Wands and Warframes

Aftermath

Pandora stutters, "How long?"

Natah places a hand on her frame in a comforting gesture, "The fastest Tenno to have ever come out was Harry, and he took 250 years if you only include the time he was active. Funnily enough, Kitty is the next at 264. You could run away and spend a couple of years on earth, and she'll be ready to wake up. Or you could stay here and get to know her, and the other Tenno. It's all your choice. I wanted to get Luna into her transference pod once it was clear she needed it. However, she wanted to give you a hug goodbye despite the risks."

Pandora unlatches her subframe and floats out to properly hold her daughter, "Luna, whenever choices come into play, there is no situation in the past or the future where I wouldn't choose you. I have been a poor mother because I took on work to help look after you, and then got lost in the work. Never thinking about what I was doing. It wasn't a choice I was making to ignore you, it was a failing on my part. Natah, would you like an apprentice? I have a child that we'll be looking after at the same time, and I have a tendency to get lost in my work. But I can't be acting as Xeno's parent all the time, and I've neglected my child long enough."

Hesitantly Luna transfers out of her wisp and sends off a blast of void energy into a nearby wall, "I should be safe now mum, if you want that hug."

Pandora doesn't even hesitate, she scoops her baby up into a hug and rubs her bald head.

"Oh my little moon, I love you. I always will."

"I know mum, I've always known. But that's not all I needed. Can you help me with my hood please?"

Pandora summons the object and then feels it with her hands, "Why is it so thick?"

"It's so I don't hurt anyone when The Lotus checks up on me. My suit also deadens the feel of the world around me. You'll need to lead me to my pod once I've got it on."

Pandora places a kiss on Luna's forehead before fitting the hood in place. Then, tears streaming down her cheeks, she picks up her daughter and places her in the pod that Natah opens for her. As the pod closes, Xeno walks in carrying Jr and takes in the scene.

"I see. She took the deal didn't she."

Pandora spins, anger on her face, "No thanks to either of us."

Xeno sighs and shakes his head, "It always seems like that. The fae don't lie. I'm not even sure they know how to. But they also don't show everything."

Natah looks cross, "Xenophilus, what are you trying to say?"

"No matter what choices they present to you, there's always another way."

"I can categorically state that given my current knowledge and systems, that was not the case when he saved my life. I know full well what the void does, and how long it would take to do irreparable damage to my systems. I would have died, my chassis might have been repairable, but what makes me me wouldn't have survived. From someone who has faced the same fate on three separate occasions prior to that, you can take that as an informed opinion."

He looks at her sharply, "You have made a deal with the fae?"

"If that's what you call any entity that lives in the void, then yes. At the same time that Luna did."

"Why would you do that?"

"The process that I used on you and Pandora is one that I developed. I did so after developing the theory that my predecessor produced about how they could have created Sentients with a soul. I know that the process was valid because I performed it on myself. I also theorised that the soul would provide the same protection it provides humans when they're exposed to the void. Careful monitoring of my systems around the Tenno supported that hypothesis. The fae in question expressed an interest in meeting Hermione, so my children decided to support her by going in a group. While I was carried along with them, reluctant but not unwilling, I had the option of going to safety before we lowered the void shields. The Fae in question then appeared and pulled me out of my chassis before showing me what was happening to me. I ran the numbers, even if we stopped the process then and there, I would have died before I could reach any systems that would help."