"I'm not hungry." 

Carina sighs, head falling back in annoyance as she stared back at Stephen Strange who holds an annoying look of his own. It was nighttime, dinner had just been served but Stephen wasn't there nor was he at lunch or breakfast or snack time.

She hadn't been the one to notice, Mordo did who told the Ancient One who told her to bring him some food, in others words to feed him.

Easy task, right? Just get Stephen to eat something... Wrong, after that afternoon a week ago she should have known better than to try and make him do something he doesn't feel like doing.

"Come on, Strange, you need to eat something," Carina said, waving the pasta plate in front of him. "It's good for your body, as a Doctor shouldn't you know that?"

Stephen scoffed. " I don't need a child to tell me what I—"

"You always seem to say 'child' as an insult.

"That's because it is."

"How can I be an insult when biologically I am a child, if anything you're the one acting childish."

"Oh, don't even." Stephen shakes his head, rolling his eyes. "I'm not hungry, I'm busy so you've got no business here, Goodbye."

"How about you take the tray and in exchange I give you a book I didn't tell you about," Carina tells him, nodding her head in the direction of her bag. "An important one."

Strange's eyes narrow. "What book?"

"Key of Solomon, I've been reading it so that's why I didn't give it to you but now I can but only if you agree to eat dinner."

"What is it to you if I eat or not?" Asked Stephen, eyeing Carina and then the plate of pasta.

"Nothing really." Carina shrugged, her hands starting to get sore from holding the tray. "But I've been entrusted with the task of giving you dinner."

"Well, you can just leave it here and leave."

"I take my responsibilities very seriously Stephen, if I go knowing you won't eat that'll be on my conscience and I won't be able to sleep."

Stephen leaned against the threshold, his eyes still narrowing towards her but there was a hint of amusement shining too. "That sounds like a you problem."

Something about that bothered Carina. How could he sound so nonchalant? How he could sound so disinterested yet arrogant?

"Such a doctor you must have been." Carina huffs, lips pinching in annoyance trying to contain an eye roll. "I'm telling you something that might be crucial to my health and all you do is say 'that's a you problem', is that what you said to all your patients In need of help?"

"Don't be so dramatic, nothing will happen to you if you lose a night of sleep." Strange rolled his eyes.

Carina's eyes narrowed with unfamiliar irritation. "I am not dramatic, I'm only trying to keep you healthy and my mind at ease."

"It seems as if you're the doctor here." Stephen scoffs, crossing his arms.

She hadn't realized her outburst, making her cheeks burn in embarrassment. "I might as well be, and a whole lot better than you it seems." She mumbled, her tone went soft yet contained its sharpness. "Now take the warm food, which, I may also remind you, that there are a lot of people out there with nothing to eat... and I'll give you the book."

"You're guilt-tripping me."

"I'm not." Carina defended herself, cheeks still reddening. "It's a bargain, you take the dinner and I give you the Key of Solomon."

There was a second of silence as Stephen stroke his beard considerably.

"It's not bad, I swear... I even brought you dessert." Carina said, trying to sway his decision, nodding her head in the direction of the ice cream. "Unless you prefer chocolate cake... I have a piece in my bag."

"Ice cream's fine, you little prat," Stephen said sarcastically, the amusement present in his tone as he pushed himself off the threshold. "Give me the food already."

Beaming, Carina passed him the tray of food. Stephen moved inside his room leaving the door open for her to see inside of it, and although she knows she shouldn't, her eyes wandered around the room, falling on the desk where Stephen must have been sitting before she knocked. The codex imperium was open and next to it was a tablet open on google translator.

"Having trouble with Sanskrit?" Asked Carina, shamelessly tilting her head to have a better look at what Strange was trying to translate.

Stephen glanced back at her then at his slightly chaotic table. "Google has helped enough."

