Living lies

"Was any of what I was told true?" Cathi Gata fought hard not be angry as the Lotus sat down beside Falcon. Anger would not help here. "I remember Eliza crying in the garden. I remember that idiot prince coming in and she trounced him."

"Yes, she did." The Lotus said with a smile. "Say what you will about Eliza, do not make her mad. It will hurt." She shuddered dramatically and Cathi Gata shared it. The being who had once been the sole guide for Tenno shook her head. "I do not know all of the facts. I do know she beat the snot out of that arrogant princeling. He had no idea how much she had been studying."

"He destroyed her garden." Cathi Gata said softly but paused as the Lotus shook her head. "What?"

"He had help." The Lotus said very softly. "Naomi was about to be lost to them and they were looking for a replacement for her. They found Eliza and worked hard to see how far they could push her."

"They… pushed Eliza?" Cathi Gata asked carefully as the silver form of Natah's mother stepped to the blue armored form's side. "That is not a good idea."

"No." The Lotus agreed. "Not a good idea at all. They learned that a bit too late. The Emperor was not happy."

"The Emperor knew about the wardens, didn't he?" Cathi Gata asked as she tired to parse all of this. The Lotus nodded. "So… Why push Eliza? Why hurt her?"

"No one wanted to hurt her except her idiot brother. The wardens had maintained a close watch on the Royal Family since a particularly bad incident involving one of the younger sons, a reality breach and lots of collateral damage." The Lotus said with a shrug. "They chose Naomi to join their ranks. They have their own criteria and they have rules that they follow. Said rules do not always make sense to us mere mortals."

"And then Naomi… died?" Cathi Gata asked and paused as the Lotus shook her head. The Tenno groaned. "I am not going to like this, am I?"

"No one who knows about it does." The Lotus agreed. "The really sad thing is the wardens did have a good reason for trying to recruit Eliza. From their point of view? She was a child in danger. She had raw ability that few showed. She was smart. incredibly smart for her age, incredibly responsible and kindhearted, but at the same time, willing to do whatever it took. You saw."

"I did." Cathi Gata allowed. "So… I was there. She lost control of her power?"

"No." The Lotus sighed. "She, and you, were pulled out of our reality. They did not expect you to hold of her and come along with her, but you refused to leave her side. From what I understand, not much, they were kind to her and you. They offered her the job and you at least reasonably politely told them to go screw themselves."

"I told the wardens what?" Cathi Gata asked, stunned. "I... That is insane!"

"Well, they had just kidnapped you and your protectee." The Lotus replied and Cathi Gata nodded, manifestly against her will. "No matter how gentle they were about it, that is what they did. I will say this about them, they could have been far less gentle."

"I think I know where this is going..." Cathi Gata said slowly and everyone looked looked at her. "They refused to release us, didn't they?"

"Eliza was almost in heaven from what she told me later." The Lotus was sad now. "Here she was, surrounded by people who really wanted to make a difference. Who liked her for who she was. Not what, a princess, but for who she was. For her ability, her drive, her raw talent. They liked her and she liked them."

"And I got in the way, didn't I?" The Tenno said very quietly.

"No." A new voice! Every single Sentient spun to aim at a being who shimmered into being near one wall, but the man wasn't hostile. No. That wasn't a human! No human had such a deep voice. "You had your duty, Guardswoman. No more, no less." In form, he was a blonde haired man of middle years. He wore a long sword, but his hand was far from it. Indeed, he had his hands folded to his shoulders. "Liza is a good soul. A very good one. Naomi was too and I failed them both." He shook his head. "The others won't listen to me. Maybe they will listen to you."

"Who are you?" The huge green sentient was back in her true form, energy flaring in agitation.

"I am not your enemy, Sentient. My dear friend Liza called me 'Will'." The man said as he stepped forward as if he hadn't a care in the world despite the many weapons aimed at him. Despite Stalker and Sera both having weapons in hand now. "I told them, Rebekah. She didn't want to do it! Doesn't want to do it. I don't… I tried." To Cathi Gata's stunned amazement, the odd man -if he was one-, knelt at her feet. "We wronged you and her. It cost you both. You did as your duty demanded and you did it well. You won."

