It was late, but that was par the course of Roz’s schedule these days. She went to school, studied hard, had Head Girl duties, and worked in the library getting as much homework done as she could before heading off to her internship at the law firm, or headed back home to the Sanctum to work in the library, or finish her homework. She was probably working harder than she needed to but she had taken on a lot of responsibility this year, and she was determined to prove she deserved it. Plus she had years of learning magic to catch up on.
In some ways this was also easier. She missed her friends from back home. She had some of them here of course, but they also had their own life together. She had friends at school too, but that didn’t stop her from missing what she had before arriving. By keeping her schedule busy, she was meeting new people, finding new opportunities, and keeping herself going forward. Her therapist liked to point out the flaws in her plans, but that was a work in progress.
Tonight was particularly late. Roz had worked at her internship, and then headed to the Great Library to work on a partner project for school. At least they had managed to get a lot done, but she was fairly exhausted when she finally dragged herself up the steps of the Sanctum and pulled open the doors. She was immediately greeted by Phoebe, who had some carefully chosen words about being gone all day. “Do you want to do my homework? You’re welcome to write my research paper for me.”
The two of them headed toward the kitchen. First food, then a bath, then bed. She had no idea where the other residents of the Sanctum were at the moment, but changes were at least one of them was aware that she’d made it home. Once in the kitchen, filled the kettle and set it on the stove to boil for tea, and then approached the fridge, ready to debate with the resident demon about letting her have dinner.
Food was a goal for Wanda too, with the ample residents the Sanctum housed the kitchen stayed in a constant state of fully-stocked - lots of options for snacks, plus the dishes she cooked up and tossed into the fridge for their homey little magic community to part take in if they wanted any. The meals she made were always varied between American and European dishes, and sometimes if she felt creative she’d try to do a crossover of some kind. Usually, the culinary experiments were a success.
Her most recent kitchen ventures weren’t too crazy - she’d made some tomato soup to go with the cooling weather (that paired fantastically with grilled cheese sandwiches), and she had played with a recipe for parene buchty. Wanda remembered the few times her mother was able to scrounge up the ingredients and make it; they were fried dumplings stuffed with sweet jam, and there were a few still in the fridge with her name on it.
The day had been spent looking through some of the Sanctum’s text for any information on these so-called watchful eyes floating in the cosmos out of curiosity, and she’d left her astral form to it while her physical form ventured off and was met with Roz.
“Hi,” Wanda greeted softly, the corners of her mouth stretching into a smile. “Mind if I mooch off your hot water for my own tea?”
Roz had just convinced the demon to let her take out some supplies to make a sandwich when she heard Wanda behind her. “Hey.” she said with a smile, before the demon threw the spicy mustard at her smacking off her arm and landing on the ground. Turning back to the fridge, she leveled it with a glare. “Unnecessary.”
Roz picked up the fallen condiment, and then turned back to Wanda. “Go for it. Plenty of hot water for both of us.” She set the mustard on the counter along with the rest of the items she had acquired. She hadn’t realized just how hungry she was until she saw all the sandwich components spread out on the counter. She really should have remembered to pack snacks for the next time she planned to be out this late.
“What are you up to at this hour?” It wasn’t late to be up, but people around here kept all kinds of different hours. She didn’t know what each of them were working on half of the time. Roz began to assemble her quick supper while she chatted and waited for the water to boil.
Wasn’t that demon in a mood tonight. Or, really, others would argue that it was always in a mood except for when it came to Wanda herself - she’s never really had much of an issue with them. On Roz’s behalf she did send a scolding glare and an accusatory point that translated to be nice and behave.
“Research,” was her eventual answer, and she went to pull mugs from the cupboards for their tea then. “Things back home are shaping up to be… weird. Never in a good way.”
How could it be, with gods and witches and technology and magic. It was a melting pot of nonsense but that was a good descriptor to everyone else’s world too from what she gathered. Anyway, it was her turn to face the demon that guarded their food and she aimed to pull out the tupperware of those dumplings without resistance. “Not that we can do anything from here but I guess it is making us restless? Knowing that we are going to be in the middle of it.”
