It was too much. It was all too damn much. Four trips to space, one involving dumping a body and another involving finding the skeleton of her past life's self, then yet another where she found out there is a literal world eating serpent bringing impending calamity and doom. Halia was ready to break. Deeply and truly, at her limit and ready to break. So as soon as her feet were back on Earthen ground, she quickly excused herself and made her way to the one place that above all she knew would provide comfort.

Opening the door long enough to hang her bag up inside so her grandfather would know she was there, Halia quickly made her way out to the barn on her grandfathers farm. The occasional sheep butted against her in greeting, and a few chickens had to be stepped around, but that was all routine after all these years, all easily anticipated. She patted one of the older ewes on the head, lightly scratching behind its ears before slipping into the hay room and closing the gate behind her. The room was warm and smelled comforting, like a nostalgic hug. It was something she had never been able to accurately describe no matter how hard she tried to, but it smelled like comfort and acceptance. So it was no surprise that it was one of her favorite places to hide away, even as a child.

Climbing the hay bales, and only slipping once when a bale was loose, Halia pulled herself up onto the top of the massive hay stock and curled up in her favorite spot, a few tears slipping down her cheeks. One of the barn cats had had a litter recently, and had apparently decided that her favorite spot also made for a great little nest to stash the kittens, so Halia found herself carefully curling herself around the wiggling ball of baby cats. One of the more social kittens, a little striped grey tabby, mewed at her and wobbled itself up by her face, putting a tiny little paw on her cheek curiously before climbing up to lay on her neck. Another kitten, a soft fluffy black one, carefully curled up under her chin and tucked itself as close against her as it possibly could. Before she knew it, Halia had the entire litter pressed against her, seeking out her body heat and burrowing against her as well as under her jacket. She wasn't sure how long she stayed there like that, covered in tiny fuzzy creatures. Wasn't even sure she realized it when the mother cat, a sleek short haired tortie, joined the group either and came to lay atop her hip. What she did know, is that at some point, she had apparently fallen asleep and that by the time she woke up, it was dark out and starting to get cold, the cats having all huddled together against the front of her body by that point.

She sighed and rubbed at her face as she carefully sat up, gently dislodging the little black void from her chest and petting it softly, kissing its nose before setting it down with the rest of the group. She took a moment to pet the mother cat as well, scratching under her chin, her jaw, and behind her ears as she told her quietly what a good girl she was and how good of a mama she was being. Once the cats seemed satisfied with the last bit of attention she had given, Halia slowly made her way back down the stack of hay bales easily three times her height, then headed back towards the house. The porch lights were on, and the garage door was still up, letting her know that her grandfather was still up and waiting for her.

As she came inside and pushed her shoes off by the door, warmth and the smell of dinner greeted her. A few more tears rolled down her cheeks and she sniffled as she rubbed them away, drawing the attention of her grandfather. Georgos was a short, loud Greek man with the mouth of a sailor, but his soft spot for his granddaughter was undeniable. He had made it very clear that the door was always open for her, and that his home would always be hers as well as anything within it that she may need.

Giving him a tired, watery smile, Halia made her way over to him and just hugged him tightly, starting to cry against his shoulder. "It's too much.....so much is going on and I feel like I can't do anything...." She had been careful, so so very careful, to not breathe a word to her grandfather about the magical bullshittery that had become her daily life. If there was one person in this world that she had wanted to protect more than anything, it was him. But now? Now she needed him, needed his guidance and his comfort. It was time to finally tell him, whether he would believe it or not. The farm itself was technically still within city limits, so if he really didn't believe her, she could always power up and show him the truth, though she would truly rather not.

Georgos frowned and hugged his granddaughter close, rubbing her back. You're alright. Tell me what's bothering you, Lia." The nickname was something only he really seemed to use, something just between them, though this time it just made her cry harder and hold onto him tighter.

"It's so stupid... it's so so stupid. I should be able to deal with this. I should be more than strong enough to not break down like this. it isn't fair. It isn't fair at all and I hate it." She stood there with him like that for a while, crying as he hugged her. When she was finally able to calm down, her face was red and her eyes were puffy from crying. Not exactly the face she wanted to have when she was about to tell her grandfather that magic was real. She smiled tiredly as he wiped the tears off her cheeks, waiting patiently for her to explain. "I.... don't even know where to start.... Can we go sit in the living room? It's a lot and it's important. Really really super important." When he nodded, Halia headed into the living room with him and sat beside him on the couch, turning to face him.

