[ video ] open to both courts (backdated a week or so)

[knightspirit]

[ A video clicks on of a teenage boy. He looks a little worn out, almost making him appear older than he really is. When he speaks, his tone is brusque. ]

... Hey. If we haven't met, my name is Tsurugi Kyousuke. [ not one to spare words, he jumps straight into business: ] I recently learned something everyone should know.

You might know that people seem to disappear on occasion. Sometimes they leave their Shard behind. Sometimes we just can't seem to contact them. [ he pauses, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. ] Apparently, those people die. Or worse, they either get trapped between worlds, or forget everything and lose their forms. I'm told that while we're here we a thin connection to our worlds, and that connection can be lost forever.

[ It's probably clear enough why he looks so tired now. He's talked to a few people he can't seem to find anymore, and thinking that may have happened to them is ... unpleasant, to say the least. ]

I can't tell anyone what to do with all that, but I think that makes it clear enough that we need to find a solution instead of dragging out this war. We don't need to lose more people.

.... That's all I had to say.

[ the video cuts off abruptly. ]

Comments

[text]

[shadow_spread]

Is there any other way to verify this?

[knightspirit]

People have told me they'll look into it, but I don't see how. It's not very likely we'll catch them just as they're disappearing.

[shadow_spread]

But even if we can't make it to other worlds, there may be a way to build a bridge to the place between.

How would the King know this in the first place?

[knightspirit]

.... How do you mean?

Wish I could answer that, but it seems the monarchs know a lot more about the shards than we do, and they aren't up to sharing. Maybe it has something to do with what they really are.

[shadow_spread]

Where I come from, people are able to build gates between different realities. It doesn't seem like anyone is able to use that to get home, but they may be able to get to a place in between.

I'd assume that if this is true, the king must have seen it at some point. [And done nothing. Possibly because there is a greater power which the monarchs don't wish to acknowledge.] There should be no reason we can't see it too.

In any case, we need our own investigations into the shards.

[knightspirit]

You mean like parallel worlds?

I was told nobody's strong enough to fix it. He said finding one lost soul would be like finding a single grain of sand. .... But if he is telling the truth, maybe we can prove him wrong.

.... Yeah, I agree. It's pretty suspicious they won't fill us in on the thing we're supposedly fighting for.

[shadow_spread]

Along those lines, yes.

I wouldn't count on even a king being the ultimate judge of power.

I've been hoping to see what more third parties in this world can tell us.

[knightspirit]

... I see. We could do something similar where I was from, but we had to have an Artifact—something strongly connected to that time and place.

[ and certain technology it's probably impossible to get a hold of in this world. ]

That may be true, but he'd at least understand how this world works a lot better than we do, so I think that assessment is still pretty concerning.

[shadow_spread]

The places we traveled between were much closer together, but between all of us it should be possible to make something work.

I certainly agree that it's concerning.