Rebecca rolled her eyes at Maya’s deflection. She was androgynous, which made sense given her mutation, and she was never going to be the type who got dolled up, but Maya was still gorgeous and would be excellent gay arm candy for any woman, queens included.

Unless, of course, the queen was more interested in beheading the gendershifter. ”Weel, at least we’re setting th’ bar fur thes mission low. Ye leave wi’ yer head, thes was a success.” It was a goodwill mission, and Achlus did not seem to be in a particularly neck-choppy mood, so Rebecca was confident in their ability to successfully keep Maya’s head on her shoulders.

Maya led them away from the well-kept streets and buildings of the palace district and Rebecca quickly noticed the shift in quality of life. The roads were cracked and covered with a dark grime, and most buildings lacked doors, assuming they were part of the lucky few that had four walls and a roof. It felt like a hand-me-down town the kingdom forgot about because, in their eyes, no one of worth lived there.

But they were working on it. Rebecca could see the small signs of progress. Some of the incomplete buildings were actually undergoing construction and revitalization projects. The shelter itself was the most promising thing in the whole Necropolis. They had chosen the largest structure in the area. It was obviously the earliest construction project, with the building actually looking… well, like a building? Like she said, small signs.

Unfortunately, construction did not revitalize people. A large splotch of red paint (she hoped) stained one of the walls, and the door was already off its hinges. Rebecca sighed, hating how prejudices were always going to develop, even in an all-mutant community. ”Ah wish th’ rest ay them woods try,” she groaned.

Rebecca thought over a sales pitch for the first time. She had not given the idea much thought, because the answer seemed obvious to her. ”Ah mean… dae ye hink we need a better sales pitch than, ‘if ye come wi’ us, we hae food, shelter, loove, an’ cable telly?’”

>>”Weel, at least we’re setting th’ bar fur thes mission low. Ye leave wi’ yer head, thes was a success.”

"That's my general base line." Maya smirked. It wasn't like they had never been on a mission that had the actual, factual potential of someone losing their head. Or at least a limb. In this case, if they landed anywhere in the vast space of possibilities between Maya becoming a queen's boy/girl toy, and losing her head, they were probably golden. Thank God for low standards.

The shelter... was a start, but definitely not a very strong one. Maya could understand why people might be hesitant to go there. There was no security in sight, and it was still too close to the Demigod parts of the city not to piss off the racist ones.

>>”Ah mean… dae ye hink we need a better sales pitch than, ‘if ye come wi’ us, we hae food, shelter, loove, an’ cable telly?’”

"Well... Kalos was excited about hot water and cake?" Mayy ventured, not sure how the coral girl's experiences measured up to others' on the darker side of the island. She took a deep breath, and walked up to the door, knocking before she poked her head in "Hello?..."

Rebecca mentally added Maya’s revisions to her pitch, muttering, ”If half ay them e’en know whit ‘cake’ is yet.” Atlantis had many beautiful, delicious foods if its own as they learned on their last trip, but there was a stark disconnect between the offerings of Atlantis and the world at large.

Maya led the way into the shelter and Rebecca followed suit, looking around at the relatively bare interior. As expected, not many gorgons were chomping at the bit to spend too much time in a building that made them a target. She was glad to see the shelter was at least not empty. A guard was seated in the back corner, watching the space with his… well, not eyes, since his face was devoid of those. He clearly had ways of sensing the world around him at least, as his head motioned in the girls’ direction when they entered. He gave them a nod, like he knew they were not a threat, and resumed surveying the shelter.

A small pile of pillows rested in the other corner with two gorgon children curled up near one another. The little boy had orange and black fur covering his body, arranged in tiger stripes. The little girl’s body appeared to be comprised of solidified salt crystals. They were no older than Kalos and both seemed to wince when they saw the X-Men entered.

Rebecca hated how the physically-mutated members of Atlantis looked at them like they were around to do harm. ”It’s okay, we’re nae—”

“What do you want?” Rebecca’s soft, calming voice had been interrupted by the accusatory tone of a third child she had missed initially. She looked around for the source and jumped back in surprise when a large glob of green slime fell from the ceiling.

Her surprise turned to curiosity as the green slime reformed into a humanoid shape. Based on the voice and the form she took, Rebecca was guessing the new girl was in her teenage years, making her the oldest of the three.

Rebecca tried to find the right words to explain their presence. ”We’re here tae help.”

It was the only sentence she was allowed to speak before the slime girl spat back, “That’s a shame. Haven’t you heard? The best way for demigods to help gorgons is by leaving us the **** alone.”

