~crossing
the rubicon~
I
remember the day we became sailor soldiers.
"I
don't want to go, mother!"
"You
must."
"Must
we?"
"Yes...."
Our
mother stood there, her long dark hair flowing to the ground, her
tall body wrapped in ermine and stars. That she had been blessed with
a child, she would say, was a gift unparalleled to one like her, but
to have twins was unbelievable, though we heard she had been given
children before us, children who were long gone to her. Still, we
were blessed in our youth, and wanted for nothing. But little did we
know what our true calling would be when we reached the age of
maturity, when we abandoned our identities of youth.
"I'm
scared." I hugged my mother tightly. "I don't want to
leave!"
"I
don't want to let you go." She hugged be back, just as tightly.
"But I must. It is my duty to let you go, just as it is your
destiny to leave me."
"But...."
"Be
strong." She let go of me, and bowed down. "Both of you, be
strong. Become strong sailor soldiers, and protect the twin planets."
At
this, she brought her hands into her dress, and presented to us two
wands. Gilded with gold, one was green, one was mauve. Instinctively,
we took one of the wands, unsure on the outside as to how we knew
which one to take.
"My
children...." Our mother's dark eyes were filled with tears as
she stood up. "Before you use your wands to transform, and leave
me forever, you must promise me one thing."
"What
is it, mother?"
A
small gust of wind blew through the windows of the room, surrounding
us like a circle. Our mother's tears became sparkles, flying away
like little stars as she looked at us.
"You
must never open the door....”
“Uugh!!”
The
ground trembled violently as Mnemosyne's hand grabbed onto the rock.
With a grunt, she crawled up to the peak of the mesa, landing on her
knees as she did so.
“L...lethe.....”
“It's
here.”
Lethe
wiped the blood from her arms as she looked down into the broken
valley. It was almost as she remembered, though it was stripped of
everything; the fog was still there, concealing the valley like a
shroud. It had been several days' journey to reach the forbidden
place. It was several days of great hardship, as the two watched the
remnants of Mnemosyne's world crash into Lethe, felt the quakes as
they came with an ever-increasing intensity, and walked through the
bare rocks and wasted landscape of Lethe during their journey.
It
was hard for Lethe to look at, to see the fruits of Galaxia's work.
“It's
not far now.” Mnemosyne looked down into the valley worriedly
as Lethe spoke. “Amazing. There's a very powerful magic here if
the fog remains here, even after my world was destroyed.”
“Sister.....I'm
scared....” Mnemosyne grabbed Lethe's hand. “We don't
have to do this. There must be another way.”
“And
how do you think I feel?” Lethe looked away. “Do you
think I'm not scared?”
“...I
don't know...”
“....Come
on. Keep with me.”
Lethe
grabbed Mnemosyne's hand and began down the mesa. She remembered the
road from that distant battle, even though it had been so long ago;
the road was still there, though it crumbled underneath their feet.
Looking back on their road, Mnemosyne almost thought that the road
behind them was crumbling on purpose, as if to prevent them from
going back. She began to shiver.
“Keep
going!” Lethe grabbed her arm more tightly. “The planet
is becoming more unstable.”
“Sister....”
“We
must cross the two rivers.” Lethe began to walk more swiftly.
“It starts somewhere after the fog. We must be careful –
it's very dense.”
“But
Lethe...!”
“What?”
“We
have no way to get across! No boats, nothing to ferry us!”
“We
still have a way.”
“But
you can't swim!!”
Lethe
looked uneasy for a moment at this; it was at times like this that
she didn't need her sister to remind her of such things, especially
in such a moment of desperation.
“I
don't care.” Finally, hoping that she did not look too afraid,
Lethe simply shook her head. “Besides, I don't remember the
water being too deep. I'm sure we'll be fine.”
“But
Lethe-”
Mnemosyne's
protest was cut off when another quake suddenly shook the ground.
This one was very strong, powerful enough to cause the largest crags
to sway. It also caused Mnemosyne to lose her footing, and she
tumbled head first down the ledge of the path.
“AAAH!!”
“Sister!!”
Lethe
made a lunge for her partner's hand, but it was too late. The girl
tumbled thirty feet off the side before hitting the ground hard,
crying out as she did. Then she lay still.
“No!!!!”
Instincts
of childhood long forgotten kicked in. Lethe instantly jumped down
right from the ledge onto the ground, falling to her knees as she
dove towards Mnemosyne, who gave a weak moan.
“Mnemosyne....”
