The master sorceress releases my arm, but continues to walk, leading me through the courtyard. She looks back at me to make sure I'm following, then passes under the eave of the one side of the yard, entering a doorless room. I have slight butterflies in my stomach as I move after her, the prospect of her taking me to meet the Ancient One leaving me anxious. Picking up my pace, I enter, revealing a wide, decorated corridor, the floor made of smooth stone blocks, with closed doors lining the wooden walls.
I see the tail of the sorceress' robe as she turns left ahead, moving out of my sight. The scraping of wood on stone from behind me causes me look back, finding any chance of retreat blocked, the formerly empty frame suddenly home to a panelled door. Sighing in slight annoyance, I move on. Going by the reaction of the master of the Bao'an Sanctum, I understand something about me unnerved her, so their cautious hasn't exactly sprouted from nowhere.
Following her trail, moving round and walking on, the appearance of the corridor changes as I move deeper in. The wood walls and stone floor starting to become lined by polished, black stone, until it overtakes the entire surface, ending at a set of open, double doors that reach the ceiling. Each door is engraved with half of the Seal of Agamotto, which when closed, meet in the middle to form the full symbol; two pairs of crossed lines.
Through the opening I see a round chamber, made of the same black rock as the corridor. A stone pedestal stands in the centre of the room, on top of which sits a metal object, shaped like an eye. Surrounding it are three large double doors, each looking as if they've been carved into the very walls they sit in, with that same seal upon them. Above the pedestal, at the top of the chamber, floats a large sphere created from an unknown material, that mimics the earth, the planet's continents and seas clearly engraved.
The sorceress I was following stands around the pedestal, talking to another asian women. This one has sharp, brown eyes, and a head of black hair styled in a princess-cut, with its length tied up in a braided bun. She's clothed in a red robe adorned with imagery of chrysanthemum's, under which she wears a longer, black robe, lined by the patterns of leaves.
As I enter, the two women turn to me, the new one staring at me with an examining look in her eyes. She glances at the master who brought me here and whispers something I don't catch, causing her to bow and walk towards me. The woman stops besides me and tilts her head up to me, then speaks, "You stand in the presence of Yi Hye-Rin, Sorceress Supreme and leader of the Masters of the Mystic Arts." She finishes, a scrutinising look in her eyes, then passes by me, leaving us alone.
I look at the woman before me, my mind racing. It's clear to me now that I'm in a time before the Ancient One started to lead the sorcerers; she might not have even been born yet. While I had no plans involving her, nor was my time here dependent on her presence, I was looking forward to meeting her. The new woman, Yi Hye-Rin, breaks me out of my thoughts by starting to speak, "You'll have to forgive Master Moon. She takes her role as Sanctum Master seriously, and the world is all that much safer because of it." She smiles at me.
"Come, let me see that which spooked Master Moon." Without any visible action from the sorceress, I suddenly find myself standing before her, teleported across the room. She allows me to recover from my second of disorientation, then gestures, creating an orange magic formation under my feet. As I look down at the spell, I try and use my enhanced memory to capture the parts of its make up that I can see, when it starts to spin, making that impossible.
The spell slowly rises from under me, moving up my body and passing over my head, then stops above me. The middle of the spell starts to be absorbed by its edge, becoming a flowing ring of bright orange energy, then floats over to Yi Hye-Rin's extended hand. She examines the magic ring for a moment, then throws it to the side, where it stops upright in the air and expands into a rectangular shape, large enough to fit a person. Thin lines of energy reach inwards from the edge and start to join together, beginning to form the outline of a person.
Gradually, a mirror image of me is created by the lines, its posture straight, but its eyes lifeless. After the spell is consumed, leaving behind my clone, Yi Hye-Rin approaches it and waves her hand, causing chunks of text, in a language I don't recognise, to shoot out of the image. She summons one block of text her and starts to read, an expression of interest appearing on her face as she does. Eventually, she moves the text to the side, and turns to me.
She lifts a finger and creates a small ball of orange light, then abruptly flicks it at me. It impacts me before my enhanced reflexes have a chance to react, and causes my Chi to start emitting from my body, beyond my control. Yi Hye-Rin extends a hand and scoops up some of my Chi, then cups it with her other hand, closing it within her grasp. She brings it to her face and whispers something, causing an intense green light, the colour of my Chi, to radiate out from between her hands.
Her eyes flick up to me from underneath her bangs, a look of excitement in them, an anticipatory smile gracing her lips, then extends her hands out to me, carefully opening them. My breath is stolen from me as I look, my eyes wide. Fidgeting in her cupped hands is a metal mouse, its fur detailed; its nose and tail twitching as its stares up and looks between us. Yi Hye-Rin lift the mouse to her, then exhales out a small breath of orange energy that envelopes the mouse, causing its eyelids to drop and sending it to sleep.
