Birth of a Star

Nothing.

Nothing was everything. It permeated all that was, all that is, and all that will be.

Something changed. The fact that there even was "something" was a change. There was no longer nothing, all because of a single voice emanating from the void.

"Is it possible?" A pause. "There you are."

A flash. The birth of a thousand trillion suns condensed into a single Planck second. A flood of Light where once there was nothing. A searing fire that burned away the void. A consciousness returning after countless years.

A billionth heartbeat, a quarter of that in breaths, yet these were firsts. New firsts. Second firsts.

Adeen Flanagan opened her eyes for the first time in a few centuries (though she wasn't aware of this at the time). What she saw was...unexpected, to say the least. It looked like a floating small stellated dodecahedron, but it had a light in the center that almost looked like an eye. Its two halves rotated around, and Adeen could almost interpret it as a kind of facial expression. What was this thing? It almost looked like something from the Traveler, but that couldn't be it. The Traveler's creations were more elegant and intrinsically beautiful. However, she thought she could discern a spark of Light within it, though in all her years, she had never seen so little in one place. Before she could think any further, it surprised her. It spoke.

"Guardian?" it said. "Guardian, can you hear me?"

"Yes, I can hear you," Adeen said. "Though I'm not exactly sure what 'you' are."

"I'm a Ghost. In fact, I'm your Ghost."

Adeen scoffed. "Ghosts aren't real, just a tale to frighten children. Now tell me what you really are."

"I'm a Ghost. Born from the Traveler, tasked with seeking out a Guardian to defend its Light. You are my Guardian, and I am your Ghost."

Wait, born from the Traveler? Adeen's brows furrowed. That couldn't be right. She had seen almost every piece of technology the Traveler had to offer. None of it had been even remotely similar to this...this Ghost.

For the first time, Adeen looked at her surroundings. It was very obviously her lab at the Ishtar Collective, but it looked decrepit: splotches of rust covered the walls, tables and chairs knocked over, junk strewn all around, and vegetation attempting to reclaim its natural habitat. She looked back at the Ghost.

"How long?" she asked.

"I do not - "

"How. Long."

It did that spinning thing again. Maybe it really was a sort of "facial" expression. Apprehension? Worry? No matter; she'd deal with that question later.

"A few centuries," it said. "It's difficult know exactly. Records from before the Collapse are shoddy at best."

Adeen's mind reeled. Centuries. It said centuries. But how?

"Ghost, tell me everything," she said, giving the thing a Look she normally used on her research assistants.

Before it could answer, she heard a loud crash from down the hall.

"Vex. We have to leave now." The Vex. Adeen had hear the name. Even though she was an astrophysicist, the entire Collective knew about the Vex. Her friend Maya Sundaresh and a few others had been studying them. The Ghost pulled her back to the present. "I can fabricate you some rudimentary armor and a simple bond, but we need to find you a weapon."

Before she knew what was happening, her decaying clothes were replaced by a pair of boots and pants, a simple robe, gloves, and a helmet. There was also some sort of band around her left upper arm. The Ghost seemed to dissolve out of existence, but she heard its voice a second later.

"Don't worry, I'm still here. We need to find a jumpship and get you to the Tower. I can answer your questions once we're safe."

"Fine, but I'm holding you to that," Adeen said. "The Collective has a small hangar just a few buildings over that might have something."

"Then whenever you're ready," it said. "I'll keep on the lookout for a weapon."

"But I've never held a gun in my life."

"Don't worry, I taught you when I brought you back. Once it's in your hands, it should feel like second nature."

"Whatever you say," she muttered.

Before she could take a step, the air in front of her seemed to digitize and shimmer with an unsettling red light. Then the creature appeared. It stood half a foot taller than Adeen and was vaguely humanoid, but it was made of metal. Its "face" consisted of a single red eye, and its head looked like an old dish antenna. Its stomach contained some sort of white liquid that shimmered and pulsed as it flowed inside.

For a moment, Adeen was rooted in place. She couldn't move. This...thing, this Vex, was going to kill her. Was she really brought back only to die again?

No.

A spark ignited deep within her, sending fire coursing through her veins. She looked at her hands and saw they were covered in golden flame. A power gathered in the palm of her hand, and, not really knowing why, she thrust her hand out toward the Vex in front of her. Flame danced across the short distance between them and impacted the Vex, setting it ablaze. Within moments, it disintegrated.

Adeen stood there for a few moments, and eventually, the fire in her veins subsided. She took a few deep breaths. "Ghost, what was that?"

"That was your Radiance," it said. "You carry within you the power of the stars themselves. You have the heart of a star. There are flames that even the Darkness cannot extinguish."

Adeen smiled, the first one of her new life. "I like the sound of that. A star in my heart and another on my shoulder. Do you have a name, Ghost?"

"I do not."

"Then I'll call you Rigel. My own little star. Now let's go find a ship so you can finally explain what's going on."

She left the room and looked up and down the hallway. It was in the same state as her lab. She was tempted to look around, but the sound of more Vex on the way made her reconsider. Until she got a weapon, she wasn't confident in her abilities to defend herself. The only thing that saved her earlier was her Radiance, and she had absolutely no idea how she even did that in the first place.

Adeen hurried through the building, and just before she reached the courtyard, Rigel spoke up.

"Wait, there's a weapon nearby," it said. "Hand cannon: good stopping power, low rate of fire."

"I'll take all I can get," Adeen said. "Where is it?"

Rigel didn't say anything, but a waypoint appeared on her heads up display. It was in the next room. She hurried over to it and picked it up. The weight felt comfortable in her hands despite never having held a gun in her life. Her hands went through the motions of inspecting the weapon without bothering to consult her brain first. Once her mind grew accustomed to holding a gun, she continued on.

The connecting courtyard thankfully held no enemies, and she quickly entered the next building. The hangar was on the other end. Unfortunately, the building wasn't as empty as the courtyard.

A Vex warped in at the far end of the hallway, looking away from her. Once again, her hands acted without conscious thought. She sighted a Vex head and pulled the trigger. The Vex staggered but quickly recovered, now focusing on her. She fired again, and this one blew off its head. That only seemed to make it angry, and it charged at her, firing it weapon. Adeen panicked and started shooting wildly, missing the next three shots. The Vex, however, managed to land quite a few shots on her shields. She flinched but was too scared to do anything but stand there and shoot. Finally, enough bullets hit their mark, and the Vex crumpled to the ground.

Adeen stood, rooted to that spot, long after the Vex fell dead. Her heart pounded in her chest. Her breath came in ragged gasps.

Rigel appeared in front of her. "Are you okay, Guardian?"

"It's 'Adeen.'"

"What?"

"My name is Adeen Flanagan. And I don't know. I'm an astrophysicist not a fighter. You may have given me the knowledge to use a gun, but I'm still me. You didn't give me the knowledge of how to deal with being shot at. So no, I don't think I'm okay. But I'm getting to that ship because I need answers."

Rigel stayed quiet, which surprised her. Eventually, though, he did speak up.

"I knew I chose correctly."

Adeen didn't know how to respond to that. So she took a few more deep breaths and continued on.

The rest of the building continued smoother than that first encounter. Firefights were still difficult, but at least she didn't freeze up anymore. After almost half an hour of fighting through the building, she finally reached the hangar. Against all odds, there was a ship still there that was still salvageable.

"Alright, Rigel, I hope you can fly this thing because I definitely can't," Adeen said once the minor repairs were done.

"Of course," Rigel said. "I can even teach you on the way."

"Then let's go. I need some answers."

A/N: Hey guys, so I recently descended into full-on Destiny OC hell. I decided to start writing her stories. Not much else to say, really.