Aftermath

Pandora flies through the Lotus' home with reckless haste as she heads towards the Reservoir. Cursing herself once again for getting so caught up in managing Xeno and his moments that she assumed that her daughter was fine. It's with more than a little shame that she remembers every single time that she did the same on earth. Oh, she was a dutiful and attentive mother until Luna was 4 or 5, and able to look after herself. Then she started to work again and, while it did bring in more money, she would often get lost in her research. When she came out of her study, she'd sometimes find Molly in her living room with a disappointed look on her face. More often Luna would have got into something, played with the fairies that lived in their garden, or made a mess trying to make something to eat.

She thought she'd been doing better because this world allows face to face communication from anywhere in the solar system. Only now, when her daughter is in real distress because she just hadn't been around to be a mother, did she realise that those brief conversations, no matter how regular, or how long, were no substitute to being able to watch her daughter move and act. She knew Luna well enough that she's confident that she'd have spotted the problem long before now if she had. Actually, she amended to herself, that is probably not true anymore, as Luna is a young woman now, not an 8 year old child.

As she finishes reviewing all of her conversations with her daughter for the 8th time, she realises that she's only travelled 2m. Despite moving at full speed. Forcing herself to calm down, her thoughts slow down enough for distance to be passing at a fast, but reasonable pace. It's only seconds later that she hurtles into the Reservoir and scoops Luna, in her Wisp, into a hug.

"I'm so sorry I wasn't here for you. I... No, there are no excuses. I was so wrapped up in the small problems and the potential of a new world to explore and research that I neglected you again."

"It's ok mummy, I can take care of myself."

"But you shouldn't have needed to. I should have been here for you, being around to talk to, hug, hold, and sing to sleep. Instead I chose to manage your father, an adult who was managing himself somewhat successfully before you came along. You were, and are, a child."

Luna looks up at her, "No mum, I'm not a child, I'm a Tenno. Even at 8 years old I knew what was likely to happen when I saved your life. It's been happening all my life after all. If I didn't then you wouldn't be hugging me now."

"Luna, just because you accepted the situation doesn't make it right." – she waves one of her hands at Natah, who is standing off to one side – "I should have been here, learning how to be a Sentient and a better mother, with your auntie. I've just discovered that I can think far faster than I did as a human. If I'd stuck around I'm sure Natah would have taught me, and then I'd have been able to spend my time with you and done my research."

Natah shrugs, "Maybe, it's more likely that I'd have just made an offhand comment. I'm not, and never have been human, I've been forced to emulate an Orokin, but they were about as close to the sort of human that lives in Cetus as I am. I have been a mother though, so I'd have been able to help you with that."

"Mum," – Luna interrupts – "when I said I was a Tenno, I meant I'm a Tenno in truth." Her voice trembles as she continues, "When we first came here, The Man in the Wall visited me while I was sleeping in Harry's wisp. He showed me two visions of the future. In the first. In the first, I was watching you from the door of the study, waiting for you to finish so that I could have my mummy time. You were almost finished casting a new spell when a blackbird smashed through the window and distracted you enough to make a mistake. You died. The second didn't make sense at the time, I saw a stranger in pain crawling towards my wisp. Then Auntie shot them, shot me in the back. She was a stranger because she was me, a little older, but recognisably me. I remembered what you and father said about making deals with the fae, and refused. I used our blessing to stop you from dying, and thought that I could... I, I have void powers now, and I can't control them." – she indicates an amp that's sitting on a nearby table, along with a hood – "We tried using an amp, but I don't have the control I need for that either. Mum, I'm going into the second dream, and when I come out I won't be a witch anymore."

Pandora stutters, "How long?"

Natah places a hand on her frame in a comforting gesture, "The fastest Tenno to have ever come out was Harry, and he took 250 years if you only include the time he was active. Funnily enough, Kitty is the next at 264. You could run away and spend a couple of years on earth, and she'll be ready to wake up. Or you could stay here and get to know her, and the other Tenno. It's all your choice. I wanted to get Luna into her transference pod once it was clear she needed it. However, she wanted to give you a hug goodbye despite the risks."

Pandora unlatches her subframe and floats out to properly hold her daughter, "Luna, whenever choices come into play, there is no situation in the past or the future where I wouldn't choose you. I have been a poor mother because I took on work to help look after you, and then got lost in the work. Never thinking about what I was doing. It wasn't a choice I was making to ignore you, it was a failing on my part. Natah, would you like an apprentice? I have a child that we'll be looking after at the same time, and I have a tendency to get lost in my work. But I can't be acting as Xeno's parent all the time, and I've neglected my child long enough."

