text; @Goldilocks, after April fight

[likemybooks]

[Everyone has to know. Some saw what happens to Ereshkigal during the fight, some only know that she disappeared. As the one responsible, Taryon feels he's deserved the position on breaking the bad news to ll Outsiders.]

It is with a heavy heart that I must relay to you all that our friend Ereshkigal is not with us any longer.

She was thrown into a Rift by the kaiju and vanished.

She fought valiantly and tried to protect me even in her last moments.

I'm sorry. I wish we didn't suffer such a heavy loss in this fight.

- Taryon Darrington

Comments

[likemybooks]

She was thrown into the rift and disappeared. I couldn't find a way to pull her out of there. I don't know how else to describe it.

[Was Dearka close to her? Is he upset that one of his friends may be at fault?]

I'm sorry.

[busternaut]

[Were they close? Maybe they weren't the closest of confidants or anything like that, but they do have... Had? A rapport. He also knows she's been good to Yzak, which counts for quite a bit in his book.

All that really matters is, he considers her a friend. And it's tearing him up to hear that she's missing. The news being broken by Tary has him extra wigged out, making it all too easy to jump to the possibility of LILITH... Bringing her back, in the same way they did to him. A new Ereshkigal who just, doesn't remember any of them...]

Well why didn't you say something when it happened?? Maybe one of us could've tried go after her!

[The bouquet of flowers Yzak got him for his birthday, planned and arranged with Ereshkigal's expertise... They're probably wilted and done by now.]

[likemybooks]

[Ah, there it is. Maybe he should have jumped into the Rift after her and saved everyone the grief.]

I tried.

We were all fighting, and I don't think I could have reached in and grabbed her in time. She was on the other side of the room. I'm sorry.

[And now, they have no clue where she is, and if it was as easy to leave the rift as it was to enter it, wouldn't she have come back by now?]

[busternaut]

[He takes a second to cool his ass down before answering again. He could sit here working himself up into a tizzy, thinking about the ways in which things could've gone differently, but in the end he wasn't there, and there's little sense in giving Taryon shit for this.]

I'm with the others. Through a rift doesn't mean dead. We just need to speed up our efforts and figure out a way to go after her.

Sorry for shooting the messenger.

I don't think you're the kind of guy who would let something like that just happen without doing everything you could.

[likemybooks]

No, I kind of sound like a jerk in writing.

[It's easy to accept criticism, even when Taryon reflexively bolsters his own abilities. Somewhere, he fucked up.]

I only regret I didn't react more quickly. There is a difference between what I want to do and what I can do.

[busternaut]

That's a pretty universal truth for us all, my guy. Especially when it comes to shit like this. Hell, I've been there plenty of times myself as a soldier.

You'd think I'd know better than to give someone else a hard time about it, by now.

[likemybooks]

I accept your apology. I think I will lie down for until we have to move on.

[Did people do this when he died? Is he overreacting? Who knows, Taryon will use the brief moment to wallow in his sadness before it's time to do something important.]

[busternaut]

Yeah man. Do what you gotta do.

[Dearka is... Gonna do the same. After he checks on Yzak, first.]