They called her the Ancient One.
And to most, she appeared just that. To have lived for over half a millennium made her truly ancient.
Though on the grand scale of things, she was but a speck of dust—merely one that had floated around a little longer than most.
To many of her opponents, she was little more than an upstart brat. But she was fine with that. She didn't care much about their respect; she didn't need it. What she cared about was that they feared her.
And while many might not outright fear her, they were still afraid enough that they didn't dare cause problems.
It was thanks to this that Earth remained spinning, and that life continued as usual.
Still, one of her secrets was that in truth, she felt far more ancient than she was, because the price of being able to do what she did was that she had to peer into the future.
So while she hadn't lived longer than a few centuries, she had experienced years far beyond that—countless years beyond her age. Countless futures she had watched, countless futures she had seen, and countless futures—potential futures—she had averted.
This was her secret and her burden.
The cost of keeping the world safe from the countless demons and dark beings that wanted to invade it, the countless dangers that hid in the unseen places of the cosmos, and the numerous dimensions that pressed against their own.
It wasn't easy. As a human, she was like dust before the beings of other dimensions, before powers hidden deep in the cosmos. Against them, humanity could do nothing.
Yet despite that, she had managed to protect Earth for a long time. Under her tenure as Sorcerer Supreme, Earth was mostly safe, and very few truly catastrophic accidents occurred.
Even more so in the later parts of her tenure, when she had reached her full potential. These days, even those who didn't fear her still respected her abilities—her knowledge of the mystic arts, and her mastery of all manner of magic—which allowed her, a mere human, to resist the Lords of Hell and more.
For a long time, the future held no meaning to her; time itself had lost meaning. With the Eye of Agamotto, she could not only peer into the past and the future—she could manipulate time itself, treat it like a tool, a weapon.
She had seen her death. She had seen everything that would happen up until that moment. She was simply following a script she had carefully written.
Everything was within her control.
She had long foreseen that Kaecilius would betray her, that he would be lured into darkness by Dormammu, and she knew that she would die.
But that was fine. She was tired, and Earth—Earth needed a new protector. Someone who could go further than she could, someone who could be better.
Doctor Stephen Strange.
Yet… the future she had seen, the future she had been working toward, had been ruined. Everything was completely out of her control.
Honestly, she didn't mind this too much. She had grown bored with knowing everything, never being surprised, living each day knowing exactly how it would go.
Still, she had worked hard to ensure that the future she envisioned would come to pass.
All to ensure Earth had the best possible chances she could give it.
Now, all that work had become worthless. The future was chaotic, and it was all because of her: Arthuria Pendragon.
She honestly didn't know what to think about her. That the legendary King Arthur was a woman in a parallel world was shocking, but hardly difficult to accept. She had personally seen herself as a man.
It wasn't all that uncommon.
What was truly shocking was the fact that Arthuria had somehow become a powerful god, not to mention the strange artifacts she wielded.
The Excalibur of this world was nothing compared to the sword Arthuria carried—let alone the Lance and the Sheath. Those two were the most shocking weapons the Ancient One had ever seen.
Even compared to Odin's Gungnir, those artifacts stood out. Excalibur wasn't on the same level—and that still made it hard to accept.
What kind of parallel universe did Arthuria belong to, one that held so many powerful relics, and yet she still somehow died to Mordred?
The Ancient One was beyond relieved that this reality wasn't as dangerous as that one, because she doubted she would survive whatever madness that was.
Because Morgana le Fay was nothing before Arthuria, and she was a troublesome foe indeed—so how monstrous must the Morgana of Arthuria's universe have been?
Not to mention Merlin. In this universe, Merlin had been the Sorcerer Supreme before her—a noble and powerful man—so how great and terrible must the Merlin of that universe be?
Given that Arthuria had somehow brought her knights over as well, the Ancient One had hoped Merlin might appear too, but it seemed unlikely.
Apparently, he was watching, but unable—or unwilling—to act and interfere.
Still, that restriction clearly didn't apply to Arthuria herself. She had acted and interfered with little restraint.
She had thrown the future into flux. What had once been certain was now chaotic and unknown.
