I think your last sentence sums it up. Unlike Desire, who was quite happy to play with people’s lives like dolls, Destruction doesn’t want to play that game anymore. People are left free to destroy (or not) as they will, but it will be their own responsibility and not his.**
I agree with pretty much all this, wizard, although one has to remember that Orpheus was in effect destroyed in the search (albeit afterwards). Furthermore, he was only able to help because he was family AND an oracle.
Okay, you guys got me. His safety measures worked in such a way that they would not directly cause harm to any member of his family. Indirectly, both Dream and Orpheus got hurt, and, as someone said (Despair?), Delerium’s been hurt enough. Makes me wonder if Destruction had something to do with her change from Delight, though…
Anyway, Cliffy, I think Destruction did the only thing he could reasonably do. Was it selfish to leave? Not necessarily. He didn’t want to be in charge any more, but he knew that all of the functions of the Endless were important to the continued existence of the Universe (could you imagine a world without change?). To leave his sigil would have been to foist his mess onto someone else. To not put traps on his trail would be to invite his siblings over any time they missed him to try to convince him to come back, and they might eventually come up with a compelling enough reason. Not something Destruction wants, y’know? So I suppose it’s sort of selfish, but I think it’s more that he was in a no-win situation and found the best way out of it.
Plus, I don’t think he has any kind of disregard for the deaths of others. In fact, other than Death, I’d say he has the most esteem for the fact that everyone’s life is too brief for all the things they want to do. I’m pretty sure he said as much in their pow-wow under the stars…