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It was a cold day, all days had been cold for the last month or so, the colour of leaves had changed into warmer tones and the cold wind had taken them from the trees. Autumn had always been your favourite season, you would wrap yourself into lays of clothing and wander through the pages of the books of the local library, the time stopped for good, and the darkness of reality would vanish for a moment, your ordinary life would be replaced for one of your favourite characters' adventures.
The pitch black sky was split into two by a lightning strike, when you were going back home with a bunch of books in your arms, the books fell surrounding your almost lifeless body on the pavement. You expected the rain to fall over you, instead you just felt as if some sort of electricity ran through your body making you touch the frozen fingers of death, shivering with no way of stopping you, no one able to help you.
You knew quite well Bleecker Street was not the kind of street people used to hang around, it was always isolated and being completely honest, it was the reason you'd always choose it as a way to get home. It was silent most of the times, and the building with the "eye" as you used to call it, would always give you a new story to tell, since you used to imagine many situations occurring inside that mysterious place, you never imagined though, that the eye would actually peer and bring you some help, the moment you needed it.
A tall man had run out of the building towards you, and you did not know much after that, the man, your now protector took you inside and looked after you, a rare moment of consciousness let you know he was checking on you while reading immense books, but just after you had a glance of the man, you felt like you were on fire and your mind decided to turn off for a while.
You woke up a few days later with a hole in your memories. You found yourself in a dark room with a single big window where you could see trees through. It was raining, the little and scattered drops beating the glass, and although you were wrapped into several blankets, you were sure it was a crisp day since your bones responded to the freezing wind sneaking into the room. You attempted to stand after a few minutes, after realising you didn't know where you were, whose bed you were lying on, since it obviously was not a hospital, nevertheless, you found yourself stopped by one of the blankets covering you, you thought yourself crazy but the purple fabric would not let you move, so you gave in, you were still weak, and decided you were not completely recovered, after all.
"Why, hello. You're feeling better, I presume". The tall man you had had a glance of before, stood before you and stared at your face, making you to look away. You had seen him for just seconds but you could swear his eyes had changed from the previous time.
"I'm... I thought so, but maybe I should not rely on my senses just yet"
"And why would that be, young lady?"
"I... I think... I think this blanket stopped me from getting up"
You blushed knowing he would laugh at you, and he did, but it was not the cruel mocking laugh you had expected, it was a soft one.
"It can be quite possessive" he nodded and the blanket that now you discovered to be a cloak flew right onto his shoulders, and its purple colour changed into red. You smiled with a shocked expression not knowing what to say, you sure had questions but how to start asking?
"Hum, I... I would like to know what happened to me... and who I must thank"
"You were walking down the street in the wrong moment, fortunately I was there to help, and no need to thank, let's say if it weren't for you, there would have been a big chaos"
"I'm sorry but I don't quite understand, now you're thanking me, what for?"
"I'm saying you owe me nothing, thus no need to thank. You can leave once you feel better." The man turned and before leaving whispered "It's Doctor Stephen Strange".
Although, you would have loved to go back home that same afternoon, your legs weren't reacting as they normally would, and you were not able to remember the address you used to call home, of course there were ways to find out, perhaps you only needed to go back to the library and ask for your personal information registered in the system, still you did not have the strength either, so you decided to wait a few days more, you noticed you were all alone most of the time,(even if you had the feeling the walls had eyes and watched your every move), and the man whose home you were recovering in, had no trouble with you sticking around for a few days more. And you were certainly amazed by the discoveries you'd made in that place related to its dark secrets.
"Wow this is such a big library" you stared at the pile of books over the desk of the man and then at the halls with walls filled with books, that room looked like it was endless, you kept seeing files and files of aligned books until they were not longer visible because of the lack of light and the limited ability of your eyes.
"It is" the man did not look at you; he kept reading the old pages of the book on his lap.
"And the building looks small from the outside, I bet it's bigger on the inside" you laughed at your inside joke, and he finally looked at you with a confused look, as if you were out of your mind.
"I'm sorry, I should not disturb you, I talk a lot when I'm nervous, I was just wondering if I could borrow a book, they all look quite interesting and I had never heard of some of the titles you have here"
"If that will prevent you from talking and laughing, then be my guest"
You didn't get offended at his commentary since it gave you the hope of recovering all your memories soon, if you had been capable of remembering some sci-fi show, you would be able to remember the important things very soon. After a few minutes, you sat on the opposite side of the room and started reading a hard cover book regarding "ancient spells of black magic", you had thought it was some kind of a gothic novel, but it was actually filled with recipes in order to gain different powers or to obtain certain things, which you found awkward.
