W/N: Finally I'm back. Hope you're all are doing well. Btw, it's gonna be a loooong chapter - the longest I think I have ever written. Hope u all enjoy.
Stephen winked at her conspiratorially. She had to bite the insides of her cheek to refrain from smiling and appear a perfectly normal companion of a wizard. Although she had been apprehensive about walking into a room full of wizards and claimed not to be a witch, Stephen had managed to talk her into this. And she knew she was going to give him anything he wanted.
She looked into his calm eyes, ones that were glowing with a faint silver light a few minutes back, the eyes that held the ability to persuade anyone; the eyes that had charmed the wizards, at once, into letting them stay in the valley and use the twilight well.
"How did you pull that off?" Y/N whispered, even though they had walked out of the wizard tower. She pressed her lips gently, tentatively to his cheek.
"Perks of being an alpha-vampire." He grinned.
They followed one of the villagers through the chilly wind and icy spray of rain. Y/N walked irritably as their guide led them through narrow, muddy lanes. Her new outfit was damn heavy, rain-soaked it weighed tons; the we-won't-change-our-mage-outfits had more been like I-won't-be-changing-my-outfit.
Their lodge was a dilapidated, musty old hut. It had two rooms - one with a large bed occupying most of the space, a fireplace and a wooden table with a pot, the other was a lavatory. The inside wasn't that horrible except for the wind whistling through the gaps in the wooden walls, and the dampness of the floor and walls. The fireplace was unlit but not empty and the sheets were fresh and crisp.
Once the man was out of sight, Y/N snapped her fingers, changing the drenched gown into her comfy PJs.
"You can't be wearing that," Stephen complained. He emptied the scrolls, given by the wizards to help him with his fake expedition, onto the table. Over his arcane collection of mystic texts, these were nothing nevertheless he was going to give them one read.
"Y/N, can you help me with the scrolls?" He stacked them into two piles of twenty-three and eleven.
When there was no response for a long time, Stephen turned around to find no sign of her in the room. "Y/N?" He hesitated at the threshold of the other room. She hummed softly.
He peeped in and caught his breath. Not that she was beautiful- but the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and something more than that. She was like a mermaid - exquisite and alluring; an enchantress who was bewitching his body, mind and soul.
"How did you arrange the hot bath... and bubbles?" His voice was a soft whisper as he trudged towards the tub. She didn't open her eyes, only lifted her hand and wiggled her fingers. The corner of her lips tipped up when she felt his warm breath over her shoulder. "I should have thought," he whispered once again, punctuating every word with a kiss. "So, so delicious."
Y/N whimpered as he sucked and assaulted every inch of exposed skin. "Stephen," she gasped, feeling the pad of his thumb exploring the curve of her breast. "Are you... are you making love to me?"
Her eyes were wide and bright. He watched her, up from close, with a lustful gaze. "No, I'm not," he said. Struggling to check himself, he withdrew himself from her.
"Why not?"
"Because I can't!"
She stirred up in the tub to face him. "Why?"
"For heavens, Y/N, don't you get it?" He pumped out all his pain, desire and anger at her. "I can't lose control. An absentminded caress - the slightest of manhandling, could crush- kill you, baby." He wanted to let her know how much he craved for her and how much he couldn't give her. "You have no idea how much effort I have to put into not fighting you when we spar. Anticipating every move of yours so my natural instincts of a predator don't kick in. That same goes for every moment I spend with you..." He ran a hand through his damp curls, "I know I won't be in full control if I ever tried making love to you. Baby, all it would take is one deadly kiss..."
Then he walked out, creeping back to the safe space he had created; walking away because he couldn't look into her eyes, he couldn't see that pain, that hurt that was choking her soul.
It was beginning to grow light outside, but the village already seemed awake. Y/N stretched her arm, knocking a scroll off the bed in the process. There were a few more scrolls that were left open, carelessly, on the bed from last night.
Last night. She smiled to herself at the memories. He had been restless most of the night, calling her out in his sleep, again and again, begging her not to leave him alone, until she had abandoned the scrolls and held him in her arms.
She tried to move his hand, lying flat on her stomach but failed to move it an inch.
"Mm-mm," Stephen mumbled and buried his face further in the curve of her neck. She felt so warm, safe, and familiar, he wanted to cling to her forever.
She sighed. Her fingers moved nimbly across the length of his arm- drawing intricate, irregular lines.
"Are you not mad at me?" He asked after some time.
"After understanding, you, not at all."
"Hmm. I don't want to let go. But we need to get to the well."
