Chapter 2
Amethyst's Adventure
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--- "That's disgusting!" Artesia exclaimed.
--- "Just watch," Amethyst replied an ever-present smile on her face. Most of the people watching thought that putting someone's hair in your mouth was rather unsanitary, but it was what she had to do in order to use her talents. "It's no worse than kissing a cat on the head…which I can't do any more." The last part was said with some regret because she was an avid cat lover.
--- That comment didn't help the situation much, but soon enough, her body started to shrink several inches, her hair turned black, her eyes turned icy blue, and her clothing started to feel somewhat baggy. She was still wearing Magneto's clothing and so it was somewhat stretched when she turned back into herself, but now it turned fairly uncomfortable. There were more than a few amazed faces among everyone, but she hadn't tired of the attention and enjoyed it. The only drawback was having her skin, bones, and organs stretched and manipulated so there would be no mistaking her new identity; even a DNA test would show that the person she was impersonating was genuine. Nothing short of a telepath or a conspicuous mistake would prove otherwise.
--- Soon she was a perfect replicate of the man Meulli excepting the fact that she didn't know how to use his abilities, but she was sure she'd learn quickly. This was one of the first and most fundamental mutations that people had gone through. The anti-mutant agencies would have loved to have one of the Draven at their disposal, but they had made a life out of hiding from others.
--- There wasn't much else to say except to agree that she and Meulli would return to their respective sides in one week's time. Then Amethyst gave Rogue a cautious hug and then gave one to Storm; she shook hands with Scott and the professor. She walked over to Wolverine as if she were going to hug him, but he stuck his right fist out towards her as if he were going to extend his claws if she got too close. She grinned mischievously and said, "All I have to do is put you-know-who's hair back in my mouth and you, my metallic friend, are out of luck."
--- "I think you two will be very happy together," Cyclops said, more to Logan than to her.
--- "I bet you'd have fun with two of me," Logan responded. He reached up and pulled a short curly hair from off of the top of his head. It felt odd to give it to her since she looked like Meulli, but she took it graciously and placed it in one of the two empty vials. "Just in case anything comes up."
--- "Needs no explanation as to how to use your powers. I'll try to be careful, though." She took out a permanent marker from the belt and labeled it "Wolverine" in her special code.
--- "Wish you wouldn't do that," Scott said. "It'd be nice to know that if you were unconscious as a complete stranger, we could still identify you from the vials."
--- "And have some anti-mutant have DNA to match the names they have of mutants already? Not a chance." She put the pen away and turned to go back towards the Draven. "Enough logic for one night. I'm ready to go with them and hopefully get a chance to fall asleep."
--- Once she joined up with the Draven, Ran spoke again. This time it was directed at the X-Men. "You all might as well go back to sleep. It'll take Katch about an hour to get us all back to our…residence."
--- Nothing else was said as the tired X-Men and students and Meulli returned to the main complex. Katch explained to Amethyst that she would have to remain still for him to return them back to their home. To solve that problem, Amethyst lied down on the ground and did her best to fall asleep. It wasn't hard considering the spring grass was soft and the ground was cool.
--- She woke up, though, when Katch sent them back to the cave. She felt her/Meulli's body tugged harshly from where she was, but by the time she opened her eyes, they were already in the cave and the ground she had been on became solid rock. When she sat up, she was surprised to see that she was surrounded by rock in a fairly large, round cave. There were indentations carved into the walls and chairs where the indentations had been made; almost as if it were a meeting chamber of some archaic sort.
--- She was able to see that no one was in the mood for talking at that time and so she didn't say anything. Instead, the lady Littan came over to her and showed her where her quarters were behind Meulli's sitting area. "This is where you'll be sleeping. Fix it up as you like."
--- Littan left with a nonchalant wave and Amethyst was left alone. She pulled the hair out of her mouth and replaced it in the last of the six vials she carried, too tired to bother with labeling it. Then she surveyed the small but quaint room. The bed was a mattress on a box-spring without any frame holding it up. That didn't bother her greatly, but she just hoped that it was long enough for her to sleep comfortably without worrying about her feet hanging off of the end. There was a small chest at the foot of the bed that she felt contained Meulli's clothing and belongings.
