[Central Park] Turn Into Earth

Sun Nao stood back up after, in his mind, an awesome handshake.

He gave James a puzzled look, and his eyes remained on the man for a few more seconds before he shrugged.
"Yeah, that might be it," he said. He was not entirely buying the explanation but also was not the kind of guy who made a habit of digging in other people's dirty laundry. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, sir."

"Yeah, my bàba focused more on teaching me meditation, breathing, and kicking the snot out of demons. Less on magic, so I decided to be more proactive and find my own teacher." Sun Nao commented, rolling his eyes slightly at Strange's description of his amazing aptitude, but he greatly appreciated the compliment. "He's not commented on it yet, which with my father can either be... "I don't care" or "I care a lot and just haven't found the best way to f-ck with you yet." My experience tells me it's the latter." He did say f-ck with because he was certain that Wukong was not one to hold a grudge; he was far too unnervingly chill for that.

He turned to James again and took a moment to mull over his question... what did he specialize in?

"That is a good question; if we're going by what the Doc has been teaching me, it's a little of this and a little of that. Elemental things, playing with portals, astral-y stuff, and these nifty circles." Sun Nao replied, gesturing into the air and creating a small magic circle, flicking his finger and sending a spiral of golden light across the room. "Personally, it's the flashiness I like, nothing like it to break the ice in any situation."

Sun Nao did notice that Strange was looking at the book, and he rolled his eyes and held up the book written in archaic Chinese.

"Yeah, I and the books are becoming rather close." He made a pause, "I had just noticed we had books by Laozi that I did not know he had written, so I got curious."

There was almost a visual mental hiccup when James was referred to as Sir... It made him feel incredibly old hearing that. Very few people referred to him as sir. Normally it was staff working on one of his shows that ever used it. Everyone else didn't bother to show him such respect. James didn't even catch as Sun Nao using the Chinese word for father, simply hearing the word translated into English. James gave Kingston a look before returning his gaze to Sun Nao and said,"Being proactive is a good choice. If you don't make a decision, someone else will make it for you." James didn't elaborate further on what he meant by that. James wasn't surprised to hear that Sun Nao preferred flashiness. It seemed the apple didn't fall far from the tree. He preferred a far more subtle approach to problem solving. It wasn't always possible. Sometimes a hammer was all the subtly you needed when push came to shove. Sun Nao didn't seem interested in knowing James's magical capabilities, so he simply didn't offer them up. He didn't like sharing his secrets, and if Sun Nao didn't care to know then there was no point burdening him with such knowledge. Knowledge was power after all. James eyed Strange at the mention of the book being from a parallel dimension. So someone had been playing with the multiverse. James signed at the thought. And they had the nerve to say he was dangerous.

James wasn't surprised by the hypocrisy. People had a tendency to fear what they couldn't control. It all ultimately stemmed back to their fear of the unknown. If you couldn't control something, then you couldn't know what it was going to do with guaranteed certainty. Free will was something people like that couldn't stand when they spiraled that far down the rabbit hole. As they entered library James looked around, taking in the massive room. His eyes stopped at the windows for a moment, noting the presence of the little owl that seemed to be there just at the corner of his vision. It seemed to vanish the moment his eyes tried to focus on it. It seemed Athena also liked a subtle touch. It seemed she wanted something in here, or simply wanted him to use this opportunity to learn more. If anyone agreed with the adage of knowledge is power, it would certainly be her. James was also certain that she was also very intentionally manifesting the visual hallucination in such a subtle manner to avoid triggering the wards guarding this place thus drawing attention she likely didn't want. She was as bound by rules as the entity referred to as God. James took Strange's warning to heart, but couldn't stop himself from making the comment,"Oh, don't worry about me doc. I've gotten very good ignoring the voices in my head over the years," before walking into the library. Kingston at his side, James began scanning the tomes and scrolls on the shelves. He might as well take advantage of the situation. He hadn't found anything concrete, but there had been no sign of anyone with his job position in some time. One of the Sorcerer Supremes had to have written something about it though, or found books written by others about it. James needed insight, even if he didn't feel particularly worthy of it.

"The Library isn't entirely part of this dimension," Strange said, as if to answer James's unsaid question, "and the books can come and go from pretty much anywhere in space, time and beyond. Words have power, and aren't anchored by the same universal laws as the rest of us."

Strange paused as something moved in the corner of his vision. He didn't glance around, instead laying his eyes on James. A second or two, his eyes glinting with a curious expression. Then he turned his head away, listening to Sun Nao. It was a story he had heard a few times, of his father taking him away for long periods, but returning him without any time passing in this world. Strange was still alert to any signs that the Monkey King had taken offense to him training the boy. He'd have a thing or two to say to him, in any case.

