Morality & Mortality (Artificer x Reader)

A Placid Island of Ignorance

[[CREDIT TO NAKTIGONIS]]

Scene 1

Your P.O.V

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You envisioned things.

Wonderful things.

Things you once had.

The wind was strong that Cycle. Holy mantras were recited in a building not so far away from your abode. 

Sunbeams shone through the various cracks and holes in the house, allowing light to breach into the inside of your room and illuminate the mess of manuscripts and journals on the floor.

You always slept in after those sleepless nights of reading. Any information about beyond The Surface was a good thing to learn about, your curiosity could only be sated by deep research through all those old papers. 

Well, to be fair, the feeling of both the warmth of the sun and hearing the sound of the wind, were perfect conditions for you to stay in bed. You couldn't attribute your laziness to just your eagerness to study.

Ever since you were a slugpup, your ears were subject to many lectures about the outside world. All of those tales and fables, those poems and stories, had warned you of the depths below. 

They all told of a world where great torrential rains crushed and wiped away all. A place where brutality and savagery thrived and bred. 

It was the antithesis of every one of your ideals.

You remember a certain someone, always sitting beside you, reading aloud their tales of the world below. Their face was fuzzy, and specific details couldn't be recalled. However, you knew they meant something to you. Their presence felt warm and comforting, even trying to recall who they were felt... good.

"But even though that rotten land is infested with all a manner of horrible monsters, there lies an ancient city down below, a place of unfathomable power and holiness"

You could hear the traces of happiness in their tone and the metaphorical sparkle in their eye as they continued with their story.

"It is there we shall gather round and go for one last prayer. Only then, we shall gaze upon true enlightenment, and meet IT. Our savior!"

Even after you had gotten out of bed and finished your reminiscence, the chanting had still continued. Repeating the same two words over and over. 

At this point, the repeated use of these mantras basically was routine. You wouldn't tell your fellow Saints, but their prayers were like some sort of alarm to get your tired body out of bed. 

You walked groggily across the floor of your home, trying not to step on the all the paper you couldn't bother to pick up. 

Upon walking outside, the sun shone in your eyes, blocking your vision. However this was but a minor inconvenience, as today you would finally get your hands on some unique documents regarding those mysterious and gargantuan superstructures.

While that large metal box was always on the horizon, none paid much attention to it, as if it was something like the moon or the clouds that soared high above and below your home.

Perhaps one day, after your journey to the city, you would visit that place and see what was inside that stoic monument. Perhaps it was another sanctuary like your own home.