The two suns of Ecliptis IV shone beautifully over the planet and its inhabitants. Eldirans busied the streets, walking to and from work, meeting friends and heading to school. The capital was as lively as Seulgi remembered it. She sighed, stepping back from the large window pane of the palace that looked out at the busy city, and rubbed her head, her migraine getting worse by the minute and the bright suns in her eyes were not helping.

“How are you feeling honey?” A short woman with black hair said as she took a sip of a tea like substance from the cup in her hand as she sat at a long glass table. Seulgi turned to her mother and forced herself to smile despite her aching heart. She couldn’t let her mother find out about Joohyun. When she had told Sooyoung over the communicating device she had found on Gomdori her childhood friend had been furious. Sooyoung may have been able to distinguish between Irene and Joohyun after a bit of persuasion but she knew her mother would not. After all Irene killed her wife.

“Better.” Seulgi replied as she walked to the table, sitting at the far end which made her mother raise her eyebrow in curiosity but otherwise remain quiet. “We have to talk.” Seulgi said with a clenched jaw, her face reminiscent of her late moms when she got serious which made the empress smile softly.

“Yes we do.” Her mother replied with a small sigh. “Where have you been all this time Seulgi?” The woman asked and Seulgi pursed her lips.

“Earth.” Seulgi replied as a maid set a plate of food in front of her and bowed. “Some rebel soldiers kidnapped me, they passed through the new portals we were setting up and we ended up on Earth. I managed to escape, but I was hurt. The locals healed me and took care of me. They helped me get back.” The girl hated lying, especially to her mother, but she had no choice. She needed to empress to see humans in a good light. What better way to convince the woman to leave the planet be than to make the inhabitants responsible for bringing her daughter back safely.

“I see…” Her mother seemed to mull over the information but before she could speak one of the women from before, Sunny, entered the room and bowed.

“Empress Taeyeon, I’m sorry to disturb your time with your daughter however we have an issue you must see to at once.”The woman said a serious look on her face as she looked at the frowning mother. Seulgi pursed her lips in annoyance. She had hoped that she could convince her mother before the colonization process began and every second mattered.

“Sunny I understand that you mean well however I have hundreds of advisors that can look into-“  The empress, Taeyeon, spoke in a cold voice, far different from the one she used with her daughter, however she was cut off by the SNSD member.

“We caught a rebel group trying to sneak in.” That caught Taeyeon’s attention. The woman stood, a scowl on her face, and turned to her daughter, signaling her to follow. Seulgi did so, finding herself once again surrounded by the four women from before, this time however her mother walked ahead of her. The group quickly made their way down the long halls and into the beautiful garden of the palace, where amongst colorful flowers sat ten rebel soldiers, bloodied and bruised, kneeling on the ground with their hands behind their backs and a group of empire soldiers at their sides.

“I have matters to attend to, so if you’re not going to tell me where your bases are then save us all the trouble and say so, so I can get it over with and kill you.” Taeyeon’s voice sent shivers down Seulgi’s spine. She had known of her mother’s tactics long ago however this was the first time she heard her sound so, distant, like the lives in front of her didn’t even have any value. At the silence she received Taeyeon huffed. “Have it your way. Take them out.” The woman said and without hesitation, one by one, the rebels’ bodies fell to the ground, blood coming out of their heads. Seulgi barely kept herself from vomiting at the sight, not at the blood, not at the death, but at the cold look in her mother’s eyes.

“Are you alright kiddo?” Hyoyeon was the one that spoke to her, placing a hand on her shoulder and Seulgi gave a mute nod, not trusting her voice enough to give an answer. Hyoyeon retracted her hand and nodded before Taeyeon turned to her daughter with a small smile.

“Do you want to visit her? I’m sure she’s missed you.” Seulgi nodded mutely. How could she say anything when the woman in front of her turned from a cold ruthless killer to the loving mother she knew in just a fraction of a second? Their group of body guards stood by the entrance of the beautiful flower covered field where a large statue of the deceased empress stood, a beautiful, peaceful look on the stone engraved to her image. “Hey Fany, guess who’s back?” Taeyeon spoke as she looked up at the beautiful statue.

“It’s beautiful…” Seulgi said as she followed her mother’s eyes.

“You have no idea how much I miss her Seulgi.” Taeyeon said, turning to look at her daughter before pulling her into a hug. “I’m glad you’re back Seulgi. I don’t know how I would have dealt with losing you.” Seulgi hugged her mother back, the warmth radiating from her familiar.

“I’m not going anywhere mother.” Seulgi said with a small sigh, hugging her mother back affectionately. Soon enough the two were pulled apart by Taeyeon’s duties, leaving Seulgi to stand in front of her moms statue alone. Just as the empress was out of sight Seulgi’s knees gave in, hand going to her heart, clenching at her clothes as if to try and halt her heart from the aching it felt. “What am I going to do mom?” Seulgi looked up at the statue, as if begging it for help. “I can’t let mother find out about Joohyun mom! She’ll kill her!” The young woman’s eyes stung with unshed tears. “But it just hurts so much being away from her…” She added with a soft cry, her vision getting blurry and her head spinning. “How did you do it mom? When mother went on her expeditions?” A bitter, tired sigh came from Seulgi. “I miss her already mom…I miss her…” Soon enough Seulgi’s world went black.