June 2013

Gwen thought she knew busy streets. She lived in Manhattan, after all. And certainly Manhattan was busier than most of America, but it was nothing compared to the streets of Kathmandu, Nepal.

They were packed from each side, shoulder to shoulder. There was hardly any room to move. This made it especially difficult to find their destination. Especially since there weren't very many people who spoke English in Kathmandu.

Before they had come to Nepal, Gwen had done some research on the language, customs, and culture of Nepal. Mostly on the language. She had memorized three phrases in Nepali. "Malā'īṁ māpha garnuhōs," which meant 'excuse me.'

"Kē tapā'īnlā'ī kamara tāja kahām̐ cha thāhā cha?" 'Do you know where Kamar Taj is?'

And, "Kē tapā'īm̐ aṅgrējī bōlnuhuncha?" 'Do you speak English?'

They wandered through the city, asking anyone who would listen for directions to Kamar Taj. As it turned out, not many people had even heard of Kamar Taj. Most people they asked just looked confused, as if they were crazy. Occasionally, one or two people gave them general directions in English. The people of Nepal turned out to be generally kind towards American tourists, which Gwen did not expect. She was expecting dislike at the least. However, most people did not concern themselves with Gwen or Stephen.

By noon, Gwen's stomach was rumbling. Stephen turned to look at her with a grin. "Let's go find something to eat," he said.

They found a little stand on a busy market street that sold something called Momos. It looked rather like a dumpling that was fried and served with curry. They were filled with steamed vegetables. It was quite spicy, but Gwen enjoyed it. She wasn't picky. She would eat just about anything. Stephen was less fond of them, but he ate them without complaint. They paid in rupees, which was the currency in Nepal, and resumed their search for Kamar Taj.

By late afternoon, they found themselves walking down an empty alleyway. As they walked, a small, dirty dog came over to them, looking for handouts. He was wagging his tail, but also limping. "Hello, pup," Stephen said, crouching down to get a better look at him. Gwen saw the way he was holding his paw. The dog had probably broken it somehow.

Stephen reached out and took his paw. He whimpered in pain. "Broken paw, huh?" he asked it in a low voice. He looked at his shaking hands. "Same here."

Gwen took off her backpack and dug around for something to bandage his paw with. She found her scarf, which she had had for several years. With a sigh, she handed it over to her father. It was old, and she could get a new scarf. "Thanks," Stephen said. He pointed towards a pile of nearby rubble. "Would you grab me that stick there?"

She grabbed the solid chunk of wood and handed it to her father. Stephen tried to grab the dog's paw again, but he whimpered and pulled it away. Gwen knelt down beside the dog and started to pet it, scratching it behind the ears. It distracted the pup enough so that Stephen could bind its leg. "There you are," he told the dog, patting it on the side. The dog ran off happily, healed of his ailment.

"Maybe we should get a dog," Stephen said as they watched it run off. He turned to look at Gwen. "You never asked for one, as a kid. I thought every kid wanted a dog."

"Why would I want a dog?" she asked cynically. "So I would have to clean up after it and spend money feeding it, just for it to die? No thank you."

"Why are you so cynical?" he asked, trying not to smile.

"Can't imagine where I got it from," Gwen said sarcastically. "Must be from mom."

Stephen shook his head, even though he knew she was just joking. "No. Jess was the nicest person I'd ever met. I don't think I heard her say one word against anyone." He looked melancholy, as he always did when he spoke of Jessie. Gwen hardly ever asked questions about her mother for that very reason. Stephen shook away his sad expression and grinned. "If you didn't look so much like her, I'd doubt that you were her daughter." He poked her shoulder teasingly.

Before Gwen could come up with a retort, they were approached by about half a dozen men. They wore hoods over their heads. Their faces were grim with determination. Gwen's heart skipped a beat. This wasn't good. They were outnumbered, her dad's hands were too injured to fight back, and she was no physical wonder. She was weak, actually. Gym had always been her worst subject. Running exhausted her, she could barely do a push-up, and she had next to no upper arm strength. They stood no chance against these people.

"Look guys," Stephen said, raising his hands in surrender, "I don't have any money."

"Your watch," insisted the one closest to them.