She reaches over and grabs one of my hands, then places the creature in it before turning back to the image. All my attention is stolen by the mouse in my hand, the very fact that it exists making my heart beat quickly. Did this Sorceress Supreme just use my Chi and her own magic to create life? Instinctively, I use Spirit Read on the metal being, the connection forming instantly as Yi Hye-Rin's head whips back to me,
[Spirit Read –
Name – N/A
Species – Magic Lifeform (Vibranium Mouse)
History – Yi Hye-Rin, Sorceress Supreme, cast a complex diagnosis spell on Sarah Worthington to examine her, discovering the power hidden in her Chi, unknown to even herself. With this power, and her mastery of magic, she created this unique being, a new form of life made entirely of Vibranium, a nigh-indestructible metal of extraterrestrial origin.
The unnamed mouse has been put to sleep by the sorceress, its newborn consciousness midway through its first dream.
Note: Take care of this creature, Sarah; it's creation was abrupt. It's bound to be scared, and will need someone to guide it.]
Any thoughts I start to form about the information revealed to me are interrupted by a notification,
[Innate Power Discovered – Pure Creation: Thanks the actions of a master sorceress, an Innate Power of yours has been brought to your attention.
As you stepped through the Heart of the Seedbed and into your new reality, your old body was perfectly replicated, cell by cell; a pure creation of the Seedbed. This change overwrote your original Chi, infusing it with the Creative Energy of the Seedbed. When you awakened your Chi, the advantages of this started to appear, and was used by a deity to jumpstart your Chi Healing.
Initially, the rate at which your body naturally heals itself is increased, and any healing abilities you develop are bolstered, vastly improving your healing prowess. Additionally, should you infuse your Chi into an object for a length of time, there is chance that it will develop a spirit. The quality of said spirit is dependent on the wishes of the object; should they be content with their purpose, they can choose not to develop a true consciousness.
With time and mastery of this power, you will be step into the Dao of Creation, and be capable of performing great feats of creation. From making simple objects, to bringing new dimensions into existence, and even creating complex lifeforms; the only limit is your imagination.]
So, I guess that answers the question I had of if I'm in new body or not, it also aligns with what the description of Dao Child told me.
Bringing up the fingers of my other hand, I gently stroke the mouse, its metal fur parting around my fingers, the same way real fur would. I grab at my bag and open it up, reaching in and picking out a small piece of cloth given to me by Shi Min, then place the mouse on it and wrap it around them. With it all nice and snug, I fix my sight back on the sorceress, finding her looking at me with a contemplative expression on her face. Once she sees my attention is back on her, she speaks,
"What did you just do?" She questions, her tone curious, "You just did something to the creature, I felt it. There was a pull on the world, similar to the magic of the Weavers." She lifts a hand and a creates circle of runes, then pushes them out, sending them to border the room, where they enlarge. Seeing my cautious expression, she gestures at the runes and explains, "A simple spell for your own protection, meant to prevent certain beings from scrying us. Going by what my detection spell found out about you, you're going to need it."
While my time here so far hasn't gone how I thought it would, I'm pretty assured in my safety. The Masters of the Mystic Arts are the protectors of Earth Dimension, and shouldn't do anything to me after I tell them my tale. Taking a deep breath, while hoping this is the last time I have to explain this to someone, I open my mouth, "I'm from the future." I start, watching her for her reaction, but she remains remarkable composed. I guess something like this isn't that odd for a sorcerer.
"I met two Eternals on the way here that led me think that I'm from a different timeline though, but I don't know how much impact my presence here has on this one, so I journeyed here. I was hoping you'd let me join, but if not, the least I could do was bring myself to your attention." I figured they would find me eventually, so I decided it would be better to reveal myself as soon as possible. I stroke the mouse in my hand to calm my nerves, its weirdly soft fur soothing me.
Yi Hye-Rin still doesn't react, but walks over to the pedestal and grabs the item off it, then placed it around her neck. Lifting it towards me, she nods at it and asks, "Do you know what this is?" Revealing that I know what an Infinity Stone is doesn't seem like the best idea, but showing that I have some idea on the inner workings of the Masters of the Mystic Arts should increase my chances of being accepted as a disciple.
I put a thinking expression on my face, utilising my acting, then slowly nod at her. "Yeah, the Sorcerer Supreme of my time is world-famous, so some information about the sorcerers has become known to the public." I lie. I'm taking a slight risk here by telling her I know their most sacred artefact, but I'm hoping it increases her interest in me. "That's the Eye of... Agamotto, right? Stephen Strange, that's the Supreme when I'm from, wears it around his neck at all times, so people got curious."
She frowns at that bit of knowledge but then asks, laughter in her voice, "Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme? What kind of alliteration is that? Was he chosen by the Vishanti at birth, or something?" Her laughter abruptly cuts out as a weird look comes over face, before she gathers herself and carries on, "Anyways, you're correct. This is indeed the Eye of Agamotto, created by, and named after, the father of the Master of the Mystics. Now, do you know what it does? It's power?"
I shake my head no. I don't need to appear too knowledgeable, it could prove suspicious. I have a gut feeling that I'm probably overthinking all this, but for now I'll stick to treading a fine line between useful and harmless. Yi Hye-Rin nods at me, taking my lie at face value, then begins to explain, "The Eye is our most powerful relic, guarded by us sorcerers and used by each Sorcerer Supreme to protect the earth from outside threats."