It was inevitable, and she and Stephen had already talked about the possibility of being at odds with each other back in their world. Nothing to look forward to there.
Roz knew that Wanda and Dr. Strange’s home world was insane. Probably more insane than her own, because at least her home world didn’t incorporate aliens that she knew of. But magic, heave, hell, gods, and ancient powers? That she understood too well. “What’s happening at home, if you don’t mind me asking?” In some way she hoped she never got another update from her own home world unless it was to tell her that things had been set right. If they weren’t, she didn’t want to know what to expect if she ever got sent back.
She nodded in understanding, restless about things at home was probably something most people here could understand on some level. “Yeah, I get that. Not being able to do anything about home is…” she paused for a moment, not really sure what word she was looking for. “...kind of infuriating, I guess.”
“What kind of tea?” she asked as she took down two mugs from the cupboard and then pulled open the cupboard that held the sanctum's tea collection. A rather impressive one that was in thanks to Dr. Strange and Wanda’s tea shop, which Roz was always incredibly grateful for. Roz pulled a lavender, honey, and lemon balm blend for herself, hopeful to start winding down her brain after the day.
“Give me a vanilla chai?” Wanda asked after a moment of thought. Something sweet and milky to go with this - it would pair well with the dumplings. The demon was given a pat on the head before she shut the door with her hips. “Anyway, our timeline at home is no longer the timeline is the just of it. Which is something we are aware of here, because -”
All she did was vaguely gesture at everything around them. The multiverse concept and alternate timeline thing was something one had to understand and be aware of in Vallo. Back home it was only one timeline, and according to Mobius it was considered the sacred timeline. That was no longer the case. It fractured, and things were branching off and it was more or less on the precipice of being what one would so eloquently describe to be a clusterfuck.
“There is another Natasha here, of another version of events and she says there was some - being, I suppose? The Watcher. From what Stephen explained after he had her here the other day he observes the happenings of the world and apparently assembled a team to protect the multiverse.” Wanda shrugged, setting the tupperware on the kitchen island. “I was looking to see if any texts here mention such a being. So far they do not.”
“You got it.” she pulled Wanda’s tea bag, dropping it into a cup beside hers, and picked up the kettle. Carefully she filled up their mugs while Wanda explained what was happening. The Watcher slightly creepy Eldritch Terror vibes based on the name. But this was a different reality, and if this thing was just watching, well, that didn’t seem as evil.
Given that the Sanctum was from the same reality as Wanda and Dr. Strange, she was a bit surprised that there was no mention of The Watcher in any of the books. “That doesn’t sound familiar to me either.” And at this point Roz was quite familiar with the books. She spent several hours a week with them, both keeping the library in order and also using that time to expand her own knowledge. “But if he assembled a team, he’s not really watching, is he? He’s engaging.” So was the name wrong? At least it was to protect the multiverse as well, not destroy it.
While the tea steeped, she finished assembling her sandwich. It wasn’t anything elaborate or heavy, just enough to keep her going until tomorrow. Those dumplings did look good though. Or maybe that was just jealousy over how much the fridge demon liked Wanda. If only getting food from it was that easy for her.
When Wanda’s tea was done steeping, she picked up the cup and held it out to her to take. “One vanilla chai.”
“Exactly - he has stopped watching,” Wanda sighed, running a hand through the mess of her ginger-colored hair. “So that itself is worrisome.” It only proved their suspicions that back home was on the precipice of a cosmic disaster on a larger scale than what Thanos had done and that was a terrifying thought.
One could say it was pointless to stress about it here but she was bracing herself for an inevitable worst-case scenario. The more they found out, the less of a shock it’d be to their system if they were given an unfortunate memory dump like she’d gotten before.
