[She looked numbly at the feed. Her private message had bounced back and the name was missing. After so long, so many gone, she'd begun to think he would always be here, to the end. Seeing him gone was a sock to the gut, but she hit the feed with a stern, stubborn look in her eyes.]

No time like the present. Merlin's gone, and we're the less for it, but there's work to do and he wouldn't want this going to crap just because he disappeared.

[The image isn't of the inside of Pinch of Sage for once. Instead, it looks like Samantha is standing in a greenhouse. She doesn't take people back to the greenhouse where herbs are grown for the shop very often. plants hang from pots all around her head and in long rows. Some are familiar to those who know earth plants, or the basic varieties found in Asgard, but others in the back are more exotic. She's standing next to a group of firebloom flowers, ones people who have met with the elves might have seen before.]

For those of you that have signed up with the Medic Corps, let's get started with training. Best way I can think of to remember him. I'm a terrible organizer, so one of you can get to rallying the troops, please gods get on that. [For a second, she sounded exhausted.] Training in powers like Healing and Damage Drain is good, and any of you from Sigyn and Heimdall with us should keep it up, but you've only got so much juice. [She held up a small yellow vial.] And potions like these can only help so much. If you overuse them or take too much power from other Heimdalls and Freyas like me, you can still end up exhausted.

Magic's a tool, and if you overuse a tool, you break it or you aren't ready when you don't have it. I'll be holding classes on poultice making, first aid and paramedics starting tomorrow. Anyone who wants lessons on how to make the curatives that some of us have been making, let me know. You don't need to be in the Medic Corps, but I'd prefer it if folks in the Corps get some lessons on the basics. The more tools, the better.

Anyone who already has the skills... I could probably use the help in training the folks who are using more powers than training. The more the merrier.

Private to Eridan

I'm re-acquiring an investment from an old friend of ours. We need a third. I suggest Desmond, but I want your input first.

So here's a question. How many of you've- No, I'm not going to start with that.

[ It's too depressing, and he'd rather try and stay as upbeat as he can. ]

What've you got waiting for you back home?

[ Oh, he knows sometimes there's no getting around the difficult things, and that's not his point. He doesn't believe in sugarcoating anything.

And now that he's said this, he's just realized he's been a bit one-note with his transmissions, since both of them have had to do with their homes. ]

It's just that I've been thinking, it puts this war we're supposed to be fighting into perspective. Thinking about the people and places I want to keep safe does that for me.

[ Alright, maybe he'll get laughed off the network for saying what's on his mind, and really, he's okay with that. He just had to put his thoughts somewhere, so he did. ]

[Yuiko was scared, she was terrified. She had been trying to hide it with a smile and laugh as she talked to others on the network but between the nightmares and now people telling her it was useless and the worlds would rot and die anyways, Yuiko felt sick to her stomach. Crying hadn't helped much either, but finally she managed to put a little courage together.

She had to at least try, wasn't that everyone had told her. She was still a little shaking when she started recording her message, he ears folded back slightly and her expression still uncertain in what she was doing.]

I was wondering if there's anyone that could teach me how to use the powers that we have here. I haven't used it at all, and don't know if it will be helpful but I want to try.

I want to help. There a lot of people important back at home, but also there's someone important here too I want to keep safe. [Yuiko blushes a little thinking about it]

I'd do anything it takes to help.

[Samantha wasn't often this out of sorts. She did get a little flustered now and again, but she tended to pride herself on a sort of cynical 'dealing with it' attitude for almost anything thrown at her. She liked to think of herself as having seen most of what Asgard could throw at her. There were surprises, but she rolled with it.

Today was not one of those days.

The feed showed her inside of her home. She was curled up on the couch, staring at a framed photo. Her face was scrunched up in concern and what bordered on fear. Fingers traced over the glass and she shook her head before looking at it again and letting out a small, disturbed sound.]

I... I don't remember when this was taken. I don't know why it's in my room. There's something not right about this. I should know. I damned well should know. There's no way I can't, but...

Who the hell is this, and why don't I remember her?

[She lifted the photo and showed it to the camera, her eyes a little wild. It was one of two images she had of herself with a woman that looked like a brown-haired version of herself. The woman looked to be in her mid-thirties and the resemblance was uncanny. Were it not for the horns and the tail, or the red-ness they would have been the same person. Samantha looked very young in the picture, a pair of leathery black wings showing as she helped the woman cook in the kitchen, adoring eyes. It took little to guess that it was a picture of her mother.]

