The Book Keeper
By TimeAndLife21
Chapter 15
Stephen was shocked to the core of a freezing sensation of water being poured onto him. It woke him up immediately, but he sat up out of bed giving the dirtiest glare to the woman in front of him.
Master Lucia did the same thing yesterday morning before kicking him out of bed and with that dreamy look on her face she just smiled at him saying, 'It's time for work.' 18 hours of pure hell. It was spell after spell that she made him practice over and over again. And it exhausted him. Anaiah on the other hand was catching up on some tomes and scrolls that Master Lucia gave her and told her that she had 4 hours to read all of them and she would be testing her abilities to use those spells that she was studying.
Even though Anaiah was a Master, she still learned from others.
"Yes, Master Lucia?" He gritted his teeth.
"It's time to get up. You will be working in the water chambers down below." She smiled gently at him.
That smile only infuriated him, as he wiped off some of the water from his brow.
"What's in the water chambers?" He asked.
" Anaiah is downstairs already. I would suggest you hurry and get something to eat from the dining room. Breakfast is over in 15 minutes." She smiled warmly, ignoring his question, before she turned and left his room.
"FIFTEEN MINUTES!?" His mind screamed.
He quickly got up, using some of the blankets that didn't get wet to dry himself, and he stumbled around his room getting his clothes on with shaking hands. He forgot to ask Anaiah if she could bring her brew with her. But it slipped his mind and his hands are being a pain, literally and figuratively. As soon as he put on his shoes, he took off running down the halls (which he memorized quite well when Anaiah was directing him to this part of the wing) and went to the dining room that was on the Northwest side of the castle.
He went down the stairs, taking two at a time, and kept running. He knew from experience (meaning yesterday) that if you don't get enough food off the dining table during the allotted time that Master Lucia made, you will be starving until lunch or dinner. And you have to eat quickly and you have to eat a lot, because she make you burn through energy like no other. It was like she was a drill Sargent.
He made it to the Dining room, which was a large room with a long table, covered with a silver and red tablecloth, and it was filled to the brim with breakfast food. He then saw Anaiah there by the end, piling food onto her plates. She must've gotten up early to make sure she grabbed what she needed.
"Better hurry up or there will be no food for you, Doctor." Anaiah spoke up,
He went into action, grabbing two plates and started piling foods onto it. He had sausages, breakfast rolls, bacon, sunny side up eggs, two bagels with a slathering of cream cheese on them, french toast (there was something he hadn't had for a while), and a healthy heaping of hash browns with ketchup.
He managed to pour orange juice into his glass and take it off the table before the food suddenly vanished, as if it was never there. He was a bit disappointed because he saw a batch of biscuits and gravy and he hadn't had some since he was a teenager. He looked over to Anaiah and saw that she balanced one plate on her left forearm while holding a plate on the same arm and was devouring what looked like to be waffles with eggs.
"Hungry? He asked before digging into his own food with much less gusto.
"Well, we are heading down to the water chambers. So we have to eat along the way." she spoke as she walked toward him and grabbed one of his place and balanced it on her left forearm with her other plate.
"Hey!" He yelped being robbed of his food.
"No time to argue. Move it, Doctor." She ordered as she continued eating her own food as she walked.
He followed close after, taking the bagel from his plate and eating it. She was rather good with balancing food on her arms and wondered if she does this often.
"So where are these water chambers?" He asked before he grabbed a couple of pieces of bacon and ate them.
"They are in the lower levels of the Monastery. There are two large chambers. One is a chamber of hot water, and it's used as a bathing room and The second room is a room for swimming and training of course" She said eating some biscuits and gravy.
He glowered at her for a moment or two for her eating that before he shook his head. He also saw that on her plates was much more food than he had on his plates.
"A bit much for you, that cannot be healthy." He stated.
"Back off," She said grumpily. "If Master Lucia is doing what I think we are doing, then we are in for a workout. You think yesterday's training was rough?"
He had a deadpan expression on his face as he was eating his food. Joy, he was going through hell. He kept following Anaiah was they were heading down a large set of stairs. There were torches that lit the way and the temperature dropped a little. He started to work on his french toast enjoying the taste of it before he hit the last step of the stairs.
