You guys! I've been getting a lot of responses about this fic and I'm so so SOOO HAPPY! I try to respond to each and every one of them and try to include the suggestions you guys made ^^ Thank you all so much!
I'm so happy you guys are happy with the way this fic turns out, I try my best to be respectful to the originals and the MCU whilst mixing my style. I'm glad the transitions of POV worked, otherwise, I'd freak out hahahaa, thanks, everyone!
But ahead for the future, it's gonna be a little difficult because with the theories surfacing online I'm wondering who should I put in the fic and what's the appropriate route it should go. So if you guys have any suggestions, leave them down below so that I can consider putting in the fic.
For the record, this chapter is longer than usual, but it's for a reason. Thus, taking me a long time to post. Sorry for taking it so long to write and post :(
Without further due, here goes!
The last time Wanda remembered ever being given a mission was back before the Avengers was torn apart. She remembered training under Natasha and Steve, how they trained her to lay low and use her magic to her advantage.
She missed them both dearly, they were the ones who showed her the ropes around this business of saving the world, when all her life she was told to fear it. She missed the conversations they had, their teachings, and their companion.
And then Vision, the only person who saw her more than just an enhanced…. Being with him was a blessing ever since Pietro was gone when she thought she was all alone. But being with Vision, being just born, it was him who showed her that she's not entirely alone, to slowly cope with the pain of loss and start anew, and he guided her in every single step. Perhaps that's when she knew she loved him.
But now, he lives in her heart. Perhaps. We'll say hello again, they promised. Vision, I hope you are there wherever you are.
How many more must she lose? When can peace ever last? Now, her twins are the only ones left of her. Her only family that the multiverse had granted her permission to be with.
"Wanda?" Dr. Strange called her, breaking her train of thoughts. She turned to the sorcerer who glides alongside her, "Are you feeling alright?"
She smiled, "Yea," the feeling of finishing a mission is much more refreshing than before, for she is coming back to her kids. She quite misses their little complaints about their lessons as of late, perhaps she should give them a lesson of her own.
When they arrived at Kamar-Taj through the portal Dr. Strange made, everything seems to be the same. The rest of the sorcerers and sorceress went on their own ways, preparing for rest she presumes. "Wanda," Dr. Strange called her again, "I'd like a few words with you. Come with me to the library?"
"Of course," she replied, and followed him.
Their library is one of those ancient libraries she'd seen in movies, old yet sacred. She can't believe she's living in one now, let alone being the Scarlet Witch. They are alone, Wong said earlier that he left for Hong Kong to take care of several books and defenses there.
Or at least, she thought they were alone.
"Kang is playing with us," Dr. Strange started as they sat at the furthest corner at the library, "We are getting nowhere nearer to finding the real culprit, only more variants of him wanting to destroy one another."
She nodded, understanding where he's getting at, "The only clue so far we have is that someone is helping him." When she slipped into the minds of one of the many Kangs to interrogate them, she felt something sinister is not allowing her to access further of his memories. Every time she tried to peer further, his memory skipped to what happened next….
A shadowy figure walking away from him. Whoever this person is, they knew who's coming for him.
"Yes," he hummed, "Whoever is helping him may have known the real Kang by now. Were you able to recognize their signature magic?"
She shook her head, "This person covered his tracks really well. I couldn't sense a thing, it's like he knew that he was being hunted."
He sighed, looking the other way, "Your used-to-be neighbor, Agatha Harkness," That name sent a shiver down her spine, "Do you think she might know him?"
"I don't know," she murmured, "She was only interested in my powers and wanted to absorb them. I don't know if she may have any clues on Kang about it."
"But she knows about the book of the Darkhold," Strange flicked his hand and a book levitated towards him, revealing the books she used to study, he opened it to several pages and scanned its contents, "You know there is only one place we have not really explored yet."
"You want to explore the Dark Dimensions?" Wanda asked, she didn't need to explore that dimension to know that it's true living hell. She had once touched its surface and she can feel how sinister the place is. Even hearing from the stories on how Strange went there makes her shiver, "How could Kang possibly gain any ally there? You've made a bargain with Dormammu, there's no way he's going to bargain with Kang for power. He had shut himself entirely from Earth."
"Perhaps," he said, "But what if Kang made a new kind of bargain with Dormammu," he hypothesized, "My bargain with him is to never return. What if he kept his promise, but had someone else do the job for him?"
"Who could possibly do that?"
He opened his palms, "It's why I propose, we might want to give the Dark Dimension a try."
Just as Wanda was about to object, someone else beat her, "And die a horrific death and leave this boring sanctum to me? No, thank you Strange."
The Witch and the Sorcerer turned to the voice, to find Loki looking at them across the library with a book in his hands. He smiled mischievously, "My apologies, I was here first. I can't help but listen to your discussions." The fact that Wanda couldn't pick up his presence surprised her, it seems Loki has been learning new magic himself just as she had on her new powers. No wonder she thought they were alone.
Dr. Strange looked at him irritably, "You know normally, I'd kick you out for ear dropping. But since you are guest, I had to restrain myself."
