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 Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 11:43 am
She had needed to be alone, and supposed that this was why she was here now. It had been hours of exploration, following the twists and turns of small tunnels, most leading to dead ends where some of the mountain had caved in. Everywhere she turned, there was nothing, and she had expected nothing more. Whatever had once thrived on this planet was long gone, and all she could feel was the soft pang of loss over what had once been, and never would be again. All that was left of this planet was ruins, the people, the culture, all had been lost with time. There was nothing but dust for Nemesis to sift through.
This was almost more distressing than the loss the BMC had experienced against the Negaverse. It was part of the reason Nemesis was here instead of back home. No one could touch her here - she was safe. The people back on Earth were not, but for the moment Nemesis could live free of obligation. Of course, she’d have to go back… eventually. Nemesis would never leave her family and the few friends she possessed to suffer underneath the foot of the Negaverse. Nemesis would not abandon her desire to see the Negaverse eradicated until that desire was fulfilled, or she was dead. It was her only purpose now, and when she thought of the future, Nemesis did not think of going to college, of settling herself into a high-paying career. That seemed impossible, unfathomable until the threat the Negaverse provided was diminished. There was no future for Nemesis but the battlefield, and for Delphine… she would grasp at and cling to her life as best as she could, but it was slipping from her. She was distanced from her family, from her friends. She had lost so many friends since becoming a senshi, and only the people that truly mattered to her now were kept close. They were the only ones worth expending energy on. Everyone… everything else did not matter anymore.
There was one place she had avoided exploring, one path that wasn’t a dead end. Even now, she did not think she wanted to take the steps leading up into the mountain. Nemesis did not want to run the risk of being assaulted by images of the past. She did not want to see a pure Alkaid, an Alkaid of the past. It could be no one else, and Nemesis had known that it was Alkaid from the first glance. She hadn’t wanted to admit it - back then Alkaid was not even a friend, and now she was an enemy. Alkaid was someone Nemesis would kill, because if she let that girl live, Alkaid would eventually kill her as well. Nemesis could not allow the past to haunt her. It was time to move on.
The hallway she walked down now was familiar, the walls were alight with a faint blue glow. It wasn’t enough light for Nemesis to truly see by, and so this time she had come prepared with a flashlight to guide her way. At the end of the hall was a black door, just starting to rust despite the passage of time, the hundreds upon hundreds of years that the door was not taken care of. This was where she had seen the Alkaid of the past, while the one of the present stood just behind her. Needless to say, Nemesis would take the past Alkaid over the present one any day, if she had a choice. Still, she didn’t desire to be assaulted by another image of the woman. She wasn’t here to work out the great mystery of what Alkaid was doing on her planet and smiling in her direction. Nemesis was here to figure out her own past, Nemesis was here to escape from the reality dwelling back on home for a few hours.
Sucking in a deep breath, she opened the great door outwards.
Nothing.
Thank God.
Her flashlight flicked up the steps, which seemed to disappear into the darkness above. Great, it looked like she was in for a hike. She should have brought a few energy drinks with her, something to psyche her up for the climb. Instead, she felt a slight apprehensiveness with each step upwards that she took. To her relief, nothing happened during her ascent. The higher she climbed, the less she needed to use her flashlight. The blue glow that was almost diminished in the hallway seemed to be growing stronger as she ventured deeper into the mountain. She could see now without the aid of her flashlight, though it was still dark. She had a feeling that it would never get brighter than this, and despite the different hours she had spent on this planet, true light had not touched it once. It was encased in darkness, and this unobtrusive blue glow was all that the people here probably ever got.
It was a long climb, so much so that Nemesis stopped keeping track of time. She fell into a mindless, zombie-like state with only one goal - climb. She climbed until the ache in her calves diminished, until she wasn’t sure she was even moving anymore. It was only when she thought that she was actually making no progress at all did she see the light at the end of the tunnel. Another door, just-barely illuminated, and if not for the small bit of light that was provided, she would have run right into the door. It was as dark as the first, but without the telltale signs of age. The door appeared to be brand new, preserved somehow throughout the centuries. Nemesis expected difficulty with opening it, but to her surprise the door swung forward with ease.
What the opening of the door revealed was something even Nemesis would marvel over. The grand room was stripped bare, though she felt as if at one point the room had been lavishly decorated. The ceiling was unreachable, designs etched into the stone, accented by veins of blue light running through the cracks. There was some sort of design, but she couldn’t make it out, couldn’t comprehend what it even meant. It was the first sign of actual culture she had seen, and considering what ruins the outside of the mountain was, it was a miracle the inside had been so well preserved. Tall, thick pillars, almost completely encased in light stretched upwards to support the ceiling. Really, she was reminded of a medieval castle in a way. The room was windowless, almost oppressive in demeanor. It was a place that would scare away those that still clung to the light as hope. It had to be some sort of an official room… why else would it be so far up in the mountain, so huge and elaborate?
