Wanda is very shaky, distracted, and distraught the next morning. She walks to the kitchen, rubbing her eyes. She bumps her hip against the door frame. Ouch! That will leave a bruise. Wanda pours herself a bowl of cereal, but sneezes at the exact same time as when she was pouring the milk into the bowl. Her hand jerks sideways, spilling all the milk on the counter.
Wanda trudges across the room to grab a cloth to half-heartedly clean up her mess. Once the mess is cleaned up, Wanda decides to have toast for breakfast instead. She places the bread in the toaster and sits at the table—her head in her hands—while she waits for her breakfast to be ready.
Wanda sits, staring blankly at the wall, as her eyelids start to droop closed. It really is exhausting to have nightmares every night. She isn't sure she can do this much longer. Wanda needs to find a solution to this problem, or she just might go crazy. That is, crazier than she had been before. She has to admit that she has some serious problems, creating an alternate reality to escape her life.
Wanda has fallen fast asleep at the kitchen table, sleeping better than she has since who knows when. But this reprieve was not meant to last long. Somehow, the toaster caught on fire. Acrid smoke wafts towards Wanda, her head resting on the wood table. She wakes up, wondering what the awful smell is, before turning around and seeing tongues of fire licking up from the toaster to the wooden cupboards.
Wanda breathes faster, starting to panic because of the emergency occurring right in front of her. Water. She needs water to put out the fire. Wanda grasps at this thought, trying to think coherently—and quickly. So she needs water, but what can she use to hold the water? She can't just scoop water in her hands and throw it on the fire, but the cupboard holding the pots has already caught on fire.
She has no buckets and no other large containers. Should she just leave her cottage and move somewhere else? But Wanda can't just let this beautiful island burn up. Not after she had restarted her life and it was going so smoothly.
Then it hits her. She has magic. What has she been doing here in this cottage? Learning magic, of course. And what is the purpose of learning magic if not to use it in times like these? Wanda turns on the sink, ready to shape a sphere of water to drop on the quickly growing fire.
She motions her hands—wanting to gather a large sphere of water in the grasp of her magic—and attempts to lift it out of the sink. The water is not budging. That's odd. Wanda's powers have never failed her before. She puts more force into her magic, trying harder to form the sphere. She looks down at her hands and sees nothing. No streams of red light coming out of them, not even the slightest glow. What is happening?
Wanda contemplates the possibilities of what could be happening to her. She could still be dreaming. This possibility makes a lot of sense, except when Wanda considers the fact that she can feel the heat of the fire creeping closer to her and the smoke burning in her throat. Another possibility is that Wanda's dream has affected her in some way, either physically stopping her from using her power or mentally. Unfortunately for Wanda, this was the likelier option.
Wanda has to believe that she only has a mental block to using her powers and she could still stop the fire. She squeezes her eyes shut and concentrates as hard as she can to grab the sphere of water. She hears a splashing noise and opens her eyes, squinting through the thick smoke filling the room.
A sphere of water the size of a hula hoop was hovering above the sink. Wanda pushes it across the room with her mind and it splashes on top of the fire, extinguishing it completely. It's lucky that the fire is gone, because Wanda isn't sure if she can create another sphere of water.
Wanda feels drained, even more exhausted than when she woke up this morning. It's always tiring to do magic, but never this much. Especially not after such simple magic as what she had just done. Not only did Wanda feel physically exhausted, but also mentally exhausted. She had tried twice to make herself breakfast, only to spill all the milk and nearly burn down her cottage. Is she good for nothing?
Wanda cleans up the kitchen as best as she can without magic—she is too scared to see what would—or wouldn't—happen if she tried to use magic again. It feels good to do something physical, although it doesn't take Wanda's mind off of the earlier incidents. Wanda mulls over what happened that morning and the horrid nightmare she had during the night. Maybe this is a sign to take a break from magic. She has been going strong for several weeks, but maybe she is starting to crack.
Once the kitchen was cleaned up as well as Wanda could muster with the little energy she had, Wanda had planned out her day. She will explore the island her cottage was on and maybe even make a map. She wanted to do that since she had moved here, but had never gotten around to actually doing it. She will try to pack a picnic lunch and hope that goes better than breakfast. Hopefully this day of nature will work to clear her mind and she can go back to her usual schedule tomorrow.
