That's The Way You Need It

[Brown Dynamite]

"Aye."  Thaelia affirmed.  If she was the only one paying the cost it would have been easier to deal with.  But two of her classmates, no two of her friends, were paying the cost as well.  Still, the assuredness that the sorceress' machinations would be stopped was of some comfort.

 

Breaking a smile Thaelia gave her next statement bit of umph before finding a patch of nearby snow a kick of her own.  Snow being of course the strangest bit of precipitation the girl had ever encountered in her life.  It was like water, but not.  Different enough that she couldn't use it as a source of healing.  But, comforting in its own way.  "I ask a thousand pardons.  Souring the atmosphere with my burdens.  I do not think Praeter Summers quite had that in mind.  Or maybe he did.  But know that the Daughter of the Seas shall take your words to heart."

 

"When the sorceress beckons, I shall take your offer under consideration."

[Electra]

"I think he might have had that in mind," Erin offered. "It's nice to be able to talk about things with someone who's not a teacher or a classmate, but who's gone through some of the same stuff. I don't mind listening, and I'll try to help if I can. Plus the firs time I went up against Medea she grabbed my brain and I just about punched Edge through an impervium wall, so there's a score to settle with her. And Mark probably wouldn't mind helping as well," she added with a short laugh. 

 

"Look, we're almost there." She pointed to a slightly ramshackle-looking cafe in the shadow of the bridge, a faded red awning over the door. "It's not much to look at, but the food is good. And the coleslaw. You like  coleslaw?" 
 

[Brown Dynamite]

"Warm coleslaw with shrimp?"  Thaelia asked rather than answered.  All but confirming that she had no problems with Coleslaw.  She examined the small looking cafe.  It was odd, the surface world seemed to favor hiding their best tasting culinary locations in hidden drabby looking hole in the wall places.  Instead of putting them on grand display.  Sure, every business had to start somewhere.  But, from what the Atlantean had seen the starting point seemed not too far from the ending point.

 

"So an Impervium wall. You had to be punching with a force most grand."  Thaelia declared with a hint of admiration.  Edge and Midnight were names she recognized.  And of course Geckoman whose purpoted infamy was apparently a media ratings grab or some other nonsense to explain the version of misevents that Thaelia heard.  The last one was confusing.  "Who is Mark?  Another Liberty League member?"

[Electra]

"Oh, Mark, you know, Edge," Erin clarified. "We never used to go by our codenames at school except when we were training, have people forgotten our real names already?" She sighed, but it was good-humored. "And yeah, it was a pretty good punch. Knocked him right out, but he was okay in a few minutes." 

 

They walked into the restaurant and sat down at a table that was chipped formica with the pattern worn away, but was at least very clean. Erin glanced at the menu then set it aside, resting her elbows on the table. "I've been kind of wondering, how does it feel to live on the surface? I mean, I got shoved to the bottom of the ocean in a fight a few months back, and it was awful. Does it hurt to have to live where it's dry all the time?" 

[Brown Dynamite]

"I admit, I know very few of the names of the graduating classes two years or beyond mine.  I am sure the library or yearbooks have such records.  Perhaps pictures around the campus?  That wouldn't place a name to a code name, I suppose.  I can name some of Tethis friends.  But, not her entire class."  Thaelia explained.  In high school time, it had been ages since they had graduated after all.  Perhaps the most normal part of the Claremont experience. 
 
"It is not painful, A sort of weightlessness.  If anything, it is too easy to move around.  No resistance makes it possible to misjudge my strength.  Two dimensional mobility also can be difficult to cope with.  Not every Atlantean chooses to walk even in the bottom of the sea.  Walking could be an entirely new experience.  Some are physically dependent on our environment and as such staying on the surface is a health risk.  Dehydration pains me most excruciatingly so, I do not think that is due to my Atlantean heritage." Thaelia shrugged not entirely sure as some Atlanteans in fact did not do well on the surface.  "Surface air tastes different.  More metallic than than underwater.  Airplanes gives me motion sickness, in general heights can be difficult for the lungs.  Our lungs are stronger, and in turn work harder in thin air."

