October 18, 2015 - Sunday, Morning - Sunny - Day 3 of FantasyFlare
"You look like you don't want to leave." Lin remarked to Lydia, who was standing in front of the window of the hotel. The girls had already packed their things to return home, with Damien having already been inside to move all the things Lin bought to their car. Allie was in the guys' room talking to them.
"I feel like I've barely gotten a taste of what the big city is like. I was just beginning to get used to how large Quartz felt, and then I come here... I mean, it's not like I haven't seen pictures of Houston before. But it's nothing compared to being here in person." Lydia responded, continuing to watch people walk in and out of the convention center.
"You're certainly right about that. You think Houston's big? Try New York City. It's something like four times the people in a place that's like, half the size. It's intense if you've never been there before." Lin said, standing between the TV and the bed.
"I couldn't even imagine. I think I might get claustrophobic from being packed in with so many people." Lydia said, trying to imagine the feeling of squeezing through people trying to get on and off of a subway train.
"Oh, if you really want to feel claustrophobic, you should go to Tokyo. The subway attendants literally pack people into the trains there, like sardines in a tin. I eventually want to visit it myself, but I would need a lot more money and time to pull it off. Damien and Allie would probably be up for it. But yeah, that wouldn't happen anytime soon. Not with the craziness we've gotten ourselves into." Lin said. Lydia took a deep breath at the reminder of the otherworldly valley she and the rest of her friends were in the regular habit of going to.
"Yeah." She paused for a moment. Before Lin could say something else, Lydia turned around and made eye contact with her.
"I want to ask you something, since you're kind of distanced from it a little bit. How long do you... think it's going to last?" Lin crossed her arms and shrugged.
"If you guys don't know, what makes you think I would? I'd think you'd be better off asking F.Z., right? F.Z., that's her name?" She answered. Lydia nodded.
"Well, um... sorry, you're right. I guess what I want to ask you is... what do you think is going to happen to us? And by us, I don't just mean QIB. I mean the people of Quartz. The other day, I tried to go into the valley from here and couldn't do it because I was too far away from Quartz. If I had to guess at why that is, it's because whatever's behind the valley in the first place is starting with Quartz and intends to spread its influence once it takes enough people." Lydia said, hoping for a more substantive answer from Lin. Lin took a moment to think before saying something, uncrossing her arms and resting one of her cheeks on her hand.
"If you want my opinion... that place has been getting stronger and smarter ever since you guys started going in there. Even when you saved people, it still gained power. Do you remember when Damien said that thing about this being like every story where the good guys win even if they have to suffer for it?"
"Yeah." Lydia said.
"I don't think it's that simple. Or, I don't know. Maybe it is. But it's really easy to just say something like that without really understanding what it means. I know you guys are already willing to put your lives on the line. It still terrifies me, but I've tried my best to accept that. But we still don't really know what that place is capable of. It's taking two people at a time now, but what happens when it takes three? Four? What if the Idols suddenly decide they don't need to abduct people anymore and just start showing up in our world? I know we can't just sit around and let them do whatever they want, but we've had absolutely zero leads on something that can tell us how to stop them for good. My deepest fear is that we're messing with something that can overwhelm us in an instant if it so desired. It might not be strong enough to do it now, but I have a feeling it'll get to that point someday. And then... I don't know what we'll do." Lin sighed, shaking her head. She adjusted her glasses and crossed her arms again. Lydia couldn't think of anything to say, trying to digest Lin's words herself.
"This really sucks. But... at least we can still live our normal lives. Just like this. Not to mention if it weren't for all of that craziness, it would've been just me, my brother, and Allie up here and we would've had to be much more conservative about our spending. I'm glad you and the other guys could come with us, Lydia. It's always more fun when you have a lot of friends to share it with." Lin continued, managing to crack a smile. Seeing her smile brought a smile to Lydia's face as well.
"Yeah. You're right about that. I don't know if I would even be here right now, in Houston doing something like this, if it weren't for the Idols and the valley." She said. Lin nodded, and then turned around towards the door.
