83 MSQ spoilers, post Dungeon pre trial
“Excuse me,” a voice rings above the others. All these who chose to sacrifice themselves shouting at Teri, but this one is clear. Different.
The souls around them dissipate, as if honoring the other. Teri turns towards the new one, and can tell immediately. The same beautiful lavender soul. Yet like every soul they’ve seen, the features are indistinct, pushing further conformity than they could in life. Tall, grey face, simple mask, and a hooded robe, far simpler than the ones back in their time.
“Ah, that unmistakeable color,” the soul says. “The soul of Azem, but not the friend I knew, I think.”
“No,” Teri says as they rip off their mask. “Hyth, it is me. Terpsichore. I was sundered, but my consciousness remained. For 12 millennia. Over a hundred mortal lives.”
“Ah, so you are,” he says as he kneels down. “When did you get horns, my friend?”
“Seven years ago,” Teri says. “There was a calamity, my reincarnation died, but I couldn’t wait. Not to be reborn. The time after calamities are always such a struggle, and no matter what, they needed me. So I let her sleep, but kept her body alive, changed it to my liking after a passing memory reminded me of what to do.”
“So I see, yet something about me bothers you.”
“You sacrificed yourself. I never understood why you chose to do it. You, who are so full of life. We could have used you afterwards.” They sigh. “No wonder Hades made that shade of you in Amaurot, almost completely aware, except of his actual purpose.”
“Hades? He made a shade of me, could you, describe that?”
“I haven’t much time, I need to stop others from reaching and taking control of Zodiark. I hated that it came to what it did, and still wish there could have been another way, an answer to fix the cause, and not circumvent it. But I went to one of the shards Hydaelyn made of Eitherys. Hades was my foe, just as tormented by the years of the sundering, but seeking a different route I could never accept. At the end of my path, he found the ruins of Amaurot, took me to them. He cleaned them up some with his magicks, and populated it with the souls of the sacrificed. As I said, one was you. At first, I dismissed it, angry at Emet-Selch, needing to finish our fight. But you had another purpose. That you, not the real you. He... showed me how the convocation are reborn, since it is not in the same way as me. Gave me back my one great spell I could consistently cast. He looked just like the you before me.”
Hythlodaeus moves in and pets them. His features seem to clear some, his braid, his lips. Face still grey and robes and mask still indistinct, but more like he was in the past.
“Oh, so Hades did that?” He chuckles. His voice is clearer as well, not a simple mental translation in their head. “How like him. Even though your paths crossed and you were foes, how glad am I that he still entrusted his memory to you, and that you have that lovely summoning spell back in your arsenal. It is a shame you hadn’t had it for seven years.”
“I’m resealing Zodiark, and I suppose that means you’ll be back as well. But it was... is nice to speak with you again, the real you.”
“I shall keep the others away from you, because I believe in your cause, my friend. I can only hope Hades can see this wherever he is. I’m sure of all those who could have killed him, he’s glad it was you.”
Teri chuckles. “He kind of was. I won’t forgive him, not for what happened after the sundering, but I hope his next lives let him be free, enjoy this mortality in a way I cannot.”
“I also hope you find a way so that we need not Zodiark to protect Eitherys, my friend. I shall miss you, Terpischore.”
Another pet, and he stands up, his features returning to the indistinct. With a playful wave, he is off.
