(ley line)

[anciently]

[ Perhaps the light, female voice is familiar to those who hear it, recognizable as belonging to Aerith, or perhaps it's a stranger that you suddenly have chatting in your mind. Either way: ]

Hi there, everyone! I won't take too much of your time.

How many people have gone home from here and come back, and...how many have just...gone?

Just wondering. Thanks.

[ Those even a little familiar with the flower girl might note the uncharacteristic curtness to the message, clipped in tone and lower in energy than her usual... ]

Comments

[halloflamer]

Hah! I'll do you one better; I'll drag his sorry Feebas outta whatever cave or crevice he's hiding in so you can give him the thwacking of a lifetime!

[He sounds like he's trying to inject some go-getter energy into the reply; it's nice to hope and think that they might not be gone, somewhere, right? Even though he'd long given up on his own hopes.]

[Blue has plenty of time to feel sorry for himself. But dragging someone else's hopes down? That just wasn't his scene. His voice evens out again, softer.]

You just leave it to us. If there's any chance he's still around here.... You'll know it.

[anciently]

[ Warmth floods her face at the response, and she can't help but admit a smile for Blue's enthusiasm. As such, she nods firmly, trying to look - and feel - encouraged by this in the face of the loss. What he's saying certainly makes it easier. ]

Okay. I'm counting on you! [ There's a pause, and then she adds, softly: ] I know I'm not the only one who's lost someone. So...don't give up on Red, okay? I'll look for him, too. To pay you back.

[ And just to help out a friend! Aerith isn't one for falling into despair, even in the worst of situations. At least, not outwardly. So, she has to put on a bit of a show of resolve for Blue, particularly since he's been working through his own feelings of grief since his own friends vanished. ]

We'll get through this. And, in the meantime...they're not gone. They're just with us in a different way. For now, anyway.

[halloflamer]

[A hesitant silence meets her returned sympathy, as Blue tries not to let it bring him down any from the high point he'd struck.]

...Yeah, [He answers, flimsily but still forcing that energy,] I can't ever give up on him now. I mean, I lasted all that while, so what's one little month or three in this weird place. Right?

[And it wasn't like Red had left this time. Not because he wanted to. So... it was different, and it was endurable. And he'd see Red again whenever they saw home again.]

[Right.]

You guys too, right?