Hm. ...I'd have quite appreciated that, I think. Receiving a letter from you. At that time my hands were rather too full for the spare time to pen any letters myself, just yet...
[Even as the party more accustomed, to the very off-putting idea of timelines between this ship and the realities beyond it being disparate...it's still a very strange sensation indeed, to listen as Tear recounts what she can remember of matters back home. After all...]
But no, that does match what I remember. I still recall that meeting very clearly. For me, upon arriving here...it had only been a few weeks as well, since the collapse of Eldrant. We had all parted ways since then, as you say. [And things...had indeed become peaceful in that time. Despite, and in large part in thanks to, Luke's absence from all things since. The very slight waver in Tear's report at that bit is noticeable, but Jade makes no indication of hearing it. That aspect...certainly doesn't bear saying, much less right now. (Even with an extra several months on hand, Jade's not entirely sure he's fully processed it yet either, to be honest. Luke's sacrifice.) ...Staying focused on the more pressing matter at hand:] From my perspective, however, these memories are also from quite some time back by now. Rather concrete evidence of the displacement, then...
[It's strange, yes. It's very strange--and he can only begin to imagine how difficult it probably is for Tear to reconcile, right now. Jade's steps are slowly continuing towards the deck railing ahead, after the slight pause taken to initially answer Tear there. There's a far too habitual air even in the way he leans against it at length, elbows braced atop it; his attention only casts out over the pristinely empty sea beyond it for a brief moment, before it's refocusing upon Tear once again. There's nothing at all to see on the horizon, after all...there never is.]
...The current theory, generally agreed-upon, is that this ship and the sea surrounding it occupy a space outside of time, as it might normally flow in our homelands. So, this sort of thing becomes possible--where our last memories of home are the same, and yet the span of time between us has become very disparate. Insofar as home is concerned, for that matter, we aren't actually absent at all.
[Which is a slight silver lining in some ways, perhaps...though the deeper implications are far more grim. Jade knows he'll have to divulge the full details on that front sooner or later...but for now, it feels best to at least answer what Tear's most pressing questions are bound to be upfront. For that matter...here, Jade's tone shifts from even neutrality to something rather more grave, as he meets Tear's eyes steadily. In a bid to establish this particular fact as plainly and firmly as possible--in the full capacity of a commanding officer outlining the gravity of the situation to a soldier opposite him:] You may have guessed this already, Tear, but I shall confirm it: this is the setting of a mass abduction. I imagine you found a letter at the bedside when you woke, claiming this to be a vacation, but the fact of the matter is that we are very much prisoners here--not just you and I, but every other passenger currently on this vessel as well.
it's free (headcanon) real estate.jpeg
[Even as the party more accustomed, to the very off-putting idea of timelines between this ship and the realities beyond it being disparate...it's still a very strange sensation indeed, to listen as Tear recounts what she can remember of matters back home. After all...]
But no, that does match what I remember. I still recall that meeting very clearly. For me, upon arriving here...it had only been a few weeks as well, since the collapse of Eldrant. We had all parted ways since then, as you say. [And things...had indeed become peaceful in that time. Despite, and in large part in thanks to, Luke's absence from all things since. The very slight waver in Tear's report at that bit is noticeable, but Jade makes no indication of hearing it. That aspect...certainly doesn't bear saying, much less right now. (Even with an extra several months on hand, Jade's not entirely sure he's fully processed it yet either, to be honest. Luke's sacrifice.) ...Staying focused on the more pressing matter at hand:] From my perspective, however, these memories are also from quite some time back by now. Rather concrete evidence of the displacement, then...
[It's strange, yes. It's very strange--and he can only begin to imagine how difficult it probably is for Tear to reconcile, right now. Jade's steps are slowly continuing towards the deck railing ahead, after the slight pause taken to initially answer Tear there. There's a far too habitual air even in the way he leans against it at length, elbows braced atop it; his attention only casts out over the pristinely empty sea beyond it for a brief moment, before it's refocusing upon Tear once again. There's nothing at all to see on the horizon, after all...there never is.]
...The current theory, generally agreed-upon, is that this ship and the sea surrounding it occupy a space outside of time, as it might normally flow in our homelands. So, this sort of thing becomes possible--where our last memories of home are the same, and yet the span of time between us has become very disparate. Insofar as home is concerned, for that matter, we aren't actually absent at all.
[Which is a slight silver lining in some ways, perhaps...though the deeper implications are far more grim. Jade knows he'll have to divulge the full details on that front sooner or later...but for now, it feels best to at least answer what Tear's most pressing questions are bound to be upfront. For that matter...here, Jade's tone shifts from even neutrality to something rather more grave, as he meets Tear's eyes steadily. In a bid to establish this particular fact as plainly and firmly as possible--in the full capacity of a commanding officer outlining the gravity of the situation to a soldier opposite him:] You may have guessed this already, Tear, but I shall confirm it: this is the setting of a mass abduction. I imagine you found a letter at the bedside when you woke, claiming this to be a vacation, but the fact of the matter is that we are very much prisoners here--not just you and I, but every other passenger currently on this vessel as well.