Stardust
Taking a deep breath, I slowly opened my mouth. “Who… exactly are you? I’d heard you were… the shadow… of the Atlantis civilization…”
The bird-like being reacted to my words and flapped its wings slowly. The movement was like the dance of a soul overcome with sorrow. With each flap of its wings, countless stardust particles swirled upward, filling the paradise with a fantastical light.
Silence lingered for a moment. The bird gazed at me, its large eyes reflecting an indescribable anguish. Then, finally, a hoarse voice echoed through the air.
“I am… the last… memory… of Atlantis.” That voice reached my heart faintly yet surely, like an echo from the distant past. “We… defied… the laws of the universe… and as punishment… we were… supposed to… vanish…”
The bird flapped its wings again, and its form gradually grew brighter. It seemed not to be vanishing, but rather ascending.
“But… the Words of Creation… they were… the power… to restore… the harmony… of the universe… We were… mistaken… We did not… seek to rule… the universe… but to understand it… That… thirst for understanding… was what… destroyed us…”
The bird’s words revealed the truth behind the fall of the Atlantis civilization. It was not caused by ambition or malice, but by a lack of understanding of the laws of the universe, and an excessive thirst for that understanding.
I was shocked by the bird’s words. Perhaps the Atlantis civilization was not an evil empire after all. Perhaps they were a group of pure scientists seeking the truth of the universe. Perhaps their failure lay in human arrogance and a lack of reverence for nature.
“So that you do not… repeat… your failure…” the bird said, emitting a faint glow. “The Words of Creation… understand… them… correctly… and use… them…”
The bird’s form began to fade gradually, and soon it turned into stardust and vanished. Yet its words, and its very presence, were deeply etched into my heart. The paradise was enveloped in silence. Yet that silence was not one of sorrow or despair, but a silence filled with hope and renewed resolve. The battle against the shadow of the Atlantis civilization had ended, but the true battle was only just beginning. I must set out on a new journey to unravel the mystery of the remaining “Words of Creation” and restore harmony to the universe. My lyre began to prepare once more to play the symphony of the cosmos.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
