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I'm just a really cultured gent, you see? He laughed at that. This guy was... quirky. He was kind of funny, even though he didn't trust him. He had to admit though, his composure was astounding considering the situation. This guy had to be like an Incubus or something to keep such a cool head and to be talking smooth after being bound, gagged, whipped, released and then bound yet again. As for whether or not he'd spent more time with fishy people, Hadrian rolled his eyes. A really bad joke came about, and he had to make it. "There's no way you've hung out with fishier people than me. I literally am a fish!" he exclaimed, raising his hands in the air to over-dramatize it. He sat on the sands and allowed himself to relax, though his dragon kept a close and cautious eye on the man that could very soon be his prey, depending on his actions.

When the man rose, he did not attack. Alright, that was a plus. It took a weight off of both of their backs. Hadrian really didn't want to kill the guy he'd just rescued from the crazy cultists. Something about him just felt so off though. For example, he didn't smell recognizably like any particular supernatural race. Not one he knew of at least. He figured it could have to do with his hidden ability that the cultists spoke of. He knew that one of the people who killed Kaminae also had a strange and unprecedented ability, and so the consensus was that there were people in this world that were not merely bound to just a generic typing. Another oddity was his eyes. The hue was abnormal. He'd seen vampires with hues like that, but this guy wasn't... a vampire. Probably. It was sunny, and he wasn't searing, so that was proof enough. Everything about him was a mystery. Which was why, when he offered knowledge for knowledge, especially such harmless knowledge on Hadrian's end... he just had to take it.

Curiosity's sake. "Tit for tat? Who has the tits?" He replied with a slight laugh. "But uh, no. I don't usually have such interactions with random bystanders. I actually don't usually like to get my hands dirty... like I did just now. Killing people? That's not something I like to do. Killing Mer, my own people, over ideological differences within Los Anthos? It hurts me." He frowned. Especially in the brutal way in which Hadrian killed - by melting them alive, watching their face bubble and slide off their flesh. "But my family, and millions of my kind, lost everything to her. She sacrificed our babies by the millions to maintain her demonic power. She slew endangered underwater species because the extinction of mortal races pleased Kala to see. He justified his actions with that. It was the best he could do. His help was needed to restore order to Los Anthos.

As Hadrian spoke uncomfortably about his reasoning, the man muttered about his clothes and removed his jacket and undershirt. The removal of his upper garments revealed a large number of tattoos spanning his torso, and all of them were well done and intricate. Hadrian couldn't help but ask, "Why so many? I'm squeamish around needles. I think I'd have a heart attack if someone told me they were going to poke me that many times." He smiled faintly. It was true, though. When Mer first walked among land races, they were exposed to tons of terrible diseases. As such, Hadrian and his family got plenty of vaccines, and even now there were many that he needed to take or else he'd like implode or something. Each time, he needed candy to chew on and a lobster pattern band-aid or he'd pout resoundingly harder.

The dragon didn't care about whatever it was that Xenos was saying. In truth, he didn't even know what Xenos was saying. Machaius' deepest secret was that he didn't actually understand Common, he just liked to grunt every now and then to make people think he didn't like what they were saying. What was wub wu wing wu wub wabba foo to him? He didn't know, but it was better if they thought he was actually smart. So again, he made a frightening growl as Xenos spoke, which seemed to be on the mark since he freaked out a little shortly afterward. Hadrian laughed. "Don't worry. He won't eat you without my command unless you kill a baby seahorse or something. He loves those little buggers," he said with a small smile.

As for the rest of what he began to say, Hadrian listened quietly. It was always important to him to know how someone felt about life and death. Even if they just called him fish-face and had the grace of an aging hag with tourette's. Generally, he agreed with his consensus that the good needed to fight the bad. Violence, unfortunately, was the answer sometimes. He'd learned that early in life. When Fenrir blew up the dome of old Lukhan's Landing and left the populace to the Blood Hunters, he learned that there are some evils you can't fight with diplomacy. Some evils are of natural making - survival rather than morality - and those have to be killed for you to survive. Some evils don't care about anything, and do everything for the sake of evil itself. Fenrir was one such man. He needed to die.

This was why he had never opposed violence to react to extreme situations. Still, with the Mer it was different. It felt more personal than just killing some Diabolos who'd just got done raping a twelve year old boy after raiding his village, and was about to start on his younger sister next. He supposed though that he needed to accept the violence for what it was. So, to this unknown man's words, he nodded in agreement. "Yeah," he replied. "That's the Axiom that was made for us."

