Episode 15: Cosmic Revelations – or, Opportunities for Drama in the 11th Hour!

When they appeared back in Seattle, day was just breaking. Mallory's eyes shot around the morning street, paranoid that someone might have seen them in the pale light. But the street was empty.

They moved to a side alley and un-transformed, an odd atmosphere between them. Immediately, the pain of her broken collarbone intensified. Carmen leaned against her side, as if to support her in case she needed it. She didn't; she thought that putting her other arm in a raised position might only exacerbate her injury. Still. She wasn't complaining about the closeness.

Even so, it was time to face the music. She lived closest, and so it was unanimously decided that she would be brought home first. She needed medical attention, and that meant Doris was going to have to know about it. As they marched up the path, teen party clothes hilariously casual after the insanity they just endured, Carmen spoke up. "Do you really think it's over?"

Rory peered back to her. "That's what that Elpis guy seemed to think."

"Hey," Narma grabbed their attention, waving a hand in the air. "Hey uh, during that last attack, did you guys see some kind of freaky images, or…?"

Celene, who had been decidedly quiet since their battle, pattered up faster to join the group. "It wasn't just you," she stated. "I believe you received flashes of your old memories."

Holy shit, that was right—Carmen had explained the whole 'reincarnation' thing on their way to the temple. That was unbelievable. Mallory had kind of always thought that when she died, that was it. She would either ascend to some sort of afterlife, or disintegrate into the void depending. Still, she supposed this made a fucking solid case for her destiny theory.

"What does that mean, though?" Carmen murmured. She kept facing forward, probably not wanting to draw any more attention to them than being four incredibly beat-up teenagers already would. She would make a good agent. She had a good anxious energy about her. "Celene, you said we weren't aliens. But we kind of are. Or, were."

Celene's reply was mumbled. "I suppose…"

Carmen breathed. "I don't know what to do with that information."

Mallory reached over, patting her on the shoulder. "We should recon later. Right now, I just want to get patched up and sleep."

They turned the corner onto her street, and it was like a messed up deja vu. She saw the cop cars parked in front of the home, and this time Doris was out on the street, actively speaking with them. It was about at this moment she realized her teammates didn't actually know what her home was, and bringing them in front of a giant house with a sign labeled WEDDINGER TRANSITIONARY FOSTER HOME was going to be a dead giveaway.

(Maybe if they stayed far back enough, they wouldn't see the sign.)

They were unfortunately a spectacle. When Doris glanced down the street, she saw them immediately, and she thumped down the street in her house gown and slippers towards them. With their hands balled at her sides, Mallory could tell she was angry. But she slowed as she got closer, eyes examining her from a distance as her gray brows furrowed. "Jesus, girl, what happened to you?" Her steps picked up and the others backed off as she grabbed her face.

"Ow," Mallory answered flatly, the jolting agitating her broken collar. "Yeah, my collar bone is broken. I'm going to need an ER."

Doris's brows rose in alarm, but she apparently wasn't done. "Where were you?"

Was that what this was about? Calling the police over a late night seemed a little extreme—

"You've been gone for two days!"

Two…?

She flicked her gaze to the girls beside her, whose eyes were wide as they glanced between one another.

Two days?

They had to answer questions for the police. The story they came up with was that they'd gone up into the mountains that evening near Carmen's cabin and had gotten trapped by a landslide. Carmen had come up with it on the fly; she was a surprisingly effective liar. It explained their injuries, not being able to call ("no service,") and why it took them so long to get home. It was kind of genius.

There were many questions, but luckily the police lost interest once they put the blame on themselves.

But it had been two days.

Celene explained that space travel via Sailor abilities might not line up exactly with the linear progression of time on Earth. Hence, more time had passed than it had actually felt like when they were out in space. "It's an unforeseen side-effect."

When Rory got home, her mother opened the door with a sob of relief and pulled her into an enormous hug. She's gotten a call from the police. "I was so worried, baby girl. I can't believe my baby got stuck in a landslide," she sniffed. "You're grounded."

Rory let herself be enveloped in the warmth of the hug—it was good to have, after everything she'd been through in the past couple days, real-time. She squeezed back. "I'm alright, mama." Briefly, her mind wandered into the territory of what would have happened if she hadn't come back. That was a dark, dark place, though, and she figuratively backed out almost immediately.

