Chapter 108: Mission

Chapter 108: Mission

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23rd February 2006, New York City

(Wanda Maximoff POV)

She wailed in pain. The emotions were simply too much and her magic responded, creating a giant pulse of magic that obliterated everything around her. Red Wanda wasn't there anymore. There was no use for her anymore. They were one and the same.

Wanda was tired, but for the first time in her life, she felt free.

The last thing she saw was her newest mother figure catching her before she fell into the ground, "You did well, Wanda. I am proud of you."

Wanda passed out smiling at that comment.

When she woke up, Wanda felt like her muscles were made of lead. She had never been so sore in her life. Even after exhausting herself while training her magic, she hadn't been this tired. She opened her eyes to find herself looking at her room's ceiling. She sighed in relief; she was home.

Wanda started to slowly remember what happened before she fell asleep. It was some kind of test in the mirror dimension. She was stripped bare from all lies, even the ones she told herself, even the lies she forgot. She remembered her mother, what truly happened, what she did to her. She remembered her father and brother, what she tried to do to them.

Tears poured from her eyes when she remembered what happened. A part of her wishes that she never knew the truth. But that part was quickly silenced with how free she feels. It was like a huge weight was lifted off her shoulders. The world was clearer and she herself felt better, outside of the soars, of course.

Truth be told, Wanda didn't want to get out of bed, overwhelmed at the emotions that were repressed by her own powers. She didn't think that it was possible, manipulating reality at such a scale when she was that young, affecting even herself.

Suddenly, the door opened. Wanda looked at the intruder and relaxed at the sight of her not so secret mother figure. The green eyed woman had her usual kind smile on her face but still looked a bit worried at Wanda. "How are you feeling? I know it couldn't have been pretty, removing the blocks that quickly."

Wanda smiled at her. She noticed that the act was a lot easier than it was previously. "I feel overwhelmed but a bit lighter. What the hell did you do? What was that?"

Wanda didn't respond to her teacher's words. Jasmine continued, "You know what? I once told you that we're a lot alike. I wasn't kidding. Do you want to know?"

Curious, Wanda nodded; her teacher was so secretive sometime so it was rare for her to share something personal about herself.

Jasmine continued, "I was born with a twin, like you. His name was Nathan. One day, a very terrible wizard came and tried to kill us. But our magic protected us so the wizard's spell reflected back at him. It was all well and good but the wizard had many followers that wanted to avenge their master, against my brother who was given credit for killing him. It was so stressful that our mother ended up getting a mental breakdown.

In desperation, our father found a very old spell based of the protection of family. But it was only for three individuals, so he had to choose. He chose to keep the son who was being targeted, a logical choice I'll admit, but they abandoned me to my mother's sister, a spiteful woman with a deep hatred of magic. I was treated like a slave, starved a beaten just for the sake of it, left for dead when I was a child. But I persevered, I learnt to live by myself, I taught myself magic to protect myself from the world. I lived off scraps like you did. The big difference is that you know that your parents loved you. I wasn't given the courtesy. As I said, Wanda, we're a lot alike."

Wanda stayed silent; her anger having been calmed down by her teacher's words. Their stories were so similar; both abandoned by their parents, both learnt the cruelty of the world, both estranged form their twin, both learnt to live off scraps and defending themselves from the cruelty of the world, both with a very powerful magic. She felt closer to her mother figure. The subconscious feeling of betrayal turned into a mutual understanding. Wanda wasn't alone anymore.

Wanda questioned, "Was there any other way?"

She had to ask, to confirm that her suffering in the mirror dimension was necessary.

"No," Jasmine shook her head, "you needed to deal with this yourself. I couldn't do it for you. But look at the light side, you now can properly learn how to use your magic. Your magic is an expression of your very self. You weren't whole before. But now, the sky's the limit when it comes to your potential, after all."

Wanda's face lit up at the prospect of making more progress with her magic.

"What do we get to do? Is it transmutation? I always wondered if I could be as good as you in it?"

Jasmine chuckled, "Hold your horses, kiddo. Let's first see what you can do? I have the ideal test in mind."

"What is it?"

"One of your old cellmates has escaped the Vault and is heading to the Xavier Institute. I was going to handle it myself, but it's a good opportunity to see what you can do. Don't worry, I'll be nearby in case something happens."

Wanda was curious; this must be some opponent if Jasmine was going to handle it herself. She doesn't particularly care about Xavier's little mutant school so she's interested in the attacker, "Who?"

Her teacher smiled in approval, "His name is Cain Marko, but I believe that you better know him as The Juggernaut."