“I'm....I'm
ok.” Blood trickled from a small cut on Mnemosyne's forehead as
she looked up at Lethe. “Ugh...”
“Sister,
I'm...sorry....” Lethe quickly brought Mnemosyne's head onto
her lap. “I shouldn't have rushed you. And...there's nothing
here to bind your wounds...”
“It's
ok.” Mnemosyne started wriggling away from Lethe. “Let's
just keep going.”
“Wait.”
Lethe
quickly took a hold of her skirt and gave several tugs at it. The
fabric gave away, and Lethe rubbed it onto Mnemosyne's head, wiping
the dirt away. The younger girl gave a gasp at this, and attempted
again to squirm off, but Lethe quickly caught her by the neck,
forcing her to stay put as the wound cleaning was finished.
“Mmm...”
Mnemosyne shut her eyes tightly to suppress
the tears. “Ow...”
“It's the best I can do.”
Lethe let got of her neck. “I'll give you a few minutes, but
then we have to go.”
“I
know....”
The ground began to rumble
once more. It was not as terrible as the last, but the two girls
still felt it. Each time the ground shook, they knew the planet was
one step closer to being completely ripped apart.
“.....I'm scared.”
Mnemosyne looked up. “The pieces of my world are coming in
closer than ever.”
“We can't be
scared.” Lethe stood up, holding her twin's hand. “Not
yet. We can't stop until we get to the door.”
“Lethe, do you truly
want to do this?”
“What do you mean?”
“Maybe....we can
leave.” Mnemosyne looked down. “Leave this planet.
Maybe....maybe there's a world we can look for.....that needs
us....we don't need to go through with this.”
“And how do you plan
on getting to these planets?” Lethe shook her head. “You
silly girl. We don't have that kind of power.”
“Then...we have no
choice?”
“This is our
choice.” Lethe looked towards the fog. “Let's go, if you
want. If not, I'll go alone. I'm not forcing you.”
Lethe began to walk, but
stopped when she saw that Mnemosyne had not followed. She pondered
whether her decision was the right one; perhaps Mnemosyne was
correct, and there was power somewhere to get them off the planet.
Perhaps there was another way.
She turned to talk to her
sister, and instead saw her sister following, a sad, nervous smile on
her face.
“I....I'm
coming....” Mnemosyne nodded. “I won't abandon you, no
matter how scared I am.”
“.....Thank you.”
Lethe felt something of relief when she saw her sister. “I
won't forget this.”
With that, the two held
hands once more and began to walk towards the fog. Somehow, it seemed
to Mnemosyne as if the fog was coming towards them as much as they
were going towards it. Either way, it didn't matter; within a matter
of minutes, they were within the fog.
“Keep holding my
hand.” Mnemosyne could not even see her sister, as the fog was
so dense. “I'll look for first river. It's not very wide, so it
won't be a problem?”
“Are you sure?”
“....Just keep
holding my hand.”
Mnemosyne could not help
but be scared. The fog was so dense, and so humid, that she was
already wet from it. The intensity of the fog burned her eyes, and
with her free hand, she had to keep continually rubbing them in order
to ease the pain.
“Stop.”
Mnemosyne
froze as the world began to shake again. She felt something cold
splash onto her toes, then recede, then felt a more violent splash
thrown up to her ankles. She knew they were at the bank of the first
river, but it didn't make her feel any better about the situation.
“Keep
holding my hand....” Lethe began to move into the water, and
Mnemosyne slowly followed. “Keep holding my hand....”
The
water was far colder than Mnemosyne had anticipated, or wanted it to
be. She gave a gasp as the ice hit her; unfortunately, Lethe was not
giving her any time to pause and absorb the shock; she kept going,
making it next to impossible for Mnemosyne to keep up with her.
“Uh.....mgh!”
Both girls were neck deep in the water when Lethe finally spoke.
“We're....nuh....we're almost there.”
“L-le.......ethe....”
“Hurry.....b...before
you get...frozen.”
Lethe
took in several sharp breaths to compose herself, to keep her focus,
before she lost it. She felt Mnemosyne's grip slipping, even though
she knew she was holding on very tightly. The memories of the foggy
valley did not include the water being so damning. Without the warm
sustenance and protection of the normal
atmosphere that had been long stripped by Galaxia, however, the water
became exposed to the far colder reaches of outer space, making it a
potential death for the two of them.
Why
did I.... Lethe shut her eyes. It can't be long....there can't
be much more. Just....a little......more.....
