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Insistent images swirl through her mind. A glass of red wine reflected on the walls with a faint scarlet glow, the light playing with the liquid, drawing silhouettes from consciousness.

Wanda wants to scream, to bury her fingers in her hair and spill out everything inside, the way wine sometimes spills out of a glass goblet with a stem. She wants to be empty and calm, she wants to be an empty glass, wants to feel nothing more.

But she sits dutifully at Stark's party in the darkest corner, as if Pepper had personally arranged for the wicked and horrible witch to be given a place out of sight, like that creepy stucco vase given to an acquaintance from work.

And the light is here so that travellers are not frightened of the monster that dwells here.
 

That's what Wanda feels like right now, a monster. And monsters must find princesses who lift the spell and Prince Charming appears before them. What if there are monsters that can't break the spell?


Wanda moves her gaze from the red lines on the walls to the bar - there are a lot of people there and they all seem to have taken a seat there on purpose - whether they are protecting the beautiful princess Natasha or hiding from the fearsome monster in the opposite corner of the room - it's all the same to her. Maximoff wants to escape. Far away, losing her shoes and her magic, perhaps she would even save the shoes, but the red flares, she would give them to the first man she meets, as kings usually do with their daughters.


Maximoff is ready to run, she's almost at the door - one last look at the princess...


Natasha approaches her and offers her a martini.


Martini tastes sweeter than wine and is safer. It's clear and doesn't leave bloody shadows on the walls. It's from Natasha's hands - it's a handkerchief as a sign of loyalty, trustworthiness and innocence. They're certainly not both innocent.

"I thought the fearsome witches were waiting for darkness to come out of their dens"
Romanova is laughing, far from fearing the monster, she's pulling a container of olives at him like the Greeks pull an olive branch.

"I thought princesses were afraid of the sorceress"
Wanda speaks quietly, enough not to be heard over the loud music, but Natasha hears and laughs again, sweetly sweet, as befits princesses. It's as if she was just waiting for such an answer

"Some princesses know the secret of the sorceress, "  the widow waits, looking from under her lashes.

"What's the secret? "  Maksimoff does not breathe, asking, suspecting that the answer may break the spell and her real face will appear to the princess, but maybe even that is not able to unbind her, maybe only a kiss will work?

"The witch loves the princess and therefore would never harm her" Natasha watches the reaction carefully, but is left slightly disappointed by its absence


Wanda's mind is in a hurricane, she wants to scream, but no longer to let her feelings leave her, she wants to give those feelings. She takes Natasha's hand and leads her out of the hall.


In the corridor, the Witch receives a kiss of true love.