Video

[dredefulchilde]

[Several hours after his apparently miraculous resurrection, Joscelin Fitzthomas opens the video link. He looks shellshocked and confused. But he also looks different. Even as washed out as he is by the video feed, his face is not quite as pale as before, and there is actual color in his cheeks that make his freckles (which also suddenly seem more numerous than there had been) stand out even more.

When he speaks, his voice is quiet and subdued, with none of his usual sarcastic swagger.]

It would appear that I troubled many of you during the mission. For that, I am sorry.

Romeo and I caught a saboteur in the act, and that person reacted by shooting at us. I took the bullet—or bolt, I suppose; how does one classify science fiction weapons?—for Romeo. At any rate, I was under the impression that I had been wounded, but I have since been disabused of that notion and it now appears that I spent the last several days dead, somehow. Tony Stark had my ashes and personal effects in his room. I...

[He seems to realize he’s rambling and cuts himself off.]

Since then, Romeo has vanished.

[His voice breaks.]

I came to bundled away in a suitcase earlier today, so please—help me by checking the baggage car regularly. Maybe Romeo needs help extricating himself from a piece of luggage. Romeo is the very best of us and I beg you all to help me find him and keep him safe. Please.

Comments

Video

[dredefulchilde]

I’m alive again. I can’t explain it.

I...er...this train also did something. I’m human again. Somehow.

[yep_stilldead]

Oh. [That doesn't seem fair, somehow.]

...Well, glad to hear it, then. Even if you got to come back as a ghost, I wouldn't wish being dead on anyone.

[dredefulchilde]

Well, I was undead before, and I’ve known a lot of ghosts in my time. I understand what this must be like, and I’m sorry.

[What? Joscelin being sensitive to someone else’s feelings? Death has humbled him somewhat.]

This must seem terribly unfair.

[yep_stilldead]

O-Oh, no, nothing of the sort! Really, I've got nothing to complain about. I got to keep existing, so I'm much more lucky than most dead folks...

[Her smile does seem a bit forced, though.]

[dredefulchilde]

If you say so.

I wonder what would happen if I ever leave the train. Will the magic be reversed and I’ll go back to being a pile of ash in a box in Tony Stark’s bunk?

[That got dark, but he can’t stop thinking about it.]

[yep_stilldead]

Ah...

[That IS a scary thought.]

W-Well, let's not worry about that just yet! Besides, people get off the train every now and then, and nothing odd happens to them, right?

[dredefulchilde]

I hope you’re right.

I don’t fancy spending the rest of my natural life trapped on this stupid train.

[yep_stilldead]

And even if the worst happens, don't worry! As your senior, I'll show you the ropes of how to get by as a ghost!

[This isn't really all that reassuring, is it?]