[ Kaworu looks different today (and tomorrow). He is white and from his back several wings spurt out (if you look closely, they resemble a damselfly’s wings); it’s almost as if he’s surrounded by light, in a way. He is shirtless due to the wings and in the middle of his chest there is a red orb (his core). This would be called Kaworu’s angel form. Or at least, how he imagines it to be. In his hands, he is holding what it appears to be an embryo, encased in an amber-like substance - that is Adam. Kaworu received Adam some time ago, but he has kept it away for several reasons. Now that he is (temporarily) in his angel form, he couldn’t help but to reach for the embryo. ]

Angels desire to become one. It’s not love, not really. I do not love my children and siblings [ all 15 of them; yes, Kaworu has children ], just like I do not love Adam, my mother - but I still need them and wish to become one with them. It's a need humans don't understand. But becoming one isn't something only angels want. [ he smiles gently, red eyes turning to the embryo ]

Plato said that long ago, humans had two faces, two noses, two sets of ears, eyes, arms and legs. They were powerful, and the gods were threatened by them, so they decided to cut all the human beings in half. The humans were all divided in two; that’s how one became two, and it left a wound. After, the gods scattered them away, leaving them to find their missing half. That was the source of human’s desire to love each other. Love is born into every human being: it calls back the halves of their original nature together; it tries to make one out of two and heal the wound of human nature.

And so, when a person meets the half they are missing, the two are struck from their senses by love, by a sense of belonging to one another. To come together and melt together with the one they love, so that one person will emerge from two. ‘Love’ then became the name for the pursuit of wholeness, for the desire to be complete. That's what Plato said.

But what is love, to you? What do you call love, and why do you? What makes you say “I love this person”?


[ a pause ] Shinji-kun, I can’t leave the room, Tsuki and Zadkiel want to bite my wings. [ maybe that should be your priority right now, kaworu ]

[Despite the exhaustion, she manages to drag herself to her home again, warning people against her all the way. After evicting her confused animals from her room and locking the door and windows tight, she curls up on the ground in a weary heap, her whole body shaking from exertion and terror.

Terror not at the events around her, but rather... at the horrific act she committed herself.

It takes a long time, but somehow, after much backspacing and corrections, she manages to type out a semi-coherent message.]

I killed Hamelsan

My power is going out of control and i thin i made my hamster sick but if i let them get close itll just get worse

Im in my room now but someone please take care of my animals there all in the hallway and they want in but i can t let them i dont wan t the mto die too

Im sorry

Im sorry

Im so sorry

[Anonymous Video]

[The feed begins, and there isn't a soul in sight. Rather, it appears to be someone's room, but given that there is a bright pink cloth spread over the bedding that certainly doesn't match up with Freya's House colors, it would be difficult to determine anything from that.

However, the bedspread isn't the real eye catcher; in the middle of this is an ancient journal, and it's on these pages that the camera zooms. Much of the text is blacked out, but certain phrases and words do stand out.]

████████████ series of tall mountains and deep canyon near the kingdom of Svartalfheim.

Unfortunately, the Earth Giants no longer exist within that place - or indeed, anywhere in Yggdrasil. ███████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████ the fall of Laufey █████████████████████████████████ the end of the Earth Giants. What choice did we have? █████████████ was unnatural. ██████████████████████████ wrong.

There was no other option. We had to abandon the survivors. ████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████

[After focusing on this page for a good few minutes - plenty enough time to read through what text is visible - the feed will end only to be followed shortly by...]

[Anonymous Text]

I received something interesting over the holidays. It's a pity that little battle took up so much time, but now that we have done our part, I thought it would be a good time to bring this up.

It seems the gods haven't been entirely transparent with us, now have they? Based on the other books found in the library, this is most likely referring to someplace called Ginnungagap. You can look it up if you want, but good luck. The gods have blacked out anything important. Or at least... most of what was important.

I can't be the only one curious about this, can I?

[When Skuld appears on Asgard's network, she is the picture of regal composure - perfectly groomed and solemn of face, a far cry from the dirty, soot-covered refugee that arrived the day before. Only when she speaks can some of the frayed edges be noted, but never to the point of hysteria; she is still a queen, and this is a royal duty.]