The tattoos were fascinating. They were sublime even, and full of talent. He wondered of what artist had added them to his body. Their meaning was important, as well - the people he used to know. Of course that was important. Hadrian smiled as he spoke of these pieces of art. "You know, that's really sweet," he said. Somehow he actually started to think maybe this guy wasn't so bad after all. He'd even consoled him a little after his post-I just murdered a bunch of my own people-melancholy. For a moment he wanted to touch the tattoos and see how they felt on the skin, but he remembered that land-dwellers were all uncomfortable with that sort of stuff so he refrained. Instead, he just stared calmly as the man changed the subject to something more light-hearted. A bet? This guy was odd. He seemed to leave a lot to arbitrary things. Although, he supposed giving someone his name wouldn't kill him.

He didn't remember offering to buy him any drink, though, or go along with this bet. His face grew a little bit anxious as it landed on tails.

"Uh..." He paused. "I don't know if I've ever gone to a bar. Don't you think maybe that's not safe? I heard all of the bars in Kevai offer seafood specials. People always make jokes about turning me into filet mignon, too. Sometimes I wonder if they're actually being s-" he paused. Okay, okay. He needed to calm down. He knew that. It was just a bloody drink. "Fine. I'll buy you a drink. But you're telling me your name before you sip the first drop." He grinned. "I'm gonna offer you a bet too: nothing that happens today will convince me to give my name to you." It was a challenge of his own, and he hoped that the guy would be up for it.

The Mer quirked an eyebrow. It was a little too convenient for a party boat to come swoop by at such an odd interval, though the guy did mention having exceptional luck. He could tell that much already, considering Hadrian's coincidental placement had probably saved him from being sacrificed at an altar. Even so, he'd never heard of something so weird. People partying out in the ocean? That was terrifying! Los Anthos hosted sharks the size of dragons that could probably eat that puny ship in two bites. Not to mention the gigantic squids that roamed around here and pulled ships deeper into the water, to their demise. He supposed those terrifying creatures had become less common since Aramil reclaimed its waters, but he was pretty sure the casualties from gigantic water-based monster attacks were pretty damn high. Then again, maybe that was the fun. And at least he was here to help them out. If they ran into any giant sharks, Machaius could probably snap them in half pretty casually. If there was any King of the Ocean now that Kaminae's undead dragon had departed, it was his Kaiser.

REVELRY was a pretty unique name for a ship, too. He supposed it really did have the primary intention of... recreational activities. "That ship yours?" he asked. "Looks nice. I've never owned one before. Never saw any reason to." If he could be honest, though, he actually quite liked the view of the ocean from right above the water - watching the sunset on the horizon, and the clouds and distant mountains from the coast. Underwater felt sort of bland sometimes. You could go on for miles where it was nothing but empty, deep blue. No coral, no animals, no rocks, nothing. Just . . . water. The world above wasn't like that. You could always at least see the sun or the moon.

Hadrian summoned Machaius over. The dragon laid against the sand, his saddle high in the air however. Hadrian grabbed the man by the waist and used Bestial Leap to land perfectly in sitting position, then helping the man retain his balance and sit properly. There was actually room for two on Machaius' saddle, as he was a pretty big dragon and Hadrian liked to have sightseeing buddies for when they went through unexplored territory. So, Xenos wouldn't have a very bumpy ride, especially considering the ship wasn't far. When the dragon was close enough, he yet again grabbed a hold of Xenos, ensured he kept his composure and lept onto the ship. The impact was a big thud, and the ship tipped slightly as they landed from above. But everything was mostly good.

The first thing he did was whistle his dragon. The beast listened well, and Hadrian told it to enjoy itself and go for a swim or something while they were on the ship. It casually lept into the water, which caused a big splash that soaked people on the left end of the ship. Hadrian laughed as some of the unlucky ladies and gents complained about it, although some were just fascinated by the fact that Hadrian and no-name had arrived on the back of a gigantic water dragon, one that they'd never seen before. Most of them had big burly wings and a wide frame. This one was long and slender.

He approached the person he assumed was selling drinks, although he wasn't completely positive. "Hey, uh... I'd like to order a drink for, uh..." He felt awkward. He was trying to take initiative, but this just felt so weird. "Someone. I don't know their name. Also don't know what they want. Hey, you... mister Lucky or whatever, I don't know what you like." This was a social sin. He needed this order to be finished with so he could do something he was good at, like Mer style dances. Fishtail flopping. The like.

