Martians
2406 Words
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Hyun, Jack, Jasper, and Hiroki stand with Sayuri before a cliff. Her frowning eases a little. The fire could not grow more, knowing that she still has a lot left at her side.
“Mars,” says Jasper, fiddling with his fingers. “This is the first time I've set my foot on its soil, disturbing it. Although, mother asked for my advice once. This is the place she wanted to conquer so I disturbed this land before even touching it. She conquered it because of my strategy. She's greedy. That's why she decided to dominate this worthless patch of land. I wonder where she is. I hope she can still hear me because I have a message for her from the jewel of our family.” He smirks. “You better be alive, mother,” he mutters.
“That's your mother you're talking about,” says Hyun. “No doubt she's alive, smirking the way as you do.”
“Yeah, you're right,” chuckles Jasper.
“It's like the Ra desert,” Jack remarks, looking far.
“It is,” Hiroki nods. “It brings me back to the time when... you know...”
“When Emaan's still alive,” says Prisha appearing at his side. She holds his arm and leans on him.
“He was a mighty god,” says Hyun. “He's one of those I unconditionally honor. Without his sacrifice, I won't be alive right now.”
“Indeed,” Jack adds. “a glorious god he was.”
“Well,” says Jasper, changing the mood with a clap of his hands. “let's find the nearest village! I know where it is. I still remember the classified map my mother showed me.”
“Why do we need to go there?” Hiroki asks.
“To get information, of course.”
“And booze, you mean,” says Icarus, taking a look at the desert.
“Yeah, and booze, that's right,” Jasper repeats. Sayuri looks at him. Even though she's not showing emotion, he knows she doesn't like it. “I won't be drinking too much, my lady, hehe,” he laughs nervously. “And I heard that Martian steaks are soft and juicy. I just wondered if you'd like to taste it.”
She swallows as she looks away. Sighing in relief, he smiles at Jack—who shrugs as an answer.
Just above the dunes, they fly across the desert. They're swifter than the wind, looking out for signs of civilization. Jasper as a hawk leads the way. Behind him are Sayuri, Hyun, and Jack. All of them are wearing shrouds to cover their identities. The rest stayed behind to defend the ship. When Jasper finally spots the village he was talking about, he flies low and transforms into himself, landing on the sand. He's shrouded too but it's not enough to cover his serpentine smirk.
“This is it,” he says just when his comrades land behind him.
“It's nearer than I expected,” Jack remarks.
“I sense only twenty people at least,” says Hyun.
“All humans?” Jasper asks.
“No, one of them is a deity.”
“A deity that doesn't worry about concealing themselves. This could be interesting.” He rubs his chin before walking. “Let's go check them out.”
Some of the villagers are out doing errands across this small town. The houses are made out of mud and planks of wood. Few silk robes cover the alleys from above to give shade. The people are wearing clothes much like the people on the Ra desert, wear. To protect their faces from the sandy wind, the women cover their heads and faces. The men's faces are dry and haggard as they don't cover their faces. The villagers spot the four figures emerging from the desert. The sheath of Sayuri's sword glistens so like a star from the distance. The people begin to disperse, bringing their children with them to come inside their homes.
Jack notices something odd about them so he speaks it out as they are finally walking on the street. “They're very thin and tall,” he says.
“They were born here on Mars,” Jasper explains. “The low gravity causes the fluid between their vertebrae to expand slightly. This is only happening in humans. Gods and demigods aren't affected. We could classify them as new races even though they stem from the same ancestry.”
They stop in front of a tavern and Hyun asks, “You guys can sense it, right?”
“Yes,” says Jasper, smirking. “The deity is here.”
“My sensors tell the same,” says Jack.
Her face without emotion, Sayuri just waits patiently, not saying a word. Jasper leads the way and comes through the door first. Only a few people are here and most of them are Martian demigods.
“Jovians,” they hear them muttering.
“A Valkyrie!” whispers someone.
All of them stand from their tables and leave the place. Sober or drunk, they scurry out of the tavern except for the owner at the bar and a peculiar Martian woman in the corner. Her table is littered with tankards and empty bottles of liquor. Her gray hair has traces of dried bl**d, her face is full of dirt, and her clothes are torn apart, revealing too much of her skin.
“That's got to be the deity,” says Jack.
“She is,” Hyun confirms.
“Yeah...,” says Jasper in a lusty gaze.
With a smug on his face, he tries to lean to look at her but gets a smack behind his head. It came from Sayuri so he straitens, continuing to walk to the bar.
“How may I help you?” asks the owner.
“Two tall tankards of booze, a delicious food for-” He turns to look at Sayuri. “What would you like, my lady?” She just looks to the side. “Serve her the best food you can cook.”
“Is that all?”
As they take their places on the stools in front of the bar, Jasper remembers, “Oh, and uh... one tankard of bl**d of a guilty soul, please. Sorry about that, Hyun,” he apologizes to him.
“I don't mind,” Hyun replies.
The owner serves Jasper and Jack their beer. Hyun's “beverage” hasn't yet been extracted so the owner goes back. Sayuri is at the left-most stool. At her right are as follows: Hyun, Jasper, and finally, Jack. They wait patiently and sometimes look at the drunk goddess, still drinking without stopping. The floor beneath her reeks with the smell of spilled alcohol and urine. She laughs by herself, squeezing her face until it bleeds when her sharp long nails pierce it.
“I apologize for the stench,” says the owner as he puts Sayuri's food on the bar table in front of her. He is young, tall, and thin with a crooked nose. Some of his teeth are missing as his mouth is half-open.
