Isabel felt her Raider kick out of hyper drive and did a quick roll to make sure that Brody and Mason had made the trip with her. When she saw the two ships beside her, she let out a sigh of relief that her crazy plan had actually worked without even a hitch.
All her life, Isabel had had some crazy luck that saw her through. When she was six, the Cylons had been moving her from one facility to the other when they came under attack by the Resistance. Every transport had been destroyed in the skirmish except the one she was in. When she was eleven, a disturbance near the edges of Caprica City distracted the Cylons, keeping the toasters busy just long enough for her to slip away from them. Only a few days ago she had been searching for a new source of food when she stumbled upon two strangers who gave her the means to escape the Cylons and Caprica completely.
Apparently, her luck had held for this jump, too. In fact, if the voices screaming in her head were speaking the truth, her luck had just hit an all time high.
"Oh my gods," she whispered, staring in awe at the planet that lay before her. "Oh my gods."
"What's the matter?" Brody asked.
"Absolutely nothing. Do either of you two realize what planet this is?"
"One that can sustain human life?" Mason volunteered.
"It's Kobol. You left everyone you love on the birthplace of the thirteen tribes."
"No fraking way," Brody yelled as Mason let out a whoop.
"Let's land and check this place out, see if your friends are still hanging around."
The three ships dipped lower, and Mason pointed out a range of mountains to the south. She had taught the children of Galactica well. They would be over there using the mountains for cover from Cylon detection.
"Do you think they're still there, Mason?" Brody asked her as they began to prepare for landing.
Mason was startled by his comment as Brody had barely said a word to her since she had been so vicious to him in the Caprican exosphere. He had been pissed off, and rightfully so, but now he was acting as if nothing had happened. She didn't want to analyze the situation though so she concentrated on her controls as her ship touched down.
"Well?" Brody asked as soon as she had gotten out of her plane.
"They're still here. For some ridiculous reason, they think I'm a miracle worker."
Brody stared at her a second before ruffling her hair. "You kind of are, Mason." With a smirk, he turned and walked over to Isabel. "Let's get to hiking, my little golden child."
"Funny," Isabel replied, rolling her eyes as she started to hike up the mountain. She was trying her best to concentrate on taking herself, Brody and Mason the last few steps to their goal, but there was one detail that kept nagging at her brain. She was so distracted that she didn't realize Mason had moved from her position hiking next to Brody to walk with her.
"What's wrong, Izzy?"
"Izzy?"
"We're big on nicknames in this bunch," Mason shrugged. "You won't believe what some of the kids call me, but that's a totally different subject all together. Something's bugging you. Tell me what it is."
"It's nothing."
"It's something. Otherwise, you wouldn't be so fraking distracted. I could have killed you ten different ways in the past few minutes and you wouldn't have had a clue until it was too late." Mason put her arm around Isabel's shoulder and gave her a squeeze. "Come on. Tell your big sis what's the matter."
Isabel stared at her for a minute before pushing Mason's arm off her shoulder. "I'm not big on the touching."
"Got it," Mason said, holding up her hands in surrender. "Doesn't mean you're off the hook. You're still going to tell me what's wrong."
"Something isn't adding up. There was a passage from the Book of Pythia that came to mind when I hooked into the Cylon mainframe. It was what clued me in to our needing the Bow of Artemis."
"I was wondering where you got that."
"The passage says that the Bow of Artemis can only be wielded by the Three Fates. I'm not that familiar with the myths of our people, but I do know that the Three Fates were all women. Obviously it's not talking about Brody and the only people we're going to find are a bunch of children."
"Don't expect them to be in diapers or anything, Isabel. They're not that young."
"It doesn't matter," Isabel said. After a moment, she groaned in exasperation. "The Three Fates will wield the ancient Bow of Artemis, their goddess and protector, and shall deliver paradise unto the whole human race. What does that even mean when there is no clue who it's referring to?"
