Where: Indoor Swimming Pool, Lower Levels, Xavier's Sister School

It was late. Too late, Andy thought as he cast a frustrated glance at the digital alarm clock on his nightstand.

“Sleep, sleep, sleep,” he muttered repeatedly under his breath, but it was no use. Letting out a heavy sigh, he turned on his side in a desperate effort to find a more comfortable position.

Ugh. Every fiber of Andy’s being was telling him to get his ass to the sub-basement and swim in the pool, but he didn't want to. He didn't want to swim in the pool, no matter how nice and heated and calming it was... What would his roommate think? Swimming at this hour was totally weird. He’d think something was wrong and ask questions…

Then again, his roommate was fast asleep. And snoring. He’d never know. All he had to do was gently peel off his covers, slowly climb out of bed, and-- There. Once both his feet were firmly and soundlessly planted on the wooden floor, he stood up and carefully tiptoed over to his dresser to pull out a plain white t-shirt, black Adidas sweatpants and his favorite pair of speedos, which he slipped on as quickly and silently as possible.

Don’t wake up, don’t wake up…

Much to his surprise (and relief), he didn’t. Hell, he didn’t even flinch. I should really record him one of these days, Andy thought with an amused smirk as he stepped out of his dorm-room, into the hallway and toward the nearest elevator.

Once he arrived at the pool area, a toothy smile instantly stretched across Andy’s face, brightening his entire persona. The strong smell of chlorine in the air. The crystal clear, bright blue waters. He loved it all.

Eagerly, Andy stripped off his shirt and started to lower his pants when, all of a sudden, a flash of color and movement caught his eye. That was when he realized someone - or something - was already in the pool. It... she... had a weird-shaped head that kind of reminded him of coral and creepy-looking blue eyes that were now staring at him.

With his jaw slightly dropped and his eyes wide in shock, Andy was unsure of how to react or what to say. After all, he didn’t plan to come across anyone down here, especially not this late at night. Did she even go to this school? She had to be a mutant, though. How else could her strange appearance be explained?

“Uh…” Andy tried to say something, anything, but everything that came to mind sounded offensive. “What are you doing here?” he finally asked, then immediately wished he hadn’t. “Not that you’re not allowed to be here…” he quickly corrected himself, even though a part of him secretly wanted her to leave. Okay, maybe all of him... This was supposed to his special spot. “I was just wondering.”

Tag: Kalos

She was not supposed to be here. But she was.

By Kalos' estimation, this was exactly the same as the chocolate powder that Chase had shared with her. The adults might not like them eating it straight out of the container, but that just meant they would do it while none of them were looking. And the best time to escape their watchful eyes was at night. Kalos' days and nights had almost completely reversed. At night, there were fewer people to see her and fewer people to watch how she did everything wrong. They cooed and they smiled and they were just so nice that she could hardly stand it sometimes. She liked the nice. She wanted to be nice. She didn't always feel nice inside. The contrast was just, sometimes, too much.

So she stayed up late. She found leftovers from the cold box. She explored the Mansion while no one was watching. On one of her late night excursions, she'd found the underground pool. It was water! A lot of water! She missed water. No one was there to stop her so she stepped in, clothes and all. The people here got angry with her for being naked. Landers were strange about the bodies they walked around in and even stranger about other people's bodies when it was really none of their business.

Kalos swam like a frog. She paddled around. She left her finger and toe covers at the side of the pool and then dove down and touched the smooth ground of the pool and tried to pull the slatted cover off the hole at the bottom. She was having a perfectly fun time until she heard a sound. A little scuffle of footsteps. Would she be in trouble? Would they make her go upstairs?

A boy walked in who seemed to be in the stage of his life where he had grown into being part man, but still had some boy left to him. How did she know? Because he started to take off his clothes until he was wearing little more than an Atlantean might. His body showed the care this demigod had taken of himself.

Kalos let her face dip down in the water until only her eyes and the top of her head showed above it. She watched him like a crocodile might, ready to snap if she showed himself to be more man than boy. Boys were okay. Men were very not. She smiled to herself beneath the surface once he began to stammer through what he was trying to say. Boy then. He was still safe to talk to.

