I stroke the rat in my hands, its body twitching, infusing it with my Chi to calm it down and keep it passive, as I close my eyes, focusing on my spiritual senses. Since I'm stuck without my magic for an undetermined amount of time, I thought it best to finally delve into what I can do with my Chi, starting with improving my detection. Seeing as I plan to seek out Dagger to see if I can learn to wield Lightforce, I need to be able to find her first, but from what I know of them, Cloak and Dagger keep to themselves, staying on the road.
They try and avoid others as much as they can, until such a time that they sense distress, where they'll take action and help with what they can. This, unfortunately, means that they could be anywhere within the United States, though I'm hoping they're near enough to New York that I don't have to travel far. Without the assurance of my magic, the dangers of this era could prove too much for me, even with my physical power.
Reaching out to the relaxed rodent in my grasp, I start first by detecting the Chi I placed within it, giving me a bridge to discover more. As my senses flow out into the dark of the spiritual realm, my Seedbed-Chi shines out in a blaze of green energy near me, visible to any being with enhanced enough senses who knows what they're looking for. It lights me, my spiritual body rippling and resonating, before I draw it back into me, keeping my attention on the rat.
My Chi flows back into me from the tiny body, gathering in my lower dantian, revealing the tiny point of grey light it was obscuring, a feeling of calm emanating from it. I wrap my spirit around the animals Chi, giving it a slight nudge, feeling the rat twitch, its life-force pulsing. I sense as my own Chi starts to rise off me, forming golden runes, causing me to open my eyes, finding a notification before me,
[Power Learned – Chi Detection: A function of Chi finally learned, after being forced to stop ignoring your innate prowess. You have gained the ability to open yourself up to the life around you, seeing with more than mundane, simple senses.
You can detect the presence of the Chi of others, allowing you to locate their position and track them. Distance and detail will improve with practice and power, with only your cultivation limiting you.]
The moment I finish reading the description of my new power, my Chi cycles without my prompting, revolving a single time. As it does, the life-force of the sorcerers of the Sanctum light up in my senses, moving as they move, fluctuating as they go about their business. The strongest Chi in my vicinity shines from outside the building, approaching it at a pace. Focusing on it, I push my detection, studying the Chi, attempting to learn what I can of it, independent of Revelation.
Just as I catch a wisp of its essence, it suddenly disappears, reappearing outside the door to my room, a knock sounding out as it does. Putting the rat down on the floor, allowing it the run about, I get up from my bed, uncrossing my legs and brushing off my dark joggers. Grabbing Jian from where it leans against the bookcase, I move to the door, opening it slightly in caution. I relax once I see who it is, then frown when I find a long cut on one of Strange's cheeks.
I pull the door open fully, a raised eyebrow donning the face of the sorcerer as he sees Jian. Placing my sword against the frame, I ask, "Yes?" Before my frown deepens at the sight of a drop of black blood leaking from his cut. Seeing my focus, he tells me,
"Pay it no mind, banishing always comes with consequences. A simple spell will clear it soon enough." Curious, I raise a hand to his face, my fingers alight with my Chi, and look at him, requesting permission. He looks up into my eyes, then nods, turning his cheek to me, keeping an eye on my hand. Laying a finger on the wound, I funnel my Chi into him, a sensation of pain feeding back through the connection. Paying it no mind, I feel out for the source, finding it and capturing it, wrapping it in my Chi.
I pull back, a small lump protruding under his cheek as I do, before a black, squirming, maggot-like creature slips through the cut and floats above my finger, its thin feelers wriggling. Strange looks at it in concern, seemingly not expecting something like this, his lips pursing, as Revelation provides me some information on the creature,
[Revelation
Name – Parasite of Pain
Vital Status – Alive
Species – Branching Domain (Parasitical)
Powers – [Burrowing],[Mental Draining],[Emotional Infection],[Fear, Despair, and Pain Inducement],[Corruption], [Possession]
Weakness – [Sufficient Force],[Fire],[Strong Willpower]
History – A sliver of the divine domain of a Goddess of pain and suffering that wormed its way into the body of a Sorcerer Supreme, when he succeeded in banishing the physical form of the goddess from this reality. The parasite stealthily infected the sorcerer, working beneath his notice, intending to gradually induce psychosis within his spirit, setting him on a path of self-destruction.
