Episode 14: And We Shall Purify – Or, The Tragedy of Pandorana and the Agents of Purity
Narma bolted through the halls of the Temple, glancing back every few seconds as she struggled not to trip over fallen architecture in the way as that Elpis guy bounded after her. Her boot heels smacked over the stone. He leapt over the stray debris with ease, as though he had navigated the rubble a million times. If he really lived here, maybe he actually had.
Behind them further back, she could see Rory coming into the hallway too, a wave of pithos-looking creatures flooding in behind her. Then, at the top of the archway, she saw the kid peek through, flanked on all sides by slimy-looking black arms dripping black ooze. What the hell?
No time, though. The guard's sword, now coated in its own aura of shadow, crashed down above her head, but she kept running. There were other outcroppings around the outside of the temple—they'd seen them on the way in. She needed to get to a bigger space. She'd been trying to give Rory some room, just one person to deal with, but apparently that plan had backfired and now they were both being chased down in the hall.
"Halt," the guard commanded.
Did he think she was stupid? Hell no was she going to stop. "No can do, guy," she said, aiming her arm back, before hesitating. She couldn't fire anything that was going to interfere with Rory's ability to get through; she was just going to have to wait until they were in a more open area. She yanked her arm back to avoid getting sliced. "Missed me."
The temple opened up before them as the hallway they were traveling split in two. The two of them shot down one hallway, and Rory and the kid had moved down the other.
The man's face was determined, brow narrowed. "I can't allow you to harm the Lady Pandorana. We must proceed with the purification of this star system."
"I don't understand how you think you're going to be creating anything," Narma snapped, gaining some distance in the newly opened space before turning around. "From what I've seen of the last star system you guys got your hands on, it doesn't exactly look like any new universes are growing there."
The guy winced.
Narma narrowed her eyes, examining him as she dodged another blow from the sword. "Unless," she said, "you know that nothing's going to grow there."
The guy swallowed. He straightened his shoulders, regaining his composure. "What our motivations are is none of your concern."
If they had truly been monarchs in their past lives, he was about to get a rude awakening. "It's kind of our star system, buddy." She held her arms out. "Typhoon Strikedown!"
Rory heard the water crash down in the other corridor, but she was a little preoccupied. This little girl was some kind of abomination—she frantically dodged as the tentacle arms swiped out at her, too many of them to avoid all together. In all the tussle she'd happily managed to fire off at most of the pithos, though a few lingered in the hall behind them. They almost seemed to be hanging back intentionally. Like they were as scared of Pandorana as she was.
And she was. Scared, that is.
She wasn't sure exactly how she wanted this to go. Was she supposed to kill this kid then go home? How could she do that? And it wasn't as if she was just another monster; that was plain enough by the way she had spoken about the agents. She was something else. Her guard too, probably. But what did that mean? Were they aliens? Human?
Something was obviously wrong, though. Normal people didn't bleed ichor from their eyes.
She thrust her arms out. "Dire Stellar Gust!"
The wind moved right through the girl, but her extra limbs seemed to take some kind of effect from them. The blast hit one, and as she concentrated on keeping the wind going, the limb undulated in the air before vanishing. She knew, though, once the girl had had the chance to recover, the limb would be coming right back. She dodged, another limb swiping into her cheek. A sting, and she felt something hot drip down her face, saw red in the periphery of her vision. One hit from those things was enough to do damage on its own. How am I supposed to get rid of this girl?
The hallway behind them opened up into a broken plateau. Beyond, the awesome light of Trappist-1 blazed down on her shoulders.
"Switch!"
Rory only got the warning a few seconds before Narma came bolting from the left, the guard following behind her. She groaned, grateful to have that child's attention diverted but suddenly having a shadow-gilded sword coming at her. "You gotta quit doing that, girl."
The guard didn't let up on his assaults, though. His blade soared towards her, and she swept under the blow, sweat beading on her temple as she felt air pass the top of her head with the proximity of the blade.
Chest heaving with exertion, she called on a gust and held it like a shield, surging forward and holding the wind wall firm. With a push, he stumbled back. She panted, meeting his defiant expression.
She still wasn't sure what to do here. Was she supposed to kill him? Her stomach squirmed. A monster was one thing, and the agents were obviously not human but this…this felt different. "I don't want to hurt you guys," she frowned, the muscles in her legs burning as she braced the wind against the guard's renewed assault. "I just can't allow you to destroy this world. If you would just leave this place…"
The man's expression hardened. "You say these things as if you have any idea what you ask of us."
