Sunlight filtered through the skylight of the hospital's botanical wing, casting soft shadows across polished stone and ivy-covered pillars.
Soren stood calmly near a trickling water feature, arms loosely folded behind his back, watching the ripples.
The doors opened with a quiet hiss.
Charles Xavier walked into view, flanked by Jean Grey and Ororo Munroe. Logan leaned against a support pillar nearby.
Hank McCoy adjusted his spectacles as he observed the verdant hall.
The Professor's eyes lingered on Soren.
"Soren." Charles said. "Where's the girl?"
Soren turned, that ever-polite smile gracing his lips. "Resting. I healed her."
"The treatment was intensive, but she's recovering quickly. You'll see for yourself soon."
There was something in his presence… dense. Like standing near the edge of a deep, silent ocean.
Charles felt it. The others did too.
Charles nodded. "There's something different about you since last we met."
"A side effect of helping your new student, perhaps." Soren replied mildly, turning back to the fountain. "Sometimes when you fix what's broken, you carry a little of it with you."
That made Charles pause.
Before he could respond, soft footsteps echoed across the tiled floor.
Jenny had awakened.
She emerged from the nearby hallway, rubbing her eyes. Her hair was neatly combed, and she wore a clean white tunic given to her by the hospital staff.
The bruises on her face were gone, replaced by smooth skin and the tentative glow of health.
But the moment she stepped into the open and saw unfamiliar figures waiting, watching, her steps faltered.
Her wide eyes locked onto Jean, then Logan, then the Professor.
"Sir…" She whispered, fear creeping into her tone. "Who are they?"
Soren didn't answer immediately. He stepped beside her and placed a hand gently on her shoulder, his presence alone enough to settle her trembling.
But before he could speak, Charles smiled and moved closer, stopping at a respectful distance.
"There's no need to be afraid, child."
"We aren't here to hurt you. My name is Charles Xavier. I run a school, a safe place, for people like you."
Jenny didn't move.
"You're mutants?" She asked, voice barely audible.
Jean stepped forward. "Yes. We are."
Jenny's eyes narrowed with caution.
"Then why are you here?" She gripped the fabric of Soren's sleeve.
"To take you somewhere you can belong," Charles said gently. "You'll meet children like yourself."
"You'll learn to understand your gift. You'll be safe."
Jenny's face shifted, hope, doubt, fear, and curiosity all wrestling behind her eyes.
"No!" She said quickly, shrinking behind Soren. "I want to stay here. With Sir Soren."
Soren looked down at her, then knelt so they were eye level. He cupped her hand in his.
"Jenny."
"They're friends of mine. Good people. Charles runs a school that's helped hundreds of mutants, maybe more."
"It's not a cage. It's a place where you can grow. Learn. Be a child."
"School?" She whispered, as if the word was ancient.
Soren saw the flicker of a memory in her eyes. Before the military. Before the testing. Before the pain.
A forgotten dream resurfacing.
He nodded. "Books. Classes. Laughter. Children your age."
Jenny turned back to Charles, gaze full of longing and confusion. Her fingers tightened around Soren's palm.
"Will… will there be flowers like yours?" She asked, almost embarrassed by the question.
Charles chuckled warmly. "Our gardens aren't as magical as Soren's, but we have a few. And maybe you'll help us grow more."
Soren gave her a small nudge. "You can go, Jenny. It's time to live again."
She hesitated. Then, slowly, as if stepping into sunlight for the first time, Jenny walked to Charles and placed her small hand in his.
"I'll go." She said softly. "But… can I visit?"
Soren gave a slight nod. "Anytime."
Charles smiled. "We'll make sure of it."
Jean knelt beside Jenny. "You're going to be just fine."
Jenny gave her a tentative nod.
As the X-Men prepared to board their jet, Charles lingered a moment with Soren at the edge of the stone courtyard.
"Thank you." Charles said sincerely. "For saving her."
"She saved herself, I just helped clear the path."
Charles hesitated, then asked, "There was… something else."
"Just after you left the base with her, a flash of silver across the sky. Every telepath, every psionic thread…"
"For a moment, even Jean couldn't sense Logan."
Soren raised an eyebrow. "Interesting."
"You were the only anomaly we could track. Was that… you?"
"I didn't do it."
The Professor accepted the answer, but didn't press further. The silver disturbance hadn't attacked.
It didn't seem hostile. That alone was enough for Charles Xavier to let the mystery be.
But Soren… Soren wasn't so quick to dismiss anomalies that could reshape the laws of reality.
The jet engines began to hum, and Charles started to turn away, but not before glancing back once more.
Jenny stood with tiny fists clenched, her eyes brimming with uncertainty. The X-Men waited near the exit, giving her space.
"Sir…Soren …" She asked, her voice trembling. "Will you come back to see me?"
Soren knelt in front of her and placed a slim, card in her hand. It shimmered with soft blue light.
"When you're in danger, crush this." He said, voice low and gentle.
"No matter where you are, it'll bring you to me. No one will ever hurt you again. Not while I'm alive."
Jenny's grip tightened on the card. She blinked back tears, nodded hard, then leapt forward and hugged him.
Everyone, even Logan, turned away at the tenderness of the moment.
Jean murmured quietly to Storm. "I've never seen anyone outside the Professor earn a child's trust like that."
"Or hand out dimensional tokens like candy." Ororo replied, arching a brow.
The team glanced at the card in Jenny's hand with open curiosity and, yes, envy.
Charles simply watched, thoughtful.
Rain tapped gently against the windowpane. The TV flickered across the room, bathing Soren's modest living space in shifting light. A warm cup of jasmine tea sat untouched beside him.
He watched the news with a furrowed brow, remote forgotten in his lap.
"...a rare natural phenomenon off Japan's Suruga Bay: the sea flash-froze in under three seconds, immobilizing an entire cargo fleet..."
"...a sudden snowstorm buried parts of Egypt's Giza Plateau in 35 centimeters of snow. Meteorologists call it the most improbable weather event in recorded history..."
"...all electrical infrastructure across the greater Los Angeles area shut down after a blinding silver arc crossed the sky..."
Each news anchor's voice grew more strained with every headline.
And across every continent, the same detail: a silver streak, sometimes a flash, sometimes a tail, moving too fast to track.
Then came the image.
An amateur tourist video, shaky and pixelated, but unmistakable.
A streaking figure across the golden sky above the pyramids, framed by swirling clouds and a rainbow glint of cosmic energy trailing like a comet's tail.
The moment Soren saw it, the puzzle snapped into place.
"So... it begins."
He leaned forward, elbows on his knees.
"Silver Surfer."
The name passed his lips with equal parts respect and dread.
Herald of Galactus. Messenger of doom. A being that rode the edge of extinction, announcing it with light and silence.
He leaned back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling as if it would crack open with answers.
"Galactus is watching." He said to no one.
"Or worse... he's hungry."
The world didn't know it yet, but they were on the menu…
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
PhantomDream