Zira looked around at where she was.

"Greenwich Village?" she said out loud. "You brought us to Greenwich Village?"

"Hey, don't knock the sanctum," Stephen said, a little dejected. They walked up the steps and to the door, which opened as they cleared the final step. Standing in front of them was an older Asian man with no hair, dressed in a tunic similar to Stephens.

"Welcome back, Strange," the man said, his voice only slightly tinged with an accent. "Is this the student?"

"Zira, this is Wong. Wong, Zira," Stephen said by way of introduction. Wong looked at her with a stoic expression on his face. Hesitantly, she held out her hand.

"Nice to meet you," she said. He didn't take it.

"Will she be here or in Kamar Taj?" Wong asked, looking back at Stephen.

"Kamar Taj for now," Stephen said. "She can come back when she's ready...or if she decides to leave us."

"Decides?"

"I'm on a year-long trial run," Zira explained. Wong looked at her with a confused expression on his face but didn't question further. Instead, he motioned for her to follow him, with Stephen leading the way.

She was led to a huge wooden door somewhere in the back of the house. It was simple, yet Zira couldn't shake the feeling that there was something different about it. She stopped and stared at it, causing Stephen and Wong to turn and look at her.

"Something wrong?" Stephen asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"I...just have a….TARDIS feeling right now," she said.

"A what?" Wong asked.

"The TARDIS...from Doctor Who," Zira went on, still looking at the door. "You know...bigger on the inside kind of thing." Wong just stared at her blankly. Zira looked at him, shocked. "You've never seen Doctor Who?"

"He hasn't seen a lot of things," Stephen said, stepping in. "We're still working on it." They walked in and a glance out a nearby window revealed that this was definitely nowhere in the US.

"Is this…?"

"Welcome to Kamar Taj, in the busy streets of Kathmandu," Wong said. Throughout the compound, she could hear students practicing and sparring, and the magical energy around her was practically vibrating. Wong led her to one of the small dorm rooms. It was simply furnished, with a desk and chair, bed, and a trunk at the foot of the bed. Wong walked over and lit some incense near the window. Once he did, he wordlessly handed her a piece of paper. Zira, who had dumped her bags on her bed, opened the piece of paper.

"Shambala? What is this, my mantra?" she asked. Wong turned around and looked at her, serious.

"I said the same thing when I came here," Stephen said from the door.

"So…."

"It's the wifi password," he said. Zira frowned and pulled out her phone. Sure enough, she was getting a wifi signal.

"Wifi...here?"

"We're not completely behind the times," Stephen pointed out with a grin. He then waved his hand and Zira's trunk opened. Inside was a cream tunic and pants, brown boots, and a matching belt.

"Well damn, I'm a padawan," Zira said, lifting the tunic up and looking at it.

"You'll want to tie your hair back as well. Leaving it loose like that, despite it being very pretty, will only get in your way when it comes to sparring," Stephen commented. Zira turned sharply, giving him a surprised look when he said 'pretty'.

"You think it's pretty?" she asked.

"Sure. It's definitely not a common natural color, and I take it it's a direct result of the incident you had back at the hospital when you were younger," he said.

"Did Professor Xavier say something about it?" she asked.

"No, but I remember it was on the news. I put two and two together when I saw you and you told me your name," Stephen answered. "Anyway, get changed. Dinner will be soon." Backed out, pulling the door shut as he did. Zira sighed and looked out the window. Kathmandu was beautiful, and she had to wonder if the people knew exactly what laid right in the heart of their city.

XXXXXX

This silver-haired girl hated me for so long, and I was given a year to win her over. I guess I should be thankful for that, at least. An untrained sorcerer was just as dangerous as an untrained mutant, perhaps even more so since there is almost no limit to what we can do. I was struggling to remember who her mother was even after she told me. My shock was because I recognized her name. That story was headline news for weeks after it happened, and it almost destroyed Metro General.

There was something about her, though. Charles had sent me her transcripts and she was a brilliant student. She had the best grades, showed signs of having a photographic memory, and was a master strategist. I was even more shocked at the videos of training he had sent me. There was no question in my mind that she was meant for the mystic arts. Having that ability so young and naturally was rare. Mordo and Wong were surprised when they figured out I had that ability.

Regardless, I had to help this girl. I figured that if I could at least get her to learn from me, she didn't really have to like me. If I could get her to control what she could do in a year, that would be a win. If she ended up trusting me or even liking me, that's an even bigger win.

Once we were back in Kamar Taj I looked up the name she had mentioned, and it all came flooding back to me. I had seen this case, and I hadn't been interested in it. The old me would have been uninterested for it being too low-profile. Saving a mother from a brain aneurysm was nothing new in the surgical field, and I was all about being able to do the difficult or the impossible. In hindsight, I probably could have saved this woman easily and it would have done wonders for my reputation...Christ, I still think like that? No wonder I'm worried that I won't get this girl to trust me.

Zira Moran is probably going to be my greatest challenge yet, and I hate backing down from a challenge. I have to complete it and at least get her trained up as a sorcerer. I can almost hear the Ancient One in my mind, reminding me that I was doubtful, proud, and difficult when I was a student. I can't help but wonder if she's going to be as difficult as I was. If she is, then look out Kamar Taj: here comes Stephen Strange version 2.0.