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"Is anybody here?" Lenore called out through the whole Sanctum as both she and Stephen wandered around the whole Sanctum. She realized how much bigger it was on the inside than on the outside.
Lenore skid to a stop, causing Stephen to turn around. With a heavy sigh, she said.
"I think we should split up. It'll be easier to find the Master of the Sanctum and warn him of what's to come."
Stephen scoffed, "That is a bad plan. Did you not have any horror movies back home?"
Lenore rolled her eyes, "No."
"That explains it. But anyways, it's a bad plan. What if Kaecilius pops out of nowhere?"
"Then I'll fight him." Lenore stated firmly, her arms crossed over her her chest.
"I'm sorry to tell you this but the last time you saw him, you froze like a deer in headlights." Stephen stated as a matter-of-factly, "You can't take him on even if you have the power to do so."
Lenore remained silent, not wanting to argue about it further. After all, Stephen had a point. Looking up, she met Stephen's concerned gaze before the corners of her lips curled upwards in a small smirk.
"Fine."She replied with a playful roll of her eyes.
"Good, at least I know you're safe."
Lenore's smirk turned into a full smile once Stephen started to walk away. They walked upstairs, finding themselves walking through a long hallway. She ran ahead of Stephen when she saw theee doorways, she approached the one that showed what looked like the rainforest. Curiously, she reached out her hand, a surprised gasp escaped her lips when it went through the doorway, feeling the moist air and the raindrops dropping on her hand.
"Wow." She said, bewildered.
Meanwhile, Stephen approached the door that showed the ocean, he opened it and felt the wind blow against his face before he closed it. He then saw a dial beside the door and turned it, changing it from a view of the ocean to a desert.
"Woah." Lenore muttered in awe, she then cleared her throat, "We should keep looking."
Stephen nodded and they turned around. The arrived at a room filled with ancient artifacts and relics.
"Hello?" Stephen called out but once again, silence. One artifact caught their attention and they both approached it, a red cloak floated inside, moving slowly in the air.
"You look like a kid in a museum." Stephen stated while looking down at Lenore who was practically pressing her face against the glass that contained the floating cloak.
Lenore giggled, "It's not everyday you see the Cloak of Levitation. I've only heard it from my mother but never saw the real thing."
"You look cute...seeing you like this." Stephen teased, smirking slyly when he got the exact reaction he wanted from her, cheeks red and eyes wide in surprise. Lenore turned her head to Strange, a smile etched upon her face. She was about to tell Stephen something but she wasn't able to for her attention and Stephen's were taken by a sound coming from downstairs.
Lenore swallowed nervously as both she and Stephen made their way to the top of the stairs. They spotted the Master of the Sanctum standing in the middle of the room, holding a relic, everything before him moving in odd places.
Coming from the doors, three people walked in the Sanctum, one of them being Kaecilius. Lenore's hand quickly curled into fists before she closed her eyes and releasing a shaky breath.
"Daniel, I see that they made you master of this Sanctum."
"Do you know what that means?" The man asked, dauntlessly.
"That you'll die protecting it."
There was a short pause between the two sorcerers until Kaecilius formed a transparent blade in his hands. One of Kaecilius' followers attacked first with Daniel's relic blocking her attack. Another follower went to attack him but Daniel was able to strike first, pushing him away to give him enough time to defend himself from another attack coming from the female follower.
He struck her head before swiftly striking the back of her knee, causing her fall down in pain. Daniel went for the male follower's head, attempting to perform the same move, but he bent down and struck Daniel's leg, causing him to kneel down, allowing Kaecilius to do a final blow.
"Oh god.." Lenore muttered with a hand over her mouth.
"Stop!" Stephen shouted, jumping over the railing and onto the stairway platform. Stephen stood in front of Lenore, knowing how vulnerable she is when she comes face to face with Kaecilius. But then he tensed up when he met Kaecilius' eyes, there were so different, a mark that reminded not only Lenore but him also that they had completely succumbed to the Dark Dimension.
Kaecilius pulled the blade out, allowing Daniel to fall on the floor with a thud echoing throughout the sanctum.
"How long have you been to Kamar-Taj, Mister...?"
"Doctor." Stephen corrected.
"Mister Doctor?" Kaecilius asked skeptically.
"It's..." he closed his eyes for a second, getting annoyed at Kaecilius for mixing up his name, "Strange."
"Maybe, but who I am to judge?" Kaecilius said before his gaze went up and met the intimidated woman behind him. A smirk made its way towards his face, already knowing who it was.
"Lenore." Kaecilius greeted, "How's it been? Hmm? Since I left."
Lenore chose not to answer him, she was too intimidated by the man she once knew as her brother, he had changed so drastically, driven by vengeful anger.
