November 5th, 2019
"Are we ready to begin with this week's meeting?" Araav's voice boomed in the room, the noise echoing off the hard surfaces and making him sound much louder than he intended to be. He stood at the head of a large oval table made of polished wood. The four other sorcerers in the room nodded their heads and some murmured "Yes" and "Sure." Araav sat down at his chair, which was tall and made of a dark, thick wood. "Very well, let the meeting of the council commence."
"So, master Shane, has your class passed the physical assessment we assigned to you?" Master Deyman spoke first, like always. He was huge, both muscular and tall. He had pale skin and a buzzed head of blonde hair, and usually wore a set of red robes. Deyman had doubted that master Shane would push his students to their limits, like he should be doing. He saw Shane as a bit of a coward, though he didn't voice his opinion on the American man.
Master Shane nodded, his messy black hair swaying with the movement. "Yes, all but two. They have been dealt with accordingly." Shane's reply was a little cold- he disliked Dayman as much as Deyman disliked him. The two often got into fights, but Shane was determined not to have one today. Today has been a good day – I'll be damned if Deyman's going to ruin it, he thought.
"I've taken on three more students; my class was a little small anyway." Master Haukea spoke up, her voice high and friendly. She was Hawaiian woman, with dark hair and skin. She was what most people would consider to be "chubby" and was dressed in flowing light blue robes. "They're a little behind the rest of the class, but I'm sure they'll catch up."
"Who's class did you take them from?" Asked master Bao, who adjusted his wheelchair a bit while he was speaking. Bao had been crippled from an accident that he had as a young man, and he came to Kamar-Taj to heal himself. Ultimately he decided to stay there, and not to restore his legs. He was the youngest out of the group, at the ripe age of 33. "I bet you took them out of Harmir's."
"I did take them out of Harmir's! How'd you know?" Haukea laughed. "They came to me and asked to be transferred, so that's what I did. They're sweet kids."
Deyman raised a brow. "Did you even ask Harmir before taking his students, or did you just take them without asking?" There was a hint of venom behind his tone.
"So what if I did?" Haukea looked at Dayman with a smirk, proud of herself. "They wanted to transfer, so I took them in. I didn't know I needed to ask Harmir for permission first." She said that last sentence with a good amount snark and a cheeky grin. It was fun to get Deyman riled up, and Haukea was going to enjoy every second of it.
"Typical!" Deyman scoffed. "That's just like you, to take something without asking."
"Enough." Araav's tone was stern, and his command brought the conversation to a halt. "Try to control yourselves. This is a civil meeting." He clenched his fists and passed a warning glare to Deyman, reminding him to control the temper that he was notorious for.
"Sorry, Araav." Heukea spoke softly. She wanted to stay on Araav's good side – the man secretly terrified her.
"Besides, I have a pressing issue that I'd like to discuss." He looked to the 4 council members present, each of whom were staring at him, waiting for Araav to finish. "You're aware of Stephen Strange, correct? We discussed him at our last meeting."
Bao spoke up first. "Did you check on him? How did he measure up to your expectations?" He looked around, then whispered so that Araav could barely hear him. "Do you still think he's the one?"
"I do, but a… complication arose while I was visiting him the other day." Araav linked his hands together and rested them on the table. "Master Strange has been harboring a secret apprentice."
"A secret apprentice? Who?" Heukea spoke up first.
"For how long?" Shane interjected.
"Her name is Juniper, and he's been training her for a year." Araav explained calmly.
"A year? How can you think he's the one when he's been hiding some apprentice under our noses this whole time?" Deyman was quick to interrupt with his trademark outrage. He was always one for the rules and honor, and in his mind, breaking the sacred rules of the sorcerers was the ultimate sin. "If he kept this a secret, what else is he hiding from us?"
"I'm sure Strange has his reasons-" Bao started, but was interrupted by Deyman.
"He still lied to us about it! How can we trust him with those responsibilities when he goes behind our backs like this?" After this question, the conversation turned into all four masters bickering and explaining amongst themselves, while Araav sat calmly.
