumphantly, breaking Cleo from her memories. Turning around and stretching her arm out for him to treat it.
Once he was finished, both of them took a seat in front of the fire, each reading a book. Cleo was staring into space when Strange realized, "I know everything is new to you and coping is not easy, but you can talk to me about anything." He said gently.
Cleo, still staring into space, smiled and looked at Strange, "On some nights this time of year, the warm wind would be so beautiful to feel. Along with the music flowing from the dining hall, some students and Scribes would dance and sing. I would never join, I never had a group of friends to join, but I loved to watch. At a certain point, I would go up to my dorm while everyone was still singing and dancing and dance on my own."
Strange remained quiet, not expecting Cleo to have opened up to him. "One night when I was younger, I was up in my room dancing. I heard a knock on my door and it was the High Priestess, she had come to ask me why I left the others. I told her that I had wanted to dance. She smiled and joined me for a song or two." Cleo concluded, with a smile that reached her eyes.
"That sounds nice," Strange spoke in a quiet voice.
"It was." Cleo responded, the smile slowly falling from her face. Looking at her wrist, Cleo began to untie the wrapping, finding that it was healed. "I'm heading to bed." She said in a quiet voice.
"You didn't have dinner," Strange calls out, following her out the door.
"Good night, Strange" Cleo says from the top of the staircase.
Returning to his seat, Strange did not realize that Cleo went to the Sanctum's library, finding multiple books on offensive spells. Bringing her findings to a comfy arm chair, she laid the books atop a table and took a deep breathe. Looking at the calendar on the wall, Cleo opens the book on Incantations and Charms on Foes.
"Morning, Cleo." Strange says, knocking on the door. "The lesson was to start at 6 am, its 7 am, is everything alright?" Strange himself was in the training room for 6 am but was lost in meditation and did not realize the time.
When he got no answer, Strange opened the door to the room to find it empty. Slightly panicked, Strange ran and checked the training room to find it empty likewise. "Cleo!" He yelled out, rushing down the stairs, heart pounding in his ears.
What if Mordo got in somehow? Got her? Strange thought, cursing. Rushing to the kitchen "Cleopatra!" Strange yelled when he was greeted by another empty room.
Strange continued to run through the halls of the Sanctum, yelling for Cleopatra.
Running into the library, Strange found a sleeping Cleo curled like a cat in an armchair surrounded by a mountain of books.
Conflicted with relief and annoyance, Strange looked at her sleeping form. Glancing at the books surrounding her, Stephan's annoyance only grew as he read the endless titles of offensive spells. Grabbing the largest of the books, Strange dropped the book on the table near Cleo's head.
The resulting loud boom caused Cleo's head to shoot up. Tired eyes darting around the room until they rested on Strange's disappointed form.
"I didn't know that the library was your bedroom?" Strange asked, arms crossed.
Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Cleo asked in a groan, "What time is it?"
"7 am."
"Oh."
"Oh is right." Strange responded. His heart beat slowing down but his anger did not.
"So after you told me that you were going to bed, you came here to learn about offensive spells, the very spells I said that you were not ready for?" Strange spoke as if Cleo was five years old again.
Cleo did not respond, instead looking down at the table and playing with her hair tie.
After what seemed like a minute, Strange only grew more furious. "Nothing to say at all? That's a change. You know, for a bit I thought that Mordo had broken in somehow and taken you. For a moment, I was so scared and worried about you, I felt so helpless. Do you know how that felt?" Strange said, venom dripping into his words.
Cleo still remained unresponsive.
Strange lowered himself to her eye level. "Not a great feeling." He concluded.
Rising up he glanced once more at the books she had surrounded herself with. To Subdue and Oppress, Conjuring Weapons, Long Distance Combating Spells. Shaking his head, Strange began walking out the library, "Do what you want, you know where I'll be." He called over his shoulders.
Sighing Cleo held her face in her hands, Why do I always disappoint? Cleo Thought. No. I will not disappoint anymore. I will apologize and do what Strange thinks is best. Cleo reasoned and made her way out of the library to the training room.
Sure enough, Strange was in there practicing some spells and incantations. Not paying attention as Cleo entered the room, Strange continued his practice.
Sitting in silence until Strange concluded his routine, he glanced at Cleo as he drank some water, sweat running down his face.
"I'm sorry." Cleo said in a small voice.
"Not enough." Strange responded as he dried his face.
"What more do you want?" Cleo asked from her spot on the floor.
Strange looked at her and made his way to sit in front of her. Not knowing what to say or do, Cleo remained quiet and still.
Strange spoke, "I want you to committee to what I am trying to teach you. I want you to get out of your head and to let others in. I am here to help. I am not here to get in your way or to oppress you. I want to see you grow stronger, I want to teach you offensive spells, but, before I can do any of that, I need you to trust me. I want us to not butt heads at any opportunity. Believe it or not, but I too have lost everything at one point and yet, here I am today."
Cleo quietly asked, "You have?"
Strange gave a small smile, "Yes, and I am more than happy to share but not sitting on the floor." They duo made their way to the study and took a seat in front of the roaring fire. Once seated, Strange began telling Cleo his story.
