Because that wasn't what Cairbre had been trying to say.
"Do not have to forgive," Cairbre says, redirecting the conversation. "Anger understandable. Should have paid closer attention to Harrogate. Didn't. Not until friend acted according to idiom. Too late to act. Too late to summon chosen. Could not come in person. Not with Crawling Chaos. Trusted Magician to keep hold of friend. Not to let stay double dead."
Unfortunately, that's the way Eren took it. Perhaps one of the other Travelers will think there's something more to the other Arcana being forced to maintain the missing ones' idioms, once Eren's shared the information. For now that line of questioning is dropped as Eren follows the redirection.
"You're damn right you should have!" Eren's temper flares again, but it passes just as quickly as it came. For a moment the guilt and regret are obvious on his face. Cairbre's not the only one that wishes they'd paid closer attention. Eren regrets many of the choices he made that day Armin went alone to that cursed lakebed. Perhaps he wouldn't have been able to change what had happened, but the fact remains that Eren once again failed to make the choices he'd regret the least.
But Eren's own guilt is not the reason why he's here, so he pushes the feelings down quickly. There will be time enough to work through them later, when doing so will not jeopardize his ability to move forward with this conversation. So instead he focuses on the last thing Cairbre says. His voice is still angry when he speaks again, but also less loud than the shout from a moment before. "Why did all of you make it so he could end up 'double dead' in the first place!? Why the ghosts and the separate Network!? And why the hell was Armin stuck only existing in the Network until the Jaunt ended!? Even if you'd put him in a new ghost body, with the Veil gone at least I would've been able to talk to him! Instead I couldn't... I couldn't do anything!"
Eren's suddenly trying to stifle a sob, and only half succeeding. He quickly takes a large drink from the can he's still holding; that buys him the moment he needs to get himself under control again. Even so, when Eren lowers the can Cairbre might notice that his hands are now shaking slightly - for more reasons than just the caffeine.
"World of dead and world of living separate. Both needed Travelers. Separate Liminal Spaces for separate worlds. Is why walkabouts have separate Liminal Spaces.
"Magician would have had to make self known to retrieve self of friend from Crawling Chaos. Wouldn't. Not unless only choice. None of us would. Eldritch ones are powerful. Terrifying. Killed Temperance. Magician knew Mark would bring friend back to Liminal once disconnected from Harrogate. Was safer to wait." Cairbe sighs. It sounds like a steam whistle.
"Mind on Network was friend's own skill at Network. Thought was good. Could talk to him by mind. Better than no talking at all."
Eren nods slowly. He still doesn't entirely get how two worlds could be in one place at the same time... but he also doesn't get how you can have two rooms occupying the same place in Liminal Space, even though that clearly happens in the Workshop. He assumes overlapping worlds would work much the same as those overlapping rooms. Which he has no idea how or why that works, but he knows that it does, and that's good enough for him.
"...So that... that thing still had a hold of him the whole time!?" Eren shudders. "The rest of us didn't know his Mark would bring him back! You could have at least told us that much! When Malik said that Crawling bastard ate his ghost, his soul, I..." Eren's voice lowers, quiet enough now he can barely be heard over the roar of the engine. "I was scared he was just gone. Even when he came back on the Network, I was so scared that he might be left behind when the Jaunt ended."
So it really was Armin's own strength and resolve that let him find his way back to them like that, instead of something the Arcana did. For just a moment Eren smiles faintly, proud of his friend for continuing to fight through despite what had been done to his body and mind - and for winning. But then he frowns again as Cairbre continues. "No," he says, speaking more loudly and clearly again. "I couldn't. Not really. You just said the world of the living and the world of the dead are separate. We ended up in different worlds and on different Networks. He reached through to us on so we could help him get his head straight, then again to make the plan, but he couldn't do it a third time. For the rest of the Jaunt we couldn't reach each other at all! I had to just sit there knowing how much he was hurting, and I couldn't do a damn thing to help him!"
Eren looks at Cairbre for a moment, then sighs and shakes his head. "No, two is definitely better than nothing. If I didn't get to talk to him at all, or if I wasn't there to help him put his mind together..." He shudders. "But just because it's better doesn't mean it was enough.
