[Audio]

[neverfeltthatway]

Ah... to all the new people arriving, please stay calm. Try not to panic, and try not to project your thoughts so chaotically - with all of you that are arriving, it'll only make things more confusing for everyone. No one will hear your thoughts if you're not actively projecting them.

I know you all have a lot of questions. There are many of us who've been here a while, so try to find someone who looks like they know what they're doing, and they can help you. I'll try to help as best I can too - we can talk like this, or if you'd prefer face to face, I'm over by the black knight.

Comments

[tealeafs]

Hmm, I'll send you a thought right away when I find someone like that! [ She knows all about uniforms making it easy to recognize people, after all, it's the same with the Shinsengumi and their blue haori. It's probably the same with any kind of miliarity--

.. Huh, wait. She never did ask Armin with how little they had talked, but.. ]

Um.. I'm sorry if this seems sudden, but are you part of an army back home..? [ It's just strange to her with just how young Armin looks. Even the Shinsengumi didn't recruit people that age back when they had a lot of people fighting for them. ]

[neverfeltthatway]

Thank you.

There's no need to apologize. Yes, Eren and I joined the military - or joined the cadets, anyway - about three years ago, now.

[tealeafs]

Three years ago?! [ Don't mind that surprised sound.. After all, he still looks younger than she is - despite her own height, or rather, the lack thereof. And the same goes for Eren. Yet it's already been three years since he joined the military.. ]

Do people really start fighting wars at that age in your world?

[ It's mostly surprising since she thinks her world is rather war-oriented too - at the moment, anyway - yet it's rare to people as young as Armin must have been when he actually started fight with actual armies. Maybe as a page, but to join by themselves.. ]

[locked]

[neverfeltthatway]

Not exactly... [There's the psychic equivalent of a grimace, and Armin closes off his mind, focusing in on just her.]

The first two years was just training, and I've spent most of the third year here. And it's not really a war. At least, not as people usually understand it.

In my world, we don't fight other humans. We live inside a cage of our own making, to protect ourselves against a mindless enemy that threatens out very existence. We're near to extinction. Unless we're able to learn about the Titans - where they come from, how we can beat them - we'll just be prolonging the inevitable.

Already, I saw more and more of my friends get ea- get killed by the Titans. I couldn't just do nothing. That's why I've given my heart to resurrecting mankind. If I die helping to achieve that, I could ask for nothing more.

At least... that's what I thought. After everything I've seen since being brought here, I'm not sure what to think anymore.

[locked]

[tealeafs]

[ There's a moment of silence from Chizuru's mind. Mostly since it takes her a moment to even take all of that in. Armin is young, younger than her, so young - yet he's already fighting back home, and they're living the kind of existence where they constantly have to fight just to live. It's not that the position she's in with Hijikata is anymore favorable - they're very much losing the war, after all, and they've already seen all of their friends die - but somehow Armin's situation sounds even worse. He's so young and he's already seen all of those things, and he doesn't know how to truly make the enemy stop since they aren't human, apparently..

Chizuru is a bleeding heart for other people, so she already feels a hollow feeling in her chest at hearing all those words inside her mind. ]

.. I'm sorry. That's.. [ .. ] .. horrible. [ But even that doesn't feel like it's enough to just encompass all of it.

Besides, in a way she can understand what Armin is saying - she'd do anything for her friends as well, for the Shinsengumi, for Hijikata-- ]

Isn't it a good thing then that you're here for now..? You've been so kind to me, so you really deserve a break from an awful situation like that. [ She bites her lip to herself as she sends the thoughts to him. ]

[locked]

[neverfeltthatway]

[There's an even longer silence in response. If the conversation were in person, Chizuru would see the way Armin's fists clench, the way his eyes narrow in fear and determination. As it is, she'll only get quiet echoes of the feelings.

When he does speak, his voice is tight and pained, anger and frustration plain - at himself and at their situation.] How can I take a break when all my friends are fighting and dying back home without me? There were few enough of us willing to fight as it was - even among the cadets, most of them were training to become good enough to be allowed behind Wall Sina, where they'd never have to see another Titan!

I may be a good soldier. I may not be able to keep up with the others. But how can my world survive if those of us that are willing to fight and die for humanity aren't allowed to?

[locked]

[tealeafs]

[ In a sense, she gets what she's saying. She's sure Hijikata wouldn't have wanted to abandon all the last soldiers he was fighting with back home either, no matter how hopeless the battle was getting. And it sounds like Armin's situation is similar, with maybe a tiny bit more hope, but.. even so.. ]

I'm sorry. [ And she does sound genuinely apologetic, if not just to counter the emotions all present in Armin's voice. ]

It must be hard, being stuck here and knowing you can't do anything for everyone back home, but.. it's not like you can help it, right? We're all stuck here, so you can't help them until we find a way out. That's not your fault at all.

Besides.. [ Her thoughts get more quiet for a moment, and she lightly bites her lip as she wonders if she should even send out the next thoughts. In the end she does though, if not just since she wants to be honest. ] It's probably a selfish thing to think, but I'd like to see you happy and not having to handle all of those things.