Disclaimer: The idea of X-Men and mutants belong to Marvel comics, the creators of the X-Men comics, the people that made the movies, and anyone else officially involved with X-Men. All named characters in this chapter belong to me, with the exception of Diane; I also created the school. I am not making any money from this. However, this story-line is mine; please don't use/steal it or main details from it.
Thanks to Tigress Moon for reviewing!
They followed Derek through a maze of alleys. Diane noticed he was growing more and more confident. He seemed to be the sort of person who could do practically anything in a place or situation he was used to, but didn't adapt very well.
They spent a full hour silently walking through alleys, main streets, and everything in between. Diane marveled at the variety of New York. One street she was trying to avoid catching the eyes of people who looked like they were probably drug dealers, the next staying away from the edge of the sidewalks, lest a limo run her over
Derek stopped on a middle-class street in front of a non-descript, two-story house. They walked up, Derek confidently, Nicole excitedly, and the rest apprehensively. With Derek in front, they clustered around the door, waiting for an answer to his knock.
Within seconds the door was pulled open. "Oh, hello!" a woman, probably approaching fifty, exclaimed in apparent surprise. Her eyes darted around and past them alertly, contrasting her happy, motherly face. Diane got the feeling that she wasn't actually surprised to see them.
"Come in," the woman invited, stepping away from the door to allow them in. Diane gasped in pleasure and surprise and heard as a wave of warm air hit them, and heard similar gasps from all but Derek. After so long outside, the warmth was welcome.
The dimly lit room they walked into was decorated nicely, but it didn't seem very used. Oddly, the woman locked the door with several bolts. Of course, if this was a mutant school, they'd have high security. Maybe Diane should be wondering why they only used bolts to lock the door.
"Excuse me," Derek murmured, moving towards the woman. Standing next to each other, Diane noticed a definite similarity in several things; she must be his mother.
"Go ahead and make yourselves at home," the woman urged, voice thick with her southern accent. "Just please stay in this room." She and Derek left through a door Diane hadn't noticed.
Nicole, as expected, immediately jumped on a couch. "Can someone turn on the light?" she requested.
Vic, who had been standing next to the switch, flicked it on and off. "Broken," she announced.
"Oh well." Light suddenly flared from the many bulbs around the room, causing all but Nicole to wince; it was a very sharp change from one lamp.
"What exactly is your power, Nicole?" Diane asked, blinking away light spots.
"I can make glass glow," Nicole replied. "Just glass, though. I wanted to make myself glow, but Mom had a fit when I tried to swallow pieces of blunt glass after I discovered that I couldn't make everything glow. She didn't know about my power then. She found out later and kicked me out." For the first time a hint of sadness crept into her voice. Sadness, not bitterness. She sounded like she accepted her mother's decision, but she couldn't understand it.
Vic walked over to sit next to the girl, hugging her. "It'll turn out okay, honey," she murmured sympathetically.
The door opened and the woman and Derek walked in. Diane realized with surprise that Derek was still wearing his gloves.
The woman smiled at the girls, her face turning slightly sorrowful as she saw Nicole and Vic. Sitting down next to them, she motion for the others to follow suit. They complied, settling in the chairs and couches which formed a rough circle.
"Derek has told me a little about y'all," she began. "But Ah'd like y'all to say a bit more, please. Derek and Ah will say something about ourselves, too.
"To start, mah name is Gwen. Mah husband, who is out, and Ah are the leaders of this little school. Derek here is our son. Ah'm a mutant, as is everyone here. Mah power is sorta lahke telepathy, only it's not nearly as broad. Ah can change people's minds to any point in their past and back. For instance, Ah could make Derek have only the memories and mind capacity of when he was a toddle. Ah have this totally under control, so don't worry," she added.
"Mah family moved from down south about fahve years ago. There – there used to be more of us. Mah daughter ran away nearly two years ago. That was what prompted us to make this school." Gwen's moth snapped shut and she seemed unwilling to explain further.
Derek began his history. "Well, I came from the south, too, of course, but for some reason I didn't hold on to the accent. I'm twenty years old as of last month. My power is that if I touch someone, I'll absorb their powers, if they're a mutant. If I touch them long enough, I could kill them. If they're not a mutant, nothing happens. But I can't use their powers; I can only transfer them to the next person I touch. I can carry one power at a time."
Diane nodded slowly, remembering her sudden ability to create fire, which had faded after a few minutes.
Derek seemed to be done, so Artemis plunged in. "I'm Artemis. I'm sixteen, lived on my own for a couple years. My family's not exactly mutant-friendly, so when I developed telepathy I ran away. Not what I'd do now, but…" She shrugged.
"I'm also telepathic, and also sixteen," Vic said. "I'm…I'm an orphan. My parents…" She trailed off, gulping slightly, her hands locked together in a grip so tight they were white. Diane almost couldn't believe that Vic, the constant comfort and support to the others, had any sort of a tragic past, particularly one she couldn't even talk about.
"I'm Anna," Anna announced with forced cheerfulness. She, Artemis, and Sara had already known about Vic, Diane realized. "I'm fourteen, and I can manipulate water. It has to be in liquid form, not steam or ice. I can also create it, from moisture in the air around me or my own body. But I only create it from my body as a last resort, since it's sort of dangerous. My dad didn't like mutants, so I didn't stick around after discovering my mutation."
"My name's Sara. I'm thirteen, but everyone says I act old for my age. I can create heat thermals of varying temperatures, and I'm immune to heat. I could make my whole body radiate heat, but usually I just focus on shooting heat through my hands. I don't remember any sort of family. I've lived alone my whole life."
"I go by Diane. I don't remember what my real name is, or anything else about myself. As far as I know, my only power is that I can go through things."
"I'm Nicole. I can make glass glow. I…left home last week, to come here."
While the others had been speaking, Gwen and Derek had maintained respectful silences. After Nicole finished Gwen stood up.
"Ah'd like to speak to you each in prahvate later. But now let's go insahde. Ah'll give you a tour."
A/N: I hope I didn't overdo Gwen's accent. If you're going to be reviewing anyway (which I encourage!), please tell me what you think about that.