Disclaimer: Rick Riordan owns Percy Jackson. Marvel owns Doctor Strange
"Percy!"
Grover was running toward me, panting.
I was currently in Camp Half-blood sitting in the strawberry fields with Annabeth. I glanced at her. "Sorry. better go."
She grinned slightly "Then go see what's up for me, will you? Chiron seemed nervous this morning."
I inwardly smiled. Of course wise girl would notice things like that.
The giant war had ended. Leo had come back and everyone had slapped him, if not punched him in the face. Life was good and Annabeth was with me. No angry monsters running after us out for our blood, no blue hairbrushes thrown at titans, and definitely no more crazy wars. Sure, we still woke up, sometimes screaming, from nightmares of Tartarus some nights. But we had each other, and now our life was as normal as a demigod life could get.
Even so, I had trained with Thalia and Frank under Chiron's watchful eye to try and clear my name as worse archer in camp history. Now I was a pretty good archer, able to hit a moving target and fire an arrow in three seconds max. I had also picked up a few magic skills. The Hecate cabin decided to teach us all some basic magic, including summoning weapons.
I met Grover halfway to the big house. "Hey, man," he said. "Chiron wants you. He seemed worried.'
I ran to the Big House. Grover was right. Chiron was pacing nervously back and forth, is tail swishing this way and that. His hooves clip clopped against the wooden floor as he moved, like a suspenseful background music that only increased the tension. On his wall, Seymour seemed uneasy as well, quiet and unnervingly still. My ADHD started acting up, and I took out pen Riptide, tossing it up and down. The sound of it against my fingers added to Chiron's suspenseful hoof music.
At last, Chiron spotted me. "Percy," he said. He was even more nervous now. I had never seen him like this before.
"Sir, why have you called me here?" I asked quizzically.
He sighed, shoulders slumping slightly and began his tale.
It was of a group of magicians who protected earth from mystical threats. Of how there were three sanctums which formed a shield to deter mythical beings. He told me of Dormannu, of the dark dimension. Of a man named Kaecilius who was now aiding Dormannu in his conquest of earth. He forged on, telling me about the Sorcerer Supreme, the Ancient One. And how she had called him. For help.
"Kaecilius is getting stronger," he stated. "And the Ancient One thinks that present efforts to stop him will not be enough. He managed to steal a few pages of a book from Kamar-Taj's library, and that book contains dangerous rituals that could mean doom to earth."
"Then what do you want me to do?" I asked.
He looked at my grimly. "Percy, this is your choice... I want you to go aid them. Without Annabeth. I'm sorry, but I don't want to risk both of you."
I thought of it. I could not back away. These were people who needed my help. I understood Chiron's motive, to. To make sure Annabeth was safe. It would be hard, sure, to go on a quest without her. But she would be safe.
"I will go aid them. Where do I start?" I said.
Chiron looked like a burden had been lifted off him. "You will go find Kamar-Taj first. There you will learn their magic, and while doing so help protect them from Kaecilius. Zeus says he will allow you to fly to Nepal. You are to go as soon as possible."

The flight had been rather frightening. I think Zeus was trying to frighten me- there was not a single minute without turbulence.
At last, I was in Nepal, after much suffering.
I walked along an alley. Riptide was in pen form, in my pocket, as usual. My bow and arrows were stored magically in a... I don't know what you call it. A void?
I saw a man. He had a watch on his wrist and an unkempt beard. I watched quietly as he formed a splint for a dog's broken leg. Then three tugs cornered him. I stayed in a shadow and watched it unfold, watched it escalate into a fight. Then I entered, kicking and punching my way to the man.

"Here," I said, handing back the watch.

"Thank you," he replied. "Do you know the way to Kamar-Taj?"

"No, but I am looking for it as well," I said, grinning.

We stayed together in our search. During this time, I learned that he was a doctor named Stephan Strange who had severely injured his hands. He was looking for Kamar-Taj to try and heal his hands. At last, we found a man named Mordo, who led us to a plain wooden door.

"Really? Are you sure you got the right place?" asked Strange. "That one looks a little more… Kamar-Taj-y."

Mordo gave him a calculating stare. "I once was in your place. And I, too, was... disrespectful. So might I offer you some advice? Forget everything you think you know."

"Uh... alright," said Strange uneasily. I immediately began assessing Mordo. If he was so worshipful of this whole.. thing, what would he become when it was taken away?

We walked in and at last met with the Ancient One.

"Mr. Strange!" she said.

"Doctor, actually," he replied.

"Well, no. Not anymore, surely. Isn't that why you're here? You've undergone several procedures. Seven, right?"

"Yeah..." said Strange, looking slightly shocked and wary of the Ancient One. "Did you heal a man named Pangborn? A paralyzed man."

"In a way," she replied mysteriously.

"You helped him to walk again."

"Yes."

