CHAPTER 94 - MEETING THE ANCIENT ONE

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[Vision POV]

The recent squabble with the sorcerers a few days ago, who I think are a part of Selene Gallio's Order of Black or whatever that cult of hers was called.

This was the only logical answer I came to after basing my query on the fact that Bolivar Trask's only connection to magic came from his connection to the Hellfire Club members, Shaw and Buckman, and given Selene's fondness of the 'children' in the Club, she usually helps them out with a few of their problems that they find hard to solve on their own.

Logically speaking, I don't have much to fear when it comes to facing off against Selene, but that was just the logical part of my brain talking. Common sense dictates otherwise and in this scenario, I'll gladly for with common sense.

As for the issue with the recruits, Scott and Hope had no problem with it, with the latter saying her parents will pay us a visit any time soon. As for Peter Parker, I linked him up with Stark after I noticed how reserved he acted when he came which was just out of character for him.

Unsurprisingly the both of them quickly took to each other with the younger one perfectly complimenting Stark's sense of humor and his intelligence.

As for Natasha who finally came back, she didn't actually miss out on anything because I kept her fully informed with everything notable that happened during her absence.

According to her, Yelena was all for joining the Avengers but she had a few bridges to mend so it'll be sometime before she comes around.

In the same vein of people coming around, Steve apparently had taken Bucky to some dead location to let him heal after the extensive number of damages that was done to his psyche. Even though I healed him, the scars were still present and he'll have to come to terms with everything he did when he was under.

Inner peace and all that Kung-fu Panda energy voodoo.

"I mean he is part machine. How do you deal with that?"

"Can you please shut up Pietro?"

"I'm just saying, you know? What if he has welded metal scraps instead of a di-"

"One more word from you Pietro and I swear I'll kick your ass halfway across the city."

"Sheesh, sorry. Just saying it's weird is all."

I ignored the though provoking conversation between the twins following behind me as if my focus was not on their barely hushed conversation but on something else. At least they had the decency not to involve me in it.

What are we doing?

Well since I have not the slightest idea on how to get in contact with the Inner Sanctum, I just led them on walk all over Bleecker street but despite circling the whole block five times over, I still haven't found the building with the Seal of Vishanti as its skylight.

"Hey, Vis? I don't want ask this because it should be plainly impossible for you but… are we actually lost?"

The groan was a reflex action at this point because just the notion of me getting lost even with a Google map was very embarrassing for me. "Not necessarily, but yes."

He looked a little surprised at my admittance but ultimately just accepted it. "Vision got lost? Hey Wanda, I guess your relationship choices isn't the only thing that is weird."

Just because of Pietro's increasingly frustrating comments, I switched from my human look and changed back to my original robotic look just so I wouldn't have to deal with the emotional turbulence I felt in my human form.

There was nothing I could do about that as my 'human' form was actually the product of injecting the Hulk serum into my organic cells. In order words I was more receptive to emotions when I'm human as that just a diminutive size of my Hulk transformation.

"It's a magically warded building, Pietro. We can't find it unless we are magically inclined or if they want us to find it." Better. Sometimes operating on logic really is the best.

"So you had to change form just to give me that answer? No shade though." He snickered and just looked around while I ignored him.

Just as I was about to start my seventh search for the New York Sanctum, everything around us cracked like glass which alert the two behind me as they got ready to confront whoever was attacking us.

The slightly relaxed as they saw me doing nothing and followed my line of sight to a specific direction and saw as the world cracked further and two garbed men appeared from the cracks and addressed us.

"The Ancient One will meet you now." A portal appeared behind them as they beckoned on us.

"Let's go." Logically speaking, I didn't question anything that was happening and just went ahead with it because I understood one simple fact with this display: we are fucked.

Even now my senses weren't picking up any anomaly and that is as big a red flag as any for me.

Stepping through the portal, we did not arrive directly inside the Sanctum but in front of the building itself. The very same building we've been seeking for the past hour.

'Did we shift spatial dimensions?' I pondered as the two sorcerers led us inside before going their separate ways after they led us to a staircase.

"I guess we are going up the stairs then?"

The moment we climbed up the stairs, I noticed that the air flow here was completely different from what it was two steps ago.

'We switched locations.'

Truly, when I turned back the stairs we walked on seconds ago was gone.

"Okay, that's creepy." Pietro said as he looked around.

"Please, this way." An old man called us and directed us across an open courtyard and led us to a room that looked like the merge between a library, office and weirdly a medieval kitchen.

"So to what do I owe this pleasant visit, Stone Bearer?" The old man that directed us here asked after he directed us to middle of the room.

'I expected this to a certain degree but I'm glad this universe isn't so MCU-centric.'

"The Ancient One?" I asked just to be sure of his identity but all I got in return was a silent smile reply.

"The purpose for our visit is to learn the mystic arts, mostly her." I pointed at Wanda and he followed it and looked at her with a gaze of interest before he frowned ever so slightly.

"Well this is… interesting, to say the least." He said and then looked back at me with a neutral gaze and asked a question. "Why do you want to learn the Mystic Arts? Even though our knowledge is made for everyone, not everyone has the right partake of it."

"My main concern is for her to be able to learn from the Sanctum. As for me, I only want to learn how to control and manipulate energy. Even simple pointers will be enough."

The look he gave me was unsettling even for me, making me subconsciously understand just who was standing in front of me.

He moved his gaze from me and walked towards Wanda and opened his hands to her. "Give me your hands, little one. Trust me, I won't hurt you."

Wanda looked at me to which I nodded and she placed her hand on top of his open palms. The Ancient One closed his eyes for a few seconds and then looked at Wanda with a softer gaze.

"Your heart is steadfast. I guess this is the start of another story for this old man. Guiding an Apostle of Chthon. Now that's what I call a twist of fate." He said with laugh at the end, making me sigh in relief as the most important part of my visit has been taken care of.

"As for you, Mr. Simons, though the Sanctum has its rules, it is still a fact that our knowledge is to be propagated but the nature of that rule lies solely on the discretion of Sorcerer Supreme. I might be able to teach you a thing or two but you won't be allowed access to our teachings unless you want to join us here at Kamar-Taj."

If it had been any other time, I wouldn't have hesitated and would have agreed to join as a student of Kamar-Taj but time was a luxury I lacked at the moment.

And besides, what I currently need when my arsenal of abilities are put into question, is control. I want to learn another way to harness and control the abundant avenue of energy sources currently available to me.

"Thank you. That's more than I could have asked for." I gave my sincerest gratitude.

"As for the vessel of chaos, she'll be staying over until she masters the first part of her training." He spoke, and then added as he noticed the frown forming on Wanda's face. "Don't worry. I'm sure you won't have that much of a hard time considering what you are currently capable of. What you really need now is a crash course of the type of energy you are harnessing."