𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆 ━━━ ❪...

a/n
[ i took the orb from the descriptions
of the comics instead of the mcu bc
i think it's much cooler in the comics ]

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TWENTY-SEVEN
𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺'𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨
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IT FELT LIKE A GOOD day for the sorcerers - Stephen felt like Wanda was making progress on mastering the mystic arts, Wanda felt like she was finally at peace for the first time in a long time and Wong felt like he was tired of seeing their displays of affection but they couldn't all win.

Wanda Maximoff woke up to okay weather, it wasn't sunny but it wasn't raining so she felt like she'd won. At that time of the year, they were slowly heading into winter and the autumn leaves had started falling onto the unsuspecting residents of New York. She looked out of the window as she rose from her bed, one that she now took to sharing with Stephen, who was gone already - she guessed he'd woken and rushed straight to the library, per usual.

Her smile stared back at her in the mirror, she was going to wear it today. It felt like a good day. The young woman pulled opened the drawer, opening a crafted box and slowly lifting the piece of jewellery that lay inside. She was going to wear the necklace that Stephen gave her today.

It somehow felt right, they'd finally come to a point in their relationship where everything felt like it wouldn't change. To her it was perfect, she hoped that he felt the same. Today was the day.

She was going to tell him she loved him.

Stephen Strange was busy working in the library but he wasn't in the usual spot, being the room with the general storage of books downstairs. He had the urge to indulge himself with a deeper study that day, something just pushed him.

The witch had to make a trip to Wong's quarters to discover where he went, she had never been to the third floor before. It was a part of the building that she always assumed was off-limits because even Wong hardly disturbed Stephen while he was in there.

Wanda moved a shaky hand onto the railing of the flight of stairs leading to the mysterious top floor, she could barely see what lay there - most of the interior was surrounded by darkness. It seemed like an entirely different place, ill-lit and eerie, though it still held the same ethereal presence as the rest of the house.

She didn't know where she was going but she didn't think it mattered when she came across a room that intrigued her. Patented floorboards stretched across the surface of the ground and the usually elaborate windows were covered with chunky floor-sweeping curtains. The light came from the ceiling, drawn in long curves along with the structural architecture.

In different corners of the room stood cases, containing objects - round, long and chunky...but there was only one that caught her eye. It was a glowing ornament, an orb of some type. It sat in an eye-shaped ornament, which held it as a kind of abstract casing.

She could tell it had magical properties just by looking at it, she could almost feel it. She didn't even get close enough to touch it before a ringing started in her head, the horrifying images she recalled from long ago flashed through her head.

An image of Stephen, eyes staring in front of him at someone she couldn't see, he lifted his hands, sending the glowing emerald rock away.

The vision flashed to another image, his lifeless body rolling onto the rocky sand, with nothing she could do. It gave her the same feeling, in reality, her body fell stiff and all she could do was shout.

"Wanda!" The doctor was in the room, appearing by magic, his hands were at her shoulders, holding her. "What happened?" She was still looking at the glowing sphere. "The Orb of Agamotto. I was previously led into believing that it was in someone else's possession but here it is now...it's a rare entity. It's from an extra-dimensional force, it allows you to detect the use of magic anywhere in the world and some say draw energies from around you."

"Draw energies? Could it warn you of anything, like maybe...possible future events?"

"Why? Did you see anything?"

"I just- no," Wanda lied, taking a deep breath. He knew that was one of her tells by now but it was left unsaid. "What is this place?"

"It's where I keep objects. These are priceless artifacts that hold magical power. Down the hall are my mediation room and my private library. Even Wong doesn't disturb me in there. What are you doing up here?"

"I was looking for you," She smiled, placing her hands on his shoulders. "You disappeared without telling me where you went and I wanted to..." Suddenly it felt all too real, telling him would change something. Out of all reason, she just wanted to stand there and stare into his eyes forever - lost. "To tell you that you shouldn't do that again but you're missing what could be some pretty excellent mornings."

"Really?" Stephen chuckled, "I'll have to keep that in mind for tomorrow..."

"Who says it's going to be tomorrow?" She teased, planting a small kiss on his lips. "You can't just go around disappointing people and expect things in return."

"Well, I'll just have to make it up to you then, won't I?" Stephen smiled, pulling her by arm, "Remember that thing I said about my private library? I wouldn't mind making it our private library."

