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ONE | STRANGE DREAMS

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THE CITY'S GARDENS were an immense oasis with a variety of flowers, trees, and bushes. Many guests wandered down miles of wide cobblestone paths that lead between the brightly colored plants. Cassandra walked further into the garden, there were several rows of different species of roses with different colors. Surrounding the rows of animated flowers, the flowers were sectioned off in four with bright orange, mellow yellow, pure white, odd purple, fierce red, and light pink.

"Mommy! It's you again!"

The woman blinked once, twice then spun around her heel, dumbstruck as to why there was a little girl no older than ten years old addressing her as mommy. She swallowed, a bit terrified as the child ran and embraced her legs as if she had not seen her for a very long time. She had been seeing this child for almost a week now with no explanation. Cassandra tried searching for her actually in New York, London, and even Hong Kong to no avail. Who was this child? And why does she keep on appearing in her dreams?

Kneeling down, she offered a kind smile, brushing her chestnut hair back, just like she would do whenever she saw this child. Actually, during the first few days she saw her, they were often in the Kamar-Taj temple grounds or in the New York Sanctum's kitchen and they were brief. So briefly she wasn't able to ask her name or talk for long.

But, at this time, on this day, it seems like it will last longer.

Cassandra noticed the silver locket around the child's neck. Curious, she gently opened it, gasping when she saw a picture of her, and Stephen along with the young child in front of her. Was she her daughter? What was this dream? Of the future? Does she get to have her own child, after all? But, the doctors said it was impossible and the chances were zero. "You remember this picture, mommy? It was when you and daddy took me to this big amusement park!" eagerly articulated the child, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

The brunette tucked a strand of the young girl's hair behind her ear. "What is your name, little one?"

"Mommy, you are so silly! How could you forget my name?" pouted the child. "My name is Calliope Leia Strange! But all of you call me Callie!"

The child in front of her had eyes that shined like pebbles washed by the ocean waves and a smile that ignited inner laughter in all who saw. She was dressed in a primrose pinafore dress and in some soft, stylish shoes, the ones they can still feel the ground though. 

Calliope Leia Strange. Cassandra smiled. That seemed a lot like how she would name her daughter. After all, her adopted children, Megara Jyn and Theseus Han, were named after Greek gods and goddesses along with her favorite Star Wars characters. Calliope also looked a lot like how Cassandra would dress her. Additionally, she had Stephen's big blue-green eyes and lips while the rest was from hers. She was definitely her daughter though the big question remains: when will she be born? Will Calliope ever be born?

"Look, mommy, it's a bird! Billy, Tommy, and Morgan said it's a dove, but I know its scientific name is Columbiformes." She pointed to the sky as a dove spread its wings and soared across the wide, blue firmament. Cassandra's eyes observed how the girl's eyes stayed with the bird, as if the dove's beating wings captured her mind in the most calming of ways, the same way soft waves on the beach do. The child gazed upon her, her lips in a slight pout. "When will I get to see you and daddy again together, mommy?"

"Together?"

"Grandma and grandpa said you two are not coming back anymore because you are now in a far, far place, but you are here. I see you when I sleep." explained Calliope, her eyes casted downward and slightly watering. "I'm lonely, mommy. I want you and daddy here." She sniffed. "I miss you both, mommy. People said you were heroes, you two saved the world. I wish you were never heroes so I get to see you at home."

"Callie, I… I'm so sorry. I – "

"It's unfair. You both chose the world before me."

The dream stopped.

Cassandra's eyes snapped open, jolting awake from her slumber. She could hear her heart pounding loudly in her ears and felt a cold shiver run down her spine. The woman noticed how her head was above Stephen's chest, her ears filled with the slow steady beat of his heart, reminding her that he was there. Sighing, she sat up and slumped. Leaning forward, she placed her head in his hands and sobbed. Huge body-shaking sobs racked her body, each coming in a wave, and, with every sob, she let out a low whimper. What was this feeling? Heartbreak? Why was her heart breaking? She clutched her chest, feeling cold. It felt like concrete drying in my chest. The heartbreak was unexpected, as they always were - top of the world one minute and cut down the next. Calliope – Callie felt real, Cassandra felt her skin, her hair, her cheeks. Where was this girl now?

It was then that she felt the other side of her body shift and dip and she turned to see her fiancé's troubled expression. He was still asleep but she could clearly see the distraught in his face. Stephen was having a nightmare. Cassandra laid her hand atop his bicep, shaking him awake. "Stephen, wake up. Stephen…"

"No, no…"

Slightly getting more alarmed now, she slapped his arm twice. Her partner shuddered, quivering violently. His breathing grew heavy and he tumbled around his side, the sheet covering his bare chest and abdomen sliding down. He shook his head, and Cassandra finally knelt beside her, slapping his face. "Stephen! Wake up, dammit!"

