driftfleet | 002: Nightmares...

Entry tags:

002: Nightmares...

Who: Wanda Maximoff and others
Broadcast: Yes - Fleetwide (with additional filtered, private messages)
Action: SS Starstruck and Dust Planet
When: Over the past two weeks

[Week One After Nebula Incident]

[After the whole attack and nebula misadventure, Wanda began noticing a few strange occurrences. There were the obvious, random technology and lighting malfunctions on the Starstruck, but those did not take too long to fix and restore to relative normalcy. It was more personal oddities that were beginning to concern her. The first of which was the near constant headache that started to arise not too long after the ship passed through the nebula. At first, it had been nothing more than a dull, but still noticeable ache; however, it seemed to be slowly growing with intensity, and, while it would originally come and go, it also seemed to be becoming more constant. The periods in-between decreasing with each new wave of pain.]

[And then, there were the nightmares... She'd only had three so far, but they were the most troubling. They each started the same, but they were increasing in duration and in detail. She decided to keep the specifics to herself for now, but she had to know how others in the fleet were fairing and perhaps if anyone was experiencing something similar.]

[When the video feed clicks on, Wanda clearly looks somewhat disheveled. The nights of restless sleep brought on by the nightmares had clearly taken their toll on her. She looked tired, frustrated, and also a little bit scared. She does her best to appear calm, however, and speak in a level tone as she addresses the fleet.]

This is Wanda Maximoff on the SS Starstruck.

Has anyone in the fleet been having any headaches after our trip through the nebula? Or perhaps some kind of nightmares? If so, how long have they been lasting for you? If anyone has any advice on how to... numb these effects, please let me know.

[Week Two]

[She had hoped it would all pass: the headaches and the nightmares, though now she wasn't so sure these were mere nightmares she was having. Unfortunately, they only seemed to be getting worse and worse with each passing day. What had started as periodic waves of dull annoyance, had now become full migraines that left her almost reeling for a minutes at a time. Nothing she had done in attempt to quell the pain had lasted for very long, if it even worked at all. In addition, the "nightmares" were becoming much more frequent. It seemed like almost every time she closed her eyes now, she fell into them. What was worse was that they were affecting her surroundings as she slept.]

[Wanda's friends and shipmates will likely have noticed that they have not heard or seen much of her over the week. It seemed like she was trying to distance herself more and more from those around her. Anyone who does see her will be able to tell that she is not looking well. The effects of her lack of restful sleep are apparent in her face and her posture. She looks tired, and even more apparent... she looks scared. Thus, anyone who attempts to engage her will find her to be rather evasive, trying to wrap up their talk as quickly as possible for heading off somewhere. In fact, her shipmates may have noticed her entering rooms on occasion, only to flee when she notices someone else in the room with her. Any visitors to her sleeping quarters will see damage to the walls, ceiling and various fixtures. Items Wanda has collected from previous planetary visits are strewn about on the floor, and some are heavily damaged. It's also likely that Wanda's shipmates will have heard some screaming and banging coming from her room or the cargo hold.]

[The past three days...]

[If Wanda's communication with her friends and her presence on the ship had been dwindling the previous week, it was now completely gone. Anyone who cares to look for her on the Starstruck will not find her. Digging a little deeper, one would be able to find that one of the Starstruck's shuttle logs details a trip in which the shuttle departed for the nearby planet, only to quickly return to the ship on auto-pilot.]

[Wanda's friends and shipmates will find a short, text message from her on their communicators. It reads:]

Do not come looking for me.

[Those who do venture planet-side looking for her in town will not find her there. However, the townspeople have begun talk of strange, supernatural occurrences up in nearby desert mesas. It seems that those journey by have heard what sounds like screams or wails coming from them. Anyone who has tried to investigate has been attacked by red, etheric swirls of light, knocking travelers off their feet or transportation. No serious injury has been done to anyone yet, but it's clear that it's scaring the townspeople.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Considering the durability he's seen from these things, it's more likely she's not currently capable of responding. He leaves another text message so she can get back to it when she's able.]

My offer stands, Wanda. I do not fear you; I fear for you.