Unfortunately for the parasite, it was unwittingly discovered by a temporally displaced Taoist, who intended to heal the sorcerers wound. Now, it struggles in it's prison formed from inner power, trying to connect to its mother.]
A sneer forms on my face as I learn about this disgusting thing, turning to Strange to explain, only to find him staring at me, his attention weirdly on me as opposed to the parasite I just pulled from his face. Glancing at the creature then looking back at him in confusion, I ask, tilting my head at him, "What?"
He breaks from his thoughts, focusing back on me, then says, curiosity in his voice, "You know your eyes are glowing?" Blinking at him, I pass him over the parasite, Strange forming an eldritch sphere to cage it, then move over to my desk, picking up a mirror and bringing it before my face. I see my eyes widen slightly in surprise as I find a pair of golden irises staring back at me, the colour flowing and shifting slowly. Getting an idea, I activate Revelation on the mirror, the gold of my reflected eyes deepening in response.
How did I not notice this last night; why did no one bring it up? I can excuse myself here, my tiredness to blame, but the others, Strange? Wong? Though, I suppose they didn't think much of it, maybe putting it up to just be a difference in our realities. Deactivating Revelation, I watch as my eyes lighten, their intensity reducing, but staying gold, not reverting back their previous colour. Putting the mirror back down with a sigh, I turn to Strange, who's examining the parasite with a spell.
"This is new." I say, pointing at my eyes when he shifts his gaze to me.
"What, not everyone in your world has golden irises? Colour me surprised." Giving him a slight glare, I walk back to him, looking at the creature, then speak, helping him along in his discovery,
"It's a parasite." I start, causing him to roll his eyes at me.
"That much is obvious. The question is, what is its purpose?" He turns the cage over in his hands, a series of magic circles slowly orbiting and spinning around it, some cracking and disintegrating into orange dust as they fail.
Deciding to be open with him, knowing what I do of his personality, I lower myself slightly, staring up at him and getting him to look at me. Standing back up, his eyes following me, I tap under my right eye, then explain, "These were caused by an ability of mine, do ya wanna know what it can do?" I inquire, playing on his desire to learn.
He glances down at his failing spells, then back to me, getting an idea of why I'm bringing it up, then answers, "Very well, enlighten me." Reaching out, I gesture for him to place the spell in my hand, grasping it once he does. Bringing it to my face, twisting it around, I start to talk,
"What we have here is revenge." I start, "Purposefully made by a wrathful Goddess of misery, to slowly, and invisibly, corrupt the Sorcerer Supreme who defeated her." Looking up from the parasite to Strange, I find him staring at the creature, his face grave. Understanding some of what must be running though his mind, I continue, "Thankfully for that sorcerer, who had become somewhat overconfident as of late, a beautiful, otherworldly woman of grace and humility came along, rescuing the man of magic from the malevolent designs of the evil deity."
Finished, I hand parasite back to him, his brows furrowed as he takes it in hand, leaving it up to him to decide what to do with it. The tapping of tiny claws and the feeling of little limbs climbing over my bare feet makes me look down, finding the rat clutching my bottoms and looking at me, its nose twitching. Crouching down to pick it up, its body climbing into my hand, I hear a cracking above me, causing me to look its way as I stand.
The space around the hand of Strange is fractured, shards of reflective glass circling it, as he places the captures parasite inside, locking it away in the Mirror Dimension. We fall into silence, my hand brushing over the clean fur of the rat, staring at Strange, while he gets lost in thought, the potential, dire consequences of his oversight seeming to hit him. Focus comes back into his eyes as he breaks from his thoughts, his sight falling on me.
Speaking first, I question, "So, what did you want?" Strange's eyes narrow at my question, not understanding my meaning, before asking,
"Excuse me?"
