12th Summer 515AV
The Dynasty Library
Early Morning
The Dynasty Library
Early Morning
Adelaide was the first person to arrive in the Library that morning. Payne raised an eyebrow in surprise as she swept in, dressed entirely in the same black dress she had worn to her Father's funeral two days before. If everyone had expected her to collapse, to fold into the flower of herself and see her mind deteriorate into the state it had been when she had first returned to Kenash from Zeltiva, they would be proven wrong. The day of her father's death had been a trial, but the days leading up to the funeral had been busy, and the day of the funeral itself, a thought had dawned on her: she had spent too much of her life watching the people she loved being taken away from her and she had never before decided to do anything about. Now, she was determined. She could not bring them back from the dead, true, but she would find a way to contact them. She would apologise to her mother - apologise for bringing about her death as she was born. Yes, in her first moments on this world, Adelaide had been a killer. All her life, she had lamented this, kept it like a burning secret. Now, she would find a way to settle her mind. She would undo the wrong. Then, she would apologise to the child she never had. That miscarriage. Then, Naolom and her Father: she could speak to them. Let them know that she loved them, that she thought of them all the time. She would make up for lost time.
At first, she thought she might ask one of the librarians for aid finding what she wanted, but immediately dismissed this as soon as she had arrived at the Library. No... this had to be done alone. Quickly, her face a determined mask behind which no other emotion or thought could be perceived, she made her way to the upper floor. Finding a table with a comfortable chair was the easy bit and, as she settled down, she felt that, for the first time in a while, she was really doing something about taking her destiny - her path in life - into her own hands. Of course, one could not blindly set out on that kind of journey, whether physical, emotional or mental, without some forethought and planning... at least, if she wanted a good handle on the outcome.
"Lost time is never found again..." she murmured, "But maybe it can be relived?"
That would be her first port of call. If she had any interest in the theoretical side of changing the past, she had no desire to start there. First, she wanted to have a secure knowledge of how exactly time worked. Of course, a book on such a subject would be difficult to find, but Adelaide was open to any and all theories since she'd been possessed by these thoughts. Now, would she start with Philosophy, Religion or Magic? After a moment, she headed more towards where she would find more philosophical books. There were both many to choose from and few to choose from. Finally, she took two down from the shelf. Firstly, "Abstract concepts explained" which had a brief chapter on time and, secondly, the promisingly named "Eternalism". With a small smile, cradling them gingerly in her hands, she headed back to her table.
It turned out that "Abstract concepts complained" was not much good and, after a moment, Adelaide returned it to its shelf. As she flipped the front cover of "Eternalism", however, she was relieved to find that a trip to the Library would definitely not be a complete waste of time. She scanned the Chapter titles on the first page with some interest - "Introduction", "The Flow of Time", "Simultaneous Time", "Destiny", "Fate", "Nothing ever ends", "Nothing ever begins", "The Spiritual Dilemma", "An alternative to Eternalism", "The River", "The Science of Time" and "Conclusion". With a smile, Adelaide turned to the introduction. She skipped over the first few paragraphs which, she felt, dithered quite a bit around the subject and skipped straight to the second page, where the book truly started addressing the subject of what 'Eternalism' was.
Eternalism is a theoretical approach to time, wherein Time must be considered in an ontological manner.
"Ontological?" murmured Adelaide to herself. She went to look for a dictionary then sat back down, "Ontology - the branch of metaphysics that studies the nature of existence or being as such."
Eternalism takes the view that all points in time are equally "real" - that time has no real beginning or ending and is a constant. Therefore, eternal.
Adelaide was already a little confused. Surely, that would then suggest that time did not in fact exist? That time did not happen if life was merely a set of events that all technically happened at the same time, but within a bubble.
This is as opposed to the "presentist" idea that only the present is real.
Or maybe she had misunderstood it? Time did exist but, perhaps, within a sort of vacuum or cylinder. It was real and both the past and the future were real, but there was a correct sequence of events? That would explain why it would be so difficult to access a time different from the one that one was living.
This is also in stark contrast to the "block theory" in which both past and present are real, while the future is not.
Well, that made the most sense to Adelaide. Present was happening and the past could not be changed, therefore they were both intrinsically real. However, since the future had not happened yet, it was in constant fluctuation and, therefore, was not yet real.
"Oh god. I'm already turning in circles." the young woman murmured, with a meek smile.
But advocates of Eternalism most usually draw inspiration from the notion that time exists within a dimensional framework. Time is simply another dimension and future events are "already there". This also bears strong correlation with theories of destiny and fate.
Adelaide wasn't sure if that made her feel hopeless or hopeful. If time was already there, then it was more possible to access it - and that could only be a positive, even if it was only a theory. The idea, however, that the future was entirely pre-set perplexed her slightly. It was then a question of not only time but free will. If the future was already set, was there any point in making any decisions at all? But, then, the future might be already set with those decisions already made.
