"I studied for a long time; starting from when I was very young, my Mother taught me."
He paused.
"But this isn't something everyone can learn. It requires Talents and patience."
Wanda's fingers curled slightly.
She thought back to her days in the HYDRA laboratory—no teachers, no books, only cold instruments and non-stop orders.
They told her to release her power, and she did; they told her to stop, and she stopped.
No one taught her how to control it, how to use it, or how to understand that power.
She was merely used as a weapon.
"You guys..." Pietro's voice interrupted her thoughts, "That Asgard, are there many people like you there?"
Thor grinned. "Many. But not everyone is as good at fighting as I am."
Loki glanced at him indifferently. "Where is your modesty?"
Thor spoke with conviction. "I'm just stating facts."
Loki sighed softly and didn't argue.
Pietro watched the brothers bickering, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but rise slightly.
He thought of himself and Wanda—they also bickered often, though most of the time it was him being lectured by Wanda.
"Then you," Pietro continued to ask, "why did you come to Earth?"
The living room went silent for a second.
Thor's smile became a bit subtle. He scratched his head and looked at Loki, who looked back at him expressionlessly.
"Uh..." Thor chose his words carefully, "We came for... tourism."
Pietro frowned. "Tourism?"
"Yes," Thor nodded, "tourism. To see the sights of Earth, eat Earth's delicacies, and by the way—see our big sister."
He gestured with his chin toward Mavuika.
Mavuika was sitting on the sofa, holding a strawberry and eating it in small bites. Hearing this, she looked up at Thor, the corners of her mouth turning up slightly.
Wanda's gaze moved back and forth between the three of them.
She could feel a deep, long-standing understanding between these three siblings that had settled over many years.
It wasn't the kind of understanding that needed words, but something more fundamental, a connection as intertwined as tree roots.
"You..." Wanda looked at Mavuika, "how long have you lived here?"
Mavuika thought for a moment. "A few hundred years, off and on."
Wanda's hand trembled slightly.
A few hundred years?
"A few hundred years..." Pietro murmured, repeating the words. "Then haven't you... seen a lot of history?"
Mavuika smiled. "I've seen some, but most of the time, I'm just an ordinary person living an ordinary life."
Pietro didn't quite understand.
If he had such power and such a lifespan, he would never be satisfied with an "ordinary life."
But he didn't say it aloud, only silently watching Mavuika, looking into those amber eyes.
In those eyes, there was something he couldn't read.
It wasn't arrogance, nor coldness, nor a high-and-mighty gaze from above.
It was something deeper, calmer, and as vast as the ocean.
"Your power," Wanda suddenly asked, "has it ever gone out of control?"
The living room went quiet again.
Thor's expression became serious. He put down the fruit in his hand, leaned back on the sofa, and looked at the ceiling.
"It has," he said, his voice a bit low. "Many times."
Wanda looked at him.
Thor continued: "When I first got mjolnir, I couldn't control it. I could never get the strength right; I'd break things, hurt people. Father said it was because my heart wasn't calm enough."
He paused.
"Later, I learned—not how to control the hammer, but how to control myself."
Loki sat to the side, listening quietly without saying a word.
"What about you?" Wanda looked at Loki.
Loki was silent for a second, then smiled softly. "My magic has never gone out of control."
Wanda frowned. "Never?"
"Of course. Thor's lack of control is because he's too stupid; if your own power can go out of control, it means you haven't mastered it at all."
Wanda was stunned.
She walked into the kitchen, and after a while, the sounds of chopping vegetables and the clatter of a spatula came from inside.
In the living room, Thor picked up the remote again and continued surfing channels, while Loki went back to his book.
Wanda and Pietro sat on the sofa, quietly watching it all.
Pietro leaned toward Wanda's ear and lowered his voice. "Do you think they're trustworthy?"
Wanda thought for a moment. "I don't know, but at least for now, they have not caused us DMG."
Pietro nodded. "True. If they wanted to harm us, they would have done it long ago."
Wanda fell silent. Pietro was right—with the strength of those three, if they really wanted to do them harm, they wouldn't need to go to all this trouble.
The moment the helicarrier fell, they could have easily handed the siblings over to S.H.I.E.L.D. or killed them outright.
But they didn't.
When Mavuika said "Come home with me," Wanda saw her eyes. In those eyes, there was no hostility, no calculation, only a calm, certain warmth.
Wanda didn't know if it was real. But she thought that maybe she could try to trust once.
Dinner was ready.
The dishes were simple but the portions were generous, with both Chinese and Western styles, steaming on the dining table as the aroma filled the entire dining room.
Thor was the first to sit at the table, but he didn't reach out and grab food like he used to.
He picked up his knife and fork and waited until everyone was seated before he started eating.
Wanda sat opposite him, and Pietro sat next to her, forking a piece of food into his mouth.
His eyes widened slightly, not because he hadn't eaten good food before, but because this meal was completely different from what he had eaten in the HYDRA Base.
It was warm and fresh; every dish had its own flavor, instead of that uniform, nutritionally rationed, tasteless mush.
"It's delicious," he said, his voice a bit muffled.
Mavuika smiled. "If it's good, eat more."
Thor had already finished most of a bowl of rice and looked up at Pietro. "Do you like spicy food? That Mapo Tofu is very spicy, but I like it."
Pietro looked at the bright red plate of Mapo Tofu, hesitated for a moment, picked up a small piece, and put it in his mouth.
His face turned red instantly.
Not from embarrassment, but from the spice.
That numbing, spicy, stimulating sensation, like a fire burning, spread from the tip of his tongue to his entire mouth, and he was almost moved to tears.
Wanda handed him a glass of Water. "Drink some Water."
Pietro took the glass, gulped down half of it, then took a breath and looked at the plate of Mapo Tofu with a complex expression.
"This thing... is too spicy."
Thor grinned. "It's only good if it's spicy! You'll get used to it after eating it a few more times."
Pietro shook his head. "I don't think I can get used to it."
Loki elegantly picked up a piece of tofu and chewed slowly, his expression unchanged. "The flames of the Eye of Skadi are much spicier than this."
Thor glared at him. "The Eye of Skadi is magic fire, not food!"
Loki shrugged. "Close enough."
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150 POWER STONE = BONUS CHAPTER
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