Episode Four: Numbers
Author’s Note: I wanted to clarify that I will not be uploading faithfully on Tuesday of every week. I’m not saying that you’ll get the next Episode a year from now, but just keep in mind that this is a process that takes a while and I am a busy person. Thanks! Now on with the show…
“Where are we?” Gemini asks as Aurora turns 360°.
“I don’t know.” Orion answers.
“We can only be in one place…” Ares states.
“We’re in,” Aurora slowly utters,
“Space...” They all say in unison…
"Space…" Aurora says under her breath, the moving thought still shaking her very being, her lungs fall unsteady. She holds her chest softly; she finds herself beautifully unsettled at the awe The Universe has given her. She recapacitates and slowly steps toward Orion, "O-O," She attempts to get his attention.
"Yeah?" Orion turns around, his short, curly forest green hair strands fall in front of his eyes.
"I think, now, we can start looking for Earth. Or maybe start searching for the stars." She pauses to take his hand and pat it, a sisterly gesture, "It's up to all of you." Aurora's eyes narrowed at the sight of her dearest companion.
Orion approached Ares and Gemini; all he had to do was nod, beckoning them both forward with a wave of his arm, and they'd turn toward Aurora. She was looking up to the constellations that make The Universe's heart go pitter-patter.
Gemini walks up to Aurora, she asks her, "What's going on?" Gemini put her hand on her hip.
Aurora cleared her throat in preparation of what she was going to say; she sighed, "Now that we're in Space," She looked anxiously around, searching the galaxies surrounding with her eyes, her heart, her yearn for them. The passion and longing for them. "I think it's important that we know we have two options. I think we can either look for the stars, or head straight for Earth." Aurora paused to tell them next, "The choice is yours."
Ares steps forward, saying, "I think it's safer if we get our abilities from the stars and then go look for Earth, you know, so we can protect ourselves."
Orion snaps his finger, "That's a good point." he gestured coolly to his brother in soul.
Gemini states, "We would only have to settle on which kind of star we want to go to first, if we choose that route."
Aurora side-eyes Orion, "Which one do you pick?"
Orion turns to completely face her, "I wanted to find a Queen Onulet first." He whispers in her ear.
Aurora steps back to look at Orion, she points to Gemini, "Is that okay with you guys?"
With Ares' ears, he picked up what Orion whispered tenderly to Aurora. Gemini stood loyally by Ares' side; their arms almost touching.
Gemini considered, "I vote we visit a White Star, but this depends also on the ability of the Star itself. We have to keep this in mind when we choose." Ares nods his agreement, blushing as his eyes meet hers briefly.
Orion watches Aurora carefully as she weighs their desires, her own being different. Aurora finally speaks, she takes a shaky breath and says, "I would've wanted to look for a Queen Onulet, but whatever you guys want is fine, so…"
"Wait," Orion says, putting his hands forward in emphasis of 'stopping' her, "What if we break the tie?" He asks her, he reaches into his back pocket.
Aurora crosses her arms, swinging her leg back and forth as she stares devotedly at Orion, her eyes narrow with curiousness. Orion wanted to visit a Queen Onulet too.
"Well, if it's a tie, then we just have to settle it. Right?" Orion says, pulling out a coin; it says, Pulsar Industries… Odd. Orion gets decently far from the rest of his friends and holds the green, palm sized coin.
Aurora walks after him, "What are doing?" She looks down at the giant coin. "Wait," She snatches it out of Orion's hand. "It says your last name on it, why?" Aurora examines the coin as Orion takes it right back in his hands.
"I don't know, but I've always had it with me."
"Not that I've seen."
"Because I never showed you. People tell me I was found with this coin on a rainy night as a baby. I've had it by my side for as long as I can remember. Now, go back to the others so I can settle this tie." Orion points a finger back to Gem and Ares.
Aurora jogs back to Ares and Gemini. Orion steadies the coin in his hands. "Heads for a White Star, Tails for a Queen Onulet…" He announces to the others, "I really hope it's Tails…" He says under his breath. He flips the coin in the air and watches it dance in the sky, they all raise their heads, tilting their chins upward. The coin makes its final revolution and slowly starts falling back down. This place has less Gravity than Oria.
