Scenario:Created by the Stars, Loved by the Skies - The Astral Artifacts - Chapter 4: A Glimpse of the Future - Episode 1

Created by the Stars, Loved by the Skies - The Astral Artifacts - Chapter 4: A Glimpse of the Future - Episode 1

In the beginning, Cosmos was only concerned with maintaining the world's balance, but after spending much time in the Sky Realm and coming to understand many facets of the world's inhabitants, she realizes how much she's been influenced by the skies. While Cosmos grapples with the consequences of her decisions as the arbitrator, Lucifer says she has helped primal beasts become a part of the Sky Realm.

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Cosmos: ...

In the wake of the Astrals' withdrawal from the Sky Realm, Cosmos's duplicate spends tens of thousands of days and nights in the skies.

Over this time period, she often experiences moments of sadness.

Lucifer: Cosmos, do you remember what you asked of me when you first appeared in Canaan?

Cosmos: Impart to me your knowledge of this world, Lucifer, so that arbitration can be carried out appropriately.

Cosmos: Yes, that is what I said, and you accepted.

Lucifer: Correct. Much has taken place in the skies since then.

Lucifer: Have I proven useful to your cause?

Cosmos: You are indispensable. I could figure things out for myself, but it would have taken more time.

Lucifer: Is that so? Well, I'm glad it worked out.

Cosmos: (However...)

Cosmos: (The more I discover about the Sky Realm, the heavier this weight presses down on me.)

Cosmos: Tell me, Lucifer.

Cosmos: What do mortals value above all else?

Lucifer: Above all else?

Something about Cosmos's eyes seems different to Lucifer compared to when he first met her.

Lucifer: I'm afraid I can't give a definitive answer.

Lucifer: Each individual holds their own set of values. A hundred people could cherish a hundred different things.

Cosmos: In other words, anything can have value.

Cosmos: Which makes sense. Of the many people I have observed, each has possessed their own proclivity.

Cosmos: (Treasuring one's own life, family and friends, wealth, power...)

Cosmos: However, anything that is worth fighting for will naturally spawn desire.

Cosmos: All those differing wants and demands are a recipe for conflict.

Lucifer: ...

Lucifer: Cosmos, do you think it's wrong of people to want something?

Cosmos: Cosmos is the arbitrator.

Cosmos: If people's appetite for desirables becomes untenable and threatens to destabilize the world's equilibrium...

Cosmos: Judgment shall come.

Lucifer: It sounds as if you still view the world as nothing more than a giant set of scales, even to this day.

Cosmos: Cosmos's purpose is preserving the world's equilibrium and fixing the scales to their proper positions.

Cosmos: (Cosmos is only concerned with balancing what's being weighed.)

Cosmos: (But I have heard the voices of they who live upon those scales, and now I cannot unhear them.)

Cosmos: (I am uncertain how I should approach arbitration...)

Cosmos: ...

Lucifer: Let us say—hypothetically—you deemed it best to rid the Sky Realm of the Astrals' creations.

Lucifer: No primal beast is to be spared.

Cosmos: The opportunity for that option has long passed.

Cosmos: If ever there were a time, it would have been right after the War ended.

Cosmos: (Despite the fact that the two realms cannot see eye to eye, they are intertwined in a complicated relationship from which neither can be separated.)

Cosmos: Removing the primal beasts by force will destroy the world's equilibrium.

Lucifer: (Cosmos may say she's making that choice within the scope of her purpose, but I suspect there's another consideration at play.)

Lucifer: (She could have wiped out the primals after they were abandoned, but she didn't.)

Lucifer: (She could have revealed the by-product of creating alma to Sylph, but she didn't.)

Lucifer: (She gave primal beasts a fighting chance in their ongoing battles against skyfarers.)

Lucifer: (It all points to Cosmos making decisions based on what can be described as "having a heart.")

Cosmos: Were I the personification of the Sky Realm, I might find it extremely condescending to be arbitrated under the Astral Realm's terms.

Cosmos: As an arbitrator, what exactly am I trying to accomplish for this world?

Lucifer: Cosmos.

Lucifer: I've come to a realization over the course of our observations.

Lucifer: Primal beasts aren't the fragile, pitiful creations forsaken by the Astrals we took them to be.

Lucifer: They are resilient, intelligent, and powerful beings endeavoring to carve out their own futures.

Lucifer: They are now ingrained in this ever-fluid world.

Lucifer: Is it wrong to say you helped make that possible?