"Strange did explain himself. There's more – Juniper has somehow obtained the book of the Vishanti. " The room went quiet, and all four masters stared at Araav with wide eyes.
"You're joking." Shane said first. "There's no way."
"The book has been lost for over a century, what makes you think it's shown up again?" Heukea leaned forward when she spoke, looking directly at Araav.
"It is the book. Of that, I have no doubt." Araav began. "I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it for myself. Stephen's apprentice, this Juniper, is the new host for the book."
"That does complicate things…" Bao put his hand on his chin and digested the information.
"You said Stephen had his reasons, I assume those involve the book?" Shane leaned forward a bit as he spoke, passing looks to his fellow sorcerers. Araav nodded.
"Yes. Stephen claims that Juniper was dangerous when she came to him- unable to control the books powers. He insists that she would be a danger to the other students, and that's why he kept her away from Kamar-Taj. He also brought up that we don't know how deep her power reaches, and that he's the only teacher who could handle her abilities."
"Pompous ass." Deyman growled. In his eyes, Stephen was a man who bucked the system, took what he wanted, and expected to be placed on a pedestal for it. He thinks he's above the rules – that he's better than anybody else. Stephen clearly didn't have any faith in the other masters, which only proved that Deyman was right.
"I'm with Deyman on this one. Stephen obviously thinks that the masters here aren't up to the task, which is arrogant and disrespectful." Shane couldn't help but be a little offended by Strange's line of thinking – there were sorcerers who had been here long before he has, they could probably handle something like the book of the Vishanti. His thinking was dangerous and conceited, and could end up in disaster. If this woman didn't get the training she needed, there was no telling what kind of damage she could cause. And in the heart of New York, no less! At least Kamar-Taj is remote, and if she lost control here, there wouldn't be civilian casualties.
"I think Stephen was right to make that call." Haukea crossed her arms, ready to get into an argument for her opinion. "He didn't want to endanger anybody but himself. And I'm sure he could give her a much better education with one-on-one tutelage. Being in a class would probably just hold her back."
"That was Strange's thoughts as well." Araav commented.
"Well, he had a decent point. If she needed to be trained quickly, which was probably the case if she was dangerous, then Strange certainly was the man for the job. Putting her in a class would be a mistake - we don't know how well she could control her powers. I don't want the death of some students on our hands just because we didn't want to expedite her training." Bao spoke up after careful deliberation. Stephen was a little cocky and a bit of a drama queen, but he knew what he was doing. If he thought that training this woman all by herself was the best call, Bao would support him on it.
"There's still no reason to keep her hidden from us, and for so long!" Deyman slammed his massive fist down onto the table, cutting the conversation to a halt. "He needs to be punished for keeping secrets!"
"What would you suggest his punishment be?" Araav raised a brow.
"Strip him of his master title! He apparently can't be trusted with it." Deyman abhorred seeing Stephen get away with things, and getting special treatment. He vowed that Strange would get his recompense for this transgression.
"Isn't that a little extreme?" Haukea argued. This might not have been Stephen's brightest decision, but she understood why he did it. Punishment might be necessary, but stripping him of his master title? That was just uncalled for in her eyes.
"Well, what do you want to do? Just give a slap on the wrist and let him be on his merry way? No, we've allowed Stephen to get away with too much. He rarely attends master's meetings, doesn't teach a class here, and he doesn't understand the responsibility of running a sanctum! This woman could have destroyed it, and then what? Earth's defenses would be crippled!" Deyman was getting frustrated by the weak will of Haukea and Bao. If they had it their way, Stephen would be on the council and allowed to do whatever he saw fit.
"But don't you think taking away his title is a little much? I mean, what did he really do wrong? He trained a girl who needed his help!" Haukea was getting dangerously close to raising her voice.
Shane, who had been silent for a while, turned to look at Araav. "What are your thoughts on this, Araav? You've been quiet."
Araav let out a small 'hmph.' "I haven't quite made my decision yet. Stephen's need for secrecy is concerning, to say the least. But after seeing the book in person, I understand why he did it. Imagine the complications it would cause if we revealed the book of the Vishanti's return to the wrong people." He remained as rigid as ever, sitting perfectly straight up.
