Dark Queen

Those memories were indeed precious, a representation of what they were together, how they could love. His smile widened at her words, she was right, so right. It was important to keep those memories just like they were and build something new far from this kind of expectation. "Earth it will be then." He agreed with a slow nod, thinking about the different places he could show her. "My only wish is to time-travel then, leave the Earth to another supreme, and focus on healing our marriage." He asked. "India and Nebraska are two places I would like to show you. But we could start with some countries in Europe, I barely know them." Strange shared with a faraway look.

"Mhh, what time period are those black and white movies you made me watch ? Those people seemed to have fun and knew how to do things without all the electronics." Clea asked ? She was talking about the glorious 20ties, and also the 60ties, when movies just showed how honest and flawed love could be, how women and men dressed with style , danced, had honor and faced adversary with quite the dignity.

"Eddorynn ? ... I have not thought about that in so long. " She looked up a bit, memories slowly flooding in. "So much did happen there, but then we were younger...and I more naive." she stated. "But it was a trip I remember with fondness, if not for the part where you almost became King. " she smiled and looked back at him. "However, how about somewhere we have never been before, here or there... now or then. Somewhere we can make memories without it being already weighed by a past that can bring comparaison to mind. " she insisted. "Somewhere, we can learn to love each other properly again without the toxicity that cancered our marriage these past years." She stated. "So how about somewhere here on Earth ? I have not seen much of it despite it being sort of a Home. "

A soft and sincere smile, that was all he had to reply, the important was already said. However the question made him look away, breathing in before replying. "Now... You said it, you need to bring back Loki..." He exhaled. "One problem at the time." The husband added, more slowly. "Do you have any lead on the subject?"

Those wishes definitively sounded like happy fairy tails. If this hypothetical future stole a small smile from the sorcerer, he stayed unsure about them. Could they really mend what they have done? Sometimes the damage was simply too big to be fixed, Strange knew it way too well. He sighed and returned next to her, sitting down, his attention on the lake. Mixed emotions filling his mind, even how nice her desire sounded about him, about them, he wasn't sure if he was sharing the same feeling. Forgiveness wasn't easy, even with a good heart, even despite the love he had for her. "It sounds like a long road." He finally shared and looked down before adding. "But not an impossible one." It was his way of agreeing on everything she just said, at least trying so they could both end up with no regrets. He looked back at her, taking the time to stare at the details. "No more lies."

Clea crossed her legs and put her hands on her knee. "Time is not a concern for me, long roads defined my life since birth. This is really the first time I took a short cut." she admitted. She tilted her head towards him. There had been a time where she was unable to lie, it wasn't in her nature and it took her places where the consequences had been bitter. She learned to lie with Strange, for multiple reasons. "No more lies." she repeated, not sure if either of them were really a 100% honest with themselves or each other with that sentence. "what now? "

The smile flattered from her lips when he became serious again. She sat back down on her rock and crossed her legs. She looked at Strange with kinder eyes. "I want you to spend your last years, months , weeks, days, in piece and surrounded by love...and when you'll join the other side, to have no regrets, no sorrow and no burden." She tilted her head and went back to the lake. "I would wnat you to forgive me and me to forgive you ...eventually. " she sighed. "But wishes are never meant to come true without a cost. " She blinked and looked back at Strange. "So I just hope for the best possible outcome and will nurture your trust and your love ... and I will have to leave to save the dark dimension and name a regent so I don't have to be torn between here and there. "

"I'm not-" Strange stopped himself before saying a lie. His anger always was cold, almost denying it until he would say some words he would later regret. "I have no good solution." He finally said and stood up, reaching the edge of the lake, turning his back on her a moment before finally looking back at her, letting some of his nerves snap. "You want to hear it? Fine. You lied to me, stole from me, and killed for your own profit because we arrived at a point where it felt better for you to harm a friend than ask your husband for help. And it feels sooo greeat. Now what? I have no wish to fight you or even blame you for acting like you did because I know I also failed you, I failed us. Here we are, and yes I need a moment to come to terms with this mess. Does it help to hear it? Because it doesn't feel like it is."

Despite his anger and yes disappointment, she succeeded to steal him a fine smile that didn't last. "To be honest I don't know how to see you for the moment." He confessed, it would be easier to simply be mad at her for what she did, and even if Strange hated her actions, he wasn't able to ignore the care he had for her, all those good moments. Maybe it was a good thing, maybe it wasn't, again it will depend on the moral compass of each one. "Wise advice." He agreed and could feel that she was trying to follow it. "Thank you for telling me."

"And how are you feeling now?" He first asked, still not looking at her. He didn't agree about the moral compass that a soul could offer or not, but it was a tricky subject and Strange had no desire to debate it at this moment. So he stayed silent and listened to the rest, part of him cursed her for reminding him of his love for her, it couldn't be that easy. Hopefully, the mention of her mother surprised him enough to focus on this and not that much on the actual problem. "What did she say?"

"Dumb" she admitted. "For thinking you would even consider those thoughts." She swallowed. "Maybe now you do see me like a disappointement, but that's okay. " she added. She smiled sadly. "To embrace and forgive , that she was incapable of loving me as a mother but would not see me perish ... reminded me that I was not alone and there were specific persons who did love me ..."

Two lives for a dagger... It wasn't even part of her ritual or a spell, it was to buy a stupid dagger from a human. Strange clenched his jaw and looked down, slowly feeling something raise in his chest. He could now fill the gaps of all those recent events, oh joy. Realizing that his wife preferred to play with the lives of three people instead to ask for help left Strange speechless for a moment. He closed his eyes and slowly breathed out, cold anger finally taking possession of him. "And now what? What are your next ambitions Clea?" He slowly asked, raising up his chin to this peaceful landscape, getting nothing from it anymore.

"Bring back Loki and face his wrath" she replied. "Find a way to mend your soul ....and eventually go back home, free my people from Dormammu ...take my revenge on him. " she did not hide her ambitions. Wanting to remain truthful even if she had a feeling that this was pushing him away. She understood the anger, welcomed it even, as long as he did not hide behind an iron gate of self control. "But first and foremost, bring back Loki." she repeated.

Could they really mend anything? Especially after what she just told him? At least now Strange could understand the feeling of being truly betrayed. "Who was involved?" He asked, at the point, it felt stupid to speak with riddles, even if he got some ideas of who the casualties were here, he needed to be sure, to hear it from her. The rest didn't really matter, it was done, and knowing how would be more a curiosity question than anything else. For now, Strange didn't care.

If Strange frowned at how it started, he hated how it followed. He didn't move nor looked at her, focused on this lake, now understanding why she decided to meet here. It was a lot to deal with, letting the sorcerer silent for a moment. He glanced at his own hands for a quick instant, wondering if everything he just heard was really his reality. And for a second he hoped that everything would simply fade around him, that she will silently disappear. But the pain in his chest and the cold stinging his cheeks seemed to confirm this cruel reality. "Why are you telling me now?" He finally asked, not sharing much of his feelings, no anger or sadness but a cold calm.

Why was she telling him that ? To avoid anyone else doing it ? Avoid him knowing on the spot. "Because,an explanation is the least I can offer. Give you all the cards so you don't find out through bits and pieces. " She licked her lips. "And in the end you were honest with me too, I ...had time to think...and maybe honesty could be the foundation of mending our relationship ..." she offered.