kaisou | Open log

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WHO: Ritsuka + anyone
WHERE: just some random street corner
WHEN: 1st of July
WHAT: Ritsuka found herself whisked away to another world? Must be Tuesday...
WARNINGS: Probably none, this time

There's a new face in town! Or at least, there's a redheaded young woman who, while not appearing particularly bewildered or confused, most definitely is spending some time looking over the surrounding buildings and cityscape. As one does when trying to figure out where one is or how to get where one needs to go. In any case, it's definitely true no one here's seen her in town before!

Should you approach, though, she'll promptly swap from that evaluating stare to a friendly grin.

"Oh, hi there! Are you from around here?"

If you're especially observant, though, you might notice a set of red marks on the back of her right hand. But that's probably not important, right? Right.

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Look, Ritsuka says stuff like that all the time, she's the last person to make fun of someone else doing the same.

"Exactly! And you never know what might come up!"

Alright, he... can't help but to start gently laughing now. A hand over his mouth as he curls forward a little.

"You know. You're the first person to not make fun of me for talking like that. I can't tell if you're just humoring me, or if you like that sort of humor too.

Whichever it is... I'm happy about it, anyway. Are you new to this city, then, Ritsuka-ssi?

I'm just getting used to everything myself, so, as much as I'd like to offer to show you around..."

"Really?

Ritsuka's genuinely surprised by that. She's never really had that problem, at least, and she definitely makes at least the occasional nerdy reference. That the people she's talking to may or may not even understand, but that's never stopped her.

"And yeah, I just got here."

"Really. I guess I just keep pretty boring company, all things considered..."

Not that he's ready to just out that he works for a kind of sketchy organization--he's not even sure if this girl is just vaguely-magical, or if she's part of Libra's gathering of odd beings yet. Well.

Time to gently nudge a little.

"Did you move in from another state? I've lived in Florida the past ten years, myself. I figure this is a change of pace..."

"Mm, not exactly..."

How should she explain? It's always hard to know how to explain stuff like singularities and Chaldea to people.

"I wasn't planning on coming here, anyway."

Didn't... plan on coming here...?

Oh.

OH!!!

"...Did you come here via the Spirit Realm?" He asks, dropping his voice to a relative quiet, a hand next to his mouth.

"Is that what it's called?"

That name definitely makes sense. Well, as much as anything does about this so far.

He's going to lift a finger, and point up at the sky.

The flickering green of the weird 'aurora borealis' that hangs overhead, always dancing in the sky, regardless if there was cloud coverage or not.

"I only just got recently re-assigned to this city, but part of my assignment spoke that there are gates here that forcibly spit people from other worlds into this one.

People don't... choose to come here, but end up stranded. Are you in that situation?"

Now he's worried...

"Oh, right. I mean..."

What's a good way to explain this?

"Usually when I've ended up somewhere else before, it was from something else."

Typically an unplanned rayshift, though getting pulled in via her dreams sure was a thing too.

Jinwoo blinks. He's quiet for a long moment, his head tipping back as he tries to... picture something.

Then, just before he tips his head too far back, where the dull light of midday might touch his skin--he immediately shifts back under his umbrella and laughs.

"Are you a world-traveller? Someone who goes around to different worlds, often? Ah... like different portals, in a video game... "

"Kind of? Maybe more like parallel worlds, sort of."

At least when it comes to the lostbelts. She's really not sure how much she ought to explain just yet, though, since she's still not sure what's going on.

"It's a long story, I guess... But this time was different."

Of course, she's still kind of under the assumption this is a singularity, so there's that.

"I see." He looks thoughtful for a moment-- but then he nods his head. "I believe in such things. After all, I believe I'm originally from a world where dimensions opened all the time into other worlds, and other times, too. That bit is hard to explain, though..."

He looks thoughtful for a moment.

"...Do you have the Libra app on your phone?"

He should probably make sure she's part of... this. Before he gets too deep into things.
After all, Kaisou IS a special case, but...

"Well if there's ways to get to other worlds it would make sense that there's ones to other times, too?"

Ritsuka, please, don't get too deep into this, you barely even know the phrase 'Second Magic' let alone how any of it works.

"Oh, yeah. Though I didn't even have that phone before I ended up here."

Oh, good. There's a tiny flicker of relief over Jinwoo's face. if she'd said no, he'd have made a polite excuse and exited the conversation. He instead moves to pull up his phone, and lift up the libra app--showing it to her on his own.

"People who have come here from other worlds have access to this. I'm not entirely sure what the Libra group or what Zodiac are up to--but at the very least, with this, you'll have a support group for people like you, having been pulled from other worlds.

