Jean learns the Truth!

Jean's eyes remained on Maxim, a slight golden glow still lingering faintly in her pupils, like a living flame trapped behind human sight.

Storm also stoof nearby, her posture poised and elegant as she silently urged Maxim to explain more with her eyes.

"What do you mean… the Phoenix Force?" Jean asked, voice trembling and soft, as though afraid the words themselves carried gravity. She clutched the edge of her fitted jacket until the buttons flattened against her palm.

Maxim took a slow breath, locking eyes with bow women before focusing on Jean.

He activated the Mind Stone, and an extension illusion wrapped around all three of them, transporting them to an illusionary image of what Maxim believes the beginning of the Universe looks like.

Suddenly, a ferocious blazing Phoenix screams and swooshes through the skies, drawing both Jean and Storm's attention as Maxim began to explain.

"The Phoenix Force is not just a power, it's one of the oldest known cosmic entities. It's an immortal, indestructible manifestation of life. It is the nexus of all psionic energy which does, has, and ever will exist in all realities of the Multiverse, The Phoenix perpetuates the cycle of life, death and rebirth. It's a force of creation and destruction."

Maxim explained, all the while the illusion showed increasingly terrifying imagery of the power of the Phoenix Force, from its ability to annihilate entire galaxies effortlessly, to how it can restore life with just a thought at max power.

Jean swallowed, nervous as she heard what Maxim had said, "But how do I come into this? Why is this..this Cosmic entity, within me?"

Maxim changed the illusion, instead showing the sight of the Phoenix crashing into Jean and merging into her, "The Phoenix usually channels its power through hosts that it bonds with. Hosts have different potential synergies, and you seem to be the synergistic perfect match with the Phoenix."

"Does that mean I'll eventually lose myself and become taken over?" Jean asks, worried about losing herself.

"Not exactly, it's more like you'll be able to tap into its powers and communicate with the force. It'll benefit you more to coexist with it. Once you're able to get it under control, think of the good you can do." Maxim said.

The illusion of the Phoenix's screams as it merged with Jean echoed faintly amidst the illusionary firmament of the early universe, and Jean was drawn to the merger.

Then Maxim slowly turned toward her.

"The Phoenix Force," he began, his voice calm but firm, "doesn't just latch onto anyone. It finds a resonance. A spark. A host that doesn't just carry psionic potential, but the potential to evolve, to transcend. And you, Jean… you're not just compatible. You're the perfect match."

"The Phoenix Force probably found you due to an intense spike in you psionic energy at one point." Maxim explained.

Jean took a half-step back, "But why now? Why is this happening to me now? I, I haven't done anything recently. Nothing that would call something like this to me."

Storm shifted slightly, folding her arms, brows furrowing as she clearly pondered the same thing.

Maxim's expression darkened slightly. He gestured, and the illusion around them changed again.

The cosmic tapestry swirled and shrank, until it narrowed to a glowing figure of a younger Jean, perhaps ten or eleven, kneeling on the ground in a bedroom. Around her, objects floated, books, furniture, even the lightbulbs in the ceiling.

A chaotic burst of power was erupting from her as she cried out, overwhelmed by voices, emotions, energy far beyond her comprehension.

Then, an invisible wave passed through. A gentle, psychic barrier layered over her form like a foggy shroud. And all that wild power… quieted.

Jean stared at the image, her voice hollow as she relived certain memories, "That's me."

Maxim nodded slowly. "It doesn't have to be recent. A surge in your psionic abilities could've happened at any point. Childhood trauma. Emotional extremes. Even unconscious defense mechanisms."

"But… that means…" Jean trailed off, staring at the younger version of herself as the image replayed the moment again.

"It means the Phoenix likely reached out to you long ago," Maxim continued. "And someone… intervened. Locked it away. Suppressed the connection. Probably for what they thought were good reasons, but dangerously short-sighted."

Ororo's lips tightened, "Charles," she said softly.

Jean turned sharply, "You think it was the Professor?"

Maxim didn't answer immediately. He gave them both a look of careful neutrality, then spoke with measured weight. "It's possible. He had access to you early. He had the knowledge. And he certainly had the ability to impose a psychic block of that scale."

"But why wouldn't he tell me?" Jean asked, barely above a whisper.

Storm's expression was unreadable as she heard Jean's question.

Maxim stepped toward Jean and gently placed a hand on her shoulder, grounding her as she began to tremble. "That's a question you'll get to ask him. But not today. Not while this power is still raw. If he did suppress the Phoenix, then the seals are cracking now, which means it's coming back to you, whether you're ready or not."

Jean nodded slowly, trying to swallow the lump in her throat "So what do we do?"

"We start by letting you face it directly," Maxim replied. "It's with you. Always has been. But you've never truly seen it, only felt it through instability. Fear. Pain. That ends today."

