ThatGit
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LiFS Chapter 8 - Preparations
🕑 Added 2023-10-16 02:52:44 +0000 UTCUnfortunately Patreon doesn't seem to like text formatting very much. If someone happens to know how to make the PHO bit at the end work correctly, please do let me know.
It took more than two hours of tossing and turning, but eventually I did manage to fall back asleep despite my racing thoughts and the stabbing pain behind my eyes. Several times I was tempted to reach for my meager reserves of ambrosia, but I was disciplined enough to push through the pain while I let the soothing waters around me do their work.
As tempting as it was, I could work through this pain, and ambrosia was simply too valuable to waste like that. If something managed to hurt me despite the curse of Achilles, it might be my only chance at recovery. And in a world filled with mortals with strange and powerful… powers––well, I certainly had some ideas. Sometimes even Chiron’s warnings were filled with tactical advice.
This time, thankfully, I slept like a log. No demigod dreams disturbed my rest. No horrible memories or haunting nightmares plagued me. I wasn’t even bumped awake early by a worried dolphin or turtle tangled in a six-pack ring, an unfortunately common occurrence when I was resting in shallow waters like these.
I woke up with the sun, feeling much less rested than I would have liked despite having spent hours literally in my element while I slept. It was still mostly dark down here, only a smidgeon of sunlight reaching down this far this early in the day, but rising early had become a habit over the years.
It was around seven, seven-thirtyish, maybe. I was feeling rather hungry––the curse of Achilles meant I needed more food and sleep than an ordinary demigod. Unfortunately, today was Friday which meant that the little cafe I’d gone to yesterday didn’t open until nine, and I wasn’t really feeling fast food right now. That blueberry pie had been absolutely delicious and I’d been craving another slice since lunch.
I also kind of wanted to see if that girl would be there again. I was almost certain she was a parahuman and maybe I could try to talk to her. I knew capes were pretty protective about the entire secret-identity thing––outside of a few exceptions I’d read about––but maybe she’d be willing to talk? She’d definitely noticed something about me, so perhaps capes had some way of recognizing each other?
Wait no, that didn’t make sense because I wasn’t one of them. I was a demigod, not a parahuman. Weird. Well, it didn’t really matter now. I’d cross that bridge when I got to it.
The promise of blueberry pie kept me going through my usual morning training. I opened up a big bubble of air around me, leaving only a few inches on the ground to keep the sand wet and so I could still move around like I was in the open while benefiting from the rejuvenating touch of the sea. Sometimes I did just train underwater, but for my sword fighting and general fitness it was better to train in an environment that didn’t actively help me through every motion.
I spent a few minutes warming up, then spent another hour and a bit doing sword drills with Riptide, unarmed fighting drills Chiron had taught me, calisthenics, and some basic practice using my demigod abilities to finish things off. By the end of it, I was feeling a lot more awake and energized.
I also spent some time trying to see if I could still use any of the techniques I’d learned to manipulate the Mist. What I’d found was that controlling the Mist around here was tricky. You had to be a lot firmer with it than I was used to. Thalia had always said the trick was just making a suggestion and letting the Mist do the rest. Here, that just simply didn’t seem to work. It was going to take a lot more practice to get anywhere with it, but at least I now knew not to try anything like that until I had a better grip on things.
I made it to the cafe, Buns 'n' Roses according to the sign, just a few minutes after it opened. The place was almost empty. There was a red-headed young woman sipping a large coffee with her eyes closed in the corner and a mom with a stroller looking at the different breads on display, but other than that it was just me and the impressively built man behind the counter who was busily filling the baskets behind the glass with freshly baked pastries and breads from a large rolling rack.
I ordered a slightly smaller spread than I’d eaten the day before and this time paid for it all with my Lotus Cash Card. The cashier gave me a strange look when I asked for three slices of pie for here, then shrugged and waved it off. I also got a free loaf of whole wheat garlic chive bread because I was one of the first five customers today. I didn’t really need it, but it was apparently a new recipe (as the man told me three different times in the space of thirty seconds) and smelled absolutely delicious, so I wasn’t going to say no.
