@kxowledge totally, though i recently got a good tip from a friend to feel less overwhelmed! i have this tendency to go down archive rabbitholes; if i find a new blog or writer i like i go back to the very first post published, which results in 15 tabs open for only half the month of like, June 2007 + my other regular tabs. as you can guess, it’s a lot. this ofc also happens with tumblr “recommendation” posts and resources.. anyway the advice my friend gave me, or at least my rendition of it, is to close all your tabs before putting your computer to sleep(or now, just shut it down!) i think it really facilitates the habit of “letting go” of things you dont and cant consume rn. now before or when i fall into a rabbithole again i look at the page and think, “do i actually want to read this?” i think the very opening all these tabs takes attention away from the entire experience of finding these wealths of knowledge. for me it typically ends with having to close everything because my laptop doesnt have enough space or cant handle the speed of all the tabs being open. yes, it’s that bad! and i end up reading nothing.
along with the advice above ive taken to actually noting down what i want to read later so that if i do have to shut off my laptop(and thus cant keep tabs open) i can return to them later. this makes me distinguish what i actually want to read with what i think i want to read simply because of the excitement from finding a new resource. it makes me slow down. like rn i have 21 things on my list that i want to read(most of which are essays! so this is like my essay TBR pile because it’s a whole different game w books) and honestly, i think that’s a very OK number. i am constantly revising that list, coming back to add things, looking at all of it and rethinking if i still want to read them. if you do actually listen to all the blabber im saying dont feel bad about letting things go(if you do indeed feel this way). sometimes there are very important resources that i know i should read(obligated, almost), for example there was this long article about racism and debt in the US that i had saved last week, but bc it had been a week i deleted it. i still think abt it and remember the link and title which comforts me bc it means i did want to read it, enough to have it in memory, so i can still go to it even if its not on the list rn.
Hello friends, and welcome to another round of analyzing Will Harper’s character: finale edition!
This will be a (very) long post that will contain spoilers for the remainder of YJO (you’ve been warned), and is a general analysis and my feelings about his character this season. I will also make a general disclaimer: I love Young Justice, and while this season wasn’t my favorite, I still enjoyed it as a whole. However, because I love this show, I care enough to point out things I wish could have been changed, or questions I have regarding character development. I also love Will Harper, despite the things I’m about to point out. I have and will always love his character. So with that out of the way, let’s dig in!
This season started off strong with Will. Each time Will showed up in the first 13 episodes, we learned something new about him. In ‘Princes All’, we learned that he and Artemis are roommates and co-raising his daughter. In ‘Private Security’, we learned how much he’s grown since S2, has a stable relationship with Jim and Roy, has a successful business, and cares about his daughter. In ‘Home Fires’, we learned that he participates in the ‘Superhero Mommy and Me’ playdates, and struggles a bit with being a single dad. In ‘Exceptional Human Beings’, we learned that he still holds a candle for Jade and wants her to come home because he and his daughter needs her.
All solid, character-driven moments. Pretty strong.
However, in the second half of the season, this character development pretty much halts, and I’m left with more questions rather than answers. My biggest qualms with Will’s character (esp in the latter half of the season), are his relationship with Lian, his relationship with Artemis, and his existence to serve other characters.
Will’s relationship with Lian: I know, I can already hear you. ‘Ariel, you’re the biggest Will and Lian lover like wtf do you have to complain about’. Valid. But I have criticisms about how their relationship was portrayed in the latter half of the season, especially once Lian started becoming more prominent. For the normal people out there who only watch their interactions once, you probably don’t see anything wrong with it. Will is a good father, he loves his daughter, all is well. However, being the insane person that I am who has watched their interactions approximately 67 times each, I started to notice that things were... off.