So, what was she doing here?

"I am having a swim." She had to kick herself up a bit in order for her mouth to be out of the water. Once her shoulders were out of the water it was clear that she had gone swimming in a tshirt and not proper swimwear. She motioned with an arm that ended in blue tentacles to the ground near where he was standing. A whitish pile of 40 or so hardened bits of coral. "Do not step on my fingers. They take time to grow."

If any of this was odd, she did not act as if that were so.

Who was she? What was she doing here so late? And what the hell was growing out of head? Andy wrinkled his brows in a mixture of confusion and curiosity. The more he looked at the pinkish, crusty-looking growths, the more he was reminded of coral. But there couldn’t possibly be coral on her head…

>> "I am having a swim."

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Andy folded his arms across his chest. “Yeah, but…” He was about to ask why she was having a swim - instead of sleeping like everyone else - but then realized the same question could be thrown right back at him. “Nevermind.”

Sighing, he guessed he’d just have to accept the fact he wasn’t the only student at the mansion who enjoyed late night swims. It may even be a good thing. At least it meant they had something in common, right? Maybe they could be friends? Either way, Andy was going to do what he came here to do--swim.

Without giving it a second thought, he finally pulled off his sweatpants and started walking towards the pool's edge. "You don't mind, do you?" It was then the little girl suddenly whipped her arms out of the water, if he could even call them arms. Heart jumping, Andy's eyes went wide. What the hell were those things? Tentacles? Why did she have tentacles? he wondered, his face twisting in a mixture of fear and disgust. On an octopus or squid, okay, tentacles made sense and actually looked pretty darn cool, but on a person? Yuck!

>> "Do not step on my fingers. They take time to grow."

Andy quirked a brow. “Your fingers?” he asked, confused, before realizing she was completely serious. Oh God. Don’t look down, don’t look down... Curiosity took over, though, forcing his gaze downwards, where he saw a pile of who-knows-what only inches away from his feet. “What the…” He took a step back. “Those are your fingers?” They looked like the growths the girl had on her head, only smaller and whiter... and detached from her body. A shiver shot up his spine. This was all just too weird for him. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to go swimming anymore. Who knows what other body parts the girl was shedding…

This was a curious boy. He covered his chest in a huff. Was she not supposed to look at him? He was naked except his undywear. And he started to say things, but then did not. More curious. He asked if she minded, but she had no idea what she was supposed to mind. Instead, Kalos elected to warn the curious demigod boy that he should not prick his feet on her finger casings.

His face twisted. She had no idea how to react to that. He so clearly wanted to say that her blue tentacles were gross. He elected to stay within the obvious until his revulsion overcame him and he shuddered.

Kalos smiled. It was smile or get sad or angry and she was tired of the latter options.

"They are the cover part." She didn't have great words for what they were. "I put my fingers on so demigods like you don't have to see. But they make swimming difficult because they are like rock." Such silly sensibilities. She would not have expected them from someone so naked. Kalos took pity on him and put her hands back beneath the water. They were prettier in water and flowed like the wind was tickling a plant. It also made them harder to see since the pool was colored blueish and being underwater and all that.

"What am I minding?" She had tried to figure it out, but nothing had come to Kalos, so she figured that she should ask. But in asking, she had the realization that perhaps he had wanted her to pay him compliment on the muscles and handsome demigod nature he was displaying. In Atlantis, she would have been remiss not to say something when someone was attempting to be handsome.

"You have very many muscles for your back and shoulder and your undyware is very small so that I can see them as you must want them to be seen. You did a good choice of swimming clothing." There. That was diplomatic and flattering. She could not see how he could possibly object.

Just when Andy thought he couldn't feel any more confused than he already was, she called him a demigod. What the hell is a demigod? Andy lifted a brow as he mentally searched for an answer that was simply not there. As far as he knew, there was only one God. Sure, Andy considered himself a child of God, as was every other person in existence--made in his image--but to call himself anything more felt wrong, sinful even. Was it because he was a mutant?