Wanda successfully packed herself a picnic lunch and some mapmaking supplies, so she was ready to head out the door. It was different to do everything without using her powers. It took a lot longer, but Wanda didn't mind because it was something to do.
Wanda walks through the door, out into the warm sunshine. She was lucky that the weather was good that day. That didn't happen often here. Wanda walks around her cottage and into the forest. She isn't exactly sure how to make a map, but she knows she will have to show where the important landmarks are. She supposes that one of those landmarks is her cottage, but she decides to come back to that part of the map later.
Wanda walks further into the woods, enjoying the woody smells. She wanders around until her feet hurt, not finding any landmarks. All the trees look the same to Wanda and she is beginning to wonder if she is walking in circles. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to walk into a forest with no map or even any idea of where she should go. Well, it's too late now.
Wanda can't see where the sun was in the sky—the trees were too thick. What she does know is that she's hungry, so she decides to eat her lunch. She finds a spot big enough for her picnic blanket and begins eating the sandwich she packed—a cream cheese and cucumber sandwich.
Wanda enjoys her sandwich almost as much as her feet enjoy the break from walking. Once she finished eating, she had to keep moving. Even if her map didn't work out, she had to find her way out of the forest by nightfall. Right now, the only creatures are squirrels, birds, and the occasional fox, but who knows what kind of animals would come out during the night.
Wanda continues walking. Her feet protest—aching and likely developing a blister or two—but she can't stop now. Wanda tries her best to pay attention to her surroundings. There's a rock covered in moss in the shape of a star. She will remember this, just in case she sees it again. Here's a bush with bright red berries. They look delicious. Wanda is sorely tempted to pick a berry and pop it in her mouth. The only thing that keeps her from doing just that is the fact that no animals have eaten any berries. Surely, if the berries are good to eat, the dozens of squirrels and birds that live in this forest would have picked the shrub dry. The last thing Wanda needed was to get poisoned.
Wanda walks and walks and walks. How big can this forest be? It's only on an island, after all, not like those forests on the banks of the lake that stretch for hundreds of kilometres. Now, it isn't just Wanda's feet that hurt—her legs were also tired. She isn't used to walking this much, especially seeing as she can normally fly.
Wanda is beginning to get hungry again. She can feel her stomach nagging at her to eat something and hear its hungry growls. She brought some blueberries in her picnic basket, but she was afraid to eat them, just in case she was stuck in here for longer than she thought. After a few minutes of deliberation, Wanda decides to eat the blueberries. She will not be able to get out of here if she isn't thinking clearly and blueberries wouldn't provide great sustenance anyway. She gulps down a few swallows of the water she brought and pops blueberries into her mouth at various intervals as she continues walking.
Wanda spots a rock with moss on it. She jogs closer to see the moss more clearly. As the shape of the moss becomes more defined, Wanda feels a shiver of fear run down her spine. There was the rock with a patch of star-shaped moss. So she had walked in a circle. It must have been quite a large circle because she had seen this rock hours ago, right after lunch. Wanda sits down on the rock, trying to figure out which way she can go that is at least different than one of the ways she tried before. But when Wanda looks around, every direction looks exactly the same. An expanse of trees stretching as far as the eye can see.
How had Wanda gotten into this situation? And how is she going to get out of it? Wanda starts to breathe faster. She is terrified and begins panicking. She can't even use her magic because she is so afraid of what will happen. What if it didn't work? And what if it did? She could kill all the wildlife in the forest, by accident. She could even kill the whole forest. Why did she have to have such dangerous powers?
Wanda sits on the rock—her head in her hands—not noticing as the light begins to dwindle. Night is falling and Wanda is lost in the middle of a forest. Wanda is also lost in her thoughts, cursing her powers, cursing this forest, and cursing her stupidity to let herself get lost in these horrible woods.
Wanda stayed lost in her thoughts until a noise abruptly jolted her out of her reverie. A wolf howl pierced through the night. Wanda looks around, noticing the darkness. A shiver runs down her spine as she realizes the gravity of the situation. A few moments later, several more wolf howls return a message to the first wolf. Wanda doesn't know what to do. Should she try to find something to hide behind? But surely the wolves would be able to smell her, and she can't see anything nearby that would provide her with cover. Should she try to find her way out of the forest? She shoots that idea down quickly. She has been trying to find her way out for hours, and nothing changed that would help her find her way. The only thing left to do was to stay where she was and hope with all her heart that the wolves didn't come this way.
