Casey leaned back on the smooth wooden bench, her legs folded up crisscross as she looked around at the others at the table. They had fed her a great breakfast with eggs and bacon and tofu and rice and some stuff that she still didn't know the name of. She had meant to ask, but they had been so willing to tell her stories about Stephen that she had forgotten to bother. He had never thought to mention to her that he had been an absolutely awful student at first. But if he thought he was going to try the 'toss you on Mount Everest' approach when it came to training her how to use the sling ring, he was going to be in for an event.

"So…this is like wizarding school." She waved a hand at the carved ceiling and smiled at the woman across from her. She had mahogany skin, short black hair, and light brown eyes, plus a wry smirk. Her name was Lesedi, and she was probably around thirty?

"It's a place for us to hone our art," Lesedi said.

"Definitely magic school," said Martin, grinning. He was sitting to her right, a bowl of eggs at his elbow. He was in his mid-twenties, and with glasses, floppy brown hair, and his skinny frame, he looked like he had escaped an office building somewhere. "Like the Jedi Academy on Coruscant. Cool, right?"

The way Lesedi stared implied she was less than amused. "Don't disrespect is, Martin."

"I'm calling it as I see it."

"It's something," Casey said, "Do you think we could go on a tour?" The courtyard and the cafeteria were neat, but she wanted to see more of the place. There was a library somewhere, and while reading wasn't her favorite pastime, she could make an exception for magic books.

Martin and Lesedi glanced at each other. Lesedi shook her head. "I don't know. It's not really a place for playing around."

Casey frowned. She was almost sixteen, not six. In a couple months, she would officially be sixteen. "I live in the Sanctum in New York, I think I can handle not breaking anything here." The incident with the Blessed Vase of Janus wouldn't be coming up in conversation, and besides, she hadn't been playing with it. She had bumped into its base by accident, and well, Stephen had all the pieces in a box. Somewhere.

"Come on, Lesedi," Martin said, "It'll be fine. We'll just walk and talk, it's not like we're taking her to the relics room and letting her loose."

Ooo, a relics room…

"I suppose that will be all right."

Casey smiled and slid off the bench, grabbing one last piece of bread before looking at Martin expectantly. "Ready?"

"Can't we finish breakfast first?"

"I don't know when Stephen's going to finish talking to Wong, and he'll probably want to go home after that." He had said she could talk to Wong but was a school night, and he actually did try to make sure she went to bed by ten, which was ridiculous. She could stay up to at least midnight without it messing with her ability to do school work. Stephen was probably eating with Wong, right? Huh… She'd make sure he had something before they left, or they would have to stop by a deli or something when they got back to New York.

"I'd like to finish breakfast…" Martin said, giving his bowl of rice a longing look.

"You wanted to give this tour, so we are taking the girl on a tour." Lesedi reached over, grabbed Martin's bowl, and added it to the tray of dirty dishes at the end of their table. She stood up and nodded toward the doorway. "Let's go."

Martin and Lesedi led Casey down a few hallways, explaining some of the artifacts and art along the way. "And that painting always puts you in it when you pass by, and that helmet over there belonged to a 10th century Chinese warrior, and—"

"And you guys all live here, right?" Casey asked, "Like, you're boarding students."

"Yes, basically," Martin said, "I've been here for four years, right after I dropped out of college."

"Seven years," Lesedi said quietly, "And there is still so much for me to learn."

Casey blinked. "How long did Stephen stay here?"

"A few months, maybe six?" Martin answered, "Pretty short amount of time, but he was a quick learner after he finally got the hang of it. They're talking about making him the Sorcerer Supreme."

"It's just a rumor," Lesedi said quickly.

Not like she knew what a Sorcerer Supreme was anyways. Wait, but if they had been here for so long…how had Stephen learned so much in such a short amount of time? Was he just that stubborn and clever? Ugh, no wonder he could be insufferable about how much he knew and she didn't sometimes. She was going to have to do some serious prying when they got back to the Sanctum.

"Most people stay here for three years," Lesedi said, "But some of us feel the need to stay longer."

