up above the world so high

"Come and see, my darling one."

All of Caido seemed visible from so high above the world. Made small by the darkness and the twinkling lights, it seemed as though one could simply reach down and brush away Starfall island from where it glowed a haughty violet in the ocean. Alas, were it that easy Safrin would have done so long ago, and would not still be healing from her time away in the vast recesses of space.

With clouds beneath their feet and a current of stars to light their way, Safrin and Seren moved through the sky like constellations come to life. "I think we have much to talk about if you would like to feel the sand beneath your feet once more."

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Seren

The world was beautiful. Whether from this exulted height, appearing as a gleaming pearl without fault, or from up close with all its flaws revealed, Seren had only love in her heart for Caido's creation. Always she was torn in two; adoring every second spent with her mother, yet longing for the physical realm that was equally her birthright.

"I do miss it," she admitted, looping her arm beneath her mother's in a simple offer of support, "and while it is lovely here... I would like to do more with this life. Perhaps this time I will finally have grown into myself enough." Past adolescent recklessness, above such things as youthful rebellion; finally ready to step into her true purpose with the same ease and grace that carried her along the starlit path.

"What would you like to talk about?" Whatever it was, Seren would listen, and do her best to understand.

I'm ready to start the conquest of spaces
Reaching the starlight and silver fields

With an appreciative sigh, Safrin tucked her arm closer to her body to draw her daughter against her side as they strolled through the cosmos. Few had seen the true state of the goddess when she'd returned from the depths of space, and though she'd tried to shield her daughter from the worst of it, she'd needed Seren in the immediate aftermath.

"A civil war was no place for a young demigoddess." Safrin mused softly.

Seren had, of course, borne witness to Safrin's state when she'd returned, and to the conversation, she'd had with Deimos and Ronin shortly thereafter. She'd given them her warnings, nearly drained Ronin dry, and then had been forced to flee into the stars lest she do so with the Nova's life in her pocket. None of that came close to telling the full story of how her follower's relations to her return had affected the goddess, both in terms of the ones who had sought her out, and the ones who hadn't.

"Things with your father are...different, now." Safrin said in a tight voice as she drew them to a stop. "And I worry he will take out his anger with me on you."

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Seren

The young woman's smile was affectionate, if a touch exasperated at her mother's protectiveness. "Nor is any war fit for anyone, yet here we are again. This time I need to properly do my part." No matter how perilous it would be, there were things she just couldn't run from. Safrin's state was enough proof of that.

Pressed side to side with the goddess, Seren halted as she did and gazed solemnly out across the stars, and down upon the world. Like a shadow she watched Umbra sail on midnight wings among the stars, his presence a quiet murmur against her soul. Eventually she sighed.

"If he does, I will not blame him. The truth is that I have been gone from him for years, without a word. He has been treated poorly - by both of us." She looked back at her mother, unusually serious. Perhaps it was not her place to admonish the goddess - but who else would? Who, except Vi himself, could ever?

"You know I will never pick a side between you two, right? You are my mother, and he is my father. No matter what happens I will always love you both."

I'm ready to start the conquest of spaces
Reaching the starlight and silver fields

Rolling her eyes affectionately, Safrin kept caged the emotions that stirred inside of her. Seren was special to her; moreso than any child she'd created in centuries, it felt like. But of course, her daughter was right. It was time she was allowed free reign over her destiny.

"He knew I brought you here to keep you safe." Safrin replied with a small shrug, before lifting her chin and surveilling the stars that Seren might not see the white-hot flash of anger in her eyes. "I have never treated him poorly. He may be your father, but he is my demigod. Necessarily that is not a relationship of balance." Sighing, Safrin pulled her eyes away from the cosmos to instead gaze upon her star-child.

"I have given him the chance time and time again to walk away from all that binds us together and he has chosen to remain."

As for picking sides? Safrin could only chuckle at her daughter's naivety. "Loving the both of us is not the same as not picking sides, my love." The goddess corrected, pressing a small kiss to Seren's dark curls.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Seren

Shaking her head mutely, the starchild disagreed, but knew better than to argue. Safrin would not see what she did not wish to see, and even a daughter could only say so much before it turned into the kind of argument that soured moods. It was not how she wished to part.

"Is there more you wish me to know?" she softly asked instead; indeed naive enough to hope that she could remain impartial in the tug of war between her parents. "Will you be alright while I am away? I could return some of your gifts before I go, if it will help you recover faster. Maybe the star critters..?"

Leaving her mother alone in her weakened state did cause Seren a good deal of worry... Not for the first time did she wish she had Ronin's ability to be in several places at once.

