Artemis: The Final Battle ➳ Steve Rogers [2]

[ S I X T E E N ]

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C A M I L L E

I'm finally able to catch my breath as I settle into the Quinjet that I've managed to hijack without much complications.

I set the jet on autopilot so that I could work on disabling the GPS on this thing.

As soon as I was done with that, I set the route to the New York Sanctum, where hopefully someone would have some answers there for me.

I get there in a couple of minutes and park the jet a few blocks away, making sure to pull a hood I've found over my head as I make my way down to the Sanctum.

I take one last glance at the sky as I make my way into the Sanctum, something seemed off about it, almost artificial.

Shaking the thought from my head, I push the door open, wandering deeper down the empty hallway.

"Strange?" My voice echos through the hallway as I called out, "Is anyone here?"

"Doctor Stephen Strange is currently recovering from surgery." A voice says from behind me.

I spin around to see a woman standing behind me, bald and dressed in yellow robes.

"Surgery?" I questioned.

"Yes." She answers, "It seems he hasn't quite given up hope that he could make a full recovery from his nerve damage just yet."

"B-but he did recover." I stuttered in confusion, "Through magic."

"Again, yes." My eyes follow her as she walks further into the room, stopping by a table to pour two cups of tea, "That is what happened in your reality, but not this one. I'm sure by now you've noticed that you have changed it quite a bit."

She smiles, handing me one of the cups- which I gratefully take from her, before taking hers to a nearby window as she stared out of it.

"Who are you?" I continued to question.

"I am known as The Ancient One." She introduces, "And you, Camille Romanoff have caused quite a bit of trouble, haven't you?"

I let out a sigh and my heart ached, "I don't even know what I've done."

"Reality is already confusing as it is." She says, "Even more so when it comes to changing it. You can only fix something so many times. Eventually, you won't be able to any longer and it will be damaged, permanently."

"No, this can't be permanent." I could feel my heart beating out of my chest, "There has to be a way to fix this."

"I'm sorry, I truly am." The Ancient One looks at me with sympathetic eyes, "If there is a way to right this, I'm afraid I do not know of it."

She returns her gaze to the sky and joins her, my heart aching at the thought that things would never be the same again.

"The sky," I spoke again, "What's wrong with it?"

The Ancient One chuckles as she glances sideways at me, "Well, everything. It's fake. It has been this way for twelve years."

"How?" I asked next, feeling slightly guilty for bombarding her with so many questions.

"Your friend, Mr Stark did exactly what he said he would to keep the world safe." She shrugs.

"A suit of armour around the world." I mutter under my breath, "When exactly did he build this?"

She furrows her brows at me in confusion, but still answers my question, "I believe it was some time in February of 2012."

"Before the battle of New York. That's why the Avengers weren't assembled because Loki never got the chance to execute his attack." I mutter to no one in particular.

I curse under my breath, finally managing to fix a small piece of the puzzle together. How could I have let this happen?

"Can't say too many people are fond of the idea, but I must give it to him, it does work." She states, "Not a single soul has entered Earth's atmospheres after that God of Thunder."

"Thor?" I raised my brows in question.

"Why, yes." She nods, "He caused quite a ruckus, that one. Even without his powers. It was what convinced Stark that the world needed more protection. If there are Gods out there, what else could there be?"

My brows drew closer together as I listened on, "Wait, did you just say Thor doesn't have his powers?"

"It was all over the news." The Ancient One says, "A hammer that couldn't be lifted by even Thor himself."

I shook my head, "No, that's impossible. He's worthy, I know it."

"He doesn't think so."

I plop down on a nearby couch, burying my head in my hands.

"What have I done?" I sighed, trying my best to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall, "I just wanted my family back, now some of them don't even know who I am."

My heart broke as I thought about the moment I saw Steve. How I had felt so relieved, only for my heart to crushed into a million pieces when I saw the look in his eyes.

"Using the stones while feeling so much negative emotions yields very different outcomes." She explains, "I wish I could help you, but even I have never experienced anything like this before."

I slumped back into my seat and for the first time, I notice it; The Eye of Agamotto hanging around the Ancient One's neck.

"The time stone." I jumped to my feet immediately, "Maybe we could use it to go back."

She places a hand over the necklace as she stares at me with apologetic eyes, "I'm afraid it doesn't work like that, my dear. Reality is fixed- or so I thought."

My heart drops once again, a part of me was starting to lose hope, but I couldn't let myself. After everything we've been through, there had to be a solution to this.

The Ancient One places a comforting hand on my shoulder as if reading my mind, "Don't lose hope, I'm sure you'll find a way."

Soon, she falls silent, her hand lingering on my shoulder and her smile slowly fading into a frown.

"What is it?" I questioned, my heart picking up speed.

"Dark magic." She swallows, "It's in you."

I furrow my brows at her, "What do you mean it's in me?"

"Have you came into contact with someone who practices dark magic?" She asks, her face starting to lose colour.

"I don't think so." I reply, "If I did I don't remember. Everything happened so fast, it's all a blur."

"You have to try to remember." She urges, "Your life may be in danger."

My mind races, trying to think. It takes a while before I finally remember what Thanos had said about Madame Hydra's powers.

"Yes, it's a little complicated but in my reality I fought myself from another Earth and I-" I pause as it finally dawns on me and I curse inwardly.

"And I adsorbed her powers before I snapped."