The sun was setting, but instead of the usual sunsets that Ronnie was accustomed to on Earth, this one felt dour.
The air became stiff and cold, and slowly the streets became empty. The superstitious locked their doors, turned off all their lights, and cowered in fear of The Night of Sin. Many took the night a little too seriously and decided it would be the perfect time to commit all sorts of crimes, so more police officers than usual were patrolling the streets that night. Plenty of bars and clubs were full though, no shortage of parties either. Best of all, The Sinister Rave was in the Kiruna district if one was brave enough to enter.
Ronnie and Tirinius were outside a bar called The Solar Flare, watching the last few fireworks of the night go off. They decided since they were stuck in town they might as well enjoy the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. They were going to have a few drinks at the bar and head on down to the rave afterward.
Tirinius had promised him that he would explain his rantings and ravings...after a few beers. When he finished his third and took a deep sigh he was ready to tell another strange story. Like a typical Atlaan tourist with too much to drink, he took his shoes and socks off, and submerged his feet in the water-filled portion of the sidewalk while nursing his beer.
"That guy in the store, I killed him," Tirinius whispered.
A passerby in the street walked a little bit faster and clutched her purse to her chest when she overheard him.
"I'm grateful you're drunk right now...strangers will ignore this weird ass conversation," Ronnie said loudly. "A very drunk man!"
"I'm not drunk...just tipsy. I killed him because he chased someone all the way to Altera, and then burned an entire continent down."
"An entire continent? One guy? Impossible."
"I saw the tail end of it. Right before I used that fucking sword to kill him. I chucked that thing into Lake Sarai back on Earth and somehow that freak found it."
Tirinius was quiet again and opened another beer, making Ronnie a little worried.
"Who was he chasing all the way to Altera," Ronnie asked. "Isn't that place destroyed?"
"Altera is gone here too!?! What happened to all of them?"
A random Alterian exited the bar and glared at the two of them while Ronnie made a quick apology.
"Please stop scaring people," Ronnie said.
"I didn't do nothing," he mumbled. "Not yet."
"And neither has he. You can't kill someone for something they haven't done yet."
"Yes, I can. For the greater good," Tirinius argued. "That insane pervert believes everyone has hurt him, and that creepy sword makes someone practically invincible if used for revenge. Do you understand what kind of horrible combination that is?"
Ronnie shook his head no, and couldn't argue against Tirinius' new thirst for blood. But Ronnie couldn't kill someone who had the same face as his friend. Slowly it dawned on him that Tirinius had no problem literally looking at himself, killing him, and was now promising to do it again. It was some weird allegory or metaphor he couldn't quite place or find the right words for.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"I don't understand how someone can be so obsessed with revenge, so filled with hate or just one singular goal that nothing else matters. Doesn't he get tired," Tirinius asked.
"Why was he chasing down some random guy in Altera anyway," Ronnie replied.
"His son. Crazy bastard believed he kidnapped him and wouldn't take no for an answer. And that sword, that stupid sword, it fed him lies. It told him everything he wanted to hear because it finally found someone that would be addicted to the same thing he is."
"What could a sword be addicted to," Ronnie asked skeptically.
"Hurt. Anger. They're all addicted to something and use us to get it," Tirinius explained. "Everyone's addicted to something."
"Pssh. Trying to sound deep, drunk man?"
Ronnie took another hit of his melon-flavored vape, and he knew he wasn't addicted, he could stop at any time.
"Whatever happened to the kid?"
Tirinius shrugged.
"No one looked for him," Ronnie asked.
"It's a baby...I mean, people tried, but it's not like it was even old enough to walk," Tirinius explained. "It's not a normal missing person's case."
"Did you ever stop and think that maybe, in this world, if you instead made sure the baby was returned maybe he wouldn't destroy an entire continent?"
"Maybe he just shouldn't do that to begin with."
"Touche."
The two of them were quiet again and it no longer was slightly chilly but now extremely cold. Snowflakes were starting to fall and Tirinius was now regretting leaving his feet in the water. His toes were now pale and pruned, he was shivering all over. Ronnie took his hand and helped him stand up straight, and the two of them headed into the bar.
"Y'know I've been trying to look on the bright side since the beginning of the week and it's so been so hard, but just now I think I finally found it," Ronnie said.
"What is it?"
"You came back in time, right? You already know about the bad things that can happen to us. You can stop them from happening while finding your people. It can work out."
The warm yellow lights of the Solar Flare greeted them alongside the sounds of shouting and the smell of sweat. They took two steps inside when they were stopped by the bouncer who noticed one of them wasn't wearing any shoes. He simply pointed to the sign that said;
"NO SHOES, NO SHIRT, NO SERVICE."
"Sir I left my shoes on my friend's feet," Tirinius explained drunkenly.
Stupidly, Ronnie looked down to check if it was true that he was wearing someone else's shoes and then swore under his breath. The bouncer started to chastise him, but they were interrupted.
Suddenly, the entire bar seemed to shake a little. Everyone froze in place for a few seconds and the entire bar went quiet.
"Okay, I lied," Tirinius admitted. "I forgot where I put them."
The shaking started again, but now it was more intense. Instead of being frozen in place, many people, thinking it was an earthquake, ran underneath tables or out into the street. Ronnie took Tirinius and they hid behind the bar but it was the worst place to hide. Glasses shook, and slid to the floor, shattering, pieces of glass stinging their skin.
"I promise to never lie again," Tirinius lied. "I'm so sorry."
"Do you think you're doing this yourself, you drunken idiot," Ronnie screamed.
"No...maybe....? Am I?"
A wine bottle smacked Ronnie in the back of the head and he crumpled to the floor. The lights were flickering rapidly, making Tirinius even more disoriented while he tried to help. Fumbling and blinking rapidly, he managed to unzip Ronnie's backpack and take out his trusty blanket.
"Herp pwease," Tirinius slurred.
The ceiling lights finally went out, with several crashing on the floor and landing on one unlucky patron. It wasn't dark for long, because the entire bar was soon illuminated by the bright light from a bomb outside. It started slow, a small dot in the distance, slowly spreading over the horizon. A maleficent, man-made sun destroying everything in its wake, vaporizing buildings, trees, people and anything that dared look upon it.
"Pleaash," Tirinius repeated.
The blanket said nothing.
The blanket said nothing as Tirinius felt a warmth shine over him and he stared into the burning heat of eternity.