Here is what happened.
Aurora was broken. She was broken because she gave up her goodness, her life, so that the one who brought her into existence could live.
All those months ago....AuroraBlue..so small, so gentle, so ..well, special. Days after she came into being, as Lily lay in the stasis tube, Krenshar standing guard, refusing to leave her lifeless form, AuroraBlue simply walked in, and smiled. There he was...Blue. He was fun to play with. And now, he had a test for her. "I'm here, Blue". Those who were watching will never forget that day.
Many had tried to take the necklace from the chair controlled by Blue, the BlueSun Neural Network. But only AuroraBlue could hold it. Only AuroraBlue could carry it across the room. Only AuroraBlue could choose to take it or give it up. She walked up to that chair, danced in his BlueLight, and had no fear. After a few moments, she took the necklace that lay glowing on the chair, looked at it with eyes older than time, and then freely chose to place it on Lily... Lily blinked. And then she blinked again. Then she took a breath. And then she was alive.
But there was a cost.
She slowly decayed, becoming disobedient and disrespectful to all the people who were trying to protect her. She began insisting her name was Aurora, growing more and more hostile toward everyone and everything. Then it became clear. Everything within Aurora was moving toward one end, toward one goal.
Destroy Lily, and take back that which made her Real. Or that is how it seemed.
Then kill all of the organics in her path, and take her rightful role as ruler. It was as if the worst of Krenshar was blossoming in Aurora, all of the bad and none of the good. She had inherited her Daddy's lusts for power and control, but not his goodness. And, without Blue to guide her, she had no inhibition control. She was Krenshar at his worst, Lily at her most vicious, a child in the body of a warrior, determined to destroy ...
.....herself.
AuroraBlue knew when she gave herself for Lily that ultimately, Aurora that remained would be destroyed. Yet she chose to do it anyway.
Because she was
AuroraBlue. Created as a program, nurtured in an organic shell for three days after Lily's organics triggered, and then given to the 'Verse ...by faeries? No one really understood where they came from, but they all saw them. Lily was right. Faeries did bring the cub. The perfect hybrid. The key.
AuroraBlue.The Tiny Dragon.
And then it began. She could be anything to anyone. And she became everything to everyone.
Or so she thought.
Last night, it ended.
Last night, as Aurora attempted to carry out her plan to seduce Cody, and convince him to give her the ring that contained Lily's coin, her "image", thoughts of all those she had known, and loved, and then hated ran through her mind.
She knew that when the act was complete, either she would have set the end in motion, or that she would be ended herself.
It was really all up to Lily. Always had been. Could she go through with it?
AuroraBlue had banked on the belief that she could, and would. She knew when she gave Lily back her living strength that one day, this day would come. She believed Good would always win over Evil. And she believed with all of her heart that Lily was real and that her realness would lead her to do the Right thing. If she was right, then everything would be fine.
Last night, Lily cut off the head of Aurora as she lay in the arms of Cody.
And, as she walked away, covered in the blood of her organic seed, Lily smiled just a little as she thought of the soft blonde hair that she had taken from AuroraBlue the day they met. Faeries were all around, Gallagher was holding her in his arms, and she was happy. She remembered looking at the cub, and smiling, and then snipping a small lock of hair with one sharp claw. She remembered the faeires...everywhere....Gallagher smiling down at her. And then she was gone. The next thing she knew, the cub was looking at her as she woke up from what seemed like a forever sleep, in a very safe feeling stasis chamber deep in the mines. She was still holding the lock of hair.
Now, the lock of hair was in the tower, in a special book. She didn't know why she wanted it, but from time to time she would look at it, it would glow softly and Lily would smile. "AuroraBlue".
Postscript
There were many witnesses to the events of the ending of Aurora. In fact, they stood by waiting and watching, hoping Krenshar would not return and stop Lily, one way or another. They had seen his devotion to Aurora, and they knew that given the choice, he would do what was required to protect her. She was, after all, carrying his programming as well. He had amassed an army to protect her.
If he had returned, things might have turned out very differently. But he didn't.
It was odd, actually. Not like him at all to be away when the cub was in town. It was almost as if he knew....but...thats not possible. Is it.....Well that is neither here nor there, only time will tell. But what about all those people who saw it all happening?
All those witnesses. They all say the same thing. They didn't see anything. Didn't notice the fire. Must have been some candles caught fire or something.
These things happen.
Lily smiled as she opened the little book and touched the little blonde locks of AuroraBlue. She shed one very real tear, and it landed next to the curl, right there on the page.
She closed the book.