"What's wrong, little one? Aren't you going to talk to me?"
"Enough." Stephen said, now bringing the Zealot's attention to him, Stephen was already poised for battle and Lenore grew worried of him. He may be one of the fast-learners in Kamar-Taj but he's still no match for Kaecilius.
Kaecilius stared at the two, noting Stephen's protectiveness over Lenore. In order to provoke them, he impaled his transparent blade onto Daniel's back, making the two flinch.
Two of the Zealots ran across the walls while Kaecilius used the stairs to approach Stephen. He created his strings out of magic but before he could use it, the female zealot kicked him, right after that, the male zealot coming from the left kicked as well.
Now with his weapon fully formed in his hands, he was able to battle them. He mounted over the railings and grabbed Lenore's hand, snapping her out of her frozen state.
"Come on." He told her before he used his strings on a large vase beside the both of them before smashing it onto one of the Zealot's head. By that time, Kaecilius had come halfway up the staircase when he threw his blade towards the both of them.
"Stephen!" Lenore warned and Stephen saw, he used his weapon to redirect the attack to the wall above them. With Kaecilius growing closer, the two began to run, heading the hallways they entered earlier when suddenly they had stopped moving. The two of them looked down to see that the floor beneath them was moving with them, keeping them in place.
Lenore looked over her shoulder to see all three of the Zealots approaching them.
"Okay...you can do this...it's all in the past now." She reminded herself as both she and Stephen turned to face them. The two poised for battle, Lenore summoned a pair of fan-shaped mandalas, when Kaecilius saw this, he had a proud smirk on his face. Stephen on the other hand, was able to create a pair for himself but the other one started flickering and it disappeared.
Kaecilius saw this as a time to strike, he moved to the ceiling while the two Zealots came for Lenore and Stephen on both sides. Lenore attacked the one on the right, using her mandalas to fight with the male zealot before she threw one at his chest, knocking him off of the wall and onto the ground.
Stephen was thrown back by the female zealot after she had slammed him on the ground.
"Stephen!" Lenore shouted before she felt a strong kick on her back, sending her to Stephen's direction. With Lenore on the ground, the two zealots came for Stephen. The woman was gaining fast on them while Stephen formed a whip, lashing it on the woman that knocked her back, her body dragging across the floor.
Stephen quickly hoisted Lenore up to her feet to face the three zealots once again. But Kaecilius had moved the room, causing them to slide across the floor and hit themselves on the glass. The glass shattered upon their impact with the two sorcerers each gaining a new cut.
The room moved once again, sending the both of them backwards and hit their backs against the wall. Kaecilius moved the room in different ways, with both of them slamming against the wall painfully. By the time Kaecilius stopped moving the room, they were a bit shaken up.
"Come on." Lenore told Stephen, grabbing his hand so that they could run. But suddenly, the room began to tilt backwards and Stephen quickly got a hold of a door handle, he held Lenore's hand tightly to keep her from falling but the door couldn't handle both of their weight. The door broke and two of them fell until Stephen held onto another object.
Stephen looked down, meeting Lenore's concerned gaze.
"Hang on tight." He told her with a strained voice, "Don't let go."
Lenore nodded and she did what was told of her. Looking down, Stephen saw the books falling on the doorways at the end of the hall, the glass already broken due to them.
This gave Stephen an idea.
With all his strength, he pulled Lenore up so that she could hold on to the object.
"What the hell are you doing?" Lenore asked worriedly.
"I'll be right back." Stephen said before he let go.
"What?" Lenore shouted as she watched him plummet down to the end of the hall, kicking the woman out of the doorway and onto the desert. Stephen held on tightly the doorway, looking up at Lenore, flashing her a confident smirk.
Lenore rolled her eyes, but she was relieved to see Stephen was okay. Kaecilius moved the room back, allowing Stephen to safely climb back into the room. He reached for the dial but was interrupted when one of the Zealots attacked Stephen.
The zealot that was on the desert was getting closer to the two of them and Stephen quickly reached for the dial, whipped it around and the door finally closed, trapping the female zealot in the desert.
Lenore heaved a relieved sigh, but once again, she froze when she came face-to-face with Kaecilius.
"K-Kaecilius..." Lenore stuttered.
"You know Lenore, a sorcerer with your prowess would be useful to him." Kaecilius said as he started to break the distance between the two of them. "To us."
"Never." Lenore replied.
"But you have to consider it, little one. After all, your Mother's a hypocrite. We only want what everyone wants and it's eternal life, but you Mother hoards all of that kind of magic from us." Kaecilius moved closer to Lenore, her breath hitched when Kaecilius placed his hand over her cheek. "What do you say?"
