The Danger Room's lights had only just dimmed when the air rippled with a low, vibrating hum. A jagged tear split open above the training floor—blue light swirling like liquid glass.
The X-Men stiffened, every instinct shouting threat. Logan's claws extended with a metallic snikt. Cyclops raised a hand to his visor.
Aurora froze, her body still trembling from the trial. Miles jumped in front of her, fists clenched, ready.
From the portal, a figure stepped through.
Silvanna.
Her dark hair caught the flickering light as her boots touched the floor with deliberate calm. The room smelled faintly of iron—the kind of metallic tang Aurora knew too well from scraped knees and blood.
"Wait!" Aurora's voice cracked with both shock and relief. "I know her."
Xavier's eyes narrowed, his mind already brushing against the stranger's presence. What he found made him pause. Not mutant. Something else.
Silvanna ignored the tense stares from Logan and Storm. Her eyes locked on Aurora, softening. She crossed the floor quickly, reaching out and gripping Aurora's trembling hands.
"Aurora," she said, her voice warm but urgent. "Tony managed to open a stable portal. He sent me through to find you—to help you."
Aurora's lips parted. "Tony… Stark?"
Silvanna nodded. "He didn't forget you. He didn't stop looking."
Miles exhaled sharply, his shoulders dropping. Relief, mixed with suspicion, flooded his face. "Okay… but how do we know she's not another trick?"
Storm stepped forward, her white eyes piercing. "You carry power," she said slowly. "Yet Xavier senses no mutation in you. What are you?"
Silvanna glanced at the gathered X-Men, her jaw tight. "Not mutant. My power isn't born of the X-gene." She opened her palm. Scarlet threads shimmered in the air, weaving into a sphere of liquid red that pulsed like a heartbeat.
"Blood," she said simply. "I can command it. Shape it. Use it."
The reaction was immediate—Cyclops stiffened, Logan growled low in his throat, and Colossus instinctively moved closer to Storm.
But Xavier raised his hand. His gaze was sharp, not unkind. "Not a mutant… and yet you carry the burden of power all the same." His voice touched Aurora's mind as much as Silvanna's. This one carries a history. Pain, duty, love. She does not come as enemy.
Aurora squeezed Silvanna's hand tighter. "She's with me. She's… family."
That word silenced the room.
Silvanna's face flickered, just for a moment, with emotion—something between sorrow and pride. She leaned close to Aurora, her voice low. "I came because I won't let you fight alone. Not after everything. Do you understand?"
Aurora nodded, a lump rising in her throat. "I… I think so."