"What will we be doing?" He asked.
"I know what I'll be doing. You on the other hand, I have no clue." She spoke up after finishing up her first plate before she started to eat the next one. "Master Lucia has different regimes for different apprentices and masters. I will be working on my shapeshifting skills down here."
"You mentioned that before…" He muttered before his train of thought immediately went to a possibility that she could be a mutant, but dismissed that.
"The Art of Shapeshifting is actually more difficult than it seems. I'm probably one the few who could shift into another person or even an animal more seamlessly than others." She explained.
"But that would require you forcefully changing your body's structure entirely. Your cells structure would have to change, the bones, the nerves,the tendons, muscles...everything!" He said as he looked at her with surprise.
She turned to head to look at him and smirked.
"Remember what Mordo said when you first came to Kamar-Taj? Forget everything you know? Technically it's not true. You don't have to be a brain surgeon to understand how to turn your body into something else...wait." She stopped for a moment with a dumbfounded look on her face.
Stephen just covered his mouth to stifle a chuckle. But he failed.
"Well, you are looking at one." He smirked at her.
"Shut up, I hate the mornings..." She muttered.
"Anyways…" She continued. "It took me 5 years to perfect the art of Shapeshifting. Especially when I have to shapeshift into animals. I can shift up to 50 animals now. If I want to shift into more animals, I have to find books that have a more detailed inner and outer workings of said animals. It's a tricky process, but it's doable."
"You can also change into different people as well? No illusions?" He asked.
"Well, trying to be a whole different person is a bit more tricky. Sure I can pull it off if I have a clean slate to work with. I could do the same thing I did before and take on your image, but that's a bit more tricky than placing an illusion on myself." she explained.
"Why would it be trickier? It's similar to the illusion that you've done before." He stated before he finished his plate, and grabbed the plate off of Anaiah's arm that had all his hash browns and eggs on it.
He noticed that she had a rather heavy blush on her face. Did she get a fever or something?
"Er...it's not that…" She stuttered.
That was weird. She doesn't usually stutter like that.
"It should be similar to your illusion spells, right? Just applying it already to yourself." He said as his mind was thinking of the possibilities of such a useful skill.
"Well...Shapeshifting, you have to make sure that...you have to have all the components of the person you may be masquerading as." The red flush was prominent on her face.
He didn't think he had seen a shade of red on her. What was she talking about? She paused in her walking and turned to him, the red flush still there. She sighed and shook her head.
"If I had to masquerade as a MALE, Strange, I would have to switch out one genitalia for another." She emphasized.
Oh, that's why she was turning red, she was embarrassed. And Obviously he was a doctor, so that talk of such things didn't bother him as much, though that didn't mean that he didn't have fun at Anaiah's expense.
"I see, so you would become a hermaphrodite?" He raised an eyebrow, trying to keep a straight face, but he chuckled when she blushed an even deeper red, but she looked fed up at the same time.
"Up yours, Doctor Strange." She frowned as she picked up the pace.
He let out a laugh as he caught up with her. He was a dick he admitted it, but he couldn't help it. It was just too perfect.
"Just for that, I'm not going to help you when Master Lucia throws you into the pool." She said as she turned to the right after there was a wall in front of them.
"I didn't know you were that shy, Anaiah." He quipped.
"Damn Doctor and his wisecracks." He heard her mutter. "Heaven forbids he meets anyone else with just as much snark as he does."
He was about to reply when he smelled water. So they were at the pool already? They went through a small arched doorway and went down a short hall and they went into a well, he knew that the Monastery was large but to house this? This was insane.
The Pool (if you want to even call it that) was gigantic. It was the size of a football field and just as long as one. The room itself was large enough to hold it all as well. He looked up and saw that the ceiling was most likely 15 stories high. That shouldn't be plausible...wait...what was he thinking? Of course it was with the Mystic Arts.
The only thing that was unsettling is that the waters were a pitch black. That wasn't natural. The waters were equally unnaturally still. He heard the clinking of Anaiah's dishes being placed onto the floor. He turned and saw her rubbing the back of her neck and smiling down at the waters.
