More haunting than Paliothese's death was the fact that Skullius couldn't make the promise to save his son before he (Paliothese) faded.
But the Hybrid had ample reasons and justifications.
He hadn't reassured the Prime Worlder because… he knew next to nothing, really. Paliothese's mind had fallen into cryptic depths. Nothing he'd said after sobbing and bawling had been real.
Skullius still didn't understand anything about the paradise Paliothese hated so much, or why he fled it. Paliothese hadn't told him anything regarding that. In fact, why the Deity had said he'd never gotten the chance to tell his son why he fled boggled Skullius' mind. The Hybrid recalled the Prime Worlder saying, when they first met:
My son can articulate the horrors of paradise infinitely better than I can.
That had been Paliothese's way of roping Skullius in, nudging him towards what he desired.