If you go back and rewatch the scenes, Will only interacts with his daughter twice this season: In ‘Private Security’, when he touches her head, and in ‘Leverage’, where they share the adorable moment over dinner and she gets another head-ruffle. That’s about... it. Heck, Will met Lian on Valentine’s day, and yet, on a Valentine’s day episode, there’s no mention of it, and he instead has Violet babysit her so he can hook up with Artemis. Every other moment involving Lian, you’ll notice that she’s usually in the care of Artemis. Artemis is the one who administers bath time and who snuggles her when she’s scared of a thunderstorm. Artemis is the one who is usually encouraging her and has a pet-name for her. Despite an entire season of moments with our favorite toddler, we have very little indication of what her relationship with her father is actually like.
In the comics, Roy and Lian are incredibly close. He isn’t a perfect father, but he loves Lian and very clearly shows it. In Young Justice... Well, I know Artemis loves her niece. It’s the little things that I wish would have been different. Small changes. Like Will kissing Lian’s head before Violet puts her to bed in ‘Overwhelmed’. Will being the one to have a nickname for her. Will could have been the one about to give Lian a bath while Artemis has coffee with Helga and Jefferson. As a viewer, it’s more important to me to see a father’s relationship with his daughter, rather than an aunt’s. Especially when this father-daughter relationship was so crucial to Roy’s character in the comics.
Also, I’ll make an addendum and say I know Will and comic!Roy’s personalities are different. I know Will is more stoic and has a harder time expressing emotions. But I think there is a middle ground between ‘interacts with daughter via 2 head touches’ and ‘smothering her with kisses’. And I truly hope this is developed more in Season 4.
Will’s relationship with Artemis: I will go to my grave saying that I don’t understand why Will and Artemis’ relationship was a plotline this season. I really would have liked them to remain platonic, they served as excellent roommates/family to each other. However, I respect the writers’ decisions, and on a surface level, it makes sense. Let’s think about it for a moment. Artemis and Will are both single, and both hurt by a previous lover. They have someone that connects them (Lian), and are pretty attractive people. Thinking about it from a totally non-biased standpoint, I can see why they would form feelings for each other.
I just... don’t care for how the relationship worked out. I wish we’d gotten some more explanation as to what they truly saw in each other, aside from a few longing glances. Was it a matter of convenience? Was it a matter of grief? I don’t know. I wish I knew. I would have liked to see Will’s reactions in episode 25. In episode 10, he was still hung up on Jade. And yet in episode 25... nothing. Not even a thought when he kisses her sister? A glance at a photograph? Did he regret it? What were his emotions?
I thought his feelings for Artemis came out of left field, because other than two weird glances, we didn’t know anything about how he felt about her. We have one scene in which she admires his domesticity and how he interacted with Lian, but nothing on the reverse. Maybe it was solely physical. Who knows? At the end of the day, we’re at the same place we started: with both of them in a platonic, roommates/family situation. So.. why go down the romance path at all? Now I’m left with more questions, and little answers.
Will’s existence to serve other characters: I know, I know. This sounds super harsh. I promise I have a point, though, if you bear with me. In the first half of YJO, as mentioned previously, Will has direction, thoughts, and motivations. He owns a company and wants to help Dick realize his errors in ‘Private Security’. He chats up Lynn in ‘Home Fires’. He tries to reason with Jade and bring her back home in ‘Exceptional Human Beings’. Again, this halts in the latter half of 3b. For the rest of the season, Will is essentially an accessory to Artemis’ journey. His presence in the plot is to exist around Artemis and serve as her potential love interest, without any real thoughts, feelings or motivations of his own. How does he feel about having a full house? No clue. Is he concerned for his daughter’s well-being? How is he doing, personally, in his life? I wish I knew. What about his relationship with Kaldur? Did they have a falling out, are they still close? Does he still talk with his former friends? What about his relationship with Jim, Roy, Ollie and Dinah? So many questions, not enough answers.
