un: eclipse | video

[soloritur]

[ Marcos shows his face on screen for the first time in what feels like a long time. The last couple months have been hard on everyone, and he's no exception. There's a small white dragon settled beside him, trying to get into the frame, that he pushes back. He knows he shouldn't have it, but it still follows him around like a puppy. It hurts his heart to think that it doesn't know it's dead.

Not what this is about. ]

Hey there. [ He clears his throat. ] Listen, we need to talk. It's... been a rough few weeks. It was hard enough keeping track of everyone when we were separated between the two cities, but now. Now I think it might be time to take stock of survivors. Maybe make a list of who we've lost and who we need to look out for.

[ He remembers all the skeletons in the tower. They didn't seem like an illusion to him. ]

Kaneki is missing. Has been for a while. I wasn't worried until I found something he wouldn't have left behind if he had any choice in the matter. Luckily I got to it first. [ Which is why — ] I might need a hand with a beating heart in a box. I don't know if it has any other power, but the Merchant called it leverage, and I don't think I'm the right person to keep it safe. If anyone wants to take a look I'll send you my location.

[ The dragon makes a noise, and he rubs its head to keep it quiet. Sometimes he feels helpless, but it's important to remind himself of what he says next. ]

I know why most of you wanted to stay, to help these people, but be careful out there. Remember you're not alone.

Comments

video |⍓| un: tagged

[kahl_175]

[Kahl doesn't know this person, but their priorities sound good. Keeping things safe for a missing brother.]

Kahl not magic like other people, but Kahl can do guard duty. [He picks up a rifle from out of frame.] If need more security, Kahl help.

[But that still leaves a question that really needs asking.] ...Heart come from who?

[soloritur]

[ He tries to smile at the offer, but the atmosphere is too grim to make much of an effort. Still, it's heartening to hear him volunteer so easily. ]

We need all the help we can get. [ He's trying to be hopeful that they can save the city, but nothing is ever easy. ] I don't know if we've got a safe house, but it wouldn't hurt to make a new one until we leave. I'd suggest the Mouse House, but I heard about their gas leak. Everyone is so spread out, we'd have to get the word out.

[ That's really in his wheelhouse and he knows he could be doing more. He's trying. ]

I helped Kaneki retrieve the heart from a graveyard for the Merchant months ago. I don't know that he found out who it belonged to, but I think he would have told me. [ He only hopes it's unrelated to his disappearance. ]

[kahl_175]

Mm. [Kahl nods. He's been sticking close to a few people here, but that's definitely something he's been thinking about. He'd kept his own camp back on Earth small for just this reason.] Many people, hard to hide. Defend, maybe. But worth trying.

[That's less information about the heart than he was hoping for, but...] Heart sounds like undead thing. [He still had trouble understanding that stuff, but learning it was important. Until the undead were taken down and their tech smashed to pieces, his brothers would be in danger, with no way to rescue them from back on Earth.]

Why leverage? Merchant say why? [He knows blowing things up isn't always the answer, but he needs a reason before he'll be convinced.]

[soloritur]

[ It's harder here, with all of them so spread out, but that's exactly what worries him. They need to be watching each other's backs and making sure no one gets left behind. ]

At least if we knew where to look for people we could check on them. It's too easy for someone to disappear and not know if they're hurt or if they're just... gone.

[ He's worried about Kaneki. Even in a best case scenario, he doesn't know what he's going to be going home to. ]

I'd assume it has something to do with the undead lords. I don't think Kaneki got a lot more from the Merchant, but he went through a lot of trouble keeping it safe all this time. I owe it to him to make sure nothing happens to it.

un: polaris | as encrypted as she can get it

[chromiums]

[ lorna's also not the type to show her face onscreen, or even respond in voice more often than not, but he's an obvious exception. ]

Hey. [ to start. ]

private

[soloritur]

[ He knows. There's a reason he was the Mutant Underground's spokesman. Not that it contributed that much to their success in the end. ]

Lorna. [ It's hard to guess what she's thinking, but he probably should have run it by her before he offered up what he found. ] How are you holding up?

[chromiums]

[ it's why they (and john) made a good team. he's good at relating to people, explaining the danger and urgency without making them feel like they should have known the trouble already. it's a skill she knows she lacks, something she admires him for being able to do. even if she'd turned her back on it previously. ]

I'm okay. [ mostly she's just worried, both that they're missing people and about what he's found. ] How many have checked in?

[soloritur]

[ He's worried too. The things they've seen, knowing the dead outnumber the living and the sickness they're trying to contain, it'd be too easy for someone to slip through the cracks. ]

Not many yet. [ But he's heard more on the network and he only just sent out the message, so hopefully that's not a bad sign. ] Whatever happened to Kaneki, it took him fast. He barely let anyone touch the box he left and I found it out in the open.

un: Black Prince; text

[blackscales]

I'm still here. I'm afraid I haven't seen any sign of Kaneki myself.

