character information.
Character Information
General
Canon Source: +C: Sword and Cornett
Canon Format: manga
Character's Name: Belca Noctircus
Character's Age: est. 16/17
Conditional: If your character is 13 years of age or under, please clarify how they will be played. N/A
What form will your character's NV take? This frog, lol the frog prince. Only one of them- the green one. Its eyes will function as a camera, and it'll be able to capture sound; patterns on its back are pressed in order to change modes. A little keyboard can fold out from the bottom of the throat and lay across the little front hands.
Abilities
Character's Canon Abilities: The ability to accidentally make great allies and also appear very delicate in a pretty gown...? He's also a bamf at swordplay, having been trained since childhood, and often defeating (and therefore firing) his instructors.
Conditional: If your character has no superhuman canon abilities, what dormant ability will you give them? The ability to heat things up with his hands. It'll first manifest as him having hands a few degrees warmer than a person's should be - with time, he'll be able to control the temperature, bringing his hands to an incredibly hot state, or cooling them to a mostly normal degree.
Weapons: A long, somewhat ornate hunting knife.
History/Personality/Plans/etc.
Character History: An overview. Please let me know if you need elaboration!
Point in Canon: Op. 25
Conditional: Brief summary of previous RP history: N/A
Character Personality: Hot-blooded, first off; it's one of Belca's most readily apparent traits, and it'll easily make its way into a few first impressions, thanks to how quickly he can rush into something. He doesn't always think, and when he does, he still often neglects to consider the consequences for his own well-being. The third prince of Azelprade cares surprisingly little for himself, in fact, and this is largely accounted for by his bastard birth: his father the king had an affair with a 'common dancer,' and Belca, odd one out of his fair-haired siblings, was born. Plenty of scorn followed him - neither nobles nor maids particularly wanted to serve the blood of a commoner, and Belca grew up quietly yet bitingly referred to as 'the usurper,' the boy who seeks to wrest the throne from its rightful heir.
-Really, Belca wants no part of all that.
It's noted that, thanks to this spite-filled upbringing, Belca does have low self-esteem, even if it doesn't necessarily manifest in the most predictable ways. Rather than withdrawing or becoming passive in the face of his perceived inadequacies, this prince spends much of his time trying to overcome the atmospheres of distaste and pity, to the point where he comes off as quite cocky with some things (i.e., swordplay), when the story starts and before he progresses. He's been known to be self-deprecating, though this focuses mainly on his heritage ("I'm not a suitable prince," speaking to his older half-brothers with the formality of a commoner to royalty, etc.), instead of attacking his own abilities. Still, despite his strengths, of which there are many, Belca, since birth, has been made all too aware of the unfavorable circumstances surrounding his position. It all seems to have spawned a bit of a martyr complex in this boy.
...Ah, yes. Belca's martyr complex.
Actually it's somewhat huge, and, as with most complexes involving great personal sacrifice, it can get somewhat ridiculous. He doesn't consider the consequences for himself, is what I said earlier, and that really can be true, but - there are times in which he does consider them, and simply does not care, or genuinely believes it to be the best option available. From trying to keep his younger sister, the princess Musca, shielded and comfortable despite the fact that she pretty much loathes him, to - more than once - dashing his comrades' plans in order to go ahead on his own so that no one else might face danger or injury, Belca just wants everyone else to be all right, no matter the cost to himself. Though he looks to be, at the beginning of the story, more selfish and self-interested, we're able to find that Belca is a young man who's incredibly dedicated to his family and friends.
This isn't to say that Belca doesn't have his selfish moments, however. Even his constant attempts at martyrdom can sometimes be perceived as such, a point which the generally good-natured bard Eco calls him out on. The fact of the matter is that Belca doesn't want to be left behind in the wakes of the deaths of his loved ones; he'd rather be the one to go. In spite of his wish to essentially save his kingdom, Prince Belca isn't looking to be a hero - he just doesn't want people to continue to be harmed.