Again, I’ll bring up the scene and my analysis above on when he and Artemis kiss. Though, I’m going to take a swift turn and put a positive spin on this scene for a moment. Because outside of all this, I do feel bad for Will. You can tell that he tried, by setting up a romantic dinner. Has Will Harper ever even been on a date? I’m sure he hadn’t done many, if at all, with Jade. This poor guy, probably only ever been with Jade until she left him and (likely) broke his heart. He was just listening to her by moving on, hoping that maybe he had a chance with her sister Artemis. You can tell he’s grown as a character, and took the liberty to set everything up and do it the right way. And in the end, he was still turned down. Jury’s out on whether he was actually relieved, or lying and lamenting a girl he really cared for, but still. I have to give him kudos here. Poor Will.
If I could rewrite the Will and Artemis scenes from episode 25, I would change a couple of things. I would not have had Will initiate; Artemis should have initiated. She could have kissed him, and Will would have been the one to pull away. He could have said something, anything about it not being right, about still having feelings for Jade. Artemis still could have ran off and felt ashamed of herself. Upon coming home, Will would apologize, and they still could have had a talk. And everything would have worked out just the same.
If you’re still reading, amen to you, and thanks for sticking it out! Again, I do love Will Harper. I’m just frustrated by his portrayal in the latter half of Season 3. I do hope that we get to spend some more time with him in Season 4, and hopefully his relationships with everyone will be improved upon.
Text of a note sent via Codex to Jess Brightwell from his mother, Charity Brightwell:
Jess’s mother is Charity in Ink and Bone. This part of the message he gets from home seems fairly innocuous, presumably in an attempt to make the note from his father seem more truthful, and not like it’s a hidden code. However, there are hints of something more. Jess’s father kind of reminds me of Tommy Shelby, from Peaky Blinders. A criminal who attempts to hide it with his position on councils and such – like his new role on the select committee on the beautification of their borough.
One more thing of note is that his uncle Thaddeus has moved to his country house in the north, and they are always welcome there. Is this the castle they go to in Ash and Quill?
A separate note from Callum Brightwell, attached to the same message, Suspected of hidden coded messaging and reviewed by Obscurists. Found to be inconclusive.
This is an excellent code. On the surface, it does just read as though it’s a message from a father to his son far from home – although some of the phrases are a little odd. I’m not sure if I trust that the Obscurists didn’t in fact find anything in the note of worth. This also shows that Codex messages, allegedly private, are in fact monitored for things like this.
Text of secured Library correspondence between the Obscurist Magnus and Scholar Tyler, stationed at the Oxford Serapeum
This is interesting. Despite the apparent decline in Obscurist numbers, some are still born outside of the Tower, and the fact that this is Morgan, with all her considerable power, suggests that the theory brought up by (I believe) Wolfe, that aggressively interbreeding Obscurists is in fact contributing to the decline instead of saving it.
Keria shows her usual lack of emotion here, choosing to stick to the facts and nothing else. She’s quite vague, suggesting they don’t know for sure if there is a budding Obscurist.
The fact that no reply to the message has been found could mean one of two things – Tyler just didn’t response, which I find…implausible, considering he was trying to protect Morgan and a non-reply would be as good as a confession to knowing something, or that there was a message, and it was removed by someone – whether Keria or Morgan, I’m unsure.
Handwritten paper message from Scholar Tyler in Oxford to Morgan Hault:
Handwritten – how was it delivered? Is there a postal service? I wouldn’t think one would be necessary, what with everyone having a Codex. Did Tyler pay someone to deliver it?
He feared that Morgan’s attempts wouldn’t be successful – it seems he has a good bearing on what she’s capable of, and what she could be capable of in the future. Tyler mentions the High Garda being sent to retrieve her. They really don’t want stray Obscurists slipping through the net, do they?
How has Tyler heard that the closer to the Iron Tower, the more likely it is Morgan will be able to effectively change the Codex? For that matter, how does he know that changing Codex formula to hide a person is even possible? Is there a whole group of Obscurists who have done this, hiding themselves from the Tower by changing formulae, making themselves invisible?
