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How had it gotten this bad, Hector wondered? As old as this guy was, as connected as he was, people must have been lining up to help him throughout history. Surely, others within the Vanguard must have noticed all this within their leader. Hector had already met Xander, and that dude had been insightful as hell, so he must've been able to see that--

Ah.

Perhaps Sermung could sense his brewing questions, because now memories were bubbling en masse. Shadowed and murky but still intelligible. Of course others had been able to see this. Not many, admittedly, but enough.

And it had caused problems. Many problems. Because not all were helpful of spirit. Some only saw weakness.

Opportunity.

Were you the same, Hector Goffe of Atreya? And if not now, then would you become so, in time? Yet another friend turned enemy?

The aura behind those questions wasn't even threatening, though logically-speaking it should have been. Instead, it felt remorseful. As if already regretting the future. And perhaps this whole conversation.

Didn't mean to draw you in like this. One more person wrapped up in inevitable tragedy. Fated misery. Was it ever avoidable? He wanted to think so. He always wanted to think so.

Hector was getting annoyed now. Talk about presumptuous. Was that where the question about destiny came from? This shit right here? Why were you dwelling on this so much? You knew better. At your age? Pondering the unknowable? Of course you knew better.

Hmph. If only it were as simple as deciding not to dwell on something. One might put it off, sure. Distract oneself with more pressing matters. But it always comes back, in time. And when one is immortal, there truly is no escape, is there? You'll see, young one.

It might not be simple, no. But that doesn't make it impossible, either. Something that helped me was understanding the fruitlessness of it. It's pointless to dwell on pointlessness.

Hah. A fun turn of phrase, perhaps, but ultimately, as you say, pointless. Meaningless. Meager human souls were never meant to live so long. This was always going to be the destination. And it always will be, no matter much we might try to deny it.

There you go with that destiny talk again. You still haven't told me why you seem to believe in the concept so much. What if it's just a load of horseshit?

Whoa. Hector could sense a fluctuation in Sermung's aura now. Annoyance? That was new. Perhaps the man had already sensed the same thing in Hector and was responding in kind.

Next page on the 5th

Need a little more time. Sorry. Thanks for reading, as always.

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He remained steady. And aware. Dividing his attention between these two starkly different worlds. That was very much necessary, at the moment. The world of darkness that he'd stepped into. And the normal world--which also wasn't looking terribly normal at the moment, what with these giant black monoliths everywhere and the floating man in gleaming armor right in front of him.

A man who was still speaking to him so casually, too, even though Hector could tell that his attention was also split, right now. What a supremely odd feeling.

"Apologies if I'm coming across a bit mopey," Sermung was saying. "Nostalgia is sometimes a double-edged sword, I feel."

"...Is this armor reminding you of someone in particular?" said Hector.

The man paused at that. The distracted aspect of his aura shifted. More of his attention was turning toward Hector now. "Not just your armor," he said slowly. "You carry yourself in a similar manner, as well. I find it... hmm..."

Hector didn't push. He understood where that sentence had been going and didn't need the man to articulate it aloud. "It's okay," he said. "I'd like to help you, if I can."

And beneath, in the other world, so many things were still being revealed to him. Too many, quite frankly. So much information at once.

This guy was suddenly an open book.

Or seemed to be, at least. This was an emperor, after all. There had to be all sorts of operational secrets that the guy didn't wish to share, of course, but Hector wasn't interested in any of that. And perhaps he could tell. Perhaps that was why he was willing to share so much.

"Sorry again," said Sermung. "I don't mean to bombard you. It's the strangest thing, I--"

"It's alright," said Hector, even as he sifted through it all. So much suffering. Holy fucking shit. It reminded him of the Candle's memories but so much more potent. So much more personal. Truly, deeply felt.

The Candle's memories had felt more like observations. Largely neutral in terms of emotions, even if when they were revealing utterly horrific events.

But these were soaked with emotion. Like bleeding wounds. Hector very nearly confused them with his own emotions. If he didn't catch himself--guard himself--he might've very well gotten swept away in the tide.

He had to concentrate. Bring everything to bear. No distraction. Sort through as much as he could with as many different thought processes as he could. While still remaining awake and cogent in the real world, too.

Wow.