The silent atmosphere created between you two was comfortable, and it'd have been only disturbed by the sound of passing pages if a big explosion hadn't made you jump. The wooden door opened and a man wearing similar robes to the doctor's appeared out of nowhere, he was angry you could see, and he was casting some kind of spell, because there were lights coming from his hands and fingers that were actually attacking your host.
"Wong? What the hell do you think you're doing!?"
The doctor managed to say before the lights wrapped him by the neck, making him breath heavily.
"Oh, stop pretending, I know what you're doing, and you'll not..."
The man was cut off by you and the book you had thrown at his head, and because he had blacked out due to it. The other man coughed while trying to reincorporate.
Once he was able to breath properly, he made some movements with the hands and opened a circle with bright borders, it looked like a black hole, and then made the unconscious man to disappear through that hole, next he closed it.
"So I must thank you now"
"What did just happen?" you frowned at him, puzzled.
"My assistant was possessed by a demon; it seems"
Your eyes opened wide and nodded, you tried not to act as if you thought he was out of his mind, you always had dreamed of strange things happening there but you did not think they were actually that strange.
"Alright, I think it's time for me to..."
"If it weren't for you, he'd have me killed"
"No worries, I think we're fine now, you know, you saved me, I saved you..."
"Actually, now I have a vacant"
Your right eyebrow lifted in suspicion.
"Would you like to be my apprentice? "
"I don't think it is a good idea, I know nothing of... of whatever you do here" you looked around, the place was so odd, the things, the furniture, the energy, the blankets...
"It involves reading lots and lots of books on several subjects"
You grinned, were you that easy to read?
"Alright, but if you want me to cast some kind of spell, then you must know I'm incapable of doing so, and I still doubt magic and spells are real."
"You've just seen real magic and still you can't believe it is real?"
"Is it a bad thing?" You asked a bit worried of what his answer would be.
"It is not, you remind me of someone... but it's not time for chatting, it's time to tell you the things you'll be studying and your chores from now on."
You nodded and followed him, it had been such a sudden change, you did not know what you were getting into, oh but you would.
Life at the Sanctum Sanctorum used to be kind of normal except for the nights when the silence became unbearable. It was not like the silence of an ordinary night, it was the kind of silence brought from the deepest point of the planet, the kind of silence stolen from the unknown places of the universe, beyond the borders where air was just an idea. It was deafening, it was frightening, it brought shivers running down your spine when the silence woke you up in the middle of the night. You started to wonder how much time it would take you to get used to it, it gave you a weird feeling, a feeling of loneliness and betrayal... Perhaps it was the fact no one had been looking for you during the time you spent there, he had warned you though, one night when you felt hopeless because you weren't able to understand a topic due to your limited abilities in those ancient languages the books were written in.
"I should go home, this is useless to me, I can't go out saying I know how to cast spells and read Sanskrit, I'm just wasting my time here..."
"Your abilities go beyond what people usually can do, you're better than they are"
"But I won't get paid for it, right?" You smiled, you tried to push away the dark thoughts your mind was using to torture you.
"Well... you'd receive enough..." he sighed
"And the price? You always say..."
"Yes, there is a price to pay but I'm not talking about actual money, and you will have everything you need to live"
You sighed and nodded, but there was something else, he could tell.
"What is it? What else bothers you? Is it me? Am I too... annoying?"
"Not at all!" You quickly assured, you did not want to hurt his feelings in any way, even if he was a bit grumpy and serious, he was also polite and very very clever. "I'm just a bit... homesick? I mean, I guess my family must be worried".
His expression relaxed just a bit, because the concern was still reflected in his eyes.
"I'm afraid that if you had a family they would be looking for you, and had already found you, and it is not the case, you never stop looking for your beloved ones."
He looked away, he looked at the window, the time had stopped or it looked like that, because it would always rain, as if you were trapped in autumn. He looked at the rain and at the orange trees. You stayed silent, you knew he was right, you had been thinking about it, but you hoped it was not true and someone out there was still waiting for you, it was hard to find out there was no one, he was everything you had.
