Chapter 49: Front 24.5 – A Night Out In Bannerman – Part 2/2

****

Like Sabban and probably all present, the worry that Scarlet might be a little 'problematic' had also crossed Hoki Bachika's mind but to her (And probably everyone else's) relief - So far things were going smoothly.
 Having split into two groups, the four girls were now making their way deeper & deeper into the city of Bannerman, Scarlet marching ahead of the younger trio, on her quest to bring them to the city's 'best value bar', or so she said.
 Hoki looked down at her two shorter companions walking beside her on the somewhat narrow pathway - They had entered one of Bannerman's less wealthy districts - Low rise houses, with heavy shutters for repelling the frequent rough weather - The walls plain and without paint, although that part wasn't overly unique to the poorer classes, colourful paint and ornaments were rather wasteful anywhere in the city when dust showers insisted on desaturating everything on a regular basis.

All that said, almost every building was lit up with lines and collections of colourful (If hardy looking) lights in all shapes and themes - And out of even the cheapest, most rundown looking pubs and hotels, could be heard live music performances.
 Honestly Hoki had pretty much forgotten it was nearly the end of the year and that St.Aardig's day would be coming soon - The one annual event where Abhaile really went all in on celebrations.
 "...So Miss.Erfu, ummm, when did you and Tomo meet?"
 Una asked sheepishly.

Erfu grinned in an oddly cunning fashion; "Hmmm, well let's see - A few years ago now, I was testing weapons for Bayley-Mechanics. When I got sent on a delivery run to the ship Tomo was stationed aboard.  I decided it looked like fun and stuck around."

"You just decided to become a soldier there and then?" Hoki added apprehensively.

Erfu nodded, "Pretty much ya. When people see us elves it can be easy enough to convince them to let you do anything - I said I wanted to stop testing, start full time piloting and well, with IAFS being as informal as it is, Madam Batty let me join her crew with almost no questions asked!"

"Y-you're a Magi Miss.Erfu?"

"Ah-well dear, not exactly how your people mean it - Us elves are all born a bit magic, white hair, skin, red eyes, these ears--" Erfu said illustrating the points of her body she spoke of,
 "-- But we don't all have pre-cognisant visions or super reaction speeds. By elf standards my power is pretty mundane, I'm good at reading people's emotions you could say."

There was a scoff from Scarlet who continued to stomp a few steps ahead;
 "Ya-right, load of hocus-pocus crap - Bet'cha can't 'read' me."

Erfu glances over to Hoki who just shrugged - Persimmon by lack of omission granted, Erfu turned back in Scarlet's direction - "You Miss.Scarlet are being a little too hard to get - Where I often risk spoiling my Tomo, you hide your feelings so well that you fear no one will ever really know you - You are worried, that there may not be much time left, to reconcile with the man and especially with the young girl - Yes?"

Una and Hoki both looked in wonder at the elven woman, Scarlet on the other hand stopped her route march; "What flaming business of yours is it, ya long, pointy eared freak!"

Silence fell amongst the group.
 After a few more moments Hoki readied herself to say something but didn't get the chance, as suddenly something new caught Scarlet's attention - Standing on the street opposite the quartet, a duo of decently dressed preachers of a sort - Carrying a large black and white placard reading the letters 'E.N.D'
 Scarlet's scowl grew far deeper, she turned and began to march once more, faster then before.
"Scarlet wait, Erfu is a superior officer, and besides you can't just say something like that!"
 Hoki called out to little avail.

Erfu reached a hand to Hoki - "It is of no consequence, most react like that when I speak using my ability - It is my fault for so rudely stepping where I do not belong."

"Yes of course, but still..."

"So umm, what's an E.N.D?" Una pitched in, staring across the street at the strange pair that had seemingly annoyed Scarlet so much.

"An old human cult I belief, dating back as far as the early second age I've heard." Erfu responded.

Hoki rose a hand to her chin - "Indeed, they were the last religion that maintained the planet Abhaile to be some sort of God - When the great homogenisation happened, they were an obvious choice for TSU to downgrade from official religion status - Strange though, I'd heard they still held sway here, bizarre that they would be on such, ah, well budget, as to need to preach on the streets"

"I see. What do they preach now that people life on Abhaile?" Una added.

"Ho-ho my young comrade, religion is seldom so simple - They indeed still teach that Abhaile is alive, now they say all humanity should move here, that Bhaile will be destroyed by God to make up for its sins and only those here will survive - Apparently they think the two planets will one day clash into each other, a very doomsday aesthetic they have."
 Erfu added with a degree of knowledgeable Hoki found admirable.

