Stephen's attempts to get answers from Mordo didn't go any better.
He was readying to spar with Mordo when he spotted the Ancient One watching the training of the advanced students, wandering between the sparring pairs as she examined each of them intently.
"So, just how ancient is she?" Stephen asked as he strapped on his gloves, and he nodded at the Ancient One to indicate of whom he spoke.
Mordo looked up from where he was fitting on some strange-looking boots and he glanced at the Ancient One briefly before he approached Stephen.
"No one knows the age of the Sorcerer Supreme." Mordo replied quietly. "Not even her adopted daughter. Only that she is Celtic and never talks about her past."
"You follow her even though you don't know?" Stephen asked, surprised and skeptical as he watched Mordo circle him. The master smiled.
"I know that she's steadfast, but unpredictable." Mordo answered calmly. "Merciless, yet kind. She made me what I am."
Mordo suddenly dropped into a crouch, his one arm extended and his other curled near his chest in a familiar battle stance. Stephen reacted instinctively now, months of training showing their impact as he held a similar position while facing Mordo warily. Mordo smiled in approval.
"Trust your teacher." Mordo finished his lecture. "And don't lose your way."
He began to circle again, and Stephen mirrored the man's movements even as he quipped, "Like Kaecilius?"
"That's right." Mordo answered without missing a beat. Stephen's eyes narrowed.
As expected, Mordo lunged forward, his leg swinging in a high roundhouse kick. Stephen dodged before he launched forward, hitting Mordo in the stomach and then pulling him into a tackle even as he let loose his surprise.
"You knew him?" Stephen asked incredulously, shocked at this bit of information. All he'd known was that the man, who had learnt of the Mystic Arts from somewhere that Stephen now realized was Kamar-Taj itself, had broken in and stolen pages from the Book of Cagliostro after killing the former librarian pre-Wong. That he had been a student here, learnt under the Ancient One and possibly even known Maya…
Stephen grunted as Mordo slipped out of his hold and suddenly twisted Stephen around. Stephen grimaced as he found himself in a chokehold, his head locked in Mordo's grasp, while the man explained lowly, "When he first came to us, he'd lost everyone he ever loved. I myself was not yet a student here but I am told he was a grieving and broken man, searching for answers in the Mystic Arts. A brilliant student, but he was proud, headstrong. Questioned the Ancient One, rejected our teaching."
Stephen finally broke free, hitting Mordo in the stomach with his elbow. Mordo grunted as he let go to massage his stomach while Stephen massaged his neck and turned back to face Mordo. The master, knowing what Stephen wanted to know, finished his story.
"He left Kamar-Taj. His disciples followed him like sheep, seduced by false doctrine."
"He stole the forbidden ritual, right?" Stephen checked.
"Yes." Mordo confirmed and Stephen couldn't help himself from asking, "What did it do?"
Mordo turned away.
"No more questions." His tone left no room for argument and Stephen sighed as he faced yet another blocked road. But his interest was quickly piqued again when Mordo grabbed a staff of some kind and faced him once more.
"What's that?" Stephen asked curiously and Mordo held up the staff to Stephen's face.
"That's a question." He teased. Stephen chuckled and Mordo smiled as he held up the staff so it was perpendicular to them while he explained.
"This is a relic. Some magic is too powerful to sustain, so we imbue objects with it. Allowing them to take the strain we can not. This is the Staff of the Living Tribunal."
Mordo took the staff in both hands and suddenly he jerked his hands apart. Instead of breaking, the staff extended, revealing chains that held the staff together like a whip while familiar orange energy sparked. Mordo cracked the whiplike staff at Stephen's feet, making him flinch back automatically, before he twisted his grip just slightly on the staff and it retracted into its sealed state.
"There are many relics." Mordo continued his explanation while Stephen stared at the staff in awe. "The Wand of Watoomb. The Bolting Boots of Voltor."
He tapped his boots together, and orange energy sparked at the contact. Stephen raised a brow.
"They just roll of the tongue, don't they?" He said dryly. "What's Maya's?"
