onepassingnight | 001 ❊ He dreams of honor and strength.

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001 ❊ He dreams of honor and strength.

[For a long moment, there's no sound, no movement. Nephrite just stands in the middle of a long tunnel to a dark cave, staring at his hands and his clothes as if to decide whether or not they're real. His uniform, his powers, the unusual eye and hair color-- they're all back. ...But this is a dream. Of course it is. In reality, he's nothing more than a stupid human now and he is not in the Dark Kingdom anymore. He bares his teeth, ground tight against each other in frustration. This should be a good dream, but all he is... is confused. Confused and angry and maybe even a little jealous.

He wants his role as a Shitennou back-- it's all he has. But he's not so sure he wants to obey Beryl or endure the mockery he's so sure to receive upon returning. With a loud growl, his hands ball into fists and he slams one of them into the nearest rocky surface, spraying dirt and debris.]

Even my own dreams mock me!

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[There's a senshi nearby, a flash of unmistakable blue and a flash of black that shouldn't be mixed with it any longer. She is Mercury in her power, in proud contrast to all his frustrations. While he's lost so much, she only seems to have grown.

She steps confidently closer, until she's near enough to speak. Her lips smirk.]

Trying to break the Dark Kingdom?

[Because what every sulking shitennou wants is an audience like her.]

Edited 2012-03-17 10:19 (UTC)

[This is a stranger to the Dark Kingdom, but dressed in something very similar to the sailor senshi, though the trademark collar fades into a soft dress instead of the suit and skirt. Her hair is bound in two low ponytails, and she wears golden bracelets on her wrists.

The fog and darkness of this place are not entirely different from her own home, Sailor Lethe notes. She takes notice of the boy near the wall only belatedly.]

What useless frustration!

[The sudden sound of footsteps - heels - marching and echoing down the path is enough to prompt Nephrite to look up. His surprise is poorly disguised. Dark Mercury is no more-- there's only Sailor Mercury now. And yet here she is. Another mockery his dream is conjuring up, he wonders? As if he doesn't think about her enough... How she repaired his cape and-- Enough!]

Then I really would have nothing. [He scoffs.] There is nothing for you here, senshi. [And he's sick of thinking about you, so go away.]

[She hides well behind the mask of impassiveness. There's just a long look to the wall, and back to Nephrite.]

After this long, you still see me as one of those girls?

[Something about that faintly sours her mood. She tells herself it's just irritability at Nephrite's rash temperament, but the truth may be that she wanted him to see her for herself.

Or at least not as one of them.]

[A face and clothing Nephrite doesn't recognize, but it doesn't matter. She's intruding and insulting him to boot. He turns that frustration on her, snarling.]

Who's there?! [He at least wants to know who has the nerve to mock him in his own dream. :|]

[Oh, he's going to be fun. She knows this type: dwelling on their regrets, incapable of facing their lives yet oh so futilely struggling when the time comes to give them up.

At least that time isn't now. Comfortably, she introduces herself.]

I am Lethe, guardian of the River of Lost Memories, Oblivion.

[Confusion finds its way to his face. Is this a trick? ...It must be a trick. His mind is just crossing wires. She is a senshi-- not Dark Mercury.]

How else am I supposed to see you? You broke from Kunzite's spell and returned to the senshi a long time ago.

[For just a second, the signs are there in a tension about her shoulders, a stiffness to her arms as one hand grips her other. She doesn't want to think about the meanings of what he's saying. She's already found her answers. She lifts her chin.]

I have no intention of returning to the side of the enemy.

[It's a name he's never heard either, but there is one part of that that catches his attention.] ...River of Lost Memories? [He hesitates, but tries to sound as casual as possible when he asks:] Can you return what's been lost?

There's no point in bothering with that. Our memories have no value to begin with.

[She doesn't mention Mnemosyne.]

[There's a moment where Nephrite looks almost blank, watching her, like he might be humoring the idea of Mercury remaining with the Dark Kingdom. Then he starts to laugh-- it's humorless and bitter.]

You really expect me to buy that? [Nope. Not falling for it. In fact, he's going to sit himself on this rock and breathe in deeply through his nose.] I'll wake up any moment now!

[He glowers, back to irritated again.] I'm not so sure.

[After dozens of times trying to explain the truth of the future, she could laugh at herself, sharp and bitter, for the stupidity of wanting, just once, to be believed - and thinking Nephrite would be the one to do it.

She glances away.]

Even if you do, we'll meet again.

[Like it or not, it isn't that easy to put her aside.]

They're easily lost. What value is there in that?

All that matters is our power.

[ Ange doesn't look particularly fazed by the display of anger - instead she just watches from a slight distance as the man, leaning her back against the rocky walls of the tunnel as well as she watches him. The first moments she doesn't even speak up, until she figures that.. well, maybe she should. ]

Sounds like a sucky situation. [ Her tone is pretty deadpan. ]

[A pause-- he looks at Mercury again.]

What makes you so sure?

[She doesn't know how to explain it, when it's even so much more than the existence of the dream world. It's something between them. Finally, she says it too simply.]

It's because you're here now.

[Because dreams are still dreams, aren't they? If they're both here, somehow they're in each other's thoughts.]

[ And here this pesky little cat comes , wearing that damned grin as she usually did . Her tail sways back and forth behind her , giving the prominent jingle of bells as she moved . ]

Dreams can do that. ♥

[Nephrite tenses, gritting his teeth a little harder. Another stranger? He disregards the deadpan tone of voice and immediately goes on the defensive. You know-- just in case.]

I don't need anyone taking pity on me.

[Who--? Another? Where are all these strangers coming from? It's starting to get on his nerves. He just growls at Nyanko at first.]

What would you know?!

...I wouldn't know. [He can't remember enough to decide for himself-- how would be?]

And if you don't even have that anymore?

Then you have nothing, like every worthless person before you and after you. They're all reduced to that in the end.

[Silence is all that follows for a long while. Nephrite looks down and away, staring at the ground in front of him. She has a point. He knows she does. Saying that he didn't think of her and that one small act of... whatever it was constantly would be lying to himself. In fact, he would be surprised if she hadn't appeared in some form or another.

He's not mocking or skeptical anymore, but he doesn't look back up. Not yet.]

You say it like you know from experience.

Didn't you already say it? 'I'll wake up'.

I've been dreaming like this for a year. That's how I know.

[It's a remarkably straight answer, coming from Mercury who typically prefers her teasing and secretiveness. Her lips curve upward.]

I'll tell you more, if you ask nicely.

[ She chuckles , grin growing wider on her face . ]

I know everything~!

[ She 's just yanking Nephrite 's chain , only striving to see him grow more upset . It 's what she lives for , after all. ]

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001 ❊ He dreams of honor and strength.

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