"Yeah..." Ganymede said, looking up at the huge, slightly worn gates. He didn't remember much yet, but this entire building did feel familiar. And a little foreboding... Hesitantly, he started walking over the moat and into the castle proper. Europa looked back at Soul, and then trailed behind him. 

The inside was a little dusty, but otherwise in a single piece, though it was clear that a battle had been waged in the main hall. The wooden floors had been burnt away and torn up in places, and the crystallized walls were cracked in ways that looked like they had been struck. Electrical sparks still ran through it, and the hallways were lit with a soft green glow.

"I forgot how tall this place was," Ganymede said, looking up. There was less of a ceiling and more of a set of circular floors connected by staircases, with the middle being hollow. The top of the castle was barely visible from the ground floor. 

"I wonder if the communications room is still working?" Europa looked around for where the high tech computer setup might be hidden. "It should be somewhere on the main floor." A few banners with the symbol of Jupiter decorated the walls and banisters, and most of the furniture was wood carved. From one of the windows, some of the overgrown gardens could be seen.

Soul frowned at Ganymede's reaction to being on his moon. Something was wrong and she was determined to find out. Knowing that she couldn't push him or he'd most likely clam up, she decided to go about it another way. Moving to catch up to him, she took his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. 

Like Europa's castle, she could see the beauty in this one. It had been destroyed by war and most likely time had done some damage to it as well. 

"Did Europa have a communications room?" Soul asked. She hadn't seen one, but they also hadn't explored all of the castle or moon either.

Ganymede tensed up when Soul's hand gripped his, but then he relaxed again and squeezed back tighter. He wasn't sure what caused his own insecurity to come back, but he didn't want to worry the others either. The past could not return, so why was he so afraid of it?



Europa tapped her cheek with a finger. "Hm...it did, but not as powerful as this one. We only communicated with the main castle and each other, nothing beyond Jupiter's scope."

"You would think you would have the capability to communicate farther, I mean what happens if something happened to Castle Io? How would you be able to communicate with the Moon or any of the other planets?" 

Using her powers, she attempted to reverse them. Instead of drawing calming energy from Yuuta, she attempted to send it to him, hoping that it would help with whatever was going on in his head.

"Well... it was a different time back them," Europa said, shrugging. "We four generals did not consider ourselves directly loyal to the Moon Kingdom. We were a part of it, but we did not follow Queen Serenity's orders. We communicated via Sailor Jupiter, who filtered down orders to us if needed. It was inefficient in hindsight, but we were stubborn."

Ganymede felt a smaller wave of energy touch him, and he unwound a bit more as it carried calmer emotions through him. He'd speak with Amina about his thoughts, but there were too many other people around right now. 

"I'll tell you about it when we're alone, okay?" he said, softly enough for only Soul to hear.

She squeezed Ganymede hand to let him know that she heard him. They would talk about this later. 

"I can see the lot of you being stubborn, nothing really has changed," Soul said grinning. They were each stubborn in their own way. 

"So what was your favorite part of the castle?"

"I remember we spent a lot of time in the gardens," Europa said. "They took up the whole back of the castle, it was like a tamed jungle." The odds of the impressive sea of vegetation being intact now were low, but maybe they could see for themselves. 

"I think it was this way," Ganymede said, speaking up for the first time since they have arrived. With Soul's hand still in his, he led them to a large set of doors. "Hopefully it isn't rusted shut..." He shoved against them, and after some ominous creaking, they started to move. 

The doors opened up to a stone and emerald patio, the ceiling held up by decorated columns. The furniture was degraded, and the entire area was being overrun by vines and weeds. Beyond the patio was what looked like a thick forest and the air was humid and filled with static.

As they entered into the gardens, Vanth couldn't help the small chuckle at how wide Amina's eyes were in wonder. She had always wanted to show her Queen this place but there was never a reason for the Princess and then Queen of Orcus to visit a military castle of another planet. 

She smiled sadly at how overgrown it had become. This place held a special meaning for her, having been the place where she realized her feelings for Europa and the first place she had kissed her and truly meant it beyond it being a part of sex. 

Looking at her one time lover, the pang of loss of the woman she once knew still fresh for Vanth, she wondered what she remembered about the garden.