He could feel her going stiff at his words. "What is it, baby?" He asked, moving his hand and cupping her face.
"I don't know, I just don't feel good about this. It's like something deep inside me doesn't want to know about who I am." She buried herself in him. "It's just a bad feeling. I'm sure it's nothing much to worry about."
It was supposed to be located in the backyard of one of the wizards' castles. "The narrow path opens into a great black lake," the wizard said, pointing to one of the four paths in his back garden. "The water harbours creatures of dark magic. Only a few have managed to cross it, but none returned." After giving a fair share of warnings, he left them alone on their journey.
The trees lining the path tangled their boughs around each other in an unnatural manner. Mist arrayed through them and the narrow path.
Deeper they went into the woods, the thicker the mist grew, and the louder the wailing of the creatures that inhabited it. "Stephen," she choked when her eyes caught the outline of a figure, wandering in the distance.
"It's okay," he whispered, tightening his grip on her.
Y/N blinked in surprise when they emerged on the other side of the forest. The trees rustled and deafening moans chilled her spine as she looked at the moonlit lake that seemed to stretch beyond the horizon, and the starry sky. Everything about the place was unnatural - the creatures, the weather, the darkness.
A soft gasp escaped her lips when she spotted Stephen's darkened fingers around her waist. Was it the dark magic of the forest or was he using the dark arts? The latter seemed impossible to her.
"What we seek, lies deep in the lake," Stephen said, dipping his fingers in the chilly water, sensing the enchantment it held.
She looked through the silken surface of the water, and the silver lining of the creatures inside it.
"You wait here."
"What?" Y/N said. "No!"
"Yes, it will be easier and safer that way," the tips of his blackened fingers moved delicately over the water's surface, casting a spell or two.
"I'm not afraid of whatever lies in there; I'm coming with you," she protested.
"I neither doubt your abilities nor your courage, there is something else, reasons far from the dark creatures that prevent me from letting you into the lake."
"But, what if-"
"Not buts, love. I can hold my breath longer than you and the water isn't as icy for me as for you. You remember my sister, Donna?" She nodded. He had once mentioned about her death. But she could not remember anything else about her. "She died- drowning herself in the lake at the back of our house. I can't... have you come with me. I simply can't." He kissed her. "I'm too afraid to let you..."
Y/N stood at the edge of the lake, watching him sink into the depth of the lake. Velvety black shadows that had been surrounding him also began to curl around her. "Don't worry, they'll protect you," he assured before diving forward. Her heart hammered, as she watched the silver creatures closing on the master of dark arts.
By the end of ten minutes, he was positive that he had covered most of the lake but there was no sign of any stone-clad well or runic markings. It was all the same everywhere around. A flick of a dark purple spell left his fingers as another horned, skeleton-like creature approached him.
An alternative struck him, it was dangerous but he had to try. He waved his hands, shifting the shadows around him, drawing back their protective barrier.
As expected they closed in, churning around him yet not touching him. And at once, their claws reached out for him, fleshless claws colder than death itself, pulled him deeper. This was no lake, it was the well itself.
They continued to swirl. Round and round. Deeper and deeper. It was all strange and silvery when they began to transfigure into something he didn't have the words to describe.
"Show me what I need to know," he prayed.
The claws holding him vanished and he fell headlong into darkness.
He opened his eyes, taking in the surroundings. Jane's house. He looked around for any sign of another him or Loki. They had come for her, hoping to find some threat, after finishing up with her coven. But there were none. Carefully looking around he felt this was furthermore back in the past - before their visit.
Walking carefully out of the woods, he peeped into the kitchen. Jane was doing the dishes, then she suddenly looked in his direction. He retreated but froze as he went right through another Jane. The new one looked like an active sorceress, walking determinedly towards her other self.
He couldn't clearly hear the exchange of words between them. The scene dissolved with the witch handing a shard of blue stone to the Jane of this universe.
Now he was in a small thicket of trees. He could see the headlights of a car speeding in the wrong direction. In a blink, it crashed into a tree, and then tumbled downhill. He rushed for it, then stopped as he spotted another version of him near the wreck. The Strange, sniffed around the wreckage, he had blood on his clothes as he emerged with the limp body of Y/N. She looked so small, so broken his heart swelled and he rushed towards them. Like last time, to these people, he was a ghost, one they could neither see nor feel.
"No! Stop," he cried as he watched Stephen bend over her body and sink the fangs into her neck. The young Y/N whimpered, trying to escape with all the strength she had but he knew she couldn't.
He continued to cry out fruitlessly but then he rose and bite into his own hand and shoved the bloodied wrist to her mouth.
