Inside the New York Sanctum, Kurogai stood silently in the grand hall, waiting for the arrival of the Ancient One.
To be honest, he wasn't entirely confident she would agree to teach him magic. There was no bond between them—no reason for her to take him in. Kurogai didn't believe in those fairy-tale scenarios where simply being the protagonist made legends line up to become your mentors.
But he wasn't without a backup plan.
"If she refuses... I'll just control a few lower-ranked sorcerers and learn from them directly."
He muttered the thought under his breath. It wasn't ideal—learning from a novice was a pale substitute for being trained by the Sorcerer Supreme—but if that was his only path forward, he'd take it.
Kurogai had always been one to act, not wait.
Suddenly, a golden portal swirled open in the air before him, at least two meters in diameter. From its radiant edges stepped a bald woman dressed in flowing white robes, exuding a quiet, otherworldly power.
The Ancient One.
Behind her followed the man Kurogai had briefly controlled—now clearly freed from his influence. As the portal closed behind them, Kurogai gave a calm nod of acknowledgment.
"Kurogai greets the Ancient One."
Though it was his first time seeing her in person, he could immediately sense the immense power hidden within her seemingly fragile frame. She wasn't just a sorcerer—she was the Sorcerer Supreme, the protector of Earth's dimension. She commanded a respect few others could earn.
The Ancient One studied him closely.
"Kurogai, is it? You haven't learned any magic... and yet you were able to control Mordo?" she asked with evident curiosity. "That's not something a child should be capable of."
Kurogai remained composed.
"Just a small ability of mine. Nothing worth fussing over," he replied.
He hadn't expected the person he'd controlled to be Mordo, a name that carried significant weight in the future of the magical world. But that detail wasn't important right now. He was here for one reason.
"Ancient One, I came to learn. I want you to teach me magic."
He looked directly at her, eyes unwavering. He wasn't trying to manipulate her or beg—he believed she had already sensed his sincerity.
The Ancient One's expression shifted, her gaze deepening. For a long moment, she didn't speak. It was clear she was probing him—not physically, but metaphysically. Trying to unravel the mystery of who—or what—he really was.
"Your origin... I can't fully see it," she said finally. "But your future? Now that is even more intriguing."
Kurogai's expression tightened. He wasn't surprised the Ancient One couldn't trace his origin—his presence in this world transcended the rules of the Marvel Universe. But her last sentence caught his full attention.
"What do you mean, my future is 'more interesting'?"
She turned, slowly pacing in a half-circle around him.
"I see many futures, Kurogai," she said. "Countless paths. Countless decisions. Usually, a single person's future branches into many outcomes. But you... no matter the path, no matter the variables—your future always loops back to the same point."
She paused.
"You become something... inevitable."
That declaration startled even Kurogai.
"Whether as the world's salvation or its ruin, you are tied to the fate of this planet in every timeline I've glimpsed," she continued. "Even when the events of your life change—when the details shift—your impact does not. I have never seen anything like it."
Time, she explained, was fluid. A small shift in a person's life—an apple falling, a word unspoken—could ripple into completely different destinies. The rise or fall of a hero often hinged on something as simple as timing or chance.
Yet Kurogai's fate wasn't like that.
"You're a fixed point," she whispered, more to herself than to him. "No matter which current of time touches you, you remain the same storm."
Even in paths where Kurogai became a tyrant, or a savior, or something in between—his existence always led to world-changing consequences.
This wasn't normal. It wasn't even possible under natural laws of time and fate.
It was destiny—or something far beyond it.
For the first time in many years, the Ancient One was genuinely stunned.
"You're not just extraordinary," she said. "You're unprecedented."
And Kurogai, standing calmly in the center of the sanctum, said nothing.
But deep inside, he smiled.
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