Day 1: Mundanity

The three Archons of Aeragasia are in agreement of one thing, their world just isn't as exciting as it used to be; however, these days will one day be greatly missed...

"Zeneis of Aeragasia, Daybreak on the 5th day of First Spring"

"There is nothing more liberating than the breeze upon your back in the light of Second Spring. This weather is phenomenal for hiking in the forest. I am just at the edge of the Aeragasian Realm, soon to approach the Sanctuary Forest of Celteos, protected by my own Realm, the Realm of Aeos ruled by two of my closest friends, Daerekeis the Dayfather and Victaereas the Nightmother, and the Realm of Britaneos, ruled by Maraceis, an old flame of mine.    

"I do not usually tread the grounds of this sacred and protected forest, but this is a special occasion; I seek guidance from the Forest God, keeper of the balance of life and death, as to the meaning of this monotonous life. I cannot seem to understand in a peaceful world like this what there is to struggle over. The Mandate of Azuros forbids warfare and military establishment unless united for the defense of this world, but how could anything stand to appose the massive Dominions of this world knowing that they would have to face them all? Who would be so foolish? Still, I find myself caught asking myself the question what is there to live for without something to die for? This question bests me every time, even with all my meaningless experience and knowledge.

"Despite my ramblings, I must remember to be peaceful, to enjoy the tranquility of the forest, with the forest enlivened in green and the flowers of glowing gold and pastel violet as the hills ascend and descend on this ancient path towards the heart of the forest. I took my momentary leave from my companions to give them some much needed time together since work has been so dreadful keeping watch of the Council as of late. I would be there as well, but Paleis noticed that something was wrong, and saw me off to my expedition so that I could resolve this existential crisis I am in at the moment. 

"Paleis and Demireis are not just my companions, they and I take our turns as the Overseer of Aeragasia so that the people can always have their watcher at his best. The two of them and I have been together for some time, I care the world for both of them, and see no reason in denying either of them a position they both qualify for so remarkably well. I could not imagine life without either one of them, and I will not choose between them. Legend has it that ages ago such a thing would have been forbidden, it defied their customs of relationships, their "laws" of love. I see no necessity in the restriction of love to conservative codes and unspoken laws. Of course such stories are often unreliable, and easily reduced to farse, but nonetheless it would be quite remarkable if such a way existed. Such a world is unimaginable, just like the wartorn, overpopulated, and barren world historians say Azuros once was when it went under the name of Urth (or at least what I think the historians called it). What a strange name for such a strange place, that is, if it even existed."

"Paleis of Aeragasia, 5th of the Second Spring upon the 7th Hour of Light"

 

"Zeneis has been gone for ages it seems, but I knew in my heart this was the right thing to do. Right now I need to focus on being present and supportive for Demireis; I know how much the Aeragasian Council can bore him to death in this current age. Such a shame that any life so young should have to watch a group of men and women so old sort out their daily affairs in fear of a crime so sinister as Corruption. How could such an assortment of elders ever have it in their frail hearts to conspire in such a devious way? How silly a thing would it be for such a conspiracy to transpire!  

"Demireis has been sitting and watching the Council since the day's beginning at the First Light, and since has not seen anything notable much less sinister at play. I sometimes wonder if they are just as bored as we are, as Zeneis was. I honestly cannot blame him for wanting to embark upon such a journey into the wilderness considering how drole this world has become. I sometimes wonder in my deepest and darkest of introspections, is this what the end feels like: droll and insufferable? Of course not, arrangements have been set that upon the moment of any of the three of our deaths, a banquet shall be held to liven the spirits of Aeragasia as our predecessors are chosen in the ancient and withstanding tradition of the Democraseon way. O! How utterly lifeless this fertile world has become! How could we have created such a perfectly dull world! Perfection can be such a curse! The people are happy I can only suppose, but how dismal is it to be forced to live in such tranquil decrepitude when we are young and restless like the wild!

