XAVIER INSTITUTE:
A long metal laser came out of the wall, aimed at Rachel. Nonetheless, she was ready for it. She tucked her body and rolled herself out of the way, dodging the green beam. Then, turning to the laser, she aimed her fist at it. A golden-orange blast shot from her fist, destroying it.
As she stood to catch her breath, dozens of broken lasers lined the walls of the Danger Room, some of them still steaming from the fire of her previous blasts.
Jean and Scott watched her train from the control room. It was her first private training session. They had originally started her on a low level of difficulty, but once they saw the strength of her abilities, they raised the difficulty level.
Scott was awestruck, "She's...amazing," he said.
Jean smiled, "I know right! And she's only just started..with years of training she could control and master the maximum of her Phoenix abilities!"
Jean spoke over the speakers, "That was great, sweetheart!"
Rachel looked up at the control room and waved, a smile on her face.
Talia walked closely behind her mother as Amanda led her down multiple corridors of the Institute.
"Where exactly are you taking me?" Talia asked curiously.
Amanda turned to her and smiled, "It's a surprise."
They continued in silence until they reached a particular door in one of the hallways that Talia had never been in before. As They stood by the door, Talia felt a strange feeling, one that she had never felt before. It was as if power was emitting itself from whatever was in that room.
Amanda faced the door and held her hands out in front of her. She recited a short spell in a language Talia couldn't understand, then the door opened slowly.
Amanda turned to her, "Go ahead."
Talia walked in slowly. As she looked around, her eyes wide in astonishment, her lips slightly parted in awe, she studied everything around her. The walls of the large room were lined with tall bookshelves, filled with hundreds- no thousands- of books. The room was littered with dozens of unlit candles, and in the center of the room was a table made of dark wood. On the table was a thick leather-bound spellbook.
Talia turned to Amanda, "what is all of this?"
Amanda answered, "This was my personal magic room, but now it's our personal magic room."
Talia uttered, "You mean..all this is mine too?"
"Yes. You're a sorceress like me, so it's time we begin your training," Amanda answered.
Talia's lips formed an excited smile as she traipsed around the room, becoming familiar with everything on every shelf. She hadn't noticed before, but some shelves held mysterious things like strange vials and cloudy jars. She was half- expecting to find a black cauldron and a witches broom. As she went along, trailing her hand across a shelf of books, she suddenly felt it again. The same power she had felt just outside the door, but thing time stronger.
She could feel that energy emulating from behind the bookcase.
Talia asked, "What's behind this bookcase?"
Amanda looked at her, the smile on her face changing into a solemn frown, "Behind that case are.. some things that involve very serious... dark magic."
Talia looked curious.
Amanda sat down and explained, "Behind that bookcase, I have a safe hidden in the wall. It's protected by a spell that I cast so that it can't be accessed."
"What's in the safe?"
Amanda sighed, "Magic is very serious, Talia. There are all different types of magic. The type of magic I sealed away in that safe is dark magic, a magic that can bring about the downfall of an entire dimension, killing millions. In that safe is the Spell Book of Magik- with a k, and with it is the Soulsword."
"Soulsword?" Talia asked.
"It's impervious to magic. The person who wields it is practically invincible," Amanda explained.
Talia asked, "If they're so bad, then why do you keep them?"
Amanda answered, "because, in the wrong hands those magical items can be extremely dangerous."
Amanda grabbed a small and thin leather-bound book to her daughter, "Here. This is yours. It's full of beginner spells that I want you to practice. Just remember that magic requires both energy and focus. The more powerful the spell, the more energy required. One way to sustain yourself while doing a big spell is by channeling the elements of nature, so the first spell you're gonna learn is a fire spell."
Talia gasped, "Fire...what about water? Water isn't as flammable..." she said worriedly.
Amanda responded, "Fire has the most energy to channel."
Talia looked down at the book in her hands, "I-I've never done magic before."
Amanda placed her hand under her chin, "Relax, sweety, you'll do fine."
Talia sighed, turning to the marked page in her spellbook, she recited the fire spell silently to herself.
"Now, focus on this candle, and recite the spell," Amanda said, pointing to the unlit, half-melted white candle in the center of the table.
Talia took a deep breath and stared at the candle as she uttered, "ignis accendia."
Nothing happened.
Talia sighed.
"It's okay sweety, just try again."
Talia took another deep breath and relaxed her shoulders. She focused the wick of the candle and recited, "ignis accendia."
