ϡ - Chapter ThirtySeven; The loss [Action|Voice] (forward dated to the 27th)

[folklorist]

[ It was an ordinary morning just like any other day would be. Friday nothing too strange about it. With the event having ended and things going back to the way they should be Helios is more than a little chipper now and welcoming to said normalcy. The cultural fair was a success at least and that's put him in good spirits. And so…when he goes to Ginia’s room to ask what she’d like for breakfast he soon realizes that said happiness is short-lived. He’ll knock on her door lightly at first. ]

Ginia? Are you there? I-I wanted to know if you wanted anything for breakfast… [ No answer. Hm. Maybe she left earlier than him to go to Cloud Nine. No. Something felt…off. He’ll grip the doorknob with a slightly shaky hand. Luminair giving him a sad cautious chirp from the place beside his feet. He’ll give the young dragon a small shaky smile as if trying to hide his worst fears realized. ] It’s alright sh-she probably just went out to, to get something to eat.

[ He swallows thickly as he opens the door and there…his stomach drops. Whispered in one disbelieving, tired, and saddened tone is the word: ] No.

[ This wasn’t…this couldn’t be happening. Everything was gone. Gone just like Giles, Frederic, and now her. The room was so empty and bare, aside a box sitting atop the desk. He knew what was in there but he couldn’t make himself walk in to take a look. Letters most likely, there were always letter it seemed like a lasting impression that you could at least keep a hold of. She was like a sister to him, almost like family, so it hurt to have to do this. Gods no matter how many times you hear of people leaving it still hurt to do this. All three gone and he feels slightly lonelier here. But he had to tell people because people had the right to know. Helios couldn't keep this a secret, no, that wasn't fair at all. He’ll bite his lip blinking rapidly as he finally moves inside and takes out his journal. There’s a shaky sigh from him as he opens it then turning on the voice function. For anyone awake at this hour they’ll have an uncharacteristic somber, shaky, voice issued over the journal network. ]

I-I’m sorry to everyone who knew her but…Ginia Solana has gone home.

[ Poorly filtered to the following persons: Grune, Pao-Lin, Smoker, Ami, Draco, Goku, Roji, Shiki, Derek, and Archie. ]

Sh-She left you all some letters. If, if you want to stop by and pick them up at House forty-four. I…I ah c-can also bring them over if it’s more convenient.

[ Maybe getting out of the house might not be such a bad thing. ]

Comments

[voice]

[justicereigns]

Seriously?

[It hits him like ice, but he shakes his head, trying to snap out of it.] If the barracks isn't out of the way, I'll be there.

[voice]

[folklorist]

Y-Yes. I. I'm sorry. [ He sounds dour and incredibly sad when he replies. But, no, he has to try hard to seem okay. ] I-It's not, really. I, I can be there shortly if you wish.

[Action]

[fleurdesel]

[The past week or so, and for this Adele blames Lupin entirely, she's been having admittedly fattier foods in her diet. The reintroduction has left her with the odd craving now and then; and with what she learned from Helios she's more than capable of baking her own snacks. Early in the morning she feels somewhat compelled to make a batch of macarons. Something Helios and Ginia could enjoy without having to work on them, something light and new for Sabriel to try.

Still waking at strange hours due to lingering anxiety from the mission, Adele decides to slip out in the predawn and get what she'll need. It takes longer than she thought it might, and it's later in the morning when she returns to a quiet house. One of her housemates ought to be up by now. Adele pauses in the kitchen to put everything away before first going to Ginia's room to check on her.

The door was slightly open. Helios was inside- and. Not much else.]

...Helios?

[Action]

[thebellthatbinds]

[By the time Adele returns from her shopping trip Sabriel is up and about preparing a small breakfast of toast for herself as well as a pot of tea and coffee for the rest of her housemates. It's been a rather quiet morning and there doesn't seem to be much reason for it to be much different than the others she's spent here...but then again she hasn't been upstairs or called Ginia down for tea yet.

With both pots steeping with their respective brews she pads upstairs to call on the others, blinking over at Adele standing in Ginia's door. Strange, if Ginia was up she was usually downstairs by this time already...perhaps she wasn't feeling well? Padding quietly to Adele's side she murmurs before catching a glimpse of the room beyond.]

...What's happened?

nothing--mostly

[redjacketthief]

[The news was unexpected, but after Goemon's disappearance Lupin was starting to understand that these things happen in Luceti. It was why he still hesitated about making close friends, why he kept himself mostly out of the limelight. He didn't want to get used the location, didn't want people to get so familiar with his presence that he would be missed if he somehow was brought back home tomorrow.

