Amethyst had only been at the school for a few days, and she was already considering running away.

The place was a dump, for one. No luxury, no elegance, and dozens of children of various ages running wild without much care for order or basic hygiene. Loose feathers, muddy footprints, and half-eaten food dotted the common areas, and the rooms, judging by the smells, were not much better either. The princess was lucky she had a room with its own bathroom all to herself, but it was a meager silver lining when she had to clean both with her own hands.

Ew.

At one point, she did run. In a fit of desperation she made it all the way to the back of the Mansion grounds, where she tripped and fell, and realized that all of this was a very bad idea. Hoping no one saw her literally hit rock bottom, the defeated princess limped back to the building, sneaking through a back door, and headed for her room.

Damn this school. Damn her cousin. Damn diplomacy.

The trail to her room was dotted by loose rubies, opals, topazes, and the occasional piece of jade.

Eupraxia loved her new home. Atlantis could go kick rocks with how they treated her and the other gorgons. Eurpaxia loved New York!

Well, okay, she loved the Mansion. She was still warming up to visiting the outside world. She was not scared, but the Mansion was where her people were. The gorgons and the other mutant kids. Yes, it took her some time to warm up to the non-gorgons who looked like plain demigods. Some of them were jerks, but not all of them. Apparently, with humans around, mutants were generally better to each other.

And that was why Praxi did not stray too far: there were humans out there. She went with Miss Grey to the nearby pizzeria once to pick up the pizza night order, but the way people looked at her in the small shop made her feel uncomfortable. Definitely not self-conscious, because she was awesome, but she did not like when people judged her. Who were they? Lame, that’s what.

Classes had started again, but Praxi’s lessons were special because she basically missed most of a lifetime of schooling. She might have had a one-on-one lesson scheduled today, but it was supposed to snow today. How often did Atlantis get snow? Freaking. Never.

And so her teacher would understand why she skipped her lesson to sit on the Mansion walls and relax, looking up into the sky waiting for the first flakes to fall. It was chilly, which made her feel less… flowy. She was still getting used to her body feeling slow and consistent. She liked New York Summer and Fall more than Winter, but they did not have snow.

Praxi’s relaxation was broken up when she heard the thud of someone falling to the ground. She let an eye slide to the side of her head to check, but at this distance she could only see some vague figure getting up from the ground. People were clumsy sometimes. Feet were weird.

The wandering eye almost returned skyward before Praxi noticed a new thing from where the figure was leaving—something sparkly. She could not see well, but that was definitely worth checking out.

Climbing down the wall, the puddle crawled along the grass until she found what she was looking for: a gem! Did that person drop it? Well, what was the thing Chase said? Finders keep stuff. Eupraxia was a finder. In fact, looking around, she noticed more stones. Woah! This was clearly her lucky day; she would have plenty to add to the collection.

Sliding along, letting her eyes guide her, the slime puddle rolled over gems of different colors, incorporating them into herself. At some point, she might be full at this rate! Not that it would stop her.

Following the trail back inside, (snow could wait,) Praxi followed quickly through the living area and into the hall where she spotted one more gem falling to the ground just behind the figure of a girl. Surely if she was dropping gemstones, she wouldn’t mind if Praxi caaarefully inched toward the topaz near her feet…

This was stupid. Being royalty and being sent to some messed up charity school for gorgons was stupid. Having to go to school at all was stupid. Trying to run away had been stupid too, to be fair. Falling was even stupider. And now, crying in the hallway, was stupidest of all. Amethyst was feeling a very unhealthy does of hating the world in general right now. As she fumbled to open the door of her room, a few more topazes fell at her feet.

Then something soft and gooey brushed against her ankle. Amethyst turned and looked... and then screamed, backing up against the door, cursing loudly in her native language and she shook the foot that had been touched by the... whatever that disgusting pile of goo was.

