Caecilius and his seven remaining Zealots stumbled out of the portal, nearly falling to the ground.

Their leader quickly recovered, raised the Amulet of Mul with a sharp gaze, and immediately placed its restraints back upon it. This time, however, he made sure that the spirit that resided within was in pain.

To his sadistic delight, he felt the ancient Sith Lord's moment of agony as the shackles binding his soul to the trinket tightened around him.

"You greedy fool!" Moore almost screamed. "Don't you know who you are dealing with?!"

"I am dealing with a poor soul, and any master capable of doing so could erase your mark from this amulet in a flash." Caecilius responded calmly. "Now, you are to tell me what it is that has transformed one of my students into such a deformed monster. If you choose to leave something out because of your "memory", I will search your soul myself. Am I clear?"

If this were any other situation, Maul wouldn't have given in. However, the Sith spirit was at a disadvantage against a being that could actually hurt him, unlike many of the Force-sensitives in his home galaxy.

So, he had no choice but to back off, glaring at the mysterious man the whole time.

"Put away your petty anger, it's one thing for my students to be captured, but what I saw was worse than death," the rogue master threatened.

"Such situations always occur. One can never be picky about the manner of death.

"I am in no mood for your riddles, Sith Lord." Caecilius cast a little magic on the amulet, causing Canis to squirm inside. "Tell me what it is."

“My legacy. ” Moore declared proudly, despite his pain.

"What kind of legacy is that supposed to be?"

“I have dedicated my life to achieving immortality and controlling the galaxy.

Caecilius spat on the ground. "."

“Nothing is perfect, Caecilius. Moore’s soul shrugged. “This is my preferred method.”

"Take free will away from living things." One of the acolytes spoke up.

“Like you had a better idea of ​​immortality.” Moore shot back, unfazed by the young student’s bravado.

"I really like it."

"what?

"After what you did before, you are unworthy of my ways," Kaecilius said, applying more power to the amulet, effectively silencing the Sith Lord.

In his amulet, Moore was filled with nothing but intense hatred for the man.

Good. So be it. When he looked at it all from his amulet, he would find the old fashioned way.

This time he could be patient. He was a ghost after all. It didn't seem like he would die again anytime soon.

……

“You know, I thought I’d seen it all with the Big Three,” Bucky commented as he sat at a round table with a few other guys. “But the alien mutant space zombies feel like they deserve their own category.

"The Big Three?" the new Kamar-Taj asked, confused.

“Bionic men, aliens, and wizards,” Celeste answered for her love. “That’s pretty accurate when one looks at the history of increased conflict on this planet.

"But what is Mr. Reyes?" Karl Mordo asked from his seat.

"A special case," The Ancient One answered the young man who was asked to join them at Kamar-Taj.

She sat in the center of the table, surrounded by some of her most trusted confidants, such as Carl Mordo and Huang, and the three masters of these places known as the Sanctuary.

“Are we really talking about this? About everybody?” Robbie Reyes asked incredulously.

"Pretty much," Buck shrugged. "Mutated alien zombies are one thing, but you..."

The Ancient One cleared his throat and turned to Robbie.

"Tell us why you're in London. Last time I checked, you were in America.

“I’ve been traveling a lot lately,” Reyes said vaguely. “Not on my own accord.”

"Sarathos has never been such a person... tolerant of his master. The Supreme Sorcerer sighed slightly and said.

"So do you really know what this thing inside me is?" Robbie asked, and Gu nodded.

"I have encountered the Spirit of Vengeance many times before," Ancient One revealed. "Like my previous Master and his Master."

"He seems to know this place," Robbie said, leaning back in his chair and looking around the hall where they all sat.

"Is this... Is Saratos a friend of the Knights? Mordo asked, and Robbie hummed.

"You should have heard this bastard laugh out here." Robbie laughed sarcastically and patted his forehead. "All in all, his loyalty is good; although it can make things more confusing in some situations.

"I'd rather not see an early example," exclaimed Daniel Durham, owner of the New York Temple.

"Agreed," said Sol Rama, the master of the London Temple.

It turns out there are three Sanctum bases spread across the planet: New York, London, and Hong Kong. Each is a protective marker that helps isolate this world from the many threats that come from beyond the mortal plane. All three have a heavy connection to Kamar-Taj as a means of "fast travel" beyond the use of portals.

The three masters of the Sanctuary were summoned here because of Caecilius's rebellion, coupled with the realization that the Amulet of Mur was now out of control in the world.

Then came the Rak Ghost Plague.

“Okay, look,” Celeste began, leaning forward on the table and looking at everyone gathered. “The Mule Amulet was taken. Bucky and the Ancient One witnessed firsthand the effects it had on the creatures it touched. It spread quickly and violently, and the only means of containing it is to exterminate large swaths of the population that have the plague. But I don’t think that’s something any of you are willing to do.”

Each shake of the head was enough to motivate her to continue.

"So we need to remain on high alert and track down Caecilius and the amulet as quickly as possible."