Andy furrowed his brows and bit his lower lip as he weighed his options. He could either act like nothing was wrong and google the term later or ask the eight- or nine-year-old girl what she meant. It didn't mean he'd have to get into an argument... hopefully. "Sorry, what did you just call me? A demigod?"

>> "What am I minding?"

For a brief moment, Andy didn't know what she was referring to. "Oh, I was just..." he started to explain, but then she started looking at his speedos. Or at least he thought she was. He couldn't really tell because her eyes didn't have irises or even pupils, and so the disconcerting question remained at the forefront of his mind until--

>> "You have very many muscles for your back and shoulder and your undyware is very small so that I can see them as you must want them to be seen. You did a good choice of swimming clothing."

Suddenly, Andy felt the need to cover his entire body. Of course, he had gotten similar compliments and questions before at swim meets in the past, but never by little girls, and he wasn’t quite sure what to think. Did she have a crush on him or was she was just being observant and curious? "Uhh…” Andy shifted uncomfortably in place as he racked his brains for the most appropriate response, his arms folded tightly across his chest. “Thank you. But this isn't 'undyware' and I don't wear it to impress. I wear it for speed… and comfort... Haven’t you ever seen a real swimmer before?”

Really? Did no one explain the demigod gorgon thing to people up here? She let the topic rest for now. If he did not see her as a gorgon or as anything less, then she would not give him the words to think of her in that way... though... he'd already gotten scared because of her hands.

With a sign Kalos swam over toward her pile of fingers and heaved herself out of the pool with two pink arms that ended in a mass of blue tentacles. Her t shirt and gym shorts seeped water as she started to put all her finger pieces back into place. There was no sense in scaring the poor, delicate demigod. While she worked, he talked.

> “Thank you. But this isn't 'undyware' and I don't wear it to impress. I wear it for speed… and comfort. Haven’t you ever seen a real swimmer before?”

"You are most welcome." And she didn't bow or bend or even stop putting her fingers back together. She felt absolutely rebellious sometimes and no one bothered to stop her here. It was crazy!

"I am certain I have seen real swimming." What did he think she was just doing? "Atlaneans are the best as swimming. There are fountains and flowing rivers and we did live under the ocean." What better swimmers could there be? She was caught between a fierce pride and a fierce anger toward her people, but she could, at least, defend their swimming.

"Also, where I come from people are a lot more naked, but my hero said that I can't be naked because it makes people embarrassed. You're mostly naked and not embarrassed. So you were trying to look for a compliment, right? You needed me to tell you how handsome you are. I only didn't want to give offense."

Finished with her fingers, Kalos wiggled the hardened caps that covered her tentacles. It was quite possible to pretend her hands were normal now. They looked to be the right shape and size. Only, the pile was only mostly gone. She pulled one foot out of the water to put her toe caps on as well.

The little pink-skinned girl never answered his question. Instead, she heaved herself out of the water, tentacles and all, and started putting her fingers back on. Another shiver shot up his spine and, for a brief moment, Andy couldn’t have possibly looked any more repulsed as he watched her pick up bits of who-knows-what from the floor and carefully place them over each one of her tentacles, effectively hiding them from view.

When she lifted her gaze, he realized he was staring and quickly tried to hide all traces of disgust on his face behind a smile. Not wanting to offend her any further, he decided not to ask her again about demigods. That was what Google was for.

>> "You are most welcome. I am certain I have seen real swimming."

Keeping his arms crossed, Andy shook his head. Clearly, she didn’t understand what he meant. If she did, she would have known his Speedos were smartly crafted tools for success, not undies. Before he could get a single word out to explain, however, she said something that made him raise both eyebrows in surprise.

>> "Atlaneans are the best as swimming. There are fountains and flowing rivers and we did live under the ocean."

Sure, Andy had heard about the discovery of a ‘new’ country called Atlantis on the news a few months back, but was quick to write it off as a superstitious rumor or some sort of marketing technique. There was just no way an entire city made up of mermaids could be uprooted and turned into some popular vacation destination...

But now he was starting to think the news was true. Maybe the mythical underwater city was made up of more than just mermaids? It would certainly explain the little girl's strange, coral-like appearance... and her weird way of talking. Maybe believing in demigods was an Atlantean thing, a part of her culture?

