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]

"I am Lethe, guardian of this river until I return to my own." She gives the introduction no fanfare.

"Hop on, stranger, and see the rest of this planet's wilderness." The offer is mild enough; though her ferry does not come free. She takes no memories here, but there may be something else gone before the boat reaches the distant shores.

[histrionic]

"Why should I? I can explore it for myself and follow my own paths. Why limit my movements to your slow little craft?"

He's been limited for too long, forced to dance to a melody of another's choosing.

"By whose authority do you guard this river? And for what purpose?"

[drinkandforget]

"That is who I am." She has long since forgotten - of course - any existence other than the one tied to her waters, the ferryman to the next life, the shrouded robe she wears.

She does not make any attempt to force Kuja into the boat; this is not the time he must go to its end point. Instead, she keeps up the conversation as if it's perfectly normal.

"Yet soon enough, this planet, too, will be under Galaxia-sama's dominion." She says this neutrally, neither expressing fear nor pride in the inexorable advance of the galaxy's strongest senshi.

[histrionic]

"Is it?" He considers this. "Is that truly all you are, the guardian of a river, with no other sense of self? And who do you act for? Is it yourself?"

He keeps pace with the boat easily, remaining safely above the water, as do his trailing sleeves and robe, not a drop on them.

"Or perhaps it's for this Galaxia-sama. Who might she be? Yet another boring tyrant, I suppose. They all seem to be. Destroyers of worlds. Conquerers of worlds. Vanquishers of variation." He might be considered the same, or formerly so, but he has no love for tyrants now. The thought agitates him slightly, though his manner remains seemingly careless.

[drinkandforget]

She doesn't flinch at those names applied to Galaxia. It'd be hard to deny their truth.

"In the end, she'll bring peace," Lethe says simply. That's enough for her, no matter what kind of peace it is. No matter what she's done to achieve it. As long as Mnemosyne is safe, as long as they both survive.

It can be called ignoble. The ones calling it that have never seen terror.

[histrionic]

"Peace? A word that has so many meanings, all meaning has been stripped from it. The only absolute peace is nothingness. Is that what she brings? How fatally dull." He might be talking about himself, for that's what he'd tried to do. But then, he so often talks about himself.

He shakes his head. "No, I'm afraid that's what tyrants always say. Your Galaxia-sama needs to work on her patter, try for something more original. Who would believe such a charmless lie?" For a moment, his gaze is cold, fixed on her, but then his expression returns to its earlier careless mask.

[drinkandforget]

That loosens some of the frustrated anger, but it isn't directed at Kuja; not precisely. It's directed at the situation.

"If we hadn't gone with her, we'd already have died," she says bluntly. Survival is a valid option. Besides, even if it's the peace of nothing, it's an end to the constant wars she lived through all her life.

"Our planet was already tearing itself apart by war. If this ends it, that will be for the best."

[histrionic]

The anger doesn't bother Kuja. Nor do mentions of war and death, both things he's caused himself. Her statement has little emotional impact on him. He's more interested in this tyrant and her puppet.

"So is that all you are now, a guardian, a servant? Do you merely follow orders, fulfill your purpose? Have you nothing else in your life?"

[drinkandforget]

She doesn't answer snappishly; she has little pride left, at this point. Lethe cannot remember a time when her duty and her role didn't define her anyway, and so that doesn't bother her.

But there is one other thing she has, the one thing that made this worthwhile if she could just protect that one person.

"My sister."

[histrionic]

Kuja's questions are not meant to insult so much as to learn. Having been a pawn himself in a way, in spite of all his power, he can empathize with those forced into a role.

He has siblings as well, of a sort.

"Ah, a sister. What is your sister's name? Does she, too, serve your tyrant?"

[drinkandforget]

"Mnemosyne." It crosses her mind to wonder where Mnemosyne is, if not here. They are rarely apart.

"We both chose this life together."

[histrionic]

"I have a brother," says Kuja.

"If that is your choice, then perhaps you were weak enough to make it." If there's bitterness in his tone, it's not because of her. He yet resents his forced servitude, and he can't understand why anyone would choose such a path. "I will never serve another, myself."

wow i messed up the html for those italics. oh well >_<

[drinkandforget]

Don't call her weak.

