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With the two of them having no sling rings on, the pair had to walk all the way from the hospital to the Sanctum Sanctorum which caught a lot of people's attention as they walked through the streets. The two of them didn't mind the attention, the only thing their minds that they both had to go back to the Sanctum as soon as possible.

Both of them let out a sigh of relief when they arrived in front of it.

Lenore was the first to enter the Sanctum, everything were the same as they left it, except it was messy due to them fighting here hours ago. Lenore was relieved that even with what happened, the Sanctum was intact, though admits getting them in the Mirror Dimension was something that could easily kill them, as was thankful that Stephen used it to keep the Sanctum safe and intact. The two kept their guards up, making sire to protect each other if ever a Zealot comes and attacks them by surprise.

When they got to the second floor of the sanctum, there were shattered glasses everywhere, the display cases of some relics were destroyed. A wave of discomfort washed over Stephen when he saw the blood on where Lenore laid upon when she was stabbed by Kaecilius.

A despondent sigh escaped his lips. Lenore noticed this and peered up at Stephen, frowning at the sight of distraught upon his face. She walked over to him, taking his left hand and intertwining their fingers.

This action snapped Stephen out of his thoughts and caused him to turn at the woman beside him, his eyes meeting hers. She saw the ways his tensed shoulders relax and his face softening because of it.

"You know, if it weren't for you, this Sanctum would be destroyed, only leaving us with the Hong Kong Sanctum to keep us protected from the other threats this world will face." She told him in an encouraging manner, she squeezed his hand reassuringly.

Hearing this caused the smile on his face to grow bigger. He gripped her hand back and they both made their way down to where the doorway back to Kamar Taj was located. Mordo stood on the other side of it.

Stephen took a deep breath, his grip briefly tightening around Lenore's hand. Lenore could tell that he was nervous, they needed all the help they could get and with Mordo, they'll be a lot stronger.

Both of them walked inside and Lenore immediately surveyed everything around them in ruins because of what Kaecilius had done. It would take more than a month to rebuild everything.

Stephen let go of her hand as he approached Mordo. "She's dead."

"You were right." Mordo said, his gaze drifting across the room, "She was not who I thought she was."

"She was complicated."

Mordo turned around, his eyebrows scrunched in confusion, as if he was surprised to hear what Stephen had just said.

"Complicated?" Mordo gestured to the ruins on their feet as hestepped down from the platform and started to walk around the dial, "The Dark Dimension is volatile. Dangerous. What if it overtook her?"

Lenore opened her mouth to speak, but before she could even utter a word, Mordo raised at finger in front of her.

"She taught us it was forbidden... while she drew on its power to steal centuries of life."Mordo told them, his voice laced with betrayal.

"She did what she thought was right." Lenore retorted, trying to reason with him. Mordo's shot up, eyes widened in shock.

"The bill comes due. Don't you see? Her transgressions led the Zealots to Dormammu. Kaecilius was her fault! And here we are... in the consequence of her deception. A world on fire."

"Mordo, the London Sanctum has fallen. The New York one has been attacked twice. You know where they're going next." Stephen stated while he and Lenore moved closer to him.

"Hong Kong." Mordo replied to him.

"You told me once to fight like my life depended on it... because one day, it might. Well, today is that day. We cannot defeat them alone." He glanced back at Lenore, as if becokining her to help him convince Mordo and that she did.

"We cannot defeat them alone. We need you Mordo." She told him in a gentle voice.

"The Sanctum's already fallen. The Dark Dimension. Dormammu is coming. It's too late. Nothing can stop him." Stephen concluded.

Mordo lowered his head, his eyebrows scrunched together in concern. Lenore breathed out in worry while Stephen created a portal. She was unsure of Mordo's choice. She didn't wait for an answer, instead, she followed behind Stephen into the portal.

But when Mordo followed soon after, she smiled and hugged the man in delight. Mordo shot her a sheepish grin as they broke away.

People ran around, their screams filling the air as the theee of them rushed to the middle of the street. Everything was in ruins, just like their temple. Above them, a midng purple, red, and blue filled the does, growing bigger as it consumed the skies.