Anyway, tea. Wanda reached for it gratefully. “Thank you, I definitely needed -”
A mountain, quivering. Monsters were pouring out. Flashes of orange and red mixed together - colors of an inferno but it was magic blazing instead. Clouds of rock debris and dust. Powerful blasts of energy back and forth, two silhouettes ricocheting attacks right off each other without hesitation but they moved so fast they were like a blur. Sometimes they disappeared, only to reappear and continue their assault.
There was shouting, most of it unintelligible like white noise. There was the feeling of rage, and grief.
Finally, when words could be heard with clarity, Wanda’s voice broke through the haze of the events, a sad whisper; “I know what you’re feeling. But I can’t let you do this.”
“Roz?”
The second Wanda’s hand touched hers when exchanging the tea cup, the kitchen they were standing in was left behind. Instead of condiments and tea it was a mountain top. For a second she thought she was seeing a fire. But fire didn’t move like that. It took her moment to really understand the picture that was unfolding behind her. Two people, and a never ending supply of monsters. Fighting. Or maybe fighting wasn’t the right word. They were locked in a battle, their power lighting up the sky. When she was finally able to hear (was that Wanda?) what one of them was saying, the scene ended, and she was back in the kitchen.
Roz blinked, focusing back on Wanda, eyes wide.
“I just saw something.” She sounded unsure though, because it didn’t make any sense to her. Her visions were never wrong, but they weren’t always straightforward.
Making sure Wanda had her cup, she lowered her hand, and then leaned back against the kitchen counter. “There was a huge battle with magic. On a mountain, I think, here in Vallo. There were two people fighting, and I think one of them was you.” Wanda hadn’t expected that.
Roz having looked so distracted caused worry to spike, and the temptation to prod into her mind to make sure she was actually okay had been entertained but that wasn’t necessary - though she did wish she was privy to exactly what she was describing here. None of that made sense. Her involvement with any fighting wasn’t too common unless something big came their way, and that usually involved some kind of teamwork where she was paired up with someone or went with a group since strength came in numbers.
A one-on-one confrontation sounded uncomfortably personal, and she was hoping her assumption that one of the people she saw fighting was actually her would be incorrect. “What makes you think - are you sure?” she asked, hands hugging the mug of tea a smidge too tight.
“Pretty sure. I couldn’t...see who it was. There were two people, and...monsters? Like a never ending supply of monsters streaming out of the fight. But there was so much magic in the air I couldn’t see who the two people were.” she sounded a little unsure, except for one thing she was positive about. “But I heard you. It was your voice. You said you knew what they were feeling, but you couldn’t let them do this….whatever this was.” Something to do with the monsters, maybe?
Roz crossed her arms over her chest, frowning. She was looking past Wanda now, replaying the image in her head. “There was so much power the mountain was shaking.” Which wasn’t exactly surprising, she knew Wanda packed a lot of power that Roz couldn’t begin to comprehend, but who the hell would she be fighting that could square up against her?
“I don’t usually have intimate conversations with people I am fighting,” Wanda said, because that exchange sounded suspiciously intimate and made goosebumps rise on her skin. So, what - someone was doing something they obviously should not be doing and she somehow got involved?
Most days she kept to herself and hers. Life was easier when she wasn’t trying to fulfill the role of a heroic Avenger which she sure as hell was not with her track record. Vallo had plenty of volunteers to fill those hero slots. A mountain shaking though, and magic?
She took a sip of her tea. It was hot, a little scalding on her tongue but she barely took notice. “Was there anything else?”
Her experience in actual fights was pretty minimal. They had all been more about outsmarting someone, or using the element of surprise. Battles with that much power? It wasn’t something she saw often. “Just...a lot of power. So much power. I know you’re powerful, Wanda, but this person had to be too. There was so much of it in the air I couldn’t see past it.”
Which was not at all helpful, she knew. “You don’t have any unaddressed grudges with people here, do you? It wasn’t clear what the fight was about and...I’m kind of drawing a blank here.” There hadn’t been enough context to get a clear picture of why, or even when. But the fight would be destructive, and at some point there were going to be monsters. “Or anything in your future back in your world that would lead to a showdown?”
