'So, what do you think's going to happen now?' Rex enquired as he and Armin entered the bar together.

'What do you mean?'

'You know, with Dianne. You think she finally realised she needs help?' said Rex dryly.

'Oh, that. Maybe.' Armin shrugged. 'I hope so, but it's none of my business. Lucci will sort something out. I think that's the whole reason why he's living here right now - to stop Dianne destroying the city or killing anyone.'

Rex made a noise of acknowledgement, and selected a quiet place to sit. The humans around the bar were eyeing the two vampires curiously, but with no outright mistrust.

'Anyway,' he said, 'let's forget about all of this for a while. We've talked about it enough.'

'Agreed. How about a little drinking contest?'

{Dianne just looked at Lucci, dumbfounded.}

Dianne: "You? But-but....What about Akhet? Won't she-"

Lucci: "She and I have a different arrangement now. She won't mind so long as it's to help a friend."

Dianne: "...Well...sh!t...."

Lucci: "You disapprove?"

Dianne: "...Don't take this the wrong way, but you're kind of annoying..."

{Lucci just laughs while Dianne buries her face in her hands.}

Lucci: "Dianne go home. Take a nap, you'll feel better. Armin understands, he's not mad anymore."

Dianne: "...Ok..."

{Dianne stood up and walked for the door.}

Pythia: "Hey, look...If you need anything at all, my door is always open."

Dianne: "...Thank you Pythia..."

(Well, Armin and Rex are just going to sit in the bar for a while, and I don't have anything planned for anyone else. What do you think we should do next?)

(I have no idea. XD What is there left to do?)

(Not sure. XD Might be fun to do a little timeskip to the next time Armin and Dianne encounter each other, since Armin planned to apologise for what happened, and it might be an interesting scene.

I also had the idea to do a Christmas-themed RP, to see what all the characters do during that time. But if we do that, I'd prefer to wait until closer to Christmas.)

(That sounds like fun. And sure, lets do that during the holidays. How long of a wait would seem reasonable before they see each other again?)

(Alrighty! We'll try to do a Christmas RP sometime in December, then.

As for Armin and Dianne... Hmm, I'm not too sure. I can imagine them not being particularly eager to talk for a little while, so maybe a few days? Maybe a week?)

(Sure, a week it is. Set the scene.)

(Alrighty, just a moment...)

It was almost nightfall in Sovereign City. Armin and Rex were walking back towards Armin's house after spending time together at the local bar. Rex was stumbling every few steps, and had clearly drunk a bit too much.

'You need to get your own place,' Armin said, as they turned a street corner and his house came into view.

'Can't afford it,' said Rex gloomily. 'The King isn't going to give me a house. I didn't help defeat Sargon like you did.'

'Well, you'll just have to get a job, then. But I guess I don't mind you taking up space in my living-room until then.' Armin reached into his pocket, pulled out his keys, and handed them to his friend. 'Here, you can go in. I'm going to stay out for a while longer. I want some fresh air.'

'Alright.' Taking the keys with a nod of farewell, Rex staggered to the door of the house and let himself inside.

After making sure Rex was safe, Armin turned around and wandered off down the street, humming quietly to himself. He had no destination in mind; it just seemed like a nice evening to explore the city.

{As Armin was walking down the street, a familiar figure came into view. It was Dianne, browsing the window of a clothing shop. She had her hair done in a ponytail, and she was wearing her usual blue dress and black jacket. She hasn't seemed to notice Armin yet.}

Armin stopped dead when he spotted Dianne up ahead. Realising she hadn't noticed his presence yet, he hesitated, trying to decide whether to continue walking down this street - which would probably cause her to notice him - or turn around and go back the way he'd come. They hadn't spoken since the disastrous sparring match a week ago. He had no idea how she'd react if she saw him...

//I'm not a coward,// he finally decided. He continued walking down the street, and in doing so, his reflection became visible in the clothing shop window.

{When Dianne had noticed Armin in the window, she whipped around.}

Dianne: "A-Armin! Hey....Uh..."

{Dianne grimaced a little and rubbed the back of her head.}

Dianne: "Look, I'm really sorry about last week..."

Armin tensed when Dianne suddenly whipped around. Then he let out a long, slow breath and turned to face her.

'It's alright. I accept the apology. Honestly, I... need to apologise as well.' He looked at the ground. 'It was kind of my fault that... well... all of that happened.'