An excerpt from a work entitled On Press-Printing: A New Beginning by Research Scholar Christopher Wolfe, submitted to the Artifex Magnus for peer review and brought to him by the Curators of the Library. Marked as Seditious Content and sent to the Black Archives by order of the Archivist Magister, for his eyes only
This reads almost exactly the same as the Gutenberg one earlier in the book. The worry about the Obscurists and the sustainability of such a group, the suggestion of the mechanical press, and the hope that this will bring the Library into the new age.
Of note is that Wolfe built a prototype press, presumably by himself. He must have some engineering skill, to be able to do that with little or no outside help and could be used as evidence for the question of what the fuck was his speciality.
The way he writes suggests that, before prison, he was less bitter towards Obscurists in general, although not necessarily his parents – I can’t imagine canon era Wolfe saying that Obscurists are ‘rare, bright talents’, or that the press will ‘removes the burden from the fragile shoulders of the Obscurists’.
An annotation from the Artifex Magnus to the document:
Again with the heresy. They love that phrase for going against the Library, and I’m STILL curious about the way religion functions alongside the Library.
The Artifex seems genuinely upset that Wolfe has created the press, a hint of the friendship that used to exist between them at some point in the past. He also seems concerned about Wolfe’s close connection to the Tower in light of his invention. Why does the connection make it even more disturbing? Is it just because the press would mean they could no longer control the Obscurists under the guise of saving them and their skills for the Library?
A following annotation from the Obscurist Magnus to the document:
Oh Keria. I know you think you were doing the right thing here, but instead of ensuring your son is killed, you’ve doomed him to a year of torture and a lifetime of trauma and ruined any chance of having a relationship with him. Sure, he was probably going to be tortured anyway, but I’m quite sure he would consider being killed at the end of it a mercy.
This suggests that before Keria stepped in, it was just the documents and works pertaining to the press that would be sent to the Black Archives, not everything he ever wrote, which is interesting.
‘He must, of course, be made to understand that this extraordinary mercy will not come again, and he lives on the sufferance of the Archivist and the Curators’. This is almost certainly something Quall said to Wolfe, repeatedly and at length. I’m sure it would also have been made very clear that it was his own mother that essentially ordered this to happen to him. To then, a year later, have his mother rescue him from the hell she created for him, must have been a massive headfuck for Wolfe. The fact he’s even willing to talk to her is amazing to me.
It was written in Discord to make things easier but now it’s here for all to see:
@ofreflectedskies & @ofhellworld present: this.
She needed to find it-- somehow, she needed to find THE CURE. Her brother was dying. Her brother was dying. Sid couldn't picture a world without her brother in it. 1903 was falling apart but she was a God, one of the big three. She'd deal with it as long as she had to so long as she found the cure. There was a PAUSE. Someone else was here-- powerful and-- Hades. In a instant she ran into her brother's arms, relief that at least ONE of them were alright. Breathing. "Thank god."
The guilt inside of him was aching, blistering and threatening to knock him on his ass but still he moved. He needed to find the cure if it would save Zeus. All he had wanted to do was end Zeus' reign of doing whatever the hell he wanted to do and ruining the world as he did it. Hades knew what they had done as a whole, Poseidon included, was best in the end but it didn't make it better. At least they had made the decision together. Three could house the pain and guilt for such a crime but this? This was a different kind of crime. Zeus, Hades knew it was him, took Cerberus from him. Not just him but Persephone and Minthe as well. He needed the cure - not the inability to speak when Sidney rushed into his arms. All that came out were choked sounds.
Hades was hardly the hugging type, so little of the Gods were. However somewhere between her many many years, that was what Poseidon became. A person who hugged, who held onto those she loved with all her heart in fear of them slipping through her fingertips. She'd been attempting-- so hard, attempting so hard to keep it together. To stay calm as she looked for the cure. But setting sights on her brother was just too much and no longer could she contain it. she held onto him tightly, as if letting go would mean loosing it. Heavy breaths seeped from her lips as she finally washed out the words. "I'm so glad you're alright. So glad." Breathless and relieved but also still scared. Zeus was dying.