Bam, the coin fell on Tails, by the time the others ran over to Orion, he was already thanking Opa’letta that the coin was in his favor. Well, his and Aurora's favor, that is.
Ares panted as he asked Orion, "What did you get?" Gemini already at his side, Aurora standing silently at Gem’s side, catching her breath, too.
"Tails, me and Rori win." Orion breathed out, picking up what was probably his favorite token in The Universe.
Ares tried not to look too disappointed, though Gemini said, "Well there's always next time, we'll visit the White Star after." She sighed out, her arms resting lightly at her sides.
"Then it's settled, I guess. We'll head for the Queen Onulet, and then it's a straight shot to the White Star." Aurora finally caught her breath, walking forward to pat Orion on the shoulder. "But," She raised a finger at him, "We gotta start portal hopping if we wanna find where the Queen Onulet is." Aurora said, stepping away and raising her arms, splaying them to signal to the wide, open space they were in, surrounded by mysterious, portals. She came back to her friends, "Using these roads is gonna take us too long." She stated.
"Okay then, I'll walk through the portal on my left," Orion points over his shoulder, "You could walk through that portal there, Gem could walk through that one, and Ares can jump through that one over there."
"Okay," Aurora nods, "You guys agree with this?" She asks her other friends. They nod their agreement and then begins the montage of portal jumping, Star hopping, and breathlessness. There must've been about 22 different portals in this ethereal-type plane. It was black, black just like Space, but with a sort of white outlining. The ‘floor’ was jet black with a sort of sparkle or diamond coat to it. They could not see what lay beyond the portals, for they too were pitch black, with an outlining of glowing white that faded at the outside edges.
It was around thirty minutes until they found the portal to a Queen Onulet. Gemini had slipped through with her slender little body. She waved back at the group and told them to check out the portal. Everyone stepped through, not one of those crazy youngsters left behind.
“It’s…” Gemini tilted her head; the straight, mas blue bob of hair fell to the side as she looked upon the great star with her aqua-colored eyes. “Green colored…” They know what they saw when they crossed the portal. A long pathway leading to the Queen Onulet Star, glowing and shining in all its bright green glory.
Aurora was the first to take one small, tentative step toward the star. Aurora’s gentle step echoed throughout the space in which the star was, the sound bouncing off the path before her, all around her; she looked down at the black under her feet, the darkness. It was somehow see-through though; she could still see Space under her feet. She set her eyes forward on the star.
Aurora took another nervous step toward it, saying, “Hello?” Aurora inhaled, her ribs rattling like a lion’s cage around her lungs.
Ares walked calmly behind her, he pulled her back, telling her, “Maybe it can’t speak.” He whispered gingerly as his soft, deep red eyes met hers. Something clicked in Aurora as she whispered back to him.
“What if it just can’t speak this language?” Aurora proposed to Ares.
“Ai o spek tra nouvo lentah…” I don’t speak the young language. Those words echoed. The group look up to see the Queen Onulet speaking Orica, the old language of Oria.
“Kal lentah dua do spek?” Which language do you speak? Aurora asked the Queen; She, too, could speak Orica. Everyone on Oria can, yet it feels like a dying language because it’s almost absent in everyday use.
“I speak almost all tongues in this minute Universe,” The star said with an ancient sass, Aurora and her friends realized the star was being sarcastic earlier.
“Um,” Orion walked forward, “How can I put this…” He muttered silently, more to himself than to anyone. He looked up at the Queen Onulet that towered greatly over him, “We’re travelers of The Universe, uh—Star-Sailors, and we wanted protection for our travels, because we know there are many dangerous things out there.” The Onulet turns into a quick flash of green before turning into her human-looking form. In long, gorgeous robes of glowing bright grass green, the Queen looks slender and tall. She possesses a soft face and mid-length, straight green hair; at the top of her head lay a sideways-tilted green bow.
“Of which powers do you speak?” The star floats down to touch the path with her bare feet, approaching them.
“We don’t know what your abilities are, but we want to be able to protect ourselves. Is that okay with you?” Aurora spoke again, the star—now woman—staring down at her.
The star tortured the group mercilessly with the time she took to decide.
Alas. “No.” She walked away.
