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The dark dimension was the same as it looked from the outside. Stephen observed with bewilderment and concern while The Cloak of Levitation slowed to a stop, stopping on top of what seemed like a small planet-like sphere to land on and continued observing the Dark Dimension.
You better come back, Stephen Strange.
Stephen closed his eyes as he took a deep breath to calm his nerves, Lenore's words popping up in his mind as well as her face. Just the thought of Lenore helped him conquer his anxiety.
He looked upon his forearm and using the time stone in the relic he wore, he created multiple green magic circles—a spell for a time loop. This way, if ever he dies, he would just come back alive and if it goes according to plan,he would be able to come back to Lenore like he intends to.
Stephen turned around, tearing his gaze away from his forearm and onto the view in front of him. Just behind Stephen, a massive eye was staring at him. Stephen was unfazed as the giant reeled back, revealing it's full form to him. Stephen spotted another sphere in front of the one he was standing on and decided to glide there, now, he was standing before the giant.
As Stephen strode closer to the giant, he glanced at his forearm, seeing the time-loop spell still intact.
He peered up to the giant, eyes filled with determination as his lips let out the words; "Dormammu, I've come to bargain."
"You've come to die!" Dormammu snarled as he moved closer to Stephen, "Your world is now my world, like all worlds."
Stephen spotted the incoming barrage of spiked rocks coming his way, immediately prompting him to summon a pair of Mandalas to shield himself from the falling projectiles. Some he deflected, redirecting them away from him. After he redirected what he deemed to be the last projectile thrown at him, he let out an exhausted grunt, weariness evident in his actions as he turned around.
Dormammu opened his mouth, a bright light generating from inside of it before a powerful blast came out. On instinct, Stephen brought his right arm forward, using the shield to protect him from the blast. He bent his body, keeping his feet firmly planted to the ground as the force of the blast was pushing him backward, inch by inch.
But the shield could could only endure so much and soon, it was starting to no longer hold back the blast. When he noticed this, Stephen glanced up, seeing that his arm was shaking in exhaustion and his mandala starting to break.
Within a few moments, the mandala was destroyed and the blast hit him. The most disintegrated Stephen, leaving no trace of him from where he stood.
The Dark Dimension was silent for a moment and Dormammu felt triumphant of what he did.
It was.only short-lived as at the same moment, the time began to reverse, the spell that Stephen had created beforehand brought back everything to the time when he first created the spell.
Stephen, now alive and back, glanced down at his forearm, creating the time loop spell once more before looking up at the entity in front of him.
"Dormammu, I've come to bargain."
"You've come to die. Your world is now my..." he stopped at the middle of his sentence, he started to realize that he was repeating what he had done seconds ago. "What is this? Illusion?"
"No. This is real." Stephen simply replied.
"Good."
He moved backwards and Stephen watched as realization fell upon him. He opened his mouth to speak but before he could let out any words, three spikes protruded out suddenly from the ground, impaling Stephen and killing him instantly.
Once again, the spell did its job and returned everything back when Stephen has first created the spell. The next thing Dormammu knew, Stephen was alive once again and was gliding back down on the sphere in front of him, unscathed.
"Dormammu, I've come to bargain." he said once more, in the exact demanding tone.
"You've..." he stopped once he realized that everything repeated itself once more. "What is happening?"
"Just as you gave Kaecilius powers from your dimension... I brought a little power from mine." Stephen declared before lifting his arm to show him the time loop he had created around it. "This is time. Endless looped time."
"You dare!" The entity growled, his voice rising in volume while he lifted his arm up in the air.
"Oh..." was the only word Stephen could say as Dormammu's hand landed upon him, crushing him. After a few seconds, Stephen reappeared once more, greatly infuriating the purple entity.
"Dormammu, I've come to bargain."
"You cannot do this forever." Dormammu said to him with an exasperation seeping from his tone.
"Actually, I can. This is how things are now. You and me, trapped at this moment... endlessly."
