Ace woke up in the infirmary. He slowly sat up and held his head before remembering "Damn! I forgot the Basilisk!" as he sighed to himself. Before he could think another thought, there was another voice "Yes, quite. Fortunately, I picked it up for you. Of course a tooth is missing, but that's besides the point, really."
Ace blinked and turned his head to see the Ancient One sitting next to him, reading a book and sipping on tea. Ace was startled and said "Master Ancient One?! What are you-"
The Ancient One smiled at him, saying "I've been watching you for a while now. Your artifacts are ready, by the way…" she curled her lips gently while sipping on the tea, "Despite your poor performance the first time, you persevered through your fear and conquered it. Well done."
Ace laid his hands on the blanket as he turned his head to his bed, smiling to himself. The Ancient One looked at him and smiled gently, adding "A true hero does not have no fear, but can overcome their fear to do what's right. In this regard, you have succeeded."
Ace's face reddened in excitement, until the Ancient One had a glint of amusement in her eyes as she continued "However, your use of magic is shallow, you can barely conjure a portal, your barrier wasn't strong enough to block a mere memory's curse, and you required the fate of another to save you…"
Ace's smile froze and she snorted gently, smiling "You will learn slowly, you aren't the brightest spell in the book." as she stood up, dusting herself off as the teacup and book vanished into thin air. She turned to Ace and asked "Well? Ready to leave?"
Ace was startled and asked quickly "What? Wh-" The Ancient One smiled and nodded, "Good! Let's go." before snapping her fingers as the duo disappeared in a flurry of golden sparks.
A boy in a bed across the room stared at the empty space in shock, completely dumbfounded…
Ace and the Ancient One appeared on Nidavellir again.
Ace was only wearing pants with bandages all over his upper body, even his fingers were bandaged. Although he didn't have many muscles, he wasn't fat, rather, he was a bit skinny.
This was the result of constant studying without really working out. Hogwarts didn't really have a gym…
The Ancient One looked at him and shook her head, remarking "A healthy body, a healthy mind. You can't be studying at all times, Ace." Ace nodded and replied "Yes, Master." she smiled and they walked through the forge once again.
Ace touched his waist and before he could say anything, the Ancient One handed him his magic sack. Ace smiled and grabbed it, muttering "If only there was a better place to keep my things…" The Ancient One continued to walk, replying "There is."
Ace was startled and asked quickly "There is? What is it?" The Ancient One replied slowly "A separate space of your own. This is very simple magic." Ace was dumbfounded and opened his mouth to ask more, when there was a loud laugh "Bahahaha! The scared little boy is back!"
Ace turned to Eitris and looked up at him, snorting slightly. Eitris raised his brows and chuckled "Oh? The boy isn't scared anymore?" Ace replied slowly "I'm not scared of friends."
Eitris paused and muttered "Friends? I'm your friend, since when?" Ace curled his lips and said "Since you made me artifacts. Speaking of which, since we're friends, I can come back for improvements, right?"
Eitris burst out laughing, making the chamber shake as he said "Right, lad! Bahahaha! If you weren't so tiny, I would drink dwarven grog with you!" Ace looked at the Ancient One, who rolled her eyes, saying gently "Eitris." Eitris' laughter died down and he smiled, "Of course, your artifacts are ready. As you suggested, I tried my best. However, the materials were very good and it wasn't really an issue to enhance them a bit!"
He turned around and presented a cloak and a box.
The cloak was jet black with a hood and a red gemstone connecting the cloak at the base of the hood.
Eitris explained "Essentially, most of the materials were used for this. The little box you gave me was used here as well as the loom." Ace took the cloak and asked "What does it do?" as he put it on.
Eitris asked back "What doesn't it do! The cloak has invisibility, protection, and amplification… However, it completely hides the person wearing it, only showing pure darkness. This was inevitable, my apologies." he shook his head and Ace pulled on his hood, his entire face disappearing into darkness.
The cloak closed slightly on his body and it was all black underneath as well. Ace's voice came out from the cloak "Cool! This is awesome!" he jumped but landed back on the ground, looking up at Eitris, who added "It cannot fly, boy! Making artifacts is harder than you think! If you could bring me a flying artifact then it would be possible!"
Ace hummed to himself and took the box to which Eitris added, "And this is what you wanted." Ace opened the box excitedly and his eyes sparkled as cards flew out of the box, twirling in the air while orbiting around Ace's head and body.
They were Tarot Cards!
But not ordinary Tarot cards.
Eitris explained "The scraps from the cloak, leftover materials, and the loom were all crafted into those cards, they respond well to magic as well as have their own effects depending on the card. These were made from the Papers you brought me. They are also nigh indestructible!"
Ace waved his hand and the cards swished in front of him, glinting sharply. Eitris placed down a thick log, saying "Try 'em out!" Ace raised his bandaged arm out of the cloak and flicked his wrist forward.
The cards flew out and slashed down on the log like a sword, splitting it in half!
Ace grabbed the air and one of the cards flew into his hand as he held it between his fingers, throwing it forward. The card exploded into raging flames that warped the air around it, incinerating one half of the log!
His eyes glowed and he pulled back as the cards returned to orbiting his head.
He pulled another one and threw it out, the card hit the remaining log and it suddenly exploded!
The Ancient One waved her hand and a barrier surrounded the explosion, containing it easily.
Ace was stunned and looked at Eitris, who chuckled "Satisfied?" Ace turned back to the explosion as the card danced in the air while coming back, as though it was happy. He grabbed the card, it was the Tower Card!
He nodded dumbly and held the box as the cards flew back inside.
