Chapter 15: A Greater Purpose

"You seem troubled."

Echo'a glanced at Ardbert as they slowly walked back to the Capitol. He was a bit surprised Ardbert had remained visible, but seeing as Ardbert had started the conversation, maybe it was not as surprising as he thought it ought to be. He let his gaze return to the constructed echo of Amaurot. "Hard not to be surrounded by all this."

"It certainly is creepy, barely filled with shades half formed from those that used to exist. And it all being so large on top of that."

"It's not that." He met Ardbert's startled gaze and clarified with a question. "Do you remember what Emet-Selch said as repairs on the Ladder were wrapping up?"

He watched Ardbert's brow furrow in confusion. "Hard not to. Why?"

"He spoke of Amaurot then, of its magnificence, in such a way that I couldn't help but mourn the opportunity to see the place that he had so wistfully spoken of." He turned his gaze to the highest reaches of the buildings and spires as his feet came to a stop. "A city that he has painstakingly recreated for motives we may never truly know." He returned his gaze to Ardbert, finding the soul had come to a stop a few paces ahead of him. "While I would not be surprised to find pride in his work, I cannot fathom the torture this must be for him as well."

"I highly doubt he'd count this as torture for anyone but you lot."

"Consciously, sure," he ceded and got his feet moving again. Ardbert fell into step at his side. "But how hard would it be for you to see the ghosts of your friends after a century - ghosts you created for some means to an end in a recreation of the First before the Flood - and being among them without truly being able to be with them. As Hythlodaeus said, if you look too closely to any of them, the illusion shatters. There's no substance, no truth to it. Just an illusion held together from the echoed memories of times past, of a world Emet-Selch is desperately trying to bring back." He chanced a glance at Ardbert and found the other man's gaze was on the city again, a tightness to his expression that spoke of more than just displeasure. "Intentional or not, the man has essentially exasperated the psychological torture he has been enduring for a millenia by recreating not only Amaurot, but the shades as well. Even if for him it may feel like a balm to the pain, this will only make things worse."

"You sound like you pity him."

"I grieve for him," he corrected. "I grieve that any soul should suffer through this." He reached up and tugged on an ear, massaging the base afterwards to alleviate some of the discomfort of it all. "I can understand the desire to correct the errors of the past. If there was any hope of undoing the remnants of the Flood, you know countless would try. You and yours would have thrown yourself into such a chance without a second thought. You had, in a way, when you gave your lives to travel to the Source on the belief there was an answer there." Ardbert flinched from that and it was all Echo'a could do to take the man's hand in a show of comfort and apology. Ardbert squeezed his hand. "Right or wrong, we cannot deny it is not a similar thing. It can't compare to the enormity of the Ascian plans, not by a long shot, but it does at least give us a point of reference. Just as we fight to protect the lives that exist after such a Calamity, they fight for the lives from before it, lives they believe can still be brought back should their plan succeed."

Ardbert let out a huff, running his free hand over his head. "So, what, the Ascians aren't the villains we've made them out to be?" With the words past his lips, Ardbert suddenly turned a horrified gaze onto Echo'a. "You've got to be joking."

Echo'a shook his head. "Who is the hero and who is the villain is about perspective. You should know as much; you've lived through it and seen how the First's history has written you and yours. Whether one ideal is more morally correct compared to the other - saving lives lost long ago or the lives that exist now…" He rubbed at his face. He was tired, he realized, and yet they still had to deal with Emet-Selch. Gods, how he could use a nap first. "Who are we to judge such things as one being more correct than the other when both in the end are just trying to save lives."

"Surely numbers count," Ardbert put in, though his voice was tight, like he didn't quite think that was enough either.

He shrugged. "But would it be better to save the masses versus the single soul that would inevitably save far more? Would you throw the switch on the train tracks to sacrifice the person who has discovered the cure for a deadly illness but has yet to write it down or properly share it, or would you sacrifice the ten children on the other track who have just as much potential of finding the cure themselves if they tried yet running the risk that they never would?" He gave Ardbert's hand a squeeze when the man's face twisted up in pain, affronted and devastated at the prospect. "Debates like these have existed since the original world; if you were tagging along as well as I think you were, you overheard the debate I sat in on. A similar situation, though lacking the more outlandish metaphor that I had used." They rounded a corner and the Capitol building came into view, as did his friends. He let his feet come to a stop, not done with the conversation quite yet. "In the end, I don't know if it will even matter. Who's to say what will happen in another millenia, let alone my own lifetime."

Ardbert huffed a laugh. "Had I known you were such the scholar, I might have tried to talk with you more often."

Echo'a chuckled, surprised by that. "I thought you weren't the chatting type."

Ardbert grinned. "Oh, absolutely not. But that doesn't mean I don't like a good conversation. Even if they weren't all philosophical, having someone to have deep conversations with was always a treat."

"Your friends were like that with you, then?"

Ardbert shrugged. "Not as much as I apparently would have liked. Though the talk of morality did pop up, as did our purpose in life and the lot we were give - you know, standard topics for heroes - I liked getting to know them, learning how they think, how they saw the world. Not many gave it willingly, mind you, but it certainly was nice to have that sort of companionship. And knowing I've missed out on that with a similar soul isn't comforting."

Hythlodaeus's words drifted through his thoughts. "Or a piece of the same soul, if Hythlodaeus is to be believed."

"You don't believe him?"

He made a face. "I wouldn't go that far. Just…I'm not sure if it matters. If a soul reincarnates into a new life, isn't it then at that point a new being entirely? While there may be echoes of who they were previously, circumstances of their life will not be the same, affecting them through its entirety." He rubbed at his face again. "But that's nearly as much of a debate as morality is and at this point, I'm too tired from keeping myself and the rest of the world alive to bother with such frivolous thoughts."

Ardbert chuckled, tugging on his hand to get him walking again. "I'm sure a good meal and a good sleep will fix a lot of that." Adrbert grinned at him, teasing, "And maybe a good fight, too."

Gods, some days he hated all of the fighting but he still owed Emet-Selch a good punch to the face at the very least.