--- "Is there any way I can get some different clothes?" she called out just before Littan was out of earshot. She didn't get a response. So she poked her head out of the doorway; no one was there. Sighing heavily and dramatically she flopped down face first on her bed, groaning as she noticed that her feet did, indeed, hang off of the edge.
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--- The next morning, she purposefully rolled off of the bed only to discover that she didn't land on soft carpet, but cold stone. The laugh that she had prepared to utter was turned into a grimace. Sarcastically she thought to herself, I love this place already. She was glad to see, though, that the service had improved and there was a change of the gray clothing that everyone seemed to wear lying upon the chest at the foot of the bed. They didn't exactly fit but it seemed that she was in no position to complain, so she didn't.
--- Hearing no footfalls or voices, she assumed that everyone else was still asleep. Walking out of the room she did her best to make no noise as her bare feet made their way across the stone floor. Surprisingly, the stone was not very cold, as she thought it would be, but was instead warm enough to not be a discomfort. As she walked out from behind the partition she saw the large round cave, noticing that there was just enough light to see where she was going. She looked down at her watch and, turning the light of it on, she saw that it was 6:34am. She groaned quietly, having a thorough dislike for early mornings.
--- She walked out to the center of the room and looked around. The light came from four candles at certain points in the room but she also noticed more, guessing that those were for use once everyone was awake. She saw that what she thought of as chairs were little more than indents cut out of the wall. For some reason, the raison d'être behind anyone desiring to live in such a cold environment evaded her and she wondered how any of them could stand it without growing incessantly bored.
--- She walked towards an obvious exit in the cave and found something she did not expect to see. An enormous square room stood before her with shelves upon shelves upon shelves covered with books. She knew that it wasn't as large as some of the libraries that she had frequented, but at first glance it looked almost as large as the student library that Professor Xavier had at his school. Each shelf was clearly labeled according to the books it held and Amethyst made her way through each row. When she stepped out of the doorway, she began to feel a slight breeze brushing by her and she wondered if it was meant to keep the room dry to keep the books from molding. There was a large science-fiction and fantasy section and Amethyst amused herself for the next twenty minutes or so looking down the list, pointing to the ones that she had read before or had thought about reading. She was so engrossed in her amusements that she almost ran into the man who stood at the end of the row.
--- "Oh!" she said with quiet surprise. "I didn't see you there."
--- "I know." He extended his hand. "My name's Sutri."
--- She returned the handshake with her own firm grip. He looked no older than about seventeen. His mousy blonde hair seemed to plaster itself all around his head. His light green eyes radiated curiosity. He was easily a head shorter than she and was dressed in the Draven's uniform gray. "I'm Amethyst," she said confidently. "Amethyst Star, though some call me Ame'." She pronounced Ame' like "Amy."
--- "So, you like books?" Sutri said as he put his hands into his pockets.
--- "I love books!" Amethyst said, a broad smile splitting her face. "I used to work in Professor Xavier's library." She pointed down the row of books that she had just looked through. "I've read quite a few of the ones you have…in this library, I mean."
--- "That's cool." He nodded the nod of someone who doesn't know how to continue the conversation.
--- Amethyst carried it for him. She launched him into a discussion of their favorite authors, favorite books, favorite books that had been turned into movies, and so on. One topic lead to another and before they knew it, a half an hour had passed. As with a typical conversation with Amethyst, books eventually led to movies and then led to books that Amethyst was in the process of writing.
--- "Have you gotten anything published yet?" Sutri asked with interest.
--- "No…but I plan to if I ever get around to finishing one." Sutri just nodded and the conversation continued.
--- They were interrupted by Roan when he walked through looking for Amethyst. She was also surprised to see him, especially when she looked at her watch. The time was now 7:07am, but Amethyst couldn't see how, if it wasn't necessary, anyone would want to get up that early in the morning. --- "You're up early," Amethyst said.
--- "What time is it?" Roan asked, stifling a yawn. She told him and he shrugged. "Your mind loses track of time when you don't see the sun. We keep regular hours and each trio of people work for three hours at a time. Until it's your turn again – six hours later – you're free to do whatever you want; hence, this library." He waved his hand around, encompassing the large room. It was about three hundred feet wide, but Amethyst couldn't tell how long the room was with shelves obstructing her view. "There are a few other things to do, but for the most part, this is where we spend our time."
