[homophonic] catchall for jonas

[dendroculi]

JONAS

code

Comments

[dendroculi]

I'm okay... I feel much better now.

Thank you for checking on me, and I'm sorry for worrying you. How is Setsu doing?

[she imagines setsu is probably sticking very close to jonas. for reasons.]

[westedge]

don't apologize for that
i'm still trying to understand what even happened
they're...still pretty shaken, i think, but we're back at our warehouse for now
it was a lot to witness

[dendroculi]

They went through a lot. I was only there for a part of it, though.

I'm sorry I wasn't able to do more to protect them.

[westedge]

i'm sure you did what you could
what do you mean though?
did you guys get separated?

[ did you turn into a single mother... ]

[dendroculi]

We started off separated... and then we split up again after we started finding people other than us.

[westedge]

other people?
people we know or...like the shadow people we keep seeing?

[dendroculi]

[there's a few minutes' delay before she responds]

You, Shu, and Shenhe. And Matsui too... he didn't come out of the portal when he first had a chance to.

Setsu stayed to watch over you while we went to get Matsui, and then we got pulled into separate rooms to retrieve Shu and Shenhe.

[westedge]

??

[ this is more at the idea that matsui just stayed in a portal for some reason. ]

oh i see
how did you guys get out?
did you find them?

[dendroculi]

[(gazes into the middle distance)]

Yes, we did...

But then the place we found you all in was attacked.

[westedge]

and so you had to fight?

[dendroculi]

Yes.

You fought alongside us.

[westedge]

not quite sure how i would've
but i guess even fake-me wouldn't let you do it alone so that makes some sense

[dendroculi]

The you that was there... you died.

We all thought you had died.

I'm so glad you didn't. I'm glad you were here.

[westedge]

...i'm not going anywhere if i can help it, you know?
i've got things to do here still
but i'm sorry you had to see something like that
i guess...even knowing now that it wasn't real doesn't change that it was a scary thing

[dendroculi]

You don't need to apologize!

But... I hope you'll understand. If some of us seem a little protective or overly-attentive of you... that's probably why.

It was very scary to see that happen to you. I'm glad it wasn't real, but it felt real. That memory is something that isn't going to be easy to shake.

[westedge]

no i
no. i definitely understand. i'm not going to say anybody's wrong for whatever they think they have to do
and i'll try to be understanding of it myself since...i wasn't actually there
so i don't know how you guys really felt

[dendroculi]

It's a little difficult to put it into words.

Objectively, the words I think of should be enough to describe it. But when I say them or write them... they do not feel like enough.

[westedge]

...i think the intention behind the words makes it more than enough
if that helps any

[dendroculi]

Most of all, I'm relieved that it wasn't really you there.

It doesn't make the memory of what happened to the you we saw in that place any less potent, but... I'm relieved you didn't feel that pain. And I'm relieved you're still with us.

[westedge]

if it's any consolation, i'm not going anywhere
i am sorry you guys had to go through it though
i don't think any of us could've prepared for something like that

[dendroculi]

Between this and the weekly rule, I can't help but wonder what else is waiting for us that we haven't been prepared for.

[westedge]

you really think there's going to be anything else on top of this?

[dendroculi]

I would hope this would be enough for whoever is running the Reaper's Game to want to put us through.

But... I would also have hoped that just the erasures and the tasks we did in the middle of the week would have been enough for them, too.

Who can say when it will stop?

[westedge]

...i don't know if you've heard this
but there IS a game master at the head of all of this
so i guess the answer is them? they'd be the one who can say when things will stop
maybe it's just all about seeing what will push us far enough to erase someone else

[dendroculi]

Yes, I've heard that the Reapers have someone they answer to.

But all we have to go on so far are our experiences. Last week, we didn't have an extra rule, and no one went through anything similar to what the four of us did. We don't have any way of knowing that whoever has orchestrated this game will think that's enough new things to spring on us.

We should be on our guards for anything similar to these things repeating again, but... should also be aware that there may be more unknown challenges we'll have to face.