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Cleopatra and Khensu watched the small star vehicle—which both of them had been towing from the back of Khensu's PYRAMID Academy shuttle—float away into the starry vacuum of space.
"Tell me truthfully, Cleo," Khensu said, "does there appear to be any hope of salvage?"
Cleo deftly eyeballed the distance to the vehicle from the shuttle, then gauged her personal adrenaline reserves. They were low, considering the deadly adventure she'd just had on a foreign planet involving a battle against a robot dragon, but hey, she'd done faster runs before. "I mean, maybe, if I get out now, floor it real fast, and get inside the thing before—"
The vehicle exploded in glorious fashion.
Cleo sighed—less because of the vehicle's destruction and more because now she wouldn't get to do a cool high speed space run. Oh, well. There'd be others. "Yeah, on second thought, I, uh, don't think that one's coming back."
Khensu rolled his eyes. "Well, I suppose that's it, then."
"I didn't do it!" The voice of Philo—Cleo's temporary protégé for exactly as long as it would take to get back to Mayet, and for no longer, so help her—sounded over the ship's broadcast system. "No one saw me do it, you can't prove anything!"
"Cameras across the entire ship layout," Khensu said calmly, via an icon on the shuttle's dash-panel which allowed his own voice to be broadcast. "And Brian and I adore footage-review all-nighters."
Cleo nodded. She'd seen Brian in action. The benefits of having a body that didn't need sleep and multiple ports to plug AV content into was impressive in its endurance. (Which was great, because Cleo would never want to trudge through such things herself. There was no smashing involved in footage review—and smashing was one of her four major food groups!) Philo stood no chance.
Indeed, it seemed Philo knew the same thing, as he was silent for several seconds, until, finally replying with "…awww, nuts," in a dejected voice.
Cleo rolled her eyes, making sure to otherwise keep them on the space ahead of her as she piloted. "I'd make him clean the bathroom as punishment, but, uh…" She put a sheepish hand behind her head, a ripple of uneasiness washing over her. "…well, hey, jumping the gun always was my thing, why mess with a winning formula?"
Khensu slowly tilted his head. "Was that self-deprecation I heard just now?" he said. "I'm not sure if it becomes you."
Cleo shrugged. "Trying some new stuff out."
Try as she might, she couldn't shake the events of the day. How flippantly she'd acted for most of it. The antics of Philo, one of PYRAMID's most notorious junior students. Where both aforementioned things had led them… and the ultimate fate they'd nearly suffered because of it. It was only by Khensu's vigilance that they weren't robo-dragon chow right now.
A few more ripples washed over her, diluting her jubilant mood. She didn't like this.
She looked over to Khensu. "Hey, so, um, which one of these icons activates the soundproofing again?"
"Hmmm? That one," Khensu said, pointing to a blue slider closet to Cleo's pilots' panel. "Though, are you sure you want to activate such a thing with Philo on board? I can tell you from experience that the one edge we have over that boy is that he telegraphs all of his mischief." With a wry smile, he added, "Much like a certain princess I know."
She knew he meant it as a good-natured jab, but it still turned the next ripple into a tiny stake at Cleo's heart. Ugh, seriously, was this what having a conscience felt like? If so, she would like to go on record to state that it was highly overrated.
Cleo huffed, then slid her finger across the panel, and pressed the icon for autopilot close by it. A pane of glass slid down behind the cabin she and Khensu were in. "Yeah. I wanna talk about that. And several certain… adjacent subjects, maybe—" Cleo did a double take as her voice sounded eerily… clear, across the shuttle's cockpit. "Wow. That thing really works."
"Oh, if it didn't, I'd never stay sane on our team missions." Khensu swiveled his seat towards his teammate. "What's on your mind, Cleopatra?"
Cleo swiveled to meet Khensu, staring at him, still not believing what she was going to say, what she was going to do. This was right up there with rescuing Callie instead of letting her get kidnapped to certain doom—and also to certain Cleo-centric social domination of PYRAMID Academy.
But hey, that one had turned out well in the end—as well as anything that involved Callie still being alive could end, anyway. Why not go for a double? All it would cost would be her coolness. Forever. Talk about your huge gambles.
"Well, uhh…" Cleo said, fidgeting and putting her index fingers together, "I know that since I've arrived here in the future, I've been… a little bit of a handful. Might have had a little too much uncontrollable 'moxie', as the older generation says. Maybe 'spunk', too? Heh heh."
She tittered, seeing not a hint of response from Khensu—not even a twitch—and that only fueled her nervousness. "Feel free to disagree with me anytime, here. Yeah."
Only then did Khensu finally speak.
"Cleopatra," he said, his voice dripping with seriousness. "Since you've arrived in this time period, you've been nothing short of a holy terror. I want—no, I need you to know that. I need you to know that you have made so many bad decisions, in a matter of mere months, of the physical, emotional, constructional, even political sort—that eventually one becomes numb to the ordeal of cleaning them up, and each new instance merely ends up being another exhausting addition to the ever-growing, mountainous pile. The damage you have caused in your wake to PYRAMID Academy alone, has been nothing short of immeasurable, and catastrophic. Keep in mind that I'm merely localizing my assessment to a single planet for the sake of brevity."
Cleo cringed. Wow. Make that all the stakes to her heart. At least now, it was out in the open. "Yikes. Tell me how you really feel, why don't you?" she asked, weakly.
