A soft groan came from my lips as light shone down upon my eyes, making me wince as I knew that my windows had blinds to block the light and let me sleep in late.
Along with that, I also had a slight headache that made my head spin before my eyes fluttered open to see the ceiling of the Ancient One's office above my head.
'Last thing I remember was fighting against the Death Dealer, talking to the Ancient One about a possible future before...', My eyes widened as I felt a body pressing against mine, looking down to see the Ancient One snuggling into me.
The woman was just as nude as I was as her arm and a leg were draped over me, her head resting my arm that was wrapped around my waist to pull her snug against me.
"Huh, I actually did have a nice night."
"I could say the same," She murmured as her eyes opened, a smile on my face as her golden brown eyes looked up at my silver ones.
"Well, I'm glad to hear that you enjoy it."
"Yes, and it is a shame that it is now finished," Her words confused and bewildered me as I watched her stand up, not even caring to cover her curvy figure as she moved around and got dressed.
"Wait, finished? What, no second round? Not even a good morning?"
"Good morning and no, there will be no second round. Like I said, I simply had an itch I needed to be scratched and you were the closest available."
"...So, that's a no on us being friends with benefits?", I asked with a hopeful look and stood up, to which she gave a soft smile as she reached forward and caressed my face with a soft smile.
"Pietro, you're a charming young man, but it was never meant to be. Unfortunately, the Sorcerer Supreme cannot afford the weight of lovers or families. My duty is to the world, not you. What we had was one singular night and for that, you have my gratitude."
"...Well, damn. You really know how to make a guy feel used," I muttered as I put my clothes on before nodding with a smile.
"Better used than dead."
"True, true. Well, even if you won't, I'll remember it for as long as I can...which will probably be a bit long, but who's counting?"
"I have a feeling you will. Thank you, Pietro," She spoke with a smile before she made a circle, turning myself to see a portal opening behind me."
"Thanks, Ancient One," I spoke with a smile as I walked to, but the very second it closed behind me, the world around me slowed as I turned and shot out of the Hong Kong Sanctum.
Instead of heading to th Ten Rings HQ or somewhere else, I raced towards one of its many sandy beaches, sliding to a stop while ignoring everyone around me.
'Just an itch that she needed scratched. ...Holy shit, that hurt me a lot more than I expected,' I knew that there was never going to be a relationship between us given the large age gap and her duties, but it's one thing to think about it and another to be bluntly told to your face that you were no more than a human dildo she needed to use.
'Come on, Pietro. You're a big boy. You knew it was never going to be a thing,' I thought with a frown as I hopped from foot to foot, taking a deep breath before I shot forward.
The water felt solid under my feet as I took off, my form a blur as I pushed myself to go farther. Each step sent water spraying in slow motion as I went faster and faster, but no matter how much I ran, her words just kept getting louder and louder.
"The Sorcerer Supreme cannot afford the weight of lovers or families."
"My duty is to the world, not you."
"I simply had an itch I needed to be scratched and you were the closest available," The world around me boomed as I sped up even more, taking deep breaths as the air began to get warmer and warmer.
'It's fine. I'm young, fast, handsome and rich. I'll find someone else who'll actually want to hang out,' I thought with a thin smile as I ran, the sea blending into forests and mountains that soon turned into hills of sand everywhere.
"Yeah, I wi-", A grunt escaped my lips as something smacked into my side, feeling myself slowly flipping through the air before I spun and slid across the ground.
"What the fu-!", My words seized in my throat at the figure in front of me, brown-skinned woman staring back at me with a frown as she was dressed in a white shirt, form fitting dark pants and a jacket thrown over it.
What I noticed the most was her presence, the air around her vibrating at a frequency that felt unnerving yet comforting at the same time.
Unlike my speed where I felt as if I was moving against the motion of the world, it felt as if the world was moving in motion with her, making me smile unconsciously as I stood up.
However, I didn't get to enjoy it anymore as her hands moved to sign something, snapping me out of my awe before I shook my head.
"Uh," Taking my finger, I wrote that I could not read sign language in the sand, to which she looked at me with a grimace before turning and pointing behind her.
My eyes widened at the trail of devastation that was left by my running, the ground scorched and cracked while a deep trench was left by the sonic booms created by my running.
"Shit! Uh, sorry about that. Something happened and I lost my cool," I wrote into the sand, which she read before her eyes flickered with concern as she knelt beside me.
"Everything okay?", She wrote into the sand and I gave a shaky smile as my discussion with the Ancient One flashed through my mind.
"Not really, but it's something I'll have to deal wi-Shit! Wenwu!", I cursed as I stopped running, quickly hopping to my feet before I blinked as I looked around.
