Carmine Jewels ║ Wanda Maximoff

Chapter 22 - New To The Game

"The voices you're hearing. They don't make any sense, right? Just disconnected words?" The blonde breathed, her eyes wide.

Wanda slowly nodded, her lips slightly parted.

Keira couldn't help but feel a twinge of pity for the woman in front of her. It had clicked the moment when Wanda had mentioned the voices. And while many people fantasized about mindreading, the reality of actually having the ability was not as much fun as imagination might paint it. Absolutely, if controlled, it was a neat skill when you want to know what someone's thinking, but to never be alone in your own head again; not as fun.

"What does it mean?"

Keira pressed her lips together, not really sure how to explain it. But she had to give it to Wanda, she was already handling it a lot better than she had done, so that's a win. "Ehm..." She began, fiddling with the hem of her shirt. "You know the stone that you were exposed to?"

"In the scepter? Yes. It was supposed to help us end the war." Wanda said, a sharp edge in her voice as she rose from the bench and walked over to the door. She settled down in front of Keira and tilted her head slightly, urging the blonde to go on.

It took Keira a moment to understand what war Wanda was talking about, but of course, she meant the revolutions that were raging across the country. Keira had been unattached to her home country for so long, that she barely acknowledged herself as a Sokovian anymore.

"Yeah, that one." She breathed, sinking down into a sitting position again. "It seems like the stone grants powers to certain individuals, and if I'm not much mistaken, I'd take a guess and say you've gained telepathic powers." Keira gave a half-hearted smile and could almost see the gears grinding in Wanda's head, trying to absorb the information.

Wanda blinked a couple of times before returning her gaze to Keira. "What about Pietro? Is he alright?"

"He's still out, but he's breathing at least."

"At least?" Wanda hadn't missed the hesitation in which Keira spoke, and she didn't like the tone that her voice held either.

But Keira didn't answer, instead, she whipped her head to the left and strained her ears. The sound of footsteps had reached her, and she quickly scrambled to her feet, backing away from the door. Her back hit the wall with a thud, and she did her best to compose her face into a neutral mask.

On the other side of the glass, Wanda just looked confused, not having heard the footsteps yet. She looked questioningly at Keira, but the blonde wouldn't meet her eyes. And considering that the voices in her head were still jumbled together, she couldn't make heads nor tails of them.

"Topaz? What are you still doing here?" Alexandra's sharp voice rang out, echoing in the stone corridor. She had her hands on her hips and her eyes were cold as she observed the mutant's stiff posture.

"Miss Maximoff was awake, so I just wanted to make sure that she didn't freak out." Keira answered calmly, and she was proud to hear that her voice didn't betray any of the stress she was feeling inside. Upon seeing the scientist's raised eyebrow, she added, "You know, like I did..."

Alexandra tilted her head curiously, a shadow of a smile playing in the corner of her lips. "Oh? And was your attempt successful?" She questioned as she folded her arms over her chest. The end of her long lab coat fluttered slightly in the draft blowing through the corridor and she took another step towards the mutant, so she too could see into the cell.

Wanda had also risen to her feet now and had backed away slightly from the door now that another person had joined the conversation. "Yes, she was. She told me what happened after I passed out and let me know my brother is okay." She said, meeting the doctor's gaze.