[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

[backwordscompatible]

[gdi, Armin, don't you be making her feel guilty.]

We can always work on your delivery.

[neverfeltthatway]

[Not his intent! Even if it's the inevitable result.]

O-okay...

[backwordscompatible]

Try not to sound like it's the end of the world.

I grew up on the stage. I know what I'm doing.

[neverfeltthatway]

I was an actor too, in another life. I guess... maybe it just doesn't come off as well with no visual.

[In truth, Armin thinks it's because he's just not that good at it. But he's aware enough to pretend otherwise, for Zatanna's sake.]

[upcard]

Oh... you really think so, Armin-san?

[It seems to have done the job as he'd hoped; she sounds significantly more perked up at that.]

I mean--yes, of course! We're the ones still here, so...we have to...!

[backwordscompatible]

[Or maybe he acted the part a little too well, and knowing what she knew about his personality...well...]

Don't worry about it.

Anyways, I should probably get going. I still have a few other people still here I need to check up on.

[neverfeltthatway]

All right. Maybe we can get together for acting lessons later?

[It sounds perfectly innocent and casual, except for the tiniest emphasis on acting. Armin's hoping she'll recognize it as a euphemism for magic. He doesn't want to say it explicitly, but there are things they need to talk about.]

[backwordscompatible]

[She paused, if only for a second, before realizing what the addition emphasis on acting meant. Oh.]

You know where to find me.

[neverfeltthatway]

I see.

[There's a small pause, and then -]

You're... Black Souji, right? Naoto's boyfriend?

[neverfeltthatway]

We've haven't failed to yet. We'd never leave anyone in a dungeon!

[Contrary to his real feelings, he sounds confident and optimistic, though after the pause he's more quiet and hesitant.]

...Are you all right?

[fridgeninja]

That's right.

[neverfeltthatway]

I'm Armin - I don't think we've ever officially met.

[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.

[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.]

[upcard]

[It works. He sounds confident, and that helps--she can buy into that confidence and believe it as well. As for that question... she's honest.]

I'm okay... I was a little sad, but... nothing bad happened to me.

[She was just sad because they didn't help anyone, and that's....hard.]

What about Armin-san?

[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.]

[neverfeltthatway]

I'm all right. I... didn't know what was going on, or what to do, so I mostly just stayed with Sansa.

[To protect her, though he doesn't say that out loud.]

I didn't get hurt. But I also... I wasn't really able to help anybody.

[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.

[fridgeninja]

Seta Souji, or Souji-kun, or Black Souji. It's good to officially meet you, Armin-san.

[upcard]

Oh...

But you helped Sansa-san. [That's an immediate, certain response.] So you did help someone. And...you helped me too, in the marketplace.

So that's two people Armin-san helped, and that's just the obvious ones.

[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..?

[neverfeltthatway]

I g-guess so. But... I should have found a way to do more. All the peregrines were suffering so much...

[upcard]

... I understand.

[She doesn't have any comfort to offer, really, because--]

I feel the same way... there were good people there, even if it was a really bad place, and... I wish we could have helped them more...