[video]

[neverfeltthatway]

I have the list of Travelers who are no longer with us. [He's exhausted after 3 consecutive dungeons, and angry and frustrated after the trouble with Eren and Malik, not to mentioned saddened by the loss of several friends he's reporting - so he's keeping this short and to the point.]

Martin Stein, River Tam, Philip Hamilton, Winry Rockbell, Edward Elric, Varric Tethras, Natasha Romanoff, Steve Rogers, Apollon Enjolras, Jack, Yuna, Saul Goodman, Karamatsu Matsuno, Genevieve Blanchard, Tsukasa Kadoya, and Eren Jaeger - the earlier Traveler, the one we just got back before the jaunt.

I'm sorry. Let me know if you have any questions.

Comments

[awitchdidit]

Gen's gone?

[It's an instinctive reaction, and one she's quick to backtrack from.]

Well then. I can only assume her country needed her more than the Trumps did.

[neverfeltthatway]

She is.

[He frowns, but doesn't respond to the second part - in nigh three years, he's seen no evidence to indicate that what happens to the Travelers has anything to do with what they or their home worlds need. But there's no merit in arguing the point, or destroying whatever solace people get in their beliefs about what happens to the Travelers who vanish.]

[willyousee]

[Rough and unsteady, it's possible that this isn't actually meant to be broadcast.]

I'd hoped I was wrong, I'd hoped... Oh Genevieve.

[awitchdidit]

She'd be the first person to tell us she's fine. There's a strong chance she'd be lying, but there's not much we can do about it for now.

[willyousee]

She would. And she would certainly rather preserve our feelings than communicate her own. I only hope that she has returned home, where she can be with her people. Where she has a chance to be happy.

[itellyourstory]

And you are sure these people are gone?

[ ...what? she was kind of secretly hoping maybe Philip had been avoiding them... for some... reason.... ]

[neverfeltthatway]

I'm sorry, but yes, I am - or as sure as I can be of anything, in this place. If any of them are still here, they're not connected to the psychic network.

[itellyourstory]

I see.

Thank you.

[neverfeltthatway]

...Of course.

[He hates being the one to bring this news to people, telling them they may never see their loved ones again. But just as strongly, he believes it needs to be done - and he would never push the responsibility on anybody else.]

[canbebrave]

My Lady... I am sorry.

[itellyourstory]

Thank you. I... well. I will be fine.

It's not the first time I've lost him.

[summerorange]

Wait a second. What do you mean by 'no longer with us'?

[Fear clenches her heart, and is not so subtly showing in her words.]

[neverfeltthatway]

I mean that they have vanished - on a walkabout or to a dungeon or back home, or wherever else people go when they disappear here that we can't know. [His voice is gentle this time, but he doesn't soften the words that need to be said, the answer to her question.] I'm sorry. I know it's hard.

[summerorange]

So...they're still alive...

[That does soothe her worst fear. However...]

Is there any way of knowing when they'll be back? Or any way to find them again?

[neverfeltthatway]

[She's probably right, so he doesn't gainsay her.]

I'm afraid there isn't. Some Travelers come back after just a few days. Others vanished more than two and a half years ago, and have yet to return. All we can do is keep an eye out for dungeon portals, and rescue them if they appear.

[summerorange]

Two and a half....

[Her voice trails off in whiffs of despair]

...how...how can we tell if...if it's a dungeon or...something like that?

[neverfeltthatway]

[Armin shakes his head, sorrow and understanding in his gaze.]

We cannot. To the best of my knowledge, until a dungeon portal appears, there's nothing we can do.

[He hates to see anyone in despair. But he won't give her false words of comfort.]

[morethanashadow]

River too...

[that's... upsetting. he liked her. and while he never learned a lot about her world, he didn't get the impression it was somewhere she really wanted to return too. Except for her brother. Hopefully she went back to him.]

Thanks.

[neverfeltthatway]

Yeah. [Armin looks away, at that. Aside from Eren, River is the one that hurts the most, for him. He hadn't known her all that well before the jaunt - but during the jaunt, he'd been dating her, and she was the most important person in his life.]

...Of course.

[callyourname]

[ So... Ed is really no longer here. She knows it before this list goes up but a part of her is hoping he is still around here somewhere, anywhere, with his girlfriend. Who is also on that list...

And Eren. That one hurts the most from all those names, obviously, even though she is a lot more closer with the one who is still around. But still. She'd rather keep an infinite amount of Erens around.]

Well, at least some people get to go together... Wherever they go.

[ Not that she can say that she even knew most of those names, but she spent the jaunt in Ed's company. ...What's the point of trying to get to know people if they all just disappear soon after that? No need to answer that when they come from a world where anyone can die at any time and they just need to make the most of the time they have together.

She's not asking for anything. But saying something here is ... her way of saying / asking that if Armin wants to talk about anything with her, she's here.]

Private (psychic protection II)

[neverfeltthatway]

Yeah. [Armin makes the conversation private, then lets out a shaky breath, dropping the mask a little.]

Hey, 'kasa.

Private (psychic protection I since she still doesn't have II )

[callyourname]

Hey, Armin. [ She's not letting her own mask go anywhere but most things don't go unnoticed by her. ]

You know I'm here or anywhere if you want to talk about... Anything.

Private (psychic protection II, doesn't actually matter that she doesn't have II, since he does)

[neverfeltthatway]

I know. I...

[He closes his eyes and takes another deep breath. By the time he opens them again, he's dropped the mask a little more - looking away, but still letting her see and hear just a little of how vulnerable he feels.]

...I w-wouldn't mind some company right now.