Colin's posts

Ash looked back to her for a moment, and was silent.

"Eh?" he muttered.

"When you said you were going on the roof for sentry duty a few days ago, you used the term 'godforsaken' to describe this world." Vicki reminded him. "Is there more to that?" he asked.

"..." again, Ash was silent, before sighing. Heavily.

"I meant what I said." he told her.

"God. Satan. Heaven. Hell. Their presence is no longer in this realm. On this world."

"...I'd like you to get home as well." Ash responded.

"You don't deserve to be here. But you have to be here." he told her.

"You're the only one that can save this godforsaken future." he said further, before walking off.

She could tell. This world had hurt him.

And it continued to do so.

She really was the only hope for saving her future. To make sure THIS one never happens.

Ash was silent, before shaking his head.

"Right." he said.

"Understandable." he sighed.

"Anyway..." he mumbled, standing up and heading out the door, pausing at it.

"Hope you find something." he told her.

"About... ANYTHING."

"...good luck." Ash responded.

"And try not to despair TOO much over what you read..." he went on.

"It's... harrowing shit." he told her bluntly.

"Anyway, I'm... well, I need to check the roof and survey the area." he then said further.

"I'll be back in a bit, okay?"

"Yeah." Ash responded.

"Regardless, sadly, not an option." he lamented.

"Which sucks. Immensely. But there's nothing we can do about that, sadly." he went on.

"Anyway, try and ignore the sounds outside." he then said.

"...and try not to look..." he then warned.

"They're... not pretty. They're nightmarish." he told her bluntly.

Ash shook his head.

"We're... like, 99% certain that wouldn't work." he said. "And when I say 'we', I mean myself, Vic, Alice... when she was still around... and Lindsay, when he was still here helping us." he clarified.

"The biggest reason is that your soul is different. You cannot 'properly' and 'fully' access the memories of Vic's body, even though technically it IS your own." he explained to her.

"I mean, to ME it should be possible, but Lindsay, Alice, and Vic are... were... whatever... smarter than me in terms of all that. I DO deal with souls, yes, but... well, not to THAT level of shenanigans." he then sighed.

"So no. As helpful and as easy at that would make things, it's not possible." he lamented.

"However, we DID surmise that, when you manage to get back to your home time, if you've forgotten anything, a future vision should be able to be triggered, seeing as the knowledge you get from this future will technically be your past." he then told her.

"...and yes, I DID get a headache when they first explained that to me..." he admitted grumpily at the end.

Ash crossed his arms over his chest and thought for a moment.

"......hm." he mumbled.

"Wait..." he said.

"I... I recall Vic telling me that she would say if she felt anything." he remembered. "I don't think it'd be a physical thing, but... I think if the transfer had happened, you'd be dealing with empath-like abilities." he said further.

"I think that's what was deduced, anyway." he continued.

"So if you're not dealing with that, then the transfer likely hasn't happened."

"...hadn't thought about that." Ash admitted.

"True. Greater chance he IS alive." he agreed.

"So yeah, decent chance he's still out there." he said, his spirits a little higher.

"When Zeria gets back from wherever she went off to, I'll let her know you're here." he then said further.

"Let her know what I had to do... and had to bring you here..."

He just sighed again.

"I have not." he said.

"...but for all we know, those abominations out there absorbed the mana before it could come to me." he told her. "We know nothing about it. We just know he stayed behind to fend off a horde of those things to help us escape." he went on. "...we haven't seen or heard from him since." he lamented.

"And I don't know where Alice is. Or Kiah." he stressed.

"Kiah just disappeared." he shrugged.

"However, I recall Alice was saying something about wanting to study mana more closely. But... I don't know what she meant by that."

Ash just shrugged.

"Last I heard, she went into hiding." he told her.

"Or... well, she said she didn't want to cause any more pain and agony and grief." he went on.

"Said she didn't need to be overwhelmed by it all." he continued.

"And Lindsay... well... um..." he stammered, biting his lip.

"Lindsay's not an option." he admitted.

"He's... we're pretty sure he's gone."

"...." Ash was silent as he heard all that.

"Right..." he said.

"That's... that's almost romantic comedy material." he told her.

"But... right, anyway." he then said.

"If you feel like eating, I brought snacks and drinks." he said further.

"Feel free to have whenever you want."

Ash just sighed.

"All right." he said.

"You can try." he told her. "Maybe you'll succeed, maybe not." he mumbled.

"And I don't know what to say about him wanting Alice." he then admitted. "I didn't know that was a thing, but... well, you're more perceptive about that kinda stuff than I am." he went on.

"A shame." he said further.

"I get the sense that he and Alice would have made a cute couple." he chuckled.

Ash paused for a moment, thinking about the person she mentioned... before snapping his fingers.

"Ah! Him!" he remembered.

"Yeah, he's a decent sort. Poor guy lost his parents and sister to those horrors out there." he lamented.

"Watched it happen, too." he told her further.

"He still tries to keep his spirits high, though." he then went on, setting out what he'd gotten her and organising it.

"I assume he stopped by earlier?" he asked.

"...ah, yes." Ash muttered.

"Should have warned you about that..." he mumbled. "Sorry." he apologised.

"Yeah, that was set up so... well... mostly for everyone else's piece of mind." he admitted.

"Still. Are you hurt?" he asked.

"I know that rebound can be nasty if you land somewhere bad." he reasoned.

"But I also know it's dependent on how hard or fast you try to exit." he then remembered.