Maya followed Becca inside the building, and she felt a pang of déja vu. She had been in places like this as a young teenager, after she lost her mother and before she found the Mansion. The intentions were good, and the Queen had done the best she could - the place was clean, at least, but that did not help it from being depressing. And mostly empty. The guard did not do much either, and the kids there were not exactly thrilled to see the strangers.

>>”It’s okay, we’re nae—”

>>“What do you want?”

Maya stood in a way that she could be seen. She did not bring her archery gear for this exact reason - gorgon kids were wary enough that they did not need to see demigods in hunting gear around. Maya looked at the green girl curiously, but let Becca take the lead.

>>”We’re here tae help.”

>>“That’s a shame. Haven’t you heard? The best way for demigods to help gorgons is by leaving us the **** alone.”

"Good thing we are not demigods." Maya pointed out. She knew that gorgon kids deserved people who were kind and supportive - but she had also been a street kid long enough to know not to try to bullsh*t them on their own turf. Besides, she did not consider herself a demigod. Demigods were...

"She's right. They are not. They are foreigner and traitors, and scum like the rest of you."

Maya saw the kids' reactions before she turned towards the voice in the doorway. If they had been uncomfortable before, they were definitely scared now. Mirror, on the other hand, was definitely smirking.

"Oh, please. Please do it."

Maya stepped in, hoping to clarify that the X-Men meant the children no harm. It would have been easy to take such a rude tone personally, but the slime girl knew what life in Atlantis was like. Rebecca had to understand that the gorgon way of life was influenced by generations of injustice. To survive, they either had to develop thick skin or terrified compliance, and both personalities were on display before them.

They needed to make a clear distinction between themselves and the non-physical mutants of Atlantis if the gorgon children were going to trust their intentions. Rebecca was ready to follow up Maya’s defense, but a new voice cut them off.

Three people stood in the doorway of the shelter. The voice belonged to a tall, slender man with fair skin and blue hair. He carried a handful of small stones he was tossing into the air. Behind him stood two more demigods: a woman who almost matched him in height with flawless curves and bronze skin, and a man closer to Rebecca’s height with tan skin and a muscular build. Rebecca could have sworn she recalled seeing the woman on her first day in Atlantis, floating unclothed in the waterways.

It sounded like the group was one of the many rumored to be stirring the pot at the shelter. Putting faces to the problem only heated Rebecca’s blood. ”Must be difficult tae gie used tae a world whaur ye’re nae better than anyain else.”

The shorter man scoffed, rolling his glowing blue eyes. “There will never be a world where I’m not better than a thing like that.”

He gestured to the slime girl, who scowled at the harsh words. She was too defiant to fall back to fear. “I’ve seen anglerfish better than you,” she muttered.

“Excuse me?” The muscular man took a step closer, frustrated at the gorgon’s insolence.

Rebecca took a matching step forward, inserting herself between the teenager and the intrusive man. ”Ah’d advise against starting trouble,” she said in a low, irritated tone.

The three that stood in the doorway looked like classic high school bullies. Gorgeous on the outside, rotten on the inside, and not ashamed at all about breaking the Queen's laws, or going after defenseless children. Maya could tell she was not the only one pissed at the fact that they dared to make an appearance.

>>”Must be difficult tae gie used tae a world whaur ye’re nae better than anyain else.”

>>“There will never be a world where I’m not better than a thing like that.”

Maya's hands balled into fists, and suddenly she was both sad and glad that she did not bring her archery gear along. Sad, because she really wanted to shoot the guy in the knee. Glad, because she knew she was gonna get to punch him instead.

>>"I’ve seen anglerfish better than you,”

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Maya snorted at the comment of the jelly girl. "I like this one." The barb hit home too, because the guy suddenly got a lot more hostile. Becca got between him and the teen just in time.

>>”Ah’d advise against starting trouble,”

"Oh come on, Lodestone. Please let them." Maya taunted. She wanted to kick the daylights out of some demigods ever since she rescued Kalos from the Necropolis. And these three were practically begging for it. "I mean... if they are brave enough to go after some defenseless children, then we can't be much of a challenge, right?"

It was nice to see the slime girl could be snippy with more than just the X-Men. Rebecca admired her tenacity, throwing insults in the face of people who likely wanted to see her hurt or killed. Whether it was intentional or not, she was also taking the focus of the demigods away from the younger children at the expense of herself.

