Hermes and I feed lightning sprites as we discuss the nature of life and of the soul.
I'll be the first to admit I don't entirely understand the explanation - I probably need to hear it a few more times - but as I understand it, the difference between an arcane entity and a living creature is the presence of a soul, and a soul cannot be granted, but rather forms in a creation that fulfills the necessary conditions to live independently?
He doesn't give me a straightforward answer when I ask what category Meteion falls into. Rather, he considers the question unimportant; he cares for Meteion as herself. That's very sweet and heartwarming.
Oh, look! An Elpis Flower!!
Hermes exposits that the flowers were a happy accident created by a past researcher of Elpis, and that though they change color to reflect the emotions of those around them, they are rarely seen in any hue save white.
...I think this is the first time I've ever seen them white.
Hermes explains that the flowers do this by means of an unseen energy driven by emotions. I describe akasa to him, and he agrees that it sounds alike, but names it something else...
Dun Dun DUN!
...hah. Hah. That's... That's the name of my Data Center... Dynamis... Oh. Oh dear.
So, Entelechies are entities that have the ability to interact with and convert dynamis into tangible phenomena - like the color change seen in the flowers. Meteion is also an entelechy. The first with free will.
Emet-Selch is perturbed that he's never heard of dynamis before, but Hermes explains that as dynamis can neither be seen or felt normally, nor be interacted with by beings comprised solely by aether - such as us - there are only a few scholars that know of it. Similar, it seems, to the present day.
Dynamis is a vastly weaker energy, but it comprises the majority of energy in creation as a whole? It sounds like this concept is similar to dark matter.
Uhh... Hermes, you're starting to give me some Fandaniel vibes. Me no like. Something involving dynamis is causing the Final Days, and here you are talking about wanting to empower this energy to a point where it can overpower aether. That, uh... That seems to be exactly what is happening.
I... do not believe you. That speech was entirely too impassioned for you to not care keenly about this. You might claim to have only created Meteion to have made a creation capable of traversing the great expanse, but I sense there's more to this story.
Meteion is comprised mostly of dynamis, which is why her aether is so thin. Hermes did this by necessity, as aether is relatively scarce in outer space. Meteion wants to know if I'm an entelechy too, since my aether is thin as well (no, it's because I'm 9/14ths of an ancient, I'm missing aether as opposed to having had it replaced with something else). I'm not, but Hermes claims that having thinner aether might allow me to interact and be interacted upon by dynamis more easily...
Oh. Oh no. That's why people are transforming into monsters in our Final Days; their aether is thin enough that the dynamis can affect them. Where the ancients were appropriately dense enough to be immune to that particular effect. Shiiiiit.
With those unsettling thoughts we move on to our next creation to visit; the charybdis.
There is a problem with this big blue charybdis; a third generation creature, it's aether is slightly too much aspected towards water and it cannot fly. The researcher minding them suggests that these creations be "reverted" (culled, I would guess) and their concept revised.
Hermes seems appalled at the idea, and insists that the creation can fly, but is simply afraid to, and proposes that he himself will transform and teach it to.
...And then the funniest thing in the world happens.
Pffft... Hghjlkdshsdk. HHHGLGKJSD
"Behold, a sorcerer of eld!"
Ahahaha!
You. Y-You never thought I'd find this out, did you!? Makes it all the better that you're the one telling me!
AHahaha! oh god I'm losing it hehehehe!
Transforming is apparently the ancient equivalent of stripping. Of walking around buck ass naked.
H. Hey wait. I read.
Where is it...?
...
...Guys, that is gay. That is really gay.
Never ceases to impress you, eh, Hythlodaeus? So that wasn't the first time Hades had transformed in front of you, then? Not even the second.
I can't believe that's canon.
Alright, okay, I'll stop.
...Talking about it, maybe. Not gonna stop thinking about it though...
(*laughing maniacally*)
Hythlodaeus is totally up to some mischief, and has Emet-Selch take the blue charybdis somewhere out of sight. He then informs us of his plan to have Emet-Selch teach the charybdis to fly, which he should be able to do with his prodigious magical prowess.
My job is going to be to ask him. lol.
Emet-Selch wants none of our shenanigans. Unfortunately for him, he's vulnerable to being asked persistently, just as Hythlodaeus promised he would be. He makes many delightfully exasperated and conflicted facial expressions I wish I had the room to include in this post. I am saving them all.
OMG it's Grani! omg I've been riding Emet-Selch's weird unicorn horse all this time!? (Emet-Selch, you have an... intriguing aesthetic sense)
Hythlodaeus and I get to take it easy and sit in the grass. While we're waiting, he tells me about Emet-Selch joining the Convocation.
The truth of it is that Hythlodaeus was actually the first choice for the office, but he turned it down because - in his own words - "I am pedestrian in all other aspects". I would disagree with this strenuously. Hythlodaeus, you might not be good at magic and manipulating aether, but you are a bright and shining soul. A light in the storm. A solid rock amidst the sea of chaotic life. You feel like home.
That said, I take his point. One must be able to act to resolve problems if one is to take a seat on the Convocation.
Hmm... I am having difficulty objectively analyzing this scene, lol, because by now I'm shipping these two something fierce. And, in the most non-romantic way I can manage, it's clear to me that Hythlodaeus loves Hades a great deal. He is proud of Hades' accomplishments, and that he is recognized for his deeds, even if Hades himself does not consider his own actions anything extraordinary.
And he loves me too. Well, ancient me. Azem.
The way Hythlodaeus tells it, Emet-Selch and Azem are the most important people to him in the world. He expresses his desire to one day return to the star with them, when all their purposes have been fulfilled. I think that's so lovely. And I think that says more than any speculation I can make; how much they mean to each other that they have planned their lives together. How wonderful, to love and be loved in return.
I only wish that I could help him have that.
I try to pretend I don't know what happens to them.
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