{Dianne started to flush and look very embarrassed.}
Dianne: "Yeah, but...I really shouldn't have reacted like that...It was a sparring match, so the prospect of getting hurt was implied...Look, last time a vampire bit me...I had a really bad time about it, so I...kinda freaked out...Sorry, again"

Armin was still staring awkwardly at the ground, so didn't really notice Dianne's look of embarrassment. 'Yeah, I get that. I don't entirely blame you for how you reacted. I, uhh, don't really have an explanation for why I did... that. I guess vampire instinct just took over in the heat of the moment. That normally never happens with me.' He ran a hand through his hair. 'So... sorry about that.'

Dianne: “...I guess we’re both fools, too quick to hurt each other on impulse, despite being friends...”

{Dianne rubs her face and sighs.}

(Out of curiosity, I was reading Armin’s newest ref and

was he always 6’5”? I seem to recall him being 6’2” when Shacklestone started. I dunno. Maybe I’m wrong. :/)

'I wouldn't say that,' said Armin. 'I'm pretty sure neither of us has ever tried to hurt each other before. That sparring match was the first time it happened.'

He paused for a second.

'Actually, I'm kinda surprised to hear you calling me a 'friend'. The whole time we were fighting Sargon's people, you pretty much seemed to hate my existence.'

(I think he always was. I checked his very first ref, and it says 6'5 there. Maybe I originally posted the ref saying 6'2 and later edited it, but I don't remember doing that.)

Dianne: “Well, it certainly wasn’t the first time I threatened you... I don’t hate your existence, it was just, at the time, I had absolutely no respect for you, because I saw you hitting on that little girl in the bar the first night we met. But, that’s not how it is now...”

(Huh, ok.)

'I was /not/ hitting on a--' Armin stopped himself quickly, knowing it was probably pointless to argue. 'So... what changed? Why did you start respecting me, considering me a friend, when you didn't before?'

{Dianne sighs heavily, taking a moment to think.}

Dianne: “Well...I saw that you had a good heart. You’re loyal to your friends. You’re a good man, Armin. Even if you do have some creeper tendencies.”

'...You know, that would have been a nicer compliment if you hadn't decided to add that last part,' said Armin dryly. 'But... thanks. I appreciate that. I consider you a friend too, even if you're not exactly the nicest person sometimes.'

Dianne: “I know, I know...I’m working on it. Lucci’s been acting as my therapist for the last week, and I’m trying to be better. But, still, thanks for...accepting my apology. Over the centuries, I haven’t had too many friends. I really don’t want to lose you as one.”

'I haven't had many, either,' said Armin. 'Most of the friends I made in Sargon's organisation didn't last very long. Some of them died, some of them... disappeared, and some of them just got tired of being around me.' He gave a mirthless smile. 'You wouldn't have liked me at all if you met me a hundred years ago.'

Dianne: "Yeah, I can imagine. I'm sorry you lost so many...I know you definitely wouldn't wouldn't have liked /me/ three thousand years ago...."

{Dianne chuckles mirthlessly.}

Dianne: "You probably wouldn't even recognize that it was me...So why wouldn't I have liked you back then?"

Armin glanced around, becoming aware that they'd been standing in the middle of the street for some time. He turned and began to walk, wordlessly inviting Dianne to accompany him.

'Well, aside from the fact that I was killing helpless people every other week... I was pretty much constantly drunk, depressed, and I lashed out at people just because I needed an outlet for the anger and frustration. I hurt Rex more times than I can count, though he still stuck around for some reason... I just wasn't a fun person to hang out with. Most of my friends preferred to spend their time with more optimistic people.'

{Dianne walks aside Armin, listening to his story.}

Dianne: "Huh...I know what that's like...That's nice of Rex, to stick by you, despite your behavior...He seems a good man. A long time ago, I used to work for....a rather unpleasant person named Dolorus. He ran a death cult that specialized in toppling kingdoms and wiping out civilizations. It was...bad times then, for me...I had lost everything I ever cared about, so I was....rageful...blind....I let him use me for his despicable purposes...thinking I had an actual purpose. Every night, I'd drink myself to sleep. I never had any meaningful friends at the time because everyone was afraid of me. I...uh....I used to turn on my co-workers when they irked me, so....who would want to get close to that, right? Perhaps, we are not so different, you and I."

Armin glanced thoughtfully at Dianne, then returned to gazing at the street ahead as they walked along.