There was a wince-inducing slam as the room shook beneath their feet. Rory dared to glance behind and saw that Narma was struggling just as much as she had been. She didn't have her shield-like powers; it seemed she'd found a piece of rubble and was trying to fight off the limbs Pandorana had generated. But the creature had her pinned—the black liquid dripped to the floor as the limbs forced the stone fragment like a pillar against her throat.
Rory jolted. Dang, I have to do something—
There was the sharp, sudden patter of boots from the back of the room. "Hey freakshow!" Something came flying at Pandorana from behind, whacking her in the back of the head. "Pick on someone your own—" the voice broke off, seeming to reevaluate the words. "—size?"
Rory's gaze flew to the figures in the doorway, relief flowing through her. There stood Gamma and Delta Carmen and Mallory, peering at the wreckage of the room.
"It's a little girl," Carmen breathed, dark eyes showing stunned.
Elpis seemed just as alarmed at their appearance, as it was enough to distract him from his deadlock with Rory. Letting the wind drop, she summoned another gust and pushed. The force was enough to blast Elpis back, where he struck the column beyond with a crack as the stellar shards serrated his skin.
At the same moment, a scream broke through the room, conveying something Rory didn't know how to describe. All eyes turn to the Lady Pandorana, whose entire face was nearly coated in the black ichor, where the unholy noise was still streaming.
Narma had apparently lost her interest. She stumbled away, eyes wide as they all looked on the screaming child.
It was like oil was leaking from her, forming huge bubbles at her back that erupted, larger, more powerful limbs flopping to the ground as the mass grew. Rory's stomach lurched. It was as if the girl was wearing a huge backpack made of dark flesh. She'd gone from a 4-foot-high little girl to a towering ten-foot-high behemoth.
When she opened her mouth, Rory recognized the distorted tone she had spoken to her in before, but somehow, it had gotten worse. It was like it had additional layers. "THE STAR SOULS," she gurgled too loudly, "GIVE THEM TO ME THEY ARE FOR ME LET THEM BE MY SUSTAINANCE."
"Jesus H. Christ," Mallory cursed. "I didn't sign up for this! What kind of eldritch—"
Surprising all of them, the guard, Elpis, still struggling to stand up straight after the blow she'd dealt, guarded against the beast. "Let her go," he held his blade towards the creature as Rory straightened and got out of the way.
Suddenly, the monster's face changed entirely. Some of the stray ichor dripped away and the little girl stared at him eyes big and bright. She may as well have been staring through a mask of oil. "Elpis? We must collect their souls! You know we have to remake the universe." Her voice was as bright and facetiously cheery as it had been the first time Rory had heard it.
The guard grimaced, slowly lowering his blade. "O-…of course, my Lady."
Rory glanced wildly between them. This child needs Jesus!
The ichor resumed its position dripping down the girl's face. Whatever was happening, it wasn't over—they backed away as the ground gained clouds of shadow that bubbled and roiled, and then in an instant a second pair of the dark appendages thunked out onto the ground. Rory eyed them, still feeling sick but more alarmed. There wasn't going to be anywhere to get away from those things!
And then the pithos appeared.
The noise level rose in the room the moment she and the others saw the vague shadows gathering in the room's corners. It was like a switch had been flipped. They scattered.
She and Epsilon locked eyes, but she shook her head, gesturing to Gamma. They needed to take out the girl—obviously, she could summon as many of these things as she wanted, so the smart thing would be to take her out as soon as possible. It decreased the chance of additional injuries. Gamma and Epsilon's combination attack would stand a better chance of incapacitating the girl without killing her.
For now, though, they needed to deal with the immediate threat: the pithos, and Elpis. Whatever role he played in this, he was still resigned to fight them. She raised her arms, even though the effect of using her powers so consistently was wearing on her. Even the air in her lungs came with difficulty.
Delta hit first. She heard the soldier cry "Destiny Chain," the attack spearing through Elpis and a line of pithos, who dissolved on impact. The chain hit the black mass on Pandorana's back, but it didn't puncture.
"She's not the same," Beta called out to Delta, whose face had dropped. "She's too powerful."
Beta turned on Elpis. The man was nearly lost in the sea of creatures, but refocused when he met Beta's eyes again. She stomped toward him, calling on the gust as a force before her, though as more than her shield. Gripping his blade, he looked ready to resume their battle again. "Stand down," she shouted, sustaining the rush of sharp air as she forced him back. She was the only one who could keep up their attack consistently.