"The only reason such youth as my partners Zeneis, Demireis and I were appointed to this position was because of the audacity of youth in spotting the vileness of the old when it manifests. Still, such a torturous sentence has been set upon us, worse yet, by our own devices! This melancholic existence is wearing me thin, but I must be contained, I must be refined for my people, and for Demireis whom I do love so tenderly.

"I have been told on numerous occasions that I am one to play upon my sensibilities like the ocean, or worse yet, like a complete madman. Of course I know that this is a pure hyberbole for my sensitivity to my emotions, which I will not lie, I am not one to put aside my emotions like I do not have them. I am needed as the Second Archon among Demireis the Third Archon and Zeneis the First Archon who are too keen to forget that they have needs as well as any other human being, I am here to remind them that there are opinions and feelings inside those industrious and curious hearts of theirs. Any one of the three of us can be the Overseer of the Council, that is our job, but once one of us Archons takes the Eye of Dominion, the pendant bearing the insignia of the Overseer, the other two of us have to remember that we can be people again. 

"Being the emotional Archon, or as some of the people call me, the Archon of Compassion, I have my uses as well, even though there are times when the others are perfectly content with me standing aside and letting mind and spirit take the reins, I am there whenever the people need reassurance that the Dominion has a heart too. I sometimes struggle standing aside for the two of them, just watching them agonize in melancholy, they are always left with the harshest temperament after the sessions of the Council are through. 

"It is not a matter of recognition, entrapping ourselves to protect the people from the corruption of government is no laughing matter, and at certain periods of history the role of Overseer was a dangerous one due to the dark cloud that once sought to smother the Dominions of Azuros in their taint of Deception and Murder, now two of the seven Transgressions Contra Dominus stated in the Mandate of Azuros. This Realm needs its Dominion, and the Dominion of this Realm needs its Overseer, and so there we are. 

"Another role as Archon and Overseer is to inform the people of the activities of the Council for those who cannot attend the sessions, since these activities will be affecting them once the Council has made up its mind and the people in attendance vote. The people look forward to hearing from me, I think, they feel like they are talking to a human with me, to an expert with Demireis, and to a leader with Zeneis.

"I often long for more excitement in this world, but then I remember that this is the price I pay for living in a peaceful and fruitful world. From the peace that has enveloped this world, the arts have grown more and more restless, as I would imagine as a result of the same desire that compels me to appreciate the arts, enervation. Artists in this world have undertaken a secret competition for who can capture the most exciting and dangerous world in their art as vividly and eccentrically as humanly possible, and needless to say this has created a wave of both neoclassical horrors and ghastly impressionists. The music that plays through these halls is among the many arts which I specialize at, which only Zeneis seems to appreciate like I do. Zeneis appreciates more of the sacred music, with the celestial voices reverberating through the halls of ancient carols and chants. I prefer more simple music, with just a guitar or harp accompanying a gentle muse singing about his or her fantasies and dreams as if life was a fairy tale. Demireis prefers more modern music, the more synths and electronic elements the better, though an occasional orchestral lead never hurts, though I personally find the heart of the music is lost somewhere in all those synths and repetitions of simple, meaningless phrases. 

"Sometimes I feel like I lose Demireis too easily, he keeps to himself while I prefer to express my soul, it is just inherent in my nature, it is not like I can just shut out my voice and pretend like I do not have one, that would be terrible. He is always studying, always reading his scientific articles, and while I have seen him smile at me, I sometimes get the impression that I agonize him in his solitude. He struggles to express himself when he speaks to the people, and when he speaks to me and Zeneis, he cannot help that as much as I cannot help being more than proficient at expressing myself. Whenever he runs out of things to talk about, he goes right back to scientific progress like he was spending his entire life preparing to be a scientist instead of an Archon, though I hope that this is not the case for that would be utterly dreadful."   

