Six months had passed since the Battle of New York. Winter had melted into spring, and spring was slowly warming into summer. But inside the Tower of Fate, seasons did not exist. There was only the endless, quiet hum of ancient magic.
Stevan was floating in the exact center of the giant magical library. He was perfectly still, hovering ten feet above the stone floor. His legs were crossed in a meditative pose. He was wearing the bright blue and gold armor, and the Helmet of Fate gleamed in the light of the floating candles.
He was not struggling. He was not complaining.
Around him, six different heavy, glowing books were floating in a wide circle. The pages were turning by themselves. Stevan was reading all six of them at the exact same time, absorbing the ancient languages of the cosmos directly into his mind.
Months of intense, grueling training had changed him. The young, panicked bookstore clerk who had accidentally turned magical energy into a rubber chicken was gone. The magic had settled deep into his bones. His mind had expanded to hold the vast, terrifying truths of the multiverse.
"The dimensional barriers between the Earth realm and the Crimson Cosmos are naturally thin," Nabu's ancient voice echoed smoothly in Stevan's mind. "To reinforce them, one must not use force. One must use harmony. Do you see the pattern, Stevan?"
"I see it," Stevan replied, his double-voice calm and steady. "The Crimson Cosmos feeds on aggressive magic. If you fight it with fire, it burns hotter. You have to seal it with the Spell of the Quiet Mirror. It reflects the chaos back on itself."
"Correct," Nabu said. For the Lord of Order, this single word was the highest compliment he could give. "Your understanding of the magical weave grows rapidly. You no longer fight the magic. You let it flow."
"I guess I finally realized that arguing with a ten-thousand-year-old helmet doesn't actually save time," Stevan joked dryly.
He raised his hands. With a simple, smooth flick of his golden fingers, all six books snapped shut at the exact same time. They zoomed across the room and slid perfectly back into their empty spots on the giant stone bookshelves.
Stevan floated down and landed silently on his feet. He reached up and pulled the golden helmet off.
The bright armor dissolved into a pair of dark jeans and a plain black t-shirt. Stevan walked over to the floating wooden table.
He looked different now. His face was a little sharper, his shoulders a bit broader. But the biggest change was in his eyes. The faint spark of gold deep inside his brown pupils was no longer temporary. It was always there, glowing softly, a permanent mark of the power he carried.
He didn't complain about the headaches anymore. He didn't ask "why" every time Nabu told him to learn a new, boring spell. He had seen the giant alien mothership. He knew Thanos was out there. The universe was a dark, dangerous place, and Stevan had finally accepted his job as its flashlight.
But he still had his human habits. And he still got bored.
Stevan sat down at the table, pulled a plain white piece of printer paper from a drawer, and began to fold it.
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Stevan's hands moved quickly, folding the corners of the paper with practiced ease. Within a minute, he had created a perfect origami paper crane.
He tapped the bird's head. A tiny spark of golden magic flowed from his finger into the paper. The crane's wings fluttered to life.
Stevan smiled. Over the last few months, this little magic trick had become his favorite part of the week.
"Take this to Kamar-Taj," Stevan whispered to the paper bird. "Tell her: I finally finished translating the Book of Cagliostro. You were right. The author's handwriting is terrible. Also, I tried that Jasmine tea you recommended. It tastes like hot flowers, but I think it's growing on me."
Stevan drew a small golden circle in the air. The paper crane chirped a musical note and flew through the portal, vanishing across the world.
He leaned back in his chair and waited.
His relationship with the Ancient One had grown into something very unique. At first, their alliance was just about business. But soon, Stevan found himself sending her a paper bird just to ask how her day was. To his surprise, she always answered.
She sent him glowing orange butterflies that whispered her voice into his ear. She told him stories about historical events she had witnessed. She told him how much she missed the quiet days before cars and airplanes made the world so loud.
Stevan, in return, told her about the movies she had missed, explained how the internet worked, and sent her terrible jokes to try and make her laugh.
He liked her. He liked her a lot. She was the only person in the universe who truly understood what it felt like to carry the weight of the world. With the Avengers, Stevan had to act like an untouchable god. With Nabu, he had to be a perfect student. But with the Ancient One, he could just be Stevan.
