There was nothing but darkness. No light at the end of the tunnel, no golden gates, nothing. Cayde-6 had lost his breath with his final words, and then ultimately, his life. That was when the darkness flooded in and his systems shut down.
Death sucked. Until Luxana came along.
Cayde jolted awake with a deep gasp, expecting every bit of his body to be in pain. He was expecting to be on the floor of the prison or even on the way back to the tower. What Cayde was not expecting was to be lying in a dark marble room, covered in the white and gold sheet of the vanguard. What had also surprised him was that he was completely repaired. He lifted a hand, touching his face gently, afraid that he might feel broken shards of what he used to be.
"Cayde..? Are you with me?" The ghost asked, her voice soft and gently melodic as she floated curiously around him. Cayde was more than a little confused, his bright blue optics still focusing after nearly a full month of no use. He had absolutely no idea where he was.
"Uh.. I'm not wherever I just was, if that's what you're asking.." he answered, voice mirroring every ounce of confusion he felt. He shifted to move off of the marble surface he was laying on, finding that he was incredibly stiff. He was pleased to find that he was still wearing the Andal's cowl. Unfortunately, he had absolutely no weapons at all. He turned his attention to the ghost then, realization slowly setting in as she began to speak again.
"Well, no.. you were dead a few minutes ago. Now you're not. Thought you knew that." She paused, eying him curiously. This was not Sundance. Cayde blinked and in that brief moment, he saw the shot that took his last ghost away from him. He watched the pieces of her blow apart in front of him as his light left his body completely. As he remembered that very moment, it all came back in a flurry of memories. Sundance dying, his last stand, pissing off Uldren, getting shot by his own damn gun.. it was all there. He remembered the guardian, one of his best hunters, holding him at the end. He heard her voice for the first time then as she told him not to let go.. to wait for someone who could help. But he couldn't hold on. Life slipped from his body. His systems shut down. So why was he here?
"Whoa, whoa.. hold on. I died back then and now I'm here. Are you some kind of spooky afterlife ghost?" He knew he sounded ridiculous, but despite all of the confusion and peril, he needed to keep a sense of humor. He had always believed so. Still, he had no damn clue what was going on.
The ghost let out a small robotic giggle before catching herself. "Well, you did die, yes. But no, this isn't the afterlife. I was sent to bring you back." She chirped, floating in a small circle around him as he finally pushed himself up into a standing position, trying to get his footing back. Of course, it was easier than it would have been for most organic life considering he was an exo. The ghost continued, "I am called Luxana. I am glad to see you're okay."
Cayde frowned, the corners of his mouth plates tilting downward. He just had a new ghost? A second chance? Just like that?
"Yeah, hi. Thanks for bringing me back and all, but who sent you to do so?" He asked, taking a glance around the room as he realized just how cramped the space was. He had barely heard her tell him that she couldn't say as he found the plaque above where his head was resting.
"Holy shit.." he whispered, his fingers raising to trace over the shape of the two crossing pistols, both bearing the Ace of Spades. His name was printed below in simple font, followed by 'A skilled hunter, member of the vanguard, and loyal friend.' It was hardly the words that got to Cayde in that moment.. they were just generic epitaph words. But as he looked around, the entire crypt was littered with flowers and random trinkets, old and new. People must have often come to visit, paying their respect by giving him the one thing he always adored: stuff.
"It is great, isn't it? How people come here every day?" Luxana broke in to his trance, floating up beside him to admire his plaque. "How awkward it will be for them to realize that they needn't have spent the glimmer on all of this quite yet."
Cayde was caught off guard by the joke, unable to halt the laugh that escaped him at that. He shook his head before turning his eyes to his new companion. "Oh, please tell me they spent a fortune on a statue for me."