"The sanctum's already fallen." Lenore declared, her voice laced with terror.

The more she stared at the world forming above them, she started feel a sharp pain in her head. She she closed her eyes shut as she clutched her head, refraining herself from crying out in pain. But the more became more excruciating, she couldn't hold her voice back anymore and she whimpered.

Mordo and Stephen both heard her cries and by the time the two of them turned around to find out the source, Lenore was already on her knees, tears brimming her eyelids.

"Lenore? What's happening?" Stephen asked in concern as he bent down and scooped Lenore into his arms.

"I...I..." she groaned as her hearing sounded muffled until she could no longer hear Stephen calling or the noise surrounding them. She reopened her eyes but her vision was clouded by her own tears, she could see Stephen's mouth moving but she couldn't hear anything from him.

Lenore...

Lenore's body stiffened. She heard a voice calling to her.

Lenore...

There it once again, it was much more louder, more clearer than the last time. The voice belonged to a woman. It sounded familiar to her, like she'd heard it from before. Way before everything.

"Who...are you?" She stammered, her gaze fixated at the skies. Lightning sparked behind the clouds and it briefly revealed a shaow of a voluptuous woman peering down upon them.

The voice giggled back in response while the pain in her head started to subside. Slowly, her hearing was coming back to normal, she could hear the noise of people screaming, buildings crumbling down and Stephen calling out to her.

You'll learn soon enough, darling.

"Lenore!" Stephen said loudly which caused lenore to bring her gaze back to him. When she responded, a sigh escaped his lips and he went to brush the strands of her hair from her face.

"What happened to you?" He questioned her as he sat her up, keeping his arm around her back to steady her. "You just collapsed."

"There was...a sharp pain on my head and—" lenore was cut off by the sound of a crumbling building.

"Move!" Mordo shouted in warning. Stephen scooped Lenore into his arms and ran as fast as his feet could, staying away from the falling debris.

Stephen placed Lenore back on the ground, still holding to her, fearing that she might collapse again. She reassured him by giving him a look as she stood all by herself.

Stephen sighed, "Are you sure you want to do this? I'm....worried."

"It's gone now, Stephen. We have more important matters." She told him while holding his hand.

"But—"

"I can do this." Lenore said firmly, shooting Stephen a hard gaze. His eyes grew wide briefly before he sighed in defeat, there was no point in arguing now. Lenore gave a reassuring squeeze on his hand before turning her body, facing the road before them.

"The Dark Dimension. Dormammu is coming. It's too late. Nothing can stop him." All hope seemed to have disappeared from Mordo's eyes as he gazed up at the Hongkong Sanctum.

"Not necessarily."

Lenore turned her head at Stephen when she noticed his arms move from her peripheral. Her gaze drifted towards the Eye of Agamotto hen it emitted a soft green glow.

He was going to use it to reverse time.

"No." Kaecilius hissed, changing towards Stephen to stop him.

Their footfalls brought Lenore's attention back to them, immediately spotting the three zealots racing towards them. With Kaecilius gaining, Lenore moved, summoning a tao mandala to launch at him. Kaecilius' blade was mere inches away from Stephen's face when everything around him slowed down.

Kaecilius froze in-mid air for a couple of second. A strained grunt escaped Stephen's lips as he turned his hand in a clockwise motion.

As he did, everything moved backward, returning to the way it was before everything was ruined. The water from the destroyed fire hydrant that was on the ground flowed back, the sign that had fallen on top of a car returned to its place on the side of the restaurant where it once was. The people who were running were now running backward, the same goes for the fallen ones who rose from the ground.

Kaecilius— who was hovering in mid-air with his transparent blade inched slowly backward, once his feet were in the ground he ran backwards, towards his two Zealots.

Stephen quickly turned his hand to Mordo first, then at Lenore, excluding them from the effect of the spell. Lenore blinked in confusion, looking at herself. Mordo on the other hand had disbelief written all over his face. Many people zipped past the three sorcerers, some bumped shoulders with Mordo and Lenore.

"The spell's working." Stephen declared, glancing at Lenore. "We've got a second chance!"