"I guess we ought to get going. The car should've had enough room to fit all of the stuff I got. You know, I'm surprised we haven't seen Arielle at all this whole weekend. She said she was going to be staying with her boyfriend, but I don't know where in Houston he lives. She hasn't responded to any of my texts over the weekend, either."
"Oh. Didn't you say the original plan was that you were going to have her stay in this room with Allie and then you and Damien were going to stay in the other room, and then she went with her boyfriend instead?"
"Yeah. I mean, let me tell you about the relationship Damien and I have with our older sisters. You have to remember that after Arielle was born, my parents had enough difficulty conceiving that they decided to adopt me, and then they ended up conceiving Damien shortly after that anyway. There's this space that exists between us as a result. It always has. It's not a bad thing, exactly, but it means that we aren't quite as close to each other as we are with our nearest siblings. So I'm used to the distance between us. It basically means that I'm not mad or anything that she hasn't contacted me or Damien at all this weekend. Neither is he, although you'd have to ask him yourself exactly how he feels about it. But yeah, we should go. I think everyone's waiting for us." Lin said, turning around and walking towards the door.
"Maybe we'll see her today. We're all going back today, aren't we?" Lydia said, following Lin.
"Arielle doesn't have school in the morning like you do. She's probably going to stay until later. But yeah, you could be right."
"So, these are the new friends you've made! Pretty good stuff, bro!" Arielle spoke, giving her younger brother a thumbs up. She was wearing a black tank top with a fancy heart shape outlined in white on it, and tightly-fitting blue jeans along with casual red flats. Lydia wasn't sure what to expect from her, as neither Damien nor Lin really spoke all that much about either her or Kira, but she was sure of one thing: there was absolutely no mistaking that this girl was Damien's older sister. Although the age difference was noticeable, they were basically opposite-gender mirrors of each other. She wondered what Kira must have looked like.
"Yeah. Where's your boyfriend?" Damien asked. The group had found Arielle by herself hanging out near the edge of the vendor tables, chatting up one of the vendors.
"Jack's in the restroom right now. He left just before you guys showed up. So, what'd you guys think of the con? I personally thought it was pretty good, especially this year." She asked the group, primarily addressing the newcomers. Nathan decided to answer first.
"Really good! I liked it. I think they have more of them during the year, right?" He said. Arielle pointed and winked at him.
"You betcha, big boy. But there's a season for these things, and it's about to come to an end. All the holidays in the next two months means you won't really see any more con action until next year, but there's no doubt you could find events like this one several times throughout the year." Arielle responded.
"Uh, okay." Nathan said, scratching the back of his head.
"What about you, Jacob? You look like you had a good time." Arielle said, turning her attention to the boy that was shorter than she was. He nodded in response.
"Yeah, it was awesome! I definitely want to come back again next year."
"And then..." Arielle said, spinning on her heel to face Lydia.
"There's you. Miss New Girl Lydia. What about you? Has the big city been too much for a country girl like you, or have you taken to the crowds like a duck takes to water?" She asked her. Lydia was about to open her mouth when Arielle interrupted her.
"No, wait. Let me guess. Don't say a word." Lydia stopped, feeling a bit flustered. Arielle's gaze was piercing, as if she was attempting to see into the depths of her soul. This made her look over at Damien and Lin, who seemed less than amused at their sister's antics.
"Oh come on, Arielle. Stop it. You're making her feel uncomfortable." Damien said. Arielle completely ignored him, continuing to stare at Lydia for a few more seconds until she snapped her fingers and said,
"I got it. You... are totally an enigma! I wasn't able to get a single thing out of you! But hey, you don't look like you hated the experience, so that means you probably liked it at least a little. Still, though... it's not often I can't see anything. That means you must be resistant to hypnosis or something."
"What does hypnosis have to do with staring people down? Is that what you're into now?" Lin asked, drawing her sister's attention.
"She tends to jump from thing to thing, like they're fads. The only constant with her is that she likes talking about whatever new thing she's come across with whoever has functioning ears, and she'd pull out her phone and use text messaging for those who don't." Damien said.
"And what about you two? Didja get what you wanted out of this con?" Arielle asked her younger siblings. Damien smiled and put his hands behind his head.
