“Yes,” Leela agreed. “But there is something else they must see as well.” She turned to Elorin. “I need to bring Sera to the temple so that all can witness the High Priestess’s lies. I need to confront her myself. But there is another, deeper lie.” She gestured to the circles covering the floor. Sera saw markings on one that read Plenna and another that said Estelle. “You’ve got to release them, Elorin. You’ve got to feed them the fruit and bring them back to the surface. They deserve to be free. They deserve to face the woman who did this to them.”

“Me?” Elorin squeaked. “Oh, Leela, I can’t, I never—”

“You can.” Leela spoke with a confidence that compelled, that made the hairs on the back of Sera’s neck stand on end and Elorin’s eyes pop. “And you will.” She bent forward and gave Elorin a quick peck on the cheek. “You remember how it was done?”

Elorin nodded, her lips pressed together in a thin line.

“Good,” Leela said. “Bring them up when you have released them all. Clothe them from robes in the dormitory.” Her face softened. “They will be eager to see the trees again and smell the earth and feel the wind on their faces.”

Sera felt a sharp pang of guilt at the thought of living so many years in her City unaware that Cerulean had been trapped beneath her. They left Elorin there, Sera following Leela down a green-lit path until they reached a staircase. When they emerged out into the Moon Gardens, Sera’s throat seized up and her knees locked together, tears pricking her eyes. It was all just as she remembered it. She gazed up at the temple, its spire twinkling at her as if in greeting.

“Come on,” Leela said, and they hurried around to the front of the temple. As Sera looked up at the doors, she cried out, her heart slamming against her ribs.

Home, the markings said to her.

“Can you read them?” Leela asked. Sera nodded. “What do they say?”

The word almost got stuck on its way out. “Home.”

Leela gripped Sera’s shoulder, a fortifying gesture.

“Are you ready?” she asked, and Sera felt like she was seeing an entirely new side of her friend, one she had never known existed. This Leela was still as sweet and caring as she had always been, but also brave and poised, with a fierceness that could not be denied.

She has become a leader, Sera realized with a start. Though she does not see it yet.

Leela pushed open the doors just in time for them to hear the High Priestess saying, “. . . ceremony will take place privately. Leela Starcatcher cannot be allowed to contaminate any other Cerulean. We must act with extreme caution. My acolytes will—”