...Do you know much about why you got here?"

He does work for the Order, so...
Maybe he'd ought to talk to her.

"Something about a spirit realm being damaged and it's pulling people from other worlds into this one?"

She got a few more details than that, sure, but that's the gist of it. If there's some higher purpose beyond that, Ritsuka has no idea.

"That's... the basics of it. But not the... full truth." He wonders... if whoever gave her that information left out the most important part of it of all, to protect her...?

He looks conflicted for a long moment as he toys with the edge of his glove.

"The people being pulled here are from worlds and timelines that have ended."

He closes his lightly glowing eyes for a moment, before looking away from her. "And there are those whose souls are refugees in this world--waking up in this world, having led different lives here, away from those worlds that have died."

"Huh?"

There's a bit of genuine confusion. Not shock, and arguably not even surprise, actually. It's just...

"Humanity's future was wiped out, yeah, but we were working on undoing that?"

More to the point, if this place isn't a singularity--and she's pretty sure it's not a lostbelt--how would someone even know about that?

"Ah..."

Of course he figured a strong reaction. These people stolen from other worlds had such a huge disadvantage compared to other people; but he didn't expect her to say something like... that.

"You're from a world like that, then..." how interesting. He looks honestly impressed? He can't tell her about the ins and outs of the world, he knows there are things he has to keep secret, so he isn't going to extend any more info than that bit, but...

"...I was from a world like that, too. I remember the world being wiped out, and rewritten. And yet..."

Here they are.

"Really?"

Ritsuka is, admittedly, still somewhat processing this new information. And there's definitely going to be some... implications and interesting conclusions she'll have to think through later. But it's not terribly earth-shattering, not to someone who's already witnessed humanity's annihilation multiple times.

"But there's other people whose worlds were fine before they came here...?"

Not that that is terribly surprising, either. Some of the lostbelts had been stable, if not thriving, prior to Chaldea arriving and destroying the trees that anchored them. Which, well. That's another thought to add to the pile to work through sometime later. Preferably in private.

"As far as I know, yes."

Which, honestly, given that he's new to the city, Ritsuka would actually be the first 'off worlder' he's met. He'd normally be excited about it, but given his job for the last ten years and the nature of it, technically, she'd forget him the moment he walked away if the circumstances weren't a little different, here.

"And I know. ...I know, I don't understand why, myself, either. There are people in this world like myself who have ... had past lives re-awoken in their memories, and from what I know, the person I used to be? I saved the world from destruction no less than three times. And yet..."

And yet, he's here--which meant his world was dead.

He looks quietly downtrodden for a moment--before returning up a smile.

"...Sorry, you just got here, I shouldn't be burdening you quite so hard.

Do you have a place to stay, yet?"

"It's fine."

Considering she's still in a situation where her world hasn't been saved yet, she gets that feeling. She refuses to give up, of course, but there's always that gnawing doubt that maybe they won't win the next fight, after all.

"Oh, I don't know for sure yet, but apparently there's a couple people I know here, so..."

It's less that she doesn't have a place to stay and more that she's yet to pick one.

"Oh, so you're not alone..."

Jinwoo's expression flickers with a bit of relief--but also, maybe a little bit, just a tinge of envy.

He won't let it shine through in his words or actions, though. It's not the time or place.

"I'm sure that, whoever they are, they'll be more than willing to help you.
I'd offer to help you myself, but.... being new as I am, the most I can do is point you in the direction of where to get help."

His shoulders slip down a little.

"Yeah, since they're here that makes things a lot easier."

Not that she couldn't fend for herself, mind, but if she doesn't have to, that does simplify things. For example, camping out to avoid Zodiac's housing is no longer an option she needs to seriously consider.

"And even just telling me about this place is pretty helpful, you know?"

He finds himself smiling calmly again, nodding his head gently as she admits it's making her life easier. He's envious--but he's honestly happy for her. He can't imagine how being so far from home must feel; even if she's apparently used to this sort of thing.

"If you believe so, then we can continue to walk and talk, if you wish.

Zodiac will apparently supply you with basic identification and papers so you can blend in, here, as someone who doesn't belong here.

...but I'm not sure living in their living facilities is a good idea."

"Sure."

That sounds like a good way to both hear more information and start to get to know her way around. Two birds, one stone, and all that.

"I guess if I'm gonna be here for a while an ID and stuff would be a good idea..." Darn modern time periods and their need for documentation! "But is it really a good idea to get it from them?"

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