Gate of Memoirs/A Body of One's Own

A goddess not only remembers; a goddess also learns and bides her time.
Portrait 	Dialogue
Music: "Roaring Soul"	Music: "Roaring Soul"
 	
*The battle raged unending, and Inara found her every strike shadowed by a second silhouette.
 	
*That great and terrible form rising from oceans too deep to fathom, with a hunger to match.
*Her pain. Her rage. Her sorrow.
Portrait	Dialogue
 	
*Her pride...
 	
*And her fall.
 	
*And when that blinding light descended upon her, she reached out—
*Not out of repentance, but loneliness.
 	
*And that girl—Her name was—
Portrait	Dialogue
 	
*Inara: Sero-Anya.
 	
*The vision ends, and Inara finds herself once more in the ruined facility.
 	
*And yet, something about this particular figure struck her as odd.
*Can an entity as alien as Tsovinar exhibit sympathy?
*Or was it a mere ruse, designed to trap and kill with honeyed words and dulcet promises?
*The promise of belonging had drawn her predecessor in, and for good reason.
*But in this one, Inara saw that hint of hungry teeth behind that beatific smile.
 	
*Inara: ... ...
*Inara: Hear me, phantom.
*Inara: Tsovinar's gone. Dead.
*Inara: You slew her; you assimilated her.
*Inara: But you won't be able to do the same to me.
 	
*Inara: Because I am *not* her. I am more than that.
*Inara: Your sentimental contrivances won't work a second time.
 	
*?: <... ...>
 	
*There is a suspended silence following the accusation, and the figure seems to fade out of existence entirely.
*Then, out of the darkness came a second, more chilling presence.
*Chilling Voice: Clever girl.
*Chilling Voice: Though some things have turned out rather more...volatile than I expected.
Portrait 	Dialogue
Music: "Nothingness"	Music: "Nothingness"
 	
*The world before Inara falls apart at a flick of a phantom wrist.
*The underwater facilities were gone, replaced by a howling, frozen cave.
 	
*Inara narrows her eyes in suspicion at the sudden swirl of emerald cloth.
*Inara: As I thought. It could never be so simple.
 	
*Inara: Am I to expect having known of you? Your name comes unbidden to me.
 	
*The Queen inclines her head in turn, watching with her myriad eyes.
*S'eljah: As it should, creature of the Void.
 	
*S'eljah: You have me to thank for your reawakening.
*S'eljah: Not solely for your own benefit, of course...
 	
*That familiar pulse—stronger this time—assails Inara, and a wave of dread washes over her soul.
 	
*There, like a grotesque pillar of scintillating crystal in the center of the cave, was an amorphous mineral cocoon.
 	
*And thrumming within, stark against its own pulsating light, was the figure she had mistaken for Sero-Anya.
 	
*S'eljah: Poor creature. Gaze upon that which will liberate your tortured existence.
 	
*S'eljah: Gods, you call yourselves, yet subservient to the whims of your subjects!
*S'eljah: Truly pathetic.
 	
*S'eljah: Is it any wonder conflict reigns unending in world after world, creating naught but cycles of pain and suffering?
 	
*S'eljah: Surrender yourself to eternal peace, and all will be forgiven.
 	
*Inara: Heheh... Hahahah!
*Inara: And here I thought I was dealing with more than an idealistic witch.
 	
*Inara: Ours was ever a race of dominance; of the strong who devour the weak.
*Inara: And for her...for Tsovinar... She was blinded by petty mortal ideals.
 	
*Inara: You are right. She was no goddess. For no goddess would so willingly bend the knee to another.
*Inara: But where she failed, I will triumph.
*Inara: And I will begin my eternal reign by smiting you for your insolence.
 	
*S'eljah: Hmph. Such juvenile thoughts persist even in a second coming.
*S'eljah: This, of course, only serves to prove me right. You are not yet ken to the ultimate truth.
*S'eljah: So go ahead. Challenge your fate. Your purpose.
 	
*S'eljah: And when your life hangs in the balance, you too shall understand the futility of your struggles...