"You heard her." Said Stephen behind Kaecilius, prompting him to turn around. "She doesn't want to."
Kaecilius huffed an irritated breath and summoned a pair of transparent blades. He swung them at Stephen but he was quick enough to avoid it, he dashed past Kaecilius and grabbed Lenore's hand and together they ran once again.
As they went around a corner, Stephen stopped abruptly to push down a cabinet in an attempt to stop Kaecilius. Lenore looked over her shoulder after hearing the loud sound the cabinet made and saw Kaecilius merely leaped to the wall to avoid the cabinet.
They skipped up the stairs up to the last floor, both of them turned in time to deflect an attack from the Zealot.
"Here!" Lenore grabbed a relic near them, thinking that Stephen knew how to use it. Stephen grabbed it from her hands and faced Kaecilius while uttering a loud "HA."
The three of them paused, neither one of them wanting to make a move. Kaecilius casted a mocking look at Stephen while lowering his weapons.
"You don't know how to use that don't you?"
"Uh..." Stephen peered down at the relic in his hands and decided to throw it at Kaecilius. He deflected it with his blade and before he could strike Stephen, a fan shaped tao mandala struck his chest, knocking him back a bit.
Lenore ran past Stephen, using a whip made out of magic to lash at Kaecilius and finally fighting back. Her whip got caught in his blades, immobilizing his arms.
"The offer still stands, Little One. Together we can change the world." Kaecilius told her with a strained voice while he tried to break free from her ropes.
"Enough, Kaecilius. This isn't right."
Kaecilius scoffed, "Fine, but you made me do this."
Kaecilius slammed his head against Lenore's, causing her to step back in pain. With her unguarded, Kaecilius took it as a chance and struck Lenore.
"LENORE!" Stephen shouted, watching in fright.
Kaecilius pushed Lenore off of his blade and allowed her body to fall on the ground and bleed.
Before Stephen could reach Lenore he was blocked by Kaecilius. Angered by this, Strange conjured up a string of webs and began to battle Kaecilius fiercely. He managed to block different hits from Kaecilius using only the string until Kaecilius grabbed onto a pillar and swug himself around it to kick Stephen onto a glass case.
Stephen got up in a kneeling position and saw Kaecilius attacking him again, prompting him to roll out of the way but it gave Kaecilius a chance to land a kick at Stephen, sending him onto another glass case that contained the red cloak.
Stephen got on his hands and knees until he was pulled back by Kaecilius to land a killing blow but before the blade could hit Stephen, the red cloak inside wrapped itself around the blade. When he attempted to do it again, the cloak once again took the hit.
Irritated, Kaecilius threw Stephen across the room, sliding against the floor until he felt a body hit him. Looking up, he saw that it was Lenore, breathing weakly while holding on to her wound to staunch the bleeding.
"I'll get you help, okay. Just stay with me." Stephen reassured her before standing up to face Kaecilius again.
Stephan blocked one attack from Kaecilius but soon received a few blows from him until he was kicked off of the railing and onto the stairs. Unbeknownst to Kaecilius, the red cloak dove past him and towards Stephen.
Kaecilius peered down and watched Stephen slowly rising in the air while his hands manifested a whip. He lashed the whip at Kaecilius who blocked the hit with his weapon before pulling the rope with all his strength. Stephen pulled along with him, but lost against Kaecilius and getting tossed across the room.
Stephen crashed against Kaecilius before he got to his feet, before he could poise himself for defense, a strong tug pulled him back from Kaecilius. It was the cloak, pulling him back to safety until his back hit the wall.
He looked around, searching for something to defend himself from the Zealot until he saw an axe hanging on the other wall. As he ran towards it, he was suddenly pulled back by the cloak. He tried once again but the cloak was persistent. Stephen shot an annoyed gaze towards the cloak who in turn, was pointing at an object on the wall behind him.
Kaecilius approached Stephen with a few long strides and swung his weapon. The cloak pulled Stephen back before whipping Kaecilius on the face, causing him to fall on the floor.
With Kaecilius down, Stephen grabbed the contraption from the wall that the cloak was pointing at and threw it at Kaecilius who attempted to approach him again. The contraption wrapped itself around Kaecilius, bringing him down to his knees and immobilizing the Zealot.
"Stephen."
He turned around to see Lenore leaning against the railing with her hand on her stab wound. He ran towards Lenore and held her body delicately, she leaned against Stephen, giving her body support.
"Are you okay?" She asked, lifting a hand to his face to feel it, Stephen leaned against her touch, releasing a worried sigh through his nose.
"Better than you apparently." He told her, eliciting a soft, breathy chuckle from her, "We really need to get you treated right now."
"I'll be fine." She reassured with a strained voice, "I got this."