Stephen turned to look at his watch. Gwen recognized it as the one Christine had given him long ago. "No. Please. It's all I have left."

"Your watch," he insisted again.

The one just behind him chuckled darkly. "Or your daughter," he said. "Your choice."

Gwen felt a surge of anger and she lost all common sense. Recalling the rude phrase that she had looked up on google translate, she harshly said it to him and spat at the ground near his feet.

The man closest to them lunged. Stephen reacted instinctively and punched him. However, it injured him more than the man. He gripped his wrist and gave a cry of pain. They punched him in the face and he fell to the ground, where they repeatedly kicked him in the side and removed his watch.

Two of them held Gwen while she struggled against their grip. "Leave him alone!" she screamed. No one came to their aid. She screamed every foul name she knew at them. She spat, kicked, and struggled furiously, but nothing worked.

Then, she saw someone else join the fray. Another hooded figure. However, he did not seem to be an ally to these people. He attacked the one that came running at him, grabbing his face and shoving him to the ground. He dodged their blows with apparent ease, all while knocking them to the ground with his kicks and punches. One of them tried to run, but the hooded figure quickly stopped him and knocked him out as well. He took something from the attacker's hands: the watch. However, he didn't steal it. He just walked back over to them and handed the watch to Stephen.

"Thank you," said Stephen.

He removed his hood, revealing his face. He was most likely a native of Nepal; he had the same features. He was dark skinned, with dark black hair and matching eyes. He was as tall as Stephen, which made Gwen feel rather short, which was nothing new. She was only five foot four inches, after all. Most people she knew were much taller than her. She wished that she could've inherited her father's height rather than her mother's. "You're looking for Kamar Taj?" he asked them.

Neither of them questioned how he knew this. They just nodded. "Follow me," he said.

Normally, Gwen would have hesitated before following some stranger to a place they knew next to nothing about. However, nothing in her life had been normal lately. Crossing her fingers that he didn't kill them or lead them to some creepy drug den, she followed her father, who was following the stranger. She walked in stride with her father, reaching out to grab his wrist. "Is your hand alright?" She started to pinch different parts of his hand between her fingers, feeling around gently.

"Just fine, doctor," he replied. "Hurts a bit, but I don't think it's rebroken."

Gwen took his hand and had him curl his fingers into a fist. Since he didn't seem to be in pain, she let his hand drop. "Dad, I don't like this," she whispered, leaning closer to him so he could hear.

"It's fine," he said. Stephen had no reservations about this stranger. He just had a feeling that this man was taking them to the right place. Or maybe it was just foolish hope.

The man led them to a door that was just across from some stands in the middle of the street. Gwen was… disappointed. She had been expecting something like the Taj Mahal in miniature; some grand building.

"This is it?" Stephen asked, expressing Gwen's thoughts. "Are you sure it isn't that place? It seems a little more Kamar Taj-y."

The stranger did not laugh. He looked at them with serious expressions. "I was once in your place. And I too was… disrespectful. So, take my advice: Forget everything you think you know."

Weirdo, Gwen thought to herself as he opened the door and led them inside.

The first thing that hit Gwen was the smell. It smelt like a library: like old books, clean wood, and somewhat smoky and like tea. The scent was very calming, almost immediately relaxing Gwen's nerves. Her shoulders visibly relaxed, and she unclenched her jaw. The inside of the place looked somewhat more Kamar Taj-y. The walls were wooden. It looked like a kind of church for monks. Just as she thought it, Gwen saw a small group of people pass by them wearing monk-like clothing. Was this some sort of monastery? Were they going to see some supposed prophet that could heal her father?

The stranger led them to a room that was a short walk from the front door. He stopped in the door frame and gestured for them to enter. "The one you are searching for is through here. The Ancient One."

"The Ancient One?" Stephen echoed. "What's his real name?" The man just glared at him. "Right. Forget everything I think I know." Together, father and daughter walked into the room. They saw the Ancient One sitting at a table, reading a book. "Uh, thank you uh, oh." Several of the monks were removing their jackets. "Thanks. Um, thank you, oh." They were now being served tea by a bald monk in a bright yellow outfit. "Thank you. Uh, thank you, Ancient One, for agreeing to see me…"

But the one who had been reading the book had gone now. The two of them watched him go in confusion. "You're very welcome," said the monk that had served them tea. She turned to the other monks. "Thank you, Master Mordo. Thank you, Master Hamir." Then, she returned her attention to the two visitors. "Mr. Strange. And Miss Strange."