[ If he had better news, he'd offer it. ]

Is the box sealed?

[ The box with the heart. Always the first concern, with unnatural objects. ]

[soloritur]

[ It's only slightly better than finding out he'd met some horrible end. Disappearing mysteriously leaves open every possibility except closure. ]

That depends on your meaning. I was there when he found it, so I recognized the box, but I don't know what kind of magical protection it has.

I was going to try welding it shut until we found a better way to protect it.

[blackscales]

I can take a look, if you like. I may be able to sense if it has any, or add some.

[ Better a well protected spooky heart, when there's the option. ]

[soloritur]

I'd appreciate that. For all I know, it's the reason Kaneki went missing.

[ It's also been a while since he's seen Wrathion. With all the crazy shit happening, he's got a reason to worry about everyone he knows. ]

Are you good? I haven't been able to keep track of anyone in this mess.

video ☆ un: bluebird

[cairhien]

I fear there may be others we're missing that haven't been accounted for previously.

[soloritur]

[ He has the same worry. The tower was brutal, and he didn't even see everything that happened there. And with the attacks in the streets... ]

So do I. [ They're too spread out. Kahl has a point in making it easier to hide, but he can't shake the feeling that death is spreading all around them. ] Our strength doesn't account for much if they can compel us to do whatever they want. People can just disappear.

[cairhien]

I knew few of those that were here to begin with, though over the months even some of those have disappeared from our numbers.

[soloritur]

[ It's the not knowing that kills him. Like something just whisks them away as quickly as they came. Too many things could have happened. ]

Kaneki isn't the first who left something behind. That's how I found out Eleven disappeared. [ He somehow knows that he gave him that money as a parting gift. Which means he had enough time to think about it. ]

They might not be related, but this isn't the only time we've been somewhere dangerous. There has to be some way to find out where they went.

un : dappled peals of the parted seas (voice)

[beitangmoran]

That's unfortunate to hear.

[About Kaneki's disappearance, that is.]

We should indeed find someone to keep the heart safe. I would advise against entrusting it to Master Five, since he is already carrying such a thing and it's unknown what could happen when they are in close proximity.

voice

[soloritur]

[ Marcos knows they've amassed a few magical objects, but he didn't feel qualified to weigh in on them. Still doesn't. Holding onto them at all seems risky enough to him, but he feels like he owes it to Kaneki to make sure he handles this. ]

Thanks for the heads up. [ Unknown, but he expects they'd do something. ] Have you heard of them reacting to each other before?

I'm mostly worried it might signal the wrong kind of attention from the undead. Especially since it's the only thing I found that he'd left behind.

voice

[beitangmoran]

We haven't yet, but I suggest we don't find out. Given what each of them could individually, them resonating with each other could spell disaster.

I don't think the undead is who we need to be worried about, though. I know Master Kaneki was supposed to announced it to everyone, but it seems he may not have had time before he disappeared.

This is the White Traveler's heart. The one who is currently holding the child, and who seems to be the one who 'made' all these undead Lords we keep meeting. That's why we should keep it safe, and why our merchant friend calls it 'leverage'.

[soloritur]

[ Oh... what? That information never reached him, and it floors him for a minute. And here Marcos found it just laying there. He's angrier for Kaneki, who was tricked into carrying around something that potentially put a target on his back. ]

You're telling me we've been carrying the heart of the guy who was behind all of this? And the Merchant didn't think that was important enough to tell us?

video, un: long rope

[eyeofthavnair]

A...beating heart in a box.

[That's, um, not a normal thing to have...he was going to reply and try to comfort this man, who seems to have lost a friend, but he's gotten distracted.]

Do we...know whose heart it is?

[soloritur]

It's exactly like it sounds.

[ And it creeps him out just as much. If it's beating, the rest of it has to be around somewhere, which doesn't leave a lot of room for interpretation if the Merchant is calling it leverage. ]

Kaneki tried asking around, but I don't think he ever found out. I've got a feeling its no one we ever want to run into, especially not if they find out we've been holding their heart hostage.

[eyeofthavnair]

I...see. And we have been told that it is "leverage"...

[His tone indicates that he doesn't really love the idea of keeping someone's heart as a bargaining chip...but what else can they do? Put up a " lost and found" sign?]

I have seen many magical artifacts in my time, so I suppose I could look at it. But none have been beating hearts.

un : dappled peals of the parted seas (voice)

[beitangmoran]

We do, but there was no time to announce it publicly.

This belongs to the Man in White, the one who seems at the origin of the existence of the undead in this world, and who currently holds the child with the fox mask who we suspect of being the Beastmaster's son.

[eyeofthavnair]

Ah. [This is good, although also a lot of information. He's struggling to keep up with all the important names in their journey.] The man and child we met in the Unwinding, yes? It seems that the Merchant knows the man, but I have...not heard much about the child.

[A pause.]

The man seemed - not unkind, when we were in the Unwinding. But if we are holding his heart and being told to treat it as a bargaining chip...