Finally, by some miracle perhaps from the gods, her partner jolted awake. He shot up from the bed, his eyes frantic like he had just witnessed a very terrifying monster. He tried to catch his breath, but only ended up getting up from their shared bed. Cassandra blinked, choosing to watch him first as he got paranoid and stumbled to their bathroom, looking in the mirror slowly, cautiously. Opening the faucet, he splashed water on his face, brushed his teeth, and panted. Droplets of water dripped down his face and chest, even abdomen since he was only wearing his boxers. Curious and confused, she rose from their bed and grabbed her lilac nightgown robe, wrapping it around her shoulders as she approached him. 

Her partner left their bathroom as soon as she was about to enter, passing by her as if she wasn't there. Stephen sat by the edge of their bed, looking so overwrought like he had done something terrible. Cassandra tightened her robe and padded over to him. "Are you alright, Stephen?"

"I'm fine…"

"Are you sure? You look worried about – "

"I said, I'm fine, Cassie…" he insisted, his tone rising a bit higher, surprising her.

Cassandra sighed, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear before walking back to the bathroom. Actually, Stephen Strange has been acting that way for two weeks now, and he would always push her away, refusing to tell her what he has seen in his nightmare. She didn't want to push him any further since she wanted to wait until he was comfortable to discuss it with her. She thought it might be something related with the battle with Thanos and even recommended him getting therapy since it helped her too, but he insisted he was fine.

"Cassie…" began Stephen, his head hung low as he stood by the doorway of their bathroom. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that."

"It's okay. It's fine." Cassandra started to put toothpaste on her toothbrush when Stephen embraced her from behind, his arms wrapped around her waist and his face nestled in the crook of her neck. "What are you doing, Stephen? I have to go get ready. Actually, we both have to go get ready. It's Christine's wedding today, remember? I have a lot to organize at the event right now."

He hummed, his voice vibrating, sending chills across her body. "I just wanna stay here with you, sweetheart."

She shook her head and wiggled out of his grasp, brushing her teeth immediately afterwards. Upon rinsing her mouth, Cassandra faced him, only observing as his eyes were fixated on her. "You still don't want to tell me about it?"

He shook his head.

She nodded, crossing her arms and then licked her lips. Cassandra wasn't sure if she should tell him what she had been seeing in her dreams lately since she thinks they were silly and they meant nothing. Sighing, she leant against the sink and stared at him for a couple more seconds before finally confessing. "You know, I have been dreaming of this little girl for like… almost a week now."

Stephen's demeanor shifted and Cassandra could immediately tell she had his full attention. "She looks a lot like us. She has your eyes, your lips, my cheeks. I bet with all my heart right now that she has your wit. She's an intelligent kid, calling a dove by its scientific name. Now, I know what the doctors said, even everyone here in Kamar-Taj, they all said it's impossible for me to bear a child, but what if… I just can't help thinking, what if in the future we have a daughter, Stephen?"

The day she discovered that she couldn't have her own child really shredded Cassandra's dreams and heart. It tore her apart until now. Don't get her wrong, she loved Megara and Theseus with all her heart, but the thought of the possibility that she might have her own daughter or son was making her so happy and fulfilled. Stephen gently placed his hand on her cheek, rubbing the pad of his thumb under the circles of her eyes. "If it's for us, it's for us, Cassie. I would love to meet her like you."

She started chewing on her lower lip, her eyes welling up with tears. A tightening of her throat and a short intake of breath, Cassandra's head fell on her fiancé's chest. She should be happy, right? She has everything and everyone dear to her. Stephen, her adopted children, her mother, she also has a successful career, what more could she want? Why was there a hole she couldn't fill in her heart? 

A couple of minutes later, after Stephen comforted her by hugging her tightly in his arms, and giving her the silence she needed, she leant forward and he craned his neck down. Their foreheads touched once again, its warmth sending an assurance that everything was going to be alright. Stephen asked, "Tell me what you feel, Cassie."

Cassandra shut her eyes, feeling his body, his heart, his mind, his soul… She paused, why did she feel this emptiness in his soul? The event planner furrowed her eyebrows. "I feel – "

A sudden buzz coming from their bedside drawer attracted their attention and almost immediately, Cassandra recognized it as her phone. Leaving Stephen, she hurriedly snatched her smartphone, answering the call without even checking the caller ID.

"Cass, it's me, Apollos… how are you, my favorite witch in town?" Cassandra beamed when she realized who was on the receiving end of the call. 

"Apollos, yes, you called. I've missed you so much, bud! How have you been?" She questioned, sitting down by the edge of her bed. Cassandra wiped the excess tears in her cheeks, sniffing to get a better hold of herself.

"I'm good. Heading now to California."

"I see, that's good. Hey, are you going to be at my wedding? It's actually two days from now."