Wanda’s mouth opened, words trying to come out but they didn’t - they couldn’t, because she really had to think about that answer. Agatha could pose a problem if someone else came along and reversed what she’d done to her mind so she couldn’t rule that out. Not to mention she’d been to Vallo already, once. As Agnes.
That would be the most obvious culprit. Maybe too obvious. That new, practically bleached version of Vision came to mind as well but that was crossed out almost immediately. That wouldn’t involve magic.
“It’s possible,” she finally replied, dread knotting in her gut. “Stephen and I sometimes talk about the possibility of - us, on opposing sides, and I’m sure there will be other players involved. There always are. We don’t just don’t have specifics. Everything remains frustratingly vague.”
The idea of Dr. Strange and Wanda being on different sides sounded nothing short of devastating. She didn’t want to imagine the kind of destruction that could follow from that encounter. Roz tilted her head in consideration, but her mind was helplessly blank on any clues as to what triggered the fight. “You mean back in your world?” It was hard to imagine why they would be on opposite sides of a fight here.
“My visions have never been wrong.” she said softly, frowning. “They’re sometimes open to interpretation, but this felt clear.” But she could be wrong about that, right? “I guess it could be possible I was seeing a future for you if you ever went back home?” but she didn’t sound confident. Her visions had never truly crossed realities.
“Yes, back home,” Wanda clarified, scrubbing a hand down her face with a sigh - she wasn’t in the best place there, consuming the contents of Darkhold like some addict needing a fix. Stephen was tasked to protect reality and the universe, and she had somehow stepped into the role of possibly messing all that up with the kind of magic she wielded. It was going to be a disaster, she knew it.
She set her mug down on the kitchen aisle, and she didn’t bother with a plate or fork with what came next. Wanda opened up the container, grabbed a dumpling and started biting into it. This required stress eating, thank you. “I don’t know what any of this is going to mean but I do know that I will be stressing about this,” she sighed again. “A lot.”
Roz watched her bite into the dumping and couldn’t help but feel some guilt over the situation. It wasn’t her fault exactly, but sometimes people just didn’t need warnings for something if it wasn’t going to do them any good. But it was too late, she had the warning. “Sorry.” she said gently, taking a sip of her own tea. “I’ll try to see if I can see anything else, and let you know if anything useful comes up.” Like a place or a time.
Until then, Roz didn’t know what else to really do. “Maybe start looking at a list of Outlanders who have a large amount of power?” If it was a local they might be out of luck, they weren’t exactly forthcoming with the kind of power they could really tap into here in Vallo should the need arise.
“If such a list exists,” she frowned, though she wondered if the DOA did keep tabs on that? Wanda could understand the reasoning behind it, she supposed, as long as it was mainly for informational use only - although Vallo didn’t seem like the kind of world to put restraints on those with powers. That would literally be most of the population considering how many witches were native here, and all the different races with their own abilities.
Still, worth a shot. Wanda would have to look into it. It was somewhere.
Right now she would internalize that stress - her brain needed a break, and she was determined to consume things before immersing herself in that new project. The Watcher could wait. “Would you like some?” she motioned to the dumplings. “They’re very sweet and this requires me to indulge.”
Dumplings, a sandwich, and tea. Kind of eclectic, but she could make it work. “Yeah, thank you.” she said with a nod. So much for a peaceful night of sleep, but at least tomorrow was Saturday and she could afford to sleep in if needed.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to cause you more stress.” She really didn’t, but sometimes she couldn’t stop a vision from happening, no matter how much she worked on her mental wards. “I really will try to see if I can figure out what I saw.”
You could count on this place never being peaceful for too long.
“Please don’t wear yourself thin over it,” Wanda advised with a ghost of a smile. It had a slight grim edge to it, but. What could you do? If Roz’s visions always came to fruition then it was what it was - and whatever it was, it would be revealed sooner or later. “We’ll - figure it out, somehow.”