Khensu's eyebrows furrowed as he mulled over Cleo's words… then raised. "Actually, that's not a bad idea. I think you have the right of it. I will tell you how I really, truly feel. Better yet, I will show you."
He got up out of his chair, walking to one of the nearby long bench seats, pressing its base. The seat flipped up, revealing its dual purpose as a trunk. He jumped in, and rummaged around, eventually picking out a triangular machine she recognized as a holographic projection device.
Wait. There was more to this? Seriously, consciences were way overrated. It almost fascinated Cleopatra just how much she was caring about Khensu's opinion right now, of all things. To say nothing of how much his words really had hurt. Not because they were mean, but because she knew that not a single one was wrong.
Still. There had to be some way she could prevent Khensu from finishing the job he'd started, and completely breaking her spirit… wasn't there?
Before she could stop it, Cleo found herself babbling.
"Look, Khensu, the reason I started talking about this was because it hit me today just how crazy I've been, and what it must have done, not only to you, but to my friends, and the whole academy."
Khensu was still pressing buttons on the projector. No prevention was happening. Cleo's voice rose, as if she could stop time and the universal progression of events with words and volume alone and besides what else could she do?
"But I don't think about these things when I do them! I admit it! I don't think about them because I'm already focused on whatever new thing's in front of me!" Her voice cracked, her fist balled, her eyes shut tight, doing anything she could to stop any tears from showing up because she really did not need them right now. "But I get it now, I swear I get it, and I'm sorry, Khensu! I'm sorry for all of it, just please, I just don't want you to hate—"
"This is a compilation of Cleopatra's progress," Khensu's digitized voice spoke from the projector. "She advances quite quickly, especially for a newcomer to this world."
"Wha—" Cleopatra looked up to see a projection, just as she feared. But instead of something heart-breaking, she was greeted with… herself.
Herself, working in harmony with Brian, Akila and Khensu to defeat Octavian's robot goons. Working to bring back power to PYRAMID Academy after she'd accidentally drained it that one time through powers she'd never known she had. Performing pitch-perfect gymnastics to the applause of her entire class.
"Khensu…" Cleo said softly, but Khensu didn't answer.
And the video played on.
Cleopatra, triumphing over would be assassins, and academy invaders. Performing daring space escapes against pirates and assorted outlaws. Outmaneuvering and defeating a simulated Octavian, of all things!
And finally, Cleopatra, having laughs and doing projects with her friends. High-fiving Brian, hugging Akila, even singing with Callie. Rallying the students of PYRAMID Academy in helping random citizens, while also being the life of the party in school clubs… and school parties too, every once in a while.
Finally, a selfie-recording of Khensu played, the feline front and center.
"This is a reminder to yourself, Khensu. Cleopatra may be a prophesied savior, but she still needs training, she still needs space, and most importantly, she still needs time. Give her all three, even in the most trying of events—and the infinite potential you see in her will grow and flourish."
The projection disappeared. Cleo was too stunned to say anything, leaving Khensu free to.
"Every time you actually make a good decision," he said, "and the good moments that result from them, are also added to their own pile. I will admit such instances were limited at first, but over time, and especially recently, they've begun to add up. And now I can add you acing a Level 2 mission to the mix—wherein you triumphed over a robotic guardian while reassuring and protecting your charge, with all of the strength and compassion expected of a PYRAMID Academy alumnus, an officer of the Nile Galaxy, and the queen you are destined to be."
Khensu walked directly in front of Cleo, staring up at her. "Cleopatra. I do want you to know how much of a handful you are. But I also want you to know that there has never been a single day when I did not consider every hardship to be worth it."
"Khensu…" Cleo knelt down to meet the cat, her mouth wavering, her heart twisting in knots. "Is it… because of your faith in the prophecy that you've kept up this much patience with me?"
Khensu sighed and shook his head with a knowing smile. "It would be so easy to say yes, and leave it at that. But no. That would be a lie." His eyes met hers again, as sincere and unwavering as his words. "My faith lies wholly in you, Cleo. Specifically, the exact sort of young woman you are. The sort of young woman who does focus always on the next thing, always pressing forward, always looking for the next frontier to explore. Even Pharaoh Yosira will tell you: the only way to defeat Octavian, and the only way to eventually lead a people, is with inner resolve, and infinite heart. Everything else can be polished along the way."
Khensu placed the projector back in the shuttle's trunk. "I won't lie, I do like this new, more mature, pragmatic you, if only because my ears will benefit so much. But even in your maturity, please: don't forego your personal essence, for my sake, or anyone else's. The prophecy didn't say a cat would save the galaxy—only that one would assist said savior. Also, I might have put that last bit in there to make myself feel better."
Cleo beamed wide, twin trails of tears streaming down her face. At times like this, she knew: there was only one thing to do that would help.
"Fortunately for you, I'm not sure I'd know how to be anyone else," she said, wiping her eyes. "But I do know one thing."
She picked up Khensu, cradling him with a mother's love. Too late, she remembered how he wasn't a huge fan of the practice—but for once, he didn't fight back.
"I'll always need you," Cleo whispered.
This time, it was Khensu's voice which wavered as he purred in Cleo's arms.
"The feeling is mutual, Cleo. Even if, one day, you actually won't."