Travellers of Asgard. For those whom I did not have the pleasure of meeting on my last occasion to visit this city, my name is Skuld, and I am ruler of the elven kingdom of Alfheim. While it pleases me to speak with all of you again, I must regretfully inform you that it is on a very dire matter indeed.

[She glances down at her hands, ensuring that they are still steady where she's folded them in her lap, then back up again with iron determination.]

( Cut for Skuld's loquaciousness. TL;DR: things are, in fact, hitting the fan in elfland. )

[And indeed, her speech is done. The gods will be backing her on matters relating to Asgard, which will likely be the most pressing concerns for those that live here, but she will take any questions about Alfheim directly. And of course, it will likely be her who tries to soothe those angered by this speech.]

[ There's a few seconds of awkward silence as Bobby starts the feed and scratches the back of his neck. ]

Uh, hey. Bobby here. It's been a while. And it looks like I missed... a lot. Including the tacky sweater thing. [ Which is probably for the best, at least on that count. ]

Sorry I was gone. Lost my bracelet again. I've been caught up, I think, but lemme know if I'm needed anywhere.

Oh. [ A pause. ] And happy holidays to everyone.

[From the moment the video turns on, it's clear that the subject of this broadcast doesn't realize he's being recorded. It's none other than Gerome, identified easily by the mask and haphazard spikes of hair. He's crouched over the bathtub in the bathroom, sleeves rolled up to his elbows as he works at rubbing a loofah over a small wyvern.

Scratching sounds come from the porcelain but Gerome pays it no mind, continuing to scrub down the flying lizard as he murmurs to her- almost unintelligible on the camera.]

Who's a good wyvern? It's Minervykins! You have to be nice and clean though- playing in the mud makes your beautiful scales all dark and dirty. [The lizard gives a little screech in happiness, lifting up one of her arm-wings so he can scrub underneath.]

[Then the feed wobbles for a second, moving closer bit by bit, and Inigo sticks his head in the frame, grinning.]

Now that looks like real friendship! Maybe our buddy Gerome here could learn how to show a little of that camaraderie to his other friends, huh? That scary mask covers a soft, squishy heart!

[At the noise, the wyvern rider turns and notices Inigo in the hallway. His expression behind the mask quickly changes- from surprised, to embarrassed, to... very, very angry.]

Why you- !

[And he stumbles up to race after the poor mercenary, intent on tackling him to the ground. The video feed goes akimbo and shuts off a moment later.]

H-Hello.

I--I'm Nagis--Atsuko Maeda the Fourteenth! Um! I just arrived and the city seems in bad shape! I--I want to help as much as I can! So--so if anyone can tell me where the best place is I'll do it.

Mm, but everyone must be sad, too. S-so! Please enjoy my song, AKB0048's song!

. . .

In this vacuum of a land completely changed
We lost our words and stood still
What should we start on first?
Searching for the light
in the midst of despair
If there is a god somewhere,
please break open a new world
from the land once more!

(( She continues her song. The video is the song and dance! She's put the bracelet enough away from her to do both. Watching the video in its entiity isn't necessary as the group has the English transcript available :]))

[Text]

[Before daybreak, a text message is released to the network. It's rather straight to the point.]

Makoto Naegi has been found dead in the Sigyn Welcome Hall. His body is still here. I don't have many details at the moment, I'm afraid.

I couldn't help him. I'm sorry.

( Action for Sigyn, under a cut just in case. Triggers: blood, death, etc. )

[Video]

[The video begins with a close up of Giselle's face, grinning with delight.]

There are minstrels in the city!

[The image in the video quickly pans around to show a group of three minstrels, all strumming lutes, who all appear to be focused on serenading her. The image moves once again, panning back to Giselle, who is still grinning.]

Isn't this wonderful?!

[At this point the video basically dissolves into chaos, as Giselle forgets to turn it off before joining the minstrels in their song.]

[Action]

[It starts with a group of three minstrels. Giselle loves singing, and she can't help but join in when they get near. And who can sing along with a group and not feel compelled to dance a little too?]

[Before long she's in full-on Disney mode, singing and dancing all over the streets of Asgard with her trusty minstrel back-up chorus. Feel free to imagine some lyrics about beautiful days and good moods, because the mun is certainly no lyricist. Her mood and the song are infectious. At various points there are citizens of every stripe joining in.]

[Feel free to run into her at any point in this musical number. She will be singing to people, dancing around them, and doing other equally ridiculously Disney-ish sorts of things like throwing flower garlands around the necks of stoic menfolk James.]