Ammy scrunched up her nose, huffing lightly as sunlight began to creep across her muzzle, eventually making its way over her eyelids, making it impossible to sleep any longer. The wolf grumbled softly and lifted her head, heaving herself to her feet. She let out a deep, exhausted yawn, ending in a shrill little whine. She dropped her front and streeeeetched out, her tail flaring out behind her, the goddess of the sun groaning softly as she shook herself out, blinking her eyes open with a light huff.
You currently have 25 398 unspent Praise! Would you like to use it now?
…
It was way too early for this.
Amaterasu huffed and rolled her eyes, stepping through the blue screen and shattering it to pieces. The large wolf stepped out of her little shelter and rumbled softly, looking up at the sky. It was already late morning, she had slept in.
Ammy scolded herself, stamping a paw on the ground in irritation. She would have to make up time and be extra fast today. With a brief shake of her head she crouched and bolted forward, her new ability sending her forward at top speed instantaneously.
She zipped toward the entrance of her shrine and-
SMACK!
Ammy yelped and was sent tumbling back as she ran straight into a wall, bouncing off the barrier and rolling back along the stone pathway leading through the shrine. The wolf lay sprawled out on her back, looking up at the sky as her vision spun, her tongue lolled out.
She had completely forgotten she had put the barrier up last night. She grumbled and rolled herself back over, pushing herself to her feet. Ammy huffed and rubbed her nose lightly with a paw, while dropping the Shield she had put up around the shrine.
The wolf hadn't been expecting about a dozen people to come careening into the shrine though, holding cell phones up and all shouting excitedly at her. She blinked at the attention for a moment, and came to a sudden realization.
They had seen her smack straight into the barrier. Ammy huffed softly, blushing lightly in embarrassment.
Wait…
They're actually in her shrine! It's laughably empty and still in relatively poor condition! Amaterasu blinked, her cheeks growing red, before she cast an Illusion and vanished from the middle of the group of people.
Ammy retreated back to the little building at the center of her shrine, curling up on the dog bed and throwing a Shield up around herself, and keeping herself invisible.
The goddess hummed lightly in thought, burying her nose into the incredibly soft and comfy dog bed, and huffed. With a thought, Ammy froze time around herself, and brought up her Shrine Management menu.
Shrine Management
Shrine Upgrades
Decorations & Storage
Skills & Abilities
Weapons & Tools
Total Praise: 25 398
Ammy glanced over the information and went straight for the upgrades. She wanted things to look good for people who entered the shrine. She was a goddess, she had an image to keep up, after all!
Shrine Upgrades
- Donation Tables: 250 Praise
- New walkway: 500 Praise
- Stonework restoration: 500 Praise
- Amaterasu wolf statues: 2 500 Praise
- Cherry tree saplings: 2 000 Praise
- Perimeter gardens: 2 000 Praise
- Fountains: 2 500 Praise
- Automatic shrine maintenance: 2 500
- Enhanced magical output: 2 500 Praise
- Shrine level 2 expansion: 10 000 Praise
Amaterasu blinked at all of the possibilities that came up in front of her. There was so much she could do! She missed the sight of cherry trees, and the sound of running water running through a small stream. These big noisy rivers just didn't have the same feeling to them.
Ammy glanced over the potential upgrades and changes she could make, and then blinked. She looked up to the Praise she had gathered, narrowed her eyes, and then looked over the blue screen again.
Smirking, Amaterasu raised a paw and rested it at the top of the screen. She slowly dragged her paw down the blue surface, selecting every option available.
Total Praise: 148
Ammy huffed in amusement as she relaxed her grip on the flow of time, uncloaking herself and removing the barrier that she had thrown up. It was a little overkill, now that she thought about it.
Reality seemed to quake and shift as Amaterasu's chosen changes took effect. She watched the six empty square gardens lining the path erupt into a shower of dirt, young cherry trees springing into existence and showering the people in the center of the shrine with debris.
She looked at the walls of the shrine as they shifted outwards, growing longer and wider and taller. The building she was in grew larger as well, a proper door coming into place behind her, and three new rooms on the sides and the back of the small building sprang into existence.
The people in the shrine screamed in both terror and awe as a pair of fountains erupted from the ground, the stonework fountains shooting water into the air for a moment with a burst of pressure, before relaxing, the water pooling at each individual level of the fountain and then falling to the bottom.