'Huh, you're right. It's almost creepy how similar our situations were... I'm sorry to hear about all of that. At least you got out of that situation in the end... And what happened to Dolorus? I'm guessing somebody killed him or something? If he still existed today, then I'm sure I would have heard about him.'

Dianne: "Oh, Lucci took his head off, but he had to be backed by an entire army. And after he died, I had to banish his soul to Oblivion, because he could have come back as a revenant. There's a whole story about that time, an epic, really. The Great Ferrosian War, The Necromancer War, it has a bunch of names. Now, the tale is lost to legend."

'I guess you're one of the only people alive today who was actually around when that happened,' mused Armin. 'And Oblivion... wasn't that the same place you sent Ana? Maybe she'll end up running into this Dolorus guy.' He smirked slightly, though without any real humour.

{Dianne smirks as well.}

Dianne: “I’m one of two who was directly involved and still alive. The other is an old co-worker named Ardens Cornu. Nice guy, kinda short. Haven’t seen him for a long time. And yes, that is where I sent Ana. I hope they do meet, so Dolorus can torment her for eternity.

'Hmm. I should probably feel sorry for Ana, but I don't.'

Armin was quiet for a moment, then said, 'Anyway, I'm glad that both of us had the chance to escape our past situations and live normal lives now. We were pretty lucky. I knew a /lot/ of Rebels in Sargon's army who never got that chance; they were either killed in his service, or killed by him when they tried to run away.'

{Dianne tilts her head with an intrigued expression.}

Dianne: “Huh...Dolorus never had issues with deserters. He picked his underlings very carefully. The most he’s had at once was about 25. Well, each one could raise an army of the undead, so numbers was never an issue.”

'Yeah, Sargon wasn't like that,' said Armin. 'When he started out, he couldn't find enough non-humans willing to join him, so the only way to increase his numbers was by Turning humans and convincing them to work for him. Because of that, his organisation contained a fair number of people who were being blackmailed, threatened, or bribed into serving him. The people who didn't want to be there were called Rebels, and the willing people were called Loyals.'

He scratched his head thoughtfully. 'The Loyals always outnumbered the Rebels, but I think there were around fifty of us at one point. Sargon was paranoid about them escaping and telling other people information about him, so he threatened to kill anyone who deserted. I think Rex was one of the few who succeeded in running away.'

Dianne: “Huh. He really must have believed in his plan for him to try to press gang people into his service. I take it the Loyalists must have been insufferable as company. For Dolorus, everyone was either completely loyal, or just didn’t have anything else, so they kept going. His mission was far more twisted than Sargon’s...”

'Oh, they were,' said Armin, sounding amused. 'Imagine living near hundreds of people who all act like Ana. Well, not all of them wanted to sleep with Sargon, but you get the point. Though, your colleagues sound like even less fun to be around.'

Dianne: “Ugh...In your place, I probably would have smothered Ana in her sleep, rather than listen to her fangirl ally over that lunatic. Yeah, my colleagues were quite unpleasant. Always bragging about how the destroyed people and cities. Just about every single one was an egomaniac. However, once I lodged an axe in Brand’s chest, they stopped bragging while I was in the room.”

Armin let out a quiet chuckle. 'Well, that's one way to deal with annoying colleagues... I never did anything like that. And I wouldn't have gone anywhere near Ana while she was sleeping - she kept all kinds of creepy stuff in her room. There were dark spellbooks, live tarantulas, and photographs of Sargon in there.'

{At that, Dianne gives a troubled look.}

Dianne: “Dark spellbooks? Mmmm....That could be troublesome if some unsuspecting mage comes across them. Dark Magic can be quite volatile. Any novice who tries to use them might end up doing a lot of harm to themselves and others. I should probably go back there and get them before anyone has a chance to find them.”

'I didn't know they could be that dangerous,' said Armin thoughtfully. 'The books might have been taken by someone already. Sargon's old base of operations has been deserted for weeks, and the city's probably crawling with thieves. But you can always go over there and look, if you want to. Who knows, maybe some of Ana's stuff /is/ still there.'

Dianne: “...I probably should. I’ll go tomorrow. It’ll probably be dangerous, so I’ll bring Titan. Although, that begs the question, is Shacklestone just going to be allowed to rot away into nothing? Seems a waste.”

