2021-03-04: Shining Force

From Dream Chasers
Jump to navigation Jump to search 
<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    There was much to do in the wake of the Guard's retreat from Luca. There were of course wounds to bind, injuries to mend. Those who were unable to see to themselves needed to be seen to, and a sweep had been made of the city to both discover those wounded or beyond help as well as to ensure that the fighting was well and truly over.

    And then...

    And then... there is now. It's an odd, liminal point in time, strung out from that point where the fighting ends and the rebuilding begins. Luca was of course not badly damaged -- not in this most recent turning point in the war -- but not all 'rebuilding' is a physical one.

    The TF System...
    That presence within Ashley...

    Avril's thoughts are for a time elsewhere as she sits on a piece of fallen masonry, contemplating the sea. It's just outside one of the makeshift infirmaries that have sprouted up throughout Luca. Technically speaking, she's taking a much-warranted break from doing what she can with the injured. The still-wrapped lunch resting next to her only further suggests that she may be currently adrift within her own private world. 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    Lanval felt a terrible presence within Luca - a familiar one of whom he knows the source and likely grapples with a number of complex feelings regarding them - and made sure he got in there to make sure everything was all right. However, there is one (1) thing Lanval knows is not all right, and will never be the exact same ever again. It was, in better times, a flippant and strange desire to have, but...
     Not far from where Avril rests on that piece of fallen masonry, Seraph Lanval lies down in a space that used to contain that oddly specific stretch of Luca's roads that enamored him so. It was something of a game, in a land where almost everyone could see him - how long could he get away with laying there before someone ejected him? (It's a water thing, the way the grooves and shape of the paved ground came together was so perfect he wished he could just lift it wholesale and take it to him to Filgaia.)
     As post-occupation Luca stirs and makes sense of itself again, odds are he'll be shooed from this spot - but all it offers to him is nostalgia rather than the odd pseudo-physical comfort he got from it prior.
     "...Mmm. Avril," comes Lanval's voice as he lies down on ruined masonry. "How ya holdin' up?" 

<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

    Dean had, for this battle, focused on getting fighters into the city and helping people caught up in the fighting rather than the fighting itself, so he hadn't been there to hear what Avril had heard. Still, as he helps her with the rebuilding, taking a break from lifting and carrying heavy objects to have lunch with her, it's hard not to notice that her mind is elsewhere.
    
    "Avril? Hey, Avril! You okay?" he asks, his own lunch partially eaten. He can't help but notice that Avril hasn't even started hers yet. Maybe she's just waiting for Rebecca before she starts--Dean was too hungry for that--but there's a certain distant look in her eye...
    
    Well, admittedly, that's mostly normal for Avril.
    
    Still, when Lanval walks up and asks after her, too, Dean smiles up at the Water Seraph. "Hey, Lanval! I was just asking the same thing." And he looks down at his best friend to wait for the answer. 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.

Clarine has also been quite busy, putting her Seraphic artes to the task of tending to the wounded. It was another way she could help the people of Spira. And it's another way in which she can distract herself from the worries running through her mind.

She had, after all, confronted the Red Priestess. This naturally wouldn't be the best thing for her reputation. But for now... she, too, has done all that she can. Magical healing is all well and good, but there is only so much of it that can help. After a certain point, it's down to the body to recover on its own.

Luca... she remembers when she first found her way here. She was terrified, to say the least. For someone who was not used to being seen, the sensation of having eyes on her was unnerving. And yet... it was a bit sad, when suddenly there were far less people.

Maybe now some of that familiar spirit could return. She'd like that, she thinks.

Drifting liftlessly about as she is, it's only natural that she'd run into someone eventually. Fortunately, she doesn't do so in the literal sense - she pauses, as she catches sight of the small group forming.

"Ah... hello, everyone..." Clarine greets. 

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    To be fair, this is not terribly unusual. Avril, for whatever reason, has been prone to spacing out as long as Dean has known her...

    She jolts back to reality all the same when addressed, first by the young man in question and then by Lanval. She blinks, as if waking from some reverie. "Oh? Dean, Lanval..." She glances between the both of them "...I was only thinking," she answers, taking first a moment to collect herself. "Is all well?" She shifts, resettling herself upon her perch. "When I had left, it had seemed as if it were under control."

