John levitated over Kamar Taj and slowly descended on the courtyard. He saw Mordo and others practicing magic with much fervour and enthusiasm. The threat of Black Winter has given people more drive to strengthen themselves.
John nodded at it. Nobody paid much attention that John had arrived as by now they were accustomed to it. Mordo approached him and asked
"Here to meet the Ancient One?"
"Yes."
"Go in."
John thus went in and saw the usual scene of her sitting in her chair brewing tea. John sometimes wondered if that's all she did all day.
"Don't you have anything to do other than brewing tea?" John asked.
"My retirement is coming, John. Now I can do whatever I want." The Ancient One said.
"Retirement? What happened?" John asked.
"Strange has accepted to take over the mantle of the Sorcerer Supreme." The Ancient One smiled and said.
"How were you able to convince an arrogant guy like him?" John asked.
"I didn't. His arrogance made him use the time stone to look forward in time. And after seeing the future he chose to be the Sorcerer Supreme." The Ancient One.
"Huh! You allowed him to use the time stone in such a way?" John asked.
"I could have stopped him but I wanted to see what he wanted to do with it. He didn't disappoint me."
"Where is he?" John asked.
"In the mirror dimension, practicing. He has become incredibly capable in the last few days with magic." The Ancient One said with a proud smile.
"Let's go and see." John said. The Ancient One opened the mirror dimension and both stepped in.
They saw Strange fighting against Wong and they both showed equal levels of power. Strange was using magic very proficiently. John was surprised. He knew Strange was a genius but he had improved tremendously since the battle.
"Wong. You can stop. We have a guest." The Ancient One said. Both of them stopped. All greeted each other while the Ancient One opened a portal to the real world.
"What did you see, Strange?" John asked.
"Enough to know a lot. There is no other way, other than me being the Sorcerer Supreme. I don't want to take this huge responsibility but I will have to take it no matter what."
John wanted to know but didn't ask as knowing the future sometimes doesn't prove to be helpful and instead pushes the story towards that future more. Whatever can happen, will happen no matter what.
"That's good that you have decided on that." John said.
"I am going to meet Allfather Odin." John then said after a pause. The Ancient One nodded at it. But Strange suddenly said,
"Take me with you."
"Why? Is there any reason?" John asked as he didn't understand why Strange wanted to meet Odin. Though John speculated it might be because he saw something in the time stone, John didn't ask.
John wanted to ask the Ancient One about Strange but since he has already chosen that path, he didn't need to ask.
After saying goodbye to the Ancient One, they both vanished from their spot. John had already pinpointed the location of Odin. Off the coast of Norway. The place where new Asgard was made after they came over to Earth.
They appeared again to see Odin standing and watching the ocean silently. John and Strange walked to him and stood side by side.
"Expecting your sons?" John asked.
"No. I was expecting you. I just didn't expect Mr. Strange to accompany you." Odin said.
"How is retirement, away from all the grandeur of Asgard?" John asked.
"I was driven by my ambitions for a long time. But ambitions change over time. A lifetime of war and brutality changes people." Odin said in an old voice. John nodded at it as he had been fighting for a long time.
"So I guess you know why I am here since you are expecting us." John said.
"Yes. The Ragnarok. Asgard needs to be saved." Odin said.
"It does. I can't let such a beautiful place die just like that." John said. As they were talking, the Bifrost opened and out came Loki, Thor, Kratos and Atreus. They came by Bifrost because Heimdall was still in the helm of the Bifrost.
Even though Loki impersonated Odin after he had left Asgard, he didn't try to change the whole management of Asgard like he did in the original. Due to the butterfly effect he chose to take a different path and Hemidall too didn't rebel against Loki even though he knew Loki was the false King.
Probably because Odin asked him not to do so. What surprised John was that Kratos and Atreus came with them. That he didn't expect.
"John, you are here too?" Thor said with a smile. Loki had fear in his face when he saw John. The last time they met it didn't end well for him. He hesitated but kept his ground and didn't step back after seeing him. John gave him more fear than Hulk.
"Father, we have been waiting for you to come back." Thor said to Odin, the person who he actually came for. It was after the expedition of all the 9 realms he came to know that his father wasn't in Asgard anymore and Loki was sitting at the throne using his father's identity.
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There will be double uploads tomorrow if there are more than 350 power stone donations by the end of the day.
Thank you.