Gaia. (8)

"Maybe the Princess is just shocked because you took on Void Lords when we all know just how squishy Humans are. Anyway, it's about time for us to get something to eat, wouldn't you say, Lawman?"

"…you're hungry again, Chief?"

"How long do you think it's been since our last meal? Let's go."

"I keep telling you this isn't a vacation, Chief." Relovan groaned.

He looked at the Princess and bowed his head, before looking at her entourage and doing the same. The Chief waved and the two men disappeared down the street. Instead of going to the establishment they ate breakfast in, or indeed any restaurant at all, Nura hailed a cab and the pair ended up going back to the Hotel. Nura had a rather serious look on his face and was quiet for the majority of the trip to the hotel room. Once they were inside, Nura spent a few minutes just walking and looking around the room.

"Searching for bugs, are you Chief?"

"More or less." Nura said with a nod.

"Do you seek to discuss something related to the Hearing?"

"Is the extent of your knowledge regarding the Thoba Royals based on what you've read in the constitution?"

"Huh? Well, yes, it is… but why do you ask, Chief?"

Nura sat down and took a deep breath before speaking again.

"Princess Nkanyezi is the Seventh Princess of the Thoba Kingdom. She's not Seventh due to her age, but rather, because of the social standing of her mother and her mother's entire Clan. The thing is, her mother's Clan possesses a certain bloodline, which manifests itself randomly, and results in children of immense power being born. Nkanyezi was one such child, and she possesses The Eyes of First, which essentially make her blind to everything but Essence."

"How do you mean?"

"Well, I'm not sure if you know the intricacies behind how Essence works, but to keep it simple, Essence is absolutely everywhere, and is in everything. Even as we sit in this room, there is an abundance of Essence available for us to absorb. The thing is, naturally absorbing Essence is something that most people are not quite able to do. Even powerful Essence Benders require assistance in the form of equipment, meditation techniques, and more. After absorption, Essence requires purification into the type of Essence that the person in question uses. So, Lightning Essence users need to purify, and then convert the Essence into Lightning Essence, before they can use it, and so on. This is likely the most rudimentary explanation of Essence you will likely hear, but bear with me. The Eyes can perceive all Essence, be it the impure shit floating around right now, or the purest of the pure, that has been processed inside somebody. They are highly prized, and there are many bad people who would go to extreme lengths to get their hands on those eyes."

"I hear you Chief. But I'm still curious as to why you're bringing this up."

"You noticed that the Princess was wearing a blindfold, right? It was to protect her eyes. Because they see all the Essence, to prevent them from exploding due to a sensory overload, those blindfolds only allow those eyes to see large collections or concentrations of pure Essence."

"…again, I'm still confused, Chief."

"…you didn't notice how she looked when… no, never mind. Apologies for rambling on about something inconsequential for so long, Lawman."

"No problem, Chief… I mean, you two did appear to be close, so it's not much of a surprise that her safety would concern you. Especially when one takes into account how many guards the Princess had with her."

"Guards? I know the Dragon Lady is formidable, but she is still one person."

"No, I meant the other ones – all of them. They tried to mask it, but they were all guards. Didn't you notice that, Chief?"

"No Lawman, I did not."

"Really?" Relovan asked, looking a little surprised.

"Tell me Lawman, you have this uncanny ability to detect or sense danger… how did that come to be?" Nura asked.

He was using the current topic as a segue into uncovering more information about Relovan.

"I'm not sure exactly, but I would say it comes from experience, Chief. Having been in countless battles since a very young age, I just started sensing things at a certain point. Mostly danger, but I have been able to sense other things on the odd occasion."

"So how does it work?" Nura asked, trying to get more out of him.

"I feel things on my skin. Danger stings, and the higher the probability of death, the deeper the stinging – or any sensation – goes."

"So when you opened the door to the Training Room in the compound and told me you were expecting death…"

"Yeah, I felt that in my very bones. I thought I was going to die the instant the door was opened."

"So, this this experience based sense, has it gotten stronger since the Void Lord squabble?"

"I really don't know. I have discovered that if I try to actively use this weird sense, it becomes a lot more effective. The problem is, I can't yet use it in a fight, because it takes too long to activate."

"Really? When did you discover that, Lawman?"

"When you punched me in that Training Room. My eyes were still closed, and I could feel the punch coming, but couldn't open my eyes in time."

"…do you think this sense is something you could train yourself to use actively? To activate it immediately and such?"

"Probably…"

"Then I suggest that you start practicing using it in earnest, Lawman. That is a crazy ability to have."

"Understood, Chief. Is there anything else that you would like to discuss?"

"Not particularly."

"Then, shall we discuss what to expect at the Hearing? What should I expect?"

"Look, the Hearing will likely be you telling those old Council fogeys about what happened. The videos have all been submitted. This isn't a court proceeding that requires lawyers, the Council just seeks to have you tell them how things went down – as the only person who received near fatal injuries."

"Understood. So, are we going to eat or what?" Relovan asked as he stood up.

"I thought you'd never ask, Lawman." Nura said with a massive grin as he too stood up.

The pair went to the same restaurant and once again, Nura pigged out while Relovan ate his food while trying to maintain his dignity. Lunch was large and long, and by the time the two policemen left the restaurant, the dinner crowd was already coming in. The flow of time on Gaia was much like that of the Blargon Planets, so the days weren't any longer or shorter. Relovan was dropped off at the hotel once again, and was left to his own devices. He found the gym, and after a workout and a shower, had a light meal and hit the hay. The following morning, Relovan figured he would be left alone, but something told him to wake up early, shower and get dressed – just in case. The phone in his room started ringing just a few minutes after the Enforcer had gotten dressed, and he tentatively answered it. A holographic screen popped up from the unit, and Nura was on it, making a colossal noise as he was seemingly fighting with someone.

"Oi! What's the point of having these things if we can't use them? I'm calling his room and that's that!"

"You've already called me, Chief." Relovan sighed.

"Ah! Lawman! I'm downstairs in the lobby! Come down so we can get something to eat!"

"Alright, on my way."

Relovan sighed again, but still made his way down rather quickly. Once in the lobby, he saw just how tense everybody in that lobby was – well, almost everybody. Nura stood near the reception desk, and when he saw Relovan, he smiled and waved at him.

"Lawman!" He greeted.

"Chief."

"Let's go – things seem a little uncomfortable in here."

"…I wonder why." Relovan mumbled to himself as the pair left the hotel.

They once again went to the part of the Gateway District which was chock full of shops, and this time, they didn't actually start at the restaurant.

"The food is in that direction, isn't it Chief?" Relovan asked as he pointed.

"It is, but I want to get some other errands out of the way first, and then get to eating."

"Errands? Like when you left me in your house for weeks?"

"Oh, you mean when you were training? I didn't go anywhere – I just went to a different part of the compound to give you space to train."

"…wait, what?"

"Yeah! You know yourself better than anybody, Lawman. All I did was show you the gap between where you were and where you needed to be. You were able to close that gap excellently by yourself."

"So what? You just went to a different building and let me do my own thing?"

"Exactly. Turned out alright in the end. Oh, we're here!"