"Then you will spend eternity dying."
"Yes. But everyone on Earth will live." But as he said it, all he could think about was Lenore, and how he might not be able to see her again after this.
"But you will suffer."
Stephen closed his eyes, shaking off his thoughts before his gaze drifted back towards the giant entity in front of him.
"Pain's an old friend."
Dormammu once again opened his mouth to fire a powerful blast at Stephen, disintegrating him once again as he could not conjure a pair of mandalas to protect himself at the right time.
Stephen spawned back immediately right after.
"Dormammu!"
Before he could say the rest, he was once again impaled with three rocks protruding suddenly beneath him.
"I've come to bargain!"
Seconds after he returned again, Dormammu sent a large sphere upon him, crushing him from where he stood.
Dormammu! Dormammu! Dormammu!
Everytime Stephen reappeared, Dormammu would use different spells, he first impaled him once again, then strangled him with large tendrils coming out of the sphere he was standing on. But despite everything he threw at him, Stephen came out alive and unaffected.
But it was tiring Stephen, from using a prolonged spell and trying to keep up with Dormammu and his spells. He was getting weak.
The entity sent down powerful purple blasts that Stephen was able to deflect and shield himself against until the last one knocked him back.
Stephen turned so that he was facing the ground and could prop himself back up.
"You will never win." Dormammu told him, peering down at him.
No..." Stephen retorted, slowly rising from the ground. "But I can lose... again and again... and again... and again, forever. And that makes you my prisoner."
"No! Stop! Make this stop!" Once again, Dormammu sent shards of rock upon Stephen, impaling him and killing him on the spot once again as his last resort, but even with that, Stephen came back seconds later.
"Set me free!" The entity demanded, but for Stephen, it sounded more like a plea.
"No. I've come to bargain." He rebutted.
" What do you want?" Dormammu questioned, anger seeping through his voice.
"Take your Zealots from the Earth. End your assault on my world. Never come back. Do it... and I'll break the loop."
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"Get up, Strange! Get up and fight. We can finish this." Mordo demanded as the three sorcerers rose from the ground and back to their feet. Lenore summoned a pair of fan-shaped mandalas once again, she was prepared to fight him once more. Her eyes remained its soft purple glow as she faces Kaecilius.
Driven by vengeful anger, she was ready to fight him to avenge her Mother. She was no longer afraid of him like she was before.
Kaecilius only smirked at her, further irritating Lenore as if to provoke her to start the fight.
She wanted to so desperately. But she knew better than to attack him recklessly.
"Isn't it beautiful? A world beyond time. Beyond death." Kaecilius stated, his gaze fixated on the Dark Dimension expanding in the sky as he walked towards the three of them.
Everybody was prepared to fight Kaecilius, they were about to make their move until Stephen descended behind the three Zealots. Mordo, Wong, and Lenore all shared the same surprised expression on their faces as Kaecilius turned around, seeing Stephen behind him.
"What have you done?" Kaecilius questioned him, anger sleeping through his tone.
"I made a bargain." Stephen replied matter-of-factly.
Kaecilius then peered down at his hand, it was crumbling before turning into ashes.
"What is this?"
"Well, it's everything you've ever wanted." Stephen retorted cooly while ambling towards the three Zealots. "Eternal life as part of the One."
Lenore walked towards Stephen, she was followed by Mordo and Wong shortly after to stand beside Stephen. Once she was beside him, Stephen reached for Lenore's hand, holding it with their fingers intertwined. He released a soft relieved sigh.
Lenore contained her joy and relief to see that Stephen was back. She squeezed his hand once, as if to make sure that he was real and he was. She peered up at Stephen and saw that his soft blue eyes were looking down upon her as well and she smiled.
When he brought his gaze back at the zealots, Lenore followed. A contented grin grew on her face as she watched the Zealots—especially Kaecilius— crumble.
"You're not gonna like it." Stephen concluded.
