The trip through Sagittarius seemed like a dream. The stars were all so close, and they were very beautiful. Sometimes, it seemed like one could just reach out and grab one. But Galaxia, now back to normal, just sat there. The ship they took robbed Galaxia of the notion that Sailor Soldiers could fly on their own in space. Chi had told her that the strongest ones could, but only for short distances; they were actually leaving Sagittarius, and only Sailor Chaos was known to fly such distances.
Cosmos, a bandage on her arm where she had been cut, sat next to Galaxia, thinking about what she had seen. Galaxia had changed right before her eyes into something that she had never seen before. The closest to that light was her mother, whom she took for granted. She thought that Galaxia was thinking about it, too.
"Galaxia, Cosmos?" came Chi's voice. "Look out the window."
The two sisters looked... and were greeted with a sight that never entered their wildest dreams.
They had left Sagittarius, and were now looking at it from the outside. All the stars, so close together, looked so beautiful. No words in any language could even come close to describing the beauty that was Sagittarius.
"Wow..." Cosmos whispered. "That's our home?"
"We'll take it back, sister," Galaxia promised. "That I promise."
"I know we will."
The sight soon passed, and the two sisters were left with the sight of other sections of the galaxy. "We are coming up on our destination!" Chi's voice announced. The two sisters braced themselves for the planetary descent, which they knew was rough from the stories of space-pirates that they had secretly met.
"We are now entering the atmosphere of Double Star Lethe-Mnemosyne." Chi announced.
The ship began to rumble slightly. Steadily at first, but it soon became like a roller-coaster. "Hang on, everyone!" came Chi's voice.
The bumpy ride lasted a few minutes, and when it stopped, there was nothing but a soft hum. Soon, the ship bumped a little, signifying touchdown.
Galaxia and Cosmos looked at each other. Then, they got up and went to the hatch.
When the hatch opened, the sisters were greeted with the sight of a very out-of-the-way planet. There was no sun in sight, so Galaxia guessed that this planet must be very self-sufficient. Stepping off the platform, the sisters, hand in hand, walked over to two women who were standing nearby. Chi joined them.
"Cosmos, Galaxia," began Chi, indicating the women. "Allow me to introduce the twins. Sailor Lethe in the lavender and Sailor Mnemosyne in the turquoise."
The women bowed. "I am the Soldier of Oblivion," said Lethe.
"I am the Soldier of Memory," said Mnemosyne.
"It's a great pleasure to meet you," said Cosmos.
"I wish I could say the same, but..." Galaxia looked down.
"Yes, we know," said Lethe, great sorrow in her low voice.
"It is a great loss to us, too," said Mnemosyne, her voice the exact opposite of Lethe's.
"You two," said Chi. "Don't you have something for Cosmos?"
The women brandished a hexagonal sapphire. "Princess Cosmos," said Lethe.
"Yes?" said Cosmos, walking up to the women.
"Even though Sagittarius has fallen, with the death of Sailor Angel, Queen of the Galaxy, it is our duty to entrust to you the Sailor Crystal of Sailor Nebula," said Mnemosyne.
"Cosmos, the Saffer Crystal is now yours." They said in unison.
Cosmos took the crystal from the women. Immediately, there was a bright light not unlike when Galaxia took the White Crystal, only much brighter. Galaxia stared in wonder, finally seeing her sister become the most powerful Sailor Soldier in the galaxy.
The light was like a sun to the dark planet. When the light faded, it remained around the angel that was once Cosmos. Her bandage was gone.
"Princess Cosmos," began Mnemosyne.
"You are now Sailor Cosmos, Soldier of the Galaxy." finished Lethe.
Galaxia smiled at what her sister had become, though she did admit to herself that she was a bit jealous that her sister had the Saffer Crystal, the most powerful Sailor Crystal in the galaxy, while she only got the White Crystal.
Chi seemed to sense this. "Galaxia, why don't you join your sister and transform?"
"Why?" Galaxia was surprised at this.
"Because you don't need to be in your normal form anymore. You are a Sailor Soldier as well. And I will also tell you that the White Crystal is one of the most powerful Sailor Crystals ever created."
"It is?"
"Trust her, Galaxia," said Lethe.
"Sailor Alpha was the second most powerful Sailor Soldier in the galaxy," said Mnemosyne.
"She was?" Cosmos herself had to gasp. Even though her body had changed dramatically, her voice stayed more or less the same.
"Yes," said Chi.
"Okay, then," Galaxia took a deep breath. Then, she touched her chest, and the light of her crystal shined again. When it cleared, Sailor Galaxia went to Sailor Cosmos's side. The two sisters locked gazes.
