The Way of the Weird

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(minor wandavision & the falcon and the winter soldier spoilers ahead!)

Staring at the maroon brick wall on the corner of a building was beginning to give Ana eyestrain. She blinked a few times before puffing the air from her cheeks into the chilly Manhattan wind. Taking a few steps towards the wall, Ana's hands balled up at her sides at the possibility of running into another dead end. Literally and figuratively. She had visited many unmarked corners in New York. Looking for a place known only to sorcerers and Masters of the Mystic Arts. The Bar With No Doors. Kaecilius had mentioned it during her time at Kamar-Taj. It was a bar hidden from human eyes. Tucked away in one of the busiest cities in the world. Those with the touch of magic were granted permission to enter. It acted as a refuge and a location to simply hang out in.

Ana didn't care for drinking. She couldn't feel the full effects of alcohol even if she tried to. Much to her disappointment. No, her plan was straightforward. Find sorcerers who could help her reverse the Snap. Surely there had to be a few of them out there who wanted to see everything go back to the way it was. With half of all life gone, the magic in the universe dampened quite a bit. Ana felt it as soon as she stepped back inside the New York Sanctum Sanctorum after leaving the Avengers Compound. It didn't have its usual spark of mystic energy. Practising Masters of the Mystic Arts couldn't draw on anything to power their spells and incantations. They had to dig deeper. Hook their nails into what was left.

Ana couldn't get past harrowing emotions to do a simple spell. It was like there was a rope tied at her ankles and every time she was reminded of the people she lost, the rope would yank her back. There was no getting rid of it. It took a lot of strength just to get out of bed this morning. She had woken up with Bucky's jacket laid out in the space next to her. She couldn't even bring herself to reach out and touch it. She roamed the halls, feeling like a ghost. The mansion was eerily quiet. She would usually hear Wong in the library or Stephen at the Rotunda of Gateways. The already large house felt a whole lot larger. But it was her responsibility to safeguard it. It wasn't until the Sanctum removed the front door from her view when the idea of looking for the Bar With No Doors came to mind. To ensure the mansion brought the door back, she aimed her plasma hands at the walls and waited. Soon enough, she was out on the street with the front doors slamming shut behind her.

"This has to be it." She whispered to herself. Ana extended one hand, and touched the brick wall with her fingertips. It felt softer than brick. So she pushed. Her hand disappeared through the wall and she walked inside the Bar With No Doors.

It wasn't what she thought it would be. Was there a bar? Yes. A bartender? Sure, except it was just a man's head free from his body, floating around and taking drink orders. Yellow lights ran along the high ceiling, giving the room a warm glow. There was instrumental music on low volume coming from a stereo placed at the bar table. The furniture looked like it belonged in the nineteenth century. Relics and art gathered from different cultures and ages were on display. Ana recognised the teacups along a shelf opposite her. The Ancient One had the same cups in her room at the Kamar-Taj. Hooded and hidden figures sat randomly, alone, at tables and on stools by the counter. Some spared her a glance. Unlike the patrons in the bar, Ana wasn't in her sorcerer getup. Her black sneakers were scuffed and her faded denim jeans had rips along the knees. Her brown hair was in untamed waves, strands of it poking out from the blue hood she wore under her black coat.

Ana spotted an empty table close to the entrance and sat down, pulling her sleeves over her hands. Tiki masks were hanging on the wall behind her. One of them had a distressing expressing etched into the wooden face. Mouth and eyes were wide open. If she listened closely, she could make out the muffled screams it gave off. It unnerved her, so she trained her eyes on the lantern on the middle of the table. She grabbed the menu that was against it and opened it up, lowering her head to obscure her face. Her eyes flickered across the people in the bar. There was a dark haired woman with her back to her, petting a white haired rabbit in her lap. A dark skinned male was hunched over at the counter, a drink in his hands. His face was turned away from her, so she couldn't make him out. Just when Ana's eyes landed on another pair of sorcerers, a man and woman about her age, the bartender appeared in her view.

