oo4 ≈ ❝ leave this place ❞

[memorials]

The blazing sun is hanging unforgivably in the sky above, a blinding, searing heat radiating off of it. The air is heavy and thick, the only wind that blows offers little solace either to any unlucky visitors, blowing a hot uncomfortable breeze, picking up sands in its grasp as it passes.

In the distance, a hooded, cloaked figure stands, with an oar-shaped staff in her hands. To any strangers that approach, she quickly points the large end towards them as a warning to keep their distance. "You would dare to tresspass on these sacred lands?" comes a harsh, commanding voice.

"Wait..." A second figure, twin to the first, reaches out a gentle hand to steady her and calm her down, holding her lightly by the arm. "Before doing anything, let them explain. I don't want to fight without a reason."

Some, like the woman beside her, might call the interruption itself a reason, the presence of someone who should not be here in this place, but Lethe (and Lethe counseling mercy is a new Lethe) has no stomach for any fighting beyond the absolutely necessary. She turns to the one they've labeled an intruder.

"What is your purpose here, traveler?"

Comments

[drinkandforget]

A long time later, they are alone again. This post, like many posts throughout the galaxy, is an isolated one. Few ever reach here, and those who do are en route to their own reincarnations.

That the elder sister is troubled is evident in every line, from her solemn expression to the quiet pose as she looks across the desert river.

"Is it really necessary," Lethe muses quietly to Mnemosyne, "to greet those who reach us with such force? If they made it this far, haven't they already suffered?" Life carries with it many burdens to gratefully lay down amid her waters.

[memorials]

"There is no other way," Mnemosyne snapped back quickly. Her eyes, focused ahead, drifted down towards her sister, and her harsh expression almost seemed to soften a little, a quiet sigh escaping her lips. "Whether they are able to pass through this territory or not, their suffering is far from over."

[drinkandforget]

Then all the more reason! Lethe gathers up the courage to say so.

"Then there isn't any need for us to add to it!" she clings to those words and that hope. "I don't want to be the cause of even more suffering and strife. We're sailor senshi!"

[memorials]

Her cold eyes seem to flash with something else for a brief moment. Sailorsenshi. Perhaps, there was a time that meant something but -- any semblance of it, any pride attatched to such a title has long since worn off by now. But her sister, it seems -- has not yet been able to let that go.

"We are Galaxia-sama's soldiers, now. Don't forget that."

how things change

[drinkandforget]

"I don't forget it," Lethe says quietly. "But Mnemosyne, even if can live like this... is it really alright?"

"Sailor senshi are meant to use their powers to protect. Is that really what we're doing with the way things are now?"

sooo trippy! |D

[memorials]

"We protect one another," she answers cooly. "Our own lives. That's the only thing you should concern yourself with." It's not exactly as though Mnemosyne is fond of the idea either -- but their survival is the only thing that matters anymore. After having come so far, and seeing so many lives pass them by -- she has long since hardened herself against these feelings Lethe seems to cling to.

[drinkandforget]

It just doesn't seem right, here and now. It doesn't seem right to save their own skin and ignore the people who suffered and died on their planet. It doesn't seem right to save their own skin, and become an enemy to sailor senshi in the process when they are sailor senshi. They should stand for justice, and peace.

But peace ended a long time ago. She knows that, only... it's too sad. If she had the power, she'd like to wipe out all those sufferings, and not even leave behind a memory.

"Isn't there something more than just surviving?"