[He decides to not push the issue. If circumstances changed- well, he'd do whatever he had to. If that meant hurting the Exarch or any of the heroes, he would. Emet-Selch had no particular interest in it, but neither would he hesitate. He'd lived too long to question himself now.
Still, he did prefer to hope it wouldn't come to that.]
I can imagine they were quite cross. Letting their friends die, whatever the reason, is not something I can see them doing quietly.
[It was a terrible, inexorable answer. The death of his world, his people left sleeping in Zodiark's darkness. Would the remains of his god be rooted out and smote as well?
He couldn't even muster up the energy to be angry about it; there was only a dull grief for what was lost.]
Which particular things...?
Could my conflict with the Warrior have been avoided? ...Mayhaps not. We would have to go back quite far. Before the events in Kholusia. Before my first meeting with the hero. Before their first encounter with any Ascian. Before the first Calamity.
Before the world was sundered. Before Zodiark's creation. When did events tip into inevitability?
[They can't help what they are, either. It's all just-- a waste. But that's war. Just because a battle is won doesn't erase the lives lost. The grief caused.
He sees it written on the Warrior's face when Emet-Selch is discussed.]
... Change is not impossible. I cannot-- I will not believe otherwise. To do so would betray all who placed their faith in me.
But in the end, this does not fall to me. It begins with you.
The change you ask requires my giving up on everything I hold dear. Abandoning them. Naturally, I realize that I'm asking the same thing of all of you.
[Even if Emet-Selch viewed it as short-sighted and borne of ignorance, it was comprehensible. That was part of why it was so frustrating. They weren't doing it out of spite, or cruelty, or even indifference. They all cared. Everyone cared too damn much, that was the problem.]
I can't say I'm optimistic of our chances.
...Well, I would have believed it impossible to be dragged into a place like this against my will, so who knows? Some miracle may yet occur. Perhaps there's some third option none of us have considered. Perhaps this will be the first time in thousands upon thousands of years that you mortals won't disappoint me.
[Emet-Selch isn't the only one fighting for a world only he remembers. The difference is that the Exarch wants to prevent it from coming about. The past isn't a good place to live in, even for immortals.]
Our friends are very tenacious. We may both be surprised.
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Still, he did prefer to hope it wouldn't come to that.]
I can imagine they were quite cross. Letting their friends die, whatever the reason, is not something I can see them doing quietly.
[Such noble, good, misguided people.]
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They shall always fight to see their friends and their world through whatever terrible shadow is cast upon it. That... is their 'answer'.
Do you believe things could have been different?
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He couldn't even muster up the energy to be angry about it; there was only a dull grief for what was lost.]
Which particular things...?
Could my conflict with the Warrior have been avoided? ...Mayhaps not. We would have to go back quite far. Before the events in Kholusia. Before my first meeting with the hero. Before their first encounter with any Ascian. Before the first Calamity.
Before the world was sundered. Before Zodiark's creation. When did events tip into inevitability?
So... I do not know.
Do you believe things can change now?
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He sees it written on the Warrior's face when Emet-Selch is discussed.]
... Change is not impossible. I cannot-- I will not believe otherwise. To do so would betray all who placed their faith in me.
But in the end, this does not fall to me. It begins with you.
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[Even if Emet-Selch viewed it as short-sighted and borne of ignorance, it was comprehensible. That was part of why it was so frustrating. They weren't doing it out of spite, or cruelty, or even indifference. They all cared. Everyone cared too damn much, that was the problem.]
I can't say I'm optimistic of our chances.
...Well, I would have believed it impossible to be dragged into a place like this against my will, so who knows? Some miracle may yet occur. Perhaps there's some third option none of us have considered. Perhaps this will be the first time in thousands upon thousands of years that you mortals won't disappoint me.
[But he doubted it.]
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Our friends are very tenacious. We may both be surprised.