It was happening again, not feeling like herself. She could acknowledge that. But this time, she didn't immediately move to force down those thoughts. They were just her, after all. In some time and place, she was here, or close to here. If there was anything she could call on…
Come on, me. Give me something to work with here. She took a breath, the noise in the room ringing in her ears as Elpis pushed back against her, forcing her closer to his Lady. I need your help.
Then a feeling. Like seeing a far-away star.
No, not a far-away star.
A star right there. Inside her. She couldn't see the glow, not like when they Agents tried to steal it from her, but she could feel it, burning inside. It sang something new—
Boreas—
Carmen called out, "Mesmeric Pacification!" She'd tried it on a whim at first, but these pithos were so weak it was taking out flanks of them at a time. The light descended over them. Dust.
Of course, they weren't the problem. She yelped, leaping back as one of the child's arms whipped up from the ground at her. It didn't smack, but grabbed on, its flesh burning her through her cloths as it maneuvered towards her chest.
"Typhoon Strikedown!"
Narma's call didn't destroy the limb, but it created enough space as it crashed down for her to wiggle free. The wound in her side had only worsened, blood dripping freely to the floor. These things were incredibly dexterous. The girl yelped, the smaller limbs covering her head as the water fell over her.
Carmen peered out to the balcony beyond them. She grimaced, seeing the edge of the temple's overlook coming nearer and nearer. That had to be on purpose. The girl was fully grounded, the extra limbs keeping her suctioned to the floor when she wasn't trying to grab them up. If she could bring them to the edge, their ability to come at her was limited if they wanted to avoid being thrown over.
She peered back where Rory was further away. She was taking on the guard herself. She had to be tired. Please, hang in there.
"STOP. RESISTING." The girl howled, voice completely inhuman.
Carmen gasped as hands grabbed around her, the lion-like mouths of the pithos calling up memories from the skate rink. She felt teeth sink into her shoulder blade and a familiar suction—like the lions breathing in, she felt the tug on her soul. She threw her elbow back, heart pounding, and rapidly fired off another Pacification. The wave of pithos behind her dissipated.
Across from her Narma caught her gaze. "Hey!" She called. "We should—"
An appendage smacked her across the front. Carmen shoved through the pithos as the force knocked Narma to the floor, where the other limbs where just waiting to retrieve their prize.
No! She ran over, spastically dodging the other larger limbs. They just keep coming! There has to be something we can do—
Inside, something burned, gradual, but getting stronger—
Concordia—
Mallory nearly missed it, distracted trying to aid her friend. The burning didn't stop.
The limb was pierced—the creature-girl screamed as the limb fell limp, then turned to shadows. Her Destiny Chain dissipated, and Mallory sighed. Just a patch. It will be back.
Narma was hit bad. She kicked back away from the beast and Mallory saw Carmen rush to her side. Mallory yelled after them. "She alright?"
Narma groaned painfully. "Hurts, but. I can deal with it."
She saw Carmen's brows furrow, helping their comrade to her feet. It must have been pretty bad.
Mallory's mind spun. They were in the fucking trench here.
The creature loomed over them. She didn't like how close to the edge they were getting, paranoid that Lovecraft the Kid was going to get her minions to shove them over. She was just going to have to be vigilant.
She had discovered her Destiny Chain was a good knock-out for the goons. Not as good as Carmen's, nothing else was as good as that Pacification thing, but she was making her moves count. The kid could just regenerate the arms, so it was most beneficial for her to try and keep the pithos off. "I'll hold off the creatures. You get the kid," Mallory called over.
"Roger," Narma bit out, she and Carmen struggling to keep out of range.
Turning back to the pithos, determination burned through her. It almost felt physical.
She could almost hear it, syllables she didn't know how to interpret—
Decima—
Narma was struggling to hold herself up at that point. No point denying it. Her teammates knew it. Right now, they were all on the brink of destruction.
That…thing must have somehow sensed they were uping their guns, because it reared up, inhaling with what seemed like its full body. They struggled to keep their footing under the force, but Narma had the advantage of being practically dead weight at the moment. Ha, she could hold both of them down. "Rory wants us to do the fountain thing."
Carmen narrowed her eyes. "When did she tell you that?"
Narma gave a non-committal head wag, realizing she didn't have an answer for that. "She just did."
Behind them, Mallory yelled back to them. "Guys, if you're going to make a move, now would be the time. These guys may be peanuts, but my Chain can't take many more goes."
Right. "Now, then." Narma thrust her arms down as Carmen brought hers up, and they cried, "Punishing Cascade!"
The attack was dodged at first, and Narma felt dread creep in, but then the other two bursts hit the girl dead-on. She squalled, blubbering black ooze through the onslaught.
