Chapter 114: Focus
23rd February 2006, New York City
(Wanda Maximoff POV)
Wanda followed after her teacher as she left the Xavier institute. In truth, she was embarrassed, ashamed of her failure; her mission did not go according to plan. The teenager thought she was ready. This was a reality check and a big one at that. Jasmine may have told her that she had an extremely high potential, but Wanda always forgot how much time and effort it would take just to make it a reality. The teenager had failed her mission and her teacher had to get involved. Will Jasmine get rid of her now that she’s proven to be a disappointment?
The Juggernaut had played with her. Wanda had almost forgotten what it was like to be afraid of dying. Her time on the streets made her accept that death was a very real possibility and that there was no sense in fearing the inevitable. When she lived with Magneto, she had nothing to live for, other than her brother that is. And even he abandoned her. When she was still in her cell in the vault, she sometimes wished to end it all. She had lived miserable life, perhaps her next one would be a peaceful one.
But when she watched as that monster of a man ran at her, she knew that this could be it. Her final moments. And she was afraid. Why was she so frightened? She had accepted death a long time ago. She was still trembling, even now. It didn’t make any sense.
Jasmine obviously noticed, because she stopped walking and gave her a hug. It was soothing, and warm. Wanda broke down and started to sob, shoulders shaking. Jasmine ran her hands through Wanda’s hair and the teenager felt a strange warmth in her chest. She must look like a child but she didn’t care. She missed this; it was like having a mother again.
It took a couple of minutes for her to calm down and when she looked up to see properly, Wanda discovered that they were in her bedroom. They must have teleported. She hadn’t even noticed anything.
“You alright, kiddo?” Jasmine asked.
Wanda didn’t have the strength to speak and just nodded against her mother figure’s chest.
“So, what was that about?” Jasmine questioned gently.
“I … I was afraid,” Wanda replied.
Jasmine chuckled, “What’s wrong in being afraid? Trust me, if people were more afraid, there would be a lot of idiotic deaths.”
Wanda sighed, “I haven’t been afraid in a long time. Ever since my mother… Anyway, isn’t fear supposed to be a bad thing. It’s better to be brave, right? I wasn’t brave during the fight. I was just afraid."
Jasmine actually burst into laughter at this, “Wanda, fear is a natural thing. Being afraid is all right. Because didn't anyone ever tell you? Fear is a super power. Fear can make you faster and cleverer and stronger. And one day, you're gonna be afraid again, I have. There are true monsters in the world, and anyone, even me, would be afraid of them. But that's okay because if you're very wise and very strong, fear doesn't have to make you cruel or cowardly. Fear can make you kind.”
The teenager looked at her savior, with pleading eyes, “Really? But I haven’t been afraid for so long.”
“Yes, really. And on that day, you’ll understand the true value of fear. You’ll realize that your fear will have saved your life. For how can you move faster than possible, fight longer than possible, without the most powerful impulse of the spirit? The fear of death. It is the proof that you’re alive, not an empty shell living every day. Being afraid of dying, like you are, is the proof that you value your life, that you’re starting to move on and I am so very proud of you. You won’t understand it now, so don’t pretend you do. One day, you will look back to this day and remember what I just told you and you will smile and understand what I just said. But the bottom line is, being scared is alright and you should never be ashamed of this.”
Wanda hugged her guardian even further, “Please don’t get rid of me!”
“Hey, hey, hey,” her mother figure replied soothingly, “where is this coming from?”
“I failed my mission. The Juggernaut beat me.”
“Wanda, I did not send you after the Juggernaut to test your combat abilities. You just recovered from a very traumatic experience with your memory’s unsealing. I don’t need a soldier, Wanda. I needed to see if you could manage yourself around others. Your fight with the Juggernaut served as a way to gauge your level, in term of control and actual combat instincts. But that was just the secondary goal. You haven’t been with other kids your age for years. I just wanted to see how you’d react. And look, you didn’t accidentally hurt anyone. You were in control the whole time.”
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Huh, the realization hit Wanda like a brick wall. She was in control, wasn’t she? Her powers listened to her, they didn’t blow anything up accidentally or hurt another person. They did exactly what she wanted them to do.
Jasmine continued, “Plus, you were kinda badass when you beat the Juggernaut at the beginning. He even had to power up to actually be able to beat you. That’s an impressive achievement, girly. Trust me, very few people can stand toe to toe with a champion of Cyttorak, especially this one.”
“So, you’re not mad?”
Jasmine chuckled, “No, I’m not. But now, we come to the main issue. With your newfound control over your powers, you can actually get out of the mansion. You can do normal teenage stuff, like you always wanted. Go to the mall, meet people your age. But most importantly, you can go to school.”