[A long period of time passes before Vision receives a response. When he does, it's a voice recording of simply one word, spoken in a pained, thin whisper.]

Help...

I will be there soon.

[Well. As soon as he can figure out where she is, anyway; he's not concerned about her mental powers affecting him, and if he can calm her down enough the physical powers won't be a problem either. And it should be easy to find signs of that by flying around, he hopes....]

[It's unlikely that Vision will be able to sense any large anomalies or signals during the day. Wanda seems to be taking care to try and suppress any kind of sign as to her whereabouts. It's not specifically from Vision that she's hiding; moreso, she is hiding anyone and everyone.]

[During the night, however, all hell breaks lose. Not too long after darkness falls, a scream rips through the quiet serenity of the night. Seemingly out of nowhere, crimson, luminescent tendrils of some translucent energy appear. They begin thrashing about, destroying the nearby mesa landscape. Boulders are ripped from the ground, plants taken up by the root and torn to shreds, some rock formations are even completely disintegrated in a loud crack and spark of scarlet energy.]

[His patience in the search is finally rewarded when night falls. That is unmistakably her power signature.

He flies high enough that someone on the ground is unlikely to notice, not at night, until he can find what seems to be the center or origin point, and if he can actually see her all to the better. When he does, he descends quickly and rather than making any noise to startle her he projects the calmest, clearest thoughts he can. Hopefully she can sense them.]

[Vision will find Wanda curled up on the ground, lying a sort of make-shift bed. Really, it's nothing more than a sheet on the ground, with another one on top, currently wrapped around herself. She appears to have been using some kind of leather satchel for her pillow. Perhaps something she pinched from the nearby town before making her way into the wilderness? At any rate, she is lying down, motionless at the moment. It's clear she's breathing, but her sleep does not look serene. The expression on her face is tight, strained. Sweat dripping down her head, she looks feverish.]

[Then, the quiet is again broken by one of her screams. When it happens, her entire body is lifted off the ground, glowing with the same scarlet luminescence as the tendrils of energy outside. She thrashes about, still suspend in mid air. As she writhes, the expressions on her face flash from anger, to agony, to sorrow, to strained effort, back to anger. Her writhing starts to subside, and her body slowly lowers itself back to the ground. Outside, the sound of falling rubble can be heard, as more bits of the surrounding landscape have clearly been chipped away.]

[Nightmares. Little wonder, if she's been overly stressed recently, but concerning that they should be affecting her powers in this way. For a moment he wishes he knew some kind of lullaby or song she'd find familiar, but her past is still enough of a mystery to him that those details remain hidden. So instead he'll speak quietly as he approaches, floating rather than walking to keep the noise down, and eventually when he reaches her he'll reach down to lightly stroke at her forehead, see if she really is feverish. Between the soft sound of his voice (reciting some Henry V, the content doesn't really matter but it has a nice rhythm) and the touch, he hopes to wake her without frightening her any more than she already is.]

[At the feeling of Vision's touch on her forehead, Wanda's body visibly stiffens, looking like it's going to begin writhing again. Instead, her body relaxes, her fists uncoild, and she actually begins to settle. Her eyes don't open at first, but her whole expression starts to look less pained and more calm. Vision's presence clearly is having some kind of calming effect on her.]

[As she looks more and more calmly asleep, a voice--her voice can be heard. Her mouth isn't opening to speak, and it doesn't necessarily sounds like it's within Vision's own mind. Instead, it just sounds sort of whispered upon the air.]

Vision... you found me...

[He relaxes in turn when he observes her reaction; good, she sees him as a positive influence rather than a threat, even in this state. She has every reason to know that much, as she's touched his mind before, but as he's still not entirely sure what's wrong he must treat every situation as unique.]

I said I would, Wanda. You seem unwell. [Yes, yes, he knows he's stating the obvious again.] I'd like to help you. Do you know if anything specific is wrong?

[Wanda's body remains in a state of serene looking slumber. Probably the first it's had in a long time. However, her disembodied voice will continue to respond.]

It's- it's these nightmares... They are not normal nightmares... it feels like...