"Have you spoken to Billy, Wanda?" Loki ignored Dr. Strange completely, making the sorcerer look offended.
Wanda blinked, "What about him? Did something happen to him?"
"No, but he mentioned something about seeing someone in the last battle," Loki answered, "And we all missed it."
The Scarlet Witch's eyes widened, her son didn't tell her this, "How did you know?"
"The child told me," Loki said, "To reconfirm what he told me, I've asked Sylvie to assist me to see through his eyes."
"And you believe every word she said?" Dr. Strange growled, she knows that he didn't mean ill-will to her, but she can't blame him for being cautious around her. After all, she caused this multiverse war.
"Of course, for I saw it too," Loki stoically replied, "Or are you calling Wanda's son a liar?"
Dr. Strange looked at him seriously, he furrowed his brows, "Say that I believe you, what did you see?"
Loki took the time to walk towards them and sat on the chair at the corner of their table, he placed the book he read down, "A dark entity reached out to Wanda's son, he seemed to be neither human nor from this realm. I could pick up dark powers from him," he began, "and he threatened to kill him and his family," then he turned to Wanda, "starting from you."
The mother of the twins was taken aback by what he just said, who could possibly have a grudge against her children? "What? Why?"
"We are not sure of that," Loki said, "But one thing for certain, assuming that you are right, that someone is working for Kang, this entity could be the one."
Dr. Strange crossed his arms and lowered his head, thinking hard about this new information. After a moment, he looked up again, "A dark entity can only appear should someone from the other realm opened a portal from this side, just as Sylvie had done," he said, Loki gave a warning shot, eyes squinting at the mention of faulting her. He looked fiercer doing that, but Strange was unfazed, "And to open a dimension, it'd be either using highly advanced technologies just as the Avengers had or someone who possesses mystical magic as we do. I don't believe Kang is capable of doing that."
Wanda leaned closer, "There's no way the Avengers would do that," she objected, she knew her friends, no one would want to work for a psychopath like Kang, "Besides, no one has that power but me. And I've been with you all this time, I didn't open such a thing."
Dr. Strange nodded, "Which leads to our kind, but no one has really touched the power of the Dark Dimensions or using any sinister powers. If they do, I'd know." He closed his eyes thinking harder, she can see his brows kneading together before he opened his eyes, "Unless him…."
"What are you getting at?" Loki raised his brow.
"During our last battle with Dormammu," he began, "I had one ally, but he turned away from the Mystic Arts and went rogue."
"Who was it?"
"Karl Modo," he stated, Wanda had heard of this man from whispers amongst the other sorcerer and sorceress. He was a close friend of Strange and the one who trained him alongside the Ancient One, but left for some reason, "He was furious how the Ancient One, our former master, was using powers from the Dark Dimensions to protect our reality. He left telling us that the bill comes due."
Wanda didn't know she held on to her breath at this revelation, someone from this sanctum would dare abuse the power of the mystics, "Why would he do that?"
"I'm not certain," Strange covered his mouth, "But if this may be true, we are in far greater danger than we ever were and we need to find him as fast as possible."
"Do you know where he might be or went to?" the God of Mischief asked.
Strange sadly shook his head, "We parted ways years ago," he said, "I thought that he might retire or something, but never expected him to destroy the very thing he gained his strength from."
"So, we are back to square once again," Wanda murmured, "We don't even know where he is, he covered his tracks quite well."
"Perhaps not," Loki immediately answered, making the two of them look at him, "If I'm right, the TVA that Mobius currently resides in may have documents containing his life in the files."
"Aren't all the files there outdated because of the Multiverse your dearly beloved girlfriend caused?" Strange shot.
"I would respect it if you don't repeat her mistake again and again at my face," Loki suddenly looked furious at the mention of Sylvie, but he's quick to cool off, "But, whether the files are outdated or not, it contains things that you don't know. It's worth a try to see what his motives are ever since you left him wandering around."
"I didn't leave him, he left the Mystic Arts," Strange growled.
"Oh, how wonderful," Loki mocked, "Because of that, he may be the one causing some ghosts to roam around terrorizing children's minds."
"Enough," Wanda increased her voice, gaining the attention of the two men. Honestly, it reminded her when she tried to get her boys to stop fighting over something, "The point is, we may have a lead. And if Mobius has files containing his life details, perhaps it's worth take a look," she said, earning nods from both men. She then looked at Loki, "Do you think you can ask your friend for a film about him?"
"Of course," he then flicked his wrist and produced a mobile phone-looking technology and quickly typed a few things there, "Done."
"If he does have it, I'll personally look at them," Dr. Strange said.
"Why is that?" Loki asked, his tone sounded a little irritated again.
"He was once my friend," he stated, "I might be able to catch something that you both don't, so I'd like to read the files. Besides, I'll be the judge of whether the files are outdated or not."
"Fine by me, I have other things to do anyway," Loki crossed his arms. His device suddenly beeped, "Pardon me," he whipped it out and opened it, "Hmm, it seems he has quite a huge document about your friend here."
"Luckily, reading is my hobby," Strange said coolly, "When can he send it?"