Despite his efforts, however, Belca has, at his point in canon, experienced the deaths of two people whom he valued greatly. The first death was that of his older brother the Crown Prince Hector, who was killed quite suddenly and without warning, under the guise of a chronic illness. This older brother was someone whom Belca really looked up to - he was a man Belca felt could be an amazing ruler, and someone he felt accepted by. The death was a hard one, for everyone; Hector was a man loved by all, it seemed. His passing launched the story, but Belca is aware that he couldn't really have stopped it himself. Unfortunately, the same can't really be said of the death of Linna Dzintars Orhaldi, a former soldier of Sana in Azelprade, and a man who treasured Belca above all else. A typical disguise of Belca's is a woman called Mariebelle (which he's actually able to pull off incredibly well), and it's that 'girl' whom Linna first met, while searching with his men for the fugitive prince. After coming across Mariebelle, Linna- well, accidents happen. Linna became quite taken with the little lady, went so far as to fall in love - and really, that didn't change once the prince's identity was revealed to him. Through a staged capture attempt, Linna allowed Prince Belca to go free... and then, after seeing Belca's strength (yet also his fragility), went ahead and retired from his position as Captain of the Royal Guard of Sana in order to serve Belca and Belca alone. Belca therefore gained an incredibly loyal knight in Linna - and Linna, in turn, gained an incredibly loyal prince, in the hard-headed Belca. Belca's determination to keep Linna from harm seemed to be one of the most important things to the prince, and the two of them were constantly putting themselves in harm's way for one another, often with words of distress over the other's situation in the process.
Until Linna went too far, that is, and did end up dying in order to secure Belca's safety.
Linna, skewered against the ground and bleeding steadily, requested one last thing of Belca: a kiss. So, as Belca sat there, weeping over his knight, Linna kissed his hand; this naturally impacted Belca greatly, although he kept himself steady by insisting that Linna would always be with Belca, in his own way. The attachment was clearly a fierce one, and its loss sets Belca's determination further; Linna's sacrifice won't be a meaningless one, and the prince intends to make sure of that. Linna had claimed, while he was able, that he would be staying at Belca's side for always, life and/or death aside - and Belca took this to heart, using it to push himself forward. Even so, it's a huge regret of his; he can't bear to allow it to happen again, and that will drive him to approach whatever he needs to as fiercely as possible.
Certainly there are other people for whom he'd risk so much - people whose safety take such precedence above all else, Belca feels. His younger half-sister Musca, who slowly grows closer to accepting him, is one such individual; she refers to him as 'the commoner's child,' but she also comes to realize exactly how much it is Belca does for her. Their remaining older brother, too, is a person Belca loves unquestionably. Orcelito, who's now meant to take the title of Crown Prince, has been a constant in Belca's life, thanks especially to their closeness in age. Orcelito has always been kind to Belca, regardless of the rest of the court's treatment; he seeks, in fact, to do everything he can for his younger brother. This proves to grow into somewhat of a dangerous conviction, over time. Still, Belca's faith in Orcelito is strong enough that he finds himself in complete denial when faced with the possibility that Orcelito seems to be acting in a corrupt light. What probably makes this worse is that Orcelito does much of this for his brother's sake in the first place; he's only trying to keep his little brother safe from the hardships of their country. So many characters surrounding Belca, or who are at least in some way involved with his story, look to have a thousand different agendas amongst each other. Perhaps it is, to an extent, Belca's naïveté which allows him to trust a certain amount of them so firmly, regardless of their motives - Eco, for instance, who, though he saved Belca's life early in the series, is lying to Belca about quite a few things, and is largely a part of the adventure in order to meet his own goal.
...Which, oddly enough, is the right to sing 'Prince Belca's song.'
Now, as Eco is a bard, it's not too strange that he sings and wants to continue doing so. However, his urge to sing Belca's song, to make it legend, is an intense one, and Belca has promised that 'privilege' to him - even if he's a little weirded out by it. Eco therefore insists that he must entangle himself in all of Belca's happenings, because he can't sing what he hasn't seen. And, aside from a few instances intended to be martyrdoms, Belca does not deny him this- even if, by looking at them, you'd think Eco's a constant agitation to the moody prince. Belca does have a tendency to be somewhat of a huge grump, but Eco's just about the only person he consistently bitches at - and Eco's also incredibly good at getting Belca to turn bright red. Belca's at about a 'typical' level of modesty, never overboard but not exactly showy (unless he's offhandedly mentioning some porno, which is usually either incredibly surprising to the surrounding parties, or a scheme set up by Hector), but Eco is so candid that it can get Belca red-eared and hiding his face. Between that and the spontaneous cries of "You're so cute, Belca ♥," the prince isn't quite sure how to react. ...So, clearly, more grumpiness is the answer.