"Sailor Soldiers..." Galaxia was still trying to get over the fact that she herself was a Sailor Soldier at all.
"This is going to be fun," said Cosmos. "Soldier of Light."
"Yes, Soldier of the Galaxy."
"Let's get going," said Lethe.
"It's a long walk to where we are going," added Mnemosyne.
As the five soldiers walked to the place where Lethe and Mnemosyne would train Galaxia and Cosmos, Galaxia looked to the sky. On Sagittarius, she could never see the stars that well since they were all so close, and the night was only a little dimmer than day. But here, far from any suns, she could almost count every star she could see. She wondered if people become stars when they die. She wondered if Sailor Angel were up there watching them. She wondered if Sailor Nebula was up there.
She wondered if maybe Sailor Chaos was watching them.
"Galaxia?" came Lethe's voice, snapping the new Soldier of Light out of her thoughts.
"Look there," Mnemosyne pointed to a rock jutting out of the ground. Galaxia walked over to it, and stared at what was carved onto it. What she saw made her forget everything else.
Here lies the remains of Sailor Alpha, devoted soldier, beloved wife, and mother to beautiful child.
Galaxia read the epitaph over and over. She felt a tear run down her cheek.
A shoulder was placed on her shoulder, and Galaxia looked up to see Cosmos standing there. "Sister, let's go."
Galaxia nodded and got up. She suddenly pulled her sister in a tight embrace, and cried on Cosmos's shoulder.
-------------
"Wow..." Cosmos stared at the huge building that was the training ground, Galaxia leaning on her shoulder. It certainly wasn't as big as Star Castle, but it was still impressive.
"This will be your home for the coming years," said Lethe.
"Please treat it like such," said Mnemosyne.
"We will," said Cosmos. Galaxia just nodded.
"Galaxia, we understand how you feel," said Mnemosyne. "But you must let go of the past and push onwards to the future."
"I know," Galaxia whispered. "I just wish I knew my real mother."
The twins smiled. "She was one of the most beautiful soldiers in the galaxy. She loved you more than even her duties!" said Lethe. "She even said once that if it meant protecting you, she'd even join the-"
"Lethe!" Mnemosyne suddenly hissed.
After that, both twins were silent. Galaxia wondered what Lethe was going to say. Probably just the Shadow Soldiers. They don't know that Phi and Chi had told us about them.
They walked into the building, and found it just as impressive inside. Except for one thing: there were other people in it. Other people who were training. There were many different kinds of people in the large room, and Galaxia thought that this place must be a universal training facility, because of all the different races. Galaxia saw people like her kind as well as people who seemed to be fish and others who seemed to be birds. It was almost like a masquerade.
Galaxia took note of the different things the students were doing, archery, swordplay, martial arts, magic, just about anything they'd need. "Students!" called Lethe. At once, everyone stopped what they were doing. "We have new students as of now, and they are really special people!"
"May I introduce the newly awakened Sailor Soldiers Cosmos, the heir to the Sagittarius throne, and her adopted sister Galaxia, who is the late Sailor Alpha's daughter!"
All the students bowed. The sisters did the same.
"Galaxia? Cosmos?" said Lethe. "We must return to our instructions."
"Phi will show you to your rooms," said Mnemosyne.
------------
Galaxia lay in her bed, Cosmos in the bed beside her, already asleep. Phi had told them that because of the wings, it was harder to sleep when they were in their Sailor forms, so at the moment, neither Galaxia nor Cosmos were transformed.
Galaxia stared at the ceiling, reflecting on what has been happening. Star Castle was attacked, the woman who killed Sailor Angel, the woman called Gamma-
Just who is this Gamma, anyway? Galaxia suddenly thought. Why did she look like me?
She fell asleep thinking about this, and dreamed of her mother. Her real mother.
----------
Meanwhile, another person was watching Galaxia, though in reality, she was in another section of the galaxy. Sailor Galaxia, new barer of the White Crystal. I thought we did away with that long ago... She looked to her most trusted servant. "Go. Make her and her sister one of us!"
"Yes, my Queen."
----------------------
Just so all the readers know, 'Lethe' is pronounced "Lee-thee" and 'Mnemosyne' is pronounced "Nee-mo-sih-nee".
Also, a big thanks to Bishi Burgers Are Yummy for enjoying the story. And, if you like my interpretation of the Sailor Wars, don't forget to read RyougaZell's version as well. (That one follows the manga far more than mine, so that's the one to read if you're a purist.)