"By latest, tomorrow morning," Loki answered, "Shall I leave them here, your majesty?" Wanda had to resist the urge to frown at his sarcasm.
"That would be much obliged, thank you," He grumbled, "I'll have Wong assist me on looking through his files tomorrow."
"Does this mean we are not going to travel to the Dark Dimensions?" she asked.
"No, thanks to the hint your son gave us, we don't need that hassle," he answered. She can see from the corner of her eyes, Loki looked at him annoyingly, "Alright then," he clapped, and stood up, "It's been a long day, I'd like to rest." He then walked towards the exit of the library, "Ciao you two." And he vanished behind the walls.
Loki sighed, and picked up the book he last read, "That man awfully infuriates me sometimes."
Wanda giggled, "Sometimes, he could be. But he means well."
He scoffed in disbelief, "I'm sure he does," He opened the book and began scanning its contents.
"Say, Loki," Wanda thought about something that she finds odd but strangely comforting at the start, "Did Billy really told you that?"
His eyes looked up to her, "Told me what?"
"About what he saw," she said.
"Yep," Loki said with a pop, "He was rather worried about you leaving all the time, and he cares for you very much." Oh, Billy. Her Billy is ever the softest amongst the two. Always concerned and protective, she wondered if he gets that from her or Vision, or perhaps his similar abilities to hers enable him to detect subtle emotions she or her brother is feeling. But then again, why didn't he tell her?
She pursed her lips, "I'm sorry for bothering you."
Loki waved his hand dismissively, and turned back to the books, "It's fine."
"But how did you get him to open up to you?" she asked, curious about how her silent boy was able to speak with the God of Mischief that everyone seem to be very wary about. Not that she has a problem, but it's unusual for Billy to talk to a stranger about his own worries.
Loki pursed his lips, and looked back at her, "Well," he rubbed the back of his head, "For some reason, they wanted me to train them, but I didn't want to, they insisted, and I insisted no. And that's how he confessed about it."
Wanda blinked at this revelation, feeling terrible that she wasn't able to pick this distress from her son, "How bad was it?"
Loki sighed, "I think that it's something that you and your sons are going to need to talk about alone. My apologies, Wanda. All I can say is that he was concerned about you that he had no choice but to turn to me about it."
"I see," Wanda looked down sadly, "I'm sorry if he was bothering you."
"It's no problem," he simply said.
"How did you come around?" she smiled encouragingly.
"On?"
"Wanting to train them?" This is something she's been thinking now, the kids want to train with him. Someone whom they barely knew.
"Well, I believe they saw me testing some theories at the training grounds," he murmured, his eyes showed him he was being genuine, "And they wanted me to teach them the things I was sparring of."
"You must be great at it if the kids love what you do," she smiled, grateful that her kids found a way to improve themselves, even if it's in the form of the God of Mischief. She would still prefer if the Mystic Arts people would teach them, but if Loki can enlighten their learning experience, so be it.
Loki scratched his cheek with his index finger, which is turning a little pink, "I don't know what they see because I am still learning these mystic arts myself for my own."
"It's never too late to learn," she replied, then she looked at him with content, "Thank you for doing this."
Loki nodded, "They are good kids," he said, "Much better than Thor and I were," he chuckled.
"Sylvie saw Billy's memories too, did she?" Wanda asked, Loki did mention something about her. From what she has heard, the sorcerers here canceled her abilities to access her magic. If she can see Billy's memories, it stands to reason that Loki managed to uncanceled her magic, and she gained her kids' trust.
The God of Mischief shifted nervously, "She was the only one I know who's good at accessing people's memories clearly, that's how I was able to see his memories too."
"I understand," Wanda nodded, then she leaned forward to him, putting her arms on the table, and smiled mischievously at him, "So can I say that you both made up?"
He slowly nodded, and sat back on his chair, he looks more relaxed now, "Yes, it's smoother than before now."
"I'm glad," Wanda smiled genuinely at him, so he did take her push on visiting her rather than just watching her through his illusion projection. If he has smooth things out with Sylvie, this means that she can visit her sooner now. Perhaps the kids would be thrilled to have an aunt who could replace Agatha. "You are a good person, Loki."
Loki cleared his throat, obviously not used to any compliments, "Emm, yes….. I suppose, thank you," then he looked at her, "Anyways, you had a long journey, you should rest," changing the subject swiftly.
Now that he mentioned it, she did feel weary, "Yes, I probably should."
He nodded, "There's a meal prepared for everyone in the hall room, perhaps you'd like to have a few bites before joining your children."
"That sounds wonderful, thank you, Loki," she smiled, and he nodded in acknowledgment, "Have you eaten?"
"I had a quick one," he said, returning back to the books and flipping some pages, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to prepare a few things for your children."
"Do let me know if you need help, I feel bad that you're taking this responsibility instead of me," she said, if only she could stay here longer so that he doesn't need to do this. In fact, he did mention that her kids indirectly forced him.
"It's no problem," he dismissed casually, "After all, you magicians are out there saving the world while I'm here doing my own thing. Honestly, I now understand why you people love the concept of working from home. I quite enjoyed this myself."
