Our planet found peace through death

[drinkandforget]

The desert is hot, a dry heat begging for relief, at least a drink. The world is turned to sand and dust, broken only by the dim, hazy horizon. Dust even coats the objects carefully uncovered and laid out, almost as quickly as they're brushed off. Even this deep pit, dug too well to be natural, provides scant shelter.

Lethe's scarves and veils keep her from breathing dust, even if they result in the eerie impression of a shroud. She works carefully at one corner of the dig, where she's patiently unearthing a small object. When it's free, she meticulously brushes away the dust and dirt.

"Come closer," she invites, "And see something from a place that was lost."

(ooc: not quite evented, though bad luck may show as things go wrong at the dig. feel free to find artifacts not just from her world, but from the other character's world as well.)

Comments

[memorials]

Under Lethe's request, she doesn't hesitate to dig her hands into the earth, trying to get a grip on whatever it is her twin seems to have spotted. Giving it a tug, the object doesn't seem to want to move, causing Mnemosyne to try and get into a better position in order to pull.

"Ugh! It -- it won't budge..." she frowns -- then another idea seems to strike her. "Maybe if we try together. On the count of three. One -- two... -- "

[drinkandforget]

"Three." Lethe finishes the count, and pulls in synch with her sister. The warm sand dribbles over the side of the object and onto her wrist, then to the ground; but she pays it no mind. Finally, the thing comes free, and she is left to stare at it in surprise.

"This was from our house, wasn't it? It was one of a kind..." Not particularly expensive, for they hadn't been wealthy, but it had been... a treasure, she supposes could be said.

[memorials]

Mnemosyne stares at the treasure in Lethe's hands, hovering close, still. "That's..." the memory seems long forgotten by now -- as though it was nothing more than a fleeting dream from the past. Thoughts and feelings even the guardian of memories had long put to rest... "I can't believe... something like that would have survived for so long... out here..."

[drinkandforget]

"Keep it." Mnemosyne would appreciate it the most, Lethe thinks. "Now that it's been dug up, it could be cleaned and used again."

Heh. A future after all, in which there will be time for that sort of salvaging.

[memorials]

"R... really?!" she no longer hides her excitement, her eyes lighting up as she moves to take the object into her palms, turning it over, running her hands along the intricate edges. "... You're sure it's okay?"

[drinkandforget]

"It's alright. I won't take it anyway," Lethe points out. "If you don't, throw it away."

She speaks as though the memento has little hold over her; though to tell the truth, she's as surprised as Mnemosyne to have found it. And she wonders what it might mean, if there's hope in this place yet.

A strange word, hope.

[memorials]

As soon as the words 'throw it away' reach her ears, Mnemosyne shakes her head quickly from side to side, hugging the atrifact close to her as though that will somehow save it from such a cruel fate. "I couldn't!" her voice is strong, one of those rare moments in which she sounds so sure of herself.

"It... it's precious to me. Even if it's from a long forgotten past... when I look at it -- " and she does just that, gazing at it longingly in her hands again, "it's as though... I can almost remember what it felt like... back then..." back -- when she could still say she had a heart.

[drinkandforget]

"Then keep it," Lethe puts a hand over Mnemosyne's, pressing the object into her grip. Keep it for her, too.

"I never thought we'd come back here," she admits once she finally lets go to look around the area once more. "Even though we lived here all that time."

[memorials]

There's a small smile. It's brief; but it's real. Something she probably hasn't been able to muster for some time now. But when her sister speaks again, it washes away just as quickly as it came.

"I don't... regret coming back here. Do you? Lethe?" Memories are important to her; that much is obvious. But for her sister...

[drinkandforget]

"I don't regret it." There is a hint of nostalgia here even for her. She does not see those days with rose-colored glasses, not after so much has happened, but in some ways they were simpler.

Does it mean in some ways she was happier? No, she decides; her happiness comes from being near Mnemosyne.

"Do you regret the time since then?"

[memorials]

She seems to breathe a small sigh of relief hearing that. Knowing how Lethe feels, and hearing it for herself -- somehow makes her feel less guilty for enjoying their time here.

But the question posed to her makes Mnemosyne grow silent again as she considers it... "Maybe -- regret isn't the right word."

[drinkandforget]

"We did what we had to," Lethe reminds her sister, quietly. "Things have changed, but we've survived. That's enough for us." Isn't it?

Regrets don't serve much purpose anyway. They won't change a past.

[memorials]

She knows it; and acknowledges that with her silence. She continues to focus on the heirloom in her hands, even if it was a time where things were more simple... it was still a time of suffering. Of endless wars and pointless deaths. Their people always at one another's throats... even then, every day was a struggle. It was sad to admit -- but under Galaxia's thumb... was the only place they had found a quiet life with one another.

Outstretching her arms and admiring their new-found treasure, Mnemosyne attempts to change the subject; "Let's clean it up. That way, it will look like new again."

[drinkandforget]

"We'll bring it back with us to do that," Lethe suggests. "We won't be able to find water here." Any water here must be very far beneath the surface indeed. But, at least, she does not object to the idea.

She may even be curious. "What will you do once it's cleaned?"

[memorials]

At that, she smiles. The answer comes to her simply as she looks to her sister, and tilts her head to the side thoughtfully. "... Treasure it."

[drinkandforget]

"Treasure it?" It's of no particular value. It's been weathered and worn by the dust and winds, even in its relatively sheltered spot.

But while she doesn't fully understand the value Mnemosyne places on the thing, she won't object, either. She'd said to take it, after all.

"Is it important to you because it's from here?"

[memorials]

She nods at that, a far-off look in her eyes. "Yes. For me, it's... proof that our past was real. That the memories we have of this place... they stood for something. When I look at this," she lifts it up high, blocking out the sun above her in the process, "even I find it easier to remember."

[drinkandforget]

"Don't those memories also bring you pain?" She says it more gently, here, than she might to a mortal being, to a human; but it's the same old theme. Better to avoid the strife.

[memorials]

Her eyelids slowly droop closed as she retracts her arms again, her head bowing low. "Sometimes, but... just because they're painful... doesn't mean they aren't important, also."

[drinkandforget]

It seems like intentionally hurting oneself. She doesn't precisely like seeing her sister so willing to do it. But neither does she object. They will never precisely see eye to eye in this matter, but it does not change that Mnemosyne is her sister, that they are all they have in the world.

"Keep it," she repeats. "Keep it, then. And maybe I'll see it sometimes, too, that way."

[memorials]

She nods, looking down towards the barren earth again. The endless sand beneath her... Carefully, she places the treasure just in front of them, setting it down with great care just in front of them -- as though it were already on display. It was something... if Lethe was talking like that. It was enough to keep going.

Satisfied with its position, she nods slightly to herself, and focuses again on her work -- humming a soft tune as she continues.

[drinkandforget]

That's right, there's more here to be unearthed. Whatever value she places on them, or Mnemosyne does, this is a place where memories and mementos have gathered. Lethe comes to join her sister, working side by side in the sand under the hot sun. It feels... whole. The problems and suffering of the world around them seem very far away here.