Surface and The Ancient One

I roamed around the mountains trying to get my bearings, but the glaring sun and the vast expanse of never-ending white landscape confused me. I came across a few Golden Eagles, one of which I absorbed.

After about an hour of roaming around, I decided to fly high to look for any signs of civilization. And I was right to do so. About a few tens of kilometres away, I saw what looked like an ancient looking town.

I dashed towards it at full speed, still transformed into a golden eagle, but 3 times the size of the original.

The closer I got to the town, the more I could see in detail. There were people bustling about, going about their daily life. Stalls and stores lined the streets, most of them selling hiking equipment and cold weather protective gears. The town seemed to be a tourist town, probably the last solid base before hikers and vacation goers from around the world stayed at before scaling these mountains.

I had a good guess about where I was. There's only one such area with mountain ranges this long and town/village structure such as these. I'm pretty sure I'm near the Himalayan mountain ranges. Somewhere in Nepal.

As I was about a few kilometres from the town, I see someone floating in the air, looking towards me, as if they were waiting for me.

The clean-shaven head perfectly reflecting the rays of the Sun above. The yellow robes flowing in the wind and the golden magic circle below their legs, acting as a platform for them to stand on.

I recognized her at first glance.

The Ancient One.

I slow down and arrive a few meters away from her and come to a stop.

"Great Sage, place a barrier on my mind, body and soul, and don't let the person ahead read anything from us."

[Activating Barrier]

I could see The Ancient One's face twitch a bit as soon as the barrier was activated, confirming my guess that she was indeed reading me.

"What are you and what is your purpose in coming here?", asked The Ancient One in a strong and commanding voice.

I knew this would happen. An anomaly like me was sure to be recognized by the Sorcerer Supreme quite easily.

"Shouldn't you introduce yourself before asking others?" I ask in a calm voice.

This surprises her was just a moment as she didn't expect my voice to be so gentle.

"My apologies. You may call me The Sorcerer Supreme or The Ancient One, I don't mind, but I would like to know what a Celestial like you are doing here"

It was my time to be surprised. Me? A Celestial? It was a joke, right? I'm just a harmless, cute slime.

[The energy present in the body, as well as the aura exuded by the body has been mixed with the energy from Celestial body part found in the cave. This may be the reason for the mistaken identity.]

That explains it!

"I currently have no given name, but you could call me Lucifer. I'm not really a Celestial, just have the energy of one. And to be honest with you. I'm lost. I just woke up like this in this weird cave under those mountains." I say to her as I point towards the direction I came from.

A look of horror spreads through her face, before she asks, "What happened to the seal placed around the hand?"

I could see her getting ready for a fight but trying to restrain herself to not give herself away. I understand what must have happened. The seal there was restraining the Celestial body part, and one of the duties of the Ancient One were its protection.

"Giggle. You don't have to worry about that. I'm currently absorbing its power. In fact, most of it has been absorbed already." I 'smile' and say to her. (I'm still in eagle form)

A brief look of relief spread through her face before assuming her calming, smiling face.

"You might have absorbed its powers, but it still is a Celestial. Would you mind if I have you under observation for a while until the powers have been absorbed completely? We don't want you going berserk in the middle of the street and killing everyone, now do we?" Asked The Ancient One.

Somehow, she could sense that the creature in front of her would do no harm to the people, even though she couldn't read his mind. Maybe, it was the intuition that she had built up over the past few centuries.

"Sure, but could you allow me to learn how to do what you're doing right now. I believe its called magic right?" I agree, adding a sort of a condition.

" Of course," said The Ancient One after a moment of hesitation.

Saying so, she held out her left arm, while turning her right, causing an oval portal which looked like it was made up of fireworks, appear in front of me.

"Hop on in" she said as she walked through it, motioning me to follow.