The black liquid itself seemed to have an effect, because when a large majority of it was essentially washed away, the outer limbs limpened, whipping agitatedly near the ground. As the thought came into Narma's mind, 'it did something, but not enough,' Carmen suddenly straightened back up, raising her two pointer fingers. Narma's eyes widened. "You're up for that?"
"The combo attacks," Carmen said quickly, "don't really seem to affect me."
From the other side of the room, where Rory was doing a hell of a job holding that Elpis guy off while they took on his leader, she heard the moment he realized the battle had taken a turn. "My Lady—!"
The creature, the girl, in a last-ditch effort had reached out a long limb for Mallory. The Delta soldier gasped as the large limb tossed Mallory backward.
For one horrible second, Narma was sure they were going to have a repeat of the Needle incident and Mallory was going to be flung into the cold (or hot, in this case) vacuum of space to die. But then Pandorana's smaller tentacle arms wrapped firmly around her throat. She wasted no time, Narma hearing a horrifying crunch as they squeezed the life out of her, Mallory's face turning blue.
Carmen froze, Narma too lost on what to do. There has to be something—anxiety burned in her chest, stronger with more seconds of watching her friend choke. Frustration bubbled inside of her as no options arose. Come on!
Then something did begin to arise, she heard just the bare edge of it—
Egeria—
The entity began to ooze at the crown again, saying, "I WILL HAVE THEM YOU CAN'T STOP ME FROM HAVING THEM—"
Then, before they could realize what happened, a spear-ended chain surged up between them. Pandorana made a horrible noise as the chain's blade soared right through the grasping smaller limbs, severing them. Mallory dropped to the ground, rolling out of the way of the dying tentacles. Narma gaped. How had she summoned that?
Immediately, "Harmonious Bellicoso!"
Carmen screamed the words. The music flowed from her fingers, the notes a war cry, and they burst against Pandorana's skin.
It was like every instance of electrocution she'd seen on television—the girl convulsed, sparks dancing over her skin. There was a high-pitched noise before the flow of the attack ended and she slumped. The tentacles thrusting from the ground were dead. She looked dazed, but awake, the formation formerly on her back beginning to sluff off onto the ground.
Narma surged forward on pure power of will. If nothing else, she would always be stubborn. She grasped the mad child by the back of the neck, expanding on her earlier musings and thrusting her immediately out towards the edge.
There was the clatter of metal on stone. "Stop! Please!"
Narma turned her head. The guard had abandoned his weapon, kneeling on the ground as Rory stared taken aback behind him, still in the stance of their battle. He breathed. "I beg you, don't do it. She has no star soul; she will burn up and die if she goes beyond the barrier of this asteroid."
Narma stared at the guy, then the kid caught in her grip. Pandorana didn't respond to their exchange, maybe still stunned from the shock. Her large eye twitched between them. The black was practically gone.
Elpis moved forward on the ground, hands out. He ducked his head, not moving his gaze from Narma. "Please."
The room was tense as Narma held Pandorana out to the barrier. Rory stared at the guard, kneeling on the ground before them. She didn't know what to think—this battle had taken a turn.
She acknowledged the pulsing awareness in her chest. Something had changed. The word was still there, just kind of floating—Boreas. She'd never heard it before. Was it some kind of attack? That was the only thing that had ever come to her like this.
Weirdly, the compulsion to think of her teammates by their designations was gone. Rory didn't know what that meant.
Slowly, Narma brought the girl back to the ground. She seemed pretty out of it. They all glanced around to each other, unsure what to do, and Mallory had a hand on her throat where something was obviously wrong. At least she wasn't blue anymore—it seemed she could breathe again.
Carmen stepped forward, towards the Lady. She raised a hand.
Elpis spoke up. "Please, she can't take much more—"
"It's okay," said Carmen. "I'm just incapacitating her."
She murmured her Pacification attack and as the light passed over her the girl slumped. She breathed slowly, seemingly just unconscious.
Immediately, Carmen moved to Mallory, speaking to her in low tones.
"Soldiers," Rory heard from behind her, and turned.
"Celene," she sighed, the little cat running over from the outskirts of the room. "You're okay. Everything got so chaotic, I didn't know where you went."
"There were too many creatures," she said, ducking her head. "Without being able to defend myself, I had to get out of range."
She reached down, stroking her fur. "I'm just glad you're okay."
The pithos were gone. Elpis stood, moving towards Pandorana. Narma raised a hand as he got closer. "Don't try to escape. One wrong move, and I'll have to blast both of you."
"I will not," he said solemnly. Rory stepped forward as they watched him kneel, scooping her up. She looked impossibly peaceful like this, as if she'd hadn't just been a horrible monster trying to kill all of them.