You'll notice that, bastard or not, Belca is still royalty, while most of his trusted allies - Linna and Eco - are pretty much commoners. Being the song of the king is not something Belca gets a swelled head over; really, even if he wasn't a fugitive, he wouldn't want to draw attention to that part of himself. He says that Linna is the only person who made him feel worthy of being called a prince, of being called Your Highness, and so he doesn't dare lord that over anyone. The only time being a prince comes in handy is when he's able to reveal himself to oncoming soldiers in hopes of keeping himself and his comrades out of harm's way.
Despite his lack of classism, however, racism is a large part of Belca's world, and Belca, growing up, was not exempt from those teachings. People known as the Amontel are subject to incredible prejudice - they are killed, enslaved, and referred to as inhuman. The late Crown Prince Hector, after spending time abroad with these people, grew to see them as exactly that - people. It was because of his insistence that they be treated equally that he was assassinated, but Belca, watching their way of life while being held hostage by their resistance forces, turned out much the same: he values them as human beings, and is disgusted by his country's attempts at wiping them out. He had a rough start - was cruel to them in his own right, at first - but after letting some understanding into that hard head of his, Prince Belca became known as a strong ally to the Amontel - the Hokulea, as they're properly called. At this point, Belca is essentially a rebel to his country in a thousand and one ways. All he wants to do is save them.
Naive in some ways, and still learning about life outside of the castle, Belca is regardless a formidable force simply because he tries so hard, and because he tends to have incredibly good luck in finding allies. He isn't the most ingenuitive, and he doesn't think about leaps for long enough before taking them - but he's honest, earnest, and more loving than he'd initially have you know. He's crabby, but he's warm - and just because he's frightened doesn't mean that he doesn't want what's best for his loved ones, and for a group of people who don't deserve the treatment they receive.
In a lot of ways, Belca's pretty much just a stubborn teenager with the makings of a legend.
Conditional: Personality development in previous game: N/A
Character Plans: Honestly I just want to help build a cast for this because it is awesome... He's probably not going to affiliate with anyone - NONE OF MINE EVER DO, WOW - but he'll bro around, at least.
Appearance/PB: He is both the dark-haired one and... the pretty girl.
Writing Samples
First Person Sample
[The picture you're seeing is this teenaged boy in a ratty scarf, looking... kind of unsure of himself, and kind of like he wants to burst out blaming something. When he does speak, he's clearly trying to restrain his words and tone.]
You know, there's a lot here... that was never in Neue Favrille. This includes electricity. I know that's probably weird to a lot of you, but. That's how it was. The food here is different, too, so...
Well, I found a package of dumplings...
[He's halfway between snapping angrily and drooping sadly.]
...I don't get why your microwaves don't come with instructions or something. Look, now I don't have any dumplings at all. [A cluck of his tongue, agitated, and he tosses his head a little; he's clearly pretty upset by the death of his dinner. Even so, he manages to display a pack of Hostess cakes, next.]
These. These? These are about the only good thing in this place, got it? Geeze...
Third Person Sample
Somewhere around his fifteenth thought is basically Well, at least I'm dressed for it, because he is - traipsing around in snowy weather leaves him warm enough on the baseball field. The fourteen thoughts preceding it largely consist of fright and fury and a near-inexplicable urge to somehow blame Eco. So his seventeenth thought is Where's Eco and then- Shingetsu, Tenrou, where are the Hokuleans? Where is everyone? The 'someone' who comes isn't at all who he was looking for; it's some guy, and that's how Belca internally refers to the Greeter from now on.
None of it makes any damn sense and he's nodding and glaring and butting in all the way throughout the Greeter's hasty explanation, but he's really spooked. And he's a little desolate, too: if he's not home, how is he supposed to... help home? "Where's Sana?" is what he demands. That gets nothing. What? "Where is Neue Favrille from here?" Nothing there, either. Belca has to swallow through a dry throat when he asks, "Where... is Azelprade from here?"
He's told, Never heard of a place called that, and it jars him so harshly.
"Thanks," he says finally, stiff about it, and he leaves to go to an apartment; the trip across the street is short but he still almost gets run over. It's- difficult. To think. There are a lot of names running through his head. I have to find Eco. I have to find Shingetsu. I have to find Musca. I have to find Linna. I have to find Orcelito.
-Backtracking, he realizes he's listed off a dead person in his head, and by then he's inside; he presses his back against the wall and he presses his hand against his face. Then, he laughs. It's breathless and very, very worried.
"You here for a key?" he's asked.
"Thanks," he says again, and he takes it, goes inside, sits on the bed-
Ten minutes later he's back outside. He's going to find someone, at least.