"Uh, which direction is Hong Kong?", I wrote and she blinked at the abrupt change in my behaviour before pointing in the direction.
"Thanks. Wait, could we talk again? I want to really say sorry for what I did 'cause usually, I buy a girl dinner before wrecking her countryside," My body wrote before my mind could catch up, but thankfully, she didn't take it the wrong way as she seemed more amused by my attempts before nodding.
"Sure, just run around in this area and you'll find me," She wrote and I nodded with a smile before I took off, hearing the sonic booms of her doing the same before I followed my trail of destruction back home.
Huh, guess Makkari is a lot nicer than I expected.
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"You are late," Wenwu spoke with a frown as I stopped in front of him, to which I shrugged while bowing to both him and the Death Dealer.
"Apologies, masters. I had some...personal stuff to deal with."
"Masters?...Hmm, good. You're respectable. Death, train him in the first four lessons. Afterwards, I'll do the other three."
"Uh, how long will this take?"
"Depends on how long you train and how skilled you are. Chi is not an easy concept to learn, after all," Wenwu answered as he turned and walked back up the stairs, leaving me and the Death Dealer staring at each other while Ten Rings ninja sparred against each other around us.
"Okay. So, what's the first lesson?", I asked, the assassin silent as they kept staring at me and tilted their head before they took out one of their twin kunai.
"Right, first lesson is 'don't die', huh?"
"No speed," Their deep voice surprised me before he lunged without warning, forcing me to snap back as I sidestepped the blade whistling past me.
The man spun the blade and swung at my head, forcing me to dodge before I hopped backwards. Keeping track, I narrowed my eyes as I barely dodged and weaved around his swift swings, leaning to the side to dodge a slash.
However, my eyes widened and I grunted as a knee smacked into my side, forcing the pain back to dodge another swing before raising an arm to block his punch.
Simply nodding, the man lunged in and I did the same, darting it with a feint and swinging a punch at his side only for the assassin to catch my wrist mid-swing.
Twisting it with a surgical precision, I winced as he swung a punch before stopping right as it tapped against my chest. The Death Dealer let go of my wrist and tapped two fingers against my chest, doing the same to himself before pointing to the ground.
"Lesson one is breathing. Control the breath to control the body and centre yourself."
"Got it," I nodded, to which he nodded slightly before attacking again. This time, he didn't use the kunai as we instead moved to hand to hand combat, memories of my spars with the Ancient One flashing in my mind as I began to keep pace.
It was hard to fight without using my speed to keep the advantage, but at the same time, I smirked as I dodged under a punch while landing my own against the Death Dealer's chest.
He just nodded before we continued once more, forcing my body to move and improve upon my movements to feel the rhythm of the dance that we were doing.
Soon, one spar became two that became four until hours felt like minutes, both the Death Dealer and I being the only ones left sparring as the sun began to set.
Every mistake I made was silently corrected with a flick to the wrist, a push in the right direction or a swift jab through the opening, but neither of us said a word until I finished the final spar with a high kick aimed at his head.
Grabbing onto it, he spun and kicked out my supporting leg out from under me, but I twisted mid-fall and threw a kick at his side, forcing him to let go while landing in a handstand with a smirk.
"Lesson Two: Balance," The Death Dealer spoke as he looked at me and I raised an eyebrow while flipping over to my feet.
"I'm a speedster. I think I have a fair understanding of balance,"I answered and I watched as the Death Dealer stopped in front of me before falling abruptly, a wheeze escaping my lips as a heel stomped onto my chest and knocked the wind out of me before I could even blink.
I saw him move, but staring at the man who was now in a hand-stand with his leg still extended, the Death Dealer pulled his leg back while flipping back into an upright position.
"You saw me move, yes?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't you stop it?"
"I expected you to fall."
"And that is why you are not balanced. A master of chi is able to dance across a field of grass without bending or disturbing a single blade. Dance with the flow of the world, not with the flow of the body," He spoke and I nodded as I took a deep breath before the Death Dealer lunged at me.
What followed was brutal yet efficient training at its finest. There was no weapons and no tricks. It was just us two flowing through movements while he called out different positions for us to fight in.
I admit that fighting while lying on the floor or with just one leg and arm was just as complicated as I expected it to be, but soon, I found myself dancing with a grin as I did a flare and locked our legs together.
Pulling him in while pushing off the ground, he raised his arms to block my punch before we rolled around the ground, untangling my legs from his before wrapping his arm in a bar.
Pulling it tight against my chest while lifting my hips, he easily snapped his shoulder out of socket and rolled out of the grip, a gag escaping my lips as he smacked a chop against my throat before wrapping my own arm in an armbar.