"Let's be honest here- if Stephen brought Juniper before us, what would we have done with her?" Bao cut in, wanting to be heard.
"We'd put her in a class, like she belongs." Hissed Deyman. He saw what Bao was getting at, and it only served to enrage him. He was making it sound like they were in the wrong for wanting to do the right thing!
"See what I mean? That's why Strange kept her a secret. If he didn't, this woman wouldn't get the training she desperately needed. Instead she'd be stuck in a beginner class, not knowing how to wield her potentially limitless power – how does that not sound dangerous to you?" Bao was used to Deyman being a stubborn ass, but the act had overstayed his welcome. The burly Russian man had to start seeing reason.
"Can we go ahead and vote, instead of arguing like this?" Shane wasn't one for conflict like this, and he wanted to put the issue to rest. There were other things he wanted to discuss at this meeting, but this was going to take up all of their time if they just kept arguing about it.
"So, we'll vote on if Strange gets to keep his apprentice." Araav said with a small nod.
"But what about his punishment?" Deyman whipped his head to look dead into Araav's eyes. "He needs to be stripped of his master title, and the sanctum given to someone else."
"Or, we could force him to actually start keeping up with life at Kamar-Taj." Bao suggested.
"I'd be okay with that, as long as he gave us regular reports on his apprentice. Her progress would be a good metric for seeing how Strange does as a teacher and a leader- something we need to consider, if we think he's the one." Shane thought his compromise was fair.
"Strange is absolutely not the one." Deyman growled.
"I'd argue otherwise. I think we should make the decision official soon." The dark-skinned woman shifted her weight in her chair – the solid cedar wasn't very comfortable. "If Stephen does well with training Juniper, then I say we've found the man for the job."
"It would be a suitable test for his abilities. If he's the one, he's going to need to know how to teach." Bao linked his hands together. "This will really show if we've made the right decision."
"You're making a huge mistake." Deyman's eyes narrowed. Thinking Strange was the one was ridiculous. There were plenty of other masters who were qualified for the job, so why pick this inexperienced pup?
"Fine, who would you suggest is the one then?" Haukea shot at Deyman, her voice cold. She was tired of Deyman's constant belittlement of Strange. His prejudices were getting in the way of him seeing the truth – that Stephen was really the one.
"How about literally any other master?" Deyman glared at Haukea. The two never got along, but today she was being especially difficult. Deyman had half a mind to challenge her to a duel, to shut her up once and for all.
"Enough, Deyman. The majority has spoken." Araav narrowed his eyes at the man, telling him to stand down. Deyman huffed and leaned back in his seat with a grumble. He considered himself as someone who didn't take orders- but he respected Araav too much to fight him on this. This is how the council works. He had to remind himself, gritting his teeth as he did so.
"It's time to start the vote. Should master Strange keep his apprentice? Shane, you first." Araav nodded to the man on his left. Shane usually started the vote, and it went clockwise around the table, landing on himself last.
"Against." Shane said with a nod. "She needs to be in a class, where we can watch her."
"For." It was Bao's turn now, and he didn't hesitate to voice his opinion. "Stephen made the right call."
"For." Haukea said with a small smile. She was fond of Stephen, and she knew that he wouldn't have done something if it wasn't right. Besides, she found the concept of a secret apprentice a romantic one- she was eager to see how it progressed.
"Against." Deyman said, to nobody's surprise. "Strange went behind all of our backs, and needs to be punished for it."
That left Araav as the tiebreaker. The four sorcerers looked to him, eyes wide with anticipation. Seconds stretched into moments as Araav sat with his eyes closed, debating with himself. The council was anxious, each one sitting at the edge of their seat- Bao notwithstanding. After what felt like an eternity, Araav finally spoke.
"For." He decided. There was a hushed "Yes!" from Haukea, but he paid it no mind. "It is decided. Strange will keep his apprentice, but under council supervision. We will use her progress as a metric for his own."
"And if he's ready?" Shane asked. Araav paused for a moment, then spoke very carefully.
"Then Stephen Strange will be the next Sorcerer Supreme."