Eitris chuckled and added, "You can come back to me for any adjustments or improvements!" The Ancient One smiled and nodded, "Thank you, Eitris. You've been quite the help." Eitris bowed, "It was my pleasure, Master Ancient One."
She smiled and nodded, "Next time, Eitris. Farewell." Eitris saluted and the Ancient One dragged the dumbfounded Ace, disappearing instantly.
They reappeared on a barren planet and Ace looked around, asking "What are we doing here?" The Ancient One stood with her hands behind her back, explaining "The artifacts Etris made for you are a bit destructive… This was above my expectations. Furthermore, I have another test for you and there isn't much time."
She checked something with a portal as she continued "This planet is in a deadzone, an incalculable amount of lightyears away from the Earth. The time dilation is very much different, perhaps a year here is a minute on Earth. We will stay here until you familiarize yourself with your new artifacts, lest you hurt yourself or others."
Ace was startled and replied "Can't we just stay here forever?" The Ancient One smiled and nodded "Sure! If you don't mind your bones turning to dust from the Supermassive Black Hole Sun Solar Storms." as she pointed up.
Ace looked up and froze in terror, there was a giant black hole sun above the planet. It was so far away but the sun was so huge that it looked like a skyrise building! He shivered and swallowed, "But how…" The Ancient One smiled and explained "I set up a barrier, you have 7 days. Come on then."
Ace swallowed again and took out his cards, asking "Your barrier won't break will it?" The Ancient One rolled her eyes, replying "With your fledging magic?" Ace's eye twitched…
Back on Earth a few minutes later
Ace stumbled out of the portal and pulled back his hood, falling to his knees and vomiting on the grass.
The Ancient One walked out and fanned herself, looking at Ace with amusement, "A little solar radiation never killed anyone." Ace pointed his hand at the Ancient One, shouting "Are you nuts?! How am I supposed to take on a Solar Flare from a super irradiated Black Hole Sun! Not to mention, you didn't say anything about it reaching critical mass!"
The Ancient One smiled happily and Ace sat down, breathing out "Unfortunately that entire quadrant is gone." he sighed sadly "All the lifeforms, too bad we couldn't save them…" The Ancient One looked at Ace, who was staring at the sky sadly, for a few moments before explaining "All the lifeforms were evacuated thousands of years ago. These events are most commonly watched for entertainment by cosmic beings unaffected by such things."
Ace froze and turned to the Ancient One, saying angrily "Is it fun for you to watch me embarrass myself?" The Ancient One smiled gently, replying "Yes." Ace's lips twitched and he got up, dusting himself off as he changed the topic, "What now?"
The Ancient One smiled and a portal appeared as she walked through explaining "Shower, change, and meet me in the courtyard." Ace nodded and followed her through the portal.
A few minutes later
Ace was sitting on his knees in the Ancient One's office, apparently Mordo was teaching a class in the courtyard, so they were here instead. The Ancient One sipped on tea as she said "You remember your mark?"
Ace blinked and nodded, "The Stark Industries one. Apparently, Tony Stark is Ironman." The Ancient One sipped her tea quietly before explaining "Yes, one of the Earth's protectors. The issue you have is; your mark based system in the Eye collects Karma through spreading wealth as noble thieves to make your own life better."
She paused for a moment before continuing "Unfortunately, your karma lost to Stark's which is the result of your following events after the performance." Ace asked in confusion "But you've said before that Karma doesn't exist."
The Ancient One nodded and explained "It doesn't because Kamar-Taj doesn't accrue Karma through its magic. Karma is a branch of Avatar, Talisman, and Voodoo magic. We specialize in the Soul and dimension magic. Karmic Magic is a lower tier of magic closer to Demonic Magic as it relies mostly on religion."
Ace nodded and wrote down what the Ancient One said. She looked at him and rolled her eyes in amusement as she continued "At any rate, you have clashed with Stark's Karma and fate before, creating a connection. Seeing that you were a detriment to his life, you must now provide a service that has a positive impact as a sort of repayment before we can cleanse the Karma from your soul."
Ace looked up and asked with confusion "What does cleansing the Karma from my soul do?" The Ancient One replied simply "Karma interferes with your soul based spells, which is one of the reasons you cannot Astrally Project your soul without a tremendous effort." Ace understood and wrote it down as the Ancient One added "Therefore your test is to provide help to Stark in his time of crisis."
Ace looked at her and she raised a finger, explaining "Your task is to protect Stark through any means you like. As long as you help him, your Karma should balance out." Ace asked "Should?" The Ancient One replied "If you don't provide enough of a service, the Karma wouldn't balance out. Simply preventing him from tripping will not make everything balanced."
Ace nodded and asked "When do I start?" The Ancient One smiled and sipped her tea saying "Right now." Ace was startled and fell through a portal that opened up under him.
The Portal closed and the Ancient One let out a breath, smiling "What a funny disciple."
Ace fell from the sky and flipped before turning into a cat and smashing into a garbage bin!
There was a loud meow and Ace poked his head from the garbage bin, a banana peel on his head. Before he could think anything, a woman looked into the alley and said "Oh my god! Who left a poor little kitten here!?" before walking over and picking Ace up.
Ace looked at the woman and was shocked to recognize her! It was Pepper from one of his shows! That was the skit where Bruce pretends to be a doppelganger!
What a classic!
As Ace was reminiscing about old times, Pepper clicked her tongue, saying "Awe, poor kitty. We'll get you washed up, okay? I'll take care of you for now. Maybe we can find you a good home." as she looked at the dirty Ace before taking him away.