|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sun Oct 05, 2008 7:06 pm
Fish left Ciro and Echo behind and pushed the door to Seasons open. The light inside looked like it was coming from plants, and it was highly surreal. But, then again, this was a flower shop owned by the queen of the underworld. That alone was enough to qualify as surreal on most scales. But in Fish's life that was normal. This, however, was strange.
He made his way past creeping, shifting plants to the counter where he paused, waiting for Persy to notice him. He didn't recall how many questions he had saved up, but he thought maybe he had some information - maybe? Not to mention two more parts of his name, if worst came to worst.
He knew better than to interrupt a reading goddess.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 5:10 pm
When the door opened, Persy didn't look up from her reading, an antiquated piece with pictures of cascading waterfalls and couples sharing some sort of frosted bread while dressed in garish formalwear. She continued this up until Fish had been standing in front of her for a decent amount of time, and broke the silence by closing the book in front of her, the pages wrinkling in protest until she forced them shut calmly.
"Did someone send out invitations for Seasons tonight? It seems that half of the prophets have already been here." Her voice held no sarcasm, and she pushed a lock of green curls behind her pointed ear before putting the old book aside and pulling out her little black book, pulling the pen free and flipping the pages. "You look like there's something you want."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Oct 26, 2008 5:47 pm
"Oh," twittered Fish, staring a bit too long at the cover of the magazine. Was that a bridal catalogue...? Except weddings didn't look anything like that nowadays. Hardly anyone had the supplies for that sort of extravagance. "It's just that the lights are out and it seemed like a good idea."
He looked back towards the entrance, wondering where Ciro and Echo had gone. They were right behind him, weren't they? Except they weren't in the shop. Strange.
"Ciro's outside with your, uh, assistant? There was a kid with us earlier but we kind of scared him off. Have I got any questions, or do you need information?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 9:42 pm
"He is," Persy replied in a matter-of-fact tone, continuing to flip pages until she found the one she was looking for, one of the first pages that seemed well-written on.
"You still have your free question, though any bit of information helps." She gave Fish a slight smirk, and with a snap, closed the book. "Off the record, though, I'm curious about how you've been since your latest revelation." The way she emphasized the last word, it was clear that there was only one thing she could possibly be talking about.
"I've heard that you have a boyfriend?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2008 7:06 am
Fish blushed. "Who told you that?" he asked, though it wasn't as if they were being particularly subtle about it. "That's not my question," he added, remembering how tricky Persy could be about these kinds of things. "We're off the record."
Finally, he nodded. "I do," he said, and smiled. "It's nice to have friends outside the Game again."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2008 7:13 pm
"Fish, you of all people should know the connections I have," Persy responded with a mysterious grin, crossing him to a flower that seemed somewhat neglected, one of its leaves beginning to wither. With a gentle touch, she restored it to its full greeny glory, and then looked back to the prophet, as if he had suddenly caught her interest.
"I would be careful about having such relationships," she added, her expression becoming somewhat more cautious. "Especially the further we go into the Game. Sooner or later, the prophets will start getting serious about the final goal."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Dec 07, 2008 7:30 pm
Fish sighed and looked down, suddenly finding his feet to be terribly interesting. "I know," he mumbled, "But, back during the fireworks I talked to Writ and it occurred to me that everything in my entire life has been shaped by Poseidon, so I decided to sort of sit back and enjoy it."
He blinked up at her.
"That didn't sound libelous, did it? It wasn't supposed to."
"I haven't told him about the Game yet," he added. "I'm not sure when I will. I don't think I should."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 1:48 pm
"Fish," Persy said in all seriousness, placing a hand on his shoulder. "He's a mortal, and you're barely mortal as it is.
"Be that as it may, if this person is someone with whom you are willing to share yourself, you need to prepare him for the worst, and perhaps develop a system to protect the boy." She furrowed her brow in thought, then turned back to her book, flipping pages.
"Perhaps not now, but you should consider eventually marking him as neutral ground. It would take quite a bargain, and you'd be set back for it, but it would ensure his safety, at least while you continue to play the Game."