"Drink," he grumbled.
This time it was bright and sunny. He straightened up, looking around the deserted neighbourhood. He walked around until he reached a building looking quite similar to his New York Sanctum. It must be 2039 New York, post the great floods and hurricanes.
Stephen went inside and saw a hardly nine-year-old Y/N sitting at the foot of the stairs. He crouched in front of her. Caressed her tears-soaked cheeks.
He searched around the sanctum.
Then he saw Jane with the Strange of this universe.
"Couldn't there be any other way?" The woman appealed.
"You know, Jane, what an abomination the girl is. I have been already dealing with one scarlet witch, and I cannot let another witch like her rise to power.
"My Y/N is just a child!" Jane snarled. Anger radiated from her small twisted face. "If you train her right from the beginning, I don't she would ever be a throne in your path! She'll always obey you and respect you."
Strange sighed, closing the book, and placing it on the table next to him. "What you say might be true... Regardless I can't wait and hope every day that she doesn't burn the world. I must do what my duty is, no matter what, who or how old the danger is."
"So you're... going to kill her, no matter what?"
"Isn't it what you saw in the twilight waters? She dies in every universe that she is born into. It's her fate."
The world around him dissolved and reformed.
It was Kamar-Taj. He across the empty courtyard towards his room, in the west wing.
Stephen stared, transfixed, at the sight of him lying naked next to her. He watched himself admire the glorious, naked angel.
"Hm," she mumbled, nuzzling into his chest. "You've taken to staring at me while I sleep?"
"I've not made it a habit yet, but I might," Strange teased, his hand drifting to stroke her bare back. "It's not very often that I manage to earn someone like you in bed."
"I love you, Master Strange," Y/N declared with utmost devotion.
The silver light engulfed him once again. This time he was thrown into an apocalyptic world.
He caught sight of the sorceress Jane and decided to follow her.
She led him to a cabin near the edge of the barricaded city. The name Y/F/N Y/L/N was painted on the door. She knocked. He waited.
"Yes, how may I help you?" Y/N asked, holding the door ajar. She froze as she closely looked at the visitor.
"I'm not who you think I am. If you let me in I can explain."
Once Jane was let in, she conjured a chest for thin air. She opened the cover to reveal two shards of stones placed neatly inside it. She carefully took the larger one and handed it to Y/N.
Stephen studied the girl who couldn't have been much younger than his Y/N.
"What is it?" she asked finally after studying the stone.
"Annihilation of reality," Jane answered.
"The most important price of my multiversal puzzle."
"Magic is an illusion of the mind of children to escape the dreadful truth of reality. I am afraid, the illusion doesn't plague my universe."
"No, it doesn't," Jane said calmly. "Which makes your world the safest place to hide it."
"What is it?" Y/N asked once again.
"Something that I intend you to keep safe."
"You refuse to tell me anything yet you aspect me to believe in you and help you out!" Y/N bellowed at her.
"I don't need you to believe in me. I know you already do believe in magic and the multiverse-"
"It is impossible." Y/N looked astonished.
"You spent all these years hopping for the multiverse to be real, yet when I tell you what you dreamed is real, you refuse to accept."
Y/N sighed in defeat.
"The danger is real Y/N, and I trust you to save us all."
"What do I need to do?"
"Absolutely nothing. Just keep it with you. You exist only across few universes. You are dead in few, and soon will be gone in the rest. And, lucky for me, there is no Stephen Strange or Wanda Maximoff in your universe. They'll never find out in which universe the last piece is hidden unless you attempt anything stupid."
Everything re-dissolved and reformed. It looked like the same thicket of the forest. He waited by the deserted road, for the vehicle to come.
He waited and waited, but it never came.
Agitated, Stephen frantically searched the forest. For the site where the car might have rolled into.
Dishevelled, he found the wreck at last. Regardless, it was futile. Her pulse was gone, her breathing still, her heart quiet. He looked around, screaming his name to come and rescue the girl. No one came. It was only him in that dead dark forest and two corpses.
Stephen collapsed on the forest floor. He howled not because of the pain, the disdain but the overpowering numbness. It felt more real than it should have.
The ground beneath him began to melt. And he was swallowed again to the depths of water. He sank deeper and deeper. The siren grew louder and louder.
"Brother," a sweet voice called him out.
He knew that voice very well. It couldn't be real. If it was then he must be dying. However, he didn't want to die. Not just yet. Y/N would be still waiting-
"Brother, help." This time it was a strained cry.
Donna.
Donna.
Donna.
I am coming to save you, Donna, he wanted to assure the little girl.