You know the drill. I own nothing except Erik's cousin, even though her
name is not mentioned.
Indicates conversations from the past
Chapter Five- Learning to Control
Pietro and Wanda had been learning to control their unique gifts for four weeks now. They had also been taking lessons on the languages that their father had appointed them to learn, and they probably knew more words in European than any other child their age. Wanda was slower in learning than Pietro, mainly because of his mutation. Harder though, was to control their powers.
"Concentrate, Pietro," Erik told the boy sternly. "Think of nothing else but running. All you want to do is to get to the end of this field as fast as you can, and you want to do nothing else."
Pietro nodded, took a deep breath, and stared at the other end of the long field. He had to get there. He had to get there faster than any other human possibly could. He ran, pumping his legs faster, pushing himself farther. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, the wind nicked his face, he felt so alive...so free.
Pietro made it to the end of the field in no time. He looked worriedly over at his father. To him, he had not seemed fast enough, everything had been in slow motion when he ran. Erik looked slightly pleased, giving him a firm nod, and in a second Pietro was back, standing next to his father.
"How did I do?" he asked.
"Good," he answered, looking at the stopwatch in his hand. "You made it there in 1. 3 seconds. I wonder, however, if you could go possibly faster."
"I could try again," Pietro offered, eager to please the man before him. But Erik shook his head.
"No, not today. We'll be controlling your mental capabilities. I believe if you could slow things down around you without running, you will have more control. Go run around for now while I see to Wanda." Erik turned around and headed back towards the house.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Wanda looked up from her coloring when Erik came in. She gave him a smile.
"Hello, Father!" she chirped excitedly, pushing her drawings forward to show him.
"Look!" she exclaimed, "Look at the pictures I drew! Do you like them?"
Erik barely glanced at them when he answered. "Nice," he said, although he sounded like he really didn't mean it, "Wanda, it's time for your sessions."
She looked a bit disappointed, but nodded and got up to follow him to his study.
"What will we be doing today?" she asked curiously.
"On concentrating and control," he answered shortly. It wasn't like they hadn't been doing the same thing for the past four weeks.
"Oh," was all she said. Then she laughed and skipped jovially ahead.
Erik furrowed his brow at the child's behavior. Why was that girl so happy all the damn time?
She started humming. Erik recognized the tune. Magda used to hum it to Anya all the time.
"Wanda," he said sternly, and she stopped abruptly, looking back at him with wide-innocent blue eyes. She slowed down until she was even with his pace.
They entered the study and Wanda immediately bounced up onto a big and squishy black leather chair. She leaned all the way back into it and clasped her hands between her knees. Erik sat on the other chair across from her.
"Just concentrate on making that water in the glass evaporate, child," he instructed her, pointing to a full glass of water on the old antique oak coffee table before them.
"What do you want me to do with the water?" she asked.
"Try to make it evaporate. We know you can alter probability. I am sure when you are older and much more powerful you can even create an illusion of a human," he told her. "But for now, we must take it one step at a time. Just try to make the water disappear, Wanda."
Wanda nodded, licked her lips, and concentrated on the water. Her brow was scrunched up and a bead of sweat formed on her brow.
"Just concentrate harder, Wanda," Erik encouraged, not taking his eyes from the glass.
"I-I can't!" she cried in dismay, breaking her gaze from the water and looking at him with eyes filled with despair.
Erik furrowed his brow in thought and rubbed his chin. Maybe she was a mutant that had to use her hands?
"Wanda, I want you to concentrate on the water again," he said, "but I want you to concentrate on evaporating it with a wave of your hand. Just try."
She looked doubtful for a moment, but that didn't mean she was about to give up. Wanda was a very stubborn child, and didn't give anything up until she succeeded.
She concentrated very hard and waved her hand around. Nothing happened.
She let out a cry of frustration as Erik sighed, rubbing his hands over his face.
