Nothing Like Some Whiskey... [ Closed to Solaronic ]

Venatorus walked a few yards behind Saileyra. Her attire amused him; even when attempting to dress casually, she still wore the armor noticeable only to those with a trained eye, and the bird Xeonix was as always present. They walked for a few blocks, and Venatorus was ravenous. Not for food, but rather the alcohol that awaited him at their destination. It had been over a week since he had consumed anything with alcohol in it; a lifetime to him. He quickened his step, and turned his thoughts to other matters. People were occasionally glancing at Sai, and maybe a half dozen looked at him. These people were most likely harmless, the looks inconsequential. But one could never be too careful. Any one of these people could be a trained assassin.

He was scanning the surroundings for a potential threat when Sai glanced over her shoulder at him. He flashed a quick grin at her, then resumed his threat assessment. There appeared to be no metahumans, extraterrestrials, supernatural creatures, or any other threat in the immediate vicinity.  Nobody was paying to much attention to the duo, or too little. He relaxed slightly. Tonight was to be a time of great joy, not to be constantly looking over his shoulder. Sai walked into the bar, a small place, but all together not a bad looking one. Venatorus walked in behind her. It was a dimly lit room, with what seemed like a decent band playing on a stage. He quickly approached the bar, requesting a pint of gin. The bartender gave him a a strange look, but didn't ask any questions. When it arrived, he took a ginger sip. Verifying the taste as that of quality gin, he proceeded to down half of the glass. Tonight was going to be fun.

Venatorus looked up from his glass when Sai addressed him. “How have I been?” he mused aloud. “Hm. It has been a long time since I was addressed in such a plebeian manner.” He chuckled quietly to himself. “It is rather refreshing,” He looked into her eyes. “Even my so called ‘friends’ seem to keep themselves distant from me, which is in no small part my own fault.” He sighed; it seemed he was sighing a lot these days. “It has been a while since I could actually be myself around someone else, no secrets being withheld. I understand perfectly the importance in not telling all that I know, but it is quite tedious to have to constantly watch my tongue, for fear I would let something from either of my past life’s slip. Being from a world far away from Earth is hard, especially in these times,” his eyes flicked back from their wandering to gaze back into hers again “Ah, but that must be something that you yourself would know quite a bit about.”

He laughed at himself; he was rambling like an old man. “I am sorry, it appears I have digressed from the original question. How have I been? I have been excellent. Since my recruitment by O.C.E.A.N,  I have been working on finally producing certain, inventions, of mine that I drew up the plans for long ago, and have been simply adapting for years now. It feels absolutely terrific to be involved with direct action again, instead of doing all of my work behind a desk or in the courtroom,” He was silent for a few moments, sipping the gin and listening intently to the band. His gaze traveled across the room, and he was lost deep in thought for a few moments more, before he remembered he wasn’t alone tonight. “And how are you Sai?”

Venatorus opened his mouth once, to express concern, and offer condolences, with her homesickness. It was something he could relate to, and was one of the reasons he slept very little. Even for an Elrenian. He quickly shut it however; her command which quickly followed caught him off guard. It wasn’t even a command, per say, but as she was his commanding officer that was how he viewed it. He smiled briefly. It had been a few centuries since he had been able to speak to another being about Elrenia, with the exception of Chiro, the Capuchin-like primate whom had crash landed on Earth from Elrenia. Where to begin though?

“Elrenia was, well, still is I guess, a conflicted place. There are two major races, though there is no physiological difference between the two. It is more like the British and Americans on Earth; physically the same, yet fundamentally different otherwise. These are the Krazia (OOC Pronounced Krah-Zee-Ah) and the Kiaren (Key-are-en). I am a Krazian, and we were a Democratic society, Every person, so long as they are Krazian, and are not incarcerated at the time of voting, goes to the capital of their region, of which there are around six thousand, and casts their vote. Those who cannot make it cast a vote on their Darikumen, which is a cross between a cell phone and a computer. The screens are holographic, and can be controlled by speech and eye movement. Several models were introduced that could be accessed by brain signals, but this scared the public, as they found it to be too intrusive on their privacy within their mind.”

“Once the votes are cast, they are counted by a large computer, and it typically takes around twelve hours for the said counting to occur. Once the votes are tallied, the new leader, who is known as the Liritor, is in office for up to 25 years. Each year, however, there is a vote to see if the people would like to have him or her removed from office. If over 53% of the population decide that they want them out, then in six months the vote is held again. If it passes 53% again, then the Liritor is replaced with his Chief Advisor. The Chief Advisor will be in charge for six months, until another election can be held.”