"You need to explain what's going on here," Rory demanded, and pursed her lips. "You keep giving us that excuse about purifying the universe, but it's not true, is it? You're not trying to purify anything."
Slowly, Elpis nodded. "Yes. If this battle will cease, I can explain everything."
Rory met the other's eyes. Narma and Carmen both gave her nods, mouths twisted reluctantly. Mallory was in too bad of shape to respond—they really needed to get her home quickly.
Elpis brought them back to the throne room. There, he sat cradling the unconscious Pandorana, though the rest of them were too anxious to sit down and instead stood on-their-guard around him.
Rory had approached Carmen and Mallory as they moved from the barrier. "How is she?"
"My throat hurts like a bitch," Mallory spoke surprising her, her voice almost a squawk, "But I think it was my collar that broke." She twitched her right arm and winced. "Hurts when I move my arm."
Rory bit her lip. "We need to get this taken care of as fast as we can. You need a hospital."
Mallory groaned.
Narma wasn't doing great either, the slice down her front nasty-looking. "I think it's stopped bleeding," she said. She peered back to Rory, eyes as serious as her own. "I think we heal faster when we're transformed than we would normally."
"Let me know if anything changes," she said, Narma nodding.
Rory stood before Elpis once they were settled in. "Alright. You said you would explain."
"Yes," Elpis sighed, gaze fixed on his Lady. "I couldn't explain while she was listening—while…it was listening, but I suspect it is incapacitated at the moment."
Rory's brow furrowed. "What is incapacitated?"
"It would be easiest to start from the beginning."
He could hardly remember what it felt like to be on Ambrosia. Theirs were a peaceful people, pure in their pursuit of knowledge, gathering from all corners of the cosmos. With the use of this knowledge their technology was constantly progressing, the majority of their energy spent keeping their world flourishing and full of life even in the windfall of their advances.
When his Lady had been born, a daughter of the high counsel and thus destined to join their ranks with age, he found joy in watching her wisdom grow. He'd been sure, in his heart, she would make a wonderful ruler someday. As the first child of the counsel's patrons, she was much beloved by their people and spent much time amongst them.
There was one other strain of research constantly ongoing, however. How could they bring their thriving civilization to other worlds? Elpis would sit in the back vigilantly watching over Pandorana as the researchers she was consulting with pointed out the prevalent decay. In any place they looked, every civilization would eventually crumble, prone to war, sin, and rampant self-interest. Why did this happen?
Their researchers developed a theory. Each world was imbued with its own essence, its own soul. In some systems, this was also referred to as a seed, and was sometimes carried by a guardian. Regardless of the guardian, these souls, as the very essence of the world, must be the key to spreading their purification. Such an act had been attempted before, in far-away systems under the reign of the Silver Crystal. Could such a power be replicated?
After several fruitless attempts, a suggestion was proposed: that the soul of their own world be infused into those of the impure. In this way, their purity might spread. Trials were conducted, and it worked. In each trial, the world's simpler civilizations experienced a renaissance of sorts, something fundamentally changed in the way the inhabitants interacted. They conducted two more trials successfully.
But then.
"Elpis!"
Though many of his memories had muddled, he could recall that day to the most minute detail. He heard the Lady Pandorana's sandaled feet pattering down the hall to him, and he turned. Nearing, she smiled up to him, arms full of the bright season's newest flowers. "My Lady."
"I picked these for the counsel room," she beamed, exceedingly proud of herself. "I thought they would make the meetings less stuffy." Light filtered down on them from between the columns of the counsel building.
He repressed a grin. "You may be right about that, my Lady."
"Come." She primly deposited half the pile into his arms. "We must deliver them, then."
They turned towards the main veranda and had only moved a few steps when a girl burst out of the building's main door, eyes blind with panic as she sped towards them and away from the building.
He halted her flight, holding a hand up. "Why do you run? What's happened?"
Her eyes met his for a moment, and he recognized her as an assistant from the research sector, but she ground her teeth and merely continued past him, panting with breathlessness.
Boom.
The corridor's stone overhang cracked and sputtered dust as a force rocked the area. His Lady screamed, and he knelt to cover her, eyes searching for the source.
He straightened as the tremors continued, eyes glued to the sky.
In the distance above the labs a black mass accumulated, like a smooth, round storm. It pulled on the air with immense force, lightning wracking down on the land. There had never been a storm like this in Ambrosia.
