Welcome to Gaia! ::

The forests of Urania. They were vast and deep. You could be mistaken for believing that they covered all the surface.

If you looked out from where you stand, you cannot see past them. Even if you got as high as you could, you would not see anything but the trees. And if you could get as low as you could, you would only see roots.

But, at the center of the world, there was a large area of mostly stone. It was on the outskirts of this area that you now stood, on ground of a fine and dark dirt. It is as if you stand on the last bit of ground before the untamed wilderness.

This area leads to the Hunters Ward.

———

“Welcome to Urania. This sphere here… well, it used to light up this section of the forest! Which section is this? Oh, yes. This is the Hunters Ward. Oh! I should explain why it’s called that. The constellation Leo had that title on my world. But it also represented a clan, the Hunters clan, represented by the Lion. There was also three tribes under them, Ursa Major, the Large Bear; Ursa Minor, the Small Bear; and Lepus, the Hare.

See! They are right here on the sphere…

Oh, perhaps I should explain why I’m explaining all this.”

The senshi touches the sphere’s stars in a certain order. Nothing happens for a moment. And then you see the stars shift and move before forming the words:

Are you ready?

“You see, on my world, before I was allowed to leave and explore beyond Urania, I had to complete a challenge from each clan. Which I did! But, um, this thing doesn’t seem to remember that. It won’t let me turn on the light until I do it all over again! I mean… the two things — lighting the way and the challenge aren’t even connected! It must be broken…”

She looked sad and her wisp appeared and tried to comfort her by doing all it could which was spin around her head. Then she looked to you.

“And I was much stronger than… you see. I’m not at the same stage as I was then. So, if this does what I think it does, I’m going to need some help.”

Are you ready? Are you ready? Are you ready?

The stars keep reforming and asking the same thing over and over, like it’s broken or something and stuck on repeat. The wisp circles the sphere excitedly as if also asking…

Are you ready?

“It’s very pretty,” Ephesus chirped with cautious enthusiasm, unsure if he was expected to be solemn or if he was supposed to be in awe of everything she was sharing. It wasn’t a good thing that it wasn’t working like it used to! But it was still really neat that it represented so many things.

He had enough trouble trying to get through his classes sometimes, so he couldn’t imagine having to memorize everything about lions and tigers and bears -- oh, wait… she hadn’t mentioned a tiger, but he had his with him. Tucked away in a special bauble, but still.

When the stars shifted into the words, Ephesus tensed and was tempted to take a step back. Alastor’s hand was on his shoulder, which prevented him from trying to hide behind him instead. So he gripped his staff tightly with both hands, and wondered if maybe he was the wrong choice for this.

Surely Sessrumnir or Amarynthos would be better suited to help figure things out for Urania, who seemed so nice and deserving of all the help she could get.

“Um… I can… heal. A little. I don’t know if it would help any, but. My magic, I mean,” he tried to explain while also trying to make sure his voice stayed at a level that could be heard. It was almost as though any sound he made was being absorbed into the trees around them.

But… she seemed to be waiting for them to touch the sphere. Cautiously, he removed one hand from his staff so he could reach out and touch it, relieved to see that Alastor reached out to do the same.

Alastor had been tested before, and for all his years alive this felt new. He was guarded going into it, but despite that he didn’t seem worried. A part of him was most certainly excited to experience something different.

Was it rude to be too enthusiastic? He wasn’t celebrating Urania’s plight. He was taking it seriously. Alastor was competitive, he liked a challenge.

Even when things weren’t necessarily going to plan.

Briefly, his eyes darted up to Urania and he called, “Are you okay?”

He hadn’t seen the exact method by which she’d been ensnared and pulled away, and he doubted he’d have much of a chance to examine the situation while there were bears running at them.

He squeezed Ephesus’ shoulder once more before he drew back. “You’ve got this,” he promised. He was confident in himself and Ephesus.

But, as they were, they were too close. They made too much of a target and there was no risk they wouldn’t get in each other's way. Alastor was not afraid of bears, and he had at least one good story to tell about his youth, but he didn’t want to risk bringing Ephesus home worse for wear because he overestimated his abilities and put him in danger.

So, Alastor moved first, to intercept the larger of the bears. He didn’t know if magic would work on them, he didn’t try. He shoved his shoulder into the bear’s side in a clear attempt to direct it further from Ephesus, but as soon as he made contact, he couldn’t help but look over his shoulder to make sure Ephesus was all right, too.

