The Book Keeper
by TimeAndLife21
Chapter 9
It had been three days since the incident. It had turned out a student had been trying to open a portal to Iceland, but unfortunately (and somehow) managed to open a portal to another dimension that wasn't of this world. Which explained the demonic eyes that Stephen saw through said portal. Anaiah was in the vicinity when the incident happened and her quick thinking managed to make sure that Kamar-Taj (or this dimension to be put more accurately) wasn't broken into.
It came to him as a surprise that Anaiah knew how to deal with certain demonic entities. The relic she had (the white cross) was picked up by Mordo and place back in her chambers. When Stephen asked about it, Mordo simply replied that, "Anaiah is a strange Sorceress. Her relics contradict each other, but compliment her at the same time."
Stephen decided to do some research on her relics, of course, what he did was that he borrowed the books from the library and then trekked back to the Healing chambers to be in Anaiah's room.
He entered Anaiah's temporary room with the two books under his arms. His eyes automatically went to the site of her injuries. She was heavily bandaged around her torso, showing that she was tenderly cared for. Her hair was spread like a halo from the pillow and her skin was still an ashen pale. Her eyes were closed and he noticed that she had rather long lashes that brushed against her skin. He hadn't noticed that before.
He took a seat by her side and placed the books on the side table. He honestly didn't have any words to say to her unconscious state. His eyes wandered up and down her body, unconsciously making mental notes if there was any other injury that was on her body.
And he did find some scars on her. Some on her bared arms that looked like lightning scars, he noted that there was a long jagged scar that was slashed across her throat, and various other scarrings as well. What did she go through to gain these scars? He wondered.
He was lost in his mind before he heard someone.
"She will be fine, Doctor." The voice of the Ancient One spoke.
He looked away from Anaiah and turned to see the Ancient One carrying a small bowl and a white washcloth.
"She hasn't woken up…" He said softly.
"That is because she used everything she had to keep the demon from entering this dimension. This isn't the first time she has done this, nor will it be the last." She spoke as she went to the other side of the bed and sat in a chair.
She placed the bowl on the side table and wetted the washcloth in the bowl. She wringed it out before placing it onto Anaiah's forehead. He noticed that the Ancient One tended to her like a worried mother would to her child. She wasn't just an apprentice to her.
"Anaiah has always put herself in harm's way to protect those who are weak." The Ancient one spoke.
This caught his attention. He looked up and saw the pensive look on the Ancient One's face and came to a conclusion that He may be getting some sort of information about Anaiah.
"It has always been her way to protect even those who know nothing of the mystic arts." The Ancient One spoke before turning to him.
Abashed, he looked to the window. Granted, he has been better in his spell work, and he was going to be working with the Ancient One soon to learn much more. But per order of the Ancient One and Anaiah, he had to give himself a break from all the work he has been doing. He was still an apprentice. If he could even reach a level of Mastery like Anaiah and The Ancient one, he would have to follow their rules and their paths. Of course, he was more of a 'march to the beat of his own drum' kinda guy, but he would try.
"You know, Doctor Strange, Anaiah has told me that you have been rather...adamant of advancing yourself. I will not discourage my apprentices and students to take themselves to higher learning, if they would allow themselves to take in the knowledge one sip at a time. Take in too much, you would find yourself sick in no time." She pointed out.
"I…" He was going to speak, but the Ancient One Continued.
"Your thirst for knowledge is admirable...but you need to also relax and let the Mystic Arts come to you slowly. Anaiah was the same way when she was a child." She strained to smile.
"She was?" He quirked an eyebrow.
"Yes. She would devour book after book, practice spell after spell, when she got violently sick from drawing too much magic to herself." The Ancient One looked at Anaiah with fondness. " She was forced to have bed rest for a month as she would recuperate. Now, she would meditate at least every three days to a week to make sure she doesn't get sick like that again."
"Even though she showed an extreme aptitude of magic, she needed rest for her body to handle the changes the Mystical Arts can do to her body." She spoke before taking the towel off of her forehead and wetting it again.
"It's that hard? Even if I master everything that you are teaching me, It would impact my health like that?" He furrowed his brow.
"Even the most experienced of Sorcerers and Sorceresses would rest from constant usage of the Mystic Arts. Say that you would hold up an Illusion for a prolonged period of time, You used said illusion to disguise yourself. You are constantly drawing magic into yourself to hold this illusion. You body would eventually fall into a coma to rest and 'breathe' after so long being under such magic for so long." She explained.
He never thought of it that way. He thought that Magic was just something that he could draw on to be able to heal his hands, but he learned so much more. He learned so much more that he forgot why he was here. He looked at Anaiah. She exhausted herself to keep that demon out of this dimension that the magic she was using took up her energy. Not just the fact that she got injured while doing so.