“Speaking of which, the Chief Advisor was my father at the time of my rather abrupt departure from Elrenia. The Chief Advisor is chosen by the Liritor, and serves as long as the Liritor does. He can serve longer, however, if he is chosen again by the next Liritor. It is a rather secure job, though not as much as the American Supreme court. Much more secure than mine,” he chuckled slightly at this. “Though I hold nowhere near the power of the President, I still too have to fear the ever fickle crowd. The public can be very moody, and changes it’s mind often. As my uncle used to say, it is much like a woman,” This caused Venatorus to laugh slightly again, though it was bittersweet. He had not seen his uncle in a human lifetime, and knew not whether he was even still alive.

He quickly finished his gin, and ordered another from the bartender. He sipped it silently for a few moments, reminiscing about his time on Elrenia. What he wouldn’t give to return, if only for a short while. “The Kiaren had a near identical society to ours, with the main difference being that they were a monarchy. They also had far less Armonolin than us.” He smiled briefly at that “Ah yes, Armonolin. The primary source of power on Elrenia, and my own source of power. It was the cause of several wars, as 80% of the Armonolin that can be mined was found in Krazien territory. It could be found in a crystallized form, though it was very unstable that way. Recently, or at least recent when I was on Elrenia, a method had been discovered to process the Armonolin that is present in the air and water. This has eased some of the tension, and it was hoped that this might stop the wars between the Kiaren and Krazien. I do not know if it worked, as I have had no way of contacting anyone on Elrenia” He looked into his drink with a melancholy manner. “God knows that I’ve tried”.

“Though, that is another matter as well. ‘God’. On Elrenia, most people would be considered an atheist. Some others believe that there must be some form of higher power, to have created the greatness that is Elrenia, and the rest of the universe. I have always believed in a deity, though whether it is sentient is beyond me. However, I would not say that this being interacts with it’s creations any longer, for if it did then it must be a terrible being, what with the various wars, famines, diseases, and all other blights that plague the universe.”

He finished off that gin as well and went to order another, before deciding against it and going for a glass of brandy. He made sure to give the bartender twenty dollars as a tip; he planned on ordering several other drinks before the night was through. “Elrenia is like Earth, in most ways. It is a far more advance country, and we have suffered mightily for it. There was a time when Elrenia was a place far more barren than Earth, and we had no one to blame but ourselves. Fortunately, we stopped polluting our world in time to reverse the damage we had wrought.”

“Now, it is a very lush planet. We have vasts oceans, though they make up for about half of the planet, unlike the 70% on Earth. There are a few deserts, and we have polar caps, but for the most part all of the natural land is heavily forested, with both deciduous and rain forests. We have much of the same animal species, though there are several differences in the anatomy of our animals, and we have other, more extreme species. Our plants are quite different too. A few species are shared, but the majority are vastly different. For one thing, most fruit and vegetables are filled with an extremely potent alcohol-like substance. That is one of the reasons for the alcoholic tendencies of Elrenians, and our extreme tolerance to alcohol. Having an extremely high metabolism helps too. Because of this, we have developed several drinks which can make an Elrenian ‘drunk’, and would kill a human. Elephant too, most likely”

He frowned down into his drink. “While I enjoy the various alcohols Earth has to offer, I have yet to find anything as pleasing as Elrenian alcohol. It is a shame that in my eight decades on this planet, I have yet to become intoxicated once. It isn’t like I did it on a regular basis on Elrenia, but it pisses me off to not be able to reach even a slight buzz.” He took a drink of the brandy. “What about you? I would be very interested to learn about your planet’s culture.”

Venatorus was stunned. He knew that the Earth was far from in great condition ecologically, but barren within seven centuries? That seemed like a very extreme outcome...though, if the population of Earth continued to grow, it might be possible. No, correction, it was possible, as apparently it had already happened. Venatorus’s pulse quickened slightly. They had to do something, and before it was too late! He forced himself to calm down as he gathered his wits among him. (A), she was still talking, and (B.), it’s not like he could do anything right away. The future must have already been changed, as Sai arrived here. That, and everything she has affected, and the people who have met because of her...relatively small changes in history today, but as with the butterfly effect stated, a tiny change today could result in an entirely different future.