Hesitantly Luna transfers out of her wisp and sends off a blast of void energy into a nearby wall, "I should be safe now mum, if you want that hug."

Pandora doesn't even hesitate, she scoops her baby up into a hug and rubs her bald head.

"Oh my little moon, I love you. I always will."

"I know mum, I've always known. But that's not all I needed. Can you help me with my hood please?"

Pandora summons the object and then feels it with her hands, "Why is it so thick?"

"It's so I don't hurt anyone when The Lotus checks up on me. My suit also deadens the feel of the world around me. You'll need to lead me to my pod once I've got it on."

Pandora places a kiss on Luna's forehead before fitting the hood in place. Then, tears streaming down her cheeks, she picks up her daughter and places her in the pod that Natah opens for her. As the pod closes, Xeno walks in carrying Jr and takes in the scene.

"I see. She took the deal didn't she."

Pandora spins, anger on her face, "No thanks to either of us."

Xeno sighs and shakes his head, "It always seems like that. The fae don't lie. I'm not even sure they know how to. But they also don't show everything."

Natah looks cross, "Xenophilus, what are you trying to say?"

"No matter what choices they present to you, there's always another way."

"I can categorically state that given my current knowledge and systems, that was not the case when he saved my life. I know full well what the void does, and how long it would take to do irreparable damage to my systems. I would have died, my chassis might have been repairable, but what makes me me wouldn't have survived. From someone who has faced the same fate on three separate occasions prior to that, you can take that as an informed opinion."

He looks at her sharply, "You have made a deal with the fae?"

"If that's what you call any entity that lives in the void, then yes. At the same time that Luna did."

"Why would you do that?"

"The process that I used on you and Pandora is one that I developed. I did so after developing the theory that my predecessor produced about how they could have created Sentients with a soul. I know that the process was valid because I performed it on myself. I also theorised that the soul would provide the same protection it provides humans when they're exposed to the void. Careful monitoring of my systems around the Tenno supported that hypothesis. The fae in question expressed an interest in meeting Hermione, so my children decided to support her by going in a group. While I was carried along with them, reluctant but not unwilling, I had the option of going to safety before we lowered the void shields. The Fae in question then appeared and pulled me out of my chassis before showing me what was happening to me. I ran the numbers, even if we stopped the process then and there, I would have died before I could reach any systems that would help."

"What about Harry's pod?"

"It would only hold my subframe. I am not just what is in the subframe."

"Dora," Xeno sounds a little hysterical, "Do we still have your great grandmothers pensive?"

"It's in the basement, why?"

"I need to see, I need to see what happened. Fae never tell you everything, ever."

Natah looks confused, "What are you talking about?"

Luna's voice comes from behind them, "A pensive is a magical device that can be used to view memories extracted magically. Hello Father, I was asked to say 'Namtar says hi' next time I saw you".

Xeno's face goes slack and he drops to the floor with a thunk, Jr spilling from his cradle. Waking from the sudden shock, Jr starts crying and flies into Pandora's arms.

"No, it can't be. Not here. How? What about Beedle? Was it all false? My quest?..."

As Xeno trails off into incomprehensibility, Natah and Luna both turn towards Pandora, who has started nursing her son.

"What?" Pandora says defensively.

Natah just points at Xeno.

"I'll need to unpack the Rookery to explain it properly, but we've not found anywhere suitable."

Luna holds her head in her hands, "Mum, why not here? Well not this room, but here as in this complex. There's that room with a model of earth that keeps falling over. You could unpack it there."

"We need more space than that Little Moon, we packed the whole of the Rookery, not just the house."

Luna shrugs and with child like logic says, "Find a bigger room then, or make one."

"We can't just do that, it needs sunlight, good water, preferably a leyline as well." – Natah transmits some data with capabilities of the Orokin facilities – "Well, we still need the leyline."

"Mum, have you found any leylines anywhere in this solar system?"

"Well, no."

"Then make one, you're a researcher aren't you?"

"I suppose I could, but I'd need to get decent scans of existing leylines to determine how they're formed naturally. Probably from a distance where I can get a holistic view of the entire map rather than..."

Natah interrupts, "Pandora, is that a yes?"

"What, oh yes, it should certainly be possible."