Mirror, to her credit, had no desire to back down from a fight. To the contrary; Maya’s tone and trash talking assured Rebecca she would take great pleasure in beating the bullies into the ground. The redhead was unsure if she was glad or disappointed that the bow was left behind.

”Here’s a chance tae make a smart choice—“

“For once!” piped the teenage girl behind her. A quick chuckle escaped Rebecca before she remembered her role as a (supposed) mature, responsible adult.

”Walk away.”

The tall man did not stop throwing his stones into the air, but he did stare down the women in front of him. Rebecca’s body was tense, preparing to snap into action if things went south fast.

Finally, the man shrugged his shoulders, still tossing his stones. “Hey, hey. We didn’t come here looking for trouble. That’s your thing, clearly. The X-Men of the Surface World,” he said mockingly. “Just can’t leave well enough alone. All that attitude for some girl made of gunk!”

He punctuated his sentence by tossing the small stone at the slime girl. It was barely larger than a pebble, but Rebecca did not like what the action stood for and quickly levitated her shield into a position to intercept the rock.

And the rock promptly exploded when it made contact with her shield. A small explosion, but one that could easily cause bodily harm with a direct hit, which had been the man’s intent.

Rebecca’s gaze returned to the intruders in the doorway, flaring with anger. Things were never going to go smoothly.

>>”Here’s a chance tae make a smart choice—“

>>“For once!”

>>”Walk away.”

For a moment, Maya thought they had actually won this round. She had to admit that without battle gear and displays of power, Becca and her probably did not look super intimidating to the three douchey demigods, but they had a certain authority just based on their reputation for taking down the last king. Or Becca did, anyway. For a second, it looked like they might walk away.
No such luck.

>>“Hey, hey. We didn’t come here looking for trouble. That’s your thing, clearly. The X-Men of the Surface World. Just can’t leave well enough alone. All that attitude for some girl made of gunk!”

The pebble was humiliating, but it looked harmless... until it exploded on Becca's shield. There was a split second of recognition, and then a flash of anger clear on Becca's face. Maya, on her part, felt like her leash had just snapped.
Taking a half-stride, half-lunge towards the pebble guy, Maya ducked and then came up wit considerable speed, in a fluid movement well practiced through hours of hand-to-hand training with Sam. Her elbow connected with the guy's throat, not enough to crush it, but definitely enough to make him gasp for air and collapse into a pile like a fish out of water. Maya stared down at him.

"Douche hour is over. Get lost, a**holes."

Rebecca was angry and ready to retaliate against the genuine attempt to hurt a mutant teenager, but Maya literally beat her to the punch. She watched Maya move with the grace of a trained fighter, reflecting the time and lessons earned with Sam. It all seemed like one swift, fluid motion that brought a forceful elbow to the throat of the explosive offender. Rebecca had combat training, but she was shaking off the rust she earned at grad school and her powers made up for that fact. Maya’s powers were not always applicable or beneficial in a fight, so she made sure so know what she was doing.

With the apparent leader of the group down on the ground, Rebecca was hoping the other two would come to their senses. But the flare of anger in the female demigod’s eyes made it clear things were not finished. “Blood traitors!” she shouted, extending her hand so her nails could shoot forth like lances.

Fortunately, the extended nails were thin and still lacked the strength of actual steel, so Rebecca quickly used her magnetic ability to toss her shield forward. The spinning disk snapped through the nails and continued forth with enough force to knock the woman back when it collided with her chest.

Rebecca stifled the groans of pain from both grounded enemies by sending the shield to hit one in the head, followed by the other. With that, they had two unconscious demigods and one shorter, more nervous demigod.

”Leave,” Rebecca growled, tired of defending mutants from other mutants. Fortunately, the shorter man did not need much convincing to leave the scene and run toward the main plaza.

With the conflict over for the moment, Rebecca approached the incapacitated bodies and grabbed two sets of handcuffs from her belt. The cuffs levitated toward the wrists and dragged them together behind each person’s back. Disgusted with what she was forced to witness, she muttered, ”An’ they hae th’ nerve tae call us traitors.”

One guy was down, but the other two still seemed to harbor the illusion that they had the upper hand. Maya was, honestly, eager for a fight; she had wanted to kick some pretentious demigod *ss since she rescued Kalos. And these ones looked like they were begging for it.

>>“Blood traitors!”

"Oh, give me a break, Nazi Barb..." Maya snapped, but this time, Becca's reaction was faster. As the woman's nails shot out, the metal shield sprung into action, and did not only take the woman out, but also clonked the other guy on the head for good measure. That was two down, one to go, and that one did go very fast, in the opposite direction.

