Dear Philalethes,

Do you truly see me? Can you? How many times have I longed for your eyes to fall on me? But they never did. Your eyes are and have always been like a lion’s gaze on its prey, only this time the lion and the prey are one and the same, with the mere illusion of the chase remaining. What are you searching for so desperately that you could not even notice me while I am in front of you, unceasingly grasping for your attention? Have you ever truly noticed me, Philalethes?

I was ravaged and torn. Betrayed. Depleted of any hope for this life of eternal misery. Do you not think the gods despair? Do you not think the gods envy the mortals? Yet, they do. And I, most of all. Made to be searched and not to be found. Made to be chased and not to be caught. Made to be looked at but not to be seen. How could I ever find joy in this gloomy life of meaningless routine? Inescapable routine! Do you see me?

The day I laid my eyes on you, a beacon of hope was lit in my heart. A beacon that had been ignited half a hundred times only to be blown out after a short while, once I realized it was a false hope. But not this time, I told myself when I saw you. He is different, I wanted all to know, gods and mortals alike. For I saw myself in you. For my name was inscribed on your heart, and I was your destiny. I told myself: He is my deliverer. The searcher who finds, and the chaser who catches. I was convinced that you were the looker who sees. But are you?

The moment I decided you were The One, I was prepared to leave everything behind. All I had ever been. To lose who I am so that I can be with you. For you are my safe haven, I knew I would never look back. But, Philalethes, tell me the truth: would I have remained the one you fell in love with if I had abandoned who I am? Would I still have been your precious mirror if I no longer were Aletheia? Would you have truly risked everything for me if I had become yours and no longer mine? I think not. You would have abandoned me if I had abandoned myself. I would have become your neglected trophy and no longer your precious mirror. If I had become yours and had no longer remained mine, you would have been complacent, like a lion that just caught its prey, and started your next chase only after a while. So tell me, Philalethes, did I err in abandoning you before you did the same?

Yet, even knowing all that could have happened if I had chosen otherwise, I still despair of the condition I left you in: longing for what you almost had but lost; obsessing over The One that abandoned you; despairing over the meaninglessness of life without your beloved. Although you may not obtain what you exactly wished for, I will tell you one Truth that will set your world right and end your misery. Mark the day you read this letter, Philalethes, as your Day of Salvation, for I am about to reveal my genuine nature to you for the first time.

I am Aletheia, the Goddess of Truth. Invisible to the lookers and visible to the blind. Never found by the seekers but only revealed to The Chosen: those that are already content. You find me only when you halt searching. You see me only when you stop looking. You catch me only when you end the chasing. I am here and everywhere. I reside in every being you lay your eyes upon. And most importantly, I reside in you, Philalethes. You only need to notice.

Yours,

Aletheia