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"Okay," you let out a small exhale. "I'm gonna do it. I'm finally gonna do it, Xena," Leaning onto your bed and reaching under the pillow, you grab your sketchbook, flipping the pages until you land on the one you stare at constantly, of the annual, enchanted show in the sky, the one that always appears on the night of your birthday. "I'm gonna ask her."
No sooner as the words leave your lips, you hear the voice of your mother outside, calling out to you.
"(Y/n)! Unlock the doors!"
"Good luck," your pet snake wishes you as she hides herself away, leaving you to attend to your mother.
You rush down the stairs and make your way towards the door of the tower, flicking your wrist so that all the locks on the door unlock themselves simultaneously without you needing to touch them.
The door had 17 locks in total, much to your disapproval. One for each year you were born. Every time your mother brought home a new lock, you'd always ask her why, and to this day, she's never given you an answer.
You'd concluded that maybe it was her idea of a creative way to keep up with the years of your life, and she'd never alluded to otherwise, unless you were just being naive.
You swing the door open, revealing your mother, her wavy dark hair peeking out from one of her many variations of cloaks.
Your hand reaches down into the open air, illuminating purple wisps forming from your fingertips, elongating and intertwining with one another to create a rope that reaches down to her, to which she grabs ahold of, signaling for you to pull her up.
Once you haul her up, Valentina removes the hood from her head, sitting her basket to the side and pulling her gloves off her hands.
"Mom," you said. "You're back!"
"Oh, sweetheart, your powers are improving every single day without fail!" she says, pulling you in for a hug. "How do you do it?"
"Well- It's really nothing," you murmurs, shrugging when she lets go with an exasperated groan.
"Tell me, do you know how exhausting it is to wander around the crowds of the market this time of year."
Your lips form into a thin line. "No, because I've never actually...been...out there."
"Oh." She pauses for a second before brushing off the words "Well, no matter. You aren't missing out on anything."
"Actually, Mom, there's something I wanna ask you about-"
"Would you come here for a second?" the woman cuts you off, beckoning you towards her. You want to speak up, to get to your objective, but you stall regardless and obey.
"Look in the mirror sweetheart. What do you see?"
You direct your gaze into the mirror, staring at both your reflection and hers.
"...Us?"
"Hm, not exactly," she drawls. "I mean, yes, obviously, we're both standing here in front of it, but do you want to know what I see?" She takes your silence as curiosity. "I see a gifted child, one who has a potential for greatness."
Her compliment makes a small smile form on your lips, but you know there's probably some sort of catch to it.
"But...despite all of her potential, her ability to learn new things without fail or difficulty, you still haven't managed to learn the most important thing yet."
Your smile falters. "Are you talking about that harnessing spell?"
You don't need words to know that it's exactly what she's talking about.
"You're almost 18, (y/n), and I've been patient for long enough. So tell me, why haven't you completed the power harness yet?"
"Well...it's harder to complete than other stuff," you tried to explain. "Those are just simple tricks, but this...?"
Truth be told, however, you'd already learned that entire thing from bottom to top. I mean, how much time could you possibly need to learn something when you're stuck looking at the same four walls everyday?
The only reason you were lying about it was because there was something about it that didn't sit right to you. When you'd actually tried to perform it, to test it out, it felt like it was draining you. But if this was just supposed to be a harness, then wasn't it supposed to help you?
"Well, then, it's time to see what needs to be fixed," your mother announces as she waltzes into what you could probably deem as the living room. "Come, sweetheart, you know what you're supposed to do."
You silently nod, following her into the living room while casting a small glance at Xena on the way, her tiny face giving you a look of encouragement.
Your mom sits on the couch, and you hurry to sit in front of her, holding your palms out. They begin to produce little branches of purple magic entangling in each other and rising upwards as it takes the form of a little ball. To play it off as being unable to make it work, your hand 'accidentally' jerks, hard enough to make it noticeable but soft enough to make it seem like it wasn't purposeful, and a stray bolt of purple escapes and hits a vase, causing it to shatter to the ground, making your mother jolt in surprise.
"(Y/n)!" she shrieks, bristling at the loud impact.
"Sorry, sorry! It always does that for some reason," you lied, in an eager mood to bring up your topic of conversation before she starts scolding you for breaking something. "But, anyways, mom... in a few days, if you didn't know, is a really, really important event for me, remember?"
You clasped your hands together and gave her a wide grin, hoping she would catch the hint, but she remained oblivious to your announcement.
Your shoulders dropped with disappointment, sighing, "It's my birthday, Mother."
"Oh," she says blankly, standing up from the couch and walking past you. "Wasn't your birthday just a couple of months ago or something?"
"Last year, mom," you mutter. "Like every other birthday I've had."
She seems to pay no mind to your comment as she begins searching a little chest that sits by the window. "Did you see a little glass bottle while you were cleaning up?"
"A glass-?" you furrow your brow in confusion, astounded at how she just completely changed the topic. "What, you mean the one with the dirt in it?"
"It's not dirt, (y/n), I told you," she corrects you, turning around to face you with her hands on her hips. "It's remains of a very important rock, and happens to be necessary for my work."
"Oh, some more 'important stuff?'" you asked sarcastically. "Nothing you've ever brought home and put in that box is never work-related."