Twin stone statues erupted into existence at the base of the stairs (and wheelchair accessible ramp), bordering the way up like a pair of guard dogs perched on stone slabs. Their red eyes seemed to glow, even as the marbled statues formed. Bright red markings came into existence on the twin wolf statues, and the rock shifted to look like they had proper fur, even if it was still made of stone.
A short red wooden panel rose up from the earth about a foot (thirty centimeters) high, running around the entire length of the shrine inner walls, with dirt readily filling the new space. The border garden settled down, looking as if it had been there the whole time, waiting to be filled with flowers and different plants.
Finally, the stones shifted and rolled on the ground, the eye-sore pattern of stones shifting into perfect square panels, with large rounded stones filling up the squares, making them look uniform yet natural at the same time. Small gravel and rocks bordered the walk leading up to the building at the center of the shrine, completing the change of her home.
Ammy glanced over her shoulder, flicking the door open with her magic, and glanced over the two intricately carved wooden tables that bordered the entrance, cherry blossoms and wolf heads carved into the table legs.
"What the fuck was that!?" One of the people that had been standing in the shrine exclaimed. The woman had found herself thrown off her feet and rear-first into the base of the fountain, while her legs dangled over the edge.
Confused murmurs filled the newly opened space, before a younger man held up his phone away from his face and turned, recording a video of himself and the newly restructured shrine.
"Yo! That was totally wicked! That actually happened, guys, I was-" Ammy tuned him out after that.
She flicked her golden gaze to the young trees that bordered the walkway up to her shrine, and figured one more act wouldn't hurt. She used Bloom on all six trees, causing the trunks to rapidly expand upward and outward. Bright white and pink petals exploded into existence as the trees grew multiple times taller and wider.
Before long, the trees were creating a shaded walkway through to the center of the shrine, already starting to cause little cherry blossom petals to fall to the ground, before they mysteriously vanished the moment they touched the grass.
Ammy sat down with a smug little smirk, her tail wagging gently behind her as she watched the people pick themselves off. A little flare of her magic had the people spotless once more, leaving them confused.
The wolf sat for a moment and took in the sight of her shrine. The sound of the wind rustling gently through the trees and the soft splashing of water from the fountains. The soft and lovely scent of cherry blossoms filled the air. If she closed her eyes for a moment, she would almost be able to believe that she was back home.
She cracked her eyes open and looked over the people that were all just staring at her in awe, cameras pointed at her, and entirely silent. Ammy took a moment to look them over, before she winked.
Without waiting a moment longer, she launched herself over their heads, already moving at her top unassisted speed, and shot out over the stone arch and out into the park. She activated Sprint and Adrenaline and blurredher way forward, well over half the speed of sound as she thought over her planned route.
She raced forward, bursting out of the tree line and weaving through people and traffic alike, rushing toward the first hospital on her list.
~{O}~{O}~{O}~
Doctor Stephen Grant Strange pulled into the parking lot of the Metro-General Hospital, his Porsche purring as he zipped through the motionless cars, angling toward the employee area of the parking lot. He scowled and resisted the urge to honk the horn at an elderly woman being helped into the hospital by what looked like her daughter and grandson. He rolled his eyes, waiting impatiently as the trio hobbled across the pavement, and back onto the sidewalk.
With a squeak of his tires, Stephen shot forward in his vehicle, navigating toward the back of the parking lot. He pulled in, double parking, his vehicle sitting right on the white line dividing the two spots.
"Can't be getting any scratches." He spoke to himself. He stepped out and tossed the keys into the air, before catching them and locking the car behind him, walking away, and giving a longing glance back at the expensive sports car.
"Oh yeah, medical school was worth it." Stephen grinned.
The neurosurgeon made his way into the hospital, ignoring the usual scowls the front desk and low-level employees gave him. They were just jealous of his success.
In ignoring his coworkers habitually, Stephen missed the fact that they weren't scowling at him. In fact, they were too busy sorting through medical files and confirming particular individuals' details to even notice he walked in through the door.
Stephen Strange made his way through the hallways and to the employees only rooms, glancing at his watch, and then nodding. He had time. He passed by the coffee maker, and pointedly ignored the person walking toward the machine as he snagged the cup they had been preparing for themselves.
"Asshole." His co-worker spoke under his breath.
"You are what you eat, Darryl." Stephen taunted in reply, ignoring the sputtering confusion of his colleague. Strange chuckled and sat himself down on the break room couch, closing his eyes as he took a deep drink of coffee.
He was having an excellent morning. It would only get better if-
"You asshole!" A familiar voice spoke, footsteps crossing the room and coming to a stop right in front of him.
