Chion spent the night at a nearby hotel, one he only managed to find after asking some folks near the outskirts of Canarsie Park since the map failed to list any. It wasn't anything fancy, but it definitely served its purpose, offering shelter and a place to recuperate.
After the never-ending day the white-haired haired youth had just gone through, he passed out the moment his head hit the pillow, only bothering to shower after he woke up some hours later. From waking up with zero memories of his own life to sprinting through the interconnected streets of Brooklyn, life hadn't exactly been the kindest, forcing the youth to fight for his life at every single turn. With the chance to finally relax without the fear of being killed mid sleep, Chion took full advantage of the opportunity, sleeping well into the afternoon. If anyone deserved the time to gather themselves, it was the one who had fought an elephant sized metal bull and swarm of man eating pidgeons.
In truth, the young amnesiac probably would have slept longer if the combination of bodily functions and hunger hadn't forced him out of bed.
Rubbing his face, Chion recollected himself, light streaming through the small crack in the curtains of the hotel window. His body ached in multiple places, and his muscles possessed a sort of weakness to them as if they were made of jello.
But at least he was alive.
Chion used the bathroom, washed his hands, changed into the only pair of clothes he had left, and immediately began fixing himself something to eat using the groceries he had purchased at the Mini Mart. A mixture of tuna, mayo, and some saltine crackers with a few drops of hot sauce, and the youth had his breakfast/lunch prepped and ready.
Definitely not a luxurious meal, but it was one that the boy rather enjoyed, using a plastic fork to shovel it all down.
While eating, Chion began making a mental list of everything he had learned about himself and his environment, things that he had undergone and observed.
The list was actually quite extensive.
For starters, there were the monsters.
The bronze bull had been a living machine, its body made up of various metals such as its silver horns and red eyes that Chion had only just realized were rubies. Despite its mechanical nature, the beast was able to feel emotion and show it in differing ways, such as frustration when it couldn't find the youth in Canarsie Cemetery and panick when it saw the Greek Fire. This meant the beast was sentient rather than just some hunk of metal, shoving it into the category of monster, just like the flesh hungry avians that had struck at him during his bike ride. Chion reckoned that if that thing existed as an actual creature, more of them probably existed as well, though this was mainly guesswork and had no concrete evidence to back it up.
As for the pidgeons, they weren't really that hard to categorize as abnormal entities that shouldn't have existed in the first place.
Their beaks were made from some sort of metal, most likely the same metal that Chions arrowheads were comprised of, sharing the same appearance. Their pitch black feathers could be used as projectiles, though they hardly used them after the youth had scared them away with his unexpected display of ice magic. By themselves, they were mere nuisances, but together, it was a miracle that Chion was even alive. The youth didn't know the full scope of their abilities, but he was more than aware that they possessed quite a bit of intelligence, or at least more than the bull had.
These creatures were menaces that didn't care about what needed to be done to get to Chion, endangering onlookers and damaging public property without a care. What made this odd was the lack of proper reaction from the incidents.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
A lot of the bystanders had differing reactions to the beasts. Panick, frustration, disappointment, anger, maybe fear. But none of those reactions lasted for very long before they continued about their day, as if what had just happened to their environment or property had been just another day in the glorious city of New York. Chion didn't think he himself was the oddity in question, his own reactions to the danger being a mix of multiple negative emotions that stuck with him even now. By all accounts, everything was just off.
It called into question whether or not him and other New Yorkers were seeing the same thing. Again, though, he had no proof. Only assumptions.
Taking a step back from the monsters, Chion assessed himself and his genetics, namely his two mysterious abilities, magic and some kind of vision.
Shoveling what was left from his homemade bowl of tuna into his mouth, the white-haired youth finished off his meal, washing it down with a blue colored Gatorade.
Chion wasn't aware of what the average 13 year old was capable of, so he didn't bother running any diagnostics on his own physical capabilities and how they stacked up to others. Rather, the youth was far more concerned with his use of ice magic, something Chion was quite certain the typical person was incapable of. He had only used it once, so he wasn't sure about any of its usage or effects, or even how to use it in the first place. The youth would have to run some data gathering tests once he had figured out how to actually summon the ice on command. There was also a question as to if ice and snow were the ONLY things he could create or if he could potentially extend it to other elements or concepts. Such possibilities greatly intrigued Chion quite a bit.
As for the vision, certain things could be figured out from the things Chion had seen within the scenes to deduce what the power itself was.
The hill with the pine tree. The talk with the girl and older teenager. The boy in the arcade. Chion had no recollection of any of these locations or individuals within the given visions, no memory being sparked upon seeing them either. For all intents and purposes, the only thing the youth could actually surmise from the information he had was some possible form of future sight, a prophetic vision that could gaze into places Chiok had the potential of visiting. The youth didn't believe in any sort of set future, so, to him, the visions were a series of set paths that could happen depending on the choices he made.
Again, lacking evidence. However, the visions were definitely prophetic in nature, the conversation with the blonde girl being a good enough indication.
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{{"Hey. Brain freeze, how lazy are you gonna be? You have responsibilities."}}
{{"Go easy on him, Annabeth. He only just got here."}}
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(("You wouldn't call someone brain freeze unless there's something tied to it.....like my ice powers.")) Chion stood up from his bed and made his way to the bathroom, taking the bowl with him. (("Brain freeze could be a moniker for something else, but my theory would make the most sense. Also doubtful that she was talking to someone else since I would have seen them in the vision, not standing in their place."))
Rinsing the remnants of the tuna out, the youth quickly dried the bowl and the fork before shoving it back into the bottomless pit of a backpack.
Little by little, Chion began to pack up his things, throwing away empty scraps, putting groceries away, and remaking the bed. The hotel was nice and all, but he had to keep moving. If he wanted to learn more about himself and the dangerous world around him, he couldn't afford to simply play it safe. He NEEDED to pursue any clues that could lead him towards obtaining his memories and finding out why he had woken up with nothing but the clothes on his back, forced to struggle tooth and nail.
The visions were a good start. Starting with the very first one.
The pine tree.
Taking out the map, Chion tried to get a sense of where it might have been located. A near impossibility on the map he had, especially since nothing told him it was even IN New York, but it was all he truly had to rely on.
"I just need some clue. Anything." The youth softly bit the tip of his tongue. "Something to go off of."
Then a few words popped into his head, seemingly from thin air. Nothing like a voice, but more along the lines of a feeling of remembering something. It was odd since it didn't feel like something that Chion would know, but nevertheless, it was there.
DELPHI STRAWBERRY SERVICE.
Confused, Chion frowned as he glanced carefully over the map, neon blue hues scanning its surface. After a minute of scouring its surface, he came across what he was looking for, a sizeable patch of land located on Long Island. In a cursive scribble, unlike the rest of the texts on the map, were the same words that had popped into the forefront of the youths mind. Delphi Strawberry Service.
Immediately marking it on the map, giving it a circle in Sharpie, Chion began to memorize and carve out his route. He also carved out backup routes just in case there were any mishaps, including but not limited to car accidents, monster attacks, traffic jams, dead ends, dangerous individuals, or more monster attacks. The premise of travel was to get there in one piece. Couldn't do that if he was chewed up and spat out by the next big baddy that came along.
Folding up the map, Chion tucked it into his pocket and slung his backpack over his shoulder. Donning the blue hoodie he had picked up from Walmart, one he had grown quite attached to, it was time to get moving. The only thing he had left to do was move the lengthy dresser from the front of the door, one he had put there last night to discourage break-ins and alert him in case of unwanted visitors.
Letting out a breath breath cold air, Chion left the room.
"Let's just hope this Strawberry place has some answers."