"Won what?" Cathi Gata asked, poised to fight or flee.

"Won the twelve challenges that various of our number leveled on you to try and get you to leave." The man who called himself Will said with a small smile. "Liza is not to be underestimated. Neither are you."

"You are..." Cathi Gata swallowed hard but the man just nodded.

"A warden, yes. I was on watch when Naomi returned home. When she took up the role she was called to." The man bowed his head. "Naomi was a good friend. I know she is not gone, but the good woman I knew is no more."

"What happened?" Cathi Gata demanded. "I fought? For Elizabeth?"

"You did. We all knew that Liza would be called to take the same role and she was a good kid!" Will did not move even as the ranks of Sentients swirled around the area. "Naomi was a good sister and a good friend, but there are strict criteria that have to be met to take that role and she was the only member of the Royal Family who met those criteria. Now? Liza is the only one left who meets them. As always, she will step up to shoulder any burden that she deems needed for the protection of her people. Her own needs or wishes be damned, she will do it. I wanted to save her. That was wrong of me, but I so wanted to save her!"

"What 'role'?" Cathi Gata asked very quietly, her hands all but quivering in the need to draw her weapons. She was not expecting the Lotus to answer her.

"Governor of the prison." The blue armored form bowed her head when Cathi Gata looked at her. "I… Part of me wishes I had let you take her."

"You were right, Rebekah." Will replied. "I was and am angry about how you did it, but what you did? You were right. She was confused. She was not thinking clearly and the others took advantage. If she had realized… She would have been very angry but if she had sworn? She would be stuck."

"She was fairly annoyed when she came back to her senses." The Lotus said sadly. "I am glad I was there."

"So am I." What had to be the Lord of the wardens of reality was equally sad. "I have many regrets. How badly I failed Liza and Naomi are high on that list."

"What happened?" Cathi Gata begged and the man sighed.

"My kin don't deal so well with being thwarted and you thwarted us good." The man smiled at her. "There are never a lot of us available. We are spread thin across so many realities. Even as powerful as we are, there are limits. None of us wanted to hurt Liza and after Naomi? None of wanted to lose her either."

"Oh no." Cathi Gata groaned and then man nodded.

"The kin who had you both refused to let you take Liza home and would not say why." Will sighed deeply. "In perfect 20/20 hindsight? That was a blunder. If we had explained… If we had told you and her why we didn't want you to take her home, I doubt either of you would have objected. I do not know if we could have freed you, but we could have kept her safe."

"Safe in a cage of responsibility." Cathi Gata said very softly and the man nodded.

"We protect our own." The Darkstorm replied. "If she had joined us? We would have protected her. You? We would have taken you in a heartbeat. You have every trait we need and then some. But you had your duty. Have your duty."

"My kin need me." CathI Gata agreed. "Eliza needs me."

"Now more than ever." The not human at her feet agreed. "I messed up, before and now. We all have." At the Lotus' quick inhale, he nodded. "Raviine wanted to save both you and Liza, Cathi Gata. That is why she told you half truths. I do not know if saving Liza is possible. I pray it is. I still love my friend."

"As do I." The Lotus said quietly.

"Eliza is asleep." Cathi Gata said slowly. The man and the Lotus both nodded. "And when she wakes…?"

"When she wakes, the Prison will call her." The Lotus shook her head. "The wardens will take her to keep her safe, but she will refuse to remain there just as she did the last time. She will not let the responsibility fall onto someone who is unprepared. The last time it was the Crown. Now? The Prison."

"No, she won't." Will agreed, his tone sad and proud. "It is not in her to do such. None of the rest of her family as they are now could handle it."

"What 'Prison'?" Cathi Gata demanded. "No Orokin prison survived until this time."

"One did." The Lotus said sadly. "The Prison of Duty." Cathi Gata stared at the blue armored form and then hissed in shock mixed with terror. The one time guide of the Tenno bowed her head.