So you stayed. It was like going back to school, you'd wake up and cook for the both of you, although, sometimes your master would do it, then you'd be entirely devoted to your books for the rest of the morning and would assist your master in case he needed a hand, which until now was not quite often. He'd be out most of the day, and most of the night as you had deduced, maybe because he was not able to bear with the silence and the voracious shadows that walked like flesh and blood and their quiet steps on the carpet.
One night you heard a muffled scream and even though you were scared to death, you decided something was really going on since you could hear a little battle was taking place in the library. You peered through the keyhole of the door and you saw nothing but the man who had given you shelter and his own shadow, you decided he was making some kind of important decision and that was the reason he was acting that strange... stranger than normal, even if you were talking about him.
"Today you're skipping your lessons, no books today, but practice, real work"
You frowned at his words, you've been there for... you did not know how long to be honest, time seemed to pass in a different way there, you had read so much and acquired enough knowledge for a million lifetimes and still to you, it felt like you had been there for less than a month.
"And why would that be?"
"Well... it's time, you cannot be here all the time, you'll become a bookworm, and I mean, a real one, not even you would like that, would you"
He smiled, but his smile was not sincere you could perceive (besides, he rarely smiled at you or at anyone), and he was nervous you could also tell (was he actually capable of feeling?), either way, you smiled back and followed him out the building. The weak sunlight stabbed your sensitive eyes already used to artificial light, such as the candlelight. It was autumn again, or maybe it was the same autumn, you could not tell.
You two walked down the street, and kept walking in silence for blocks, you expected him to use one of the magic gates you had seen him using, the one you just had learnt to use, but instead he was walking like a normal human being, you noticed his eyes didn't have those big black bags beneath, which was odd, and his eyes were completely blue and the red and purple sparks in them, were gone.
"What are we doing here?"
"Well I am a doctor, am I not?"
"But... you work here or something?"
"I used to... it seems"
That was something you could never get to understand about him, it was like he had lost his memories, just like you had. You followed him through the halls of the hospital until he stopped and dragged you into a small room filled with brooms and cleaning tools, he closed the door behind you and you stood in front of him, with a very little distance between the both of you. You did not know why but your cheeks reddened when he looked at you and barely smiled, your legs trembled and your heart skipped a beat. It had been a feeling you had been ignoring for some time now, and it was worrying you now, you had not felt like that before (as far as you could recall).
"No one can see us, ok?"
He warned you, you nodded because the situation left you at loss of words. He sighed.
"I'm here to see someone, I've been waiting a while to do this, you needed to be ready in order to help me, so once I go out this place, you’ll hold this"
You managed to hold a cup you've read of somewhere before, you didn't have to ask what was it for, you knew exactly and wondered the reason he would take the memories of someone away, but you knew better than to question his methods and reasons, you had learnt he had always been protecting the world beyond what your eyes were able to see.
A woman who looked the age of the doctor was walking in the hall outside the room you were trapped in. The doctor opened the door and left you inside waiting for the spell to be casted.
"Stephen? I thought you were... oh my god, Stephen, I'm so glad you are here!" The woman held the man in her arms like if she had not seen him for ages.
"Christine! I had been missing you for so long" you saw Stephen Strange was being ten thousand times more expressive than he had been before, you could see he loved that woman, and he was happy by her side, you felt happy about it, but you would be lying if you said you didn't felt something hitting your chest. "I never thought I would see you again"
"Come on, Stephen, it's been only a few months" the woman laughed and he joined her, but you could see his eyes were filled with concern.
"You can't even imagine it... But this time, this time, things will be ok, I promise" he caressed her cheekbones, next he whispered something under his breath and you caught the memories of the woman in the cup you had been given.
Both of them disappeared down the hallway and you returned to the Sanctum Sanctorum on your own. You heard Stephen's steps when the night had already bloomed, and until then, you were capable of sleeping.
The next couple of days you helped Stephen to sort things out, things related to the forbidden doors in the sanctum sanctorum, books and things that needed attention. He looked happier than you had ever seen him, and as if he was in a hurry to get things done.
"My young apprentice" he picked your attention one morning, looking at you with a big smile in his face. "You've been working very hard on this, haven't you? Of course you have. You are able to open portals and to cast protection spells, so you are ready"
"Ready? Ready for... what exactly?"
