XX1: A Familiar Unknown

[stupidgenes.livejournal.com]

[There's a seemingly familiar young, red-haired soldier stepping forward from the midst of the Plane. He is unarmed but battle-ready with brows furrowed and stern gaze still locked ahead on an unseen goal. Hiding uncertainty with hardened eyes and set jaw, he takes another step forward while studying his surroundings.]

Dammit.

[What he once thought illusion is now a disorienting reality in tangible form both before and around him. He feels like he knows it; his eyes flash with recognition because he's seen bits and pieces of this before. Especially that 'inconspicuous' shop he's seen time and again.

Then, he turns around quickly, spinning on the balls of his feet. Something's behind him--at least, that's what he thinks.]

Who's there!? Come out!

[Even unarmed, he's a force to be reckoned with. He might not be stuck in that trap in Auldrant, but this could just as easily be another one.]

Comments

[holmes-fanatic.livejournal.com]

That's a good question. Can you do everything you'd like to where you're from?

[stupidgenes.livejournal.com]

Who said anything about doing everything!? [Asch is a little more frustrated than confused, so he can't help raising his voice a bit.

As much as he wants to be able to do everything, he knows that he can't and isn't supposed to in some cases. Unfortunately, this knowledge is bittersweet and directly related to something that happened just before his arrival on the Plane.

But after that outburst, he checks the volume just a tad.] Why would anyone want to stay here or come back when there are things to take care of back where they are from?

[holmes-fanatic.livejournal.com]

[That's an over-reaction. Touched a nerve? Conan winces, holding up his hands in a placating gesture.]

You did ask. But time doesn't pass while we're here -- so if you were a busy person in your world, you could use time here to do the things you can't. Like catch up on sleep, read, talk to the other people here ... things like that!

[stupidgenes.livejournal.com]

[He takes a little time to process that. Who would have known that a place like this existed? Perhaps he would have entered the shop earlier if he'd known it'd take him to a place where he could put the passage of time in Auldrant on hold while he took rest. Asch would have had more time to plan ways to stop Van or even prevent the replica from doing stupid things.

Maybe this was his own freedom from the Score.]

...Is that so? [He says this like an aside and doesn't expect an answer. Instead, he shifts the topic of conversation; after all, he's here now. It's time to gather information along with his bearings.]

Who are you? What kind of 'world' are you from? [Asch still places a strange emphasis on 'world'. The concept of being anywhere beyond Auldrant is both new and strange, and he needs to taste it a little more before he can accept it.]

[holmes-fanatic.livejournal.com]

[Conan can easily understand Asch's feelings -- after all, it takes a lot of information to satisfy a detective.]

I'm Edogawa Conan. Ah, unfortunately I'm kind of new here myself so I don't know what makes my world different to the others ... To me it's just normal. Ah!

[Conan straightened so that his companion could see his clothing -- typical 2011-ish casual wear.] It's a modern world with a fairly advanced state of technology. The year is [----] and I live in Tokyo, Japan.

[stupidgenes.livejournal.com]

...I see. [Actually, he doesn't since he has few ideas of what to compare other worlds to. But he's trying, dammit.] Is Tokyojapan an important place in your world?

[holmes-fanatic.livejournal.com]

Tokyo's one of the biggest cities in the world. Population of 14 million. Japan's the name of the country.

[stupidgenes.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a world that's completely different from Auldrant. Are people able to go to worlds other than their own or this place in-between them?

[holmes-fanatic.livejournal.com]

I haven't done it myself, but according to the pamphlets and other people I've talked to here, it can happen!