"This is going to be fun." She spoke before she leaned against the wall.
"Why would you say that?" He asked standing next to her as he finished up his hash browns.
"You obviously don't see them, do you?" She turned her head to him raising an eyebrow.
"See what?" He asked confused.
She pointed to the still waters and he looked to where she was pointing at. He honestly didn't see anything. He went closer to the edge to the water and peered down into it, but he still couldn't see what Anaiah was pointing to.
"I don't see anything." He furrowed his brows.
"You've yet to really see what truly lies beyond mortal eyes." The dreamy voice of Master Lucia spoke throughout the chamber.
He looked up and saw Master Lucia and she had changed her clothing. She was wearing a white tunic dress with a similar white bodice, but the borders of her dress was black. Her hair was up in a piled bun.
"In these waters are the water drakes. Practically harmless." She smiled innocently.
"Water Drakes?" He asked confused.
"Anaiah, are you ready to show me how much you've improved since you last were here?" Lucia turned to Anaiah, ignoring Stephen.
"I've been working on my half-shifting, though I can't say I've improved on that." She shrugged.
"We shall see. Please disrobe and enter the waters, we wouldn't want your clothes to be ruined after all." Lucia smile but for some reason, Stephen could see that the smile hid something.
But what was it?
He was knocked out of his thoughts when he heard the shuffling of clothes and something heavy being landed on the floor, his curiosity got the better of him and he turned around...only to see Anaiah wearing a halter top black bikini swimsuit.
"Talk about a body…" He thought as he cocked his head sideways.
When he was in school for the medical field, he had observed many bodies. Short, tall, obese, thin, dark skinned to pale skinned, athletic, tattooed, pierced, and all sorts. From his experience, you can tell a lot about a person from their body.
He never really had a good look of Anaiah's body since the incident back in Kamar-taj. Of course, he was a respective doctor and had to put himself into that mindset, but here, nope. That wasn't really happening.
He knew that those who learn martial arts from Wong and the other Masters, were athletic and therefore toned. Anaiah's body was very much toned. For a slight thing that she is, he could see the muscles on her, though not very big, but just enough to show that she was a devoted student of the Martial arts. When really got his attention was her skin even as pale as it was and the white lines that were her scars.
He had seen the lightning scars on her arms and the jagged scar on her throat, but this was a whole new level. She had a rather interesting array of scars. Most if not all of the scars he could tell were cuts and slices. Others looked like she was clawed by something. What really got his attention was her back.
There were more scars that ran down the lengths of her back, like whipping scars. What did she do to gain those? Other than the scars over her body, she still looked pretty. But he noticed something else.
She lifted her arms to pulled her hair back in a ponytail, but he saw it. At the base of her neck where the head and spine met was a small black paw tattoo. A wolf's paw. He heard about micro-tattoos awhile back. There were pretty much the fad for the younger generation. It looked like it was the only tattoo she had.
He looked at the side that was hurt from the incident, and it looked like it was never there. That was weird to say the least.
"I see that you have added to your collection of scars, Anaiah." Lucia spoke gently.
"What can I say, They are memorable." She quipped before she turned to Stephen with an eyebrow raised.
Crap. Did she catch him staring at her?
"Aren't you going to be taking off your clothes too?" She asked.
"I...I didn't bring my swimsuit." He deadpanned, slightly relieved that she didn't catch him.
"Well that is unfortunate. You just may have to go in naked I guess."Lucia spoke up smiling.
"No." He turned to glare at Lucia.
"I'll go to the room down here, maybe I can find an extra pair." Anaiah spoke before turning around to go somewhere where hopefully she would get a pair of swim trunks for him.
He turned back to the water to avoid looking at a certain body part (Damn it Stephen!) and sighed. He didn't think to pack anything else other than the clothes, sling ring and a couple of book that was allowed to bring with him, he didn't think to pack something as mundane as swim trunks.
He peered into the still waters (which slightly creeped him out, water shouldn't be that unnaturally still.) trying to see what was in there.
"You said there are water drakes in there...what are they?" He asked.
