THE OLDEST MAXIMOFF | Stephen Strange

3.4

Nadia was definitely in better spirits in the morning when she entered the courtyard to see Stephen and Mordo across the yard. The Ancient One was also present, watching two masters sparing a few feet away from where Strange and Mordo were.

"So just how ancient is she?" Questioned Strange, his blue and green eyes trained on the Ancient One.

"No one knows the age of the Sorcerer Supreme," Mordo stood up after tying the laces of his black boots. "Only that she's Celtic and never talks about her past."

"You follow her, even though you don't know?" Countered the former surgeon.

"I know she's steadfast....but unpredictable," Mordo listed off how he viewed the Sorcerer Supreme. "Merciless, yet kind. She made me what I am," he spoke before going into a fighting pose with Stephen copying Mordo's actions. "Trust your teacher....and don't lose your way."

"Like Kaelicius?" Strange wondered and then the two men started fighting which made Nadia not be able to hear what they were saying anymore. She watched Mordo hold Strange around the neck, not letting him free. Suddenly, Strange elbowed Mordo in the gut, loosening the grip on him.

Nadia tried to focus on her reading and not to spy on their conversation but couldn't help it when Mordo grabbed a long stick and showed off the relics to help masters sustain the magic that they can't fully take on.

The stick extended when Mordo pulled it apart, orange sparks started flying from the extended pieces. Mordo slapped it onto the concrete ground, the stick bending as it did so with more orange sparks flying around the two. The stick went back to its normal state with Nadia watching in awe.

Mordo knew the young woman had been staring at them instead of reading the many books assigned to her and addressed her. Nadia pretended to glance down at her book, making it seem like she wasn't just watching the two men across the courtyard. "Miss Maximoff," Mordo called to her. "Would you mind taking a pause in your 'studies' to come join us?" Mordo implied that he knew Nadia wasn't really focused on her studies with how he spoke the term "studies".

Nadia closed the book and ambled over to Strange and Mordo. Mordo was still holding the staff of The Living Tribunal as he asked Stephen to conjure up a weapon, putting Nadia in the line of fire. "Are you insane?" She demanded Mordo. "I can't fight against the mystic arts. I don't have my magic."

"The Ancient One told you the truth when she said you can't lose the abilities that you were born with. Let go of your fear, Nadia," Mordo encouraged her but she still remained skeptical and moved her nervous gaze to Stephen. He gave her a reassuring nod, telling her that he had believed in her, his eyes bringing her comfort.

Stephen held his hands together, his fingers sparking and letting off orange-tinted colors. He pulled his hands apart to reveal lines of orange and yellow blurred together as a form of rope between the doctor's hands. Mordo and the Ancient One watched on curiously to see how Nadia was going to respond and fight back.

She twitched her fingers and her hands quivered as she tried to gain control to summon her magic that she was born with. A light hue of blue appeared with some struggle but faded away quickly. Nadia then realized she was going to have to fight the old fashioned way. She avoided Stephen's conjured weapon of choice as Mordo shouted at them. "Fight! Fight like your life depended on it!" He yelled over to them as Nadia ducked down and rolled her body away from Stephen's weapon. She squatted into a pose that seemed oddly familiar to her with one leg stretched out to the side and the other bent in front of her.