#i hope this was alright!! and not too much of a downer TuT

[soulprofitis]

TRUTH + A full and unreserved dissection of Emet-Selch.

Truth Serum (Reply continues under the cut)

"When asked a question like this, one has to wonder who might want to know?" He chuckles, the body of a constellation in his smile. "It's entertaining to think the man himself might wonder if he's lost my good opinion. For others to ask, though, I can't be certain why my 'dissection,' a most telling choice of words, would be necessary. I am biased, I must admit. Many others might tell you of a commitment to our Star, good works accomplished through power of will, and his undying loyalty. Or, as I have learned, how these virtues might be capable of harm. In an older world, the one I knew, I would not have conceptualized this as a possibility."

What might he have done in that position, in a place without? A question with no answer. What happens is what happens and Hythlodaeus does not regret his own choice.

"As a sacrifice to Zodiark, I can at least say that the purpose⁠—Saving our world, though temporarily⁠—was accomplished only through the strength of those I once considered friends. The ones I knew, though, are not the same as they once were. Hades⁠— Emet-Selch is no different."

He might frown, like a rushing tide, like a brook falling over rocks in a stream. The Sea is different, so different from Etheirys. Both memory and emotion dictate form.

"I cannot say how I feel about the entirety. Believe it or not, the lifetimes one misses in over twelve thousand years makes it difficult to ascertain truths. There is so much. So much I can easily say that I would not do, not as myself, not how I exist now. So much that I cannot forgive as it is not mine to forgive. It never will be and, no matter how much I wish that I could heal some of the hurts he has inflicted upon the shards of others that I love, upon the reflections of my home, I am still. Useless. Half-dead, fully dead, now, my feelings about his actions will never help those who have suffered."

Hythlodaeus sighs as one who can no longer breathe, long as a song and silent as the grave.

"No, however much I regret what I could not stop, I am forbidden to lie, hm? I will not say that I am unhappy. This existence, if you can call it one, might last an eternity, might go on until the bit of Azem I hold dearest returns and after." A tearful smile. His voice doesn't break like it might when someone cries, but the sound is painful to the ears all the same. "I am beyond grateful he is here. That whatever remains of the person I knew and all that has been created since still... It's awful to say. Still missed me. Selfish, yes? I am dead, though, so who can complain?" He laughs. "I have had very few in my life who I loved as much as Hades. If things will ever be the same, I doubt. But I wouldn't give him up either. It's terribly grey, isn't it? Hardly a clear truth for you, and for that I apologize. There is much I will never understand about this new reality until I see it for myself, if I ever do. Until then, I am prepared to be patient. And to listen. I have a feeling that I will do much of both in the timeless moments to come. Oh—"

He grins bright as a sunbeam.

"He's rather short, isn't he? Small and slouchy. And that awful coat, ugh. He can't possibly prepare for the earful I'm going to give him—"