"Is it something that needs to be done before you restore your home?"

"Oh. No, it should be good for a couple of years before the magic in the wards bleeds off to a level that can no longer support the plant and animal life."

"Then, maybe we should unpack your home and then work out how to get your scans. Can you do it from Lua?"

"No, this earth doesn't have any leylines. We've checked. I might be able to do it from the other Earth's moon though."

"How would you do it?"

"I'd need my books and equipment, then I'd start by designing a ritual to... My books and equipment are all packed away in the Rookery."

"So, where do you want to put the Rookery?"

"Yes, let's get on that. This is how much space we used before." – She sends over the data she gathered while they were packing up the estate – "Oh, but how are we going to get to that moon if the void is still dangerous to us?"

"With the void shields up you will be fine. Your soul will protect you just as well as it would a human. It just takes minutes instead of days for irreparable damage to occur if the void shields come down."

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Over the next couple of years Pandora throws herself into being a mother, learning to look after the Tenno, and creating an artificial leyline network on Lua. She is often digitally accompanied by at least 2 cephalons while she's researching. This is a direct side effect of digitising the Lovegood library, to make it easier for her to work with. There are still some things she needs to do by hand, as some arithmancy doesn't lend itself to digital computation; even using the quasi-organic matrixes that the Orokin used in their computers. Ordis likens those to the same calculations that Limbo uses as they are equally nonsensical to cephalons. Even with the manual calculations, being able to calculate the required math, layouts, and even tempo required for the ritual that will make the map is completed in a matter of weeks rather than months or years. The Orokin manufacturing capabilities also reduces decades of work scribing thousands of rubies with the required sigils needed to plot every possible leyline intersection, not to mention the massively more complicated model that the ritual would apply them to. They also find that the Orokin alphabet works just as well as a symbolic focusing language as any of the ancient runes used on her old earth.

After performing the ritual, what they end up with is a model of the earth, around 10m across. A glowing ruby sits at each leyline intersection, and glittering red lines trace the connections. The brightness of the line or ruby indicates how much magic was running through the leyline. This model is then enchanted to float on its own, and mimic the rotation of the earth. They then replace the Orokin globe that keeps falling of its pedestal with this enchanted globe.

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Kitty begged, badgered, pleaded, and bullied Natah until she relented and started teaching her how to actively use her implants. Granted, the lessons started as a way to get some peace for a few hours/days by locking her in a room with no doors. Natah didn't factor in Kitty calling Harry for help and getting the hint she needed to complete the first step of learning to use them.

She has also sweet talked her way into a job with the Grangers as a dental assistant, on the understanding that she wouldn't work during Holidays.

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By increasingly popular demand, Cy converts the lander that they designed for Harry's Railjack into a blueprint to replace the artillery pod. He also creates a blueprint for the limited arsenal in the cargo hold, limited even more to only hold 3 different warframe configurations. Those warframes and equipment will not be available in the Lander when stored in the Railjack.

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Albus stands in a little used room in Hogwarts. In the centre of the room stands a mirror that is designed to ensnare the unwary. On tables conjured for the purpose are sheets of parchment with notes and schematics plotting out the enchantments on the mirror. In there is a schema for a temporary enchantment that can be overlayed over the mirror to hold an item, until a certain condition is fulfilled. Once the item is removed, the new enchantment will unravel, leaving the mirror in pristine condition.

Opening a casket that sits on a pedestal next to the mirror, Albus stares at the glittering red gem and considers that maybe Hogwarts isn't the most secure place he can think of anymore. After staring at the gem for 5 minutes, his pride refuses to admit that fact and he draws his wand to start applying the enchantment that will house the gem when it's finished.

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Natah looks at the results of her test with Harry's wisp. Since she made that modification, Harry hasn't commented on anything being wrong, or undone the modifications either. Next time Harry, Hermione and Luna visit, she modifies all of their warframes so that they will always have the minimum energy needed to use any of their abilities once shown on the overlay. As a control, she does the same thing with Kitty, and as expected needs to undo the change within a couple of days.

With Pandora now able to fill in for the role of Lotus occasionally, by using her helmet. Natah starts setting up increasingly specialised sensors around the Rookery and the model earth. First to eliminate any of the known energy sources, and then to detect the nebulous soul.

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Xenophilus slowly becomes obsessed with something in the basement of the house, only leaving when he wants memories from someone. Unfortunately, everyone else, including his daughter, is just too busy to notice.