She crosses her hands in front of the Eye, two fingers raised on each as the others touch her thumbs, then parts them, opening the Eye and revealing the Time Stone. She reaches one hand out to me as green magic circles form around her forearms, and indicates for me to hold it. Normally, one would be nervous about being subjected to magic by a person they just met, or be worried that they will discover your secrets. But, I understand the limits of the Infinity Stones, small as they may be.
In the comics at least, Infinity Stones hold no power outside of their native universe, so I'm pretty confident that the Time Stone won't be able to see beyond my arrival in this reality. Even if, for some reason, it could, the power of Twos should be at least equal to it, while the Seedbed, given how special it is, is most definitely invisible to it. With those thoughts in my mind, I nervously place my hand in hers, feeling a current of energy on my palm as I do.
Yi Hye-Rin gestures with her free hand, causing the globe above us to stop spinning and the air around us to stagnate. A sense of oppression settles around my body as I realise what she's done. She squeezes my hand as our surrounding start to blur, being replaced by a forest clearing I recognize; my landing site. The flow of time is normal here, with the leaves rustling as the breeze blows through them, and the chill of the morning light causing shivers to run up my skin.
The women holding my hand looks around, taking in the site, then rotates her free hand, causing time to speed up. The sun quickly rises in the sky, beaming down at us, as the grass under our feet undulates in the wind. The spell continues to run until a line in the world suddenly appears above us, about three meters in length, its colour the darkest black I've ever seen. We look up at the line, Yi Hye-Rin hoping to find the cause of my 'time travel', while I just want to see my entry from an outsiders perspective.
As we stare, the line opens like a pair of curtains to reveal... nothing? The contents of the hole are a void in my vision, like my brain can't properly comprehend what it's seeing. A grunt of pain from Yi Hye-Rin beside me causes me to whip my head to her, surprise jolting my heart as I find her bleeding from her wide, bloodshot eyes, two lines of blood running down her cheeks. A golden glow shines from under her bangs, the source obscured from my sight.
Her wide eyes flick to me, where she subtly shakes her head at me, her meaning lost on me. She looks back at the hole just in time to see my past, naked self emerge from it at speed and crash into the ground, my hand leaking blood and my back arching in pain. The motion of the body in front starts to slow, as time around us grind to a stop. Yi Hye-Rin looks down at the Eye in shock, the time stop seemingly not her doing. She rotated her free hand, trying to get the playback to resume, to no success.
Suddenly, a disembodied, golden, six-digit hand, two thumbs on either side, floats down from the hole, as Yi Hye-Rin fails to close the Eye. The hand moves towards us as seriousness starts to dawn on her face, causing her to let go of me and take up a stance, two magic circles appearing in front of her hands. She throws one at the golden hand, but it simply pass through, the hand unaffected. It reacts to the attack, abruptly teleporting to her and tapping her on her forehead.
As it does, the glow from under her bangs vanishes, while golden energy flashes in her eyes, their bloodshot appearance retreating. The blood on her cheeks runs back up her face, flowing back into her sockets, as she stands frozen. The hand then move onto me, where I've been calmly watching from the side. The sudden appearance of the hand was a surprise to me, but I guessed something like this might happen. The Heavenly Dao may not be hostile to this universe, but I doubt it likes anything trying to peek at it's secrets.
The golden hand stop before me, then flicks me on my nose, causing me to flinch. As I rub at the impact site, a familiar voice sounds in my mind, "Young miss," The message starts, as the hand wags a finger at me, "you should've tried to stop this sorceress from her actions. The secrets of Heaven are not so easily given. Should she have pushed on, her soul would've collapsed, and you would have been lost in time." The voice of Twos scolds me.
I try to speak, but my voice is stolen by my fear, the potential consequences of this spell sending a shiver of terror down my spine.
Two carries on, the strength of it's voice fading as the hand moves back to the hole, "I cannot stay for long, I'm afraid; the cosmic forces of this reality are already watching. While they're not hostile, I don't want to overstay my welcome." The hand of Twos waves at me as it starts to rise, beginning to disappear into the hole, leaving a last string of words behind. "Take your time here, Sarah. You don't need put yourself in danger unnecessarily. There are those back home who are waiting for your return, their tails wagging."
As the tips of Twos fingers sink into the hole, vanishing from my sight, a white, glossy square is dropped from it, spinning down and hitting me in between the eyes. I glance at Yi Hye-Rin, finding her still frozen, before bending down and picking it up. As I touch it, I recognise it to be a polaroid photo. With anticipation, I turn it over, emotion starting rise behind my eyes as I take it in.
Displayed on the photo is the animated figure of my dog, its fur sticking up wildly as it rolls in the grass of the Seedbed, its tongue hanging. Beneath the photo are the golden runes of my character panel, the language of the Heavenly Dao. I wipe at my eyes to clear them, then squint at the runes, their shape shifting into the familiar letters of my native language, the first I've seen of it in months. My nose starts to tingle as I read,
'Mep in the grass, 2026'
As I finish, smaller, bracketed words appears underneath that cause me to laugh, my voice hoarse,
'(Woof xxx)'