Urania was okay, Ephesus was okay. Nothing else was as important.

Alastor’s attention was divided somewhat equally between both of them and each of the bears. Urania might have been safe from them up there but he didn’t know what other dangers she might have to contend with. And Effie, well–he had a bear.

There was little time to celebrate keeping his target at bay; now, it was–

Wait, what was it doing? Bears on Earth couldn’t do that. Bears on Alastor certainly couldn’t.

But then, they were magic. Urania hadn’t warned them about any abilities so he didn’t know if this was something planned or something glitchy, and in the face of the unknown, he was willing to confront it head-on.

If he’d made an effort to dodge the beam, maybe he could have outrun it.

It wasn’t worth the risk, given that Ephesus was right behind him. He’d rather be hit well before his son.

Ephesus had faced fire before. Alastor could see no flames but he felt the heat dancing across his skin. The pain summoned no sound; he didn’t want to worry Ephesus. He had healing magic, no matter what happened, Alastor was certain that he’d be fine.

All they needed to do was defeat the bears so they could free Urania–if this test was like what she remembered.

The bear seemed like it had been stationary–which was good because Alastor could not see where it was. The light was so bright that it made it almost impossible to tell where he was. He could barely see anything, and his eyes stung even when he was only squinting. He did his best to push through the beam of starlight and, when he thought he might be close enough, he threw a punch towards it.

The large bear growled. It did not like being punched by Alastor. But it didn’t move either. It appeared to be at least partly stunned. A combination of Alastor's attack and exhaustion from firing that beam seemed to make it sluggish, like it was just waking up from hibernation.

The small bear looked at the tiger before it and took a step back. It then looked to Ephesus and tilted its head as if tying to make out the knights words. Do we have to… fight…

It almost seemed to nod as it looked Ephesus in the eye. And then it ran back towards the forest and disappeared.

“It may not be the only way. That’s just the way I did it before. These tests often had more than one way to handle them.”



❂

Ephesus wasn’t sure if Alastor had been hurt, but he knew the larger bear had tried to attack him with some kind of light magic. He was relieved that the smaller bear seemed content with running back into the forest, and the young Moon Knight breathed out a sigh of relief, although he still watched after the bear with genuine curiosity in his eyes.

Not for long, because he needed to make sure Alastor and Urania were okay.

The tiger remained close, but it seemed to shift from being physical into something ethereal but present. Ephesus couldn’t feel his energy being drained when the tiger was like that.

“Are you okay?” he asked again as he hurried over to Alastor’s side to look up at him with worry and barely veiled tears trying to p***k the corners of his eyes. There were bears! He was kind of scared! But they didn’t seem like they were bad. Just… existing.

This was their home, after all. Maybe they were just reacting out of protectiveness?

Ephesus definitely wasn’t unaware of the larger bear, and knew it could still try to attack, so he ducked under one of Alastor’s large sleeves, behind his arm, even if it messed his hair up a little.

“Do… um… do you like honey?” he asked the bear cautiously. He knew it wasn’t the same as real honey, but Amarynthos said he could smell and taste it. From under Alastor’s sleeve, Ephesus held out his staff to cast some of his magic, hoping it would be enough to calm the bear so that it would leave them unharmed and maybe even let Urania go.

Ephesus was so sweet. Alastor might have been happier if the bear was just gone, if it had run away like he’d told it so, but he couldn’t even be mad if it was still here.

As long as it was nice to Ephesus.

He raised his arm just slightly, to keep Ephesus protected and shielded, but to give him a better look at the bear he was feeding.

The bear was close enough that it could have attacked again if it had wanted to, so Alastor kept an eye on it. He was ready to react, but he wasn’t going to start anything. As long as Ephesus was safe, this was fine. When it laid down, it certainly seemed to emphasize that it meant no harm, and it seemed to like Ephesus. Alsator couldn’t blame it. He was sweet, and considerate, and compassionate.

Alastor breathed a little sigh of relief and smoothed out Ephesus’ hair. “I’m proud of you, good job. Do you want to try and get that key? I’ll have your back,” he promised. He wanted to see the good in all creatures, like Ephesus already did.

He didn’t tell him he was okay. He thought he was, but he didn’t want to lie. He could see, that was the important part. He ached, but either it was fading or he was getting used to it.

“How many tests did you say you have to go through?” he asked Urania. “Your world is a little hard on you, isn’t it?”