Whatever this room’s purpose was, Nemesis doubted she would ever find out. There was little else to see here, all that was left of this place was its grand scale, an architecture that seemed impossible to replicate. It was hard enough to fathom how they could even carve an entire civilization out of a mountain’s side. Somehow, it had been done, and the only person who could now look upon this grand accomplishment was Nemesis. What a pity.
She pressed onwards, towards the back of the room where there seemed to be even more passageways. Nemesis picked one at random, and was relieved that this path wasn’t nearly as long and tedious as the last. There were no doors closing this path off from the main room, and as she pressed on she realized that it wasn’t leading inside of the mountain, but rather, out. The soft howl of wind began to echo in the corridor, and she could feel a breeze of cool air caressing her cheeks. This was far more interesting, and so she followed the path to its end. Her suspicions were confirmed - it was some sort of a balcony. It was small, but for some reason a stone rail stood against the test of time. She could place her hands on it, lean over just a bit to get a look at the world around and below her. Above was the same thing, a towering mountain, and if she squinted hard enough it looked like there were more of these balconies. Her view, though, was the best. She could still make out the land below, the huge piles of rubble and even the great wall that surrounded the mountain. Nemesis could just make out details…
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Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2011 11:45 am
She was standing in a marketplace, in front of a crudely made wooden booth. A seller, missing half of his teeth, was jostling in his hands a sphere of distinctly white light. It hurt her eyes to look at it, and so she averted her gaze. Even so, something about that light pissed her off. “Where’d you get that? That’s not from here.” The merchant seemed proud of himself, and whatever he was selling made him quite the profit. He was dressed finely for the people of this planet, in silk threads with patriotic blue accents. He thought she’d be impressed, and didn’t realize that all she desired was to snatch the light from his hands and smash it against the stone.
“Light captured from outside, high-grade stuff. It wont die as quickly as the shoddy light we get here.“ The merchant was going on and on about the light, and with an aggravated curl of her lip she pulled some coin from her pocket and paid the man. The light was her’s now, and she couldn’t quite describe the pleasure breaking the orb against the dark blue rock underneath her feet gave her. The merchant was aghast, but she was elated. The yellow light spiraled upwards, its tendrils dissipating in the dark sky above her.
“Do you feel better?”
“A lot.” Nemesis turned to offer the person speaking to her a quick smile. It was rare for the planet Nemesis to have outsiders visiting - it was why such light was foreign to this land, why it was a rare commodity. She’d have to ask someone to look into how it was getting here… this planet for a long time had maintained as much independence as it could from the moon kingdom. “It hurts my eyes, you know.”
“Would you like me to buy you a new veil for the next time that you visit?” the other woman’s lips curled up in an amused smile.
“Maybe. I can’t go, you know… I’m sorry. I’ve got to take a uhh, diplomatic trip to the Moonies. I have some things I want to talk to them about, if they’ll listen. It’s doubtful, but I’m not going to get anywhere if I stop trying.” She kicked at the shards of glass, ignoring the curious glances being sent her way by the other people already in the marketplace.
“I could come with you…”
“I don’t want to tarnish your image with them.”
“If I was worried about that, I wouldn’t be here now. I’m coming with.”
Nemesis parted her lips to form a protest, and then realized she really did not have a convincing enough reason to dissuade her companion. “All right, fine. With luck, they’ll listen to you more than they listen to me.” There was a small flicker of hope fluttering in her chest, a hope that was reflected upon her companion’s face. Somehow, little by little, they would find a way to earn forgiveness. Life would be so much easier if Nemesisians did not face the brunt of the Moon Kingdom’s intolerance. If the Moon Kingdom believed in redemption, Nemesis would prove that this planet was worthy of it.
She turned to her friend again, eyes dark with concern over the future. Still, there was hope, and crossing over to the woman, she gently teased her fingers through rich blonde hair. Her thin lips lighted upon plush ones, and she cherished a small kiss with her companion. Public displays of affection were rare for Nemesis, but by god, she was falling more and more in love with this woman with every passing second. “Thank you, for everything, Alkaid.”
Nemesis felt sick, and it wasn’t from the high altitudes. The Senshi of Decay sunk down onto her knees, hands moving to cover her mouth, her lips still tingling from the feel of that kiss. Dear God, how ******** up was this. She willed herself back home, and was certain that she would never go back to planet Nemesis.
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