3964/Sera past, present, and future tense

Sera past, present, and future tense
Date of Scene:	28 October 2020
Location:	Avengers Mansion - Second Floor
Synopsis:	Sera and Wanda discuss derustifying magical skills. Pietro says Hi.
Cast of Characters:	Sera, Wanda Maximoff, Pietro Maximoff

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Sera has posed:
Sera is still on edge by the time she finally gets back to Midgard from Asgard. It was a strange experience to be surrounded by 'the enemy' she has known all her life. They are murderous monsters... who play drinking games and sing songs about her and invite her to parties. The monsters.

A lot of what she thought she knew about life kept bumping up against walls of reality and being knocked back in her face as lies. Asgardians and Odin were the latest victim of this confrontation between thoughts and truth. Like Hela before him, and Lucifer here on Earth.. Odin sat on a seat of power so vast, perhaps he too knew of Sera's fate.

She wandered in to the mansion to get some water before heading home. It was a short flight, but the dark energy bifrost bridge back to Earth felt draining to her. Upstairs was not where the kitchen was but she had only been here once before and most of that time was spent locked in a room until SHIELD could interview her.

Her wings are made of pure magical geometry energy, crackling a touch against the air as she moves around. They are tucked in and her eyes are still bright too. The transfer through dark energy helped energise her beyond the norm and now she needs to let it bleed off.

"Is there anybody home? I'm trying to find the kitchen.. eh, never mind," she says and sighs, walking over to the large windows to stare out at the city. She looks down at her hands. They're shaking and she's not sure why.

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
As it turns out, there is indeed someone home. From the direction of her room, Wanda emerges with a pint of some kind of very chocolatey looking ice cream in hand. She hasn't eaten any, the spoon's still resting in her hand, but she stops when she notices Sera--both the tone and general demeanor. She heads over in her direction, then holds both pint and spoon out to the angel.

"You seem like you might need this a little more than me."

Sera has posed:
Sera turns when she hears the voice. She smiles to Wanda and accepts the pint of chocolate ice cream. Glorious. "Thank you. You're the Scarlet Witch aren't you?," she asks in a very Asgardian kind of way. To the point. She offers her free hand to her and says, "I'm Sera. You probably haven't heard of me. No one really hears about the Infinity Watch. I'm an Angel, and a Sorceress. And I think Odin, King of Asgard, just asked me to commit regicide."

She raises an eyebrow and chuckles. "Not that I haven't been thinking about doing that most of my life anyway.. still. How am I meant to choose between my own people and the friendship of a a man I've only ever known as a blood thirsty warmonger?"

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
"Please, call me Wanda," The Scarlet Witch insists, her tone friendly as she takes Sera's hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Sera, though you would be wrong as to me not having heard of you. It is surprising as to how much ends up crossing my path... though not quite those sort of specifics." The mention of regicide gives a bit of a raised eyebrow. She moves to take a seat and gestures for Sera to do the same. Easier to eat ice cream that way too.

"That sounds as if you have been put in a very complicated position. I can say from experience, though, that there are often many layers to these things. A surface view is never all there is."

Sera has posed:
Sera smiles and nods her head, "Wanda." She shuts her eyes and draws the magic back within her. Her wings disappear in a sprinkle of little white dots of light that fade like fireflies in to nothing. "Oh perhaps Thor talks about me. He's my friend since I came to Midg... Earth. He's nothing like I had expected from the son of Odin," she admits and joins her on the couch cross legged. Jeans and a T-shirt that says 'All the angles' inside of a circle on her front is how she's dressed now she's back on Earth.

"I've heard of you. The Avengers are quite famous now. You do a lot of magic, in combat? I used to be really good at that. Before I died I was formidable. I think I need to be that again, though even more so. There are big battles in the future that I need to be ready for," she says and then raises an eyebrow and cryptically asks, "Can you keep a secret?"

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
Wanda gives a bit of a laugh. "I believe I have heard that said more than once about Thor. I think the world is very good at telling tales that aren't quite on the mark. You are right about the magic, though, it is indeed what I'm known for, though I have to wonder what the world says about me."

Or perhaps, she wouldn't want to think too hard about that. Either way, she leans against the arm of her chair, looking back over at Sera. "I'm fairly good at secrets. What's on your mind?"

Sera has posed:
Sera tucks her feet up underneath her and turns on the couch a bit to face Wanda. She eats a little bit more of the ice cream and then explains. "When I was much younger... hmm, no that won't do. Heven used to be part of Yggdrasil. There was a great war and Asgard in desperation used powerful magic to cut us off from the tree. It was our source of power and to replace it, the Angel engineers built a great engine powered by the curse that cut us off from Yggdrasil."

