The Variant [Part One] [Wanda Maximoff [FF] | Elizabeth Olsen

Chapter 13

Milla yawns as she wakes up from her sleep. She looks around and finds herself still inside the capacious brewing chamber of the Bierhaus, lying at the pile of hay nearby. She tried standing up and winced as her arms ached and wobbled, it occurs that using psychic energy is much more strenuous than manual mixing.

Brewing uses a lot of muscle, but psionic manipulation uses both physique and astral forms. Milla stood up and went outside the brew-chamber to find Wanda stretching her arms, noting that the woman was fatigued as well. The woman flexed her arms and legs, grimacing as she did so.

Bending beer is not as easy as bending water, since the former substances have different viscosities according to their different styles: a lighter hand for fizzy ones while a firmer hand for slightly syrupy ales.

"Ah, that's why I didn't agree with that," Natasha the Brown Widow said, as she drank her coffee. Wanda looks at her.

"And I don't have any powers," The Russian woman added.

"Then what are those additional runes on your arms," Wanda asks Natasha's variant. Unlike the original Natasha, she knows, the Brown Widow's arms are tattooed heavily. One line of runes Wanda recognized to be the anti-alcohol one, but the other lines next to them are letterings she has never seen before.

"These lines allow me to summon weapons. Very useful for night guarding if you ask me. No need to refill bullets from time to time, they're infinite and of course, leave no traces behind unlike ordinary bullet shells," Brown Widow explained.

Wanda nodded. Natasha Romanov never believed in all those magic shenanigans; she even refers to Thor's weapon of choice as an 'alien hammer'. Good to see that the other version of her is open to more alternatives such as magically-summoned guns and blades at least for the sake of convenience.

"Hello, красота," Said Liseth in the corner wearing her usual Harley-Davidson jacket and motorbike pants.

Brown Widow summons a knife made of runes and hurls it toward Liseth. The rune-knife transmorphing into a real one as it approaches Liseth. The Australian woman caught the flying blade by slowing it down as it neared her face. Liseth smirked.

"Thanks, babe," Liseth smiled.

"Fuck off!" Natasha said.

Noticing Wanda's perplexed reaction. Natasha speaks for Liseth.

"Ever heard of Thor's psycho sister, Hela?" Natasha said.

"The goddess of death, who ironically dies?" Wanda replied with her Sokovian accent, she started to become more comfortable showing it more.

"Well - (pointing at Liseth) - this wretched motordyke right here is her variant," Natasha (Brown Widow) said.

"The difference between Hela and I is that I don't have a hammer stuck up my ass," Liseth said.

"That's enough," Wanda said, telling the two women to shut up. When Liseth and Natasha looked at the corner of the room they saw Milla holding two cups of what Wanda could recognize to be steamy brews of Sokohlua (Sokovian sand coffee) - their favourite beverage.

The little girl hovered about three-feet high and flew towards Wanda's table. Liseth and Natasha watch as Milla gives one cup to the redhead, who accepts it gratefully.

"Thank you," Wanda said, as she sipped her coffee.

"Vasilisa and Mortianna made them," Milla said. The information caught Wanda's attention. She knew from the small glimpses of Milla's mind that the little girl is an authentic Sokovian but the twin brewmasters? She doesn't know any other Sokovian other than herself and Pietro.