"What can I get you?" He asked. A damp rag followed him around and quickly went around her table, wiping it down. Ana lifted her elbows and cleared her throat.

She stared at him, then the menu, and read the drink at the top of the list. "Uh, a mai tai."

Chondu the Mystic, the bar owner and bartender, nodded in her direction, and a mai tai blinked in her hands. "That'll be seven hundred rupees."

Ana lifted the drink in awe before giving Chondu a frown. Wong was always carrying around rupees. Now she knew why. It seemed to be the only currency they used at the bar. "I've only got American dollars on me." She muttered sheepishly.

The dark male from the counter stepped up at her table and lowered the dark green hood from his head. Ana's eyes widened when his face was visible. Baron Mordo. His eyes were locked on Ana's. It had been a long time since they saw each other face to face. He then looked to Chondu, "Put it on my tab, Chondu." He said.

Chondu bowed his head at Mordo and moved to another table. Baron took out the chair from under the table across from her and sat down. There was a dark bruise on his cheek as well as a healing cut along his neck. She wanted to ask, but knew he wouldn't want to talk about it. Not with her. Ever since Hong Kong, he had cut all ties with Stephen, Wong and Ana. She had yet to realise what he had been up to all those years. And Mordo wasn't keen to share.

"Mordo." Ana uttered.

Baron put his drink to his lips and tipped his head forward in greeting. "Ana."

Ana leaned forward. "Was that you in the Sanctum the other day?" He didn't answer right away. He didn't need to. It was him. Her muscles relaxed slightly. "It's been years. Where have you been?"

"I don't have to explain my absence to you." Baron sneered.

Ana wasn't fazed by his behaviour. She pushed the mai tai away from her with the back of her hand and lowered her voice. "Do you know anything about what happened?"

Baron scoffed out a chuckle. "Yes. The Avengers failed. Everyone here knows that."

Ana's eyes narrowed.

He continued. "Thanos has rid the universe half of all life. I also understand he is no longer with us."

Ana sat back and tapped her hand on her surface of the table. "Neither are the Infinity Stones. They've been snapped out of existence." She stated.

Mordo hummed. "That's why you're here? To find a way to get them back?"

Ana nodded once.

Baron's eyes darkened. Why was he surprised? His voice grew bitter. "When will you learn? There's always a price to what we do. A cost. You go too long without paying it, life will find a way of paying it for you. You can't reverse the Decimation and expect everything to be right in the universe. That's not the way it works. Things happen for a reason. We can't go around manipulating time and reality whenever we see fit. There will be dire consequences for even the smallest of changes. What Strange did with Dormammu was an outright act of defiance. It went against everything I believed in."

"People died in Hong Kong. Wong was dead." Ana seethed. Fists were on the table. Baron looked down at them in time to see the plasma energy glow for a beat or two. That was different. "For no reason at all. Stephen saw what need to be done and he did it. I would've done the same. But I was stuck in the Nightmare Realm and he was the one with the Eye of Agamotto."

"He was the one who handed it to Thanos." Baron mentioned.

Ana paused. "How did you know that?" She questioned.

"I have ways." Baron said.

"He had a reason." Ana argued.

"What reason?" He pressed.

Ana went to answer, only to come up blank. "I'm still trying to figure that out."

"The clock is ticking." Baron finished his drink and placed the empty glass on his left side. "It's only a matter of time before forces beyond our universe realise what has been done here. They will see it as an opportunity."

"To do what?" Ana asked.

"Whatever they want." Mordo fixed his hood back over his head. His words shook Ana to the core. "I can see it in your eyes. You think you have what it takes to fix it. I'm here to tell you that you don't. You can't. Not without making things worse. Just know, if you step across a line, I will be there to stop you. At any cost."