"Oh, yeah. Though Otaku 2.0 over here bought so much stuff she made me carry it around. Even made me stuff it all in the trunk of our car." Arielle giggled and held one of her hands up.
"What else are little brothers for if not to help their sisters carry their things?" Lin gave her a high-five. Lydia couldn't help but laugh at the suggestion, as it made her think of Gerald. Arielle noticed Lydia's reaction and looked over at her.
"You know what I'm talking about, right? But hey, where is your brother, Lydia?" She asked.
"Um... by the time he learned about it, we'd already made the hotel reservations." Lydia responded. She still felt bad about not inviting him before finalizing the reservations, even though Damien had kind of sprung it on her on very short notice.
"Oh, okay." Arielle said.
"So uh, if Lin's Otaku 2.0, then I guess that means you're 1.0? But don't you guys have another sister?" Nathan asked. Arielle turned her attention to Nathan.
"Kira's a total drag. Hardly any fun at all these days. All wrapped up in her lawyer duties, so she never has any time for herself. I invited her to come just like I always do, but I got the same response as always: 'The time I could spend at events like that are better off spent trying to further my career.' She's one of those that will run herself ragged in her 20s and 30s in the hopes of getting an early retirement. Can't say I like or even agree with it, but that's Kira for you." She explained.
"That's also why we barely ever see her. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter, that's it." Damien added.
"Man. So kinda like my brothers now, then. But they're not going to be lawyers. They haven't even graduated from college yet, so..." Nathan said.
"Sooooo..." Arielle continued on from what he was saying,
"What are you guys gonna do today? This is the last day of the convention, after all."
"Well, I don't know about the rest of you, but I've got a score to settle with Damien." Nathan said, looking expectantly over at Damien. Damien grinned, looking back at him.
"I'll show you that my win yesterday wasn't just a fluke. Anyone want to come and watch?" He said. Allie shook her head.
"Take a picture of the scoreboard when it's over. There's an analysis on the philosophical stuff explored in Last Words of the Damned starting in 15 minutes and I don't want to miss it." She said, adjusting her glasses.
"Oh, you were going to go there too? Well, I guess these words of chance that intersect illuminate the threads of fate that connect us, don't they?" Arielle said, putting her hands on her hips. Allie chuckled at what she said and Damien rolled his eyes, leaving the others to deduce that it was probably a reference to the work Allie just mentioned.
"And should fate be that which is immutable, we are all naught but puppets who delude themselves into thinking we make a single move without strings pulling us to and fro." A new voice spoke, causing everyone to turn towards its source: a young man as tall as Nathan with dark brown hair and well-trimmed facial hair. He was wearing a black leather jacket and dark skinny jeans, and had his wallet on a chain that was hooked to one of his belt loops.
"Oh, Jack! There you are. These are all the friends my darling little bro has managed to make since the year started. It's their first con." Arielle said, gesturing towards Nathan, Jacob, and Lydia. Jack nodded in their direction.
"Nice. But I heard you quoting Last Words just now. Looking forward to breaking it down with the rest of the eternally damned, aren't we?" He asked, smiling as he crossed his arms.
"Allie's going there too." Arielle explained.
"I see. Good stuff, then. Well? I think we'd best be going, right? You know how I hate sitting in the back." Jack said, gesturing with his head in the direction of the room the event was going to take place in.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Allie! You should come with us. I'm pretty sure we can find a space for three over there. It won't be that crowded." Arielle said as she nudged her boyfriend. The two of them began to walk away, and Allie followed them, saying,
"Okay. I'll see the rest of you later."
"We know where we're going, but what about you two?" Damien asked of Lydia and Jacob. They looked at each other with the same puzzled expression before looking back at him.
"I don't know. I mean..."
"I hadn't been able to decide yet."
The both of them spoke over each other. Damien shrugged.
"You guys can do whatever you want. Pretty sure you could still catch up with Allie and Arielle if you wanted to see what that was about, but I doubt it'd be all that fun if you haven't watched the show. You could come and watch our air hockey match. It'd be nice to have witnesses." He said.