"Don't wave your hand like that," he snapped, "You remember seeing me use my powers? Just use your hands the way I do, but concentrate with all your might on making the water disappear."
Wanda bit her lower lip. She was really trying her hardest! Apparently though, she was not trying hard enough.
She tried again, concentrating so hard that it started to hurt.
"Good, Wanda!" Erik exclaimed, seeing that some of the water was missing. "Good! Try to get rid of it all!"
Wanda tried even harder, until she let out a whimper of pain. All the water in the glass had vanished.
"You can stop now," Erik said softly. She was going to be so powerful!
"Did I do good?" she asked in a whisper, looking at him hopefully. She let out a huge yawn.
"You did-" he started to say but stopped abruptly when he saw that she had fallen asleep. He sighed and got up, walked to her, and gently scooped her up in his arms.
He laid her down with great care onto her bed, and watched her for a moment. He reached out his hand and was about to push a stray lock of ebony hair behind her ear when he froze. Limply, his arm fell back to his side.
He should not show compassion. It would ruin them; make them weaker, more vulnerable. He had been weak because he had shown Magda and Anya that he loved them. For that, they had died. Because he loved his cousins and his parents and his aunts and uncles, they had perished in the gas chambers of Auschwitz and Birkenau, and other death camps. And because they had loved him, they had starved, feeding him small rations of their bread, for they would fear that the young boy would die.
He felt enclosed, trapped. The movement of the cattle cars suddenly hit him again. He remembered breathing in the stale air; remember witnessing a cousin dying from suffocation.
Erik, shh, it will be all right...
I can't breath...
I'm suffocating!
Shh...
Erik bowed his head. That belonged in the past, and in the past it would stay, locked up forever if he had any say in it. He'd be damned if he let another Holocaust happen; to the mutants.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Yeah, I know it's a little bit short but this needed to be updated.
Thanks for reviewing: InsaneBunneh, sPoOkZ13412, I Am The Anonymous Reviewer, zephyr, rosie, and Pauline L. You guys rock my socks! Keep it up!
Indicates conversations from the past
Chapter Five- Learning to Control
Pietro and Wanda had been learning to control their unique gifts for four weeks now. They had also been taking lessons on the languages that their father had appointed them to learn, and they probably knew more words in European than any other child their age. Wanda was slower in learning than Pietro, mainly because of his mutation. Harder though, was to control their powers.
"Concentrate, Pietro," Erik told the boy sternly. "Think of nothing else but running. All you want to do is to get to the end of this field as fast as you can, and you want to do nothing else."
Pietro nodded, took a deep breath, and stared at the other end of the long field. He had to get there. He had to get there faster than any other human possibly could. He ran, pumping his legs faster, pushing himself farther. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, the wind nicked his face, he felt so alive...so free.
Pietro made it to the end of the field in no time. He looked worriedly over at his father. To him, he had not seemed fast enough, everything had been in slow motion when he ran. Erik looked slightly pleased, giving him a firm nod, and in a second Pietro was back, standing next to his father.
"How did I do?" he asked.
"Good," he answered, looking at the stopwatch in his hand. "You made it there in 1. 3 seconds. I wonder, however, if you could go possibly faster."
"I could try again," Pietro offered, eager to please the man before him. But Erik shook his head.
"No, not today. We'll be controlling your mental capabilities. I believe if you could slow things down around you without running, you will have more control. Go run around for now while I see to Wanda." Erik turned around and headed back towards the house.
*~*~*~*~*~*
Wanda looked up from her coloring when Erik came in. She gave him a smile.
"Hello, Father!" she chirped excitedly, pushing her drawings forward to show him.
"Look!" she exclaimed, "Look at the pictures I drew! Do you like them?"
Erik barely glanced at them when he answered. "Nice," he said, although he sounded like he really didn't mean it, "Wanda, it's time for your sessions."
She looked a bit disappointed, but nodded and got up to follow him to his study.
"What will we be doing today?" she asked curiously.