I finished most of my food in about twenty minutes, then spent another fifteen savoring my last slice of pie while I watched the morning news on the TV in the corner. The villains I’d talked to were on the news, though I only recognized them because one of the newscasters mentioned the casino they robbed by name. They just called them ‘local villains’ and the only pictures they had showed clouds of darkness billowing out through the front doors of the casino. I was happy to see that I hadn’t been lied to yesterday. No one had been hurt during the attack, just like Grue had told me.
To my disappointment, the girl did not come back while I was eating and I wasn’t willing to wait for her any longer than I already had. I had a lot of things to do and figure out today and I could always try to find her another time or just talk to some other cape. I still had Glory Girl’s card safely tucked away, and if the need arose I could try to reach out to the Protectorate. I glanced out the window towards where I could see the repurposed oil rig standing out in the bay, its force field shimmering in the morning sunlight. Their base wasn’t exactly hard to find.
I brought my plates over to the bin in the corner, waved to the man behind the counter, and left the cafe swinging the brown paper bag with my bread in it. Today I was heading back to the library with a new goal. Yesterday, I had gotten acquainted with this strange new world I found myself in. Today, I needed to figure out what I was going to be doing next.
If I was going to get anywhere with all this, I needed a plan, a base, and allies. Only then could I safely focus on that bizarre dream and the horrifying voice that still made my head hurt just thinking about it. Even without really digging deeply into it, the implications were… disturbing. That bit at the end especially. That had been my dad, I was sure of it. I… I didn’t like the thought of what I’d seen.
I shook my head to clear it and focused on the boardwalk beneath my feet. Library first, freak out later. Focus, Percy.
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♦ Topic: Kyushu, Newfoundland, Who's Next?
In: Boards ► News ► Events ► World
SurpriseFornax (Original Poster) (Kyushu Survivor) (Newfoundland Survivor)
Posted On Jul 9th 2009:
I think you've all seen the pictures by now. It's been two years since Newfoundland and all I can think of is who's next? I haven't been able to look at the ocean without having a panic attack in years and I moved what's left of my family to Montana and I still don't feel safe.
(Showing page 9 of 111)
►BigDEnergy (Verified Cape) (RIP)
Replied On Jul 9th 2009:
Oh shit man, I heard their were people like you, but I'd never met any before. Glad you and your folks made it out. I was on one of the teams doing evacuations, I'm sorry we couldn't do more. It was horrible, really just awful stuff. Seeing all the bodies in the water, all the rubble... That shit hunts my nightmares to this day. We have got to do something about Leviathan and the other endbringers. We can't keep doing what we're doing. On a good day sometimes we drive them off, but sometimes we don't and either way a lot of innocent people die. I don't know what, but something needs to change. For now, I'm going to keep fighting and keep trying. Its the least I can do.
End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 ... 109, 110, 111
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♦ Topic: The Dangers of Tinker/Mover Dimensional Travel
In: Boards ► Discussion ► Capes ► Theoretical
Mr. Dr. Buzzkill (Original Poster) (Cape Husband) (Actually a Doctor)
Posted On Mar 5th 2009:
So I know that by now, Earth Aleph is old news. We've been trading for their movies for more than a decade now (my wife exclusively watches Aleph productions these days. She hates what capes have done to Hollywood) and everything is alright, but that's not what I want to talk about here. That portal is tightly controlled and regulated by the government to make sure that nothing dangerous can come through in either direction.
No, I'm thinking about potential new capes. New capes who are young and careless and might bring about the end of the world while they're just trying to play around with their powers. We know that Aleph diverged back when Scion appeared, but imagine something else. Lets call it Earth Gimel. An earth that diverged a thousand years ago because they had the white death instead of the black death.