"To be the protector of the Sanctum Sanctorum"
You raised an eyebrow not quite understanding the meaning of his words.
"You must be kidding, I mean, you must. You cannot be serious about it"
"I am, my sincere congratulations!"
"But well, you'll still be here, isn't it? To supervise, I mean, in case this is not any of your jokes"
"And I've played jokes on you quite often I suppose, that is why you think this is one of them"
He was damn right, he had never joked before, about anything, to you he had always been someone incapable of having feelings of the good kind... or at least pretended not to, since you knew he had saved your life.
"And no, I won't be here that long, actually, since I'm getting married next week, you'll be here on your own, but no need to worry, you've been here for a century, and studied for the same amount of time, I became the sorcerer supreme with less knowledge and experience than the one you have received, you're more than ready to deal with anything, you've got the knowledge I didn't have when I assumed the role... and I'm afraid we won't get to see each other ever again, I'm sorry about it, you're such a nice girl, and smart, a quite smart one, I know you'll handle it."
Your face changed, and he perceived it. So it had been a century? Could it be true? And after a century of being just the two of you against the dangerous and strange things and demons, trapped in time, he was going to leave you like that... with such a big responsibility relying on you.
"Why? Why are you doing this? You are the sorcerer supreme, not me. Please stop this nonsense!"
"I've been pursuing this for so long, centuries and centuries, and I've finally learnt the lesson, I surrender the magic to gain my freedom and my life. I could have had this before, but I waited for another century in order to help you to be prepared to assume your role, it is your fate, you have nothing to lose and much to gain. I know about you, no family, no relatives, no love..."
Your eyes filled with tears for the first time in a century, literally, and you failed to hold them back. Your head was spinning and you did not know what to think, what to say back, and he did not give you the time either since he rose and left you there in the library, your favourite place, now your new prison, in total solitude.
You barely ran into Stephen the next few days, he was all the time busy, answering the phone and talking to actual people, he had also started to wear normal clothes, being only you the one with strange robes wandering through the dark halls trying to maintain everything under your control, it did not really scare you since, except for the time Wong had lost his mind, nothing had happened, and it had been one hundred years, therefore, you saw quite impossible the chance something dangerous (more dangerous than the usual stuff) would ever happen, however, you were not sure you would be staying, your mind was a mess, but your heart... it was collapsing, thus you were not able to make a decision since you could not either think or find peace in your mind.
"Stephen"
He was packing a few things in a suitcase when he heard you and immediately looked at you, a bit surprised, you had never called him by his name, you would always refer to him as "doctor", but he realised, you did not respect him as a superior anymore, and you were right after all, so his gaze softened.
"Y/N" he replied, resuming his activity, not looking at you anymore.
"Are you leaving now?" you pointed at the suitcase before him, he nodded. “You should not"
"I already told you, my time as the sorcerer supreme has finished due to personal reasons but also because I proved myself, I'm not capable of protecting our reality anymore because..."
"I don't care, listen to me, I've sensed a change in the energy of the place..."
"Of course you did, I surrendered my power, remember? It was very nice to meet you, but now I got to go, see you... see you"
He grabbed his suitcase and left the place he would call home for at least a whole century, he left you with a weak smile, you could be going mad but you noticed sadness in his glare, and guilt, maybe because he was leaving you there, maybe because he deeply knew he was going to regret his choices; and you ended as you started: all alone.
You were not invited to the wedding but you still remembered the day, it was the last day of October when the church ringed the bells while the groom impatiently waited for the woman of his dreams to cross the big door through the long red carpet, who would join him and give a vow of eternal loyalty to her husband, and her husband to her, so their souls would be forever intertwined.
He had been waiting for this for so long, so why was he feeling this way? Like he was making a big mistake. He shook his head to the sides and blamed the nervousness and the hard times that he had lived, it did not feel real, but it was, and still he was not as happy as he thought he would be. The bride soon walked in, and the public admired in silence, the protocol said they had to wait to the end of the ceremony to finally kiss each other as a sign of love, but Stephen could not wait another second, and he needed to erase that uncomfortable feeling striking his chest. He lifted the veil and joined his lips to the ones of the woman he had in front of him, it did not taste like he had expected but he would not step back now, she surrounded him with her arms and resting her forehead on his shoulder for a while.