Soon, the effect was taking over their body, just like their hands, their bodies crumbled first before they turned into ashes. The three of them writhed in pain as they were taken up towards the Dark Dimension, which had since stopped expanding in the sky.
Lenore breathed out in relief, her tense shoulders relaxing.
"Yeah, you know, you really should have stolen the whole book because the warnings... The warnings come after the spells." Stephen remarked.
Right after, the sound of laughter caused Stephen, Mordo, and Lenore to look at Wong, He was laughing at his joke, something that Stephen did once but failed.
"Ah...that's funny." Wong said breathily with hands placed over his hips.
Lenore found her laughing as well due to Wong, she clamped her hand over her mouth as she stifled her giggles.
With a stunned expression, Stephen blinked as he watched Wong continue to laugh. Once his laughter dissipated, Stephen used the time stone to reverse time so that everything was back to the way it was before the attack.
As she watched him work, Lenore hoped this was the last time they'll ever see the Dark Dimension again.
The three sorcerers watched on as the Sanctum slowly reformed back to the way it was before. Now that it was back to normal, everyone started moving. Lenore surveyed her surroundings, realizing that everything was back as if nothing happened.
They were sticking out like a sore thumb amongst the people; especially with Lenore's bleeding cheek and Stephen's wounded face. But no one took notice of them and went on with their business.
"We did it." Wong nodded with satisfaction as his gaze swept around the whole place. Lenore let out a soft hum in agreement before looking up at Stephen. She tugged on his arm to get his attention, once his gaze was set on her, she jerked her head towards Wong, telling him to follow him.
Stephen nodded and together they walked, heading towards the Sanctum.
"Yes, we did it." Mordo's voice sounded from behind the three of them, his voice seeped with dread. Wong, Stephen, and Lenore all stopped and turned around to face him.
The look on his face was grim as he fixated his gaze towards the three of them.
"By also violating... the natural law." he concluded.
"Look around you. It's over." Stephen answered back.
"You still think there will be no consequences, Strange? No price to pay?" Mordo said as he shot him a questioning look. "We broke our rules, just like her. The bill comes due. Always! A reckoning."
"I will follow this path no longer." He concluded pointedly, his gaze swept across the three sorcerers, his gaze stopping at Lenore's with a look on her face that pleaded for him to stay. Mordo merely stared at her with a pointed look before turning around and walking away.
Lenore walked to catch up to Mordo but before she could make it far, Stephen stopped her by holding her hand.
"There's nothing we can do," Stephen told her firmly, pulling her back to him once Lenore's arms relaxed. Lenore turned to Stephen, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
She then felt a weight over her shoulder, a comforting one. She took a glance and saw that it was Wong's hand, he gave her a reassuring squeeze on her shoulder.
"He's made his choice, little one. Wong stated as he patted her shoulder.
"But will he be okay?" she asked, watching as his figure became too far away that it was hard for her to determine where he was in the crowd. She turned to Stephen hoping for an answer from him.
"He will be." Wong reassured as he turned to Lenore, giving her a reassuring look, "Come, we should really tend to that before it gets infected."
As Wong pointed at her face, her hand flew up to her cheek, it was wet from the blood that seeped from the cut.
"He's right." Stephen sounded from behind her, "Come on."
Lenore nodded slowly, taking one last glance at the crowd behind her, hoping she could get a glimpse of Mordo. But he was gone.
Lenore heaved a heavy sigh and looked at the Sanctum in front of them, "Let's go home."
Wong and Stephen both smiled in agreement and the three sorcerers made their way towards the Sanctum. Once they stepped inside, the remaining, standing sorcerers brought them in further, offering them food and drinks as they rested inside.
Lenore could feel the exhaustion washing away when she sat down and drank a few cups of water, feeling her once dry throat moisten once again.she was then tended to by a sorcerer, who took it upon herself to clean the blood and grime off of her face before patching up the cut on her face.
