"A Chitauri weapon used to rob a bank.. looks like SHIELD didn't do a proper cleaning.."
Well.. in the meantime New York was just New York.. cars were honking as if nothing happened.. garbage were everywhere, some signs were still laying on the ground and it seems like no one is gonna do anything about it but one thing for sure.. The city was healing in its own way.
Aran walked the streets with hands behind his back, robes flowing slightly as he moved. No one stopped him. A few people gave curious glances, his appearance too strange for comfort, but after everything in the alien invasion and avengers? He's the least weird.
He turned a corner and found a quiet diner nestled between a laundromat and a nail salon. The glass was intact. The lights warm. It was calm, normal. Perfect.
He walked in without a word.
TEN MINUTES LATER
Aran was now sitting in a booth near the window, smelling the scent of the toast, bacon and eggs as jazz music plays in the background. The eggs were a bit too greasy, coffee was not bad either..
As he picked up his cup of coffee, he looked down at the table.. then a small note appeared out of thin air.. After taking a sip he put down the cup and took the small note and read
"177A Bleecker Street."
After staring at it for a minute.. he simply folded the paper and tucked inside his sleeves rather in his storage ring then continued eating.. there was no rush for it..
"She already noticed me.. or is it a He? Right.. I forgot.. there's different marvel universes.."
..
"Doesn't really matter"
Later that afternoon
Aran arrived at the address and took a look of the exterior.. just exactly in the movies.. it looks average.. or rather old.. then you see similar structures next to it.. but inside his eyes.. there were many formations.. layers of reality.. and lots of energy.
Before he went inside, he snapped a picture of it with a Iphone 4S.. as for where he got the money to buy one? He just simply took some cash from the couple earlier that robbed a bank with a alien gun as for why taking a picture? It was just the vibes.. just doing what he used to before arriving at Tianmen..
Aran stepped forward towards the door but of course.. the door opened itself..
Inside was complete full silence.. many artifacts, painting, and books then the circular window at the end.. he saw her
The Ancient One
She sat behind a low table, pouring tea into two small cups as if she'd been expecting him all day.
Bald, Serene, and Ageless, yet weathered by time in a way he couldn't quite place.
She looked at me and smiled gently.
"Would you like some tea?"
Her voice was soft, yet carried a weight behind it.. it was her presence
Aran glanced around the Sanctum. Every inch of it was laced with layers, barriers, enchantments, dimensional tethers, things most would never notice, but to him were clear as ink on paper.
"Sure," he replied, stepping inside with quiet footsteps.
He took the seat across from her without hesitation, robes folding neatly around him. The tea steamed between them.
For a few seconds, neither spoke.
"You don't belong here," the Ancient One said, not accusatory, but merely acknowledging a fact.
"I didn't plan to" Aran replied.. "But the space stone had other plans"
"The Tesseract has a tendency to disrupt more than just space. It echoes through fate." The Ancient one replied back
"Fate," Aran repeated. "A fragile thing"
The Ancient One's smile didn't waver."You've seen it break, haven't you?"
Aran didn't respond right away. His fingers traced the rim of the porcelain teacup, his gaze distant, as if looking beyond the walls of the Sanctum and through the veil of memory.
"Too many times, I say"
"Yet you still moved forward"
"Fate..is mysterious.. even now I vaguely understand it still.. but I did learned how to walk with it.. just like a river flowing naturally"
The tea between them steamed quietly.
"I suppose this is our journey," the Ancient One said, subtle warmth in her voice, "as beings who live long."
"You've been here only a few days… and yet you've already been noticed."
Aran glanced at her and simply smiled
"I know.. but not that many have noticed"
..
"I see.." The Ancient One murmured
She leaned forward slightly
"You do not seek control. You do not crave power. That is rare."
"Hmm.. You just don't know"
The Ancient One tilted her head slightly. Not in confusion but curiosity.
"You've wielded it before," she said, more of a statement than a question. "Control. Power."
Aran didn't answer immediately. He let his fingers brush the surface of the table as if feeling something only he could perceive.
"I've held things no one should. I've touched truths that break minds, witnessed heavens fall and empires drown in silence."
He looked at her now.. the mood was changing.. but in a sudden
"So stiff and serious.. why not just go outside and have fun?"
The Ancient One blinked once.
"...Fun?"
"You know, walk around. Watch pigeons fight over fries. Eavesdrop on couples arguing over who gets custody of the dog. Get coffee from a place where the barista gets your name wrong every time."
Aran leaned back in his seat, arms folded loosely behind his head.
"You stare too long at the curtain of fate, you'll miss the beauty in the threads."
A breath passed before the Ancient One chuckled softly.
"You're unlike anyone I've met."
"I'm unlike most people I've met," Aran replied.
A quiet laugh escaped her. Then she lifted her cup and took a slow sip, studying him over the rim.
"You've lived too long to take everything seriously… and long enough to know when to."
"Exactly," Aran said, reaching for his own tea. "It's all about balance."
"Spoken like someone who's watched balance fall apart more than once."
He sipped quietly, eyes half-lidded with that familiar serenity.