    There is another presence here.

    Avril turns her head, taking in Clarine anew.

    "Clarine... was it not? It has been some time, I believe. Are you well?"

    Her lunch remains untouched -- is she gonna eat that?! 

<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.

It is a strange point in time, and Lulu feels it as well. The end of an occupation that was out of their world--completely out of their experience. ...She and Yuna and the other Guardians had been part of this battle, though she did not herself hear many of the things that were so vital. She saw the Presence, though. She saw it as surely as she saw Valefor summoned as a message... and as surely as Yevon hasn't pounced on them yet here but hasn't come to say all is forgiven either.

Would it be either way?

For now, the black mage walks over to the assembling group, calmly making her way now that she has ascertained the immediate danger is over. She is quiet as she does, looking thoughtfully over each person in passing, and nodding to those who look her way until she is within conversational distance. 

<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

    And now Clarine approaches, too! Dean waves to the Light Seraph, beaming a friendly smile her way. It might be a bit of a pick-me-up after all these dour things have happened to her lately... but maybe, sometimes, just a smile won't be enough.
    
    "Things seem as okay as they can be for now," Dean replies to Avril, and that smile even dims. "It's good that the Guard finally got out of here, but... a lot of folks're afraid they're gonna come right back. They were here a pretty long while, after all... I can't blame them for being scared."
    
    Lulu approaches, or maybe passes by. Dean doesn't know her that well, but he does recognize her as a member of the infamous Yuna's group, and he gives her a wave of greeting. 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    Lanval quietly waves to Dean from where he currently rests as he arrives. And to Clarine. And to pretty much anyone and everyone that passes by, because so far he's batting a thousand for waving 'hi' and 'hello' to people he knows and not being asked to leave this former place of incredible water real estate, so he's going to do this for anyone and everyone who notices he's there.
     "Mmmm... ta be level with ya... the air feelsh rough," he says, "...not everyone'sh happy 'bout the Guard leavin', I find." On some level it feels like they should, but Luca was occupied for quite some time. No doubt a number of the people of Spira were either growing familiar with - or simply decided they liked more - the ways of Althena's faithful.
     "...But nothin' more ish on fire." About the best they can ask for, for the time being. 

<Pose Tracker> Ashley Winchester has posed.

There is no freshly-baked bread today. Ashley Winchester is not in the mood to be doing any baking right now.

...Also because there's no ovens to make bread in! How awful!! It doesn't mean there aren't any post-battle snacks, though. There are! They're just... Canned.

Somehow.

How do you can bread? How do you can bread in such a way that the bread tastes fresh and delicious, even after being canned!?

It's a mystery to everyone. Even Ashley! All he knows is that the ladies in Valeria Chateau's R&D department are very, very good at their jobs.

There's a selection available. Mostly it's cake donuts, jelly donuts, and croissants. Ashley himself looks... Just a little bit uncomfortable, though. Self-conscious, even. You don't turn into a walking apocalypse that splits the battlefield between two angry belligerents without drawing a few stares, after all. 

<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.

Marivel has turned over Hob and is using it as a a floating chair at the snack table as she helps herself to canned donuts. She doesn't like them as much as the true Irington Originals but it seems to do it for her in a pinch. It's also not blood, but apparently donuts are the one exception to Marivel not really getting much out of food.

She's kind of minding her own business. Or at least minding Ashley's business. By eating his donuts. Her legs kick back and forth with heightened mischeviousness. 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.

Is she well? ...That's a good question.

"...I... believe I will be, in time. But... I do not believe everything has quite... settled in yet." Clarine replies to Avril's question. "Nevertheless... it is good to see you again."

And Dean's here, too! He gets a small smile in return and so, too, does Lanval - who, as it happens, has an observation.

"...I feel it too, now that you speak of it. There is... uncertainty, in the air." She murmurs. "...'What happens now'? ...I cannot blame them for thinking that."

She wasn't quite sure, herself. 

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

     "Yes... It is not an unreasonable fear," she answers Dean, glancing down at her hands entwined in her own lap for a moment more. "We must remain on our guard for a time yet." Or at least, Yevon will. She may retain some misgivings of her own towards Yevon -- in particular towards Maester Seymour's goals -- but the fact remains that Althena's Guard even only got this far due to Kaguya's...

