Wanda's eyes flew open as she sat up, gasping for air in big gulps. Another nightmare. Great. Wanda tries to slow down her breathing and lay down in an attempt to fall back asleep, but she gives up after half an hour. Every time Wanda closes her eyes she sees their faces. Vision, Billy, and Tommy's faces. She has to do something to distract herself
Wanda pushes herself into a sitting position and climbs out of bed. She is going to make herself a mug of hot cocoa. That will give her something to do, and she has always found the hot drink comforting.
Wanda pulls her robe on, covering her body in its fuzzy warmth to protect herself from the cold Norwegian morning. She drags her feet while walking to the kitchen, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She sits on the counter while using tendrils of red power to open the fridge and pour milk into a pot on the stove.
Wanda's mind is sluggish as she watches the milk come to a boil. She continues using her magic to prepare the hot cocoa. A red tendril of light lifts a patterned mug out of the cupboard and places it gently on the counter. Another swirl of magic pours the hot milk into the mug. And another swish of magic stirs in the hot cocoa powder. Wanda smiles as she watches her magic magic preparing her hot cocoa. Even though she's had her powers for years now, she still finds it mesmerizing to watch things happen on their own.
Wanda picks up the steaming mug of cocoa and exits out the front door of her cottage. If she has to wake up early, she might as well see the sunrise. The skyline was a beautiful shade of orange and there was a bright glow on the horizon that was the first hint of the sun.
Wanda takes a sip of hot cocoa and winces from the scorching heat of the drink. This happens every time. She never waits long enough for it to cool down. Even though she had just burnt her tongue, she raises the mug to her mouth, taking a smaller mouthful than before. That's a little bit better.
Wanda has such fond memories of drinking hot cocoa. She remembers how, before the war began, her mother would always make hot cocoa for her and Pietro when they were upset. Then the war began, and no one had any money for such luxuries, even though they needed that familiar comfort more than ever before. Now that Wanda had begun her life off the grid to study witchcraft, she could conjure anything she wanted. Almost anything.
Wanda was lost in thought, thinking about memories from her childhood, when she suddenly snapped back to the present.
"Don't think about the past, stay in the present! You know better, Wanda." She muttered under her breath.
She couldn't just sit and do nothing without her thoughts wandering to a topic that would remind her of some horrible event from her life. She decided to send her astral form to continue studying the Darkhold, the book of dark magic she had taken from Agatha Harkness.
Wanda hadn't tried sending her astral form out of her body before, but she remembered how to do it. She pictured another form inside her, her true form, and pushed it out of her body. A figure dressed in the clothes of the Scarlet Witch stumbled in front of her.
"Go inside and read the Darkhold." Wanda commanded. The figure walked inside the cottage, and Wanda knew it was finding the book she had told it to read.
It reminds Wanda of Westview to be controlling both herself and her astral form, but that doesn't bother her because she's doing something that interests her. She started reading the Darkhold the day before and found it quite fascinating. Wanda found relief in having something to do besides stew in her head full of emotions she didn't want to process.
Wanda sips her hot cocoa automatically, enjoying the warm, chocolatey taste on her tongue. She had nearly finished her hot cocoa when information flowed into her head that shocked her. She was reading a spell from the necromancy chapter that required fresh blood as well as body parts. The descriptions were so graphic that an image flowed unbidden into her head.
Her hand went limp and the empty mug smashed into a thousand pieces when it hit the stone pathway, but Wanda hardly noticed. Should she really be reading about such dark magic? Especially after what Agnes had said—no. It was important to learn about all types of magic and Wanda would do as such. After all, it wasn't like she was going to use those types of magic anyway. She would just have to prepare herself for reading such horrifying things.
Wanda found it quite convenient to have her astral form separated from her body, and she finished reading the Darkhold before lunch. In the meantime, her physical form wandered around the cottage and she even walked around the island that her cottage was on. It would be useful to know her way around here.
While Wanda ate lunch, she planned her afternoon. Most of the spells in the Darkhold were of the dark magic variety, so Wanda decided to see if she could make a few adjustments that would neutralize their darkness. She also wanted to read the chapter about the Scarlet Witch more thoroughly. She had become the Scarlet Witch just a few days ago, and there was a lot of information in the Darkhold that was hard to understand, especially as she was such a novice in the witchy area.