"Ah, speak of the devil." He opened his eyes and leaned around the person, giving a pointed wink to Darryl, before looking up at the furious woman in front of him. "Hello, Christine. You look vehemently irate today. Rough sleep?~"
"You were supposed to meet me two hours ago, Stephen!" Christine Palmer ground out, narrowing her eyes at the surgeon who was still in his casual wear. "I waited for you! Hell, you might as well not come in today."
"Yeah, well now I'm waiting on you, let's go." Stephen snarked back, standing up and making his way to the changing area.
"No, no, you don't get to pull this smug act again and brush me off. I was waiting-"
"One hour and thirty-nine minutes, I'm well aware. I was busy going over our research again last night and decided to sleep in. I'm still early for the surgery." Stephen brushed her off, setting his coffee aside as he started to get himself ready.
"The surgery was scheduled for-" Strange cut her off again.
"Eleven-fifteen. The patient's name is Tabitha Bird, a woman who emigrated from Canada with her family thirty-seven years ago. She's of Native descent, who, if I need to remind you, has one of the highest smoking rates of any one ethnic group. She developed lung cancer, had it treated. It returned, and now I have to do surgery on her because she couldn't stop smoking, causing her cancer to come back and causing a metastatic malignant tumor to travel up to her brain!" Stephen snapped at Christine, his girlfriend (for the time being). "I have a photographic memory; you don't need to treat me like a child."
"Wow, did you practice that in a mirror, or did you decide to be extra rude today?" Christine ground out. She stepped away from her boyfriend (that particular title was teetering on the edge) and snagged his coffee. "Just go home, Stephen. We don't need you today."
"Excuse me?" Strange asked, slighted. "Well, good, because this procedure is so far below what I should be doing." He snapped back. "Once you get someone else to perform the operation, you can come back and we can work on our research further then."
"Honestly, I don't even think I want to deal with you today." Christine replied, taking a drink of his coffee and scowling. "Besides, you don't need to worry about the surgery. She's gone."
Stephen froze in place, his blood chilling at those words. His heart pounded in his chest, and a sinking feeling filled his being.
"What… what do you mean gone? Did she have a complication earlier?" Stepehen asked quietly. His fingers and toes felt cold. His perfect record… He lost it all just because he decided to sleep in!
"No, she's perfectly fine. She's not in the hospital anymore." Christine spoke, blinking slightly at the sudden change in demeanor.
"Well, was she transferred? Did someone perform the surgery early? What happened?" Strange ground out, turning to face his colleague and girlfriend with an uncharacteristic amount of concern.
"Wait… do you really not know?" She asked. "Oh… Oh, this is too good. Would you look at that, I know something the Great Stephen Strange doesn't." Christine smirked a little and took another sip of her coffee. "Give me a second, I want to enjoy this moment~"
"Christine…" Stephen began, clenching his teeth, anger and fear building up inside him. His eyes watered lightly in embarrassment and worry. "Please… What. Happened?" He had forgotten all about getting ready, his full attention on the woman in front of him.
Christine Palmer took a moment to look over her boyfriend for a moment. He never looked this vulnerable, this concerned. She looked him dead in the eyes, searching for a moment, before relenting with a sigh. She passed him his cup of coffee while she fished around for her phone.
"You really need to check the news more often. We had a visitor this morning." Christine explained, finding a video on her phone. She passed the phone to Stephen and took her coffee back, taking another long drink. "You might wanna sit down for this."
Stephen listened to her advice and made his way back to the couch, sitting down with Christine right beside him. He pressed play, watching the screen intently.
"Our top story tonight: God, or Dog?" The woman in the video was on the street, which was currently flooded with people, more and more leaving the hospital behind her. "We're here tonight outside of the Mount Sinia Hospital due to reports of a wolf healing people inside of the building."
"Right, Donna, but this is no ordinary wolf." The newscaster spoke, the feed switching over to him for a brief moment. "Video reports have shown this wolf was fighting alongside the Avengers during the Invasion of New York earlier this month. Not only that, but a viral video taken by one of the survivors and volunteers after the battle shows the wolf healing someone's broken leg!"
Stephen blinked, and glanced over toward Christine, who merely shook her head and gestured for him to keep watching.
