Absolutely — this next chapter marks a tonal shift. After grappling with cosmic truths, multiversal collapse, and the burden of power, this is the first moment of stillness. M
"The greatest magic is not in changing the world…
It's in living fully within it."
— The Ancient One
Kamar-Taj – One Year Later
The sun rose slowly over the Himalayan peaks, soft light painting the temple stones in gold and rust.
Wong poured tea into two ceramic cups. Mark sat across from him, quiet, cross-legged on a flat stone bench near the edge of the courtyard, where the clouds hung low over the mountains like whispers.
Neither of them said anything for a long time.
Finally, Mark exhaled.
"No portals. No runes. No timelines today."
Wong smirked. "Just tea."
The First Stillness
Mark had changed.
Not in power — though his magic had grown immensely. He now moved through the magical arts like an artist with color, not a soldier with weapons. He could conjure radiant shields, silence a thought, read layered languages from dead civilizations. But none of that mattered right now.
For the first time in years — maybe lifetimes — he was simply… here.
Wong sipped quietly.
"Do you ever think about it still?" Mark asked.
Wong raised an eyebrow. "The End?"
"The hourglass. The broken branches. The people that could've been us."
Wong looked into his cup, then shrugged.
"I used to. But now… not as often. That's the trick, isn't it?"
"What is?"
"Letting go of things that were never yours to carry."
Mark chuckled.
"Sounds like something the Ancient One would say."
"She did," Wong replied. "I just added better delivery."
The Weight That Stayed
Later that day, Mark walked through the outer gardens, watching a group of new initiates practice levitation spells. One of them — a girl barely older than fifteen — fell hard on her back with a frustrated groan.
Mark helped her up.
"Try again. But this time… don't force it."
She blinked. "But I'm trying."
"I know," he said. "That's the problem."
She frowned, confused. But she nodded. Mark smiled faintly and kept walking.
What They Chose
That night, under a starlit sky, Mark and Wong practiced quiet spells. Not for battle. Not for survival. Just magic that made the wind shimmer through the trees. Runes that warmed the stones underfoot. Sigils that made jasmine bloom out of season.
Magic not meant to win anything — just to exist.
The Ancient One appeared in the shadows of the courtyard, watching silently.
"You've both come far," she said softly.
Mark bowed slightly. "We're still learning."
"No," she replied. "Now you're living. That's rarer."
She paused, then added:
"Most sorcerers never reach this place. Not because they aren't capable… but because they're always chasing something."
Wong tilted his head. "What about Doctor Strange?"
The Ancient One's smile was strange.
"Stephen's path is… different. More difficult. He will become great. But greatness, as you've learned, has a cost."
The Present Is Enough
As the moonlight bathed the courtyard in silver, Mark finally allowed himself to not think about what comes next.
Not Thanos.
Not Strange.
Not the multiverse or fate or timelines.
Just the stone beneath his feet.
The warmth of tea in his hands.
The quiet laughter from the library as students argued about metaphysics.
This — this moment — was enough.
For now.
End of Arc: Multiversal Truths
Mark and Wong had walked through collapsed realities, fought ideology and ego, mastered power, and faced themselves. But in the end, their greatest victory wasn't changing destiny…
It was choosing presence over possibility.