2024-01-27: Reunion
- Log: 2024-01-27 Reunion
- Cast: Rena Lanford, Dias Flac (Allen NPC'ed by both)
- Where: Salva
- Date: January 27, 2024
- Summary: Immediately after Team Rocket's attack on Salva, Rena brings Dias to talk to Allen, their childhood friend, again.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lanford has posed.
Once upon a time... there was the four of them. And then... there were three. Contrary to popular belief, tragedies don't always bring people closer together.
Sometimes it separates them, irrevocably. Grief and pain that formed a wall.
One of them left.
Another stopped visiting.
And one was...
To this day, Rena tries her hardest not to think about how it affected her, that day the four of them were separated.
She isn't the one hurting the most.
The one who is, in her eyes, she currently has her hands on his shoulderblades, in what's probably a ridiculous image of her forced marching the MUCH taller and older and stronger Swordsman, the famous Dias Flac.
Right into the mines.
Some people are giving it curious looks, but one does ask, "Are they gone?" And Rena replies cheerfully, "Sure are! But just to be careful, we're presenting ourselves to the Mayor so we can coordinate our efforts to be sure they're gone."
As she then speaks to Dias, "Come on. It'll be fine!" She's not gonna stop is she? No she isn't. And Allen can be seen telling an assortment of several Miners and Town Watch, "I'd like you to check the Mines, just to be sure they're gone. If you spot any signs of them, don't engage. Come back right away." A pause, "If you're not back in a half hour, we'll assume you're in trouble, and organize a rescue."
"Yes Sir!" One of them says, as they head off...! Conveniently, just before Dias is in range to possibly use them as an out.
"Allen!" Rena calls out "Oh sorry! Mayor Allen!" She corrects, as Allen replies, "Rena! And- Dias! It really is you!" He seems excited to see him, even as Dias might note that he still has a hard time looking Rena in the eye, "And come on- it'll always be just Allen to the two of you."
"If you're sure. Are you okay? Do you or your people need any healing? Me and Dias are here to help."
Well at least she's stopped pushing-! But Allen gives Dias a thoughtful look, and Dias in this moment may wonder if he's thinking of a task to give him, a task which might AVOID prolonged EMOTIONAL CONTACT.
"Well, I've already sent my people to do a sweep of the Mine, and there's another group scouting around the town."
And then he turns to Rena as he makes a decision, "So really, the best thing the two of you can do to help is be on standby here, in case either group doesn't come back."
OH NO! DISASTER!
"Well I'm okay with that! Especially if nobody needs any treatment right now." Rena tells them, all smiles, "It's been forever since the three of us talked."
<Pose Tracker> Dias Flac has posed.
Three, almost two. And then there were two.
Dias didn't say goodbye to anyone before he left. He stayed long enough to heal (physically, at least); long enough to bury his family.
And then he just left.
That was a long time ago. Since then, Dias hasn't been back to Arlia or Salva. Were it not for Rena insisting that Claude wanted to have a 'jam session,' he wouldn't be here. And if it hadn't been for Team Rocket's attack on Salva, he wouldn't be getting pushed in the direction of the mines.
"Rena," he utters, exasperated, and yet providing only a token resistance to her pushing.
If he really wanted to resist, it would be easy; physically speaking, he's a lot stronger than she is. He wouldn't have to touch her, even. He could just dig in his heels, literally. But while he can argue with her, he really can't say no to her on anything. Especially now that Cecille's gone.
It'll be fine, she claims. "I doubt that," he grumbles. "And I notice Claude isn't following us."
But when they enter the mines, and Allen is just inside giving out orders, he falls silent. He drops any pretense of resisting at all, instead walking forward of his own volition--forward, but also to the side. His pace speeds up as the town watch and miners hurry deeper into the mines, but they're gone before he can reach, and now instead he's next to Allen.
Mayor Allen, even. Dias stares after them for a moment; then he half-turns and settles against the central pillar. He does note that Allen can't quite look Rena in the eye, but Dias can't quite look at him either, so he says nothing.
This backfires when he could have offered to head into the mines as muscle, and instead is asked to stay here on standby.
"Hnh," he grumbles.
A long pause.
"...So. You're the mayor now," he offers, gruff and definitely not even a little awkward.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lanford has posed.