"Or you could come with me. Since I've already bought everything I've had my eye on, I was going to head to a Lunar Solar fan event." Lin said. While Lydia was considering what to do, Jacob spoke up.
"I was saying that there were two things going on at the same time that I hadn't been able to choose between: the use of colors as a thematic element in visual media or a panel with the people who do the voices for one of my favorite abridged series."
"Oh, was that... Team Saber Orion? The people who do Fortune's Roulette Abridged, right?" Lin asked.
"Yeah. I used to watch Fortune's Roulette a lot when I was a kid. Team Saber Orion's made like, a whole new show out of it. I remember it being super serious and all focused on luck and gunplay, and then they went and turned that seriousness completely on its head." Jacob explained.
"But uh, you said you also wanted to go to that color thing? I guess it'd help you with your painting, right?" Nathan asked.
"Well, yeah, that's mostly why I wanted to go to that one. But it's not just about my painting. I think I'd be more likely to notice how color's used in movies, TV shows, videos, all that stuff, if I went to it. I just... hey, Lydia? Which one do you think I should go to?" Jacob turned to ask her. Lydia blinked, not expecting the question.
"Um... well..." She took a moment to consider it.
They're all splitting up again. I've never heard of the show Allie and Arielle have seen, and I already watched Damien and Nathan play air hockey yesterday. Lin's event could be really fun, even if I haven't really seen that much Lunar Solar. And then Jacob's asking me which event he should go to. Fortune's Roulette, from what little I know about it, was an anime known for its over-the-top gun battles and emphasis on luck and probability. I don't really know what an abridged series is, but Jacob makes it sound like a gag fan edit. The color event sounds interesting, but he'd probably have more fun at the panel.
"Whichever one you'd enjoy more, I guess." She ended up saying.
"I didn't know you were into Fortune's Roulette, dude! You should definitely hit up their panel. They're hilarious. I'd go again if I hadn't already been to their panels a bunch of times already." Damien said, catching Jacob's attention.
"Oh. Okay! Then I guess I know where I'm going. But... what are you doing, Lydia?" Jacob asked. A thought struck her mind suddenly.
This is my last day here, probably for a long time. It's been fun enjoying the events with my friends, but now, just this once... I want to go it alone.
"I'll figure something out. I'm going to go do my own thing for a while. Don't worry, I won't get myself into any trouble." She said.
"Alright. So I guess we're meeting here for lunch, or what?" Damien asked.
The group agreed to meet in the same spot to figure out what they were going to do for lunch. Everyone went their separate ways, leaving Lydia to her own devices. She hadn't planned on going to any of the events, and felt that going to one right now would be counterproductive to what she intended to do: walk around the convention center and just take in all the scenery by herself.
The building was still full of people, some in costume but most wearing regular clothing. It was easily as big as the entire Halborne Mall, holding thousands of people at once. Lydia took out her itinerary just to be able to connect the rooms with their respective events and see what kind of people were there: fan-run events like the one Lin went to were considerably energetic, even if they didn't exactly manage to fill a room. The more cerebral events like the color-based one Jacob had considered attending were sparse in comparison, being relatively quiet affairs where the only audible voice was typically the presenter.
She passed by the Hyacinth Ballroom once more, which as of this moment was not being used for anything. She decided to take a look inside and noticed that while there were a few people here talking amongst themselves, it was indeed an enormously empty room now.
This place... seeing it lit up normally makes its emptiness feel that much more powerful. It reminds me of the practice room back at school, except I don't see any mirrors here. And it's... I wonder if my entire school from Crystal Rapids could fit in this room.
She walked towards the middle of the room, wanting to feel the space surround her in its entirety. A few people noticed her, but she ignored them.
Even though there are people here, there's... something unsettling about a room this big being so empty. I remember being here just yesterday, dancing at the rave. The room was big then, but the darkness and the flashing lights obscured how big it really was. It almost feels like an entirely different room now.
Lydia turned around and slowly walked back to the doors, taking the time to bask in the emotions the nearly-empty Hyacinth Ballroom was giving her. When she left, she was compelled to find something that would give her the opposite extreme of feeling, and so she looked for the closest exit from the convention center. It happened to be on the eastern side, emptying into a massive parking lot. Lydia walked out into the sunlight and beheld the sight of hundreds of cars, all arranged in lines that stretched out for hundreds of yards in front of her.