Across the room, she felt a pair of eyes watching her and when she tore her gaze from the floor, she saw that Stephen was looking at her, a soft smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
Lenore smiled back, her cheeks warming up while she bent her head down, not wanting Stephen to see her blushing face.
Her actions elicited a soft chuckle from Stephen.
Once they were well-rested, the three sorcerers realized that it was time to come back home to Kamar-Taj. They all thanked the sorcerers in the Hong Kong Sanctum before they turned and walked through the portal.
They got out onto the meeting room inside fbe library. It was still in ruins, a reminder of Keacilius' attack. The thought of him made her hands curl in to fists and she had to fight the urge to hit something to let out all her anger towards the man.
"Ill have to check in on that little incident back there." Stephen states from behind her, prompting her to turn her body so that he was facing him. "You know I'm not letting that go that easily."
"Oh..." she trailed off, her mind drifting towards the events that happened when she first gazed upon the Dark Dimension. "...that."
"What's wrong?" Stephen asked as he strode over to her, he placed a comforting hand over her back. "Lenore?"
"I saw a woman when it happened. She was calling out to me and when I asked her who she was, she didn't give me a name. She just told me that I'll learn soon enough." Lenore held her arms, feeling a chill run down her spine as she remembered the ominous feeling after she had talked to the woman.
"She...sounded familiar for some reason. Like I've heard her voice before." She concluded, looking up to see the bewilderment in his eyes.
"Maybe you've heard of her from a vision?" Stephen inquired with a quirked eyebrow.
"No," she told him firmly, her gaze fixated on the ground. "I'd know if it was from a vision or not. And I'm telling you Stephen, it's not from a vision."
Lenore let put a deep sigh, dropping her shoulders from exhaustion. Stephen could see the tiredness in her eyes and he smiled. Without a word, Stephen ushered her towards their rooms. Lenore gladly allowed him to, with his hand still on her back.
The temple was quiet at this time, it felt like no one else was there but them.
When they walked into the courtyard, lenore spared a glance upwards, spotting the lights in the Ancient One's office were still on.
She stopped instantly, and this caused Stephen to turn his attention to her. He followed her gaze and saw that she was looking at the Ancient One'ss office.
"H-How about you go on ahead?" Lenore asked as she tore her gaze from the room to look at Stephen. "I'll go to bed soon after this."
Stephen glanced at the room and shot her a worried look. "You want me to accompany you?"
"It's fine. You don't have to."
But he indeed wanted to stay. H was still worried over what happened, he wanted to be at least be there for her when it happens again. Then he saw the forlorn look in her eyes, the desire to be alone.
So he no longer insisted on coming with her and nodded.
"I'll see you later then." Stephen told her while he lowered his hand from her back down to his side. "Take a rest afterwards. Okay?"
Lenore smile coyly, "Of course, Doctor."
Lenore remained standing in the quiet courtyard while Stephen walked towards his room. She then made her way upstairs, entering the Ancient One's room. She stopped by the doorway, her eyes scanning the room with a faint smile across her lips.
Memories of her running around the room while the Ancient One was meditating popped into her head. When she was a child she had a fascination with magic ever since she had seen the Ancient One perform it in front of her one time.
The fan-shaped Tao Mandalas were the first spells she was able to master. Ever since then, she had been using it.
Lenore walked further into the room, she stopped in the middle, spotting a small charred surface. She knelt down on one knee and ran her fingers along the surface, smiling fondly at the memory of her first attempt at creating manuals when she was taking her first class right at this very spot.
She chuckled softly at the memory before peering up, spotting her desk. It was left unorganized and it was not like for the Ancient One to leave her things all scattered around. So Lenore took it upon herself to clean up.
She grabbed the books and returned them all to their shelves, then she stacked up all the papers and opened the drawers on the table to put it inside. But she stopped when she noticed a small photo inside, she picked it up with her hand, her bottom lip quivering and tears clouding her vision as she lifted the photo onto the light.
