Y/N's P.O.V.
So, as it turned out, running wasn't the best idea Stephen Strange has ever had.
"Now what, smart guy?" I asked as Kaescilius warped the reality around us. Stephen turned around and summoned two shields, but one of them flickered fo nothing as I sighed, creating two shields of my own as the cloak raised me off the ground.
The two zealots that ran at us ran across the walls as Kaescilius himself jumped to the ceiling.
We fought them off the best we could, but they were powerful and with them standing at such an unusual angle it was difficult. I managed to knock my zealot off the wall and towards Kaescilius, before grabbing Stephen and trying to pull him out of the fight.
"Shit!" The floor moved beneath us and the wall was where the floor used to be, sending us falling to the 'ground'. Thanks to my cloak, I landed on my feet. Stephen wasn't so lucky, his head smashing a window.
"Kaescilius, enough!" I shouted at the man, before he turned the room again and Stephen held onto a door tightly, to stop him falling.
"My dear, sweet, Y/N." Kaescilius spoke as Stephen let go, falling. My eyes widened as he kicked the girl out into the desert, before climbing back inside.
"I've missed you."
"Sure you have." I muttered. He returned the room to normal and came towards me. I let my feet touch the ground as I summoned a weapon.
"I don't want to fight you, but I will if you get in my way." He warned and I smirked.
"Sorry, but I'm not letting you destroy this sanctum. I'll die before I let you destroy my home." He sighed and summoned a space shard. I blocked his attacks, but he was slow and he took more hits than he gave out. He wasn't trying to win the fight.
"I'm sorry, my dear." He pushed me back suddenly, but not before he grabbed my cloak and pulled it from me. I wasn't sure how he managed to take the cloak from me, but I didn't have much time to think about it, my body hitting the ground hard, causing me to roll slightly. I stayed their for a moment, pain coming from every part of my body. However, there was a particularly sore area on my head, just above my right temple.
I pulled myself up, with the help of my cloak, which Kaescilius had released, seeing the man fighting Stephen. The same Stephen, who seemed to be very good at running away from a fight. I went after them, the cloak carrying me all the way up to the attic. I made it just in time to see Kaescilius knock Stephen into the Cloak of Levitation's case. Kaescilius moved to hurt Stephen, but the cloak stopped him, taking all of us by surprise.
"Hey." I spoke, catching both of their attentions.
"My dear, I don't want to hurt you." Kaescilius moved towards me.
"And I didn't want you to destroy the London Sanctum, but it looks like we're not getting what we want today." I began to fight him and Stephen did the same, seconds before the doctor was kicked over the banister and the cloak of Levitation chased after him.
"Oh, buddy, looks like your friend is back." I muttered to my cloak, causing it to flutter slightly. I just laughed in response as Stephen rose up and summoned a whip, before grabbing onto Kaescilius' space shards. I did the same and my old friend began to struggle. He pulled us both forward and we all landed on the ground.
"Hey." Stephen gave me a small smile as he looked down at me. He had fallen on top of me and the positioning would have been awkward, if we weren't fighting for our lives, of course. Our cloaks pulled us up and where as the Cloak of Levitation dragged Stephen back, the Cloak of Elevation stayed and helped me hold off Kaescilius.
"Stephen, if you could lend a hand, that would be great." I muttered sarcastically. Kaescilius kicked me in the stomach, before pushing me back once more. However, this time, my back hit the wall and for a few moments, I was struggling to breathe.
Stephen threw a Relic at Kaescilius and it instantly tightened around him, knocking him to his knees in an uncomfortable looking position. Stephen offered me his hand and I took it, both of us breathing heavily as Kaescilius mumbled behind the mouthpiece.
"What?" Stephen asked him and he continued, causing him to step forward and take the mouth piece away. It turned out Kaescilius was just mumbling to be annoying.
"Ugh, stop it." Stephen muttered and Kaescilius continued.
"I said stop it!"
"You cannot stop this, Mr. Doctor." Kaescilius spoke simply.
"Look, I don't even know what this is." Stephen sighed as I leaned against the wall.
"It's the end. And the beginning. The many, becoming the few, becoming the one." Kaescilius looked at my.
"My dear Y/N can explain it."
"Call me 'my dear', one more time, I dare you." I glared at him.
"Look, if you're not going to start making sense, I'm just going to have to put this thing back on." He held up the mouthpiece.
"Tell me, Mr. Doctor-"
"Alright, look. My name is Doctor Stephen Strange." Stephen clarified.
"You are a doctor? A scientist? You understand the laws of nature. All things age, all things die. In the end, our sun burns out, our universe grows cold and perishes. But not the dark dimension. It's a place beyond time."
"Put the mouthpiece back on." I sighed and Stephen stepped forward.
"This world doesn't have to die, doctor! This world can take its rightful place among so many others as part of the One. We can all live forever." Kaescilius explained.
"Really?" Stephen asked, before he looked at me.
"What do you have to gain out of this new-age dimensional utopia?"
"The same as you. The same as everyone. Life. Eternal life. People think in terms of good and evil, when really, time is the enemy of us all." Kaescilius looked at me.
"Time kills everything."
"What about the people you've killed?" I asked, glaring at him.
"Tiny, momentary specks within an indifferent universe." He replaced simply.
"The world is not what it ought to be. Humanity longs for the eternal, for a world beyond time, because time is what enslaves us. Time is an insult. Death is an insult." He looked at Stephen carefully.
"Doctor, we don't seek to rule this world, we seek to save it. To hand it over to Dormammu, who sees intent of all evolution. The 'why' of all existence."
"The Sorcerer Supreme defends existence." Stephen spoke carefully.
"What was it that brought you to Kamar-Taj, doctor? Was it enlightenment? Power? You came to be healed, as did we all. Kamar-Taj is a place that collects broken things, we all come with the promise of being healed and instead the Ancient One gives us parlour tricks. The real magic, she keeps to herself. You ever wonder how she's lived so long?"
"I... I saw rituals in the book of Cagliostro." Stephen muttered.
"You're wrong." I spoke up and Kaescilius looked at me.
"My dear, she lied to you. She lied to all of us. She hoards the magic that Dormammu gives freely." Kaescilius spoke.
"She doesn't care about you, not like I do. You came to us, a scared, broken child and she called herself your mother whilst she made everyone else look after you. I practically raised you, and she took all the credit. You're stronger than you know, my sweet Y/N."
"Stop it." Stephen snapped at him, but Kaescilius only laughed.
"You think this is funny?"
"No, it's not that. What's funny is that you've lost your sling ring." Stephen reached for the item, turning around just in time for a zealot to throw a shard towards Stephen.
