"...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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"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.)