Chapter Three: Cry for Help
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There was no sound, no feeling of magic.
No warning.
She couldn't move, not even as the blade fell centimeters away from her chin. Doctor Strange was still for a moment, his face furious, before he let the blade fall to the floor. It transfigured back into a thin pillar candle.
As quickly as the spell had frozen her, she found herself able to move again. She stumbled back a few steps before instinctively wiping under her eyes.
"My apologies," he seemed to untense. "I did not think you would sneak up behind me."
She made sure she would stop crying before speaking, "I tried to get your attention."
"I didn't mean to scare you," he stood.
She hadn't noticed before, but he was tall. He was at least half a foot taller than her. It was a long time before he spoke once again.
"Are you feeling better?"
She also noticed the power that he commanded when he spoke.
"Better, Mr. Strange." Until you almost cut off my face.
"You can call me Doctor Strange, or Stephen," he offered. "No one calls me mister."
"Okay," she paused. "You wanted me down here?"
"Yes, yes," Doctor Strange gestured to one of the mats on the floor. "Please sit. Watch the candles."
She didn't feel much like having to pass him, where she couldn't see him, but she figured if he had wanted to stab her he would have. How much power does it take to summon a weapon? She thought as she sat down. And how much more does it take to stop someone from defending themselves?
Her flames hadn't even come out.
She sat knees down and regretted it, the mat felt like the floor. There was no way she was going to sit cross-legged and decided to suffer. Seemed like the thing to do.
"So," the Doctor sat across from her. "I'm sure you have many questions, and I can try and answer them as best as I can. I need you to understand the situation you are in first. No one has yet died as a result of your powers, but that can't be guaranteed if you leave now."
She swallowed, ran her tongue across her top teeth and said, "Where do I have to go?"
"You are welcome to remain here, at the Sanctum Sanctorum and myself and Wong will work together to help you take control of your abilities. I may require your assistance on some matters I-"
"What kind of matters?" She cut him off. "Magical matters? Creating weapons? Freezing people so you can stab them?"
She hadn't meant to say that. Putting her foot in her mouth was her second magical ability.
"No," he said. "You will be stabbing them."
She felt her eyes widen and he smirked. She wanted to kick him.
"I will never ask you to freeze anyone so I can do them bodily harm. You will most likely not be leaving the Sanctum on any 'magical matters' for some time. I am afraid that learning magic will take you several years to master, even under my tutelage." He held up a hand, she winced before she saw he was gently guiding a tray of tea from a distant table.
The door to the room was cracked, she felt her heart jump, who had just been at the door?
"Wong must have snuck in while we were distracted. He gets sneakier every day I swear." Doctor Strange began pouring tea for the both of them. He picked up a chipped mug and handed it to her.
"Who is Wong?" She didn't think drinking the tea was a good idea, but she accepted the cup anyway. "Your chef?"
"In some ways Wong is my master," he took a deep drink and sighed.
"That didn't answer my question," she put the cup beside her. She thought that there must be a magical spell that allowed him to drink scalding tea.
"He is my housekeeper. He is a well-trained martial arts instructor. He keeps my libraries in good hands. He continues to curate mystical and occult artifacts despite my insistence we have too many. He is the person that allows me to do my job."
"What is your job? Taking in pyromaniac teenagers?"
"If only," he rolled his shoulders. "My job is to protect the world from outside threats. You know who the Avengers are?"
"Yeah," she was starting to get curious. "A bunch of badasses who protect the world, or try."
"Language, please." Doctor Strange stood, she slid back a little. "I protect the world from threats the Avengers could not even imagine. You need to understand that. You will see things that your nightmares could not dream up. Training will take over your entire life, school will have to come second, unfortunately. I may not be here to train you much of the time, so I will expect indepen-"
"I don't care," she said. She stood up, although she was so short it didn't change much. "I'm used to being alone anyway."
He paused. He gave her a look that made her feel like she was an amputated dog with wheels for legs.
"Don't look at me like that," she snapped. "Can we get started?"
"Not today," he said. He was still giving her the look. "I think you need to go to your room and rest."
"Like I'm getting any sleep today," she muttered. "Can I have something to read, maybe you have a copy of what you were going to say lying around? Maybe The Key of Solomon or Magic for Morons? Little House on the Prairie?"
The Doctor's eyes narrowed, "If you are looking for something to help you sleep you can try Classical Sanskrit."
"I don't want to sleep, I want to learn." Her hands clenched.
His eye twitched. "Considering that an hour ago you were having a panic attack in your room I think it would be best if you went to bed."
"Considering that I'm better now I think we should take advantage of our time together before it happens again." She felt her frustration build to anger, which then turned to dread and fear when she saw his hand reach out to her. She cowered when he reached the top of her head and gently brushed at it, collecting some of the flames that had appeared before blowing them away.
He was watching her closely. "I would never hit you."
Her lips closed tightly, she wished she had just left when she could have. Maybe just have stayed in her room or purposefully have gotten herself lost.
"Thank you for your assurance, I'll leave," she said. She didn't dare look him in the eye as she moved past him.
"Wait."
She turned back around, the cloak was unwrapping itself from Stephen and glided across the floor to her.
"Pick something." He stood perfectly still.
"Sorry?" She said, although she had heard him perfectly.
"Pick one item in this room and I will tell you what it does, then I will supply you with the materials you need to study from this week and you will go back to your room." His face was kind, but not so pitying that she wanted to punch him.
"Okay," she looked around the room. The cloak sat itself on her shoulders and covered her arms, like a hug. Squinting in the dimming light until she saw something that caught her eye. A large bright orb sat floating above a desk, a oval covering flipped over the side. "What is that?"
He turned to look and smiled, "The Orb of Agamotto." He gestured for her to come closer as he strode across the room to the object. She followed carefully behind him so she wouldn't catch her skirts on fire. She would have stayed further back, but she wanted to get as close as she could, so she moved to stand beside him. "It is my scrying tool, how I see the happenings of this universe and others, it can also help me transport myself to places of magical interest."
"What were you looking at?" The top was off, so he must have been looking at something. She dared to move closer, to look more carefully at the orb. She only saw swirling colors and shapes, nothing familiar to her. Although if the orb could show her other universes, she supposed there would be many places she would see that would make no sense to her.
"Another dimension," he said before reaching over to cover the orb. "A place I need to be."
"What about me?"
He looked down at her, before giving her a small smile. "I am afraid you will not be traveling dimensions with me for some time. If you had listened to my speech you would have heard this."
She glared at him.
"Let me gather your books. May I ask you to blow out the candles before we leave?" He left her to start looking over at piles, moving stacks and collecting.
"Okay," she said as she walked over to the nearest pile of candles. "Least I can do."
As she began to blow out candles she started feeling numb again. She supposed it was all the smoke, but as she approached the last candle she started having urges. She wanted to touch the flames. Make them bigger. She knew she could, just one touch and she could make the whole candelabra burst into flames.
Jerking herself out of her stupor she realized she was standing dead still in front of a candle. She didn't need to look behind her to know the Doctor was looking at her. Leaning forward she took a deep breath and watched the candle go up in smoke.
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Author's Note
What's up? Sorry this is late-ish. Although I never said when I would update again, so it doesn't count as late I guess? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
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