It wasn't terribly noisy, but it was close enough to scratch the itch she had.
There are more cars here in this parking lot than I can count. I know there are thousands of people here, and that they had to have come here somehow, but... still. All these cars, all these people show just how full of life this city is. I don't think I could ever be bored living in a place like this. It makes it easy to want to just forget I ever lived anywhere else.
As it stood, though, staring at a bunch of parked cars and people coming and going from them wasn't all that interesting after a few minutes. So Lydia went back inside, noticing that it'd only been about half an hour since the group split up. She'd have to find something else to do until lunchtime, which was still another half hour away.
She then remembered that she hadn't updated Tori or Lynne on how the convention had been going since the first day. Tori was almost certainly at church right now, if she hadn't gone earlier in the morning, but she would definitely appreciate more pictures of the convention. And as for Lynne, the last thing the two of them had talked about was who she was taking to the homecoming dance. Lydia decided to make another loop around all the places she had been previously, taking pictures of herself standing by various places in and around the convention center so she could send them to Tori.
"Sorry for not sending you anything the other day. I guess I've been having too much fun." She wrote in a text to Tori as she sent her the pictures. As she waited for her to respond, she tried of think of something to talk to Lynne about. She was standing by a wall wondering what she could text her when another idea occurred to her: those two were not the only people from school she had the number of.
There was still Carla.
She's friends with Morgan. I had forgotten about that. They honestly don't seem like the type of people that would get along, but then again, Morgan is in the student council, so... maybe they met each other by chance and hit it off. Oh, but I bet Morgan has been talking to her all weekend. Carla seemed pretty familiar with Morgan's cosplaying and Scrapbook postings. I don't think she'd want me sending her even more material from there. I guess a text will have to do.
"Hey. What's going on?" Lydia texted to Carla. She was startled when there was a response not less than a minute later.
"Well, it's about time you talked to me. What's kept you so busy?"
"I've been at the FantasyFlare convention in Houston." Lydia texted back. Unlike Tori or Lynne, Carla's responses were prompt and rapid, as if her full attention was devoted to her phone.
"You're there? Seriously? Did Morgan rope you into going?"
"No. My friends invited me to go long before I even met Morgan."
"Right, I forgot. The geek not-a-couple. Well. I didn't think you'd be the type to care about that stuff. You get more interesting every time we talk!"
"Not-a-couple? You mean Allie and Damien?" Lydia thought that was an oddly specific way to refer to them.
"Yeah, those two. I'm not gonna claim I'm best buds with them or anything, but I've seen their type before. I'd bet you $100 one of them falls for the other by the end of the year and call double or nothing on them doing the nasty." Lydia looked around to see if either of them were nearby, irrationally worried that they'd somehow see the message. Carla sure wasn't one to pull any punches in person, and that didn't change at all over text.
"Well, back up." She continued, not letting Lydia think of something to say.
"I'd say that only if you don't steal him first." Whatever Lydia was thinking of previously, it had been kicked out of her mind and replaced with indignation. She quickly replied back, saying,
"What kind of girl do you think I am?! I'd never do that!" As if anticipating those very words, Carla's response came almost too fast to be humanly possible.
"Of course not, right? I just had to make sure lol."
Lydia put through another text in the same swift manner.
"They're just friends. It's not like that." She must have intercepted whatever Carla was about to say, as it took her a full thirty seconds to get back to her after that.
"Alright. Hey, it's not like I care whether they do it or not. They're not my friends. So do you actually like FantasyFlare? What did you do there?" And about as quickly as she had brought it up, Carla dropped it. Lydia frowned, beginning to realize that Carla had probably just said what she did in order to gauge Lydia's reaction to it. It was that kind of intelligent manipulation that made her glad that Carla wasn't interested in hurting her, because she could certainly do so if she was so inclined.