[Some hesitation here, however, the voice clearly decides to divulge more details.]

Like what I put Stark through... back in Strucker's compound... And the other Avengers... in Africa... I... I did this to them... trapped them in a vision of their fears... their memories...

[Another pause, this one shorter than the previous one.]

I deserve this...

[That she believes she deserves it isn't hard to see. The Vision settles himself down so he's sitting next to her prone body, being sure to keep in contact at all times so she can continue to rest. Likewise, his tone is calm, reassuring.]

Have you had normal nightmares since you gained your powers, or could it perhaps be that? Or a fluctuation of some type? [As he sees it, there are two main possibilities here: either she's somehow overloading, in which case venting off the excess in a harmless manner should help her regain stability, or it's an effect of a physical/mental/emotional imbalance, which could be helped by various other techniques. She's at least exhausted from a lack of normal sleep, that much is clear.]

Edited (what is formatting) 2015-10-19 22:05 (UTC)

[There's a pause. The feeling as though Wanda's voice is pondering over Vision's question lingers in the air.]

These nightmares... I went through something similar... back when Strucker... back when I received these powers... but these... these ones feel so much worse... so much more powerful... so much more painful...

[He nods, even though she probably can't see him. That falls in line with what he's thinking.]

And your control? Can you, for example, shoot a beacon of light high into the air without disturbing anything on the ground?

[It might be a start to finding a way to release excess energy.]

I... I don't know if I...

[There's a spasm from her body, a sharp cry of pain and a crackling of energy shoot out of her. That would appear to be a no to your question Vision.]

I'll take that as a no. [And he'll be cautious in case he needs to move quickly. But until then, he holds her hand in a firm grip and strokes the top of it lightly, in what he hopes is a soothing gesture.]

Perhaps another tack will prove more useful. Can you breathe in to a count of five, hold for two, then exhale to a count of five?

[No response from Wanda's voice this time. However, her body does appear to be listening, as her stomach slowly expands with the inhaling of a breath. It then slowly contracts as her breath is expelled. The count does appear to match with what Vision has asked of her.]

Good. [He keeps his voice calm, tries for a soothing tone.] Keep breathing in time. When you can do this and still keep your focus, try to relax each muscle in your body, beginning at your feet.

[She's probably got knots of stress all over. If she can relax that it should help pull some of the strain off her body, which should in turn be reflected by her mind.]

[Still no response from her voice. However, her body, once again, shows signs of having heard and understand him. It makes little movements, little shuffles as she tries to relax her muscles.]

[So far so good, no second spasm of pain.]

[That's better than no response at all, and he'd prefer she focus on herself for the time being anyway. He murmurs encouragement in the same soothing tone, hoping she can relax all the way.

If she drops off into sleep, well, he'll just hang around until she wakes up. She probably needs it.]

[The tension appears to be leaving her body more and more, as she focuses on relaxing more of the muscles in her body. Still no response from her voice, but it does appear that Vision may have guessed correctly. Her breathing becomes more steady, her body completely relaxes, a look of peace now rests on her face. She's fallen into a quiet, deep sleep for the first time in what feels like a while for her.]

[That's very good, as good as it's going to get for now. He'd be surprised if simple exhaustion wasn't a major contributing factor, especially if she'd been having nightmares.

Still, since he has nothing more pressing to attend to, he'll wait unobtrusively nearby as she sleeps.]

[As morning dawns, Wanda stirs. She slowly sits up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She doesn't seem at all surprised by Vision's presence. In fact, she at first has a look of relief on her face, but it does slowly start to dissolve into a look of worry.]

I suppose it wasn't hard for you to find me.

[He smiles in return to see her wake up and, frankly, looking a lot better than before.]

It did take me several hours. But how do you feel, Wanda? You've not had an easy night.

That would be an understatement.

[Her expression bland, unsure herself if she meant that to be a joke or not.]

Though, I do feel better... for the moment at least.

[He nods; one can hardly expect full recovery after a single night of easy sleep, if this has been going on for a while.]

Do you mind telling me what exactly has happened?

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