I'm back! Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed. I'm sorry about the spelling errors and I'll be more careful from now on. I also made a mistake in my last chapter that was pointed out to me. Enix owns Star Ocean, not Pioneer (or me). I was also working on a fic for an anime and got the two companies mixed up. Anyway, ON WITH THE STORY!
'To Tell the Simple Truth' by Noroi
Chapter 2: Meeting Again
"You fought well. Even better than last year."
Dias grabbed the handle of his sword but suddenly noticed two legs swinging from a lower branch of the trees. Looking higher up, he saw Rei sitting on the branch. Smirking, she jumped down from the tree and landed in front of him.
"Going to attack me?" she asked as she noticed his sword hilt that he was still holding.
"I wasn't expecting to see another person in the Forest of Herlie (A/N not sure if that's what the forest near Herlie is called but for the sake of the story, let's say it is),"he said letting go of his sword. "What are you doing here?"
"Training," she replied. "I heard about the monsters in this area getting more dangerous. I wanted to see for myself. And you?"
"Same story," he said simply.
"I see," she said crossing her arms. "And I meant what I said before, you fought very well inn the Tournament of Arms. You didn't even break a sweat during your final match."
He looked at her skeptically. "That was two months ago."
"Point being?" she asked. "I haven't seen you since then. I met you here so I figured I'd just say it."
Dias shrugged. Truthfully, he couldn't care less about meeting this woman again or how impressed she had been with his fighting skills. It didn't really matter what she thought.
"Are you staying at the inn," she asked suddenly.
"What?" he asked, surprised by her curiosity.
"Are you staying at the inn?" she repeated. "In Herlie."
"I am. Why?"
Rei gave a small shrug. "No reason I suppose. Just curiosity. Well that and I'm staying there for the night as well. Would you like to head back with me? It's almost night."
"Looking for an escort?" he asked a little rudely. "Or are the monsters too tough for you to get out again?"
"Neither." If she had noticed his rudeness she was pointedly ignoring it. "Just thought you would like company. Some one to talk to would be nice."
"Not interested," he replied and turned away.
"Alright," he heard her say. "Oh, before I forget. Rena said she missed you." Dias whirled back around but the girl was already gone.
"How... does she know Rena?"
"Come in Dias," called her voice and he walked in.
"You knew it was me?" he asked.
Looking around the room, he saw Rei sitting on one of the two beds and putting a few things into her bag. She looked up at him and smiled.
"I figured you'd want to talk about what I said earlier. I know I'd want to if I found out a younger sibling was trying to find me," she answered. "You know, you can sit if you want to. There's no reason to stand spaced out like a zombie at the front door."
He walked over to a chair in the room and settled himself down. Looking at Rei, he expected to hear her explain but she simply pulled a few articles of clothing from the drawers near her bed and stuffed it in her bed. The only thing that showed his irritation was the frown ha always wore on his lips.
It seemed to be enough for Rei to notice, however. She smiled sheepishly and put her bag aside.
"Sorry," she said. "Guess I got a little distracted. So, what was it exactly you wanted to know?"
"Where did you meet Rena. Is she traveling again?" he asked.
"I doubt it. I met her in Salva, shopping from what she told me. She asked me if I had ever met you when I told her I traveled the world. I said yes and she asked me to give you a message if I ever saw you again," Rei explained.
"What was the message?"
"She said she wanted you to come home as soon as possible. She's getting married and would like it if you could be there," she said.
Dias stood up in a flash. For once Shock was evident on his usual calm face. "Married!" he shouted very uncharacteristically.
"Yes," she answered. "Is something the matter? I didn't think you'd be so upset about this... but then again, I suppose it's strange to hear your younger sister is engaged from a stranger."
"When'd you hear this?" he asked, not paying attention to her answer past 'yes'.
"It was about two weeks ago," she said. "You plan on going, right?"
He fixed her with a cold glare, "That's none of your business."
"Actually... it is."
"And why is that?" he asked. "I don't recall you knowing Rena or I past a few short meetings."
"Well, I'm getting paid if I bring you back. 5,000 Fol. Usually I wouldn't go for so little but it's not like I was looking for you. Only if I saw you by chance," she told him.
"Getting paid?" he asked as he gave her another cold look.
"I have to eat you know. If I didn't make money selling my skills, I'd have a pretty hard time getting by. I'm sure it's the same for you," she replied with a shrug of her brown clad shoulders.
He didn't give her an answer. She didn't seem to expect one though. Instead, she turned back to her bag and put a few more things in.
"I don't care if we travel together," she said, not facing him. "As long as we both end up in Arlia before the wedding and I get paid you can leave before or after me."
"Fine," he answered and turned to leave.
"Dias," she said.
"Yes?" he asked irritated.
"She seemed happy. It's none of my business, but maybe you shouldn't go just to stop her. She's a big girl from what I saw... Big enough to decide who she's going to marry on her own," Rei said.
Dias didn't say anything as he left. Why should he? Rei could never understand how he felt about Rena.
End of Chapter 2
Wow! I finally got this done! I wrote this while I was at an anime convention called Metrocon and lots the floppy of it there. Then the computer kept crashing when I tried to write it (never occurred to me to put it on another floppy).
Anyway, thanks to all the people who reviewed. I hope you all liked this chapter. (Even though it was just a lot of boring talking. I promise there'll be a lot more action in the next chapter.)
See the nice GO button? PUSH IT! Thank you, come again.