Just
when she thought that even she could no longer stand it, she finally
felt the water level lower down her torso and, with relief, she
managed to drag herself and Mnemosyne to the edge of the river, and
they both tumbled to the ground, gasping and shivering violently.
“Oh.....god........”
Mnemosyne was almost doubled over with pain.
“Lethe.....si-sister.....”
“.....One....more.”
Lethe wiped the water from her eyes as best as she could, though it
made no difference with no visibility to begin with. “One
more.”
“Please.”
Mnemosyne grabbed Lethe shakily. “Just a...moment to warm
ourse-selves....”
“Time.”
“Please.
We'll d...die if we don't.”
Lethe
grimaced at Mnemosyne's words. There was no time to spare for rest;
they had already wasted too much time on rest, and the quakes were
becoming more and more violent by the minute. On the other hand,
Lethe knew that if the water was as cold in the second river as it
had been, they surely would die if they did not stop to let
themselves warm up.
“...Here....”
Mnemosyne drew herself to Lethe, pressing herself tightly against her
partner's quivering body. “Please. We need to warm up.”
Lethe
shook as Mnemosyne's hands touched her back; they were very cold,
even colder than her entire body. Yet something kept her fast;
perhaps it was the realization that Mnemosyne really was the only
person left. Or perhaps it was the instinct that Galaxia so hatefully
preached – that all sailor soldiers gathered together for
power, drawn by the warmth of their fellow woman's sailor crystal and
its power.
The
latter, which Lethe may have believed at one time, seemed to be
hallow to her now, for she knew it wasn't for Mnemosyne's power that
she stayed with her, as her former master had constantly spouted.
That Mnemosyne could feel the powers of others' sailor crystals far
better, was most likely true; Lethe knew how empathic her partner
was, and how it was Mnemosyne's sympathy, rather than Lethe's natural
coldness, that had eventually cost them their lives. But even then,
Lethe could not believe that they simply stuck to one another for the
sake of power, especially not after meeting the one known as Sailor
Moon.
She....is
my sister....
“D-do
you remember.....”
“Huh...”
“Wh-when
we were kids.” Mnemosyne buried her head into Lethe's bosom.
“We used to cuddle just l-like this. Wh-when all the other
ch-children made fun of us, and we...we would go into our s-secret
hiding place.”
“....Yeah.”
A spark of memory from a time long since buried came back to Lethe.
“I used to tell you scary stories.....”
“About
th-the shadow in the basement.” Mnemosyne closed her eyes and
smiled. “I was so scared....and then we found out....it was a
m-mouse.”
“I
remember...” Lethe sighed. “There are many things I still
remember, sister.”
“Then
do you remember....the others?”
“....the
others....”
Lethe
looked down at Mnemosyne's barely visible head as she remembered. The
others had been other river guardians, recruited by Galaxia to guard
Shadow Galactica. There had been four soldiers before Lethe and
Mnemosyne's arrival, who guarded the two outermost rivers; all had
died by Galaxia's hand for various treacheries when the twins
arrived, and their rivers dried up upon their deaths, resulting in
the creation of the desert that ended up separating Galaxia from her
enemies.
Only
one had ever successfully crossed the desert.
“Maybe....their
planets ended up better than ours. Maybe theirs were not torn by war
when Galaxia-sama met them.” Mnemosyne looked out through the
fog, as if she was trying to visualize their faces. “Do you
think, maybe, we will meet them again one day?”
“I
don't know where their planets are.”
“....Neither
do I.”
They
were silent again for a moment at the thought of seeing other faces,
let alone faces from the past, again. Many thoughts went through both
of their heads regarding their current actions, remembering the
forbidden act they were doing.
They
had been warned by their mother to never go through the door, let
alone to ever seek it; it had been her one request to them before
they had left her side forever. When they left, a place which not
even Mnemosyne could remember the name of, not even their deaths had
been a fear for their mother; all she talked of was the door, a door
carved in stone which would lead them to something terrible that she
didn't explain.
She
had died, shortly after they had left. Or she had left the planet.
The truth was that once Lethe and Mnemosyne received their twin
guardians, their dark-haired mother had simply disappeared. Neither
girl was certain as to what had really happened, because no one ever
told them the complete truth about their mother. All they ever
received was an indifferent courier telling them their mother was
gone, but he did not say what he meant by that. They could only ever
wonder, if they even had time to wonder, what it all meant.
“....Mnemosyne.”
There
was a distant rumble underneath them. Lethe's wandering mind returned
to the situation at hand, and she wriggled out of Mnemosyne's hold.