"I did what I had to for the future I want." It's that easy, and that closed, to her. She will not pretend Galaxia is easy to serve, or that betrayal is right. But it allowed her and, more importantly, her precious sister to live.

And with the galaxy in Galaxia's control, there will be no more need for wars or strife. It will finally be peaceful.

It's okay, it happens to us all sometimes!

[histrionic]

He'll call anyone weak, if he chooses to do so.

"What future is that? A future of slavery? So much to look forward to! I can see why you would devote yourself to such a cause and such a ruler."

He shakes his head. "What a sad story."

[drinkandforget]

"Spoken like a smug person who has no idea of what's going around them." It's the only way she can understand this attitude: someone who hasn't had to make those choices, hasn't suffered and seen what they've seen, lives in some world without that shadow.

[histrionic]

"Interesting that you would say that. I already know far more about you than you know about me. Likewise, I know far more about my world, my universe, than most people do."

Kuja has made his choices, has suffered, has seen many things. Different things, perhaps, but his world has its own shadows. He still can't resist his nature, which is to anger, to pry, sower of discord that he is. Old habits don't pass away easily, but he's making no deliberate attempt to poison anyone's mind. He wants to know more, which is why he is asking.

[drinkandforget]

"Then learn your position." The words were snappish, but not precisely at him; rather, she's snappish at the way this stranger, as he's pointed out, dares to pretend to make her decisions for her without knowing what it was like to be pushed to them or what it means to have something so important to protect that you'll do anything to keep it safe.

[histrionic]

"My position?" He laughs. "I already have learned it." He draws his legs up, still floating nearby, amused. "I know it very well. I don't think there's anything you can teach me."

It's interesting to see how people react when pushed. Perhaps he shouldn't push, but how else is he meant to relate with others? "Unless you wish to try."

[drinkandforget]

He isn't even from her world, or real. She has no grudge against him and his angry words don't mean what they'd mean coming from someone who was a part of her own situation, or knew it fully. Still, they rankle.

"Enjoy your trip to this Earth instead," she suggests dryly. "You won't have long to luxuriate in it."

[histrionic]

He himself isn't angry; he has no reason to be, not with her. He's only curious, though he has a funny way of expressing it.

"Luxuriate?" He smiles. "Oh yes, I don't expect I will have long." He doesn't think he has any time at all, considering, although somehow he is still here. "This planet is named Earth? And what can you tell me of it?"

[drinkandforget]

She shrugs. She is from across the galaxy from this place; she knows little of it.

"This is one of the last planets still outside Galaxia-sama's control." This, like the rest, comes without apology.

"When the person who holds this planet's star seeds comes to bring a new battle, she'll find herself stalled at my river. That's the only connection I have with this planet."

So why is she dreaming of it?

[histrionic]

It doesn't bother him too much, this shadowy Galaxia and her nebulous conquest, even though he does wish to learn more about it, and he has an interest in putting an end to tyrants.

He's not sure what she's referring to when mentioning seeds and battles. "I know of the crystal at each planet's core, but what are these star seeds?" One cannot carry a crystal or remove it from where it lies without disastrous consequences, so this must be different.

"Why are you here, then? When there is no battle, no warrior?"

[drinkandforget]

They're easy to explain, if he knows of something like that. "You could consider them the crystal of each planet, carried within the body of that planet's chosen soldier."

Like her. Like Mnemosyne. Like the handful of other traitor true senshi mingled among Galaxia's opportunistic other followers who gained them... artificially.

"Their power is the only thing that is permanent."

[histrionic]

"Ah, this must be another universe, then, or at least a planet far distant, where the rules are altered." Kuja knows the crystals from his own universe well enough.

"The crystal at a planet's heart is similar, but the power is never given to any one individual. The planet itself is very much like a lifeform, and when it grows very old, its crystal will return to the cosmos with all the memories of the planet and its inhabitants."

He studies her, thoughtfully. "But why are you here, now? Where is the warrior of Earth?"

[drinkandforget]

While it is possible for the star seed of a planet to be influenced by the combined wish of all the planet's inhabitants, such a thing is extremely rare, in her world.

His question comes first.

"The star seed of Earth is already in Galaxia-sama's hands. The star seeds still on this planet belong to the ones who bring war and strife to this galaxy."

"Perhaps I'm here to find out where the rest are hiding."