[Electra]

"Now I feel old," Erin said with a very slight pout. "I only graduated... wow, almost four years ago now. That's a little weird." When the waitress stopped by, she gave her order, fried cod sandwich, coleslaw, and Coke. "I guess it makes sense, being on the surface for you must be like being in space for me, except for the breathing thing. Control is hard, but you can do crazy jumping stunts.  Do you have to do a lot of training to compensate for the difference in your strength out of the water, or does it just feel natural by now?" 

[Brown Dynamite]

"I use both the Doom Room and the Wreck Room to train when I can.  Visiting the surface on the king's diplomatic retreats helped me learn ahead of time how much I needed to compensate"  Thaelia confirmed gleefully.  "Moving with power instead of finesse was one of my earliest training focuses.  Professor Archer wanted to drill it into my head.  He showed my something called park four.  Then said 'forget all this, and just charge.'  Truly my movements feel more natural.  As long as I don't get too excited nothing breaks.  I have yet to perfect the art of fine control."

"I used to practice with a rubber ball.  Squeeze while trying not to pop.  Now talking was the real hard part.  Atlantean is spoken underwater. Lowering my voice just right was not an easy task."   Not mentioning how many times she was asked not to also bounce the ball off the walls of her old dorm room.  "Was it easy for you?  Strength control not avoiding yelling."  

[Electra]

"It took forever," Wander said with a sigh, remembering those days. "I was... I was pretty raw when I first got to Claremont. I knew one style of fighting, and it wasn't anything I could use in Freedom City, so I had to pretty much start from scratch. My first mentor, this lady named Thunderstanding, she had me practice with this big metal ball, but I couldn't actually hit it. I was supposed to swing at it as fast as usual, but then just brush it with my knuckles. It was so frustrating, eventually I'd usually just snap and whack it a good one and it would crumple. My first bat, Mr. Archer gave it to me to help me control how hard I hit things and people, it was basically full of high-tech foam padding. It took years of constant training to really get to  where I almost always have control. But it also made me a pretty damn good fighter, so hey, worth it." 

 

Leaning in, she asked conspiratorially, "So, does Mr. Archer still get those veins popping out on his forehead when he gets really frustrated during a training session?" 

[Brown Dynamite]

"I have been taught the ways of combat since I was a child."  Thaelia informed.  Albeit combat in an undersea environment.  But much like Nereid and any other member of the royal family.  Being taught self defense by the military was an afforded luxury of the throne.  Of course, it wasn't as if the Atlantean military turned away those interested so luxury may not have been the best choice of words either.  Whatever the wording, punching was the most familiar sensation for the young woman known as the Glamazon.
 
"Yes worth it.  Of great relief to all the Wanderers out there."  Thaelia spoke in reference to some small Wander fan group that she had heard about.  Of course just about every big name hero had a fan group.  It was just the way pop culture worked on the surface.  The Atlantean princess took in a giggle fit after Erin leaned in closer to ask the question.  "I was starting to think he only did that with me.  I never asked anyone else."

[Electra]

"God no," Erin rolled her eyes. "I used to worry that he was going to pop something in his head during one of my training sessions and I'd get even more detention for it. That guy has no idea how to relax." She grinned, deciding to avoid the topic of Wander-fans altogether. There weren't many, thank god, but it was still a really weird feeling. "Course, I never bothered not giving him a hard time whenever I could. He's a slave driver. My first year on campus, I was training six hours a day, sometimes more! Just lucky I don't need to sleep much. Do any of the teachers give you problems?" she asked. "For not knowing all the surface world stuff?" 

[Brown Dynamite]

"Professor skyler seems to have a piece of kelp lodged up his, I do not even need calculus."  Thaelia declared with her hands waving around erratically.  "Most proctors are understanding.  I believe the school in the position where students with circumstances beyond the surface norm still fall under the norm."

 

Which made it easier to get on by when people acting strange was such a commonality.  Half of Thaelia's friends had questionable roots with family members trying to come after them for nefarious purposes.  One was a Grue (though Daphne didn't attend Claremont).  Suffice to say, she knew very few people with what one would ascribe to the typical high school experience.  Which also shot her image of heroes having perfect lives in the face.

