Persephone’s footsteps echoed in the empty halls of what she still assumed was the home belonging to her past self. It had been such a long time since she had gone to her planet, and the quiet solace that being on it afforded her was welcome.

Everything was so quiet and peaceful here, even if it was because everything was dead. The silence was nice. It was a place away from all her doubts and fears, where she could simply contemplate art and architecture, and perhaps get more glimpses of her past.

She felt so lost lately. Lost and adrift in the White Moon, and even as she pulled together a team, that feeling just become worse. She still wanted, so badly, to be more like Camelot - confident in her cause and her allies.

She pushed open a door, and found herself in what must have been a bedroom. The room was oddly well-preserved, though she wasn’t eager to touch any of the cloth on the bed lest it dissolve in her fingers.

A figure she recognized - Kore, her past self, - sat in front of a full-length mirror, carefully sliding a blooming pomegranate flower into her hair. From it hung gold-thread strung with pomegranate seeds, and she wore a long, elegant white dress.

“Kore,” a woman’s voice said from the entrance, “the festival of the harvest will begin soon - are you ready?”

“Yes, giagiá,” Kore replied, standing up. “I’ll be out in just a moment!”

“Well, do not be too long! We can’t start without you!” Footsteps moved away from the door, and Kore giggled, spinning around.

“My first harvest...I only hope I can do everything well…”

As soon as the vision ended, Persephone turned, and there it still was - the mirror Kore had been sitting by. The chair was gone, but she could still see herself reflected in it - and she couldn’t help but feel sad. A thousand years ago, Kore had looked in the mirror and laughed and smiled at her own beauty.

Now, Persephone looked and saw only a lost little girl. Someone who was on the side of Order, but strangely, who trusted many of those of Chaos more than her own people.

The mirror made her think of Leto - and how assured the Dark Mirror Senshi had seemed. Leto had followed her Princess to Chaos and never looked back. How wonderful it must have been to have that kind of faith.

She rested her forehead against the mirror, and suddenly a thought occurred to her.

Leto.

Leto had spoken of planets, of returning home to space. And couldn’t the Dark Mirror Court transport themselves using mirrors?

She wasn’t sure the idea she’d stumbled onto was a good one - was she really thinking of bringing a Dark Mirror Eternal to her planet, and of showing that same Eternal a way to get there without her around?

And yet...it seemed so wonderful. Leto had spoken none of her own planet - perhaps she couldn’t get to it. If nothing else, Persephone could offer hers as a quiet place, somewhere to find solitude. A place of contemplation, as it was for her. Even if she didn’t want to join the Court - not yet, she had friends in Order and a family, all of whom would not appreciate her disappearing - she could offer Leto, and the rest of them, a small gift.

Buoyed by that thought, she pulled out her phone to return home.

[WC: 593 words]