"Damn it! We were too distracted—one of the Sanctums was left undefended. Kaecilius exploited this and now London is under attack," Wong exclaimed.
Without hesitation, the group summoned a portal to the Sanctum's connection point and leaped through.
"Go ahead," Mordo commanded the team. "I'll remain with the others. The Ancient One is undoubtedly still here—she'll need assistance maintaining order."
"Mordo," Celeste said, clearly uncertain about this.
"I'll be fine," he said, already turning to run. "Help Wong. Protect the Sanctum."
They watched Mordo depart as Wong shouted—
"Now!"
They leaped through the portal and emerged before the open doorway to the London Sanctum.
A dead Master lay before the entrance. In the hall leading to the Sanctum's heart, Kaecilius and his zealots were conjuring a sphere of pure destructive energy.
"No!" Wong yelled futilely as Kaecilius smashed the orb into the floor, unleashing a magical detonation that undoubtedly obliterated the London Sanctum.
It also released a powerful shockwave that surged directly toward the group. In an instant, Bucky leaped in front of his lover, arms raised protectively.
Bucky, standing before the Jedi, barely shielded her from the devastating blast that sent all five of them hurtling backward.
Strange, Celeste, and Robbie tumbled through one doorway while Bucky and Wong careened through another.
The three struck the ground hard, looking up just in time to see the gateway to Kamar-Taj collapse, with multiple boulders blocking their path.
"Bucky!" Celeste shouted, her face filled with worry. "Wong!"
"Damn it," Robbie said, standing and approaching the rock and debris now barricading them.
The Jedi Shadow shook her head and raised her hands, preparing to conjure a portal when she noticed something missing from her left hand.
"My Sling Ring!" she said in horror, frantically patting herself down before visibly freezing. "No... I lost it."
Hearing this, Strange checked his hand and mentally cursed himself. He hadn't brought his when studying in Kamar-Taj's library, and now he was trapped here.
In whichever Sanctum this was.
Either New York or Hong Kong.
"We need to get back there," Celeste nearly shouted. "They need our help."
"Wait a second," Strange began, making the two who'd entered the Sanctum with him look at him. "What did Wong say earlier, before all that insanity? About these Sanctums? This is one of the Sanctums we just entered, right?"
The Jedi and the Rider exchanged slightly conflicted glances before the former sighed helplessly.
Celeste nodded confirmation. "We just need to determine which one."
The trio stumbled from their current chamber and eventually reached the Sanctum's foyer. A grand staircase dominated the center, splitting temporarily near the top to reach either end of the next level. The lighting was severely diminished, with only prominent illumination coming from the skylight above.
Seeing the entrance at the corridor's end, they walked toward it. Opening the door, Strange and Celeste were greeted by cool afternoon air and the bustling city beyond.
Stephen turned and noticed the address of the Sanctum they'd just exited: 177A Bleecker Street.
The two sorcerers observed several people staring at them curiously before continuing on their way. They returned to the Sanctum moments later.
"So where are we? Hong Kong?" Robbie asked as he sat at the stairs' base, clearly uncertain of their location.
"New York," the former surgeon said. "I know this street. I pass by here sometimes commuting to work."
Robbie rolled his eyes. "I mean where in New York."
Strange gave Reyes a flat look. "Manhattan."
"Thank you. Was it that hard to be specific?"
"Well, now's not the time for arguing," Celeste quickly interjected. "Kamar-Taj is battling Rakghouls, and the London Sanctum was just destroyed."
"So what do we do?" Robbie asked, looking between Morn and Strange.
"We need to find a way to contact the others," Celeste said immediately. "Or at least locate a Sling Ring somewhere in here."
The three began exploring the New York Sanctum, ascending the stairs and traversing the upper floor.
"Hello? Is anyone here?" Strange called out.
"The guardian of this place was probably at Kamar-Taj when the attack occurred," Celeste pointed out, since no one responded.
"That's likely correct," Robbie commented.
"Do you know who it might be?" Strange asked, watching Celeste think deeply.
"Um... possibly Master Drumm, but I'm not certain," the Jedi pondered, rubbing her chin thoughtfully.
They soon discovered a long hallway leading to a chamber with somewhat familiar design.
The room was roughly circular, featuring three large windows—each opening to another location on Earth.
Similar to the hub chamber in Kamar-Taj.
One displayed a tropical rainforest, another a frozen tundra, and the last a beautiful mountain range.
Examining a circular mechanism flanking each window, Strange carefully placed his hand on one and discovered it could rotate.
Stephen turned it, transforming the mountains into desert. Celeste used the tundra dial, shifting it to ocean.
"Think maybe this is a way back to Kamar-Taj?" Robbie asked, checking all the windows thoroughly.
Rather than vocalize a response, Celeste and Strange decided to test the theory, cycling through numerous environments—none leading back to Kamar-Taj.
"Oh, for Force's sake, seriously?"
"I think it's a security measure," Stephen speculated. "Why have another method of reaching there when the doorway near the foyer exists?"
"That's a terrible security measure," Robbie said in annoyance.
"Forget it—better not to dwell on this," Strange sighed, departing from the three windows.
They ascended to what appeared to be the Sanctum's top floor and discovered a vast collection of antiquities and artifacts.
The objects were either mounted on walls, displayed in glass cases, positioned on pedestals, or simply arranged on shelves.
Helmets, masks, cloth, weapons, tools, and various other items too obscure to fully identify.
"There must be a Sling Ring here," Celeste exclaimed, navigating among the numerous ancient mystical relics.
Strange and Robbie didn't respond, momentarily preoccupied with the various objects surrounding them.
The latter gazed at twin axes mounted on the wall, which appeared capable of cleaving through nearly anything.
He nodded in approval, and from the brief response he received from the Spirit of Vengeance, Zarathos seemed to share the sentiment.
"Find anything useful?" Celeste asked, coming to stand beside him.
Robbie gestured forward, a small smile forming as he watched the Jedi's shoulders drop dramatically upon noticing what he was examining.
"Hey," Robbie defended. "This could be useful."
Celeste simply rolled her eyes and did nothing to prevent the young man from casually removing an axe from the wall and strapping it to his back.
"Strange," the Jedi Shadow called loudly, her voice echoing off the walls. "Did you find anything useful? Any Sling Rings?"
She heard no response and grew slightly worried.
"Strange," she called again, more nervously. "Are you—"
"Hmm?" the wayward doctor replied, and Celeste sighed with relief. "Sorry, sorry. Didn't find anything except... this floating cloak."
"A floating cloak," Celeste repeated, glancing down at the azure cloak of the kwazel draped over her shoulders. "And...?"
"Anything else? Any Sling Rings?"
"No, nothing here."
Celeste sighed helplessly, feeling increasingly frustrated and anxious.
She wanted to return to Kamar-Taj immediately—it was under assault by Rakghouls—but she'd also just learned from Wong about these Sanctums' critical importance.
One had just been destroyed.
If the other two fell as well, it would obviously mean the end of everything.
So here she stood, reluctant as she might be, in a Sanctum that apparently stood between Earth and eternal damnation.
As a Jedi, she'd dealt with numerous crises—galactic conflicts and wars, with countless planets ravaged by both.
Yet somehow, these stakes suddenly made her feel insignificant in the grand scheme of things as she realized what she'd become involved in.
She was now part of an order operating not within one universe, but across the multiverse. Other universes, dimensions, realities—whatever one wished to call them.
She was now responsible for keeping at least one Sanctum safe from zealots who worshipped a cosmic entity from another dimension that had been attempting to invade other universes and worlds for millennia.
Celeste was fairly certain this wasn't covered in any Jedi or Sith teaching or code.