Stephen sighed, leaning his forehead against the side of Lenore's head.
Before Stephen could say anything, the two sorcerers turned their attention to Kaecilius who was muttering something against his mouth cover. Stephen looked at Lenore and she replied by shrugging her shoulders.
"Oh, stop it." Stephen told him and yet Kaecilius continued, annoying Stephen. He walked towards Kaecilius and pulled the mouthpiece of the contraption, allowing Kaecilius to speak more clearly.
"I said stop it." Stephen demanded.
"You cannot stop this Mister Doctor."
"I don't even know what "this" is."
"It's the end... and the beginning." Kaecilius reopened his eyes, looking up at the two and noticed the way his arms were entangled around the wounded woman. "The many becoming the few becoming the One."
"If you're not gonna start making sense... I'm just gonna to have to put this thing back on." Stephen said, waving the mouthpiece to show Kaecilius.
"Tell me, Mister Doctor-"
"My name is Doctor Stephen Strange." He said pointedly, enunciating the title and his name.
"You are a doctor?"
"Yeah."
"A scientist. You understand the laws of nature. All things age. All things die. In the end, our sun burns out. Our universe grows cold and perishes. But the Dark Dimension... it's a place beyond time."
"That's it. I'm putting this thing back on." Stephen said as he tore himself away from Lenore and approached Kaecilius.
"This world doesn't have to die, doctor." Kaecilius raised his voice, stopping Stephen from what he was about to do. "This world can take its rightful place alongside so many others... as part of the One. The great and beautiful One. We can all live forever."
Kaecilius directed his gaze towards Lenore, whose covering her wound with a piece of her robe, he then added. "You can both live together. Forever."
"What do you have to gain out of this New Age dimensional utopia?" Stephen asked, causing Lenore's eyes to grow wide in fear. She started to believe the worst.
"You..." Lenore breathed out in disbelief, "You're seriously not believing this, right?...Stephen?"
"The same as you. The same as everyone. Life. Eternal life." Kaecilius answered, cutting off Lenore. "People think in terms of good and evil... when really time is the true enemy of us all. Time kills everything."
"What about the people you killed?" Lenore hissed, shooting Kaecilius a glare.
"Tiny. Momentary specks within an indifferent universe."
"Bullshit." Lenore spat.
At that moment though, Stephen contemplated about the thought. Lenore saw this and she let out an irritated huff, looking away from Stephen.
"You see. You see what we're doing. The world is not what it ought to be. Humanity longs for the eternal... for a world beyond time, because time is what enslaves us." Kaecilius paused, swallowing the lump forming on his throat as his tears ran down his cheeks. "Time is an insult. Death is an insult."
The expression on Lenore's face softened, remembering the first time Kaecilius had arrived at their doorstep. He was a man who lost everything, just like Stephen, but instead of his hands and his whole career, Kaecilius lost his wife and son.
"Doctor... we don't seek to rule this world. We seek to save it... to hand it over to Dormammu, who is the intent of all evolution... the why of all existence."
The Sorcerer Supreme defends existence." Stephen answered back with a stern gaze.
"What was it that brought you to Kamar-Taj, doctor? Was it enlightenment? Power?" Kaecilius looked down, noticed the way his hands curled into a fist, he returned his gaze to Stephen's face and continued,
"You came to be healed, as did we all. Kamar-Taj is a place that collects broken things. We all come with the promise of being healed... and instead The Ancient One gives us parlor tricks.
The real magic she keeps for herself. You ever wonder how she managed to live this long?"
Kaecilius then turned his attention to Lenore, noticed the change in her expression, from a stern one to a concerned one. That only confirmed the suspicions that she knew too.
"I saw the rituals in the Book of Cagliostro." Stephen replied, staring at the floor thoughtfully.
"I...I did too." Lenore added, she closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath.
"So, you know. The ritual gives me the power to overthrow The Ancient One... and tear her Sanctums down. To let the Dark Dimension in. Because what The Ancient One hoards, Dormammu gives freely. Life everlasting. He's not the destroyer of worlds, doctor. He's the savior of worlds."
Stephen closed his eyes for a brief moment and shook his head.
"No." He told Kaecilius, "I mean, come on. Look at your face. Dormammu made you a murderer."
Seemingly from what Stephen had said, Kaecilius chuckled.
"You think that's funny?" Stephen questioned, his eyes narrowed at Kaecilius.
"No, not that. What's funny is that you've lost your sling ring."
Stephen's hand went up to his robe, feeling nothing at the spot where he had usually placed his sling ring. Stephen turned around to search for it but the moment he faced his back towards Kaecilius, a transparent blade lodged itself onto his chest.
"Stephen!"