Eupraxia tried to be careful, but it was difficult being careful when her sight and sense of touch were bad, especially as a puddle. Her eyes tried to get close to the edge of her, but the edge kept moving, so often her sight would get blurry.

And that’s how you accidentally touch someone’s ankle. The scream surprised Praxi, who leapt back, reforming into her preferred humanoid form, with her semi-transparent body containing her new gem horde, glittering amidst the green goop.

”Ah, hey! No need to scream, I’m just—wait.” The girl before her swore (which, you know, cool,) but it was not like the swears Eupraxia was learning in New York. It was a swear she remembered from Atlantis. ”Atlantean? But that doesn’t make sense. You’re not a—”

Then it clicked and Praxi retched. Well, she made a retching sound. She had no stomach or esophagus, so it was just for effect. ”I didn’t know ‘demigods’ were coming here now.” Praxi put some sarcasm on the title. Since being in New York, she was learning that the name was not accurate; it just made the non-physical mutants feel more important. ”Gross. I didn’t realize New York was going to be lame now.”

The puddle of slime jumped back, and took on a vaguely humanoid form. A gorgon! Amethyst stared at her... it?..., disgusted by the idea of a pile of goo being a person, combining two things she tried to stay away from: dirt, and gorgons. The fact that it had a handful of her gems sparkling... inside her was just adding insult to injury.

>>”Ah, hey! No need to scream, I’m just—wait... Atlantean? But that doesn’t make sense. You’re not a—”

Atlantean. Not just a gorgon, but one from Atlantis, one that came here from the Necropolis, and possibly knew who she was. On top of that, it made a very unsavory retching sound. Could it even...? Amethyst flattened herself back against the door, praying that more goop was not going to leak in her direction.

>>”I didn’t know ‘demigods’ were coming here now. Gross. I didn’t realize New York was going to be lame now.”

Amethyst stared. A gorgon would have never dared to talk to her like that back home. They would not have dared to talk to her at all. Then again, maybe the puddle of slime did not know who she was talking to...? Amethyst pulled herself up into her royal posture.

"I am Princess Iris Beryl Amethyst" she declared "I am here representing the royal family of Atlantis."

There. This should clear things up about where they stood.

Eupraxia was grumpy, because how dare a demigod come to New York? They were the reason kids like her flocked to the Mansion, starting a new life where they were not being oppressed. Well, not by their fellow mutants. Eupaxia could finally look at non-physical mutants like Mr. Cervantes or Mrs. Csendes and realize they weren’t that bad. Sure, they were in charge, which made them kind of lame, but they were following up King Atlan. A low bar was set.

This, however, was a mutant from Atlantis, meaning she lived a life of privilege, right? Why would she even leave? Maybe demigod culture had its own intricacies? Maybe her lack of first-hand experience with demigods led her to paint them all with the brush of nobility, and some had harder lives than she thought?

> "I am Princess Iris Beryl Amethyst. I am here representing the royal family of Atlantis."

Oh, hell no. Eupraxia was stunned. Her “jaw” dropped to an almost cartoonish degree before she shook herself out of it. ”No. No, no, no, go back. Go back right now.” Eupraxia’s arms folded under her chest, sinking slightly into her approximation of a waist. ”This place is actually okay, and now you’re just going to ruin it.”

The... puddle of goop looked shocked. Appalled, even. The feeling was mutual. Amethyst had not yet met anyone at Xavier's who was from Atlantis; she'd expected them to have at least a measure of respect for the royal family, even if they had defected in favor of... this place.
Clearly, the goop had other ideas.

>>”No. No, no, no, go back. Go back right now. This place is actually okay, and now you’re just going to ruin it.”

I wish.

Honesty and pride clashed had in the princess' mind for a moment. But it had never been an even fight.
Amethyst folded her arms and leveled a glare at the girl.

