"Doctor." Ancient One began, her voice firm yet gentle.
"You are a friend of Kamar-Taj, and I do not doubt your intention to help. But the Eye of Agamotto… is a sacred legacy of the great sage Agamotto. A conduit for the Time Stone."
"He left one warning, unless the world stands at the brink, the power of time must not be used. Time is not a tool. It is a river, delicate and wild. If you try to control it recklessly, you risk drowning all of existence."
"Yes." Mordo added, eyes blazing.
"Disrupting time arbitrarily can fracture the universe. You could shatter dimensional boundaries and create irreversible chaos. Entire realities could collapse!"
But Soren did not falter.
He had expected this. Of course, they would guard the Eye. It was, after all, Kamar-Taj's crown jewel, both a weapon and a warning.
But he had come prepared.
"I respect Agamotto." Soren tone even.
"But I also know he was mortal. Flawed. Perhaps even afraid."
Ancient One's gaze soured, but she said nothing.
"You say he left a warning? Then let me ask, did he ever explain why he feared it? Or did he simply not understand it?"
Mordo's hand twitched toward his staff. "Mind your tongue."
"I will speak plainly." Soren replied coolly.
"There are six Infinity Stones in the universe. Each one a primal force. Whoever controls one must understand it or be consumed by it."
"I have seen what they can do. I have touched that power. And I am not here to play games."
Ancient One narrowed her eyes. "You speak as though you have seen them before."
"Because I have. In my sanctum lies the Space Stone."
Mordo froze. "That's impossible."
But Ancient One remained silent.
Soren's words had the ring of truth.
And deep within, she remembered something her teacher had once said, that Agamotto had discovered the Eye, not forged it. It was not a gift of wisdom, but a relic of cosmic chance.
And now this Soren Macaluso claimed to hold another?
Ancient One turned inward, torn. If what he said was true, then perhaps he did have the strength to face Dormammu. Perhaps he was the only one.
But at what cost?
Still, her silence spoke volumes.
Soren took her hesitation as a sign to press further.
"The Eye of Agamotto has gathered dust long enough. You keep it locked away, hidden like a cursed jewel. But what good is a sword you never draw?"
"Give it to me, and I will end this threat."
"Not delay it. Not repel it. End it."
Ancient One closed her eyes.
Visions flickered behind her mind's eye. The face of Kaecilius, corrupted by zealotry. Dormammu's endless hunger. The burning of sanctums. And now, Soren the enigma, unreadable… but sincere.
"If the Time Stone can truly solve this, then perhaps… it must be used." She said at last.
"Sorcerer Supreme!" Mordo's disbelief was written across his face. "You cannot be serious!"
"I am." She replied, raising a hand to silence him.
"This world has stood on the edge too many times. If there is even a chance a chance, to remove Dormammu forever, we must take it."
Mordo looked stricken but said nothing more.
Faint candlelight danced on the carved stone walls, casting long shadows over the floor where forbidden tomes and sealed relics lined rows of reinforced vaults.
At the heart of the room Ancient One, solemn and guarded, with Soren Macaluso just a few steps away.
With practiced fingers, the Ancient One began unraveling the complex arcane seals around the relic. Layers of golden magic faded away one by one, revealing a bronze locket with a prominent green eye embedded in its center.
Even dormant, it pulsed faintly with power, an echo of eternity.
"This is the Eye of Agamotto."
She extended it toward him without flourish, an action full of trust, risk, and resignation. The faint green glow shimmered in the dim room like the calm before a cosmic storm.
Soren stepped forward and took it gently, his fingers brushing over the cool metal. The moment he touched it, he felt the pulse of time itself.
Ancient, limitless, untamed.
It was truth, layered over centuries, vibrating with echoes of things long past… and things not yet written.
[Ding! World Mission: Collect the Infinite Rough Stones of the Universe Progress: 2/6]
The system prompt echoed silently in his mind, as cold and mechanical as ever, but the satisfaction behind it was undeniable.
"Astounding."
Soren let the gem's light cast dancing shadows across his face.
"I'll study it first." He said smoothly.
"In the meantime, you should keep a close watch on the London Sanctum. If my intuition's correct, Kaecilius will make his move there very soon."
Ancient One raised an eyebrow. "London?"
"Yes."
Soren tucked the Eye of Agamotto into his coat. "When he strikes, notify me. Leave the rest to me."
Without waiting for a reply, Soren raised his hand, and vanished in a flicker of golden sparks, leaving behind only silence.
Mordo scowled at the empty space where Soren had stood. "Sorcerer Supreme."
"Are you certain we can trust him? He carries himself like a man with too many secrets."
Ancient One remained still. "He is a man of secrets. But so was Agamotto, once. So am I."
She turned toward the vault entrance.
"Macaluso is not to be challenged further. Strength like his is not easily gained without sacrifice. For now, we need his help. Focus on the London Sanctum. And send word to Wong."
Mordo clenched his jaw but bowed his head.
"Understood."
Far from the monasteries of Kamar-Taj, in a room filled with strange contraptions and glowing runes, Soren reappeared inside his sanctum, his Everlife, as he called it.
Closing the doors behind him, he moved to the center of the room.
The Time Gem in the Eye of Agamotto pulsed now with open power, resonating with the protective enchantments of the room.
With a mere thought, the mithril casing cracked and fell away, revealing the raw emerald core.
Immediately, the chamber flooded with green light.
For a fleeting moment, Soren felt… everything.
Time stretched and curled, wrapping around him like silk and steel. He stood at the center of endless rivers of futures, his body weightless in the currents of destiny.
He saw versions of himself, countless lives, victories, failures, deaths, rebirths… and something dark, lurking behind the veil.
But the more he tried to focus, the more the vision pulled away, as if time itself refused to be predicted.
"Tch… elusive as expected." He murmured, blinking slowly as he reasserted his presence in the present moment.
"But still… such potential."
With a simple motion of his hand, time magic began to coalesce around his palm. Runes spiraled to life, forming a luminous ring-shaped sigil that hovered just above his skin.
He channeled the magic through the sigil, feeding it with the Time Gem's energy until the shape solidified into a glowing green seal.
"Let's see what you can really do."
He stepped out into the garden courtyard behind the medical hall, where a blood orchid sat near a stone fountain. Its flower had long since bloomed and been plucked, leaving only a trimmed stalk behind.
Soren raised his hand, palm open.
The sigil flared to life.
Green energy enveloped the orchid, and reality shimmered.
Within seconds, the flower began to rewind its existence, stem stretching, bud forming, petals unfurling. Time reversed with perfect precision, as though someone were pressing rewind on the universe itself.
A freshly bloomed orchid stood before him, alive, radiant, untouched by the past.
Soren smiled. "Late is no longer in my vocabulary."
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
Fellow Phantoms and aspiring Phantoms to be, if you seek to access advanced parts of this story procced to my shadowy realm of p@treon.
PhantomDream