Of course it didn't work. Why would it work? As Wanda sits on the rock, she can hear the howls growing louder. The wolves were coming closer. Wanda hoped they were just passing through, but she knew it was hopeless. After only a few minutes, the howls are even louder and she can hear the wolves' heavy footfalls. They must be hunting, but all of the prey had hidden themselves in the trees or in their dens underground. All except for her.
Wanda knows she isn't technically prey of the wolves, but she's sure they would jump at the chance to have so much meat from the easy kill of a helpless human. The strange thing is, Wanda wasn't even sure if she wanted to escape. She did enjoy learning about spells in the new life she had created, but just this morning her life began to fall apart. Wanda is alone. Completely alone. She lost her husband twice. Wait—were they even technically married? Nevermind that, it was complicated. She lost her parents, her brother, and her sons, even if they technically never existed. Was life worth living as a hermit, completely alone for the rest of her time here on earth?
But Wanda couldn't think about this now. She can see the wolves now and that fills her body with fear. There are at least a dozen wolves prowling around her, their glowing eyes boring into her soul.
Wanda has never seen wolves in real life before. These wolves are as big as large dogs, but with fierce, wolfish expressions on their faces and glowing white eyes. Wanda's heart is racing and she tries to slow her breathing. There is only one thing she could do. When there is a gap in the circle, she will have to make a run for it.
Wanda's heart thumps so loudly that she is sure every wolf is well aware of the sound. Her breaths are slow and controlled, as she prepared herself to sprint. She doesn't know how fast wolves can run, but she knows that running is her only chance. The wolves are clearly here to make a kill. She sees one of the wolves flash its white teeth in a snarl and somehow knows that it can smell her fear.
She needs to make a move. Now. Suddenly, there it is. The gap that Wanda needs. Without a moment's hesitation, Wanda dashes through the wolves, running as fast as she can. She can feel branches stinging against her face and the loud pounding of her feet on the packed earth. Or is that thudding sound her heartbeat? Wanda can't be sure.
Wanda runs wildly, her arms swinging, trying to move branches aside. She can't run in a straight line, but she tries to go in the same direction as best as she can. She doesn't know why the wolves haven't caught up to her yet. She is running as fast as she can, sucking in air like there is no tomorrow, her tired feet pounding out a fast rhythm. Wanda can't keep this speed up for much longer, but she is sure she can't run faster than a wolf, much less a dozen wolves.
She can't stop now, but she decides to hazard a look behind her to see if the wolves are still there. Wanda twists her head around and gasps in shock. All of the wolves are lying on the ground, red magic coursing through their twitching bodies. What happened to them? Wanda knows she didn't do anything. She was just trying her best to escape. But as Wanda looks around in the darkness, she knows that it is her magic holding the wolves hostage.
Somehow, she must have unconsciously done the magic while trying to escape. Now, she needs to figure out a way to get the magic out of the wolves. And without killing them. She doesn't want the wolves to kill her, but she doesn't want them dead either, and that showed in the magic taking control of their bodies. It was doing just that—taking control of their bodies. If she wanted to kill them, that's exactly what her magic would have done.
Wanda reaches her hands out and mentally sucks in, reaching for the power to return to herself. Nothing happens. The wolves continue to lay twitching on the ground. Of course her magic won't work now. Wanda tries again, closing her eyes to help her concentrate. She imagines the red light draining out of the wolves and returning to her hands. She can feel herself starting to breathe faster. This needs to work. She has no other option. She has to do this, and before the wolves suffer any permanent damage, unless it is already too late.
Wanda feels herself being thrown backwards. Well, something must have worked. Opening her eyes, she sees her magic draining out of each of the wolves' bodies and returning in a red stream of light to her hands.
Once the power has completely drained out of a wolf, it stops twitching and lies still for a few moments. Then it jumps to its feet and looks at Wanda, its ears back and eyes wide. The wolf is clearly scared out of its mind. It runs away, its tail behind its legs, without a look back, even to see if its fellow wolves are following behind. This process happens again and again, as each of the wolves wake up and retreat back to wherever they came from.