She nods, yes, that is a good start. "I once peered in to the great engine and in it I saw something wondrous. My past, my present.. and all my possible futures. So many futures. So many people.. so many places. I have spent a life time so far processing what I had seen. Things have come to pass... I cheat at life. I try to make decisions that take me down a path toward the future that seemed brightest for me."

"I've only been on Earth a few months and I speak the language just fine - because like I said, I cheat. I knew I was coming here, so I learnt it ahead of time. In most of these futures.. I liberate Heven from the Queen and the Hierophant. Sometimes it is a horrible blood massacre, sometimes Heven itself is destroyed, sometimes it turns out peaceful. It is a strong attractor in my fate though, drawn back to my home to fight the evil on the thrones."

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
Wanda takes the information in slowly, nodding along as she seems to follow the train of thought and the explanation. "I cannot imagine that seeing all of your possible futures would have been a pleasant experience. But you are mentioning the future you feel was brightest for you... what is it that makes you think that future is the brightest? What is it you hope to achieve in all that you've seen?"

Sera has posed:
Sera smiles a touch, almost a smirk. "You're smart. In all the futures where I did nothing.. my people eventually conquered the ten realms. The Asgardians did nothing to do stop us, nor could they have. This was not a good future for anyone but the angels with all the power.


In some futures I stop them and rule instead, in others I die trying. In one, my wife never met me and she took the throne and I killed her when I took over. Again and again my future leads me to stop the angels from their genocidal war of the realms. That is why I must remove the Queen from the throne and why I must end the Hierophant. And on top of it all, there is a version of my future where I get to retire with my friends and family here in Earth.

    But all these fragments never entirely make sense to me until I'm in the moment - well I just experienced one of those moments, standing before Odin and hearing his words in response to mine. Our purposes may be aligned, but I fear he is using me. Either way, I need to be better than I am right now. I need to relearn how to fight with magic."

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
"People use each other for their own goals often. Perhaps Odin is using you to achieve some of his own goals, but if that is the path you are already convinced that you need to walk, is it not you using him as well?" Wanda rests her head on her hand, observing thoughtfully.

"I suppose that the fact of the matter is that you know what you want, what you think is right for you and the people around you, and that you go for that goal in whatever manner you think is best." The mention of magic does get her attention, and she sits forward slightly. "What do you mean by 'relearn', exactly?"

Sera has posed:
Sera shovels more of the delicious chocolate ice cream in to her mouth as she also nods in agreement. The question though has her raising an eyebrow. "Ah oh. Well, In some of the futures I am wielding multiple magics at once in song as if it were nothing at all. I am a true sorceress supreme, as they say here on Earth."

She smiles, "The truth is I learnt how to do that kind of thing when I was growing up on Heven. I would read from the forbidden texts to my hearts content because no one else ever went there and it was a quiet place I could be myself until it was time for me to put in time for more songs for the dead."

"The books there ranged across many topics about the nature of reality and magic and how that can be translated in to form - one of those forms being song. Given I spent my days constantly singing the songs of the fallen, I found I had an aptitude for doing magic with music," she explains.

"But that was almost 800 years ago... and almost 600 years ago when I was at my last peak. When I did I found myself on Hel as a servant to Queen Hela. There my magic was severely restricted.. and bit by bit I forgot how to do most of it. The fundamentals are all still here in my head," she taps the side of her noggin, "But the practical real time use of it under pressure in combat? ...nope."

She sighs, "Just recently I needed to turn my magical sword in to a flaming magical sword. It took me a week to remember the magic and write it down in to song, then practice singing it - all so I could fight those magical skeletons and an evil undead necromancer. I need to master every form of the magics once more so that it can flow from me freely as I fight."

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
"So you know the notes, you just don't remember the melody," Wanda muses with a tiny smile. That she can completely understand. "You need to dust off what you used to know and practice it. It doesn't take much to lose practice for any skill that's unused, but magic is something that I don't believe ever fades. Six hundred years is nothing."

There's a hint of amusement there--Wanda's clearly not six hundred years old and knows nothing of having that kind of experience. "Using magic like that regularly is a good practice. I don't tend to use it a lot in front of other people outside of a more serious moment, but I will admit that tidying up my room is much easier than doing it by hand.."