Ten minutes later, a small spark of orange magic appeared over the table.
A glowing butterfly fluttered down and landed on Stevan's wrist. He felt the familiar, warm magic, and heard her voice in his mind.
"The author of Cagliostro was a genius, but he was also notoriously left-handed and refused to use a proper quill," her voice said, carrying a soft, elegant amusement. "I am glad you are acquiring a taste for Jasmine. It is raining heavily in Kathmandu today. The courtyard is empty. It is very peaceful. I find myself wishing I had someone to share the quiet with."
Stevan's heart did a strange, heavy thump in his chest.
I find myself wishing I had someone to share the quiet with.
Stevan stood up. He looked at the golden helmet.
"Nabu," Stevan said calmly. "I am taking the afternoon off."
"Chaos does not take afternoons off, Stevan," Nabu reminded him.
"Neither does burnout," Stevan replied wisely. "A blunt sword can't cut properly. I need to rest my mind so I can focus tomorrow."
Nabu was silent for a moment. "Your logic is sound. Do not linger too long in the mortal world. The magic here requires an anchor."
Stevan didn't put the helmet on. He had grown strong enough that he didn't need Nabu to do basic dimensional travel anymore. He held out his bare hand, wearing only his civilian clothes, and traced a large golden circle in the air.
He stepped through the glowing doorway.
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Stevan stepped out of the portal and onto a high wooden balcony overlooking the main courtyard of Kamar-Taj.
The Ancient One was right. It was pouring rain. The sky over Nepal was dark gray, and the heavy rain hammered against the clay roofs of the ancient temple. The courtyard below was completely empty, the students staying inside to keep dry.
Standing at the edge of the balcony, looking out at the foggy mountains, was the Ancient One. She wore a simple, dark green robe today. The hood was down, and the rain was hitting her bald head and shoulders, but she didn't seem to care. She looked completely at peace.
Stevan walked up beside her. He didn't use a magic shield to block the rain. He let the cold water soak his black t-shirt.
"You didn't bring an umbrella," Stevan said softly.
The Ancient One turned her head. When she saw him, a genuine, warm smile spread across her face. It made her look remarkably young.
"An umbrella blocks the sky," she said, her voice smooth and quiet over the sound of the rain. "I spend so much of my life protecting this world from the things above it. Sometimes, it is nice to just let the sky touch me."
Stevan nodded, understanding perfectly. He leaned against the wooden railing next to her, looking out at the mountains.
"You didn't wear your golden armor," she noticed, looking at his wet t-shirt and jeans.
"The armor is heavy," Stevan said. "And it's not really me. It's Nabu. I wanted you to see Stevan today."
She looked at him closely. Her bright, piercing eyes studied his face.
"You have changed in these last six months, Stevan," she said softly. "When we first met, your power was a raging river. You were afraid of it, and you tried to force it. Now... you are a deep, quiet lake. The power is still there, but it is calm."
"I stopped fighting it," Stevan admitted. "I realized that asking 'why' all the time doesn't change the fact that I have a job to do. The universe is really loud when you know how to listen to it. I guess I'm just trying to pay attention."
"That is wisdom," she said, looking back out at the rain. "It takes most sorcerers decades to learn that. You learned it in a single season."
"I had good pen pal to keep me sane," Stevan smiled, bumping his shoulder gently against hers.
It was a small touch, but for two beings who carried cosmic power, it was massive. The Ancient One didn't pull away. She leaned slightly into the contact.
"It is strange," the Ancient One murmured. "I have lived for many lifetimes. I have taught hundreds of students. But I have always stood apart from them. I am their master, their protector. I cannot be their equal."
She turned to face him, her eyes searching his.
"But you, Stevan... you look at me, and you do not see a legend. You do not see the Sorcerer Supreme."
"No," Stevan said quietly, stepping a little closer. "I just see a woman who likes hot tea, hates bad handwriting, and deserves a day off just as much as I do."
