Closure to the Exposed

The bustling sound of Ethereal City suddenly became silent amidst the waxing moon of the night. Then came the first rays of dawn, with notes of morning dew floating within the house. Ava woke up frantically in a sweat. She breathed heavily and saw Draven had approached the room with a meal on a wooden tray. Which contained a small stack of French toast and a glass of orange juice.

"Thank you, Draven. But I want to eat breakfast with my family from now on." She said with a smile.

She heard pitter-pattering in the distance. And the sounds ushered got louder. The sounds were two babies crying and yelling out their sister's name.

They screamed, "WE THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD AVA!"

"Dead? Do I look dead to you, grillitos?" she declared, while messing with their bed head, laughing.

Ava looked at her siblings. Their faces looked puffy, like they cried all night until morning, with their clothes in shambled attire. She helped fix their clothes. Amora hugged Ava close as her older sister brushed her hair, made a huge braid, and tied it up. Ava grabbed the flower crown Amora had brought to her and placed it on Amora's head.

Andres was yelling and kicking his feet up and playing with his older sister in a game of peek-a-boo. The kids were ready to go roam about their new home. Draven kept his eyes on the children while Ava changed her clothes in her restroom.

She washed her face and saw a thin figure behind her in the mirror. The void-like eyes stared at her, its body covered in crusty, ashen skin, along with a sneering smile full of sharp teeth. Ava yelped at the figure and looked behind her, and saw only remnants of a small pile of ash on the floor. Ava gathered herself and continued to get ready quickly and got out of the bathroom, kicking the door out.

"Vamonos niños, para comer este desayuno delicioso que Señor Draven preparen por nosotros. Si? < Come on kids, let's eat the yummy breakfast Mister Draven made us. Yes? >," stated Ava with gusto.

She picked them both up, one on each arm, and playfully bounced around like the children were going for a ride. The children's laughter filled the corridor halls in the house. It brought a sense of nostalgia to Ava, and she knew her family was safe from harm for now. She tried to get through the grief of what had befallen her Abuela.

Ava and the kids approached the entrance of the dining room. Her moms looked down with a heavy aura of grief and disappointment. Draven brought the kids to the table and served them their food. Ava looked at her mothers and waved them to come over to the corner for a private discussion.

"Mama, I-I know what this looks like -" stuttered Ava.

Brie interrupted her daughter in an angry whisper.

"What the hell were you thinking Ava?! How could you let your Abuela die?!" said Brie.

Brie's nostrils flared red, and she cried. The children witnessed their mother crying. They sat next to her and patted her back for comfort. Maria stroked her beloved's hair to calm Brie down. Maria expressed her pain in a silent plea through eye contact. Brie understood by looking at the children, enjoying their breakfast.

"Honey, Ava did the best she could. At least our babies are still here, with us, mi amor. And we will still hold Mama in our memories and The Book." said Maria.

Maria looked at Ava and held her hand.

"We need to talk about this, and we have to get ready for what happens next," said Maria.

Ava nodded in agreement and sat down with the family and started eating the thick Texas French toast with whipped cream, berries, and maple syrup. The moms were reluctant at first, after seeing the amount of food that was displayed for them to eat. Draven poured some coffee for the mothers and Ava with a modern-looking coffee pot.

Brie was hesitant still, but Maria nibbled at the breakfast. Brie stabbed the wooden table with her knife in anger. She got out of the chair and went out to the backyard to breathe. Maria witnessed her wife's sudden actions with somber sadness, then she turned her attention to Ava with a stern look.

"Thank you, Señor Draven. For this wonderful breakfast. We never really had such a huge breakfast together before." said Maria, embarrassingly.

"Ava, mi hija. What happened back at Abuela's? And how could you afford all of this?!! Why do you have a butler?!" Maria stuttered with both disbelief and confusion.

Ava looked down and Moira spoke, "You have to tell them, Ava. It's the only way for them to find closure about what happened."

Moira's image in Ava's head saw her putting their hand on her shoulder.

Moira assured her and said, "We'll be okay."

Moira smiled at Maria. She was still concerned and expected answers from her somehow wealthy daughter. Maria gestured her arms, which expressed her confusion in exaggeration. Ava didn't listen to anything her mother said. The only sound she listened to was her stomach, and her eyes widened at the breakfast.

"But how can you afford all of this?! How were you our boss this whole time?!" exclaimed Maria, flailing her arms about the house.

Ava listened to the sounds of her stomach rather than listening to her mother. The thick slices of custard-fried bread, endowed with berries, and a pool of syrup were in front of Ava. She licked her lips and dove in at the food like a starved animal.

When she sliced each piece, the syrup coated each piece of French toast like thick ambrosia, and a hint of tartness from the berries. Harmonized with the components of the dish. She got back to reality quickly when she finished her plate and looked at her mom and felt ashamed for ignoring her.

"I am, and I am not… Mami, I just want to help people. And in our situation, we can't go into everything or everyone who needs our help," mumbled Ava, as she sank into her chair like a child.

Ava holds her pendant and showed it to her mother.