She scoffed, ever the sarcastic, "I'll see you tomorrow, Loki." And she turned to leave the library.
"And Wanda," Loki called.
She turned back to him, "Yea?"
"Do speak to your twins," he said, "After all, every son needs his mother's blessings in everything he does."
Wanda blinked at his response. She wondered if he was referring to himself, she heard from Thor that their mother is the closest with Loki. And although he had done grave mistakes in the past, Thor said that his mother never stopped caring for him, she showed her love to him unconditionally in fact. Was he atoning for his late mother towards her twins?
But that's none of her business, one thing is for sure, he is willing to teach her kids. She nodded, "I will."
Her conversation this morning with the twins brought her here to thank Sylvie. It was pleasant to know that they somewhat have an aunt, but at the same time, she hated that she had to leave them both here.
Last night, she was exhausted. While her boys hadn't sleep yet when she arrived in their room, she decided not to bring it up. It's not exactly a great way to unwind. She'd rather listen to whatever they wanted to tell her.
And that's how they brought up their first lesson with Loki that they'll start tomorrow. She pretended she didn't know at first, just wanting to listen to what made them want to train with him instead. And throughout their noisy chattering, none of them brought up about the entity they saw back then.
Do her twins trust her? Or did she showed her worry so much that they didn't want her to worry, just as Loki mentioned?
She decided to bring it up this morning.
"Tommy, Billy," Wanda called her children, who are eating their cereals enthusiastically in front of her on the table, eager to go to their first lesson with Loki, "Why didn't you tell me you saw someone back in our last battle?"
The twins slowed down their chewing, they looked at her sheepishly and looked down their bowl. They swallowed nervously but didn't say anything and stopped eating their breakfast entirely. They have a hint that she knew from Loki.
"Boys," she called again, "you know I won't be angry at you, I promise," she reassured him, "But these are hard times, I need to know what you saw." But the children still didn't look convinced, still not saying anything. They still look nervous to open up, especially Billy, she can tell he wanted to say something as his lips are quivering, but unable to open his mouth, "Billy," she called him, but he still didn't want to look at her, "I know you must've heard something from this person. He told you something, didn't he? Because Loki told me something that involves Sylvie as well to do this."
The twins looked at each other, and then back at her. Billy played with his spoon uncomfortably, and looked down, "I'm sorry, Mom," he whimpered.
"Hey, you didn't do anything wrong," she stood up and walked to where the boys sat, and she took her place between them, "What is it, baby?"
"I….I didn't want to worry you," he mumbled, still not willing to look at her.
"Hey, what is it to worry about?" Wanda asked softly, wrapping her arms around her young son and brought him closer to her, "What's going on?"
He buried himself to her chest, "I don't wanna lose you too, Mom."
"Hey, hey," she shushed Billy, "You won't lose me, I'm here. I have the Avengers and Dr. Strange and his friends to help me."
"But…but," he quivered, "What if Thanos comes back to get you?"
Wanda's eyes widened, "Honey, he's long gone. Why are you thinking this way?
He pulled back from her, "I'm sorry, mom….I couldn't help it…"
"What do you mean?"
"I….I accidentally saw your nightmare," he dropped his gaze down to his hands, "And I saw what he did to you and Dad…."
"Oh, Billy," she kissed the top of his head, feeling bad that she didn't block his thoughts from her mind, "Then you should know that he's gone already. He won't come back for you and I." She didn't even know that Billy managed to slip into her head by accident, and the fact that he had to witness her last battle with Thanos is heart breaking. No children should ever see that ever again.
"But that man I saw back at our last battle in England," he protested, "He said….he said that he'll make your nightmares come true again."
She strokes his head, "Is that why you kept this from me?"
He sadly nodded, "I'm sorry, Mom. I didn't want to worry you… or be angry."
She cupped her little boy's cheeks so that he can look at her in the eyes, "You know I won't ever get angry with you over this," she kissed his forehead, then she turned to Tommy and pulled him closer to her, giving an equal amount of love from her, "Although I am just a little for not telling me about this, I had to hear this from Loki instead. Not to mention Sylvie is involved in this. You shouldn't be bothering him about this, the least you should do is tell me instead, and we can figure it out together. What if someone finds out that he brought Sylvie with him to help you? You know the people here are still concerned about her."
"Were we bothering them?" Tommy asked, his face looked a little sorry.
"Luckily, no," she said as she playfully taps her boy's nose, earning a giggle in return, "But I don't want you to keep things from me ever again, promise?"
"Yes, mom," the two boys said.
"Good boys," she planted a kiss each on their heads, "Have you thanked Loki yet for helping you both for your first lesson?"
"Oh," her twins sheepishly murmured, clearly, they didn't do it.
"You better thank him later, that includes for helping you seeing your memories," she said, "Including Sylvie."
"Can we see her?" Tommy asked, "The people here said that we're not allowed to go where she is now."
"Right after I visit her."
And so, here she is.