"They are rather gentle creatures unless they are bred for battle." Lucia spoke softly.
"What?" He hoped he hadn't heard wrong.
"What?" She spoke with eyes wide as if she hadn't said anything.
"You said something about battle." He spoke as he narrowed his eyes.
"'Hmm, I would have said something pertaining to it, but I must've forgot." She said smiling as she tilted her head to the side.
He had a feeling she was mocking him. And he wasn't liking it.
"Here we go." He heard Anaiah behind him.
He stood up from his crouched position and saw the clothes in her hands. Not only did she find swim trunks for him (they were blue and white) she also found a swim shirt as well (also blue and white.).
"Thank you." He said as he looked around a bit.
"You will have to put them on here." Lucia chuckled before turning to Anaiah.
"Now, show me what you have learned from your time away from here." Lucia asked.
"Of Course, Master Lucia." Anaiah nodded before turning to walk to the edge of the waters.
She placed on bare foot on top of the waters and started walking across it. He could see the small mandalas coming from her feet as she was walking. She was using magic and directing it to her feet. How clever.
"What's next, turning wine into water?" He chuckled.
"What do you think?" Anaiah turned her head back to him smiling. "Christ wasn't just a Son of God you know."
Stephen's mind just halted. Granted he didn't really believe in Gods (though it was changing just slightly) that just shut him up. And that would explain everything of what may have happened in the Bible. The miracles and the like. He shook himself out of his stupor and saw the Lucia was focused on Anaiah. Anaiah was closing her eyes and was raising her arms up.
He took the opportunity to quickly change, not that he was shy, but he didn't want to expose himself as much as he has to. He put on the swim shirt just as Anaiah fell into the water.
He snapped his head up and walked to the edge of the water trying to find Anaiah's form. But he didn't see her. The water didn't leave any ripples.
"Where is she?" He asked before he jumped back in shock
In front of him was a blob of water and it suddenly took the shape of a circle then a mirror. He turned to the side and saw that Lucia was right there.
"Look into it, and you will find Anaiah." She spoke simply as she never once looked up at him.
He did so and he saw the mirror as clear as day, showed Amaiah underwater. But she was turning in the water and swimming rather quickly. He saw the transformation. She was turning herself into something else.
From her hips down. her legs were fusing together and blue and green scales were appearing on them. A tail ending into a fin. She also has some scales going up her spine and her arms. Her hair was flowing in the water and on her neck were two slitted gills. Her skin had taken on a blue pallor. Her eyes glowing a dim emerald green color. She looked just like the myths. A mermaid.
"Well, that's fascinating." He breathed finally.
He wondered how long Anaiah can hold that form.
"So she has improved. Half-shifting is a difficult skill to learn, but it seems that she has found balance." Lucia said dreamily.
Stephen was transfixed on Anaiah as she swam around. Doing loops, dives, and turns. Then something else appeared beside her as she was swimming.
"What the..." He thought wondering what that was.
It had the body of a reptile but it was much larger and slender than one. It looked like…
"A dragon?" He said in disbelief.
"A water drake, Mister Strange." Lucia corrected.
"It's DOCTOR Strange. DOCTOR." He sternly corrected.
But Lucia continued off as if she hadn't heard him.
"We found these particular breeds in Spain. They prefer the warm waters to breed before migrating up further north to Ireland where they would settle home. These drakes may have bodies of dragons, but they are wingless." Lucia explained.
"In the world of the supernatural, you will come across beings and beasts of the unknown." Lucia explained.
"Huh...well that's one hell of an eye-opener." He spoke as he observed Anaiah.
She grabbed hold of one of the horns of this particular water drake that protruded from its forehead, and held on for a swim. It was mesmerizing. To see her like this, she was smiling as other water drakes joined in for a swim, before she spread her arms outward and she let loose a spell that swirled the water around her. The drakes that were surrounding her followed the swirls that looked like it would become a whirlpool.
He was so into seeing the graceful movements of what was going on underwater that he never noticed Lucia walking behind him.