He says nothing to Helios, and will say nothing further unless it is brought up in conversation by someone else. He will, however, engage in a tactic that's familiar for the residents of House 44. A bottle of wine will anonymously be left on the doorstep, not even a note this time.

Enjoy.]

[Voice]

[the_brightest_sun]

[This man is lying. He has to be lying, it's a lie a cruel joke and totally not true. It has to be.

It's not fair. Why does it always happen this way? They are here one day and then... They are gone as if they never were there. Why? Because their worlds are a better place? Because everyone wants to leave? He doesn't want to leave, his world isn't a better place, it's just as bad as this one, maybe worse. People leave from here but they may return, even if they don't remember anything, but back at his world... Will he really be able to see Kenren and Tenpou again? He wants to believe it but... But then what's going on with Hakkai?

It doesn't matter though, he never gathered courage to ask and now Hakkai is gone. Ryoga is gone too. And now Ginia too. Did he do something wrong? Was he a bad kid and this is some sort of punishment? Or maybe this is the punishment for what he did at Heavens, being in a place he likes and having people he cares for ripped from him without a way to know if they will be back. Even Goku has problems keeping up hopes and everything when faced by those things. The kid stays silent for a while, without replying or starting the journal, eventually he does, though. She left something for him, it wouldn't be good to ignore it, it's her last gift or something.]

I'm Goku... I want what Ginia-neesan left for me, can I come over now?

[Voice]

[folklorist]

[ It's never fair when they leave and Helios has seen so many of his dear friends go. This is just another hit to him though. Ginia was so well liked and vibrant and he never even got to say goodbye, no one did, and that's what made this the hardest. He doesn't reply for a good minute or two trying to keep himself calm and composed. He needs to right now even if the act is so very hard. ]

Goku. Ah, yes. That, that's fine. You can stop by now. [ His voice gives away everything as the only tone it carries is sadness. ]

[action]

[simplestgift]

[It's a dazed, but not exactly neutral, ex-Navy man who arrives at the door of house 44 unannounced, hopefully during a time when Helios is there. If there's no answer to the knocking, he'll sit on the porch and wait.]

[action]

[folklorist]

[ Despite wanting to leave Helios stays inside most of the day. Not wanting to go out looking as wretched and dismal as he does. His eyes might be red from those moments where he's lost his composure and everything just rises to the surface. All the loneliness hitting him like a very powerful wave.

It's when that knock resounds throughout the quiet house that he gets out of his seat in the kitchen and goes to the door. He'll give his eyes a once over with his hand before sighing shakily and answering the door. He blinks not too terribly surprised ] O-Oh! A-Archie. I-I'm hope you weren't waiting too long. C-Come in.

[ He'll step to the side to let the other through his eyes downcast as he does so. ]

[Nothing]

[deathsdoctor]

[...

... and there goes one more...

He closes the book. Because he has nothing to say right now. No words come to mind - he is muted with the announcement - and what comfort could they bring? Instead he pulls out the schedule and begins to figure out how to cover Ginia's future shifts.

Carry on and keep things running. He figures that is what she would have wanted in the end.]

[Voice]

[geniustheveil]

[It's Ami, though her voice sounds a bit dull.]

I'd like to come by if it's alright. [Too many people lately; and she's never handled being left behind well.]

[Voice]

[folklorist]

[ He almost startles at the voice on the other end partially because he's still a bit numb about all of this. ] That's fine, Ami.

[ Perhaps he'll make some tea too... ]

[Voice]

[hisdarkmark]

[When he first hears the message, it's nearly immediately after Helios announces the woman's departure. He has the journal ready, poised to actually reply...

...but instead all Helios might hear/see is that journal being flung across the room and a loud, angry yell. He doesn't really give a damn if his housemates can hear him. This came at the worst time possible.

It's a few moments before he comes back, picking up the journal and peering down into it though the look on his face should say enough.]

...you're absolutely sure?

[Voice]

[folklorist]

[ Helios might wince when he hears all that. Gods if it's one thing he hates it this end result. Hates how sad and angry and just how much this can affect people. He hates that he can't help. He tries to make his voice less sad, less shaky. It's hard and the pain in his throat from trying to do so makes it even harder. ]

I-I'm sorry Draco. But, y-yes, I-I'm sure. [ He wishes he wasn't. ]

[Voice]

[so_shik]

[...]

Oh, Helios...[She was half-way through with a design for a new handbag for Ginia, but that doesn't even matter now. She can't even imagine how Helios himself is feeling.]

If you want...you can come by All Passions later. If you want.