It was a photo of her and the Ancient One standing beside each other, she wore a joyful smile while the Ancient One stood closely beside her, both of her hands placed on her shoulders with a proud smile on her face.
It was the day when she became a Master and her first day into training and studying to be the next Sorcerer Supreme.
She stared longingly at the photo for as long as she needed her eyes focused on the proud smile that the Ancient One had until she could no longer hold back her tears.
Lenore leaned against the table and weeped.
She spent an hour in the room, clutching the photo close to her heart as she walked back to her room. When she arrived, she placed the photo on the bedside table, she mentally reminded herself to buy a frame for it.
Lenore then walked to the bathroom, drawing herself a warm bath.
"Ow." She hissed as she carefully peeled away her robe, wincing as the fabric caught on the edge of her bandages. She heaved out a relieved sigh as once she was able to take off her robe completely, only noticing now the bruises that littered her body. She cursed the Zealots under her breath.
She stepped under the warm water, washing off the sweat and the dried blood off of her body.
When she was done, she dressed herself in a white shirt and a pair of black shorts before she grabbed her first-aid kit to clean her stitches. She was grateful even with what she went through, the stitches remained closed.
"Hey." A voice mumbled, coming from the doorway.
Lenore jumped, her hand flying to her heart. She instantly regretted it as the pain shot throughout her whole body. As the pain subsided, she snapped her head towards the doorway to see Stephen standing beside it.
"Oh, it's you." She quickly lowered her shirt as a light flush appeared across her cheeks. "What are you doing here?"
"I came here to check on you, I thought you were asleep." Stephen replied as he stepped into the room and closed the door.
"Well, here I am." She said with a coy smile.
Stephen's eyes flickered to where her hands are, making him chuckle as he strode over towards her bed.
"May I?" He asked as he tipped his head towards the cotton ball and the ointment in her hands.
Lenore pursed her lips and nodded slowly. She watched as he took the chair and situated it in front of her before she handed him the ointment and the cotton to him.
"I must warn you, my hands weren't as delicate as they once were." Stephen joked, eliciting a soft chuckle from her as she lifted her shirt. She bit her lip, refraining from letting out a pained noise as Stephen worked.
"All done." Stephen said after applying a new bandage to cover her stitches.
Lenore took both of his hands, her thumbs running over the scars that he gained from the various surgeries that were performed to bring them back to the way it once was.
"When you were inside the Dark Dimension, fighting Dormammu..." she peered up only to see that Stephen was already starting at her. "Was it everything my vision showed me? We're you mutilated, impaled...other vile ways to kill you?"
Stephen shrugged his shoulders. "I guess you could say that."
"How did you get out from that? My vision only showed you getting killed and coming back unaffected? What did you—"
"Because I have this." Stephen moved his hands down to the Eye of Agamotto, pressing a small button in order to reveal the Time Stone inside. "I made a time loop spell."
Lenore smiled as she reached for the Eye of Agamotto and tapped the same buttons to close it. "You're clever, Strange. But you worry me sometimes."
"You're worried about me?"
"Of course," she moved her hands down to his, holing them once again and giving them a gentle squeeze. "You're important to me."
Stephen smiled as he spun his hand to take hers in his. "You're important to me too."
Stephen brought his right hand up to her cheek, caressing it with his thumb as he stared into her eyes. Lenore sighed softly as she raised her hand to touch his, stroking it gently with her thumb as she closed her eyes in content.
"I'm glad you're back." she said, relief in her voice as she allowed Stephen to create her cheek. She opened her eyes when she heard him chuckling, she viewed up at him in confusion.
"Did you miss me?" Stephen questioned with a teasing smirk on his lips.
Lenore snorted, "What if I told you I did?"
Stephen's face inched closer, there was playful look in his eyes. His eyes flickered to her lips and he couldn't help but smirk.
"Can't get enough of me aren't you?"
Lenore rolled her eyes. "Shut up."