I'm ready to start the conquest of spaces
Reaching the starlight and silver fields

"Only that I do not wish your father's sour mood to ruin your time back on the ground. But please be careful. These newcomers are far from friendly and are more powerful than they let on. While you might be keen to prove yourself since you have been gone for so long, promise me that you will at least think first, before acting?" It was the only plea Safrin could think to make; Seren would do what she wanted, headstrong and brilliant as she was, but at least if she could vow to think before rushing into danger, at least then she might save herself from more preventable situations.

Smiling adoringly, the goddess shook her head. "You are very sweet, but no. I would worry more to know you had fewer ways to protect yourself, although..." With a sigh, Safrin frowned. "Our abilities specifically don't seem to have any effect on those on Starfall."

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Seren

Seren took her mother's radiant hands in hers, and smiled. "I promise I will be careful," she swore earnestly, and perhaps she would even remember the vow this time. "If something does happen I will make sure to ask for help - I know I'm not meant for the literal frontline."  It had been difficult to accept, once, since she burned to be useful and make her goddess proud. But one thing she had learned from watching the war against the Voice was that there were other roles that were just as important.

"Can I do anything for you, while I am down there? There must be something your power can do that nothing else can... I would do anything." She was a demigod too, after all; much as she looked forward to feeling sand and sea under her feet again, her eyes would never fail to seek the stars no matter how bright the daylight.

I'm ready to start the conquest of spaces
Reaching the starlight and silver fields

Lines of tension appeared around Safrin's eyes as she considered, finally seeming to acquiesce to her daughter's request with a small sigh. "Now that you mention it..." Reaching into her gown, the goddess pulled out a ball of swirling black and purple energy. It had physical properties, but as Safrin handed it over, Seren would find it nearly weightless in her hands and a bit cold to the touch. "This is part of them. This Family. I know it isn't much, but we know so little about what can actually hurt them...perhaps you could use this to find out more."

If nothing else, having others strike at a sphere of energy while Seren took notes about it seemed the sort of thing that would keep her daughter involved but out of danger.

---

Seren has been given:

Familial Sphere | A globe of swirling black and purple energy that fits in one hand. Comes from The Family's home world.

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Seren

Wide eyed and breathless, Seren accepted the orb with both hands, careful as if the thing might explode in her face. For all she knew, it really might. The chill of it spread like a slow shiver up her arms, and it was with some urgency she slipped it through a fold in reality and nestled it safely away in the sand of her island.

Letting out a shuddering breath, she met Safrin's gaze. "Thank you. I will see what I can learn." A solemn heartbeat passed, and a second; then she could bare it no longer and fell into her mother with open arms.

"I'll miss you," she whispered. "Maybe I am a little scared after all..." It wouldn't prevent her from going anyway. But it had to be said; this really was the worst possible timing on her part.

I'm ready to start the conquest of spaces
Reaching the starlight and silver fields

'I will be with you always." Pitching forward to draw her daughter against her, Safrin pressed her cheek against the top of Seren's head that the demigoddess might not have to see the silver tears shining in her mother's eyes. "I am more proud of you than you will ever know." She whispers, voice trembling slightly. "And if you ever want to come back..." Not wanting to make it seem as though she was trying to tempt Seren into staying, Safrin let her voice trail off, merely wanting her daughter to know the possibility was always open to her.

"If you need me, you need only call, alright?"

Beneath Seren's feet a portal of shimmery light would pulse and grow. All the demigoddess needed to do was step down into it and she would find herself transported anywhere in Caido she wanted to be. Starpulse's glimmered across the clouds, beating in time with Safrin's own heart as she finally, if not reluctantly, released her daughter.

'I love you.'

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

Seren

Embracing the goddess was akin to leaning into starlight itself. Soothing and empowering, enhancing all that she was of dreamer and dancer, brave and reckless fool wrapped in one. With Safrin's boundless love on her side, was there really anything she couldn't do? Was there really anything else she needed?

In the end, that was what she had to enter the world to discover for herself.

"This will always be home," she murmured into her mother's shoulder and savored a last lingering moment of weightless light, dark, of honeysuckle and lilac and the comfort of being utterly and completely safe. "I love you too, Mother. I'll come see you again soon."

Letting go was sinking into the chill of mortality once more. Embracing gravity, Seren took a step back into the portal, her eyes fixed upon the goddess for as long as she remained visible. Yet her thoughts were already turning towards the world, and her other parent whom she had not seen for so long.

In a glimmer of stars the young demigoddess sank into the portal. Like a streak of midnight the large dragon circled the goddess in a solemn farewell, then shot after the starchild. A moment later they were both gone.


{Fin}

I'm ready to start the conquest of spaces
Reaching the starlight and silver fields