"She has been chosen by the Sash of the Dragonskins." Mordo answered, and Stephen cocked his head.
"'Chosen'?" He repeated and Mordo explained, "The relic decides, not us. Yours will decide in time."
Stephen pouted, clearly having wanted a relic. Mordo's smile widened but he kept his voice stern as he continued their lesson.
"For now, conjure a weapon."
Stephen closed his eyes before he leant back in the same half-lunge position that Maya had shown him in his first ever training session at Kamar-Taj. Mordo's smile was indulgent as he watched Stephen focus as he began to conjure up a Eldritch magic weapon.
Even before the Eldritch whip had fully formed, Mordo lunged. Stephen backed away quickly as he tried to fend off Mordo's aggressive attacks, his whip barely holding against the staff that Mordo wielded.
"Fight!" Mordo yelled, forcing Stephen back even further and Stephen staggered under the sheer brutality of the attack. "Fight like your life depended on it!"
Stephen barely managed to block another attack before Mordo turned away only to suddenly leap into the air. His boots gave him the ability to jump about in the air until he was behind Stephen and he landed a vicious punch right across Stephen's cheek.
Stephen stumbled, falling to the ground in a heap, completely defeated. He grimaced as he pulled himself up into a half-seated position, staring up at Mordo in shock. The master had no trace of amusement on his face now and his face was stern as he looked down at Stephen.
"Because one day, it may." Mordo said in a grim voice that made Stephen blink as he wondered what could possibly be going on through Mordo's mind.
That night, Stephen sat in contemplation of his arguments with Maya and his training with Mordo.
They both annoyed him for differing reasons.
Mordo was easily the nicer of the two but he was so rigid, so… stiff despite how flexible his physical bodies were. As much as Stephen genuinely liked the other man, even considered him a potential friend, it was extremely annoying when Mordo would shoot him down almost instantly the second he tried to take one tiny step further than the Ancient One wanted. The notion of bending the rules to Mordo was apparently like asking someone to chop off their arm. And it was infuriatingly frustrating to Stephen how Mordo, Wong, Maya (really, all the masters) just followed the Ancient One like the sheep Mordo had accused Kaecilius's followers of being.
Then there was Maya. Definitely not as friendly as Mordo with her cutting comments, with his own differences aside, she wasn't a terrible teacher (which coming from him was the highest compliment for another mortal being). She had definitely not liked him or open to his learning the Mystic Arts, but she had shown brief moments over the last months that showed she did, whether grudgingly or not, care about him. The first time was that time two months into his stay when she'd taken care of him after he returned, half-frozen, from the top of Everest. She hadn't said much but she sat with him as he shook like a leaf while trying to warm himself up again. Then, a month later, she'd kicked him too hard in the face and he'd seen the flash of alarm in her eyes when she saw his eye starting to bruise almost instantly. The alarm and the remorse.
And that was another thing - she was harsh but fair. She pushed him but she was never cruel and she was not unkind, even when he wanted to kill her for how much pain she put him through. Not to mention that, while she did not condone his questioning their teachings and despised it when he broke their rules, she was the only master who (to what he suspected was both of their surprise) engaged with him in discussions of the Mystic Arts. She refused to go into topics he had yet to learn, but she alone showed flexibility in expanding on anything he found confusing from things he had started to learn and she would debate with him in great detail and length on the many facets of the Mystic Arts… until he asked a too probing question.
Then, Maya would shut down and cut him off. He still remembered the first time it had really happened.
"So, what you're saying is, there are even books that are relics?" Stephen questioned. Where before his tone would have been coloured with disbelief, now there was only curiosity and a thirst for knowledge.
Maya's lip curled into the faintest hint of a smile at his question, although nothing else suggested her amusement. Her hands were tucked into the wide sleeves of her navy robes while she reclined back in her chair, the yellow sash she always wore tucked neatly to her side.
"Of course." She answered her student calmly, reminding him briefly of the Ancient One even if Maya rarely managed to quite exude the same serenity that the Ancient One seemed to command at all times.
