Jurassic Guide

[drinkandforget]

She's been dreaming of Earth lately. Why she should be dreaming of that distant planet is not a question Sailor Lethe cares to consider too deeply; she knows it's said to be one of the last territories holding out against Galaxia.

There's no sign of that in the Earth she visits. The lush vegetation is almost tropical, vibrant ferns alongside tall trees. They grace the banks of a winding river, tranquil and quiet. Visible at intervals, small groups of dinosaurs go about their own business, largely ambivalent to her presence.

Lethe poles her small boat silently through the water. When she acquires an extra passenger, she shows no surprise, but be careful; passage is not free. Those in the boat will lose something before they disembark, whether as small and simple as a pen or as disastrous as an irreplaceable keepsake.

Comments

[drinkandforget]

[It's easy enough to figure out that the star seeds are supposed to be important, and that Lethe doesn't have much to do with Earth outside of them.]

The consequences for this place? [She glances away, and briefly her face is shadowed.]

Maybe nothing. It will be whatever Galaxia-sama decides. [It's the crystal carriers she wants, though; the planet itself.. there's still a chance for that to be left alone. She'd like to think so, at least.]

[repudiate]

Stuck at the mercy of someone else's whims.. [ for a moment she pauses, and even though the topic is pretty heavy her glance shifts to the dinosaurs again and she makes a more lighter and casual remark out of it. ]

Poor dinosaurs. The meteor was probably a better fate.

[drinkandforget]

[Here among the dinosaurs, she knows what Ange is referring to.]

They were already gone for many centuries by then.

[repudiate]

... Huh? [ at least that seems to catch Ange's attention, and she turns her head towards the girl with a slightly surprised expression. ]

Already.. gone?

[drinkandforget]

Nothing in this world is permanent. Eventually, these creatures died out completely.

[repudiate]

How sad, always stuck in that world of going extinct. Although I guess it's fortunate for us humans, because otherwise we wouldn't be able to live on a planet with such dangerous creatures.

[drinkandforget]

It was their fate. All things die, and eventually are forgotten.

[repudiate]

Some people might call that sort of view pessimistic.

[ not her, considering she.. well.. is pessimistic herself and all. ]

[drinkandforget]

It isn't pessimism. It's the nature of the world.

[repudiate]

Oh, I know it is. It's just that some people are either so optimistic or so idealistic that they believe it's not the nature of the world, but that you're rather looking at things too negatively, while they're actually the ones getting it all wrong to start with.

[drinkandforget]

[It'd be hard for her to believe anything other than what she's said, when she sees it constantly in every person who sheds their old life in her river.]

There's nothing to fear in it. It's simply the way of fate. It's people [She does not say humans, because senshi are equally wrong in this] who frustrate themselves trying to hold on to something they can't.

[repudiate]

... Yeah. [ for a moment she becomes more quiet, staring at the water. ] How naive and stupid.

[ to think she could hold on to happiness even though she knew this would happen, that it would be fleeting, and yet she had-- ]

People are actually pretty pitiful like that, huh.

[drinkandforget]

[No more pitiful than a senshi who thinks she can buy peace at such a high price, and that it's worthwhile.]

What makes them so grasping at the end?

[repudiate]

People just don't want things to end. Probably just since thinking about what comes beyond it is scary to them, that void that will be left behind.

[drinkandforget]

It isn't only an end. [For all that she taunts the ones who cling to things they can't keep, she understands this.] It's also the beginning of their new life.

[repudiate]

What, you mean something like rebirth?

[ Ange's not particularly religious, or more that she doesn't care about the idea of an afterlife or reincarnation - death is just that, death. Being with the rest of the dead, in a way. ]

[drinkandforget]

Yes. They drink from my river to forget their lives before, so that they're ready to move into their next lives. [To her, it's strange to meet someone who doesn't seem to understand, or at least acknowledge, that.]

[repudiate]

Making them forget..

[ There's a pause, but then she just sighs, as if she's going back to casual again. ]

I wonder if that's such a cruel thing or not.

[ after all, people want to remember the happy things, but want to forget about the sad things at the same time. ]

[drinkandforget]

There's nothing cruel in it. [She says this calmly; she's never seen it as such.] This is just the order of life. Everything is lost in the end, but our powers.

[repudiate]

... Everything but our powers? Why are the powers the only thing that remain? That sounds a little specific.

[ after all, in Ange's world powers are passed on, so in a way they remain, but.. it's different. ]

[drinkandforget]

They're the only thing that will be carried over after death into our new lives. They're the only permanent thing.

[A sad fate for humans, who don't even have that much.]

[repudiate]

How tragic. [ She still sounds relatively unfazed compared to how most people would sound, but there's more feelings about it inside, really. ]

Even though people would prefer to carry over other things, their power is all they get.

[drinkandforget]

No one decided that. It's how the world is.

Wealth, memories, comrades or friends, all of those are lost and forgotten.

[repudiate]

In that case.. won't you say it's just a waste of time getting all of those? If we're just going to lose them over and over again either way..

[drinkandforget]

It is a waste. [This is not the most encouraging statement she could have made.]