--- "Sounds like…fun." Amethyst tried not to pause and reveal the fact that she thought the idea of living in a place like this, even with an extensive library, was ludicrous. "How often do you go…up above ground?"
--- "Each trio works for three days and then Katch sends them up. They then spend two or three days up there. We rotate and so there are always people here."
--- "So the group that went to the school last night wasn't everyone?"
--- "Not quite everyone. There were two additional trios above ground that we couldn't contact."
--- "How many trios are there?"
--- "There are twenty people in our Draven. We also switch people in and out of trios." He sighed. "Are you hungry? It's time to go get breakfast."
--- Amethyst found that she was. "Let's go."
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--- As soon as she stepped out of the library she smelled food, making her stomach growl. Roan led her and Sutri through a couple of corridors to a dining room where six other people were sitting at two tables, eating and conversing. Amethyst guessed that they were the first trios on duty that day.
--- The three of them sat together and ate a breakfast of fresh fruit and home-made bread. The bread brought back a feeling of nostalgia. Its flavor brought back certain memories that she wanted to forget. Speaking before thinking, she started to say, "I used to make bread…at least, before I became a mutant. My dad always asked me to make it, but I'd only make it about one a month or so. Everyone in my family liked it and I remember times where I didn't even get a slice."
--- Sutri sat up to listen to her. He was interested to hear about her life pre-mutation. "What was your life like at home?"
--- "Normal. I had a sister, two brothers, and both my parents had been married for 27 years. We had a dog, Syph, and three cats: Sugar, Powder, and Flour. We went to church and I sang with my parents up front about once a month or so. I had some friends that I'd hang out with from time to time but mostly just saw at school. For the most part, I kind of kept to myself, but oh well. It was nice."
--- Roan, unsure if Amethyst would start crying, carefully asked, "When did you find out that you were a mutant?"
--- Amethyst cringed. With her eyes closed, she began to speak. "Witch hunt," she spat. She sensed that the others seemed confused by the saying. Her eyes opened and she continued to talk, staring down intently upon her empty plate. "One of my brothers was in the Army; he turned into a mutant during boot camp. Well, they sent him away with an honorable discharge and he came home. Well, some people in our town hated mutants with a vengeance. On June 24th, 2003, I was coming home from work, only to see our house on fire. From the looks of things, it had been recently started, but I worried when I saw that the doors and windows had been barricaded. I couldn't see anyone around, but I didn't know if anyone was still in the house. I ran over to our shed and pulled out a rake and then ran back to the house. I worked to try and pry stuff away from one of the downstairs windows. Once I could see the window, I broke it and pulled myself in.
--- "The smell of smoke was almost overwhelming and I almost passed out. Once I was in, I started to yell out to my family. They were just beyond the flaming door to my right. I was able to push it open with the rake and yelled for them to come through. The cats came first, followed by the dog. My sister came next, then my mom, then my dad, then my brother. My other brother was at college. Thinking quickly, I remembered the crawlspace that led out of a nearby closet. I yelled at them to go through it, my dad now at the lead. When they were all in the closet, I followed them in and noticed that my dad had removed the panel that hid the small tunnel-like space.
--- "I heard the house groaning above us and urged my family to go through. My brother went first in order to dig an exit. He was quickly followed by my sister and mother. My dad urged me to go next but I refused. I had to scream at him to go first, but he eventually did. Then I picked up the cats and put them in the crawl space and put my dog in there, too. I loved my cats too much and thought it would be cruel to let my dog die in a fire. The house continued to groan and my dad tried to hurry me along. As I started to crawl in, though, one of the boards from the ceiling fell and came down on my leg, cutting it open. I didn't feel it, surprisingly, until my dad pulled me out of the hole after the rest of my family. When I did feel it, it came with a vengeance. I started to scream, but my dad put his hand over my mouth to silence me.
--- "We went over to where our cars were supposed to be parked, but they were not there. So, my brother ran up the hill to a friend's house and had them bring their car down. We were all taken to the hospital. I don't remember the ride there, probably because I was in shock at that time. We arrived at the emergency room and I was immediately taken into surgery. While they were pushing the gurney that I laid on, one of the nurses started to give me a blood transfusion. That's when it happened.
