Doctor Strange - This One Summer

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The Bad Ending

When Hazel was taken, the sanctuary withered. The windows were always dark, as if they'd covered themselves up. From the outside, a window would look like a gaze turned inward. Candles and incense would no longer burn, and the rooms and corridors were constantly cold. And then the plant life wilted to gnarled vines and thorns and overtook the sanctuary.

It would've looked better torn down.

The Ancient One was still holding Hazel when she woke with a start. They were both still on Hazel's cot, and Hazel herself had turned in and fallen asleep hours ago. She seemed to be resting peacefully, at least. However, the Ancient One couldn't be put at ease after that dream. It was a vision. Surely, not a literal one; the masters wouldn't allow Kamar-Taj to fall into such disrepair, but the sanctuary was as unhappy with the current circumstances as anyone, and reasonably so. It loved Hazel Grace.

The cat was the other to awaken that night to the sound of a match striking. Kenzo blearily lifted his head to see the Ancient One kneeling by the dark window in front of a spread of light pink candles and tea.

"We'll survive this, dear," the Ancient One whispered. She gently pressed her hand against the wood paneling on the walls. "We've seen worse."

Kenzo's whiskers twitched, and for a brief moment, he thought a breach had woken her. However, regardless of how powerful it was, the Main Guest was not here tonight, as he might not be for several nights, but he was still resolute in his demand for a sacrifice. Kenzo sat up when he heard music from within the sanctuary-a melancholy tune accompanied by a voice that sounded eerily like Hazel herself.

The cat looked down at the sleeping girl beside him. She'd be safe by herself tonight.

Mystic Letter

The next morning at breakfast, Hazel was quieter than usual, but an air of tension that the others had anticipated was absent. Actually, things felt a lot lighter this morning compared to the mornings of the last couple weeks. Perhaps it was from relief of an approaching end, or maybe Hazel being at peace with her fate was enough to put spirits at ease.

"How are you feeling this morning, Hazel?" Wong was brave enough to ask.

"I slept really well, actually," Hazel replied, then gave a genuine smile. "Suspicious, don't you think? I dreamed I was flying."

Then she glanced at the Ancient One in a familiar way, but the Sorcerer Supreme only smiled and nodded to humor her. Maybe it was just a dream after all.

The rest of the day was a melancholy kind of busy. Hazel attended her classes as if nothing was amiss. Her peers chattered about the thing that broke into Kamar-Taj, but luckily, no one had linked it back to Hazel. Regardless, whenever anyone did want her opinion on it, Hazel simply lied and said she hadn't gotten a good look at it. She felt sick to her stomach.

She felt bad lying about it, but she didn't have faith in her peers to treat her the same if she told them what she'd done. She also procrastinated calling home to tell anyone what was going on. How would she explain it? "I'm just going to stay here; I have a great job in Kathmandu now. Don't talk to me again." And if any of her peers at Kamar-Taj noticed her absence, the masters would tell them she'd gone back home.

She didn't worry about it too much, but Hazel was still stuck between believing she was going to die and pretending that she wasn't. It was a surprisingly peaceful limbo. Regardless, she needed to make arrangements, so she acted like it was just another job she had to do.

"Is there anything else you need?" she asked the Ancient One as she served her a cup of tea.

"No, thank you," the Ancient One replied quietly. "What will you be doing with the rest of your afternoon?"