Breathe in the Embers

Part 20

“She was hitting on you.” Martin insisted, for about the hundredth time.

“Definitely hitting on you.” Margaret agreed.

Lithuega sighed, laying back on a cross beam in their abandoned warehouse, Margaret seated below her on the concrete floor. Hands behind her head, Lithuega stared up at the perforated metal ceiling, many holes corroded through it over the years. “I still think she was just being friendly.”

“That’s how it starts. Well, when you aren’t a prick anyway.” Martin replied between breathes, pressing a board holding cinder blocks up away from his chest. Over. And Over. And Over. Why was it so boring watching a human strengthen himself? At least Carcoliths could perform rituals, make deals, and even uncover hidden truths to power up.

This was so much more mundane. She had to admit though, it got results.

Martin had been working out hard for a month and a half now, and his body was showing great improvement. Slim still, but hard muscle was corded in his arms, his calves were toned, and every day the workout wore on him less and less.

Lithuega wished she could say the same. It was not normal to spend so much time on the same world as the person you are bound to. Though she replenished some of her energy each day when she was absent, it was never enough. She felt weary all the time now.

“Well then what should I do?”

“You’re going to be a hero. Having a romantic attachment just means someone can use her to get to you.” Margaret piped up. “And it means she’d be in danger.”

“That’s dumb.”

“But true.” Martin insisted.

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“Well, what if I’m involved with another hero? A girl has her needs.”

“That could work.” Margaret said just as Martin sighed and replied.

“Please stop discussing this with minors.”

“Yeah, because my current social circle is resplendent with responsible, mature adults.”

“Well you could fix that.” Margaret suggested, throwing a newspaper of all things up. Lithuega caught it in one hand, wondering where she’d even found such a thing. In the age of the internet, newspapers were not as prolific as they once were. If there was wifi here, Lithuega was sure Margaret would be sharing an article with her instead. Well, Sharing the article. Modern terminology was so non-specific. She scanned the page.

“What, the Hero Gala?” she asked incredulously, trying to imagine such a thing. It seemed ridiculous to her, but then the whole superhero scene was pretty new. If the Mayor wanted to bump elbows with those keeping his city safe, why not? She supposed it wasn’t much different than a king gathering his knights and lords for a ball.

“Go, get to know some other super powered types, get in on the ground floor. Your interview is dropping tonight, and the gala is in three days. Perfect timing.” Margaret suggested.

“If I can get an invite.” Lithuega muttered, dropping the paper back to the girl.

“Please. This is one big publicity stunt, and no one is drawing the crowd quite like you are right now. He’d be an idiot to pass this up. You’d probably already have an invite if there was any way at all to reach you.”

“Do it. I’ll just say I’m hanging with Margaret that night. Again.” Martin agreed. It had been much easier coming up with excuses to be gone all the time when they weren’t necessarily lies. He was with Margaret after all. “Have we decided how we are going to beef up Lithuega for this impending fight anyway?”

“No.” Margaret and Lithuega replied in unison.

“I really don’t see how I can gather enough power on this world to pose a threat to Ishlithtavast. She was untouchable on our world, and I had access to many more fonts of power there.”

“More known fonts of power maybe. We need to get us a mage. You’ll find plenty of heroes who use magic at the gala.” Martin pointed out.

“Fine, I’ll go.” Lithuega gave up, wondering if this might actually be fun. She did like parties, she was just uncertain what they would look like on Earth. Well, now anyway. She’d been very familiar with royal balls and formal dances back in the day. The elegant ball gowns, the dancing, all the formality a thin veil for the sultry looks. She did look magnificent in a corset. Hell, maybe she’d bring the look back. It wasn’t like she’d be fitting in either way.

And they were right. They needed more information if they were going to take on the First of Six.