Riley twisted her hands nervously in front of her, fidgeting with the Amulet around her neck. She brushed her short hair behind her ear. Strange watched her, his shields up and waiting. Riley shifted from foot to foot. She wasn't looking forward to failing.

"Just try," Strange encouraged her.

She concentrated, pulling from deep within herself in hopes of creating even a flicker of magic. Her forehead broke out in sweat as she pushed at the solid wall in her mind that kept her from accessing the Amulet.

Her hands shook as she held them out in front of her. After a couple of minutes, she sighed heavily, returning her hands to her sides. "I can't, Strange," she muttered, "I just can't do it."

He let his shields fall, walking forward to her and taking her hands into his own. "You have to try, Riley."

She pulled away from him, "What do you think I was doing?"

"Your magic came so easily to you before you don't know what it was like to have to start from scratch," Strange explained, "You have to start small."

Riley grudgingly shifted, she didn't want to admit that he was right. "Magic came easily for you too," she grumbled.

He gave her a sideways smile, "Not as easy as I make it look. It took me quite a while to grasp the basics. Now, why don't you give me the shield form?"

Riley quickly made the motions that were supposed to form a shield, but nothing happened. "This is ridiculous," Riley sighed.

Strange gave her a cutting glare, "Look, do you want to get your magic back or not?"

Riley shut her mouth and went to work, going through the motions of creating a shield twice more. Nothing happened. Her eyes swam with tears as she tried once again. It had been so easy for her before that she had taken for granted all the miracles she could do. She hated Mordo for taking her magic and humiliating her. She hated him with her whole heart.

She could barely see through her tears as she tried it once more, a tiny spark of magic appeared. Strange gasped, giving her a bright smile. Riley gave him a watery grin, "Did you see that?"

Strange laughed, a genuine, lilting laugh that broke through Riley's doubts. "Amazing!" he exclaimed. Riley wiped the leftover tears from her eyes as she went through the motions again. Nothing happened, but the new flame of hope in her heart didn't die.

They spent the rest of the morning chasing after her lost magic.

<>

"What do you mean, Mordo was spotted?" Strange asked the council.

"I meant what I said, Supreme," the master of the London sanctum ground his teeth. "He was spotted just hours ago by one of my senior sorcerers."

"And you're positive it was him?" Strange asked warily. He didn't want to be chasing ghosts.

"As sure as I can be," the London master bit back.

"Leave me," Strange commanded.

The master of the London sanctum shot him a dirty look before exiting the room. Strange slumped back in his chair and rubbed his forehead. It was supposed to be a short meeting about the normal magical skirmishes, not a meeting about Mordo having escaped the Mirror Realm.

Strange wasn't sure what he would tell Riley. She hadn't been able to produce any more magic since that little spark, and her hope was fading just as fast. Also, Strange was sick of being Sorcerer Supreme. He no longer wanted the prestigious title, not that he would ever tell the other sorcerers. Just imagining the look on the London master's face added steel to Strange's blood.

His cape wrapped tighter around him in an almost comforting hug. Strange's mind raced as he imagined telling Riley the man who stole her magic was back again while she was powerless to stop him. Strange stood so suddenly his chair scraped loudly against the floor. His restless feet carried him to the doorway back to his sanctum.

He moved down to the training room, where Riley sat on the floor. Her palms were facing up in front of her, and she stared at them intently. Her eyes were sunken with dark circles underneath them. Whatever she was trying to do, it was draining her.

"What's going on in here?" Strange asked quietly.

Riley jumped a mile high, turning and looking to see who spoke. She visibly relaxed when she saw Strange. "Oh, hey," she said nonchalantly, "Just trying to... you know..."

"Start a fire?" Strange suggested.

She nodded. Turning her attention back to her upturned palms. Strange walked over and sat down about two feet across from her. He watched her for a moment, her eyes fixed solidly on her hands. Her face shimmered with sweat from the concentration it took to even feel a tingle of magic in her fingers.