    She nods at what Lanval and Clarine have to say. "'In time, the ways of the conquerer become familiar.' ...It seems that I knew that sentiment, once," she remarks, glancing over at him. "Is that a strange thing to have said?" She rests her hand against her heart; it's as if she can feel it afresh, even if the memories to which that feeling should be attached are tattered and frayed. "..."

    They're not the only ones here. That woman here is one of Lady Yuna's...

    "Lulu... was it not? Is Lady Yuna all right?" She pauses, as if to think something over. "Lady Yuna... perhaps, if nothing else, that might... Do you think," she says to Lanval, "that she might suit as a guide to the people of Luca?" She has a connection, a role in society, a place here that others could not easily make use of-- neither of the Guard nor truly of Yevon, anymore, she might be able to be a bridge.

    Into this moment, Ashley arrives.

    Avril is on her feet before she realizes what's truly happening, striding a couple of steps towards him before she catches herself and comes to an abrupt stop. "..." She glances away, her expression pensive.

    "...Ashley," she says at last, refocusing upon him.

    "Are you... well?"

    She knows him. A part of her knows him--

    Or rather, what rests within him. 

<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

    Oh hey, what's that smell? It's the smell of delicious canned baked goods! How does that work? Dean neither knows nor cares. He brightens at the sight and scent of delicious donuts and vigorously waves Ashley, Marivel, and their cart over. It doesn't matter that he's halfway through lunch. He's a growing boy.
    
    "Hey guys! Where'd you get all this stuff? It looks great! Are you selling it or giving it out?" Maybe even both--it'd make sense to give them out for free to local refugees and charge to Drifters who can afford the prices.
    
    As for what's inside him, well... Dean isn't thinking about that right now.
    
    "Really?" he asks Lanval, eyes widening. "Maybe that's why some of them are afraid... I just assumed. They probably all feel differently about what's going on, though..." He nods at Clarine. "Yeah. I get that kind of feeling, too."
    
    He nods to Avril as she speaks of fear, then looks thoughtful when she speaks of conquerors. "No, it makes sense. If you can't fight back, all you can do is get used to what's going on, right?" he says. "Even if it's really messed up." 

<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.

Lulu hears Dean's reply as she approaches, the fear that some people have. Indeed she also hears Lanval's impression of some, because it has never been a difficuly for her to perceive the Seraphim.

And she stares right at Ashley for a long few moments, because she is considering something about him and she doesn't actually care if it makes anyone uncomfortable. Indeed, his reaction to the scrutiny will be an important piece of information.

But she doesn't stay just on him; she looks to Marivel too, and then comments, "Luca will survive. Now it has a chance, at least."

Lulu regards Avril. "Yuna is well. ...But I'm afraid that won't be possible. She'll be continuing her Pilgrimage now--we only interrupted it because this was... also important."

"We'll be leaving again soon." A pause. "I couldn't say much what happens in war, as a rule. But that would make sense." 

<Pose Tracker> Ashley Winchester has posed.

That smell is the smell of SCIENCE, Dean Stark. Though if you're not quick, Marivel is going to devour the whole lot!! The vampire's presence is a reassuring one, though. It's a lot like having a shadow, Ashley reasons. You never realize just how lonely it is to be without one, until it's gone.

Or something.

He's not going to stop her from donutting it up, though. Or anyone else, for that matter! "Oh, uh," he gives Dean a smile. "Well, I brought it all with me. Most of this stuff is usually stored in some of my canisters, but I figured it's a good time to break them out, so... I guess toss in some coin to pay for the ingredients and stop by the Irington Bakery in Meria-Boule for even fresher pastries!"

Always Be Selling, Ashley Winchester.

It's a welcome change from thinking about... other things. Things that Avril seems to have keyed in on. The musketeer turns his eyes towards the Ice Queen and... Seems to realize what she's really asking. Even without knowing about the 'other Avril' lurking within her, her mannerisms speak her trepidation loudly enough. "...Yeah. I'm okay now. Sorry if I scared anyone back there-- but I had to do something to stop everything from getting... worse." He shakes his head, then asks: "How about you? Are you doing alright? I'll be fine, really."

In the short term. Maybe. 

<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.