The Lady was crying, eyes wide with panic as greenery caught fire and throngs of birds from the conservatory fled free into the sky, hurrying away from the storm. They were quickly swept up—it was only growing. "My Lady, we have to hide," he pulled her to her feet, and she ran behind him too slow. He scooped her up, abandoning the flowers in his arms. "We need to find shelter."
But there was nowhere to go. The sturdy stone of the labs had been consumed. The edges of the counsel building were crumbling, rushing towards the mouth of the storm. Larger and larger, the ground shook as chunks of earth like mountains were dislodged, fed to the black maw.
A cold certainty took root: the world was ending. Elpis clutched his Lady to his chest.
They had to get off this planet.
There was an observatory, located on an asteroid of a nearby planet's belt. The transportation hub was nearby, though the station had been abandoned for years. Pandorana sometimes liked to go there, to see the stars up close. It was one of many small provisions he had made for her happiness. Perhaps they would be safe there.
He acted in selfishness. His soul's duty was to Pandorana. He wasted no time trying to find others to save. He rushed to the teleportation bunker, and the light whisked them away from Ambrosia.
Either others did not know of the bunker, or they never made it in time. From 600,000 miles away, they watched Ambrosia be consumed.
As they waited out the destruction, there was a moment when he peered around the observatory and suddenly couldn't find her. It seemed the Lady Pandorana had wandered off. He thought that she may have gotten restless in the observatory's viewing room, and he left to retrieve her.
Perhaps she had left the building? Hurrying to bring her in, not trusting the barrier around the facility to protect her, he moved outside to the asteroid proper. In his search, he began to hear…whispering. Perhaps someone else had found their way? That was his Lady's voice. Who was she talking to?
He spotted her at the outer edge near the barrier, appearing to speak to thin air. She merely faced the blackened star scape, voice carrying across to him, though he couldn't understand what she was saying. He stepped forward. "My Lady?"
He froze.
As she turned, he was startled to realize that the sky was not empty. The blacker than black shape, too large to even comprehend, blended into the sky beyond without the lightening to illuminate its form. But it was no storm. He could hear the sound of breathing. It was alive.
"Elpis." His Lady regarded him, voice cheerful. Still, her eyes, once bright and full of hope were leaking black fluid like tears. Around her, he could begin to see wisps of shadow, encircling as if to grab her. Terror iced his veins. "I understand now! Ambrosia was not pure enough to handle the power we sought—to purify worlds. These worlds—they will never be pure enough. But we can make them." She grinned at him.
Any second, that…that great beast could crush her into pieces, could devour her, could drag her into space to freeze or burn. He held his own hands out, silently pleading for the creature not to act on his horrific imaginings.
At once, he understood. The force she had been speaking with had a use for them. And if they resisted—it would be the end. His one mission, his soul's purpose was to protect her. If he were to loose her…
She said, eyes wide with promise as black ichor trickled down her cheeks. "We can make them anew."
The man stared down at the girl in his lap as the rest of them looked on, mutually disturbed. "After that, she began to invent narratives about how we were chosen to purify the universe, crafting plots to bring the creature to one place after another. Over time, the quickest way to the universe's destruction proved to be the consumption of their stars, and the Agents were created from the harvested corruption to extend the creature's reach to multiple systems at once.
"In all this time, my Lady never understood it was the creature the corruption was coming from—from my people's own hubris. It is like she is unable to understand. Like it is preventing her from absorbing that knowledge. Likewise, she never aged. It seemed to wish to keep her as its pawn." His voice broke, and he clenched his hands into the fabric of Pandorana's dress. He took a breath. "I've tried to explain, but each time I begin to speak of it, she begins to convulse. It's a threat, I know it. If we truly rebelled, she would not survive it."
Rory peered down on them, mind battling for a solution. These people were her enemies. Heck, they'd been trying to kill her for months. But even so, she couldn't help but feel sorry for them. Really, they were just as trapped as the citizens the pithos had latched onto back on Earth. The situation wasn't that different.
Eventually, Narma spoke up. "So what do we do, then? If we try to leave, that thing will just go after some other star. We can't fight it; it's too big!"
They all stood around uncomfortably. Narma was right. They had trouble taking on the Agents, much less something the size of a star.
Carmen placed a finger to her chin. "And we need to sever whatever connection may exist between Pandorana and the beast."
Mallory raised a finger, coughing before she was able to speak. "This child is an eldritch abomination. Is her safety the highest priority here?"
Carmen pursed her lips, eyes boring down to Mallory. "She may have attacked us, but she's under that creature's control. She's a victim. If there's a chance to rid her of its influence, we should take it."
Rory nodded. "I agree. She's right."