"Excuse me? Who do you think you are talking to?" just because they were not in Atlantis anymore, they were still not equals, and the princess was determined to cling to that shred of normalcy in this insane situation "I am here on a diplomatic mission. You are not. If you don't like seeing me here, you can leave."

When Eupraxia got to America, she asked Ms. Morris who the King was in this country. Maya scoffed and said they did not have a king and muttered several things Praxi did not pick up with her diminished hearing. So the “president” was not great, but he was not a king and apparently, they kicked them out every four or eight years. Honestly, while governing bodies seemed to be bad in general, Praxi did like the idea of ejecting people from their seat of power.

Excited to be done with monarchies, particularly the Atlantean royal family, finding Prissy Princess Amethyst here irked Eupraxia to no end.

But things were different now. If they met in Atlantis, Praxi could end up imprisoned or executed. Here? The princess was free game—well, as long as Praxi followed the American laws her teachers kept warning her about. ”No. Excuse me? You’re just a guest, but I’m going to be an American citizen and never go back to Atlantis.” The citizenship process had to wait until she was eighteen, but she was already taking steps. ”I even got a green card! It’s green like me, because I’m so American.”

Eupraxia put her hands on her hips and leaned forward. ”So you’re not the boss of me. You’re a guest, so you’re the one who can leave. Besides, I bet a spoiled princess couldn’t even survive here.” Praxi formed a tongue explicitly to stick it out at Amethyst.

Her words did not seem to have the right effect on the slime girl. She was one of those gorgons that got big ideas into her head once King Atlan's power had been toppled. Suddenly she thought she was equal to royalty.

>> ”No. Excuse me? You’re just a guest, but I’m going to be an American citizen and never go back to Atlantis.”

Good.

Just a guest, though? Amethyst furrowed her brow. Was that what had been told to the kids around here? That she was a mere guest?

>>”I even got a green card! It’s green like me, because I’m so American.”

Amethyst had no idea what a green card was, or why they made it match someone's skin color. She rolled her eyes anyway, to see how much she did not care for cards.

>>”So you’re not the boss of me. You’re a guest, so you’re the one who can leave. Besides, I bet a spoiled princess couldn’t even survive here.”

Now, that was a challenge. Amethyst drew herself up.

"Survive what? Poor hygiene? Bad living standards? Chaotic education?" she spat, dripping with sarcasm "Just because they gave you a pretty card doesn't mean you are better suited for being here than I am. You don't scare me, gorgon."

When someone was royal somewhere but then they left that place, was their royalty supposed to carry over? That was stupid; if the people in charge in one place were terrible, and you left that place, you should not have to care about them anymore. If they showed up to your new home, they were just some intruder, and that put Eupraxia on edge.

Praxi was proud of her green card; it meant she belonged here. Well, at least until she could get citizenship. She talked to Ms. Grey about it, since the redheaded X-Man was also from another place originally, explaining why her English barely sounded like English.

When the Princess dared to roll her eyes at Praxi’s achievement, she took it personally. Did she not get that being accepted here was special?

> "Survive what? Poor hygiene? Bad living standards? Chaotic education? Just because they gave you a pretty card doesn't mean you are better suited for being here than I am. You don't scare me, gorgon."

Oh, this girl wanted to go. Diplomatic immunity was not going to save this princess from getting slimed if she kept up the attitude. ”Are you sure? I always assumed you ‘demigods,’” in air quotes of course, ”were so scared of everything that didn’t look like you and fit your tiny little bubble.”

Praxi reverted into a puddle, feeling it easier to work herself from a basic state. From the puddle, she became an approximation of a dragon. Not the biggest dragon, but she did have the head shape right and goopy wings to match. She wanted the Princess to fear her, because she had no power here. ”I don’t think you can survive in a place where you aren’t babied. I think if people don’t grovel at your feet, you’ll cry. You don’t make the sun shine and you don’t crap rainbows. I. Don’t. Think. You’re. Special!”

