Annihilation Act 1: Destruction (2)

''Speak''

'Thought'

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Arriving at the front door of the building surrounded by stone walls, the group stand there and admires the architecture of the building.

"Quite impressive architecture." Bram said, "Not to mention, and I can feel the aura of this place giving; it seems to be more different."

Mary stepped forward before trying to knock on the door; however, before her hand could even reach the door, the door seemed to open by itself, revealing a man wearing what appeared to be traditional Tibet combined with what seemed to be modern clothing.

"We have been expecting you." The man said, "Please follow me; I will lead you guys to meet the Ancient One."

With it, the man steps out of the waiting for the group to get in. They only look at each other for a few seconds as if asking what to do next before they decide to enter the place.

The man quickly then stepped ahead and led them through the place. There was silence, with no one uttering a single word; it was seemingly quite tense for the group.

"So, the Ancient One?" It was Mary who decided to break the silence. "Who are they?"

"She is the current Sorcerer Supreme and the leader of this place." The man quickly explain

"The leader, huh? So how did you know we would be coming to this place?" Mary continue to ask question

"Also, is it true that this place teaches people magic?" Guy said after Mary asked her question

"It's not that hard to find out you and your group are coming to this place; the Ancient One had informed me to be the one to greet you and you to her." The man answered Mary's question before glancing back at Guy ", And yes, we do teach people magic."

After a little bit of time, the group walk past the courtyard, and there is a group of people of all age and genders, seemingly practising all sort of move that seems to be mixed between martial art and something else that the group cannot identify.

Nobody said a word when they walked passed the place and continued to make their way, following the man until finally reaching a double door.

"The Ancient One is in here." Before knocking on the door, the man said, "Master, I had brought the guests as you asked."

"Thank you, Mordo; you can go now." A female voice responds from the inside, which the man, Mordo, bows slightly after hearing before leaving the group.

"You guys can come in now." The female voice from the inside said Mary properly opened the door and entered inside with the group.

Entering the room, it was quite a spacious room with little to no furniture, and in the centre of the room stood a woman shaved, wearing what seemed to be yellow Tibet monk robes while also wearing a strange-looking necklace that looked like an eye.

"Welcome to Kamar-Taj, Miss Mary, Mr Bram, Mr Guy and Mr... Ryunosuke." The woman said, and they immediately knew that the person in front of them was the Ancient One herself.

"And you must be the Ancient One. I would ask you how you know our name, but considering that you already know we are coming, I am not surprised." Mary said, "So since you are already coming, you must also know why we are here."

"Indeed, while you and your thirst for knowledge are admirable, I still see no reason why I should let you learn about our mystic art?" The Ancient One asks with a raised eyebrow and a small smile.

"I guess that is expected; while I would usually just thread you into teaching us, I have something else that would make you want to teach us or at least me your magic," Mary said before walking toward the Ancient One and whispering something into her ears, in which the Ancient One eyes immedialty widen visibly.

"That is concerning. I didn't expect something like that to happen to this world this quickly." The Ancient One said before looking at Mary and the group."Fine, I will be teaching you, Mary, about our mystic art, but your group, on the other hand... I will not." The Ancient One

"Oh great, now I'm stuck here with nothing to do?" Guy said sarcastically.

"Oh, you don't have to worry, Mr Guy; I said I will not personally teach people our art, but the library is open for you all, whether you use it or not. Well, that depends on you." The Ancient One said before with a motion of her hand, a circle shape portal opened up, revealing the library on the other side. "As for where you will be resting? You can ask our librarian that." The Ancient One said

With a swing of her hand, the portal moves forward and sends Bram and Guy into the portal before they even notice, leaving only Ryu and Mary in the room.

"Huh, so they do teach magic..." Ryu muttered under his breath after seeing the portal until he suddenly realised something. "Wait, why am I still here?" Ryu immediately asks, looking at the Ancient One.

"Don't worry, Mr Ryunosuke; you and I must have a long talk about what happened 19 years ago." The Ancient One said before turning toward Mary, "As for you, miss Mary, please go wait inside of this room; I will be teaching you after I finish my conversation with Mr Ryunosuke."

With that said, the Ancient One opened up another portal that led into a different room, which Mary only shrugged her shoulder, seemingly not caring about what would happen to Ryu. This is not surprising, considering that she knew what Ryu was capable of.

After Mary enters the portal, the Ancient One quickly closes the portal before turning toward Ryu. With a flick of her wrist, an object appears from the side of the room. Before the thing wraps itself, Ryu's wrist looks surprised by the strange object's sudden appearance.

"Now, Mr Ryunosuke, don't worry about the said object. It is a... reassurance that you would not lash out when we are having this conversation." The Ancient One said, "Now, shall we talk about what happened 19 years ago? You and your conversation with... certain someone."