An Entity Within | Stephen Strange

11 - A Walk'n'Talk

"Give back Tessa control. If people see you, they will run and they will get scared and they will see you as a threat."

The blackness swirled and dissipated like fog from her eyes, the black veins racing back across and away from her face. Tessa gulped, looking back out into the street warily and then stepped towards Stephen who watched her cautiously. She shared a look of concern with him.

"Sorry...you okay?"

He nodded, rubbing the centre of his chest gently, "You have one hell of hit though."

Tessa breathed a laugh, "Yep...Kamar-Taj is...dangerous for us – or rather a place in Nepal is dangerous for us. I forgot."

"Why?"

"Tee says that there is another Entity imprisoned in one of the temples there. When I was seven, I asked the Ancient One if we could explore Nepal and we did. But the Entity awoke to the sound of another calling out to it and when Tee rejected the call, it called to me and I ran away from the Ancient One and may have caused a slight incident. She never brought me back there after that."

"But it's not Kamar-Taj itself that's the problem? Just one of the temples in Nepal?"

"Yeah."

"Then we won't go to any temples."

Tell him no. I fear for your safety most of all, child.

"Stephen, I – "

"When you were both within the compound of Kamar-Taj, did you feel a pull? Hear a voice?"

No...yet I am still wary of it.

"Tee says no but it's still...worried."

"And what about you?"

"What? What about me?"

"You're still your own person. You get a say in this too."

We should not go.

"Tessa, think about it. The Sanctum here is too small and too visible – if something were to happen – "

"It would be better in a place with more space and that's more isolated."

"Exactly."

I do not like this. Say no.

Again, she turned her head away from him to address the Entity, "Tee, we need to learn more about each other if we're gonna make coexisting work."

The risks –

"You said it yourself. We spent, what, at least a year going back and forth between here and Nepal with the Ancient One before that incident. It only called us when we were in the temple, we heard nothing before that and certainly not in Kamar-Taj."

You were easier to control as a child.

"Hah," Tessa shook her head, "Tee, that's because I didn't know about you and you discussed everything with the Ancient One. But you live with me and I am well into my adult years now and I have my own opinions too."

I do not recommend it.

"And yet we're still going anyway. I don't want us to hurt anyone – not like we already have."

Unless it is Master Kent.

"Yes, maybe, except from him. We have to learn how to coexist better because you taking control when you feel like it is not on. This is still my body – "

Our body.

Tessa sighed, "It's still my body at the end of the day. I'm happy to...be your host but we have to work some things out. We're going to Kamar-Taj. No more arguments."

The sorceress looked up at Stephen who looked down at her expectantly, his eyebrow slightly quirked as though he were asking 'are we good, can we go'? She nodded at him, looking back out at the sidewalk and then back to him again.

"Like I said, it's still my body so, at the end of the day, my decision is final. Let's go."

I am older than you. What is it you beings say...'respect your elders'?

Tessa shook her head, mentally stating that, as it was her body that the Entity bonded with, ownership of her body won the argument by default. Perhaps it was unfair, but it wasn't like she had asked the Entity to console her. That said, she was six when it happened and far to upset at the time to probably process the thought of saying that she didn't want help to forget about her traumas. A twinge of guilt rattled Tessa as she acknowledged that, in all fairness, she wasn't just herself anymore. The bonding happened both ways so, not only was the Entity bonded to her mystical body, but she was bonded with the Entity's mystical body. She might not have asked for this to happen, but this was their reality now.

They still had to learn more about each other though, so she felt no regret upon agreeing to go to Kamar-Taj.