Welcome to Gaia! ::

“...and be sure to report your findings to me. Not too regularly, of course. Avoid patterns.” The girl, well…woman, smirked in the same proud and grimly joyful way she had since childhood. It was really and truly a beautiful expression, one that Emily would never tire of. And this might be the last time she sees it. Maybe she'll forget it entirely.

She doesn’t tell Miss Mindy Lee that forgetting is a possibility, perhaps a definite likelihood. This would be the second time she gives up the person who she'd always thought would always be her mistress, her idol, her purpose. The first time was in coming back to Destiny City by herself, and was with Miss Mindy’s own encouragement that felt like both a blessing and a knife in her gut. This time, it was still a blessing, still a knife. But Emily didn’t dare mention losing her memories of Miss Mindy, or their lives together. The idea that the other may still so easily give her blessing was simply a blade too many.

Hanging up the video call, Emily stared down at her hands with an empty smile.

“Now with your eyes closed, breathe in and then out with my count. One…..two…..three….” In the candlelight of the ranch’s innermost chamber, Emily didn’t stop counting her followers’ breaths. Even as she pulled out her henshin pen, and transformed into Hestia. “....ten….if you notice a shift in temperature, do not open your eyes. Not until I tell you it's safe. Twelve….thirteen….”

Wisp swirling around the unseeing followers, she pulled on a familiar dark robe and continued to count, “Seventeen….eighteen….”

Connecting to her world was smoother and easier than ever, even if taking three guests took an almost nauseating amount of power. One of her followers, Mitchell, clearly startled at the sudden temperature drop, the sensation of polished wood floor shifting to that of marble, smoothed by millenia of travelers and the winds that took them here. “Hold on. Take one last breath in. And exhale, slowly, while opening your eyes.”

Verithe had already been here before, but was still clearly shaken upon seeing that vast and shining space before them. The banner was gone now, Hestia always took it down for these follower visits and didn’t plan to hang it up again after this. There was a large, rusty looking bloodstain on the floor of the pavilion, but she didn’t plan on cleaning it. Let it mark out both her folly and her turning point for the next Hestia to find.

There were half a dozen followers that could be considered the Cleansing Way’s inner circle. Mitchell and David were the last two to bring here and she was glad she still had the chance to complete their circle. Showing them the true source of the Way’s philosophies and hopes for the future. Showing them proof that there is magic and power and…

“There is a place for you among the stars,” Hestia intoned, gesturing to both this world and beyond. “A place that needs you and wants you to reach the fullness of your potential.”

Later, their fires lit, their hands covered in oil and grit while holding stoneware teacups filled with a strange drink, she told them of a future, one to expect and seek out. “I will be leaving, for a long time. The other three of the circle have also been informed. My voice will continue to guide, where it can, but after this, none of you will see me again.”

Ignoring the shocked inhalations, the gestures of shock, she went on, “Where I go will be dangerous. I may die before I’m even able to reach it.” And this, was a truth that she has grown to accept. “If I go quiet. If I die, I will be reborn again.” Her voice was firm and confident in this, carrying across the ancient ruins of thousands of years of service to the worlds and wonders of the universe, reverberating with all the weight and determination of those years. “It may take eight or nine years for her to be recognizable, but you will feel it. And when you find her, take care of her. Protect and teach her. When it’s time, she will take you back here, and together you will all take your place among these stars.”

She paused and then, “Together you will take the path of not the Cleansing Way, but that of the Cleansing Fire.” To speak its true name felt incredibly freeing, as if granting what she’d built on Earth a pair of wings. Around them, it felt like the floating spheres of flame grew, casting stark and lively shadows all across the silent ruins and temples.

One by one, her followers stood and then knelt before her, each swearing an oath.

“To serve. To tend. To clear the way.”

“Let all burn cleanly. Let all burn brightly. Lead all to shine amongst the stars.”

“I’ll see you.”