“Wait,” Gemini blurted, jumping forward. The star turned to see, her perfectly groomed brow arching. “We promise we’re not bad people.” Gemini pleaded, trying to reason with the star.
“Promises don’t mean anything. Not when such power-hungry Star-Sailors come to ask me for my wonders, only for me to see a yearning for destruction in their hearts.” The Queen countered, in a non-rhotic accent.
“Well, if you can see people’s hearts, can’t you just see ours?” Orion asked the Onulet.
The star looked down at the pathway, the darkness it held. She searched her thoughts, giving them that much, a good point. But when she saw the group, the children standing in front on her, all she saw was innocence, and naivety. She knew then and there they would not use her abilities for harm, for their intentions were only good, but their naivety could lead them to do something foolish; that was what was holding them back.
“Your point is solid, children.” The star finally spoke, shaking her head in disappointment. “But I cannot give you my wonders after searching your hearts. For you are too naïve, and that could bring misfortune. I apologize deeply, young ones, but I cannot put that burden on your young shoulders.” The star took a solemn pause. “For fear of your failing…”
Aurora looked over Gemini, Gemini looked over Orion, Orion looked over Ares; they stood quiet, letting silence swallow them.
“Do not be disappointed, however,” The Queen Onulet spoke once more, the group looked up at her. “I’ve had naïve and innocent Star-Sailors like you come to me before.” The star crossed her arms, a hint of a smile grew on her benign face. “I’ll propose a deal for you, young ones. I will give you a sample of my powers, and they will deactivate when they sense you will do something of ill intent or of naivety. But when I sense you’re ready for my full powers, I will remotely activate them in you to their full capacity…” The group looked at each other, hands shaking and teeth showing in wide grins, excitement built in them all.
Orion pulled aside Aurora and whispered into her ear, “Now we just have the other stars left to convince—”
“There’s really no need to approach other stars.” The Queen Onulet said to Orion, hearing his whisper. “Given the type of star that I am, I was blessed at the beginning of time by the White Stars, the stars that give life to this Universe, and the only stars which I call my superiors. They granted me the power to give out the abilities not only I possess, but of other stars. I’d be overjoyed if you stay here for the process…”
Aurora steps forward, “Okay then, how do we start?” The star approaches Aurora and gestures for the former to put out her hand, palm up.
“You wish to defend yourself, and I will show you just how much strain these gifts put on your mortal body…” The star put her index and middle fingers on the center of Rori’s palm.
Aurora fainted, that’s the last thing Orion remembers seeing of his dearest.
“Rori!” Orion attempted to throw himself toward Aurora to help.
“She is not harmed, but you will harm her if you dare interfere…” The star put up her hand to Orion, pushing him back with a wall of pure celestial power; Ares and Gemini swapped glances and stood back.
“What did you do to her?” Orion shouted at the Queen Onulet, trying to resist the superlunary presence of the star.
“I am giving her what she wanted, when she wakes up, she will have the ability to perform my wonders. But first, she will have to go through The Reflection.” Orion paused his struggling at this.
“The Reflection?” He asked, looking back at Gemini, hoping she’d know what that is, given her large array of historical and scientific interests. She shook her head in confusion, Ares doing the same. “What do you mean, ‘The Reflection’, w-what is that?” Orion turns back and asks the star.
“The process in which my powers are transferred, forcing the receiver in question to look within themself towards their inner struggling, and fears. To hope to reenter their dormant body, they must successfully slay the source of their fears, or forever wander this Universe, not as a Star-Sailor, but as an Ethereal-Ghost…”
The star turns back to check on Aurora, she bends down to check the girl’s pulse.
Gasp. Aurora wakes up. Only she’s not with Orion, or Ares, or Gem, or with the star like she’d been when she fainted. She’s in a new place, it reminds her of The Eternal Sea on Oria. She’d always dreamed of swimming in its clear waters, if only she weren’t an orphan, and if only she knew how to swim…
Aurora lay face up on the sandy seafloor, how she isn’t drowning is beyond her. She stands, kneeling before steadying herself on her two feet. She looks around and notices, it’s not that she’s underwater per se, it’s almost as if the water is hollowed from the seafloor to the space above her, where only a barrier of water is. The light still breaks through.