"Well, I wouldn't trust google so much," Carina said and before she realized it, she stepped inside his room and grabbed a pencil, a random paper on his desks and sat down on the chair. "For starters, क्रॉनिका बोएमोरम  means Chronica Boemorum, and not to mention डाइजेस्टा, कोडेक्स, संस्थाः च means  The Digesta, the Codex, and the Institutions. It's all really just about the old Roman laws and stuff like that."

She looked back at Strange who was looking back at the paper, at the book and then at her. "You're telling me you also know Sanskrit and Nepali."

"I..." she sheepishly moved out of the chair. "I know a few languages."

Stephen crosses his arms. "Like what?"

"Uh... Cantonese, Nepali, English, and Italian little bit of Spanish but that comes with learning Italian, I guess." She recounted, holding her fingers up. "And Sanskrit."

"Impressive," Strange said, making her smile proudly. "You're a brat in different languages."

That smile dropped, as she huffs moving towards the door. "You're welcome, by the way."

"Wait wait," Stephen called her just as she was going to leave, forcing her to stop and look back at him. "We had a deal, didn't we?"

Carina nodded, eyes shining in realization, she turned and searched around the inside of her satchel, quickly finding the leathery cover book she needed.

"Aha, the Key of Solomon." Carina passed him the book. "Lovely book, kind of old...  I mean it was written back in the 15th century but very informative and—"

"— Nice doing business with you, now have a good night."

With that Stephen closed the door, leaving her to stare at the wooden doors.

"असभ्य." She huffs, with an eye roll before yelling at his closed door. "Remember to eat... I'll know if you don't."

"I'm shaking in my boots," Stephen yelled back.

"I'll come by tomorrow."

"Please don't."

With another roll of eyes, Carina turned on her heel and made her way to her dormitory but before calling it a night, she decided to take a detour.

In the dim lights of the library, Carina walks surreptitiously through the shelves with a few books in hand, hoping Wong wouldn't hear her, if she was lucky he was probably in the other section of the library, down where masters go, listening to his cassettes.

"Hhm... where is it?" She whispers to herself.

Her eyes gazed over the spine of the books in the universe section, she had a book in mind she particularly wanted to read. It was about the creation of the cosmos and its derivatives.

She heard a student talking about it earlier in the day, and she thought it sounded interesting so she wanted to read it.

Apparently, it was about the multiverse, a different outlook on it.

Her eyes settle on a red leathery cover with the title, The unseen macrocosm in Sanskrit. That's the one but it was three shelves up, too high for her to grab.

Sighing, Carina place her books down at a nearby table and climb the first two shelves, she stretch to grab the book but just as her fingers graze the leathery cover the dreaded voice of Wong said.  "And what are you doing here?"

Luck was not on her side.

Carina gasped, she almost lost her balance but quickly recover. She turns her head, with a guilty smile. "Is... not what it looks like."

Wong didn't seem impressed, he look at the book pile on the table, at the book she was trying to grab and then back at her, still unimpressed before taking the book she wanted off the shelf. "The unseen macrocosm."

"Wait, wait..." Carina hurriedly hops off the wooden shelve.

"I thought I told you, you couldn't take more books until you return the ones you've taken." He said, placing the book under his arm before walking out of the section.

"But Wong." Carina groaned as she followed him. "I lend that book to someone and he's not even started it yet."

"I didn't realize you were the new librarian." Wong huffs, his eyes narrowing as he turns to look at her. " Nor did I know it was your book to lend."

Carina groaned again. "He needed it, and I–"

"You." Wong interrupted her. "Should be in bed."

"It's only like 9:30."

"Sleep early to wake up early," Wong said, sitting on his wooden desk, setting the book down on a pile of books next to him.

"I wake up early enough." Carina sulks, slumping on a chair near Wong's desk. "Why would I want to wake up even earlier than that."

"The early bird catches the worm–."

"You know I don't eat meat."

"--And it's always good to make the most of the day." He said before placing his attention on the parchment on his desk. Seemingly something he had been doing before he caught her.