After she accompanied the boys to the training grounds and found Loki already waiting for them, she stopped and watched for a while to see what he's going to bring to the table. She watched as he examined her twin's powers, paying close attention to what they can do. Then Loki produced several rocks for Billy to learn his levitating skills on carrying heavier objects with his magic and timed Tommy's speed on jumping ropes.
What is he doing, she's not sure. But the boys seemed to enjoy this training very much. And knowing that her children will be occupied, she went back to where she wanted to go.
Wanda expected it to be the cell-like back when she was in Sakovia with Pietro or the one she was stuck in with the other Avengers at the raft. Small, cramped, filled with white, and the typical prisoner room you see in movies.
But Sylvie's mystic cell….. one can't even describe this as a cell! It didn't even look like one. After she passed through whatever mist gates to enter Sylvie's 'cell', she was transported to a garden.
A garden! And it's a garden filled with lush green grass and blooming flowers. It looked like the ones she saw in Korea with Pietro. There is a path that leads to her gazabo facing a lake where the sun hung in the air, she could even feel the warm breeze blowing her hair back.
She had heard that Sylvie has been treated differently thanks to Loki, but never expected that it'd be this comfortable. Loki really did care for her well-being.
The Scarlet Witch adjusted her grey jacket and slipped her hands in her pockets, feeling a little cozy in this 'cell', and walked towards the gazebo. She was hoping that she'd find her there, but the gazabo was empty. She turned back to the garden, scanning the field for any sign of her.
And there she is, sitting at the field, her head facing the lake, and her back facing her.
Wanda was relieved to see her, but at the same time, nervous. This is the first time she's going to have a proper talk with her, and she was the one who exposed her truth. She had never felt so ashamed from being a tattletale, but back then, they had no idea who she was until Loki stepped in. She felt bad.
But she had to face her, after all, she was the one who helped Billy confess what he saw.
She took a deep breath and tentatively, walked towards her, one step and another, feeling the grass underneath her boots and the soft crunch. Even the grass feels real.
As Wanda got closer to her, Sylvie heard her. She turned back and Wanda found looking at her, her green eyes filled with confusion, "Wanda?"
The Avenger hesitantly nodded, "Hello, Sylvie," as she stood next to her, she asks, "May I sit here?" The Goddess of Mischief nodded, and Wanda obliged. She can feel the small spikes of the grass on her rear, but it didn't really bother her, she took the time to look around her 'cell', "You know if someone didn't tell me anything, I would assume Kamar-Taj actually has their own secret garden here."
Sylvie chuckled, "I was confused myself on my first day, but when I tried to get out, it ends up becoming an endless loop-hole for me. So, I'm stuck here. But it's nice."
Ahh, she can't get through these mists. Wanda felt bad, it's a little bit her fault that she's in this situation. Sylvie didn't even seem bad, if anything, she felt like she can somewhat relate to her. After all, she and Pietro used to have a grudge against Tony Stark. And later on, she learned that that brought her nowhere.
She pursed her lips, "I'm sorry."
Sylvie turned to her, "Whatever for?"
Wanda looked at her, "For making you end up here," she confessed, "Otherwise, you'd be free by now."
The Goddess of Mischief scoffed, "It's okay. After all, it's a little punishment for myself for causing this unwanted war," she turned back to face the lake solemnly, "Now, there are different Kangs roaming around and it's driving everyone mad because of me."
"It's not your fault, Sylvie," Wanda tried to comfort her, "Kang took your life away from you, you did what you had been planning all along."
"Doesn't mean that I could've not started this war," she said shamelessly, "Loki had tried to stop me, but I pushed him away. And drove my blade into Kang's heart," she sighed, "I was so angry at him for making my life miserable, I've been running my whole life from different apocalypse to another so that I can escape the TVA and undetected. And now, here we are."
Wanda nodded understandingly, Loki did mention this part, "I would do the same thing as you," she said, "I nearly got there until I saw Ultron's true intention, that I had to switch sides to the Avengers."
Sylvie turned to her, "What do you mean?"
Wanda looked at her, preparing to recall her past, "I wasn't on good terms with the Avengers at first," she confessed, it didn't feel strange to tell all this to her, in fact, it feels natural, "I too was angry, angry for revenge, wanting people to feel the pain that they caused." This really grabbed Sylvie's attention as she brought her legs closer to her chest and looked at her carefully, indicating for her to continue.
And so, she told her story. Telling everything. From the beginning, leaving no stones unturned. It felt so natural to tell her past to her, not feeling any awkwardness between them. It was lukewarm. Maybe because she too knows what she felt, that's why she had no problem telling this to her than others.
"When Pietro died, I felt like the whole world was dark. I felt helpless, alone, and angry at the world. Even though I had powers, my will to live wasn't as powerful as my strength. I asked many times, why must I live when my whole family is gone.
"But Vision came in to save me."
"The Vision?" Sylvie sounded like she knew him, perhaps Loki told her.
She nodded, "He showed me another way to look at life. He helped me heal through my grief, making me feel like I wasn't alone, to cope with the people I used to hate, and eventually, it's also where I learned to live. And once in my life, I learned to let go of this anger in me. To have peace."
"And it's all because Vision showed you around?"