"Oh hey Dean," Marivel says, smiling. "So good to see someone with true wisdom today. See any cool new golems lately, my man?"

She spins in her chair, holding two donuts in one hand and one donut in the other as she looks at him. She looks to Lulu with a small concerned frown but she doesn't comment vocally on the journey. They all know her feelings about it. Some of them SHARE her feelings. And others only share some of her feelings.

"To Zanarkand," Marivel says, accidentally starting the leitmotif in the background.

"It's kind of you to worry, but Ashley will be alright. He hasn't even met me yet."

She's getting a little more cavalier about it now that she can feel that meeting approaching. "What about you, Avril? Are YOU well?"

She nibbles around one of her finger donuts, living fang indentations inside of them. 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    "Mmmm... I could shee the wishdom in that, yep," Lanval comments to Avril, shaking his head from where he currently lies inside a ruined piece of road in memoriam of the one he so cherished. "Ain't nothin' shtrange 'bout wishdom... that'sh why it'sh wishdom."
     He sits up some as Lulu arrives - and again when Ashley arrives. He felt the presence of Lord Blazer from all the way outside of Luca, and he remembers who and where it first came from when he was in its presence. One eye opens half-lidded to regard the baker... but he maintains good cheer as Dean addresses him.
     "Timesh of great change... doeshn't mean everyone ish gonna go with 'em the shame way," he says to Dean as he quietly hears the word from one of Yuna's Guardians about what her role is going to be for the place. She's still going to go on the Yevon Pilgrimage, is she... as Ashley speaks of his actions.
     "...'m glad it didn't get worshe." That's a small joy, for what should be a big joy. But Lanval is all about the small blessings. 

<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

    "Awesome! I'll buy three. Rebecca'd be so mad if she missed out!" Dean says, pulling out his wallet and handing over enough money for three canned breads. "We'll definitely come by for the fresh stuff sometime! I've been meaning to check that bakery out for ages anyway, but something always ends up coming up. Right, Avril?"
    
    Lulu explains that Yuna is returning to her pilgrimage. Dean's expression clouds, but... he honestly doesn't know how to respond to that. Summoners die if they finish their pilgrimages, right? But Yuna and her Guardians know that better than anyone. Does he have anything constructive to say? ...One of the things that Dean has learned over the course of his travels is when to keep his mouth shut, it seems.
    
    Thankfully, that doesn't mean he holds back. When Marivel asks him about Golems, Dean brightens. "You know it!! Not that long ago I was in a lab with a ton of really awesome Golem parts and..."
    
    He'll continue on in this vein for a while. Those who pay attention might realize that he was, specifically, in Kaguya's lab. 

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    "Even if you do not know from whence it springs, Lanval? ...Perhaps there is something to be said for knowing in spite of oneself. Very well, then I shall treasure this 'wisdom'."

    Some things just don't change very much.

    Yuna is well.

    Perhaps such a thing might even have been effective. But--

    "...Oh, I see," Avril says, gazing upon Lulu for a long, long moment. Slightly, she nods. "I understand. Lady Yuna intends to complete her journey." And everything that comes with it, even if that should mean...
    But Avril knows full well the weight of duty. If there is no other way, then...

    "Please watch over her. We shall see to matters here."

    Especially since she has some unease about leaving this city -- these people -- to cope with the situation themselves. She bears in part some responsibility for what happened however slight, at least from the position of being 'the Ice Queen'.
    Even if there was no means by which she could have prevented it.

    Something keeps coming up. It seems to be the manner of things, lately. "Yes... but we shall make certain to do so," she says to Dean, studying Ashley for what amounts to a long moment.

    "I am not afraid. That presence that rests within you, was it...?"

    She doesn't know its name, but it makes that weighty thing in the depths of her psyche shift and twist. She knows its shape.
    She knows it.

    "I am..." She pauses a moment as Marivel asks much the same question.

    And she smiles. It is not an entirely happy smile, given present circumstances, but it is if nothing else an honest smile.

    "I am well enough, given present circumstances, Ashley. Marivel."

    In truth, in spite of the events of that battle, she has been more 'herself' (whatever that might mean) in recent weeks than in the last several months. 

<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.