[Electra]

"Yeah, Claremont's nice that way." Their food arrived, and Erin took a moment to spread coleslaw over her fish sandwich. "But even once you get out in the world, most people just don't pay that much attention. They may notice that you do unusual things, or wear unusual clothes, but unless it actually gets in their way, they mostly don't care. It seems lonely, but it's actually kind of relaxing. You just have to learn the list of things normal people do to get along with their neighbors, and then you're fine. Are you going to stick around after graduation?" 

[Brown Dynamite]

Thaelia was at the very least self aware enough to know how she stood out at times.  Aside from being as tall as could be, she was muscular and loud.  Sure, most of her body weight came from sightly denser muscle tissue so it wasn't as if she was so muscular as to draw eyesight before she was proudly declaring things left and right.  Even with as much of a noise machine as she could be.  No one ever seemed to show that they were all that bothered by it.  A step up from Atlantean Barbarians that would likely take a shot at her just for virtue of existing.

 

"I...do not know."  Thaelia stared at her food for a moment.  The question had been plaguing her for a while.  College wasn't in the cards, even if celebrities often blended into a college campus without anyone raising a question.  It was simply unlikely that any college education would fit into what her role in Atlantis as a royal required.  "I enjoy my time on the surface. I do not wish to build further distance from my friends.  Nor do I wish to create undue distance with my family or people.  Humanity is a subject most unpopular in Atlantis."

 

The halcyon days of being able to live freely in both worlds were numbered.  Tethys had spent considerably less time on the surface since graduating.  Despite the three suitors, that Thaelia knew of, wishing otherwise.  It was pretty much an unspoken understanding that she'd be going back home to stay.  the King's extended time as part of the Freedom League wasn't exactly a popular model.

 

The fact that temper ran on both sides of her family also meant any debate to the contrary would be a heated one.  Sighing, Thaelia mimicked Erin's motions in spreading her coleslaw and shrimp on the fish sandwich.  It wasn't her way to eat such a meal. But, if Wander was doing it, Thaelia was certainly going to give it a go.

[Electra]

"Sorry to hear that," Erin said sympathetically, wiping a bit of mayonnaise from her lips. The sandwiches were as good as she remembered, and she made a note to visit more often when she was out patrolling. "But maybe you can at least visit, if you have to go back to living down there. You said it was an hour and a half away? That's not too bad for a weekend or something." She took a sip of her drink. "I only really know one other person who comes from underwater, and she lives in Freedom City pretty much full time now, but it seems like if you can get the thing with your family sorted out you might be able to part-time in both places. You could study what surface-dwellers know about the ocean." 

[Brown Dynamite]

Thaelia raised a curious brow while eating her meal in a manner less than becoming of a princess.  She wasn't sure of who Erin could have been talking about.  There wasn't exactly a large migration from the bottom of the sea.  Most folks actually held the surface with some minimal level of disdain.  Being more welcoming to the heroes who've they've actually met (and had therefore "done something for Atlantis).  

 

There was Fusion.  But, contrary to popular opinion (and some questionable Japanese dvds) she didn't live underwater.  Not that Thaelia knew of.  And she definitely didn't think Erin thought Siren came from the depths of the sea.  Unless they were talking about her grandmother, who clearly did not live in the surface.  Errin could have been talking abut someone who wasn't a hero.  But, such consideration wasn't the sort Thaelia would take.  Heck, she didn't have any friends who didn't fight crime!

 

"Who, may I ask, has made such a curious transition?"

[Electra]

Erin blinked as she took another bite of her sandwich, only belatedly realizing that this might be an awkward topic. Normally she tuned out when Aquaria began ranting about Atlanteans, the same as she did when Jessie started waxing enthusiastic over how many colors of colored pencils there were, but she knew there was bad blood there from way back. "Oh, ah, she's probably nobody you would know," she told Thaelia, "she's the roommate of my dimensional doppelganger over at Project Freedom, her name is Aquaria and she's a Deep One. Does anybody at school still talk about the time we switched places with our Anti-Earth doppelgangers?" she went on, just a little hastily. "That was a really weird experience for everybody. I think my double ate like five gallons of ice cream." 

