( Awareness doesn't come easily for Kunsel. )

[It takes him a full day to do what he knows he needs to do. His first priority had been to assess his location and notify his friends. There's still something painfully joyful in his heart at the memory of finding Zack's message, of the realization his best friend was alive, revived before him. But other than that, he'd avoided his tablet for the most part, not sure what to say to everyone. The only exception had been dealing with the mess with the Joker, which was too urgent to ignore.

But they need to know. They need to know he's not gone before the next obituary shows up. Some of them already do, thanks to Zell and Jim, but not all of them.

They need to know.

When he turns his tablet on, his voice is soft.]

Hey. A few of you already know, but...

I'm back.

[Then, almost unprecedented, he turns his video on, letting the camera look him straight in the face. He's not even wearing his helmet, or anything to obscure his face besides the faint misting of fog from his breath. Some people might recognize him from the picture House put out on the network before, a fairly ordinary man with an average face and brown hair, though this time his eyes are open at least. Blue eyes. Bright blue eyes, though maybe that's a trick of the light.

He smiles crookedly.]

For those of you who didn't know, since it looks like I beat the announcement, you can ignore one of the names that comes up in the next obituary. Not much more point in trying to keep it secret, I guess, so...

[He takes a breath.]

My name is Kunsel, SOLDIER Second Class.

( hello, darkness, my old friend )

{Day 120; Morning}

[ It's not until the next day when he finally gets his wits together, finally composes himself enough to reach out to the rest. Knowing Kunsel had died... thinking he would never come back... the only thing that had kept him moving then was knowing that Jim and Zell were out there. They were out there and likely doing something dangerous without him and while he had no control over it, that didn't make him want to find them again any less. He'd said he would help get them all a ticket out of there. He just hadn't planned on dying at some point to make it a reality. Well, not that that was...

All the same, at some point, he does realize he ought to say something... at least if only to reassert the fact that he's there yet, especially when that obituary comes up later.

So, he takes to doing so... as casually as he can muster considering circumstances. What's the most important thing to take from this and share? That's at least easy to figure out. ]

So, fair warning if you ever de-decide to go unlocking any doors around here. The traps around here are... pr-pretty brutal.

[ He pauses for just a brief moment before adding quietly... ruefully. ]

It looks like th-this place just couldn't get enough of me though.

[Joker sends out another feed this morning. It's him sitting at a table somewhere, it's too dark to tell where. He's wearing a wide-brimmed hat adorned in flowers and feathers and his eyes are closed, his chin resting in the palm of one hand.

He holds this position for about a minute before he lifts his free hand, five fingers spread wide, then brings down his thumb. Then a finger. Then another, counting down...

2
1...

He opens his eyes and waves both hands at the camera.]

JAZZ HANDS!

Imagine, if you would, a hundred fiery explosions igniting the atmosphere in all the prettiest colors you can think of.

[He coughs raggedly into his fist.]

Or don't.

I don't care.

But we should still throw a party. I'll bring snacks.

Aaanyhoo...you can all go back to whatever it is you had going on now.

[A pause.]

Most of you failed my little experiment, by the way. HAHAH!

Toodles!

[He turns off the tablet.]

[Honestly it was probably the worst place Sora could have ended up. He'd woken up that morning and had felt grounded in his body once more, the strange feeling of being dead gone and leaving him feeling...tired. And lost. Leon was gone. He had no idea where Cloud and Tifa were. Sure he had a map to guide him along but he'd been running blindly, searching for something that wasn't there.

So he'd wandered, headed North and ended up in the funeral home.

He'd wandered aimlessly through it, searching underneath things and in every nook and cranny--even in that kind of creepy coffin that was just there. Out in the open. It wasn't until he got into the opposite end of the building that things got really strange and Sora felt himself go still as he stared at the sight before him.

People. There were people here--were they alive? It was hard to say for sure and the first couple doors he tried wouldn't budge. His heart ached as he tried yet another door and failed, the young man backing away from it before pulling his tablet out.]

Hey, guys, I found something weird here and--

[As he spoke to the camera Sora pushed himself up on his toes to peer into another one of the windows and froze, his eyes going wide as the color seemed to drain from his face.]

Roxas!

[The video was a jarred mess after his outcry as he immediately attempted to pull the door open, tugging at it with both hands as his tablet clattered to the ground. When that didn't work he braced one of his feet against the wall by the door to give himself a bit more push but nothing.

The door wouldn't budge.

A distraught sound escaped him as he banged his fist against the glass and while the angle the camera was at wasn't the best for catching his face, the sound of his voice made it clear his expression was one of panic.]

Roxas wake up! Come this--whatever this is, it isn't funny!

[That part is said louder as if he's speaking it to the entire room before he's right back at it trying to get the door open.]