"You will find, Stephen Strange, that the Mystic Arts isn't just creating spells and hand weaving the ones that you have read from a book. But the Manipulation of the elements and your surroundings. You will eventually learn all of these things. But the hardest part of the Mystic arts is how to manipulate yourself. I hope you know how to swim." Lucia spoke eerily.
"What-" He was cut off when he was suddenly pushed off the ledge and into the water.
The water surrounded him and he was sinking. He was so surprised that he was pushed into the water that it went up his nose and into his mouth. He was going to drown! He panicked and tried to swim upward but the shock of the cooler water rendered his limbs useless. He saw nothing but the dark and he quit struggling.
He closed his eyes and he could feel the sting of the water in his lungs. Great, He was going to die. Murdered by a strange woman who seemed like someone from a fantasy world and he didn't even get to tell Christine he was sorry.
He then felt warm hands wrapping softly around his neck and throat. He opened his eyes and saw Anaiah in her mermaid form with worried eyes. She seemed to take a deep breath and he heard her speak.
"Take deep breaths, Doctor. I know that it's a shock the first time around, but manipulate your magic to your lungs and take deep breaths." She spoke, he voice seemingly echoing throughout the waters.
He did as she focused the warm magic that was in his body to his lungs and he did as instructed. Taking deep breaths and calming himself. He was breathing underwater! It felt...strange to say the least.
"How...and...that crazy…" He glared upward to the surface.
"Master Lucia is a Sadist." He growled.
"Don't say that, she was trying to help you." She admonished.
"Help me to what? To drown?" He snarked.
"No. what did she tell you?" She asked.
"She told me that she hoped I can swim." He muttered darkly.
"She does have an odd sense of humor." she stated.
"You call that humor?" He glared at her.
"That isn't the point. What was she telling you before she threw you into the water?" She asked.
"She said...the hardest part of the Mystic Arts is using it to manipulate yourself." He replayed the words to her.
She let go of his neck and throat and did a loop backwards. Now that he has a closer look at her she seemingly took a position that looked like she was sitting down.
"This is true. Manipulating magic into your body, rather than surrendering yourself to use such power is rather tricky and difficult. I mean, look at me, I'm using a lot of magic to keep myself in this form. This is one of the trickier ways of shapeshifting which is half-shifting. One half of myself is still human, the other half an animal of some sort." She explained.
"But for you, you have to learn to manipulate magic into your body, Magic isn't as rigid as some make it out to be." she said as she waved to the surrounding body of water.
He felt something bump into him and turned around to see reptilian face in front of him. He swam backward in fright for a moment before bumping into Anaiah.
She let out a giggle before she placed her arms over his shoulders and placed her head on top of his. The gesture felt strangely intimate.
"Don't worry, they are harmless. Like big puppy dogs." She chuckled.
"Dogs with teeth." He muttered as one swam up to him.
It was a strange thing. If he were to compare the beast to another reptilian animal, he would choose a monitor lizard. Except larger, and with blue and brown scales and with actual horns protruding and curving back from it's forehead. And much more slender than its bulky cousins. It tilted its head at him before it swam around the two of them and took off swimming.
Anaiah took ahold of his hand and pulled him along. He couldn't really swim that well due to the fact that his body was still recovering from that car crash. His bones ached, and his muscles were protesting a little from the activity, (not as bad as when he was training and learning Martial Arts) but his hands were a bit useless underwater. At least Anaiah was guiding him through the dark waters.
"Normally, Master Lucia would be sending spell after spell throughout the water to hit one of us when myself and others would train here. But I think she's giving you a break from that." She smirked at him.
"I don't believe that for a second." He deadpanned.
"Come On Strange, Let's get you out of the water." She chuckled.
After his little dip, Lucia had him try to walk upon the water like Anaiah did. And he failed many times before he was able to somewhat steadily walk upon the water without too much trouble. To manipulate the magic through his body to his feet wasn't exactly cake.
Some of the water drakes had popped their head above the still waters to see what the commotion was on the surface and he swore that they were laughing at him.
At least he managed to learn another aspect of the Mystic Arts. Master Lucia took it upon herself to teach him how to manipulate water. Simple spells that didn't require words or the like. It was simply taking a flowing being and making it move and bend to his will. It wasn't easy but it was interesting to work it out.
