[It's an earnest question, one she wishes desperately to have a more direct answer for.]
You know this place far better than I do. If there's anything that seems amiss as we go about our business in the coming days, anything that stands out as being unusual, don't hesitate to say so. The source of the crisis my own world is facing is the same as the source of the Ancients' Final Days— and even to Emet-Selch, after millennia of walking the star, it remains unknown.
[That doesn't bode particularly well for them.]
If he couldn't discover the cause, I find it hard to believe that I can— but Hydaelyn thought this place to be significant, and I believe that Elidibus chose this specific time for a reason. He must have known the two of you would be here— and Venat.
Could he have found knowledge that Emet-Selch lacked?
[ That seemed... hard to believe. But the picture she'd painted of her future sounded little like the world - and companions - he knows.
Shaking his head, he gives a thoughtful hum. ]
Their reasons are hard to predict, especially with so little context. But I will dig into the studies here and Hermes' particular fields of study. If there is ought to be found here, you can be sure we will do our best to uncover it.
[ Even if Emet-Selch isn't aware he's being recruited just yet. It's fine, he'll get over it. ]
If he has, I don't believe it to be intentional. Hermes himself seems an earnest sort.
[If he had discovered something he thought to be dangerous, surely he would share it— though the fact that whatever hidden cause they may find here is likely known to none makes their chances all the more slim.
Still. Failure is not an option.
Some of the tension eases from her shoulders, and she offers him a truly grateful smile.]
Thank you. I'm glad to have your aid— and to have had the chance to meet you, like this.
[Because while they have met before, on more than one occasion, this is something entirely different, an opportunity they never would have had otherwise.]
[ He arches an eyebrow slightly at her wording. He knows there is much she did not say - the summary she'd given was already full of information they needed, all of it overwhelming. And while she had mentioned his shade, in the casting Emet-Selch had done to grip close his memories, he's still not entirely certain of her meaning. ]
'Like this'? Was I so different, in Emet-Selch's memories?
[ He wonders at that. At how his friend remembered him. Saw him. Sees him. How would it differ from who he was? ]
[And not only because of his mask— perhaps it was that sundered souls could not perceive those who came before them, or the nature of the shades themselves, but when she had encountered his very soul on the moon, it had been much the same.]
And hear your voice. I could understand before, but it wasn't the same as having a conversation the way we are now. The nature of magic and souls, perhaps— but you were still as kind and generous as you've shown yourself to be here.
[This version of him was also notably more affectionate, though she supposes that may have simply been lost in translation— not to mention the circumstances of their previous meetings hardly lended themselves well to such things, being what they were.
She gives him a soft, affectionate smile of her own as he reaches over to tug on her hair, offering no protest.]
'Butting heads' would be... putting it gently, I think. [At that, her smile falters.] In the end, only one of us could remain standing. I wish it could have been otherwise. That we could have reasoned with one another.
[ Hythlodaeus gives a soft sigh at that and shifts on her bed, stretching his arms out behind him as he tips his head back to stare up at the ceiling. ]
Emet-Selch has always been... particular. And particularly stubborn. I doubt that, after an eon of dedicating himself to one purpose, one outcome, he would have been easy to reason with. To sway. I do not know what events might have haunted his path to lead him to the destination you found him in, but... [ Emet-Selch's angry denial resounded in his ears but underneath it, he could still hear the heartbreak in it. The fear. Protest it as Emet-Selch might, Hythlodaeus suspected they both could be pushed to great and terrible acts, with such unrelenting motivations. Couldn't they all? ]
Whatever the outcome of your visit here... I only hope it worthwhile. Helpful. Perhaps then, somehow, it will make all that was sacrificed... worth it. Mean something more.
[She shifts her own position slightly, turning so that she's sitting beside him as he stretches out, hooking one foot beneath herself. Of course, she agrees with him— after millennia of being dedicated to his purpose as he had been, it was impossible to imagine that things could have ended differently. She still wishes that circumstances had allowed for it, but the fact that they simply could not made it all the more heartbreaking.]