He gestured toward the center of the illusion, and the cosmic vista folded into a crystalline stillness. Stars dimmed. Space itself slowed until it was a quiet void, just dark enough to let peace in.

"Sit with me," Maxim said, settling cross-legged into the air itself.

Jean hesitated, but Ororo gave her a single, firm nod of encouragement. Jean slowly walked forward and sat opposite Maxim, mirroring his posture.

He extended both hands, "Close your eyes. Breathe. Let go of the noise."

She took his hands, and the moment she did, Maxim activated the Mind Stone and his Astral Powers simultaneously, its pulse gentle, guiding, not dominating.

The illusion dissolved.

Instead, they entered the Astral Plane.

The transition was seamless. One moment they sat within the echo of creation, then suddenly, they were standing within a landscape of shifting thought, dreamlike colors and shimmering skies.

The ground beneath them was abstract, a canvas of memory and emotion. Time flowed here like wind, and sensation took the form of shape and color.

Jean opened her eyes, and gasped.

Her astral form was bathed in flames.

Golden and crimson fire danced across her outline, wings of solar blaze stretching outward like an ancient spirit had wrapped itself around her core. Her skin shimmered like starlight, but behind her eyes, she could feel it.

The ocean Maxim had warned her about. Unfathomable. Limitless. Alive.

And then she felt it.

The presence.

A shape of energy coalesced before her, taking the form of a massive bird, composed entirely of radiant, searing light. Its eyes were galaxies. Its feathers trailed wisps of nebulae.

The Phoenix.

She instinctively stepped back, overwhelmed.

But Maxim held out a hand, not to hold her back, but to steady her.

The Phoenix's head lowered slightly. And then, its voice spoke, boundless and powerful.

"Child of Flame. I have always been with you."

Jean felt the statement hit her deeper than words ever could. Like it had been buried in her bones.

"From the moment your thoughts first shattered the silence of minds, I came. You called me without knowing."

"I… I don't remember," Jean said, her voice trembling.

"You would not. He did not want you to. The man who built walls in your soul feared what I would awaken."

Jean's hands clenched at her sides, "Professor X."

The Phoenix didn't nod. It didn't need to.

"He carved barriers across the path between us. He buried flame beneath ice. But now the ice melts, and I return."

Jean turned to Maxim, "So he really did it. He… sealed me off. He locked it away."

Maxim met her gaze, calm and steady. "He did what he thought was right. But in doing so, he may have made it worse. He didn't give you a choice."

The Phoenix's form pulsed brighter.

"Now, I offer you that choice. Reclaim what was always yours. Or reject it. But understand… I will not be contained again."

Jean's entire astral body trembled, the golden flame roaring around her.

"But I'm scared," she admitted, "What if I can't control it? What if I hurt them? My friends… Ororo…"

The Phoenix's wings folded in gently, less like a predator and more like a mother cradling her child.

"The fire is not meant to consume you. Only to transform. But you must embrace it, not fear it."

Maxim spoke again, "Remember Jean, no power is innately evil, it's about how you use it."

Jean looked down at her hands, now glowing with threads of cosmic light. "So if I lose myself… it's because of me."

"No," Maxim said gently, "It's because you were never given the tools to handle this. But that's what we're offering you now."

The Phoenix flared brighter once more, then slowly receded, folding itself into a sphere of radiant light that drifted back into Jean's astral form, merging seamlessly.

Jean gasped, dropping to one knee as the fire faded slightly. Not extinguished, just settled. Like it had found a place.

"I… I can feel it," she whispered. "It's quieter now."

"You acknowledged it," Maxim said. "That's the first step."

He helped her to her feet, and in the distance, the Astral Plane began to return to its neutral calm. The fire was no longer erupting across her soul—it was swirling in tight, measured pulses.

"You're not done," Maxim warned. "There's still more. We'll need to train you to balance the power. Meditate. Focus. Face the memories the Phoenix sealed away."

Jean nodded, eyes no longer wide with panic, but sharpened by clarity. "I understand."

Back in the physical world, the illusion dissolved entirely. They were once again in the center of the private chamber Maxim had prepared.

Storm stepped closer, immediately reading Jean's more stable aura.

"She's calmer," Ororo said with mild relief.

Jean looked at her old friend and nodded slowly, "It's… not gone. But it's with me now. Like a second skin. I can feel it breathing with me."

Maxim folded his arms and gave a subtle nod, "Good. But we still don't know how Charles will react when he realizes the seal's broken. For now, you stay here. No X-Men drama. No confrontations."

Jean hesitated, then nodded again. "Okay. I'll stay."

Ororo smiled faintly, then looked at Maxim. "Thank you."

Maxim gave a curt nod, but said nothing. His mind was already moving.

Because even as Jean found her balance, he knew this was only the beginning.

The Phoenix Force had awakened.

And someone, somewhere had also sensed it.

***

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