"It's uh, Dr. Strange," Stephen replied.

The Ancient One chuckled. "Well no, not now, surely?"

Gwen snorted. "Yes, surely. He's still got a doctorate degree, even if he's not currently practicing medicine." She was filled with doubts about this whole place. This Ancient One didn't even know how basic college degrees worked. How was she supposed to heal him? This was probably some whacked out drug den. But that still didn't explain Pangborn…

The Ancient One said nothing in response to Gwen's comment. There was a long, awkward silence in which they all just stared at one another. "Did you heal a man named Johnathan Pangborn?" Stephen finally asked, getting right to the point.

"In a way," The Ancient One replied vaguely. The way she dodged the question made Gwen's temper leap. Why couldn't she just give them a straight answer? She kept her anger in check, though. One sassy comment was enough for the day.

"How did you heal a complete C7 C8 spinal cord injury?" Stephen asked in wonder.

"I didn't heal it," she told them. "He couldn't walk, I convinced him that he could?"

Gwen's eyes widened. "So you're saying it was psychosomatic?" she asked in disbelief. From what she could recall from Pangborn's file, it had been a very real and very serious injury.

Stephen nodded. "I read Pangborn's file. The injuries he sustained… there's no way it was psychosomatic."

"When you reattach a severed nerve, is it you who heals it back together or the body?" she asked.

"It's the cells," he answered right away.

"And the cells are programmed to put themselves back together in very specific ways, yes?" Both of them nodded in understanding, though Gwen was not sure where she was going with this. "What if I told you that your own body could be convinced to put itself back together in all sorts of ways?"

Now it was Stephen's turn to stare at her in disbelief. "You're talking about cellular regeneration. That's bleeding edge medical tech. Is that why you're working here and without a governing medical board? Just how experimental is your treatment?"

She smiled, as if she knew a joke that neither of them did. "Quite."

"So you've figured out a way to reprogram nerve cells to self heal?" Gwen was not sure if that was even possible. Could someone reprogram any cell? That hadn't been done before, as far as she knew. It should've been impossible.

"No, Mr. Strange," she agreed. "I know how to reorient the spirit to better heal the body."

Gwen gave a soft snort of derision. Yep, these guys were probably crazy drugged out hippies. What a waste of time.

"Ok… uh, how do we do that?" Stephen asked her.

She yet again did not answer his question directly. She merely picked up a book and began to show them pictures. "Great," Stephen said in confusion.

"Don't like that one?"

"No, it's great, it's just I've seen it before. In gift shops," he told her.

She just smiled patiently and turned the page. "What about that one?"

"Acupuncture, great," he said sarcastically.

"And what about this one?"

"You're showing me an MRI scan, I don't believe this," he scoffed, walking away.

"Each of those maps was drawn up by someone who could see in part, but not whole," she told them. Stephen threw up his hands in frustration. Gwen was half tempted to do the same, but then she had a thought. This whole thing sounded a lot like magic and craziness, but was magic so crazy? Just last month, Manhattan had been attacked by an alien god from outer space. Loki. Because Gwen wanted to learn all she could about anything, she had found a few books on Norse mythology. Loki was supposed to be able to do magic of some kind. And he was definitely real. There was enough wreckage in New York to be proof of that. So was it really so crazy that this lady had magical powers too?

While Gwen was puzzling, Stephen's mind had done a full one eighty. Whereas before he had been convinced that this was the place where he would find his doctor and his cure, he now was convinced that they were a bunch of insane people. "I spent my last dollar getting here and you're telling me that you heal through belief?" he scoffed.

"You're a man who has spent his whole life looking through a keyhole. You've spent your whole life trying to widen that keyhole. But now, upon hearing that it can be widened, you reject even the possibility."

"I reject the possibility because I do not believe in fairytales," he spat at The Ancient One. "There is no such thing as spirit! We are made of matter and nothing more."

