85- Fate

The Apprentice led the two of them through the fortress before stopping in front of a room Mason liked to call the Ancient One’s Lounge, because that was where she met people. The real name was the Sanctuary, which felt unnecessarily serious to Mason.

Mason did not bother to knock, which got him a scandalized look from Minx, since he knew Yao already knew they had arrived.

And indeed, the Ancient One was kneeling by a low table, carefully pouring tea into three cups as she greeted them without looking up from her task, "Please, take a seat."

Minx, who had been full of awe all along, hesitated, but Mason pulled her along, unceremoniously sitting down before Yao as he said, "Did you really have to pull out all the theatrics? You’re intimidating her."

Minx immediately defended herself. "I’m not intimidated by the wizard lady!" She sent a look at Yao, doing her best bow. "It is an honor to meet you, Sorcerer Supreme."

Yao smiled, gesturing for her to sit as she teased lightly, "The Sorcerer Supreme is not meant to be a title of address, that is why I am most often called the Ancient One."

Minx pursed her lips at her mistake, but still had the gall to ask, "Isn’t it a little vexing? To have people calling you ancient all the time?"

Yao appeared taken aback by the question, then chuckled, "I stopped being conscious about my age after the first 200 years. And people started calling me the Ancient One a while after that. Actually, it is rather flattering. It reminds me how long I have been protecting this world."

Mason rolled his eyes, cutting her short, "Alright, Yao, just tell us why you called us."

Yao switched her gaze to him, "You still don’t fully believe I had not planned for things to go the way they did. You overestimate me. But fine, would you like to start with the appraisal?"

Mason nodded, and Yao lifted her cup, explaining, "There is nothing wrong with the necklace, it was a gift. Why exactly it was gifted, and by whom, I cannot say, but their intentions must not have been malicious. This necklace is a protective boon, one that will shield its owner from threats. It is quite potent too."

Minx fidgeted with her ankh and asked, "But why would she give me this? I did not know her. She looked normal too."

Yao offered her a serene smile. "I do not know. But I do not think this is something you should overthink either. It was meant to be a gift, one tailored for you, Ms. Goldwood. Worn by any other person, this amulet would be utterly useless."

Mason frowned, pressing, "And you are absolutely certain that it is not dangerous? That it does not secretly harbor a curse or something similar?"

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Yao shook her head, "Absolutely. Are you not curious that something this potent could be used by someone uninitiated like Ms. Goldwood? It is because it is not a magical artefact to start with, but a divine one."

Minx suddenly exclaimed, "Are you telling me I met a god?!"

Yao chuckled, "I do not know either whether you met a goddess or an envoy sent by them, but yes, it was a goddess, and a rather powerful one at that, who specifically created this for you. It is rather odd that they would not transmit a message with it, but my sincere advice is to cherish it. It is a precious gift."

She turned to Mason, adding in a teasing voice, "And you can stop worrying, Mason. Its divine nature mandates that it is safe. Divinity is very different from magic. To create a magical artefact, an object has to be enchanted with spells to gain their effects. For a divine artefact, a god must instill their divinity into it, truly changing the nature of the object. It can be said to be a more natural kind of change, but it also means that trickery is impossible."

The explanation was somewhat reassuring, but he still felt there was a hole in it. Fortunately, the history of this world gave him plausible doubts: "Is that truly so? While I was away, a god crashed in New Mexico."

Yao immediately knew where he was going with this. "That was Thor. Do you mean to ask about Mjollnir?"

Mason acquiesced, "According to myth, and to what he did, Thor is the God of Thunder. But from what I heard, his hammer does not simply summon and manipulate thunder."

He did not go into the details he could not explain, and fortunately, he did not need to. Yao drank from her cup, and Minx hit him lightly in the side, saying, "Are you treating her as some kind of magical Wikipedia?"

Yao smiled, but Mason was unashamed. "The appraisal could have been done by any other Sorcerer. If she asked us to come here, she must have something to ask of us, so it’s only fair that she would properly explain things. Besides, she lived so long she turned into a living encyclopedia, it would be a shame not to use her."

Minx shot Yao an apologetic look, hitting Mason in the side again, to no effect, so she apologized on his behalf, "Sorry about him, he used to be so polite when we were kids."

Yao chuckled, "No need for apologies, I know he likes to be abrasive, but he would abhor using a living being like a tool. It would go against his Dao, after all."

She rubbed her cup, thinking something over, before adding, "Divinity and magic work differently, but that does not mean they cannot be used together. But I am afraid any further details would be lost on you. But once again, I can assure you that this necklace is absolutely safe, with zero chances of backfiring."

Only then was Mason satisfied, with Yao’s multiple confirmations that the ankh was, indeed, safe. He might think she was manipulative, he still considered her a friend and believed that she would not lie about this.

His mind now finally at ease, Mason took a sip of his tea and asked, relaxed, "So, what is it that you called us here for? Need something from me?"

"Indeed. Or rather, I need you to not do something. Not long from now, a man by the name of Stephen Strange will come to you, asking for treatment. To heal his hands. I would like for you to refuse him, so that he may find Kamar-Taj on his own."

Stephen Strange- that was a name Mason was deeply familiar with, and also one that was supposed to only appear years from this point, if this world purely followed the MCU timeline. But this world did not quite care for that timeline, did it?

Although he knew this was probably for the greater good, and that Stephen Strange was a man who had to become a Sorcerer, Mason could not help but feel some distaste. "So, you want to manipulate the fate of a man through me?"

Yao sighed, knowing she had touched a sore point. She hesitated for a moment, just long enough for Mason and Minx to register it, before saying, "I have had to do some unsavory things in all the years I have spent protecting this world. However, the events surrounding Krahllak truly were not foreseen. Rather, the events around you."

Mason raised an eyebrow, commenting, "I feel like you’re about to say something interesting."

She ignored him. "What I am about to tell you is something I have never told Izo, something I have felt guilty over for centuries and only recently became glad for. Martial arts have always shared a deep connection with magic, despite the incompatibility down the line. So, I have always held a rather consequential level of importance to it, and to its future."

She took a breath, and her shoulders relaxed as if she had taken off a literal weight as she revealed, "Across the tens of millions of possible futures I have peered at, not in a single one of them did a human reach the Foundation Establishment Realm. No one in the past, and no one in any conceivable future."