[ after stepping up beside him, he glances out toward where prompto was looking, curious. ]

You were right. Nikkari summoned me.

[ well. he smiles, and turns back to prompto. ]

They did. It was a little messed up, and the writing didn't come through at all, but I don't think it matters now.

Mm. They weren't as good as you drew them, and the writing came out blurred. The gist of it got through, though. I had to spell a few things out, but he knows what they need and when to do the ritual.

Although he did get distracted by the blood of the goddess...? And the timing of the ritual itself. He... had a few questions, but there's only so much I could tell him. We'll just have to try and find more information somehow, and draw more for next time, if we do.

How long until we can go? Did they say anything about that?

[ he's restless! let the sword fight! ]

Ah, I'm not sure if the glowing was what threw him off. He seemed more concerned that there might have been a god on the ship that they'd have to take blood from. The same happened with the heart - at first, he thought it was the heart of a human, or the host of a demon. I managed to correct him, but I didn't have an answer about the god.

Then we need to... do that. [ ugh. ] Does it have to be one of these two, or do the others still count?

[ he doesn't want to! ]

As long as they have an idea of what it looks like, I don't think it will matter if it's a real god or not.

Then it has to be them. Great.

[ kanesan just. closes his eyes for a moment. ]

I have a feeling he'll talk to Junpei, since he knows about the shoes. Probably Higekiri, too. The news will spread; it's just a matter of trying to make sure the demon doesn't have a chance to sabotage them before the fiftieth day.

Then we just need to make sure that someone who knows is still alive by then... But we have no power to make that happen from here.

[ frustrating. ]

We should probably focus on trying to learn more about the ritual for now. All we know is the items needed and the time it has to happen - we still don't know what they need to do for it to work.

Only if there's someone left who still knows all they need. The role may transfer, but their knowledge of the situation may not. They'll have to trust each other more for it to work, in the end.

[ he does perk up a bit at that. this sword is RESTLESS. ]

When do you think that will be?

That's up to the ones over there, isn't it?

[ he waves vaguely toward the ship, still circling the sea. ]

Then we can expect something soon. I wonder if it will be different than last time, with the... zombies, Chuuya said?

If it follows the same pattern, then there will be more of us around to help.

[ not sure if that's a good or bad thing tbh. ]

And with everyone's abilities restored, it shouldn't be as much of a problem if any of us are injured. Whatever they ask of us, we'll find a way to succeed. They're relying on us.

[ he brightens a bit at that. thanks for stroking his ego, he loves it. ]

Heh, then I can't let you down, can I?

Ah, but... I haven't heard that it can repair us. So we can't die again?

That isn't something we should go out of our way to test.

[ he'll just say that right now, DON'T GO OUT AND GET YOURSELF KILLED FOR AN EXPERIMENT ]

I wonder how it works... Some sort of magic, surely, but we can't even escape.

Good. [ smiling, he adds, ] We'll do our best to ensure you have a chance to say them, then.

[ but... hmmm. what does that mean, exactly? ]

Is that like... an abandoned history?

[ there's a nod at that. in the context of an abandoned history, he can understand well enough. ]

Then all that's left is to find a way out of it. Normally we'd have a device to let us return to the correct history, to our master, but I haven't been able to find mine, or anything like it. There isn't even a dial like the one that sends us back in time. There's just... nothing.

[ but there has to be SOMETHING, right? otherwise, how did they even get here? ]