Or maybe she was just one seriously messed-up-in-the-head mutant child who pretended to be from Atlantis as a way of coping with a mutation that made her look like something that grew at the bottom of the ocean?

>> "Also, where I come from people are a lot more naked, but my hero said that I can't be naked because it makes people embarrassed. You're mostly naked and not embarrassed. So you were trying to look for a compliment, right? You needed me to tell you how handsome you are. I only didn't want to give offense."

Unsure of what to believe, Andy wrinkled his brow in a mixture of confusion and frustration as she spoke. Her hero? Ugh, she sounded so damn convincing and honestly how cool would it be to meet someone who was from Atlantis? She probably used to swim with dolphins all the time, that was if she was telling the truth about her heritage…

Atlantis isn’t real, Andy thought, sturbbornly shaking his head. He refused to give into her trickery, though there was a part of him that recognized she was just a little girl and maybe needed these otherworldly fantasies in the same way many children needed to believe in Santa Claus. Telling her otherwise could make her sad or angry, and he really didn’t like upsetting children… or anyone for that matter.

But then she accused him of fishing for compliments, which was just not true. “No I wasn’t,” he spat out defensively, before taking a breath to regain his composure and correct his tone. “I was just trying to, you know, be polite… Since you got here first, I wanted to make sure you were okay with me swimming with you… But it looks like you’re done swimming, anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter...” Andy, however, wasn’t sure if he still wanted to swim.

“You got everything?” he asked, casting a quick glance at the water to make sure there were no disembodied appendages floating around. “All your fingers... and toes…”

Kalos seemed to unnerve, which was sad. She was trying to do the exact opposite.

This boy did not seem very in charge of his thoughts and actions. He had some growing up to do. Kalos understood that she should not say these things to a demigod's face even if the people here had been nice and let her get away with many forms of rudeness before. She assumed they did so because she was still trying to learn their ways.

"You were being courteous to me?" Her head tilted and those curious eyes gave nothing away as she continued to stare at him. She was not used to others taking her into consideration. It was... nice. Did they think of her feelings because she was young? Or new? Kalos just couldn't unravel why he would bother being polite. He was no hero, though living here might help him grow into one.

"You may have a swim. I will not hamper you." And thus Kalos decreed it so. She put her feet back into the water, toes properly capped and safe for even a demigod to handle.

> “You got everything?”

"Yes." She didn't bother to check again. She had already replaced every piece. Kalos instead continued staring. "Do you... got everything?" If she wanted to talk like them, she needed to practice right away.

>> "You were being courteous to me?"

Andy raised a brow and nodded. Was is that much of a surprise? People were polite to each other all the time. Well, most people. The girl acted as though she spent most of her time around the few who lived primitively, without any concept of manners... Maybe because she grew up around fish and all sorts of other sea creatures?

No, Andy caught himself, shaking his head in protest at the possibility that she really was born under the sea. There was just no way...

>> "You may have a swim. I will not hamper you."

For a brief moment, Andy thought the girl was going to leave right then and there, which made him feel like an awful person not being as open and friendly as he would have been with someone who didn't have removable appendages and tentacles. He didn't mean to drive her away; he was just very weirded out by her unique physiology.

She didn't leave, though, and neither did her detachable fingers and toes, which she casually dipped back into the water as she remained seated along the edge of the pool. Hopefully, they wouldn't fall off... Andy heaved a breath and smiled as he internally fought to stay calm. He could do this. Even if they did fall into the water, they weren't going to harm him in any way.

>> "Do you... got everything?"

"Uhh..." Andy wasn't completely sure what she was referring to. Did she think he could remove his appendages, too? "I just need to do one more thing..." With that, Andy did what he had been dying to do since he first arrived - he ran forward and dove into the pool head first, much like a dolphin. Guided by his powers, he resurfaced at the opposite end of the pool in less than a second.

Smiling widely, he spun around to face the supposedly Atlantean girl whose name he still didn't know and said, "I'm Andy, by the way. Or you can call me Bubblehead. Whichever you'd prefer."

