6 Chapter 6

After arriving in France, I decided to travel north for a bit. The landscape was stunning. It was a welcome change from the harsh environment of Egypt. The scenery was incredible. It had been so long since I'd seen forests. I felt at home as I walked through the streets. I began to listen to the locals speak and just observe their speaking patterns. I was able to pick up some words when they greeted each other and other words that I could guess what the general intent was. I was still not confident enough to talk to anyone, so I just simply continued through the town.

I continued to do this throughout the day until it became dark. I made my way to a nearby forest and decided to claim a tree to rest until tomorrow. My main objectives now were learning the language and finding a job. I had plenty of time to reach England since Charles wouldn't be born anytime soon. I found some English-speaking locals that pointed me in a direction where I could find work. It turned out to be a local farm and they needed help with the livestock. It was something I saw James and father doing daily, so I was familiar with the work. I happily enjoyed this new pace. I didn't know whether I was being cheated based on the amount of pay they offered me, but I didn't mind. I enjoyed this new change plus I could also learn French from them as time went on. After my workdays, I walked back to the forest to rest. The family I worked for later found out that I was homeless and let me stay at their house since they had spare rooms. I also helped them with their children which they greatly appreciated.

After a couple of years, I was fluent in French. I had saved more than enough money to book a ticket to England. In fact, I could have left a long time ago, but I wanted to enjoy this lifestyle a little longer. While I stayed with the family, I continued practicing my powers. I had improved greatly in mastering them, but I still wasn't at En Sabah Nur's level of mastery. I experimented on teleporting greater distances with successful results, but it required enormous concentration. I could probably travel between continents, but I feel it might be extremely exhausting. I concluded that my body is still adjusting to acquiring these new powers.

I decided to change my plans. Since I still had time, I wanted to see if I could actually make it happen. Worst case scenario I would just waste my time. I wanted to see if I could learn magic from the Ancient One. I don't know if she even knows of my existence. She could see into the future and see the moment of her death. Those events don't happen until the Dr. Strange events, but still I wondered if she knew of me. They do fight creatures from the multiverse so it might be a possibility or Sir is beyond that stuff and my existence would be something that's not tracked.

I was still in southern France, so I decided to say my goodbyes and travel north and book a ticket to England. I was heading to London to see if I could locate the London Sanctum. From what I remembered; the building faced a busy street in modern time so the same could be said for now although it'll be different. I do have something that would help me. The same symbol is on all three Sanctums so that would greatly speed up my search. It was a unique symbol on the fronts of the buildings.

The trip to cross was pretty fast and it was easy to find a boat. It seemed like travel between the two countries was a common thing for people to do. Once I arrived, I asked for directions and made my way to London. The travel lasted a couple of days by foot and I enjoyed the scenery much like I did in France. Being in nature just made me feel more comfortable. Along the way, I continued to practice getting better control of my abilities.

When I arrived, I was greeted by the heavy smell of burning fumes. The year now was 1875, and it looked like London was beginning to put up factories. I reduced my sense of smell to the lowest level I could so it wouldn't affect me as much. I still carried the same bag from the time I left Canada. The only things I had inside now were a bit of money and some spare clothes, so it wasn't too heavy to carry.

I exchanged the money I had at my port of arrival and used it to rent a small place outside of London since it was a lot cheaper. I then began to walk and look for the building. I decided to start from the center of London and work my way out. I kept to busy streets and moved slowly. I didn't want to accidently miss it because I was moving fast. When the sun started to go down, I went back to my room and relaxed.

On the fourth day, I was standing in front of a white building with the symbol I was looking for on the top floor window. I walked to the front door and knocked. There was no answer. I tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. I didn't want to force the door open as it might be interpreted as an attack and bring attention to me. I just kept on knocking until someone opened the door.

"Yes?" The person asked with an agitated tone.

"I am seeking an audience with the Ancient One." I said. The person in robes just stood there and looked at me with a stoic expression.

"There is no one here by that name. Please leave." The person said.

"You cannot reject an audience unless she tells you to do so." I countered. The man now looked at me with a glare. I could tell he didn't like being talked to like this. I just responded with my own glare.

"Look, just ask her and I'll wait here for her response." I said. The man closed the door and I could hear his footsteps as he left. I could have handled that better, but the guy just got on my nerves. I leaned against the rail and waited. Hours passed and the sun was starting to go down before the door finally opened.

"Follow." The guy said. Rude. I proceeded to follow him as he guided me inside the building. We arrived at the doorway Kaecilius and his followers used when they escaped from the Ancient One. The guy waved his hand and opened the door. The door opened to a chamber that had two other doors and there were other people waiting for me.

"Go." The guy said.

"You're so cheerful. I'm going to miss you." I said sarcastically. I stepped inside and the doors closed behind me. I knew I was in Nepal now. The people guided me and eventually led me to the same place Dr. Strange was led to. I saw another older gentleman sitting and drinking tea as he read a book. I guess she liked to mess with people like this often. Most people would assume that the guy was the Ancient One. I just waited and put my hands behind my back.

"Thank you masters you may leave." I heard woman's voice behind me. I didn't turn around and continued to face forward.

"I was told you wanted to see me, but what would someone like you want from me?" she said. Someone like me? Either she knows what I am, or she couldn't find anything about me.

"Yes, I wanted to learn from you. I don't want to gain power. I just want to gain knowledge." I said. She began to walk in front of me.

