2012-10-31 Witch's New Year

Halloween. It&apos;s a foreign holiday to the Amazons and their Princess, but despite this the latter is more than happy to indulge. The Embassy has been open to offer treats to any trick-or-treaters, and the Princess herself has come further into the city to get a few more things, since the embassy seems to be a popular destination, especially among little girls. Perhaps they all want to see her and her sisters, too?



While most celebrate Halloween, Wanda Maximoff is celebrating the New Year, the time when the veil between the material and spiritual world is at it&apos;s thinnest. She smiles at all the children running around in costumes, not too bothered by the bastardization of the holiday the way so many that follow the Old Ways seem to be. It&apos;s night for childish joy, and it seems that there&apos;s far too few of those in the world these days. She&apos;s going down the area dressed in a scarlet &apos;belly dancer&apos; costume; actually some of her Romani clothing. And she manages to fit right in with the rest of the crowd.



Wonder Woman is, of course, in her normal "Wonder Woman" costume. It would be, like Wanda, the one day she really fits in, and the one day nobody notices her. Except... it&apos;s Diana, and she&apos;s heard to mistake from anyone else. The poor shopkeeper is no doubt more than a little surprised when she comes in, but she does pay in American money, and leaves the shop with a large bag full of candy - just as happens, exiting right on Wanda&apos;s path.



At first Wanda thinks it&apos;s just another woman in costume. But the air of regality that Diana has is unmistakable. Wanda smile and nods her head towards the Amazon. "Good evening, Princess. Are you enjoying your first All-Hallow&apos;s Eve? I&apos;m sure it&apos;s a rather new experience for you."



Wonder Woman smiles warmly. "Good evening," she answers back. "It&apos;s... a fascinating thing to celebrate," she admits. "We don&apos;t have anything like it back home." She smiles again, lifting up the bag of sweets. "We&apos;re receiving more visitors than I&apos;d expected at the Embassy. I&apos;m doing a supply run."



Wanda sees the candy stash and smile. "You know what my favorite part of Halloween is? Spending the next few days eating up the leftover candy." There&apos;s a bright, mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "Seeing as how it&apos;s your first Halloween here, Princess...perhaps you&apos;d like a free palm reading from a Romani?"



Now, Diana may be a diplomat, but she doesn&apos;t know of every culture out there. She&apos;s only read snippets in regards to the Romani culture. The offer does pique her curiosity. Greatly so. "I&apos;d be very interested in that," she replies, returning the grin at the mention of eating leftover candy. "I know so little of your people... just enough to know not to trust much of what is said or shown by non-Romani."



"I appreciate that," Wanda says. "I know all too well how the gaijo, non-Romani, view us. And unfortunately, there are some Romani that do provide a basis for the stereotype." She sighs and leads Diana over to a sidewalk bench. "Now, are you right or left handed?" She holds out her hands once they are sitting. "Hold out your dominant hand to me."



<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Wonder Woman smiles gently. "I&apos;m told that&apos;s why stereotypes exist, sadly. Because some people from everywhere act a certain way." She follows and sits, setting the bag of candy to one side, and turns to face Wanda. Then she offers her left hand.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Wanda takes the offered hand and clasps it between both of hers for a while. She closes her eyes and mutters in Romani for a bit. Then, she turns Diana’s hand palm up and starts to trace the lines with her right index finger. "Ah....you have very strong lines. Very easy to read." She looks at Diana and smiles. "Clear indicators of a great destiny ahead of you. Whether for good or ill, remains to be seen, though..." The auburn-tressed woman goes back to studying the Amazon&apos;s hand.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Wonder Woman watches Wanda study her hand with obvious interest. She of course has no idea how it&apos;s done, which is why she&apos;s so curious to see. She watches Wanda&apos;s eyes when they open, looking, trying to see what they see on her hand. But she asks no questions, not wanting to interrupt Wanda as she reads.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Wanda traces another line on Diana&apos;s palm. "And a deep love line. You are a woman of strong passions. Yet the fading up here shows that there&apos;s no-one in particular you&apos;re focused on." She looks back up at Diana, cocking an eyebrow. "Or that you are still confused by how you feel towards this person."

