Welcome to Gaia! ::

By the time the games came to a close, the hints of a sunset were coming to the sky across the forest groves. Usually lilac, the light was deepening to indigo, with hints of burnt oranges and reds. The bugs in the underbrush began to chirp, louder than before.

The closing ceremonies took place in the same clearing where the arm wrestling tournament had been. Cybele stood on the largest of the stone altars, so that she could see those around her even at her modest height. At her feet were several wreaths, crowns, twisted from native plants and tied with ribbon at the back.

If there had been prizes for overcoming the training grounds in the past, Cybele couldn’t remember. Instead, she’d taken ideas from Earth’s ancient Olympics.

“Thank you all again for coming out today,” she told the people. “I had a wonderful time, honestly.” As she spoke, the professional facade cracked, just enough to show a true, light hearted smile, tinged with a hint of pride. “I hope that you enjoyed seeing what my world had to offer.”

It was a beautiful place, she knew, but it was wild, too, fierce. She thought it served its purpose well as a proving ground, or perhaps just as a place for some rest after so many battles that were life and death. She knew that most of the competition had ended up being not so serious, but that was all right.

It had been, she thought, what was needed.

“Before we go, I’d like to present the prizes,” she said, and she reached for the pile at her feet.

The first wreath was made of soft white flowers, bunched like baby’s breath but with slightly larger petals. She presented it to Ngome, the page of Lysithea who had breezed through the training grounds like nobody else had. “For swiftness,” she said with a soft smile.

Next were the three wreaths for the arm wrestling champions. These were made of flowers of a deep crimson red. They were rare. She’d had to search deep into the forest to find them. One went to her sister, one to Kaifeng the Saturn squire, and one to the unexpected champion, Eupheme, one of the youngest competitors. “For strength,” she said, and there was nothing but pride in her voice for each of them.

The final wreath was duskweed, the purple wildflowers that were underfoot everywhere on the asteroid. In ancient times, she knew, it had been one of the symbols of Cybele and the hunt. This crown was presented to someone else who might have been unexpected, although Cybele was not surprised. Cats, she knew, were excellent hunters. “For sharp eyes and persistence,” she told Illryia the Mauvian.

“Congratulations,” she said, straightening, and that was when something strange happened.

For a long time after she’d purified, she’d begged her world to transcend her. She’d screamed about it. She’d threatened. She’d thrown shoes at trees. Nothing had happened, though, and eventually, she’d given up.

Of course she’d still come up, to spend time with her Knights, or to clear her head. This wasn’t much different. She’d discovered something ancient and tried to find a way to make use of it in the modern age. She’d wanted to do something nice for her friends, and her allies.

That was all.

Yet, that was the moment that she felt something warm in her chest, and when she looked down, she saw a mark there. It was made of light and silver, a seal of light and protection where there had once been the mark of corruption.

Stepping down from the altar, she looked at the sky, then the earth.

“Thank you,” she whispered, half-breathless, to her world.

Then she turned back to the others. She still had to get them home. There was, as always, still work to do.