"Tea? It's quite delicious." She offered.

"Yes, thank you." I accepted the cup she gave me.

"And if you don't mind me asking, what would you do with that knowledge?" she asked.

"Help the people I care for and protect this planet from dangerous events." I answered. As I thought about it, I decided that I should be straight to the point and answer truthfully to her.

"And what dangerous events are you referring to?" she asked.

"There are too many to list, but they range from conflicts on this planet to galactic invasions." I responded. She stood there giving me a half smile while she was thinking.

"I can't find any information on you, not even your future. Do you know how unlikely that is? So, you are either a person from a different reality or you are an entity too strong to be detected," she finished speaking.

"The person that brought me here seemed powerful, but I honestly don't know how he would feel if I spoke about him too much. I can tell you that I was brought here, but I have no ill intentions. Like you, I have seen multiple different futures that I aim to prepare for." I spoke carefully. She stared at me before she gave me a smile and turned around. She placed her tea on the table and had her back towards me.

"I see. That's quite interesting." She said as she placed her hands in front of her.

My senses were burning as if to warn me of an attack. By pure reflex, I made a force field around me as the Ancient One turned and released an orange beam at me. The beam was stopped by my force field. I had gotten better at making it in an instant in case situations like this happened to me.

"Impressive," she said as she stopped the attack. I released my force field but remained on high alert.

"I don't mean any of you harm," I said as I felt more people around me.

"Yes, I know that now. Otherwise you would have retaliated with excessive force," she said smiling.

"…And you decided to test that by attacking me?" I asked. What if that attack actually hit me?

"You seemed quite capable of defending yourself." She smiled. This woman…

"I will be monitoring your studies. Master Li will show you to your room." She finished speaking and picked up her tea from the table.

I arrived at my room and it was a very basic set up. A small flat bed with a small desk. I was surprised she let me stay but I guess the only reason I'm here is because she'll monitor me. I sat on the floor and focused on feeling the area around me. I could feel something different in this place. It was like traces of foreign energy that shouldn't be here. I opened my eyes and I was excited to learn anything she would be willing to teach me.

Days became weeks and then months. The Ancient One was different in her approach with me then with Dr. Strange. She was very brutal during our spars. When it came to teaching, she would give me books to read and practice from. I was not allowed to enter the library unless she was with me. She still suspected me which was fine with me. If I was in her shoes, I also would be suspicious too. I learned a lot about the theory of magic and its principles. I was mostly drawn to runes. They could be inscribed into items to enchant them. Some runes only lasted a few seconds or minutes, while others could be permanent. After a couple of months, she allowed me to use the sling ring. To my surprise, I was able to create a portal on my first try to the forest James, Victor, and I would go to spar. When I saw the scene, I started to cry and lose focus. The portal began to close, and I reached out to try and maintain it to no avail. After she saw that, she let me have my freedoms. Her suspicions were gone after I showed some emotions. I was surprised how emotionally attached I was to James and Victor. I never paid attention to the family bond we formed.

I was able to perform basic conjuring spells, but I definitely wasn't to the skill level of Dr. Strange. Not even close. I could perform more complex ones, but I was awfully slow. An opponent would have all the time in the world to come and stop me. I really didn't have an affinity to conjure spells, so I turned my studies to runes. There wasn't a lot of information on how to make them, but there was information on already established ones. The most basic ones were housekeeping runes such as self-cleaning or self-repairing. The more complex ones were protection runes that covered a large area. I visited the library often and thanks to my enhanced memory I was able to read all the books inside. I didn't want to practice runes unless I knew the dangers of them. Magic books are notorious in putting the warnings towards the end of the books. It was something Dr. Strange would later find out the hard way.

Once I knew everything there is to know, I began with simple runes. I tested applying the permanent self-cleaning rune on my robes. My first try resulted in the robes disintegrating into dust. I stared at the pile of dust with my eyes wide open. The master in charge of issuing robes came to hate me since I went through a total of 12 robes before I finally actually succeeded. The Ancient One got a laugh out of that one. She gave me some pointers that were not in the books. Not all runes are universal to all items. A self-cleaning rune applied to a shield would be different than an applied to clothing. The rune had to be tweaked to weaken or strengthen how intense it would clean. After going through 12 robes I knew the right strength to apply. After knowing that information, it became easier to apply runes. I still have failures, but nothing like what happened before. Inscribing runes could be done in different ways and the simpler ones didn't have to be inscribed but they would only last a few seconds. When applying a rune to a weapon for example, depending on the rune, you would have to draw the rune into the weapon itself to actually work.

Time passed and the year now was 1899 and I decided to return to London. The Ancient One was not upset with me but she tried to keep me here by making me into a master. I politely declined but I said she can come to me whenever she needed help. She smiled at me and let me use the portal to the London Sanctum. When I arrived, I saw the same guy that greeted me when I first knocked the door here, but he was much older.

"The years have not been kind to you." I said while smiling. He looked at me and scowled. What a charming personality he has. I walked to the main door and left. When I exited, the scenery has definitely changed. It had become busier than before and people were staring at me. That's when I realized I was wearing my robes still. Laughing to myself I went back inside and retrieved my bag from a small pocket dimension I had. It was a small space I managed to conjure with the help of a lot of runes but it was better than nothing. I went to a small room and changed. The Ancient One gave me a small amount of money before I left, so I decided to look for a clothing store to get the current attire women wore.

I got my new clothes and set out to locate the Xavier family.