[011 ☿] Silent Planet Mercury

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

Unearthly quiet falls over everything. This place is empty and barren; nothing grows in its desolate grey soil. It's a void without atmosphere, but those who arrive here find themselves able breathe normally and withstand the incredible heat of planet Mercury's sun-turned side.

To the daughter of this planet, it's breathing the nostalgic air of thousands of years ago. Here, she is at her strongest and her best. She thrives in the sun that appears several times larger than it would on Earth, she basks in its intense rays despite the dark sky of space.

Without turning around, Mercury speaks with her eyes fixed on the sky. "Watch," she insists. She nods to where the sun travels towards its highest point - and stops for several long moments before beginning to unwind its arc backwards. It's a sight only seen here, and only now while it's been sped up enough to be observable.

Before she can say more, a second brightness flares so strongly that it almost overshadows anything else. Mercury suddenly lets out a pained whimper and shields her eyes from the holy light of Venus. She has that flesh-crawling feeling of a nightmare somehow.

(ooc: artist conceptions of Mercury sunrise. The effect described with the sun's path is due to Mercury's orbit and happens over the course of a Mercury day - about two months of our time.)

Comments

[thatoldthatkind.livejournal.com]

"of course! Loads of times." The Doctor answers. "It's cold. Well, warm, but sort of cold at the same time. Pluto is the cold one."

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

Pluto's lonely existence - the senshi, not the planet - was something Mercury had understood. (The truth she didn't acknowledge was that Pluto's loneliness was far deeper, alone and unable to leave the Time-Space Door since so many aeons ago.) It was small wonder the planet was cold and distant like its guardian.

Of course, its distance from the sun made that inevitable anyway.

"The heat and cold of Mercury would burn and freeze a human in no time at all," she points out. It's not hard to see her own extremes in that scientific soundbite. Of course, he's not a human any more than she is fully human.

"On that other planet Mercury, did you ever see the kingdom when it was still alive?"

[thatoldthatkind.livejournal.com]

"Which is why neither of us are human." He counters.

"There is no kingdom like this on my Mercury."

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

She doesn't tend to think of herself as blessed. But when she considers that other worlds may never have had a Mercury Kingdom at all, that Mercury might have been no more than rock and dust forever, her world becomes brighter by that comparison.

"It was a center for ideas, for technology, even for commerce," she tells him. "Even the Moon Castle computer systems were designed here."

If her words could stir it to life, it'd be right here in front of them: the noise of business, the chatter of public meetings.

[thatoldthatkind.livejournal.com]

He nods. "Earth is the only inhabited planet. Well, there was Mars, but that's a story I'd rather avoid."

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

"Mars, huh?" She considers that. For a long time, humans have thought that if they spread beyond Earth, it would be to Mars now, in her world.

"What sort of place was it, then?"

[thatoldthatkind.livejournal.com]

Oh, there were things on Mars long before humans arrive.

"It's a bit of a wasteland now." The Doctor says, clearly avoiding the question.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

She lets it go, though she's curious by the prospect of yet another different world's development. There are things she doesn't speak of, too.

"Some day, most of them will end like that." She says most; she has devoted to life to averting that natural end for planet Earth.

[thatoldthatkind.livejournal.com]

"Or blown up by their sun. That's a possibility."

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

She thinks of the demon from the sun. It's very possible.

She smirks faintly, and recites the poem, an obvious choice but still somewhat appropriate: "Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice."

Her eyes are still challenging, baiting, almost teasing; she knows where the poem leads as well as he likely does.

Or view it another way: Having destroyed Princess Snow Kaguya, who'd wanted to cover Earth in ice, will they face Fire next?

[thatoldthatkind.livejournal.com]

"Either way it ends in a very nasty wasteland."

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

"That's something I never want to to see." Blunt, and likely obvious, but no less the truth. All she could have changed was to add 'again'.

[thatoldthatkind.livejournal.com]

The Doctor sighs. "Unfortunately, it tends to do that whether or not we want it."

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

"Not if we work to stop that instead of accepting it." They might never see eye to eye in this; but it's important enough for her to insist on, even beyond the anger and bitterness.

[thatoldthatkind.livejournal.com]

The Doctor raises his eyebrows. "You can't fight off time."

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

"I chose to fight it for as long as I can." It's a trap that keeps her chained and held down as much as anything the Dark Kingdom ever did. Hopelessly, maybe, she'll still follow what she decided on.

Even if the point of it was left behind long ago.

She moves, finally, taking a few steps towards the rest of the ruins. She pauses to glance over her shoulder. "Do you intend to stay to see the rest?"

[thatoldthatkind.livejournal.com]

The Doctor simply sighs. He knows what it is like to fight against time and lose. Somethings you can't run away from. Somethings you can't change. But, he's not about to get into that.

"If you'd like!"

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

It's worse than impossible; it's harmful. Every time they make their entire creed avoiding destruction, they also cheat themselves of rebirth and renewal, and thus their world continues to be damaged and wounded, more and more.

But there's no one to make them hope for better.

She nods. "I don't know what drew me here in this dream, but whatever it is should be within them."

[thatoldthatkind.livejournal.com]

"Maybe a new path." He offers. "One that will help you in your current position."

Given she didn't really learn from the forest.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

She learned from the forest. She learned one thing she holds close to her, as something so rare and precious she hardly dares believe it: Just once, or maybe just sometimes, she can find support and help in others. (Of course, it was a dream. People near her, people for her, are never real, and that distrust has even crept into the dreams lately.)

"A new path?" She doesn't mock it, this time. She knows, of course, that there is more than one way to fulfill her words that she'll keep moving forward. Forward is many directions. But she still doesn't quite embrace it.

"There's no reason to believe it would lead somewhere better."

[thatoldthatkind.livejournal.com]

"There's no reason to believe it wouldn't lead you somewhere better."

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

It might be mocking, it might be a light resignation to the walls of their different viewpoints: her lips quirk upward in a half-smirk.

"You're an optimist."

[thatoldthatkind.livejournal.com]

He smiles. "Someone has to be."

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

"It's better to think clearly." She doesn't want her head clouded with optimistic nonsense that will only serve to make her forget the truth - and hurt her in the end.