The Ancient One ignored him for a moment and turned to Gwen. "But you believe, don't you?" Gwen was so shocked that she remained silent. Stephen looked at her in disbelief. His daughter was normally so level headed, so serious. This wasn't like her at all. "You do," she continued. "I can see it in your eyes."

"Do you?" Stephen asked, staring at her intently. "Do you?"

Gwen stammered. "Umm… I don't know. I mean, it seems impossible but… Dad, Loki and Thor weren't supposed to be real either, but they are. We saw them on tv. And we know that Loki had magic. So maybe it isn't so crazy that these people have magic either." She tried to make him see it the way she did. It had suddenly become clear to her, whereas it had all become cloudy for Stephen.

"We are made of much more than matter, Mr. Strange," The Ancient One said in a quiet voice. "We are so much more than the meaningless spec of dust in the universe that you see us as. And I'm sorry to do this to you, but you must see. Open your eye." She reached out and touched a hand to Stephen's forehead and suddenly he was shouting, as if seeing something no one else could see.

"What have you done to him?" Gwen asked in a sharp voice. "Let him go!" She made to grab The Ancient One's wrist, but before she could, she was suddenly gripped on the forehead with The Ancient One's other hand.

And suddenly, she was flying, soaring high in the air, above all the buildings and trees of the city of Manhattan. And maybe Gwen normally was composed and calm, but upon seeing this, she started to scream. "Oh my gosh. Oh no! NO!" She was now faced with one of those giant worm things that had flown over the city during the alien invasion a month ago. It opened its mouth, and Gwen tried to fly away from it, but it was like she was stuck on a sort of track that was keeping her in place. She was swallowed by the great beast. Gwen expected pain, but there was no pain. Just absolute terror.

The scene had changed. She was not inside the mouth of the space worm, but floating through what looked like space. The sky was dark and filled with billions of shining stars. The only thing that was different was the great, floating pools of colorful water. She was heading straight for a dark black one. She let out another loud scream as she was plunged into the water. As soon as she had been forced through that one, she was forced to swim through a purple one and a blue one as well. When she came flying out of the blue one, she was turned in the air to face a ginormous version of her father. The surface of his eye was rippling and she realized that the water she had just gone through was actually his eye.

She barely had time to absorb how disturbing that was before she was sent flying at high speeds yet again. She was now on what seemed to be a bright green looking planet that was filled with volcanoes which spewed out hot pink lava. She was shouting and screaming her head off, her throat felt raw. She barely dodged the spouts of lava, which radiated heat. Gwen thought she might get a burn just from being close to it.

As she was sent flying through these psychedelic scenes, The Ancient One was speaking to her in her mind. "You think you know how the world works? You think that this material universe is all there is? What is real? What mysteries lie beyond the reach of your senses? At the root of existence, mind and matter meet. Thoughts shape reality. This universe is only one of an infinite number. Worlds without end. Some benevolent and life giving. Others filled with malice and hunger. Dark places where powers older than time lie ravenous and waiting."

Gwen was then screaming again as she was sent plummeting into one of the volcanoes just as a spew of lava burst forth. She was blinded momentarily before she was falling through a bent-out-of-shape Kamar Taj and hurtled back to the floor. She was breathing heavily as she looked up at The Ancient One with wide eyes. "So who will you be in this vast Multiverse, Miss Strange?"

Just then, before she was able to form any sort of answer, her father came crashing down beside her. He was shaking all over and breathing sharply. Gwen wondered if he saw the same things she did. He looked up at The Ancient One and held out his hands, as if praying. "Teach me," he begged. "Teach us."

The Ancient One stared at him a long moment. Then, she said, "No."

Stephen opened his mouth to argue, but before he could, he was being dragged away by a large male who was easily two times his size. He shouted at The Ancient One, pleading with her to change her mind, but she didn't even look at him. She was looking at Gwen as if deciding something. Then, slowly, she said, "And the girl too."

Another large male came to drag Gwen, but she was not going to leave without a fight, "No. Please. You can't just kick us out. We have nothing left." But she was not strong enough to resist either. She was dragged away in spite of her kicking and screaming. Then, father and daughter were thrown outside and into the dirt filled streets of Kathmandu.