[Brown Dynamite]

There were a lot of parts of the sentence that Thaelia might have found interesting.  Doppelgangers were certainly a subject that would have been worth talking.  Dimensional or otherwise.  If only everything that Erin said aside from Aquaria and Deep One didn't sound like white noise.  Her mind was blown.

 

It was one thing to learn her best friend helped saved Deep One eggs (or babies? Thaelia was never clear on the specifics) from being stolen from the zoo.  Heroes protected children.  Regardless of the evil monstrosities they were destined to grow up into.  It was another thing for someone she looked up to, to knowingly provide amnesty to an adult monster.  As if Erin was willingly stepping on her family's beliefs.

 

After all, everyone knew Deep Ones were evil.  That's how she had been educated as a child.  Sure, the number of Deep One attacks on Atlantean settlements seemed to maintain a 1:1 ratio with the number of Atlantean Warlord attacks.  But, the nomadic Warlord tribes didn't know better.  The Deep Ones didn't know anything else but evil.  

 

Thaelia stared at Erin.  The boisterous princess sat there staring.  When she tried to speak the words were forced out stammered.  "I ne-ne-need air."  A few years ago she might have yelled, smashed something, maybe even run out without saying a word.  All actually sounded like good options still.  But, she settled on something more subdued.  Not waiting for answer she dropped her sandwich.  

 

Immediately, Thaelia walked out of the restaurant staying within eyesight from the window the girl would simply stare up at a street lamp. In that moment contemplating reaching for the pole and launching.  Simply throwing it out to sea.

[Electra]

Erin stayed inside for a minute or two, marshalling her thoughts and letting Thaelia collect herself. When the other girl didn't come back inside, Erin set down money for their sandwiches and a tip. "We might be back in," she told the waitress, then followed the distraught Atlantean. Rather relieved that Thaelia hadn't gone too far, she stood back and watched the girl wrestling with her own impulses. 

 

Finally, she broke the silence. "Her name is Aquaria," she said again, "and she's an exile because she doesn't want live the way most Deep Ones do. She's at Project Freedom learning to be a superhero. She can never go back to where she came from, but she's helping make the surface world a better place. She doesn't fit in too well on the street, and I pretty much don't understand her sense of humor at all, but I do admire her strength." 

[Brown Dynamite]

"All Deep Ones are exiles, due to the way they live."  Thaelia replied matter of factly.  "I simply cannot understand.  She is a Deep One.  They do not wish perform acts of valor.  There is no honor in their people."  Thaelia was of course half speaking to herself.  She did understand on the very least how much of an adjustment it was to live on the surface.  And that was after considering she, personally, had a pretty comfortable stay at Claremont.  In turn this Deep Ones couldn't exactly walk around in the daylight without some sort of means of adjusting to the light, so Thaelia could at the very least concede this Aquaria creature probably has had a difficult time.

 

Her sympathies were, however, mixed.  One simply did not change their views in the span of a few minutes.  "I ask for a thousand pardons.  I shall take your judgement on this matter under thought."  Thaelia stated with absolutely no enthusiasm in her voice.  While the Atlanten could not believe on blind faith, even for the Wander, that Aquaria had anything other than nefarious plans in store.  She, also did not want to openly call into question the character of something Erin chose to associate with. 

 

Besides, Project Freedom at the very least meant it was imprisoned.  If Thaelia fully understood how Project Freedom worked.  Which was to say she really didn't understand it at all.  It did give her something to research (or rather ask Cerys help in researching).  Perhaps, even a location to keep an eye on.

