âž LORNA
@scarletmutant
lorna had various residences in her life â the modest home with her aunt, cold rooms in the mental facility that she couldnât allow her memory to drift back on, the back of a truck and some motels, an oversized abandoned back turned underground headquarters, a jail cell, the soul stone, the sanctum â and now, a palace. steel tipped boots echoed too loudly in the empty halls of the living quarters as she sought out wandaâs living space. after the incidents when they first became trapped on the island, lorna insisted that wanda have a place in the capitol palace near her, even if their father didnât yet understand why.
she shifted dawn on her hip as she approached the door, setting down a bag sheâd brought with her in order to rap her knuckles on the door and await a response. of course, the doors and knobs were solid metal and she could open it herself, but privacy was a thing. lorna hadnât had a sister for very long, the situation was complicated â but there was something in wanda that lorna felt it easy to identify with, parts of them that not everyone else would understand. it made her feel less alone. she had marcos and their friends, she loved them, but there were things that were hard to explain even to them.
hearing wanda at the other side of the door, lorna gave dawn a small bounce in her arms causing her to let out a giggle. âi have someone here that would love to say hi if you have the time.â a smile edged on her lips, always a bit softer with her daughter around and in company she trusted. âand iâm not much of a cook, but i brought food.â
never in her wildest dreams did wanda imagine she would have a home in a palace. only in her wildest memories, wildest realities, had that been possible. but in this one? in a world where she grew up in a country that people were scared to visit because authorities carried assault rifles on the streets and locals protested until they were pushed back with tear gas and bullets? never. but here she was, in an ornate room with the most comfortable bed sheâd ever been on, and it was all thanks to lorna. her sister. another thing sheâd never imagined in her wildest dreams. she was more grateful for lorna than she was for the palace.
after the nightmare, which was more than a nightmare, wanda felt like an exposed wire â dangerous and sparking and deceptively deadly. at first, sheâd resolved to not use her magic, even as they went out for a mission, but that didnât last, because she couldnât bear not being helpful. thatâs why she was there, after all, thatâs why sheâd agreed to anything and everything sheâd ever agreed to â not to be something greater but to do something greater. to change the world â even if the world started as small as sokovia or novi grad.
and when wanda started to lose control because of something happening with the island, she saw the carnage, and she tried to cling to tonyâs voice â come home, kid â the one that pulled her out before â but this had been beyond her, beyond anything she couldâve done. she turned to lorna in desperation, and... and lorna did it. she did exactly what she needed to do. and wanda had never felt more loved or trusted in her life.
wanda was pacing around the room, less like a caged animal and more like a nervous one, waiting for its turn on the great big stage. she muttered to herself, sometimes, soft attempts at her own comfort over the fact that realities would never converge, she would never be that wand â but her words fell into the silence of her palace bedroom and weighed down on her mind. hearing lornaâs voice was the most welcome relief she couldâve imagined.Â
wanda practically leapt to the door and threw it open, smiling, eyes wide and soft. âiâm so glad youâre here,â she greeted, and wrapped one arm around lornaâs shoulders in an awkward half-hug so that she didnât cover dawn. dawn was as beautiful as her mother â vivacious, energetic eyes and soft looks that were strictly confined to babies who hadnât yet experienced the world. maybe dawn could keep that look forever. that was the whole point of this, right? âi didnât get to say thank you,â she said quietly, smile softening. âfor helping me. when things were going out of control.â
how could she explain, in the simplest and least-offensive terms, thank you for knocking me unconscious before my powers completely wiped out this reality? âcan i hold her?â she asked instead, smiling down at dawn before carefully cradling her in her arms. she was tiny and fragile and the most wonderful thing wanda has ever seen. and dawn made her feel calm. âiâm sorry i had to ask you to do that,â she said, choosing to keep her eyes locked on dawnâs. âthe thing is, i have no idea what iâm capable of.â she paused, and sighed. âi had no idea.âÂ
she laughed and shook her head. âi guess i know we havenât technically been sisters for very long, but...â stop talking, she thought, but words kept pouring out of her as if sheâd writtne them all out beforehand, and she felt like all she could do was watch and listen from afar. âi trust you. pretty much more than iâve trusted anyone other than pietro. but even him... people donât look at him as... you know.â that was something she and lorna had in common, though truth be told they could argue in circles about the fact that neither of them were really monsters. thatâs just not how the world saw it.
âeven if iâm... way too late, iâm really glad that youâre in my life. and iâm so glad to have this little one in my life,â she said, leaning down and kissing dawnâs forehead. âguess i have to come clean to magneto sooner or later.â she wanted to call him dad. it seemed like what she was supposed to do. itâs what she did in other worlds. but in this one, theyâd only met once â and heâd asked her to call him MAGNETO.Â



















