New Avalon

[yamikuronue]

T obligingly fishes out her gem and holds him up to the line.

[CalamityJade]

The crystal glows blue in short, even pulses for a few moments. ~Oh...um...you can't cut it from here. I couldn't tell from in your pocket, but she's bound up in that string. Those are what's part of her that's...um..hers, I guess. If you cut it from here, you'll pull it enough to cut through...well, her. She'd probably die from it, best case. Worse, she'd not be herself anymore.~

[yamikuronue]

Okay. So why's it attached to those balls?

[CalamityJade]

~I...don't know. I guess so that anything looking at it would think the other parts are real? That's what I thought till I got to look at the thread. Though...the ones not tied up in the thread seem...brighter...more so than the ones next to it.~ That would be Rob...so what was the difference between the two of them?

[yamikuronue]

Brighter... could this be a Welcomed vs Waiting thing?

[CalamityJade]

~Maybe, are either of them supposed to be Welcomed?~

[yamikuronue]

T frowns. "Are either of you Welcomed?"

[Hammer Sister]

"Waiting."

Please be honest Erika; I get the feeling lying will only make things worse.

[yamikuronue]

Erika hesitates. "I... well I mean I... one can never be certain..."

T sighs. They're both Waiting. So whatever difference is because of her weird thing.

[Hammer Sister]

Rob leans in to whisper to Erika.

"I know you're not comfortable about answering that question truthfully, but in this instance, I really do think honesty is the best option."

[yamikuronue]

Erika flinches, then take a deep breath.

"Sorry, I... before the... whatever happened to me, I think I was.... I think I was Abandoned." Her voice drops to a whisper, shame flushing her cheeks.

[CalamityJade]

~Abandoned? Wait, what the hell is that?~

[yamikuronue]

You know. People like me, who aren't ever going to be Welcomed. The Lost.

[CalamityJade]

~Why wouldn't they be Waiting...and why wouldn't YOU be welcomed? You're the one fighting ghosts so the city gets better, right?~ Huh...that IS a point.

~The closest to that...well, I get the feeling you'd know the instant you saw it. But if she didn't think she'd ever be Welcomed, that might be part of it...But why would you put things in someone that looked like they were Welcomed? People can't see them, right?~

[yamikuronue]

There's three kinds of people: Welcomed, Waiting, and Abandoned. People who have no hope left. The city hasn't Welcomed us, so we're just... lost, adrift in the city, struggling to survive.

As for why, she said something earlier about faking being Welcomed. Maybe it's trying to fool the City?