Wanda stiffened at this. She could get out. She was free. She could do whatever she wanted. But did she want to meet new people. People are cruel and manipulative. What they’re all like her father, what if they find out what she can do and perform these painful experiments on her like those scientists did when she was in the Vault. What if no one likes her at school? What if she ends up with no friends? What if she actually gets friends and lose control. She could hurt them.
Wanda almost spoke up to protest; she was very uncomfortable with all this sudden freedom, but Jasmine spoke first, “I know that this will be hard. But that was the plan from the start; you need some normalcy in your life, Wanda. That’s why I made you learn all these accelerated courses and used my telepathy to teach you enough without actually frying your brain. And I’m enrolling you in Bayville high, that’s my school, in case you forgot. Which means that I’ll be there to make sure there won’t be any accidents. I know it’s scary, being free after being locked up for so long, you don’t know what to do or how the world works, but trust me, this is the best for you.”
Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad, after all. Maybe she’ll get friends and hang out with them like those high school TV shows show. She could even be a cheerleader. The teenager grimaced at the thought. Why the hell would she be a cheerleader? Sounds idiotic. Wait, did she say, Bayville high? Didn’t she say something about teaching Pietro at her school. Does that mean that she’ll be going to school with her brother? It would be a great opportunity to mend their strained relationship. Or is it non existent? Well, whatever they call it, it’s a clusterfuck.
Wanda nodded at her mother figure, “Alright. I’ll go to school.”
Jasmine’s blinding smile was enough to reassure her. Then her face got serious once more, “One more thing, Wanda. Since you finally could use the full capabilities of your reality magic, you need to train. Which is why, I will give you this.”
Jasmine opened her palm and something materialized on top of it. It looked like some sort of cross with only the top being a circle instead of a bar. It was pitch black with some weird red hieroglyphic symbols carved into the cross. The symbols were faintly glowing and looked like it was pulsing. Wanda could feel the power coming from the floating artifact. It felt familiar somehow. Was it her imagination, or was the symbols pulsing with her heartbeat?
“This, my dear little apprentice, is an Ankh. More precisely, it’s an artifact I created a very long time ago to train my reality magic. Truth is, at first, I could only use reality magic using runes. But it was a fascinating field of magic, so I created this thing as an aide, a training tool so to speak. In its basis, it’s a focus. Long ago, mages used specialized focuses for each field of magic they mastered. It was before Wands and Staves were invented, which normalized the designs of focuses all over the world. But still, a specialized focus is far more powerful than a wand when it comes to the specialization. People generally preferred wands because you can cast any type of magic with it, choosing practicality of power and performance. Not that anyone now remembers that it’s an option. Specialized focuses are now a forgotten relic of the past.”
Wanda nodded at the impromptu lecture, “So it’s like training wheels. I’ll use it to learn better until I can do it without it.”
Plus, it kinda looked cool too. She could definitely pull it off and it would go very well with her outfit. Makes her look exotic and everything.
Jasmine nodded, “Yes, it is imperative that you do not overly rely on this tool. You’ll get used to it and won’t be able to cast anything without it.”
Wanda looked at the weird cross thing, sorry Ankh, then looked at her teacher, “How do I use it exactly?”
“You can use it like a wand, but I don’t recommend it. What I do recommend, is that you wear it as a necklace and channel magic into it while using your powers. It’s easier to hide that well and you will learn to use your powers without relying on your hands and people won’t know how much you need it to use your powers; that way no one actually targets it. It will just be a fashion choice. It’ll also be a lot easier to use your powers when you get rid of the Ankh. But as long as you channel your magic into it, it will work. We’ll train more using it later.”
Jasmine removed her arm, leaving the artifact floating in the air, still pulsing in power. Wanda hesitantly grabbed it. She felt a sudden warmth in her finders. She raised the artifact above her head and brought it swishing down. A stream of red energy that’s synonymous to her reality magic, shot from the circle on the top. The teenager felt like her a part of her was missing and this Ankh was it. This felt intimate, like making a new friend that would be with her for a lifetime. She could feel the Ankh thrumming in her hand, sending a pleasurable sensation through her hand. It obviously approved of her thoughts.
Jasmine clapped her hand and whooped in joy, “I knew it. A perfect match!”
Wanda didn’t respond, entranced by her focus but Jasmine interrupted her musings, “Alright you little bugger, you can admire it later. It’s late and you’ve had a very long day. You need to go to sleep. After all, you have school tomorrow.”
“What! Already?”
“I may or may not have pulled some string with the headmistress,” Jasmine replied cheekily.
“Fine, I’ll go to bed.”
Wanda then went to change into her PJs and Jasmine was waiting for her. She tucked her into bed, kissed her goodnight.
“Goodnight, Wanda.”
Half asleep, Wanda muttered back, “Goodnight, Mom.”
She hadn’t realized what she called Jasmine, nor had she seen Jasmine’s blinding smile as she heard her.