She ended up staying home all day. It was Wednesday now, but she was glad to have the recovery time. She knew the others were worse off than her. And she had no idea what Mallory's situation was. The building she'd led them to the previous day was obviously not some regular house. Even so, Rory didn't want to pry. She got the feeling, after seeing the deer-in-headlights expression on Mallory's face that the reveal hadn't been intentional. She could tell them when she was ready.

Thoughts preoccupied, Rory crashed in her bed, more than exhausted.

She woke several hours later, in the mid-afternoon, and Celene was waiting at the window.

Rory let her in. "So. There are some conversations that need had." She laid back down on the bed. She felt like she could sleep for twelve more hours, but right now, she needed answers more than she needed sleep.

"Y-yes," Celene responded to her. The cat leapt up on the bed, taking a seat. "What…do you wish to know?" Before she could answer her, the cat said, "I've honestly been wondering to myself exactly how much you remember."

Rory thought back to the images she'd seen. Outside, there was a firefly buzzing at the window from the backyard. She didn't know how to feel now. She was happy that the pithos were gone, but what now? Would there be more enemies? From Sailor Moon's track record, she thought it was unlikely they'd be left alone. Still, she couldn't imagine going back to her day-to-day life as if nothing had happened, now that she knew what she knew.

Then there were the memories.

"I remember being on some kind of council with the others. And I remember there was a huge battle that broke out at some point, but I don't remember what it was about. It's all still really vague." There was one image that stuck out in her mind—the red bloom on a dress. She frowned. "Celene. Did I…die? During that battle?" The thought chilled her, even though she knew that, even if that was the case, she was alive now. "I think I got stabbed."

Celene's ears folded back. "Y-yes. You were killed during that battle, if it's the one I believe you are referring to."

"What…happened? How did any of this happen?"

Celene took a breath. "I have remembered more as well. I suppose I can explain that much. You're correct that you were on a council with the others. 'Kingdom' is actually a bit of a misnomer—simply a way to designate different parts of the universe as being under the control of differing parties. Our Kingdom was more of an oligarchy. You all shared equal power. There was no one ruler." There was a long pause. "We…were at war, with another Kingdom. The reasons are…fuzzy. But they had invaded our palace." Her tailed flipped erratically as Rory turned on her side to look at her. "During that final battle, they got through our defenses before we even had the chance to react. Our squadron was struck down. I was charged with guiding you, but I…couldn't protect you."

Rory sat up, folding her hands together. "Is…that why you get so nervous when I'm off by myself?" She had sort of brushed off Celene's anxiety as her being a worrywart, but this was…guilt swept over her. She hadn't realized Celene's fears stemmed from such a dark place. She let out a hard breath. "Girl…"

"I wasn't there," said Celene. "I was supposed to be watching over you, but when the others invaded, I wasn't there to warn you. If it weren't for me…" She broke off. The little cat's eyes were watery. "I failed you. I promised myself, once I found you, once I regained my memories, I would never let that happen again. But now each time you are away, I can't help but feel like you're in constant danger. I'll admit, I remembered this much before our excursion to the Ambrosia Observatory." She hugged her tail tight to her body. "I was afraid, if you knew the truth, you would lose all faith in me. But I couldn't risk you sending me away. I…I'm sorry, Aurora."

Rory's heart clenched, and she pulled Celene into a hug. She stroked the soft fur under her hands, the little cat folding her hand against her chest. "No, I'm sorry, girl. If I would have known you were dealing with that guilt, I wouldn't have brushed you off like I did. That was wrong." She pulled back, looking down at her guide, her words softening. "But hey—now we get a chance to start over. Those pithos are gone, and we both know more now. We can support each other while we try to figure all this stuff out!"

The cat sniffed, rubbing a paw over her eyes.

Rory said, "I think that's a pretty good outcome. Don't you?"

It was another moment before Celene spoke. "Yes, I suppose it is. You are right. We can…we can figure it out!"

Rory punched a fist in the air. "Yeah!"

Celene cleared her throat, standing up and turning away from her on the mattress. "Yes, well. Aurora, there is one more thing you need to be aware of."

Rory tracked Celene's movements. What was she doing? "Yeah? What's that?"

The cat's voice sharpened. "While I have lost the details of the conflict with the other kingdom, I do remember what they wanted. What we needed to protect. I suspect it's why we were sent so far away from our home."

Rory's brows furrowed. "Whoa, really?"