She starts walking, a ringing in her ears is beckoning. She calls for her friends, the star, no one answers, nothing. The only thing she can hear is the ringing in her ears and the sound of her voice.
This realm is dreamlike, with areas around her being too blurry to see past. The surface beyond the water barrier is one of those areas.
The light breaking through the water barrier above is growing, Aurora looks up, she finds it almost blinding, growing and growing in brightness, she shields her eyes with her hand and it’s—
“Her pulse is dangerously high; I believe she is going into The Fall.” The star says. Orion, Gem, and Ares step back. Aurora’s unconscious body begins to sweat, a blazing red flush covers her cheeks and the bridge of her nose, this can’t be good…
Aurora is swallowed whole by the light and is brought to where she starts falling down a well, The Fall is reaching its middle, she is almost at The Reflection. The well stretches about fifteen feet wide and goes down for Opa’letta knows how many miles. Aurora’s stomach turns upside down as she falls down the middle of the well, screaming, her feet seemingly skating on an invisible wall, the cold surrounding her barely registers because of her racing heart.
What was fear, turned to panic, turned to joy, turned to thrills; Aurora lifts her arms in excitement as she keeps skating and shouting, turning to face down toward the bottom of the never ending well. Her feet glide smoothly on the invisible wall.
“Her pulse is no longer dangerously high, though her heart is still beating fast.” The star turns to Orion. “I do not think she’s scared anymore; I think she is enjoying herself.” The star smiles, Orion sighs.
Ares rests his tense arms at his sides, and Gemini takes a deep breath.
Aurora falls to the shining bottom of the endlessly dark well.
She’s instantly transported to where she’ll make The Reflection.
Aurora steps forward in a field of vibrantly green grass, covered with miles upon miles of snow-white camellias.
There’s a man working the field, harvesting corn, a very colorful, intense yellow corn. Something about this man doesn’t seem dangerous, however, but beckoning, alluring. Maybe because he himself is very beautiful.
Aurora takes another step closer towards the man and notices that he wears white overalls, he lifts his sweat stricken pale face, hidden under a white straw hat. Does everything this man owns have the color white?
The man is almost fatherly in appearance, he takes off his hat to reveal pearl white short hair, waves abound. His eyes meet Aurora’s, she blushes at the beautiful light cyan color of them, making them glassy and almost transparent.
“Hello, Aura…” The man says in a voice like silk, a very fatherly silk.
“Aura...?” Aurora murmurs to herself, looking down.
“I see you didn’t choose to help me on the field today.” The man says, raising an eyebrow. Aurora opens her mouth in confusion. She’s seen this man before, somewhere, maybe a photo or a dream or—
“Memory…” Aurora mutters lowly, again, to herself.
“What did you say, Aura?” The man looks down at her, he couldn’t quite catch what she said.
“I’m sorry, sir, but my name isn’t Aura, it’s Aurora…” She says, looking him straight in the eyes with hesitation.
“I know. Aura is just a nickname; I would know the name of my own daughter.” The man amends.
“Daughter…” Aurora needs time to let it sink in.
“Sweetie!” A stunning woman from a house in the center of the gorgeous field calls, waving her arm in the air. The man turns, and Aurora looks beyond him.
Aurora looks down, picking up a section of her blush pink hair; wait. Red and white, red and white make… “Oh, well, both of my sweeties now.” The woman, electric red-haired woman corrects herself as she spots Aurora. She runs towards them. The comely waist-length red sea of waves bounces behind the woman as she halts to bend down; she asks Aurora. “What has that daughter of mine been doing in the forest?” She beams an elegant smile with grace only femininity can offer.
Of course, red and white make pink.
“I…” Aurora stutters as she looks to her left to see that there is a forest nearby, bursting into life. She’s never been here, she knows that, especially not in her current body, but this place is so familiar, so natural like she knows it inside and out, yet she doesn’t remember it. Her body does, but not her mind. Maybe she was here, but as a baby. Maybe this arresting couple were her parents…
“I’m sorry, I don’t recognize you two…” Aurora finally admits, looking back to the couple, noticing a yellow cosmos flower in the woman’s hair. The man, who she assumes now is her father tilts his head curiously, in a way she’s seen before. Oh, that’s right, she’s seen herself do this before.
