A Nascent Kaleidoscope

The feeling of being discovered with your hand in the cookie jar.

Very slowly, I maneuvered myself around a large stack of items until I couldn't see her anymore.

Everyone knows if you can't see someone, that means they can't see you either.

[Well done.] Ddraig complimented my stealth abilities.

I peeked around the side to see her still sitting there, drinking a cup of tea.

She gave me a little wave as I pulled my head back.

Yup, completely undiscovered.

"Would you like a hand?" I heard her ask. "I don't often visit the London Sanctum, and woe be it for me to ignore a new initiate."

"Nope, I'm good!" I answered back.

"Ah, don't mind me then. Feel free to take anything that you think resonates with you." She casually gestured for me to continue.

That sounds like permission to me.

I looked at her as I grabbed something off the table without looking, took the hat off my head, and pushed it inside, hiding it inside my storage ring sneakily.

She brought her teacup up to her lips, not uttering a sound, merely raising an eyebrow.

I grabbed something else and stuffed it inside. I think it was a doll or something; I wasn't too sure.

I found a rubber ball that had spikes hidden inside.

Yoink.

Was that a bottle of wind?

Well, it's mine now.

Honestly, I lost count of how many things I took under her watchful gaze.

My eyes landed on a suit of armor standing tall.

I then looked at her and then back at the suit of armor.

"It behooves me to think I was unaware of such a talented individual. To resonate with so many relics, why, I feel like I haven't been doing my job properly to overlook such a recruit as yourself."

"It's okay; everyone messes up sometimes. It doesn't mean you're a failure or anything." I made sure to reassure her.

"I did not believe myself a failure, but I appreciate your kind words." She responded evenly. "Though do remind me, you mentioned a teacher to Master Alexander. I would love to know who raised such a promising student."

"...Bob."

"Bob?" She repeated. "What a…unique name. And their family name?"

"They don't have one. It's tragic really, orphaned at a young age and all that. It's best if we never speak of it again."

"Of course, of course." She nodded along. "I'll be sure to keep this in mind when I look for him back at headquarters." She punctuated the last bit. "Of which, I'm sure you're very familiar with."

"Yes I'm very familiar with… the… mountain." I vaguely recalled what the guy from before said.

"Yes, the mountain." She repeated again. "The very normal way that everyone refers to it."

"Yes, very normal." I agreed.

"Quite." She set her teacup down. "Perhaps I'm getting on in my old age; I may have forgotten the real name. Since everyone obviously only refers to it as the mountain, could you please refresh my memory?"

"The name?"

"Yes, just the name. It should be rather easy, yes? For an Initiate that just left the Mountain, I'm sure you haven't forgotten already."

"Of course I know the name." I said with a straight face.

"I have no doubt." She smiled. "But if you would please remind me, for my own sake." She said, looking at me expectantly.

"…..Mount…."

"Yes?"

"…..Olympus."

"….I don't believe that's it, no." Her lips twitched.

"Are you sure?" I asked her this time.

"I'm fairly positive."

"But you said you don't remember." I pointed out. "Maybe your memory really is that bad?"

"That's a possibility, I suppose. But I believe the lack of Greek architecture and lack of Greek gods don't lend credence to this assumption."

"….it was a test; you passed. Well done."

"Thank you, I'm very happy I passed your test." She replied without missing a beat. "Could you please tell me the real name now?"

"Mount Tai."

"Ah, I believe we're getting closer, but fortunately, many of my associates have eyes and can see it well enough to know otherwise."

…did she just…?

I cleared my throat. "That was just a joke. I do know it."

"Please." She gestured for me to continue.

"...Kun Lun."

She blinked in surprise. "I admit that was a very good guess. I actually visited Kun Lun once; their Immortals are quite impressive. And it's one of the rare few places to still find dragons in this world."

Huh, how about that?

"I can give you partial credit for that one. Not many Sorcerers of Kamaj-Tar even know about the existence of Kun Lun beyond some vague myths and legends." She added.

"I just wanted to flex my knowledge. Obviously, the correct answer is Kamaj-Tar, which I was going to say next." I said unblinkingly.

Her lips twitched again. "You're quite shameless, aren't you?"

"Ah, Kamaj Tar, I'm already feeling homesick. With the...mountain. And the buildings, and of course the sorcerers, which I know all about." I ignored her.

"Yes, it sounds like you have extensive memories and nostalgia for it."

"Anyways, I don't want to keep you. You obviously have a very important… role at Kamaj-Tar; don't let a simple initiate like me keep you preoccupied."