She heard a hiss on the other end of the call. "I'm so sorry, but I'm not going to be present on your wedding day, Cassandra. I've got a lot of things to handle right now. Apparently, I've been missing for a couple of days and I can't remember what I have done in those days. I need to remember them. I hope you understand."

Cassandra grew anxious. What happened to her friend? Why was he missing a couple of days' worth of memories? "Oh, of course! It's okay, it's okay. Why can't you remember them, by the way?"

"I don't know, that's what I'm trying to find out right now."

"I see. Well, tell me and Stephen if there's anything we can help, okay?"

"Yes, I will." verbalized Apollos, static starting to tear his signal. "Listen, I called you right now because… remember when I told you that I've been having this feeling that something is wrong after we defeated Thanos?"

"Yeah, and then you said maybe it was because of… you know, her."

"Yes, but I've been feeling it until now. I thought it was grief because of what happened to Natasha, but it's something else. It's a warning. Something's wrong and you know my gut feeling has never made a mistake, Cass. I can't really explain it, but it involves you and Stephen. There's this division, like something has been pulled apart. Have you two been experiencing something weird or…"

Cassandra flickered her eyes toward her partner who was now getting ready to take a shower. "Well, we've been having this dreams and nightmares lately. I've been seeing this little girl named Callie and I think she's my daughter."

She felt a moment pass when she said it. "Your daughter? How long has this been going?"

"Yeah, I think so. It's been occurring for a week now. You think it's from the future?"

"I don't know, but what I can tell you right now is you better find an answer why you're seeing this girl."

Cassandra rose to her feet and tightened her hold around her robe. "Alright, I will. I'll ask Wong about it."

"Okay, that's great. Give me a call about what he tells you."

"Okay, thanks, Apollos."

"No problem. I'll see you around, Cass." Apollos expressed. The two bidding each other goodbye and ending the call. As if on cue, a loud banging on their door startled Cassandra, causing her to jump and react by getting into a defensive stance. The vibrating sound of knuckles pounding against the wooden door of their bedroom penetrated through the walls. Stephen stepped out of the shower as well with a towel wrapped around his torso, taken aback by the urgency of the knocks.

"Master Mason! Master Strange! It's Megara! She's in trouble at Washington Square Park!"

The couple shared a panicked glance and Cassandra opened their cabinet, letting Stephen's Cloak of Levitation out. Snapping their fingers, she and her fiancé were dressed into their blue and purple robes. Cassandra, still alert, grabbed her Sling Ring and hurled at Stephen his own relic. Catching it, they both raised their arms and opened a sparking portal in the middle of their bedroom, sprinting towards it.

Arriving at the scene, Cassandra's mind was now devoid of any other thought. She had to find her daughter and save her from whatever trouble she was in. It didn't take long for her and Stephen to catch sight of their daughter, Megara since a demonic monster crushed the tree where she was attempting to hide. It was a colossal and nameless blasphemy with glaring red eyes, and it had bony claws. Megara was still wearing her blue scrubs and her eyes were glowing white as dead animals and ghouls rose up from the soil, attacking the creature to no avail. Everyone scrambled away from the monster's path as it swung its arm at Megara, aiming to squash her. Cassandra ran towards her direction as her daughter continued to evade the creature. Its taurine eyes glittered with hostility as it continued to wreck the park just to get Megara. It seemed like the demon was just after her adoptive daughter and no one else. Eyes glowing yellow, she raised her hand and manipulated a lamp post, bending and stabbing the menacing creature with it.

At that, Theseus emerged from another portal, seemingly alerted about the situation. Immediately, solar power bursted out of his palms as his skin glowed a bright yellow, startling and blinding the creature. He burnt the demon's skin, flames licking up like fluid, but this was quickly overcome by the creature. It struck a nearby fire hydrant and let water spray on its skin, rendering Theseus' sun abilities useless. "Okay, that is a very intelligent demon! Come on, Meg, we have to get you out of here!"

Megara stood beside him and letting out a loud roar, sent a horde of spirits at the monster. Finally, Stephen and Cassandra reached their children and together, tried to apprehend the demon by invoking and wrapping large eldritch chains around its neck. Another portal opened meters away from them and in came the Sorcerer Supreme, her friend, Wong. The monster dragged them forward, but Wong added another chain around its neck, locking the beast in its place. That was when he was snatched up from the ground and Cassandra, alarmed, let go of her chain, grabbing Stephen's red cloak to fasten around her shoulders.

