Interlude: Connections
Kamr-Taj
The Ancient One
The Ancient One stood before the orb, the Orb of Agamotto, a powerful artifact stated to have been created by the first Supreme, her grand-teacher, Agamotto, son of the Vishanti Oshtur.
"By my will, I beseech the Elders, the Vishanti, extend my will, and show me thy path."
The orb container separated, its energies potent and archaic. It was impossible to shield such forces from the sensitive, and she knew those inclined would sense her usage.
With a sigh born from a millennium of existence, she said. "So be it." Her arms spread outward sluggishly as she pulled the archaic energies apart with a herculean heave that left her panting. She flung the power outward on her knees, creating a tapestry of possibilities.
She stood on wobbly legs, her sanctum of solitude transformed, albeit briefly. She had seen past, present, and future numerous times; she knew of the multiverse, entities whose power far exceeded the scope of her patrons, the Vishanti; with that knowledge, she was aware nothing was impossible, circumstantial maybe.
She faltered, her powers dwindling with a monumental strain; once mortal minds would shatter understanding, she pushed through. As she channeled her vast powers, breaking more rules, she held dear into one task.
The Eye is a weapon of wisdom that can radiate a powerful mystical light that allows Sorcerer Supreme to see through all disguises and illusions and track both ethereal and corporeal beings by their psychic or magical emissions.
It was the artifact that hid the dark dimension taint. She was afraid it was her endeavors in the dimension that led to one who should have been the next supreme; her insistence on waiting on one man had been a ruse that she told herself; she could see now that Dormmanu had infected her to the point she wasn't sure her actions were her owns.
She had a moment; she searched the timelines, surgically in her viewing as she hoped to discover where this anomaly had come from. If she needed to, she would once again be a gardener and prune him before he came to be.
"Cole..." She uttered.
Her hands holding spells as she... "Amatsu-Kami and Orishas." She had sensed powerful, specific divine magic when she attempted to seek him; unlike on the mortal plane, his signature was unique but intangible, which caused him to be hard to locate and barely trackable until Kaecillus interceded.
She thought. 'Why are the slumbering gods involved?' As a Sorcerer of the Mystic Arts, she was aware of other entities and had called upon their powers in trying times. However, invoking another pantheon had its problems; she seldom did it as she was an honorer of The Vishanti.
Suddenly, the tapestry of past, present, and future darkened. The Ancient One hands shot outward in alarm as blackness spread across time and space.
Shudder...
The room shook; it took all her training to remain standing. A head emerged, pulling from the tapestry; she recognized the visage he had come, her being seized, and her soul shuddered, her eyes darkened, veins spreading across her temple in a macabre horror.
The Eye activated, sending out green tendrils of light that battled against the energies of the dark dimension. Incredulous, The Ancient One stared at the multiverse in horror; how had she missed this? Did the anomaly presence truly shield their iteration? A taint had emerged from her reality...
"Fool, your soul is mine." Dormammu raged, breaching the dimension with the force of a thousand battering realms.
"Oshtur, protect me," The light given off by the Eye also weakens various evil mystical beings, such as demons, devils, undead beings, dark extra-dimensional entities, and even sufficiently corrupt human practitioners of the Dark Arts.
"You shall pay, and the child that..." His words were sundered as a chill emanated out of nowhere; the fire that encapsulated his head shrunk, and he reeled back; an impression of a hand appeared across his face.
The room chilled as snow cascaded down, utterly out of place; a slender hand pierced from the unimaginable place, and the fiery head turned rage spreading across the features of the lord of the dark dimension face; words were exchanged, none she would recall as the split widen, a pale snow-white entity emerged, her ceremonial robes fluttering.
"Little godling, you dare. I will sunder your plane for this insult."
The so-called godling laugh cascaded around the room before she waived her hand, the Eye seemingly responding to her assault. It, too, attacked, and the head was pushed back through the veil.