Lydia told her about what she did at the convention. Carla was hardly interested in the minutiae, saying that she had heard about most of these sorts of things from Morgan in the past. It made Lydia wonder why she even bothered asking.
"Yeah, alright. Hey, let me ask you something. Have you found a date to the homecoming dance yet?" Carla texted.
"No, not yet." Lydia responded. For being at the school for nearly two months already, she hadn't really gotten to know very many people outside of QIB. She wondered if Carla would pressure her into having a date, or recommend someone as a date.
"Let me know who you pick if you pick anybody."
"Why do you want to know?"
"Why? Doesn't everybody ask who's going with who before a dance? Listen, I'm not gonna do anything to him. Or you. Not worth it, remember?" Carla responded. Lydia exhaled, remembering what she had said about why she wasn't going to go out of her way to harass her. She looked at the time displayed at the top of her phone and saw that it was almost time to meet back up again.
"Yeah. Sorry. No, I don't know yet. When I decide I'll tell you." She texted.
"Ok. FYI I'm still figuring it out myself. Probably won't be someone from this school though." Carla responded.
"Alright. Gotta go." Lydia texted back.
"Ok. See you at school."
Sunday, Afternoon - Sunny
"Well, there's one thing we haven't done yet that we need to do. Arielle! Can you take a picture of us?" Lin asked her older sister, who was standing nearby. The group was assembled in the same spot that they were in the morning. While Arielle and her boyfriend intended to stay until the very end of the convention, QIB had to leave early due to their travel time and need to go back to school tomorrow. They had invited Morgan to be in their picture, but she had already made plans to attend another event with her own friends and instead wished them well, wanting to see the pictures later.
"Sure! No problem, little sis." Lin handed Arielle her phone.
"Wait. Give that to Jack. I'll give you my camera. It's a lot better than a phone camera." Allie said, retrieving a digital camera from her purse. After setting it up, she gave it to Arielle, who had handed off Lin's phone to Jack.
"Y'okay." She said, pointing the camera in the direction. QIB arranged themselves for the picture, putting Nathan and Damien in the back while the girls and Jacob stood in front of them. Arielle spoke once they had assembled themselves.
"Alright! On the count of three! Uno. Deux. Three!"
They took several pictures, from standard-looking ones to one where everyone tried to do something silly: Damien pretended to steal Allie and Lin's glasses from them with the girls trying to snatch them back from him, Nathan and Jacob both made ridiculous poses, and Lydia was in the middle of them all winking and sticking out her tongue, making a gesture with her hands that appeared to say "What can you say? That's just how we are!"
Once they were done, Arielle turned to address the group once last time before they left for home.
"So, looks like this is where we part ways for now. We probably won't see each other again for a while, but it was definitely nice to meet you guys – Nathan, Jacob, Lydia. I hope to see you guys here again next year. Maybe we'll even see each other at some other con before then, even!"
"Yeah! I hope so, too." Jacob responded.
"Sure. Uh, that'd be nice." Nathan said.
"I'm not going to say no to doing something like this again." Lydia said.
"And as for you three," Arielle continued, this time focusing on her siblings and Allie,
"Don't be a stranger to me. Especially you two, little bro and little sis. We're not so far away from each other that we can't hang out every now and then. You have my number. Don't be afraid to call me or text me."
"Yeah, I know." Damien said.
"Duly noted, Otaku 1.0." Lin said. Arielle laughed at the nickname.
"You've performed admirably in your expected duties as my successor, Otaku 2.0. Keep up the good work." She said in a faux serious manner.
"But yeah, we need to get going. If we wait any longer the traffic's going to be crazy." Lin said.
"Okay. Goodbye, everyone!"
Everyone said goodbye to Arielle and her boyfriend as they left the convention center. From there, they left the hotel's parking lot and finally made their way back home. Lydia went with Nathan as she had done so before, and the two of them talked as they maintained their position behind Lin as she led them back to Quartz.
"I hope I get to come back here soon. I feel like we barely even scratched the surface here." Lydia said as they were beginning to leave Houston.
"Yeah. Maybe one of these days we'll come back and explore. There's tons of things to do and I certainly haven't done 'em all." Nathan said.