Stephen, Mordo and Lenore sprinted past the three Zealots— who were still in the effects of the spell — and made their way towards the Sanctum. Stephen got bumped by a fireman running backward, causing him to turn as the force was strong, Stephen nearly got hit by a huge slab of metal, before he felt a strong kick hit him on the chest, sending him flying back to a wall.

The sound of Stephen's pained grunts caused Lenore and Mordo prompted them to skid to a stop and turn around. Lenore's eyes fell upon Kaecilius, who somehow got out of the effect of the spell, his two zealots were not far behind.

Kaecilius strode over briskly towards Stephen to land a blow upon Stephen. But before it hits him, Stephen caught his arm with his right hand and used his left one to grip his collar, holding him at a distance.

Two metal barrels rose up in front of them, knocking them onto the wall. Kaecilius immediately got away and before Stephen could get away. He grabbed Stephen's collar and slammed onto the concrete.

Stephen was able to recover immediately, rolling onto a kneeling position. He looked over his shoulder, glancing at the car that nearly ran him over before bringing his attention back ahead. A car was coming up at him again and he moved out of the way.

Kaecilius jumped at him, landing a hard punch across Stephen's face. Once he recovered, Stephen looked up as a car flew over their heads. His gaze followed it until it fell onto the concrete, he then looked over at the two Zealots fighting Lenore and Mordo.

Lenore knocked the woman down on the ground. As she was standing up, an object was flying near Lenore's head, she sensed it and stepped aside to avoid it. Instead, the object hit the Zealot she was fighting.

It knocked her back onto the water which was flowing back into an aquarium, it took her inside as it formed back before it was destroyed, trapping her inside.

Lenore smirked confidently and turned around, seeing Mordo beng struck down to the ground. 

Mordo gasped in surprise when a woman, who was lying dead beside him flew towards a ruined car. Behind it, the Zealot moved to attack. She was stopped seconds away from landing a punch onto Mordo when a tao mandala was launched at her, pushing her back.

Mordo looked over his shoulder, spotting Lenore who was making movements with her hands to once again, summon a pair of tao mandalas as she walked toward Mordo, stopping right beside him.

"You okay?" She asked Mordo with her gaze fixated on the Zealot before them.

"I am." Mordo grunted as he stood up. "Thank you."

The Zealot rushed towards Mordo and Lenore but before she could reach them, a broken piece of a wall lifted her off of the ground, trapping her in the building nearby. Lenore smiled softly in triumph but that soon changed when the Zealot that Lenore had incapacitated earlier and was trapped inside an aquarium reappeared out of nowhere and grabbed a bamboo scaffolding, lifting her as it stood back up.

"I will take care of this." Mordo declared as he grabbed the Staff of the Living Tribunal from his back, "Go help Strange."

" I will. Be careful Mordo."

Lenore turned on her heel, heading towards Stephen as Mordo used the relic as a lasso to hold onto a scaffolding, allowing himself to be taken upwards.

Lenore ran faster as his legs could as she raced towards Kaecilius. Stephen landed a few punches onto the Zealot with the last one sending him backward, allowing Lenore to send a powerful kick on his side, knocking him back.

"Are you alright?" she asked as she walked towards Stephen.

"Better now that you're here." Stephen smirked coyly, making Lenore rolled her eyes. All of a sudden, a storm of dust filled the streets, making it unable for them to see. Stephen and Lenore moved to pressed their back against each other.

Lenore observed her surroundings, keeping her guard up in case Kaecilius uses this dust from to his advantage. She dodged small debris flying towards her head, shouting at Stephen to bend down as well, not long after, another one made contact with her face, slicing her cheek and causing blood to trickle down her face.

"Shit." She hissed.

"What's wrong?" Stephen asked, looking down at her from over his shoulders.

"It's nothing," Lenore ensured. The two of them kept each other close, keeping each safe from any surprise attacks coming from Kaecilius.

The Zealot kept himself hidden in the storm, he spotted them soon as he saw the green glow around Stephen's arm, it was a dead giveaway of their location. He approached them slowly, then he started to build up speed as he got closer to Lenore.