Celene said, "Yes. I don't know it's significance, but I probably should have brought it up earlier. Whatever it contains, I still have it. I also suspect it may be how Pandorana was able to track us so far." The crescent on her forehead began to glow. As she watched, eyes wincing from the light, an object materialized on the bed—rectangular, shiny, maybe as big as her backpack.

As the light dimmed, she took in the details. It was a chest, extravagantly detailed in gold crowning and designs like the ones from their Planet Attack circle. These weren't their symbols, though. These she didn't recognize.

On the top, there was a mirror and emblem like a star. The box had little gold feet, and a lock. The lock was shaped like a crescent moon. Rory stared at the gold and jewel tones of the box with a sense of wonder. She'd never seen anything so elegant before, at least not in person. "What is it?"

Celene narrowed her eyes. "It's the Cosmos Treasure Box. It's an artifact of incredible power, imbued with the upmost protection. Whatever is inside, it would have to be incredibly important."

Rory pursed her lips. "Important enough for others to come after it?"

Celene lowered her head, and Rory knew the answer before she said it. "Yes, I'm afraid so."

Just like that. They had overcome one foe, but the risk of others was just on the horizon. Rory felt a determined pulse inside her chest, and knew it was the star soul. Or star seed, apparently. The part of her that was older than herself resisted the urge to distinguish the difference. Semantics.

Regardless, this was her home—Earth, Seattle, and now the planet Boreas of Trappist-1. She felt the connection to both places at once. Going forward, and perhaps all of her life leading up to this moment, it was her duty to defend any threat that may befall them.

She knew what she had to do. She turned her eyes to Celene, ready for whatever was about to come. "We need to tell the others."

The Storybook Café wasn't too busy at 6:00 in the evening, but it was still busier than it had been when Carmen had met Mallory there for the first time. Outside, the sky was still light with the turn of the season, still an hour and a half before the sun would drop behind the mountain (singular). Until then, Carmen could see the light casting over the water, a bright sheen off of the pier. It was good to be back in the city.

It was only a moment past the hour when Mallory came to join her at the table bench. She was surprised the girl was able to get out at all after her injuries, but she now had her arm in a sling and had quickly replied when Rory had sent them a group text to meet at the café. "Hey," she murmured as the girl took a hard seat on the bench, and then looked as if she immediately regretted it. "How are you holding up?"

She could smell the hot tea in the girl's cup as opposed to her usual coffee as she sat down. Must be for her throat. "Oh, you know," said Mallory. "They can't bandage the collar, but this thing is supposed to impede movement."

She gazed to the dark marks around Mallory's neck, just visible under the edge of her hoodie hood. She knew they matched the one ugly wound stretching around Carmen's side. "You sound better," she said.

"Meh. I'm drugged up, so it's just totally numb back there." Mallory gestured to her own throat. "You?"

"I'm okay," she reassured her. "My father was a bit upset I left without talking to him again, but I told I was going to call him when I arrived then found out we had no signal. He seemed to accept it. He had a meeting tonight anyways."

Mallory slowly nodded.

Carmen wondered how the girl was dealing with all this. She'd had more thrown at her over the past few days than any of them had. Honestly, Carmen was a little surprised she hadn't taken off running the moment they'd touched back down on Earth. Carmen knew she had wanted to at one time.

The girl turned to look at her more directly. She was wearing her glasses again—she had pretty eyes, and though the sunglasses were a good look for her, she didn't need them. Carmen wondered if she could convince her not to wear them sometimes. Mallory asked, "Any idea what we're here for?"

"No, not really. Rory was really vague about what she needed. I only know as much as was in the group text."

Mallory blew her hair out of her face. "I guess we'll find out soon enough, then."

Carmen hesitated. They were alone for now…if she was going to ask the questions that had been lingering in her mind since the early morning, now would be the time. She quietly cleared her throat. "Mallory."

She could practically see the dread in the other girl's brow, even though her expression remained impassive. She was obviously trying really hard to seem casual, sprawled in the café bench even with her arm awkwardly fastened to her chest. Carmen felt a little guilty about bringing the subject up when Mallory wanted to dodge it, but she also thought it was important to make her own feelings clear. "The place that you brought us to this morning…it didn't seem like it was just a house."

Mallory completely ignored her, as if she hadn't spoken it all.

Carmen pursed her lips. "You seemed sort of nervous about it. I… I saw the sign." She went quiet for a moment, hoping for a response. Come on. Talk to me.