"It freaked everyone out to see me turn into a rather ugly middle-aged man. I didn't know because I had passed out and didn't feel my body change. Sometime during the process, the gash in my leg healed itself. From what I was told, the doctors could only stand there and stare at me for the longest time. That was until my brother barged his way into the room. He was also astonished, but then he guessed what had happened: that I was, indeed, a mutant. Even though I looked like a man, he still knew that it was me. He woke me up, but was chastised by one of the more alert doctors, saying that I needed to sleep.
--- "Then once the unit of blood I was taking in emptied he asked another of the nurses to give me another unit of blood, saying that I had still lost a lot. Right in front of my brother, I turned into a teenage girl. It is perhaps the most painful experience I've ever been through. My skin contracted, my bones shortened, my organs completely resized themselves. It took about twenty seconds and when it was over I had a throbbing headache. When I could think straight, I began to panic and tore…it out of my arm." She couldn't manage to get the word "needle" out. "It took six hours for me to change back to normal. It was an odd feeling as I sat, systematically changing back.
--- "We spent our next days at my aunt and uncle's house at the other end of town. While I was there I found out that any hair or fur in my mouth would cause me to change shape. The following days found me with my mouth shut. I was afraid to even fall asleep in case I inhaled something and woke up as someone else. I found out that when I took whatever was in my mouth out, though, it only took a matter of seconds to change back. The thought still didn't help, though.
--- "Eventually, my family was attacked again. As last time I was away from the house working, but I wasn't coming home. That time whoever it was that hated my family so much succeeded…." She paused. "Our cars had been found up at a reservoir just outside of town and so I took one of them and ran away."
--- "Where to?" one of the people at another table asked and Amethyst realized that Sutri and Roan were no longer the only ones listening to her.
--- "I started to head towards Montana where I was attending school in Missoula. When I got there, I didn't know what to do and so I kept driving east. After several days of straight driving I arrived at Boston just in time to witness the scene at Bobby Drake's house. It was actually quite frightening to watch the police cars in front of the house explode. However, I know that since there were mutants involved – duh – that I might be able to find someone who could help me. I stayed in Boston for about a week and then went back to the Drake's home. I knocked on the door and a man I assumed to be Bobby's father answered it.
--- "I asked him about what had happened, but he slammed the door in my face. I started to pound on the door. I actually started to cry with frustration. Eventually, I heard someone calling from an upper room. I stopped pounding and stepped off of the porch so I could look up and see who had caught my attention. Someone I could only assume was Bobby's brother was hanging out of the window. I sighed in relief. First he asked if I was a mutant. I was pretty reluctant to answer, but I considered that my situation could get no worse and so I said yes. He asked me what I wanted and I asked him if he knew where Bobby was. He said no. He did tell me, though, that he went to school in Westchester, New York. I thanked him and left.
--- "I went up to Westchester, but couldn't find the school. I stayed up there anyway in hopes of seeing one of the mutants I saw at Bobby's house. I didn't until about three days after the incident where everyone almost died…. I'm assuming that you know which day I'm talking about." They did. "I eventually came across Wolverine." She sighed again. "It was actually a very interesting first meeting. He was getting into a car after coming out of a butcher's shop and even though he had the hood of his coat up I was able to see his face somewhat. Elated, I ran over to the car and he almost ran me over. As fast as he could, he rushed out of the car and asked if I was alright.
--- "I stood there with my hands on the hood of the car when he came over. All I could think to say was 'Take me with you.' He didn't hesitate and told me later that he wanted to make sure that he wasn't seen. The Boston incident, he said, had made him somewhat recognizable. Anyway, he drove me out of the town and started to ask me all sorts of questions. Once I told him that I was a mutant, he didn't seem entirely worried. He didn't start to freak out until he asked me what my power was and I showed him. Actually, he almost swerved off of the road at the sight of himself sitting…next to…himself. Yah. But anyway, he took me to the school and I've been there ever since."
--- Amethyst took her glass of water and drained the rest of it. She looked around at everyone who stared at her speechlessly. Innocently, she asked, "What? I bet my story's no different than anyone else's." That launched a whole series of stories and it was long before anyone else left the table.