"Demireis of Aeragasia 2I5.5123:L10:4:3"

"I have never understood the reason for these silly devices, what reason is there to record my every last thought and breath on some ridiculous machine so that people in the future understood how utterly bored we are. Zeneis recommended it so that we can show our predecessors that the Archons of Aeragasia are human beings, which I do understand, but is this level of divulgence truly necessary? Paleis appears to almost enjoy having something to ramble at, but I don't. I think this is nonsense, I would much rather just write down my thoughts then announce them to a microphone. The thought of a database containing my every thought is a nightmare, especially since if that knowledge gets in the wrong hands then we are all in serious trouble, not that that would happen in such a world as this where no one would have any reason to unearth such a device unless they were just dying of boredom. 

"I do not understand why Paleis insists on talking like it is the Elizabethian Era, this is the 52nd Century for crying out loud. I know how to speak the English language, as well as the language of Adgeos, both proficiently contrary to Paleis who keeps on rambling that I am virtually mute. I am trying to speak on their terms, and when that doesn't work, I resort to drastic measures and try to spout out something interested to make it look like something adequately intriguing is going on, though I usually just start ranting about nanotechnology and electrogravitational flux fields and of course that goes straight over their heads.

"That reminds me, how can these people act like this is the Dark Ages? The first successful synthetic gravitational fields has been tested and are now in starships across the Milky Way Galaxy, and at the heart of those ships are electromagnetic field generators modeled after the Core of the Earth which has now been extensively researched and even reached by manmade craft. Soleis has been reached by manmade craft, and dived straight into, by surrounding the celestial probe in a toroidal magnetic repulsion field, the probe fed straight on the plasma getting lauching at it! The probe even resisted the turbulence of the convection zone, feasted on the devastating radiation of the radioactive zone, and survived the pressure of the Core! We have SEEN fusion for Christ's sake, and these people think we should be living in castles like the kings of old? COME ON! 

"I think we should be living in space, letting Azuros recover from the last wave of human expansion that ended Caeruleos! Of course will anyone listen to the "Archon of Science"? No, of course not, they would rather receive motivational speaches from Zeneis, and pep talks from Paleis, because this is apparently a nation of nimrods too stupid to realize that their society is deteriorating. Yeah, that's right, I said it, our world is going down the drain because it is not growing, therefore, it is shriveling on the vine. I should be contributing to science and letting those two watch these old farts age, but if I do than who will speak for science? No one. If I am not here, than the people will lose the one brain they have, and our society will deevolve back in caveman living in giant stone forts.

"The fact that Zeneis went into the forest to find a Celtic god just shows how far we have backtracked. Do these people understand that there are more dangerous things in government than Corruption? I would think Anarchy would be far worse than some geizers trying to rob these poor people of a single denar they don't even need to begin with. Whoever designed this world model was a moron, though I am not saying this system isn't nice, it is just doomed to die in a whimper. 

"Anyway, I will keep this thing short before my rantings get me in any trouble, the IMD, short for Initial Moment of Darkness, or as they call it "Dusk" has fallen. The Council session is over, and they have decided to adjourn until further developments arise, which I doubt will ever happen again. Paleis is here, he knows not to invade my privacy when I am going through this thing, he knows how "shy" I can be, whatever the hell that is supposed to imply. I am not shy, I like people, I just prefer time to myself when I am through listening to people rant endlessly about their stupid and often nonexistent problems. If I had someone with a brain, without all that wishy-washy mumbo-jumbo, I would be more than happy to start a conversation, but I doubt I will ever find such an individual in a world like this. I guess I will have to get used to their accusations and just become "shy" so that they will leave me to my own studies and thoughts. By the way, as soon as Zeneis gets back I am telling him to get rid of this stupid thing. 

"Now how the hell do I turn this thing off? That wasn't supposed to be on here! Not that anyone even listens to these things anyway. I think I found it, and now, turn off!"        

Author's Note

The story is written as dialogue, since each character is actually speaking out their journal entries as a part of the technology of the times.