General
Canon Source: +C: Sword and Cornett
Canon Format: manga
Character's Name: Belca Noctircus
Character's Age: est. 16/17
Conditional: If your character is 13 years of age or under, please clarify how they will be played. N/A
What form will your character's NV take? This frog, lol the frog prince. Only one of them- the green one. Its eyes will function as a camera, and it'll be able to capture sound; patterns on its back are pressed in order to change modes. A little keyboard can fold out from the bottom of the throat and lay across the little front hands.
Abilities
Character's Canon Abilities: The ability to accidentally make great allies and also appear very delicate in a pretty gown...? He's also a bamf at swordplay, having been trained since childhood, and often defeating (and therefore firing) his instructors.
Conditional: If your character has no superhuman canon abilities, what dormant ability will you give them? The ability to heat things up with his hands. It'll first manifest as him having hands a few degrees warmer than a person's should be - with time, he'll be able to control the temperature, bringing his hands to an incredibly hot state, or cooling them to a mostly normal degree.
Weapons: A long, somewhat ornate hunting knife.
History/Personality/Plans/etc.
Character History: An overview. Please let me know if you need elaboration!
Point in Canon: Op. 25
Conditional: Brief summary of previous RP history: N/A
Character Personality: Hot-blooded, first off; it's one of Belca's most readily apparent traits, and it'll easily make its way into a few first impressions, thanks to how quickly he can rush into something. He doesn't always think, and when he does, he still often neglects to consider the consequences for his own well-being. The third prince of Azelprade cares surprisingly little for himself, in fact, and this is largely accounted for by his bastard birth: his father the king had an affair with a 'common dancer,' and Belca, odd one out of his fair-haired siblings, was born. Plenty of scorn followed him - neither nobles nor maids particularly wanted to serve the blood of a commoner, and Belca grew up quietly yet bitingly referred to as 'the usurper,' the boy who seeks to wrest the throne from its rightful heir.
-Really, Belca wants no part of all that.
It's noted that, thanks to this spite-filled upbringing, Belca does have low self-esteem, even if it doesn't necessarily manifest in the most predictable ways. Rather than withdrawing or becoming passive in the face of his perceived inadequacies, this prince spends much of his time trying to overcome the atmospheres of distaste and pity, to the point where he comes off as quite cocky with some things (i.e., swordplay), when the story starts and before he progresses. He's been known to be self-deprecating, though this focuses mainly on his heritage ("I'm not a suitable prince," speaking to his older half-brothers with the formality of a commoner to royalty, etc.), instead of attacking his own abilities. Still, despite his strengths, of which there are many, Belca, since birth, has been made all too aware of the unfavorable circumstances surrounding his position. It all seems to have spawned a bit of a martyr complex in this boy.
...Ah, yes. Belca's martyr complex.
Actually it's somewhat huge, and, as with most complexes involving great personal sacrifice, it can get somewhat ridiculous. He doesn't consider the consequences for himself, is what I said earlier, and that really can be true, but - there are times in which he does consider them, and simply does not care, or genuinely believes it to be the best option available. From trying to keep his younger sister, the princess Musca, shielded and comfortable despite the fact that she pretty much loathes him, to - more than once - dashing his comrades' plans in order to go ahead on his own so that no one else might face danger or injury, Belca just wants everyone else to be all right, no matter the cost to himself. Though he looks to be, at the beginning of the story, more selfish and self-interested, we're able to find that Belca is a young man who's incredibly dedicated to his family and friends.
This isn't to say that Belca doesn't have his selfish moments, however. Even his constant attempts at martyrdom can sometimes be perceived as such, a point which the generally good-natured bard Eco calls him out on. The fact of the matter is that Belca doesn't want to be left behind in the wakes of the deaths of his loved ones; he'd rather be the one to go. In spite of his wish to essentially save his kingdom, Prince Belca isn't looking to be a hero - he just doesn't want people to continue to be harmed.