What one more thing? The man-boy dove into the water and when he surfaced, he seemed to have a better mood. He was still mostly naked, so it must have been the water or perhaps the dive that made him smile.

That was yet another person to say 'by the way' after they said their name. It must have been a cultural thing, and since she wanted to practice Kalos decided to adopt this strange superfluous phrasing.

"Andy is a lovely name." Yet another nicety Kalos had observed. That was what people said to her about her name almost every time she introduced herself. "Bubblehead is... also... lovely." She lied with the best smile on her face. Bubblehead was a dumb name. She would never tell him that unless pressed.

"I have the name Kalos, by the way." And it may never sink in that the name was hers, despite the fact that she picked it out herself. "How are you finding the water? It is well?" She was downright pleasant when she wanted to be.

Every time Andy was submerged in water, he felt a rush of power. Like he was invincible. Like he could do anything. If his mutation allowed him to see in poorly lit conditions, like a fish, he would probably even go as far as to call himself king of the ocean. For now, though, he would just have to settle with the title of ‘King of all swimming pools’.

That was why he was smiling, why he couldn’t stop smiling. Whenever he was in water, he just felt… happy.

>> "Andy is a lovely name. Bubblehead is... also... lovely."

“Thanks,” Andy said as he continued to tread water, still smiling. If a cute guy would have said that, he would have probably blushed and burst into a fit of nervous laughter. She was a little girl, though, and so he remained completely calm. “What should I call you?”

>> "I have the name Kalos, by the way."

“Kalos?” That was probably the weirdest name he had ever heard. Then again, he shouldn’t have been surprised. She was from Atlantis, after all, or so she claimed. “What an interesting name…”

>> "How are you finding the water? It is well?"

Andy nodded without a shred of doubt on his face. “Oh, it’s really well. So well… I love water,” he said as he extended both arms and laid back in the water. He stared up at the metallic ceiling for a moment before suddenly spinning around and using his legs and feet to kick against side of the pool, thrusting himself toward where Kalos was sitting.

“Hey, Kalos, you wanna see something? I’ve been working on a new technique.”

Oh! He thought her name interesting! "I got to choose it for myself." And her pride in that act was easily evident.

This man-boy was waterborn. He lost some of his shiness and really became someone whole in the pool. It was fun to see. Before he'd been awkward. In the water, he was downright majestic.

"You would have liked Atlantis, I think. Except for the King." Kalos frowned. "No, you probably would have liked the king. All the demigods liked the king until the X-men arrived." The X-men had shaken the entire island nation up and Kalos reveled in every bit of news she heard about her previous home. Turmoil. Human rights violations. Unrest. Her people could endure the growing pains and the result would be worth it. Kalos swished her legs through the water, enjoying the feeling of drag against her coral. Now that she was not needing her feet to swim, she could appreciate just kicking her feet around.

She did pull her feet out of the water when Andy Bubblehead came close. It would not do for a demigod to accidentally get hurt by her.

"I will witness your new technique. Will you show it to me?"

See? Andy smirked. He knew Kalos wasn’t her real name, but rather one she fashioned for herself to make people believe she was from a mythical underwater city. He had to give her points for creativeness, though.

>> "You would have liked Atlantis, I think. Except for the King. No, you probably would have liked the king. All the demigods liked the king until the X-men arrived."

Andy internally rolled his eyes at all the crazy that flowed out of Kalos’s mouth. Kings? Demigods? Here we go again… he thought, fighting the urge to question her about her strange delusion. But then she mentioned the X-Men, which automatically gave her story some credibility.

Quirking a brow in surprise, he asked, “The X-Men went to Atlantis? You mean the new country, Atlantis? Or the mythical underwater city?” Oops, did he just call it a mythical underwater city?

Not wanting to upset her, he quickly tried to change the subject by offering to show her one of his many ‘pool party tricks’. He hadn’t perfected it yet, but it’d still look cool. Besides, it wasn’t like he cared what a little eight-year-old girl thought of him, if he did screw up.

>> "I will witness your new technique. Will you show it to me?"

Andy’s smile widened as a wave of excitement coursed through him. “Okay, here I go,” he said before dipping down into the water and swimming to the bottom. There, he got into position, placing both feet firmly on the floor and balled his hands into fists to gather his mental energy.