Amethyst's Adventure
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--- "That's disgusting!" Artesia exclaimed.
--- "Just watch," Amethyst replied an ever-present smile on her face. Most of the people watching thought that putting someone's hair in your mouth was rather unsanitary, but it was what she had to do in order to use her talents. "It's no worse than kissing a cat on the head…which I can't do any more." The last part was said with some regret because she was an avid cat lover.
--- That comment didn't help the situation much, but soon enough, her body started to shrink several inches, her hair turned black, her eyes turned icy blue, and her clothing started to feel somewhat baggy. She was still wearing Magneto's clothing and so it was somewhat stretched when she turned back into herself, but now it turned fairly uncomfortable. There were more than a few amazed faces among everyone, but she hadn't tired of the attention and enjoyed it. The only drawback was having her skin, bones, and organs stretched and manipulated so there would be no mistaking her new identity; even a DNA test would show that the person she was impersonating was genuine. Nothing short of a telepath or a conspicuous mistake would prove otherwise.
--- Soon she was a perfect replicate of the man Meulli excepting the fact that she didn't know how to use his abilities, but she was sure she'd learn quickly. This was one of the first and most fundamental mutations that people had gone through. The anti-mutant agencies would have loved to have one of the Draven at their disposal, but they had made a life out of hiding from others.
--- There wasn't much else to say except to agree that she and Meulli would return to their respective sides in one week's time. Then Amethyst gave Rogue a cautious hug and then gave one to Storm; she shook hands with Scott and the professor. She walked over to Wolverine as if she were going to hug him, but he stuck his right fist out towards her as if he were going to extend his claws if she got too close. She grinned mischievously and said, "All I have to do is put you-know-who's hair back in my mouth and you, my metallic friend, are out of luck."
--- "I think you two will be very happy together," Cyclops said, more to Logan than to her.
--- "I bet you'd have fun with two of me," Logan responded. He reached up and pulled a short curly hair from off of the top of his head. It felt odd to give it to her since she looked like Meulli, but she took it graciously and placed it in one of the two empty vials. "Just in case anything comes up."
--- "Needs no explanation as to how to use your powers. I'll try to be careful, though." She took out a permanent marker from the belt and labeled it "Wolverine" in her special code.
--- "Wish you wouldn't do that," Scott said. "It'd be nice to know that if you were unconscious as a complete stranger, we could still identify you from the vials."
--- "And have some anti-mutant have DNA to match the names they have of mutants already? Not a chance." She put the pen away and turned to go back towards the Draven. "Enough logic for one night. I'm ready to go with them and hopefully get a chance to fall asleep."
--- Once she joined up with the Draven, Ran spoke again. This time it was directed at the X-Men. "You all might as well go back to sleep. It'll take Katch about an hour to get us all back to our…residence."
--- Nothing else was said as the tired X-Men and students and Meulli returned to the main complex. Katch explained to Amethyst that she would have to remain still for him to return them back to their home. To solve that problem, Amethyst lied down on the ground and did her best to fall asleep. It wasn't hard considering the spring grass was soft and the ground was cool.
--- She woke up, though, when Katch sent them back to the cave. She felt her/Meulli's body tugged harshly from where she was, but by the time she opened her eyes, they were already in the cave and the ground she had been on became solid rock. When she sat up, she was surprised to see that she was surrounded by rock in a fairly large, round cave. There were indentations carved into the walls and chairs where the indentations had been made; almost as if it were a meeting chamber of some archaic sort.
--- She was able to see that no one was in the mood for talking at that time and so she didn't say anything. Instead, the lady Littan came over to her and showed her where her quarters were behind Meulli's sitting area. "This is where you'll be sleeping. Fix it up as you like."
--- Littan left with a nonchalant wave and Amethyst was left alone. She pulled the hair out of her mouth and replaced it in the last of the six vials she carried, too tired to bother with labeling it. Then she surveyed the small but quaint room. The bed was a mattress on a box-spring without any frame holding it up. That didn't bother her greatly, but she just hoped that it was long enough for her to sleep comfortably without worrying about her feet hanging off of the end. There was a small chest at the foot of the bed that she felt contained Meulli's clothing and belongings.