[Electra]

"It's all right, I didn't really think about what I was saying, but I should've realized it would bother you." Erin stayed where she was, a few feet away and letting Thaelia have time and space to think. "But I guess it's probably better that you know about her ahead of time rather than meeting her in action someday." She smiled a little. "I kind of have a thing about zombies, similar to the way you feel about Deep Ones. The first time I met a zombie hero, I had no idea who or what he was, and I immediately jumped him and started pounding on him. It didn't do any harm in the long term, but I ended up embarrassed and making a fool of myself in front of a lot of heroes I'd wanted to impress, and it sucked. At least this way you have time to think about the idea."

 

She looked up to the bridge, judging lunchtime to be nearly over by the number of cars crossing the span. "Do you want to go back in and finish your sandwich?" 

[Brown Dynamite]

Thaelia raised an eyebrow at the idea of a zombie hero.  Noting her first response might also be similar around the undead.  Though not with any hate.  The dead weren't exactly known for welcoming embrace.  At least that's what every movie session with Daphne had taught her.  Zombies always go for the brains.  Slowly.  The matter was food for thought.  And while she wasn't going to be finished letting the information stew for a bit.  The princess could stand to finish her sandwich.

 

She appreciated that when Erin came out it was not a confrontation.  The Glamazon's temperature was barely checked as it were.  Fanning more fire to the flames wouldn't have helped.  "I shall resume my meal."  Thaelia finally affirmed.  While her mood was certainly not back to the high it was when the day started. it wasn't as if she was being expected to break bread with the Deep One over the meal.  

 

"It would be unbefitting of a princess of Atlantis to turn a way a gift so rudely."

[Electra]

Erin opened the door for Thaelia and walked with her back into the restaurant, where luckily the waitress had not yet bused their table. Nobody had seemed to really notice their brief departure. She resumed her seat and had another sip of her drink. "So you've probably had a chance to take in some movies and television while you've been up in the surface world," she commented, easing the conversation to something that would hopefully be much lighter. "I imagine the pop culture is very different up here from where you come from. What do you think about it? Got any favorites so far?" 

[Brown Dynamite]

"I have not watched the miniature moving screen.  The large theatre I have seen a few times.  I very much enjoy the movies of action."  Thaelia replied upon seating.  Atlantis was a mixed bag of technological advancement.  A lot of abandoned technology was surely advanced by any standard.  But, even the Atlanteans didn't fully understand their ancestors technology fully.  Leaving a lot of primitive strides in other areas, especially due to the fact that the arcane arts were often used to make up for the otherwise lack of resources.

 

"Entertainment in Atlantis involves competitors in the arena.  Combat, racing, sports of that nature.  I quite enjoy plays even if I lack the skill of an orator to perform as such in public.  Tis why I enjoy your Ultimate Wrestling League.  Such fine orators and spectacular combat."  Thaelia was actually pretty much a fan of any contact sport on the surface.  It was something familiar.  She liked familiar.

[Electra]

"Maybe you can figure out who the technogeeks are in your class and ask one of them to make you a super-strong videogame controller," Erin suggested with a small smile. "Lots of fighting video games, you'd probably like them if you like action movies. And maybe you could figure out how to get a television and gaming setup down there in one of the dry buildings, show your friends what you did on your study abroad." She finished her drink and the last of her french fries, then sat back looking about as relaxed as she ever looked in public. "Maybe someday you'll be an ambassador or something." 

[Brown Dynamite]

Thaelia had to run through the people she considered friends.  None seemed especially competent with technology.   Mali could drive.  That was something.  But, that wasn't exactly the sort of thing that calle.  "I do not know any geeks of the techno."  Thaelia replied after a pause in which she used context clues to figure out iif technogeek was meant to be an insulting pejorative or not.  That wasn't to say there weren't any inventors at Claremont.  She just hadn't really spent time with any.  

 

Doctor Cassie was the closest equivalent.  And she somehow doubted and adult biologist had the time to try and build a super strong video game controller.  Plus, she didn't think her scientific area of study covered super strong beings.  Kaiju excluded.  Maybe it does?

 

She knew a former thief with all the questionable contacts in the world that might be able to find such a  device.  "I shall ask around."  Thaelia began to take some slow bites of her sandwich.  Mulling over the idea of an official ambassadorial position.  It was easier said than done.  Especially garnering support at home for it  But, it was a nice thought.