Wanda finishes her sandwich, content with the plan she created. She grabs a notebook and the Darkhold before heading outside. She thought she would enjoy working outside, and she was right. Even though the air is a little chilly, the fresh air, earthy smell of dirt and trees, and melodious birdsong put a smile on Wanda's face.
She lies down on a patch of grass and flips the Darkhold open to a page she had marked earlier. Normally, this spell would allow the caster to control a person's will, but she was going to attempt to change a few crucial words that would allow her to control which plants grew in the soil.
Tua animo, tua corpus, in mea potestate.
That was the full spell Wanda was attempting to change. Tua—that probably meant your. And mea—that would be my. Wanda scratched her head. Then the words she would have to change would be animo and corpus. It was scary to change a spell, but a lot of magic was intent. That was how Wanda had used her magic before, after all. If she intended to control a garden, that's what should happen.
But how would she know what words to substitute into the spell? The spell looked like it was in Latin. Wanda sits up and stretches her arms out in front of her body. She moves them in the shape of a rectangle, like a book. She closes her eyes while continuing to move her arms, visualizing a dictionary. It would be an old, brown book, with frayed binding and faded gold words on the cover that said English to Latin Dictionary.
Thump! Wanda's eyes fly open, and there it is! In front of her sits the very dictionary she pictured, frayed binding and all. She did it! It was getting easier and easier to conjure objects every time she tried.
Wanda flips through the book until she finds the words for garden and plants, hortus and plantae. She would substitute these words into the spell and see what happened. Wanda crosses her fingers, hoping that nothing will go wrong. She has never tried anything as risky as this before, at least not purposefully.
"Tua hortus, tua plantae, in mea potestate." Wanda practices saying the words. They feel peculiar in her mouth, but eventually they become more comfortable to say. When she is ready, she pushes herself off the ground and says the spell, this time with intent. She imagines that she is in control of the garden, that she has the ability to choose which plants grow. She concentrates so intensely her head starts to ache.
Wanda visualizes plants growing around her. She pictures beautiful blue flowers growing in a perfect circle, surrounded by bright green grass. When she can't bear to keep her eyes closed any longer, she opens them. She squints as her eyes take in a huge rush of colour. It worked! Wanda stood inside a circle of flowers, the blue ones she had imagined. There were even some tiny red flowers that had popped up here and there. Wanda doesn't know what type of flowers they are, but she does know they are very pretty.
Wanda feels like a forest fairy with all the beautiful flowers surrounding her, and she spins around, breathing in their sweet aromas. This spell was amazing! With this success, she definitely wants to try adjusting many other spells in the Darkhold. This would probably help her to learn more about her powers too, which was also a bonus.
Wanda practiced this spell for almost an hour, while she created a beautiful garden of brightly coloured flowers in front of her cottage and in patches on the island. As she got better and better at the spell, she didn't need to close her eyes or concentrate quite as hard. She could just decide what flowers she wanted where, and watch them grow from tiny shoots to flowers in full bloom.
When Wanda was in Westview, she could manipulate reality because that reality was false, but now that Wanda was in the real world she had to learn spells for such purposes. Wanda smiled, as she realized that she had just cast her first real spell, and one that she had created—at least partially—by herself.
Eventually, Wanda heads back inside her cottage. She shouldn't spend all afternoon growing flowers, especially when she wants to reread the chapter about the Scarlet Witch. She flops onto her bed, flipping through the old pages until she reaches the chapter she wants to read.
This chapter contains the most powerful spells in the book. Should Wanda try these spells? Not all of them have descriptions. It would definitely be a risk, but the risk might be worth it. Anyway, Wanda was all alone here in Norway, so how much of a risk could it be? The nearest people lived hundreds of kilometres away. It wasn't like she could hurt anyone, was it? Wanda remembers how rewarding it felt to be able to adjust the spell earlier and learn how to cast it. That settled it. She definitely wanted to try these spells too, just maybe not quite yet.