--- "Is there any way I can get some different clothes?" she called out just before Littan was out of earshot. She didn't get a response. So she poked her head out of the doorway; no one was there. Sighing heavily and dramatically she flopped down face first on her bed, groaning as she noticed that her feet did, indeed, hang off of the edge.
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--- The next morning, she purposefully rolled off of the bed only to discover that she didn't land on soft carpet, but cold stone. The laugh that she had prepared to utter was turned into a grimace. Sarcastically she thought to herself, I love this place already. She was glad to see, though, that the service had improved and there was a change of the gray clothing that everyone seemed to wear lying upon the chest at the foot of the bed. They didn't exactly fit but it seemed that she was in no position to complain, so she didn't.
--- Hearing no footfalls or voices, she assumed that everyone else was still asleep. Walking out of the room she did her best to make no noise as her bare feet made their way across the stone floor. Surprisingly, the stone was not very cold, as she thought it would be, but was instead warm enough to not be a discomfort. As she walked out from behind the partition she saw the large round cave, noticing that there was just enough light to see where she was going. She looked down at her watch and, turning the light of it on, she saw that it was 6:34am. She groaned quietly, having a thorough dislike for early mornings.
--- She walked out to the center of the room and looked around. The light came from four candles at certain points in the room but she also noticed more, guessing that those were for use once everyone was awake. She saw that what she thought of as chairs were little more than indents cut out of the wall. For some reason, the raison d'être behind anyone desiring to live in such a cold environment evaded her and she wondered how any of them could stand it without growing incessantly bored.
--- She walked towards an obvious exit in the cave and found something she did not expect to see. An enormous square room stood before her with shelves upon shelves upon shelves covered with books. She knew that it wasn't as large as some of the libraries that she had frequented, but at first glance it looked almost as large as the student library that Professor Xavier had at his school. Each shelf was clearly labeled according to the books it held and Amethyst made her way through each row. When she stepped out of the doorway, she began to feel a slight breeze brushing by her and she wondered if it was meant to keep the room dry to keep the books from molding. There was a large science-fiction and fantasy section and Amethyst amused herself for the next twenty minutes or so looking down the list, pointing to the ones that she had read before or had thought about reading. She was so engrossed in her amusements that she almost ran into the man who stood at the end of the row.
--- "Oh!" she said with quiet surprise. "I didn't see you there."
--- "I know." He extended his hand. "My name's Sutri."
--- She returned the handshake with her own firm grip. He looked no older than about seventeen. His mousy blonde hair seemed to plaster itself all around his head. His light green eyes radiated curiosity. He was easily a head shorter than she and was dressed in the Draven's uniform gray. "I'm Amethyst," she said confidently. "Amethyst Star, though some call me Ame'." She pronounced Ame' like "Amy."
--- "So, you like books?" Sutri said as he put his hands into his pockets.
--- "I love books!" Amethyst said, a broad smile splitting her face. "I used to work in Professor Xavier's library." She pointed down the row of books that she had just looked through. "I've read quite a few of the ones you have…in this library, I mean."
--- "That's cool." He nodded the nod of someone who doesn't know how to continue the conversation.
--- Amethyst carried it for him. She launched him into a discussion of their favorite authors, favorite books, favorite books that had been turned into movies, and so on. One topic lead to another and before they knew it, a half an hour had passed. As with a typical conversation with Amethyst, books eventually led to movies and then led to books that Amethyst was in the process of writing.
--- "Have you gotten anything published yet?" Sutri asked with interest.
--- "No…but I plan to if I ever get around to finishing one." Sutri just nodded and the conversation continued.
--- They were interrupted by Roan when he walked through looking for Amethyst. She was also surprised to see him, especially when she looked at her watch. The time was now 7:07am, but Amethyst couldn't see how, if it wasn't necessary, anyone would want to get up that early in the morning. --- "You're up early," Amethyst said.
--- "What time is it?" Roan asked, stifling a yawn. She told him and he shrugged. "Your mind loses track of time when you don't see the sun. We keep regular hours and each trio of people work for three hours at a time. Until it's your turn again – six hours later – you're free to do whatever you want; hence, this library." He waved his hand around, encompassing the large room. It was about three hundred feet wide, but Amethyst couldn't tell how long the room was with shelves obstructing her view. "There are a few other things to do, but for the most part, this is where we spend our time."
