Chapter 116: Kamar-Taj
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Coulson gave a small smile.
"You'll be working, of course," he said. "Get ready. We leave within two hours."
Natasha studied his face carefully. "That serious?"
"Yes."
"Destination?"
"Kathmandu."
That made her pause.
"That's not a usual S.H.I.E.L.D. hotspot," she said calmly.
"No," Coulson agreed. "It's not."
She crossed her arms. "And what exactly is in Kathmandu?"
Coulson stood up.
"A school."
Natasha raised an eyebrow. "You're sending me back to school?"
"A magic school," Coulson clarified.
There was a brief silence.
Natasha did not laugh.
"Explain," she said simply.
"The Sorcerer Supreme runs it," Coulson replied. "Out in the open. Students from different countries. They train to defend Earth from mystical threats."
Natasha processed that without visible reaction.
"And Fury wants what?" she asked.
"Contact. Evaluation. And if possible…" Coulson hesitated slightly, "…integration."
"You want me to enroll?" she asked.
"If they allow it."
"And if they don't?"
"Then you observe. Build trust. Report back."
Natasha walked past him toward her equipment locker.
"And this stays off the books?" she asked.
"Completely. No official clearance trail. Fury doesn't want the Council involved."
She opened the locker and began pulling out travel gear.
"Magic," she said quietly. "I thought aliens were complicated."
Coulson allowed a small shrug. "Apparently, we were just looking at the surface."
Natasha grabbed her jacket.
"Two hours?" she confirmed.
"Yes."
She gave him a short nod.
"Then you'd better brief me on everything during the flight."
Coulson headed toward the door.
"Trust me," he said, "you're going to want the full story."
Two hours later, they were on a quinjet heading toward Nepal.
Natasha sat across from Coulson, a tablet in her hand.
"Start from the beginning," she said.
Coulson nodded. "The Sorcerer Supreme has been protecting Earth from mystical threats for centuries. There's a magical barrier around the planet. It keeps most dark entities out."
"And we only found out now?" she asked.
"Yes."
She didn't look surprised. "Of course."
"There's more," Coulson continued. "The artifact she carries is on the same level as the Tesseract. But instead of controlling space, it controls time."
Natasha finally looked up. "Time?"
"Yes."
"So she can see the future?"
"Possible futures," Coulson corrected. "At least that's what we were told."
Natasha leaned back slightly. "That makes infiltration complicated."
"It does."
"And Fury still wants contact?"
"He wants options."
She gave a faint smirk. "That sounds like him."
Coulson pulled up an image of a busy street market in Kathmandu.
"The school is located here. In plain sight. Hidden by perception, not walls."
"Meaning?" she asked.
"Most normal people can't see it unless invited. Or unless they're trained to notice it."
Natasha looked at the image carefully. "So step one is getting noticed."
"Or getting invited," Coulson said.
"And what's my cover?"
"No cover," Coulson replied. "You go as yourself."
That made her raise an eyebrow.
"You're sending me to a magic school as Black Widow?"
"As Natasha Romanoff," Coulson corrected. "An agent seeking knowledge."
She studied him for a moment. "You really believe they'll accept that?"
"I believe they already know we're coming," Coulson said quietly.
That made her expression change slightly.
"Because of the time artifact," she guessed.
"Exactly."
The quinjet continued forward through the clouds.
Natasha closed the tablet.
"If she can see the future," Natasha said calmly, "then this mission isn't about whether I succeed."
Coulson looked at her.
"It's about whether she wants me to."
Coulson nodded slowly. "I hope she allows us to."
Natasha gave a small nod in return. "We'll find out soon."
Not long after, the quinjet landed outside the city. They entered the crowded streets on foot.
When they stopped in front of an old wooden door with a faded sign that read Kamar-Taj, Natasha looked around.
"It's really in the middle of a market," she muttered.
Vendors shouted. People walked past them without paying attention. It looked completely ordinary.
Coulson stepped forward and knocked on the door.
There was silence.
Then they heard the sound of a lock clicking open.
The door slowly opened, revealing a bald man in simple robes.
"Come in," he said calmly. "The Ancient One has been expecting you."
Coulson and Natasha exchanged a brief look.
They stepped inside.
"Who is the Ancient One?" Coulson asked. "I thought we were meeting the Sorcerer Supreme."
The man closed the door behind them.
"She is the Sorcerer Supreme," he replied. "Ancient One is her title. Sorcerer Supreme is her position."
Natasha glanced around the interior. It was far larger than it should have been from the outside. The noise of the market was completely gone.
"And you are?" Natasha asked.
The man inclined his head slightly.
"Wong."
Coulson nodded politely.
"She knew we were coming?" Coulson asked.
Wong gave him a small, knowing look.
"She knows many things."
Natasha exhaled quietly. "Of course she does."
Wong gestured for them to follow.
They walked through long corridors filled with students in robes. Some were practicing strange hand movements. Others were reading old books written in languages neither of them recognized.
Coulson kept his expression neutral.
Natasha observed everything.
They finally stopped in front of a large wooden door.
Wong turned to them.
"Before you enter," he said calmly, "understand this—there is nothing she doesn't t know and from your looks you don't look like average folk, maybe authorities but it will be your best to not to antagonize her"
Coulson nodded. "We're here to talk."
Wong gave a short nod and pushed the door open.
Inside, sunlight filled the room.
A calm woman in yellow robes stood by the window, her hands behind her back.
Without turning around, she spoke.
"Welcome, agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."
Natasha and Coulson both stilled.
"I trust your journey was pleasant."
Coulson recovered first.
"It was smooth," he said calmly. "Thank you for receiving us."
The woman turned slowly.
Her expression was peaceful. Her eyes were sharp.
Natasha felt it immediately. This was not someone ordinary.
"You came with questions," the Ancient One said. "And concerns."
"We did," Coulson admitted.