"Of course we'd want to know! I wanted to know! That whole time, I didn't know if I'd ever get to see him or even talk to him again! All I knew was that that thing was something as strong as you Arcana, which meant there was a chance it might've trapped him there! I thought I'd lost him and I... I can't lose Armin! Not him or anyone else I call family! Not like that; not when there's no hope of them ever coming back! My family is what drives me to keep going, Cairbre. I can't keep moving forward without them. What's the point of finally gaining my freedom if they're not there to share that freedom with me!?"
"...Fuck." It takes Eren a couple of seconds to process that and all the implications it carries with it. But only a few seconds, so hopefully Cairbre won't get too impatient before Eren continues.
"But I don't understand. If the marks help bring people back to Liminal Space, why would Magician have had to make herself known to the Chaos to get Armin back? Why couldn't you just end the Jaunt right there and save him!? ...Was it because of Devil again?"
"Strength, Devil would decide. Would have been double defeat. Instead stick it out, hope for last-minute victory." Cairbre shrugs broadly. "Would have saved friend. Would have doomed Harrogate. Traveler ghosts needed to defeat Crawling Chaos."
Eren freezes for a few seconds, looking wide-eyed at Cairbre. It's not until that moment that what Eren truly realizes exactly what he was asking. His desire to protect and save his family had given him a kind of tunnel-vision about the whole thing. As Cairbre said, ending the Jaunt would have saved Armin, but doomed an entire city - maybe an entire world. He hates everything about that world so much, it was easy for him to forget that there were likely many honest, good people who never chose to be born there. Looking at it like that, it's so easy for him to imagine the fear and terror that must have gripped that city. It is easy to imagine three little kids frozen in terror as their doom suddenly manifests out of smoke and nightmares...
If Eren had been given the choice, and had known the ramifications of that choice, would he have ended it? Would he doom an entire world of strangers to save Armin and protect the small handful of people he calls family? ...Eren honestly doesn't know. And he sincerely hopes he'll never be in any kind of situation for him to find out. Even so, regardless of what choice Eren himself would have made back in Harrogate, he's certain he knows the choice Armin would have wanted him to make.
So Eren takes a deep breath to steady himself, and nods. He still cannot forgive Cairbre, but the answers he's gotten are enough for him to be confident in the path he chooses to follow. "Okay. I'll still work with you. But I want to make one thing clear. I'm doing it because I don't have a choice anymore. I can't just abandon my world, but Armin can't go back there and I can't abandon him either! I agreed to help you the first time because you gave me the freedom to choose. I will still fight to give that freedom to the other Travelers, but that choice has been taken from me and my friends! I don't want to go back to my world to stay because I'm really damn tired of having my choices made for me and having no control over my own life! I won't have any reason to help you if all of my choices here start getting made for me too!"
"Good, then working with you is still a way forward." He purposely phrases that in a way that - Eren hopes - will make his point as clear as possible. The moment helping Cairbre stops feeling like he's moving forward, he's choosing new direction to head in that does. The Chariot is all about progress and movement, right? So hopefully putting it like that makes him perfectly understood.
He takes another can from the cooler, taking a long drink from it to buy himself a little time to think. He can't think of any more questions, though. At least not that he thinks the Arcana would be able and willing to answer. So instead he'll ask about what happens if he thinks of something else later.
"If I have more questions and try to get your attention, will you answer me again?"
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Because that wasn't what Cairbre had been trying to say.
"Do not have to forgive," Cairbre says, redirecting the conversation. "Anger understandable. Should have paid closer attention to Harrogate. Didn't. Not until friend acted according to idiom. Too late to act. Too late to summon chosen. Could not come in person. Not with Crawling Chaos. Trusted Magician to keep hold of friend. Not to let stay double dead."
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"You're damn right you should have!" Eren's temper flares again, but it passes just as quickly as it came. For a moment the guilt and regret are obvious on his face. Cairbre's not the only one that wishes they'd paid closer attention. Eren regrets many of the choices he made that day Armin went alone to that cursed lakebed. Perhaps he wouldn't have been able to change what had happened, but the fact remains that Eren once again failed to make the choices he'd regret the least.
But Eren's own guilt is not the reason why he's here, so he pushes the feelings down quickly. There will be time enough to work through them later, when doing so will not jeopardize his ability to move forward with this conversation. So instead he focuses on the last thing Cairbre says. His voice is still angry when he speaks again, but also less loud than the shout from a moment before. "Why did all of you make it so he could end up 'double dead' in the first place!? Why the ghosts and the separate Network!? And why the hell was Armin stuck only existing in the Network until the Jaunt ended!? Even if you'd put him in a new ghost body, with the Veil gone at least I would've been able to talk to him! Instead I couldn't... I couldn't do anything!"
