[Audio]

[neverfeltthatway]

[For once, Armin sends only his voice and not his image over the network - something anyone paying attention might note is unusual, if not without precedent.]

Hello, everyone. I... I have the list of Travelers who disappeared this jaunt. Meaning they've probably either gone home, or they're stuck in a dungeon somewhere and they'll turn up again later.

It may not be a complete list, but... it's the closest I could get. [He takes a deep breath.] Here goes: Giovanni, Kain, Ravit, Ace, Shuu, Quinn, Ruvik, Souji - er, Souji Okita, that is - Tsurumaru, Annabel, and Ky.

I'm sorry.

Comments

[fridgeninja]

Gold Souji?

[neverfeltthatway]

[Armin blinks, quickly retrieving the conversation he'd overheard on the network earlier to review. It... doesn't clarify things quite as much as he might have hoped.] Umm... I think so, yes.

[fridgeninja]

I was afraid of that.

[neverfeltthatway]

I'm sorry. Did you know him?

[All Soujis know each other, Armin, didn't you know that?]

[howexciting]

[He doesn't really believe in God anymore - not really, not after what he's seen. But...]

Requiem aeternam dona Giovanni Auditore, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei. Requiescat in pace. Amen.

[neverfeltthatway]

[Armin is quiet for a few moments in respect after Leo speaks, sensing the man's sorrow.]

I'm sorry about Giovanni. If you don't mind... what did that mean? What you just said.

[howexciting]

... it is a prayer, requesting that God grant eternal rest and perpetual light to Giovanni's soul.

[Implying that he is, of course, dead, at the time Leonardo comes from.]

If the Catholic God does not exist, at least the Divine might listen.

[neverfeltthatway]

Oh. Okay.

[Armin's quiet a moment, not really sure what to say to that.]

...Do you believe in the Catholic God, then?

[leftbehindagain]

...So she was a Traveler. Guess we won't find out why she stole the Name now, in that case.

Hopefully she's happier at home.

[neverfeltthatway]

...You're talking about Annabel?

[He's still not entirely sure what happened, but it wasn't hard to guess. Quite apart from anything else, there were not a lot of 'she's on the list.]

[leftbehindagain]

Yeah. I was hoping for a chance to ask about that now that we all have clearer heads, but... well.

[neverfeltthatway]

[Armin doesn't really even want to voice this thought, but...]

...Maybe that's why she vanished.

[not here]

[abweichend]

[SO MUCH FOR CLOSURE. THE MYSTERY LIVES ON.........]

[backwordscompatible]

[She recognized a handful of those names, and was even able to place faces to them. But there was one in particular that stood out most.]

Giovanni too?

[neverfeltthatway]

He's not in liminal space. Sorry...

[To be honest, Armin hates delivering this news - but somebody has to, and he has the ability, so he's taken on the responsibility of doing it every month.]

[backwordscompatible]

[She took a deep breath on her end. Slowly exhaling.]

It's...alright, Armin.

This sort of thing happens. It's not like I really knew him all that well, anyway.

[upcard]

[...oh.

Souji-- Ace, Tsurumaru, Ky. She bites her lip, and the thought escapes her almost subconsciously--]

That's...that's so many...

[neverfeltthatway]

...I'm sorry, Mai. I know some of them were your friends.

[Then again, everyone is Mai's friend, so that's not saying much.]

[upcard]

[He's not wrong.]

...Mm, it's...I'm just worried about them... I know that it's not always--that sometimes they end up in bad places...

[tealeafs]

[ There sure are familiar names on that list, yes. And one sticks out in particular to Chizuru -- obviously so. Even so she takes it quietly, maybe in part since it's just mentally and therefore it's harder to see the way her face drops the moment the realisation starts sinking in. ]

You can't sense whether they're in a dungeon portal or not..? [ Although the idea of Souji returning home isn't all that appealing either.. it'd mean he would die. But him being stuck somewhere by himself, all of the men of the Shinsengumi other than Hijikata being that way.. it stings. ]

[neverfeltthatway]

N-no. I'm sorry... nobody can sense dungeon portals unless they've actually appeared, and sensing what's inside them is a different skill entirely.

[tealeafs]

I see..

[ In other words, there's no way for them to know. Not only Souji, but even Saitou, Heisuke, Sano-- everyone else who's been here from their world, too. There's no way of knowing if they're not stuck somewhere in a dungeon portal all by themselves..

The thought brings nauseous feelings to her stomach, although she tries to repress them enough that she can at least reply to Armin. ]

Then.. we'll just have to wait and see, huh..?

[bloodysaint]

I see. I'd been quite concerned after I could not find him. Becoming someone else was... Well, it is an experience I'd rather not have again, although I know that I shall as long as I'm here and am prepared for that fact.

They are likely to be back in Nosgoth then. The both of them are far more needed there than here. Kain especially, as he must fulfill his role as the Scion of balance for our world to survive. Likely he was only brought here so that he might share his knowledge with me, to help in whatever role I must play here.

I thank you for telling me this. I'd feared them left behind in that infernal city.

[neverfeltthatway]

I'm sorry for your loss - but I'm glad they're where they're needed. That's what I had to remind myself, when my best friend disappeared - that he's needed back home more than he's needed here.

[In other words, their world needs him more than Armin does, no matter how much it hurts Armin to admit it - how much it hurts him to be without him.

As far as them being left in the last jaunt - really, they have no evidence that they weren't, except that nobody has yet experienced it and returned to tell about it. Slim evidence, but it's the best they have, and if it's comforting to some people... Armin won't rob them of that.]

[bloodysaint]

That is quite alright. I barely knew them before we all arrived here. Kain I knew much of but only made his acquaintance once, briefly, in his younger years. Ravit had had not known of at all, but while I am relieved by the implications of her assistance and enjoyed her company, it is better she be in Nosgoth where she is not so often denied access to the sky and she can perhaps create more like herself.

However, I am accustomed to being alone, after many long years without more than Vorador's occasionally company. I am very sorry to hear that you lost your friend, but I am certain once your purpose here has also been fulfilled that you will be returned to him.

[He had to believe they'd gone back home. Kain was the Scion of Balance. If he wasn't there to finish fulfilling his destiny then Nosgoth was doomed to destruction and decay. That after thousands of years trying to save the world, the idea that carefully laid plans would be dashed at the whim of these strange Dimensional beings that set them on these strange paths was just too much.]