"I couldn't have gone this far without him, and I love him for that. For saving me when I'm at my worst, what made him love me….well…you should probably ask him. But he showed his love for me, and I learned to live with that feeling. And no matter who I was, he just saw me as…me. Not a witch with strange powers, my mistakes, no. He saw me as me," she smiled as she recalled her dear Vision, Sylvie looked like she understood her, and she's glad. "When I lost him, I felt like my heart was robbed. And that's when I accidentally created a false reality to cover my grief, and in that process, I unintentionally robbed everyone's lives as well."
"What do you mean you 'robbed everyone's lives?'"
"I created a world of my own," she answered, "A world of my dreams of realities I wished it to be, I suppose. To have my Vision back and raising a family of my own, to have a normal life. Hence, the twins. But it was a wrong reality that I created, a false world to cover my grief," she said sadly, "It took me an entire agent of SWORDS and one loyal friend to help me wake up, to acknowledge the mistakes I caused to others for wanting a false reality."
"But your twins are real, not false," Sylvie pointed out, "and Vision is still out there." Still having the spirit to tell her that she shouldn't give up hope, perhaps Loki had shown her around the way Vis did to her.
She nodded, and then she turned back to Sylvie. Here goes, "Sylvie," she began, "I wanted to thank you for that actually. If you haven't caused this multiverse thing, I would never have known that my children are still alive and trapped in another universe. And I'm so grateful to have them with me now."
Sylvie's mouth hung open and closed, she looked a little uncomfortable at this revelation. Wanda thought Loki may have told her something about this, but even if he had, she didn't seem to take it well. But who wouldn't when it also caused a difficult war?
Wanda turned her body to her, wanting to tell her sincerely, "I understand what you've been through, and believe me when I say I would've done the same thing as you if it would happen to me. I'd destroy anyone who would ruin my life, and I'd go after anyone who would take my children away from me," She remembered Monica's words, the only agent who didn't want to kill her and understood her situation. No matter how many times she tried to push her away, she was still willing to come back to her to put an end to her hex. In a way, they both saved each other. She is forever grateful for her.
And now, she's willing to do the same for Sylvie, "And thank you for helping Billy recall his memories. Otherwise, it'd be hard for anyone to be convinced."
The Goddess of Mischief looked down at her hands, "Your kids are good," she switched the subject, perhaps like Loki, she's not good at taking compliments.
Wanda smiled, "His memories gave us clues on who is Kang working with."
"Did it?"
She nodded, "Dr. Strange is looking through it now, and he preferred to do this on his own since he suspected it may have been his former friend. So," she turned her body back to face the lake, and grinned, "We have all the time we want today."
"You should spend it with your children then," Sylvie suggested.
"That was the initial plan until your Prince got their attention," she teased, Sylvie turned a little pink at that the mention of calling Loki her prince, "They are training with him now. Honestly, I don't even know how he does it, but they look so enthusiastic, and they actually listened to every word he said."
"Did they?" Sylvie sounded sarcastic, raising her eyebrow as well, probably in disbelief that Loki could teach anyone. Even she is surprised that he was willing to.
"Surprisingly, yes. Their moods are so much better than when I had them trained with the sorcerers here. So, if they are happy, so be it."
"He thought of teaching them how to make fireworks instead yesterday," she giggled.
"Oh god, don't," Wanda rubbed her face, remembering the time her kids made a whole mess during Halloween, and she had to apologize to the neighbors. God knows what they'll do with fireworks.
Sylvie laughed, "Perhaps you should take a look at them and see how their training goes. We don't want him to make them an army of mischief."
She scoffed at that thought, "That's the worst-case scenario. Yesterday, I met him in the library. And he was actually looking for things to teach the kids."
"Did he?"
"Yep," she smiled, "Don't know what he was checking but he seemed pretty serious."
Sylvie looked disbelief yet seemed to be happy as well, "I suppose when his mind is made up, he'd do anything to make it happen."
"Well, he definitely did it for you," Wanda pointed out, making her look at her, "I mean, what kind of person would allow a "prisoner" to live in such a nice haven like this?" she waved her hand, indicating the open space of her 'cell', "I saw how Loki did everything he can so that you won't feel like a prisoner, just as Vis did for me when I felt lost."
Sylvie shifted uncomfortably, "What did he do?"
"Oh, he didn't tell you?" Wanda thought he'd tell her, maybe he wasn't ready to reveal this part, not wanting to sound weak. Which definitely sounds like Loki, "I suppose, you'll have to ask him that," she smiled mischievously at her.
"My God, what's with you all trying to keep something from me about this," she rubbed the back of her head.
"I think it'd be rather cute if he'd confess to you," she teased, "It sounds more appropriate coming from his mouth than mine."
"I suppose," she rubbed her arm, Wanda can see that she felt content at this knowledge, "Loki told me that you helped him speak for me too."
Wanda shrugged, "Well, you did pave a path for me to get my children back," she looked at her with a warm smile, "I guess we're even."
Sylvie opened her mouth, looking somewhat nervous, "Thank you, Wanda."
