Novi Grad, Sokovia, 1999
Victor Faust POV
Novi Grad was not that bad of a city. The same can be said about the whole country of Sokovia. It was better than Dad described it. What is the best part about it? Victor was spending time with Grandmother Ida! She was not yelling or calling him a failure when she taught him how to raise plants or taught him family magic. Victor was holding his hand over several jars filled with dried tea leaves. On his fingertips danced dark blue sparks that crackled around the room.
"Good, Victor, now release it." A quiet voice spoke right next to him.
Narrowing his gray eyes, the sparks formed a small magical circle made of blue energy. From it flew a thin mist that coiled and flew into the jars. The air was filled with a thick smell of herbs and burned wood. After a minute, Victor took his hand with a grimace and hugged it to his chest.
"Excellent, Victor! I wish I were that good when I was ten."
"Thank you, Grandma," he responded through gritted teeth. "It still hurts, though."
"That is normal. Your body needs to get used to our magic. With time and practice, the pain will disappear. Now, this tea will be more effective at helping people with pain than any morphine could ever be." She ruffled his thick black hair. " Now, how about some dinner?"
"Yes, please! I am starving." Victor practically bounced on his toes, forgetting the pain.
They soon went to a small kitchen filled with only the most basic equipment. Ida placed bowls of hot soup on a wooden table. As they were about to dig in, they heard a frantic knock on the door downstairs.
"I will go, grandma." Not waiting for her reply, Victor moved through the modest living room and went downstairs to where the shop was located. He turned on the lights and checked the clock on the wall, which showed 6 p.m. While opening the door, he mechanically started to speak.
"Welcome to Faust Herbal Remedies. How can we help you?"
A girl with green eyes, a round face, and long dark hair entered the shop.
"Um, Hi, are you all right?" She was skinny and had puffy red cheeks.
"My... My brother has a fever. He... he can not stop shaking." The girl looks at shop shelves filled with various jars of herbal teas, ointments, and creams. Her fingers continued to shake.
"I understand." Victor picked up a large jar and a small vial filled with green liquid. "You need two tablespoons from the large jar and three drops from the small one. Drink this two times a day, and it should help. If not, go to the doctor."
The girl was about to reach out, but she stopped herself and tugged a piece of her hair.
"I... I do not..."
"It's ok, just take it. You will pay when you can." Her green eyes widened.
" You are serious?"
" Yeah. Grandma says our job is to help people, not to make money."
The girl slightly blushed and took the jars.
"Thank you very much. What is your name?"
"I am Victor Faust." He offered her his hand, which she took.
"Wanda... Wanda Maximoff."
"Nice to meet you! I hope your brother will get better soon."
Soon after, the girl left the shop, and Victor locked the door. As he descended the stairs, he noticed his grandmother standing in his way with her arms crossed. Victor swallowed hard.
"I am sure she will pay it back, Grandma. She seemed genuinely nice."
"You are nice, Victor." She gave him a bone-crushing hug and kissed his head. "I am proud of you. Now go, the soup gets cold."
Five days after the encounter, Victor was cleaning the outside of their shop. His neck felt the morning sun's rays, which promised a warm day. The street was starting to buzz with people going to work, walking their dogs, and cars moving through the roads. Focusing on his work with a well-worn broom in his hand, he was completely unaware of a duo standing behind him. Only after a slight cough did he straighten and turn around.
"Hello again," Wanda offered as a small smile appeared on her face.
"Wanda! Hi." Victor looked at a boy, who was clearly her twin brother. "I see that your brother feels better."
"Much better. My sister's convinced you are some kind of magician." He offered his hand. "My name is Pietro."
Victor used all his 10-year-old acting skills and laughed while shaking his hand. "Oh no, no. No magic here, and it is nice to meet you."
"Now, as for the payment." However, before Wanda has a chance to finish, Victor interjects.
"Do you want to stop by for a pie? My grandma's apple pie is the best in the world, I promise you."
The proposition took aback the twins.
"Oh... Thank you, but we wouldn't want to intrude." Wanda gently tugs her hair behind her ear.
"You said apple pie?" Wanda nudged her brother's arm. Seeing this, Victor smiled brightly.
"Oh yeah, it's the best apple pie in the world, trust me!" Pietro sends Wanda a pleading look. Wanda groaned, but the corner of her lips rose.
"We would be honoured."
Victor quickly gets them inside. The shop would not be open for the next 40 minutes, which gives them plenty of time. The house was filled with the sweet smell of cinnamon and apples. The twins noticed that the insides looked quite like their old ones, which created a bitter-sweet taste in their mouths. As Victor leads them into the living room, he calls his grandmother.
