The Sorcerer Supreme's Apprentice
by TimeAndLife21
Chapter 2
When she first saw him, he came into the room looking like a struggling traveler. She was a sitting position in the far corner of the room, naming the relics that have yet to choose their masters on a piece of parchment. First and Foremost was the Cloak of Levitation. A finicky relic but she could also understand its hesitancy in choosing its master. In the past the Cloak have been used for evil, and it's last master was back in the 1700s, before The Ancient One had found it and offered asylum for the sentient cloak.
Anaiah was one of the very few that the Cloak had considered becoming its master, but she knew that even though she was considered for being its master, she wasn't the right one. But she still visited the cloak every so often. Knowing that it gets boring in the dusty old case.
Back to the present, she looked up and saw the man giving hesitant yet somehow sure small bows and saying thank you. She tilted her head and observed the man. Mordo was giving her a look of 'look who I brought home". She shook her head and sighed. Though Mordo was one of her closer friends, he still some how managed to find strays and brought them here.
The man mistook Master Hamir as the Ancient One and she had to cover the lower half of her face before the Ancient One was right in front of him. The encounter was much too funny for her. He looked rather shocked at the Ancient One's youthfulness. She was enjoying the baffled look on his face when he asked her about making the body self heal itself through a regenerated process. Though, Anaiah knew that healing the body is no easy task even with magic speeding up the process. But Through the power of Belief and impossibilities become possible, it is viable.
Although, When he got frustrated and started to rant a bit at the Ancient One, she saw the cue in her eyes and Anaiah abandoned her paper and walked up behind the man as he poked the Ancient one in the chest. It was then that the Ancient One decided that enough was enough before forcefully pushing out the man's astral self for a moment or two before he was thrusted back into his body. It wasn't long before Anaiah Made sure that the man's travels through reality was a safe one.
With the Ancient One at the helm of Stephen Strange's mind, she too, followed the path of the reality bending to make sure that he didn't go insane through this trip.
First was him flying into the sky, up into space, Anaiah followed at the high speed and became a butterfly fluttering in front of him, he had reached out to her in confusion and awe before he was thrusted back down to earth, her following at the same speed he was being pulled down to. She enjoyed the speed at which the ancient one was putting the man though. Others would think that it was just a really bad acid trip, but for her it was exhilarating. The realities that the Ancient One was putting Stephen Strange though was into the dark and into the light, to the odd and unusual and colorful ways of different realities, of course, she was to make sure that he was protected as he was being thrown through these realities.
She then shifted in front of him as a glowing green, blue, brown and silver bird similar to a peacock but a wingspan of a great Eagle. Supposedly a phoenix in a could hear the Ancient ones words speaking to him as he hovered in a deep blue and green dimension. She flitted around Strange letting her long flowing tail feathers brushed against his face and she circled him.
"You think you know how the world works? You think that this material universe is all there is? What is real?" The Ancient One's voice resonated throughout this reality.
She she turned her head to looked at Strange's eyes and he looked around in awe of this place then laid back onto her. Her blue, green and brown feathers were changing and inverting on themselves. As they would in this dimension. She slowly moved her wings
"What Mysteries lie beyond your senses? At the root of existence, mind and matter meet. Thoughts form reality. This universe is only one of an infinite number. Worlds Without End; Some benevolent and some life-giving." The voice echoed. "Other filled with malice and hunger. Dark places older than Time lie, ravenous and waiting."
Anaiah circled Strange's body yet again as she could see her feathers inverting to a deep blue and green. The colors were starting to fade. It was almost time to take him back. She flew just a little closer before turning her head to meet his eyes. She could see the multitude of questions in his eyes, the awe, the fear, but also she could sense the brilliant mind that he had was turning and running to remember and to take in everything that has been happening to him.
"Who are you in this vast multiverse, Mr. Strange?"
That was the cue to suddenly take Strange by the shoulders of her talons and drag him down back to their reality at high speeds before she let him go and he crashed down onto the chair and to the floor. She had reverted back to her human form, heart pumping from all the traveling that she went through with Strange. It was exhilarating. She never tired of it.
"Have you ever seen that in a gift shop?" The ancient one cracked.
She walked behind the Ancient one as she has approval in her eyes to make sure Strange didn't go insane from all the traveling through realities. She shrugged back, it was her duty. She wouldn't let a living soul get lost in it all. From the corner of her eye as Strange struggled to come to his knees, he was breathing heavily, but he looked up, eyes bright in hunger of what knowledge lays before him, she also saw...hope? That was interesting.
"Teach me." He pleaded.
Silence beat for a moment.
"No." The Ancient One spoke simply.
"Well that was harsh…" Anaiah admitted as she followed Mordo and The Ancient One to the chambers where the Eye of Agamotto lay.
The Ancient one was turning the stand to look up at the copy of the world. Liklye to keep an eye out for Kaecillius and his men.
She could hear Mordo and The Ancient one speak about Strange and how that he wouldn't be like Kaecillius. Anaiah winced. She knew that Kaecillius was still a sore subject for The Ancient One, but Mordo had a point. How she saw Strange, he was arrogant, yes. Prideful, of course, but she could see past that a broken man who only wanted to have his hands healed. But there was something else in Strange...whatever it is, it unsettled her a bit.
"Anaiah…" The Ancient Spoke to her, racking her out of her thoughts.
"Yes, Master?" She asked.
"What do you think?" She asked. "Should we let Strange in and teach him?"
Anaiah furrowed her brows. There was something about Stephen Strange. She didn't know what, and she closed her eyes to think. A blip of the future hit her. A fully robed Stephen Strange reading a book from the library. She opened her eyes again.
"We should give him a try. Perhaps he might surprise us." She spoke honestly.
"Very well." The Ancient One nodded to Mordo who went to fetch Strange.
"I hope that I don't make the same mistakes." The Ancient One spoke sadly.
Anaiah turned around sharply and shook her head.
"I know...but at least we learn from them, right?" Anaiah spoke kindly.
The Ancient one turned to her and smiled gently.
"Yes...we do."
TAL21: I just realized that it was a mite bit difficult to get Anaiah's placement in with the Movie (given the fact that I'm basing this off of the memory I have and I wish I had a photographic memory of the movie) but I think I pulled it off pretty well. Stephen wouldn't really notice Anaiah until he meets her at the Library. Otherwise, she would be in the background mostly before he really gets to meet her. So until then, She would be conversing with Mordo, The Ancient One and a few other people as well. So, I'll see you guys in the next chapter. Please leave detailed and long reviews. I love chatting with my readers because without you guys, I wouldn't be writing now. See you in the next chapter!
Question Time: The trip through realities was one of my favorite scenes, what was yours?
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