>>”Are you sure? I always assumed you ‘demigods,’ were so scared of everything that didn’t look like you and fit your tiny little bubble.”

The gorgon was acting hostile, and even worse, sarcastic. She really seemed to believe that she had the upper hand here, away from Atlantis. Maybe it had something to do with her mutation; being a puddle of goo had to be hard on someone's self esteem.

"Not scared. Mildly disgusted." she corrected, watching the girl melt into a puddle again before reforming into the shape of... a dragon. Amethyst blinked, and took a step back, despite her better judgment. Where was school security when someone needed them? They would not let one student eat another, for sure?...

>>"I don’t think you can survive in a place where you aren’t babied. I think if people don’t grovel at your feet, you’ll cry. You don’t make the sun shine and you don’t crap rainbows. I. Don’t. Think. You’re. Special!”

Amethyst winced, but the goop-dragon was not attacking her just yet. Not physically, anyway. Her opinion on demigods seemed clear, but definitely flawed. For one, she did not crap rainbows, that would have been ridiculous. She crapped gemstones. Big difference.

"Oh, and you are?" she shot back, folding her arms, her back against the door "You came all the way here so that these people would pat you on the head and tell you you are precious? It's their job, gorgon. You can't do anything a handful of dough can't do. Leave this building, and see how special the humans of this country think you are."

Maybe Eupraxia had a chip on her shoulder. Who would even blame her? She spent most of her life fighting and hiding. She was also lucky; her mutation made her hard to pin down, letting her avoid capture by the guards longer than she should have. She shuddered to think of what would have happened if she was caught, so she just made it her priority to avoid it at all costs.

Now that Atlantean guards were not going to flank her from the nearby dorms, Eupraxia was feisty and beyond reproach. So maybe the dragon body was her attempt at a power move. She could not look like a “normal” person, but she could look like a dragon. Was that not better anyway?

The princess did flinch, but she did not flee or cower. Maybe that was a mark to her credit, but it annoyed Eupraxia. She was so used to a world where she had infinite privilege. Did she not get she had left that behind?

Instead of retreating, the princess had her own barbs, and the last one made Paxi visibly prickle. How dare she invoke humans. ”Like you’d do much better. They’d ignore you til they realize you’re a mutant. Some humans don’t care if you’re pretty-- they’ll call you disgusting anyway. But you don’t get we’re supposed to be on the same team.”

From Eupraxia’s dragon mouth, she spat out part of her body at Amethyst’s feet, hoping to stick her to the spot. Because she was petty. ”And a handful of dough can’t annoy you like I can.”

Eupraxia reformed to her normal shape, maybee two globs lighter for the gunk she tossed at the princess. ”Tell ya what. I’ll leave the Mansion when you do, because I’d love to see you knocked down a peg or two.”

As much as gorgons were promised a better life at the X-Mansion, even Amethyst knew that America was not the land of promise for mutants. Quite the opposite, from what she could gather, otherwise they would not have had their own separate special school, with security and everything. But of course the naive little gorgon did not see that from all the cuddles she got. Ew.

>>”Like you’d do much better. They’d ignore you til they realize you’re a mutant. Some humans don’t care if you’re pretty-- they’ll call you disgusting anyway. But you don’t get we’re supposed to be on the same team.”

Amethyst snorted. Team, indeed. She was not going to be on any team with the likes of this annoying puddle of goop. She'd rather take her chances back in Atlantis.

>>”And a handful of dough can’t annoy you like I can.”

The slime person... spat at her. Amethyst gasped, completely disgusted, trying to pull her slipper out of the sticky substance. She even gagged a little. "Ugh... How dare you?!"

>>”Tell ya what. I’ll leave the Mansion when you do, because I’d love to see you knocked down a peg or two.”

Amethyst glared at the green glob of a girl with burning fury. Now she had done it.

"Deal." she hissed "You and me, we are going outside. We'll see how long you last before someone mops you up."