"First the kitchen and now the library? We're making a list at this rate, Strange..."

"Oh please, Maximoff," The tone in his voice declared it as a challenge, "They don't even make my top ten places."

"Oh really?" Excitement danced in her eyes, it was clear as she wrapped her hands around his neck. She pressed a firm kiss to his lips, "We'll just have to fix that, won't we?" She chuckled, letting him pick her up, scooping her by the legs bridal style.

"We'll be quick though, right?" He agreed but they ended up staying there for hours before they finally decided to move along with anything of actual importance.

The last couple of hours of the morning were spent hunched in a corner of the library, with a book that wasn't about the mystical arts - War and Peace, written by Leo Tolstoy. He'd followed up on it after discovering her love for Russian classics.

They sat tucked in a corner, making a soft spot against a blank wall, one without a bookshelf resting upon it. The auburn sorceress rested her head on the dark-haired magician's shoulder, one of his arms wrapped around her and the other holding the book, she helped him flipped the pages.

It only took him about thirty minutes to decipher the language but Wanda insisted on reading it the correct way and he agreed after she'd stopped him several times to give him tips on his accent.

By mid-afternoon, they had reached the last chapter and curiosity started to creep in. The room was something that would leave anyone lost. The occult library had a dimly lit interior, an appearance that was becoming a theme for that floor of the Sanctum. It didn't seem any different from the other rooms apart from the lack of light.

"What is so private about this library?" Wanda looked up at the tall forest of books. "I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary."

He lifted his hand, dragging it slowly as he curved his fingers with an extra flourish, a gust of smoke circled his palm. The bright green mist cleared to reveal a large volume in his hands, it was half tattered and the leather cover was faded.

"Necromancy," He revealed the book's title, "It's one of the most advanced forms of mystical arts...comes almost hand-in-hand with reality-warping, hex and chaos magic. This is my occult library, it's filled with texts on magic that even I'm still trying to comprehend."

She chose to leave the question of whatever
'necr-ah-man-cee' was for another day, "Reality warping? Isn't that the thing that you told me I could do?"

"Yes."

"If I could change reality...why can't I just stop whatever is going to happen? Change whatever future is ahead of us?"

"Listen to me," Stephen dropped the two books in his hands, gripping her shoulders, "Don't ever let yourself get involved with that kind of sorcery, dealing with that sort of magic is tremendously dangerous."

He looked at her, still looking at him inquisitively, still looking like would take whatever he said with the tiniest pinch of salt - "Wanda, I'm serious."

"But you can use the stone to alter time and it's okay, right?" She huffed, "I don't understand how this is any different."

"It just is, okay? I'm gonna need you to trust me."

"Okay..." Wanda nodded, "I trust you."

He rose to his feet, offering her a hand, "Come on then. Let's go get something to eat." She took his hand, fingers slotting in between his as she stood up.

They walked to the stairs in silence, the witch debated on whether or not she should say something to break it - not that it was awkward. She just still hadn't said those words yet. As they advanced further down the stairs she wondered if it was the appropriate time, should she say it now?

"Do you have any money?" Were the words that can from him to break the silence, "I don't think Wong has anything but rupees and I'm gonna need a little more to pay for all three of us."

"No," She bounced off of the last step, "But I'm sure the guys at the deli won't mind treating their best custo-"

A deafening crash interrupted her sentence, a rainbow-colored beacon came flooding through the whole the aforementioned created in the window. The levitating cloak was the first to rush, the trustworthy cloth swirled around Strange's shoulders swiftly and the rest of his clothes vanished, his sorcerer's tunic taking their place.

He rushed to the stairs, where a huge crater now stood in the middle of the steps, his hands crossing his chest before sticking firmly at his side and being lit with magical circles. Wanda was next to him in a second, curling her fingers so that bright red spun around them.

Her eyes opened as she saw the man lying amongst the rubble, muddy and deflated - Bruce Banner. She hadn't seen the Avenger in years and it made her jaw drop seeing him again after...everything but the words that came out his mouth were even more horrifying:

"Thanos...Thanos is coming," He spoke in a frightened panic. She looked to Strange and he shared the same look of dread.

Today was supposed to be a good day.