>>”An’ they hae th’ nerve tae call us traitors.”

"They are just angry the law is not on their side anymore." Maya muttered as Becca handcuffed the demigods. She was sure the queen would punish them accordingly, and she was also sure that many people were not gonna like that. She turned to look at the kids, all staring (at least she assumed jello girl was staring, she wasn't quite sure), and the guard who had been way late to spring into action.

"So, as we were saying... there is a school for mutant kids in New York City. Not as fancy at Atlantis, but the security is pretty good. Food, rooms, cable TV... cake?"

Rebecca stepped out of the shelter to hail a guard she saw walking further down the street; their guard was proving to be slow, and she did not want to send any available help away from the shelter. She magnetically lifted the unconscious demigods by the handcuffs on their wrists because they did not warrant extra care in her opinion. The hulking guard took the two into custody and set off toward the palace and, Rebecca was sure, the dungeons. Achlus and her X-Men friends were not going to get more popular for that decision.

Then again, Rebecca was fine being disliked by bigots. Their decision to act seemed to earn them some more respect from the kids they saved. Even the slime girl was giving them a chance, or at least that was Rebecca’s best guess. Maya was able to offer her pitch and everyone was listening.

Rebecca returned to Maya’s side and the slime girl shrugged her shoulders. “I mean, I don’t know what teevees are, but if this New York City is somewhere far away from here, that sounds great. So great, it sounds like a trap.”

She was still defensive, but she had cause to be based on her life experiences. ”If we were loch those sods, sure. But we jist want tae gie ye ‘th chance tae gang somewhaur safe.”

“They’re good people, Praxi!” piped the younger girl made of salt in the back of the room.

“Hey, come on, kid. I’ve got this.”

”Praxi? We—“

“Eupraxia. Get it right.”

Rebecca nodded, still impressed the girl had a name. From what they learned of Kalos, gorgons were expected to live nameless. She wondered if it was common for the kids to give themselves names so they could speak to one another. ”Eupraxia. We jist want tae give th’ children a place tae get away frae all thes hate while th’ Queen tries tae fix her father’s mess.” Somehow, she doubted the gorgons saw the former King with any kind of reverence, though the guard in the room did seem to shift uncomfortably. Old habits. ”We jist ask ye spread th’ word. Any mutant child ay Atlantis is welcome tae come wi’ us. Ah know nae all will—“

“I get it,” Eupraxia replied, sighing. Her form made every word and breath sound like it was being spoken through water. “I can talk to some of the children, but I’m not telling them what to do.” She paused, swiveling her “face” to look at the younger children. “This better not be a trick.”

”Ay course,” Rebecca replied warmly. She was well-aware those children had been through enough. ”Tell them if they want, we’ll gaither here at sunset.”

Eupraxia was dissolving into a puddle in front of Rebecca’s eyes, but she managed a, “Whatever you say lady,” before she sloshed across the floor and out the door.

>>“I mean, I don’t know what teevees are, but if this New York City is somewhere far away from here, that sounds great. So great, it sounds like a trap.”

>>”If we were loch those sods, sure. But we jist want tae gie ye ‘th chance tae gang somewhaur safe.”

How did you prove to a bunch of suspicious kids with a whole lot of bad experiences with strangers that they could really trust the X-men this time? Maya let Becca take the lead for now, as she considered their options. Maybe they should have sent someone with a physical mutation?...

The slime girl was called Eupraxia. Now they were getting somewhere. She was still snappy, but if she was willing to disclose a name, she probably had the courage needed to take the next step too.

>>”Eupraxia. We jist want tae give th’ children a place tae get away frae all thes hate while th’ Queen tries tae fix her father’s mess. We jist ask ye spread th’ word. Any mutant child ay Atlantis is welcome tae come wi’ us. Ah know nae all will—“

>>“I get it. I can talk to some of the children, but I’m not telling them what to do. This better not be a trick.”

"Believe me, I thought it was a trick too. We really got to work on our sales pitch." Maya smirked "Oh, and it's also a school. So if you wanna see what the catch is, it is probably taking classes of math and science and..." she trailed off, glancing at Becca. She did not want to oversell the whole thing.

>>”Ay course, Tell them if they want, we’ll gaither here at sunset.”

"We'll be here, and we have plenty of space on the plane." Maya nodded. She suspected some kids might just come with them just to get a ride on the jet.

They exited the building together, and Maya let out a sigh.

"Alright, so... where to next?"