"Christine" he whispered so she would reincorporate and the ceremony could begin, the few people attending were expecting that. "Christine, come on"
Soon, his tone was less soft and more worried, his fiancée did not seem to react to his words. "Oh my- Christine!"
She fell into his arms, her eyes closed and her skin pale.
"NO! NO, NO, NO!"
Perhaps he had been confused but his goal was always clear, and he was losing her once again. One of the attendants called an ambulance, but it was too late for her. Stephen Strange abandoned the hospital and ran towards Bleecker Street and stood in front of de 177 A, he knocked at the door a few times.
"Please Y/N, I'm so sorry for being so selfish, but I need your help"
You opened the door and found a ragged man with grief reflected in his face. You let him in. You were still angry at him, and maybe... disappointed, so you did not really pay too much attention to him when he started to go from a place to another, acting like a maniac.
"I cannot do this on my own, I need you, please" he finally stopped wandering and stood before you.
You looked at him, you had been reading (or pretending to) the whole time. He sat in front of you when you indicated it and told you the story, the whole story (or what you think it was the whole story) , how he had lost his heart, acquired big amounts of black magic due to absorbing several creatures and how the woman was dead again, but in a different universe, and that he needed to try again.
You moved your head to the sides, it didn't make too much sense, if that had happened before, it was sure it would again, and you thought it would just make it worse, you had learnt about it in those old books you had spent your time in, whereas, seeing him like this, destroyed and losing his mind... it was a good time to admit to yourself you had certain feelings for him, and you could not help when your arms held him so he found some support in his shattered world and openly cried on your shoulder, and even if it was the worst idea he had had, you would help him.
He led you to one of the forbidden doors he had warned you about for at least a hundred times before leaving you, you used to think that was the most dangerous among the others because he would tell you that all the time, and now he wanted to venture himself through it and its hidden horrors.
"I need you to open it" he said
"But you said..."
"I would not put you in danger if it was not required, but I don't own any magic, and therefore I cannot open it by myself"
You nodded and summoned a strong energy that allowed you to open the metal portal.
At first you were not able to see anything and you hesitated, you did not know if you were supposed to enter or leave Stephen on his own, the next second you decided you had to follow him since you were the one who could provide him some help if needed since he was powerless.
"Stay behind, Y/N" he warned but you didn't listen. "I said..."
"I heard you, but since I'm the one who can actually do something, if you want my help you do as I say"
He sighed but allowed you to continue. There was too much damp as you had imagined, and it was dark, it was filled with black and heavy shadows, your breathing even became a bit difficult because of the atmosphere of that room, it was like entering a cemetery in the middle of a frozen night, your steps echoed though, but it was a muffled sound because it looked like the shadows were made with matter instead of the lack of light. So you saw nothing but blackness.
You kept walking until you felt something under your feet.
"I'd appreciate if you didn't break my wrist"
You frowned in confusion, you had not touched him... unless... a flash of light made you understand, you clapped your hands and you both were able to see in the darkness. You gasped in horror at what was at your feet. It was the man you had been living with for so long, had abandoned you and now was back asking for help, his clothes were the robes you had seen for the last century but they were shattered and his skin was pale, the palest man you'd ever seen, big dark bags under his closed eyes and his heart was lifeless. There was something about that man that made you feel fear, maybe because he looked like any kind of monster, made of suffering, like a nightmare that would wake you up during the night, the misery of life dropped in a body.
"What on earth is going on?!" it made you sick to your stomach seeing such image, so you faced Stephen. "Who are you?"
"That's a long story, I'm him, and he's me"
You took your hands to your face and sighed, waiting for an explanation.
"He's me from this universe"
"You killed him? You killed yourself?"
"Absorbed him"
"What? Why?!"
"He would not have agreed otherwise; he hadn't felt this pain" he took his hand to his chest. "But for now, I don't have time for explanations"
He touched the lifeless body and it vanished into the man who stumbled when received that immense amount of energy in a single gulp. You had never seen him like that before, there were tentacles out of his body and it looked like they belonged to him, his eyes turned red, and there were also horns, the black bags under his eyes were there again and the red cloak was actually purple this time, a second after, he was almost the same he had been before but his eyes irradiated black magic.
"Where do you think you are going? You need to tell me what's going on!"