"Surprisingly, I'm not very busy right now. Being the Sorcerer Supreme, my duties, while important, come and go with the wind. For instance, there was an attempt by a certain entity whose name I dare not speak to try to breach the barriers of this world not but earlier today. Likewise, sometimes something much smaller slips through the world's barriers that take less priority. If I'm too busy to handle the smaller matter, I can just banish them temporarily to the Mirror Dimension for later."

I looked at her. "That sounds like a made-up title."

Her lips twitched into a smile again. "Every title is made up."

"Touche." I couldn't argue with that.

"It makes me sound rather grand, if I do say so myself." She chuckled humorously. "But I digress; please continue with what you're doing."

"Picking Relics."

"Yes, picking relics. Please help yourself to anything that catches your eye."

"Anything, hmm?"

"If there's something in this room that interests you, by all means, you're welcome to it."

"Alright, I pick you."

She seemed to visibly stumble for a brief moment. "I'm not a relic." She quickly caught herself.

"Why not?"

"I'm a person." She clarified. "It's rather objectifying to be treated as a relic, wouldn't you say?"

I pointed at a literal arm being propped up in a glass case.

"….I believe this is one of the rare times where I'm rendered speechless. Usually, I'm doing this to other people."

"You said anything in the room." I crossed my arms. "Are you going back on your word?"

"You really are quite bold. But unfortunately, I'll have to reject you; objects only, I'm afraid." She just chuckled, taking a sip of her tea again.

"Your robes." I said, making her choke on the sip of her tea.

"I am astounded by your shamelessness." She put her teacup down. "Are you telling me to strip naked? I'm not sure if I should feel offended or flattered. Though, I suppose it's not every day that a handsome young man asks me to take my clothes off to my face."

"Would it make it less awkward if I took my clothes off too?" I offered.

"No, I'm afraid not." She replied rather dryly. "Though speaking of robes, and lack thereof. There seems to be another initiate wandering the streets not far away that has lost his robes. Quite the oddity, wouldn't you say?"

"You're not implying that was me, are you?" I looked at her with clear offense written on my face. "I'm offended by the insinuation."

"Oh no, of course not. We're just on the lookout for Batman, roaming the streets of London, assaulting sorcerers and stealing their clothes. You know, normal matters that we deal with." The sarcasm in her voice was obvious.

"You must live an interesting life." I commented.

"Would you believe that's not even the strangest thing I've said this year?" She looked at me and let out a tired sigh.

I hummed to myself because I've said similar things in the past. "Can I really take anything I like?"

"I hesitate to say yes considering what you told me you wanted previously."

I rolled my eyes and grabbed a bunch of random things and put them away to gauge her reaction.

"So you won't mind if I just sweep the room, huh?" I asked again.

"To be honest, the relics in here aren't very valuable. Of course I would never diminish the historical significance that some pieces may hold. But as far as power and usage, well, let's just say that no one's in a hurry to come look at the relics here." She said simply. "I suppose I should point out that doesn't include the Ebony Blade that you discovered earlier. But I don't believe you really care about that since you went through the effort of putting an additional seal on it. Which I am thankful for; I hadn't even realized that it had slowly loosened its bindings until now."

I blinked, digesting all that, and found myself frowning. "So it's all junk."

"I wouldn't quite call it junk." She trailed off, silent for a moment before continuing. "However, It wouldn't take me long to refill the room with items of similar worth. I'm aware of a few…let's say Dark Magic Users that could do without their hoards of relics."

"Now I lost interest." I harumphed. "I hope you're proud of yourself."

"Well, how about I extend an invitation to Kamar-Taj?" She offered suddenly.

I found myself blinking again. "Seriously?"

"I wouldn't be so rude as to joke about this." She nodded.

"No, I mean why are you inviting me to your home? Seems a bit silly, you know, considering…?" I pointed to the robes that I…borrowed.

"Hmm, consider it an apology." She seemed to settle on.

"…oh?" I was genuinely surprised because I think it's pretty rare that I actually receive an apology from situations like this. "Color me curious."

"I admit I jumped the gun, so to speak. I can say without any guilt that I'm not perfect. I make mistakes sometimes, and I do my best to rectify them. When I threw you into the Mirror Dimension, I did not have the time to properly evaluate the situation. And while you didn't suffer any harm, I can see how it would be perceived from your perspective."

"Wow, you're seriously apologizing."

"Indeed."

"You know, that's all I would honestly ask for." If someone sincerely apologizes for a minor offense towards me, well… I can forgive them. "Not to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I'm genuinely curious as to how we arrived to this situation."

"Ah, that is a rather curious question. To be vague and mysterious, I simply…checked certain paths forward." She hummed to herself. "Suffice to say, I was quite wrong in my initial assumptions."