Mason grabbed Isabel's hand and pulled her to a stop before looking back at Brody. True to best friend form, he recognized a plea for privacy when he saw it. He gave Mason a quick nod and sat down under a nearby tree to clean his gun.
Isabel groaned again. "What the frak does it mean?" she cried out to no one in particular.
Mason took a deep breath. "I'll tell you what it means. It means that you better hope the rest of Galactica's children are still on this planet."
Isabel looked at her in complete bewilderment. "What? Why?"
"I know that scripture. It was the one my mother recited to me every night before I went to bed when I was little. I liked the idea of three sisters. I never had anyone but my mother and Lee and Brody really. All I wanted was a little sister or brother." Mason brushed a tear from the corner of her eye and smiled at Isabel. "Sorry, off track there for a second. I didn't realize this was going to be so hard to say. The Three Fates were sisters who held the fate of humanity in their hands. There was Lachesis who sings of the things that were, Clotho who sings of the things that are, and Atropus who sings of things that will be."
"I don't understand."
"It all fits perfectly. For thirteen years, I've been the oldest survivor of Galactica. That put me in charge of remembering what life had been like, the kind of people the other children's parents had been, and how things had ended for us. And you! You're the key to what's going to happen. You are going to lead us to the thirteen colony and you keep us safe inour journey."
"Mason!" Brody yelled, pointing to the mountain path in front of them
She turned in time to see a pretty blond girl running down the path towards them, yelling and waving. "That's Amy Keikeya," Mason said, turning to smile at Isabel. "She's the youngest of all of us. The only home she's known has been in the present day. More importantly, she's my sister." Mason let out a small laugh at Isabel's stunned expression. "I guess you're her sister, too."
"Mas! You came back!" Amy shrieked, jumping into Mason's outstretched arms. "Bodee! You're not dead."
"No, I'm not, kiddo," Brody said, reaching over to mess up her hair. "And neither are you."
"And neither is anyone else. You told me to watch out for them and I did. Not one Cylon has found us."
"Good. We're proud of you."
Amy finally noticed the third person with them. "Who's she?"
"That's Isabel. She's the one we were looking for."
"Helo's daughter? Wow."
Mason's heart filled up at the pure joy that was radiating in Amy's eyes. It was miraculous how innocent Amy had stayed through all the grief and pain they had experienced. "Brody, could you take Isabel up the hill to the camp? I need to talk to Amy for a second."
"No problem," Brody said.
Mason waited until Brody had ushered Isabel out of their sight before turning back to Amy. "Walk with me back to camp?"
"Sure." Amy slid her hand into Mason's as they started to walk slowly down the gravely path. "Is there something wrong?"
"No, not at all. I just wanted to apologize."
"For what?"
"I figured something out a few years ago, and I've been keeping it a secret from you. It's killed me, but I really thought it was best. Our future was so bleak. I didn't want you to start forming attachments until I could be sure that we were safe." Mason shook her head. "Gods. I'm just avoiding the subject, aren't I?"
"Pretty much."
"Amy, you know my mother raised you like you were her own daughter."
"Yeah and I'll always be grateful to her. I mean, I knew she only did it because I was just a baby when my father was killed and she felt sorry for me but she was a good mom."
"She didn't do it out of pity or some sense of duty, Amy. She did it because she loved you and wanted to keep you safe. She treated you like her daughter because you were her daughter."
Amy shook her head. "That makes no sense, Mason."
"Trust me, Amy. If you heard the way your father spoke to my mother the day the Cylons destroyed the Fleet, you would have realized what was going on between them. I don't know any of the specifics, but I think that there was a mutual love and respect between them that evolved into something more." Mason paused as her family's camp came into view. They were there. Every last one of them.
"Does this mean you're my sister?" Amy asked.
"Yes. And not only me, but Isabel, too."
"Isabel's another one of Starbuck's daughters? How is that possible? I thought you were looking for some kind of Cylon-human hybrid child of Helo's."
