Courage

"I was… what?"

Cathi Gata had thought herself beyond horror. She had been enslaved, Infested, arrested, and now had apaprently ticked off some of the most powerful beings she could imagine. But suddenly, her world was spinning in circles. She was-

"Stop!" Natah's mother was right there, the Sentient moving up to physically touch the reeling Tenno. Part of Cathi Gata wanted to cling to the Sentient as crazy as that was. Part of her wanted to sit and gibber. All she could do was stand there, stunned. "You are not ready to hear this, whatever it is."

"I need to know." Cathi Gata stammered, but everyone looked away as Mother pulsed bright green.

"No, Tenno." Mother replied, her tone about as soft as a diamond. "You need to rest. Falcon may have drained herself, but so have you. Your kind have limits, just as mine do. Is Tenno Cathi Gata in danger right now?" She demanded of the warden who shook his head. "Is this Eliza?"

"I don't know." The warden admitted. "I don't think so. There was a certain feel that I sensed when the Prison activated. I tried to stop it from taking Naomi and I failed. But I don't know." He slumped. "As I told Liza, bad things happen when I start caring for people."

"She did not give you any choice, did she?" Mother asked, her energy sweeping across Cathi Gata in waves that were oddly comforting.

"No, she didn't." The dragon in human form had a fond smile on his face now. "I want to help her. I want to help Cathi Gata and I do not know how. None of our healers could help either of them. We tried."

"How… many… kids...?" Cathi Gata managed through waves of energy that were soothing her into an unnatural slumber that felt so warm, so comforting.

"Later for that. Sleep now. Dream of peace and light." Mother commanded and despite all of her training, all of her experience, all of her self screaming at her to deny it, Cathi Gata fell into soothing green darkness comforted.

A cargo hold on a ship not built by anything human

No one moved as Mother''s energy eased Cathi Gata down to the deck beside Falcon. The Lotus laid her hand on Cath's Gata's helmet and then nodded with a smile.

"Gentle as always, Mother. She rests, poor dear." The one time guide of the Tenno sat between Falcon and Cathi Gata, her hands on both as blue energy played out from her in soothing waves.

"Can you help her?" The warden asked a bit plaintively. "I have already interfered far more than I should have. We do funny things for those we love, but this… I cannot interfere further no matter how I burn to."

"I don't know." Mother was grim. "How many?"

"Four." The Lotus said sadly. "Two males, two females. All Infected and given to the Tenno. It was hushed up, the records sealed and then lost. It took some time to find them even when I started digging into Eliza's horrible past, trying to help her past it. To face her future. I am not you or Tanah, Mother. Healing was never my focus until my own kids needed me. I had to muddle through. The Orokin hid the facts well."

"Small wonder." The huge green sentient said softly, but she was not looking at the being she had brought into the universe. She was looking at Sera who had not moved at all since arriving. "You do not talk, do you?" She asked. Sera shook her head. "And Tenno Cathi Gata is why." Not a question but Sera nodded anyway. "I see."

"Mother, please..." The Lotus begged, but her mother made a static-y noise of disagreement.

"Natah, this is a horror on par with anything we did." The huge green Sentient said slowly. "Small wonder this Eliza reacted so badly on realizing what had happened. Her family hurt her defender!"

"Worse." The Lotus was crying softly. "Catherine didn't feel it. She was not awake for any of it like Lis was, but she knew. When she woke? On some deep, horrible level, she knew as soon as she woke. She tried to kill herself and only heroic measures from Elizabeth stopped her."

"I am sorry, Natah." Mother eased closer the slumbering Tenno.

"As bad as what Eliza's mother did to her, that was worse!" The Lotus was so angry. Tightly controlled, but so angry. "She wasn't given any choice at all! You know what it is to be a nurturer. To bear lives into the universe. Something I will never know."

The voyage to the Origin system had denied most of the Sentients who had come the ability to reproduce. One thing of many that had driven so many of them mad.

"I am seeking alternatives, Natah." Mother tried to reassure her distraught daughter. "The future is not formed yet. We can change. We must change. Even with Marlena, we need more nurturers to continue our kind, but we will not replicate the mistakes of our past. There will be no enthrallment."

