onepassingnight | But there is no life on Earth.

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But there is no life on Earth.

Near the north pole of planet Mercury, there are signs of life, all enclosed in a thin, transparent dome that still allows a clear view of the heavens. Inside, the air is clean and breathable, and even stirs itself in artificial breezes.

The entire city is a mass of blue crystal, luminous with the glow of thousands of solar trees both within and without, their blue cels attached to silvery branches and trunks. It makes a striking contrast, and the structures provide the city's energy, veritable solar power farms, bustling and thriving like the city itself. . Everywhere, the roads lead inward towards a palace, attention drawn to it by its height, taller than any nearby building.

The lush sound of splashing water comes from a clear, ornamental pool in the entryway. Tropical fish swim contentedly there, glimmers of golden koi amid and around the stems of water lilies. There is greenery, too, and flowers provide a seasoning of color. Overhead, the ceiling is dizzyingly high, adding to the sense of open space.

Seated at the edge of the pool, dressed in an elegant gown and with the sigil of her planet showing proudly on her forehead, is the Princess Mercury, now queen of her reborn kingdom. She plays a simple, longing melody on the harp she holds in her lap.

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He pauses for a second, suddenly recalling his memories of her -- and the more recent ones.

Seeing her in a motorcycle, the Fall of Reach, her intention to leave her continent...

... All of those, dreams.

His motions take a while to soften. More than anything, to admit a problem he worried would ever happen ever since he was drafted into Econtra:

"Another dream."

Being unable to tell what is real and what is a dream.

"That's right," she says, and though it's painful, her face stays calm, serious and closed. "A dream."

"Do you think it's better to live that way, or to wake up?" The question may be only hypothetical; so far, she hasn't found a way to make that choice her own, but the dreams do disturb her, too close to the methods of the Dead Moon and their trapped nightmares.

While he's seen many strange things, it's the wish to know the difference between the two that may allow him to keep his wits. Sometimes, he's depended on watching his logs to ensure what he had gone through was real.

In this dream, Earth is gone. But not his.

"Being awake." He looks at her. And yet, the Master Chief wonders if this may be Ami's future. "For what's real."

She smiles at that, thinly. "I thought so, too."

The thought makes her consider everything that's happened - notably hazy in her mind, a sign in itself. "I wonder if this is something I'll see some day," she muses, almost to herself, as though opening up this subject has detached her from it.

"Not a ruined Earth."

Wishful thinking. But also a hopeful one.

"You'll be what you are now." Not so much what he hopes, but what feels may inevitably happen. He remembers the Ami from Infinity. "But I won't want this to happen."

He says 'you will be' as if he knows it, as if it's not a hope or a wish but something he's seen or heard. She's alert to it at once.

"You're talking as if you know something about it," she says. "What is it?"

His head lowers. He remembers for a moment her words -their words- of the senshi's eternal cycles.

"You told me long ago of your past life. Of what you were." And what she could be. "You have a shot at this."

The excuse makes it sound like guesswork, and she's never been good at thinking the world will come together to work out right.

"Even after everything," she asks him, "you believe in this working out?"

"My world was at war even before the Covenant." Hundreds of lives lost from the start of the twentieth-sixth century. "A lot of human worlds were consumed. You saw what was done to Reach."

He still sees that dream.

"We'll take a long time to recover... But it's our duty. Make all sacrifices count. Even Reach will recover. Even your world."

Especially her. While it may not be the complete reason, his faith in her is sincere.

"Even after all that," she repeats, "You're still a dreamer."

Once, in another world, perhaps so was she - perhaps. Now, the words come with an edge of skepticism, bordering and crossing the border into cynicism. It may happen, the world may live, there may be peace; but it will take a great deal of toil and blood, not vague hope.

He speaks of sacrifice, and that she understands. Strange, that she should still be capable of it sometimes. "You've already made sacrifices for your world," she points out. "Did they bring what you wished for?"

For a Spartan it's sometimes a necessary trait. Without it, sometimes even the will to fight would have been lost. Of all the people he admired, Lord Hood, and even Halsey, had gone through it.

