Hades has just made perhaps the single nicest gift that anyone's given him since he can remember. Era had given him clothes and much more beside, but this is different. The amount of thought, the amount of aether, the fact he did his best to pull back the sands of time in his mind to make as close to an approximation of its former glory as possible. It acknowledges what he's been through, what his world has been through. Does he know how his friends sacrificed themselves to stop the Flood?
"You captured it; I almost cried upon the sight of it," Ardbert tells him without shame. "It reminded me of the first time I saw it when I was still a boy. We got there early in the day for a festival, the sun just about ready to rise when we first saw it."
His hometown had been on the edge of the kingdom. Ardbert isn't sure how Hades knew, or guessed correctly, but he's too afraid to ask. You don't look a gift Amaro in the mouth. This has already made him too full of emotion already.
It's a statement that isn't entirely lost on Ardbert. He saw Hades reveal of the fall of Amarout. The shades, including that of Hythlodaeus. Hades, more than anyone, understands the loss of everything important to you.
Perhaps Ardbert can never truly understand what Hades went through, but Hades can understand what Ardbert went through almost effortlessly. The fact he's gone to the length at all to ease Ardbert's heart with a memory of home with such an attention to detail. He'll be stuck on the magnitude of the gift for a long time. There will be plenty of times in the future where his eyes will simply follow the curves of lead or whatever it is holding the pieces together when he needs a moment to simply exist.
"It's no wonder you saw me," Ardbert remembers their first discussion, meaning it just as a off-hand comment. "You're welcome. ... you should get some sleep. This took a lot out of you to make, didn't it?"
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"You captured it; I almost cried upon the sight of it," Ardbert tells him without shame. "It reminded me of the first time I saw it when I was still a boy. We got there early in the day for a festival, the sun just about ready to rise when we first saw it."
His hometown had been on the edge of the kingdom. Ardbert isn't sure how Hades knew, or guessed correctly, but he's too afraid to ask. You don't look a gift Amaro in the mouth. This has already made him too full of emotion already.
"It's beautiful."
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But he gives a slow, simple bow in return, an acknowledgement. "Thank you."
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Perhaps Ardbert can never truly understand what Hades went through, but Hades can understand what Ardbert went through almost effortlessly. The fact he's gone to the length at all to ease Ardbert's heart with a memory of home with such an attention to detail. He'll be stuck on the magnitude of the gift for a long time. There will be plenty of times in the future where his eyes will simply follow the curves of lead or whatever it is holding the pieces together when he needs a moment to simply exist.
"It's no wonder you saw me," Ardbert remembers their first discussion, meaning it just as a off-hand comment. "You're welcome. ... you should get some sleep. This took a lot out of you to make, didn't it?"