The Ancient One, holding on to the last vestiges of her sanity, turned and took the woman in; without a glance, she retreated through the veil.
"Who?" She croaked out before face-planting.
Master of The Sanctums
She found herself at an impasse. The events that transpired weighed on her shoulders; even her stolen immorality was faltering, her time was almost up, and that goddess had not defended her but reacted to something the dark lord intended to do after he took her, once he had her body... she shuddered, he wouldn't spare the world, and that remaining would be lucky to become a mindless one. Still, there were far worse things than becoming a puppet.
For the first time in a millennium, she was conflicted. "One moment, please, let me mediate and consort with the eye of agamotto." The Ancient One said, calling for the beginning of the meeting.
The Ancient One mediated, the eyes orbiting around her as its powers reflected off the walls. The Masters weren't all present. Word had traveled around the world fast, and no doubt the enemies of the order were braying at the seems to do further damage. Had she made a mistake? She had pried herself on protecting the world in all her years.
"These are troubling times indeed. One of our own has fallen." looked toward the empty seat of kaecillus. Tina Minoru is a Master of the Mystic Arts and the Master of the Hong Kong Sanctum.
"That's incorrect. Kaecillus has thrown off his Master and taken another one. That creature has threatened us all. This should be a war council, and I long have the knowledge and the means to lead us, especially now." Mordo declared amicably. His words caused a hushed murmur in the room.
"You will not!" Wong's hand slammed down on the table. He bored into the still-sitting Mordo.
"We should wait on The Ancient One before we begin." A man said with a strong Irish accent, Master, but he wasn't a sanctum Master like others.
"I concur, brother, said the Englishman." Sol Rama is the Master of the Mystic Arts of Kamar-Taj and the Master of the London Sanctum.
"You forget your place, Master Wong. Such common peasantry shouldn't dare speak against their bett-"
Wong Scoffed. "Fool. You were never my better in status nor command over the arts. You never will be." Wong fired back at his former friend. Their relationship was strained over the years when Wong's obvious talent overshadowed the man's. Karl Mordo was archaic, just like his father and the father before him.
"If Wong has any trepidation to proceed on this matter, then it serves you more to heed his instincts rather than insult him." Daniel Drumm declared, throwing his lot in with the powerful Master.
"I'm the Master of the New York Sanctum until The Ancient One designs to remove me. There will be no more encroachments in the city, especially now; other factors are at play, and I'm afraid the mundane world will notice our comings and goings.
The Ancient One eyes opened. "We're in agreement, Master Drumm." All eyes shot to her, and she smiled and nodded before she began talking; it was unfortunate she denied the dark-dimension taint; her replacement was ready, and she was afraid of what she would need to do to speed up his visit.
What alarmed her was Kaecillus's recovery. He had done the impossible. He threw off the Lord of The Dark Dimension's power and obtained ancient magics. She hated the thought, but she needed to talk to him. She needed more time; her butcher bills were due; unlike Kaecillus, her siphoning was granted to her; she had staling powers, and he had known, but she couldn't deny him any longer; her soul was destined for his dimension, not even the Vishanti could intercede on her behalf, yet that goddess had, and that frightened her.
The Ancient One hands clasped as her students argued; she opened and closed her mouth, afraid to speak, scared to make a mistake again; she stared at the Eye, the symbol of the Sorcerer Supreme, the leader of Kamr-Taj.
'Teacher, I have erred,' she intoned internally, praying to her Master, knowing his existence wasn't extinguished but ascended to a higher plane; gods were called gods because humanity lacked words to describe the unimaginable, but she knew them as extra-dimensional entities, but for all intents and purposes gods were fitting name.
She stood, her thoughts a storm of turmoil. She slapped the table, her gesture silencing the bickering masters. She looked at Wong deeply, closed her eyes, and made a decision; she stopped the meeting and beckoned for Karl Mordo; she wished to talk with him.
The Ancient actions would further exasperate the tension between the magical and mundane; one figure, in particular, would see to his threat against those who attack him.