Chapter Text
My Dear Wit
I am sorry about the way I am ending this; I did not want arguments and decided this was the surest way to do so. I am ending our romantic relationship here. We can not continue as we have. There are many things that I have valued about your company and yet many more that have brought me to anger or annoyance. You twist words to tell half-truths to make it seem like you listen when you never have. Neither of us went into this relationship expecting anything long-term but I did not mean to end it suddenly and during such a crisis. Goodbye, my gemheart, I wish you the best of luck with whatever you are planning.
Sincerely, Jasnah Kholin
Oh… ….
It was over…
That was sudden. He was shaking and his hands were clenched far too tightly around the note. He forced himself to unclench his fingers and put the note lightly back in its place on Jasnah's desk. He couldn't deal with this right now he had other things to do. Like, making sure Jasnah's mother and stepfather didn't die before reaching the spiritual realm.
“Mmmmmm, Hoid. Are you all right?” Design asked right into his ear, nearly shooting him right into a panic attack that was building.
“Oh dearrr, I'm sorry I did not mean to startle you,” Design said moving from his shoulder to the floor.
“You're fine it was not you,” Hoid whispered. He needed to pull himself together. He shook out his hands to try to stop the tremors and then he started quickly packing as much of his things as he could fit into his satchel as possible. Bingo there it was. He rubbed the rough surface of the rock into his palm lightly scraping his skin. Sighing softly he threw it into one of his jacket pockets and changed out of his wits uniform into brown slacks, black combat boots, a button-up shirt that he didn't even bother with buttoning past halfway, and pulled on the jacket he had discarded by the door. Lastly, he grabbed the worn leather satchel, and he rushed out of the door closing it with all of his emotions locked behind it.
Walking into the atrium, he saw Dalinar and Navani having a moment. He paused and waited, for he was not cruel and could guess that this was likely one of their last peaceful moments together. He moved forward after a moment with purposely loud steps.
“Love,” Dalinar said, “we don’t know if this will work. We don’t have to make all the decisions now.” Hoid didn't quite agree with that.
“Sometimes,” Navani answered, “it’s good to ask the questions long before you need the answers. I can’t help thinking that we’re dabbling in things well beyond our capacity, Dalinar. The powers of gods? Several of my scholars inadvertently detonated themselves just last month, working on anti-Light. Now you’re contemplating going somewhere that frightens even Wit.”
He did agree with this more and let himself slip more into his Wit persona as he responded. “To be fair,” he said, shifting his weight to lean against the wall near the door, “a great number of things terrify me. I mean, have you considered—really considered—how insane it is that society entrusts you mortals with children? After… what, two decades of life, half of it spent in diapers?”
“Wit,” Navani said, “people don’t spend ten years in diapers.” Damn, that had been another planet then.
“See?” Wit said. “I’m roughly ten thousand years old, and I barely feel comfortable with my knowledge of how to care for an infant. It’s a wonder any of you make it to adolescence…”
“Focus, Wit,” Dalinar rudely interrupted. “The plan. The Spiritual Realm.”
“We’re out of our depth,” Navani said. “Like an army struggling against an enemy with far more modern equipment.”
“Or a scholar trying to read complex ideas in a language she has barely studied,” Dalinar added. “But we have only eight days before I need to face Odium, and I’m certain the Stormfather is hiding things from me.” Aww, they were adorable, both using metaphors that apply to the other profession.
“The Sibling agrees,” Navani said. “They keep pointing out the Stormfather’s inaccuracies and our incorrect understanding of historical events.”
“The goal,” Wit said, “is for you to relive those events. So you can find out the truth of Honor’s death, and uncover secrets even I don’t know.” He frowned. “I don’t know why the Stormfather would lie though.” From what he could gather, there was just no reason for him to, and if there was one thing he could claim mastery in, it was lies.
“I don’t think… he ever expected anyone to be able to contradict him,” Dalinar said. “He never thought the Sibling would reawaken.” He met Navani’s eyes. “So long as the Heralds are mad and Wit is useless—”
“Hey!” he was right but damn him for pointing it out.
“—the Stormfather could provide the sole narrative. We have to find the truth, Navani. We have to know what happened to Honor.”
“Which brings us back to the central question,” Navani said softly. “What does it mean to replace him?”
“Dalinar would Ascend,” he spoke. “His mind would expand to see with the eyes of deity. The Shards are not omniscient—it is relatively easy to hide things from them. But they are… blessed with a near-infinite capacity to understand. To see into the future, in its many permutations, and to comprehend what that means.” Wit could not believe he was willingly supporting this plan. It went against pretty much everything he was working on. He watched as they devolved into Navani, almost begging Dalinar not to go through with this plan. He almost hoped Dalinar would listen.
“Is that allowed?” she asked, glancing at him.
“Technically, yes,” he said. “But it is extremely difficult to do. Once you are a god, Dalinar, it is nearly impossible to let go.” he had yet to witness such a thing but it had happened once.
“Surely it has been done,” Dalinar said.
He felt a faint smile force its way to his lips. “Once. It wasn’t a full Ascension, but a mortal did give up the power once. It proved to be the wrong choice, but it was the most selfless thing I believe I’ve ever witnessed. So yes, Dalinar, it is possible. But not easy.” He dearly wished he had been truly able to meet Vin. They were lucky they had each other which greatly bolstered their chances of survival.
Oh, great, now Navani was going to. Just amazing.
“How do we proceed?” She questioned him.
“Well,” he responded, “you once had to use a highstorm and the Stormfather’s powers—but you’re Bondsmiths now. You can open a perpendicularity and push into the Spiritual Realm. Once there, I suggest using Connection to guide you into a specific slice of the past. I’ll help you with that. You can peek into an event I’ve witnessed, experience it, and return so we can compare notes. If that works, we can send you on a longer journey, into times I wasn’t here to witness.” he watched them exchange looks before nodding in agreement to his plan.
“Great,” Wit said. “Let’s head down the elevator and find a good location to try the experiment.”
“Why not here?” Dalinar asked.
“You are about to pierce through the three realms and try to throw yourselves into the Spiritual Realm,” he said, starting to get exasperated. “If you get it wrong, you’ll end up in Shadesmar—but with the force you’re using, you could as easily cast yourselves beyond the tower. Personally, I’d feel more comfortable if we were somewhere lower, so you had less distance to fall if things go awry.”
“Very well,” Dalinar said, standing as if he would prefer to risk death. “Let’s tell Aladar and Sebarial what we’re planning, just in case, then find somewhere lower down for the experiment.” and he had a letter to write