Just as he was about to leave, Ana spoke up, making him stop in his tracks to listen to what she had to say. "You want to know if I'm paying the cost? The bill? I can't sleep most nights. I barely get an hour to two. Because any more than that and the nightmares would drive me crazy — if they haven't already. I lost my family and I can't even bury them. I pay the bill by going out there to fight. I put my life on the line everyday. I could die at any moment. Could be that an alien stands over my body or an assassin. But that doesn't stop me. Even after everything that's happened, I know I can't stop. Because I know what's important. I know the cost of protecting life is high, but I'll be paying it until I can't anymore. That's what I've done all these years and that's what I'll continue to do. That satisfy you, Mordo?"

Mordo's eyes bore into Ana's. It was still something she had to get used to. Seeing him in a way that she never saw him before. He was there when she was being trained in the ways of the Mystic Arts. The man in front of her wasn't the one she knew. He was a darker version, or perhaps, he just stopped fighting what was inside him from the very start and embraced his demons. "The only thing that will satisfy me is ridding the world of its rogue sorcerers. Step out of line and you will see me again. That's a promise."

Ana's eyes were burning. Her jaw was aching, clenched shut to hold in screams. This was too big of a setback. Too big of a let down. She knew Mordo would keep his promise. He frightened her. He was much more versed in the Mystic Arts. Stronger. Older. The Ancient One taught him everything she knew. Ana realised he must have crippled other sorcerers by taking their power. Their connection to magic. She could feel it coming off of him. The energy was harsh. In disarray. Too many versions of it swirled inside of him. She didn't want her powers to join in. She needed them.

Ana lowered her head, and he left.

"Shit..."

Ana trembled as she removed her coat. She was standing inside the main foyer of the mansion, going over what Mordo told her. The threat he called a promise was seared into her mind. It snuffed out what little hopes she had of using the Mystic Arts to find a way to bring the missing life back into the universe. But she wouldn't let him get to her. She couldn't. Ana patted the snow off her coat and went to hook the collar on the coat hanger by the doors. The century old wooden pole vanished and Ana groaned.

"Not now, Sanctum."

The hanger appeared on the other side of the door. Ana stepped closer to it, only for the hanger to blink back in its usual place. She understood the house liked to play games with her. Stephen found it amusing. Wong hated it when things went missing. Ana just wanted to sit down. "Quit it. You're a damn house!" She exclaimed.

It moved again. Ana balled up the coat aggressively and threw it at the ground. "Fine!"

She stormed towards the staircase and sat down on the second last step. It didn't take long for the silence inside the mansion to creep up on her. She hated it. There was another tug. It pulled her back and she buried her face in her hands just as she let out a whimper. Grief bubbled up inside and she let it out in the form of tears and cries. It hurt too much to keep it all in. Despite feeling so heavy all the time, her chest felt hollow. Painful. Empty. The mansion creaked as it echoed the sounds of Ana's sorrow. This wasn't how she wanted to spend her time. Revisiting loss. It happened too often. Ana insisted to look for another way. To devote her time and energy into possibility. At that moment, though, the world felt small. There was no way out. She was stuck with nothing. She was grateful the rest of the Avengers weren't around to see her this way. She had told Natasha she was going to continue fighting. Because as she told Mordo, it was important.

The world was a vulnerable place, and it needed extra care and safeguarding. Ana wasn't about to give up. Not yet. It wasn't something she could just leave alone. She just needed some time to pull herself together, that's all. Even though parts of her were missing. Wiping at her eyes, Ana took a deep breath. She lifted her head and kept breathing in and out. The corners of her lips quirked upwards when she saw her coat was on the hanger.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" She mumbled.

Ana lifted her hands, palms facing the floor. She closed her eyes, and teleported into the library. If she was going to spend most of her time in the Sanctum, she would have to get used to navigating within its walls. Ana opened her eyes, and frowned, tilting her head to the side. There must have been more than twenty books floating around in the space in front of her. She was aware they had magic of their own. That a shelf could not hold them down for long. Ana let out a sigh. There was a lot she had to get used to. She picked the book closest to her and took it in her hands, closing it shut. Her fingers traced the intricate metal on the front of the cover, watching as a teal glow followed her every touch.

