The Never-Ending Why: Chapter 23: Drop The Game (Part 3)

Clea was speaking with a fascinating creature called Paradox. She had allies in the Dark Dimension, and Paradox patrolled with a group that were called the "Midnight Sons."

They protected her, and intended to make sure that Stephen had a smooth transition into the Sorcerer Supreme.

The group tried to overthrow Dormammu many times while she was asleep in the dark. Clea was told about them when she took Stephen to meet her father.

Paradox had a void for a face, and he stood three times taller than Clea. She thanked him for getting rid of some mindless, and then she sat down on some debris.

Her world defied gravity. It didn't follow any gravitational law, and there was nothing in it that resembled Stephen's world.

Clea thought about that every now and then. She also kept thinking about something that Stephen said to her before she left. Paradox asked her if she needed anything else from him, and his voice brought her out of the thought.

Clea told him that she needed nothing, and she gave him a kind smile. Paradox went back to his patrol, and Clea continued sitting on a fragment of some dark rock.

It was floating, and Tony suddenly appeared. He brought Stephen's siblings with him, and that suit caught Clea's attention immediately.

She looked up from her thoughts, and stared at the flash of orange that entered her realm. She didn't like that suit, and she thought it was dangerous.

Donna couldn't believe where she was. Everything was floating around, and dark. She looked around for a moment, and then she stared at the woman that took off with Stephen.

Donna couldn't stop looking at her. She was trying her best to understand exactly what she was looking at. Clea was cosmic. She had soft white hair. It settled just passed her shoulders, and everything else reminded Donna of a purple gemstone.

Clea moved a little. She turned her head slightly and Donna noticed that her skin was very different. It looked illuminated. The sister thought that she seemed graceful, and very poised.

Victor spoke first. He took a few steps further than the other two, and he said hello. Clea kept sitting, and she smiled at him. She thought Stephen's brother was adorable.

She remembered what he said to Stephen, and it still moved her in that moment. Clea's focus turned to the other two people that were invading her dimension.

Tony said nothing. He planned to have the siblings talk to her, and his plan was to just facilitate and listen. He currently didn't have the words for Stephen's tinker bell princess, and he was just gathering info.

"We want our brother back. He's been gone for months. We're prepared to challenge Agamotto if we have to."

Baby Victor wasn't bluffing. He wanted Stephen home, and the youngest sibling was ready to scrap. His cute little fighting gloves were officially coming off, and Tony was amused. He watched that teenager make his declaration.

Clea crossed one ankle over the other, and she placed most of her weight onto her hands. She studied the three of them, and maintained her smile.

"Agamotto is teaching him. Stephen does not know how much time has passed for you, in your world."

She wasn't sure how much information to give them. Clea was also navigating Stephen's emotions, and Agamotto's temper. The two of them were upset with one another, and Stephen's mind and body kept getting hurt.

Clea did not want to discourage a possible encounter between Stephen's siblings and Agamotto, but she also didn't want to give them any false hope.

"Can't you just tell him to come home, or is he a prisoner?"

Donna was worried. She felt a great deal of anxiety rise up within her when she thought about the entity, Agamotto. That thing haunted her...

"Stephen is not a prisoner, but I don't think he understands that. He allows Agamotto to overpower him."

"...SO, TELL HIM TO STOP."

Donna raised her voice. In her mind, Stephen coming home was an easy fix. She figured that Clea could just clue Stephen in on the full situation, then presto. She did not want to see Agamotto ever again.

Clea brought her head closer to her right shoulder, and then she uncrossed her feet. Tony was watching her body language. She seemed pretty chill, and unaffected by Donna's demand.

Tinker bell was a sassy little thing, Tony could tell. It seemed like she was hanging out with Stephen a bit too much.

"He will stop, when he is ready. Agamotto is very strict with him. I've been healing him, and trying to help him through it."

Clea decided to stand up. She pushed the debris away from her legs, and she stretched up to her full height. Donna's posture strengthened as well, and she roughly crossed her arms. She really only had one final question for the woman that was helping and "healing" her brother.

"And so... why exactly are you doing that?"

Donna waited for her response, but Tony focused on it a little more than her. He was convinced that the two of them were already together. They seemed very meant-to-be when they interacted at the Kamar taj.

Tony still felt that jealous sting, and he remembered when Stephen wouldn't shut up about her. Tony's instincts about Clea and Stephen were always correct, and the response he heard didn't surprise him at all.

"I believe in your world, I am called his wife. I take care of him, and we bond our magic in many dimensions."

Tony heard that, and he brought his focus downward. Yup. He knew that it wouldn't take them that long. He felt a pretty hefty weight build up in his chest, and he suddenly felt very over the meeting. Donna's voice made him snap back in the moment.

"NO YOU ARE NOT."

Her brother was NOT married. Donna officially heard that lie and snapped. Victor and Tony both had their eyebrows raised upward. Donna was pretty pissed, while Clea seemed unaffected. She didn't have siblings, and any sort of family life was foreign for her.

She didn't understand Donna's behavior, so she gave Stephen's sister a hard look.

"I am his wife. We don't have a term for it in my world."

Clea repeated and asserted her title, but she didn't feel like explaining anything more. Their union was just between her and Stephen.

Clea did not want to speak about it again. She would not explain herself to anyone, ever. Her body language clearly indicated that she was no longer interested in the discussion.

Donna had much more to say to her, but she decided to wait for her damn brother to successfully get a clue. Her gloves finally came off, and she spoke sternly to Clea.

"We are taking Stephen back the instant he leaves that realm. You can either help us accomplish that, or get out of the way."

Donna repeated the same exact gesture that she made when she was in front of Agamotto. She pressed her arms back, and the dark dimension completely disappeared. She was very upset to hear that Stephen was "married" to some surreal looking woman that she didn't even know.

She thought about how much it would upset their mother. They took marriage very seriously, I mean... It was just too much. Donna didn't expect that at all. She ditched Victor and Tony. Donna brought them back to the apartment, and then she went straight to her room.

Victor rubbed the side of his head, while Tony just blankly stared. He was very affected by the news as well, but he did his best not to show it.

"Wanna play DOOM?"

Victor wanted to get back to his video game. He liked Clea, and his brother being married to her was something that he needed to process. Tony looked over at Stephen's baby brat brother.

"Uhh, yeah. Sure."

The news about Stephen friggen crushed his soul again, so he decided that he could not head back to the apartment. The brunette knew that Steve wasn't home, and he really didn't want to be alone.

Tony gave Victor a small smile, then he watched that energetic teen run off toward the living room.

Chapter: END

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