Sea of Words

The air smelled stale when Wong stepped into the New York Sanctum. The constant tang of magic that always filled the air was muted, mostly faded. Wood creaked beneath his feet as he stepped further in and the front door shut with an abrupt bang. The silence deepened as the echoes died away and he shuddered, resisting the urge to shield himself as he made his way to the kitchen.

Though he was its caretaker, the Sanctum had never acknowledged him as its Master. The relics watched him warily as he passed and he gave the Cloak of Levitation a wide berth. The Master's of Kammar-Taj had bound the cloak when they had bound Stephen's magic and unlike Stephen, the Cloak had no means of getting around it.

He stepped into the kitchen and hurried towards the cupboards. He'd make himself a cup of strong black tea before beginning his search. Surely someone would have seen a blue-green circle in the past before. He carefully didn't think of what he would do if it was from a known school of magic.

Hours later, he looked up from his stack of books and blinked to find that the sun had long ago set. The library was dark and he had been reading by the faint glow of the streetlights outside of the windows. No wonder his eyes hurt.

The Sanctum was still, oppressive. He brushed off the feeling with some effort. Even after a year, he still hadn't gotten used to it completely. He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. He hadn't found anything in the books, had tried several spells to search the texts to see if he had missed anything.

Silver light flashed in his mind. The circle underneath Stephen's feet didn't look like anything he had seen before, but he had seen something similar.

A silver circle with large sun in the center appeared beneath his friend's feet. He covered his mouth with his hand to smother the gasp. He had thought Yue was a doctor, not a sorcerer!

A pang went through him. Yue had always reminded him somewhat of Stephen.

His chest felt tight and abruptly he decided that talking to Yue could wait. He pushed himself off the wall and hurried away as quietly as he could. He shouldn't leave the Sanctum alone for long.

He ignored the pressure in his chest. It would go away soon. It always did.

Wong's eyes snapped open and he nearly fell off his chair. He had seen a similar circle before. The elements of Stephen's circle had been in the same place as Yue's. He took a deep breath, attempted to exhale the jittery feeling in his veins out. It was too late to talk to Yue now. He'd have to go tomorrow.

He got up and stretched. His joints popped, his head throbbed. He needed sleep, but he stepped out of the library and headed towards the kitchen instead.

The Sanctum had gotten colder. He shivered as he stepped into the kitchen and automatically began gathering the materials needed for tea. The shock of seeing Stephen was beginning to wear off and the memory of rock coming towards him flashed behind his eyelids.

He had nearly died. Had he died? Forcefully, he shook his head. He would have remembered dying; he'd remembered everything else that had happened in the loops after all.

He grabbed the tea leaves, chamomile, and tossed them in the pot with shaking hands. The lid made a clang as his fingers slipped, but he managed to turn on the stove without any issues. He leaned against the counter and watched the water, trying to think of nothing.

He had lost track of the loops, had tried to count them in the beginning, but the numbers had slipped away with every death. He didn't know how his old friend could handle it. Dormammu was getting more and more frustrated with every second and he was too, pounding uselessly at the shield that surrounded him.

There was a crunch in the distance, a squelching sound and he shut his eyes as the world twisted again.

"I can do this for as long as it takes," Stephen said. His voice still had that same hoarse quality to it as if he hadn't spoken for a long time. The blue-green circle glowed underneath him, had been glowing for the past few loops, ever since he had summoned the Shield that surrounded Wong.

Wong looked closer. A large star covered the center of the circle. He looked closer and a shiver of unease swirled through him. The star was wrapped in chains that were attached to the circle, almost as if they were attempting to pull the star apart.

Dormammu growled; it almost sounded like a groan of anguish. Wong looked back at him and saw that the demon was scowling. He looked back at Stephen and again his eyes were drawn to the circle.

The star was partially overlapped by a sun and moon of equal size. There were symbols on the edge of the circle, letters that looked like Sanksrit, something that looked very much like the New York skyline and what looked like snakes wrapped around bones. It was something he'd never seen in any of the Sanctum's libraries and he could feel the familiar itch to open a book in his fingers.

Then after a long silence, Dormammu sighed.

"I concede," the demon said reluctantly. He could feel it dripping from every word.

"I will withdraw"

"And never return," Stephen said sharply. He thought he saw a tremor go through him, but he must have been imagining things. Stephen hadn't broken in any of the loops before; he wouldn't break now.

Dormammu grumbled something unintelligible that sent a tremor through the world.

"You have my word," he gritted out.

Stephen nodded and raised the staff.

"Time release your power and return!"

The constant ticking sound, that he had tuned out, grew louder. Bright light filled the world again and then condensed into a dark blue-green card that floated into Stephen's hand. He slowly lowered the staff as the world shook. Dormammu began to withdraw, the Dark Dimension's power withdrawing with him.

Wong could see the destruction slowly reveal itself, along with the rest of the Order and the Avengers. Stephen slumped against the staff for a moment before taking a deep breath and straightening.

"Shield," he rasped, voice cracking and breaking into nothing. "Release your power and return."

The shield around Wong condensed into the light and quickly formed itself into a card that rapidly fluttered into Stephen's hand. His friend's arm shook as he lowered it and the circle of light around him broke and vanished.

There was a rustle of wind and he could swear he felt feathers brush him. A growl broke the silence and suddenly, there was a large winged lion standing in front of his friend. Somehow, even after all the events of the day, he still managed to be surprised.