"I am glad." The Lotus smiled, but it held both sadness and fury. "The Prison clearly deemed Catherine a viable surrogate. It did not recognize that she was Royal Guard or that she was Tenno."

"It should have." The warden said from where he still knelt. "That horror was only for the Royal Family. No one else. She is not of the Royal Family." He paused as Sera shook her head. "Is she?"

"Catherine's family was a cadet branch, long detached from the family tree." The Lotus said quietly. "But she was related, distantly."

"Well, damn." The warden said with feeling.

"That works." The Lotus agreed. "I usually say far worse things about such, but not in front of my Mother." Her smile turned impish as her Mother made a static noise of consternation. "I have some sense."

"Could have fooled me." Mother replied. "Natah, you know that some of what Hunhow says is true. We have been corrupted by exposure to humans and Tenno. We have all seen ourselves act more like them, less like ourselves since Marlena joined us."

"That is somewhat regrettable, but it is not a truly bad thing unless we let it be." The Lotus reassured her. "Humans are not all bad any more than our kind are."

"That is true." The dragon in human form continued as everyone looked at him. "I was human once. I remember being human and try hard to remember how to feel human. For all the bad they can do, they can and have done good in equal measure." The warden said into the silence that followed her words. "It helps to remember. So many realities have humans or human analogues in them that it helps a great deal in understanding them."

"And understanding is the first step towards keeping them from causing too much harm." Mother made a noise of agreement as the warden nodded. "I do not like this. Any of this. But do I have a right to interfere?" Her energy reached out to touch Cathi Gata. "She is not mine, although I like what I see and feel. She is a good soul, if battered."

"You would make a heck of a warden, Sentient Mother." The warden held up both of his hands in a warding gesture as everyone glared at him. "No, that is not an offer! It was a compliment."

"Don't even joke that!" The Lotus warned. "If Hunhow finds a way across the boundary, we haven't seen bad yet."

"It will eventually." The dragon warned and everyone tensed. "It is only a matter of time. Once the evidence is there and it is despite many people trying to hide such, the curious or driven will always be pushed to cross, to see what they can find. To use for whatever reason or simply to see? It makes no difference. We will curb the bad as we do, but it will find a way across."

"That is my fear." Mother said sadly. "We are few now and growing fewer despite all of my efforts. We cannot reproduce without horrific means and I… What right have we to take others souls and destroy them for our own benefit?"

"Survival often trumps morals." The dragon said quietly.

"I will not allow our light to go out tarnished by such! We will fade, but we will never be evil!" Mother snapped, but stilled as an unexpected voice spoke up.

"No. You will not. Either of those." Cathi Gata's voice was soft as she sat up. But it was odd. She wasn't angry. Wasn't sad. She was calm. She was also radiating in odd wavelengths. White golden wavelengths. Stalker bent to one knee, his sword point first to the floor. "I am an idiot. We are overthinking this." The Lotus shrank back, but Cathi Gata laid a hand on the blue armored woman's arm and the Lotus froze as beautiful white energy wafted over them both. "Be at peace. How did you meet Eliza, Lotus? It is important. Very important."

"Her people were looking for survivors and she refused to stay cooped up on Avalon despite her wounds." The Lotus said weakly. "I was running a small compound of human survivors. They didn't know who or what I was. I cloaked myself around them and they were grateful for the safety I provided. There were only seventeen of us and three of the survivors were hurt very badly." She made a face. "I was rather surprised when a squad of Prime warframes with Tenno that I knew nothing about came knocking at our door and I am afraid that I was rather rude."

"Oh?" Mother's tone was somewhere between incredulity and amusement. "I think I have to hear this."

"It is kind of embarrassing." The Lotus said weakly. "I was not at my best. So many of my children had done horrors and vanished, dead or asleep, I didn't know which. I was reeling and then she came and I…" She sighed. "I was very rude to her."