He swings his fist to hit Lenore but it never made contact with her. Stephen's cloak took the hit and held his fist, which alarmed both Stephen and Lenore.

She gasped at the Zealot who was a few inches away from her. He attempted to hit Lenore again, this time, she was able to jump back to avoid it. This allowed Stephen to lunge forward and land a strike on Kaecilius. He pushed Kaecilius out of the first storm, stumbling down while the storm moved back towards the Sanctum.

As Kaecilius rolled back onto his footing, Stephen chased after him. Kaecilius attacked again with his fist and Stephen blocked it with his arm before using his left fist to land a punch onto his face.

Lenore ran towards the both of them as she rounded at the intersection, she immediately saw Stephen bending down as Kaecilius delivered a kick towards his head. With quick hand movements, she conjured orange threads, using it as a lasso to grapple his leg while mid-air allowing her to whirl Kaecilius and slam him onto the building nearby.

The walls began to buildup upon Kaecilius, he cried in rage while he was trapped inside.

"Thank you," Stephen told Lenore as he joined her side.

A low rumbling sound caused the two of them to turn at the source. A fallen skyscraper was gradually rising back in place, the small and large pieces of debris lifted off the ground at the same time. A loud gaso escaped Lenore's lips when she saw something underneath all of the rubble. She started with wide eyes the body of Wong, his solar plexus impaled with a metal pipe.

"Wong!" Stephen exclaimed in shock as he rushed towards him.

Wong was then lifted off of the metal pipe and onto his feet planted firmly on the ground, his season made its way back to his hand before he got into a fighting stance.

Stephen used the same spell he used to take both Lenore and Mordo off of the effects of the spell. Confusion filled Wong's eyes as he observed his surroundings, watching as everything around him moved backwards.

He shot Stephen a look, to which Stephen replied;

"Breaking the laws of nature, I know."

Mordo glanced back to where he was impaled, "Well, don't stop now."

Lenore patted Wong's shoulder as he stood by her side. She was relieved that he was there with her, she couldn't afford to lose someone close to her again.

They were soon joined by Mordo, whom emerged triumphant between his fight with one of Kaecilius' disciples. The four them watched while the Sanctim slowly reformed. At that moment, her dreams about Stephen, from getting a dark being flashed in her mind causing fear to build up in her chest.

She'd seen the things Stephen would have to go through and she couldn't bear to think that he'll do it now in reality.

"When the Sanctum's restored, they'll attack it again. We have to defend it. Come on." Stephen's voice snapped her out from her reverie and she nodded in response.

The four of them rushed to the Sanctum, running past Kaecilius who was breaking free from the wall. With his feet back on the ground, he faced the four sorcerers as he walked to the middle of the street. He slowly raised his arms before slamming his right hand onto the ground, sending a violent wave towards them.

The four sorcerers fell to the ground, the green magic circle around Stephen's wrists dissipated into nothing. The spell was broken and everything was frozen in time.

When Lenore raised her head, she saw Stephen had been unconscious.

"Stephen?" Lenore groaned as she made her way to him, "Stephen wake up."

"Get up, Strange." Mordo grunted as he brought himself back to his feet, wobbling a bit. "Get up and fight. We can finish this."

Both Wong and Mordo got up, poised to fight Kaecilius and his disciples. Lenore saw them closing in to the both of them, she quickly got into a kneeling position, arms raised and ready to fight. Kaecilius smirked at the woman in front of him.

"You can't fight the inevitable."Kaecilius declared, walking towards them.

At that moment, Stephen finally had woken up, he groaned in pain as he brought himself to his knees. Lenore dropped her hands and helped Stephen up, she kept her hands on his arms, keeping him steady.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Kaecilius said as he slowed to a stop, he was gazing up in the sky, watching as the Dark Dimension forming back in the skies ever so slowly, "A world beyond time. Beyond death."

"Beyond time." Stephen muttered under his breath.

"Huh?" Lenore looked down at Stephen and saw him pushing himself off of the ground and take off.

"Stephen!" Lenore shouted, her gaze