Her eyes widen a little, seeing the juicy steak and smell the spicy aroma. She swallows before grabbing the knife and fork to start slicing it. Hyun smiles seeing her eat well.
“We don't mind,” says Jasper. “This stench is nothing compared to what we breathed long ago.”
The owner goes to his kitchen and brings back a tankard of bl**d for Hyun. That's when Jack is a little surprised that even in this middle of nowhere, not to mention this is Mars, they serve this odd beverage. He tries not to show it because it might give away their identity.
But then Jasper says, “I'm surprised that you serve Dark Elven beverage. I just tried to ask to find out if you do.”
“Every tavern on Mars serve it,” says the owner. “And I suppose the four of you are not from this planet.”
“Good deduction!” Jasper praises.
“You gave it away so easily though,” says Jack.
“Oh... right...”
The owner taps the bell in a rhythm. This confuses Jack. A minute later, the people who left the tavern came back, filling the tavern once again. Sayuri is annoyed by this too much chattering as she continues eating.
“I heard Earth has been restored,” says the owner, wiping the table with a rug.
“Yeah, it has,” Jasper answers after a drink. “Anyways, who is that goddess right there?” He points at her while putting a nugget of gold as big as a thumb on the table. He smirks, narrowing her eyes at him.
“She's new here. I've never seen her before. As I'm not able to give you a piece of information about her, I shan't take this.” He pushes the gold nugget closer to Jasper.
“No, it's all yours. What matters to me is you told the truth. You're telling the truth, right?” The owner nods and takes the gold. “Besides, that tells me something. It's rare for the owner of a tavern to not know any rumors about an unusual Martian goddess. We came looking for copper but we found gold.”
“She wants another steak,” says Hyun to the owner. Sayuri is still hungry for more.
“Comin' right up.”
After a few minutes and second tankards of Jasper and Jack, the owner comes back with Sayuri's steak. As if she didn't eat anything beforehand, her appetite is still the same.
“So,” says Jasper before a hiccup. “what do you guys mean about ‘Jovians’ and ‘Valkyrie’.” He puts a bigger gold nugget—twice as big, on the table.
The owner flinches as he fills a tankard from a barrel. He swallows before closing the faucet. He puts on on the table for Jasper. Jack has stopped drinking and just takes a nap. Like he didn't hear anything, the owner turns around, pretending to be busy counting the bottles on the shelves.
“I know you heard me,” says Jasper.
“I'm sorry,” says the owner, turning around. “Another Dark Elven beverage? Coming right up.”
“Stop right there,” says Jasper.
Hyun's eyes faintly glow red like coal just starting to light up. He petrifies the owner with his power, preventing him from hiding in his kitchen.
Confused and in pain, the owner says, “What is-”
“Perhaps with this,” Jasper puts a bar of gold on the table. “you're deafness will be healed.”
The gold glows, reflecting the rays of the sun from the holes of the roof to light up the whole room with gold.
“Please, let me go,” the owner pleads. “I have work to do.”
“Your work is not there in the kitchen. It is here.” After a sigh, Jasper grins. “How much do you need?” He puts another gold bar on top of the other one.
“Please, I'm b... b... begging you.”
“Or is it just Martian bartenders can't be bribed to answer what is asked to them no matter how much we give them?”
“No, it's not that.”
The other customers are unaware of what's happening so they continue talking, laughing, and sipping their liquor. Their noise gets louder and louder in the owner's ear along with the beat of his pumping heart.
“Then what is it?” Jasper hisses.
“It's not my place to tell you. Please, I'm just-”
“Then can your mom tell me?”
“No, she's dead, please!”
“I'll ask someone else then.” He rotates the stool to face the people in the tavern. Leaning his back against the bar and her elbows on it, he shouts, “WHO CAN TELL ME ABOUT JOVIANS AND VALKYRIES?!!” They look at him, surprised and afraid. It's a small tavern so their shaking knees can be heard. “I'll give him two fat golden bars, enough to provide him with a year's supply of rum.”
Hurriedly, they once again get out of their tables except for the goddess—who is unconscious now. Hyun was about to stop them with his power but Jasper stops him.
“Stop,” he says. “let them go. It's no use.” Slowly, he turns to face the owner again.
“Please! Spare me!” cries the owner, still in the grip of Hyun's power.
Sayuri burps a little and Hyun finds it cute. She wipes her mouth, facing away from him.
“So,” says Jasper. “you'll never gonna tell us no matter how much we pay you, are you?” The owner answers with a shake of his head, his tears and snot mix above his lip. “Fine,” Jasper sighs, gesturing for Hyun to let him go.
As soon as he did, the owner runs inside his kitchen and locks the door made out of brittle wood. It would take only a light push for them to destroy it.
After a sigh of disappointment, Jasper asks, “Are we ready to leave, my lady?”
She stands up and heads to the door. They follow her while Jasper rouses Jack. They walk drunkenly to the door.
“What about that goddess?” Jack asks.
“We'll get nothing from her- Ugh...,” Jasper groans, caressing his head. “The beer was so strong.”
“Yeah,” says Jack. “I feel like I'm gonna vomit!” He runs to the side and vomits on the wall of the tavern.
Jasper laughs at him, patting his back. “Martian booze is quite something, eh?”
“You left your gold,” says Jack, panting.
“Oh, that... I'll leave it for him. We caused a lot of trouble to his business and sanity. And it's not even enough to thank him for serving our Lady good food after months in space. We had nothing but space food, after all.” He looks at her from the back, admiring her majestic stature
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- Writer