Sera has posed:
Sera grins and shovels more ice cream in. "Yes I suppose so. Or like using a musical instrument. I remember how I used to sing, but I can't sing like that right now. Not without practice. You do a lot of magic in combat. Perhaps you and I could make a trade. You could help me train and I could aid you in return in some fashion. Preferably not be helping you tidy your room using magic." She looks rather amused by the concept of using magic to do such menial tasks. Then again, she has used telekinesis magic to bring beers from her fridge to her hand before.

Pietro Maximoff has posed:
"Do not believe her. She makes me clean."

Where the pair of women were standing and talking, there's the addition of one more, as if appearing out of nowhere. The only hint that perhaps it wasn't teleportion is the door opening and closing in the span of a heartbeat (if caught at all?), and a light breeze. There, where there hadn't been before, is one Pietro Maximoff, looking all the world as if he'd been there all along, even taking up the affectation of lifting an arm to rest upon his (little) sister's shoulder. He wears a dark, conforming shirt, a pair of jeans, and sneakers.

"Oh... magic?" He looks at Wanda, his head canting, "You are teaching, then?" He has the same accent as Wanda, that Eastern European play.. something never lost in the years of travelling.

"She is good. Mostly. Last person deserved it..." There's a light, offhand, obviously teasing line tossed in; all in the name of twins.

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
If it weren't for the fact that Wanda's had years to get used to Pietro, his sudden presence nearby would be alarming. So when her brother is suddenly standing near her, Wanda's reaction is calm, canting her head up in his direction with a fond smile. "I make you clean up your own messes, Pietro. You would drag your feet otherwise." That is most certainly a joke at the expense of his speed.

She gestures towards Pietro, then towards Sera. "Sera, this is my brother Pietro. Pietro, this is Sera. We were merely talking about practicing magic so she can make certain to give herself the 'brightest possible future'."

Sera has posed:
Sera's eyes widen in surprise at the sudden appearance of Pietro. She notes how casual acquaintance with Wanda and then the explanation is given, "Ah. Siblings. I did not have them. Biologically may be, but I was never told and have no way to find out." She shrugs and smiles anyway. "Nice to meet you Pietro. You are very fast. One day I wish to find somebody so fast they can see the construction of magic as I weave it. That would be a really interesting way to learn."

She smiles, "And as your sister says, we are discussing training. I know a lot of magic, I'm just very.. hm.. rusty. Yes, rusty. That's the best way to put it." She sits up and looks at Pietro, then her eyes become glowing white and she begins to sing an unearthly song in her angelic voice. A glowing echo of Pietro takes steps backwards away from where he stands now.. the ghost moving backwards like a blur to the door, shutting it, then opening it, then stepping back out of the way.

The white motion disappears just as suddenly as she summoned it as she starts to cough and also chuckles. "That's," she coughs again, "one I used a lot as a bounty hunter. Where had they been, where did they go.. very useful. It sympathetic magic."

Pietro Maximoff has posed:
Pietro laughs at his sister's riposte and he leans to give her a kiss on the side of her head briefly before he turns around to the other. Introductions, after all!

His head cants as he reaches out in offering of a hand; and should it be given? A non-contact kiss on the knuckles. "Pleasure.. and, I am. Or, you are all so very slow." There's that lopsided smile, the hallmark that the speedster is in good spirits for the moment.

The thought of watching the construction of magic, though? It's nothing that he'd ever considered, even with who his sister is. Nothing, actually, that ever concerned him. "It would have to be magic and speed," is surmised. "It is rare for both gifts." He glances to his sister, brows rising, the lilt still present in tones, "She," and Wanda is gestured towards, "is good witch. Very slow."

The blur, however, causes Pietro to take a step back; he's caught of guard with the sudden burst of angelic song, and the warmly lit glow, and so spins around to watch the spectre of magic as it traces his path. "Very.. useful?" And here he thought he was used to magic?

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
There's a small laugh from Wanda, mostly because of Pietro's reaction. Seeing him off-guard is something rare enough that there's a delighted smile creeping across her features. "I think you are confusing deliberate for slow," she teases. Her attention rests back on Sera again.

"I am certain if you need to practice something like that more, Pietro could put you through your paces. It would give him something to do for about a minute." She pauses. "Perhaps thirty seconds, I don't want to underestimate him." There's that fond teasing smile.

