Answers

The Ancient One was very curious and interested in Sherlock. Ever since the time of the first Sorcerer Supreme, Agamotto, there had been one task handed down to every successor. The task was given by the Vishanti themselves and was among the top priorities of Kamar-Taj.

You see, when Sherlock broke through that hole in the ideaverse, he was entering a newly created reality, known famously in the Omniverse as 'MCU' but due to the intervention of Sherlock, some other ideas closely related to the idea of MCU were sucked into the ideaverse along with Sherlock himself.

Although Sherlock having come from a higher reality close to the Omniverse itself, was hidden from the powerful beings of the many Marvel universe realities, the incident itself had been noticed by them.

And thus the Vishanti put a search order on any being with peculiar energy in hopes of finding out what happened during the making of this reality.

This leads us to the current meeting of the Ancient One and Sherlock. She could feel the faint energy surrounding Sherlock, which was on the border between existence and non-existence.

'It is almost like… like…. Imagination! Right, that's the word. If I wasn't near him I wouldn't even notice. No wonder even the Vishanti could only wait for him to surface."

Seeing that the Ancient One was just staring at him without replying, Sherlock was awkward so he fake coughed bringing the sorceress out of her daze. "Ah! Sorry, Mr. Holmes. I was just surprised. It seems we have a lot to talk about. Follow me."

***********

Kamar-Taj

Inside the Ancient One's office, or what he thinks is an office; Sherlock was looking at the woman brewing tea while thinking of the things he saw just now.

'Magic! We entered the golden portal in London but arrived instantly at the Himalayas in Nepal! I had always heard it's a mystical country but this is something else. With so many magicians practicing outside, how have they been hidden for so long though?'

"You seem to have a lot on your mind, Mr. Holmes. Drink the tea. It calms your mind. We have all the time in the world to talk about things." Ancient One spoke. But Sherlock could feel that there was something hidden in those words.

He asked, "What do you mean by that?"

"Just what it means Mr. Holmes. It seems you are yet unaware of the powers you hold." The sorceress replied with a smirk.

Sherlock was annoyed though, "Do you teach people to give cryptic answers here? Just tell me what it is you want to say."

The Ancient One sipped her tea and said, "We do in fact. You should read the book by Master Cagliostro called 'All the ways to look and sound mysterious and magical'. Although only the masters can get to read it."

Looking at his unamused expression of Sherlock, she continued, "Okay. Let us get serious then, you want answers from me Mr. Holmes and I want answers from you too. So how about we do a trade, answers for answers. You can ask first."

Sherlock instantly became wary. It seems that the opponent had some suspicions about him. But he had to be calm, there wasn't much he could do other than go along with it and there was no harm in it either.

"What did you mean by that earlier statement about having time? I feel like there was more to it." Sherlock asked his first question.

"Like I said I meant it literally. I don't know what you did but your body seems to have this weird amalgamation of space and time energies boosting your vitality amongst other things. So you won't ever age or die. Unless killed of course."

The answer he got was a pleasant surprise to Holmes. Now he didn't have to search for other methods at least. 'Must be the energy of the explosion. I did explode a space-time barrier with it.'

Sherlock gave a slight nod of acknowledgment and waited for the question the sorceress would ask him. He had to admit, he was a little nervous.

"You're not from here are you Mr. Holmes? Where did you come from?" Ancient One asked while observing Sherlock's body flinch almost unnoticeably.

"You could tell huh. Well you are the protector of earth so figures. Yes I am not from here. I belong to another reality and fell into this one by accident. Don't know how I replaced myself from this reality though." Sherlock replied truthfully, while hiding key details. He continued, "That's two answers. So tell me, how did you find out?"

Ancient One smiled and answered, "The energy on you. It doesn't belong to this reality or any other dimensions that we know of. It's too peculiar. And the powerful gods of this universe have been looking for the peculiar energy for a long time."

Sherlock was alerted as he prepared himself to flee any moment. "Why do they want to search for it?" He needed to find out more.

"During the creation of this reality, the powerful beings felt that energy barge in here. It brought with it other things that altered the direction this reality was supposed to take. And although this change itself wasn't much to them, they have millions of realities and parallel universes to play with, the energy itself is what interested them."

The Ancient One was enjoying the struggle Sherlock was going through maintaining a poker face. "Now tell me Mr. Sherlock what are your plans? What do you want to accomplish?"

Sherlock was in deep thought, he couldn't just tell her that he knows he is a fictional reality and wants to jump out to the world of his creators now, could he? He had to make up a lie, one that he would believe himself. And what is a better lie than one diluted in a bunch of truths?

"If you are wondering whether I would harm the earth, I won't. In fact, I'll probably even help protect it. I just want to accumulate power, learn things and wait for certain individuals to be born and help me escape this reality to get to my own one day."

The Ancient One nodded and spoke, "You are a being from outside of this reality Mr. Holmes. Everything you do affects the future. Are you certain these people you seek will be born?"

Of that, Holmes was certain, that these people he wanted to meet were central ideas that created this reality, so if they were not even born, would the reality even exist?

"Yes, I'm certain. You said that there were beings looking for the energy. I can guess that it's on me. So what do they want?" Sherlock still needed to know to be prepared for whatever was to come.

"Regarding that, I can't answer with certainty. I'm not even sure what that energy is other than the fact that it seems like chaos but also has properties of order, I can only describe it as imaginary. According to the records of the Agomotto, it's some kind of energy related to the shaping and destiny of realities. So I'm sure some powerful evil beings and gods would like to devour you."

Now Sherlock was a bit scared, he has just learned about these beings' existence and they'd already been hunting him for a long time.

Noticing Sherlock's state, the Ancient One explained, "You don't have to worry as long as you don't come in close contact with those beings they can't sense the energy. It seems to be special that way, it dissipates into nothingness as it radiates from you."

"If you could learn to control it then you could learn magic and be able to hide the energy as well." She gave him a sly smile. She would love to study the energy and the dimension it comes from. And Sherlock seemed quite talented too.

Sherlock on the other hand was mentally exhausted. He had learned about threats he couldn't handle right now looming over him. He had to gain more knowledge and power. So he asked, "When can I start learning magic?"