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[danceawaypain.livejournal.com]

[Now that her welcome wagon via land and sky have delivered Penelo to Troia, she's taking the time to look around and stock up on supplies. She's happily discovered her gil is accepted currency and determined to be ready for whatever lies ahead. Oddly, faced with the prospect of being on her own and not having to chase after Vaan, she's not entirely sure what to do with herself, aside from begin the process of finding her friends.

Thus, she's browsing the shops, buying only the bare minimum necessary, and pausing to chat with some of the locals.]

Comments

[danceawaypain.livejournal.com]

Are they used as steeds or just kept as pets? Black ones at home are aggressive.

[But certainly not these adorable little balls of sweetness.]

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

Oh, they make good steeds. Black chocobos always remember their way home, ad return straight after any journey. They aren't the highest fliers, though, and will only land in the woods. They're a bit high-strung, too.

[She picks one up without too much effort and settles down to let it nestle in her lap.]

[danceawaypain.livejournal.com]

It's a good thing to know. I'd rather walk or ride than fly if I can. And high strung's not a problem. I deal with Vaan on a daily basis.

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

[She chuckles, petting the cheeping chicobo.]

He sounds a lot like Edge. Not a bad companion, but exhausting at times.

[danceawaypain.livejournal.com]

[Penelo scoops up a chicobo for herself and strokes the feathers as she cradles the bird in her arms. In response to Rydia, Penelo laughs lightly.]

He didn't seem all that bad when I met him, but I guess he does have a bit of an attitude. He reminded me of a prince I know.

But Vaan's something else. He'd be rotting in a dungeon by now if I weren't around to bail him out of trouble.

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

Oh, I believe it. I've meet Vaan before, you see.

[Rydia tilted her head thoughtfully.]

He did a huge favor for me, giving me those summoning stones. One day, I would like to pay him back.

[danceawaypain.livejournal.com]

Summoning stones?

[She tilts her head curiously, wondering what these stones were and surprised Vaan would give them away.

He better not have overcharged her for them.]

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

[She reaches into a pouch and pulls out one of the stones--a topaz.]

This one and others like it can bring from an Eidolon, a being to help assist you in battle. Or at least, that's what they do for Summoners. Vaan said they didn't work for him, so he gave me the stash that had been with him when he arrived, or something like that. Without his help, we wouldn't have been able to save a town from a madman bent on destroying it.

[danceawaypain.livejournal.com]

[Penelo eyes the stone with interest. She's still surprised Vaan gave up something that looked valuable, but its use is more interesting to her.]

So it's like auracite?

[And before she can elaborate on that, the rest sinks in. Madman destroying a town and Vaan in the same sentence. Sounds like trouble.]

A madman trying to destroy a town? And Vaan was there?

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

[She nods, a guilty expression forming.]

He wanted to help us against Kefka. You did too, and a few others. We succeeded in driving him away...but he took Vaan right after. Vaan wasn't seen for weeks and then I guess he was released in the desert. I don't know why he was taken in the first place, let alone why Kefka let him go. But either before or just as friends caught up to him, he vanished--returned to your world. When he returned again, he didn't seem to remember any of that. It doesn't change the fact that I owe him, though.

[She tilts her head.]

Auracite? That's what you call these stones?

[danceawaypain.livejournal.com]

Is that normal? People going and coming and not remembering things?

[She's not crazy at the idea of a madman taking off with Vaan, but she's experiencing this not remembering a previous duration here already and it's confusing.]

Well, that's what the Aegyl called them. They're used for form pacts with Yahri so they can be summoned from the Land of Illusions to help.

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

The Yarhi sound like Eidolons, and their place like the Feymarch. I wish I could see them, so that I'd be able to compare better. Yours is the only world I know aside from mine that has a separate place for them. We don't have auracite, though. In fact, I never heard about using objects to summon, until I arrived here.

[Oh, yes, that question. Hm.]

I guess it's fairly normal. Sometimes, people return and remember everything, but it doesn't happen nearly as often.

[danceawaypain.livejournal.com]

[She hummed quietly at that news, the nodded, moving back to the safer topic of the summons.]

Does summoning them take away your anima too?

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

My...anima?

[Her brow furrows.]

I know an Eidolon named Anima, but that's not what you mean, is it.

[danceawaypain.livejournal.com]

[She shakes her head in the negative.]

It's like your spirit. Most of the Aegyl were emotionless from having their spirits drained every time they summoned their espers.

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

[Rydia absorbed that idea for a moment, then shook her head.]

If that happened whenever my people summoned, we'd be long since emotionless, too. Nothing happens to our spirits, but we do have to challenge the Eidolon and win, before we earn the right to summon them. I wonder if that makes a difference, somehow?

[danceawaypain.livejournal.com]

Maybe it does. We had to defeat the espers we met in order to use them. I suppose the Aegyl were just different.

[eidolon-soul.livejournal.com]

The aegyl...have any crossed over, do you know? I would love to meet them.

[danceawaypain.livejournal.com]

None that I know of, but I'll keep looking.