Chapter Five
She was utterly angelic.
The serene cosmos she radiated, so silver and gentle, washed away all the frustration Seiya had pent up inside of him, and at once he felt an ease he thought was lost to him, ever since Saori had been stricken. It was relief, like a sigh, like a letting go of all the tension in his muscles.
"What a beautiful cosmos," a croaky voice said. "It's like moonlight..."
"You're awake!" Rei cried out in surprise.
There Saori lay, eyes bleary, but very much awake.
"How are you feeling?" Hotaru asked, coming to her side once more.
In that instant, Seiya just wanted to lie down. He was so tired, so, so tired, and seeing to Saori's safety had been all that was keeping him going. He didn't quite believe it before when they said she'd be okay, but now it seemed real. She was awake.
"Seiya..." Saori called gently. "Shun...Hyoga...Shiryu... I'm sorry if I worried you, but I'll be alright, now. We're with friends."
"What do you mean?" Shiryu asked.
"She's... can't you feel it? Her light, I've felt this light before, long ago."
"So you know me?" Usagi said. "I feel like I know you, too, but..."
"You can't recall where?"
Usagi's surprise said she was right.
Saori gave a tired chuckle.
"That's alright, it can take some time before our memories are easy for us to recall. It was another life. But I do remember glimpses of it, of you. You look like your mother, even now. You just hold yourself the same way. That would only make sense, though. More than her daughter, you're her incarnation. The little princess of the moon..." she paused, trying to form a name in her mind. "Selene..."
"Serenity," Usagi corrected. "Selene was my mother's name."
"Serenity..."
As she said that, Usagi was transformed again. In her place stood the vision of a queen, dressed in white linen and decorated in gold.
Though a feeling of awe overtook all who saw her, this sudden change, it startled Usagi.
"I..." She could not find the words. She did not know how or why this happened.
"I'm sorry," Saori said. "I didn't mean to startle you."
At the crease of her brow, she continued, "...it's almost impossible for a god not to show themselves when another calls them by their true name."
"If that's the case then that means you really are Athena," Makoto said.
Saori's cosmos swelled, a golden aura radiating in response.
"Then you..." Saori started, but then furrowed her brow. She pushed herself into a sitting position, and inspected Makoto and the other women closer. "I- I'm sorry, I'm not sure who you are."
"You can call me Mako, but as for any "true god name", the closest I can give you is Jupiter."
Her eyes widened, but then narrowed, skeptically.
"No, no, you are certainly not Zeus, or any incarnation of him," she said after a beat. "I would know, I would feel it. But I don't think... besides Serenity – "
Her eyes scanned the group again. They stopped on Minako.
"You, perhaps, I know. But the others..."
"There's been much lost to time," Setsuna said, quietly.
"But all you need to know is that we're loyal to the princess," Haruka cut in.
"As we are to Athena," Hyoga said.
"Then it should be understood," Saori said, meeting Usagi's eyes. "We were never enemies, and I think it would be to both of our benefits if we could be allies. I want to thank you for the help you and yours have already given us, that should not be understated, but I fear I am still in need of your help."