Becoming a Maximoff

Chapter 23: Stone

TW: fighting

Pov y/n

The vents lead me further through the base and I have no clue where I am or how I could get back if I wanted to. So, it's pretty safe to say, that there is no going back.
I continue to crawl through the vent and for a longer time, there is no exit anywhere near.

I can hear people beneath me though, so I stop and keep quiet until their voices seem to fade, leaving me with silence underneath. This whole thing is honestly pretty nerve wrecking because if they detect me, I lost and there won't be any way of getting out. So far, I still have the element of surprise on my side, which isn't much but it's something.

A few minutes later, I finally reach a potential exit and glance through the grid. The room isn't dark but also not much illuminated. There's a strange glow that I am not sure where it's coming from. But the room is completely empty and the drop wouldn't be too high.

I shuffle back a little bit and carefully remove the grid, putting it inside the vent because if I drop it to the ground, it would only pull attention that I don't want. I slide my backpack on and carefully move closer to the edge. But before I do anything else, I listen closely but there are no noises from outside the door.

I let my legs dangle down and slowly push myself more towards the edge, tensing my muscles to keep myself from falling down. Once I hang there, the ground isn't far away anymore and with a last breath, I let go.

I drop and land in a pose that I saw Mom doing a few times on TV. It feels a bit weird and I take my hand off the ground and get up, shaking my body a little. I always thought she did that to look cool but I guess not.

I look up at the vent. There is no way of me getting up there, so I am trapped in this room until I decide that I'm ready to go out. My eyes glance around but there isn't much more in here except this statue kinda thing with something on it, that's covered by a cloth.

It glows purple and I feel weirdly pulled towards it. My hands reach up and I grab the edge of the cloth to pull it off. It reveals a purple shining stone. It looks really beautiful and I am mesmerized by it. Why are they keeping this stone in here?
Didn't Cole say something about a stone? Is this it? Is this what they want to use to experiment on Wanda?

I rather don't want to find out and reach out to grab the stone. If it's not there, they can't use it for their experiment. The closer I get to it, the more tension seems to build up between me and this stone and even if I wanted, I couldn't pull back anymore because it seems to lure me closer, wanting me to touch it. And I do.

Then everything happens really quickly and a boost of energy sends me flying into the wall. I groan a little when I collapse on the floor, my back hurting from the impact of the wall.
Did they install some kind of protection shield around it?
Or did the stone itself just sent me flying back?

The finger I touched it with, tingles strongly but I can't describe if it's the good kind or the bad kind. Even if this stone doesn't want me to touch it, I have to find a way to grab it because I for sure won't let this thing come in contact with Wanda.

I get up, pressing my lips together at the pain in my back and slide the backpack off to open it. Then I grab the cloth and step closer to the stone again. The cloth hopefully will keep this stone from blasting me against the wall again. I mean, there has to be a reason why it was put over it.

I slowly move my hand closer again, scared it will send me flying again but this time I also don't feel the tension rising, so that's a good sign I suppose. I wanna close my eyes as I'm almost touching it but I know that might be dumb, so I keep them open.
Carefully, I touch the stone through the cloth, the expected blast not happening. A bit of cheerfulness rises inside me. Looks like I found a way.