--- "Sounds like…fun." Amethyst tried not to pause and reveal the fact that she thought the idea of living in a place like this, even with an extensive library, was ludicrous. "How often do you go…up above ground?"
--- "Each trio works for three days and then Katch sends them up. They then spend two or three days up there. We rotate and so there are always people here."
--- "So the group that went to the school last night wasn't everyone?"
--- "Not quite everyone. There were two additional trios above ground that we couldn't contact."
--- "How many trios are there?"
--- "There are twenty people in our Draven. We also switch people in and out of trios." He sighed. "Are you hungry? It's time to go get breakfast."
--- Amethyst found that she was. "Let's go."
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--- As soon as she stepped out of the library she smelled food, making her stomach growl. Roan led her and Sutri through a couple of corridors to a dining room where six other people were sitting at two tables, eating and conversing. Amethyst guessed that they were the first trios on duty that day.
--- The three of them sat together and ate a breakfast of fresh fruit and home-made bread. The bread brought back a feeling of nostalgia. Its flavor brought back certain memories that she wanted to forget. Speaking before thinking, she started to say, "I used to make bread…at least, before I became a mutant. My dad always asked me to make it, but I'd only make it about one a month or so. Everyone in my family liked it and I remember times where I didn't even get a slice."
--- Sutri sat up to listen to her. He was interested to hear about her life pre-mutation. "What was your life like at home?"
--- "Normal. I had a sister, two brothers, and both my parents had been married for 27 years. We had a dog, Syph, and three cats: Sugar, Powder, and Flour. We went to church and I sang with my parents up front about once a month or so. I had some friends that I'd hang out with from time to time but mostly just saw at school. For the most part, I kind of kept to myself, but oh well. It was nice."
--- Roan, unsure if Amethyst would start crying, carefully asked, "When did you find out that you were a mutant?"
--- Amethyst cringed. With her eyes closed, she began to speak. "Witch hunt," she spat. She sensed that the others seemed confused by the saying. Her eyes opened and she continued to talk, staring down intently upon her empty plate. "One of my brothers was in the Army; he turned into a mutant during boot camp. Well, they sent him away with an honorable discharge and he came home. Well, some people in our town hated mutants with a vengeance. On June 24th, 2003, I was coming home from work, only to see our house on fire. From the looks of things, it had been recently started, but I worried when I saw that the doors and windows had been barricaded. I couldn't see anyone around, but I didn't know if anyone was still in the house. I ran over to our shed and pulled out a rake and then ran back to the house. I worked to try and pry stuff away from one of the downstairs windows. Once I could see the window, I broke it and pulled myself in.
--- "The smell of smoke was almost overwhelming and I almost passed out. Once I was in, I started to yell out to my family. They were just beyond the flaming door to my right. I was able to push it open with the rake and yelled for them to come through. The cats came first, followed by the dog. My sister came next, then my mom, then my dad, then my brother. My other brother was at college. Thinking quickly, I remembered the crawlspace that led out of a nearby closet. I yelled at them to go through it, my dad now at the lead. When they were all in the closet, I followed them in and noticed that my dad had removed the panel that hid the small tunnel-like space.
--- "I heard the house groaning above us and urged my family to go through. My brother went first in order to dig an exit. He was quickly followed by my sister and mother. My dad urged me to go next but I refused. I had to scream at him to go first, but he eventually did. Then I picked up the cats and put them in the crawl space and put my dog in there, too. I loved my cats too much and thought it would be cruel to let my dog die in a fire. The house continued to groan and my dad tried to hurry me along. As I started to crawl in, though, one of the boards from the ceiling fell and came down on my leg, cutting it open. I didn't feel it, surprisingly, until my dad pulled me out of the hole after the rest of my family. When I did feel it, it came with a vengeance. I started to scream, but my dad put his hand over my mouth to silence me.
--- "We went over to where our cars were supposed to be parked, but they were not there. So, my brother ran up the hill to a friend's house and had them bring their car down. We were all taken to the hospital. I don't remember the ride there, probably because I was in shock at that time. We arrived at the emergency room and I was immediately taken into surgery. While they were pushing the gurney that I laid on, one of the nurses started to give me a blood transfusion. That's when it happened.
