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ACT ONE. NEPTUNE.
CHAPTER 4: THIRD EYE.

FROM WHAT SHE HAD JUST VISIONED, and the face of total confusion that she had, Narendra, who had not completely left, knew that her partner and student was not well, as the Ancient One opened the third eye of the doctor serving as an anchor to his multiverse-traveling consciousness, the sorcerer pushed Claire away, grabbing her by the shoulders.

He checked her face with a frown noting her cold sweat, her pupils dilated as well as the blush that gradually diminished on her cheeks, his concern for her was noticed until she could hear the pulse accelerated in terror by Strange's screams. She pointed a finger at her mentor, to distract her attention to him, Mordo turned to look at her.

"His heart rate are getting dangerously high." He mentioned noticing what Claire meant to make him understand. To allay his apprentice's sudden concern, the Ancient One brought him back to himself.

"He looks alright to me. What do you think now, Master Sheridan?" Seeing him sitting on the chair, agitated, disheveled, scared but whole, she had no choice but to nod, he turned to see her with a traumatized gesture, everything indicated that he looked good, besides, he could not believe that he could not bear the shock, in at some point he must cease to be impressed.

"Yes, he resists." she admitted before his consciousness was driven back by the Ancient One again.

Claire gently pulled away from Narendra, processing all the information that her premonition had shown her, she sipped the tea that she prepared herself to calm down. She connected her mind with that of the Ancient One, to observe everything she was showing Strange, she saw his amazement, fear and disbelief as he traveled the multiverse "Who are you in this vast multiverse, Mr. Strange?", a good question.

He floated in space in complete silence, his mind was static, like his dreams, but now he was in tune with the prodigy woman who had seen his future, they were a predestined link. With the roar of the man falling from a chair he came out of the trance, the Ancient One questioned him with irony, the sorcerer was amused by the fact that he was so intelligent and at the same time very ignorant, a contradiction to his entire essence.

"Teach me." he begged kneeling, raising both hands with a trembling intermittence in front of her. Claire thought of a yes but nothing but a negative came from Ancestral's lips.

"No." Claire's face turned to her mentor with a frown and parted lips forming an 'o' shape in confusion. Why did the Ancient One say no to him? She said it so harshly that the younger sorcerer stopped understanding what was going on.

Without further ado, they threw him where he came along with his belongins, he quickly composed himself to hit and shout glued to the door, she wanted to respond to his rescue because she felt sorry for all the effort he had put into getting there as well as the situation with the dog had her moved, however, it was useless to stop the thunderous slam of the door that marked his departure. When the Ancient One made a decision it was very difficult to make her change her mind, Claire would not give up either, much less after what she witnessed.

Nothing of this was mentioned in the meeting with the new masters assigned to protect the sanctuaries, the brunette always accompanied her mentor in every important decision, before she was certain that at some point she would take the place of the Sorcerer Supreme and she needed that knowledge to protect reality when her main protector could be gone.

With the revelation of the ultimate future of the Strange man, she no longer fully understood her presence at those meetings, considering that, in her recently formulated opinion, reality did not need her.

The masters said goodbye to her with a nod of their head, Narendra did so with his thought, they had appointed him guardian of the sanctuary in New York with Daniel Drumm, he saw his friend leave and he watched the Ancient One check the shield, Mordo entered to the room.

"You think I'm wrong to cast him out?" Claire couldn't believe it, had she waited all this time for her to ask that question? She pursed her lips before giving her argument, she wanted to hear from Mordo first.

"5 hours later, he's still on your doorstep. There's a strength to him." Mordo smiled at his determination, the Ancient One would call him arrogance and Claire would call him stubborn, anyone would have backed down but not him, and for the brunette that was reason for admiration.

Knowing her context without much depth, Claire put herself in his shoes thinking that if it was her, she too would have stayed outside a door for five hours if it was the only place to go. The Ancient One, without paying attention to her gaze, read every thought of Claire, an ease that the brunette only granted to her.

"He reminds you of Kaecilius?" Mordo asked.

"We cannot expect the rose bushes to give more roses if the sun does not nourish it" Mordo took special interest in the metaphor that emanated from Claire, she read the thought of her master "Strange is now a rose?".

Everyone in the sanctuary used to hear Claire defending people constantly, even though everyone feared her, everything that had potencial to be good had her respect, it was important to her, almost like breathing.

"I'm just saying that if we train Strange to do good, statistically the chances of his path leaning towards goodness are higher." She replied with a slight blush on her face. There was reason in her words and she had strong evidence of the fact.

"We don't know Mr. Strange to know his inclinations." The Ancient One protested.

"Just as you did not know Mordo or me when we came to you and our principles are firm which greek columns" He smiled with a certain innocence in his words, since he really did not want to stop believing that people are good.

"We didn't know Kaecilius either, the columns weaken and fall, Claire." Her gaze was stern and reflected her indecision for not knowing what would be the right thing to do. "I can not lead another gifted student to power, only to lose him to the darkness." They both perfectly understood their mentor, it was like digging your own grave, giving the power to another person to destroy you in any way.

"You didn't lose us." This time the Ancient One set its sights on Mordo. Claire could only think about his future, she hoped that with the arrival of the complaining man they could defeat the darkness "I wanted the power to defeat my enemies. You gave me the power to defeat my demons. And to live within the natural law." The Bearer of Light smiled at his words, sure of herself and his nature.

Although she had not been fully present in Mordo's evolution, she was pleased to know the best parts of him, his morality, his resistance, his discipline and his perseverance, were pinnacles that inevitably forged Claire, his presence in her life wasn't only of a companion or master, it was that of a dear friend.

"We never lose our demons, Mordo. We only learn to live above them." Her gazes at each other were very serious, with no hint of anything but duty and responsibility.

"Kaecilius still has the stolen pages." They both walked to the lectern where the sorceress was. "If he deciphers them, he could bring ruin upon us all. There may be dark days ahead." This time he looked at Claire, who returned the worried gesture, not even her light could against the darkness of the dark dimension, she could not do it alone "Perhaps Kamar-Taj could use a man like Strange." She hoped that Mordo's gift of persuasion could make her see reason.

"Mordo is right, I have seen it." They both looked at her attentively "His future is bright as the stars if he stays, maybe even brighter than mine, knowing that Kaecilius can attack at any moment, letting go of an element like Mister Strange would be an irreparable loss, he just needs a chance." Claire showed the Ancient One through her mind projection convenient fragments of her future alongside Strange. She begged it to be proof enough to overturn her decision accompanied by Mordo's argument.

The Ancient One nodded in the direction of his friend, with that it was known that the signal was favorable, Strange had arrived to stay. Mordo walked hastily to open the door for Kamar-Taj to be his inn.