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Shadows of Psyche by Papirini

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Shadows of Psyche




~prelude to disaster~



"Lethe....!"

"Mnemosyne....!"


Our hands touched, one last time.


"Lethe!! Mnemosyne!!"


Then, that voice. That voice that called lesser and greater soldiers to war. The one whom we were supposed to send to her oblivion.


The voice of that woman is the last thing we heard....before our own oblivion.....


~I remember, sister. I remember.~


Do you? In this state, it's hard to recall....


~I remember everything. I remember you and me. We were born together, cradled, just like this, at our mother's bosom. We were born together, and we died together, just like we promised. Remember?~


.....Faintly.


~It was so long ago, but.....the court of our mother...it was beautiful. There were so many stars we could see as we lay on our backs as counted them. I remember how I wanted to be like that, like those distant stars.~


It's hard to remember the good times, sister. We were just kids then, babies even.


~Yes, but we were always there for each other. I was sad when we had to separate. Remember when mother told us of our assignments....?~


What are you talking about? We were never that far apart. Our worlds were very close to each other; they practically orbited one another.


~But it still felt so far away. It felt that way, because they were nothing alike.....your world was cold and quiet. The people simply walked in a daze, their minds wiped of no other motive in life but to simply be. They were nothing but shells. The fields were bare of vegetation and wildlife. The cities were nothing but steel beams and shells. You yourself sat on an iron throne that was decaying at the base. So stiff and silent, it was unbearable.~


Your world was the one that was unbearable. Your people were so lively that they almost drove each other insane, always talking over each other. The gardens and forests were ill-kept and overgrown. Your world was nothing but a jungle - it didn't even have cities. You didn't even sit in a chair - you would just receive me sitting up in an oak tree. What kind of world was it? An uncouth planet, that's what. That's why I never visited.


~If my world was so uncouth, then why did your people rise up and attack it?~


Because the ungrateful masses wanted their memories returned. My waters carried no memories for them. Your waters did, and could make anyone remember with clarity even the times they were in their mother's womb.


~And that is why we had to defend our world. Your people were so savage....when one is without memories, they become desperate. I would have willingly allowed them a drink from my waters.....~


It's never that simple, sister.


~....Why couldn't we stop it?~


I don't know.


~I wish we could have. But by the time we had settled our own differences, it was too late. The wars had gone on for too long. The damages couldn't be reversed. I couldn't bear it!~


How do you think I felt? When Galaxia-sama came.....


~Galaxia-sama.....~


.......I'd rather not remember that.


~She was our only choice. But now, she won't bother us anymore, sister. That's all we need to remember.~


Is that a justification? Would our people forgive us so easily with those words?


~.........~


Sister...?


~Huh....All of a sudden....I heard something.~


What does it say?


~ Calling me....!~


I...I hear it too.


~Then, it must mean......it must mean.....!~


It's time. I suddenly feel faintly like myself.


~Yes, and the light! Do you see it?~


I see it....


~It's beautiful. It's calling us back, and it's...so beautiful. It's calling us home.~


......I'm not sure I want to leave here, sister.


~Why not?~


...I'm afraid of what I will see when I go home..


~We can't be afraid. Not now.~


I can't help it. I think I should stay here.....


~No! I couldn't bear never seeing you again. And this may be our only chance to start over...!~


You...you really want to....?


~Please, Lethe. Please take my hand. Let's go back. I want to go back. I want to make things right.~


.....Where you go, Mnemosyne....I will follow. After all, we are sisters.


~Yes. We are sisters. There it is......~


I...... feel warm.....



"Lethe!"


Her eyes jolted open at the sound of her name being called. It hurt for a moment to open them and look, for it felt as if her eyes had not been used for a very long time, if at all. She had to quickly shut them to lessen the pain.


"Lethe...." The voice became clearer now. "....sister....you're alive!"

"....Mnemosyne..."

"I'm so glad." Something suddenly dropped on Lethe's cheek, something cold and wet. "I woke up, and I didn't see you....and then, right up in the sky, I saw your light.....oh, sister....!"

"....Stop crying, Mnemosyne."


Confirming her sister's actions, Lethe heard Mnemosyne sniffle. Again, Lethe decided to slowly open her eyes, and this time, it didn't hurt so much to look. After all, it was dark, wherever they were, which Lethe much preferred over it being sunny or light. Whether she had died or lived, it would have hurt Lethe's eyes even more.


"I'm all right." Slowly, stiffly, Lethe sat up. "As I see you are. Now, where am I?"

"....Home....your planet....."


Lethe's eyes began to focus on Mnemosyne, whose eyes were still cloaked in tears. Then she saw what was behind her sister, and this gave the sailor soldier a start. Such a start, in fact, that she jumped up, her eyes blinking to see if it was true.


There was nothing.


There were no ruins, no bodies, no cities or life, not even the hint of any civilization that may have been there. The landscape was nothing but cracked brown rock, jagged crags which loomed in the distant, craters of all sizes littering the horizon, and unforgiving dust which choked the air.


"What is this!?" Lethe turned to Mnemosyne accusingly, her voice shaking slightly. "This is not planet Lethe! This is....this is a wasteland! A nightmare!"

"Lethe......I....I'm so sorry...."

"How can this be?!" Lethe stared at the sky. "This can't be.....my planet....where's your planet then!? Mnemosyne should be on the bottom right, near the horizon!"

"....It's up there...."

"Up where!?"