"Right you are, Harold! Information leaked earlier today that this 'Amaterasu' was inside the Mount Sinia Hospital alongside Captain America himself, visiting sick children. They aren't sick any longer, however! You aren't going to believe this, Harold, but nearly five-hundred people have been released early from the hospital. Not only that, but donations from Stark Industries, the company Tony Stark aka Iron Man, have been given to the hospital to pay for bed occupation, medical materials in the time up to today, and much more!"
"That's amazing, Donna! I see the massive crowd behind you. It looks like this super pooch is working directly with the Avengers themselves to help the people of New York! What do the people leaving the hospital have to say?"
The camera focused on the woman grew larger, while Donna turned toward the crowd. She looked around briefly, before spotting a mother and father with two children sitting at almost the center of attention for most of these people, the four being thanked and hugged and cheered on. The children were loving it.
The woman and the camera man worked their way through the group of people, shouting little "excuse me's" and apologizing after her microphone clunked a shorter individual on the head.
"Excuse me! You four seem to be at the center of attention. Can I ask you four what happened?" Donna asked. The father stepped back, not having been the one to experience the whole story. The mother was the one to step forward, trying to hide her nerves and keep a hand on her children.
"W-Well… We were going about our day when we ran into Captain Rogers and Amaterasu at the library. We talked a little and Amelia managed to convince them to visit Terrance. He's a big Captain America fan." The woman explained, growing a little more bold as she spoke.
"So you just happened to run into them, and they agreed to visit? How noble! What happened next?" Donna pressed.
"We came into the hospital and went up to the room, and while Captain Rogers talked to Terrance, Amaterasu… well, I'm not really sure what she did, but-" The mother was caught off by the little girl, Amelia, jumping up and grabbing Donna's wrist, leaning into the microphone and speaking directly into it. The camera angled down to look at the child.
"It was amazing! Ammy used magic to heal Terry so he could walk again! And! And she made me fly when I tripped at the bookstore! And also she's really soft and warm and nice! I love you, Ammy!" Amelia shouted into the microphone.
Donna reached down to take the microphone back, but the little girl whipped around to her brother, Terrance, and shoved the microphone in his face.
"Tell them, Terry!" Amelia exclaimed.
"Uh, well…" The younger man started, clearing his throat and looking nervous. "It's like she said. C-Captain America and Ammy visited me, and she healed my legs. And… and then we went through the hospital and helped a lot of other kids and grown-ups too!" He was growing more confident as he spoke, stars in his eyes as he continued. "Captain America was so amazing! He was so nice and helped people sit up, or carried some of them, and he was always smiling and encouraging people on. Oh! Amaterasu helped too!"
Terrance handed the microphone back to the news reporter, Donna, who couldn't help the smile on her face. She looked back to the camera and smiled.
"Well, there you have it. It looks like the Avengers decided to help and stepped in once again, this time doing the impossible and curing nearly five-hundred people in a single evening! What an amazing accomplishment."
"And we have more video footage of the acts, as well as testimony from multiple employees of the hospital as well. In addition-"
"That's pretty much it." Christine explained. Her head was resting on Stephen's shoulder, watching the video with him. She took her phone back and sighed, looking at the photo taken of the lobby full of healed patients, with Captain America and Amaterasu sitting at the front. "She came in this morning, ran around the place, helped about four hundred people recover, and then took off again. She left maybe an hour ago."
Stephen sat in stunned silence, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion and deep thought as he thought about everything he just saw. Suddenly, he started chuckling. He laughed softly, the sound growing louder and louder, before he was outright cackling, folding over as he held his middle, tears rolling down his face.
"You… I- haha! That's hilarious!" Steven exclaimed, standing up abruptly from the couch and causing Christine to fall over, spilling coffee all over the couch and floor. "You… You expect me to believe that, what, a dog and a man from world war two are on some kind of healing mission?"
"Not a dog, a Goddess, Stephen." Christine retorted, getting to her feet. "Amaterasu, Goddess of the Sun. A Japanese Shinto deity. One of many, actually." Christine explained. She had time to kill after every surgery she had been scheduled for had been abruptly cancelled.
"Oh, really? So, what, Japanese gods are invading New York to heal people? Spread their religion maybe?" Stephen snapped, glaring at Christine and gesturing toward the phone. "Don't tell me you believe all that bullshit."
"It. Happened." Christine growled in response, before shaking her head.
"Okay, then explain to me how a dog can just heal hundreds of people and go on it's merry way. I'm sure there's multiple laws being broken in regards to patient care and confidentiality alone! On top of that, how the hell could she just cure a tumor?" Stephen ranted, pacing back and forth.
