THE OLDEST MAXIMOFF | Stephen Strange

3.0

KATHMANDU

Nadia had been on the run for a few months now since the civil war between the Avengers happened. She relocated herself every few weeks so that she couldn't be tracked by Secretary Ross or Tony Stark. She hadn't even spoke much to Wanda and Vision since they said goodbye and split up. They checked in everyone once and awhile with each other but that was it.

Nadia had just arrived a few hours ago to Nepal in the largest city known as Kathmandu for answers. Ever since the Sokovia Accords and the fight, she hadn't been able to use her magic and she feared it was gone forever. Therefore, she went looking for how to get her magic back and it lead her all the way to Kathmandu. She was wandering aimlessly around the city while searching for Kamar-Taj.

Nadia had been walking around for a couple of hours, completely lost. She stopped her stride to take a short break at a food stand before she continued her journey but she felt like someone was watching her. She craned her neck around to see if she could spot anyone staring at her. All she saw though was a retreating figure in a blue cloak and as a result, she set down her piece of unfinished fruit and followed after the person that had been following her throughout the busy city.

Nadia followed the figure for a few minutes and ended up in an alleyway to confront the cloaked stalker. "Why have you been following me?" Nadia urged the unknown person in front of her. Their back was facing her as she raked through her brain as to who was after her and feared that Secretary Ross or Tony had finally found her.

They did not answer her question but instead turned around and took off their hood to reveal a dark-skinned man in strange looking robes. Nadia didn't think that the man looked familiar to her but she was still on edge and raised her hands to let her wisps around her hands appear but nothing happened and she then realized her fatal mistake.

The cloaked man sensed Nadia's distress and attempted to reassure her that he didn't want to hurt her to level out her nerves. "I'm not going to hurt you," Karl Mordo calmly spoke as Nadia put her hands down, still cautious about the man's intentions. "I've been guiding you."

Nadia, confused about Mordo's answer, asked him, "Guiding me to where?" The dark-haired brunette questioned curiously. Mordo, in an effort to convince Nadia that he wasn't a threat, showed off his skills with the mystic arts. "That's a new one but I shouldn't be surprised anymore," she commented in wonder while looking in awe at his orange colored shields at his fists.

"The Ancient One has been awaiting your visit to Kamar-Taj for quite some time, Nadia Maximoff," Mordo grinned at the enhanced Maximoff, while Nadia tilted her head in question as Mordo told her someone was expecting her arrival and the fact that he knew her name but she perked up at the mention of Kamar-Taj.

Mordo led Nadia to the location she had been searching months for. It didn't look as grand as she thought it would on the outside as Mordo gestured with his head that they had arrived to the home and training ground for the mystic arts. He guided her through the doorway and Nadia found herself in a dark wood stained foyer with light shining in the darkness through a window on the ceiling as well as windows across the walls of the room. Nadia moved her head back and forth around the place that she had thought was her last hope and sighed in relief.

In her distraction, the Ancient One entered the room and thanked Mordo for locating Nadia and bringing her to Kamar-Taj. "Ah, Miss Maximoff. I've been waiting for you to come to Kathmandu."

Nadia stopped what she was doing and her bright brown eyes landed on the woman in front of her wearing bright yellow robes. "How do you know who I am?" Nadia fired off the first question in her head.

"Nadia Maximoff," the Ancient One listed off how she knew who Nadia was as the dark-haired brunette's eyebrow twitched nervously. "Sister to Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. Also known as an Avenger. I've seen you on the news," Nadia could tell that the Ancient One wasn't being fully honest about how she knew her and could tell that she was keeping something important from Nadia. The last part of the Ancient One's wording made it obvious to Nadia as well as the stoic facial expressions from the older woman. "Tea?" The Ancient One asked but then remembered that Nadia preferred a different kind of warm beverage. "Oh, that's right. You prefer hot chocolate."

Within seconds, Nadia had a steaming mug of hot chocolate with whip cream and cinnamon in her hands but she was still in shock that the woman in front of her knew so much about her. Nadia shook off the confusion for a moment to take a small sip of her hot chocolate. Nadia tried to contain her nerves from possibly being shut away but remained adamant about the answers she had been looking for. "What did you mean when you said that you've been expecting me here?"

The Ancient One nodded her head, knowing that she had to tell Nadia some of the truth."I know a great deal of what happens in our lives. Yours is one of the most complex and compelling of them all," sensing Nadia about to further question the Ancient One, the master of the mystic arts continued. "First things first, Miss Maximoff. Forget everything that you think you know."

Instead of pressing the Ancient One further about her thoughts, she asked her if she could help Nadia instead. "I have been looking everywhere for answers about what happened to my magic. It led me here to Kamar-Taj and I was hoping you could help me get my magic back."

"I have to warn you, Miss Maximoff, you're kind of magic is different than what is taught here,
therefore we can only help you so far. The rest will be up to you to make it happen," the Ancient One advised to the young woman. "That is, if you're still up for it."

Nadia didn't answer for a brief moment as she hadn't said the words out loud to anyone before but for some reason, she trusted the woman standing in front of her. "I've made some bad mistakes in my past with my magic. I can't always control it, either. But there's a part of me that wants it back. To make up for what I've done. It's a part of me and I have to learn. To accept it. To embrace it instead of running from it."

After her confession, Nadia was led to a room that she would be occupying for the foreseeable future after the Ancient One had called upon a new person and he had walked her to her new bedroom that contained a bedroom and her own bathroom. During the walk to her room, Nadia couldn't help but start up a conversation with the man that was just barely taller than her. "I'm Nadia Maximoff, by the way," she told him excitedly after feeling hope at getting her magic back.

"Wong," the man replied very stiffly and hadn't been bothered to look in her direction.

"Just Wong?" Nadia chuckled before speaking again. "No last name? Or is Wong your last name?"

Wong only kept walking and didn't answer the new girl. "You're not much of a talker are you, Wong? Do you not laugh as well?" The brunette joked but didn't take Wong's quietness to heart.

They stopped in front of a door and Wong gestured to it, showing Nadia that this was the place that she would be staying in during her time at Kamar-Taj. "Oh, I can just tell from our one-sided conversation that we are going to be the best of friends, Wong," she patted him on the shoulder but quickly moved her hand away from him once he glared at her. "The bestest of friends," she uttered, her voice softer as he handed her a slip of paper that was the wifi password reading, Shamballa.

Nadia only had a small bag with her that was filled with only the essentials but her most valuable item in her bag was a framed picture of her parents and siblings as well as herself. She tugged it out of her blue colored bag and set it on the bed side table and plopped down on her bed with a sigh, glancing back at the picture.