A Glimmer of Hope

Now that Esperia had been rebuilt on new foundations, which seemed obvious to have been put in place after careful reflection, thinking back to the world as it had been just before the War of Chaos seemed unreal.

“How could we possibly have behaved like that?” wondered a young Esper, incredulous as he studied the history of a past that was not so distant.

“Did we really have to go as far as that War, which caused so much damage to the planet, but also decimated the population?” wondered another.

These were difficult questions to answer. It is often easy to have the benefit of hindsight once events have passed, but anticipating the consequences of their actions was not the natural way for Espers to think. They were far more concerned with seeing the direct and immediate results.

If the War of Chaos seemed as though it could have been avoided, it was also exceptional circumstances that had made possible the renewal of Esperia: the discovery of that glimmer of hope that would change the face of their planet.

The StarDust.

Understanding that it existed within every Esper, and that by developing it, each one could then perceive their Shadow and begin to tame it, had radically transformed their civilization, which until then had been blind to the consequences of its actions on nature and on its own society.

“How many have died in useless wars. How many have polluted the seas and oceans, the forests, the mountains. How many have wiped out other species, often just for pleasure…”

This glimmer of hope brought by the StarDust was very real, but also extremely fragile: it could be forgotten, causing the civilization of the Espers to return to its natural state…

Their Shadow.