Without thinking, Wanda placed her hand on hers and gave it a squeeze. As Monica did, she wanted to let her know that there are still people who believe in her, "You're welcome, and if you ever need anything, know that Loki isn't the only one on your side," she told her as genuine as possible.
To be honest, aside from the Avengers, this is her first real girlfriend with whom she can share her thoughts with. The guys in the Avengers are terrible pep talkers, whenever she says something, most of the time, it'd go from one ear and ended up escaping to the other.
And Natasha…..she's gone already. She missed her friend dearly.
But with Sylvie, perhaps things may change a lot. If they were back in Westview, perhaps she could be her lovely neighbor. And what they do have in common is about their men, and speaking of men, "Hey, do you want to see how Loki is teaching the twins?"
"I'd love to," she said, "but in case you've forgotten, I can't leave and am still a prisoner."
"Who says anything about leaving?" she smirks, ever since she saw Loki using his powers to watch her, she decided to give it a try as well. She had asked a small bit of advice from him, your connection to the person you watch must be strong, otherwise, it won't work, he told her. That was how she was also able to see how the boys are doing no matter which universe she went to.
Wanda lifted her hand and cast her crimson magic to flow out of her fingertips.
Sylvie never really had friends. For all she can remember, she had always been alone. No one to talk to, nor someone to lean on.
And then, after meeting Loki, that changed everything. He and Mobius had accepted her in the boundary of friends, and now, Wanda and her twins seemed to join in as well.
Sylvie watched as her friend's magic swirled into mist, gathering into a small cloud. After a while, a light appeared at its center, and it began to slowly project a vivid image of what it looks like to be three people.
And there he is, as promised, with the twins, training not far from where they stood. Loki is watching Wanda's kids training, and the kids looked so laser-focused on what they were given.
Billy is sitting down, and it looks like he's doing his best to levitate some rocks. The boy is doing everything he can to make a neat stack of what it looks like to be yoga rocks with his powers, he struggles to levitate a rock the size of a book and trying to get it to balance on top of another four piled rocks. His eyes were so determined, and brows kneaded together, concentrating so much on getting them all to pile up. His blue sport shirt is getting wet from his sweat.
Tommy, on the other hand, was personally trained by Loki, but he wasn't far from Billy so that he can turn to see how he was doing. Loki, too, is levitating objects. Shields. But he has Tommy leaping and jumping from one shield to another. What is he doing?
"Come on, boy," she heard him called the boy as he waved his arms to get more footings for him but a little further, "You may be fast, but we're no longer dealing with agents on the next battle. You are dealing with magicians, show me that you can use their magic to your advantage. You hear?"
"Okay," Tommy said as he tried to swiftly leap to another shield as fast as he can. But just as he was about to make the jump, he took a bad footing and wobbled to a fall, "WOAAA!"
But Loki managed to catch him with a big shield he levitated, breaking his fall and gracefully get him down to the ground, "You are still hesitant on your jumps, Tommy. You need to relax," Then he turned to Billy, "How are we doing there, Billy?"
"I can't get this last one to sit up straight," Billy groaned, struggling to get the rock to balance on top of the other rocks without wobbling, "I don't know how to balance them."
Loki squatted next to him, "You feared too much on whether the rocks would fall. Relax, boy," he then placed a hand on his back, "Don't concentrate on whether the rocks will fall, concentrate on the flow of your magic. Let it flow in and out of you naturally, trust your instincts."
Billy nodded, he took a deep breath and sighed, taking in his new teacher's advice. He closed and opened his eyes slowly, and waved his hands gracefully this time, letting his powers flow. The rock that he levitates now seem to float differently than before, it didn't look wobbly as it was before, and it's like it's naturally flying, gravitating towards the stack of rocks.
And the rock landed with the other pile without falling. It is successfully balanced.
The boy's face turned from struggle to pure joy, his mouth turned into a wide grin, teeth showing as he turned to Loki, "I did it!"
"You sure did," showing him his open palm and the boy gave it a high five, "And before you know it, you'll be hurling cars soon enough," then he turned to Tommy, who seemed to be dissatisfied from his incomplete task, "Don't worry, Tommy. You managed to find your footing on air."
"I wasn't fast enough," he mumbled disappointingly.
Loki waved his hands and the shields lined up neatly, "If it'll make you feel better, I just learned this tactic myself a few weeks ago," he said, making the boy's eyes widened, "So congratulations, you are learning the advance things I do."
"Really?" Tommy looked at him in disbelief.
"Yep," he levitated some of the shields back to their stands, making sure they are placed neatly and organized, "It wasn't easy, and the fact that you were able to still maintain your balance to the first floor of a house tells me you're getting there soon, boy."
"Cool," Tommy exclaimed excitedly, his frown turned into a huge grin of joy.
"He's good with kids," Wanda whispered to Sylvie.
Sylvie smiled at the sight in front of them, just yesterday he was irritated with them and now he's taking them under his wings, "Yea."
"Come on boys," Loki said, "Let's try it again, shall we? This time, I want you both to apply what you just learned just now," he then conjured a bull-eye target practice in front of them, and at the back of the wall, "Billy, I want you to use your powers and lift these up," in a blink of an eye, Loki produced small daggers for them, "In the air."