"Y/N, I need to do this a last time, I swear that if this does not work, I'll come back, give you an explanation and set you free"
The sorcerer supreme left once again, and you did not know what to do, once again you were not required, but you noticed something was going on outside, you could sense it, so you decided to take a look at it.
"Oh my- Stephen!" You ran towards him and took him into your arms, he was resting under a tree, exhausted and injured, and you could swear he had been crying.
"No, I have to try it again, there are many possibilities left."
"Stephen, please..."
He was so weak you were capable of taking him home with you even if he tried to reject your help.
He slept for days, and you were starting to think he would not wake up ever again, but one morning while you were making your coffee, he was on the couch looking through the window, you looked at him, and he looked at you in silence.
"So..."
"So..."
"Are you leaving again?"
He sighed and looked at the floor, perhaps you had been too direct.
"I am not"
"Ok... so what are you doing now?"
"Staying, if you don't mind"
"Not at all" you smiled and he did the same, you served him coffee and turned the chimney on, it was a crisp day, you two drank your cup of coffee, and did not share a single word.
You did not know when or how you both had crossed the line and you were lying on the same couch together. Nothing had happened, not a single kiss, but your heads were against each other and you two were sharing a purple cloak that had looked after you two in the middle of the night when it started to freeze. It had also wanted something else to happen between the both of you, but Stephen was too busy being afraid, feeling betrayed maybe, and sleeping was always a better idea, it was like sharing the dreams of both of you and the serenity provided by the night. You had become very close, and you knew he loved you as much as you loved him, and still when he was about to kiss you, he would always step back. That was what had happened last night, you were both reading and discussing a topic about the boundaries of magic when your faces were so close you could smell his breath, he made your forehead to touch his, and held your hand, taking you to the sofa, looking at you every single moment, you closed your eyes when your noses touched, but as you did so, he changed his mind and made you place your head on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I wish I could” he whispered and you barely nodded at his words, you had felt asleep.
"Coffee?"
You nodded he had already brought coffee while you were still opening your eyes, you drank a sip, it was cold and bitter, you were silent for a moment, but you decided it was time to talk, you held your cup with your fingers and looked at him, attempting to read him.
"What is it?" He asked, not looking back.
"You have never told me why you did what you did"
"No need to bring back those times, I live here now and..."
"You are trapped in the past, Stephen"
"You say so because I don't want to kiss you?" he laughed, it was a mocking laugh, and you could not help but feel a bit sad about it, were you a joke to him?
"I say it because it is obvious, you're always in another place, but you're right it's none of my business"
"I'm sorry, you're right. And I didn't mean to be rude to you" he apologised after a while, when you finished your beverage.
"I just wanted you to know that if you need me, I'll always be here for you"
He nodded and you got up, you did not see each other for the rest of the day since there was a lot of work these days, some kind of magic was causing chaos in your reality.
It was late at night when you two found yourselves again, you were looking for a book to read, and he was just looking through "the eye" since neither of you were able to sleep. He looked worried, tired, lost. You stared at him for a while not knowing what to say, you were worried about his state, you wanted to help, but you certainly did not know how.
"I'll be alright, no need to worry about me, you should go to sleep" he said, barely seeing you.
"Tell me if you need a hand to help you fall asleep tonight" you mumbled before leaving, to you, it looked like things were coming to an end even before they started.
You were lying on your bed, a book on your lap, the sound of the eternal rain in the window, the lit light of a lamp by your side, the kind of cold that made your limbs get frozen and shiver, and your heart half broken. A book would always bring you a little of warm but this time it was not helping as it would have done before, when you were normal, when you did not feel like this.
"May I come in?" A hesitating shadow had been standing for the last couple of minutes by the door and you nodded.
The man sat in front of you, as the last days, he looked upset, like he was not able to make up his own mind. He placed his hand in yours and stared right at your eyes.
"I would actually appreciate that hand" he said and you nodded again. "I think it's time to move on"
"Tell me, what this is all about, no need to carry the world on your shoulders"
Then he told you the story, how he had destroyed his own universe due to the loss of his beloved, and you could not help but felt moved by his feelings and what they had done to them.