Jumping up, she watched as the Sorcerer Supreme was being squeezed tight in the beast's grasp. Cassandra, twisting and twirling her arms, invoked a spell of fire blast. A beam of yellow light flashed from her pointing finger, then the beam blossomed with a low roar into an explosion of flame, making it back away and drop Wong. Not even thinking twice, Cassandra pitched Stephen's cloak at the Sorcerer Supreme, letting herself fall at a high speed. Suddenly, a gateway on the cement ground opened and tucked herself into a ball, rolling once she reached the road. Standing up, she brushed the dust off of her purple robes and realized it was Stephen who saved her. Upon seeing Wong come closer to them, Cassandra bowed down. 

"Sorcerer Supreme,"

"Guardian,"

Cassandra walked together with her friend as they finally confronted the creature. She nudged her fiancé's side when they finally reached his, Theseus, and Megara's side. "You do know we both have to bow down in Wong's presence, right? He's our boss now. It's an ancient custom to bow down."

"You do it. I'm okay."

She rolled her eyes, offering an apologetic smile to Wong. "Don't mind my ass of a fiancé."

"He will soon learn to do it, Cass."

Stephen was still a bit hurt that he was no longer Sorcerer Supreme. After Cassandra stepped down from the role of Sorceress Supreme, the masters of each Sanctum held a quarterly meeting where they decided to vote between having a new mystical protector of Earth or giving Stephen back his title. Unanimously, it was finalized that Wong should have the title and Cassandra spent the last months adjusting from Sorceress Supreme back to her role as Guardian.

That was when Cassandra noticed her son was no longer around them, causing her to panic a little. "Meg, where's your brother?"

All three of them craned their necks to the side just to see Theseus buying some doughnuts from a stand. "Yes, please. Two chocolate glazed with sprinkles on top. Thank you." They heard him order, beaming with joy as if there was no demon wrecking the park.

"Seriously, Theo?" exclaimed Megara, struggling to pull the chain. With a grunt, she sent two dark spirits on his way. They grasped his collar and dragged him back to them, making him yelp and drop his food. "We're in the middle of killing a monster and you decided to eat?"

"I was hungry, okay?" argued Theseus as he helped Megara in pulling the chain. "Plus, they're doughnuts. You don't say no to that."

And with that, Cassandra and Wong, at the same time, decapitated the huge menace with their combined arcane Sword of Vishanti. The two smiled and shrugged, putting their hands on their hips. "That was quite some work." breathed out the brunette, wiping her sweat away. "Meg? Are you okay?" She approached her daughter and brushed her hair back. Megara looked a bit traumatized by the event, but she shook her head and released a breath.

"I'm okay, mom."

"Good. It's good you're okay." Stephen placed his hand on their daughter's shoulder. "Why was that creature after you?"

"I'm not sure, dad. I was in the ER when it attacked. I led it away from the hospital to prevent any casualties."

The mother patted her back and glanced at Wong. "Wong, this is Gol-Goroth, a lesser Old one. The god of darkness in Bal-Sagoth. Why is it out here?"

"I think…" he began, drawing closer to the beast to examine further. "It escaped the abyss." 

"But, it was after Megara. It was hunting her."

"Megara has the power to raise the dead. I believe it was attracted to her power."

Cassandra nodded, accepting the explanation why the creature was after her daughter. Sighing, she comforted Megara once again and gave a look at her son who was munching his food quietly. He immediately paused his chewing and swallowed. Stephen advised, "It's okay, Megara. Just tell your boss you're taking a day off and – "

"No, dad. It's okay. The ER needs me right now. I'll be okay, I promise."

"You sure?"

"Yes, dad."

"Well, if you are sure, then off you go. Your patients must be waiting for you, Dr. Mason-Strange." The corners of his lips lifted then turned to Cassandra. "God, our last names sound so good together."

Cassandra laughed, slapping his shoulder when Megara conjured her own portal to the hospital and bidded them all a see you later. "Well, two more days and I'm finally Mrs. Mason-Strange."

"And I believe that is uncle Wong and I's cue to leave." grinned Theseus, wrapping an arm around the Sorcerer Supreme. "Come on, good sir, we must go and bring this beast to Kamar-Taj before things here get weird and we will be traumatized for life.

Simultaneously, the couple rolled their eyes. Cassandra's eyes then widened a little when she remembered Christine's wedding. "Oh, my gods! Stephen, we have a wedding to attend. We will be late!"

"Do we really have to go?"

The woman put her hands on her hips and gave him an icy glare.

"I was just kidding." he raised his hands in surrender, kissing her cheek. "Of course, we will go, sweetheart. God, the things I do for you."

The Guardian shook her head as she hoped that nothing would go wrong on the day of her wedding. She already had everything planned smoothly that all that was left to do was have it happen. She still couldn't believe it. Two days from now, she's getting married. She was going to be Mrs. Cassandra Mason-Strange, something months ago she thought would never happen, but here she was. Cassandra pursed her lips, she really wished everything would interrupt her wedding.

But, of course, the multiverse had other plans for her and Stephen, starting with ruining their happy day.