There's guilt, so much of it, and it's enough to wish it swallowed him whole. He needs to explain but how? What words would make this okay much less explain his reasoning behind such an action? "I'm alright," he lied knowing that telling her he wasn't wouldn't change anything. The hug was nice -- probably the last he'd ever receive. "but Zeus is not and that's my fault." His voice was steely even though his legs felt like jelly.
She froze, his words registering in her mind. Hands pulled back a smooth action, and then a step back to face him. Eyes were ride because Hades never lied, and maybe it was all true but not all all true. It had to not be. Because he would never do that-- he would never--- "What.... what happened?" She was scared, for whatever the answer might be. Eyes became glassy, tears forming for felt like the billionth time that night. "What happened?"
What happened? A rush of memories came rushing to his mind. Just the motion of stepping away from him made him tremble. "He took Cerberus." There's still hurt there. The way a parent mourns their child. A reminder of the uncertainty he felt when he thought he'd never get them back. How broken Persephone was when she thought they were gone. "I was angry." The truth was he wasn't thinking when the rage took over and blinded him. "I wanted to hurt him... We all wanted to hurt him. Make him suffer. Make him feel pain." Never mind the tremble. He was damn near close to sobs. Being blinded by rage caused him to lash out - and to let others lash out too.
"The-- the divide." Between their world and the one of 1903. A prison world, something created by the witches whose business they tried to keep away from. At least, Sid had. He took my daughter. the words desired to get out, to challenge, but they didn't come. She couldn't do it. The tears that made her eyes glassy- well, her vision cleared. It rolled down her cheek, silent and hot as her gaze set upon him. Not a glare. No. Sorrow, was in her eyes. Disappointment as well. "But you didn't want to kill him." Because if he had wanted it-- Sid couldn't fathom the thought. In fact she refused it. "Of course you didn't, so let's save him and then--- then I'll do all the--" All the yelling, and the sobbing her eyes out, the screaming. Of course, she hadn't given him the opportunity to answer because she feared his. "All of it. After."
That was the major difference between the two now wasn't it? Hades was moody and temperamental, and when the time came for it reactive. Explosive like a volcano ready to devour and destroy everything in his path. She wouldn't let him reply. She's talking but he barely hears the words. "BUT I DID WANT TO KILL HIM." he yelled at some invisible figure behind her, demanding they'd listen to him. "I wanted to destroy him before he destroyed us all!" That was hard for Hades to admit and the choked sound that followed was agony. The LORD OF THE UNDERWORLD was the youngest but he had always loved his siblings. He'd argue and fight but he always loved them just the same. Hades had never pictured the day he'd root for Zeus' death -- or Poseidon's. No he only wanted more than some dirty and hot realm he had been stuck with for so long. Persephone is what broke the camel's back. "And I couldn't even do that." No, he had the chance to do so and even delivered the weakening blow but he couldn't kill Zeus.
He was SCREAMING and the words felt louder then any thunder Zeus was capable of. They shook her to her very core. There was a moment where she simply stared at him. There were so many emotions. So overwhelming. Too much. She felt sick. "How." Her tone was one that was small. "Yes, so many people were taken and he must of have had a stupid reason for all he did. But you wanted to KILL him." She was shaking because this was all too much to bare. Lips trembling as she stared at her brother whom she loved so much. Her younger brother who was scarily close to being responsible for the death of their other one. "You couldn't do it... ? Then what would you call this?" She asked so utterly simply, no accusation just... just heartbreak. "He is dying. I can't-- I won't let them happen. I just won't. I will find this cure, and if you plan to stand in my way then you need to leave. If you try to stop me..." A deep inhale. "Please don't try and stop me."