"The Sanctuary is on high alert most of the time." Huang said firmly. "Everyone will ask students to search for the amulet together."

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, where’s that Caecilius guy?” Bucky asked confused. “He’s the one who took the amulet. Should we go after him? After seeing what that thing can do, I don’t know that he’d want to hold on to something like this.”

"Caecilius will come to us," Ancient One said firmly. "Whether he possesses the amulet remains to be seen."

"If left alone, the Rakki Plague is fully capable of spreading on its own," Celeste pointed out in a grim tone. "Even with the spells and restrictions placed on it, it can subconsciously spread it to unsuspecting victims."

"Do you think Caecilius would willingly spread the plague?" asked Sol Rama.

"When he runs away from us, that means he's going to do it," Celeste reminded them.

Bucky rubbed his chin in thought, thinking back to when the amulet was activated. "It must have been a spur of the moment thing, because he obviously didn't realize what the damn thing would do when his acolyte infected him."

“His desperate tactics were costly but paid off in his escape,” Mr. Maughan said.

The group fell silent for a moment.

“There’s one more thing I don’t understand.” Bucky started and everyone looked at him.

"That is?"

Bucky turned back to Robbie.

“Why on earth are you in London?" Bucky asked. "The Wizard Queen here said you were in America. How did you get here?

The Master of the Spirit of Vengeance cleared his throat and placed his hands together on the table.

“The spirit… Sarathoth, spotted a dark presence not long ago,” Robbie said calmly. “A presence soaked in the blood of innocents. It had been moving around Europe for the past few months, then seemed to disappear from his senses.”

Instantly, Celeste found her eyes widening, and she subconsciously reached for her neck, where the amulet had once been fastened.

Bucky wordlessly reached out to her and gently took her other hand in his, squeezing it gently in comfort.

There was silence at the table for a moment, until Wang cleared his throat and spoke.

"We cannot waste the time we have now." The new head of the library said in a firm voice. "A spell must be cast to warn the city of the amulet entering the Sanctuary. There is no doubt that Caecilius will target them at some point, perhaps even before he makes his move.

"Then we will begin to build barriers in the sanctuary." Ancient One said, standing up from his seat. "We must remain vigilant to any news of the plague that emerges anywhere in the world. We will not allow innocent people to suffer such tragic and painful deaths. Now, we must prepare. The meeting is adjourned.

There were a few whispers and thanks as the Masters left their respective sanctuaries, and the Ancient One approached Mordor.

"I will entrust Kamar-Taj to you, Master Mordo." The Ancient One said, placing a hand on his shoulder, and he nodded in respect.

"I will finish it, Master."

Ancient One gave him a small smile before looking at Celeste and Bucky.

"Celeste, I know you want to hunt down Moore, but I think it would be best if you joined Mordo and built a barrier around Kamar-Taj," the Ancient One ordered. "It would also be good for your own training."

Celeste wanted to argue, but she finally nodded.

"Don't worry. When you're done, I'll let you go with Mr. Barnes and Mr. Reyes to find where the amulet is. The Ancient One promised. "If anyone is most likely to find the amulet, it's you three."

The Jedi nodded gratefully and gave Bucky a quick peck on the cheek before leaving to join Mordo on this mission.

After a while, the Ancient One left, leaving Buggy and Robbie standing there awkwardly.

Bucky looked around for a moment, his eyes landing on a rather grim-looking young man.

“You okay, Robbie?” Bucky asked. “You look a little pale.”

"I'm...I'm fine. Robbie stammered. "Not mental

“What do you mean?” Bucky said, not understanding. “How does it affect you now?”

The man in the leather jacket shook his head, breathing heavily.

"It's not telling me, it's making me feel it." Robbie looked directly into Bucky's eyes with a tormented look on his face.

Bucky thought he was going to regret what he was about to ask.

"What do you feel?"

A dark, somber look took over Reyes’s face.

“Those whose souls have been corrupted by sin.” That was his reaction, and Bucky had never felt fear so completely consume his entire being in such a long time.

He stood there, watching Robbie walk away with his back turned.

Bucky trembled, pulling a chair closer to him and quickly sitting down, covering his face with his hands, and after a moment, silent tears slid down his cheeks.

Celeste, who had just reached the exit of Kamar-Taj, froze for a moment, she felt her heart clench as she looked back in the direction of the meeting she was attending.

"Bucky." This was the immediate thought that popped into the Jedi's mind and she placed a hand over her chest.

"Celeste?"

She blinked and turned to see a slightly confused Mordo waiting for her.

"Is everything all right?" he asked.

"Oh, um..." Celeste quickly cleared her throat. "Yes, yes. Lord Mordo, let's go.

Mordo looked at her for a moment, then nodded slowly, and a moment later the two left the building.

"Master, what should we do?" Celeste asked immediately. "How far away do we need to place these markers?"

“Every few kilometers.”

"That'll take a while."

Mordo smiled. "Don't worry about traveling, Celeste. I know every nook and cranny of Kathmandu. Just follow me wherever I go."

Celeste simply nodded and the two began their work.

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