"The Book of the Vishanti. Stephen's favourite." Ana smiled to herself, recognising the book in an instant. It contained the most powerful light order magic spells known. The book had endless pages that materialised from nothing, making it one of the biggest reads in the universe. From what Stephen would tell her, the spells inside of the book were meant to be used only for defence, not offence. The Book of the Vishanti was the complete opposite of the Darkhold, a book made of dark matter that held knowledge of some of the most powerful beings and ancient magic ever known. Ana hugged the book to her chest as she thought more on the missing Darkhold. It never found its way back to the Sanctum's library. Wong once mentioned that the contents of it could corrupt the reader's mind. If Ana was going to protect the fragile reality she was in, she had to account for everything. Missing artefacts, books, weapons. Maybe even get in touch with sorcerers around the world. Let it be known that the Sorcerer Supreme was gone. Mordo had said that the universe was at risk of being taken advantage of. Ana wanted to make sure there was enough people out there who could prevent any further wrongdoings from happening.

It was something Stephen would want her to do.

It was also something she could work towards keep her mind switched on and away from grief. As much as it ate her up inside, Ana believed the distraction would ease the constant heartache she endured. There was also a chance she could land on promising opportunities to return the world back to they way it was meant to be. She needed to hold on to that way of thinking. Otherwise, her mind would collapse and she would be stuck in a never-ending loop of pain.

Ana held the Book of the Vishanti upright and opened it. "I know you've got a tracking spell in you. Wong used it to find his secret dairy that I hid. I'm sure we can use it to find the Darkhold." She muttered.

At the sound of her request, the pages flipped on their own, landing on a page that filled with writing and diagrams. In a way, it was as if Wong and Stephen were with her as she said the spell out loud. She could practically hear Wong direct her to make sure she pronounced everything precisely while Stephen instructed her to maintain a clear head. Ana then realised after she read the spell that a piece of the object she wanted to locate had to be in her hands. Her shoulders deflated. Then, a lightbulb moment. The Book of Cagliostro had a few of the Darkhold's pages in it. It was a spell Kaecilius used to bring forth Dormammu from the Dark Dimension into their world. And the Book of Cagliostro was locked away in Kamar-Taj.

Ana had already made a portal to the hidden temple in Kathmandu.

"Don't remember it being this quiet."

Ana had made it to the upper library in Kamar-Taj. She had passed through the compound, finding the area to be void of any presence. No sorcerers. No novices. No monks. She didn't like it. She liked to think they all left in a way to pursue answers, or just to see if they could find any loved ones left alive. Many people all over the world came to Kamar-Taj for their own reasons. Most common among them were knowledge, understanding and peace. They had practised the Mystic Arts for so long that Kamar-Taj was their home. Ana believed that in time, they would return to it. Until then, she was happy to watch over it as well as the Sanctum. After all, it was her home for a short period too.

Ana walked up a set of stone steps where she knew the more ancient volumes were kept in the library. The room was cold and dark. The only sound she could make out were her footsteps. She breathed out, uneasy. The whole situation was new to her. This was Wong's department. He was in charge of keeping an eye on all the artefacts and books that were used or missing. He would track them down and bring them back. Now, it was Ana's responsibility. Ana stood in front of the Ancient One's private collection. The hexagonal frames that held thousands of year old books were in good condition. None were missing — apart from the Darkhold of course. She had tucked the Book of the Vishanti underneath one arm. From here on out, the book will be on her at all times. It meant too much to her to lose.

"Cagliostro. Cagliostro..." Ana muttered the name repeatedly under her breath and she read the titles of the books in her view. There was a visible smile of success on her face as she reached for the grimoire with a brown leather cover and a golden symbol on the front of it. She flipped through it, landing on the page of the spell Kaecilius had stolen before Stephen used the Eye of Agamotto to return the lost page to the book. She was there when he did it. She remembered Mordo and Wong storming inside the library and reprimanding them for what they had done, and stopping Stephen before he could unleash anything else. It was then that Ana realised just how dangerous spells could be in the hands of the naive and the wrong.

They really should put the warnings before the spell.