Gorgon's Maze…
A Gorgon spots its prey…
"SHIT! KT!"
"Wh-what's going on?"
The flying metal creature, glowing with wisps of pale energy, did its tracking dance. The 'Gorgon', an advanced Harpy of the likes never seen before, traced its single ocular scanner upon the female Hunter. She had unknowingly popped out of her invisible state, the bent light and air around her reversing its distortion to reveal her form right in front of one of the metal demons.
An oppressive force came over the six-Guardian fireteam, each one feeling their Light being…converted. Removed? Reduced? Unknown. But it was…unpleasant. The Hunter, called KT by some of the others she occasionally 'rode' with, stood rooted in place, frozen in shock and a mite of fear. It wasn't her fault, honestly. The light-bending technique to bestow virtual invisibility, was spotty at best. Sometimes even though the 'effect' of the air distorting around a Bladedancer would activate, their enemies could still track them. It wasn't perfect, but it did the job well enough.
None of them had been in this…cavern…before now, however. Many had attempted to breech the Vex Underworld called the "Vault of Glass". Few returned. And those that did spoke of horrors…if they even remembered anything in the first place. Thus, it was very well possible that the depths of this cavern, deep into the crust of Venus, had some level of distorting effect on the Traveler's Light.
But there was One among them, who did not give into the panic. One whose head was indeed filled with worry, and yes, even fear.
He didn't know any of them well enough. Hell, he had reservations about this whole deal of the Traveler, the Last City, even the powers afforded to him by the Light. But he knew that the City needed every Guardian it could get. He was the least experienced of all of them. But he'd paid attention.
Those that remembered this place…swore they went in by themselves.
But that was impossible. To even open the doors of the Vault, you had to continuously override and defend three things called Sync Plates, to form a Conflux known as The Spire. And to do that, you needed at least two people. Three or more preferred. Thus it was deduced, something was capable of rewriting memories. Removing sections? Altering them? Destroying them outright? Nobody knew.
The Vex already knew how to distort time for their own purposes. The Black Garden had taught them that.
Had taught him that.
He was breaking rules that had been established. He was twisting concepts that people believed in.
Nobody knew, however. He'd kept it secret, his tests and manipulations of the Light. He watched how Titans formed their light, creating shocking bursts of Arc energy from their fists. He'd stood in awe at how they manipulated the intangibility of the Void into the shape of a sphere that blocked its creator and their allies from harm. He'd mused over the mentality required to forge the Golden Gun that many Hunters swore by. The skill and speed required to master the flow of the Arc Blade.
But it was not any of these things, he used, oh no.
As their leader, Ryan began to raise his Suros Regime Auto Rifle, in a futile hope of maybe killing the Gorgon before it completed whatever it was doing, he stepped forward. Shoving the gun aside, he took great distance eating strides, grasping KT's shoulders and pushing her towards the others with a single word.
"Go."
Shocked, confused, they did not heed him, until he turned around, gazing underneath his hard-earned Light Beyond Nemesis helm, the dirt and cloud colored feathers rising above the crimson visor, into the Eye of the Gorgon before him. He felt its gaze focus on him…and stick.
"Go. Now."
"Wh-Cha-
"Go!"
Grabbing KT's arm, Ryan, their titan leader, nodded at the newer Guardian. He didn't know what this guy was planning, but the moment he'd stepped forward, the pressure around them…weakened. This was the guy who ripped open the gate to the Black Garden, slipped inside alone and tore out its Heart. This was the guy who opened up the Array and let Rasputin, the Warmind, back into the system. This was the guy who slew a Fallen Baron, on his first day as Guardian, just to get his ship's jump drive back.
This guy was crazy. And honestly? Ryan didn't like him. To be fair, Ryan held a very slight distrust of all Warlocks, honestly, but this guy…did too much too soon, too simply. He outpaced even veteran Guardians, winning the trust and adoration of the Vanguard in only weeks. He did things that no other Guardian had been able to do. It just didn't sit well with him.
But because of all that, his skill couldn't be denied. He was still fresh…but had a measure of ability that couldn't be ignored. That and KT had asked it of him. She'd befriended the man who normally wandered the planets as a Voidwalker. And well…she has a cute pout and lets leave it at that.
"Thanks kid."
Were it anyone else, were it anywhere else, he'd have thought up a fancy speech about willing sacrifice, about never forgetting who was lost…something.
But there was no time. The Gorgon was a Vex, and Vex are masters of it.
Anomaly Detected
Tracing source
Source found
Initiating Reconfiguration Protocol
Engaged
Error
Anomaly not found
Tracing
Tracing
Tracing
Anomaly Detected
Tracing source
Source Found
Initiating Reconfiguration Protocol
Engaged
Analyzing
Error
Anomaly missing
Scanning
Scan Complete
Anomaly not detected
Multiple Errors Detected
Initiating System Reboot
Rebooting
Reboot Complete
Scanning
Status Clear
Initiating Passive Scan Protocol
Returning to normal configuration
KT wasn't happy. Well, none of them were. They don't know what he did, how, or why, but they managed to escape the pressure. It had become fully localized on their errant Warlock ally, and they'd found themselves forced to traverse a literal chasm leading into the core of the planet. Massive stone and light formations would appear and vanish from time to time, as if platforms to guide the way. There were close calls, they'd fallen to their deaths a few times, only to be brought back by their allies…
But they made it. There was still no time to grieve, there was no time to even think, as they had approached a massive door, opening up to a cadre of Axis Hobgoblins, and something called a Gatekeeper. Looking like a souped up Hydra, it teleported somewhere further into the giant room that clearly was the true entrance to the Vault of Glass.
