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It ends in her stalling.
It's uncharacteristic of her, but as the saviors of two worlds divide themselves through two portals, Minerva stands in wait. She is saying her goodbyes, of course. A hearty thump at the back that sends Thacker into a coughing fit, a special shake of hand and bump of the fist that Minerva had developed after living with Aubrey. But it's apparent that she's biding her time, talking to every last person she's come to know before they leave the ship.
Now it's just her, the sound of Billy fussing about a control panel, and Wayne Newton.
If there's one thing Minerva has learned from being ignored for the last 20 or so years, it's that he will choose Earth. He has always done so, even when she has insisted that he couldn't.
"Wayne Newton, it seems our destiny has reached its natural conclusion! Truly a satisfying end, I have been overjoyed to partake in it!" She beams at him with the wrong number and order of teeth for a human (not that anyone has ever complained, but she keeps it in mind).
"I mean, I'm glad we've all went through this thing together too, but… I gotta ask, why're you still on the ship, Minnie?" His thumb hooks itself on a belt loop, a leftover habit from trying to silence Beacon's remarks. His hand gestures forward, towards something behind her. "Are you gonna…?"
Minerva follows the movement, looking at the window she stands in front of. An orchestra of stars twinkles at her, reminding her of her desolate home planet once the light pollution had slowly tapered off. She doesn't know any constellations from wherever the ship has found itself drifting, yet she wonders if she's ever seen these stars before; what worlds hold themselves in their orbit too far for her eyes to see? Which of them a destination, a planet that must be saved from the terrifying process of destruction that plagued far-reaching corners of the universe?
She watches Billy from the corner of her eye, persisting in his recalibration of the ship now that he works alone. It will be grueling work, but it is a duty he's earned through his mistakes and his repentance.
"Am I going to what, Wayne Newton?" she finally asks him.
"Stay here? Like, go full Star Trek?"
Star Trek? Ah. The one with the color-coded uniforms. Or was it the one with the big furry pilot? (She was never one for space-themed entertainment, her people figuring out rockets before they figured out popularized visual media. Most of what she'd seen in her downtime mirrored human "car shows.")
Either way, It seems Wayne Newton has not realized that this is not the work that she has earned.
"I'm afraid my experience as a champion of my people does not cover interplanetary missions— you have seen my attempts at "being human" yes, Wayne Newton?" He lets out a snort of laughter. "As I thought. I am not suited for the trekking of stars."
"You're sellin' yourself short there, Minerva. You can do whatever you damn well please," he says. She likes to think she has a healthy self-image; learning your strengths and weaknesses is the mark of a good warrior, after all. Still, she finds herself taken aback by the sheer sincerity of the declaration. Part of her to this day hasn't adjusted to the fact that Wayne Newton, her former student, has taken onto himself to hype her up.
"Then I think I will not be seeking any new battalions to brave against. I do not think our companion Billy requires a fighter to aid him."
"yeah, noah fence lol. i think i have the handle on this. yall can go home." Billy throws a peace sign at them, then immediately turns back to his work. Minerva fixes her gaze at the human in the room instead.
"I am quite sure Miralaviniax Orbital Body 5— or 'Five'— will remain as it is. I have accepted that fact for years now, but I had never considered that I may start anew."
Taking a step back, she weighs the two options offered to her.
Earth was an ordeal to get used to, not just because it was an alien planet but because she hadn't interacted with another living being in the flesh for so long. She had tried to approach everything with the same enthusiasm that has carried her to this point. Grinning through every faux pas and broken ceramic she had held in her hands. But the truth is— it tires her. In private, the heat vents that line her body ripple with frustration, steam rising out in plumes.
She turns her body towards the portal where Aubrey and the rest had vanished earlier. Sylvain was more... mystical than Earth or her own homeworld, but they also seemed more accepting of deviations from the norm. She wouldn't be under threat of dissection by some overly curious scientist over her unfamiliar physiology.