"No." The Tenno retreated a step, only to have the green Sentient slide up behind her. Offering support? "Oh, god! No! Not Eliza!"

"I am afraid so." Will said sadly. "She is the only one who fits now. Pure blood. DNA match. Female. The governors are always female."

"What is this 'Prison of Duty'?" Natah's Mother asked into the silence that fell as Cathi Gata fought to keep from crying. "I get that it is bad."

"It wasn't always." Will frowned. "It wasn't intended as a bad thing. It turned out that way."

"But what is it?" Mother asked.

"It is where Eliza was born." Cathi Gata said weakly and everyone stared at her except Will and the Lotus. "Naomi was called to govern it?" Will nodded, silent. "Oh no. No." The green Sentient moved right up to her and soothing energy washed over the Tenno. It didn't help much. "I… No! We have to help her!"

"We can't." Will said very softly. "Maybe you can."

"I do not understand." The Sentient who led this small group of outcasts said slowly. "From what little I know of this Empress, she is not one to be trifled with but is also not one to act rashly."

"You didn't see her when she was a kid." Cathi Gata and Will chorused that and looked at one another. They shared a grim laugh.

"Okay." The Sentient actually sounded prim, but also on the edge of laughter. "No, I didn't. Some of what I have heard makes me very glad of that." Will, Cathi Gata and the Lotus all nodded. "But, Natah, this makes no sense. What kind of prison can hold someone like that? Especially with such beings as these willing to aid her, to defend her?"

"If I may? I can answer that." Cathi Gata asked the Lotus who nodded. Will bowed his head as the green Sentient spun to point its energy 'face' at her. "It touches on my duty."

"I honestly do not understand." Mother had a frown in her voice. "From what I know, no prison could hope to hold that woman."

"No normal prison, no." Cathi Gata agreed. "The Prison of Duty has no walls, no bars, no energy barriers. No one knows where it is or even what it truly is. What is known is what it does."

"What does it do?" The green Sentient clearly did not want to ask that.

"It makes certain that the first and most important function of any human monarch is fulfilled." Cathi Gata said sadly. "The Orokin Royal Family learned by trial and error how not to do many things. They made a lot of mistakes over the millennia that Orokin ruled the Origin system. There was one that none of them wanted to make. Human history abounds with examples of how such can go wrong. So they found a way to keep it from happening."

"The first function of a monarch? That is in our files. That is defined as 'ensuring a clear line of succession and-'" Mother broke off and gasped, horror oozing from every metal form in the area as all realized what she meant. "Oh holy metal! No!"

"Eliza doesn't have enough heirs to be sure that the line continues." Cathi Gata said sadly. "She only has daughters. Such has happened before. The Emperor at the time disappeared for a month and when he came back? He was not alone and he wasn't sane. Six babies came with him. I do not know what happened there. No one knew or would talk about it. I do know that it is mostly automated. I know that it is hidden far from any possible finding by any of my people." She looked at the warden who shook his head.

"We looked." Will was just as sad. "When Naomi was called, we looked. We hoped to leave a copy of her or something. We could not find it. It was hidden from our sight."

"And ours." Stalker spoke up for the first time and Cathi Gata nodded. He had been a lower guardian.

"Naomi?" Cathi Gata asked and Will sighed.

"There are always at least two members of the Royal Family who are stored there. One male. One female." Will's tone might have frozen an ocean. "After all this time, neither will be alive. The machinery won't care. From what I understand, it only cares for the DNA. There is also always one who is taken and turned into energy form to run it when the previous governor goes completely mad. Naomi was the last one. By now? She is likely faltering and it will be seeking a new governor."

"Automated reproduction." The Sentient sounded punch drunk. "I saw what they did first hand and even now… Just when I think I might have a handle on how evil the Orokin were… They did that to their own children?"

"Not all of them were evil. Enough of them were. Every single Emperor and Empress I talked with about that agreed with you." Will said sourly. "That is why so many of them had so many kids. So that the Prison would not activate. Every so often, it did anyway. The governors only lasted so long. Naomi was called to take her place there. To… be..." He swallowed and then Sentient pulsed as in in grief.