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">There&apos;s that skeptical part of Diana that points out Wanda could have easily read in a magazine that she was single. However, the way Wanda says things, looks at her... "No one yet," she confirms with a nod.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Wanda nods in reply. "Now, this branch...." She traces a line branching form the love line. "This shows that you have an issue of great stress, stemming from someone you care about." Wanda looks back up, curious. "A friend or perhaps even a relative?"

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Wonder Woman&apos;s eyes widen a little, and then she nods. "My mother," she admits. "She did not want me to come here. She was... afraid of what Man&apos;s World had waiting. But she knew best what there was out here, of anyone on the island. I don&apos;t fault her, but... she worries, and constantly so."

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Wanda nods, sympatheticaly. "Mothers always worry about their daughters. Mine certainly worried enough over me." Wanda takes a deep breath, remembering the last time she and her brother saw their parents. "Now, is there any specific question you would like to know the answer for? Something I can read in your palm?"

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Wonder Woman considers the options here. "I believe destiny is a journey and for the most part, we walk it alone and discover it as it comes into being, but..." She smiles softly. "My hope is that I meet and make many friends on that path."

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">"An excellent philosophy," Wanda says with a smile. "And with such a long and deep life line, you will have a very long life to accumulate those friends." She sits back on the bench, smiling. "So, was the palm reading what you were expecting it to be?"

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">"I wasn&apos;t sure what to expect," the Amazon admits, now that she&apos;s free to ask. She studies her hand, running fingers over the lines she does see. "Are these what you read for that information?"

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Wanda nods. "They are, yes." Well, the lines and Diana’s reactions, of course. "You have your love or heart line, your life line, and your wealth line," and she points out all three as she goes. And since it&apos;s Halloween, she camps it up a bit. "It takes many years for Romani girls with the gift to learn how to read the palm. My mother started teaching me when I was 7 and it took 10 years before I could read accurately and consistently."

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Wonder Woman whistles. "Ten years? I&apos;m reminded of the training Philippus put me through at home," she says. "Constant training to ensure I was at doing the best I was capable of. Now, I have someone from the United Nations helping me with diplomacy. Learning never stops, does it?"

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">"No, it doesn&apos;t," Wanda says with a sage nod. There&apos;s just a little wicked part of her enjoying this, running the con. But for the most part, Wanda&apos;s just having good-natured fun. "And since I usually don&apos;t have a client as illustrious as yourself, I have to ask what your impression of the modern world is. Are there things that still confuse you? I&apos;ve lived in New York for years and I&apos;m still not used to everything I see sometimes."

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">"I suppose some things remain confusing. Customs, turns of phrase," she admits with a nod. She gestures as a car passes. "That is still surprising, even after months. I was not expecting to see anything like that, really..." Though she had seen Steve&apos;s plane. "I wasn&apos;t sure what to expect."

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Wanda can certainly emphasize, coming from a much simpler lifestyle. "Well, if I may be so bold as to give advice..." She stands up and gestures around her. "All of this..the cars, the technology....what passes for &apos;culture&apos;, it&apos;s all an illusion. It&apos;s all meaningless filler. What truly matters is what&apos;s found in here..." She gently touches her chest to indicate her heart. "Once you understand what&apos;s in a person&apos;s or a nation&apos;s heart, the illusions don&apos;t really matter much."

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Wonder Woman smiles reassuringly. "I know," she murmurs. "I have been taught that much long ago." Slowly she stands, offering Wanda a hand to help her up. "I must be getting back to the embassy. Perhaps you&apos;ll choose to come and visit?" She gestures down the street. "Despite the presence of many buildings with a front facade like the embassy, I&apos;m sure you&apos;ll find it. None of them have guards." She winks.

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Wanda smiles and shrugs. "Perhaps some day. But, unfortunately, my schedule is rather busy. But maybe some day if I find the time." She gives Diana a quick little bow. "It was pleasant speaking with you, Princess. Be well.”

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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Wonder Woman bows her head ever so slightly. "Be well," she replies, before heading off down the street.

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