"She is Helo's child with Boomer. Helo's my father, Amy."
Amy's eyes widened. "Really? This is too much!"
"Do you want to meet her?"
Amy nodded, and Mason called to Isabel to come over to them. "Amy, this is Isabel Agathon. Isabel, Amy Keikeya. I know you two aren't related by blood, but I still want you to think of each other as family. It's important."
The two girls stared at each other awkwardly without saying a word, and Mason realized how hard this must for them. Neither one had believed they had any family left a few hours earlier, and suddenly they both had siblings. Mason figured it was her duty, as the eldest, to give them something about which to talk. "Isabel, would you please tell Amy about her part in getting us to the thirteenth colony? I have a few things I need to do."
Isabel nodded and immediately started telling Amy about the prophecies of Pythia. Mason smiled and left the two girls alone to get to know one another.
Her first instinct was to go to the group and start asking about what had happened while she and Brody were gone. But then she felt a twinge of fear in the pit of her stomach. They had survived a whole year without her guidance. Who was she to come barreling back into their lives, demanding to have control again?
Her fear made Mason veer to the right until she was out of sight of the group. She found a rock under one of the trees and sat down to watch the sun set. This planet was truly amazing. She couldn't believe they had just happened upon the birthplace of humanity by chance. It was unreal.
This was the moment she had been working towards for as long as she could remember. So many of the people she loved had died to make this happen. It hurt to think of what it had cost them to find a way to be free. Life shouldn't be like that, and Mason smiled as she realized that life would never be like that again. For any of them.
As the stars began to peek out from behind the clouds, Mason felt the tension start to leave her body, and she allowed her eyes to drift slowly shut. Something heavy touched her shoulder, making her jump, and she opened her eyes to see Brody looking down at her.
"Scoot over," he whispered.
Mason did as he said and was surprised when he sat down beside her, wrapping his arms around her tightly. Even though she knew she shouldn't let him hold her, Mason couldn't bring herself to pull away. "We did it, Brody. We actually did it."
"I know." He reached up and traced the outline of her lips with his finger. "I don't think I've ever seen you smile so big. It makes you look beautiful."
Mason rolled her eyes. "I'm covered in dirt and blood, Brody. I hardly look beautiful."
"Hey, I know what my eyes see and they see beautiful."
She shook her head again laying it on his shoulder. "We did good, didn't we?"
"Yeah. Our parents would be proud," he said quietly.
Mason began to cry as she remembered her mother and the man that had raised her as his own. They had been the best parents she could have asked for, and if circumstances had been different, she would still have wanted them to be the ones who raised her. It was the love they had shown her that kept her strong when times got tough.
"Mason?" She lifted her head to look at Brody. "I love you. You know that, right?"
Mason stared into his eyes and wished that she could pretend he meant it only as her best friend, that he was telling her he loved her in the same way that he had told her every day since they were small. She wished that he was just trying to let her know that she would always have someone in her life no matter what.
Obviously he meant all those things when he told her that he loved her, but they both knew it would be a lie if they said that was all he meant.
"Brody…" she began.
"No, Mason. Answer me. You know that I love you, right?"
She shifted her eyes from his and sighed. "Of course I do."
"You and me, we're always going to be a part of each other?"
"No matter what," she agreed, forcing herself to look at him.
"Then you won't mind if I ask you to marry me?" he said tentatively.
"You are such a fraking idiot," Mason sighed, putting her head back down on his shoulder as she reached up to entwine her fingers with his. "Completely insane."
"Is that a yes?"
"That was a maybe… if I don't kill you before we reach the thirteenth colony."
"I'll take it," he said, kissing her lightly on the top of the head.
"Sorry to break up the party, kids," Isabel said, stopping in front of the rock they sat on. "But Amy and I think we should do this before something comes up to stop it."
Mason noticed the wooden bow in Isabel's hands and pulled herself out of Brody's arms. "What do you mean 'we should do this'?"