“We’re your parents, Aura.” The woman says, trying to keep the sweet smile on her face, “Pandora,” The woman points to herself, “And Leo…” She gestures to the man.
Aurora takes a moment to recollect herself. She can’t believe she’s meeting her parents for the first time after a lifetime of being told they abandoned her like scum. How could these nice people abandon their seemingly loved daughter?
“If I’m your daughter, then what is my last name…?” Aurora asks the couple carefully, crossing her arms.
“We named you Aurora Borealis,” The woman pauses, she fidgets with her fingers. “Because I always heard stories from my grandmother that a human ancestor of mine studied that occurrence… On Earth.” The woman’s smile faded into a gaze of worry; sadness struck her eyes. The look of her suddenly made what’s happening real.
Aurora looks to the ground, the grass beneath her, a single tear falling down her rosy cheek. “What is an Aurora Borealis?” She tilts her head as she looks to the woman and man, mother and father, and asks.
“I—” Aurora’s mother, Pandora, pauses, she catches herself. “I guess I don’t know, my grandmother never told me.” Pandora looks to Leo, the man, Aurora’s father.
“I don’t know anything about my parents. And my information is limited, but…” Aurora starts weeping silently, gasping. “I don’t know if I’m meeting my real parents, or my imagination, or some sort of Steller-Devil invading my mind—"
“We are not Steller-Devils, we are your real parents,” Leo leans forward to take Aurora’s hand, attempting to calm her. She flinched away, her bottom lip quivering.
“Aura, this is nonsense, darling. We are your real parents.” Pandora says, her voice sounding worried. “My last name is Sitara, and your father’s is Cosmos. I don’t know if that rings a bell for you, darling?”
Well, she hit one target. “That’s just dumb luck, it’s not that hard to find people with those surnames.” Aurora gasps as she sobs.
“I know, darling.” Pandora smiles, awaiting tears making her eyes glassy. “But I also know things you’ve never told anyone, certainly not your friends, and not even Orion…”
Aurora’s sobbing subsides slightly, her voice strained and phlegmy. Almost wet sounding. “Then tell me something only I’d know.”
“I just did…” A sweet, refrained whisper.
It just hit Aurora; no one, not even the owner of the orphanage knows she has three friends.
“I also know that the reason why you hate wearing white camellias in your hair is because it reminds you of your home.” The tears beaded around the brim of Pandora’s eyes. What she said was true, Aurora hated wearing white camellias in her hair, but she never knew why. Not exactly.
“And I know that you’ve always hated shawls, because they remind you of mothers. And you hate overalls because they remind of farmers.” Pandora points to Leo. “Which is self-explanatory…” Pandora didn’t sob, she didn’t even whimper as Aurora had a silent epiphany.
The Universe must have divined this because a sudden tremble of her heart made this a certain guess; these two wonderful beings before her, they were kin.
Her kin…
“I believe The Reflection is almost over. She’s having her Epiphany…” The star looked down to Aurora’s pale body, sweat gliding down every inch of it.
Orion looks to Gemini before asking, “Are we all gonna have to go through this?”
The star looks back at the group, incomplete without there Rori, and says, “Yes; that’s the process.”
“Mom—” Aurora’s nose starts to run; her chest shakes uncontrollably, and her hands fall cold. “Dad…” She doesn’t know if Opa’letta is telling her this mess is real, but she feels it. She feels it in her skin, her gut, her bones…
“All I feel is you…” Aurora jumps into her parents’ arms, panting. “All I feel is you, all I feel is you…” She repeats over and over, gasping and sobbing in between phrases. A cold fire burns in her, on her, all around her, coming from her. She doesn’t know, she just… feels…
“All I feel is you, all I feel is you…” The star observes as Aurora’s physical body is calming, her pulse is becoming normal again, her color is returning, her sweat is drying, and still, she whispers those words, tears falling from her real eyes.
“What is she saying?” Ares asks, stepping forward, Orion and Gem behind him.