Hades felt his fists ball into tight knots. He was angry again and part of it was because of Sidney and being so accusing without saying anything. It's her tone not her words. The other part is angry because he had stooped so low. Then it wasn't accusing. It was whiplash. It didn't matter did it? Not that Cerberus had been gone, that Zeus had acted alone -- and would likely not be punished for such actions. "The ONLY reason those people returned was because this world is crumbling! What about that horrid Valentine's Day party? I could've ended it but he wouldn't let me!" She couldn't be this naive could she? So blind that nothing Zeus did mattered? "All of those people," my children, "are scared and afraid. They aren't ants! We aren't ants!" Not toys to be played with. Hades knew sacrificing the others helped the human world but had it? Had it really when Zeus fell deeper and deeper into this role he was playing? "I need to stop you. This world is failing. Ceasing to exist." Which if it did with them in it... They would cease to exist as well.
She stared at him, bewilderment and wonder twisted into a single stare. Lips parted, wanting nothing more then to scream and yell and tell him off. Instead, her lip trembled because she felt like she couldn't breath. "You didn't kill him. But you wish you had. Or someone else had." A pause. "Someone else did. This must be perfect for you then, mustn't it?" The anger, it was growing now. "Hands clean, Zeus dead. Perfect, for you and for Persephone too I bet. For all of them. Everyone in the city too. A beautiful gorgeous day because of a single man's death." It was a cycle, one after the other of tears raining down her cheeks and falling down. "Zeus is the one who saved them all. From us. He made that choice. You-- all of you, you could hate him. But without our brother's intervention humanity would be extinct. There would be no world except one of our own making-- or is that what you would of preferred?" Lips pressed together, strain in tone. You need to stop me. She repeated his words, her tone with empty laughter in it. "You have no problem in letting Zeus die. I---" CHOKED UP. She needed a pause before resuming. "I do. I won't be able to continue on knowing my brother is trapped alone in darkness. I cannot. If I'm not able to save him at the very least I will offer company." Tone displayed quite clearly, there was nothing to do to change her mind, she finished. "I am leaving with the cure. Or I am not leaving at all. There is no stopping me. There is no changing my mind. So leave."
No. Hades wanted to scream at her as he ripped out his hair. "I stopped because I saw him bloodied and beaten on that ground and I couldn't do it! I didn't want him dead, I wanted him to stop acting like an arogant prick he's been acting like." There's a flash of green up above them and Hades knows what that means. The world was crumbling. Hanging by tethers. Who even knew if the cure was real or not? "You can hate my guts for all eternity but I won't let you die here." and he meant that so much he had determination in his eyes. They had fought and sometimes it was physical but never to the point where Hades charged her. His hands gripping whatever fabric she was wearing and pushed her toward one of the cracks between this world and 2030. "If you don't leave you'll die."
"Except you did. You wanted him DEAD. It doesn't matter if it was a brief instance or it is something that became a regret. Hades, you wanted our brother dead. You planned the attack-- do not say you didn't that is a lie. You made the choice to strike, you made the choice to hurt, and right now you're making the choice to stand in my way." There was a SCREAM of the wind, a building beginning to collapse so close to them. "I'm sorry brother, that is not a choice that is yours to make." Then he was moving, he GRABBED her. They'd never fought like this, not ever before. Tapping into strength she usually left untapped, Sid tore his hands from her. "If I die, I'd rather die trying to save my brother from the abyss then living knowing of his torment." A statement which included Hades as well. Something she didn't need to say, because he knew. It was something she would repeat again and again, something she would always stand by.
Fine. He could be the bad guy. It wouldn't be the first time and he knew it wouldn't be the last time. Something like this was engrained in every fiber of his being. Maybe he wanted this. Wanted her to fight him the way he fought Zeus along side Persephone, Athena and Eris. He could take being the bad guy in Poseidon's eyes -- when had he accepted that? He wasn't sure. Her strength matched his own and despite that he kept pushing her toward that crack between worlds. "I can't let you kill yourself." That look of determination became mixed with something. Something so dark that even Hades knew there wasn't any coming back from. "We'll die together then won't we? The fall of the big three. Poetic as if Shakespeare wrote it himself." There's jabs and mixed choked sobs now. He can see the opening and it was getting smaller and smaller. The crumbling road beneath their feet shook with the threat of falling away.
