[013 ☿] Even if the two of us are ever torn apart, I swear that I will change the world.

[waterfell]

The forest is quiet, and green. A cloaked man heads towards an altar in a clearing, already laid out with candles and, crosswise, his sword in its sheath. He takes a deep, cleansing breath, and picks it up

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[memorywaters]

( mnemosyne isn't exactly sure how it is that she arrived in this place... she hardly ever leaves the place the desert rivers converge. a dream... it must be a dream. but the sound of something pouring in the distance draws her near. behind one of the trees she remains half hidden, peering out at -- a sailorsenshi...? )

[waterfell]

[She doesn't want to be seen. Her hand is in a fist at her side as she struggles for self-control. She swallows tightly, and closes her eyes just for a moment. In another person, it might almost be a gesture of prayer. She's just about to speak.

Then she senses it: someone watching her. Instantly, she's alert and her head snaps in that direction. Only out of respect for this place does she refrain from drawing her sword and leave it gripped tightly in her hand, at her side.]

Who's there?

[All around, the crystalline, icy flowers cast reflections like a thousand mirrors. But they are not of the forest. They are of the senshi in the clearing, this time by a bridge with a taller man with dark hair and deep-colored uniform. They fight, his sword releases a strange dark mist, and Mercury - her uniform still pure and light - fades as she loses consciousness.]

[memorywaters]

( the girl slinks back immediately, her lips frozen and unable to answer. her lips moved -- but no sounds came from mnemosyne. as her eyes caught something in the surrounding, her eyes widened at the scene they briefly displayed. what could she say?? she attempted to back up, stammering -- ) I -- I...!

[waterfell]

[She hasn't noticed the visions inside her ice yet. Instead, she is focused entirely on Mnemosyne, whose collar and dress still suggest the sailor senshi, but who she does not know. She speaks bluntly.]

I don't intend to kill you in this sacred place. But it would be better to answer me, understood?

[Small puddles start to form beneath the some of the flowers, as time wears down all things at least a little. The thousand glimpses of the same moment split into many moments: an argument with him, with her pinned to the wall; a breakfast in a small, bare room when both seem in good humor; cold warnings to obedience; a friendly hand on her shoulder after he looked for her; training together, moving with their bodies perfectly synced.]

[memorywaters]

( she felt intrusive. not only from being in this place itself, but the images that flashed in the puddles... things she shouldn't be seeing. who was this sailor senshi? timidly, she inched out from behind the tree...

immediately her gaze falls to focus on the others' wrists... no bracelets ) You are... a sailor senshi.

[waterfell]

[No golden bracelets, just a single dark bracer, corrupted like the rest of the her powers when she went to the Darkness.

Her eyes narrow just slightly. She's never liked being considered part of that whole, because she never was.]

Don't lump me together with them.

[She introduces herself quite plainly.] The soldier of Water and Knowledge, Mercury. [Your turn. She waits expectantly.]

[memorywaters]

( she knows what that's like... she's an outsider too. she cringes slightly -- but let's the subject drop for now )

I am -- a soldier who guards the rivers at Shadow Galactica... Sailor Mnemosyne.

[waterfell]

[She is the true heiress to Mercury, just as Mnemosyne is the true heiress of her own planet. But both have fallen far from the days when that could have been a source of shining pride. Now, the title is a reminder of what's been ruined - or only useful for the power it grants her.

At least, she'd say so, ignoring her desire to see her planet restored some day.

Mercury keeps a cold eye on Mnemosyne even as they talk, but now- Now, she sees the memories that have been playing all this time. Her eyes narrow and her head turns sharply again.]

What is this?

[memorywaters]

( at mention of their surroundings... mnemosyne seems to come out of her shell, even if only a little, as she moves towards one of the blossoms and cups it in her hand ) These are... your precious memories.

[waterfell]

[She regards them in a new light. Her brow furrows lightly as she tries to fit this into the scheme of her thinking.]

Precious memories?

[That much, makes sense. Why they're here is quite a different question, however. It doesn't take a genius of her caliber to put it together with the name Mnemosyne.]

This is because you're here.

[memorywaters]

( she doesn't confirm or deny it... gazing at the flower longingly, as though it was something familiar to her, too... memories... precious memories... )

[waterfell]

[The rejection of someone who can see everything from her past is immediate.]

Let them go.

[She doesn't even know what the words mean as she says them, or what she expects Mnemosyne to do; it's just a defensive reaction to so much of herself being seen.

Because who, seeing all of this, could ever stay there with her?]

[memorywaters]

You shouldn't dismiss them like that! Memories are... reminders of the things important to us!

[waterfell]

I remember without these.

[She remembers everything. And she's chosen which to believe. But these memories are different, not the confusing ones that still trouble her from time to time, rearing their unwanted heads.]

[memorywaters]

Is it so bad... to see them as they are? ( why do you seem so upset...? )

[waterfell]

[Somehow, perhaps it's just being here, what comes from her is the bald and bare truth.]

I don't want to look for something that doesn't exist. If he's in my memories, he still isn't here now.

[And the sailor senshi... She doesn't want to start thinking again that there could be hope, and have it destroyed again.]