Sera has posed:
Sera nods to Pietro, "For bounty hunting. Yes, very useful." She smirks a touch at the way he moved back from it. But there's another nod and she says, "Someone who is much faster than me would be helpful in training. I think that would require me to remember all my time songs - the ones to slow him down, or speed me up. Probably slow you down is better because speeding myself up doesn't speed up my ability to weave magic, just dodge anything you throw my way. It would be a good defence to get good at again, given how many speedy fast people I've met on earth so far. You're the... fourth? may be fifth?"

Pietro Maximoff has posed:
"No..." and Pietro's voice sounds a touch distant as he consider, before he follows up with, "I think slow." There's the brief rise of a smile just to send that little bit home.

Blue eyes roll in that sibling fashion, and he exhales in an audible, forced breath soon after. "Thirty seconds. Might as well be forever," is groused, though his tones are underscored with amused affection.

"I would have to let you catch me," is mused. There's something that doesn't seem to sit right with Pietro about that, however, and he glances at Wanda again. Instead of speaking to that point, there's the mention of the existance of the others? Others? "Fourth? Fifth?" There's a something of a scoff in his tones; he's decidedly posturing. "Not as good as me."

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
"Speed is certainly a powerful force to come up against," Wanda agrees, though she grins towards her brother. "But Pietro is certainly more than just speed. He is also an incredibly kind and charming individual with absolutely no sense of ego." The grin turns into more of a sly smile before she looks back to Sera.

"Having a good defense for something like that would be good, but I have also found that a lot of my magic has ended up being used to protect or aid others against some kind of force. Perhaps being able to speed someone else up or create some way for speed to be harder to use against them would also be a good application."

Sera has posed:
Sera nods her head, "Yes. Aiding people with magic is a wonderful thing. I used to do that with Angela when we were bounty hunters. Before I died." She finally takes Pietro's hand as she's seen Earth people do. She lets him kiss it, then she shows him how they do it on Heven and Asgard, by taking his forearm and smiling.

"Though I know that facing down the Hierophant and the Queen of Heven cannot be done alone, I do know from my visions in to the engine that the final battle with the Hierophant is for me, and me alone. For he is a sorcerer supreme and I must be better than him to win the day."

She rolls her eyes and then offers the chocolate ice cream to Pietro. "I want to practice ALL the things," she says with a wry smirk. "And hopefully I have enough time to do so."

Pietro Maximoff has posed:
There it is, the sisterly propping of an ego, or in Pietro's case, a little bit of redirection so he doesn't mull too much on the potential of being slowed. Instead, he looks to his sister and leans to kiss her on the cheek. "You... you are still too skinny. Will never catch husband." He has //no// sense of ego, nope!

Pietro allows for the grasp of his arm, and nods, giving her a quick squeeze. Once he's got his hand retrieved, it's waved with light dismissal. "I will take more.. and speak with Wanda. She knows.. smart girl," and there's a pause before, "even if skinny."

Once he gives that bit of.. brotherly criticism, he's off. One step, two.. and where he had been, there is nothing but a light breeze.

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
"Well, if you are in need of assistance, I am more than happy to work with you, Sera," Wanda replies, lifting her eyes towards her brother with a look of amusement at his words. She's used to it. That and the way that he's just gone in moments. Turning her attention back to Sera, she chuckles lightly before refocusing.

"I know that time is very different for you than it is for me, but I am certain that some things really just require a little practice to get right back into. It could be interesting to create a series of puzzles to solve with magic, see if you can try different methods of magic in which to approach a task."

Sera has posed:
Sera puts the ice cream down on the coffee table when Pietro instead disappears in a flash. She smiles and shakes her head, "He is so fast. It's very impressive." She looks back to Wanda and says, "Thank you. But please accept a payment in kind, nothing for nothing is ingrained in me deeply."

She raises her eyebrows and smiles, "Well that does sound good. Puzzles. I like that idea a lot." She stands up and stretches, then tucks her arms behind her, "Thank you for the ice cream and the chat Wanda. Please, don't tell anyone of how I looked in to the futures. It would... complicate things. A lot."

Wanda Maximoff has posed:
"My brother is impressive, though I try not to tell him that too often. He will get too much of a big head," Wanda grins, but she nods towards Sera. "Regardless of how you figure out your future, the important thing is that you head in the direction you think best for both you and those around you. Your future is your own, Sera, and what you make of it."

She gets to her feet. "I'll look forward to coming up with some tasks to enable you to practice different types of magic. It sounds as if it would be enjoyable, a game of it."

Sera has posed:
Sera smiles and says, "I look forward to it Wanda. Until then..." She waves and opens up the doors to the balcony. A small song is sung and her wings spring back in to being. She jumps and takes to the air flying off back to Brooklyn.