Are the wolves really so scared of Wanda that they will just leave like that? Apparently they are, and they have every reason to be. They are just lucky that they didn't die. Wanda could feel her magic when it was in the wolves, and she knew that the wolves had been on the brink of death and they had just barely escaped.
By now, the forest is pitch black. Wanda can barely see her hand when she holds it in front of her face. It is colder as well, and Wanda only wore a light sweater, expecting to be home before dinner. She had planned out such a nice day for herself, only for it to get ruined by her own stupidity. It was great. Just great.
Now Wanda has to figure out how to escape from the woods. She knows it isn't safe to stay the night, what with the cold and whatever other dangerous animals lurk in these woods. She realizes that she has two options. She can either try to find her way out or she can try to use her magic to fly out of the forest. Both ideas are a longshot, but she will have to give at least one of them a go.
Despite Wanda's failures with magic that day, she had been wandering around in these woods all day long and not found a way out. The fact that it was dark would make it even harder. So Wanda decides to at least try to use magic to escape from this hellish place.
Wanda finds her way to a place with a gap in the trees. Her plan is to fly straight up, and once she clears the tree tops, she will hopefully be able to find her way home.
Wanda is incredibly nervous to use her powers. She puts her hands, palms down, at her sides, ready to go, then quickly wraps them around her middle. She can't do it. She won't do it. What if there are birds in the trees, or squirrels? What if she kills them if she shoots past them? But she can't stay in this forest overnight. Wanda is at a loss for what to do.
In the end, she decides she has to give it a go. She will likely get hypothermia if she stays here overnight, and maybe she will have more success after using her magic just a few minutes ago. Wanda gets herself into position again and closes her eyes. She imagines shooting off the ground and hovering high in the air. Nothing. No movement whatsoever.
Wanda tries again and again, again and again. She tries imagining what it would feel like in as much detail as she can remember. Nothing. She tries breathing faster, getting more worked up. Nothing. She even tries being extremely calm, or at least calm on the outside. Nothing. After it felt like an hour had passed and Wanda had tried dozens and dozens of times, Wanda was about ready to scream. Why won't her magic work? She is seriously considering screaming. It will probably make herself feel better, even if it did nothing to help her magic. The problem is, it might attract wildlife to her area. Actually, Wanda thinks, screaming will probably scare them away. Then they shouldn't get hurt.
It was decided. Wanda was going to scream. She opens her mouth and just lets out all her feelings in the loudest scream she had ever mustered before. She lets out her anger, fear, grief, and despair all in that one scream. Wanda feels wind roaring past her ears and whipping her clothes around. Wind? Where is that coming from? Wanda looks around and sees that she is shooting up into the sky at an incredible speed. She has long since left the forest, but now she is going up and up and up. She needs to stop before she gets to a place in the atmosphere without enough oxygen for her to breathe.
Wanda hits some sort of barrier, and her magic completely stops. She is falling back to Earth. Wanda's mind is so filled with terror she can hardly think. She needs to use her magic to stop herself from falling, and fast. She barely has a few minutes before she will hit the ground.
Wanda can see the ground, rushing closer and closer. She can't think, seeing the ground approaching her like that. She squeezes her eyes shut and tries as hard as she can to urge the magic to catch her.
"Aaaagh!" Wanda shouts out. Red magic blasts from her hands, finally keeping her stable. She looks down and her mouth falls open as she sees just how close she was to hitting the ground. The forest she emerged from is about 50 metres below her. Wow, that's close.
Now that Wanda is hovering above the forest, she can clearly see her cottage at the edge of the island. Next time she tries to make a map, she will fly above the area first to get a general idea of the place. Wanda flies through the air, feeling the elation of her powers finally working how she wanted them too. The wind roars in Wanda's ears and she can barely hear herself thinking.
In just a few moments, Wanda lands in front of her cottage, still too afraid to spend too long depending on her magic. She breathes a huge sigh of relief. She made it. Finally. Wanda is very tired after the long day of walking and terror, but she is also very hungry. She hadn't eaten anything since the blueberries, and now it was the middle of the night. She cooks an egg on the stove and takes a bread roll out of the cupboard. She will have to make do with untoasted bread for now.
While Wanda eats dinner, she realizes that she needs to figure out how to get her powers back to where they were. She can't have no powers most of the time and then have them explode out of her when she least expects it. But she can't relearn magic on her own. There is only one person who can help Wanda, and her name is Agatha Harkness.