"The Covenant was defeated before Econtra."

It's leadership shattered, and a truce declared as all races fight over crumbs in a civil war that has no end in sight. And that's without mentioning the rings, and the Flood. The end of a war of over a hundred thousand years.

"I know the UNSC could face them again. But they made it count."

And yet, to this day, he knows the line between 'spent lives' and 'wasted lives' is more blurry than his trainer claimed it would ever be.

Between Samuel, dozens of his Spartans, and the hundreds of worlds burned.

After everything he's seen and everything that happened, and she knows many of his struggles, John has hope. It makes a part of her rage with jealousy, because she hasn't been able to hold on like that; but she pushes that thought down. Mercury grows quiet in thought.

"Even if I wanted something to work out," she confesses, "I never thought it really could." It went for her friends, too; wanting to think they'd come together but knowing it was hopeless.

"You will have time." Referring to both Mercury's current incarnation, and the eternal existence she would have. "Because of it... I hope you fix this all. And that you get the life you want."

She would have a better chance at making the life that she wants by time alone. If not in her current life, then in the next, either as a doctor or as a queen, instead of being divided between between the girl and the soldier.

In his case, he has already accepted he would have only one of those lives.

"I never believed that life would be handed to me." This is not despair. This is the grip of her own ambition, the girl who worked hard studying for her schoolwork and grasping for the power to win her battles. "I'll make it with my own hands."

She believes in her power. With it, she can make the things she wants.

"We all do."

He remembers telling Halsey that everyone makes their own luck. But even he knows external luck does play a lot on people's fates.

For all the fortune that has kept him alive... He knows it is not the same for everyone. May not be the same for everyone.

"How have things gone in your world?"

"They've led to this." It's a somewhat cryptic answer; there are things here to be glad for, the fulfillment of deeply held wishes, but there is also the coldness, the starkness, the barren hush. But each choice, each consequence, in between is what marked out this path.

His head jolts towards her. Did she refer to this dream world, or her true one?

He remembers the princess... And the other senshi he met, along with the tales of both Nehelenia and Galaxia.

"What do you mean?"

"This is the fate of my world, since my wish to revive the Mercury Kingdom." She does not shrink from whatever blame he might attach, or excuse herself or explain further. There is no need. This is the result of her desires - good and ill.

"At the cost of Earth."

They're involuntary words -- Either because of Ami's hatred of the Princess, or the sacrificed planet being the one the Master Chief swore to protect.

"You know better than the threats to it."

While his visor looks for her for a moment, his sight turns back down. This was only a dream. The consequences of Mercury's wishes would only be felt in here.

Is he accusing her? Her eyes narrow slightly. She has no need to justify herself to him, and yet...

"That was not my doing." Nor had it been her wish.

He stays silent, partly berating himself for the words, and for recalling the cataclysms that doomed this Earth... This dream's Earth.

Sometimes, the things they wish for the most have higher prices than anyone would ever expect.

"There's some that are still out there in some worlds."

"Let them come," Mercury says simply, still prideful. "We'll defend what's ours." She no longer says, what I love, but the things important to her are things she won't let go of easily.

A lot of worlds did, he thinks. While he didn't understand why Halsey wanted Spartans at Onyx during the battle of Earth, there are always other ways to defend what's theirs.

However, to not know of what may someday find their worlds would be far worse.

"Do you know of Galaxia?"

Her eyes narrow, though she isn't quite looking at John; the gesture is meant for the topic, and the person of the so-called golden queen.

"I know her name," she says simply. "And her ambition."

He breathes. While the sigh is inaudible, there is already worry. Ami knows of the threat to her world. Her universe.

"She destroyed the Galaxy in another world." A warning of the things she'll face. "It all started when she faced a clump of Chaos. When she couldn't beat it, she sealed it inside of her, but after that... She started her rampage. Looking for star seeds."

"She had a lot of senshi under her hand. Under her threats. Her command."

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