"How do you correct a complete C7-C8 spinal cord injury?" he said disbelievingly.

"I didn't correct it. He couldn't walk; I convinced him that he could," the Ancient One said mysteriously. I watched as Strange mulled over this and sensed that they would start talking in non-percy speech. Meaning, speech to complicated for me to understand.

"You're not suggesting it was psychosomatic?"

Of course, Strange. Just like you to use some complicated word I do not understand at all. I thought. Bet Annabeth would know what that means. I wish she was here.

"When you reattach a severed nerve, is it you who heals it back together or the body?" questioned the Ancient One.

"It's the cells," Strange replied puzzledly. "And the cells are only programmed to be put themselves together in very specific ways."

The Ancient One looked at Strange. "That's right. What if I told you that your own body could be convinced to put themselves together in all sorts of ways?"

"You're talking about cellular regeneration. That's... bleeding edge medical tech."

At this I smirked. How wrong he was! I saw that Mordo seemed slightly amused as well.

Strange continued. "Is that why you're working here without a governing medical board? I mean- just how experimental is your treatment?"

"Quite," replied the Ancient One with a small smile upon her face.

"So, you figured out a way to reprogram nerve cells to self heal?"

"No, Mr. Strange. I know how to reorient the spirit to better heal the body."

"Spirit...to heal the body. Huh. Al...Alright. How do we start? Where do we start?" said Strange, slightly in shock.

The Ancient One pulled out several diagrams. "Each of these was drawn up by someone who could see in part, but not in whole."

Strange was starting to get angry. "I spent my last dollar getting here on a one-way ticket, and you're talking to me about healing through belief?" he said.

"You're a man who's looking at the world through a keyhole, and you spent your whole life trying to widen that keyhole,' the Ancient One shot back. "To see more, know more. And now, on hearing that it can be widened in ways you can't imagine, you reject the possibility?"

"No, I reject it because I do not believe in fairy tales about chakras, or energy, or the power of belief. There is no such thing as spirit! We are made of matter, and nothing more. We're just another tiny, momentary speck within an indifferent universe," said Strange.

I inwardly laughed. So he didn't believed in the Chitauri who had invaded? The Norse god Thor who was part of the Avengers? I thought that stuff was all over the news. Surely he had heard of them- even us demigods who didn't use tech knew of them.

"You think to little of yourself," said the Ancient One.

"Oh, you think you see through me, do you? Well, you don't. But I see through you!" said Strange, enraged. He stepped toward the Ancient One threateningly.
The Ancient One pushed him with much force, and Strange stared blankly. Suddenly anger returned to his eyes. "What did you do to me?"

"I pushed your astral form out of your physical form," said the Ancient One as if she were talking about watching a basketball game.

"What's in that tea? Psilocybin? LSD?" said Strange disbelievingly. He seemed to be panicking slightly.

"Just tea," said the Ancient One amusedly. Mordo and I were trying hard not to laugh. "With a little honey."

"What happened?" he demanded.

"For a moment, you entered the astral dimension."

"What?!"

"A place where the soul exists apart from the body.'

"Why are you doing this to me?" he demanded.

"To show you how much you don't know," said the Ancient One. "Open your eyes."

We watched as Strange's eyes grew blank again.

"His heart rate is spiking," noted Mordo.

"He looks alright to me," I said with a slight grin.

The Ancient One brang Strange back. "Mr. Strange? have you seen that before in a gift shop?"

"teach me," said Strange, finally believing.

"We'll see," said the Ancient One coldly. She turned toward me. "Mr. Jackson. I did not expect you coming."

I shrugged, not knowing what to say.

"I accept you, Mr. Jackson, into Kamar-Taj. However, Strange..." she said grimly.

"No!" Strange yelled as he was thrown out the door by the various masters.

"Thank you, masters," said the Ancient One.

Strange stayed outside for a long time. At last, I sensed him sink to his knees at the door front, apparently planning to spend the night there.

I glanced at the Ancient One. She looked back at me, sensing what I was thinking. "You think I'm wrong to cast him out?"

"He's been very determined," I said.

"Five hours later, he's still on your doorstep," noted Mordo. "I suppose he is very desperate. There's a strength to him."

"Stubbornness, Ambition... I've seen it before,' said the Ancient One, seemingly recalling some grim memory.

"He reminds you of Kaecilius?"

"I cannot lead another gifted student to power only to loose him to darkness."

"You didn't lose me. I wanted the power to defeat my enemies. You gave me the power to defeat my demons and to live within the natural law," said Mordo.

The Ancient One looked at him with seriousness. "We never lose our demons, Mordo. We only learn to live above them. Kaecilius still has the stolen pages. If he deciphers them, he could bring ruin upon us all. There may be dark days ahead. Perhaps Kamar-Taj could use a man like Strange."

And so Strange was let in.