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There was a library where books flew like birds and formed platforms for other guests to step on as they traversed the upper levels. Strange warned you explicitly not to touch any books, and you were properly motivated once you saw what looked like a flock of books ganging up on an old grimoire, and picking it avert savagely. You and Cat stared in horror, and in gross curiosity.
There was a museum that displayed nightmarish skeletons for the sorcerer to study. Or maybe they were simply trophies. Either way, you had no desire to see what they had looked like when they were alive and healthy. Anastasia might, though. You’d have to ask the doctor about paying him to be a tour guide someday.
The next room was a greenhouse, and strangely enough, it wasn’t your destination. Various plants, vines and tendrils reached out to grab at you as you passed, and you felt your spider sense tingling ever so slightly in the back of your mind. Something, or various “somethings” wanted very much to hurt you in this room. You remained alert, trying not to jump at the flowers that bloomed and turned to face you as if they were watching. Strange didn’t seem to mind, so he must’ve been confident in his ability to prevent any “accidents” from occurring.
Finally, you arrived at a lab of some sort. It was somehow the most normal looking room out of all of the ones you’d visited tonight. There were a bunch of oddly shaped beakers and alchemical tools strewn about the tables, but nothing that seemed like it could come alive and kill you at a moment’s notice.
The books that lined the walls were distinctly inanimate, and there was a noticeable lack of piranha plants. You relaxed a bit, and pretended not to notice the way that Cat was roaming around the room. If Strange minded at all, he didn’t say anything.
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Admittedly, the tests and experiments took a bit longer than you’d expected. So much so that you thought that it might’ve been better to drop them off and come back later. The thoroughness with which he examined the fairy flowers was admirable in its own right, but you were sort of hoping that he could cast an appraisal spell on them and tell you exactly what you wanted to know.
You rolled up your sleeve, checked your watch, and gawked at it for a moment.
Was this thing broken? It says that only 15 minutes have passed since you entered the Sanctum. It felt more like 2 hours and some change. You expected Cat to be as miserable as you were, but she seemed to be having the time of her life.
Anything that she pocketed was somehow magically lifted out of her possession and returned to its original position. Strange was apparently perfectly capable of splitting his focus, and had been keeping an eye on the beautiful burglar. At first, the two of you froze in fear, wondering what sort of punishment the sorcerer would mete out as a result of Cat’s actions.
(Cont.)