After 'how hairy that mole was', Hadrian pretty much blanked out until they were on a different subject. He didn't even want to think about hairy moles before having something to drink, especially not with the image he'd conjured in his head, of some fat fishwife with a tangled braid and a wart on her chin trying to sleep with Mr. Lucky for being an attractive young man. He didn't approve of something so close to ***** he was ordering and the other guy took the most expensive drink in consolation for his name, the Mer sighed. He was fairly well-off due to all the missions he'd done for various factions and organizations, but he spent his money pretty liberally already. He had like way too many pets, he spent at least half of his salary on things he categorized as 'really cute', and he was still paying off his mortgage for his house in Jorsul (which he rarely ever used or slept in). He felt almost a bit of embarrassment as he went through his bag looking for exact change to give the guy, even though the bartender hadn't yet finished working out the price with Xenos. At least he got milk in the whole ordeal. He didn't like alcohol. "Milk is actually one of my favorite drinks. Probably my favorite that you land-dwellers drink. So ha! If you were trying to tease me, you failed," he said, standing triumphantly, ignoring the fact that Xenos was hashing it out with the bartender.

Of course, he couldn't possibly ignore the fact that he'd been offered up for some kind of gambling without his consent. "What?" he asked. "Uh, I don't do this kind of stuff. It's against my moral code. Mother always told me: no gambling, no drinking, and no women that give it up before the thirtieth date. Luckily I don't even like women, because the last part sounds pretty demoralizing, but yeah." He frowned, and seemed awfully concerned. Despite being in his mid-twenties, Hadrian had very clearly not engaged in much of the revelries of the world. He liked to keep things pretty tame, if you could exclude homicidal beachside rescues and all that.

His complaints were ignored however, and he was hauled over to a roulette table. He didn't know how any of this worked, but it looked like all he had to do was pick a number between 0 and 36. That didn't seem hard. He paused for a moment and figured he might just . . . pick a number near the middle. He swore whenever he rolled die he always got a three or a four, so. "Nineteen," he said. He felt bad already. He didn't want Xenos to lose all of his money due to some s**t draw by Hadrian. It was totally random, but still. He wasn't blessed by luck now, and he had never been. He looked Xenos in the eye with a genuine look of concern, clasping his hands as if in prayer for his number to succeed.

He had to admit it felt good to win so much. He never thought he was very lucky. In fact, he was always positive that he carried behind him a legacy of s**t luck. The first time he was set to go on a date in his entire life, a lightning bolt literally struck his cab and he barely survived the impact. His date didn't believe his excuse and they never spoke again. As a result, he was a twenty four year old virgin, which was just sad. Then, when he met with Ehmotar Ahnatep, the Queen of Cards, she foretold that he would live a lifetime of poor circumstance. That evil would befall his mind and he would live centuries regretting the consequences of his decisions. Things like that didn't really bode well for him. But this guy was different than Hadrian - God followed him around, practically. This must have been . . . the special power the Mer spoke of. Hadrian mentioned it after all they'd won, as he came to him with the bottle of wine. "They said you have the ability to bend reality," the Mer said. "But that's not it. You are-" the ship rocked.

Before he knew it, a shadow rose from the water and sent everyone flying. Hadrian immediately reacted, whistling his dragon to rise from the oceans and defend his master. He used a technique to support the balance of the shift, water swirling around it and holding it upright even as it was pushed backwards by immovable force. Vortex Annihilation, the Mer's most diverse ability; the power to control large amounts of water with energy, hardening it and maneuvering it to your will. "We can't leave," Hadrian replied to the Pagan. "These innocent people will be killed. Turtle titans are highly territorial. As far as this creature is concerned, anything within sight is encroaching on its waters. And it can and will follow them onto land." He frowned. He didn't really want to kill the turtle titan either. Kaminae used to for sport, and now they were nearly extinct. There were probably only a dozen or two left in the world.

"We can get it to calm down." He tried to rationalize how they could get this creature to leave them be without killing it. Killing it was the easy way out, but it would severely damage the sea's ecosystem. There needed to be predators on the caliber of the Turtle Titan to keep the lower level predators in check, which in turn protected the weaker sea creatures. "One of my abilities lets me command a creature to do one thing. I can have it calm down, or swim away, or even protect us for a while. I just need some of his blood. You wouldn't happen to be able to like, reality warp its shell away or something, right?" He imagined this guy had some useful ability of sorts. Why else was his power so cherished by the Vas Kohmaeta? Hopefully his resume involved dealing with turtle titans, though he doubted it heavily. Most of the people here didn't even know what they were looking at.