This time, she waited a moment, and still, nothing happened.
"Are you focusing?" Amanda asked.
"I'm trying," Talia replied, her eyes glued on that stubborn candle.
Amanda sighed heavily, "It's okay. You're just starting. Don't beat yourself up about it. We can take a break-"
"-No. I wanna try one more time."
Talia glanced over the spell one more time. On the brown toned paper, the spell was written in a dark ink. This time she tried something different. As she stared at the wick of the candle, she tried to image it lit. She imagined a small burning fire consuming the wick of the candle as she chanted with more enthusiasm, "Ignis accendia!"
The moment the words left her lips, a small orange flame appeared at the end of the withered wick.
Talia's concentrative frown transformed into a relieved smile.
Adam and Kurt had just gotten finish training. It was a warm afternoon, and they had just returned from an intensive combat session outside. Adam breathed heavily as just beneath his uniform his body was coated in a layer of sweat.
"So, are we done for the day?" Adam asked as he wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand.
Kurt smirked, "Not exactly. We still have to practice teleportation."
Adam scoffed confidently, "Easy. Is that really necessary to practice-"
"-Just teleport us to the garage," Kurt said.
Adam raised an eyebrow as he took his father's three-fingered hand, "Why the garage?"
"You'll see," Kurt said, his smirk widening.
Adam did as he was told. He pictured the spacious garage in his mind, then with a bamf! he and his father were gone in a puff of brimstone.
They reappeared in the garage. The garage was a spacious unit, connected to the mansion. It was full of vehicles which included countless cars, the X-Van, and even a few motorcycles.
Adam stared at his father questioningly.
Kurt asked with a happy smirk, "Look around...you might find something familiar..."
Adam's eyes scanned the room until his eyes fell upon a familiar gray Honda Accord. It was his car. Back in California, Marina Santos helped him buy his first car when he finally got his driver's license. He ran to his car like a happy little kid would run to Santa Clause at the mall.
"This is my car!" he said in ecstatic shock.
Kurt smiled, "Marina sent it this morning. I vanted to surprise you."
Nothing could wipe the smile from Adam's face as he trailed his fingers along the car's exterior, "I missed you so much, Gloria!" he said.
"Gloria? You named your car Gloria?" Kurt asked, cracking into a laugh mid-way through his question.
"Of course. She's definitely a Gloria, I mean look at her! She's beautiful! Silver chrome exterior and tan leather interior," he gushed.
Kurt smiled, happy that his son was happy.
"-I never use my powers," Johnny stated.
His mother, Danielle sat beside him in the control room.
She asked in astonishment, "So, you know how to control your abilities?"
Johnny nodded, "Yes."
Danielle was impressed. She hadn't learned how to fully control her abilities until she was in her mid-twenties.
She clasped her hands together, "Alright, we'll start with combat training."
It was late that night. The moon hung over the city of Bayville in its crescent-like appearance as stars sparkled around it, illuminating the pitch-black sky. The Xavier Institute was still as most were asleep from their busy day full of training. As Rachel lay awake in bed, she thought of how happy she was with her powers. It was so easy to master the Phoenix power, and it felt so invigorating to use. She thought of fighting crime someday like her parents and using her powers against criminals and evil mutants. The thought made her smile to herself.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of sniveling. She sat up in her bed and saw Renea curled up under her blankets.
"Are you okay?" Rachel asked her.
"No-" she answered as a broken sob left her lips.
"What's wrong?" Rachel asked concernedly.
Renea sat up in her bed. Rachel got a look at her face. Her eyes were puffy and her face seemed to be red from crying. Her mouth in a depressed frown.
Renea said, "Since we got exposed I've been getting such mean and nasty messages from the people who used to be my friends back in Florida."
Rachel said, "I know what you're going through. I'm going through the same thing. People are just so ignorant."
Renea looked down at the floor, "That's just the beginning of it. My-my boyfriend, Tony, broke up with me. He said he could never be with a lying mutant... he said such bad things... I thought he would understand..." Renea sobbed.
Rachel got up from her bed and sat beside Renea. She put an arm around her, in an attempt to comfort her.
"I really thought he was the one," Renea cried.
Rachel said, "I know. You don't deserve that, Renea. You deserve so much better. You're nice and beautiful. He has no right to say those things to you."
Renea sighed, "Is this what the rest of our lives are gonna be like. The world hating us for things we can't control. I never asked to be a mutant. I never asked to be the child of an X-Man."