"Is that even appropriate for 11 years old kids?" Wanda murmured.
"Ok," Billy concentrated on his magic, blue auras began to engulf the daggers and it began to levitate above high above Loki's head.
"Excellent," the god said, then he turned to Tommy, "And as for you," he waved his hand and the shields that he didn't put back floated high in front of them, each making a level on their own to create high stairs, "I want you to climb up those shields, grab a weapon, and throw it as hard as you can on the red dot."
Tommy gulped, "Okay."
"Don't worry, I'll catch you if you fall," he clapped the boy's shoulder, "Okay listen up. The game is, I'm going to levitate these shields randomly. You two are going to have to work together to figure out how to pass the dagger to the other to make the throw. Of course, I won't make it easy."
"What do you mean?" Billy asked.
"Your task as the magician, Billy, is to pass the daggers to your brother," he explained, "And Tommy's task here is to grab that dagger and make the throw. I, on the other hand, will do as I please to make sure you don't even reach it. Of course, I'll give you five minutes to see how many you can score. How about a total of 30 under five minutes, what do you say?"
"No fair," Tommy pouted, "you are the one controlling the shields."
"I promise you, I will only bring it around left and right," he said, "I won't break that rule."
"Okay," he mumbled.
"Good," he clapped, "Shall we give it a try?"
"Yes sir," And the twins went to their positions, Tommy began leaping up the stairs and halted as the shields began moving, and into position like boulders in lakes where you hop on them to get across.
"Let's give it a try once. Billy, if you would."
The child nodded, and he waved his hand and brought the dagger to his brother. Tommy caught it and leaped to several shields, watching where he's stepping to make the throw.
But just as he was about to make the throw, he didn't time the shield would levitate again to another direction. The shield jerked left as he threw, making him wobble and loses his balance a little, "Whoa!". The dagger flew, but it landed at the far bottom of the target.
Loki chuckled mischievously, "Oh, and I forgot that I am dealing with the children of the Avengers," he slyly smiled, but it didn't look mean, "Perhaps I should not underestimate you, no?"
The twins looked at him horrifically, as if they were being cheated. They looked at each other, their eyes showed determination on what they are up against. Then they turned back to Loki, "We're going to win this!"
Sylvie smiled as she watched the two boys were having fun with Loki. They looked at him with so much trust and determination, like a teacher would for their students.
She envied them, that they had this happy childhood. Hers was robbed, never to return ever again. She barely remembered anyone in Asgard.
"They are lucky, aren't they," Wanda suddenly said, breaking her train of thoughts, "My brother and I never had anyone to teach us, not even any friends. We could only rely on one another, we were lucky that we survived the experiment without anyone showing us the ropes."
Sylvie looked at her sadly, understanding where she's getting at. After she told her about her past, she finally realized that….
She's not alone. And that someone understands what she's dealing with.
She shifted where she sat, "You helped them get here," she reminded Wanda, "If it weren't for you, they'd probably end up in a similar situation as us."
"Perhaps," she said, "I'd do whatever I can to protect them."
"We all would," Sylvie determinedly said, which made Wanda looked at her in content. Sylvie barely knows the kids, but what she does know about them is that they are innocent and good children. They don't deserve to have their childhood robbed the way she had.
Wanda gave her a warm smile, her eyes looked glassy, "Thank you, Sylvie."
She nodded, "My pleasure."
And at that, the ladies continued to watch Loki and the twins training.
This chapter is a little difficult to come up with as I was going through many characters as well.
I'll be honest, it wasn't easy to write the scene with Wanda and Sylvie. I thought it would be since they both have something in common, but it wasn't and I still don't understand why…..:p I tried to put as much emotion as possible here at the right time, I hope it makes sense. Did it? Hope it works.
The small banter between Loki and Dr. Strange was fun since he was the one who made him fall for 30 minutes hahaha.
I was gonna make Wanda drag Sylvie out of her cell to watch the training, but I felt like that's a bit too early on their first meeting.
And then there was a time I thought, maybe one magician would bully Loki for teaching the kids when he was a criminal, and he'd beat the crap out of him easily, and then Sylvie would go to him and ask whether he's getting along with anyone here. But the Mystics people are too nice to do that, so I scratched that idea as well.
Even creating the conversation that would lead to certain topics was a little difficult as I wanted it to make it as appropriate as possible. We're dealing with lots of losses and guilts here, so I wanted to respect each character on how they felt. So, I hope that worked here too.
The training scene was inspired by Star Wars and an anime called Kuroko no Basket where Kuroko amplifies the team's shots thanks to his misdirections and fast passes.
And thank you for every suggestion you all gave me! I was actually almost pushing the talk between Wanda and Sylvie to several chapters later but seeing how everyone is so wanting them to have that girl talk made me confident enough that this may be the right time to write that scene. So, thank you all very much for this!
Hope you all enjoyed it! Please let me know your thoughts as well!
Claire
PS: Small post-credits, Loki visits Sylvie after the training, and Dr. Strange found something in the documents.