"This necklace has been with me for a couple of years, and I have never taken it off… I just have a knack for being good in disguise…." smirked Ava.

Moira's eyes appeared, and Ava's brain was glowing white. Moira introduced herself in a poised posture.

"Hello, Maria Rodriguez, a pleasure to meet you. I am Moira, a Protector of this System." said the short, purple-haired person.

Moira bowed to her mother with a smile.

"I am also your daughter's Protector, as well as of business and charisma," spoke Moira.

Maria was still shocked.

"Let me tell you how I came to be, Mrs. Rodriguez, of how we have possession of the Milky Way under our grasp," said Moira, as she held her mother's hand.

Flashback to the year when Ava and the System took possession of the newfound ability the necklace had given them. One of her DIDs, Moira, was the first to appear. Moira stumbled and crashed into the old equipment of the lab.

Frightened by her new form and wondered what it became, a foreign feeling like she has always existed in her mind now a realization. She recovered and looked around for a reflective surface. She found a compact mirror and saw a different woman as she opened it. A woman with ebony-like skin covered her body, and her metallic gold eyes, irises that were shaped like crosses, and purple hair flowed with the gradient of the Milky Way.

Moira saw herself come to life and expressed the first smile on her face. But the reflection of her smile would only become a blinding beam and temporarily blinded herself for a moment.

"Oh my, this is becoming a problem," said Moira, as she continued to rub her eyes.

Moira gasped when she heard her voice, but then a twinging headache ensues. Many screams suddenly burst inside her head. Only one seemed to be louder than the others.

Someone screamed, "HELP! SOMEONE!"

Moira recognized who it was, Ava.

"Ava, darling, you are still here," Moira spoke to her assuredly in due haste.

Ava panicked and said, "M-Moira?! I can't see you! Where are you?!"

Moira recognized that the body was hers temporarily. She breathed in and calmly talked to Ava.

"A-Ava, I'm here. It's okay," said Moira.

A few minutes had passed, both Moira and Ava have settled down and gathered the information. Moira came up with a hypothesis and shared her findings with Ava.

"The explosion must have merged the necklace to our System, Dearie. Hmmm. Curious indeed. Seems like we must make some imperative decisions that pertain to handling the System. It's for the best since this new situation seems to be a wonderful opportunity for some who want to. You know." said Moira as she made the observation of the situation.

Ava understood what her Protector meant: it boded unfavorably for the System.

"Agreed, but we have to keep it a secret in the family. We can deal with the others. Only you and I know what we must do now…." explained Moira.

Moira then felt a tug in her chest and a glitch took over, and Ava reappeared. Ava gasped for breath and curled up in fear with tears smeared by her eyeliner. Her body ached from the sudden events that took place.

"Give me a minute, Moira, please," said Ava.

She shuddered at those words. In Ava's body, Moira finished telling their mothers what had happened. Brie and Maria were both upset and felt like they didn't do enough to protect their baby.

Maria held Ava's hand and said, "Moira, I'm sorry for my reaction to both you and the System. I wish I could have helped you not deal with all this alone."

Maria placed her hand gently on her child's face and tears trickled down from Moira's eye onto her mother's hand.

"Mother, you were always in my thoughts whenever you went to work. I try to keep a close eye on you, so you can take it easy. Our identity must be secret, if people find out that–I mean, we are unwell. If they find us out, we would be under arrest. And imprison us for doing business." said Moira, she smiled when looking at her mother.

"Why else would you think we left so quickly in the morning? I had a meeting to get to and Ava wanted to be an aspiring artist and many more of us had lived. We depend on each other. And to be honest, one of the troublesome ones helped save the children from intruders-." said Moira.

The switch interrupted Moira and shook her head and her eyes faded back to Ava's brown eyes. She observed her surroundings in confusion. Ava sensed that her mother wasn't able to understand what had happened.

"Hey Mami, you, okay?" asked Ava, confused and worried.

Maria nodded and teared up while she held onto her baby girl's hands and squeezed them gently.

"I'm okay mi hija, I am so proud of you for being this successful. But why did you hide it from us? After all this time?" she asked about the fact that Ava, her daughter, was the boss of the same company she had worked in for nearly a decade.

Ava was embarrassed and skeptical about answering.

"I still miss Abuela. I still miss her so much," said Ava in a cracked voice.

Ava bawled in her parents' arms. The children gathered around them in a group hug after they finished breakfast. Draven looked at the grief-ridden family in sympathy.

"Madam, we must take you to the Grotto, to recover your grandmother's body. We must hold a private funeral for eyes not to suspect us." said Draven, as he wiped a tear with his handkerchief.

Ava and the family looked in Draven's direction in unison. He pardoned himself for ruining the moment.

"Make the arrangements for Abuela's funeral to the letter per Abuela's wishes," said Ava.

She wiped her tears with her sleeve and regained her composure. Looked at her family, and in her mind, her identities attempted to comfort them on that day. Abuela knew who she was, a grandmother to the System. Abuela loved them each as her own grandchildren.