"Hm? He isn't?" Rena cants her head as if surprised by the fact that Claude wasn't following them, "Oh right he did say something about setting up a trap to lure out any lingering Team Rocket."
-=-=-
"Barry! Use Harden!"
"Again!"
"Again!"
A hastily drawn sign was placed in front of the now stationary Beedrill.
162:3:255Whosoever is able to move this Pokemon, shall be dubbed the trueborn King of Salva. With all rights and privileges to apply.normal
Claude read about something like this in a documentary once.
-=-=-
"And you're a famous Swordsman." He tells him back with a smile, "Feels like it's really working out for you, given what I saw out there."
He gives Dias this, almost unconfident look, "I admit, I feel kind of jealous of the two of you. It's been years, but- still feels like I only turned my back for a moment, and now you've both grown up on me."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lanford has posed.
"Hm? He isn't?" Rena cants her head as if surprised by the fact that Claude wasn't following them, "Oh right he did say something about setting up a trap to lure out any lingering Team Rocket."
-=-=-
"Barry! Use Harden!"
"Again!"
"Again!"
A hastily drawn sign was placed in front of the now stationary Beedrill.
Whosoever is able to move this Pokemon, shall be dubbed the trueborn King of Salva. With all rights and privileges that apply.
Claude read about something like this in a documentary once.
-=-=-
"And you're a famous Swordsman." He tells him back with a smile, "Feels like it's really working out for you, given what I saw out there."
He gives Dias this, almost unconfident look, "I admit, I feel kind of jealous of the two of you. It's been years, but- still feels like I only turned my back for a moment, and now you've both grown up on me."
<Pose Tracker> Dias Flac has posed.
Right. A 'trap'. Dias refrains from pointing out that he could have just as easily dealt with any lingering Team Rocket members, as he had literally said he would do; the only sign that he thinks it is a single twitching eyebrow.
It isn't the point and he knows it. That's the only reason he keeps his peace.
But soon they're inside, and he is... talking to Allen. It's been a long time. He doesn't remark on what he saw; Dias knows his swordsmanship speaks for itself. But...
"Gaining fame doesn't mean I've grown up," he counters, red eyes empty as they flick downward. "I've pursued greater and greater levels of strength... and in the end, I've accomplished nothing."
Cecille is still dead.
Their childhood is still long over.
No amount of strength will ever change the past--or the fact that Dias is still snared in it.
"Anyway, you shouldn't sell yourself short," he adds without a trace of irony. "You're in charge of the town now. That must've required some growing up on your end, too." He shuts his eyes. "You should probably get better guards, though."
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lanford has posed.
It definitely isn't the point, and both of them know it.
The point is, right in front of him right now.
Dias however, speaks of himself, and what he's accomplished... namely, in his eyes, nothing. And Rena looks somewhat horrified, as if she were about to speak up.
But Allen's initial surprise, melts away into a pensive look, "No. I'd say that's definitely not true. You defended Salva from a group that it feels like could run over most towns. That's something I wasn't able to do."
And after a moment he adds, "And you came to talk to me, here and now. When I last saw you, leaving Arlia, I genuinely thought that was the last time I'd see you again."
The obvious argument would be that he didn't come to talk to him. He had to be pushed into it, but it would have been easy for him to refuse in a way that Rena couldn't stop.
And apparently, he sees that.
"The rumors I heard always said you were the kind of guy who did everything by himself, but there you were fighting with Rena and Claude, and those Drifters. So, I'd say it feels like you really have changed since the last time I saw you. That the people in your life changed you."
Rena had been about to say something, but now she finds herself pleasantly surprised by Allen's wisdom, "Allen... you really do sound like a proper Mayor. So I think Dias is right. It feels like you can't say we're the only ones who've grown up here."
Allen does offer Rena a faint smile, albeit shy, before he addresses Dias again, "Sadly to your other point, it's easier said than done. The mines haven't really been prosperous enough to offer the fees proper fighters would command long term."
Allen does look further inside, "We were hoping those Mithril veins we found near that old dragon lair might change that, but often we're having trouble even getting our people deep enough inside to get a crack at it with how strong the monsters in that area tend to be."
<Pose Tracker> Dias Flac has posed.
"I just happened to be in the area... and I was far from the only one who ran them out of town," Dias replies quietly. But then Allen points that he came to see him, and Dias falls silent at that. It's true that he's here because Rena literally pushed him into it, but it's also true that he could have put his foot down and he didn't.