Now imagine that Mr. Portal Boy opens a portal to Earth Gimel and just prances on through to talk to the locals. Well, maybe Mr. Portal Boy catches a simple case of the White Death, something the locals have become all but immune to over the centuries. Then, Mr. Portal Boy goes to school! Suddenly we're dealing with an epidemic the likes of which we can barely imagine. It gets even worse when we try to quarantine the issue and Mr. Portal Boy opens up a portal to France because he wants a baguette for lunch and suddenly they've got White Death in France too!
Edit: Don't tell me the PRT has it all under control! It doesn't even have to be a cape here on Bet, what if a Mr. Portal Boy triggers on Gimel!? Huh? What then? Or Earth Dalet, Earth He, whatever! You get the point! Shit like this keeps me up at night!
(Showing page 113 of 159)
►Procto the Unfortunate Tinker (Not a tinker) (Banned)
Replied On Mar 6th 2009:
You're right man, that does sound freaky. Imagine if they have like, fish tails or something. That would be so fucking cool! Do you think fish ladies are hot and do they have, you know, the right equipment down there? I think I would bang a fish lady if she was hot, I've always thought mermaids were pretty dope.
►RegularPosterPoster
Replied On Mar 6th 2009:
@BoberTheHober dude wtf
End of Page. 1, 2, 3 ... 111, 112, 113, 114, 115 ... 157, 158, 159
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♦ Topic: Simurgh Attacks Madison, Copies Haywire Tech
In: Boards ► News ► Events ► America
Nokra (Original Poster) (Veteran Member) (The Guy in the Know) (Unverified Cape)
Posted On Dec 23rd 2009:
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♦ Topic: New Wave: A History and Maybe a Future
In: Boards ► Boards ► Places ► America ►Brockton Bay
Bagofmarbles (Original Poster) (Cape Groupie)
Posted On Jan 2nd 2009:
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♦ Topic: Brandish Wins Case, Fights Hookwolf!?
In: Boards ► Boards ► Places ► America ►Brockton Bay
Bagofmarbles (Original Poster) (Cape Groupie)
Posted On Sep 1st 2010:
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♦ Private messages from Point_Me_@_The_Sky:
Riptide: Hey Glory Girl, it’s me the cape from Wednesday who introduced themselves wrong?
Riptide: You said I could message you if I have any questions and I sort of do.
Riptide: You were completely right, I’m really new to this cape thing and I could really use some advice and support, but I’m not really comfortable messaging you about it on here. Is there any chance we could meet up in person to talk about it?
Point_Me_@_The_Sky: Oh, hi! Sorry i hd to rush off on you like that, I lost track of time! Yeah I think we could probably do something like that. PHO is pretty secure but I absolutely get it. I see you made a new account, is Riptide your cape name?
Riptide: Yes, I guess it is. It felt like a good fit.
Point_Me_@_The_Sky: Totally! I like it! Catchy, rolls off the tongue, and I don’t think it’s taken?
Point_Me_@_The_Sky: Its not! Just checked!
Riptide: That’s good.
Riptide: So, would you be willing to meet with me sometime? Maybe tomorrow since it's the weekend?
Point_Me_@_The_Sky: Yeah that should work! How about the boardwalk?
Point_Me_@_The_Sky: I normally wouldn’t ask this sort of thing, but do you want to do it in or out of costume? I mean since I already know your name and face and I don’t know if you have a costume or not or whatever?
Riptide: I’m fine with out. I have a costume but it's pretty eye-catching. That's one of the things I want to talk to you about actually.
Point_Me_@_The_Sky: K, 1 work?
Riptide: Yeah that sounds good. I’ll wait for you outside of the Buns ‘n’ roses cafe in the same sweater as last time if that's alright with you?
Point_Me_@_The_Sky: kk. Do you mind if I bring my cousin? My mom’s insisting on it.
Riptide: Sure that’s fine with me. I’ll see you then. Thank you.
Point_Me_@_The_Sky: C u then!
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Comments
ThatGit
Nah, just a cameo. I needed a name and decided to reference one of the better worm fics I'd read recently. Good job catching that one!
DraconianGreed
I see you’ve read Fabled Web’s War. Is Leviathan dead then? Or is Atreus just a cameo?