"So my only way to escape was to change from universe, something happened and I ended up here, the only universe where Christine was alive. I opened a portal and there, you were hurt because of the magic I used, at first I thought you had been a horrible distraction because you had made too much noise, it sounded like a car smashing someone, but because of it, my variant went out willing to help you, then I knocked him out since he was distracted because of you. I absorbed him, I had absorbed so many things and creatures before, but absorbing myself was different, it was killing me... I helped you, anyway, you have always had something on you that attracts me... and I had another problem... Wong, somehow he managed to realise what I was doing, who I really was, but the harder he tried, would make my inner monster worse, therefore, I sent him to my own universe, and got myself a new apprentice..."
You were caught on his story until you realised it too.
"You used me"
"By looking at you I could tell you had no family here, not friends, nothing else, you are an introvert and you had fled from a bad situation that hurt you very deeply, so I took your memories away in order to keep you by my side, then after a few days I realised that you were the perfect person to be my substitute, you were smart and learnt quite quickly, besides you had nothing to lose as I had told you before"
"You didn't have the right to..."
"I know and I regret it now, but someone had told me I was doing the things wrong and therefore I thought he meant I could not have a life while being the sorcerer, so I had to give one up, and I had been the sorcerer for so long I thought it had been more than enough, so I decided to give that part of my life up because I was messing everything up. But now I see he tried to warn me, to tell me I was not meant to be with her, in any way, it has taken months, but now I'm willing to give up on her, and to protect the world as I had been doing before, it is my fate and it seems there is not another option for me, in any universe I was not supposed to be with her and now I'm ok with it, and I'm willing to accept loneliness, this is what I was made for and it was my mistake being so selfish, I thought... I thought everything would be better if I quitted".
Your heart was shattered, you did not know if it was because he had used you like that, or because the pain he had been suffering for so long, or maybe because he had now accepted he would stay alone for the rest of his life and still willing to protect the reality from the dark forces surrounding it. You wanted to slap his face, to scream, to cry, but instead you wrapped him in your arms and held him, as though that hug would erase the sad memories he had been holding for so long. He received your hug with joy, it was something he had needed for so long, someone to love him, to support him, to tell him he was not alone and there was hope for him.
Finally, you let go of him, and he stared into the space, you were sure he was seeing something, something beyond your abilities, he looked sad.
"Tell me how to fall in love the way you want me to" you whispered, he looked at you, there were not words but a kiss, the kiss you had been waiting for so long, all the feelings inside you exploded like fireworks and you felt as if you were someone new, fearless and with the hope of true happiness in the years to come.
Your head was over his chest when the sunlight hit your faces, you had been looking outside the window when you fell asleep, you had been doing nothing but sharing the silence and a hug, the hug that had been kept until now. You two smiled at each other but you noticed his faded for a second after staring at your eyes.
Days passed like that, you two would get things sorted out, then would spend time together, you would walk in the park, or you would sit looking at the window while reading and sharing a cup of coffee, or you would listen to some music, you would have dinner together and fall asleep. It had been a memorable month of autumn.
Until that morning.
"The day is up and calling" he said, and got up leaving you on the bed all alone, it was not even seven in the morning and he was already getting ready for work with the same dead look of before, making sure his robes looked as presentable as the sorcerer supreme, protector of the multiverse should look.
"But I don't have to be, please come back to sleep"
He looked at you another second and left you there. You stood after him and prepared black coffee as you knew he liked it and you got a tea with two lumps of sugar, you would always eat breakfast together, but this time none of you were able to eat or drink, you were confused, after a month it looked like you two had achieved something, and now, it looked like he was regretting it.
"Is it alright, Stephen?" You asked, trying not to sound scared or worried.
"It is" he smiled weakly at you, he wanted to assure you everything was alright, but he could not, it was quite obvious it was not. "I just have some work to do, ok? It's all fine, I'll handle it, I always handle it, isn't it?"
He smiled and you tried to too, it was a joke, but you sadly knew he was not able to handle everything as he claimed, he held your hand trying to assure you everything was going to be fine. He left and you tried to focus on your chores, but something inside you told you something was wrong.
Stephen did not go home that day, and you were both worried and angry but the next morning when he came back with a defeated expression you forgave his behaviour.
"Why do you always keep secrets?" You whispered, you were lying on the bed, he had been silent since he came back early that day and the night did not change his mood. "You should trust me, we are a team, you have said so"
He finally looked at you and smiled.
"We are, aren't we? We protect each other."
"You don't have to go through this..."
"You've told me that before, you don't want to waste it, do you?"
"Stephen..."