"Grandma, we have guests!" Soon after, Ida came from the kitchen wearing a white apron. "This is Wanda and Pietro Maximoff."
"Oh my! Hello there, sweeties. Well, are you not like two drops of water?" Therese came closer to the Maximoff twins. "My name is Ida. Would you like some pie? It's freshly made."
"That's why I brought them here, grandma." Wanda and Pietro felt increasingly shocked at how sweet and welcoming Faust was. Pietro was positively salivating from the perspective of an apple pie. Wanda maintained her shy smile. Soon, all four of them sat at a table and started to enjoy the pie.
"Oh my God! It is so good, Miss Ida." Pietro took another large bite of apple pie.
"Pietro, please." Wanda took a much smaller piece. "It's delicious, Miss. Thank you."
"You both are so cute! I am so happy Victor found such nice friends. He rarely goes outside."
Victor felt heat on his cheeks as he focused on his plate.
"Why not?" asked Pietro, swallowing another bite. Therese placed another piece of pie on his plate, and the boy smiled brightly.
"Well, he is just so dedicated to helping me. He moved to me from Poland a year ago but still has problems settling in."
"You are Polish? Why did you move?" Asked Wanda, gently tilting her head.
"Grandma..." Murmured Victor under his breath.
"Life comes down to choices. It will not matter if they are fair or difficult; we all need to make them and deal with the consequences. Victor chose to live with me." Ida remembered she was talking to 10-year-olds because she ruffled Victor's head and smiled. "And I am so happy he chose me." The rest of the meeting went on in a pleasant and homey atmosphere. When the time came to open the shop, Ida asked Victor to hand out twins since she could manage the shop. She, of course, encourages Maximoffs to visit the shop any time they want. As they walked around the streets of Novi Grad, Wanda handed Victor some money.
"This is for the medicine. Thank you once again."
"Oh no, Grandma would kill me if I accepted this. She gave you pie; you are basically a family now." He tried to give the money back.
"Please, Victor, accept this. We would rather not owe you anything." As her green eyes looked deeply into his gray ones, Victor simply sighed and nodded, pocketing the money.
"Hey Vic, do not sweat it. No one can say no to Wanda's puppy eyes. Well, except me, of course, since I am her older brother."
"You are older by twelve minutes," Wanda responded dryly.
"That still counts!" They continued walking around the city and talking. Victor did not remember the last time he felt this comfortable. The twins were a lot of fun. However, maybe this was his imagination, but there was a voice at the back of his mind that told him that something was wrong.
"Your parents will not be angry at you two walking around the city." The twins immediately freeze in place. Victor knew he said something wrong.
"Our parents are gone." Said Pietro without his previous cheer.
"Oh God, I am sorry I did not know."
"It is fine. How could you know?"
"How... never mind, you probably don't want to talk about that."
"Our home got hit during the bombing by two rockets. The first one killed them." Said Pietro.
"And then the second one flew in, but it didn't go off." Added Wanda. Both were walking straight ahead without looking at Victor, who tried to keep up with them.
"It took two days until they dug us up from the rubble."
"That was two months ago. I wanted to help with the rescue, but my grandmother did not allow it. She went there and treated the wounded."
"I know... That is why I came to your shop, Victor. Everyone knows Ida always helps." Wanda finally looked at Victor and smiled slightly, even if her green eyes were glassy.
"Yeah, we Sokovians need to stick together, or people like Stark will do whatever they please with us!" Pietro growled.
"He made those rockets." When Pietro was expressive and fiery even in his anger, Wanda's anger was like a frozen ocean. "And he will pay, just like all the others." Victor noticed they moved quite far from his grandmother's shop. The streets were, in most places, filled with holes, and some parts of buildings were completely crumbled, not to mention twisted and bent bus stops and missing benches. Every wall was either painted with graffiti or filled with posters, all with radical slogans about the need to change the world.
"I am so sorry. I can not even imagine what you have experienced, and I understand your anger." Victor paused, biting his lip. "Like Grandma said, you are always welcome in our shop."
The twins were quietly watching each other. Between their eyes, there must have been a deep conversation only twins could have. After a while, they turn to Victor and smile.
"We would like that." Said Wanda, playing with a strand of her hair.
"If pie is involved, I am interested!" Added Pietro.
And so, an unexpected friendship bloomed, born from a simple act of kindness. However, the story has just begun, and after just a month, Wanda and Pietro stand before the Faust shop. The windows and door were boarded up. The smell of herbs and cinnamon was gone. Wanda took Pietro's hand, and with her eyes on her boots, they went further into the city. Soon after, the Twins joined Hydra, which set the stage for what was to come.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for reading.
Take care :)