You are reading story UnderCurrent – Can You Break The Cycle at novel35.com

"Oh, that's kinda bleak... I wonder why they bothered Miss.Scarlet so much?"
 The three continued chatting for another minute until a loud yelling from up the street interrupted them;
 "Oi asshats, no one wants you peddling your crappy knock-off cult-shite round here on St.Aardig's week ya hear!"
 All three of course immediately recognised the voice of the Scarlet Scourge.

Before the young young preachers could process the loud insult, Scarlet drop kicked an empty tin-can against her prosthetic metal leg - The can rocketed across the air like a missile, impacting loudly just above the heads of the two youths before repeatedly 'clinking' as it rolled across the ground.
 The young men appeared to now get the message and quickly began to flee in the opposite direction with hands and placards held over their heads in anticipation of further projectiles.
 All around the street windows and doorways opened as curious residence and other's walking the road began to watch, the two now gone, the on-lookers began clapping, whistling and praising Scarlet's actions.
 The middle aged woman smiled wolfishly before turning towards her three slack-jawed companions;
 "And you three, are you coming or are ya' not? I ain't standing 'round gossiping like old ladies all night ya hear - There's drinking to be done!"

****

Sabban and three of his technical 'superiors' wondered along a wealthier part of Bannerman - Low rise buildings with hardy hatches over every window and little paint or architectural flare.
 'Wealthier' or not, nowhere on Abhaile had the sorts of exuberant well designed cities of Bhaile or the Nation-States.
 With gravity being just slightly weaker on Abhaile and the atmosphere a tad thinner - Building up was a bad idea, the air got scares quick and considering the bare handful of hours the sun was out for at the best of times, you wanted to be low to the ground when all the heat escaped at night out through said thin atmosphere.
 Add to that the fact all water comes from deep underground lakes and the planet's propensity for dust storm and other inclement weather - And well, building down was considered normal. Even the smallest farmhouse outside the towns would have a basement area, subways were the primary form of public transport alongside underground rail-lines stretching the length and breath of the continent.

Honestly for Sabban the only clue that they were in a wealthier part of town was that the building went as high as 3 or 4 stories, and the odd one had a proper shop window with fancy item displays.

 That said with the end of the year fast approaching, everything was appropriately lit up in colourful lights and ribbons for the festivities and music played out from most if not all establishments.
 He tried to think back to this time last year, his memory had been - Odd as of late.

After a moment he remembered and immediately wished he hadn't:

 The colourful lights suddenly seemed to swell and he felt a familiar crushing, lurching in his stomach.

Just one year ago he had been in this very city - Attending a going-away party for an old childhood friend - Shasha Niju.

 The rest of his squad would be staying for the festivities, Zori with her younger sister who had recently moved to Bannerman, and of course where Zori went, Mili followed - Ennya was a Bannerman local and had volunteered to let Sabban crash at his parent's place for the couple of weeks they had off from the cadet academy.

 But Shasha'd had to go home, her Mother would be alone for the end of year otherwise.

So they had held a big party and invited the whole cadet year - He could picture it now in his mind, the familiar faces of his squamates and of others from his year too.

 Una had been there, with her teammates, the ones who would later abandoned her, inadvertently leading to her survival when they had all died...
 Hikari too and her friends...
And, and....

Sabban wanted alcohol and he wanted it now.

He looked ahead at the three foolish older men walking in-front of him.
 For all their initial banter, it seemed Kolme and Nate weren't actually all that good at keeping up a prolonged conversation - And Tomo just looked awkward.
 Sabban had also come to the conclusion they were lost.

Sure he'd gone drinking with Kolme before but that had been to the cheapest bars available - This time however they had gone the wrong way, it had been natural - Scarlet's group went left, so they went right -  Right in the opposite direction, into the wealthier parts of Bannerman - Far out of a skint-miser like Kolme's comfort zone.

 Sighing, mind still spinning uncomfortably, Sabban grumbled out to the others;
 "Hey, this pub will do - We can always try another if it gets too pricey alright?"

And without waiting for an answer, Sabban turned and walked into the first place with an open door - Leaving behind the three bemused older men who could openly gawp at the prices the pub's décor alluded to.

You can find story with these keywords: UnderCurrent – Can You Break The Cycle, Read UnderCurrent – Can You Break The Cycle, UnderCurrent – Can You Break The Cycle novel, UnderCurrent – Can You Break The Cycle book, UnderCurrent – Can You Break The Cycle story, UnderCurrent – Can You Break The Cycle full, UnderCurrent – Can You Break The Cycle Latest Chapter