Armin shrugged. 'I'm not an expert. I don't have a clue what will happen to the remains of Shacklestone. Almost everyone who used to live there is dead. It'll probably just lie there as a pile of ruins until someone in the future decides to claim the land and build something new on it.'

{Dianne sighs, looking at the ground.}

“You know, if we really wanted to, we could probably rebuild and reinstate Shacklestone as a city. It would be a lot of work, but it’s not impossible. But would it even be worth it?”

'I don't know,' said Armin. 'I mean, I'd love to see Shacklestone rebuilt, and I know other people would too - Frederick's mentioned that he'd want to help in the reconstruction if it ever happened. But it would take a long time. And I'm not sure how many people would even want to live there considering what happened last time.'

Dianne: “Well...maybe that’s true. But if we could convince Lucci to help, the construction would be done in a day, and the infrastructure would probably be much better afterwards. But, who knows if he would be allowed to help.”

'Maybe he wouldn't be allowed to interfere with something that big,' mused Armin. 'He never interfered when we were fighting Sargon.' He glanced up at the sky, noticing that it was fully nighttime in the city now. 'Anyway, what were you doing out here this evening? Just looking at the shops?'

Dianne: “Yeah. I need to find some coveralls and towels. The draugrs aren’t going to last, so I need to replace some of them with automatons.”

'Well, don't tell the shop owners what you're planning to use the stuff for,' said Armin dryly. 'They might not take kindly to the idea of draugrs. Speaking of which... how have the people on the plains reacted to seeing Titan and all the other undead creatures walking around?' he added with a smirk.

{Dianne gives an amused expression.}

Dianne: "Oh, they've already started the petition to get me out, but the king refuses to sign off on it. I think you can guess why. But, no one has had the guts to come talk to me in person yet."

'Hm, that's pretty much what I expected. They're scared villagers; they probably don't have a clue what to do.' Armin shook his head, still smirking. 'They'll get used to it eventually.'

Dianne: "Well, it's not like I'm doing anything to them. I just keep to myself mostly. If they don't like me, they're just going to have to deal with it, because I'm not going anywhere. How about you? Any irate neighbor problems?"

'Not really. My house is in a quiet area; half of the other houses on the street aren't even occupied. Some people got suspicious when they realised a vampire had moved in next to them, but nobody's tried to cause me any trouble. They mostly just try their best to ignore my existence.'

Dianne: "That must be nice. I wish my neighbors would just leave me alone. Although, walking through the city is kinda nice, since everyone parts to avoid me. I never have to deal with lines."

'That sounds useful... although I don't think I'd enjoy having everyone in the city deliberately avoiding me. Might be nice at first, but eventually I'd get tired of everyone acting like I had the plague.'

Dianne: “Huh. I never thought of it that way...Oh well, they’re going to do what they’re going to do.”
{Dianne briefly falls silent, seemingly contemplating something.}

Dianne: “So, what are you doing for work? I still need to find a job, but I just don’t know what to do.”

'At the moment, nothing,' said Armin. 'The King gave me that house, so it's not like I needed to pay for it... Besides, I haven't had a normal job in 250 years. I have no idea what I'd even do. Fred joined the royal guards, and suggested that I do the same... but I'd rather slit my own throat than work for another idiot.'

{Dianne nods in both approval and understanding.}
Dianne: “Same. I really can’t respectfully work for a coward. Also, Lucci recommends that I stay away from combat oriented roles for a while. But still, I need to figure out something to do with my life. What’s Rex planning on doing?”

'Well, I guess you should think about all the skills you have, and how you could put them to use in a job,' mused Armin. 'As for Rex... I think he's procrastinating on getting a job at all, because he hates working. But he can't sleep on my living-room couch forever.'

Dianne: “Ok, let’s see. I have unparalleled mastery in Dark Magic and Conjuration. But, I don’t think too many potential employers would be interested in that... I can make potions, elixirs and herbal medicines halfway decently, but I don’t think this city even has an apothecary. Hmmm, this is tricky...”

'Maybe you could start your own business selling potions and stuff,' Armin suggested. 'Non-humans and magic haven't been allowed in this city for years. People are bound to be curious about it. And they might not trust you at first, but if you could make magical cures for things that they can't cure the non-magical way... I bet people would start wanting to buy them.'

{Dianne sighs and rubs her eyes.}
Dianne: “So, you want me to do exactly what I was doing in Shacklestone? ...Honestly, that may be my only option. I don’t think I have much of a choice.”

(Posted a new room!)