"Thanks." Some of the tension went out of Hal's posture, although he didn't look up. "I haven't heard that much."
Not that he blamed anyone who didn't trust him, after all of that. For so long, there'd been no way of knowing. And he'd done a lot of damage that couldn't be made up for. But even as accustomed as Hal was to disregarding the opinions of everyone around him and just pushing forward anyway - that didn't make it any less unpleasant to know just how much faith from his comrades he'd lost.
At the end of the day, Hal feared being left alone. Had since he'd suffered his first real loss when he was ten years old. That fear gave Parallax an opening to sink its hooks into him, and every day he'd been under its influence, he'd taken another step towards bringing it down on himself.
"It's called Parallax." Rich hadn't asked, but he didn't want to leave it only half finished. "The sentient embodiment of pure fear - there's one of those for every color on the emotional spectrum, too. There's no killing something like that; it's always going to exist."
The dark side of Skittles.
"The Guardians figured if they locked it up and didn't leave records, that was as close as they'd ever get. So when something like that gets let out, and nobody remembers it even exists -" He shook his head. "Nobody realized it. Every Lantern who wasn't on Oa when I destroyed the Central Power Battery, everyone in the caped community back on Earth - they all just figured I'd completely lost my shit. Why wouldn't they? Nobody knew. Kyle and Ganthet didn't figure out what had happened until after I was dead, and plenty of people still aren't sure if they really believe it or not."
no subject
Not that he blamed anyone who didn't trust him, after all of that. For so long, there'd been no way of knowing. And he'd done a lot of damage that couldn't be made up for. But even as accustomed as Hal was to disregarding the opinions of everyone around him and just pushing forward anyway - that didn't make it any less unpleasant to know just how much faith from his comrades he'd lost.
At the end of the day, Hal feared being left alone. Had since he'd suffered his first real loss when he was ten years old. That fear gave Parallax an opening to sink its hooks into him, and every day he'd been under its influence, he'd taken another step towards bringing it down on himself.
"It's called Parallax." Rich hadn't asked, but he didn't want to leave it only half finished. "The sentient embodiment of pure fear - there's one of those for every color on the emotional spectrum, too. There's no killing something like that; it's always going to exist."
The dark side of Skittles.
"The Guardians figured if they locked it up and didn't leave records, that was as close as they'd ever get. So when something like that gets let out, and nobody remembers it even exists -" He shook his head. "Nobody realized it. Every Lantern who wasn't on Oa when I destroyed the Central Power Battery, everyone in the caped community back on Earth - they all just figured I'd completely lost my shit. Why wouldn't they? Nobody knew. Kyle and Ganthet didn't figure out what had happened until after I was dead, and plenty of people still aren't sure if they really believe it or not."