Eren's suddenly trying to stifle a sob, and only half succeeding. He quickly takes a large drink from the can he's still holding; that buys him the moment he needs to get himself under control again. Even so, when Eren lowers the can Cairbre might notice that his hands are now shaking slightly - for more reasons than just the caffeine.
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"Magician would have had to make self known to retrieve self of friend from Crawling Chaos. Wouldn't. Not unless only choice. None of us would. Eldritch ones are powerful. Terrifying. Killed Temperance. Magician knew Mark would bring friend back to Liminal once disconnected from Harrogate. Was safer to wait." Cairbe sighs. It sounds like a steam whistle.
"Mind on Network was friend's own skill at Network. Thought was good. Could talk to him by mind. Better than no talking at all."
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"...So that... that thing still had a hold of him the whole time!?" Eren shudders. "The rest of us didn't know his Mark would bring him back! You could have at least told us that much! When Malik said that Crawling bastard ate his ghost, his soul, I..." Eren's voice lowers, quiet enough now he can barely be heard over the roar of the engine. "I was scared he was just gone. Even when he came back on the Network, I was so scared that he might be left behind when the Jaunt ended."
So it really was Armin's own strength and resolve that let him find his way back to them like that, instead of something the Arcana did. For just a moment Eren smiles faintly, proud of his friend for continuing to fight through despite what had been done to his body and mind - and for winning. But then he frowns again as Cairbre continues. "No," he says, speaking more loudly and clearly again. "I couldn't. Not really. You just said the world of the living and the world of the dead are separate. We ended up in different worlds and on different Networks. He reached through to us on so we could help him get his head straight, then again to make the plan, but he couldn't do it a third time. For the rest of the Jaunt we couldn't reach each other at all! I had to just sit there knowing how much he was hurting, and I couldn't do a damn thing to help him!"
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Cairbre sounds confused by that notion. Is its math off?
"Did not realize you would want to know. Tell other Travelers? Marks help bring souls back to liminal, no matter attempts to keep or bind."
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"Of course we'd want to know! I wanted to know! That whole time, I didn't know if I'd ever get to see him or even talk to him again! All I knew was that that thing was something as strong as you Arcana, which meant there was a chance it might've trapped him there! I thought I'd lost him and I... I can't lose Armin! Not him or anyone else I call family! Not like that; not when there's no hope of them ever coming back! My family is what drives me to keep going, Cairbre. I can't keep moving forward without them. What's the point of finally gaining my freedom if they're not there to share that freedom with me!?"
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"But I don't understand. If the marks help bring people back to Liminal Space, why would Magician have had to make herself known to the Chaos to get Armin back? Why couldn't you just end the Jaunt right there and save him!? ...Was it because of Devil again?"
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If Eren had been given the choice, and had known the ramifications of that choice, would he have ended it? Would he doom an entire world of strangers to save Armin and protect the small handful of people he calls family? ...Eren honestly doesn't know. And he sincerely hopes he'll never be in any kind of situation for him to find out. Even so, regardless of what choice Eren himself would have made back in Harrogate, he's certain he knows the choice Armin would have wanted him to make.
So Eren takes a deep breath to steady himself, and nods. He still cannot forgive Cairbre, but the answers he's gotten are enough for him to be confident in the path he chooses to follow. "Okay. I'll still work with you. But I want to make one thing clear. I'm doing it because I don't have a choice anymore. I can't just abandon my world, but Armin can't go back there and I can't abandon him either! I agreed to help you the first time because you gave me the freedom to choose. I will still fight to give that freedom to the other Travelers, but that choice has been taken from me and my friends! I don't want to go back to my world to stay because I'm really damn tired of having my choices made for me and having no control over my own life! I won't have any reason to help you if all of my choices here start getting made for me too!"
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He takes another can from the cooler, taking a long drink from it to buy himself a little time to think. He can't think of any more questions, though. At least not that he thinks the Arcana would be able and willing to answer. So instead he'll ask about what happens if he thinks of something else later.
"If I have more questions and try to get your attention, will you answer me again?"
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(A can of energy drink may have come with him. You could perhaps call it an apology gift.)