Amara Aquilla arrives with a whole society behind her. Nova Roma has customs, hierarchies and assumptions that make Xavier's school look unfamiliar before anybody even starts ex…

Amara Aquilla arrives with a whole society behind her. Nova Roma has customs, hierarchies and assumptions that make Xavier's school look unfamiliar before anybody even starts explaining the Danger Room. The South American adventure beginning in #8 introduces the students to that hidden Roman-style city and to Selene. Amara's emerging geothermal powers make her part of the danger as well as part of the way through it. By #13 she joins the New Mutants as Magma, carrying the consequences of that discovery into a very different daily life. Her ability is difficult to keep small. Heat, molten rock and disturbances in the ground are dangerous things to release when other people are standing nearby. Learning control has immediate practical meaning for her. A frightened or overwhelmed student with that much force available needs patience from the people teaching her, and some confidence that a mistake won't make them give up on her. Issue #13 puts that adjustment into the school's ordinary social space. Amara is upset, Kitty tries to comfort her, and the encounter becomes tangled in Kitty's own uneasy relationship with the younger team. Even a good intention can turn awkward when everyone is bringing a different insecurity into the room. That gives Amara more to do than supply another dramatic power effect. She has to learn how these people speak to one another, what they take for granted and where she fits among them. The others also have to recognize that their normal world is new to her. During the Demon Bear fight in #20, her fire helps distract the creature while Sam carries Illyana into position. The spectacular power has become part of a coordinated effort. Amara is still learning this unfamiliar world, but she already has friends relying on what she can do in it.