"This is why we promote meditation and rest after such an extreme regime of our practices." She smiled at him. "You still have much to learn Doctor Strange. I admire your thirst of knowledge and passion to succeed. But Be warned, those who delve too deep into the Mystic Arts will forget reality."
He had a feeling that she was telling him this because of Kaecillius. He learned snippets of his deflection and may have went mad to bring other realities to this one. He would heed this warning, if only to understand the Mystic Arts a little bit better.
She left not long after that. Leaving him with Anaiah's sleeping body. He really hoped that she would wake up soon. He had more questions than answers when he spoke with the ancient one. Not to mention he still wanted to apologize.
"I hope you wake up soon…" He spoke softly before getting up and leaving.
He figured that maybe a day of meditation and rest might clear his mind.
TAL21: I wanted to point out that I came to a conclusion that learning and Practicing the Mystic Arts would take a toll on the body. Not to mention that I drew on a bit from Loki and how he used his magic (I would suggest you go to Youtube to listen to The Film Theorist's theory go how magic and science may be one and the same in the marvel universe, there is a bit of insight for it) and I based Anaiah's magic a little bit from Dante's Inferno (The Cross and the Scythe respectively) and of course, Loki himself. From what it looks like normal humans can use magic in the Marvel Universe (Pangborn only used small amounts of magic to be 'healed' so to speak and it didn't impact him as much) but they can tire themselves out by using so much. How Loki would use magic (Because of his heritage as a Jotun and an Aesir) he has a larger stamina and the like to use his magic much more often than the 'mortals' on Midgard. For those of you that are new to the story (and if you paid attention to previous chapters) Anaiah is Loki's Granddaughter. Her mysterious past will be revealed in the future so you can see how the Mystic Arts affects her just a bit more than the average mortal, i.e.: The Ancient One, Doctor Strange, etc. Plus, I enjoy the fact that Stephen would have to literally be forced to take a break in his practices. XD I may make a one-shot separate from this to point it all out. XD Onto the Shout outs!
Dovahstav: I'm glad that you enjoyed this story! I always wondered what his life was like during his training stages from the beginning to the end. XD As for Anaiah, she is a bit Happy go lucky with a bit of sternness that she acquired over the years, and yes, she is bad ass when she absolutely has to. Just wait till I get to the scenes when She and Stephen are fighting the Zealots and Kaecillius. She is dangerous. XD
Mira SeverusSirius Black-Snape: Eventually Anaiah and Stephen will be a couple, but that won't be for a while. XD Don't worry there's going to be some sort of attraction and tension between Anaiah and Stephen. So there will be fluff and a bit of romance between them, but that will probably be far and few in between. XD
Extended Experience: I will take you advice and as a bit more of the physical reactions in this story. Sometimes I forget that I'm trying not to make longer chapters (and trust me, Shorter chapters means less stress for me and easier on my brain for deadline to make more chapters) so my descriptions can be lacking. I will do my best to make them better. :)
GetLegsBish-Aiya: Yup. Stephen is worried about Anaiah. And It is sweet in his own way. The only other woman who can handle his crap would be Christine, but she isn't around. So Anaiah is picking up the slack. XD
Guest: I would definitely say that there should be a warning. All the lights and the trippy imagery gave my friend a headache because we didn't get there early enough to get good seats. Me on the other hand, I relished in it. XD I guess with my Brain being so fast paced, I caught up with it pretty quickly. But still, Some of those scenes felt like I was high without the drugs. XD So not drugs for me. XD I'm glad you enjoyed the movie and my story so far! I hope to hear more from you!
TAL21: Well thats it for the Shout Outs! I hope you guys liked this short chapter (and sorry that it took me so long, I was in Utah and I went to a BYU game and it was awesome! We Won! And I hung out with my Brother's family and got to see my niece and Nephew. Such cute little brats that they are. XD Anyways, I think I'll be making some one-shots that may be the precursor to the Doctor Strange Movie. Featuring Anaiah, the Ancient One, and other as well. And Like I said, I will flesh out EVERYTHING once I get the movie on Blu-ray. So you might see me making some changes along this story as well as another that I may be making. XD I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and I'll try to update every other day now. PLEASE LEAVE AWESOME AND DETAILED REVIEWS! I really do enjoy taking with my readers and love hearing from you guys. I'll see you in the next chapter! :D
Question Time!: Doctor Strange is a pretty amazing Character, for you guys that are comic book/Movie crazy about him, what is it that you like most about him? :)
KEEP ON READING AND WRITING!