A gigantic triangular shimmering wall stood in the distance. A wall that glistened and gleamed…as if made of glass.
"Tch…guess that's where the name came from…" muttered Puddle, another Warlock recruited for the Raid. She usually travelled with yet another Warlock, named Cole, but Cole had been recruited for a Strike earlier that day, and couldn't attend.
"That…or the bajillions of shards floating in the air." Quipped Gabe, their second Titan. Gabe had come on behest of Chaos, the Warlock who had sacrificed himself to the Gorgon for their sake.
They only had a few moments of talk before the Hobgoblins reacted. It took them time, but slowly, they whittled down the Vex horde, and destroyed the Gatekeeper. Once again, however, they were faced with Sync Plates and Time Gates, leading into Mars and Venus at unspecified temporal locations. Still, though they faced two more Gatekeepers, and far too many Axis Minotaurs for their tastes, they'd managed to grab both of the strange, shield-like Relics…only for a group of Vex to have reached the center Conflux, kneeling down and beginning to be covered in particles of light.
"SHIT! Quick get to the Pillar!"
The Relic-holders couldn't use their guns without dropping the shield, which they discovered earlier would react…badly to not being held, once picked up. Gabe and Ryan held the shields, but they also had held the groups strongest weapons, the much coveted Gjallarhorn rocket launcher. As well, the Time Gates had reactivated, spewing forth Axis Minotaurs on either side, as yet another normal Minotaur stepped forward to the base of the pillar. KT and Puddle were trying to pick off the Goblins that had knelt the soonest, but their guns simply weren't doing enough damage in time. Gabe and Ryan were stuck keeping the Axis Minotaurs off the others, and their fifth, a Hunter named Syk, was trying to break the Void Shield of the kneeling Minotaur.
KT and Puddle had taken out two kneeling Goblins, and were working on a Hob together, but it was almost too late. They'd narrowly destroyed the Goblins and the Hob was just too hardy. It succeeded in sacrificing itself, the Conflux flaring with light. One more and they were fucked.
"Fuck the Axis kill the Prayer!" Shouted Ryan to Gabe. The Striker Titan nodded, gripping the Relic and whirling around to rush the glowing Minotaur, as another pair of Hobgoblins began to kneel.
But he knew he wouldn't make it in time.
And then something happened.
Something was felt amongst everyone in the Vault.
Something familiar.
The feeling burst amongst them like a wave, crashing down upon them with the fury of empty hatred itself.
And then came a voice.
"Gran…Rey…CERO!"
A deep THUNK rippled through the air like a boulder dropped into a still pond. Before their eyes, streaked a glowing violet comet of fury. Puddle immediately recognized the feeling, the shape, the power. It was a Lance. But it wasn't hers.
The Nova Bomb collided directly with the Conflux, detonating in a blast of Void energy. The gargles and distorted roars of the Vex that were kneeling at its base echoed through the Vault, their bodies being rent by the force of the explosion.
Gabe and Ryan whirled around, bashing their respective Axis Minotaurs apart, where a familiar pair of boots touched ground, before the familiar repeating trio of gunshots from a Red Death rang, tearing through the shields and bodies of two more Minotaurs that had come from the depths of the Vault.
Suddenly their Relics vanished. The Conflux faded away as well. And they were left in silence, staring at the one who arrived.
"Holy shit Chaos you're alive?!" came the exclamation of Gabe. "How the fuck-
"It tried to tell me what I was." Came the soft reply. "Apparently I knew me better than it did."
Zero.
That was what he'd considered himself.
Everyone looked at him in awe. The Guardian who opened the Array and re-established communications across the system. The Guardian who took down the Shrine of Oryx, who set free a shard of the Traveler being corroded by the Hive. The Guardian who had gotten them information about the Vault from the Ishtar Collective Archive. The Guardian who slew a Gate Lord and used its Eye to open the way into the Black Garden, and then crushed its Heart.
But to him?
He was nobody. He did what he had to, to survive. To live. To understand.
From day one he had questions which nobody wanted to answer. Not the Vanguard. Not the Speaker. Not the Stranger. His Ghost had no answers for him. His Allies had no answers for him.
So he looked inward.
He was dead.
…or was he?
That which is Dead has ended.
But…he wasn't. Death was an Ending. That much he remembered from life before waking up a Guardian. It was thought as The Ending. But apparently it wasn't…?
There were forces that made Death trivial…and then there were the Vex.
The Vex. Who could "kill" by not so much "killing" but rather "making non-existent". After all, how can one 'die' if one isn't 'alive' in the first place? You can't 'kill' that which doesn't exist, but at the same time, what isn't 'real' can't be considered 'alive' to 'die'…right?
