It was then Van noticed two girls approach the three, after enjoying a moment of bliss. He saw a cerise-haired woman, with a blonde-haired girl tagging along with her. Van raised his eyebrows seeing the two arrive as he parted from his hug. Even a smug look appeared in his eyes, letting his eyes fall back onto Elaine in front of him.
"Would you look at you. You even made some friends without me bein' present these last few years. I really am sorry about that. I was under the guidance of Teacher. He said the less contact, the better.", Van spoke, scratching his cheek a little, still feeling guilty.
"H-Hmph. At least your heart is in the right place.", Elaine responded, acting aloof again. She even raised one of her hands, formed a fist, and coughed into it, like she was trying to clear her throat. A moment passed before Elaine realized what she had done, and quickly separated from Van. Her cold demeanor returned. Seeing Elaine do this, the cerise-haired woman, who seemed to be older than Elaine by a few years, giggled. She was by far the oldest of this group. In fact, this woman just turned twenty this year.
Which happens to be the very same age adults are allowed to drink alcohol here in Zemuria. Most are considered an adult by the time they finish school, whether it be Sunday School, or actual school-school, like Aramis High School. Typically around sixteen to eighteen years old, similar to how it works in Naoto's past life. In countries like Liberl where Sunday School is more frequent by the general public, most are seen as working adults then, because that is the same age one can become a Bracer. In other areas, it is considered eighteen. As far as the legal drinking age goes, that's thanks to the original developers from Naoto's past life. Because of that culture, adults can drink when they turn twenty. Not twenty-one like most other areas.
Presently, both Van and Elaine are fifteen. Two years older than Naoto. René is a year older. Elaine is on the cusp of turning sixteen. Unless one is directly aspiring to become a Bracer and that is the path they want to tread, it is quite rare for someone to become a Bracer at such a young age. Estelle, Joshua, and Angelica are exceptions to that. Even with that said, Elaine is already displaying large prowess. Normally, Elaine wouldn't become a Bracer until a couple years later on, but thanks to a certain someone now at Elaine's side, it didn't take long to see the talent she possesses.
That meant the cerise-haired woman was a Bracer. A powerful-looking sword could be seen at her waist. As for the girl beside her, she had a lazy look in her eyes, and was wearing a hat that had goggles over it. Her appearance was rather stylish, more like Van. Before Van realized it, Elaine had gotten acquainted with new friends he didn't know about.
"Mind introducin' me?", Van asked. "The name's Van. I kind of happen to be a childhood friend of these two idiots, as unfortunate as that is. I'm sure Elaine must be a handful at times."
"You...", Elaine began to say. "You can ignore this dolt, Sara. I don't even know why I bothered coming here. Did you even change after all this time?"
"Hahaha.", The woman said, and arrived beside Elaine. "You say that, but even I'm not an idiot to see that you're happy right now, Elaine. This boy must be really important to you. Enough to enjoy such a heartfelt reunion like this~"
"What Sara said.", The girl beside the woman said, and approached the group. "'Sup? I'm Lavi. Lavian Winslet."
Seeing the girl introduce herself so nonchalantly like that, the woman sighed. That's right, this woman just so happened to be Sara Valestein, and her new tagalong, Lavian Winslet. Enough time has passed since the war between Jaegers took place back in North Ambria. That whole ordeal was an eye-opener to Sara, questioning whether continuing her life as a Jaeger was the right path for her. With a final push from Colonel Valestin, Sara quit the Northern Jaegers, and soon found herself wandering the continent. It wasn't too long ago that she had become a Bracer.
And Sara wasn't alone either. Perhaps it was because of Colonel Valestein's push that made Sara bring Lavi along, acting similarly to that of a student-mentor relationship. She's been showing Lavi the ropes ever since, and now, it looks like the two made their way to Edith, Calvard. During that time, they met Elaine Auclair, an aspiring Bracer. Just like Angelica Rogner, but in another country.
Sara let out a dry laugh seeing Lavi behave like that.
"Sorry about Lavi. She's a good girl, but she can be quite blunt sometimes.", Sara said "Besides that, you can call me Sara. I've been looking after Elaine here for a while now as she continues her studies to become a Bracer. It shouldn't be long until she takes the exam. I'm sure she'll pass with flying colors. She doesn't even know the word "bottleneck", haha!"
"Do you really have to paint it like that, Sara?", Elaine murmured. "But it is as Sara says. I'm grateful to everything she's taught me already, and I've absorbed most of it. I'm just waiting for my next birthday before taking the Bracer Exam."
"Ain't that somethin'? Elane the Bracer. I can kind of dig it.", Van responded. "And well, René, Elaine and I are what you consider childhood friends."
"So that's the connection. Now I know why you made such a reservation. I was curious who was going to show up.", Sara replied.
"I'd hardly call our standing as such, considering how giant of a mess things were back then.", René said. "But the past is the past. No use crying about it. Can't say much to a dead man."
"I ain't dead, bro!", Van exclaimed, feeling annoyed again. "Still, I should talk about this before I forget."
"About what?", Elaine asked, becoming interested. It took them a moment to recall before René remembered that Van had explained through an orbal phone, shortly arriving here in Riverside. Not an actual orbal phone like Enigma IIs, considering they haven't even been made yet. Van had to use a public phone to make the call. Mobile phones weren't exactly a thing yet, considering it's still S1199.