For a long moment, the only sound was the heavy rain hitting the wooden balcony. The air between them felt thick, charged with something far more powerful than magic. Stevan looked at her lips, then back up to her eyes. He felt a magnetic pull, a deep, soul-level connection to the only other person in the world who understood his life.
She took a slow breath, her eyes softening. She raised her hand, reaching out to touch Stevan's wet cheek.
Suddenly, a loud, ugly CRACK echoed through the air.
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The Ancient One's hand stopped in mid-air. Stevan instantly spun around, his romantic thoughts vanishing, replaced immediately by the cold, sharp instincts of a warrior.
Down in the city of Kathmandu, just outside the hidden walls of Kamar-Taj, the sky flashed with dark, sickly purple light.
"A dimensional tear," the Ancient One said, her voice hard. The soft woman from a second ago was gone. The Sorcerer Supreme was back. "Something has broken through the local ward."
"Let's go," Stevan said.
He didn't panic. He didn't ask questions. He simply held out his hand.
Thousands of miles away, inside the Tower of Fate, the golden helmet vanished in a flash of light. A split second later, it appeared directly in Stevan's hand on the balcony in Nepal.
Stevan slid the helmet over his head. The civilian clothes melted into the majestic blue and gold armor.
The Ancient One summoned two glowing orange magical fans. She stepped off the balcony, dropping toward the courtyard below. Before she hit the ground, she opened a portal in mid-air and fell through it.
Stevan floated off the balcony and flew right into the portal after her.
They stepped out of the portal into a narrow, muddy back alley in the city of Kathmandu. The rain was still pouring down, turning the dirt into slick mud.
At the end of the alley, a jagged hole was torn in the air. It looked like a wound bleeding dark purple smoke. Crawling out of the hole were three massive creatures.
They looked like giant wolves, but they had no fur. Their bodies were made of hard, jagged black rock, and their eyes burned with bright purple fire. They were Shadow Hounds from the Dark Dimension.
"I thought demons preferred to attack at midnight," Stevan's dual-voice echoed calmly down the alley. "I guess evil doesn't have a curfew."
"Do not let them bite you, Doctor Fate," the Ancient One warned, spinning her magical fans. "Their teeth carry a necrotic curse. It will rot your magical energy."
"Understood," Stevan said. "I'll take the two on the left. You take the right."
The three Shadow Hounds roared—a sound like grinding metal—and charged down the alley.
Stevan didn't back up. He planted his golden boots in the mud. He raised his hands and drew a quick, glowing rune in the air.
"Winds of Order!"
A blast of solid, golden wind shot from his hands. It hit the first Shadow Hound like a freight train. The beast was thrown backward, smashing into the brick wall of the alley with a sickening crunch.
The second hound leaped into the air, its jaws open wide, aiming right for Stevan's throat.
Stevan casually stepped to the side, letting the beast fly past him. As it did, he reached out and grabbed the monster by its rocky tail. With a surge of god-like strength, Stevan spun the giant wolf around in the air and slammed it brutally into the ground.
Before the beast could recover, Stevan pointed two fingers at it.
"Bands of Order."
Thick, glowing golden rings slammed down onto the monster, pinning it tightly to the mud. The golden magic burned its dark skin, causing it to screech in pain.
Stevan turned to see how the Ancient One was doing.
She was a blur of motion. She danced around the third Shadow Hound, her orange fans cutting through the rain. The beast snapped at her, but she was never there. She ducked under its claws, spun around, and sliced her magical fan directly across the monster's neck.
The beast dissolved into a cloud of black smoke with a loud hiss.
Stevan looked back at the first hound he had thrown against the wall. It was shaking its head, getting ready to charge again.
"My turn," Stevan said.
He didn't use a spell this time. He just raised his golden fist, gathered a massive amount of kinetic magic into it, and flew forward. He punched the Shadow Hound right between its glowing purple eyes.
The force of the punch sent a shockwave down the alley, blowing the rain away in a circle. The rock-monster shattered into a hundred pieces of black stone and instantly turned to ash.
Stevan turned back to the hound he had pinned to the ground. He raised his hand, ready to blast it.
