onepassingnight | [011 ☿] Silent Planet Mercury

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.)

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He looks at her, a quick shift of his eyes and his face softens a little.

"Not that different, Ami."

"For something like 'forgiveness', I'd have to change something, and turn around. That's what the word 'repent' means." This vocabulary lesson brought to you by Mizuno Ami, no matter how much she's in Mercury's form.

"That's something I won't do. If I went back, I'd make these same choices." And thus, there is no forgiveness for her. She can never repent and ask for it. Her path remains this path, no matter how many sins it makes her commit.

The alternative is worse.

"There's no one left that can forgive me."

He's realizing that, realizing that he's hit the end of his road sooner than he expected and that there's no chance for redemption before it. She won't change things, he can't. The end result is the same. His voice softens.

"I'm sorry. About your planet. I'm glad you're still here so I could get to know you but it means you had to live with losing it. I know words don't mean much but - I'm sorry you were hurt that way."

That itself was probably the princess' doing: the wish of the girl who only thought of the prince so strongly that she often thought she wanted to be born on the same planet with him. This time, she was; and her senshi from the past were born there as well, to one day remember - and to one day learn the truth.\

She doesn't answer his sympathy right away; she's not good at that. But she nods, and turns to him as a woman with her mind made up.

"I already know I can't stay here forever. Shall we go?"

"Time to wake up?" he asks, in no hurry to but aware that morning always comes whether he wants it to or not. Time is even more limited than he'd once thought and he's more aware of it than before. His dreams are running out.

"You could say it that way." She'd be willing to go somewhere else; but she can't stay in a dream forever, either.

What she wants to tell him is that they have time. The blessing of dreams is that he'll never be gone from them, because she can dream of him even when he's gone from his waking world. But she's no longer good at those types of speeches.

"Shall we go?" Into the next room will bring them out of the dream.

"Yeah," it's a nod. It's her home though and he lets her lead. Maybe he should say something else about the kid - but he trusts her to make the right decision even if she doesn't know it yet. And maybe he should say one last thing about her home or the ruined planet below - but he can't think of anything that would be worth that pain. Maybe he should say goodbye - but he hasn't, won't, say goodbye to anyone. So instead he follows behind her, boots making soft sounds on the floor. When his words fail, all he's got left is his presence. That, at least, he can give her for a little while longer before it's gone too.

It's his presence she wants, and she hesitates just a second, to have more of it, before finally stepping through the doorway. She gives one final look to the castle behind them; she'll be here again, and there's no regret at leaving, but the chances are rare. Then she's ready.

"Hn." With a nod, he steps through the door with her. Come what may, he doesn't have any regrets about these times spent with her.

[011 ☿] Silent Planet Mercury

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