Many questions floated around the room, unspoken, waiting for the duo to ask them and receive an answer. Hundreds of things the two of them had wondered over the years, hundreds of things both small and large, all ready to be answered. The air was thick with possibilities, the sheer quantity of options almost changing the physical space around them. But despite the enumerable questions they could ask, and the boundless opportunities they could think to investigate, they both could only think of a few questions that mattered.
"Why?" The Man asked. "Why teach us, why give us so much, why do any of this for us?" The Man asked, almost desperate for the answer.
"Why would I help you two," The two voices coming from The Husk overlapped again. But, this time, the second, a human-sounding voice that the two had never heard before today, sounded somehow different from before. "The answer to that is complicated/painful." The last word from the two voices was different from the other.
"I once knew two people who I called friends/family." Again, the last part of the sentence spoken by the two voices differed. "I can't recall the specifics; everything from that time is foggy/forgotten. I cared for them and would do anything/everything for them, but that wasn't enough. Despite all my strength, even at that time, when it came down to the most desperate moment, I couldn't/failed to protect/save them." As the two voices spoke in disjointed unison, an illusory shadow appeared behind The Husk. One figure, standing over two others, tears streaking down their cheeks. "In a fit of desperation/anguish, I marked/scarred their souls. So that one day I may find them again, see them one more time. One day those marks/scars led me to two individuals; then, when they passed/died, they led me to two more." The shadowy figure walked along a path, eventually coming across two children who followed it. The duo grew while walking with the first, their backs growing hunched, and ultimately, they fell over, dead. But, despite this, the first figure kept walking before coming across another set of two children, who once again followed beside it. You two have those marks, and as such, I give you everything so that I may apologize/repent for failing you so long ago." The two voices said things that sounded similar but intended different things.
"How many times have we met?" The Woman asked, her question following the theme of the previous.
"This would be the eighth/ninth time I've met you two." The two voices provided slightly different answers, leaving a feeling of unease in the hearts of both The Man and The Woman. The sense was magnified when they noticed that neither voice seemed to recognize that the other was speaking separately from them.
"Giving as accurate an answer as you can, how old are you?" The Man asked, his tone changing to a probing one.
"I am 3,785/3,803 years old." The two voices provided conflicting answers again. If they were both telling the truth, then the rasping horror of a voice The Man and Woman had come to know was younger than the tortured human voice.
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Was the disparity shocking, or was it terrifying? The two couldn't tell. Regardless of how they felt, that distinct difference, so blatant in its nature, was more than enough evidence to eliminate any doubt they had. They were speaking with two different entities or at least two iterations of the same one. This dragged so many more questions forward, many new ones and old ones that might have new answers. But, the two of them ignored all of these in favor of one question. It wasn't that they saw the other questions as irrelevant, far from it. They thought of everything from, ‘what is your goal,’ to the ever-present, ‘how does someone become a husk,’ but none of them mattered in the face of the question they asked instead. It didn't matter why the black tower seemed to have a mind to judge them with, nor did it matter that The Husk had put together two massive rituals to move them vast distances in mere moments. The only question that mattered was the one they both expressed in unison.
""Who are you?"" Their voices overlapped perfectly.
"I am me, no more, no less." Both voices replied in sync. "In becoming what I am, I forgot my name and the majority of my past. Still, one thing remains in my mind, no matter how long I live." Both voices paused before they spoke out different answers at the same time. "I will draw the gods out of their divine realm so that it collapses under its own weight./ I will drag the gods back into our realm and destroy their thrones." Both voices gave a similar-sounding goal, with vastly different emotions tied to them.
One appeared not to know why they held that goal, having forgotten what drove them to such extremes. The other sounded angry like they held some personal grudge that drove them to such lengths.
Both The Man and The Woman recoiled at the answer. They knew not what would drive someone to do such a thing, as both had heard stories of the devastation wrought by the first demon king in their attempts to remove the gods from power. They felt they knew how such a war would tear into the world, and the two of them didn't know if they wished to participate in such atrocities.
"Why?" The Woman asked, her voice wavering ever so slightly. "Why do you want to do that?" She asked.
"Because they are victims of circumstance/hubris. Each rose to power by their own effort/dedication. Still, they were all tricked/reckless. They listened to a call from the beyond/void, and it changed/corrupted them. While that place stands, they will remain callous and disconnected. I seek to free them, as much as I seek to free those they use as pieces in some unseen game." Both voices sounded dedicated. The human one maintained the anger, but it no longer appeared directed at the gods but at whatever it claimed had corrupted them.
The Husk's answer wasn't completely convincing for the two of them. They both still held doubt about the goal and the reason behind it. Nevertheless, the reasoning gave them confidence that this wasn't an elaborate ploy by a monster to drag the world into chaos. So the two of them chose to put their trust in The Husk, at least for now. Maybe one day they'd regret it, but for now, they trusted that The Husk's goal was indeed for the betterment of the world.
"If that is all you'd ask of me, I must impose upon one of you to strike me down." The Husk continued after the two stood silent for some time, the human-sounding voice fading away with every word.
And so, The Man did.
"All Consuming Flames." He spoke out a spell name, and when the fire cleared, there weren't even ashes left of The Husk's rotted mutated body.