Lulu appears to be fine with whatever she saw in Ashley as he continued selling donuts despite the situation. ...Clearly he's very committed to his bakery, and she would rather see pastries sold than weapons here at this point. It will do.

Lulu looks back to Marivel and indeed she knows how Marivel feels. She knows what they share of those feelings, too.

But to Avril--Lulu looks back in that long moment, and then inclines her head. Everything that comes with it. "I will," she answers.

The camera pans over Lulu watching Marivel next as she comments. "Yes."

Hmmm. Nothing strange about wisdom, is it? Tides of change... "Yes, it could have been much worse," Lulu agrees.

She doesn't buy any donuts for now though. Instead she examines Dean as he mentions Golem parts...

Hmm. Reminds her of someone.

"Whatever that presence was," Lulu comments on Ashley and what he showed, "It appeared to do the trick. The way it was described..." Hm. She shakes her head. "No. Nevermind."

"...I'll leave matters in your hands, here," she says next. "The people of Luca are resilient--they will step up, given the chance, to reclaim and repair their city. Provided that the invaders are kept out. ...Guests, on the other hand, are welcome as ever." 

<Pose Tracker> Ashley Winchester has posed.

What happens after Ashley meets Marivel? At that point, the future becomes fluid. Or at least, more fluid than it is now. Could it be that the very next day, Lord Blazer overcomes Ashley's meager attempts at keeping it caged away, and bursts forth from his soul like a virus from a hijacked cell to rain disaster upon a broken world?

Or maybe things will proceed as they always have, for a time. At least, until another Fated Day is upon them.

Dean's coins land in Ashley's Huckstering Can (tm) (really just an empty pastry canister) with a happy clinkling of metal. For his payment, he gets three donuts.

The pact is thus sealed.

"Hopefully I'll be there to show you all around!" That was maybe a bit morbid! And also Marina is probably going to get EVEN MORE TWITCHY about how many people keep showing up because Ashley apparently is out there shooting evil in the face and making friends along the way. "It's a really nice little place. I'm glad I'm able to pay the Iringtons back for all they've done for me."

He stops, then, as he feels Lulu's-- and Lanval's-- eyes on him. Ashley shakes his head with a halfhearted attempt at a disarming chuckle. He knows it's not going to do anything to dissuade their concern, however. "...Yeah," he answers Avril with a nod. "...Lord Blazer. When things get... that bad. That bad. Like, when there's that much potential for carnage, he can... tell? I guess? I feel him act up, so..."

If 'acting up' is code for 'oh god my soul feels like it's going to explode,' then 'So...' is apparently another way of saying 'I had to put my foot down and carve a wall of fire through the city or else shit would have gotten way worse in a hurry.'

"Good," he says, of Avril's well-being. "Good! I'm glad. This whole thing has gone on for so long, I just hope it gets better soon. That Ronso Maester seemed to have his head on right, at least."

And probably wasn't a zombie.

Probably. 

<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.

Marivel sees Avril smile and it stops her

Cold

In her tracks. And then Marivel smiles back, giving her a small nod. It's strange to see Avril smiling like that, all told. But it's nice. Marivel is not one who is against second chances. Or however many chances Avril's on now.

Instead she focuses on Dean, nodding along and occassionally asking particulars about the Golem parts, clearly having some kind of scientific knowledge and understanding of their construction. She does say, after a moment, "Something about how you're describing it sounds familiar..." She isn't paying TOO much attention.

She looks back to Ashley. "Lord Blazer feeds off negative emotions. Now you know why I'm always in a good mood, yes?"

She cracks a small smile. "Of course, anything that feeds on negative emotion is inevitable for negative emotion is human. But warzones just like that one? That feeds Blazer most of all."

She gestures with a hand. "So it's all for the best the war is finally over, yes?" 

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Lanval has posed.