"And those assumptions would be…?"

"A demon intent on wreaking havoc."

"That's pretty racist to immediately assume." I pointed out. "Besides, I'm half human."

Her lips twitched, not rising to my jab. "Hmm, let's just say that after thoroughly checking what would happen if we tried to…exorcise you back to your 'home,' things ended up in Japan."

I narrowed my eyes, my mind quickly running through the possibilities of what that meant. "Clairvoyance? Some type of limited future sight with added parameters?"

It was her turn to blink. "You are rather intelligent, aren't you?"

"Only matched by my handsomeness."

"And shamelessness, it seems." She snorted.

But she was intentionally obtuse with her wording. Obviously due to my wording, she couldn't predict my existence in full, only noting that her future ended up in Japan through some means, which heavily implied some things.

Though, I'm just making guesses in the dark.

I'm both impressed and hesitant that someone has the ability to predict me to that degree.

She clasped her hands behind her back. "Suffice to say, with the clues you revealed, it was easy to deduce that you weren't exactly a foreign element in our normal terms."

Ah, she's talking about me revealing my Japanese ID. The fact that she knows about that isn't very surprising, but she could put two and two together there.

But even so, we were both clearly dancing around any big 'reveals.'.

Hmm, I don't really know where to go from here. I was happy to just cause a bit of mischief before leaving beforehand.

"Alright, I wouldn't mind visiting your mountain."

She smiled and waved her hands; that same sort of 'portal' from before opened up, a cold air entered the room along with it and I could see out the other side.

"Please." She gestured, and I shrugged, walking through it.

(Line Break)

Six out of ten, my portals are better.

But I looked around and took in the scenery. It was quite literally in the mountains, with no real civilization around us other than the immediate…. I don't know what to call it.

A temple? A monastery?

Something like that, very Buddhist in appearance, even if it didn't seem to subscribe to that doctrine. I was fairly sure we were somewhere in Tibet with more mountains surroundings us.

And there were a bunch more of these monk-dressed people walking around. And they shot glances at my companion, their eyes filled with respect and awe.

I guess I'm with a big shot then.

"Welcome to Kamar-Taj." She stated with a bit of a grandiose tone. "Here, all the Masters of the Mystic Arts train. To be ready to defend the world from Mystic threats."

"Masters of Mystic Arts?" I repeated.

Her lips curled up. "You can just call us Sorcerers as you have been doing. It's the same thing, really."

"Why are you dressed like monks?"

"Pardon?" She looked at me.

"Monks. Why are you all dressed like monks?"

"...Why is that what you're focusing on?"

"It's just strange is all." I shrugged.

She shook her head and gestured for me to follow. "The majority of our duties involve handling native spellcasters. Those who accidentally stumble into the Mystic side of the world and do something they shouldn't, all the way to the millennium-old dark sorcerers who intend to summon demons or other monsters."

"So you're the magical police."

"In a manner of speaking, that isn't incorrect. Though we don't really 'police' the magical populace unless they do something that threatens the world in some way. If some hermit wishes to dabble in the darkest of arts privately without anyone coming to harm, who are we to tell them otherwise?"

"Hmm, that's a rather interesting take." It's usually a very firm hand when an organization takes this kind of role. The fact that they leave people alone even if they're doing some bad things unless others are harmed is a refreshing surprise.

I noticed that there were actually a lot of people here. I saw a bunch before, but easily hundreds of these sorcerers coming and going. In fact, plenty of them were doing that whole portal thing.

I would get a better look at it later to see the concepts behind it. Overall, this place was rather interesting, and I was happy to explore it at my leisure.

"Ancient One!" Several people came up and bowed politely to my guide.

I looked at her with my lips pursed. "That seems rather rude; you don't look that old."

The newcomers seemed taken aback by my calling them out.

However, the supposed 'Ancient One' merely chuckled. "It's simply a title. And you should be wary to judge someone by their looks. I am rather old." She then turned to the one in front. "Master Mordo, how has the cleanup progressed?"

"There are no lingering remnants of the battle remaining. And the surroundings have returned to normal." He said, hands clasped tightly behind his back.

"Wonderful. We were lucky that we caught the attack in time and were able to minimize the damage." She nodded, glancing at me. "Please meet an honored guest of ours."

"A new initiate?" He asked, clearly eyeing my clothing. "Aren't those robes given to those who have been here some time already?"

"I stole them." I informed him.

"...."

"I thought it was Batman?" The Ancient One said humorously.

"Oh right, that's the excuse I was using." I forgot; I was more so taking in the surroundings and whatnot.

