Making Choices

The civilization of the Espers had changed greatly. For millennia, they had influenced nature, the soil, mountains, rivers, seas, and all the surrounding ecosystems.

Access to more food, one of their fundamental needs, had profoundly changed their ways of life, which, little by little, had transformed their civilization into the one we now knew.

The use of magic may have been nothing more than the catalyst for a transformation of their society that had begun thousands of years earlier.

But if survival had been at the heart of everyday life for the Espers of ancient times, leaving them no choice, the development of their society had brought with it a problem that had never arisen before.

Making choices.

Caught in the ever-unbroken and ever-accelerating flow of society as a whole, this problem then seemed trivial, even nonexistent.

If it was no longer survival that left them with no choice, it was the immeasurable force of the Shadow of society that pushed all the Espers to act without thinking, without making the choices they now had the possibility of making.

Choosing to act for future generations. To do everything they could to leave them a world in which they could live and continue to have choices, rather than simply having to survive.

Choosing to act for harmony between the different elements, despite their differences. And choosing to understand that these differences were a strength, and that together, the different elements were capable of creating a glimmer of hope far stronger than all the elements taken separately.

Choosing to act, therefore, to develop one’s StarDust…

Want to share?


Comments

Leave a Reply


Our latest tales

  • A Trap Named Passivity

    A Trap Named Passivity

    Isn’t it easy to simply watch what’s in front of our eyes and go on with our own lives? Yet what we can see now extends far beyond our neighborhood — the entire world is at our doorstep. Of course, no one can carry all the world’s problems on their own shoulders. But that doesn’t…

    Read more

  • The Basic Needs

    The Basic Needs

    Kenko, the Shape of Health, was certain of one thing: unless the basic needs of the Espers were made a priority, Esperia would never know true peace. The right to proper sleep, and access to healthy food and clean water for all, were the very first steps toward creating a harmonious society. These fundamentals were…

    Read more

  • Calming Down

    Calming Down

    The Shape of Awareness and Element of Lightning, Eklea, had quite an electric temperament. She loved to bounce from place to place, and as swiftly as roaring thunder, she would try to teach consciousness to anyone willing to listen. But when someone was truly all ears, she could also calm down, creating a gentle electrical…

    Read more

  • Finding Yourself Through Love

    Finding Yourself Through Love

    Does this title sound cliché? I guess so. But is it true? Absolutely. Of course, the word love carries as many meanings as there are human beings on our shared planet. For most of us, the first love we experience is that of our mother, who carries us for months and cares for us by…

    Read more

  • The “Modern World”

    The “Modern World”

    Cha Cha, our platypus friend, was thinking about what the “Modern World” had become—and how paradoxical it was. Thanks to new technologies that turned machines into the world’s new servants, life had become easier for some of the richest countries. But this comfort came at the cost of irreversible damage to the environment—damage that was…

    Read more

  • Moderation

    Moderation

    Before the end of the Chaos War, the concept of moderation scarcely existed among the Espers. They preferred to spend their time wielding magic and battling one another, unaware of the consequences. The birth of Atma, the Shape of Balance, transformed life in Esperia. The Seven Shapes placed moderation as a core principle in the…

    Read more

  • Slowing Down

    Slowing Down

    Esperia was built and envisioned so that harmony and peace would be its foundations. Nature and all the creatures living within it created a virtuous circle, and the Espers — the magical beings — finally understood that the restriction on their use of magic served a greater purpose on their interconnected and limited planet. This…

    Read more

  • Values

    Values

    What we come to see as “good” values and the proper behaviors to follow are learned throughout our lives. As children, we naturally mimic the actions and thoughts we observe — through the words and gestures of our parents, siblings, teachers, or friends we play with. When we are still very young, we hold no…

    Read more