Inspired by this prompt ( i will be reblogging that in a bit, with the story added on, as well, i just want a post of my own for navigation purposes )
There are many ways to start the story of Hio Greyheart.
Some say he was a Scholar, a man of great curiosity, who wanted nothing more but to know and be known. Some say he was a Hero, one who taught the rest of us how to learn, how to become better. Others yet say he was a Monster - he forced himself through the Veil, took the Many by storm, and returned to the world with their corpses in the form of books.
And some say he was a Tragedy. A Fallen one, who longed to go home.
No matter how you start, though, it does not change the end.
Nothing can change the end, can it? The Void is inevitable, for those like you.
One way or another, he drew the ire of the Many. Whether it was getting too lost in the Halls of the Blessed, searching for answers; whether it was granting us our minds, when the Many were still experimenting with existence; whether it was killing their beloved and stealing their minds for his own.
Or he came home to find the Risen gone, disappeared, ruins of a world left behind littered with the corpses of his family, the Many standing in their place. And he wept, begged, at the feet of the Many.
No, no matter how you start, the Risen have Fallen, and it does not change the end.
Nothing can bring them back. You, of all, should know that, Hio.
The Many found him, of course. They always find him, they always will, they always have.
They found him, and they gave him a wish. What he chose does not matter - let them see, let them know, let them fear, let them love - for you cannot change the end. You cannot change the Void.
The Many can change the Void. They often do, for those they love.
The Void is empty. It is nothing, neither bright, nor dark, nor cold, nor burning. An endless, painless, excruciating expanse, made exactly for those like Hio. For those who searched, gave, stole, found. For those who yearned to be something greater, something whole.
For those like Hio, yes. And they will share the same end, for you cannot change it.
You cannot change the end.
There are none left like Hio. There have been none for a very, very long time.
They changed his Void; they granted his wish. They let us see him, they let us know, they let us fear and love him. His Void was endless, empty, nothing, until it wasn’t. Until it grew so much, so bright and hot and cruel and exactly what he asked for-
We still call the sun Hio. We still call our tragic stories Grey Hearted. We still remember, love, hate, forget.
We know the ending for Hio Greyheart, no matter how the story starts.