"To be nothing but a warden for genetic material. And if I know anything about Orokin, also the one who would force whoever to bear or seed said material." The green Sentient was horrified. Then her tone hardened as both the Lotus and Will nodded. "We cannot allow this to happen! I may hate Orokin, but this Eliza is a good being by all accounts! She is fair and open minded from everything Natah has told me. She is Natah's friend! Even if she is Orokin, I am a nurturer! I cannot allow such a horror to happen to any life bearer of any race!"

"Eliza had her own reasons to hate Orokin." Cathi Gata agreed. "But if she goes in there, she won't come out sane."

"She didn't." Will said softly and everyone stared at him in horror. He bowed his head. "Raviine did not lie to you entirely. She was gentle, but thorough in binding you and Liza where she did while she tried to convince you to leave and Liza to join us. She did not reckon on Liza's ingenuity or your courage. She was quite surprised when you two managed to break free and flee." Everyone stared at Cathi Gata who felt embarrassment rise as the dragon in human form smiled at her. "Well done."

"Across the realities." Cathi Gata said weakly and Will nodded. "And… You wardens tracked us."

"Some." Will allowed. "Others of us? Well, I for one wasn't about to try and stop you." He shrugged as the Tenno stared at him. His smile was a bit forced. "I knew Liza's temper."

"So, we fled and tried to get home, but had no idea how." Cathi Gata said weakly. "And then, I was hurt and Eliza was trapped, watching me be turned into something worse than this." She waved at herself.

"Raviine chased you, but she didn't want to hurt either of you." Will slumped a bit. "She was a few minutes too late to help when Liza broke all of the barriers in her mind. The only true limits are the ones we set ourselves and she flew right past them to save you. She literally became a goddess. She was utterly unprepared."

"And went mad." Cathi Gata said weakly.

"Not immediately. Moments later. We didn't understand why." Will was so sad now. "She started to cry and then lashed out when you tried to help her. She cast you across the barriers again. Unguided. No one had any idea if you even came out the other side. She was not lucid. We had mind healers try to help her, but she kept fleeing from them." He chuckled ruefully. "We learned fast not to try and hold her. It got painful."

"Just seeing what she could do, yes. I can imagine." Cathi Gata said softly. "But… Why couldn't you find me?" The warden just looked at her and she shook her head. "Look, I know I don't know it all, but you lot have incredible power! You should have been able to find me in that reality." She patted her wrist where the blade Nia gave her rested. "Where I got this."

"Where you made that." Will corrected her gently. "You were not there at first. None of us understood. None of us had any idea why she was so angry." He shook his head. "She had every right to be."

"Make sense!" Cathi Gata wanted to claw the words back in as soon as she barked them, but the warden just nodded.

"Are you sure you want to know?" The warden asked. "In this case, knowledge is no blessing. A worse curse, I can barely imagine and I have seen far more bad than you can imagine." The Lotus was shaking her head, but the warden shook his. "After all the mistakes I and we have made, I have no right to deny her the truth, Rebekah."

"It will hurt her." The Lotus said savagely. "Eliza needs her!"

"Does Eliza know the truth?" Cathi Gata asked.

"No." The warden shook his head. "The Creator made that copy to go home with you after your memories were destroyed. After she destroyed them and split into three beings. Your Eliza does not know and if I have any choice in the matter, she won't."

Steel would have shattered under his cold tone.

"I need to know." Cathi Gata said softly as Natah's mother swept close again, offering support.

"As you wish." Will bowed his head and when he spoke again, it was in a monotone. "We were not the only ones seeking Liza. I do not know how or why, but when Eliza became the Creator and repaired your form, before she made that warframe for you, you were pulled back into your reality. Not by her will and she lost it when she realized what had happened."

"How was me coming back a bad thing?" Cathi Gata asked. Will nodded and when he spoke, his voice was sick.

"You were pulled into the Prison."