Artemis goes silent, but still seems upset at Thanatos, who is quietly observing the exchange between Bo and the others.
"I have seen multiple realities in which humans may wield magic," he says. "Mostly occurring in what my comrades called the Third Place. Of course, it depends on what you define as 'human'."
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
Both Sebastian and Geist had fallen silent when Thanatos had spoken, though it was the former that seemed the most disturbed by it. Geist was taking it in stride for reasons that Engel couldn't understand - while Sebastian and Engel were exchanging frantic looks, Geist was lounging against the nearest lamppost.
"The Third Place," Sebastian slowly repeated.
Engel glanced over at him.
"Have you, by any chance, heard of something called the Other Place?"
He considers this. The First Place, Second Place, Third Place, Fourth Place, and Fifth Place - these he was familiar with. Then there was the Aether and the Otherworld. "I have heard of the Aether referred to as the Other Place, but it was not spoken of in a particularly reverent or fearful manner, and it was not the subject of the conversation."
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
Sebastian looked noticeably crestfallen, and Engel's metallic shoulders slumped at the answer. "I see," Sebastian said, briefly glancing in his tallest companion's direction. Geist watched the whole exchange with a detached sort of interest - or, at least, that was what it would have looked like if Engel didn't know him so well.
"I don't think he's involved with the military," Geist quietly said. "If that was what you were trying to figure out. I'm starting to think that there's a lot we don't know about the people in this city."
Sebastian sent a withering glance in Geist's direction.
A sigh escaped his lips, and he gestured at the others present. "Look, I think we've established that none of these guys are from around here. They don't even know that we're in Amestris! They're not going to go running to the nearest military outpost and tell them that one of their precious human weapons knows that they're corrupt."
Sebastian crossed his arms and frowned, but didn't object to what had been said.
"As I was saying," Geist continued, "our military is corrupt and you don't need one of Sebastian's fancy blue uniforms to work for them. In fact, we're more interested in the people who aren't decked out in the government's favorite colors. Knowing about a special little thing called the Other Place isn't common knowledge, and we're trying to find people who know about it."
Bo blinked. "...I uh. Well. I can't be of much help there. I don't know of any other place or that place or this place or whatever it is you guys are talking about."
Geist shrugged. "I doubted you would know. Everyone here except the three of us seems to be completely ignorant of how they even got here. Which, I'm guessing, is going to make this difficult." He shot a glance in Sebastian's direction, and the alchemist nodded.
Sebastian then thought for a moment. "I know none of you are from here, but does anything seem out of the ordinary to you? Like it doesn't fit the landscape, or just doesn't feel right?"
"There is nothing in the Aether here," Thanatos replies. "I have never seen this kind of vacancy of the spirit realm."
"All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; The old that is strong does not wither, Deep roots are not reached by the frost."
Sebastian wanted to groan in frustration. They were getting nowhere. The emptiness of the city had been one of the first things he and his companions had noticed. The actual size of the city had been what had brought them there, but the lack of any form of life was had made them stay as long as they did. They needed something more. A clue of some sort, but he had no idea how to find it.
"Okay," he said, "new plan. How did you all end up here? Go into as much detail as you can - we could really use it."
