“UUUSSSHHAAAAAAAAA~!!”

“…Girls. I’ll ask this one more time. Do you want to know what I’ve learned about you? Although the four of you have a right to know, it’s whether you wish to know that’s of importance. I… can’t promise you’ll like what you see.”

Ami tentatively rested her hand on a digital keyboard connected to an enormous monitor. The laboratory was dimly lit with numerous electronic devices, tubes, cables, and diagnostic tools beeping or flashing colorful lights.

The four members of the quartet stood beside one another, each standing in accordance with their mood.

CereCere stood tall and confident.

PallaPalla rocked side to side, light on her feet.

JunJun’s arms were held behind her head, implying a lack of enthusiasm.

And VesVes’s arms were folded, tapping her foot impatiently. With a grunt, the red haired tamer spoke, curt and frank.

“With all due respect, Mrs. Ami. You already dragged the four of us to the moon. If whatever you need to show us is sooooo big and bad, then better to get it over with than twiddling our thumbs like needy children who want a candy bar from the store. It can’t be nearly as groundbreaking as you make it out to be. We’ve dealt with much worse.”

At VesVes’s words, the mercurian queen could only let out a shaky, breathy sigh. Turning her attention towards the keyboard, she began to type at a brisk pace. Soon enough the monitor gleamed to life, holographic displays appearing all around Ami while she continued to work, occasionally tapping or swiping a panel with her closest hand.

Finally, she had reached the files she was searching for. Her heart was practically pounding in her chest, the echoing reverberation pulsing in her brain. With a nervous shudder, her finger tapped a display screen and it glowed a bright white. Like clockwork, the monitor’s screen was split into fourths. Each one titled in numerical order. The monitor’s respective boxes read:

Subject 001: Ceres

Subject 002: Pallas

Subject 003: Juno

Subject 004: Vesta

Beneath each heading lie biological information, genetic makeup, abilities, responses to diagnostic tests, brain wave patterns, accelerated development, and links to data logs detailing the specifics of each subject.

Her face contorted into a grim and despondent frown, Ami turned to look at the four girls. Every one of them wore a different expression of pain, discomfort, and confusion.

She couldn’t look them in the eyes… but the truth could hurt. It did hurt. It would hurt.

“…CereCere. PallaPalla. JunJun. VesVes. Queen Serenity had my mother and her team of researchers personally extract the planetary power from the four minor planets in the asteroid belt. It was a deceptive effort by the Queen. In reality…”

The floor beneath Ami’s feet began to freeze over, frigid snowflakes manifesting around her body in a futile attempt to compose herself.

“She desired to create four perfect warriors with the genetic makeup of us four inner princesses. You have my own, Rei, Minako, and Makoto’s DNA. She… artificially created each of you, infused your eggs with our DNA, and then transplanted the planetary power of your respective worlds into you… At first I thought you were the back up in case something happened to us, but no… She had foreseen the future prior to Chaos’s influence and needed soldiers to protect her would be granddaughter. By the time the Silver Millennium ended… Princess Serenity was already carrying a child, but as we know... that child never got the opportunity to come into our world. Before she died and cast the reincarnation spell, she secretly had you four put into suspended animation like Luna and Artemis… then casted you into the future where your soul lay dormant in the Amazon rainforest for centuries. Then when Nehelenia invaded, she learned of your existence and brainwashed each of you. She twisted fate itself so that the four of you would become Small Lady’s protectors, guardians, and friends…”

Ami finished with a sob, unable to withhold the stream of icy tears forming at her ducts. They slowly ebbed down the sides of her cheeks, freezing into ice crystals just as they reached the end of her face. The tiny crystal clinked onto the ground, twinkling like diamonds in the dim lair.

A hand gripped her chest, remorse, regret, disgust, and sadness coursed through her veins. It was far too much.

…

“…That’s why we never had memories of our parents. We don’t have parents. Many of the memories of us growing up in the Amazon were fabrications. It was all an illusion. Everything.”

After several minutes of stunned silence, JunJun uttered a somber admission. As much as she wanted to deny every word Ami spoke… it all added up too precisely, too correctly to be anything but the truth.

Her head whipped towards the sound of rapid stomping onto the floor, unsurprisingly coming from VesVes. Although for once, her incense was warranted.

“…All of it. What was the point of all of it. Our suffering, our problems, our troubles… What was the point? Is… Is that why I’m like this? Why I get so angry and frustrated so easily? Why I don’t understand myself? I’m not even… We’re not even real people. We’re just lab rats. I thought I had a purpose. That helping people, protecting our princess, doing the right thing for the sake of it… now…”

“We’re our decisions, our choices, hell even our feelings… Were they ever our own to begin with? Are… ARE WE JUST TOOLS?! ARE WE BOUND TO A DAMN FATE WE NEVER ASKED TO BE A PART OF?! DAMN IT. DAMN IT. DAMN IT. DAMN IT. D-d-damn it…”

VesVes let out a pained wail, collapsing to the ground with misty eyes. She punched the ground repeatedly, until her knuckles began to bleed and the strength in her harm dwindled until she could only weakly graze the tiles.

“Damn it… D-damn it. Why…”

From behind, CereCere crouched and pulled VesVes into a loose, yet loving embrace. Rubbing the back of her youngest sibling as the tsunami of turbulent, confused emotions continued to gush forth.

The pinkette put on a brave face, but she too struggled with coming to grips with the reveal. She was a big sister. The eldest. The group’s de-facto leader. It was her responsibility to see them through this.

“VesVes… We are not the sum of our creation. We are alive. We have souls of our own. We have the freedom to make our own decisions. It will pain you, little sister. Allow the sadness to come, embrace it… for at the end of the tunnel there is a light. A light we will ensure shines brighter than ever.”

CereCere’s voice was inspiring, albeit rife with apprehension. But, she couldn’t afford to lose hope not now, not ever. Was the unwavering, unshaking will of Minako’s cells or her own resolute convictions?

Even she could not answer that. Not yet.

“PallaPalla… no. I believe that we can make our choices and make our mistakes. Destiny is never set in stone. We fight because we know that’s our duty as soldiers, but we are free to choose our paths. No matter good or bad they are. We can shape our future. Together. I believe that with all my heart.”

As PallaPalla finished speaking her mind, she joined VesVes and CereCere’s intimate embrace. Squeezing her youngest sister tightly. JunJun soon followed crouching in front and wrapping her massive arms around all three.

Together. They could achieve anything. If fate itself would stand in their way, then together they would fight as they always had. No matter what.

“Mrs. Ami. Can PallaPalla and everyone go home? Together?”

The sweetness of the scene before her… it reminded Ami of her own children. Her closest friends. The ones who’d have her back no matter what occurred in their lives. Now and forever.

With a sniffle and an optimistic smile, Ami nodded.

Picking enough of the oversized gummy fruits blossoming from her hairdo to fill up a few basket.