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Love Night
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>So long as you have your spark and your mind, you will be fine.
”And if you had to lose even that?”
Astral is surprised. The only things she’s ever heard of that could destroy a spark are the Reckoning and the Hollows. But after a moment of thought, she nods again.
>Almost anything. So long as what I give up doesn't defeat the purpose.
”Heh. Well, you shall have to work some philosophy on that part, I think. What’s important to you - what freedom means to you - could change, depending on how you find it.”
Elt turns, pacing a few steps. Astral waits, a little impatient.
”…There are worlds within our world, Astral.You may have even seen some of them, though they probably would have appeared as simple rocks to you. Many of these worlds are barren, lifeless; but for the few, the rare few, there are inhabitants. Faster creatures. In the time you slept, one could have grown, lived a full life, and died. Yet they live lives of passion and creativity, marking their small corners of the universe with indomitable will.”
Elt turns to look at Astral again. ”Their sparks die almost as fast as they are kindled, but they kindle sparks of their own. They have the rare gift of forging life from life, where we may only find birth in the death of others. This gift is so precious that the Reckoning guards these small worlds with our light, shielding them from the void. By its own decree, these worlds are not to be touched or disrupted, even by the Reckoning itself.”
Astral is confused. She asks Elt why he’s telling her this, if the worlds are so small.
”I am suggesting you descend, Astral. It would mean giving up your spark, and the vast majority of your lifespan, but it would give you the freedom that you seek. You would answer to no one, to nothing. But you would be a fraction of what you are now.”
”So, now that you know, tell me again. What… are you willing to give up?”
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