"Wait," the Ancient One said, walking over to him. "Do not destroy it. We need to push it back through the tear. The Dark Dimension is like a vacuum. If we force its own creature back inside, the pressure will help seal the hole."
"Smart," Stevan nodded.
He lifted his hands. The golden rings holding the beast lifted into the air, carrying the struggling monster with them. Stevan aimed his hands at the jagged purple hole at the end of the alley.
Like throwing a heavy bowling ball, Stevan thrust his arms forward. The golden rings flew down the alley and threw the Shadow Hound screaming back into the purple tear.
As soon as the beast crossed the threshold, the Ancient One slammed her hands together. She cast a complex sealing spell. Bright orange geometric lines wrapped around the purple tear, pulling it tight like a drawstring bag.
With a loud pop, the hole vanished.
The alley was quiet again, filled only with the sound of the rain.
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Stevan lowered his hands. He let out a slow breath. He wasn't tired. The fight had lasted less than two minutes. He had handled it perfectly, with zero panic and total control.
He pulled the golden helmet off his head.
"Well," Stevan said, shaking the cold rain out of his messy hair. "That was a fun interruption. Does this happen often?"
The Ancient One dismissed her magical fans. She looked at Stevan. She didn't look at his golden armor; she looked at his face. She had seen many sorcerers fight. Most of them were terrified, desperate, or angry. Stevan had fought with absolute, calm precision.
"You did perfectly," she said softly. "You did not hesitate. You did not ask for instructions."
"Like I said," Stevan smiled, wiping a drop of rain from his eye. "I'm trying to pay attention."
She walked slowly toward him. The rain was running down her face, but she didn't wipe it away. She stopped just inches away from him, close enough that Stevan could smell the faint scent of sandalwood and ozone on her clothes.
"I have fought alone for a very long time, Stevan," she said. Her voice was quiet, meant only for him over the sound of the pouring rain. "Even when I fight beside my masters, I am always watching them. I am always protecting them. It is exhausting."
She reached out. For a second, Stevan's heart leaped into his throat. He thought she was going to touch his face. Instead, her slender fingers gently brushed a piece of dark, magical ash off the wet fabric of his shoulder.
Her hand lingered there for just a moment longer than necessary.
"It is a rare and beautiful thing," she whispered, looking up into his brown eyes, "to fight beside someone who does not need my protection."
Stevan felt his heart hammer against his ribs. The air between them suddenly felt incredibly thick, charged with something far more powerful than the magic they had just used. The slow burn that had been building through magical letters and paper birds was sparking into something real.
He looked down at her. He didn't step back. In fact, he leaned in just a fraction of an inch.
"You don't have to carry it all by yourself anymore," Stevan promised quietly, his voice slightly husky. "I've got your back. Always."
They stood there in the muddy alley, the rain pouring down around them, locked in a heavy, magnetic stare. The universe seemed to shrink down to just the two of them. Stevan wondered, wildly, what would happen if he closed that last inch of space.
But the Ancient One was a master of control.
A slow, breathtaking smile spread across her face. It was a knowing smile, with just a tiny hint of playful teasing. She gracefully pulled her hand back from his shoulder, breaking the heavy gravity between them, though the warmth of her touch remained.
"I will hold you to that promise, Stevan," she said softly, her bright eyes twinkling with a secret amusement. She turned smoothly toward the brick wall and raised her hand, drawing a sparkling orange portal back into Kamar-Taj.
She paused at the glowing doorway and looked over her shoulder at him.
"Come along," she teased gently. "We should get inside before the mighty, cosmic Doctor Fate is defeated by a common cold. I believe I owe you a cup of Jasmine tea."
Stevan stood in the rain for a second, letting out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. A huge, goofy smile broke across his face. The tension wasn't gone; it was just brewing, quietly and beautifully.
"Hot flowers," Stevan chuckled, walking toward the portal to follow her. "Lead the way."
As they walked back into the quiet temple, their shoulders brushed lightly together. Stevan knew his training was far from over, and a war with Thanos was coming someday. But right now, walking next to her, he felt like he had all the time in the world.