Eternalism is sometimes referred to as the "Fourth dimension" theory due to its considering Time to be impossible to change and four-dimensional. This is opposed to the traditional view that the world exists in three-dimensional space modulated by time, which can hence be considered a unit of measurement.
It was a depressing indictment of her own ability to understand any form of Philosophy but as Adelaide copied down what she had just read into a little notebook, she considered that she already had enough to be getting along with. This was especially true considering that she was almost more looking for inspiration, to access her own thoughts on the subject, rather than looking for a school of thought that she could agree with.
At first, she thought she might ask one of the librarians for aid finding what she wanted, but immediately dismissed this as soon as she had arrived at the Library. No... this had to be done alone. Quickly, her face a determined mask behind which no other emotion or thought could be perceived, she made her way to the upper floor. Finding a table with a comfortable chair was the easy bit and, as she settled down, she felt that, for the first time in a while, she was really doing something about taking her destiny - her path in life - into her own hands. Of course, one could not blindly set out on that kind of journey, whether physical, emotional or mental, without some forethought and planning... at least, if she wanted a good handle on the outcome.
"Lost time is never found again..." she murmured, "But maybe it can be relived?"
That would be her first port of call. If she had any interest in the theoretical side of changing the past, she had no desire to start there. First, she wanted to have a secure knowledge of how exactly time worked. Of course, a book on such a subject would be difficult to find, but Adelaide was open to any and all theories since she'd been possessed by these thoughts. Now, would she start with Philosophy, Religion or Magic? After a moment, she headed more towards where she would find more philosophical books. There were both many to choose from and few to choose from. Finally, she took two down from the shelf. Firstly, "Abstract concepts explained" which had a brief chapter on time and, secondly, the promisingly named "Eternalism". With a small smile, cradling them gingerly in her hands, she headed back to her table.
It turned out that "Abstract concepts complained" was not much good and, after a moment, Adelaide returned it to its shelf. As she flipped the front cover of "Eternalism", however, she was relieved to find that a trip to the Library would definitely not be a complete waste of time. She scanned the Chapter titles on the first page with some interest - "Introduction", "The Flow of Time", "Simultaneous Time", "Destiny", "Fate", "Nothing ever ends", "Nothing ever begins", "The Spiritual Dilemma", "An alternative to Eternalism", "The River", "The Science of Time" and "Conclusion". With a smile, Adelaide turned to the introduction. She skipped over the first few paragraphs which, she felt, dithered quite a bit around the subject and skipped straight to the second page, where the book truly started addressing the subject of what 'Eternalism' was.
Eternalism is a theoretical approach to time, wherein Time must be considered in an ontological manner.
"Ontological?" murmured Adelaide to herself. She went to look for a dictionary then sat back down, "Ontology - the branch of metaphysics that studies the nature of existence or being as such."
Eternalism takes the view that all points in time are equally "real" - that time has no real beginning or ending and is a constant. Therefore, eternal.
Adelaide was already a little confused. Surely, that would then suggest that time did not in fact exist? That time did not happen if life was merely a set of events that all technically happened at the same time, but within a bubble.
This is as opposed to the "presentist" idea that only the present is real.
Or maybe she had misunderstood it? Time did exist but, perhaps, within a sort of vacuum or cylinder. It was real and both the past and the future were real, but there was a correct sequence of events? That would explain why it would be so difficult to access a time different from the one that one was living.
This is also in stark contrast to the "block theory" in which both past and present are real, while the future is not.
Well, that made the most sense to Adelaide. Present was happening and the past could not be changed, therefore they were both intrinsically real. However, since the future had not happened yet, it was in constant fluctuation and, therefore, was not yet real.
"Oh god. I'm already turning in circles." the young woman murmured, with a meek smile.
But advocates of Eternalism most usually draw inspiration from the notion that time exists within a dimensional framework. Time is simply another dimension and future events are "already there". This also bears strong correlation with theories of destiny and fate.
Adelaide wasn't sure if that made her feel hopeless or hopeful. If time was already there, then it was more possible to access it - and that could only be a positive, even if it was only a theory. The idea, however, that the future was entirely pre-set perplexed her slightly. It was then a question of not only time but free will. If the future was already set, was there any point in making any decisions at all? But, then, the future might be already set with those decisions already made.
Eternalism is sometimes referred to as the "Fourth dimension" theory due to its considering Time to be impossible to change and four-dimensional. This is opposed to the traditional view that the world exists in three-dimensional space modulated by time, which can hence be considered a unit of measurement.
It was a depressing indictment of her own ability to understand any form of Philosophy but as Adelaide copied down what she had just read into a little notebook, she considered that she already had enough to be getting along with. This was especially true considering that she was almost more looking for inspiration, to access her own thoughts on the subject, rather than looking for a school of thought that she could agree with.
