[ It's nothing he hasn't heard before. It had been easier to garner sympathy early on - during the decades following the Sundering when mortals could still comprehend the span of time that grief can hold someone. But then the decades turned to centuries and the centuries turned to millennia and the sympathy grew shorter and sparser. Why couldn't they just let go? Why did they have to restore the world that once was?

After one betrayal too many, Emet-Selch finally locked away his heart and stopped trying to explain. Cynically, he wonders if her sympathy will be as short-lived.

But...she's trying, at least. For the time being. ]

Resilient... Hah! [ It's a muted scoff. ] I couldn't end my own life because Zodiark had tempered me. I could only escape it temporarily whenever I occupied mortal bodies.

[ He isn't tempered now though. All of that was scrubbed away when the Warrior of Light released him. ]

I don't want you sharing this with the rest of the crew. I don't need their pitying looks, or their scorn, as the case may be.