"I can't explain it, Stephen. It was like ma-" Christine was cut off once more, causing her to glare at Stephen.
"Don't you dare say 'magic', you're better than that. We studied for years to understand everything we do, and we're creating new methods! Our careers are built on science and understanding and logical methodologies that have been progressing for years!" Stephen continued, facing Christine directly. He opened his mouth to continue, but it was his turn to be interrupted.
"Hey! Jackass!" Darryl, his co-worker from earlier, shouted. "It happened! Go look at the TV in the next room, or maybe go actually talk with those nurses you're so certain are beneath you."
Stephen looked across the room at his colleague, and then back to Christine, his mind racing at an insane rate to come up with something that would make sense of it all.
Suddenly, he stood up straight, grabbing his possessions, and headed for the door.
"Hey! Where are you going?" Christine asked, jogging after him.
"I'm going for a walk. I need to think." Stephen replied, quieter than usual.
Christine slowed down, stopping at the hospital doors as Stephen strode out into the parking lot. He marched up to his Porsche and hopped in, closing the door a little too hard. He leaned back, closing his eyes and tilting his head back, taking several deep breaths.
"This is absurd. They're just playing a joke on me, that's all…" Strange tried to convince himself. "They're just getting back at me for the pay raise… Yeah, that's what it is…"
Despite his words, Stephen found his hand falling into his pocket and pulling out his phone.
"This isn't real. Magic isn't real. That big portal in the sky was alien technology. That's probably all that it is…" He murmured. He looked down, almost feeling like he was watching himself from outside his body.
With numb hands, he opened the browser on his phone, typing in a single word.
"A…ma…ter…asu…" He sounded out. The first results that showed up were not the Japanese Shinto goddess like he had been hoping for, but that damned dog. Against his better judgment, he opened a link, watching a video on the events. He backed out, and watched another… and another.
Each time he was hoping he would see something that he could pick out and use to prove it was all fake. Tweets, testimony, photos, videos, news stories. They all said the same thing.
Amaterasu was real.
He skipped over the articles and toxic debate about other gods and goddesses that cropped up in the comments, and ignored all the poorly made "proof Amaterasu is fake" blog posts.
He refreshed the page, and found a new story posted just seconds ago, stating that the dog was spotted leaving another hospital nearby, and was heading toward what seemed like another.
"This is stupid. It's not real…" Stephen Strange spoke to himself.
Despite his protest, he started his car. He pulled out of the parking stall and slowly weaved his way through the parking lot, his mind racing.
He pulled out onto the main street, grit his teeth, and floored it. His tires squealed and he let out an angry shout in his car. He was going to get to the bottom of this.
~{O}~{O}~{O}~
Amaterasu was honestly having a blast today. She was running around carefree, throwing around magic and getting pets and treats. She was being showered in praise, both literal and metaphysical, and just relished the love and attention she was being given.
The last location she had visited had cheered when she teleported herself through the front doors, and even had the hallways cleared so the wolf could zip around the place without worry of running into anyone. She had been given a list of patients, room numbers, and other important things.
Of course, there were some people she couldn't heal fully. They were dealing with injuries too brutal to fully recover from, or from both mental and physical troubles, though she did her best to soothe them.
Over the course of the day, Ammy hadn't taken a single break. She just. Kept. Going. Why would she want to stop? People needed her help, and she was going to help, no matter what.
Finally, as the day was nearing its close, Ammy had managed to make her way to every single hospital and medical center in Manhattan. As she ran around through the day, she found more and more people looking at her, cheering or taking pictures. In fact, there was one particularly persistent person in a loud, fast car, following her around all day.
So, in her usual fashion, she decided to have a little fun. Trotting her way out of the last hospital, she sat at the front, immediately being swarmed by a flood of people, flashing lights and cameras all over her. Ammy sat smugly, giving a little nonchalant "woof" or a lick here and there, basking in the attention.
However, she was waiting for one person… Ah, there!
That silver vehicle squealed to a stop at the edges of the crowd, the engine cutting out. The driver's door flew open and the man pulled himself out of the vehicle as quickly as he could.
Oh, he looked mad.
Ammy wagged her tail lightly, peering through the crowd as she watched the rather angry and rough looking man approach. She could tell that normally he would look calm, collected, and would be decent looking by human standards.
Now, he was bedraggled, red in the face, with ruffled clothing and clenched hands. Ammy sat calmly as the man forced his way through the crowd, much to the displeasure of the people around her. She watched him approach, coming to a stop directly in front of her.