“She is coming into a state where she has faced and successfully conquered her greatest fear and struggle,” The star turns to face Aurora’s friends, a smile on her face. “Meeting her parents…”
Orion gasped, or was it a sigh? Either way, he was relieved in an odd fashion. Gemini had silent tears of joy running down her wet cheeks, Ares crossed his arms in winning amazement, he knew his friend could and would always brave stuff like this…
Aurora’s parents started disintegrating, her Epiphany would soon come to an end and the final stage of The Reflection would come; The Finale.
“We love you Aura, and we will never forget you,” Leo says as Aurora pulls away, dry tears crust at the curves of her nose and cheeks, at the bottom of her jawline.
“We will be with you again, our dear daughter,” Pandora wept, she finally let herself fall apart. Leo stood as a strong and silent wall, not daring to show weakness to his daughter, hoping she would be as strong as him when she becomes a woman; he chokes down his tears as mucus layers his throat.
Aurora pants, “Will I ever see you again?”
“We will try everything in our power to have you in our arms again, Aurora, this time, in real life.” Pandora sobbed loudly, the bottom half of her body already white nothingness, dust.
“We will cross time and space to reunite with you again, I give you our promise, Aura!” Leo shouted as the last of them would fade away soon, a lone tear falling from the brim of one eye. “We promise!” Leo shouted once more.
They faded away into a white dust carried on the wind as the sun’s light seemed to glow brighter until it exploded.
Then, only darkness surrounded Aurora.
Aurora wandered in the dark space, she called out. She felt alone and scared, yet relieved and euphoric.
Wow, she really met her parents. There’s just something about it that scared her, maybe realizing that they really were bad people like she’d been told her whole life. Or that they didn’t want her. But that wasn’t true, and she knew this wasn’t just her imagination—no, this was most likely some sort of memory-based realm, and the souls of her parents were able to meet her here, maybe because their yearning and commitment to their daughter was so strong.
Something even felt different on Rori’s head, she shook it and discovered a yellow cosmos flower in her hair.
Did her mother give her one last dying gift?
Something picked her up. She doesn’t know what it was, but it didn’t make her feel like she needed to fight back. It would be a lie to say it was a wind, but it wasn’t just plain levitation. It was a sort of cold presence, causing flotation in midair.
Aurora began levitating as Orion shouted to the star, “What do we do?”
Ares looks up in astonishment, interlacing his fingers behind his head as he drops his mouth wide open. Orion looks up to Aurora’s levitating figure and his eyes fill with worry. Gemini, however—too caught in the moment with adrenaline—acted and lunged forward, taking her royal blue belt from her waist. She through it up to tie it around Aurora’s ankle, she got a hold of her friend.
“I need help!” She shouted to Ares and Orion; they ran to help in her struggle to get Aurora back to the ground.
“Children, it is best to leave the girl in the state she is, I sense no danger in her Astral surroundings.” The star paused as Ares and his friends turned, they ceased their straining for a moment. “If she is interrupted, we will run into a problem. Which would be catastrophic, because she has done so well. So catastrophic in fact, that violating this state could shatter her mind…”
Orion looks back up, signaling to Gem that she should take the belt from Aurora’s ankle. Ares helps Gemini and they all stand back…
Aurora’s breath condensates before her eyes as her head is forcefully brought to tilt back, further and further. She whines and groans as her neck strains, she looks up to see the cold force—a ball of light.
The ball of light speaks, it says in a voice brought forth by the divine feminine, “Aurora “Lightbringer” Borealis—you have been chosen by The Goddess Who Sings, Opa’letta, for a great many things. Long ago, on a planet before your home, a girl named Celeste Lyra was told by a Seer of Aaliyah that from her descendants would come a young woman of renown…” The voice halted their speech, Aurora pondered if the voice was talking about her, if this Celeste was an ancestor of hers. Most likely. “Aurora, your mother was not a heartless, murdering abandoner. Quite the opposite. I’m sure you know now just how much she loved you, and you should know—she was a Star-Pirate. Her alias was Ophelia Pallas, she used her false name when she was in her youth, stealing shipments of food and other necessary supplies from Star-Ships, so that she may give them to the poor on not only her own planet, but other planets, too. But when she fell in an intimate love with your father—a poor farmer she met while delivering the fruit a prier heist bore—she gave up her life as a nomad, revealing her true identity to him and bearing you, her only and beloved daughter.”
