>>
|
afb3ad.jpg
Mint Wonder
afb3ad
"What do you think, Tyrsis?"
"Huh? What?"
"There's no way to know if the stories about Shaia are true, is there?"
"Uhhh... I mean, one thing that's been pretty consistent over the generations is the idea of Shaia and Creation. Hell of a long time to stick with something made up."
Ah, right. Tyrsis of all people would know all about the history of the story of Shaia. I think back to some of the things he's told me over the seasons.
"But it's not like the stories all say the same stuff, right? I remember you mentioning some of them say completely different things."
"Yeah. There's a lot of stories that conflict with others, and a fair amount that seem mostly to serve the people writing them."
"Even if we assume Shaia existed, could there be fundamental aspects that we've gotten wrong? What if she only created some of the life on our world?"
"I mean, that much is consistent in every version of the story. There was nothing, then there was Shaia."
"But if no life existed before Shaia, how could anyone know for sure? It's not like someone was there writing things down as they happened."
"I... hmm. Well, it's hard to otherwise explain Shaia's Love. Being able to conjure heat and cold out of nothingness sure feels like a blessing."
"A blessing only given to the ketzas."
"Well, that's one thing I know I don't fully agree with. I think slissas have Shaia's Love, it's just more subtle."
"I can't even get a candle to light. And I tried really hard that one time!"
"More like... take the glowgems. They've been here for all of time, giving slissas sight where they'd otherwise be running around blind. That's kinda what I mean by slissas having a version of Shaia's Love."
"Hmm. Maybe. We take them for granted, but things would be a lot harder without them for sure. But it's not like the ketzas can't use them too. They don't really feel like they were 'for' slissas."
"Remember that ketzas originally lived in the outside world, where glowgems don't seem to exist."
"Yeah, but they got a giant ball of light shining on everything! If not for the Great Beast, there's no way they'd choose glowgems over that."
"Still not sure why she created the Great Beast in the first place, honestly."
"See? It makes much more sense if the Great Beast was a creature that existed before Shaia showed up. There's no way she'd make something that massacred her creations like that!"
Tyrsis stares at the statue wordlessly, likely mulling over my Very Good Point.
But it's not like I think Shaia didn't exist. It's just... I don't know for sure. Nobody does. Maybe life did exist before her. Maybe we existed before her. That'd explain how we were able to write down her story, and why we don't have Shaia's Love (unless we're really gonna count the glowgems).
It's one of many things I hope to learn more about as I explore the world above.
For now, though, the story of Shaia contains a lot of important lessons about camaraderie. The idea that we are all loved, and should treat each other well. Regardless of what's true and what isn't, that's a philosophy worth following.
I motion to Tyrsis for us to leave. I tell the grumpy stranger that I hope he finds peace, but he seems to ignore me.
|