58. We met as kids, Xavier

AT THE SAME TIME

WANESSA'S POINT OF VIEW:

The moment Xavier's power surged through the ruins, I felt it. Not just the shock of his transformation, not just the intensity of the moment, but something deeper.

Something buried. And then, as I clutched my pendant, it broke free. A wave of memories, flashes of a past I shouldn't have forgotten, slammed into me. A girl. Small. Weak. Overlooked. A castle. Not this one but another. Older. Grand. And whispers. "She's too fragile." "An Omega? In the royal family?" "She won't last."