AN: Just putting up old stories~
...
"Never again."
"My Queen?" Hermes asked, his whisper matching the breaking of her voice.
"Never again," she avowed, pressing the regolith into place above where her daughter's heart would have been, feeling the cool sand beneath her hands, driving home that those hands would never comfort Pandia, her sweet, bright, beautiful Pandia, ever again. "Mark my words, Hermes, and make it holy law: A citizen of the Moon is never to know a denizen of the Earth. Cut all ties, cease all visits; the time of Earth-Moon relations are at an end. We will continue to protect them, but from afar, as silent guardians and nothing more, so that Pandia's fate will never repeat itself."
The white cat nodded and departed, his paws soft on the white sand; she trusted he would do his duty, and in moments felt a power on the wind that would spread her message to all of her subjects. She took comfort in that; it would never happen again. Never again.
Ersa sobbed, and, her heart aching like fire, Selene grabbed across the grave to pull her surviving daughter to her breast, the two of them making an arch over Pandia's final place of rest. She stroked her girl's silver hair with one hand, the other holding her close as her daughter's tears soaked her chiton, and while she knew that neither of the pair of lovers were to blame, she was certain she was making the right choice. Ersa would never know the life of Earth as Pandia had; she would never walk in its streams, never feel its breeze tease her hair, never hear the waves crashing against its shores or smell its greenery on a warm summer's eve. She would never know the joys of colorful sunrises or the warmth of beautiful sunsets; she would never meet the myriad of lifeforms Earth had to offer, never interact with the humans of its kingdoms, but she would be safe from this fate. As her mother, she would do her best to bring elements of Earth up to their Kingdom for Ersa to know, would install means to view everything she was being denied, sew magic into their city to synthesize experiences native to their star, but fate could not be tempted again. Her daughters were too beautiful, too magnificent, too magnetic and powerful, just as all of her descendants were bound to be, and while they had the ability to be infinitely happy they had in equal amounts the ability to end just as Pandia had in the darkest of tragedies, and Love always found a way bring that crossroads to the forefront. Of all humans on Earth, Musaeus with his many gifts was the most worthy of Pandia, and yet their love had not been enough to save them.
"It is done, my lady," a deeper voice called, and Selene pulled back from her daughter to look upon Hecate just as smoke overcame her humanoid form and the Mau returned to her true shape. The black cat stared at her with eyes that would be unnerving to so many, but all Selene could see there was the compassion alongside the anger, the loss with the pride of justice served, and in them knew the ally she had depended upon so often to guide their ideas to fruition. "The Terrans are back where they belong, their memories erased; their ships have been destroyed, their records demolished - they will no longer know of your great kingdom or what purpose it serves."
"And the other?" she asked, the question catching in her throat. She did not need to name the woman she spoke of - she would never think that name again, never allow it to be spoken, for repeating such a name would give it more attention and life than it deserved.
"The murderess has departed for Hades' realm," Hecate replied steadily, and door closed in Selene's heart. She would not mourn the one responsible for this, and while it may be morally grey to do so, she did not fault Hecate taking this action without consultation.
Ersa's breath caught in her throat again and Selene reached out for her daughter once more, this time drawing her to her feet. She lead her girl's delicate steps around the grave of her departed sister and the pair of them, with Hecate keeping pace, passed by the grave of Musaeus. Wrapping her arm around her daughter's shoulders, she escorted her new heir to their palace, noting that the white marble facade seemed emptier than before without Pandia's light and warmth. "Have you investigated the crystal?" she asked, stepping up the stairs only too recently cleaned of blood.
"Not in great depth," Hecate replied, "but already I sense enormous power emanating from it, power with the potential for great good or great evil, a power as brilliant as your light and as cold. It is as though it is your power that it holds - the power of a Goddess, a Deity of this celestial body. Never before has a Goddess's tear crystallized so there is much to study, but I feel like this Silver Crystal is fated to be of great import, to yourself and your descendants."
"My descendants?" she stated, requesting clarification as she looked upon Ersa's crown, still holding her daughter close as they walked.
"Though it is of your making, I feel your daughter may be able to harness its powers as her own, with training."
She swallowed, nodding. Her powers were great and marvelous; they could create illusions, act with force, heal the wounded… though not bring back those who were dead. If Pandia had had access to her skills… but she could not allow herself to travel that path. Ersa would have access. Ersa's daughters would have access. They could protect themselves and this Kingdom she left them; eventually, that meant she, Selene, could finally rest. She could fade away, joining her parents, her siblings, the First Ones who had released their hold and forsook their claim on the mortal realm, and not worry after her daughter's fate. "Look into it," she stated, swallowing hard. "Make it your top priority. I want to know everything you can find out about that crystal and its use." She paused, considering too the emotional loss Ersa faced in the death of her only sibling, "Search, too, as to whether there are others like it and who their bearers may be."
"Yes, my Queen," Hecate replied, and disappeared in a rush of smoke.
Ersa paused, suddenly like marble in her arms, and Selene followed her gaze to the single rose on the floor, its bud smashed and tread upon, petals strewn about its broken form. Her heart stuttered. Pandia.
Roses would never be grown on the Moon.
Never again would one of her daughters know the Earth and its dangers.
Never again.