She gave Fish a critical look. "If he's not worth telling, then you're putting him at risk for no good reason by being with him. So, if I were you, I would tell him or leave."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 2:05 pm
"I guess I didn't think it through enough," he conceded. Mark him neutral? How would that work? It would probably be expensive, and he was more worried about Blacksuits than other players if it came down to telling Dwayne about the Game.
Persy was right. He either needed to fess up or call the whole thing off.
"You were a teenager once, right? Or do gods not go through puberty?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 4:16 pm
Persy paused, looking back to her plants. "It depends on who you talk to. Athena was born fully formed from Zeus's head. Artemis and Apollo were born on a small island to a mortal woman. Hephaestus was raised by nymphs. Demeter was my mother, and I had a childhood and a teenage period of sorts, but it was mostly frolicking. I never remember much more than that, and there wasn't much more to remember."
She leaned against the counter, wiping her hair away from her face. It got to be bothersome when it was overgrown as it was. "As for puberty, I don't think we have it in the same sense that you do. Well, the way you would have had it, at least, if Poseidon hadn't messed with things. We're one age until we need to be another, and then we simply 'are'. We don't get awkward in between stages."
Persy looked at Fish, somewhat curious. "Why do you ask?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 7:10 pm
Fish shrugged. "I'm just kind of looking for sympathy, I guess," he said. He sighed and leaned against the counter. "It's been a few months, and I'm still trying to figure this whole thing out. It's like waking up, and every day you're an entirely different person than you were when you went to bed the night before."
He didn't care that he had probably wasted a question asking about gods and puberty.
"And I'm better off than a lot of players. At least I'm not Ciro or Writ and sleeping in alleys. At least I'm not Jubs and three-day-old coffee grounds don't count as a decent meal."
"It is so confusing to be me," he declared.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 7:30 pm
"You don't find a lot of sympathy in the Game," Persy responded, watching him carefully. She was at a dangerous crossroads with what she was doing, taking sides as she was. But then again, her role as the Scorekeeper hadn't been all that important lately. It didn't matter what she did. No one was watching her, and in all honesty, she'd began to think of Fish as part of the family. Considering he was Poseidon's prophet, he practically was.
"But hey, you follow the rules, so any time you need it, Seasons is here for you and anyone else who needs protecting," she said with an affirmative nod. "The gods know it's confusing, so that's why Anubis and I are here."
She grinned. "I know most of the kids think I'm some scary witch, but if you can manage to get past that, I am really here to help."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 7:39 pm
"I feel shortchanged," grumbled Fish. "What's the point of having such a powerful god if I'm not as strong as the other guys? I couldn't take Len or Writ - or Ciro - in a fight. I mean, I haven't tried, but those guys are huge compared to me."
He sighed heavily through his gills.
"Miss Floros, I'm weak and I kiss boys. I'm turning into an early 21st-century stereotype and there's nothing I can do about it."
Actually, he was learning to like the kissing boys part, but that was hardly the point he was trying to make.
"I should stop fishing for sympathy," he said after a long moment of silence. He pinched himself and straightened up. "I'm getting nervous," he said. "I think something big's going to happen soon."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 7:51 pm
Persy quietly listened to the boy, folding her arms on the counter. She didn't want to say it, but largely, he was right. The least she could do was think that in acknowledging it, he was one step close to changing it, but then again, it would appear that the whole "puberty" thing threw everything off-kilter. Perhaps that was when humans learned to stop listening to instinct and become the erratic creatures that they were. Fish was certainly acting like one at the moment.
"There's always something big about to happen, Fish. It's the nature of the Game," Persy said, looking out into the streets. "The trouble is knowing when it's going to happen."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 7:57 pm
"So what do I do? Go home, get my personal life sorted out, wait for the storm to hit?"
Home was a funny word. "I wonder how my parents are," he said, a bit out-of-the-blue. "I haven't even gone to look in on them. I'm afraid of being recognized. I remember Writ and Ciro from when we were younger - they look almost nothing like themselves. Well, Ciro's pretty unmistakeable, but he was definitely cleaner then. Writ too. I look too much like myself to go back too Harbor."
"Or..."
He pursed his lips, on the edge of a big idea. "Or maybe I am the storm? Maybe the big thing doesn't happen because we sit around waiting for it to happen instead of making it happen?"
And then, "Everyone in this game is too damn nice to each other. It's a ******** tea-party. Me included."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