Voidwalker.
That was the name given to the class of Warlocks who gazed into the Great Nothing. Another old saying about the Abyss had come to mind…and yes…he had been changed.
There were many who walked around, calling themselves Zero. Hell he'd met someone who called himself MisterFister. Clever chap, actually, loud and boisterous but friendly and welcoming. A damn fine Titan indeed.
But still. People, even before his…death and revival…had claimed the name. They thought it cool. Mysterious. Edgy. Their reasons were their own, and they all held some thought of meaning to it…but…
He knew.
Zero was the origin as well as the destination. Nothingness is where all things began, and Nothingness is where all things are meant to return. It was a fundamental of existence. A rule that could not be changed. Well…not easily at least. It was a rule even the Vex respected.
The Void…was an aspect of Zero. All who were Voidwalkers took a piece of that nature with them, 'walked' with it, quite literally. People would grab the name Zero for their own reasons but his…
It described him perfectly. It was what he was, after all. What he saw himself as. He had nothing. And he brought, nothing. It was his nature, his calling, his very being. Nobody gave him answers. Nothing. He cut down all who stood in his way of trying to exist. Turning them to nothing. Simplistic, perhaps. But it gave him meaning. Meaning in nothing.
Zero.
The beginning and end of everything. The first real number, and the last one to ever exist. More of it that followed behind a number, increased that thing's value, while if it preceded numbers, the value was reduced. A chaotic existence all its own. Nothing…yet still observed, which means something was still there to observe the nothing, which made no goddamn sense at all.
Just like his life.
The Gorgon tried to erase him.
It tried to tell him "you do not exist here."
He did not disagree. Instead, he believed.
He believed in nothingness.
He was Zero.
The eternal nothingness. That which always exists, yet never does.
A rule.
Just like what the Vex wished to become.
The Gorgon couldn't erase him. Why? Because his whole self-image caused it to believe nothing was there to be erased. It tried, multiple times. But he was as incomprehensible as the Black Heart.
No.
No it wasn't that.
It was that he was so comprehensible that he was dismissed as a non-issue.
We breathe. We breathe on reflex. Unconsciously. When we desire it, we can control it, to an extent. Choose not to…for a time.
Zero is a concept that is just like breathing. You can be aware of it. You can notice it. You can even acknowledge and to an extent control it.
But it is always there.
The Gorgon failed to rewrite Causality.
Why?
There was nothing wrong with the picture.
There was a reason why he was the best user of the Relic.
No. not Relic.
Aegis.
He didn't know if anyone else ever heard it. But it spoke to him. Named by its creator after an ancient legendary shield wielded by a Goddess, It demanded a contract, bound itself to him the moment he touched it. It was powered by his Light, but yet acted like a Vex.
It spoke.
And he listened.
The Aegis was powered by Light, but could interfere with Vex technology. Why? It was made by Kabr, using pieces of the Vex themselves, infused with his light. It bound itself to Light, and should its purpose be unfulfilled, reacts negatively to those it was bonded to. It suffers not Betrayal.
To truly understand the power of the Aegis, one had to think like a Vex. Not in code or numbers or computations, but in time. Reason. Causality.
There were those who knew far more of the Void than he did. Those who studied it far longer than he had been alive…again.
But knowledge does not equate understanding.
And it was that understanding that defeated the Gorgon.
And it was that understanding that destroyed Atheon, Time's Conflux, Protectorate of the Vault of Glass.
He tried to claim they were not.
And at Zero's behest, they roared their response, shattering its body and sundering its very concept to Nothing.
The fireteam was returning to Earth. The mission, the Raid, had been successful. Letting the auto-pilot tether his ship to the trails of KT's, he calmed himself.
Three beautiful weapons, he had found from Atheon's corpse. Corrective Measure, a Machinegun modeled after the mentality of the Vex. Found Verdict, an Arc Shotgun capable of being rapidly fired before reloading, reminiscent of the endless blasts of Torch Hammers. And Vision of Confluence. A rapid-firing Scout Rifle that spat…fire bullets, of all things.
The others had found similar weapons, though Syk expressed his jealousy of Zero having found the Fatebringer hand-cannon off of the Templar.
Still…
Congratulations, Father. You have done my creator well.
Thank you, Aegis. We never would have survived to tell the tale had it not been for Kabr's tenacity, and your existence.
You are welcome, Father. My creator's spirit can finally rest well, knowing that his efforts were not in vain.
That he can. Perhaps within the coming weeks, some Guardians will enter the Vault themselves, and be able to find the remaining weapons of those who came before. Their memories…their tale…we can't forget them.
Atheon may have been defeated here, but in other times, he was victorious. He…may not 'return' as you know it, but that which anchors itself into the breast of Time is not so easily removed forever.
Yes…it's possible some strange distortion may happen and we may very well have to face him again. Multiple times even. The Darkness is a formidable foe…
That is true, Father. But for now…you can rest well. This battle has ended in our favor. Atheon will be defeated as many times as it takes.
Yes, he will. For he cannot tell us what we are. He cannot define, what we are not. We'll roar it back in his face with every attempt he makes.
We Are Guardians.