Her feet dug into the street below, fighting the push and standing her ground. "Why?" She challenged, before emotion began tearing into her tone. Hurt. Because the fact that this happened at all was something that hurt. That their family had become so torn and wrecked. Her hands gripped onto him now, instead of touching fabric they took both his wrists in her hands. Strong grip, refusing to back down. "Why can't you let me die? Honestly... tell me why. What did I do that makes me better then Zeus? Would you like to compare our 'evil deeds' because I'm afraid by own list will outshine either of yours put together." In her voice was pain. Then, as he went on, it became fury. "That isn't fair." It was manipulative. Because he knew-- "You have someone who has been waiting to be by your side for over billions of years. Persephone loves you. Cerberus needs you. Even you naiad-" Though that bit she knew lesser about. A deep breath. "Leave Hades." Because her own death was acceptable. His was not.
Oh he knew it was manipulative and that was the point. Zeus taught him that. When you battled someone whether with fists or words, fight dirty. "Because you were always better than we were." She wanted to blame herself for what happened to Medusa but Hades knew it wasn't her fault what power hungry men would do. It didn't matter if it was in a god's name or their own. They only used her name to justify the means. "You don't deserve this." No more than Zeus deserving to die. Hades knew that now. Zeus didn't deserve to die this way and he'd have to exist knowing he was the reason Zeus fell. Not an enemy. Not even their father. Him. The little brother that so desperately followed him until he was blinded. "I won't leave you behind." Not this time. Not again. Not when he knew Poseidon had so much more to do, more than she realized. "I'm sorry." Never mind the tears. His hands were already working on draining her lifeforce by the ounce. Not enough to kill her but to weaken her. This was his curse wasn't it? "They deserve more than some god who could do this..." Weaken. Destroy. Harm. It became so much easier to close the distance between them and the crack now.
She looked at him, disbelief clear in her gaze. Not just disbelief, full on confusion because he was wrong. He always thought so highly of her. Even now, billions of years later, Sid struggled to understand why. Her expression morphed as he went on, pain abiding more then her heart but her whole being because he truly believed that. He truly believed something that was just wrong. "Hades--" Emotion churned in her tone because emotion was throttling her. Then she felt. A drain. A ability used barely ever, never often at all. Her brother never did this but he was, in this moment he was. Her grip on him changed, it became softer with the drain of life. Softer, with the love in her heart she had for him taking center stage because so much was happening so very fast. "You could do so much more." How could he believe anything else? She said such words with conviction, such honesty, such belief. She felt it, the life draining from her before she almost crumpled to the ground if not for Hades' grip on her. Instead she fell into him, eyes shutting for a brief instance before looking up. "We can't... he can't die." Because she couldn't dream of living in a world without Zeus. It was unthinkable. Because she didn't know how to do it.
Oh from the first that the line got drawn
It was poisoning the land it was on
One red thread through the middle of a song
She was always the better of the three. He almost envied that. She should have ruled the skies instead of Zeus. She should've had the power to do something better than what they've been given, what they are... "No." he said sharply, unable to let her speak because he already knew what she'd say. Hades didn't need the reminder. He didn't need to hear her say it. More guilt washed through him as the floodgates came bursting open. This was it. This was the only thing he could do to get her to leave. Drain her of life. He could feel it not only in her but her aura. Death, it always left a fowl taste in his mouth. Was she pleading with him? He couldn't listen. As she shifted he nearly carried her in his grip. "Find a way. You always do." is all he could manage to say before he shoved her through the closing crack. Only enough time for one to go. His determination? It lead him here to this very moment as he watched the crack shrink smaller and smaller. "Goodbye, sister."