Despite his efforts, however, Belca has, at his point in canon, experienced the deaths of two people whom he valued greatly. The first death was that of his older brother the Crown Prince Hector, who was killed quite suddenly and without warning, under the guise of a chronic illness. This older brother was someone whom Belca really looked up to - he was a man Belca felt could be an amazing ruler, and someone he felt accepted by. The death was a hard one, for everyone; Hector was a man loved by all, it seemed. His passing launched the story, but Belca is aware that he couldn't really have stopped it himself. Unfortunately, the same can't really be said of the death of Linna Dzintars Orhaldi, a former soldier of Sana in Azelprade, and a man who treasured Belca above all else. A typical disguise of Belca's is a woman called Mariebelle (which he's actually able to pull off incredibly well), and it's that 'girl' whom Linna first met, while searching with his men for the fugitive prince. After coming across Mariebelle, Linna- well, accidents happen. Linna became quite taken with the little lady, went so far as to fall in love - and really, that didn't change once the prince's identity was revealed to him. Through a staged capture attempt, Linna allowed Prince Belca to go free... and then, after seeing Belca's strength (yet also his fragility), went ahead and retired from his position as Captain of the Royal Guard of Sana in order to serve Belca and Belca alone. Belca therefore gained an incredibly loyal knight in Linna - and Linna, in turn, gained an incredibly loyal prince, in the hard-headed Belca. Belca's determination to keep Linna from harm seemed to be one of the most important things to the prince, and the two of them were constantly putting themselves in harm's way for one another, often with words of distress over the other's situation in the process.
Until Linna went too far, that is, and did end up dying in order to secure Belca's safety.
Linna, skewered against the ground and bleeding steadily, requested one last thing of Belca: a kiss. So, as Belca sat there, weeping over his knight, Linna kissed his hand; this naturally impacted Belca greatly, although he kept himself steady by insisting that Linna would always be with Belca, in his own way. The attachment was clearly a fierce one, and its loss sets Belca's determination further; Linna's sacrifice won't be a meaningless one, and the prince intends to make sure of that. Linna had claimed, while he was able, that he would be staying at Belca's side for always, life and/or death aside - and Belca took this to heart, using it to push himself forward. Even so, it's a huge regret of his; he can't bear to allow it to happen again, and that will drive him to approach whatever he needs to as fiercely as possible.
Certainly there are other people for whom he'd risk so much - people whose safety take such precedence above all else, Belca feels. His younger half-sister Musca, who slowly grows closer to accepting him, is one such individual; she refers to him as 'the commoner's child,' but she also comes to realize exactly how much it is Belca does for her. Their remaining older brother, too, is a person Belca loves unquestionably. Orcelito, who's now meant to take the title of Crown Prince, has been a constant in Belca's life, thanks especially to their closeness in age. Orcelito has always been kind to Belca, regardless of the rest of the court's treatment; he seeks, in fact, to do everything he can for his younger brother. This proves to grow into somewhat of a dangerous conviction, over time. Still, Belca's faith in Orcelito is strong enough that he finds himself in complete denial when faced with the possibility that Orcelito seems to be acting in a corrupt light. What probably makes this worse is that Orcelito does much of this for his brother's sake in the first place; he's only trying to keep his little brother safe from the hardships of their country. So many characters surrounding Belca, or who are at least in some way involved with his story, look to have a thousand different agendas amongst each other. Perhaps it is, to an extent, Belca's naïveté which allows him to trust a certain amount of them so firmly, regardless of their motives - Eco, for instance, who, though he saved Belca's life early in the series, is lying to Belca about quite a few things, and is largely a part of the adventure in order to meet his own goal.
...Which, oddly enough, is the right to sing 'Prince Belca's song.'
Now, as Eco is a bard, it's not too strange that he sings and wants to continue doing so. However, his urge to sing Belca's song, to make it legend, is an intense one, and Belca has promised that 'privilege' to him - even if he's a little weirded out by it. Eco therefore insists that he must entangle himself in all of Belca's happenings, because he can't sing what he hasn't seen. And, aside from a few instances intended to be martyrdoms, Belca does not deny him this- even if, by looking at them, you'd think Eco's a constant agitation to the moody prince. Belca does have a tendency to be somewhat of a huge grump, but Eco's just about the only person he consistently bitches at - and Eco's also incredibly good at getting Belca to turn bright red. Belca's at about a 'typical' level of modesty, never overboard but not exactly showy (unless he's offhandedly mentioning some porno, which is usually either incredibly surprising to the surrounding parties, or a scheme set up by Hector), but Eco is so candid that it can get Belca red-eared and hiding his face. Between that and the spontaneous cries of "You're so cute, Belca ♥," the prince isn't quite sure how to react. ...So, clearly, more grumpiness is the answer.