"I suppose." Carina suspires, her face resting on her hand silently agreeing with him, she did enjoy having enough time in a day to do all her chores and homework and still have free time for her hobbies, like drawing, painting or reading... "Hey Wong, can you please let me have just that one book?"

"No," Wong said, eyes not moving from the paper. 

"Please." She pleads, pouting.

"No."

Carina huffs, leaning back on the chair before straightening up as an idea strikes her. "Not even for a piece of cake."

That made him look up and regard her. "What cake?"

"Chocolate." Carina grabbed her bag and pulled out the chocolate deliciousness that was wrapped in a tablecloth. "It was the last piece too."

Wong stayed silent, eyes on the cake.

"I promise I'll give this one back by Monday," Carina said, smiling at him innocently. "Please."

Nodding, Wong reluctantly agreed. "By Monday or I'll hunt you down, young lady."

"Thank you." Carina jumped from the chair smiling happily, she put the cake in Wong's hands before taking the book from the other bunch.

"See you later," Carina said before taking off to her dormitory. 

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Carina hardly ever dreamed but when she did they were odd.

She wouldn't dream of falling into nothingness, walking around naked or being chased by a monster, no, her dreams were weirder. Usually, she would be floating aimlessly in a sea of endless colours and bright stars, walking through a cold, freezing, dark place or just waking up in an odd city.

It always starts the same, she'll wake up with a start, her irises scanning her surroundings but never being able to recognize them, and this time wasn't any different.

The first thing Carina saw was a bright light at the end of an odd, rock tunnel and the first thing she felt was the solid ground beneath her.

She took a deep breath, debating if she should walk towards the light because regardless of what the common knowledge says about 'walking to the light' she didn't think it applied to this situation... at least she hoped not.

Taking deliberate steps, she held her hand up to shield her eyes from the light as she crossed through the cave.

The first thing she noticed when she finally reached the end of the cave was that it was fresh, she didn't feel hot or cold, the perfect weather.

Then, after blinking to accommodate her sight to the brightness, her eyes widened as she took in the place.

As far as her eyes could see, the grass that cover the place was a rich green, all around her were verdant meadows. It looked like a mountainous region, as there were many mountains, some with holes through them, making them look like funny shaped donuts.

As Carina was observing her surroundings in awe, she felt something soft brush her legs, jumping away from the sudden feeling, she swiftly looked down to find the cause of it.

The first thing Carina noticed was the lack of head and face, making her gasp once more, taking another step back scrutinizing it, the odd creature had also four shimmering wings and six feet.

It took a step towards her making her take another back, the creature halted, its body tilting slightly, seemingly confused about why she was backing away from it.

Admittedly, the creature didn't seem threatening at all, it was little, like a puppy with several feet and wings.

It took another step towards her, this time Carina didn't move, she stayed put to just watch what it would do.

It was a dream, right? Nothing can happen to her in a dream.

Carina stiffened when she saw the faceless creature's body tilting upwards as if looking at her, and she had a feeling it was indeed observing her somehow.

Its wings flapping up and down, probably in wonder.

Curious — although Carina would call it braveness— she bent down slowly, a hesitant hand moving to it, hoping it wouldn't scurry away in fright.

When it didn't, she hesitantly ran a hand over the feather on his back, they were unreasonably soft.

The creature chipped happily, gazing up at her, its wings fluttering faster than before in what Carina could only describe as joy. They seemed to be enjoying her pets.

The girl couldn't help but smile, loosening up, she finally knelt next to it, laughing softly when it jumped on her.

"Whoa." Carina laughed an arm behind her for support. "Hi... hello."

Carina grabbed the faceless creature and held it up, being careful with its wings, to look at it better. It was an animal, that much she knew, but there was not even one detail on its fur, just soft fluff and feathers covering it.

Carina hums. "Funny, what are you?"

The animal chirped again when abruptly it used its wings to wiggle out of her hold. It started to move deeper into the green valley.

"Wait..." Standing up, Carina followed it.