It was not an easy journey, but Becca and Maya were finally making strides toward earning the trust of the children they sought to bring to safety. They offered something appealing: an escape from a tense nation on the brink of civil war. They had plenty of other perks, but to Rebecca, that sounded like it would be enough.

Of course, now that Maya was past her anger, she was back to her typical good-humored self. She joked about the school portion of the Mansion and how it was the “catch” for all their prospective students. She mentioned math and science, but Rebecca was already shooting daggers before Maya could continue further.

Eupraxia left the shelter to speak to her peers, and the X-Men were not far behind. ”Ye know th’ only reason ye saved yerself frae a swift ass-kicking was yer wise choice tae nae call mah English class a ‘catch,’ richt?” Her tone was light, because the joke was not malicious and Rebecca was still riding the high of arresting two hateful demigods.

She considered where they could go next for a moment. ”Weel, Ah hink Ah trust Eupraxia, but Ah dornt see th' harm in walkin' th' streets an' talkin' tae th' kids we find.” They only had a few hours to spread their message, so Rebecca saw no reason to dawdle.

---

Atlantis was an interesting city. It had a lot of places to hide, particularly in the Necropolis. Gorgon children were keen on hiding because they understood the dangerous of being out and visible. Rebecca and Maya spoke through gutters, in alleys, and underneath stone patios. They did their best to be calm and inviting to children who were nervous around them.

Rebecca sat on a chair in the shelter, looking out toward the sky. Sunset was coming. ”Ah hope thes works,” she muttered to Maya, dreading the possibility that they could return to the Mansion empty-handed, leaving children in the crossfire of a violent mutant rights crisis.

The slime girl disappeared, hopefully to bring the news to other kids. Maya was not sure how well she was going to sell the whole thing, but it was at least a start; some might get curious and seek them out just to know more. Maya smirked at Becca.

>>”Ye know th’ only reason ye saved yerself frae a swift ass-kicking was yer wise choice tae nae call mah English class a ‘catch,’ richt?”

"I know better." Maya grinned. Honestly, she was sure most students would not mind having a teacher like Becca. Not just because she looked hot, but also because she actually enjoyed teaching, and cared a lot about her students. Maya never really got into teaching subjects; training was more of her kind of work, but she did admire people who really put in the effort to get grammar and literature and math and other things into kids' heads.

They spent most of the day wandering around the Necropolis. They talked to people, mostly kids, and did their best to spread the word. Before sunset, they returned to the shelter, to wait and see if their work had any results.

>>”Ah hope thes works,”

"It will." Maya was leaning against the wall of the building, with her arms folded "Some of these kids need a home away from Atlantis, and they know it. They'll show up. If not right now, then the next time."

Walking around the Necropolis was less daunting with Maya. Her teammate was welcoming to the children they came across and, with her experience taking care of Kalos, she understood the struggles and needs of the gorgons better than any of the other X-Men. Beyond how useful she was on the mission, Rebecca had to admit it was just nice to have a friend she trusted and felt comfortable with at her side.

Back at the shelter, all the X-Men could do was wait and hope for the best. They spoke to kids who seemed interesting and some who were skeptic, and she assumed Eupraxia was doing her own recruiting somewhere in Necropolis. Maya made a valid argument to point out that plenty of kids were going to want to escape the cultural and political tension of their homes and the X-Men were the best way to get free of a potential warzone. It was a necessary reminder and it did a lot to fill Rebecca with confidence.

Sure enough, as sunset approached, kids started appearing from nearby alleyways and buildings, shuffling toward the shelter. A girl with feathers for hair, a boy with marbled stone skin, two twins with different colors of reptilian scaled skin. It filled Rebecca’s heart to realize they were slowly filling up the Shelter with kids who were excited for a fresh start.

Rebecca was keeping her eye out in the group for a certain girl, but was still caught off guard when a familiar aquatic voice called out from behind her. “There. I did my part.”

”Ah!” Rebecca spun around on her heel to see Eupraxia, with her upper body peeking out from a green puddle. ”Oy, yer slippery”

“Yes,” Eupraxia replied flatly. “It is almost as though I am comprised mostly of liquid.”

”Nae need tae be rude,” she replied, rolling her eyes and looking out over the group of children. ”Is thes most ay th’ kids?”

“Seems like it. Might be one or two stragglers waiting until sunset is upon us here.”

Rebecca shifted uncomfortably. ”Aye. We’ll wait a bit langer.” She was not trying to rush the process. Everything was going so well. There was just a knotted feeling in her stomach she could not yet identify as an indicator of the calm before the storm.