Mnemosyne stayed on the ground for a moment more ad Lethe stood up.
“We
have to go.” Lethe started moving her arm around to catch
Mnemosyne's hand. “We have to hurry.”
“I
know.....”
After
some more flailing, the two finally found each other's hand, and
Lethe pulled Mnemosyne up. They held on tightly as Lethe's instincts
led them on, and slowly, they began to walk on.
“Just
one more river.” Lethe held on so tightly that Mnemosyne would
have seen her arm turn white from the loss of circulation if she
could see. “Then, we'll be there.....we're almost there.”
Mnemosyne
gave a gasp as her feet touched the cold water. It was even colder
than the previous river, and worse, the next step found the water
near Mnemosyne's knees. Mnemosyne began to shiver with fear again,
and she didn't find it too implausible to think that Lethe was also
shaking slightly.
This river....is
steeper...!
“C-come
on!” Lethe grit her teeth as she threw Mnemosyne to the front,
shocking her even more. “We've got to swim.”
“Sister....”
Mnemosyne gulped as she felt her feet flailing for ground. “B-but
you can't swim....”
“T-teach
me.”
“I.....”
It
wasn't that Mnemosyne didn't know how to swim herself. She did, and
she had to know, because her world was filled with streams and
rivers. Many people had to be rescued when they were having troubles
in them – and she was the one to save them. She also knew how
to have someone hold onto her when she swam, but when she tried to
bring Lethe over to her, Lethe simply tried to pull away.
“S-sister?!”
“Just
lead me.” Lethe took quick breaths. “J-just tell me what
to d-do.”
“....Ok.....”
Mnemosyne began to paddle. “I'll p-paddle my arms. You k-kick
with me. Ok-k?”
“.....Ok....”
The
next thing Mnemosyne knew, Lethe's legs scissored up from the water
and slammed back down, creating a huge splash. The cold water hit
Mnemosyne's face, and she gave a cry as Lethe continued to thrash
around her legs wildly, not realizing that Mnemosyne had not even
started swimming yet.
“N-n-no!!!”
Mnemosyne shouted. “No, you're d-doing it wrong!!”
“Huh?”
“J-JUST...”
Mnemosyne couldn't help but giggle a little. “W-wait for my
call. Th-then st-start, but keep your f-feet
underwater so w-we can go faster.”
“Ok.”
Lethe sounded exasperated. “Just let's h-h-hurry! It's getting
c-cold.”
With
that, the two began the swim, with Lethe kicking alongside her
sister. It was unbearably cold, and deep; Mnemosyne could tell that
it was far deeper than the first river, and far wider. It had only
taken three moments to cross that river, though it felt an eternity.
The new river was far more of an eternity, with no end in sight.
Worse, they were swimming against the current, which almost halted
their progress to nothing.
As
a result, the minutes seemed to pass by even slower the second time,
and Mnemosyne could feel the stinging pain from the cold turn into a
tingling itch, and finally into an aching numbness that was fearful
to have. She began to slow down somewhat, though she did not realize
she was doing it.
“Mn....mnemosyne!”
“....L....”
The words felt heavy on her mouth. “Wha...”
“W...we're
slow....”
“Le.....lethe....”
Mnemosyne felt herself slipping. “”Too....cold....”
“Mn....mne-”
Lathe's
words turned into a scream when the howling roar suddenly filled the
air. The water suddenly careened forward, covering them within the
water and shocking their systems.
Too....
Lethe experienced violent whiplash. cold......
The
wave lasted only an instant. The levels suddenly lowered drastically,
flinging the two down to the floor of the river. The two gasped as
they saw the giant black shadow in the distance, even in that fog,
lodged straight into the river. Turning to their left, they began
hobbling as fast as they could in the near knee deep water, hoping,
perhaps, that there would be an end to the madness, that the door was
just within their blind reach.
“Run.....”
Lethe stumbled, but quickly jumped back up, keeping Mnemosyne's hand
in hers. “Run!!”
Then,
the giant crest of a wave overshadowed the rock.
“RUN-”
The
water hit like two tons of bricks. Neither girl expected it to come
so quickly, or to come so violently. The next thing they knew, they
were underwater and their partners' hands were gone, violently ripped
apart by the new menace. They tried to scream, but the water
prevented them; they kept their hands outstretched, as if just doing
that would save them.
But
it did not save them the last time they died, and as the two of them
began to slip into consciousness, they knew such a gesture would not
save them now.