Narma blew out a breath. "Alright. But where do we start? I don't even know if we could get it out of the star now that it's in there. Has that ever happened before?" She turned her head to Elpis.
He shook his head. "No, it has not. I'm sorry."
The group of them slumped, lost looks passing between them.
But Rory couldn't draw her own attention from the sun. Trappist-1. Not their home, but their domain. The cool red light poured over them, the Beast's shadow shivering underneath. She watched its writhing, frowning at the unnerving movement. It was like it was within a giant egg, trying to hatch.
Her eyes widened slightly. "What if we didn't have to?"
Narma squint her eyes. "Didn't have to…?
Rory turned towards the star. "Didn't have to remove it."
The others looked confused, but Celene perked up from the floor with interest.
Narma crossed her arms. "How do you mean?"
She examined the star. The beast couldn't absorb it without their star souls, right? "What if we could trap it inside? Or, maybe use the star against it? Remember what Carmen said about it adapting? It hasn't done that yet." She turned to Celene, peering down at her guide. "Celene. Elpis said that purification has been done with star souls before. Could we do something like that to get the corruption out of her?"
The cat stood, pacing shortly along the stone. "It's possible. The connection is merely to the girl." Rory got the impression that if Celene had a more human face, she would have been pursing her lips. Her eyes came up to focus on her. "There is an attack. It's one all Sailor Soldiers can perform, via the combination of at least four star soul's abilities. It's possible that such an attack might be able to push the corruption out and return it to the source. In terms of the Beast…" Her tail flicked in the air, Rory holding her breath as she awaited her verdict. "It's worth a shot!" She ducked her head, backing down a bit. "But it will take an immense amount of power."
Rory turned to her teammates. "What do you guys think?"
Mallory still perched on the floor, but one by one, they all nodded. "Not like we have any better ideas."
The stars shone above them as they gathered at the edge of the barrier.
It wasn't as secure as the throne room seemed, but it was closer to Trappist-1, and that's what they needed.
Celene insisted Elpis stand behind at the edge of the temple steps—or, the observatory, Rory guessed—and he watched anxiously from a distance. They formed a circle, sat up on their knees. In the middle lay the child. Before them, the beast in the sun.
They joined hands, Carmen gingerly taking Mallory's as not to exacerbate her broken collar. There was barely enough space between them to fit the girl, but they made it work. Inside, Rory found that same buzzing energy rising with renewed vigor. "Do you feel that, guys?"
"I feel something," Carmen said, peering across to her.
"Yeah," said Mallory.
Narma's mouth twitched. "Something's going on."
But Rory had been feeling it since their battle began. Was it the same for them?
"Now," Celene called from behind them. "Concentrate within. Feel for that power—listen!"
Rory did listen. Energy hummed through her veins, and there was something else. In her mind, that word—there it was again. Was it what they needed? "Everyone ready?"
"Yes," her teammates answered. She felt Narma and Carmen's hands tighten in hers.
Between them, a shape began to form: a circle, lights crisscrossing to form a star in the middle. She was unnerved by how demonic it looked, her Christian air-siren going off, but she recognized the symbols around the outside as their own and felt safe.
She closed her eyes. She waited for the words, as they had come so many times before. "On the count of three. One."
Boreas.
What? That was it? She swallowed, frustration bubbling inside her. It felt as though any second something within her was going to explode. "Two."
Boreas.
She pushed back against the thought. What is that?
It was time—now or never. She could feel all of their hearts beating as one, even through her anxiety. "Three—"
It's your name.
Rory gasped, understanding flowing into her, and she knew what to do. She shouted, "Boreas Planet Power!"
Carmen, following without a shred of hesitation—"Concordia Planet Power!"
Mallory, forcing the words out: "Decima Planet Power!"
And Narma, determined to make this work, "Egeria Planet Power!"
They opened their eyes, the girl the middle of them encompassed in a ring of power. All at once, the phrase came to them. They shouted, "Sailor Planet Attack!"
It was like she'd been shot. Her vision was assaulted by bursts of color—
They're attacking.
What are we supposed to do about it?
You know it's a mutual decision between all of us, we can't decide this without—
That kind of power can't be left to one person. We have to try—
She folded her hands on a table.
She saw Narma, hurrying over in a long dress but something was different—
She saw red bloom on her own dress.
That's right, she thought: Boreas. Her planet, her domain. What happened? Everything was so scattered.
Then she remembered what she'd been doing.
Celene watched as her soldier's powers congregated. She almost couldn't understand their cries over the noise of the building energy, but then she understood, and her stomach dropped.
The beam burst upward.
