Aprilis 28, P.I
"PAGE 1, THE INFINITE LAKE
"I pity the meek but arrogant humans of the Underworld for their lack of knowledge saddens me to oblivion and beyond. How they cannot see the mysteries of Edelae, the breath-taking beauty of Alera--which may as well be the heaven they so awfully crave--and the power of Lux, I cannot comprehend. However, this does not imply that I do not know of the origins of Edelae and the reasoning behind their baffling obliviousness. Sadly, I know all too much of the history and, although, knowledge to the humans might be a capability they cannot acquire--at least, not completely--and being omniscient their utmost desire, to me it's a heavy burden to carry.
"For you see, omniscience was never meant to be a humanly attribute. Those who manage to obtain it, in their naïve haze, only damage themselves irreversibly for the containing the knowledge inside a clay vessel is like trying to grasp sand, simply impossible. More often than not, the depressing reality is that those humans who open their conscious and absorb the knowledge of the world and beyond become known as the insane.
"It was a tragedy all on its own to watch them writhe and convulse for the pain was simply too much to bear, but it is, perhaps, sadder to witness the other oblivious humans shun them, offer no help or assistance to lessen their pain, and lock them into four walls. Perchance they assume their refusal to treat the "insane" as normal humans is helpful in the long run and that they are in their right to simply ignore the existence of those who do not fit the mold, but it's with the knowledge that I possess that I can tell they only make matters worse.
"The reason behind that is maybe simpler than most would dare to imagine."
Madeline read the words silently in her own head, adding the voice of her conscious to the mix. She hadn't understood Stephanie's fascination with the novel and had found it ludicrous that someone would prefer to spend hours on end reading a historical novel about the conception of life rather than flying in the perfect azure sky or swimming in the turquoise water. Now, however, she was starting to see the allure.
It was a fantastic book, if she could say so herself, and one of the best that she had read, but she based that opinion on the limited amount of novels she had read in her childhood. She had never been the type to sit on her couch all day long, nose inside a book, reading. Unlike Stephanie, who was so passionate about reading that she brought with her fifty books from the Underworld and kept growing her stash of books every day, Madeline was the type to be out and about even on the coldest of days, socializing and living her life to the fullest.
To her, reading had been a waste of time. Why would she read about imaginary characters having the time of their lives, partying, falling in love, and learning life lessons when she, herself, could be doing the same? When Madeline had expressed her opinion to Stephanie, she had merely scoffed, watched her with amused eyes, and pushed The Infinite Lake into her hands.
Stephanie had promised the book would change Madeline's mind, but the latter hadn't believed her at the time. However, the wheels in her head were finally turning and for the first time, she felt that, perhaps, she was wrong.
Nevertheless, the egomaniac, prideful, side of her insisted that she wasn't reading because she too had suddenly developed a fixation for reading nor did she read because she was forced to do so under the aim of a gun. Her prideful nature persisted that she read simply because curiosity got the best of her. She had to see what lied beneath the captivating cover.
During her time in the Underworld, in public school, she had been taught never to judge a book by its cover but that lesson never became ingrained in her heart. She never took the teachings and made them a motto of her life and therefore, the only reason she even so much as sent a glance towards the novel she was currently reading, or so she wanted to believe, was because of its alluring, perfectly picturesque, cover.
