!! For What it's Worth [Pingo and Leon]

[Leon Barner]

((Continuing from http://www.lillegardisland.com/t384-shadow-of-the-mountain ))

Holding the mysterious vial in his hands left him with no answers as to what it was for, but Leon knew of two people now that were going through quite a bit of trouble get or keep their hands on it. Between Kale and Pingo, he may as well have flipped a coin to decide which of the two he trusted less. But at the very least, Pingo wasn't as prone to violence as Kale was, nor did he have any 'authority' over him. So after hiding the vial in what he felt was a location where only he would be able access it without potentially damaging it, Leon made headway for the church in Sindri's Cove.

Leon had no doubt that Valentin would notify Kale of the vial's relocation. She'd find out he had it. He'd have to find out what the thing was worth, and quickly. Upon entering the empty church, the demon took a seat in one of the pews. He put his feet up on the pew in front of him, sitting at an angle for the optimum distance between himself and his foot rest. If made to wait too long, he may well have fallen asleep in this position.

[-NPC]

Why was he still here? Things were hardly progressing the way he wanted and needed them to.

The man brushed off his jacket as he entered the church and walked down the aisle. He had taken a meal in the tavern, but would not stay. That place, it was so...grimy. So filled with sand and salt, the very wood smelled of it even more than the people did. Everything here was so...old, and worn. Had they never heard of glass tables and silver chandeliers? Hell, even new wall paint and seat cushions? Pingo huffed, pulling on his shirt and adjusting his tie. Perhaps he could buy the strip here, tear down the tavern and build a hotel. That sounded suitable.

So busy in his mind degrading the unsatisfactory state of accommodations here in this town, that he did not at first notice the other presence in the pews. It wasn't until he looked up and saw the top of a head that he stopped and blinked. He wondered who would be here...

A bit cautiously, he approached.

"Hello?"

[Leon Barner]

Leon had closed his eyes for only a moment before he'd dozed off. He wasn't sure of the time lapse between his falling asleep and Pingo's voice waking him up again. If it had been long enough for him to fall asleep in the first place, then it had already been too long. Leon yawned as he lowered his feet off of the pew in front of him.

He couldn't help but grimace when he looked over his shoulder at the entering man. The guy's face annoyed him. His clothes annoyed him, his name, everything about the guy annoyed him. "About time." Leon didn't waste any time in cutting to the heart of the matter, but he kept his expression carefully blank. "I found your vial."

[-NPC]

Of course he was worried at first...everyone in this town had both the potential to be someone he really didn't want to talk to, and someone he really did. However, his expression visibly lit up when he recognized the boy. He was about to gesture with arms wide and exclaim, when the other cut him off before a greeting.

Pingo's expression faltered with the shock as his mind registered what was said, before he stepped forward in a greedy fashion.

"What?! Where is it then? How did you find it?"

[Leon Barner]

Leon's face remained neutral as he spoke, almost toneless. "I'm going to tell you that right now its in a place where neither Kale or you can get to it. I'll also have you understand that I trust myself a hell of a lot more than I trust of either of you two. I'm perfectly happy leaving it there and keeping it from both of you."

"I think last time you fed some cheesy line about how giving it to you was the right thing to do? I don't care about that. I want to know what it is and I want to know why you and Kale both want it so badly." He ignored the second question, finding it to be unimportant.

[-NPC]

Pingo blinked a bit owlishly at Leon, stupefied by this sudden turn of events.

"What?!" He snapped a bit incredulously in a higher pitch than normal, giving a sharp movement of arms. He stared a moment longer before he shook his head. "My dear Leon, you must understand. I need that vial back. It's very valuable to me and my f-family." He stuttered slightly before regaining ground. "She wants it because keeping it from us would simply ruin us. She is vicious and petty, and stole it for the sake of stealing. But in her hands if we don't move quickly, things could turn out very badly for both of us. For all of us besides her. If you know her at all, you must see that she is vile. How could you help her? You keeping the vial from me is doing so, even if inadvertently." His tone was slightly desperate and imploring. The man took a step forward as if to put the urgency in Leon's mind.

[Leon Barner]

Leon leaned back and put his feet up on the pew again, in no obvious rush despite Pingo's urgency. "Well then I guess you'd better explain quickly."

Most of what Pingo said wasn't interesting to him in the slightest. He didn't know all that much about Kale, but he couldn't bring himself to understand why the harpy would care in the slightest about this man's family situation. He wouldn't repeat the questions.

((Ahh Leon's posts are so short. I'm sorry, he doesn't have a lot to say XD))

[-NPC]

Really!? The insolence- The man huffed in frustration, giving an almost desperate glance around the room as if for something that would help him. He wasn't prepared for this this suddenly. To think, things were finally in motion. He wracked his brain for answers that were acceptable. What could he say to get the kid to give the vial to him?

