Honeybee | Wanda Maximoff {AU}

Chapter Sixteen: Oxaeinae

Music is "Sorry" by Halsey.

Picture is Claudia Doumit as Sarai.

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Andrenidae Oxaeinae

An exclusively American subfamily, Andrenidae Oxaeinae are large, fast-flying bees with large eyes. They are best recognized by extremely low ocelli on their faces, a feature not shared by any other large bee. A. Ozaeinae also keeps a soupy mixture of pollen and nectar in their underground nests.

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Chapter Sixteen: Oxaeinae

I find Wanda exactly where I thought she'd be: in our dorm room. She looks up at me as I push through the door, a worried and confused expression on her face. I told her I'd be here, resting, not out and about wandering the earth.

"Where have you been?" she asks, rising from her bed. "I got out of class fifteen minutes ago, came back here, and you were gone."

I let the door shut behind me, leaning my back against it as my mind swirls with what's happened. I have to tell her; I know that. The how of it is getting to me. Do I really want to be the person who breaks her heart? She loves her uncle; I can tell that much. Rurik Maximoff is just about the only family Wanda has left. And now I have to be the one to tell her he's a liar, a witch, and a bad guy.

This isn't going to be fun.

I take a deep breath in and step forward, bringing my hands up to start signing. "Don't be mad at me--"

"--What did you do?"

My hands hesitate, but I eventually find the signals. "After the ritual, I didn't come here to rest like I said. I kinda...went to your uncle's building downtown..."

Wanda glances from my face to my hands, urging me on. "And...?"

"...And I broke in to his lab, the special projects lab." Wanda stares at me with a look of shock. I continue to sign an explanation before she can recover herself and start shouting at me. "I went there looking for answers. The thing that he showed us before I passed out, before I summoned the bees, that triggered everything. I felt this horror in my chest when I saw it, and I knew it was evil."

Wanda rolls her eyes and scoffs. "Sarai, my uncle isn't building something evil. You're just overreacting."

I shake my head fervently. "I'm not, I swear! I couldn't tell you why I knew it then, but now I can. Wanda, that thing is made with magic. My grandmother warned me about a male witch who has sketchy motives. At first, I didn't know who that was, but now I know it's your Uncle Max."

She gives a dry laugh and crosses her arms over her chest. There's pain and disappointment in her eyes, but she tries to hide it. "Uncle Max isn't a witch, and he sure isn't evil. He's helped me and Pietro more times than I can count. He's family, damn it."

An exasperated sigh pushes from my lungs, and I shake my head with brows furrowing. "He's lying to you, Wanda. He's been lying to everyone. When I got into that lab, I saw what he was building. What he's really building. It's a metal hive and metal bees fueled by magic, not solar or electric like he promised. He's using dark magic to create a new type of bee. I saw sigils and spells on his blueprints. He doesn't want to save the bees; he wants to replace them, and make a shit-ton of money while he's at it. He's an evil capitalist, pure and simple. I know you love him, but he's not a good person."

Wanda shakes her head, her hands trembling. Her eyes are turning red and angry, and her palms exude scarlet wisps. "You must be mistaken."

"You know I'm not. Melizza can back me up. She saw it, too."