    "ya never know where it can come from," Lanval echoes to Avril as he considers the possibility maybe he shouldn't be laying around in the fond memory of a strange, mercurial obsession. (He's a Seraph, sometimes they get weird about things they like or want, and he has never been fully above that.)
     As Lulu waxes poetic about how the people of Luca endure, he does get a finger on his chin in contemplation. "...In the air... the people of Spira, mosht of the time... they feel like they kinda jusht... carry on. Sho I'm hopin'... I'm hopin' they find that li'l joy again, shoon." He doesn't have much to say about the Pilgrimage and its ultimate price - but there is something really intimidating about Lulu over there, the weight and grace she carries with herself and her beliefs. You remember mortals like that, no matter how many you see in your long, long time.
     "...'m glad all they did wash make a shcary face," he tells Ashley, listening to Dean go on and on about the little joy he found... as Marivel talks about how negative emotions feed that beast. "...Battlefieldsh're a hotbed fer Malevolence, too... a place fer a looooot of bad shtuff, I find."
     But mortals keep making battlefields anyway! They're going to do what they're going to. 

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    "Yes... this is true. Perhaps it is something that comes from the deepest part of ourselves," Avril says to Lanval, pressing both hands to her chest for a moment more.

    "Please, tell her we all wish her well." She pauses, regarding Lulu for a moment. She doesn't know Yuna's heart -- she doesn't know if the secret desire she harbors is one that Yuna might also share. But it may be 'human nature', so to speak, to wish for a normal life...

    Is it not?

    And so in the end she says nothing more to Lulu, because some things cannot be conveyed well by words. She instead holds that gaze a moment more, until the other elephant in the room can no longer be ignored.

    "Lord Blazer," Avril thus echoes in time, gazing up at Ashley steadily. The other part of her is...

    The other part of her is furious.

    Avril to the outside world though may seem simply akin to a carved statue: not so much as a twitch mars her face. She barely even seems to breathe. "Then," she says, closing her eyes in a slow blink, "we must endeavor to prevent such."

    For both their sakes.

    Her situation is not the same as Ashley's. No monster remains lurking in the depths of her soul, trapped there by sad circumstance. Instead, the monster is...

    She turns then, towards Dean.

    "Dean, would you care to share my lunch with me? I had thought when they had given it to me that it had been a bit much..." She pauses, then looks at the rest of them. "Might I ask if there is enough for everyone else?" If there's interest. 

<Pose Tracker> Lulu has posed.

Maybe a little morbid. Marina probably wouldn't mind Lulu showing up, though. ...Either that or she'd mind a whole lot. It sort of depends.

The attempt at a chuckle doesn't sway Lulu, but she does listen to his answer. That this Lord Blazer can 'tell'. She recalls what Marivel said of it. So she doesn't give any sort of reassurance that she feels better to Ashley, but she doesn't say it's worse, either--she just sort of accepts this for the moment. The Maester, though--

"Maester Kelk Ronso. ...Whether he has his head on right or not, it remains to be seen if he will oppose Yuna. So it remains to be seen if I'll have to oppose him, too."

It's that simple.

She considers though--feeding on negative emotion... "That's true," Lulu admits. It is inevitable in that respect. "I think we could do without a Blaze of Disaster," the black mage comments, thinking of Sin and how they already have that much.

But Lanval speaks of the people of Luca too, and... Hmm. "Yes," Lulu answers. "That seems... accurate, to Spira's people. We all deal with loss in our own ways, but above all Spira cannot let it stop us from living. If we do that... then it's over."

"...Luca is really the seat of much of Spira's joy. If we can find it, it's here."

She then looks to Avril again, and nods. "I'll tell her."

It's a simple statement, but delivered with calm, final sincerity; it may be that they don't meet again, after all.

As for lunch she says, "...I should be getting back to the others, but... thank you. The thought is a pleasant one."

"...If I return, it may be that I'll be able to help you, as you've helped us. That would be a good day to see come."

Lulu nods, and will go... shortly. 

<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

    Eventually, Dean stops talking about Golems. Amazing, even mind-boggling, but true. He focuses in on Avril when she offers to share her lunch with him. He brightens. "Sure! And we can share these pastries!" He takes the canned pastries and hands one to Avril, sets another aside for Rebecca, and keeps the third for himself. She asks the others if they'd be interested in joining, and he looks up too. "Yeah, let's all have lunch together! Why not?"
    
    After all, there's been a lot of heavy conversation with Yuna's path and Lord Blazer and the tenuous future of the people of Luca. It's enough to cook a young future Golem Hunter's brain. Better to stay positive. The better to deal with all these negatives.

Retrieved from "https://dreamchasers.space/index.php?title=2021-03-04:_Shining_Force&oldid=10764"