But...perhaps... He made a disgruntled face, like he was going to reveal something he really didn't want to.

"Okay, listen. The truth is...it's a strength enhancer. Have you ever wondered why Kale is so strong when she's so fragile? It doesn't work on normal humans, but can't you see how it's been disastrous in her hands? You didn't know Kale before she went to the school, did you? She was weak, and frail. Now, she is capable of things beyond what she should be able to do both mentally and physically. It's how she's keeping control. If we keep this away from her, she's return to what she was. Don't you see why it needs to come back to my family? We need to protect it, so that some magical creature like her doesn't get their hands on it and become, essentially, God."

[Leon Barner]

Leon appeared to listen with only half interest, though he was actually paying attention. His hesitance was understandable now considering Leon could very easily take that power for himself. He pushed this thought aside for the moment though.

"I already told you that Kale can't get it right now. I've also told you that I don't trust you as far as I can throw you. How do I know you don't want it so that you can hand it over to some want-to-be-deity of your own choosing? More importantly though, Kale's managed to take it from you once before. What makes your family so qualified to protect it?"

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Leon was beginning to wonder if he'd ever had intentions to return the vial from the beginning.

[-NPC]

A bitter, huffing laugh puffed out from the man's mouth.

"So, putting aside that you might actually be able to throw me quite far..." His tone was dry, hating that you could never know what these monsters were really capable of.

"You're a kid. Lets be honest and look at how it is, hm? She's in charge of that island...and you just live there because she lets you. It's how that all works with your kind, right? The most powerful lead?" He had lifted hands to gesture about, and ending in a shrug. "And really, the last thing I want is for any magical creature to have that much power. Kale getting the vial..." A frown etched into his features and a flash of unsettled anger crossed his brow. "It was an oversight on my part. I- ...I thought I could trust her. The vial was hidden away from the world so well that even we couldn't get to it. But, we had decided to destroy it to take away any risk, so we hired Kale to go in and retrieve it. We had...a history of her working for us." Shoulders slumped in a small defeat. "This was the first delivery she didn't make good on. We were deceived."

[Leon Barner]

"I'll be turning 56 this month. I don't follow anyone, least of all Kale, and as a matter of fact, I haven't even been living in the castle lately." He stated them as mere facts.

"If you really want to be honest, then why not talk about the fact that yes, I could throw you quite a long ways, and Kale empowered or otherwise could likely crush your skull between her talons. You put that vial somewhere that Kale was able to reach it but you weren't. You hid it out of reach of yourself, but within reach of the very people you were trying to keep it from. Your method was flawed from square one." Leon shrugged, lowering his feet from the pew and standing as if in preparation to leave. "It seems to me like Kale getting the vial was a stupid mistake made by stupid human that was in way over his head from the start."

[-NPC]

Pingo paused. Ah, well...he sure looked good for his age huh? He shook his head and continued on.

"No. She was only able to get there with knowledge we gave her. She didn't even know of its existence, not many do." He tried, almost pleaded his case. But as Leon spoke, irritation flashed clearly across his face. Stupid human, huh? He barely managed not to scoff. And as Leon stood, he stepped forward as if he were going to muscle the 'boy'.

"Listen. How it happened doesn't matter. It's the fact that we need it out of her reach, and that is with me. Not you. How do I know you wont be swayed to eventually return it to her? I can't trust what hold she has over those of her own kind -- over you. How do I know she wont defeat you and take it back? I'm not willing to bet on you. So, just hand it over, and I'll give you anything else you want."

[Leon Barner]

Leon wasn't intimidated by the single step forward. Why would he be?

"The thing about my position is that I don't need you to trust me." He shrugged, ignoring Pingo's offer entirely. The man didn't have anything he wanted. "It's out of your hands." Leon would have made to leave at this point, but Pingo was blocking the easiest way out of the pew. He didn't quite feel a need to shove him out of the way yet.

[-NPC]

The man seemed to pause after such a certain statement. Like he was caught off guard at the finality handed to him. A couple quick blinks and he caught back up to pace.

"But it has to be-- If you wont give it to me, then you must destroy it yourself. Please, this must be done. Pour it out into the ocean, or throw it in a fire. Something, anything, just so that no magical being can use it to their advantage. It would be catastrophic. No one would be able to stop them." His tone was pleading, and he had clasped hands in front of him.

[Leon Barner]

Leon didn't really care for anything more that Pingo had to say. He was finished here. Though he did wonder if pouring it into the ocean would result in some weird mutated fish.

"I'll think about it. Now move." His tone and expression wouldn't inspire confidence, but what could Pingo do about it now?

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