She curled her lips up, nonplussed by my admittance. "You can consider him an initiate of sorts. He has some previous knowledge, however. So no need to treat him like most newcomers."

The named 'Master Mordo' didn't seem to like me very much based on the way he was staring at me.

Couldn't guess why.

His eyes roamed over me rather…sternly. "And what…knowledge and experience do you possess to join the Masters of the Mystic Arts?"

"I'll have you know that I'm an excellent magician!" I said proudly, flicking my sleeves to obscure taking out a deck of cards from my storage. "Go ahead, pick a card, any card." I held them up for him.

"Oh how wonderful! I haven't seen a magician perform in years." The Ancient One clapped enthusiastically. "Go ahead, Master Mordo."

For some reason he was looking at both of us like we had two heads.

Hesitantly he pulled a card from my deck.

"Alright, memorize your card." I began to shuffle thoroughly. "Now put it back on top." He silently followed my directions, but his actions were…stiff. With his card on top, I didn't make a move. "Alright, now take the top card off."

He silently stared at me before letting out a sigh. "Ancient One, may I ask the point of this…farce?"

"Master Mordo, please follow the instructions." She urged him to continue.

He shook his head but didn't argue. "My card is directly on top; I fail to see—" He picked it up, and the words died in his mouth as he stared at the top card he pulled off.

It wasn't his card.

And he never once saw me mess with the cards.

The Ancient One, however, clapped politely. "That was well done."

"…..How?" The sorcerer with the card in his hand was flipping it front to back in utter confusion.

"Master Mordo, one of your few flaws is your rigid way of thinking." She put a warm hand on his shoulder. "It gives you great strength through resolve, but it prevents you from seeing the world from other perspectives. Do you really think I would pick up a street magician and bring them here on a lark?"

It's like she's their mother.

He was silent for a moment. "No, you're right. I made assumptions. There must be a clear and logical reason that you brought him here." He seemed to acknowledge his attitude from a moment ago.

"Want to see me pull a rabbit out of my hat?" I didn't give him a moment to answer as I flipped my new top hat upside down off my head and pulled Sir Wiggles right out in front of their eyes.

They stared at me in silence.

It was the Ancient One who did a double take, staring at Sir Wiggles and then at myself with confusion.

"...isn't that the hat of Arsene Lupin from the London Sanctum?" Mordo asked before shaking his head as if it didn't matter. "I'm sure he has much to teach us if he was personally brought here by you, Ancient One." Mordo looked like he was forcibly calming himself down.

Huh, guess my hat is cooler than expected.

"Seduction." I answered.

"What?" He blinked in confusion.

"I got here through the power of seduction." I nodded to myself. "Honestly, it's my cross to bear. Who told me to be born so handsome and outstanding? You can call me Step-Ancient One if you want."

Why was it fun to poke him?

Maybe because he's the type to take himself too seriously.

However, I was met with silence again.

He clenched his teeth, seemingly holding himself back. "Ancient one, I request that I be put in charge of his...training if he is going to be studying in Kamar Taj. I wish to instill proper respect for the legacy of—"

"Master Mordo." She interrupted.

"…yes?"

"If you want an excuse to beat him up, just say so. However, do you think it's not beneath you as a Master to bully an Initiate?"

"Ayo?" I looked at her. "Aren't I supposed to be a guest?"

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" She tilted her head, looking back at me. "I'm too busy swooning, so I can't seem to quite hear you."

Fair.

She gently clasped her hands behind her back, taking measured steps around us. "An adept will suffice." She finally said.

Mordo's eyes lit up. "Adept Goodbody."

One of the sorcerers that came with Mordo, who had quietly been behind him, had stepped up and silently bowed before him and the Ancient One.

"Can I admit defeat?" I raised my hand up.

"And diminish your title as Step-Ancient One? What would everyone think?" She responded.

I think she's holding a grudge.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever, let's get this over with." Because I did have better things to do and/or talk about.

The person apparently named Goodbody looked towards me, did an about-face, and walked about a dozen paces away before taking a stance and flicking his hands, two glowing Magic Circles appearing over each.

My eyes were quickly drawn to them and I could see the minuscule runes and symbols that composed them. Very intricate, yet also quite easy for them to produce.

A shielding spell that seems to be able to shift on a whim?

How interesting.

But there was something…off about him. I narrowed my eyes, casting some quick and subtle analysis spells and found an anomaly.

"I'm a pacifist; I'll choose a champion to fight for me. Go, Sir Wiggles." I knelt down and let him jump out of my hands, hopping across the stony ground until he was squaring off against my 'opponent.'."