Looking upwards, Andy crouched down low and counted down as though he was an astronaut. “3… 2… 1…” Before he could say blast off, Andy felt himself being launched upward... and he couldn’t stop. In less than a second, he broke through the water’s surface and flew into the air like a rocket. “Ahhh!” he screamed in fear before gravity came to his rescue, bringing him back down.

Quickly, he pulled his legs up tight to his chest, shut his eyes and yelled, “Cannonball!”

> “The X-Men went to Atlantis? You mean the new country, Atlantis? Or the mythical underwater city?”

"Yes?" Kalos had some confusion about what was being asked. Those were the same place, right? "Atlantis was under the ocean for my entire life until one day we were not. Then the X-men came to Atlantis and dethroned the mad king who was a demigod of terrible psychic power. They very nearly did not prevail by their own account. The guard captain Paci even set the X-jet on fire and stabbed the X-man hero Mirror." Honestly. Did he not pay attention to what the X-men were doing? Kalos had found that most students whispered about the hallowed heroes between classes and she could easily track their heroic deeds.

He didn't seem too keen on her explanation, instead opting to go for a pool trick. It was no trouble for Kalos to witness a demigod in his element. She felt privileged for the honor, in fact. any powered mutant in their element was a joy to observe.

> “Okay, here I go,”

He swam away, disappearing beneath the aqua tinted waters. The pool, however, was very clear. So if he was hiding, he was not actually doing a very good job. After a few breaths, the boy came jolting out of the water at quite a rate. He went up far more than Kalos would have expected to be possible. Then he tucked himself together and yelled about being some kind of ball.

Kalos knew the consequences of sitting idly when someone else jumped into a pool, but she remained where she was. What did it matter if she got wet? She'd just been in the pool as well.

The water sloshed and slapped at the walls like it was trying to claw its way out of the pool, one wave slapping at Kalos' legs.

She blinked, both impressed and unconcerned. As far as tricks and showy powers, this was a good one, but she didn't quite understand how it might work. If he needed water to do it, it seemed about as useful as her power which was to be pink. Being pink was not useful at all.

Kalos clapped which was more of a grinding clatter of coral fingers than anything else.

"Very good, Andy Bubblehead. Do you have more tricks?"

What an imagination, Andy thought, wide-eyed, as he listened to Kalos’s ‘story’. Or maybe she was telling the truth? He’d have to ask the X-Men later to know for sure… When she finished, Andy forced himself to smile and nod -- to not question her, to not ruin Christmas. It was tempting, though, and so Andy thought quickly and created a diversion -- not only for her, but also himself.

It wasn’t his best pool party trick, or even the one he meant to perform, but it’d do. At least he didn’t hit the ceiling… or the pool floor. As usual, the pool of water he fell into welcomed him with open arms, enveloping him in love, protecting him from any and all harm. A part of him wanted to stay underwater for longer -- forever, really -- but he had a guest. Kalos was waiting for him to resurface and it’d be rude not to.

With perform form, Andy broke through the surface and swam over to Kalos, who looked even more soaked from head-to-toe than before. He must have made a big splash… Awesome!

>> "Very good, Andy Bubblehead. Do you have more tricks?"

More tricks? Andy’s smile faltered. He only had two, and the first one he failed to do. He guessed he could try again, but what if he failed again? Then again, she was only an eight-year-old girl, and a very strange one at that, in both appearance and personality. How could he be embarrassed? “One more, but it’s tricky... Ha, see what I did that?" No? "But seriously, I might mess up, so… Oh, and you might get splashed on. Again... Sorry for not warning you the last time.”

With that, Andy dove down into the water and swam to the bottom. Getting into position, Andy looked up at the water’s surface and took a deep breath as he tried to find his center, his balance -- because he was going to need it. “3...2...1…” Generating strong, but not too strong, psionic repulsion fields beneath his feet and palms, Andy rose up out of the water at a steadier pace than before and, for a brief moment, appeared as though he was standing on water. As soon as he tried taking a single step forward, however, he lost his balance and fell backwards.

“Shit!”