"I bet." Cathi Gata had a smile in her voice now. "But one thing Eliza has always been is a planner. Even as a very young Princess, she always had a plan. She had a plan for her garden, She had a plan for the idiot brat who destroyed her garden. She had a plan to save us both when we were trapped in that demoness' lair. Said plans do not always work as Mother said, but Eliza always had a plan and multiple backup plans." She shook her head as the Lotus shook hers. "I bet she planned for this." She looked at Sera who had taken a step back. "Didn't she?"

Everyone looked at Sera who was shaking her head savagely, but Cathi Gata swept to her feet and stepped to the silent warframe. Then Sera stilled as Cathi Gata hugged her.

"It is all right. We will figure it out. No. Don't try to break your vow. That really hurts to try." Cathi Gata shuddered in memory. Sera nodded and despite her silence she was clearly crying as Cathi Gata held her. "It is all right. I do not remember a lot, but I do remember Eliza's intricate plans. Do you know her plan for this?" She asked Sera who nodded. The Nova was obviously fighting herself, but the other Tenno gave her a shake. "No! Stop! We can figure it out. Be true to the Code, Tenno. Hold your vow. I am here. You are not alone."

"Eliza cannot have planned for such." The Lotus said weakly, only to pause as the warden scoffed.

"You know who we are talking about, right?" The dragon in human form asked. "There is a reason we wanted to recruit her and it had nothing to do with our liking her. She is the best chess player I have ever met, bar none. She beats AIs. She resisted her mother's control attempts for four years. No one else I know of could have done that. Four years! If we hadn't been bound by our oaths, we would have torn that woman apart. All we could do was watch as Liza faded and then bounced back, faded and then bounced back."

"I bet you saw how angry that made her mother." Cathi Gata said dryly and chuckled as the warden smiled grimly. "At the time, I thought it was bad. That we were doing something wrong, hurting her for so long for no gain. I did what I could to ease her and then I had to obey my orders. She hated me for what I had to do, but she never… She could have hurt me." Cathi Gata mused. "She know how to hurt my energy form, I know she did. She didn't lash out at me even at her worst. I didn't understand why. But now? She was waiting. She was planning." She paused and then gasped. "No… Not her plan!"

"It was not her plan, no." A kind, gentle voice sounded and everything stopped as a familiar golden hued ancient looking woman stepped out of nowhere to stand in front of Cathi Gata and Sera. Eliza as the Creator! "Well reasoned, Catherine. I hope you do not mind me calling you that?"

"You can call me whatever you wish, Creator." Cathi Gata bowed her head. "I… I want to bow."

"If you do, I will slap you." The ancient woman looked more like a little child as she grinned at Cathi Gata's stunned expression. "Or maybe tell you to 'stuff a sock in it'?"

Both the warden and the Lotus snickered at Cathi Gata's sputtered half snarl, half groan of disbelief.

"You, I think I like." The green Sentient had retreated, but not far and the ancient being with Eliza's face wore a smile that was wide as she turned to the Sentient. "Why are you here?"

"Humor has its place and we will need all the good spirits we can find in the very near future." The older version of Eliza said sadly. "My name as you have no doubt figured out by now, is Eliza. Well, the short version is Eliza." She smirked as Cathi Gata groaned louder.

"Don't ask all of her names!" The guardswoman said with a wince as Sera held her. "Please?"

"When Natah mentioned the name, I did a fast data search for the name 'Eliza' and it came up in our data files as the youngest daughter of the last Emperor." Mother sounded odd, sort of curious, sort of wary. "We may think in numbers, but that is… Um, how many names?"

"Traditionally, every member of the royal family had at least seventy plus the family name. Then a married name if they married." Eliza said with a heavy sigh. "Which is way too much for humans. 'Eliza' works just fine for me."

"Because you like making people uncomfortable." Cathi Gata half spat, half groaned that as Eliza smirked again.

"Yes, I do." Eliza smirked wider as Cathi Gata groaned louder. "Isn't it grand?"

"No!" Cathi Gata, the Lotus and the warden all chorused but Mother was making a noise of mirth.

"I do like you." Mother swept close to Cathi Gata. "But what plan?"

Just like that, the humor faded, but the Creator woman moved to stand by Cathi Gata who held Sera.