He couldn't even properly digest all of the strange things happening around him. There happened to be a powerful figure on board, who happened to throw a trident at the titan, which missed - but then Xenos corrected its trajectory and it hit? And they even retrieved it and got the blood? He was dumbfounded. There was obviously a good reason that the Vas Kohmaeta wanted his power, even if it was incapable of finding a way to ressurrect Kaminae. Hadrian didn't waste time being shocked, though. Instead, he quickly retrieved the blood and scattered it over his face, ritualistically. He drew symbols as his dragon swatted at the Turtle Titan to distract him from the ship. "Eea de valos mi kaienoch ve plustros, enta valahh mi salah valah - Tutros Titanios mestafana en gadreen, melima centa fela, fela, fela." With your life's red ichor, I dominate your will, make your thoughts my own - great Titan of the Seas, hear my call, my call, my call.

"Go back to the sea and swim deep to the corals and the reefs below, and bother no man lest he bothered you first. Control your instincts and guide your impulse to the survival of your kind, rather than the death of those you deem unworthy. That is my command, and so must you follow." For now, at least. The spell would end eventually, but perhaps by then the outlook the beast took would change; Hadrian could not be sure. What he did know, though, that such an ability was difficult on his body. He knelt down for a moment, feeling a momentary weakness overcome him. The people who had fallen out of the ship despite his best efforts were being retrieved by his dragon, and some had simply swam to the shore. The Mer felt accomplished in this, though strangely he could only feel that it was Xenos who enabled this great triumph over the Lord of the Seas.

"You still haven't told me your name. And even though I said I wouldn't tell you mine, you were a part in saving all these lives, so I'm indebted. I am Hadrian Conchor, Councilman of Los Anthos, and someone who enjoys your company more than I would've thought." He smiled coyly, almost as if he didn't want to. But this was all so fun, and crazy; it was wild. Really, really wild. He couldn't get over everything that had happened from the instant he'd met this man. And who was he, this enigma? He didn't know. He couldn't. But he wanted to.

The Mer rolled his eyes. Out of fish-related names. What'd he call him? Guppy cheeks? Fish-eyes? He didn't appreciate those names, but said nothing of it. He acknowledged that as a Mer, he looked somewhat odd to some people, but the differences of his features were only slight. It was like how Luimirians tended to have more narrow eyes than the wider-eyed Fraxonians. Hadrian just had . . . a bit of fishiness to his face. The wide eyes, the unique arch of his brow, the plump lips. Yeah, whatever. He had always been a little self conscious about that, but he'd mostly gotten over it as he matured. "Good riddance," he still had to add. "Honestly though, guppy cheeks was kind of funny. I probably would've backhanded you if you'd said it a few more times, but still. Funny." He smiled lightly. Then, he heard his name. Xenos. He paused for a moment, then almost laughed, practically choking on it.

"That means busty in a lower-class dialect of Meritia," he said with an awkward glance and a held back chuckle. Xenos might've known that since he was pretty fluent in the language. Still, that was pretty funny. Then again, he saw the guy shirtless and he had some nice pecs. He worked out. Maybe busty was appropriate after all. And the name, other than its slang meaning, was pretty nice. Xenos. Zen-Ohs. "It's good to acquaint with you, Xenos."

Honestly, he really did like this guy. Hadrian had never felt so uncomfortable and out of his habitat, and yet he loved every moment of it. He did agree that he should repay the good times with something unique of his own. He didn't know how exactly, though. Unless . . . "I could take you to Los Anthos," he recommended. It was a wild idea. He had to think about how he'd do it, though he had already mustered a few ideas since Hadrian had wanted to invite friends down there before. "Almost no men from the surface have ever gone down there. The Aramilians tried it recently, but they couldn't quite sustain oxygen for long enough, and their submarines couldn't survive the pressure of deep sea. But I have water abilities that can maintain relative oxygen from within a . . . rebreather of sorts that I can make for you. Your voice would be a bit muffled and it'd feel odd on your body, but you could do it. Also, if you get too disoriented, my house down in the city is water free; it's in a small barrier like Lukhan's Landing. I custom bought it like that. I'm one of those weird Mer that prefers to sleep on a mattress than a wet rock." He said that with a jovial, almost mocking tone.

"If you don't want to, that's fine. But, well," he paused. The Mer bit his lower lip. "You're something else, Xenos. You've shown me a day I'll never forget. Now, I wanna show you something. Los Anthos, the city of spirals. A place no man has ever walked. Something just feels right about you. I think you should be the first." That was a major offer he was extending. Los Anthos was in deep sea, far below where men could dwell. But Hadrian had the power to protect Xenos from being crushed by the pressure or drowned. If he wasn't afraid, this could be a journey he'd be unlikely to ever best. Something told him though that the exploratory man would be more than keen on the proposition.