I lift my hand stroking the rat, balancing its body in my other, and knock at the air, mimicking his arrival. "You knocked, so I'm pretty certain you needed me for something." Realisation flickers on Strange's face, when he starts to explain,
"Right. Two things; one, you're safe from that god for now, but you've already worked that out." He smiles at me, "Two, while I was gone, I asked Wong to start on a door to the Crossroads. He's been working on it down in the undercroft, so I thought you'd like to check his progress with me." Anticipation fills me at his words, as I nod frantically. I walk over and place the rat back in its cage on my desk, tapping it on the head, then move back to the door and grab Jian, gesturing for Strange to get moving.
Stepping beyond the border to my room, we make our way downstairs, coming to the ground floor and walking behind its staircase, a locked, wooden door blocking our way. Strange places his hand on its frame, the thunk of metal sounding out as the door clicks open, before we step inside. Taking a final set of stone stairs, the passage down made of dark brick, we exit out into a large, circular, rock room.
It's ceiling is supported by a few broken, and unbroken, square pillars, with several hollows in its walls, and a floating, stone bowl in the center. As I take the last step, following Strange, I catch sight of the crouched form of Wong at the end or the room. He's pressing a glowing finger against a wall, upon which sits a chalk drawing of an arched door, orange runes bordering it. As we close in on him, I see little wooden figures placed before the door; three dogs, two torches, and one frog.
With a final impression from Wong, the chalk of the door glows for a second then dies down, before he stands up, fixing his robe and turning to us. Strange inspects his work, nodding at what he sees, then addresses Wong, "I see you made a few alterations to my spell. Still, thank you for getting this done so quickly."
Wong bows slightly, accepting the praise, and says, faux deference in his action, "As the Sorcerer Supreme commands." From where I'm standing, I see Strange roll his eyes, before he looks over at me, nodding for me to join them. Doing so, Strange reaches up and plucks a hair from my head, a short sting coming from my scalp as I give him a sideways glance, disapproval in my eyes. He winds the hair around his fingers, in a similar fashion to when he was helping Thor, magic circling his hands.
An orange Mandala appears before us, an old-timey skeleton key at its centre, before Strange thrusts his hands out, the magic floating over and falling into the drawing. A black line runs down the centre of the door, through the rock wall, as the stone falls open, the two sides opening inwards, multi-coloured light leaking out from the crack. A tap on my shoulder from the sorcerer beside me breaks my focus on the door, causing me to turn to him, curious about what he wants.
He looks up at me, his gaze steady as he asks me, "You got everything? If this works, it's best if you leave straight away." Bit rude, but I understand his concerns. Spinning my ring on my finger, and tightening my hold of Jian, I nod at him, indicating my readiness. With a deep breath, Strange stretches out both arms, lit by rings of magic, and casts, a spell passing from his lips, "Hopeful Homebound of Hecate!" With the invoking of a Goddess of magic and crossroads, the doors blast open.
My stomach drops as the inner plane of the Crossroads is revealed to us, the rainbow roads fractured and broken, with shards, large and small, floating through it. In the distance, the crosspost is visible, its limbs limp, pointing nowhere, their signs hanging off them, swaying with no breeze. I take a step to the door, intending to get a closer look, when a giant, outstretched hand, its skin the colour of golden wheat, its nails a nature green, reaches out through the void.
The presence of the being causes the realm to begin to shake, its broken paths beginning to ever so slowly gravitate towards each other. From deep with the shards, a spark of fire flashes, passing between the shards with agility, flying towards the hand. It stops before it, a screech ringing out, before a voice sounds, its tone rich and motherly, "If that is what you want, little bird." With that said, the fire turns and starts to move in my direction, its figure growing clear as it nears, taking the shape of the Vermilion Bird.
Drawing Jian, just I case, I take a stance before the door, hearing the master sorcerers behind conjuring their magic's. The bird quickly reaches the created door, flapping its wings to brake, coming to a stop just before it, not crossing the threshold. As I lower Jian, wondering its doing, the bird abruptly flashes forward, moving faster then I can react, crashing in my centre mass, sending me flying back between the sorcerers.