"It freaked everyone out to see me turn into a rather ugly middle-aged man. I didn't know because I had passed out and didn't feel my body change. Sometime during the process, the gash in my leg healed itself. From what I was told, the doctors could only stand there and stare at me for the longest time. That was until my brother barged his way into the room. He was also astonished, but then he guessed what had happened: that I was, indeed, a mutant. Even though I looked like a man, he still knew that it was me. He woke me up, but was chastised by one of the more alert doctors, saying that I needed to sleep.
--- "Then once the unit of blood I was taking in emptied he asked another of the nurses to give me another unit of blood, saying that I had still lost a lot. Right in front of my brother, I turned into a teenage girl. It is perhaps the most painful experience I've ever been through. My skin contracted, my bones shortened, my organs completely resized themselves. It took about twenty seconds and when it was over I had a throbbing headache. When I could think straight, I began to panic and tore…it out of my arm." She couldn't manage to get the word "needle" out. "It took six hours for me to change back to normal. It was an odd feeling as I sat, systematically changing back.
--- "We spent our next days at my aunt and uncle's house at the other end of town. While I was there I found out that any hair or fur in my mouth would cause me to change shape. The following days found me with my mouth shut. I was afraid to even fall asleep in case I inhaled something and woke up as someone else. I found out that when I took whatever was in my mouth out, though, it only took a matter of seconds to change back. The thought still didn't help, though.
--- "Eventually, my family was attacked again. As last time I was away from the house working, but I wasn't coming home. That time whoever it was that hated my family so much succeeded…." She paused. "Our cars had been found up at a reservoir just outside of town and so I took one of them and ran away."
--- "Where to?" one of the people at another table asked and Amethyst realized that Sutri and Roan were no longer the only ones listening to her.
--- "I started to head towards Montana where I was attending school in Missoula. When I got there, I didn't know what to do and so I kept driving east. After several days of straight driving I arrived at Boston just in time to witness the scene at Bobby Drake's house. It was actually quite frightening to watch the police cars in front of the house explode. However, I know that since there were mutants involved – duh – that I might be able to find someone who could help me. I stayed in Boston for about a week and then went back to the Drake's home. I knocked on the door and a man I assumed to be Bobby's father answered it.
--- "I asked him about what had happened, but he slammed the door in my face. I started to pound on the door. I actually started to cry with frustration. Eventually, I heard someone calling from an upper room. I stopped pounding and stepped off of the porch so I could look up and see who had caught my attention. Someone I could only assume was Bobby's brother was hanging out of the window. I sighed in relief. First he asked if I was a mutant. I was pretty reluctant to answer, but I considered that my situation could get no worse and so I said yes. He asked me what I wanted and I asked him if he knew where Bobby was. He said no. He did tell me, though, that he went to school in Westchester, New York. I thanked him and left.
--- "I went up to Westchester, but couldn't find the school. I stayed up there anyway in hopes of seeing one of the mutants I saw at Bobby's house. I didn't until about three days after the incident where everyone almost died…. I'm assuming that you know which day I'm talking about." They did. "I eventually came across Wolverine." She sighed again. "It was actually a very interesting first meeting. He was getting into a car after coming out of a butcher's shop and even though he had the hood of his coat up I was able to see his face somewhat. Elated, I ran over to the car and he almost ran me over. As fast as he could, he rushed out of the car and asked if I was alright.
--- "I stood there with my hands on the hood of the car when he came over. All I could think to say was 'Take me with you.' He didn't hesitate and told me later that he wanted to make sure that he wasn't seen. The Boston incident, he said, had made him somewhat recognizable. Anyway, he drove me out of the town and started to ask me all sorts of questions. Once I told him that I was a mutant, he didn't seem entirely worried. He didn't start to freak out until he asked me what my power was and I showed him. Actually, he almost swerved off of the road at the sight of himself sitting…next to…himself. Yah. But anyway, he took me to the school and I've been there ever since."
--- Amethyst took her glass of water and drained the rest of it. She looked around at everyone who stared at her speechlessly. Innocently, she asked, "What? I bet my story's no different than anyone else's." That launched a whole series of stories and it was long before anyone else left the table.