[Hearing that does comfort Venom a little. He knows it's a lawyer's job to put men like him away. But he couldn't help taking it personal when Phoenix went on the offensive a month or so ago. He knows it was the water giving him strength, but still.]

Lawyers aren't much different where I'm from. However, my organization had enough clout to keep us behind the scenes for hundreds of years.

But I don't wish to get into my Guild's politics. I came to talk about us, and where we stand.

[He almost sounds like his leader self again, only this time talking about personal relationships as opposed to an alliance. He sighs, trying to relax himself. What he's going to tell Phoenix next might change everything, or perhaps nothing at all. He's trusting you with this information.]

Nick, the reason why I stayed away was because I've been through all this before.

Before I came here, there was a man whom I served without question. A man who saved my life and gave me a reason to keep living. To this day I still feel strongly about him, but...

[And with that, the remaining locks start to dissolve, one after another.]

He loved someone else. And from then on I wanted to see him happy with this other person, even if he didn't feel the same for me. Of course I was bitter when the woman he loved betrayed him, because I thought I would have made a better partner than she ever could. In the end it didn't matter.

My Lord passed on, and I was left alone. My heart was dead. Or so I thought.

[There is much more to the story, but Venom's breathing is heavy, like he's about to cry.]