The Scarlet Apprentice

A moment of peace

The sun rose over the mountain tops, ready to bring its light to another day. Wanda Maximoff sat outside of her small, lonesome cabin, soaking in the fresh air that the morning supplied. As always, it was quiet, apart from the occasional chirping of a bird. She grew used to the silence, though it had only been a week since she arrived at the cabin.

The cabin stood alone in the middle of a flatland surrounded by mountains. Every mountain around the cabin stood tall, but one stood taller than all of them; mount wundagore, which overlooked the countries capital city. Even though there were people in the same area as her, they were all too far to be hurt by her. The mountains hid her well, and that's exactly what she wanted.

The maximoff twin who had just gotten used to feeling alone, was now physically alone. She couldn't argue with it, really. Not after the damage she caused to the residents of Westview and the reputation she'd unknowingly gave herself. To those outside of her small, isolated life, she was a villain. No one really knew what she'd sacrificed to give up her mind games, so they could only resent her.

Sword played a huge part in the tarnishing of the name Wanda Maximoff, mostly because wanda couldn't come out and speak for herself on the matter. What she thought was best, was to stay as far away from civilisation as she could while she studied her history as well as her future. While she locked herself away from humanity, the world was being taught that she was a danger, a criminal, and a threat.

The astral projection form of the scarlet witch sat comfortably in the back room, casually flipping through the pages of the darkhold which hovered nicely above her crossed legs. Meanwhile, wanda's physical form gently held an empty mug as she sat on the wooden step of her porch, admiring the sunrise.

The brief silence that comforted her was abruptly interrupted by the sound of the kettle whistling on the stove. She jolted out of her daydream and stood up, her slippers pressing gently on the aged wood of the floor as she walked.

She turned the stove off and poured the boiling water into her mug before resting her hands around it. A small sigh slipped from her breath as the heat from the mug relaxed her worried hands.

She didn't get those brief moments of peace very often, so she tried to enjoy whatever she could get before chaos unleashed on her life. Everything she'd ever found comfort in was soon taken away from her in the end. Her parents. Her brother. Then, her love.

The memories of watching sitcoms with her parents in their tiny sokovian apartment echoed around her head each waking day. Some made her smile to herself, others made her lightly shake her head to dismiss the thoughts entirely. But whichever memory it was, it ached deep within her heart like it always did.

Pietro's memories were the most common of all three. So many things reminded her of him, mostly because she'd tried her best to make the cabin resemble that of a sokovian apartment. When she looked at the coffee tin, she remembered how they'd both keep their spare change in one. Or she'd see the unlit candle and remember how he almost burned the house down trying to play hide and seek in the dark. Even when she walked past the mirror, she'd see a bit of him in herself, they were twins after all.

Then lastly she would see the past she had with vision. The calm moments she had with him were the dreams she loved most. However, she seemed to have more nightmares rather than dreams. The most common one being the sight of vision fade away as her world closed down in front of her. Everytime she closed her eyes she was reminded that vision was merely a memory, just like he said. Regardless, she felt a slight comfort in knowing that she could always carry a piece of him around with her in her heart. Even if she moved on, he would still be there. Loving her from wherever he was.

Any home she ever had was eventually ripped from her grasp and given to someone else. Someone more deserving - she thought - but what she didn't realise was that she deserved so much more than she could imagine.

With the freshly made tea in her hands, she turned once again and left through the door to sit on the step again. She sat down slowly with a quiet exhale while her gaze stayed fixated on the sun in the distance.

In her head she hoped that the brightness from the sun would light her up, but it seemed that the sun always shined on everything but her part of the world. All she wanted was the tight embrace of its warmth, something to give her comfort in any way it could. A sign, a hint, that someone somewhere will give her that comfort. If only she knew how perfect she was in someone else's eye.

She deeply inhaled the fresh air and sighed while the thought of preparing her new journey ran through her mind, branching off into hundreds of different possibilities.

Her astral projection self still hovered, reading from the pages of the book, hoping to understand who she was, and who she would become.

As she subconsciously reminded herself that her other form was still there, she closed her eyes and pulled the force back to her physical body. It gently drifted through the house until it absorbed completely into her body, returning her to herself again.

Taking a sip from her mug, she thought. Thought of all the things she could do now that she knew what she was capable of. Out of all the possibilities and suggestions her mind gave her, she dismissed any harmful ones, knowing she didn't want to hurt anyone else. Not after finding out her pain seeped into others.

There she sat, at the forefront of her new, desolate life, patiently waiting for the world to move on without her. Although she was not happy, she was at peace. At peace with the idea that the only possible person she could hurt from where she was, was herself.