"There are many books on spells, knowledge of the Mystic Arts and the many forms they have taken, even the teachings of Agamotto himself. These are the books that you seem to be inhaling."
Stephen grinned, unable to hide his smugness when Maya leveled an amused (for her, at least) look at him. It was no secret now in Kamar-Taj that Stephen was literally flying through all the books in the library; most shockingly, he retained every page, every line, every word he read. Stephen knew Maya suspected the secret to his seemingly astounding memory, but she had yet to question him on it so he didn't speak of it either.
"But there are some books that are far more powerful than others. Whether it is because of the power the book itself holds or for the knowledge within."
"Knowledge is power." Stephen said thoughtfully and Maya nodded.
"Exactly. There is a reason the biblical tales mention eating the forbidden fruit of knowledge as the first sin, the original or cardinal sin. Knowledge can be powerful, again the reason the Christian God is depicted as all-knowing, but it is also dangerous in the wrong hands. For the same reason, these spells and ancient rituals are kept safe in relics, in books that are guarded carefully against people who would misuse them as they might with any relic."
"Books… like the book of Cagliostro?" Stephen couldn't help but probe.
Maya's face immediately closed as if a curtain had been sharply drawn. Stephen knew instantly that he had pushed too far, but he couldn't hide his disappointment when Maya stood up and turned away from him.
"You will be late for your training with Master Mordo - and tardiness is not condoned at Kamar-Taj."
With that, Maya had walked out of the study, leaving a very frustrated Stephen behind as he watched her go.
That was what he found most irritating about Maya, Stephen decided.
Not even her initial dislike of him really bothered him, there had been plenty of people back at the Metro-General Hospital who didn't like him (he thought darkly of Dr. Nicodemus West) and it had never deterred him as long as he could show them he was better. But the way Maya was just as immovable in speeding up his learning, the way she refused to even contemplate his questions on the natural law, it infuriated him because he could see the potential. He could see that she could be far more open-minded than she was pretending (or maybe she really thought) she was.
But at the same time, that was why, despite everything… he liked her.
Her no-nonsense and honest attitude was refreshing when it wasn't annoying and when she deigned to engage with him on topics related to the Mystic Arts, she was actually quite fun to talk to. She was sharp, clever and highly experienced, stimulating his intellect as little had for so long that he'd forgotten the feeling, the elation and exuberation in fierce but well-structured debates. Although Stephen did notice that for a woman over thirty her knowledge of the real world outside Kamar-Taj seemed rather limited. Not knowing who Chuck Mangione was he could forgive but who didn't know the Beatles for crying out loud?
If it had been anyone else, he'd probably have walked away at once, but with Maya Stephen found it highly entertaining to see the contrast between her deep mystical knowledge and her very superficial knowledge of the world outside. If only she would stop acting like she had a stick up her backside, Stephen thought they could even be friends.
The next day saw what was the worst argument yet between Maya and Stephen.
"Bevakupha! Ingrate! Reckless fool!" Maya raged at Stephen, who stood properly admonished although that didn't stop the anger rising when she continued to yell at him.
"What were you thinking?! Do you realize what you could have done?!"
"It wouldn't have hurt anyone." Stephen muttered.
Maya, now calmer but no less angry, said coldly, "You would have been hurt. You could have died, Strange."
"Oh, don't pretend you care." Stephen snapped, glaring at her as his own anger clouded his mind and his swallowed past disappointments blew up. "You don't like me, you never even wanted to teach me! Why does it matter to you if I tried to enter the astral plane?"
He'd just wanted to try it - to expand his knowledge and powers, to be prepared. After his spar with Mordo, Stephen had been more curious about the Mystic Arts than ever before and he admitted he might have been a little reckless… but he'd succeeded hadn't he?
"Because you are my student and I am your master."
Maya's voice was cutting and sharp as she fixed him with a hard look.
"It is not just your burden to bear my teachings, Strange. Relationships are two-way streets and it is my burden to teach you the best that I can. I may not have wanted to teach you at first, but I committed to it and I will not shy away from the responsibilities that places on me. This includes keeping you from harm, including from yourself! Do you realize that if I hadn't found you, you might have been stuck on the astral plane with no idea how to get back?"