He stared her down, clearly angry, frustrated at having been led around on a chase for nearly 10 hours. Ammy wuffed lightly in greeting, her tail wagging happily behind her as she looked up at the man.
He raised a hand and pointed a finger at her, his arm shaky.
"You… You're not real. Magic isn't real. You're just a dog. You're not Amaterasu, she's not-"
Ammy gave the man a wink, and then used her magic to teleport herself back to her shrine, popping into existence inside the now much larger building at the center of her shrine.
The wolf perked her ear, listening, and listened hard. She swore she could hear the enraged scream from her shrine, much to her amusement.
Today had been a very good day. She felt accomplished. As a bonus, no one had been able to enter her shrine while she was gone, so her home remained clean and free of people clamouring for her attention.
Amaterasu gave a happy little chuff and padded over to her bed at the center of the building, flopping down with a soft "wurf" and wriggled a little, before sprawling out on her side. She hadn't really kept track of how many people she had helped.
Ammy rolled onto her back and faced the ceiling, sprawled out on her bed in a very comfy position. She flexed her will on reality and froze time for a moment, deciding to finally interact with those pesky blue screens she had pointedly ignored throughout the day.
Health Hound: Heal the sick and injured!
Rewards: 50XP, 50 Praise (per person)
Number of people healed: 2 798
Ammy's eyes boggled for a moment, making sure she was reading that number properly. She blinked, and looked again, before a little smile crossed her face, and her tail gave an eager little wag, causing it to thump against the bed.
You have leveled up x9!
Due to your constant use of magic, you have gained +3 Wisdom, +2 Intelligence!
Due to your constant use of Bloom, Rejuvenation, and Healing Aura, these skills and abilities have leveled up! Bloom, Rejuvenation, and Healing Aura are now 20% more efficient and 20% more effective!
Due to your actions and publicity, you have gained +5 Charisma!
Due to your constant running, you have gained +2 Agility and Vitality!
For reaching 50 Vitality you have gained a new Ability!
Tanky: You're a damage sponge. Double your current health pool.
Name: Amaterasu Reborn
Titles: Dog, Hero of New York, Not a Stray, Sorcerer's Apprentice, Minor Celebrity
HP: 1 000/1 000
MP: 1 100/1 100
Level: 34
Strength: 39
Vitality: 50
Agility: 52
Intelligence: 55
Wisdom: 42
Charisma: 39 + 10% + 10% = 47.19
Luck: 26 +10% = 28.6
Skill Points: 45
Praise: 115 748
Ammy lay there for a long moment, eying the amount of Praise she had gathered today. Granted, running around to every hospital was doable within a short range, but eventually she would run out of people to heal, or wouldn't be able to reach all of them in time.
Still, for now, she was more than content healing people. The rewards didn't matter, it was just a nice bonus that would help her further assist people.
Amaterasu hummed for a moment, before turning her gaze away from her personal information and shifted focus to the shrine. She was curious to see what additional Praise would be able to get her. Maybe there would be fruit trees!
As Ammy swiped her paw through what was essentially an interface for her magic abilities, she started reading through the additional shrine changes she could make. Larger size of the shrine, new paintings, a cute little river with a bridge over it…
Out of everything that was listed though, one thing caught her eye.
Shrine Guardians: 100 000 Praise
Ammy narrowed her eyes over the option, and pressed her paw gently against it. Not quite selecting it, but attempting to figure out exactly what was meant by a "shrine guardian".
"Good evening, Amaterasu."
Of course, all that careful positioning of her paw was thrown out the window as she startled, her paw selecting the option and purchasing it, immediately spending 100 000 Praise on the choice. She jumped hard enough, however, that her paw thrust through the blue screen, shattering it.
Amaterasu knew that voice!
She rolled her head to the side, gazing upside down at none other than the Ancient One. The bald magic user, the Sorcerer Supreme, walked toward the canine and away from the side room she had been occupying.
"I'm not exactly sure what it is you were doing, but you looked very focused. I take it was important, because you froze time." The woman stated, smiling a little as she looked down at the large white wolf.
Amaterasu blinked, and then came to a realization. She was still holding her grip on time. Nothing should be moving. Yet, she looked at the Sorcerer Supreme while on her back, and noticed the green glow coming from the amulet around the woman's neck.
"Yes, I'm using the amulet to continue moving at the moment. It's quite a useful little thing, I must admit." The woman smiled.