"The Scriptures speak of the Tomb of Athena on Kobol. Turns out your little band of survivors has been camping out right in front of it the whole time. I figured it was worth a shot so maybe you, me, and the shrimp should go in and see if the gods left us a little present."
Mason turned around to see Amy standing a few feet behind them and gave her a wave before turning back to look at Isabel. "You think we have to do this, don't you?"
"My Cylon senses tell me it can't hurt."
"Fine. Brody, stay with the others. I want you to make sure that no one follows us. I have a feeling what's about to happen is only for the three of us."
Brody nodded and, after intertwining his fingers with Mason's, lead the four of them back towards camp. As they got closer, Isabel indicated that they had reached their destination. Brody regretfully let go of Mason's hand, but not before he pulled her in for a quick kiss.
"Give 'em hell," he whispered and walked away without saying another word.
Mason watched him until he was out of sight and then turned to the opening in the mountainside in front of them. "Let's get this done," she said, her voice grim.
They hesitantly walked into the dark cavern. Pieces of stone and marble littered the entryway, and Mason could make out the bases of half eroded statues. It looked like this place had been a temple of worship just as the scriptures said.
"That one's Apollo. At least I think it was at one point," Mason told the girls, pointing out the figure that had represented a god so many years ago. Althought it was the best-preserved statue of all, it still was missing quite a few parts.
"I thought he was supposed to be an archer," Amy said, stepping forward to touch the cool marble.
"Maybe he would like to have the bow of his twin sister." Isabel said and held up the Bow of Artemis.
"Do it," Mason said.
She and Amy waited in anticipation as Isabel stepped forward and gently rested the artifact in the hands of the god. A small click echoed through the cavern as the bow slid perfectly into place, but other than that, nothing happened.
"Are you sure we really needed that thing?" Mason asked Isabel.
"Positive. It's the critical piece that shows us the way to Earth."
"It's not doing anything," Amy pointed out.
"Maybe it needs to warm up or something," Isabel suggested. She reached out to smack the bow a few times. Still nothing happened.
"Is this all we have?" Amy asked as she took a few steps back from the statue. "Because I say we're screwed if this is i-"
She was cut off as her foot caught on something and she went tumbling to the ground. She scrambled around for something to hold onto until her hands hit something cold and metallic. "Stupid piece of centuries old crap," she growled as she started to chuck the thing far away from where she might trip over it again.
"Stop!" Isabel yelled, throwing herself at Amy and grabbing her hand.
"What the frak are you doing?" Amy shouted as Isabel pried the piece of metal from her.
"Do you realize what this is?" she asked, breathless with excitement.
Mason stared in bewilderment as Isabel carefully dusted off the piece of junk. It began to catch the light, and Mason suddenly realized that it wasn't just any old metal rod. "That's the Arrow of Apollo. It's supposed to be in Delphi."
"I know," Isabel laughed. "I think it's what you and Brody were looking for in that museum."
Mason shook her head. "If it was supposed to be in Delphi, how the frak did it get to Kobol?"
"Obviously no one here knows," Amy said. She stepped forward and grabbed it back. "Let's not stand around and talk about what it might mean, though."
Before Isabel or Mason could stop her, Amy stepped forward and strung the arrow into the Bow of Artemis. A bright flash filled the cavern, and when her eyes adjusted, Mason realized that they were standing outside in the center of a ring of ancients stones carved with writing.
"Do you guys get a feeling we're not on Kobol anymore?" Amy asked, staring around in awe.
Isabel nodded and took a few steps forward. When nothing happened, she kept moving forward until she was outside the circle created by the stones. She looked up at the clear black sky filled to overflowing with stars before turning to smile at Mason. "Do you realize where we are?"
Mason turned to look at Amy, and they both began to laugh. She threw her arms up and flung herself back into the cool, wet grass.
"Oh gods. We're home."
END