"...Yea..." 

" ...I think... I think I remember... listening to some speeches before it started," Echo said. "... They were about the other kingdoms. Um..." 

"...I think the war was started by... some kind of disagreement between Regdullax and Sceporix. Ah, uhm, Scepoeix is the Eastern Kingdom..." 

"...Sorry... It's... really hard for me to... think..." 

Echo pressed her palm against her forehead,  a pained expression showing. 

"...Uhm... I dunno... I think Scepoeix was seen as... a growing threat? Uhm... I remember... ah, uh, uhm... Newspapers and stuff. A lot of... stuff against... and... yea..." 

 

"...Yea." 

Echo nodded slowly. 

"Yea." 

Echo shook her head but then thought for a second. She hesitated before speaking, considering something. 

"I'm worried for my brother..." 

"...because he says he hears a voice. He said it isn't strong but sometimes he hears a voice calling his name and it's... a bit worrying..."

Echo started looking through her bag, searching for a water bottle. 

"...So I wonder if The Voice is related to Octave. Like, some kind of form of whatever Octave is... just not as strong. That's what I worry..." 

"...I worry North is going to get hurt. Even if it's not something like Octave, it's still worrying. To start suddenly hearing a voice is... not good. He doesn't want to go to a doctor, though. Same reason as me, I guess." 

"...I'm thinking too much... probably..." 

"...Don't tell him I told you any of that, though. I'm not suppose to tell anyone because of a promise, but I think it... might help a bit or something... I dunno... I dunno if it's even related to Octave... It just... m-might be, uh, nonsense or something..."  

Echo pulled out a couple water bottles and held one out to Time. 

"...Water?" 

"...I don't like them," Echo said. "They remind me of... what happened." 

She set down the water bottle beside Time and opened her own, taking a sip of it. 

"...I'm scared of what the results will be, too, I guess. And it would just be... troublesome for others...so... yea." 

Echo nodded. 

"We worked together a lot on... missions and stuff." 

Echo grimaced. 

"They're all more than likely dead." 

"Not exactly. Anyone who is alive from that... occupation, I don't personally know. I can't remember their names, even... But anyone I knew personally are all probably dead. Except North." 

"...I say probably because there is only one person I know that wasn't found dead. She kinda just... disappeared one day. But a lot of people... disappeared because of... rebelling... so... it's likely she's... yea." 

"...The other person I know is definitely dead..." 

"...I only knew three people, so... yea..." 

"Before it all I wasn't good at making friends... and I didn't really have time to make friends after they took us away. So I really only knew, like, three people that wasn't North, two of them coming with us to... train for military. The third friend had the opportunity to be a child model and singer." 

"...He also died. I'm really not good at making friends, huh? They keep dying." 

 

"No!" Echo shook her head. 

"Well, I really really really hope you don't. I can kinda just, like, hope it." 

Wait, does Time officially considers Echo a friend since he said that? OwO? 

Ope. 

Echo went quiet for a moment, a grimace showing before she truthfully answered. 

"...Because there are so many things out of my control, so many moments in a day that I just won't be there. So I can't promise something like that, even though I really want to, because we both might just end up disappointed..." 

"I'm also not very strong. I don't know if I ever will be. I'm not a reliable protection, I guess. Even today proves that... especially today proves that." 

"...And to will something is just to, like, wish really hard, right? I...think I could do that, but I dunno how much worth it really would be. Even wishing something can be disappointing..." 

"But I want to prevent your death and keep you alive. Even though I can't control most things, I will try my best to do what I can..." 

"...So I think I can promise one thing: I will do my best to help you survive. It's not as risky as saying that I promise you won't die, because I honestly can't ensure something like that. I'm not strong enough to ensure something like that. So..."  

"I promise I will help you survive... Is that an okay promise?" 

That was a strange wording of a promise, and she sounded somewhat unsure if she was even capable of helping. Is her self-worth really that small? Considering her words and how she acts, her self-worth is probably nonexistent. 

She looked sad. Not in an upset, bitter, and angry way like usual that caused her to break down. It was more of a forlorn, apologetic type of sadness. A type of sadness that derived itself from uncertainty of the future, a grieving type of quiet sadness. It wasn't as harsh as her screaming breakdowns, but it was sadness nonetheless. 

"Kind of, I guess." 

Echo shrugged and made a face, not liking it although it also fit. The way it sounded was too harsh to her. 

"We were just... soldiers, I guess. That's how... I see it. Just soldiers." 

She crumpled her now empty water bottle, twisting the plastic to give her hands something to do. Maybe to distract herself a little. 

"Just soldiers, just soldiers."