Age of Darkness | Pietro Maximoff

Chapter Thirty-Six: She Would Make Herself A Reckoning

Music is "The Battle" by Harry Gregson-Williams from the Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe OST.

Picture is Sir Ian McKellen as Erik Lensherr aka Magneto.

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"She would make herself a reckoning. She would rise."

- Unknown

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No recommendations this update.

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CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Trying to find the long lost Maximoff sibling when the ground around you is giving way is like trying to find a needle in a haystack on fire. Between Pietro and I, it's a miracle we haven't spotted her yet. I guess, being the daughter of a super evil supervillain, Lorna knows where to hide.

"Glory!" I hear Pietro call from across the hall. We'd been looking above in the buildings there, but soon realized that if Lorna would have hidden anywhere, she would have gone to the center of the asteroid where you can't hear what's going on above.

I follow his voice to an empty room, all except for the girl curled up in the corner. Her eyes are wild with fear as she rocks back and forth, her head in her hands. She keeps muttering words in another language, German I assume, because of her father. "Lorna," I whisper softly, coming closer. "Lorna, talk to me."

"This is all my fault," she rasps in a low voice. "I knew of all this. I knew of his plan. I could have stopped it, but I didn't. I was too afraid."

"Of Erik."

She nods, looking up at me. "How are you not scared?"

I shrug, slumping down beside her on the ground. "I am scared. That's the hero's greatest lie. We're all scared. That's what courage is for. That's what guts are for."

She calms herself, her shaking coming to a halt as she converses with her brother and I. "If we were not brave, we would not be up here," Pietro adds, bending down to his knees to be at eye level with his littlest sister. "That makes you brave, too, little sister."

Lorna looks up at him when he calls her that. "How can I be brave? I have spent my entire life running from real danger, hiding under a madmad because he kept me safe. I'm seventeen years old. I'm not even an adult yet."

"What are you doing now then?"

She smiles a little. "The opposite, I suppose."

"Bravery isn't not being afraid. Most of us - no, all of us - are afraid of something. Wanda would know this more than most. We're afraid of losing our lives, our families, and most of all each other."

"And yet, you fight."

I nod, smiling at her. "We do. It's our job. Without heroes, evil would run rampant."

"I've always wanted to be called that."

"Called what?"

"A hero."

I stand, offering her a hand. "Be one with us. We need your help, Lorna."

She takes it, pulling herself off the ground. After brushing herself off, she turns to her brother and hugs him, then me. "Thank you both."

"Even heroes need a little push every now and then, and you're still the bravest seventeen year old I've ever known," I chuckle. Once I pull back, I too turn to the white-haired Maximoff twin. "We need a plan. We're running around like crazy people. If we're to beat Erik," Lorna looks down when I mention his name, "I mean Magneto, we need to be organized. Find anyone who isn't fighting anyone and tell them to meet us in the hanger, okay?"