Aurora’s eyes turned to glass, she crinkled them shut as tears fell, silently sobbing as she still levitated in darkness; the cold surrounded her for what seemed like an infinite amount of space.
“Their lives were taken, however, when an old debt showed up to collect itself…”
Aurora gasped, panting for breath, but how was she supposed to breath with no air? Her lungs hurt when she whimpered still, suffering in silence as the air continued to feel sucked out.
“Aurora,” The voice called, the ball of pure light met Aurora’s blurred sight as she looked up to it once more, calm fell over her, not much, though. “You have a choice between two paths, you are at The Crossroads Of Destiny now.” Aurora waited for further instruction, “You can choose to pursue your destiny now, becoming a girl of great renown with the change you will bring this Galaxy, and living out your live with your parents. Or you can chase your dream of finding Earth with your friends… The choice is yours…”
Aurora considered her choices, after all, the truth about her parents—and the fact that they weren’t a ruthless Pay-To-Kill couple that abandoned her so young—hit her like the train she and her friends used to hang out at.
It needed time to settle in, and she finally said, “I missed my chance to meet my parents, and I know that if I continue this path, I might never know them fully.” Pain-lined tears dried around her eyes. “But at least I can keep their memory alive, and a good one at that, if I myself choose to do good things, whether or not I become renowned for them.”
The ball of light knew what was coming.
“I’ve made my choice; I’ll continue to hunt for Earth and be happy with my friends because I know that’s what my mom and dad would’ve wanted!” Aurora broke as tears streamed down her cheeks, she wept and scram the last part of her sentence, unable to contain her heartbreak any longer.
The light considered Aurora’s choice, knowing it set her on the path Opa’letta picked for her.
“Ah,” The light let out a soft, yet rumbling, low sigh. “A good choice, I can’t say I wouldn’t have done the same.” Aurora narrowed her eyes in confusion. “You have chosen the right path, Lightbringer, for it sets you on a great path.” The light draws Aurora closer; the latter shields her eyes with her arms, exclaiming. “Very well, I will transport you to where you can carry on with your friends,” Aurora yelps out, getting sucked into the light more and more, fighting to get out of the cold grip around her. “You have reached The Finale…”
Aurora yells out as her eyes sting with light and—
Aurora collapses to the floor, waking with the slam of her body hitting solid ground. She gasps as now all she sees are her friends and the star. Pain coats her body like an antique varnish; sticky yet dry, dusty, and old.
Orion, Gemini, and Ares run over to see if Aurora is fine, Orion collapses to his knees and cradles Aurora as she hyperventilates in shock, fear, and awe.
One lone, yellow cosmos flower materializes on Aurora’s head.
She’s home…
Gemini asks if she’s alright, as Aurora is still shook; silent, proud tears forming around her eyes. Aurora holds her chest with one hand as she smiles and pants, her other hand gently reaching for the flower, touching its petals delicately.
Aurora takes her time to steady herself and explains what she saw and heard, how she met her parents in a memory-based realm, and her ‘Destiny’… Whatever that means.
The Queen Onulet walks over to Aurora as the latter is struggling to stand on wobbly, weak knees; Ares hefted Rori’s arm over his shoulder to help her stand, Gemini did the same.
“I see you have survived The Reflection. I’m sure it has made you a different person?” The star asks as Aurora inhales slowly.
“I’m sure only time will give you that answer. After all, maturity isn’t sold by the dozen…” Aurora finally is able to semi-stand on her own, she backs away to let her friends decide who’ll go next.
The star waits for the command to start as Orion raises his arm and says, “I’m next!”
The star claps her hands together and says, “Then let’s get started—shall we?”
Credits:
Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash
Photo by Ashton Mullins on Unsplash
Photo by Kitera Dent on Unsplash
Photo by Chantal & Ole on Unsplash
Photo by Chantal & Ole on Unsplash
Photo by Hatmi Pratiwi on Unsplash
Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash
I know this Episode has REALLY been anticipated and it's FINALLY out! I hope you all enjoy it, it took me a long time to write and edit between life, college, and other things. I really want to expand The Universe of HSW with this! Please like, share, and subscribe! Thank you!
A.M. Productions,
Produce, Before Dawn