THE APPRENTICE (DOCTOR STRANGE STORY)

21

Her head whipped back, and spotted Strange, who was flustered and angry at her.

"I'll explain later! Get rid of the guys!" She yelled, a blaze on her neck, her skin sizzling and searing. Strange's instinct was to come to her aid, but he knew he had to finish the others off.

As the girl continued to brawl with the gigantic beast, the two of them in critical condition. She looked behind her and found Strange almost finishing the men off, while she was beaten and bloody.

Sighing at herself, she banged the staff of the ground, sending her up and taking her aback. She landed on its shoulder, one of the snakes biting her face as if she hasn't received enough.

A huge force whipped her away, sending her flying, but a circular pattern lifted her in the air. Closing her eyes and breathing deeply, she decided to finish it once and for all. Her eyes went bright green, and the staff shone bright; a bolt of light bore into its chest as her green eyes stared into its red ones.

With one last screech, the beast fell to the ground and closed its eyes, with no signs of movement or life. In exhaustion, Hazel collapsed to the floor, with her arms supporting her while Strange ran to her aid.

"I don't know if I should be angry," Strange panted, his face gashed with a cut, blood dripping down from his forehead "or proud"

"Er...the latter?" She twisted her face and scratched her head, feeling a headache slowly creep into her head. "My head hurts." She groaned, the sensation growing "like, a lot."

The pain grew, the feeling of hammers pounding into her brain took over her. She panted and gasped as her stomach turned and her skin boiled, her eyes growing heavy

"Ahh!" She repeated, crying. Tears fell from her eyes as she withered in pain, clutching on her robes for dear life

"Haze?" Strange knelt down, not knowing the exact cause of the sensation. Hazel grabbed his hand and squeezed it tight as he watched her endure the feeling "can you breathe?"

"It hurts!" She hissed through gritted teeth, her head feeling so much pressure, she was sure it was gonna explode. It traveled from her head, down and around her eyes and to her back "Stephen!"

"I-I..." he stood in absolute horror, not knowing what to do. As a doctor, he had to make sure he knew what was going on first, before he could try and do something about it. What's worse, is that it was something magical, so the solutions were extremely limited "just breathe, Haze, you'll be fine"

She scrunched up her face and clutched on his hand, green light travelling inside her veins, making them light up subtly. A ball choked up in her throat as she panted for air, gaging a little bit, with sweat forming around her forehead.

Stephen scratched his head, disappointed in himself for not doing anything about it. He didn't know how he could just watch her, but he did know that she needed him.

In agonising pace, the pain slowly subsided, and her cries stopped. Closing her eyes and laying on the ground, her breathing normalised. A huge weight was lifted from Stephen's body when he saw the pain starting to ease.

"Hazel, I'm sorry, I-"

"I know. You were there, and that's what matters" she hummed, knowing that Strange would probably feel this way "let's just go home"

"No, Hazel, I'm a doctor. And I'm- I'm supposed to be protecting you, and I couldn't even help you" He said with disgust at himself as he ran a hand through his hair

"It's okay to not know everything, Steph, it was just a small episode. It's probably from that demon thing." She waved off "I know that it's a little weird considering we're in this hell-like place, and I just killed a thing, and took care of the Gyor business, but I just really wanna have a normal day today"

"So do I," Stephen offered his hand which Hazel took, making her stand up on her two feet wobbly "but I mean, how normal can our days get?"

This made her chuckle as she made a ring to the sanctum, Hazel looped her arm around Stephen's and aggressively dragged him inside of the place

"Okay, calm down," Stephen laughed

"Ugh" She let out a loud and deep groan, closing her eyes and smiling "finally. I just really wanna eat, and I really wanna sleep, and I really wanna not be me for a little while"

"I could not be me for a little while, too" He raised his eyebrow suggestively and got a beer from the fridge, "don't even try" he lifted the bottle higher to keep away from Hazel, seeing that her eyes were boring into it

"What? I wasn't gonna try anything!" She said innocently, shrugging "have fun Stephen!" A big smile crept up on her face, her eyes like half moons

"Ha ha. You think you can steal from me? I've tried everything, kid, I know all your tricks" he rolled his eyes and muttered a spell, locking up the refrigerator "You're tired, right? You should go to bed"

"Don't assume my physical state," she said mockingly, her hands on her hips and her eyebrows wiggling.

Stephen simply laughed at the sight of her; she was a mess. Her skin was covered with snake bites, with a few burns scattered around it. Her shoulder looked horrid, and her cheek had a cut on it. It was a little bit like seeing her go through an initiation, in a sense, and he was oddly proud.

He watched as she shut the door, leaving him alone, making the room silent and boring once again, yet there was a smile ghosting his face.