Wanda knew that spellcasting wasn't the only area she needed to work on—she should also practice casting runes. It had felt so strange to cast those runes on the inside of the "Hex", as she had been told it was called. She remembered seeing Agatha's look of shock when her magic didn't work and those huge, glowing, red runes were revealed from behind the clouds. She shouldn't think of Westview though, that would only make her sad again.
That was besides the point anyway. Wanda's main reason for wanting to be able to cast runes well was so that she could protect her cottage from any evil forces, or really anyone who wanted to hurt her. There were many runes drawn in the margins of all the chapters with notes scrawled underneath, but there was also an entire chapter specifically about runes. Wanda would stick to the runes in the Darkhold, at least for now. She found a rune to her liking, one that was for generalized protection.
Wanda climbs out of bed and grabs the notebook she used earlier from the kitchen table. She wanted to practice drawing the rune first, at least this first time. It had quite a beautiful pattern, as most runes did, a mixture of curved lines and angles. This rune would be drawn with one stroke, smoothly and continuously.
Once her page was covered with the rune drawn over and over again, Wanda knew that she wouldn't get any better, and she had to just give it a go. Wanda raises her right hand, calls forth her power, and begins moving her hand in the shape of the rune. It almost feels as if her hand knows where it is meant to be, as if it's moving itself in the right direction to draw the rune. The rune appears on the wall as she draws it, more perfect than she ever imagined it would be.
Wanda could feel the power coming out of it—complete and utter protection against any forces that wanted harm to her. It made her feel safer than she had ever felt before, except maybe as a young child. The rune was quite beautiful and mystical at the same time. It was odd to see something on the wall that reminded her of herself and her new life, but strangely comforting.
By the time night fell, Wanda had nearly covered the walls of the cottage with red, glowing runes. She had cast multiple runes for protection, growth, cleanliness, and she had even found one that would restock her groceries. By now, Wanda had worked up quite an appetite and her brain felt fried after learning all of these new runes. She decided to make macaroni and cheese for dinner.
Wanda stood in the middle of her kitchen and began the process of making dinner. She flicks her hands, using her powers to open the cupboard doors, fill a pot with water and place it on the stove to boil, take out the uncooked pasta, and begin making the cheesy sauce. This was much more successful than the dinner she had tried to make that first night in Westview!
Wanda quite enjoyed the long process, as it gave her something to do that wasn't the same thing she had been doing all day long. It even reminded her of her life in Westview. Wanda motioned for the sauce to pour into the pasta.
"Vision! Tommy! Billy! Time for dinner!" Wanda called out. Of course, no one answered and Wanda's happiness faded into sadness. Her family was gone. Forever.
Wanda didn't feel hungry anymore. She left the food on the table, deciding to practice some more runes. She flipped through the Darkhold, finding a rune of happiness. That sounded like a good rune to try. She cast the rune on the table and it actually worked. Immediately, she could feel warmth flowing into her limbs, starting at her fingers, and ending at her toes. She realized she was hungry and started eating the delicious meal she had made.
Since she had cast the happiness rune, Wanda was able to enjoy the delicious, cheesy goodness she had made. She took quick forkfuls and the bowl was finished almost too soon. Wanda sat at the table using magic to pour herself a glass of water from the kitchen. She knew she should actually get up sometimes, but she was just so happy sitting at the table at that moment and she didn't want to ruin it.
After Wanda downed the glass of ice cold water, she was going to go for a walk outside, when she realized that night had already fallen. Maybe she would go another night, but right now she wasn't sure what creatures lived in the woods on her island. She would stick to daytime walks, until she was brave enough to investigate further.
The evening had passed quickly, or the sun set early here, Wanda wasn't sure. What Wanda did know was that she was starting to get tired. She rested her head on her hands and her eyelids started to droop closed. She really should get to bed. She had woken up quite early, after all. She practically dragged herself down the hallway to her bathroom, using magic to brush her teeth, hair and dress in her pyjamas all at the same time. She had to admit, it was quite convenient in times like these to be able to multitask to such a degree.
Wanda climbed into her soft bed, pulled her blankets around herself and lay down. As soon as her head touched the pillow, she fell fast asleep, ready for the long day to end.