He was able to leave after a while, Anaiah on the other hand was sticking around to train with Lucia. He was pretty tired. After almost drowning, making sure that he can breath underwater, and that little swim, he was pretty much exhausted.
He decided to take a nap for a while.
When he woke up later in the day, and he was grateful for the break, He realized that it was just a little past evening. He got up and went to the glass window and looked outside. The snow was gently falling now, and the winter landscape seemed more kinder than it was when he came here. There was always something interesting about winter. The emptiness and the cold that came with it. But there was beauty in it. He had to say that.
He turned around and left his room. He wanted to walk for a while. The Halls were large, something that looked like it came out of a fantasy world. The Walls had tapestries and even some relics in glass cases. He paused as a few of them and observed them but they didn't hold his interest for that long. Though he did recall seeing a rather intricate ax in the foyer of the Monastery.
He had noticed that everywhere he looked everything had a place. Everything was clean. It was odd to him to say the least. For a sole person to live here, it would take a long time to clean everything.
He turned a corner and he noticed that there was an open door just down the hall. Was someone in there? He walked to the open door and peered into the room. It was dark and he couldn't see anything, but he saw a glint of something shining in the dark. Curiosity peaked he walked into the room. The door close behind him and he turned around to find out why, only to see no one there.
"Well that's not ominous." He shook his head.
This room was dark with a little bit of light that seemed to come from the skylight above. He could see various shapes under white sheets. He believed that he was in a storage room of some sort. He heard something from his left side and turned towards it.
"Hello? Is someone here?" He asked as he moved through the maze of covered items.
Something caught the corner of his eye and he turned to see… a mirror?
The mirror was shined down by the skylight of the dying winter's day. It was large enough to show his reflection. The frame was ornate with clawed feet and it had words inscribed on the top.
Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.
He blinked a couple of times. What were these words? In the midst of him trying to figure out what they are, he heard something behind him.
"I see that you have found the Mirror of Erised." He heard the dreamy voice of Master Lucia.
He turned around and saw her. This time he noticed that her eyes, instead of the blank dreamy stare, it was like chips of ice but he saw sadness in there too. Like she didn't like him being here. He noticed that he hands were twitching just a little. Like she wanted to whip out a weapon and stab him right then and there.
This made him be on guard. He didn't know what Master Lucia was capable of, but he didn't want to find out.
"What is it?" He asked.
"This is the Mirror of Erised. It was given to me for safekeeping as it was becoming dangerous to many. This is one of many places to keep dangerous relics, weapons, and other such things for safekeeping." Lucia spoke as she stood by his side.
"Safekeeping?" He questioned. "How is this dangerous?"
"Look at the words engraved onto the gold." She saw and she pointed to the words on the mirror.
"I show not your face, but your heart's desire. You will see what many would want to see. Fame, Fortune, Love, and even those who have been long gone from ages past." She whispered.
This sent chills up his spine.
"The Sorcerer who gave this to me, told me that it was a memento of his Mentor, but had no desire to see it in the wrong hands. Of course, when he looked in the mirror one last time he was able to turn away from it." She closed her eyes and sighed before opening them again and into the mirror.
"Many men would waste away in front of this mirror. Even driven to the point of insanity for want of their desires. I too, see what I desire in the mirror, though such desire is far from me, I understand my position in this world, and thus am able to turn away from it." She said as she then looked up at him with an odd look in her eyes. "Tell me. Doctor Strange...what do you see in the mirror?"
He thought she was mad. The strange tic that she had, her hands twitching and she shook her head minutely. But she was a Master. She knows a lot more than he does.
"What would I see in the mirror?" He asked.
"I know not your hearts wants and desires, Strange...only you do." She spoke eerily as she stepped away from his side.
He felt colder than ever. But how can such an item show what the heart wants? His own desires? He stepped up close to the mirror and looked into it.
He didn't see anything at first but he saw that he was whole again. He saw himself wearing a pristine suit and he looked ready for a formal , articulate, he looked a man unchanged by his so called accident. He had Christine by his side and everything seemed right in the world. He had his position as head neurosurgeon back and he became well known in the world.