"...You can't be serious?" Mordo's hands clenched. "Ancient One?" He asked, looking at her.

"I'll allow it." She hummed. "Adept Goodbody, begin at your leisure." She gestured at him casually.

"...Am I supposed to attack the rabbit?" Adept Goodbody? asked in confusion.

"That's how duels work; are you new to this?" I asked him.

He looked at me and looked like he wanted to punch me for some reason.

"It's a rabbit."

"How observant."

His eye twitched slightly. "How am I supposed to fight it?"

"Since you're a sorcerer, I would assume with magic." I answered again. "But what do I know? I only pull rabbits out of hats."

"Adept Goodbody, I believe I've spoken at length about underestimating your opponent." The Ancient One chided him slightly. "Proceed as normal."

"…yes, Ancient One." He took a hesitant step forward and then stopped as Sir Wiggles didn't move. He seemed to sigh and not know how to proceed.

"Sir Wiggles, attack method B-A11S." I ordered, and as soon as I spoke, the Ancient One gave me the most deadpan look I've seen in ages.

However, Sir Wiggles turned into a streak of lightning and headbutt the sorcerer in the groin.

Suffice to say, the only sound heard was a small bit of whining from him as he fell down and clutched something precious of his in pain.

With a crackle of lightning, Sir Wiggles jolted through the air and landed back onto my shoulder.

I shot the Ancient One a look and she looked away as if everything happening wasn't her intention.

I rolled my eyes at her antics.

Whatever, she showed me sincerity; I don't mind if she uses me.

I walked over to the prone man and nudged him over.

I put a hand on his chest and pulsed my magical energy through his body and ripped something out that was hiding beneath the surface.

He let out a blood-curdling scream as a type of malevolent energy squirmed in my hand. "Look what I found."

I had no idea what it was, but it felt disgusting. And there was no way in hell that this thing was acceptable. Hell, to me, a literal devil, I wanted to crush this on sight.

"Energy from the Dark Dimension!?" Mordo was the first to blurt out an answer; everyone who had been looking onwards or passing by had stopped in their tracks.

"It seems we've discovered one of Kaecilius's sympathizers and spies." The Ancient One walked over.

"….I've been personally teaching him for months." Mordo whispered in horror, but his expression quickly hardened. "We must quickly deal with that energy if—"

Holding it between my hands, I slammed them together with a burst of my Divine Lightning, destroying the wisp I held in my hands entirely before wiping them.

"Please take Adept—no, please take the Traitor Goodbody to a cell. We need to properly extract the remaining Dark Dimension Energy before dealing with him as per the rules." The Ancient One ordered, and everyone started moving. "And don't forget the lesson learned from this: just because he turned out to be a spy. Don't underestimate your opponent." She clapped her hands before walking back up to me.

"If you want to make use of me, you could have just asked." I told her as I followed along with her measured steps away from the mayhem that broke out.

"Pardon, I seem to just be so distracted. It's not every day that I'm so utterly swept off my feet and so thoroughly seduced." She replied without missing a beat.

"You're not going to let that go, are you?"

"Come along, Step-Ancient One."

She reminds me of several other people. Dumbledore, Savos, even Zelretch.

"Why didn't you just handle it? You clearly knew what he had inside of him." And I was honestly lost as to whatever the fuck was going on, but apparently it was a big deal.

"If I 'discovered him,' then that would simply be it. The Ancient One, of course, discovered the spy, as expected of her, yes?" She narrated the possible situation.

"Ah." I nodded along, understanding her intention. "But me, a random outsider that had been making fun of them, had discovered it right beneath their noses. Their pride must be stinging then."

"Very much so." She smiled. "Stagnation is the slow death of any people. It breeds contentment and rigidness."

"Well, it's not cheap to use me; I expect payment." I pursed my lips.

"Did you not already take dozens of items from the London Sanctum?" She shook her head in exasperation. "Do I need to chastise you in anticipation for something else that you'll ask for?"

As fun as it would be to keep that going, I actually did have a goal for coming to this world. "You still owe me your robes, but this is something different. Have you heard of Vibranium?"

She paused in her steps, her brow furrowed slightly. "I am aware of Vibranium. What do you want with it?"

"To use it?" I blinked. "What else would I want it for?"

She let out a small sigh. "That's not what I meant, but very well. Come, I'll make some tea, and we can discuss some things, Vibranium among them. Have you heard of a country called Wakanda?"

"I have not." I admitted it.

"I suppose I should start from the beginning then."

(Line Break)

A/N

Ancient One and Wilhelm get along well. Amazing what a simple apology for a mistake will do.

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