She was debating whether or not the Slyvans were entirely over exiling people when she hears Wayne Newton clear his throat.
"I mean, we can always just... see each other. Right? With the spectral projection things." He wiggles his fingers as he says this as if to equate the highly scientific method their brains— their very minds!— to Sylvain's mysticism. She vaguely recalls that her companions would do an eye movement to communicate their displeasure, but she has yet to practice it.
"Well, yes," she responds instead, "especially now that you have mastered your powers, Wayne Newton. It should be no hard task for either of us to talk to the other as we please. It would prove quite useful if the two planets had no other means to communicate!"
"Yeah, we'd be like... glorified cellphones almost?"
"That is exactly it!"
"yo. i like u 2 a lot. like, i owe duck my life n all but idk how long these portals can keep up. 20 more minutes proly." The robotic voice startles both of them to look towards Billy, and while his hands still occupy themselves, his eyes stare expectantly.
"Wayne Newton, you may go ahead and return to your home. There is no need to wait."
A moment passes. Wayne Newton doesn't make a move towards Earth, to the sweet reprise of the forest and his apartment. She doesn't make a move towards Sylvain. And when he speaks—
"You know, Billy, is it weird that we keep callin' you "he"? 'Cause I feel like we never really asked your input on that one." It's an innocent enough question, but it is at this point Minerva realizes that he has also been stalling, doing nothing but since everyone else had left. "Like, are you actually...?"
"s chill. like, i feel that u know?"
"Yes. It would seem Billy has taken to human gender much faster than I have," she admits, "thankfully, I have had much more time to come to terms with it."
"Wait, Minerva, what does that— is it weird for you that everyone's been callin' you "she"—" He seems genuinely appalled at her statement, stepping back and blinking rather concerningly, can humans break their face muscles? She follows, hand resting on his shoulder and squeezing.
"Ah. You have misunderstood, Wayne Newton. Leo Tarkesian has assisted me in the choosing of my name and pronouns long before I have met you! I had suggested the earth figure of "Apollo" for his own, but he prefers the shortened "Leo", and as Leo, he remains."
She sees him take a pause, likely to process what she had just revealed to him.
"I mean I knew Leo was—," an incredulous expression befalls his face, accompanied by a twitch in his eye she can't place the reason for, "Does that mean the entire chosen gang's trans? Have you transed the genders of 3 people, Minerva?"
"Wayne Newton! I would never force something of such personal nature on another being—" she starts, but his hands settle on her wrists—her forearms— as she unknowingly tightened her hold on his shoulders.
"Whoa! Whoa! Minnie, I was just kidding! Just... thanks for telling me? I guess. I mean, I knew you already knew about me, but..."
"I do understand the significance, Wayne Newton."
They stay for a moment, hands resting on each other until another pulse from the gateways them brings them back to reality.
"Your stuff's still at my apartment," his hand slides off, and he reaches up to scratch at the scruff of his beard absentmindedly, "I mean not that the means you gotta come to Earth but uh—"
"Many bound for Sylvain have left their belongings there—"
"—but if you wanna start on Earth, you can start right where you left off. Not a bad place to start figuring things out, right?"
And maybe it is true that many of her new allies wouldn't have minded to have her around. Perhaps it is true that given time, she can find her own fulfillment in Sylvain, that there remains work to be done and things to keep her busy there.
But the truth is, Earth, strange and frustrating, is home to her new memories and her longest surviving companions. Earth is where Leo Tarkesian dropped Beacon and had her think, long and hard, about herself.
The truth is, she treasured the bursts of 3 minutes she got to have with the chosen, but thinking about it? It doesn't feel enough. As if somehow she still had so much of catching up she wanted to do.
The truth is, her friend is offering to have her around now. Wants to.
So she takes a step forward, and then another, and another, each step more confident that the last. Eager now that she's settled on a new direction.
He's not far behind her.