He sat enthralled by her tale. She spoke of perfected warriors, and a time several centuries into the future. When she mentioned that, Venatorus realized something. His planet may be far into the past, or future, of Earth. It was far more advanced, but since Elrenian years were different than those of Earth, and it had been a long time since he had been on his home planet, it was hard to tell. He put the thought away, for now, as she was still in her narrative, but made a mental note to go back to that later. It was an interesting concept to him, and one he was determined to answer.

She finished her tale, and it was a great one indeed. It seemed to truly bother her, as it would any sane person. No wonder she had never told him this before; it was an awesome ((in the true sense of the word, meaning worthy of awe)) story, of a place that seemed so very brutal, and yet something in him was excited by it. This terrified him; he felt a bloodlust that was incomprehensible, and unlike anything he had ever felt before. His hand shot out to grab his drink, but he did not miscalculated, and crushed the glass. He looked down with shock, and then embarrassment a few seconds later. Mumbling to himself, and apologies to the bartender, he quickly cleaned up the glass, and disposed of it in a trash bin a few feet away. He excused himself to go to the bathroom, as he had gotten glass in his hand.

He removed the glass that he could see, and washed off most of the blood. It stung slightly, but he was more concerned with the mirror. His face was pale, and his eyes bloodshot. He was a mess, and yet less than a minute ago he had been fine. What was happening to him?

He jerked back as someone entered the bathroom, and Venatorus had almost struck them with Armonolin before he realized they were just human. Or so they appeared to be. With his nerves shot, he returned to the counter and told the bartender to get him two bottles of their strongest alcohol. She started to protest, but he pulled at a wad of cash and threw it on the bar. “That should more than cover it. Whatever is leftover is a tip,” she glanced between him and the money, then took it and brought him his requested “drink”. Without paying attention to what it was, he downed a mouthful, and then another. It was a few seconds before he remembered Sai was there. He turned towards her, and leaned against her side. He was larger than her, and he was usually against physical affection, especially as he didn’t know how Sai would react. But he needed to feel another human ((species aside, Venatorus considers himself human)). He sighed, and leaned back up. “Sorry” he mumbled, taking another mouthful of the bottle. It was almost a third gone now.  He leaned forward and put his head in his hands, the rage and lust for blood he had felt earlier having subsided.

Venatorus growled, and his head snapped up. He was about to make a very “unpleasant” comment to Sai about the PMS thing, when he stopped in his tracks. He had just growled. At another person. Not only that, he had just growled, he had just growled at Sai, someone who he considered a friend, and comrade. He felt the blood drain from his face, and his eyes widened. What was happening to him?

His voice trembled slightly as he avoided Sai’s eyes. “I-I don’t know” he whispered. He was utterly terrified. If he didn’t know any better, or if he had been a female, he would have attributed it to the term Saileyra had used, ‘PMSing’.  He sat up all the way, looking over Sai. He was ashamed of himself, but more than that he was scared. More so than he had ever been in his life, and that was saying a lot.  

His head felt like a carousel of emotions, flicking from one to the next at an insane speed. Almost to himself,  he muttered “I don’t know. I, I just don’t know. I don’t KNOW!” With that last word, he slammed his hands, which had slowly been filling with Armonolin, onto the bar, causing the bar to shatter. Several drinks were thrown off, and a few people who had been leaning on the bar were thrown back. He looked startled down at his hands. Well, there goes any chance of his powers remaining anonymous. “Goddammit” he muttered. He sighed; any traces of the anger which had just been present were now gone. He reached into his pocket, and wrote a check to the bar for a few hundred thousand dollars and handed it to the bartender. That should be enough to fix the bar and handle any lawsuits.

Now extremely tired, he walked out of the bar and sat on the curb. Placing his head in his hands, he almost started to cry. What the Hell was wrong with him? He stood up abruptly. Maybe they could conduct some tests back at OCEAN HQ, and see what it was! If anyone could find out why he was so fucked up right now, it would be Plural. Or maybe one of his other comrades in the tactical squadron. Either way, he was going to get it solved.

He almost ran off, before remembering, again, that Sai was with him. He whirled around, hoping to see her there.

"Sai, I am relaxed," he said, grinning at her. He opened his mouth to explain his plan to Sai, when a crushing rrealization hit Venatorus, like a blow to the solar plexus. He didn't want to be helped. But, he did. His mind could not decide; the bloodlust he had felt was so invigorating, but it was also terrifying. He grimaced; it was like his mind was divided in two, each half belonging to a completely different people.

He was on the verge of tears when he looked st Saileyra. "I-I'm so sorry Sai..." he whispered, before running out into the street, fleeing from the bar, Sai and his himself.