Okay, so there had been that. But Stephen was convinced he would have somehow figured out how to get back - it wasn't exactly rocket science to re-enter his body as he rechanted the spell, was it? He was sure he'd have thought of it… eventually.
Maya seemed to know exactly what he was thinking and her eyes narrowed.
"You claim to be clever, well-read, perhaps even consider yourself perfect and untouchable; and yet you consistently repeat the mistakes that your forefathers have told of for centuries." She snapped at him. "The cardinal sin, Pandora's box-"
"It was more of a storage jar the silly woman opened, than a box." Stephen muttered and Maya blew up on him.
"Do you even understand the weight of the consequences your actions can bring? Do you realize the depth of the art, the world, that you just beginning to scratch the surface of?" She railed at him. "You think Pandora an idiot for opening that box, yet you do not realize you are repeating her exact actions! You do not realize you could unleash something far worse than sickness or death!"
"Well, she also released Hope, didn't she?" Stephen said scathingly. "There is always a balance, Mordo's always talking about it when he talks about the Natural Law! So how will you, any of you, know that there isn't something more if you're not willing to push the boundaries?"
Something in Maya seemed to snap when he spoke of balance and boundaries and she suddenly sighed, rubbing her eyes tiredly. Stephen, despite his own frustrations and irritation, felt a stab of guilt when she raised those amber eyes to him, the weariness in them concerning him.
"Stephen."
He started again at the use of his first name, which she seemed to use only when she was being deadly serious with him.
"You are right - but there is a reason we tell you to follow the rules, to slow down." She told him gravely, looking in that moment a lot older than her thirty-odd years as she seemed to shoulder the weight of the world itself.
"I understand that you think you can handle it, but you cannot throw yourself at the Mystic Arts. There are dangers you are not yet aware of, dangers not just to others but to you. We keep those from you because we want you to learn the proper foundations first but when you leap on ahead like that on your own you are risking far more than your life. You risk your mind, your very existence - your soul. Do you understand?"
Stephen shrugged in response, not really wanting to commit to an answer. She eyed him closely.
"Where did you even learn to project yourself into the astral plane?" She asked him slowly and Stephen shifted uncomfortably under her searching look.
Maya sighed and shook her head.
"You will be the death of me, Strange." She muttered before she said more loudly and sternly, "Return the book to the library and don't even think of conjuring a gateway into the library again or I will confiscate your sling ring."
At Stephen's scowl she sighed again.
"Stephen."
He grumbled but met her gaze once more; and Stephen was startled to find those amber eyes filled with concern as they had been very few times since his return from Mt. Everest. Maya did not usually wear her fears on her face, let alone on her sleeve, and he finally realized just how serious she was being.
"I know we started off on the wrong foot and I don't make it easy for you." She said quietly. "But trust me when I say that I speak only because I am truly worried about you."
"Worried that I will become like Kaecilius?" Stephen asked snarkily before he could help himself.
Her eyes darkened even as surprise flickered across her face; apparently she hadn't known Stephen knew about Kaecilius let alone that he'd easily put two and two together to guess the root of her initial apprehension of him. But her tone was even as she replied, "Yes."
He blinked, startled at her bare-faced honesty, and Maya continued, "He didn't know what he was getting himself into. I fear you will be tempted the way he was if you continue on this path. I'm not trying to discourage your learning, believe me. We will share everything with you when it becomes appropriate, if you still wish to learn it. But rules are there for reasons and steps are enforced for the same reason a medical student is not told to operate on a real patient the first time they are given a scalpel."
Her eyes searched his as she looked for some understanding on his end.
Stephen nodded, unconvinced but grudgingly agreeing… for the moment. Maya seemed to see this and she shook her head as she dismissed him. He walked away first for once, leaving her standing in the corner of Kamar-Taj where he had hidden to practice his advanced work on his own. It never occured to Stephen until many months later to question how Maya had found him so quickly in the first place.