That's my hope, as well.
[Her voice is soft, her expression becoming somber.]
He wanted me to remember you— all of you, and what once was. I don't want that legacy to be lost.
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no subject
So he fixes her with an intent gaze, watching the expressions play out on her face. ]
What can I do to aid you, my dear?
no subject
[It's an earnest question, one she wishes desperately to have a more direct answer for.]
You know this place far better than I do. If there's anything that seems amiss as we go about our business in the coming days, anything that stands out as being unusual, don't hesitate to say so. The source of the crisis my own world is facing is the same as the source of the Ancients' Final Days— and even to Emet-Selch, after millennia of walking the star, it remains unknown.
[That doesn't bode particularly well for them.]
If he couldn't discover the cause, I find it hard to believe that I can— but Hydaelyn thought this place to be significant, and I believe that Elidibus chose this specific time for a reason. He must have known the two of you would be here— and Venat.
no subject
[ That seemed... hard to believe. But the picture she'd painted of her future sounded little like the world - and companions - he knows.
Shaking his head, he gives a thoughtful hum. ]
Their reasons are hard to predict, especially with so little context. But I will dig into the studies here and Hermes' particular fields of study. If there is ought to be found here, you can be sure we will do our best to uncover it.
[ Even if Emet-Selch isn't aware he's being recruited just yet. It's fine, he'll get over it. ]
no subject
[If he had discovered something he thought to be dangerous, surely he would share it— though the fact that whatever hidden cause they may find here is likely known to none makes their chances all the more slim.
Still. Failure is not an option.
Some of the tension eases from her shoulders, and she offers him a truly grateful smile.]
Thank you. I'm glad to have your aid— and to have had the chance to meet you, like this.
[Because while they have met before, on more than one occasion, this is something entirely different, an opportunity they never would have had otherwise.]
no subject
'Like this'? Was I so different, in Emet-Selch's memories?
[ He wonders at that. At how his friend remembered him. Saw him. Sees him. How would it differ from who he was? ]
no subject
I never had the chance to see your face, for one.
[And not only because of his mask— perhaps it was that sundered souls could not perceive those who came before them, or the nature of the shades themselves, but when she had encountered his very soul on the moon, it had been much the same.]
And hear your voice. I could understand before, but it wasn't the same as having a conversation the way we are now. The nature of magic and souls, perhaps— but you were still as kind and generous as you've shown yourself to be here.
no subject
[ He chuckles softly at that, and then reaches out to playfully tug on a stray lock of hair that curls against one of her shoulders. ]
From the sound of it, though, you and Emet-Selch butted heads a great deal, I take it?
no subject
[This version of him was also notably more affectionate, though she supposes that may have simply been lost in translation— not to mention the circumstances of their previous meetings hardly lended themselves well to such things, being what they were.
She gives him a soft, affectionate smile of her own as he reaches over to tug on her hair, offering no protest.]
'Butting heads' would be... putting it gently, I think. [At that, her smile falters.] In the end, only one of us could remain standing. I wish it could have been otherwise. That we could have reasoned with one another.
no subject
Emet-Selch has always been... particular. And particularly stubborn. I doubt that, after an eon of dedicating himself to one purpose, one outcome, he would have been easy to reason with. To sway. I do not know what events might have haunted his path to lead him to the destination you found him in, but... [ Emet-Selch's angry denial resounded in his ears but underneath it, he could still hear the heartbreak in it. The fear. Protest it as Emet-Selch might, Hythlodaeus suspected they both could be pushed to great and terrible acts, with such unrelenting motivations. Couldn't they all? ]
Whatever the outcome of your visit here... I only hope it worthwhile. Helpful. Perhaps then, somehow, it will make all that was sacrificed... worth it. Mean something more.
no subject
That's my hope, as well.
[Her voice is soft, her expression becoming somber.]
He wanted me to remember you— all of you, and what once was. I don't want that legacy to be lost.