"Interesting. I always think the opposite. Be nice to the library, in case it decides to trap you within a thousand year old book until you say sorry. They hold grudges for a long, long time."

That was the second time the Sorcerer had mentioned being trapped by a book. Was this from personal experience? Strange didn't clarify or deny, instead running his finger along a row of spines, until he stopped at a specific tome, gently pulling it from the shelf and checking the cover.

"Seventh Sons of Seventh Sons... It's odd, the books that the library suggests to you. Sometimes it's as simple as pulling a book out at random, sometimes you might be searching for centuries and never find what you need. Books wield as much magic as any man, drawing it from all across the cosmos and wrapping it up neatly in leather and paper. For all the knowledge I hold, it isn't a fraction of what these old pages have written on their faces."

Strange looked up at James with a light smirk on his face, placing the tome he had drawn out on a side table before moving on down the bookshelves again.

"Mint chocolate, kid. Next time you break my front door, you might at least bring me some to apologise."

"And that is why the library likes me more than you, Doc," said Sun Nao with a grin. "It is as Terry Pratchett wrote, Knowledge = power = energy = matter = mass, and on that simple equation rests the whole of L-space. I like to think he was right about it, that L-space is infinitely large and connects all libraries, everywhere and everywhen."

He looked to James, cocking an eyebrow at his mention of being trapped inside someone's mind.

"It would depend on what mind and how much I can mess with the person while trapped inside of there." He asked, tilting his head to the side. "I feel you're speaking from experience with that one, Mr James?"

Sun Nao crouched beside a shelf and randomly pulled out a book. "How to punch your divine dad in the face and get away with it. You're right, Doc, this place has everything." He casually opened the book and flipped through the pages but stopped at the mention of mint chocolate; he made a face. "That is such an... old person flavour." He paused... "Well, at least it is better than that anchovy ice cream Salem made in the kitchen last week."

James glanced up from his book responding,"Yes, I am. If you ever find yourself in that position, I advise you to be extremely careful. The psyche of a person can be as fragile as it is dangerous. Also, it's not a field trip. You will find out a lot of harsh truths about the person, how they view the world, and how they view you. The subconscious doesn't play around with all the lies and pretenses we use to get through the day." He remembered his journey into one of his past teammates minds even now. Harsh truths had a way of cutting deeper than a blade. James had learned a lot about himself during that journey, and about how people viewed him. The thought crossed his mind,"It would be so easy to siphon the power from such an experienced demigod. Perhaps that's what Athena wants." He doubted it though. If there was some great threat she wanted him to become more powerful to deal with, there were a dozen ways that wouldn't involve an inevitable confrontation with Sun Wukong or Dr. Strange. He felt a brief moment of annoyance that he was falling into old habits. He glanced at Dr. Strange and replied to Strange's reassurances,"Of course. Are there any looming threats I should be aware of?" He glanced at Kingston laying on the bench beside him, scratching his ear. This book had interesting information, but a lot of it was conjecture. It seemed there weren't many confirmed cases of what his family had done. He would need to study it more, and perhaps play with some of the more dangerous magical knowledge at his disposal. It didn't seem wise to do that despite Strange's reassurances. James didn't trust that he wasn't being carefully monitored.

Strange raised an eyebrow at Sun Nao's question. The son of a Monkey King living in a magical house being trained by a wizard in spellcraft. Of all the real, strange events happening to him, Sun Nao seemed incapable of imaging anything weird unless he saw it with his own eyes. He couldn't help but smirk. Strange admired that. The kid took everything at face value, but wouldn't let his imagination run wild. Strange had long ago stopped trying to halter his imagination. He knew that whatever he could dream of existed somewhere.

"Could be tricky to cast a spell with tiny arms, huh?"

He grinned, waving a hand and summoning a few drinks to the table. Something for all of them again, though deliberately avoiding anything alcoholic. Strange levelled a cool gaze on James as he sipped an expresso.

"There's always looming threats. Great cataclysmic events or powerful adversaries. Forces of nature and magic sweeping across the multiverse, threatening our world constantly. Specifically? Yes. A few we have on our radar. Enchantress wasn't the first, and certainly not the last. Her war on Earth spurred on more like her, who were dwelling in the shadows. Now they know there is a chance. Even with Dark Watch, the Justice League, Excalibur... I think we're on the cusp of something else."

Strange tugged at his goatee, frowning, staring at nothing in particular. The still air in the library seemed to dance in a sudden mild breeze, dust whirling and dancing around them.

"You've always got to be ready for the world to turn upside-down in our line of work."