Ganymede cringed under his helmet as he took in the sorry sight before him. "The garden's a mess..." he said, stepping out onto the patio. His memories might have been fuzzy, but he knew it was a little more...organized than this, at least. There wasn't even a path to follow through it anymore. 

"So this is what happens when you don't mow the lawn for a thousand years."



Europa had to take a moment to stare at the thick forest ahead of them, amazed by the semi familiar, yet still alien trees and plants. She'd never seen such foliage before, and some of it even crackled with electricity, as if even the flora here was adapted to lightning. 

"Even in this state, it's amazing," she said. "I wonder if it's fixable though." Maybe they couldn't do much, but she imagined that Sailor Jupiter would have more power here. Still lost in her thoughts, Europa wandered over to an overly tall tree and placed a gloved hand on it. 

There were a lot of memories here, from her service to the royal family to...less "noble" things. She blushed and looked down again. She couldn't believe that she and Vanth had kissed somewhere in these woods, behind the Queen's back. It probably should have felt wrong, but she didn't regret it.

"I'm sure with the passage of time here have been tools created that can help with this kind of thing?" Vanth offered as she looked around. The gardens had always been maintained with a combination of magic from the King and Queen of Jupiter as well as manual labour. It seemed that the magic that allowed everything to grow was still working, but not the magic that helped keep it in check. 

Seeing Europa blush, Eisuke couldn't help but wonder what she was remembering. Was it one of their trysts they had in the gardens or was it something else?

"This would make an interesting group project, at least. Fixing up Castle Io," Ganymede said. Maybe one day it'd be used again for guarding the solar system, but he doubted it be anytime soon.



"Maybe we should go deeper into the forest," Europa suggested, recomposing herself. "We could find something else that's been swallowed up by the plants." This planet should be fairly safe, having been abandoned for so long. And even if they did run into trouble, they had four capable warriors to handle it.

"Sure! That sounds like a fantastic idea!," Soul said enthusiastically, grabbing Yuuta's arm and practically dragging the taller senshi off into the forest behind her. She was bound and determined to give Eisuke and Fuyuko a little while to be on their own and maybe work things out. There was something there, she knew it, they just needed to deal with a few things first. 

Vanth remained silent as she watched Ganymede and her Queen disappear into the forest. 

"Is she always like that?" Vanth asked Europa after a moment of silent. Honestly, she didn't remember her Queen being this...forward before.

Europa smiled slightly as the two ran off. "Sometimes," she said. Was Soul trying to set them up? "So... we were here often, weren't we?" Europa asked, looking around.



"Wait, slow down!" Ganymede yelled after Soul, stumbling to keep up with her. They were deeper into the woods now, and it was eerily quiet. "Hm... wonder if any animals are still around." Or did Saturn kill them all off because they were infected by Chaos?

Soul grinned as Ganymede struggled to keep up. "You act like you've never been in a forest before," she teased gently, turning around to face him. 

"I think Saturn killed all sentient life so pretty much anything that wasn't a flower or a plant"t" she guessed. She couldn't help thinking about Vanth and how much pain she saw in the other womans eyes when she looked at Europa. 

"Hey Gany, do you have any memories of them being together in the Silver Millennium?"

Ganymede's expression froze at her question and then he sighed. "That's sort of what was bothering me before. I don't really remember anything. I mean.. I sort of remember bits and pieces of us from the past, but everything else is just empty." He looked around at the different trees and plants. "Even here, where I used to live, I still don't have much to go on."

She frowned, approaching him and grabbing his hand, lacing their fingers together. "I barely remember us being together, like it's not even memories, just more feelings that I knew Vanth, we were close and that you and I were together, but I don't remember it, and it hurts. If we're really soul mates, and we're meant to be together, you think I'd at least remember some of us together in the past, if not all of it."

Maybe she was just being too impatient. She just found out about all of this, and so did Ganymede. 

"Who knows," she said, forcing herself to smile, "Maybe now that we've visited this places, our memories will start to come back on their own."

"..Maybe." But did they really need those memories, or did he just want them to prove that the past really happened? He didn't believe in much destiny anyway, he lived more in the now.

"The past is the past, I guess. Kazaki didn't seem to be enjoying her own memories very much, so maybe it's a little better this way." Maybe the past Ganymede wanted to forget a few things, for her own good. Or was it for his good?