Chapter 36

                                    

                                          
||"Your mind is not a cage. It's a garden. And it requires cultivating."||
                          
They were breathless by the time they reached the main building, and Wanda was sure that Crystal was going to faint from exhaust at one point. 
                          
"Your brother's a dick," Crystal croaked, leaning forward to rest her hands on her knees. 
                          
"Come on," she said to her, pulling Crystal's arm to help her up. "Let's go find Emma."
                          
With the remaining energy they had, they ran up the stairs, until they reached the corridor that led to the living room, and Crystal's excitement was so obvious that Wanda too felt excited. But she wasn't sure why a looming presence of fear settled in her throat. 
                          
They stepped into the living room and halted.
                          
Wanda saw Pietro first, his shoulders lank and his hair tousled. Then her eyes moved to the right, where Emma's vibrant beauty shone like a winter's morning; her hair wild but tamed, and her icy blue eyes exhausted, yet calm. And then, farther left, was someone she could recognize in the dark—Nik.
                          
The aching in her limbs went numb as he turned around, his eyes still scanning his surroundings until finally, they found Wanda. 
                          
She could feel her eyes changing—shifting—into those scarlet gems, but not from anger or fear, but from pure joy. That's what it felt like to look at him. Pure joy.
                          
As Crystal moved through the living room toward Emma, Wanda and Nik circled the other way, finding each other in the middle. She leaped into his arms, holding him close as he dug his face into her neck and smiled. "This can't be real," she said, breathless, holding onto him tightly. 
                          
Nik giggled, releasing his arms, but leaning down to allow Wanda to hug him just a bit longer. She didn't want to let go, but she did, because she wanted to know why he was here, and why he was with Emma. 
                          
Emma. 
                          
Wanda's eyes dulled down to their normal color, and she lifted her head to the White Queen, demanding an answer. 
                          
"I trust Charles and Jean, but they want to train you to grow stronger, which will indeed help you, but as for Nik ? He is willing to study deeper as to what lies within you, and it's he who will save you from the madness that threatens to spill out out those fingers."
                          
Everything went still.
                          
"Why didn't you tell us where you were going?" Crystal said, frowning. 
                          
"I didn't want to get your hopes up, incase Nik were to have said no," she directed her words to Wanda. 
                          
"You could have persuaded him into coming," Wanda said, feeling guilty for even speaking the words. "He wouldn't have known the difference."
                          
Emma's lips thinned, but she nodded. "That's true, but...I didn't want to abuse my power."
                          
Pietro's lanky posture suddenly grew tall. 
                          
"He's a human. What is it exactly do you think will happen? He speaks caring words to my sister and suddenly she's okay? Is that going to stop this?"
                          
Nik swallowed hard beside Wanda, and it took every ounce of power for her not to yell at Pietro. The conversation they had earlier seemed to mean nothing. 
                          
"He's the very human who kept your sister sane and strong, so I have high faith in him. And it's also the fact that he's a human that I believe he'll have Wanda make good progress. His human eyes see things that we simply can't."
                          
It was clear that Emma's feelings toward Pietro were still sailing on broken glass, and after a moment, Pietro zoomed away, his blue streak giving off hints of black.