{ Backdated to 21 March 2017 }
It'd been only after great hesitation on her part did she pull out her phone and let the digital voice repeatedly ask her if she wished to confirm her selection of the application that would teleport her to the asteroid whose name she carried.
Even still, the digital voice continued to repeat the question, pausing for a moment or two before repeating. Pausing. Repeating. Pausing. Repeating.
The sound sliced through the silence of the park she sat in, her favorite near her apartment. Now and then she would scan the energy waves around her, make sure no one else was looking to intrude on her space or come investigate the somewhat muffled voice. Perhaps the chill of the end of winter kept them away?
Though the Spring equinox was upon them, the bite of winter was still strong, and the brunette young woman shivered where she sat, at least grateful for her multiple skirts to keep her legs warm. She'd even brought out a warm shawl that she had now wrapped around her shoulders, protecting her exposed skin from the temperatures.
But would it be warmer on the asteroid?
Her lips pursed as she considered it, in time with the digital voice asking her again if she would confirm if she wished to travel to her asteroid.
Though she could not see the device in front of her, a blank rectangle of space illuminated and outlined by her own copper aura flickered with tendrils of White Moon Senshi silver, she'd used it enough to have memorized the functions and features. Though it wasn't perfectly suited for the visually impaired, she was grateful that the guardians had still been able to help her get this much functionality out of the cell phone.
It had been... quite a while since she'd last been to her asteroid. Since the year prior, if she remembered correctly. It was a strange place, alien and full of more mysteries than she comprehended how to fathom.
Yet she felt drawn there, once more.
After her conversation with Kerberos, and with her head still full of conflicting thoughts about Victoria, Metis felt... lost.
There had to be a way to reach the memories. They couldn't just be... gone, could they? She was not familiar with how the brain worked. She knew traumatic brain injuries existed--her loss of her eyesight was in part thanks to one, after all--but what about memories? Her psychology classes had only skimmed over the concept of buried memories, and how trauma could push them deep, deep down into the subconscious. But what about the idea of erasure? And was that how Chaos worked? Was it a complete erasure of memories, or simply…. Pushing them back, deep, deep down? There didn't seem to be a complete re-write of Victoria's personality. He hadn't needed to learn how to walk, or breath, or clothe himself, or anything to that level. He forgot people. Events. Places.
But how much of it was still there?
The digital voice had become a buzz in her ears. Background noise. Nothing more. Perhaps that was why she hadn't realized she'd hit the screen until the voice changed. "Confirmation accepted. Initiating transportation sequence."
Metis jerked back a bit, turning her head down to the cellphone in her hand she couldn't really see, barely able to respond before she felt the world around her shift. Or rather, felt herself shift. Move, leave. Whatever the process was to transport thousands of miles from Destiny City, United States, to the stone bench she found herself upon on the asteroid, Metis.
It…. felt different. Different enough that she had no question that she wasn't on Earth any longer. The air smelt different, there were no sounds of animal life or insects. There was wind, outside of whatever the structure was that she sat in. The only energies she could see, were her own, and the white energies that came from the crystals that lined the walls in intervals.
"…so," she sighed at last, her shoulders sinking a bit as she began to look about, scanning the shapes and features faintly illuminated by the various energy waves. "…where am I this time?"
It wasn't the chateau. She could feel the stone at her back, and the stone beneath her bum, and feet, when she clicked her heels on the floor. There were no windows, something she was noticing was a typical feature in architecture in many places of worship among the people who once resided here. "One, two, three," she called in intervals, waiting to hear the echo and judge the possible space of the room she sat in. Tall. Judging by the shapes somewhat illuminated by the energy waves, a domed room.
But there were holes and deep, deep carvings in the stone above, she realized, when she stood and began to look around. A large, circular room, there was a single hall that seemed to lead to a door, with seven large circular rings, each falling step by step deeper into the central, seventh, circle at the center. More crystals, far smaller fragments, accented the carvings and shapes above, and illuminated at what she slowly realized to be the cardinal points down on the seven rings.
She stood on the top most step, and when the echoes of her steps turned to silence… something else began to echo.
Voices. Whispers. Not from within the room, but beyond it. She turned towards the door, a frown on her face. There… weren't people here. So what was she hearing..? No matter how she strained her ears, she couldn't… make out their words. A language she'd never heard, yet resonated with her heart…
"It will do you no good to focus on their chatter. They will not cease. Focus on me instead."
She turned to stare at the woman. She knelt in the center circle, hands on her knees, face covered in an ornate mask. No. It was more than a mask. Gold and glimmering, stones set within its features catching the light of the crystals and refracting them. Prisms. Tiny chains hung from the curving branches that held fast to her head. A solid plate that looked as if it might be bone plate grafted under the gold, covered across her forehead and where her eyes would be, stretching back in ornate swirls over her ears, blocking them. The gems, carved in spheres, diamonds, and ovals, formed symbols and features out of their glistening surfaces, accenting the designs carved into and embossed on the gold mask. Headdress. The seven largest stones were arranged to represent the senses that are used to comprehend the world around them, and those beyond--sound, touch, taste, smell, thought, and finally, the third eye.