Sorrowfully, Lethe's mauve-clad partner looked up toward the right of the sky, and Lethe followed her gaze. Visible to her eye were several thousand large, satellite-sized red and green-tinted rocks which blotted out the stars and were dotted throughout the horizon. Several were obviously far away from the planet, but some of the larger ones loomed dangerously close.


".......My god....."

"I....." Mnemosyne's voice was shaking. "I couldn't go back to my planet."

"What....what have we done?" Lethe looked down at Mnemosyne, whose tears had begun to flow again. "How....how can we...."

"Sister......"


Suddenly, the ground began to shake slightly. It was not something that either girl could feel, but judging by the fact that some of the tinier rocks were starting to shake, Lethe could tell that something was happening.


"A quake....!" Lethe dropped to her knees. "This....this is all impossible. My planet....lifeless.....your planet gone....and now, quakes....!"

"Those aren't quakes, sister."

"What?"

"Those are meteors." Mnemosyne's voice was more morose than Lethe had ever heard before. "The remains of my planet.....they've been pulled in by your world's stronger gravity, or...what's left of it...like meteors. It's been like this for several days, since I landed here....."

"The red......but the green...."

"Those pieces broke off your planet when the meteors hit." Lethe looked up towards the sky in shock. "We....we don't have much time. The remnants of my planets are....are going to hit this world.....and then...."


Mnemosyne's voice trailed off. There wasn't much that she could say, that Lethe couldn't figure out on her own.


"And that's it?" Lethe looked back down at the ground of what was left of her keep. "We were sent back here to die on a dead planet? Is this our punishment for going with Galaxia-sama?"


There was silence as Mnemosyne looked down at Lethe, unable to comfort, unable to respond in any way. She felt the same way as Lethe did, or at least she hoped she did that time. Lethe had tended to drink the hopelessness of her subjects - later her victims - like wine. Younger, Lethe had been much less cynical, but she had become as morose as the waters which took her name, from the moment she had become protector of Lethe. In earlier times, Mnemosyne would wonder if Lethe was truly upset, or simply masking her glee with a show of sadness.


But this....this was her world...how could she not be sad....why would I think such a thing...?


"....No." Mnemosyne suddenly heard Lethe's resolve return. "I won't let that happen."

"Sister...."

"I won't sit here and wait to die." Slowly, Lethe stood up. "I'm not going to do what I did with Galaxia-sama - let something take control of my fate again!"

"Lethe..?!"

"I'm going to go another way." A cold wind blew around the two as Lethe spoke. "I'm going to open the door."

"The....!!!"


At this, Mnemosyne gave a gasp. Her eyes widened, and she stepped back from Lethe, as if Lethe had sprouted another head.


"You wouldn't dare!"

"What?" Lethe turned away. "Would you stop me if I tried, even now?"

"Lethe.....mother told us....never to open it!" Mnemosyne reached out to touch Lethe. "We made a promise to mother when she charged us, don't you remember?! No matter what, we would never seek, find, or open the door! Tell me you remember!!"

"Mother is dead." Lethe's tone of calmness shocked her sister to silence. "Mother is dead, and everyone else is dead. I don't see what could stop us now. Unless you want to die like a dog."


There was a moment of silence at this. Mnemosyne stared at her sister, unwilling to believe that her sister would break a taboo. Lethe looked out to the distance, as if to concentrate, to look for the door at that moment. The wind picked up around them, colder than ever.


"...It wouldn't matter, whether she was dead, or alive...." Lethe spoke again. "Because....one day, before Galaxia-sama arrived....I found the door."

"Lethe....!"

"It was quite by accident, really." Lethe closed her eyes. "It was during a skirmish, when your people had attacked one of my cities....and as I retreated with the survivors through a valley I was not very familiar with.....I came upon a river hidden in fog."

"Lethe...."

"I had never seen a river, besides the river of Oblivion that ran under my throne, on Lethe. And since it was the only place to retreat, I did so, with my followers. Once we crossed, however, we were shocked to find a second river. We crossed this one as well, and when we did, the fog lifted, and we found ourselves in a grove...the only spot of grass, with the only tree, that I had ever seen on Lethe. And under the tree....."


Lethe stopped at this. Mnemosyne could only stare at her sister as she began to walk off.


"I turned back that time, when I realized what it was....I was fearful then." Lethe's voice began to fade as she walked away. "Perhaps that was the reason all of this happened. But now that the world is gone, I have nothing to lose. I may as well open the door this time....with or without you."


Mnemosyne did not respond as Lethe began to disappear from sight. She was too stunned to speak, unable to understand why her sister would dare do such a thing. In her mind, there was still a way to perhaps rebuild it all, and maybe return to the way it used to be.


.....No.


The hope died as soon as it came. Mnemosyne only had to look up into the sky and see the ruins of her own planet to see that there was no returning to the way it had been before. There was no one left, no cities, no vegetation, nothing. With nothing, there was nothing left to lose.


The ground shook again as Mnemosyne suddenly ran after her sister.


"Lethe!! Wait!!!!"


The green-clad girl stopped as Mnemosyne caught up to her, breathless. She was suddenly hugged tightly from behind by two arms, which she clasped.


"Mnemosyne."

"I'll go." Mnemosyne buried her head deep into Lethe's back. "I don't care. I'll stay with you no matter what!"

"....my sister....."


With that, Lethe gently unclasped Mnemosyne from her, and brought her forward. The two of them looked into each other eyes, with all the fear and uncertainty that came with it. They were alone, with only one another to depend on.


"We'll go together." The wind died down. "We'll do together to the door. The door of our oblivion."



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