[ 48 - video ]

[heartbetween]

[Well, here's Kaien--he's about as roughed up as anyone else who had to escape those cages, and tired as well, despite spending the last day in the clinic. Those who can sense it can note that he's weak, too. His power is still dulled from whatever they put in him, and his hands shake just slightly as he grips the Forge.]Hey, everybody. I'm sorry I

Comments

[ video ]

[swordofmiltia]

Kaien!

[ That is a smile, there. ]

You've seen better days.

[ video ]

[heartbetween]

Jin, hey!

[A tired little grin in return. He rubs at his neck.]

I guess that's true, huh.

How are you? The elves didn't get you too, did they?

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[swordofmiltia]

I'm fine. I'm rather good at hide-and-seek.

[ Not kidding, though from the lightness in his tone, it might seem that way. Part of the Intelligence job back home. ]

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[swordofmiltia]

It is good to see you made it. For them to be able to capture you...

[ A death god. That's frightening. He sobers up pretty quickly. ]

I'd like to believe this world revives the dead. It would be a nice dream.

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[heartbetween]

I'm glad.

Even the strongest of us are no match for the Mist, and some of those elves seem to be able to control it. [He shakes his head.]

And I didn't make it out alone. My friends came for me. [Four people had ventured out into deep mist for his sake, one of which he would've never expected--he hadn't known Break cared so much.]

[ video ]

[heartbetween]

[Kaien's expression grows a little more serious at that last comment, but the smile remains in place.]

I've personally witnessed it a number of times in the last year and a half.

...Is there someone you want to see?

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[swordofmiltia]

[ And even more were waiting here, would be something his own friends might have said, but Jin isn't quite that type of person. Kaien isn't exactly a friend, but he was waiting and hoping for Kaien's safe return. For everyone.

Inside, he mourns those who did not come back and celebrates with those who have. ]

You are very lucky.

[ He carefully stows the information on the elves away. He should consider writing his next report. ]

Are you sure they come back? Can you be certain that they are not conjured by the mind in our desire to want them back?

[ Are they sure this isn't simply some program and these people aren't really dead, just deleted and replaced? ]

But that is an odd question to ask.

[ video ]

[heartbetween]

I am. [In more ways than one, he knows.]

[And Jin's comment strikes him as very...strange. Resurrections are not something that can be so easily imagined, outside of the ruins. What little mist that exists in the city ordinarily is not enough to produce living, breathing versions of the people they care about. How could it be that they are there, then, back in Anatole (however inexplicably), freely interacting with those they have never met, if they were simply hallucinations of the mind?

Kaien chews on the inside of his cheek a moment, trying to figure out how to best explain it.]

...Not everyone who came back was well-liked. Or even well-known, sometimes.

[A beat]

Why is it odd?

...When you said it would be a nice dream...I guess I assumed there was someone you'd lost and wanted to see again.

[ video ]

[swordofmiltia]

I believe... that a single-thought, no matter how insignificant it may seem, can very well change the world.

[ Shion was proof of that. And KOS-MOS too. chaos and Jr., MOMO. Allen. Something that could only be taught by those who had a lot of hope for the future of mankind, hope Jin thought he lost back when home was lost.

His smile is humorless. Nearly empty. ]

Perhaps. It's human-nature to want what we have lost.

[ And he switches tactics a bit, forcing a bit of humor into it. ]

I, personally, would love to meet the important men of history.