Stephen scrambled up out of the dirt and started to pound on the door. "Wait! Please!" he shouted. The others on the streets were staring at them, but Stephen didn't seem to notice them.

Gwen coughed and spat out the dirt and hair that had gotten in her mouth. She turned to the door, her eyes ablaze with anger. The Ancient One obviously knew more about them than she let on. She knew that they had nowhere else to go, barely any money left. She knew how desperate they were and she still threw them out into the streets. Gwen felt humiliated. How dare she? She teased them by showing them a world filled with magic and a cure for her father and then rejected them?

Well, Gwen thought, I'm not giving up that easily. She got up and started to pound on the door with her father, begging and pleading for entrance into Kamar Taj. They did this for hours. No one ever came to the door. Not even to tell them to knock it off. Yet they still didn't give up. What other choice did they have? There was nothing waiting for them outside of Kamar Taj. This was all they had left. As angry as Gwen was with these people, she still begged for them to reconsider, which she normally would never have done. Begging was supposed to be for lesser people, not her.

How quickly things had changed.

It was dusk by the time Stephen finally decided to give it a rest. He slumped with his back on the door. "Don't shut me out," he pleaded in a weak voice. "I've got nowhere else to go."

Gwen continued to pound on the door with two fists. She was so angry, that she started to resort to cursing at them. "Gwen, that won't make them like us any more," Stephen reminded her tiredly. He was ready to give up.

"I don't care if they like me, they just need to let you in!" she retorted, tossing her blonde hair over her shoulder angrily. "This is it, our only hope, and they just tossed us out like… like…" She huffed, unable to think of a good word to describe them with. Slowly, she too slid down the door, sitting beside her father. "We'll find a way," she determined. "We'll come back here every day until they let us in. They can't just ignore us forever." She said the last part more loudly, hoping that the people inside would hear her plan and decide to just give up now.

Suddenly, the door was opened and they fell into the entrance way, flat on their backs. It seemed that their cries were heard. They had been accepted. "Thank you," said Stephen.

Mordo was standing over them, watching them with faint amusement and irritation. "Come with me," he instructed them. "I will show you to your quarters." Gwen helped her father to his feet and they followed Mordo through the lengthy halls of Kamar Taj.

They were guided to a room on the second floor of the building. "This room will be for you, Stephen," Mordo said. Gwen and he exchanged glances, obviously mildly uncomfortable being separated. "Don't worry. Guinevere's quarters are just across the hall." They relaxed. "There's clothes in the closets for you, and each room has a bathroom as well."

"What if the clothes don't fit?" Gwen asked. Mordo just stared at her. "Right. Magic."

Mordo handed each of them a small slip of paper with a single word written on it. "What's this? My mantra?" Stephen asked and Gwen coughed to cover a snort.

Mordo gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head. "It's the wifi password. We're not savages." They just stared at him. "The Ancient One will see you both at dawn." With nothing more than a singular nod to each of them, Mordo left them to their own devices.

"Well," Stephen shot his daughter a small grin. "Goodnight."

"See you in the morning," Gwen replied, giving him a wave. With that, they went into their separate rooms and shut their doors.

Gwen dropped her backpack on the chair that sat in front of a desk. She placed the wifi password on the desk as well. The room wasn't as big as her room back home, but that wasn't a big deal to her. It just didn't really feel like home. The walls were plain and bare compared to her walls back home which were covered in band posters and awards and shelves full of books. The bed did not have her normal blue comforter. There was no stuffed pig, that her mother had gotten for her before she died, hidden under the bed, that Gwen pretended she didn't have. The more childish part of her wished that she had brought Chris P. Bacon with her (it was a stupid name, but that's what Stephen had called it when she was young, so it was his adopted name). She shook that off and pulled out her pajamas from her bag and went into the bathroom to get changed. Shame, she thought as she examined the bathroom. There was no shower. Just a bathtub.

Once she had brushed her teeth and combed her hair, she climbed into the bed, beneath the covers. For some reason, she had expected the blankets and sheets to be scratchy and uncomfortable, but she was surprised by how comfortable it was. In a matter of minutes, she was fast asleep.