Undulating black merges with swirling gaseous colors within the sphere, creating a vacuumous tunnel. Reflecting the surrounding luminescence, the metallic copper undertone of the visitor's top emits a sharp pulsating beam as she leads the way.

The woman's skin constricts from the sudden change in atmospheric pressure. A momentary discomfort as her body adapts to the new environment. At the next inhale, the sleeping muscles around her lips and eyes stretch into a smile.

A quick exhale for a much deeper intake of the rich air around her.

The gases enter her body through her nostrils, absorbs through her skin, leaving her entire being crackling with renewing energy. Revitalizing electric tingles overtake her insides as power surges to the surface. Upon reaching her brain, the energy sharpens the dulled connections.

Her memories are just touch away when something impedes the progress. Even after sending an electric current up her spine to the base of her neck and into her brain, the block remains, keeping vital information out of reach. She runs her fingers along the scar on her head.

She releases a quick frustrated sigh before turning her focus to the thin piece of fabric barely keeping her body clothed. She opens her palm and watches as the life force of the swirls around her gathers into a glowing orb. When a clear image of a more appealing outfit forms in her mind, she clenches her hand to disperse the condensed energy into a shower of shimmering particles, which cling to the fabric. Underneath, the atoms rearrange, multiply and transform. She nods in satisfaction when she looks down to see a pantsuit of vast blackness and matching stiletto heels that fill the tunnel with the sharp clicks of her steps.

Temporarily appeased, she continues behind the visitor until they approach a blinding light.

When she steps out of the sphere, her body pitches forward, making her lose her balance. Her hand immediately finds the wall to her right for support. Her focus then shifts to the solid surface under her palm: identical shade of ash to the visitor's hair and warm to the touch.

Her lips twitch with the realization that the heat of life courses through the walls around her.

"Hm..." offers the visitor upon witnessing the woman's studying touch.

A fiery gaze snaps to her.

The visitor keeps her focus steady as the woman straightens herself to her full height. Were she standing right in front of her, the visitor would've had to tilt her head back to avoid breaking eye contact.

She maintains her distance.

"I've had enough of your flippant remarks," the woman says, relieved that her voice now rises smoothly through her throat.

"The Portal treated you well, I see."

"Who are you? Trust me when I say this will be the last time I ask nicely."

The left corner of rust-colored lip curls upwards. "Rather than focusing on who I am, perhaps you can question where you are. And why you have been brought here."

"Meteorite, stop toying with our guest." The words reach them in careful amusement an instant before the dark hall illuminates in an intense, round glow. In its center stands a male figure in cargo shorts and hoodie, the colors of which are bleached under the shroud of light.

"Do you not have some important business to attend to, sire? A meeting with the Celestials, perhaps?" she replies while keeping her attention trained on the woman.

"The meeting starts when I get there, Meteorite. A perk of being the King I don't forget to take advantage of."

The name rolls on the woman's tongue, waiting to be spit it out at the earliest opportunity. For now, she turns her full attention to the figure taller than herself. Though she can't see the details of his face in the light, she feels a force not just from his presence but also from the glow about him. Gentle and serene as it seems, it radiates with raw power. One she dare not confront.

At least not before she regains her memories.

"Let's get the awkward introductions out of the way, so we can get going. This here is Meteorite. I'm King. King Moon. The Moon King. Or King the Moon. Or just Moon. Or King. Pick something. If I don't like it, you'll know."

The woman raises an eyebrow and looks back to Meteorite's piercing gaze, an odd sensation of comfort coming from the one who still prickles her patience.

"Alright. Speaking of getting going, let's take this down the hall here. Don't want to keep all the Celestials waiting, after all." The light around his face flickers for an instant.

The Moon turns on his heels and walks around the corner, his cone of illumination receding as he continues down the hall. Meteorite follows a step behind.

The woman is about to take her own step when she hears whispers. She looks to the two figures making their way further down the hall.

No, these soft, alluring calls are coming from the walls around her. She puts her palm against the warm surface once again. This time, its heat pulls her along its surface, like a magnet guiding its missing half.

A right turn around a hidden corner, one that isn't visible to her eyes. Then, a crack in the smooth surface of the wall. She traces her fingers along the crack, curling her fingertips along the curved edges. A popping hiss, and the crack deepens, widens enough for her to squeeze through.

Veins of light course through the walls of the room.

On the shelves built into the walls of the room are jars filled with spheres of various sizes and colors. Some with rings around its center. Others with smaller spheres sharing its space. The woman lets the air around her guide her to the jar closest to her, on the middle level, contains a small red one with dark spots. She inches her hand closer and grazes a fingertip onto the transparent material separating her from the terrestrial orb.

Her finger twitches upwards. The red sphere jumps up in unison. It hovers over her palm, the distance between it and her skin sizzling with life.

A heated pulse joins her heartbeat in her chest.

She moves her hand to the right. The sphere follows. With a flex of her fingers, it weaves through the spaces between them. She then cups the sphere in her palms; as she increases the distance between her right and left, the sphere expands. Bring her hands closer together, it shrinks.

Delighted laughter, carrying a desperate desire to know why this feels so right, echoes in the room.

She expands the orb to its original size and twirls it around her fingers.

The colors of her eyes merge into a vibrant fire fringed in black.

She looks around the room to the plethora of spheres in jars. She opens her mind's ears to hear the calling whispers of each.

"Pelonitra." At the sound of this name, uttered in her own voice, every part of her body sings with truth. The walls in her mind crumble to let loose the flood of memories.

A single thread of information reaches her lips just as the room fills with the presence of two additional beings.

"I'm Pelonitra, Mother of all Planets."

"It seems, sire, that the legend is quite real." A slight twitch brings Meteorite's eyebrows together.

"Fantastic," says the Moon, his frown hidden in the shadow under his light.

***

Thank you for reading Pelonitra - Part 2!

There may be more of Meteorite (aka Meety), the Moon, Pelonitra and even a few new Celestials in snippet-format coming this year... In the meantime, check out my book, That's All I Have to Say for Now, for the prequel snippets ("The Lunar" microseries) of Meteorite and the Moon, and more.

Stay tuned!