Kaecilius hadn't taken the steps toward darkness he was meant to. Instead, he was working together with Xu Wenwu to uncover a set of ancient dragon bones over in New York.
Hoping to use them to resurrect their dead wives—it wasn't what was meant to happen. Those bones shouldn't have been disturbed, but now they were being unearthed.
Though at least Kaecilius was being reasonable, and was taking his time to ensure they didn't cause a collapse of the city by digging recklessly. A level of restraint that only highlighted how much he had changed from what he should have become.
He was once more the good pupil he had first been: eager to learn, but not reckless, respecting the importance of working slowly and steadily.
She saw no way for him to suddenly fall to darkness and let himself be fooled by Dormammu in the near future—unless something major happened.
Hope… he had found hope. And even the Mandarin had found hope as well, altering his fate, the fate of his family, and so many more.
She couldn't yet tell if it was for good or ill. She had known little of Wenwu's future, since it involved events far beyond her original death. But given what she knew of the man, having his wife back would likely ensure less suffering.
For if one thing was certain, the much younger Mandarin she had met many centuries ago was a far cry from the man who played games with his family at home.
Even beyond the Order of the Mystic Arts, the world was changing—beyond Earth itself. Asgard's future had changed.
Loki had sat upon the throne for a long while, and with the support of his mother, he had learned more than hubris and managed to rule properly.
The Ancient One had to admit it was curious indeed to see how the future she had witnessed changed so much due to so little.
Because while Arthuria's actions had affected Earth on a massive scale, the changes in Asgard should have been minor.
Yet the moment she caught Odin's eye, everything shifted.
No doubt the old man had seen the potential for a better future for his realm, and had taken it with both hands.
Still, she didn't care too much about changes in the other realms of Yggdrasil. Her focus remained, as always, centered on Earth itself.
And it was here that the effects of Arthuria were greatest. One does not conquer a nation and not affect the world in some way—especially if that nation happens to be the United Kingdom.
That emboldened Erik Lehnsherr to act, and through an alliance with Arthuria, the future of mutants changed far beyond what the Ancient One had ever seen.
Victor von Doom had also been emboldened to act, and his future had changed, as had that of the Fantastic Four. One future changing changed the future of all they would ever influence.
The Avengers, too—those who would carry the fate of this world on their shoulders—had changed. They had lost Thor, and what that would mean for future events, she still did not yet know. But Earth hadn't lost a protector. Not really.
Because the full might of Asgard was far beyond what Thor himself could do, and with Loki and Arthuria's bond, there was no doubt that should the Avengers face something they couldn't handle, Thor would join—and not alone.
And then there was Wakanda. That nation's fortune had shifted; the entire continent of Africa had changed course.
She had paid little attention to them before, but now she at least had to keep some eyes on the place, because Bast was a god—even if a weak one—and she had to keep watch on their actions.
After all, the only reason she allowed Arthuria to meddle with humanity was simply because she couldn't stop her.
With that Lance, Arthuria could escape any seal, any prison, because the lance was connected to Earth itself—allowing her to bend time and space around the very concept of the world's end.
Which could be a location, a time, or an event.
Combined with the despair-inducing destructive power of her armament and the defensive might of the Sheath of Excalibur, there was nothing the Ancient One could do about Arthuria.
Thankfully, it seemed Arthuria herself was aware that she should limit her rule over mankind, which had led her to form the Illuminati.
The Ancient One had peered into the future of that organization, and she had seen Stephen there, which at least reassured her that he would still embrace his destiny as the future Sorcerer Supreme.
Still, given what the Illuminati was doing in Wakanda at this moment, she had a good idea of what kind of future they would be part of—what awaited Earth if they reached that point.
Because the future was bright indeed, and others had taken notice of it as well—others who didn't want Earth and humanity to flourish.
Slowly, she opened her eyes, pulling her focus away from the past and the future and back into the present.
Taking a deep breath, she rose to her feet and effortlessly opened a golden portal before stepping through.
"Sir Agravain, I would like to request a meeting with your king. I have need of her strength," she said to the knight sitting at his desk on the other side of the portal.