You'll notice that, bastard or not, Belca is still royalty, while most of his trusted allies - Linna and Eco - are pretty much commoners. Being the song of the king is not something Belca gets a swelled head over; really, even if he wasn't a fugitive, he wouldn't want to draw attention to that part of himself. He says that Linna is the only person who made him feel worthy of being called a prince, of being called Your Highness, and so he doesn't dare lord that over anyone. The only time being a prince comes in handy is when he's able to reveal himself to oncoming soldiers in hopes of keeping himself and his comrades out of harm's way.
Despite his lack of classism, however, racism is a large part of Belca's world, and Belca, growing up, was not exempt from those teachings. People known as the Amontel are subject to incredible prejudice - they are killed, enslaved, and referred to as inhuman. The late Crown Prince Hector, after spending time abroad with these people, grew to see them as exactly that - people. It was because of his insistence that they be treated equally that he was assassinated, but Belca, watching their way of life while being held hostage by their resistance forces, turned out much the same: he values them as human beings, and is disgusted by his country's attempts at wiping them out. He had a rough start - was cruel to them in his own right, at first - but after letting some understanding into that hard head of his, Prince Belca became known as a strong ally to the Amontel - the Hokulea, as they're properly called. At this point, Belca is essentially a rebel to his country in a thousand and one ways. All he wants to do is save them.
Naive in some ways, and still learning about life outside of the castle, Belca is regardless a formidable force simply because he tries so hard, and because he tends to have incredibly good luck in finding allies. He isn't the most ingenuitive, and he doesn't think about leaps for long enough before taking them - but he's honest, earnest, and more loving than he'd initially have you know. He's crabby, but he's warm - and just because he's frightened doesn't mean that he doesn't want what's best for his loved ones, and for a group of people who don't deserve the treatment they receive.
In a lot of ways, Belca's pretty much just a stubborn teenager with the makings of a legend.
Conditional: Personality development in previous game: N/A
Character Plans: Honestly I just want to help build a cast for this because it is awesome... He's probably not going to affiliate with anyone - NONE OF MINE EVER DO, WOW - but he'll bro around, at least.
Appearance/PB: He is both the dark-haired one and... the pretty girl.
Writing Samples
First Person Sample
[The picture you're seeing is this teenaged boy in a ratty scarf, looking... kind of unsure of himself, and kind of like he wants to burst out blaming something. When he does speak, he's clearly trying to restrain his words and tone.]
You know, there's a lot here... that was never in Neue Favrille. This includes electricity. I know that's probably weird to a lot of you, but. That's how it was. The food here is different, too, so...
Well, I found a package of dumplings...
[He's halfway between snapping angrily and drooping sadly.]
...I don't get why your microwaves don't come with instructions or something. Look, now I don't have any dumplings at all. [A cluck of his tongue, agitated, and he tosses his head a little; he's clearly pretty upset by the death of his dinner. Even so, he manages to display a pack of Hostess cakes, next.]
These. These? These are about the only good thing in this place, got it? Geeze...
Third Person Sample
Somewhere around his fifteenth thought is basically Well, at least I'm dressed for it, because he is - traipsing around in snowy weather leaves him warm enough on the baseball field. The fourteen thoughts preceding it largely consist of fright and fury and a near-inexplicable urge to somehow blame Eco. So his seventeenth thought is Where's Eco and then- Shingetsu, Tenrou, where are the Hokuleans? Where is everyone? The 'someone' who comes isn't at all who he was looking for; it's some guy, and that's how Belca internally refers to the Greeter from now on.
None of it makes any damn sense and he's nodding and glaring and butting in all the way throughout the Greeter's hasty explanation, but he's really spooked. And he's a little desolate, too: if he's not home, how is he supposed to... help home? "Where's Sana?" is what he demands. That gets nothing. What? "Where is Neue Favrille from here?" Nothing there, either. Belca has to swallow through a dry throat when he asks, "Where... is Azelprade from here?"
He's told, Never heard of a place called that, and it jars him so harshly.
"Thanks," he says finally, stiff about it, and he leaves to go to an apartment; the trip across the street is short but he still almost gets run over. It's- difficult. To think. There are a lot of names running through his head. I have to find Eco. I have to find Shingetsu. I have to find Musca. I have to find Linna. I have to find Orcelito.
-Backtracking, he realizes he's listed off a dead person in his head, and by then he's inside; he presses his back against the wall and he presses his hand against his face. Then, he laughs. It's breathless and very, very worried.
"You here for a key?" he's asked.
"Thanks," he says again, and he takes it, goes inside, sits on the bed-
Ten minutes later he's back outside. He's going to find someone, at least.