"By the Saints of Hell! Stephen, I thought you swore just last week to stay out of the forbidden library. And yet here you are, tome in one hand, candle in the other."
Stephen Strange jolted in surprise at the loud outburst. He had done his best to avoid the arcane traps and alarms that were spread randomly throughout the ancient castle, but had clearly missed one of them. Either that, or the Sorcerer Supreme had somehow placed a magic tag on him that revealed his movements.
There was no point hiding what he had done or lying about it. Besides, he only needed to read the tome once to memorize the passages he was most interested in. And he had had enough time to do just that. He wasn't interested in performing the forbidden rites, he merely wanted to know how they worked. Far too much information had been lost simply because one person had used it the wrong way long ago and upset the survivors.
The Grand Council of Wizards only accepted one apprentice every generation, and the previous three had been failures. Kaecilius had succumbed to his inner demons and turned to the darkness. The Council sent a group of powerful mage hunters to deal with him before Strange was chosen to take his place. The one before Kaecilius had somehow erased themselves from reality. The only reason anyone even remembered that much about them was because the Grand Archive existed outside of reality and even the Infinity Stones held no power here.
As for the third failure...
Well, maybe "failure" wasn't the right word. True, he would never be a member of the Grand Council. Yes, he had given up his passion for magic. But on the other hand, he was easily one of the best chefs in the whole world. And Steven could attest to the near divine nature of his cuisine.
But now it was Steven's chance to become a member of the Grand Council. And one day, maybe even Sorcerer Supreme. And in order to do that, he needed to know what was possible. He needed to learn all there was to learn about magic, regardless of the dangers he might face merely by having possession of said knowledge. He needed to read the books in the Forbidden Library.
Unfortunately, the current Sorcerer Supreme went through the same struggles and knew everything his apprentice was going to do to achieve his goal. He had to know, or else how would he have gained his current position? Stephen blinked, and returned his focus on what his mentor was saying.
“Do you know which tome you have there? That is one of the Forlorn Grimoires,” explained the ancient man, fists pressed into his hips like some old woman. “Thirteen volumes were penned before the existence of reality, and every one has been lost.”
“But how can it be here if it was lost?”
“That one was rediscovered and brought here for safe keeping.” The man reached out and took the book from his apprentice. His demeanor changed from anger to concern, and Stephen felt sorry. Not for what he had done, but for upsetting his mentor.
“Why are they called the 'Forlorn Grimoires'? How were they lost if they're so important? And how could they have been written before reality?” Strange's mind swam with questions demanding answers, but before they could all cross his lips, the Sorcerer Supreme silenced them quickly.
“There are entities that exist outside of our reality, beyond time. Some occupy universes we could never conceive of, never visit, never even know of. Come with me a moment.”
The two men walked back to where Stephen had found the forbidden book in silence.
Placing the tome in it's place on the shelf, the older man reached up to the next shelf and took down a thick, dusty volume bound in wood and iron. “This is a history of the founding of this place. While it won't answer any of your questions, it may quiet them. In this book you can find information about not just our reality, but others.” He blew on the book and a cloud of dust rose up. Holding it out to the younger man, he smiled and said “this might even let you know where to find the other ten Forlorn Grimoires.”
“Why are they called that? 'The Forlorn Grimoires'?”
Grinning, the old wizard replied “Because after reading them, their owners tend to abandon them. And sometimes they even abandon themselves as well.”
“Did my predecessors read them?” Strange asked, knowing the answer before he finished speaking.
His teacher merely nodded, smiling sadly.