The Wanderer - 236 (Patreon)

Chapter 236 – Invitation

[2009 – October]

Entering the newly restored hall, the Ancient One's mood was half-relieved and half-exasperated.

Sighing inwardly, she sat down at the small table in the middle of the room, the soft cushion making for a comfortable seat, while she couldn't help but look at the young Elijah as he calmly took a sip from his tea, the fingers of his other hand caressing the tiny owl that sat in his palm, causing her to hoot in enjoyment while nipping at his fingers lovingly.

Having finally glimpsed at what he was capable of in this timeline, the Ancient One recalled some 'memories' that the Time Stone had shown her before.

He had always been like this, enjoying quiet and peace far more than being an incarnation of destruction. He wandered around, watching worlds being born and falling apart, seeing life flourish and wither as if time was but a word and not a solid construct. Nothing could bar his way, his path a singular one.

He hated interfering, forcing fate in another direction. But every now and then, there would be someone, something that would rouse him into action.

Most of those times, it would be small acts of kindness that he would perform from the shadows. But on the rare occasion that he would be angered, he caused worlds to shatter and whole dimensions to be overturned. His wrath was truly a sight to behold.

Still, through the many timelines that she had seen, where their friendship had lasted for centuries if added up, she wasn't sure if she had ever truly understood him. She wasn't sure if anybody even could.

He looked at the world differently and while she could comprehend part of what he saw, the rest remained a mystery even to her.

"Forgive me, I did not mean to frighten your students nor cause any destruction.", Elijah suddenly stated, his voice calm as he looked at her with his familiar pair of shadowed green eyes.

Shaking her head lightly, the Ancient One answered: "I am the Sorcerer Supreme so I do understand that when gods fight, mortals suffer. By choice or not, your and Agamotto's powers are too great for this world to endure and certainly beyond my ability to judge."

"Still, you undid the damage that you caused, and while I wished that nothing of the sort had happened in the first place, I am thankful for that. Most Realm Lords aren't that well-tempered.", she ended with a soft laugh.

"You shouldn't badmouth your teacher, Enid.", Agamotto's voice suddenly came from behind her at the entrance of the hall, "Or I might decide to tell some stories of your apprentice years."

"After all, I remember clearly that one time when you ran screaming from an illusion conjured up by some Demon Imp. And what a sight that was, hahaha!", he laughed out boisterously as he approached the table.

Not reacting outwardly, the Ancient One couldn't help but be annoyed as Agamotto had been teasing her with this for centuries.

Looking for a small victory instead, she simply chose to ignore the age-old sorcerer god while secretly moving his seat cushion a few feet to the side just when he sat down, causing him to stiffen up and groan when his coccyx hit the hard stone floor.

…

Suppressing the urge to fall over and rub his sore behind, Agamotto drew on some of his magic to ease the pain of his temporary mortal vessel while throwing his former student a quick look of blame.

Still, the next moment he reined in his emotions, and a serious expression appeared on his face as he watched the green-eyed young man opposite him, shadows crawling in the latter's eyes.

His own aura changing into something distinctly inhuman, his presence heavy, Agamotto stared directly into Elijah's eyes as he asked in a deep tone: “I, Agamotto the All Seeing, Son of Oshtur and member of the Vishanti, hereby invite you, Elijah Frost, Lord of Darkforce, Ruin of Magic, to join us as the Fourth Seat amongst the Eternal Ones.”

Facing his solemn invitation, the young man's face though remained calm and impassive, a mild smile on his lips as he shook his head.

“The Vishanti act as guardians of the Earth Dimension and patrons of the Sorcerer Supreme, bound together in their desire to protect this world from other Realm Lords that seek to conquer or destroy it.”, Elijah voiced out before he continued.

“It is a noble goal but it isn't mine. I have to disappoint you, Agamotto, but I will not be joining the Vishanti and tie my fate to yours.”

Having guessed that this might be the outcome, Agamotto's serious expression faded as he sighed with a light shake of his head.

"So, Enid was right? You plan to walk your own path?", he couldn't help but ask interestedly, "If you want to advance beyond the existence of a Realm Lord, you know that you will have to clash with them, don't you?”

“Only death awaits you on this path, young man. Even if they don't interfere, there has never been one that survived the tribulations of that path.”, Agamotto reminded.

Serenity in his darkened eyes, their depths seemingly turning into dark vortices ready to engulf reality, Elijah replied lightly: "I have no problem dying on this path, Agamotto. Not as long as I have chosen it freely."

A bit stunned at this declaration, Agamotto could sense that Elijah was speaking the truth, which fascinated and shocked him in equal measure.

"I still have something else to do, so I will have to take my leave. Thank you for the tea, Ancient One.", Elijah ended and rose from his seat, placing the tiny avian back into his collar.

“You're welcome, Elijah.”, his former student replied and added, “I will be in the New York Sanctum in a few days, maybe you are interested in a game of chess and some tea then? Seeing as today's meeting went a bit off the rails.”

Nodding in acknowledgment and agreement, the young Realm Lord vanished the next moment, leaving behind dark smoke that dispersed a few moments later.

Shaking his head again to clear his head of speculations and distractions as he wondered what might become of the youthful Lord of Darkforce, Agamotto turned to the young sorceress by his side while conjuring up a chessboard: "Why don't we play a round, Enid?"

His former student though snorted rather disrespectfully and cleared the table of the tea service as she replied simply: “I want to play a fair game.”

"Of course! I never cheat, Enid!", Agamotto stated resolutely and without hesitation.

Snorting again, the Ancient One countered: "For a Realm Lord, you have surprisingly little shame … "

…

A bit dumbfounded at Agamotto's firm statement, the Ancient One couldn't help but snort again.

She still remembered the first games that she had played with her former teacher when she was still just a village girl a few hundred years ago that didn't know how to read and write. Even then, she had quickly picked up on the fact that Agamotto had cheated her in their games.

The old sorceress wasn't quite sure why the All Seeing Sorcerer God had had the need to cheat a poor village girl but Agamotto's character was twisted like that.

And if she hadn't known him for so long and knew about his power and firm will to protect the Earth Dimension, she would have assumed that he was just some old scam artist.

Exasperated, she looked at his innocent facade as she said:  “For a Realm Lord, you have surprisingly little shame … “