[Voice]

[folklorist]

[ He'll give a small sigh on his end before looking at the journal to see Shiki there. They haven't really spoken very much in the past but he knows her to be rather nice, especially when they all three were children. He'll wipe at his eyes and stifle a sniff as he nods. Forgetting that people can't see you over the journals for a moment.

His voice is rough, as if he's trying with all his might to repress and cloak the deeper hurt. ]

A-Alright. I-I'll stop by there later then. Th-thank you.

[Action]

[i_am_not_cute]

[Pao-Lin is, at heart, a stubborn, hopeful person, but losing three close friends in a month is an ordeal even for her. She tries to just work away the melancholy, like she did when she found out Link had left the day after she returned from her mission (and, to a lesser extent, when she found out Mega Man had left the day before her mission), but her heart really isn't into it at all. It's astonishingly easy to meet new friends in Luceti...but also astonishingly easy to just lose them with no warning, and she's acutely feeling the pain of the extremes.

With her training regimen shot for the day, Pao-Lin shuffles over to House 44 with a heavy heart in the late afternoon or so. She knocks a bit meekly on the front door (or do they have a doorbell? IDK).]

[Action]

[folklorist]

[ It's after most people have stopped by to collect their letters and share their own grief about this that another knock upon the door startles Helios out of his thoughts. His been trying ever so hard to keep his composure today and it's not going very well, give the redness around his eyes.

He'll get up slowly and go answer the door after a few moments. He'll blink when he sees Pao-lin standing there. They haven't spoken in awhile and he wishes that they had under better circumstances now. His lips are pressed in a thin line. ] H-Hello Pao-lin. P-Please come in.

[Voice] LATE TAG IS LATE

[averybadfeeling]

[... Oh. Oh... oh, dear.]

"If... if there is anything I can do, please let me know."

[Voice] YOUR LATE TAGS AREN'T WANTED HERE!!

[folklorist]

[ Oh dear indeed. Helios wasn't expecting this voice to reply over the journals. But he does appreciate this, rather a lot. ]

O-Oh. I...I'll be alright. Th-thank you Obi-Wan. I, ah, I appreciate your c-concern. [ And it shows in his tone. ]

[voice]

[kindhearted]

[It takes Roji a few days to actually reply to Helios's entry. Since Ginia was one of his first friends in Luceti and a friend returning home had never happened to him before, he took it pretty hard.

But now...he feels he's ready to face this head on.

His voice is quiet when he responds,]

Would it be okay if I came over to get that letter now, Mister Helios?

[voice]

[folklorist]

[ Oh Roji. Helios is so sorry for doing this to you. He lets out a small tired sigh.

Helios' voice is tired and quiet as well. ] Of course Roji. You can stop by an-anytime for it.

[Voice]

[lostinmyway]

[It's the kind of news that would make even a strong heart despair. Ginia has gone away now, just like Link. Just like Giles.

Her family is becoming so small now.

...She's sad, but she isn't in despair. She knows that one day, Ginia will come back, because she loves her family here in Luceti very much. Maybe it will take a little while, or even a long while, but Ginia will come back. It's a truth she knows to the depth of her soul.

It takes her a long time of simply...sitting there, but finally, Grune reaches out to turn on the voice function of her journal.]

Why don't I come see you, Helios?

[Voice]

[folklorist]

[ Oh Grune. Helios is so sorry for having to be the bearer of such news. He knows that she was close to Ginia and this is something that's never easy to handle. Helios is silent on his end for a long while. He's not sure if he should interact with people in the current state he's in, but, there were letters to be given out and Grune was one person to receive them. ] Oh. Grune. Only, only if-if you want to. I-I can stop by there as well if it's t-too much trouble.

[ And even now he worries about inconveniencing people because having to tell other people this news is certainly hard on him. ]

[Voice] | this isn't the most hideously late tag ever, nope.

[semper_cogitans]

[...

... Ginia went home...?

All of Helios' friends... Robert's heart aches in his chest. And to have someone so important leaving... it must be incredibly painful.]

... H-Helios, I...

[... He needs to be strong for Helios now.]

... Is there... anything I can do... for you?

[Voice] | get out of my pooost!!

[folklorist]

[ Helios closes his eyes when he hears Robert's voice over the journals. His own heart aching and his voice shaking when he replies. It's a soft lost sounding reply. ]

I. [ He pauses not knowing what to really ask for because he's never had someone care. ] I don't know. Y-You can...s-stop by if you like.

[ Though he understands if the other doesn't want to. He's not the best person to be in company with at the moment. Helios wouldn't want to burden anyone at least. ]