"On concentrating and control," he answered shortly. It wasn't like they hadn't been doing the same thing for the past four weeks.
"Oh," was all she said. Then she laughed and skipped jovially ahead.
Erik furrowed his brow at the child's behavior. Why was that girl so happy all the damn time?
She started humming. Erik recognized the tune. Magda used to hum it to Anya all the time.
"Wanda," he said sternly, and she stopped abruptly, looking back at him with wide-innocent blue eyes. She slowed down until she was even with his pace.
They entered the study and Wanda immediately bounced up onto a big and squishy black leather chair. She leaned all the way back into it and clasped her hands between her knees. Erik sat on the other chair across from her.
"Just concentrate on making that water in the glass evaporate, child," he instructed her, pointing to a full glass of water on the old antique oak coffee table before them.
"What do you want me to do with the water?" she asked.
"Try to make it evaporate. We know you can alter probability. I am sure when you are older and much more powerful you can even create an illusion of a human," he told her. "But for now, we must take it one step at a time. Just try to make the water disappear, Wanda."
Wanda nodded, licked her lips, and concentrated on the water. Her brow was scrunched up and a bead of sweat formed on her brow.
"Just concentrate harder, Wanda," Erik encouraged, not taking his eyes from the glass.
"I-I can't!" she cried in dismay, breaking her gaze from the water and looking at him with eyes filled with despair.
Erik furrowed his brow in thought and rubbed his chin. Maybe she was a mutant that had to use her hands?
"Wanda, I want you to concentrate on the water again," he said, "but I want you to concentrate on evaporating it with a wave of your hand. Just try."
She looked doubtful for a moment, but that didn't mean she was about to give up. Wanda was a very stubborn child, and didn't give anything up until she succeeded.
She concentrated very hard and waved her hand around. Nothing happened.
She let out a cry of frustration as Erik sighed, rubbing his hands over his face.
"Don't wave your hand like that," he snapped, "You remember seeing me use my powers? Just use your hands the way I do, but concentrate with all your might on making the water disappear."
Wanda bit her lower lip. She was really trying her hardest! Apparently though, she was not trying hard enough.
She tried again, concentrating so hard that it started to hurt.
"Good, Wanda!" Erik exclaimed, seeing that some of the water was missing. "Good! Try to get rid of it all!"
Wanda tried even harder, until she let out a whimper of pain. All the water in the glass had vanished.
"You can stop now," Erik said softly. She was going to be so powerful!
"Did I do good?" she asked in a whisper, looking at him hopefully. She let out a huge yawn.
"You did-" he started to say but stopped abruptly when he saw that she had fallen asleep. He sighed and got up, walked to her, and gently scooped her up in his arms.
He laid her down with great care onto her bed, and watched her for a moment. He reached out his hand and was about to push a stray lock of ebony hair behind her ear when he froze. Limply, his arm fell back to his side.
He should not show compassion. It would ruin them; make them weaker, more vulnerable. He had been weak because he had shown Magda and Anya that he loved them. For that, they had died. Because he loved his cousins and his parents and his aunts and uncles, they had perished in the gas chambers of Auschwitz and Birkenau, and other death camps. And because they had loved him, they had starved, feeding him small rations of their bread, for they would fear that the young boy would die.
He felt enclosed, trapped. The movement of the cattle cars suddenly hit him again. He remembered breathing in the stale air; remember witnessing a cousin dying from suffocation.
Erik, shh, it will be all right...
I can't breath...
I'm suffocating!
Shh...
Erik bowed his head. That belonged in the past, and in the past it would stay, locked up forever if he had any say in it. He'd be damned if he let another Holocaust happen; to the mutants.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Yeah, I know it's a little bit short but this needed to be updated.
Thanks for reviewing: InsaneBunneh, sPoOkZ13412, I Am The Anonymous Reviewer, zephyr, rosie, and Pauline L. You guys rock my socks! Keep it up!