Hello to all my readers, reviewers, and all you newcomers out there! :D I know everyone wanted to see a spinoff featuring the Terrible Twins (Sam and Kelly), but unfortunately I haven't got the faintest idea where to start with those two. So I've decided to go with Plan B! Here's hoping it's as well received as many of my other works-and reviews are gladly appreciated. :D
Disclaimer: I don't own Halo.
Prologue: The Diary
August 12, 2560
UNSC HighCom
Sydney, Australia
Arisaya stared sullenly at the office-cum-laboratory she'd been given-in honor of the "new" alliance between the UNSC and the Empire that she'd helped facilitate, she had been granted a place in one of HighCom's best science centers. None of this was what I wanted, she scowled as she surveyed the room. At least they allowed me my own furnishings. The ancient desk, in particular, had been specially important to her to obtain: made of a light yet sturdy stone from a world long forgotten, it was rumored to be Lady Alaya's own, and now sat proudly in one corner.
"Arisaya?" She smiled at the familiar voice, followed by a young Forerunner warrior. Arnyris cleared the corner of the laboratory with ease and pulled the scientist into his arms.
"You find me too easily, katier," she murmured, the endearment falling easily from her tongue.
"You are easy to predict, alaya," he replied, brushing a kiss on her forehead. "You fall too easily into your work, much like the Lady herself." Pulling away, Arnyris regarded his lover with fond amusement. "Come, it is time for the evening meal."
"Ever my keeper, are you not?" Arisaya smiled, moving back to the ancient desk; she ran her hands over the ornate carvings in the stone. As she traced a rune that signified "mystery," Arisaya heard a click, faint yet distinct in the silent room.
"What-" The young woman looked around to the other side of the desk, where a drawer now lay open to her eyes: a drawer that could never be opened, and had never been opened in what little history she could recall.
"A hidden drawer." Arnyris whispered, awed and fearful. "Arisaya, take care. We don not know what lies within."
"I think we have nothing to fear, katier," she smiled, holding up the contents of the drawer. It was nothing more than a simple, hide-bound book, with gilded scrollwork at the edges and containing only a few leaves of alloy for pages. Looks are deceiving, though, as Dr. Halsey would say, Arisaya thought as she regarded the "pages"-they were a special blend of metal and electronics, capable of storing great amounts of written data. The old scientists had developed them for field research; notes were written with a metal stylus and safely stored, and could be displayed via holography at a later date. Though this is far too ornate for a simple field notebook, she mused, glancing at the binding. Flipping open the cover, she gasped.
For Our Beloved Daughter, Alaya