"What was done to Catherine was a horror on par with anything my mother did to her." The Creator said sadly. "Mother never realized where those four new Tenno came from. Many people worked hard to keep her from realizing. She did not remember the Prison, but we all knew what it was and the last thing we needed was her gaining access to such."

"That is good." Cathi Gata said sadly. "But I am not her. I am not Catherine anymore."

"You will need to be." The Creator laid a hand on Cathi Gata' s arm. "Your Eliza never knew your family's history. Her mother never guessed. The Emperor knew, which is why I believe he accepted you as her guard. Because he knew you would never forsake her even as violated as you were by Eliza's mother. I bet he knew about that, but was stymied when he tried to stop it. By then, it was too far along for anyone to stop. The Sentients had been provoked beyond all reason and the Tenno?" She looked at the Lotus and her face was sad. "You… I wish I could help."

"What will be will be." The Lotus said quietly. "But... Falcon?" She begged.

"Hunhow may be lost, but not all of you are." The Creator said with a smile that faded as she looked at the warden who bowed his head. "You owe Eliza and Rebekah an apology. Rebekah did what she had to."

"I know." The dragon sighed. "My mate erred. She saw a child in danger and reacted according to her nature. It goes against everything we both feel after what we endured as young. To see a child of any race walk knowingly and willingly into harm's way, into pain. It is not something we can just allow!"

"On that, we can agree." The Creator Eliza said with a sigh. "But there are times when the greater good must be served with evil. Even as horrible as it is when evil done to children cries havoc in our souls. What happened to Eliza was horrible. What happened to Catherine was horrible. But now? There is hope for more than just them. Catherine would have gladly stepped forward to stand between Eliza and the horror that awaits her and if she had? It would have doomed them both. What happened had to." She turned to Mother who hadn't moved. "Or all of them might be lost and your people would be lost as well."

"What do you mean?" Mother asked carefully.

"When that little girl tore the barriers of power from her mind and became so much more and less than human, she saw everything." The Creator said sadly. "It drove her mad, but only for an instant. She recovered wit a bit of help form people who shall remain nameless. Then, as always, as soon as she saw what happened to Catherine, to Eliza, to you, she got angry, focused and started to plan. She planned very, very fast. And then, she made me and the other Eliza that went back with Catherine."

"That is not what happened." The dragon protested. The Creator looked at him and he winced. "Was it?"

"You of all people know better than to ask such questions." The Creator said with a growl. "You know I cannot answer that so stuff a sock in it!"

Everyone laughed as the dragon gawked at the Creator and then smiled slyly. Everyone stared as a brightly striped sock appeared in his hand and then he stuffed it into his mouth! He made a comical face at her and she shook her head.

"You are just as crazy as ever, Will." Eliza took Cathi Gata's hands in her own. "What I have to ask is horrifying, my dear. I know what you will say and part of me is praying that for once, you will say 'no'. That you will let me tear that filthy place apart. I know where it is and I can send people there who can do just that. The Horsemen would do it gladly and leave nothing to chance."

"And then what happens to Natah or her Mother's people?" Cathi Gata asked and every Sentient stilled. "You know what I will say, Eliza." She met the Creator's eyes and the ancient powerful female was crying softly. "You know."

"I do." The Creator sighed. "The plan is simple. Your Eliza will be called as soon as she wakes. The Crown has lost its connection to her and Prison will test her to see if she is viable. When it discovers she cannot bear any more children, then it will act to preserve its programmed notion of the bloodline. She will be taken as governor. It will start with Ess, then Aerie, Michelle, Jesse. It will find whichever of them it deems the most viable and take their DNA to make a new male. It may or may not kill them to do that."

"I won't let that happen." Cathi Gata said with a growl. "I have been there." The Creator nodded. "Can I find it again?"

"You won't have to." The Creator replied. "You are the only one left who the Prison will recognize. It knows you. It will pull you in as well, likely use you or a semblance of you to subdue the others, bring them to it."

"It will try."

All of the lights of Heaven might have gone out at the Tenno's cold, clear words. Sera just hugged her mother again.