Celene couldn't remember if she'd seen the attack before, but something about it struck her as too manic, too colorful. She balked as, within the beam, she began to see images, flashes of faces and places, only for brief seconds. They had to call on their planets for this attack. This could only mean one thing.
She backed up, eyeing the beam. The question was, how much would they remember?
It passed through the girl, and she sat up and screamed as if she had woken from a bad dream. The light carried through her towards the sun, arcing until it vanished. The girl slumped back into the center of the circle, once again incapacitated.
The light faded. The soldiers blinked at one another, and then quickly stood, all attention focused on the star of Trappist-1. They watched the star, collectively holding their breath as they waited to see what would happen.
"It's just a seal," she heard Aurora murmur, eyes locked on the sun, only their powers protecting them from the incredible heat and light.
Celene called out to them. "The power may not be visible any longer, but it's still yours! Concentrate on what you need it to do."
"Trap that thing inside," Narma said.
"Wonder how hot that thing can stand," Mallory added.
"We need to be careful not to mess with the chemical composition of the star," Carmen said, "But just holding it in—it will be like a huge meteor. Burn up."
The energy buzzed up around their feet, lingering.
Please, she pleaded internally. Let this work.
They all jumped as the dark shape within the star suddenly writhed wildly. They stared to one another as a roar broke over them, silent. But even Celene, so close to the ground, could feel it shake the observatory. "What's happening?" Mallory croaked as they gazed on the sun in alarm.
"It didn't work," Carmen yelped, gritting her teeth as the vibrations intensified. "It's going to break free! We failed."
Aurora's arm shot out. "No, look!"
They all seemed to see it at the exact same moment, by the echo of their inhalations. Around the sun, a ring was forming. It rounded the circumference of the star, glowing all the while, until Celene couldn't see it anymore. After another moment of watching the band spread, it glowed particularly bright.
Then faded.
Rory watched the light go out with a fickle anticipation, unsure whether to rejoice or despair. "Did we do it?"
"Guys," Narma said sharply. As she turned to look at her, she looked to where her friend was pointing.
In all corners of the observatory, the ruins of the shadows were fleeing. When they'd fought the pithos and Pandorana, remnants of the black corruption had stained every crevasse of the stone. It was evaporating.
Elpis brought them back to the throne room, Pandorana resting in his lap. "I can feel the shadows retreating, even the corrupted aura of this place. It has been…so long." He peered up to them. "I can't thank you enough for what you've done. I never dreamed that we might be rid of that beast's influence."
Narma crossed her arms. "You can thank us by not trying to destroy our universe anymore. That's a dick move, guy."
Elpis kept his eyes on his charge, a wry smile crossing his lips. "I believe those are acceptable terms."
Rory watched the two of them with a frown. She couldn't bring herself to agree with Elpis's actions—he'd basically left his people to die for the sake of one girl. Still, it was hard to imagine what she might have done in such a situation. What if it were Narma who needed saving, and then a bunch of strangers? Or what about her mama, or Tyrell? It was hard to call judgements on another man's actions knowing she hadn't been in a similar position.
Still, the sight of him holding Pandorana so tenderly did cause a twinge in her chest. Elpis smoothed a hand over her hair; Rory got the feeling she was like a daughter to him. It was very parental. "…My Lady used to believe that if we 'cleansed' enough of the galaxy, we might one day be pure enough to restore what there is left of Ambrosia. Perhaps now, there is hope that that may happen."
She and the others glanced to one another. With the assurance that the immediate threat had been neutralized, they didn't have the luxury of sticking around any longer than necessary. Several of them needed medical attention. Not to mention they had a lot to talk about, if the others had had a similar experience to her. Rory took a step forward. "We wish you the best with that mission. But for now, we've stuck around too long. We need to return to our home,"
Elpis tilted his head back, giving her a considering look. "I can't understand the desire to make a home of a world that is so far removed from your own. But I wish you safe passage regardless."
Rory took a step back. A world far removed from your own. She couldn't help but be unnerved by the reality of the statement. They weren't from Earth, it was true. Peering out into the stretch of sky beyond them, she found that yellow-orange world, with its wispy red peaks. Boreas. At one time, could that truly have been her kingdom? Something in her chest ached. She wished she could look on it with more familiarity than the brief flashes of a life she'd been granted during the attack.
There were many things they needed to come to terms with, but for now, they knew what needed to be done. "Thank you."
They moved outside the range of the observatory, resuming their circle formation. It was time, finally, for this to be over.
After a murmured, synchronous spell, the atmosphere shifted around them once again, and they were gone.