It was at that moment that Lenore realized that their faces were only a hairbreadth away from each other. She smiled but was conflicted about whether to do it or not. She wanted to, ever since they shared it for the first time.
"A-Are you sure?" she finally raised the question, causing Stephen to back away a little.
He saw the worry in her eyes and he knew instantly what she was thinking about. Stephen chuckled and Lenore was struck with confusion, soon, a light flush appeared across her cheeks, and looked away in shame.
"If you're worried about Christine," he paused, they never actually had addressed this so he didn't want to make assumptions, "If she really is who you're worried about. You don't have to, it's fine.."
"Really?" before asked, her face lighting up as a smile exchanged the frown on her face.
"She even told me not to mess it up," he admitted, chuckling softly. "Maybe threatened is the right word for it."
Lenore smiled wider, laughing.
The two held their gaze, smiling at each other as their faces inched closer. After glancing at Lenore's lips one last time, he leaned forward and captured her lips. He felt her smile against their kiss as her grip in his hands tightened.
As if their closeness wasn't enough, the cloak wrapped itself around Lenore and pulled her close to him. Lenore yelped, pulling away from Stephen as she realized that the cloak had pulled her onto his lap.
Lenore shot a warning glare at the cloak as it made a saluting gesture towards Stephen.
"I didn't tell it to do that," Stephen claimed, shaking his head. "I promise!"
"Naughty little thing aren't you?" Lenore said, directed towards the cloak. It removed itself from Stephen as if it was scared, and flew to the far corner of the room, facing its back towards the two of them.
Lenore shook her head sideways and brought her gaze back to Stephen, only to see that he was peering at her with a soft smile on his lips. She was struck with confusion and she shot him a questioning look, eliciting a soft chuckle from him.
"What?" she asked, raising one eyebrow.
"Nothing." he took a deep breath in as his hands crept up from her waist to her back. Lenore shivered at his touch but still kept her composure as he pulled her closer till their bodies were flush against him. Stephen pressed his face against her collarbone. Lenore beamed at him and pressed a kiss onto his head.
Stephen let out a shaky sigh, his mind playing events during his fight with Dormammu, the thought of not being able to return scared him.
"Is something troubling you?" she asked as she backed away from him, her hands moving upwards from his shoulders up to his face in which she tilted up to meet his gaze.
"Back there," he started, holding her gaze. "I was scared."
"You? Great Stephen Strange? Was scared?" she quipped as she grazed her thumb across his beard. Stephen rolled his eyes at her statement but she stopped at that, knowing Stephen was serious about it. "What made you scared?"
"I mean, who wouldn't," he stated matter-of-factly, "I now understand why the Ancient One had done it, she'd done what she could do protect other people, even if it would be...not acceptable to the eyes of others. She made sacrifices."
Lenore stared down at him, her eyebrows scrunched together in concern. "I used a spell. A time-loop to be exact. Just to trap that thing inside and never allow it to come out. Even if it would imprison me with him until the end of time, I still did it. Even if..."
Stephen gave out a sigh as he continued staring into her eyes, seeing the worry take over them. He brought one of his hands on her cheek, holding her delicately. She leaned against his touch.
"Even if what?" she asked softly.
Stephen exhaled through his nose, and soon after, he said; "Even if it means I won't ever see you again. As long as I know that you're safe."
Lenore froze at the confession, she wanted to smile but tears had already been running down her cheeks. She brought Stephen in for a hug, she embraced him tighter and Stephen had never felt relieved more than he is now.
"And now you're here." she told him, her lips pressed against the side of his head, tears still streaming down her face, some even dropped on his shoulder but he didn't mind. "That's all that matters right now."
Stephen nodded against her shoulder, his tears dampening her shirt as he cried. He held onto her tightly, as if she was going to disappear.
Lenore broke away from their hug, looking down to meet Stephen's gaze before she captured his lips with hers, kissing him softly.
When they've finally broken apart, their foreheads resting each other, Lenore saw the soft and content smile on Stephen's lips.
"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that."