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Hvergelmir appeared to consider Verona's hyperbolic questions quite seriously. "Well, I don't know about cackling," she said with a smile. "But Sailor Cosmos does guard the Galaxy Cauldron, if nothing else -- and she is incredibly powerful. I'm not sure whether or not she actually controls it -- any more than the rest of the senshi that exist control their homeworlds. Maybe, maybe not." She shrugged. "I don't like to think of her as a goddess," Hvergelmir went on. "A part of her is human, just like a part of us is. She's a person, however much power she wields. I'm afraid if I stop thinking about her that way, it's too easy to stop treating her like one, and start taking her for granted. Sometimes she can help us . . . mostly, I try to get by on my own."

She waved a hand in the air, trying to encapsulate the idea of a starseed. "Your starseed is like your soul," she reiterated, except that it exists as a physical part of you, something that's on another plane of existence next to this one. Negaverse agents can reach into your chest and access that other plane of existence and use it to rip a starseed out. Without your starseed, you'll fall into a coma and ultimately die. But with it -- as long as it remains intact, it goes back to the Cauldron, where it can be born again in a new lifetime, carrying with it all your powers and your memories from your previous life. You are -- kind of -- a recycled soul, yes."

Hvergelmir had never had the experience of thinking knighthood was just something fun. From the day she'd come into her powers, it had been serious and terrifying. Maybe it would've been different if she'd had Verona's life and outlook -- a bouncer, ejecting the world's ruffians -- but it was hard for her to imagine.

"Negaverse agents have a lot of advantages over us, unfortunately," she acknowledged. "That's one of them. We can't pull out anyone's starseed. But," she said brightly, "we can visit our planets and Wonders, and when you're there, you'll keep learning more about your past from your ancestor or remembering things about your past life. So yes -- you could find out whether or not you were ever a valkyrie." Hvergelmir smiled encouragingly.

Hvergelmir tilted her head to one side. "You say to yourself, I pledge my life and loyalty to the Cosmos, and to -- the name of your Wonder. I humbly request your aid, so that in return I may give you mine. And you think about going there, and poof -- you're there. As a page I could go once every three weeks, as a squire it was down to two, and now it's about once a week. Some Wonders are perfectly safe . . . but remember, these are ancient and important sites, and they had to be well-protected to survive the ages. You may find them booby-trapped or otherwise armed for self-defense. Be careful."

"Well, there could be monsters," she said. "That's happened once or twice -- a senshi named Hugbell had one at her homeworld. But many places are very safe. There are no monsters at my Wonder, I can say that much."

Her Wonder was very small. She was fairly sure she'd have spotted any monsters by now. No, it was just her and Eikthyrnir.

"If a youma attacks me, I usually find the nearest, heaviest thing and hit the youma with it till it dies," she said expediently. "You'd be surprised how many things aren't nailed down."

"It was good meeting you too," Hvergelmir agreed. "Be safe out there."

She waved as Verona headed off into the night.