It's not like he doesn't care about his old friend anymore. He still thinks fondly of those days with him and Rena and Cecille--might have spent some time reminiscing on his own if the attack hadn't happened first. But all that had been a long time ago, and thinking about it on his own is very different from confronting it directly. Imagine if Allen had forgotten all about him.
Clearly not, though. He's even paid attention to rumors--maybe 'news,' given that it's accurate. And... he raises a good point. Dias finds himself smiling a little as he regards his two childhood friends.
"...Maybe you're right. Maybe I *am* different now," he concedes.
Rena chimes in too in agreement. The little smile Allen gives her reminds Dias of that very obvious crush he used to have on her when they were all children. Rena never did feel the same way back, but has Allen really moved on? ...It's probably not Dias's place to ask.
"I remember hearing once upon a time that there was a two-headed dragon in the Salva Mine," Dias remarks. He'd considered going by to handle it, but... the past kept him away. And then-- "But the rumors died off pretty quickly. Are you saying there actually was a dragon?" If there was-- "Makes sense that there'd be a vein of valuable ore there... and that the monsters in that area would be stronger than normal."
That's a tough break, though. To get people strong enough to protect the town properly, they need ore they can't access because they don't have people strong enough to protect the town properly. Dias glances at Rena. "...Think you can ask some of your friends to help out here, Rena?"
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lanford has posed.
"I really don't think that matters much, that you couldn't do it by yourself, Dias. It may not have been the strength you sought to achieve, but that doesn't mean that strength is meaningless."
Allen tells him after a moment's consideration, "Your strength might have been the difference between victory, and defeat today. We can't know how it might have gone without you, and I wouldn't want to find out."
Rena returns the smile back to Dias, as he says that, "I think you are, little by little. And that's how it should be. Noone expects anyone to change overnight."
There's this softness that grows in her tone as she speaks appreciatively of her older brother, "Just, you're a different person from when I first saw you again Dias, I'm sure of it."
Dias thankfully changes the subject to a matter that doesn't require Allen to address his feelings for Rena - or guilt relying upon it.
"There was. A vicious two-headed one. We had to set up a bounty as it was threatening the Miners. This- swordsman came by and-"
Allen pauses, and clears his throat awkwardly, "-well I don't want to speak ill of someone who helped us, but the bounty was for, slaying the dragons and he came out with, them- fused to him?"
There's this, thousand yard stare, "It made it really awkward for us. What are we supposed to think about someone who consorts with the dragons that was threatening our town? But he was so... pitiable about his state that I felt obliged to pay him the full bounty."
Rena blink blinks and- looks towards Dias, then back towards him, "That must be Ashton. We've seen him around during the past few years." She tells him, "Sometimes we even team up."
Allen suddenly pauses in thought, looking at Rena awkwardly, then back at Dias, and- "Well. He did our town an incredible service, but all the same-"
Allen perhaps speaks a little TOO frankly now in tone, to his two old friends as he rubs the back of his head, "I'm glad not all of your companions have had a profound influence on the two of you."
<Pose Tracker> Dias Flac has posed.
Allen and Rena both point out that Dias's strength made a difference, and that he's different now from the person he used to be. Dias smiles a little. "...Then let's be glad it all worked out."
Well. Maybe not all, in terms of his personal growth. But enough.
The topic changes, and Allen tells the tale of a swordsman who got possessed by the very dragon he was supposed to slay. Dias peers at him.
"Still a pushover, I see," he comments, which might be salt in the wound. There's no ill will behind it, though. Just Dias's classic bluntness.
Rena pitches in with a little more detail, and Dias smirks at Allen's talk of *his* influence, or lack thereof. "Better not ask *that* friend, then," he comments dryly. He considers for a couple of seconds. He hadn't wanted to commit like this, but... "Fine. We're already here; we may as well do it ourselves. We can round up Claude and the others and clear the inner mines out. I'm sure they'll get infested again soon enough, but by then you ought to have mined enough mithril to hire stronger guards, Allen."
Allen brightens. "Really?! That's great! I'm glad I could count on you, Dias!"
"I didn't say I'd do it for free."
Allen deflates. "Oh... uh... d-do you accept payment plans?"