"To you. You just...can't see the bigger picture."
"Well, it's kinda hard to find one when the only image you have is the same four walls you're stuck in every day of your life."
Valentina gives you a look, one that silently expresses her disapproval of your retort.
"Don't get smart. Where is it?"
You shrugged and gestured to her room.
"I threw it in there. I didn't know what it was because it was just laying around, but your name was on the side of the bottle, so I just tossed it in your room."
She sighs and shakes her head. "You really need to stop being so careless with things you know nothing about."
"Well, I wasn't gonna be delicate with a bottle of dirt."
"It's not dirt, it's the remains of a very powerful rock that came from space."
"Oh, I'm sorry. Space dirt."
"(Y/n)."
You knew her tone was a warning not to push it, so you dropped the attitude and sighed.
"You didn't even let me finish what I was trying to tell you."
She sighed, not really wanting to hear about your ramblings, but knowing you wouldn't drop the matter if she didn't.
"Fine, fine, go on, tell me about why your birthday is just so important for you," she said sarcastically, leaning against the wall.
Although her tone made you bristle a little bit, you knew that was going to be the best you'd get out of her.
"Okay, well...you know how- actually, maybe it'll be better if I just showed you." You conjured your sketchbook in your palm, flipping through the pages as you walked closer to her, so she could get a visual once you located it.
"Do you see these? They're from the little enchanted show that appears on one day, the exact same day every year. See where I'm going with this?"
"Oh, for god's sake, (y/n)," she scoffs. "You can't honestly believe some little fireworks in the sky are just magically connected to you. Lots of people have the same birthday as you."
"But they're not fireworks!" you argue. "And maybe there are other people that are born on the same day, but...I can't help feel like they're meant for me. I mean, how many others have powers like I do? They're connected somehow, Mother. All I'm asking is for you to let me out there, just once, so I can find out what they are, and- and see them for myself. I have to know what they are."
"You don't even know what's out there (y/n)," she says.
You frown at her. "Why are you always concerned about what's outside?"
"Because I've been out in that world more years than you've been alive. I know that you're only going to get yourself into trouble, and what happens then?"
"You could take me!" You suggest. "If you know about the world like the back of you hand, you could protect me from trouble!"
"No."
"But, Mom, if you'd just-"
"Listen, you're young and naive, and I keep you here, in this tower, to look out for you." Her tone is flat and unwavering, and you start to feel like there's really no point in trying.
"...You can't keep me here forever, Mother," you murmur. "I'm your daughter, and my whole life, you've made me feel like I'm stuck in a prison."
"And that's just the price you're gonna have to pay for your safety. Now drop the subject, understood?"
"Yes mom," you finally whisper, and look away. You know that your mother will never let you leave the tower, and it seems like there's no point in arguing anymore.
When you turn to walk back into your room, you hear her voice again.
"I know you think I'm some sort of bad guy here, (y/n)," she begins. "But someday...you'll realize that your mother knows best."
++++++++
"Are you certain this will work?" Loki asks skeptically as he gets connected to a wire.
"Do you doubt his intelligence?" Ebony Maw accuses, pointing to Thanos, who was leading this whole plan of theivery.
"It's not that I don't trust his ideas, it's just...this is a little absurd."
"Quit stalling, and get to work," Thanos speaks up from the corner, shoving Loki down from the palace ceiling, where he hovers over the very trinkets they had planned to steal.
The tiara and pendant of the lost princess.
Sighing, Loki signals for him to be dropped lower, far enough to snag the items and stuff them in a satchel, when he's distracted by a rough sneeze from one of the palace guards, who was completely oblivious to the man that was practically floating above him and the others.
"Let me guess," he asks from the back. "Asgardian pollen?"
The guard agreeing, simply thinking it was one of the others, before realizing he didn't recognize that voice, and turns around in confusion. That's when he sees Loki, ascending back onto the roof with a small smirk on his face as he waves tauntingly.
"Hey wait, wait!!"
When he gets back up, he and his other companions take off, flying through the forest once again until they finally reach safety, where Loki glares at them.
"If I am ever forced to do such a task again, there will be deadly consequences for the both of you."
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"(Y/n), I'm leaving again," your mother calls from downstairs, and you teleport down, frowning and crossing your arms.
"You just got back, where are you going this time?" you inquire.
"Work, make sure you stay inside," she replies plainly. "And (y/n)?" You make no sound of reply, simply staring at her. She walks up to you, placing her hands on your shoulders.
"Don't ever ask to leave this house again. Clear?"
You want to argue, yell and try to fight your way out with a point, but that won't get anywhere, so you bring your lips into a tight line, mumbling an answer.
"Fine, whatever."
She holds your face up by your chin, giving you a small smile. "I love you, honey."
"I love you too, mom," you reply half heartedly, pulling away from her.
"I'll be back soon," she assures you, and you recreate the rope that pulls her up and guides her down from the tower. Once you see her walk away, Xena slithers up one of the door locks, meeting your gaze.
"Now what do we do?" she asks you.
"We go outside," you reply confidently. Her tiny eyes widened.
"Are you serious? But your mom said not to ask her again."
"She did," you hum. "But it won't hurt to try one more time, right? Besides, who said anything about asking?"
~{The End}~