Mallory actually whistled. The action was such an outrageous parody of nonchalant-ness that Carmen would have found it funny if the girl didn't look so tense.

Carmen crossed her arms over her chest. "Mallory."

The girl dropped the facade, shifting to face her even though her expression stayed flat. "Okay. What about it? You can read. It's not a big deal."

Carmen sat back in her seat. I would have a much easier time of believing that if you weren't so defensive about it. At least she seemed like she might actually engage in the conversation now. She relaxed. "So. That woman. Was she your foster mom, or…?"

Once again, there it was—Mallory's mouse-brown eyes darted away from her. She huffed. "Not really. Weddinger's is," a breath, "a transitionary home. Basically, when you get to be my age, the chances of you getting adopted get kind of slim. Some of us opt out of the system after too many failed takes, you know? The home just kind of gives us a place to stay until we turn eighteen and prove we can support ourselves. And then we're out." She waved her hand, as if to brush the subject off. But…but?

Carmen was hit with a tightness in her chest. "So…you don't have a…?"

Mallory cut in. "Family? No."

Carmen knew her expression was giving away her sinking heart, and Mallory sneered. "Hey, don't look at me like that." She drummed her usable fingers over the table. "See, this is why I don't go blabbing it off to anyone. I hate that expression."

So she has just…given up on having a family? Sure, her own home life wasn't perfect, but to be at a point where you just never believed you would have one…she couldn't imagine what that felt like. It seemed indescribably sad.

She grabbed her hand. Mallory's gaze flew to the spot, and then back to her face. "I'm not judging you. I—I know I had a bit of a reaction there—" Her own gaze fell, hand rising unconsciously to her shirt collar, smoothing it to push down her own anxiety. "But you seemed so uncomfortable when we went there. I just don't want you to feel embarrassed, or something. That—that discomfort. Whatever you were feeling in that moment." She focused her eyes back on her friend's again. "That's an expression I want to avoid seeing again."

They stared at one another in mutual seriousness for another moment before Mallory broke and cracked a grin. "You're pretty cool, Carmen."

Carmen snorted, covering her mouth. "To be honest, I try very hard."

"Hey, guys."

They both looked up as Narma approached, waving to them before taking a seat in the opposite bench. Her hair looked freshly dyed, that silvery color again. "Hey. You know what we're here for?"

"Nope," Mallory shot back. "We're in the dark."

Narma tucked her arms behind her head. "I'm just glad this whole pithos thing is done. That was stress, girl."

Carmen nodded. "Me too." She placed a hand over her chest. "Even the world feels better. Does that make sense? It finally feels like things are back in balance."

Mallory took a sip of her tea. "That's some jedi-mind shit right there."

Carmen laughed. "Yeah, I think it does have something to do with our powers." Having all these new thoughts—memories? Ideas of memories—was really strange. This sense was just another side effect, she was sure. It had just taken root much earlier. She would have to ask Rory.

Narma sat up. "Speaking of powers, you were really kicking ass back on that asteroid. What happened? I've never seen you fire off attacks like that."

Mallory tipped her tea cup up. "You should have seen the big boss she took out in the desert. A real freak. Some guy named Lupido?"

Narma's eyes widened. She opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, the bell above the café's door rung. They turned to look.

There was Rory. She stood in the doorway, and they could see Celene peeking out from within the tote bag on her hip, hidden away. Rory looked like she had something to tell them.

Whatever it was, Carmen knew they would be ready to face it. There was a harmony between them now; even Mallory, as recent as it seemed they had met her.

The new soldiers of Seattle and the universe looked to their leader, ready for whenever was going to come next.

[END SEASON ONE]

From opposite ends of the city, two moving vans pulled into the Seattle area. In the eastern van, a young woman navigated her way through the new streets, her companion half-asleep in the passenger seat. "We're almost there," she muttered as the girl stirred, emerging from the cocoon of her blanket against the car door. She took a deep breath—it had been a long time since she had felt this hopeful.

The news reports in this area were almost too convenient to be true, but she was willing to take the gamble.

She peered over into the other seat as they came to a light. "I really think this could be it. What do you think?"

A/N: Hey everybody! I hope you enjoyed the story. :) This season is complete, but the next season is written in it's entirety and the first chapter will be going up over the next week! I have big plans for this series. :) If you get the chance, please leave a comment! I would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks for reading. :)