Cycling my Chi as I'm thrown, to heal any damage, I feel with surprise as the bird swims through my meridians, passing through my lower dantian. It moves up as my back crashes into the hard floor, an orange glow shining out from under my clothes. Sitting up, I put my back to the sorcerers and lift my top, watching with fascination as a trail of fire moves under my skin, climbing up to my left shoulder and then down my arm, wrapping around my wrist and forming a pattern.
The fire flashes, a painful, but easily ignorable burning sensation issuing from my wrist, smoke rising from it. When it clears, I'm left staring at a calligraphic tattoo in shape of a bird, its wings wide, created from dark as ink brush strokes, a combination of thick and thin lines. Activating Revelation as I hear the sorcerers approach me, my eyes widen at what information I receive,
[Revelation
Name – Crest of the Vermilion Bird
Type – Seal (Divine, Fire, Renewal)
Benefits - ?
History – When the Vermilion Bird was sent to the Crossroads by its master, Zhurong, God of fire, to help its masters chosen, it engaged in combat against a Goddess, holding her off long enough for the human woman to escape. Their fight caused damage to the Inner Plane, shattering many paths and closing off a great many worlds.
While trapped within, waiting for its master to bring it home, the Great Mother appeared and started to heal the realm. Offering her greetings, it watched her in silence, a numerous amount of years passing while it remained perched, until one day, a door to reality opened up, through which it could see the young woman.
With the world of mortals within reach, a message was passed to it by its master, requesting that it shelter within the woman, creating a connection through which she could reach home. Accepting the command of its master, the Vermilion Bird bid farewell to the All-Mother, telling her of its intentions, then flew off, turning itself into energy. Entering the human's body, it passed her along its crest, then began to slumber, waiting for its master to call upon it once more.
So the Heavenly Dao can reach into the marvel universe? Good to know. Still, what is up with today; why are all these cosmetic changes being forced on me? I'm not that attached to my appearance, and wouldn't care if it changed too much, but it would be nice if I was asked if I wanted them.
With a sigh, I lower my top and stand, turning round to find the sorcerers surrounded by magic, ready to fight. Giving them a dismissive wave of my hand, I say, "Everything's okay, I know that bird." With a frown, Strange drops his magic, Wong doing the same, before he looks at me searchingly. Turning, he reaches out to the magic doorway and closes it with a gesture, then looks back at me and asks the room,
"How about you tell us what just happened?" Nodding in agreement, I lift my arm, showing off my new, black tattoo, and explain,
"From what this thing told me... the Crossroads is broken for the time being, at least until one of its creators can heal it." Raised eyebrows meet my words, as I continue, "That means I am truly stuck here for now, at least until the moment the way back is working." Dropping my arm, the reality of my situation starts to hit me a little bit.
The only other methods of multiversal travel that I know to exist, and that can get me home, are either the TVA, or America Chavez, the girl from Utopia with the ability to open portal to other universes. The TVA is pretty self-explanatory, while America could be literally anywhere in time and space, so she's out. Even if I did find her, at this point in her life, she has zero control over her powers. She's more likely to accidentally send me to a void of unreality, where my existence will be unmade, than get me anywhere close to home.
Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath, then slowly let it out, my frustration leaving me as I do. Opening them, I find the sorcerers looking at me with concern, causing me to give them a smile; their concern appreciated, but not needed. Staring at Strange, I ask him, hoping his answer is a positive one, "Is it okay if I stay in the Sanctum for now, at least until I can work out how to get my own place?" I see surprise flash in the eyes of Strange, the reason unknown to me, before he answers,
"Do you even need to ask? This may not be your world, but you're a sorcerer all the same." Letting a little sigh of relief, I laugh slightly, looking between to the two. Walking through them, I start to make my way to the stairs, feeling their eyes on me. Stopping a couple steps high, I turn and look back at them, a smile on my face,
"Come along then, I'll make us some lunch." Flicking my eyes to Wong, a piece of information comes to mind, a half-remembered memory of something he'll once say, "You guys like tuna melts?" I watch with good humor as Wong perks up, glares at Strange meaningfully, then answers,
"We don't mind them." He nods, feigning a passive attitude.
Winking at him, I wave them over, starting to make my way upstairs...
A bit more positive about my future.