"How can I focus on you when I hear them shouting?"
There was no response, and she had to resist gritting her teeth. Slowly, she took in a breath, trying to calm herself. She forced her mind to focus--not on the voices that tried to pull her attention away, or even just the woman in the center, but the feeling of the air filling her lungs, the sensation of her heart pushing the blood through her veins, the sensation of the smooth stone floor beneath her feet. Slowly, the sounds began to fade, dwindling into background noise, and then… into silence.
She took a step into the sixth circle.
"Very good. Focus on why you are here. Not the reasons they provide, but the reason you hold fast to in your heart."
Well that made no sense to her. But as she stood there and focused, only the feeling of her breathing and pulse and the stone around her primary in her mind, the weight began to make itself noticeable. Learn to take over as a spiritual leader of her people. Learn the nuances and intricacies of how the living and the spirit world bonded. Aid the people in maintaining the balance between the corporeal and the intangible, and ensuring the spirits are appeased. Not to abandon them to the eternal darkness from whence all came and could yet still return… A cold sweat began to form along her skin, and she trembled, licking her dry lips and focusing. Focusing on the feeling and the sensations and letting go of the weight. The spirits have, were, and always will be present. It was merely the task to find them. Listen to them. Feel them. Beyond the confines of the world they knew, first and foremost, in their bodies. Slowly, even the smell of the incense in the air began to fade, and finally, vanish.
She took a step into the fifth circle.
"You are doing well. Do not fear what begins to fade. Do not fear the loss of those around you. Even in death, those bonds carry on. It is but a momentary loss, a loss of the physical. Never the heart or spirit."
Images of her mother and father came to her, her siblings, her friends. Each person she dealt with on a daily basis, each cherished moment and huff and tear and laugh. The idea of losing them made her chest constrict. The idea of not seeing them any longer terrified her. But… the spirit never dies. It cannot. The memories live on in the souls and heart. They hold fast, stain the soul--the good, the bad, the beautiful. They are mere moments, but they will live on in eternity. As she focused on this truth, she could no longer taste the smoke in the air.
She took a step into the fourth circle.
"I know this is hard, but over time, this will become easier. The knowledge and ease will come quicker to you, and you will find peace. Set aside your body now. It cannot define you. It only cages you. It shall not last, but you shall carry on."
Again she felt the tightness in her chest, thinking of that inevitability. Ever since she awoke as a senshi, she had to participate in rituals to help send off the spirits of the departed. Her first task as a senshi was to help ease the spirits of all those whom had perished after the previous senshi of their world also left their body. How long until another could ease her spirit? But eventually, they would. Her spirit would join with those of her ancestors and her loved ones. They would reunite, and aid their loved ones still within their bodies. They would not depart forever. She smiled as she could no longer feel her form.
She took a step into the third circle.
"Though you will continue to face challenges, you must give yourself the chance to overcome them. To fail is not permanent. Acknowledge your fear. It will only cage you."
To fail would mean the death of her people. To fail would mean innocents would suffer. To fail would mean to cause the spirits to suffer on in their limbo. But if she failed… who was to say she could not try again? And if not her, why not another? There might not always be an instantaneous solution or happiness, but there was never to say it would not yet come. The sun would rise yet, even if she could not see it. It did not cease her faith that it would yet come for others. With a smile on her face, the room turned dark.
She took a step into the second circle.
"Set aside your fear. Release yourself. You are stronger than you know."
She feared disappointing others. She feared the world she could not see. She feared the world she would one day be unable to see. She feared failing and hurting others. Yet even if she could not experience it, even if she could not see it, even if she could not fathom it, or fix the problems… others can. Others will rise, and who is to say she will not herself be one of them? The soul never dies. The heart never forgets. The stains of memories exist beyond the body. She would carry on, even if she was not sure of it in her moment of pain or sorrow. She let her mind drift, allow it to step free of the confines it knew too well.
She took a step into the central circle.
"Be whom only you may be. Be whom only you can be. Be whom only you shall be. Do not fear change or what may lay beyond the horizon."
She opened her eyes.
She was kneeling in the center circle, before where the woman had once knelt. Though she was… long gone now, Metis gazed towards where, once, long ago, she had once seen her wrinkled face and silvered eyes. "…you were always so patient with me," she murmured, a slow smile coming to her face. "I… apologize. For not saying thank you sooner. I… I will bring incense, next time, Nevetira. I think… you will like some of the scents Earth has now."
Clearing her throat, she looked down as she began to rise to her feet, only then noticing the white energy waves coming from the object before her. Slowly, she reached for it, her gloved hands rubbing gently against the dust covered mask. The waves were weak, very little energy remaining. And yet… even after all these years…
Metis frowned as she lifted it up, her fingers tracing the designs and symbols. Nevetira had used this to increase the ease by which she could meditate and gain access to her third eye…
---The stains of memories exist beyond the body…---
A slow smile came to her, and she clasped the mask to her chest as she stood. It was a loose chance, but… it was worth a try, was it not? If nothing else, she had to try. Even if she could not see the sun rise, she knew it would yet come.
{ WC: 2200 }