Amaterasu broke her grip on reality and time resumed around the pair once more, the green glow fading from the magic user. The wolf rolled herself to her feet and stood up, padding up closer toward the Ancient One and met her halfway, her tail wagging eagerly.
"I've seen you've been busy today, my friend. From what I've seen, you've helped well over two-thousand people! Quite an accomplishment in just a single day." The Ancient One kneeled down, reaching out a hand and rubbing Ammy's head between her ears, earning a happy little rumble from the wolf.
"So, what was it you were so focused on, Amaterasu? It seemed important, so I let you have a little time."
"Ruff!" Ammy replied, pulling away from the woman's hand and sitting back.
"Oh? Guardians? You don't mean those two wolf statues out front, do you?"
Amaterasu blinked and tilted her head, before realization shot through her. She gave a happy wriggle in place, and then wrenched the front doors open with her Telekinesis. Ammy blurred forward in her excitement, racing out the doors and onto the front steps of the entrance of the Shrine.
"You know, you don't have to rush. I'm more than content visiting." The Sorcerer Supreme chuckled, coming to a stop right beside Ammy.
The pair watched the stone statues at the front of the Shrine start rippling and shifting. Little flecks of dust rolled off the stone creations and to the ground. A wave of colour started washing over the wolves, the previous white-grey colour fading to a deeper grey, and then darker still, looking almost black in colour. The markings on the wolves were a brilliant white in contrast, a mirror image to Amaterasu's own markings aside from the colour.
The red eyes of the statues seemed to blaze to life, wisps of red floating up and away from the piercing crimson orbs as they shifted in their sockets, rolling around to come to a focus on Amaterasu and the Ancient One.
Ammy watched in fascination as the two obsidian coloured wolves got to their feet, the living rocks shaking themselves off at almost the exact same time, their "fur" floofing out and their tails shaking. The twins leaped off of their pedestals and onto the tiled sidewalk leading up to the Shrine.
"Oh my, I haven't seen animated rocks in a good few years." The magic woman spoke, gazing at the two wolves with interest.
Ammy gazed at the two, and felt something snap into place inside her. With a light flex of her will, the twin wolves shifted their stance and bowed to the Goddess and the Sorcerer Supreme, closing their ruby eyes for a moment.
Then, Amaterasu gave a happy little bark, and the two statues immediately shifted into a playful crouch, wagging at Ammy and one another happily. Amaterasu sent them off to play, watching the pair stand up and tear their way across the shrine grounds, digging up dirt that was immediately put back into place.
"How fascinating. I take it you meant for that to happen?" The Ancient One asked.
Ammy paused for a moment and tilted her head, trying to decide, before just deciding to do a canine equivalent of a shrug, and gave a little huff as a non-answer. She turned her attention toward the new information screen that appeared after she sent off the wolves, who were currently bounding through the empty gardens and splashing in the fountains.
Congratulations! You have acquired a Familiar!
A Familiar is a companion based in magic that you have complete control of, whether it be orders, or just vague instructions. Familiars can complete tasks and assignments, as well as fight for you, and attempt to find solutions to problems you give them.
The Twins are able to be completely controlled by you down to every individual action, or ordered to accomplish a task, such as being your body guards. Each one may act independently of the other. They cannot inherently use magic, but can draw upon your own magic abilities to use in place of their own. They will grow as you do, and will respawn back at the Shrine after a period of 12 hours. You can take them with you to leave the Shrine and act as companions, or leave them here to guard your home.
Ammy, in all her wolfy glory, wheeled around to face the Ancient One, tail wagging as she explained exactly what had happened. In a series of barks, yips, growls, and huffs of course. The centuries old woman merely raised an eyebrow at the wolf and nodded lightly, thinking to herself.
"Oh, Amaterasu, I believe your friend has returned to see you." The Ancient One spoke, using a hand to nudge the canine's shoulder and gestured up toward the entrance to the shrine.
"I found you! Finally! Ama- wah!" Stephen Strange was immediately set upon by two massive stone wolves, the pitch black canines skidding to a stop before him, their hackles raised and teeth bared. The doctor jolted backward, stumbling over his feet and falling backward.
His fall was halted by a force against his back, pushing him upright once more. The two massive stone creatures dropped out of their aggressive and protective stance, and returned to their previous wagging and happy moods, the Twins retreating from the startled human and moving back to their positions on their pedestals.
The three watched as the statues shifted and seemed to settle into place, their animated features becoming rocky and solid once more. Their eyes still remained active, however, looking as if they were following you no matter where you stood within the shrine.