He reached out to the mirror before it suddenly fluctuated. The reflection showed another scene. Something completely different from the first scene. While the first was was his possible life with his hands restored. This one seemed to show him with his still damaged hands. But he was wearing his sorcerer's robes. The same clothes he has on.
In this reflection he saw the Ancient One, Mordo, Wong, and Anaiah behind him. All there supporting him. They never judged him by his hands, they treated him as an equal and nothing lesser. For some reason even thinking about the first scene brought him heartache. For the people that he met at Kamar-Taj was close to friends and family as he could get. They were there for him.
He stepped back from the mirror and he blinked; turned his head away and fully turned his back on the mirror. He felt his heart pounding in his ears, his hands shaking, his head was hurting. He was gasping for air as he fell to his knees trying to right himself.
"What did you see I wonder?" He heard the voice of Lucia.
He heard her footsteps come closer and closer.
"Sometimes Doctor Strange, The Mirror feeds off of the souls of the weak." He saw her feet near his head. "Tell me, Doctor Strange...are you weak or are you strong?"
He got up as quick as lightning and ran from Master Lucia, away from the Mirror and away from the room. His mind was reeling back like the first time he met the ancient one. But this time, it hit him in his heart.
He finally stopped running, and he noticed that he was in front of Anaiah's room. He needed some sort of reassurance. And He knocked on the door, many times.
"I'm coming!" He heard her voice.
The door unlocked and opened and he forced his way into her room.
"Strange, what the hell…?" She was about to scold him when she looked into his face.
He may not have noticed that his eyes were red from tears and his body was shaking. From what? Anger? Sorrow? Regret? Pain? She didn't know. All she knew was that he needed someone to talk to.
She took him by the arm gently and guided him to her bed. She had him sit down and she sat right next to him. She spoke not a word. The silence only broken by his erratic breathing and shaking nerves.
He heard her sigh beside him.
"You saw the Mirror..."
It wasn't a question. She knew that the Mirror of Erised was here. What sort of person or being would create such a thing? To show the user's heart's desire against them? It should be destroyed
"You are not the only one who felt the pull of the mirror." Anaiah said as she stood up.
He looked up at her with a questioning look on her face.
"The Mirror Of Erised can pull anyone, Masters, Students, anyone old or young, into its grasp. I'm one of those." She shrugged.
"What did you see?" He asked her.
She had a rather pained expression on her face.
"I...can't say." She furrowed her eyebrows. "It's complicated. The reason why I broke away from the Mirror's hold was because my past does not define my future. I can choose where I go and what I do. Nothing can change my decisions to be made. I can fail again, and again, and again, but I will always get back up no matter the cost."
"You are saying we have a choice." He stated.
She turned to him with a broken smile.
"Yes. We all have choices. They all come with consequences and they can either be good or bad. They could lead us to roads unknown or to places you could never have dreamed of." She pointed out to him.
He thought back to the images of the mirror. He had choices. He could have remained ignorant and lived his life still being a doctor, or the choice he made to speed in the car and wrecked himself in a car crash and drove him to find Karmar-Taj, becoming a Sorcerer in the process.
He came to Kamar-Taj to heal his hands, but instead he found something more than to just heal them. His thirst for knowledge and understanding of the Mystic Arts had overtaken him. But he couldn't help but just keep learning about them. He didn't voice these thoughts out loud to Anaiah though.
"Why have such a thing in existence?" He asked.
She shrugged.
"Many of the Sorcerers and sorceresses of the old times have made many artifacts, relics, and spell books. Some created artifacts to help mankind, other created them for destruction. Many created them to achieve the heights of higher beings and those who wish to have darkness as their minions. There are many who want the souls of men destroyed…" She paused in her words.
"Some…" She halted before continuing. "Some men want to watch the world burn."
Silence went between them so Stephen stood up and decided to leave the room.
"Stephen…" She spoke catching his attention.
He looked back behind him and saw a stern look in her eyes.
"Don't look for the Mirror. Trust me...it doesn't do well to dwell on dreams of the past and wish for a better future." She said cautiously.