"Concede!", I hissed as I felt him pull, the assassin immediately letting go as I rolled onto my side with a groan. The assassin stood up as I rolled onto my back just in time to see Wenwu descending down the stairs.
"Hey," I greeted as I sat up, the man as stoic as ever while the Death Dealer bowed in greeting.
"How many lessons?"
"Two."
"Faster than I was expected. Return tomorrow for the next two."
"What's the next lesson?", I asked, but just sighed as the man looked at me and then continued walking. The Death Dealer, to my surprise, bowed his head in greeting and I did the same before standing up with a groan.
"That was...fun," I muttered with a smile before I took off, racing through the mountain and back towards the Sanctum.
"Huh, I half-expected you to be dead by now given how Wenwu is," Tina spoke with a smirk as I walked through the entrance and I chuckled while nodding to the other sorcerers passing us.
"Yeah, I guess I have this way of making him think that I'm not a threat. How's he doing?"
"Oh, you'll be happy to know that he's currently awake and talking to your sister."
"Wait, Wanda's here?", I asked, surprised as the woman giggled at my shock before nodding.
"Yes, she said that she came to visit you and to talk about something to do with you and the Sorcerer Supreme?"
'Right, she probably heard of it from the woman.'
"Got it. You going out for patrol tonight?"
"No, tonight is a rest night as I'll be doing patrols tomorrow, so enjoy your night off," She spoke with a smile as she patted my shoulder and walked past, a chuckle escaping my lips as I began walking to the room where I felt the cosmic vibrations coming from.
As I went to open the door, it creaked open before I could reach out, making me stare at the crimson wisps around the handle before I pushed it further and walked in.
"He's a nice kid," Wanda whispered with a smile as she sat on a chair next to the bed, my gaze flickering to the unconscious Shang Chi sleeping peacefully before I smiled.
"Hey, sis. Didn't expect you to teleport just to come and visit," I spoke as I pulled a chair closer before hugging her, Wanda returning my hug with a smile before she pulled back and grabbed my face with both hands.
"You're hurt."
"Yeah, that's just training with assassins."
"Firstly, we're talking about that later. Secondly, not that. I mean, you're hurt mentally."
"You found out?"
"She told me and said that I might need to come help," She answered, though I raised an eyebrow at the flicker of anger in her eyes as she spoke.
"What did you do?"
"I may have tried to kill her, but that was before she could explain it fully."
"Wanda~ You don't need to fight my battles for me."
"I know, but you're my brother. The only one that can hurt you is me," She spoke with a frown, to which I chuckled as I ruffled her hair before pulling my hand back when she swatted at it.
"Stop that."
"Nope. In any case, thank you, truly. It's rare for you to show that you care."
"Okay, I think you got us two confused because you're the one that usually doesn't like showing emotions in front of others. How are you doing, by the way?", She asked and I looked at her before shaking my head with a sigh.
"Not sure, to be honest. I had arguably the best night of my life up to now, but at the same time, I had arguably the worst morning of my life."
"I mean more between the two of you. Have you spoken since the discussion?"
"Not particularly. She just made a portal to let me leave and afterwards, I ran around the world to try and clear my head, though I almost destroyed the planet in the process."
"What?"
"Don't worry. It was just my speed being too strong and ripping the land apart before I stopped, though I think there's a trail of scorched earth from Hong Kong's beaches to the border of the Middle East."
"Great, I take my eyes off of you for a few days and already, you're causing as much chaos as you can," She murmured and I smiled as I wrapped an arm around her shoulder, Wanda smiling softly as she leaned against me.
"Thank you for worrying, sister, but truly, I'm fine."
"You like to use formal language when you're trying to get me to stop asking about you."
"Oh, so now you've studied me? What are you, my stalker?"
"Shush you and yes, I am. Now, come on and talk. He just went to sleep so we have a lot of time to talk through everything," She spoke with a smirk and I rolled my eyes before nodding.
"Sure. What did you want to talk about?"
A/N: A bit more slice-of-life this chapter with some added rejection and trauma. The Ancient One is not the romantic interest, but as she said, someone just to get rid of some stress.
Also, sorry for the late upload, but this chapter was particularly hard to write because I had to decide if I want to add Makkari in now or later and I had to figure out how chi would help him break the chains.
Next chapter: Ascension.
Like always, you can go to my Pat-reon-.-com-/-KingCrimsonNova to read ahead on this as well as many other stories & even some that haven't been released out to this site yet. If you want to, you are free to, but if you don't want, all's good as I will still be uploading here. This is just me trying to get some extra cash.
As always, read, enjoy, review and until next week...
Ba-Bye~!