Hythlodaeus had realized quite early on that Hades had started adding something to his drinks, but saw no problem with it: after all, his friend is quite the worrywart, and has a tendency to help out from the sidelines, as it were. It would never occur to him that Hades might have any kind of ulterior motive.
But even the sleeping potions are not an infallible solution, and one morning Hythlodaeus wakes up with a jolt, struggling out of the claws of a half-formed nightmare - one that turns real, too, once he realizes that the space next to him is empty and cold. Hades is gone, and has been gone a long time. There are, of course, many reasonable explanations for his absence - shop business, something to do with their friends, simple insomnia. But it's nigh impossible for Hythlodaeus to remain reasonable, not when his fears still weigh on him so heavily. In panic, he scrambles to get up, get dressed, run through the shop calling for his friend - and then onto the street when it proves to be empty.
His heart only sinks further when there turns out to be some kind of commotion in the streets. Terrified that this might have something to do with Hades - perhaps those accursed smugglers had found them in the end, perhaps someone else decided to make trouble for them, - he rushes blindly down the street until he comes across signs of battle, pavement torn up, jagged spikes jutting out from the sides of buildings, branches of the city trees hanging broken or snapped off, broken things underfoot... The scene squeezes Hythlodaeus's heart painfully, yet another reminder that this is not the peaceful land that their home was, but fear drives him on. Hades had said he'd tried to investigate the strange murders, hadn't he? Perhaps he did get caught up in it all, and now the criminal wanted their revenge...
There are screams up ahead. A man, screaming.
Hythlodaeus speeds up, feeling like his heart and lungs are about to burst from the strain, and when he finally makes it his head is spinning too much for him to make out any real details. A figure on top of someone, not human and yet somehow familiar...
"Stop," he manages to gasp out even as he has to lean against a wall. If he were in the state to think logically, Hythlodaeus would realize that this was an incredibly stupid thing to do - he does not know what's going on, he is absolutely no use in a fight, he can't even contact Hades or the others quickly enough if something happens... but the one thing he knows is he doesn't want to see anyone get hurt, ever again.
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But even the sleeping potions are not an infallible solution, and one morning Hythlodaeus wakes up with a jolt, struggling out of the claws of a half-formed nightmare - one that turns real, too, once he realizes that the space next to him is empty and cold. Hades is gone, and has been gone a long time. There are, of course, many reasonable explanations for his absence - shop business, something to do with their friends, simple insomnia. But it's nigh impossible for Hythlodaeus to remain reasonable, not when his fears still weigh on him so heavily. In panic, he scrambles to get up, get dressed, run through the shop calling for his friend - and then onto the street when it proves to be empty.
His heart only sinks further when there turns out to be some kind of commotion in the streets. Terrified that this might have something to do with Hades - perhaps those accursed smugglers had found them in the end, perhaps someone else decided to make trouble for them, - he rushes blindly down the street until he comes across signs of battle, pavement torn up, jagged spikes jutting out from the sides of buildings, branches of the city trees hanging broken or snapped off, broken things underfoot... The scene squeezes Hythlodaeus's heart painfully, yet another reminder that this is not the peaceful land that their home was, but fear drives him on. Hades had said he'd tried to investigate the strange murders, hadn't he? Perhaps he did get caught up in it all, and now the criminal wanted their revenge...
There are screams up ahead. A man, screaming.
Hythlodaeus speeds up, feeling like his heart and lungs are about to burst from the strain, and when he finally makes it his head is spinning too much for him to make out any real details. A figure on top of someone, not human and yet somehow familiar...
"Stop," he manages to gasp out even as he has to lean against a wall. If he were in the state to think logically, Hythlodaeus would realize that this was an incredibly stupid thing to do - he does not know what's going on, he is absolutely no use in a fight, he can't even contact Hades or the others quickly enough if something happens... but the one thing he knows is he doesn't want to see anyone get hurt, ever again.