"I know, I know. No more secrets from now on" he looked around, he was looking for something to do, to say, he remained in silence. "Do you know what I want? I want to spend the rest of this day by your side"
He approached and grabbed your hand, you smiled and nodded. You would always surrender to him. You were about to ask him what were you going to do when he took your hand and grabbed you through a portal.
It was a warm place, the autumn was behind, it was a summer breeze you could feel in your skin. The sea was before you, just the two of you.
"You better take your shoes off"
You did, and you two started to walk on the sand, his look was calm but you knew deep inside there was something huge worrying him. So if he would not tell you what it was about, and you knew you would not be able to find out until it was too late, at least you could try to cheer him up. You loosed your hand from his hand and ran towards the sea, at first he looked scared but as you started to play with the waves and call him he finally smiled due to your childish attitude and ran after you.
You spent the afternoon playing with the weaves, and walking, until dusk. Then the both of you sat in front of the ocean and looked at the sunset, it was magical how the red invaded the sky until it turned into complete darkness. You remained in silence and looking at the landscape, from time to time you would stare at Stephen and you could swear his eyes changed from red to black as the view itself, but not as a reflection, but as their own.
As soon as the dark covered the sky, he grabbed you by the hand again and dragged you through a portal.
"We were watching the sunset and now you want to see the sunrise? Why, Stephen? What is this all for?"
You observed around, everything was covered with ice, it was cold, the coldest you had ever felt, and it gave you the shivers.
"Perhaps... maybe it will be the last one we can see together"
"What do you mean?" Your nose was red and your body trembling due to the cold but still his words gave you enough energy to talk.
"I've caused you enough pain, I don't want you to suffer because of me, I must leave. You deserve something...someone better, I cannot stay...."
"You could stay with me forever"
You took his hand in yours and smiled, but he didn't do the same, he really looked upset and distracted, perhaps you could make him see you were nothing if he was not by your side.
"Or you could stay with me for now"
You touched his cold lips and leaned in for a kiss, the longest and warmest kiss you've ever received. The both of you overslept and didn't get to see either the northern lights or the sunrise in that spot of the world, although you did not matter at all because there was anything left to see as wonderful as the two of you lying on a comfortable bed, wrapped in your arms, and feeling love and pure joy due to the only fact of being together.
It was noon when you two opened your eyes and smiled at each other. You could perceive Stephen's face reflected calm and so did your heart. You two returned home and you had a feeling, it told you everything was going to be alright.
"I'll make breakfast, while you check if there is something that needs our attention" you winked and smiled, kissed him before turning and heading towards the kitchen.
He sighed and saw you disappear in the kitchen. His expression changed. He did not have a choice in the matter. He casted a spell and opened a portal, his attempt to be silent failed due to the huge amount of energy needed to open his way out.
"Stephen! What are you doing?"
You ran after him, tried to stop him.
"I have to do this."
"Where are you going?"
"I have to go, and on behalf of the multiverse, you cannot know what my destination is. Don't make things harder than they are" he looked at you, he tried to act like nothing was happening but his eyes would never lie, you had learnt to read him.
"Will my love not be enough?" You whispered.
"That's why I'm leaving you" And he walked through the magical gate, reaching the darkness until you could not see him anymore. And it was funny, because some of the darkness irradiated by the portal stayed with you as only companion.
You did not know what to do, you thought of leaving the Sanctum Sanctorum but the idea of being all alone in the real world stopped you, you stayed with the company of books and darkness by your side. And the eye, the eye you felt was looking at you every time, you got used to it. You sometimes pretended Stephen was there although the only thing you could see was the sky, but you would talk to it and tell it about your lonely life and how much you missed him, and would place your hand in the glass, hoping he did the same in the other side.
You would never know Stephen was actually looking through it, seeing you recovering from the darkness he had left on you, now he was away, you would not vanish into the air. He had seen it right after he had kissed you for the first time, at first he thought it was some kind of illusion but he was wrong, the more time he spent with you, the darker your soul became, he had to leave you even if it broke him, you would have died if he stayed by your side, he realised he was meant to be alone in his isolated universe, so he went back to it with no way back to you. He would spy on you every day, though, he would see you grow older, wishing to be there when you could not hold back your tears, placing his hand in the same spot you used to place yours, in the end, he saved your life, and even if you never saw him ever again, he looked after you and stayed with you forever.