"Me, for instance," Martin said, "Because I just can't figure out this one particular dream dimension, and I really want to know more…"

"I still don't get the whole multiverse thing," Casey said, shaking her head, "It's hard to wrap my head around it."

"Wait until you get to the Mirrorverse," Martin said cheerfully, "Then it gets even more confusing!"

"Joy," Casey said, though she was instantly curious.

"It's called the Mirror Dimension," Lesedi said. She gave Martin a disdainful look, obviously disapproving of the nickname.

Martin shrugged. "Mirrorverse sounds cooler."

"Agreed," Casey said.

The tour continued down more corridors and hallways until they left the main building and entered another one, crossing through a stone-paved courtyard to get there. Martin and Lesedi hesitated at the doorway, and Casey had to stop short to keep from bumping into Lesedi.

"Where're we?" The door wasn't giving away any hints on the surface, but with her true sight glasses, she could see that there were a myriad of spells on the door. Protective ones, if she had to guess. Lately, she had been trying to teach herself how to turn the glasses True Sight on and off; the amount of "Are we supposed to be here?"

"It's the library," Martin said. He shifted his weight from foot to foot and then shook his head. "Shouldn't chance it."

"But it's just a library…"

"Oh hell no," Martin said. He waved both his hands in the air and stepped away from the door. "That's Wong's library. It's the opposite of just a library."

Wow, Wong must've been one scary librarian. Casey glanced at Lesedi. "Are you sure we can't go in?"

"It isn't a good idea if Wong isn't there," Lesedi replied. "We should wait for this part of your tour until he's finished talking with Strange."

Which meant she probably wouldn't see it this time. Casey sighed and rolled her eyes. "All right…"

They left the library and walked through some of the outdoor sections of the…school? Retreat? Resort for the weird? And now she was one of the weird. Casey wasn't sure which one was the best fit. Again, she only had more questions for Stephen.

Wandering through the courtyards eventually led them to a large square area where some people were watching a magic sparring match, two versus one. Her eyes widened as one guy leapt into the air and then came down in a shower of yellow and orange sparks, a sword of light in his hands. It crashed against a woman's light whip, and the two of them spun across the courtyard as the third opponent, a tiny woman, came rushing in to attack the other woman's side.

"Get her, Flo!" Martin shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth.

"Maybe this isn't a good time to be here," Lesedi said, stepping somewhere in front of Casey.

"No, this is awesome," Casey declared, moving around Lesedi. Now this seemed like useful magic. If she had been able to do stuff like this, if she had known it existed, maybe her Gramps wouldn't… She stared at the fight, drinking it and all of the possibilities in. She darted over to the others who were watching the fight, using her small size to squeeze in between a couple tall guys.

The tall woman slashed at the man and then the brunette lady, her blows powerful as she wielded her whip. The man moved back, but the tiny brunette rushed forward, slashing with a pair of magic knives. Someone let loose a stream of water, and it was fought off with a wave of water. Really, there was a lot going on, and Casey couldn't keep up with who was doing what.

"They're going to get in trouble," Martin said in an amused matter-of-fact tone. He had wound up close to Casey. "They shouldn't be using fire and water like that."

"Why not?" she asked, not taking her eyes off the fight.

"It's dangerous if they aren't careful," Lesedi said, "Plus, laws of nature. But it's just for practice. They're highly trained, but even so…"

As if to underscore her words, the entire courtyard suddenly filled with steam as fire and water rushed at each other again at full blast. Casey yelped and took a step back, but there was so much steam, she couldn't see except for flashes of muted yellow. She was about to reach out for Martin when those yellow lights rushed toward her and the other spectators.

"Watch it!" someone shouted, and she winced as the people around her tossed up shields. Ah, yet another thing she didn't know. Instead, she ducked, dropping to one knee as if she was catching a grounder, and she covered her head.

"Nice form."

After a moment, she glanced up, dropping her arms. Stephen was standing in front of her, a large shield blocking all of the spectators from whatever magic had been tossed at them on accident. His tone was wry with just a touch of irritated worry. "Did you get bored?"

Casey stood up and brushed off her knee. "I took a tour."

He looked down at her, one eyebrow raised. "And nearly having your head taken off was a part of the package?"

She grinned. "Must've been in the fine print."