His expression sobers. "My title is not merely a name, Hythlodaeus. It is an obligation. If I alone have the means to save our world then that is what I must do." Simple fact. One of the very reasons he insists on keeping that name is the attachment to the home that he had known.

"I'm sorry." Emet-Selch extends a palm so that the crystal shard may be returned to him. "You have sacrificed enough. This time, I must willingly sacrifice all I am in the name of our world living on. So that all I love might be saved." He gives Hythlodaeus a weak smile.

Back then, he had looked on while his friend left to save their world. He had looked to the skies as the laws of nature were rewritten and Zodiark bloomed into life. Then...he could feel his heart splinter to pieces for what it all meant. It's not something he wished his friend experience, but he had to fight to bring him a better future.