"Probably not anytime soon, though. We've got... a lot to deal with back in Quartz." Lydia said, looking ahead of the cars in the direction of Quartz.
"Yeah. Not just the whole QIB stuff, but we've also got the homecoming dance in a couple of weeks. I don't have a date, but that's no big deal. I can still have fun just dancing, even though I'm not really any good at it. You're gonna go too, right?" Nathan said.
"Mm-hmm." Lydia answered.
"Anyone asked you out yet? Maybe one of the football guys? I know before I quit, some of them were interested in taking a cheerleader or a dancer." Nathan asked.
"No. But now that you say that, I'm going to get offers left and right." Lydia answered, chuckling.
"I mean, you are the new girl in town. You got that working in your favor."
"I guess. I haven't actually gotten to know very many people besides you guys, though. I don't know that I'd say yes to some guy I don't know." She said.
"Are you okay not having a date?" He asked.
"Um..." Lydia thought about that. There wasn't anything wrong with it, and Nathan was certainly not bothered about going stag. But she couldn't say she was fine with it herself, and found herself unable to articulate precisely why.
"Hmm." She muttered, not wanting to answer his question anymore.
"Uh... I mean, if you want a date, that's fine and all. And this is just an idea, but uh, maybe you could ask a guy out if no one approaches you." Nathan said, scratching his head briefly before putting his hand back on the steering wheel. Lydia blinked, turning her head over to look over at him. He noticed this and said,
"I mean, I know it's supposed to be the guy that asks and whatever, and I know there's this thing called a Sadie Hawkins Dance where it's the opposite, but... I mean, you're like this kickass Persona-user, right? I just thought since you're the leader of QIB and all, that you'd have no problem with uh, asking out a guy."
Lydia took a deep breath.
"It's... well, the only thing is that I haven't really thought about who I'd want to have as a date yet. And like I said before, I don't really know that many people outside of QIB, so... if anything, I'd probably end up asking one of you guys out."
"Oh. Yeah, that's cool. I know I just said I don't mind not having a date, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna say no to it either. So... guess I'm saying I'm available, is all." He said.
"Okay. Yeah, I still need some time to think about it." Lydia said.
The two of them largely kept to themselves on the ride home, occasionally talking to each other about school or other things that came to them. Nathan dropped Lydia off at her house and she went back inside, where her family was eagerly waiting for her. She gave Gerald the poster she bought him, and proceeded to spend the rest of the night with her family telling them about the experience before going to bed early due to feeling tired from the long day.
Sunday, Evening – Clear
Lydia lay in bed looking up at the ceiling, seeing the light from the lamppost in the street her house faced giving the room a dim lighting scheme. She had a curtain to block it out if she wanted to, but tonight she wanted to let the warm, orange light come in.
Back to normal life starting tomorrow. Well, I guess what passes for normal for us. We'll have to squeeze in a training session between now and the dance in two weeks. If we wait too long, there won't be enough time to get ready for the stuff happening at the end of the month. We'll probably go in there at the end of this week. I'm sure F.Z. will be happy to see us. I wonder what she would want to wear to a dance. She might deny wanting to go, but I think I know her well enough now to see through that.
Oh, and then there's finding a date. Maybe a date will find me first, but I doubt it. Nathan said he was available. I'll have to see if Damien isn't already going with someone. And Jacob... I don't know about him. He might not want to have a date because of Lana. But maybe he's over her completely now. I don't know. That's not something I can just ask him. I'll have to play it by ear. Well, all of that will have to wait until tomorrow, because tonight... I'm going to fall asleep by the light of this lamppost. Good night, Junebug.
Original upload date: April 29, 2017
SakuraDreamerz - Thanks for keeping up with the story. If I were a game developer, perhaps Versal Collider would be a real thing, but that's not my niche, unfortunately.
A/N: And after... exactly seven and a half months of real-world time, FantasyFlare is finally over. Maybe now I can actually put out updates more often than once or twice a month. By the way, I finished Persona 5. Superb game. It adds some very useful information to the overarching lore of the series that I might actually have to consider for this story. I don't foresee it changing any important plot points, although it might change some of the details.