"What… What was that?" Strange asked, glancing behind himself to see just what had caught him, only to find nothing there. "You… How. Tell me how you did it." Stephen began again, walking forward along the pathway and up the stairs, coming to a stop just a couple steps from the top.
"Ruff!" Ammy replied, wagging her tail slightly toward the neurosurgeon.
"She says 'magic', Mr. Strange." The Sorcerer Supreme supplied, failing to hide an amused smirk from her face.
"Magic isn't real. And it's Doctor Strange, thank you-" Stephen cut himself off, blinking and narrowing his eyes, before glancing between the canine and the woman in robes accusingly. "How did you know my name?"
"She told me." The Ancient One replied. Ammy hadn't told her, but Strange didn't need to know that little detail. Amaterasu merely wagged her tail and winked up at the woman, who merely looked over Stephen with an appraising eye.
"I'm not an idiot. Dogs can't talk. Dogs can't. Heal. People!" Stephen ground out, fixated on the images he saw earlier in the day. He had been following this wolf for the last ten hours. He was going to get some damn answers.
"Of course they can, Mr. Strange. Therapy dogs have been around for ages, and studies have shown the presence of a canine can-" The Ancient One couldn't keep the smile off her face when she said that.
"That's not what I mean! The hospitals! That's what I'm referring to!" Stephen began to get frustrated, pointing an accusatory finger at the wolf. "You… How did you do it. Is it Stark? Did he swoop in and cure everyone while you distracted them? Or… Or maybe it was Thor! Using Asgardian technology to-"
"Mr. Strange, as lovely as it would be to have this discussion outside, I came by to invite my lovely friend here over for tea. She's been running around all day, she's clearly hungry and tired." The Sorcerer Supreme interrupted.
Stephen stood in silent rage and confusion, the entire situation alien to him. Why was a woman in robes visiting a brand new shrine late in the evening. Why was a dog allowed free access to hospitals? Why was he still entertaining this idiotic fantasy Christine put into his head!?
"I… I'm not leaving until I get some damn answers!" Stephen growled, glaring at the pair who watched him impassively.
"Wurf!" Ammy offered, her tail giving a little flick as she cast her gold eyes to look at the disgruntled doctor before her, and then looked back at the Sorcerer Supreme.
"Ah, excellent idea. Mr. Strange, how would you like to join us? Amaterasu here is hungry, I came here for entertainment and some socializing, and you want answers. Quite a convenient situation, don't you think?" The Ancient One offered, the smug lilt in her voice not at all hidden.
Stephen glared at the duo, attempting to protest the idea, only to come up with a blank. He tried again, taking a breath… Only to pause.
"Well… Fine. But this better not be some elaborate hoax. I've spent hours looking for answers and-"
"Excellent!" The Ancient One interrupted. She shifted her hand lightly, rotating it in a tight circle, causing a glowing ring of orange sparks to appear beside the trio.
"What the hell is-" Stephen was interrupted once again as the Sorcerer Supreme flicked her digits to the left, causing the swirling portal to rush toward and over the three of them.
Stephen stumbled as they were transported to a new location in the blink of an eye, his stance uneven from the sudden change. Strange let out a soft cry as he was startled, falling backwards once more, only to be caught by the white wolf that had somehow rushed around behind him before he could even look.
Stephen moved to get his feet back under himself, scowling and lightly embarrassed at both the fall and the confusion around the whole situation.
He watched as the pair made their way toward the door of this tall, odd looking building.
"Welcome to the New York Sanctum, Mr. Strange. Hopefully you don't find this experience too magical for your tastes." The Ancient One laughed, a light flick of her fingers causing the front doors of the sanctum to open up from across the street.
Ammy, being the troublesome little goofball she was, decided now would be a great time to experiment with her barrier placement. She strode forward and lifted her paws, using her magic to form a small and invisible Shield every time she took a step forward, and then made it dissipate once she was clear of it.
Stephen merely watched as the wolf proceeded to walk on air in front of him. The woman in the robes stepped through another swirling portal, ending up on the doorstep to the Sanctum.
The wolf and the Sorcerer Supreme both stood at the entrance to the Sanctum, facing him, encouraging him to follow. He was speechless, entranced, his mind flying through ideas and explanations quickly, none of them quite meeting what his eyes were showing him.
Without a word, Stephen Strange followed Amaterasu and the Ancient One into the New York Sanctum, the doors closing behind the trio with a solid thud.