"This coming from experience?" He asked.
"Yes...I'd rather look to the future than to seek the past to change it all." She nodded.
Stephen left without a word. He had many things to think about.
TAL21: Okay, So this is chapter fifteen and it's one of a longer chapter. Ha...The Next chapter will (maybe) be the last chapter before we go back into the movie arc of the story. To those who pointed it out, Yes I added a hint of Beauty and the Beast. I love that movie very much. I hoped you liked this chapter. A pretty good dosages of humor before a jarring shift of mood to the Mirror of Erised. And Yes, I did take it from the Harry Potter world, #sorrynotsorry. XD I figured it would be interesting to see what his heart's desire was. In the rough draft of this chapter, I was originally going to use his family, but it went way too dark way too fast for my liking. So I switched it up a little bit. The Mirror give him pretty much two of his heart's desires. One life to go back to his Career as a doctor and becoming great again or humble himself to be surrounded by close friends who pretty much care for him alot. So that is what I stuck with. Also, I am a Christian and personally I thought I was being funny when I was using Christ as him being a sorcerer (which would be blasphemy, I know. XD) Marvel comics have a different basis for religion in there. If you look in their many comics there are Catholics, Jews, Buddhists, Muslim and a who lot more. So I figured why the hell not. XD Also, Anaiah isn't a morning person. She does not like dealing with Stephen's crap in the morning. XD I hoped you liked master Lucia in this chapter. She still just as mysterious, but she had that vibe that just sends chills down your spine. XD ON TO THE SHOUT OUTS!
GetLegsBish-Aiya: Ah, medication, my old friend. Trust me, I know what it is like to be on an accidental high dosage. Flying higher than a kite and my brothers were enjoying themselves by making me blabber on and on. XD Anyways, Yes, Lucia called him a stray. She does that to everyone. XD As yes, We usually see Stephen as someone who is rule abiding in the comics...here and the MCU...not so much. He'll get into trouble just you wait!
Sparky She-Demon: You'll have to find out Aries personality in the companion fic which I hope to be updating soon. XD Also I would cast Marie Avgeropoulus as Anaiah. She looked perfect for the role. XD
CJ/Oddball: When you have the chance, go watch the animated movie. It is such a gem. XD I'm glad that you enjoyed the previous chapter and kept you on your toes. Trust me, my story telling knows no bounds. XD As for the Sneak Peeks, there is a lot of things going on, but you will be seeing them in due time. :) I thoroughly enjoy reading your lengthy reviews! They give me something to look forward to. :)
Guest: I'm glad that this is a bit suspenseful for you! I'm trying to add a lot of different kinds of elements that would fit into the chapters and I kinda hope for the best. And Yes, Lucia is definately strange (no pun intended) but she is definitely someone you don't want to cross. No matter how naive and innocent she looks. As for the Ancient One's name, it was kinda tricky at first but I had to do a bunch of different searches so that it wasn't too generic for her. I do like Aleris, but unfortunately, I already have a couple Ocs with an A name. So Morwyn it is. It just stuck out to me more. :)
Kalanna: Yes I do like leaving people in suspense. I enjoy it and it is my guilty pleasure. XD I'm glad that you liked the Beauty and the Beast reference, and the Mirror of Erised. Trust me, it wasn't easy plugging them in. As for Master Lucia, you'll find out what she really is. Trust me, it's pretty big. At least to me that is. XD
TAL21: That's it for the Shout outs! I hope you guys enjoy this longer chapter and I hope to see some awesome and long reviews for it! I hope that some parts of it was funny to you and I hope that you guys enjoy the interaction between the characters. It's going to be a doozy in the next one. XD I hope you guys have a good day and I look forward to reading what you have thought about the story so far! I love reading your reviews because I can communicate with my readers on a different level. :) I'll see you guys in the next chapter!
Question Time!: Two amazing trailers came out. The Last of Us 2 and Guardian's of the Galexy Vol. 2. In your opinion (where you answer to both subjects or not), what where your favorite parst and what are you looking forward to see in the game/movie?
KEEP ON READING AND WRITING!