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THERE ONCE WAS A TIME BEFORE AURORA WAS AURORA. Long ago, before Earth even was created, she lived in the stars. Well, she was the stars. She had many names ever since humans came along. She was the sun, Andromeda, Orion, every constellation in the night sky was her handiwork and she shone with pride. No one knew of the creature in the stars for no mythical lore could capture her warm embrace. There was no culture, no story she belonged to. Her duty was not to be known, but to protect her world and all the good it carried. She grew weak when the city of Pompeii was turned to ash, a star would go out with every murder or heartbreak. She watched as parts of her earth burned, her heart shattered with the weight of her creation. A fool would call her a God, but a God had control over her earth, she was simply forced to watch.
Until she could watch no longer. In 2012, there was a greater threat to Earth than its own people. A trickster God from a realm she dared not see had the nerve to cause an alien invasion. He took what was hers in the blink of an eye and she could tolerate it no longer.
She remembered her power flowing through every star in the universe until it all converged and cast her down to the Earth's surface. Among the chaos, she landed in the middle of New York City, in a bursting show of light and colors. She left a crater in the middle of the street, time seemed to stop around her.
A strange man with a glowing heart and suit made of iron was staring at her, she remembered. The iron mask unfolded to reveal an older man with eyes showing a hardened soul. A man she knew had seen too much.
"And what are you supposed to be?" the man spoke with an annoyance yet lack of shock in his voice, "The Aurora Borealis coming to fight the aliens? You with them?"
The stars smiled, a soft glow outlining her figure. She smiled at the memory of her creation, that which most humans called the Northern Lights. She mumbled to herself, "Aurora, I quite like that."
The man looked at her expectantly, "Listen, lady, we already got aliens attacking this place, are you here to kill us or not?"
"You may call me Aurora. I'm here to help. Who might you be, defender of Earth?" she spoke properly, walking over to the man. His face showed no fear, yet for every step she took, he took two back.
"Who's the freaky chick?" a new voice joined. Aurora turned, seeing a redheaded woman in all black. She and Aurora made eye contact before a strange creature, probably the aliens attacking her planet came up behind her. Aurora went to shout but the woman turned around and captured the creature in a headlock before slamming its head into the ground, taking Aurora by surprise. This is not the Earth she knew. Not with creatures running rampant and death and violence everywhere. She was overwhelmed, in over her head. As her mind flared with possibility, so did she as a glow similar to rays of sunlight began to protrude from her form.
Everyone around her was occupied with fighting the creatures and her mind was all over the place. Is this what it meant to be human? For the first time in her incredibly long life, she no longer was forced to watch, she had power. She was here for a reason, she must be. Something greater was threatening her world and now it was her job to defend it. The aliens were closing in on her, enraptured by her glow.