Dias huffs a faint laugh as a corner of his mouth quirks up. "...I'm joking. Consider it a favor. For old time's sakes."
"Oh. Haha... Thank goodness." Perhaps as if considering old times, Allen glances at Rena, frowning a bit as his eyebrows turn up in the center. He averts his gaze; then he takes a deep breath, squares his shoulders, and offers her a smile. "Speaking of old times, though... You've been traveling with Claude for a long time now, haven't you, Rena? How are things going with the two of you? I hope he's been treating you well." His smile turns self-deprecating as his gaze drops again. "...Well. Knowing him, I'm sure he is."
Dias gives him a long, considering look, but doesn't interrupt, even as he looks to Rena for her response.
<Pose Tracker> Rena Lanford has posed.
Rena does try to say, "Allen's gotten stronger too!" She protests, in defense of Allen but, doesn't ELABORATE on that, since her evidence was you know...
... an awkward situation.
However, Dias then works out how to deal with the Monster situation, and Rena's eyebrows shoot up as he points out he didn't say he'd do it for free.
But while startled- Rena knows this time, THIS TIME that Dias was telling an actual joke!!! And doesn't reveal it, until Dias himself does, "I won't charge you either." Rena tacks on as her own joke, "Even though, these days I can command a really respectable fee!"
But Rena then adds- "Claude though-?" She says it, clear she's teasing, but SPEAKING OF CLAUDE-!
Allen asks about her traveling with Claude, and her eyelashes have this small flutter, like she got struck in the face by something about the follow up that's surprising her
"'The two of us'?" Rena asks as if she's not quite getting his implication, "Claude's great. We've really relied on each other these past six years, through thick and thin. Honestly I don't know where I'd be right now if not for him."
Is she smiling now? She's definitely smiling. She doesn't even seem to realize she is. "He's one of the best friends I've ever had - besides you and Cecille of course."
...
...
...
...
Somehow she made things probably WAY MORE CONFUSING for Allen to figure out what her relationship with Claude is?
"Things have gotten a little complicated lately? Claude is- Oh wait, actually I said I'd explain things earlier? Things would make more sense if I told you about that. So you see- we found out I'm from a place called Nede originally."
There's an almost sheepish look, as she gestures to her ears, "It turns out, I'm not an Elf. I'm a Nedian. And... it's the same place that Team Rocket comes from."
There's a grimace, "Not all Nedians are like them, promise. They're kind of, the worst group on-" Pause, "-second worst group on Nede."
She'll take the time to catch Allen up more, after all- it's the least she can do after Nedians caused trouble for his town.
<Pose Tracker> Dias Flac has posed.
"Haha... Thanks, Rena," Allen says, rubbing the back of his neck with an awkward but sincere smile. The longer the conversation goes on, the easier it is to talk to her again. He'd apologized to Rena for what he'd done while under the influence of the Magic Stone back then, but... it's still horrifying to think of what he nearly did to her. He's sincerely glad that Rena seems to be just fine now for it.
He laughs again when Rena talks about her own fee. "Oh? Then I'm really lucking out on this bargain!"
And he tries to be gracious about Claude, but she doesn't seem to... catch his drift? Or is he reading too much into it? He blinks back in surprise, lifting his head to stare at her. "Your best... Er. Yes, of course," he says hastily, shooting Dias a quizzical glance, as if he might be able to read him in on the correct interpretation.
Dias just shrugs, though. "Business before pleasure," he deadpans.
"...Oh. Yes, that's right--you two were researching the Sorcery Globe, if I remember correctly," Allen says, looking back at Rena. "I heard there was a huge to-do with it recently--does that have anything to do with all this?"
And it does indeed. Rena tells him about a place called Nede (Allen assumes it's a city, or maybe even a country) and how Team Rocket is from there and how they're bad but not reflective of Nedians as a whole. Allen offers her a gentle smile. "So you found your homeland, huh... Don't worry, Rena. If that's where you're from, I'm sure most Nedians are great." He pauses. "Uh... *Second* worst, though?"
"The Ten Wise Men," Dias states. "It turns out they're the ones behind the Sorcery Globe..."
And from there, Rena and Dias will both be able to read Allen in on what's been happening. It's a heck of a story, especially once it becomes apparent that Nede isn't another town or another country or even another continent, but another *world*. Allen's small world has grown three--nay, *ten* sizes this day.