"Riley," Strange called.

She didn't answer.

"Riley?" Strange asked again.

She snapped out of it, looking up at him, "Yeah?"

"I have some news," Strange mumbled.

Riley could tell it must have been bad by his face. His eyebrows were drawn together in the worried expression he had worn when he had told her about losing her magic. Her stomach sank as she realized he had bad news. She moved to take his trembling hands in her own steady ones.

"What is it, Strange?" she asked.

He paused, uncertain, "I-it's Mordo. He was spotted earlier today."

Riley dropped Strange's hands and tugged at the ends of her hair as she stood. She struggled to keep her face neutral as she registered a hate deep inside of her that was so powerful she could barely contain it. Strange watched her as a foreboding feeling swept through him. Something dark moved behind her eyes, and it terrified him.

As soon as he saw it, it was gone. Riley's face was like normal; beautiful and full of life. She gave him a hollow half smile, "What are we going to do about it? We can't wait for him to strike again."

Strange sighed, the foreboding feeling still strong in him, making him feel sick. He stood, moving closer to her, "I guess we look for him." He paused, looking at her for a long moment before adding on to his sentence, "But you need to focus on your recovery."

Riley tilted her head to the side, "Sure."

Somehow, Strange didn't believe she would leave Mordo alone. Magic or not, she seemed bent on some sort of revenge. "Why don't we try again?" Strange asked, gesturing towards the middle of the training room.

Strange moved to the middle of the room and held up his hands, summoning his shields and settling into a fighting stance. Riley shifted from foot to foot nervously. She hated reaching for her magic only to find it suddenly twisting out of reach.

She imagined it was Mordo in front of her. Mordo, the one who stole her magic, who had made her normal. Rage flared through her as she imagined him standing there, waiting for the attack he knew she couldn't muster.

Riley struggled against the wall in her mind that separated her from her magic. A pain flashed through her head as she rammed against the barrier. Her hands tingled with the pure need for mystic energy. She gasped as the wall gave way and her hands burst into flames. Riley looked down at her hands where her fire, black as night now, burned strange and evil. She shrieked with laughter as she threw the ball of flame towards Strange.

His eyes widened as the ball of black flame surged towards him with incredible speed. He held up his shield but the fire ate through it in mere seconds. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he struggled to hold her ruthless attack at bay. The fire ate at his hands, and he felt blisters rise on the scarred skin. His cape unhooked from his shoulders and sped across the room. It reached Riley and pushed her down on the ground. Her concentration broke as she fell.

She stared up at the ceiling, what she had just done finally registering in her power drunk brain. Riley sat up, eyes wide as she searched the room for Strange. He leaned against the opposite wall, cradling his burnt hands in front of him. She stumbled to him, sick with herself as she realized the magic she had called was twisted and wrong. It was, quite literally, the shadow of her former magic.

"Strange," she said, her voice hollow with remorse. She reached over to him to help him up, but he flinched away from her. She let her hands fall to her sides. Her eyes caught on her Amulet. The light inside of it was no longer bright white, but a churning black. She had poisoned it with her hatred for Mordo.

She reached up and covered her mouth, something was wrong with her. The magic tingling in her fingertips was as evil as the hate slinking through her heart this very moment. She ran from the room and headed down the hall to the magic windows. The forest outside was charred and dead like it had only just stopped burning.

Riley's brain tripped through a million thoughts before settling on one: Use this power to defeat Mordo, steal your golden magic back from him. Then, you can be free of your hate.

She stared down at her hands which had called the black fire just moments ago. With a twitch of her thin fingers, another tiny black flame danced in her hand. It made her sick to see the Dark magic twisting in her palm, but she would take what she could get. If hate made her powerful enough to defeat Mordo once and for all, then that would be what she would use.

Even if she knew it was wrong.

A/N
Long chapter sorry (1660 words!)

Rest easy, space princess. We'll miss you forever ❤️
Carrie Fisher 1956-2016