'Oh yeah. You're referring to that boy, aren't you? You briefly told me how you escaped from that place. This isn't the ideal spot to bring it up considering we're at the station, so why don't we all make our way to our reservation? It's all been paid for upfront so we can just enjoy a good time tonight.", René suggested.
"A free meal just as I return home? No way am I goin' to pass that up.", Van said.
"You always speak with your stomach, don't you, Van...", Elaine uttered, and sighed again.
"Can you blame him? I'd be in the same boat if I were in his shoes.", Sara said. "It's time to party. I'm going to drink until I drop dead tonight!"
"Woo-hoo.", Lavi said, half-heartedly raising her hand, but secretly she was very much looking forward to another meal spent on Sara's Mira. Or who knows where it came from.
"Oh speakin' of which, René, when that guy reached out to me, he told me to start lookin' into Calvard's Stock Markets. Know anything 'bout that?", Van asked as the group started to head outside the station.
"Calvard's Stock Markets...?", René uttered, letting his thoughts swirl for a moment, only to shake his head. "I cannot recall anything that comes to mind. Maybe he wants you to invest in some businesses or properties. If you were given a certain direction, we could definitely look into it further."
"Honestly, I have no idea why he brought it up. It might be enough to discuss about durin' dinner, at least.", Van replied. Elaine and Sara were interested in who it was he was talking about.
"Who exactly is this person, Van? You seem to address him with respect too. How can I not be curious?", Elaine asked, becoming interested.
"Yeah, what Elaine said. Looks like some stuff went down during your absence, if we exclude the training period you went through.", Sara said, also interested.
"It's time to give us the deets.", Lavi simply said.
"It ain't like I'm hidin' it or anything. You three don't exactly know the guy, and René hasn't met him in person yet either. I can't really give the full details, but while I was in that shit hole, I met a particular group of people. Spent enough time there where we eventually got to know one another. We became friends.", Van explained the situation to everyone. "Apparently he's a prince. Calls himself Naoto."
"A prince...?", Elaine uttered, becoming surprised to hear what had happened to Van, even if it was just briefly. And yet, the moment Van said that, it was as if a clap of thunder boomed inside Sara's head, which made her stop walking.
Even Lavi turned a little serious, and looked back at Sara.
"This guy didn't just say what I think he just said, did he?", Lavi asked. Sara sighed, and did a motion of her hand, which attracted everyone's gazes.
"Let me take a guess. This guy you are referring to, he's a pretty boy. Has golden eyes whose pupils almost seem to be gone most of the time unless you stare directly into it? And if you do, it's as if the abyss stares right back at you?", Sara decided to ask.
It was then Van came to a sudden halt, and was hit with a sudden sensation of deja vu.
"...Where are you gettin' at, lady? You sayin' you know him?"
"And here I was, thinking I was actually doing something on my own out here in Calvard. I should have gone to Liberl to begin with. Now it's making sense why daddy told me to come here first. No idea how he caught wind of it. Maybe that guy said something behind my back...", Sara replied, and sighed.
"Who knows.", Lavi said, and shrugged her shoulders. "But Sara isn't wrong. Let alone knowing Naoto, Sara here fought alongside him for a while back in North Ambria. Happened couple years ago."
"No shittin'? Must have taken place after we all left that shit hole. It's been a few years since I've last seen Naoto. Guess he's doin' his own business for the time being. But that's life for you.", Van said, and shrugged his shoulders.
"Haha!", Sara laughed, hearing Van say that. "On that part, I can agree with you. Didn't think you'd know Naoto, small world huh? I think we can become good friends.", Sara continued, before looking at Elaine with a smirk on her lips. "And Elaine here says tonight's dinner is on her. She paid for everything. Having a rich dad sure goes a long way."
"I-It's not like I like relying on that dirty money, alright? I may be starting school soon, but I plan to foot my tuition with my own efforts. I have zero interest in relying on my parents.", Elaine shot back. "But what you say is true. I do have enough to allow all of us to have a good meal tonight. It's the least I can do for everything you've done for me, Sara, Lavi."
"So that's what you think of this.", Van mused, and looked at René. "You ain't skippin' out on this, are you?"
"Haha.", René laughed, and pushed the frames of his glasses upward with his finger. "Nah, any pending school matters can wait. This is too good to pass up on. On the contrary.", René continued, looking at Sara this time. "They call you the Purple Lightning, don't they? Your way of fighting is unique, to say the least."
"That's me, alright!", Sara happily replied. "Let's get this show on the road. I won't take no for an answer until you all feel satisfied tonight."
After being urged by Sara, the group soon left Riverside Station, and headed on inside the district. Van returned to Calvard, and was now looking forward to what was going to happen next. School life was just about to begin for him. Unbeknownst to Naoto, a group of unlikely individuals happened to encounter one another, all thanks to what he had done over the course of the last few years. This time, Van met the Purple Lightning, with Lavi in tow. Something that wasn't supposed to happen.
Before the group knew it, they arrived at the restaurant Elaine had reserved, and were all looking forward to enjoying a hearty meal.