"What I'm going to tell you is..... it has to stay secret, has to stay between us. No, mom isn't hurting me again, no she hasn't shown up or anything, it's nothing to do with her, I promise." She felt a pang of guilt when she saw him visibly relax. "It... sort of has to do with the weird lightning storm the other day. But...... it's also been going on for over a year. Things that aren't.... normal, I guess, that are most easily explained as magic." She watched as her grandfather arched a brow at her skeptically. Of course it sounded utterly insane, sounded like she had finally snapped and lost her marbles.

"Lia, did you get into the wine?" His response made her genuinely laugh and she shook her head, glad for the momentary humor. "No, I definitely didn't. I.....can prove it though. Prove I'm serious and that it's real." She hesitated a second before standing up and pulling her pen out, showing it to him. "This is.... this is more than it seems. Which I guess can be said about a lot of this entire city."

Taking a deep breath, she called upon the power within her pen and starseed, letting the transformation sweep over her. Rather than the t shirt and jeans she had been in before, in place of Halia, Aruna stood, back straight, poised and elegant, long sheer bows shimmering in the light of the livingroom. Her grandfather stared at her before speaking. "Maybe I got into the wine.....what in the..." The rest of his thought trailed off into muttered Greek, which Aruna only loosely understood. Quickly letting her transformation dissolve, Halia resumed her seat next to her grandfather. "It's real. All of it. It's all real. Magic, monsters, all of it. I..... got caught up in all of it early last year and I've been trying to keep my head above water. I'm... not alone, not anymore at least, and I have people who I can lean on and depend on... but there have been things happening, things we learned recently, that terrify me. Things like something on the horizon that could effectively end our world."

Georgos watched her, listening with the most rapt attention that she had ever seen from the man. "And you are planning to face it?" He knew his granddaughter, knew that even if she was afraid, even if something utterly terrified her, she would still stand up and face it so long as that was the right thing to do. When Halia nodded, he sighed heavily. "I can't make you change your mind, can I? Can't tell you to stay home, to be safe..." He gave her a sad smile. "You are my brave little girl, Lia. Always fighting the good fight. You have friends in this fight? Yes? You said you aren't alone? Good. They should be so lucky to have my Lia with them."

"Aruna." She smiled a little as she corrected him. "Sailor Aruna, senshi of landslides. Think of it like.... how Bruce Wayne goes by Batman when he's fighting crime." Her grandfather nodded, patting her leg. "I have.... many people who I can count on now. Over the last year, I've stopped feeling alone. I have more friends now than I have in my entire life. I.... think you would like a lot of them. Maybe some day you could meet them."

Her grandfather seemed to light up with an idea. "Bring them. Tell me when, and bring them for dinner. I'll cook."

The offer genuinely made Halia smile, and she nodded. She could at the very least think of three people she would invite immediately. "Not everyone enjoys their identities revealed.... so I would have to discuss it with them before, but... thank you, grandpa. So much." She hugged the man tightly, clinging to him almost as if she was a child again. "Telling you all of this.... I've been so scared about it. For so many reasons. And.... being able to finally tell you makes me feel a lot better."

Goergos rubbed her back as he returned the fiercely tight hug, wishing there was more he could do. "You make sure you come home, no matter what, Lia. No magic or monster is worth your life. Never." He knew her tendency to disregard her own wellbeing, to put herself in harms way for the sake of another and disregard the value of her own life. But now that there was true danger facing her, he could only worry more about those deeply rooted self destructive habits of hers. "Home and alive. Understood? I still need help on the damned farm from you, and you can't do that if you aren't here. Got it?"

Laughing softly, Halia sat up and nodded. "Home and alive. I promise. One of my friends, his magic can help heal people." She gestured to the scar that ran down her left arm. "He offered to help mend that when it was still fresh. And there are others whose entire power revolves around healing as well. It'll be okay. I know it. I promise." She watched the thinly veiled alarm in his eyes as he took in the scar on her arm, but she shook her head. "It's fine. Looks worse than it was, honestly. I'm used to getting banged up, remember?" She cut him off before he could protest, shaking her head. "I have to do this, grandpa. I have to. My very soul, to the core of my being, is meant for this. So.... I have to. I'll be as careful as I possibly can, but I can't make you a promise that I won't get hurt, that I won't end up with stitches or broken bones. But I promise that I will come back." He didn't need to know about space, about her travels off planet or just exactly what was looming in the close distance, threatening to destroy everything. If he did need to, that could come later. For now, she just wanted to reassure him, and have the reassurance in return that he would support her and be there when she needed to come home.