It reminds her of this book she read once, where a girl followed a rabbit down a hole.

She thought it was dumb of the girl to run after the rabbit, because who in their right mind would just follow a rabbit down a hole, alas the rabbit could talk but that was still stupid... yet here she was, running after a winged creature with six feet and no face. It was stupider than running after a bunny.

Carina chases after the creature, who from time to time looks back as if making sure she was still following.

Suddenly, something white caught her attention away from the creature, halting on her steps, a gasp left her mouth as her eyes landed on a strange animal.

It looked like a fox, with long white fur, pointed ears, relatively short legs, and a narrow snout but what made Carina's eyes widen in wonder was the fluffy tail, or rather tails, the odd fox had nine of them.

There were many of them, and all looked at her from the tall rock they were resting in. They were beautiful.

"Oh wow," Carina said in awe.

The familiar chirping made her look away from the nine-tail foxes and back at the faceless puppy, who did a turn before continuing moving, giving Carina the impression that it was telling her to move on.

Glancing one last time at the pretty foxes she moved to follow once again.

The winged puppy sped up, making her pick up her pace, after a few fast seconds she saw it again.

Carina couldn't help but laugh. The furry winged puppy brought her to meet its family. Many of the same creatures are all just laying around and doing nothing.

The one she knew, holds its wings up and chirps happily, the others mirror the action as if greeting him.

Carina kneel again when a few made their way to her in wonder, she imagined. It was amazing, she laughed as the creature's wings flopped up and down and others nussle against her, chirping happily.

They were all like puppies.

The first creature she knew was easy to pin out among the others, for one it was smaller like it was the youngest of them, a baby, and two because it hadn't left her side either.

Just as Carina was wondering what they feed on, the sound of something walking on the grass made her turn.

Looking away from the faceless creatures she saw a weird looking horse, she even doubts it was a horse. It looked like a horse-dragon hybrid, it had two antlers, long eyelashes, iridescent scales, a mane, a long tail, and whiskers that give the animal an odd moustache, its beautiful eyes locked on her amethyst ones.

It didn't frighten her and she wasn't all that shocked to see such an odd animal, not after the few she had seen. Something in the animal's eyes made her stand up and move towards it slowly, hoping it wouldn't run away.

It didn't, thankfully, it just stared at her, with nothing but peace in its eyes, inch by inch she held a hand up maintaining eye contact with it.

The scaly horse sniffed her fingers, making her giggle.

Finally, she placed the hand on the side of its face only for the odd horse to huff and move its face away from her hand. It didn't like to be petted on the head, but even annoyed, it didn't leave.

So, Carina tried again, she slowly held her hand up but this time she petted its shoulder from the side, it wasn't soft like the faceless puppies, it was like petting a dry fish.

The hybrid horse seemed to enjoy that as it made delighted noises, Carina eventually grew more confident and petted the back of its horns. She laughed when the head of the animal tilted in the direction of her hand, expecting more petting.

Her subconscious never ceases to amaze her.

"Come to me..."

Now, that kooky voice was sketchy. It came out of nowhere, making her hand drop from the hybrid antlers.

"Free me..."

What? Carina cocks her head, eyebrows scrunched together as she tries to make sense of where that voice came from.

Without realizing she started walking deeper into the green forest, leaving the animals behind, eyes moving around as the voice continues to call for her.

It wasn't one she recognized, but it was alluring.

Passing trees after trees she arrived at a village. There was a group of people, picking up vegetables and farming. She stayed back not wanting to be seen, but unfortunately, she was.

People stopped doing what they were doing looking at her in confusion and warily, Carina tried her best to smile but the muscles of her mouth didn't want to budge, let alone when a very intimidating massive lion-like animal started to growl at her.

"Oh...." She backed away.

Soon, another group of people arrived, they were holding weapons, sticks with glowing tips, bows pointing at her, odd-looking shields and yet another giant growling Lion.

They were speaking to her, but she couldn't understand the language,