The Trance

-by Zoomer36

Standard disclaimer: I do not own Destiny or any of its related concepts or story elements.

Sand clouded the sky and chunks of pulverized red-orange rock flew through the air as cabal munitions tore into the landscape. A young stormcaller threw herself behind a particularly sturdy-looking outcropping just as a small rocket impacted the sand where she had been standing a fraction of a second ago.

"How you doing over there?!" she shouted, as she expertly reloaded her old and battered rifle.

"Oh, just great." retorted the nearby bladedancer, as he casually tossed a grenade over his own source of cover. A rather nasty sounding explosion followed by the hiss of decompressing armor confirmed the kill.

The two friends were pinned down by a large squadron of angry cabal troops. A seemingly harmless scouting mission had gone south quite quickly, and neither guardian had brought the proper equipment for an all-out firefight.

"What the fuck, this was supposed to be an easy in-and-out operation." Aya growled to herself. "Watch the Cabal base, analyze ongoing troop movements, go home. Since when are the Cabal this thorough with their patrols?" Aya paused in her grumbling for a moment to step out of cover and fire on a legionary who was getting just a bit too close for comfort.

Hermes chuckled at her dreary attitude. "Just our luck, huh? Hold on, I have a plan." the bladedancer reassured her. Activating his stealth field, Hermes began to flank the right side of the advancing Cabal.

"Yeah, yeah, just be careful." Aya replied, waving her hand in mock nonchalance while picking off another enemy.

Aya's mind wandered for a moment, thinking about the memories that had been surfacing lately. Memories of her life before being a guardian, before her resurrection. "I wish he could remember too." she thought to herself.

She was soon brought out of her musings by a howl of pain echoing across the canyon. The centurion in charge of the enemy forces fell to the ground, a well-placed throwing knife embedded in her neck. Blue-black blood began puddling around her now lifeless form as several nearby troops looked around in confusion. Aya used the disarray to her advantage, managing to place bullets through three more skulls before the dim-witted legionaries had the sense to find cover of their own. Several loud cracks were heard as another four fell to the bladedancer's hand cannon. They still hadn't figured out where Hermes was hiding, much to Aya's amusement. "Cocky bastard" she muttered to herself, though a faint smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

The sentiment was short-lived however, as a curt shout followed by an earth-shattering explosion caught Aya's attention. Peeking over the outcrop, Aya caught an eyeful of terrible. A Harvester had emerged from jump-space behind Hermes, managing to hit him almost head on with its mounted gun. Hermes's broken and lifeless body was thrown some two-hundred feet by the force of the impact, landing not far from her hiding place.

She hardly had time to process what had happened before the harvester had unloaded fresh troops and ascended into the night sky. The sensors in her helmet as well as the somber voice of her ghost informed her that the impact of the blast had not only killed Hermes, but shattered his ghost as well.

Now, Aya was a guardian. She had witnessed death before. Hell, she'd died on more than one occasion herself. But this…this was different. Before there was always a resurrection, the friendly voice of a ghost guiding the fallen warrior back to the land of the living.

But not this time. Hermes was gone. The harsh, unrelenting absoluteness of the situation hit Aya like a ton of bricks. Something inside of her seemed to pop open. The sadness and anger faded to cool composure as she felt her conscious mind fold in on itself. Her last perception as she faded into near-nothingness was of a familiar jolt of white-hot arc energy filling her body.

The Trance.

….Aya and Hermes Henderson laid sunbathing on the beach as newlyweds. They were on day three of their planned two-week honeymoon. Hermes whispered something intimate in her ear and she laughed a high giggle as she turned to give him a passionate kiss…

Her eyes glazed over and her uninhabited body began to float lazily toward the oncoming enemy line, the solar rounds bouncing harmlessly off of the arc shielding that now surrounded her. The small sliver of her mind that was still connected to her body was vaguely aware of several pained screams as six cabal were vaporized into clouds of blue-cyan before her shimmering fingertips.

….They were at a baby shower. No, HER baby shower, she realized, suddenly noticing her plump, pregnant body. Hermes was sitting next to her, holding her hand as she opened her gifts. They both wore broad smiles, they had been trying for three years after all. This was the happiest time of their lives…

Her mind was violently ripped away from the heartwarming scene as a colossus opened fire on her at point blank. She screeched in pain as her reinforced arc shielding shattered around her and a spasm of white hot pain coursed through her body.

This is it. This is how I die.

But the storm doesn't give up so easily.

Her vision faded to black as the trance took her once more, a massive bolt of lightning firing from her outstretched hand and hitting the colossus directly in the face. The sheer amount of energy being directed through his body caused the large cabal to explode, sending huge chunks of armor plating and scorched meat soaring through the air, pieces raining down around the immediate area.

….Hermes was rushing her to the hospital, driving as fast as he dared. Aya's contractions were already occurring threateningly often. "Something isn't right," she thought to herself. "I'm not due for another three months." The panicked look on Hermes's face was none too reassuring….

Aya's hands emitted another tendril of crackling arc energy, the smoldering bodies of the final three legionaries falling to floor.

But the trance was not over. Not yet.

Aya's glowing form began to drift aimlessly around the area, devoid of directive or purpose until it bumped into a humanoid form laying on the ground.

….Aya grasped Hermes's hand tightly as tears rolled freely down her cheeks. Several doctors worked on the premature baby a few feet away, frantically trying to get its heart beating. But even the young couple could tell that it wasn't going well. Aya heard the words "Time of death: four twenty-seven." Her entire world seemed to collapse around her…

Some part of Aya knew that this form before her was somehow...important. It was supposed to be lively, filled with impulse and energy. But it wasn't. That needed to be rectified. Her hands found contact and an enormous jolt of power surged through the form as she willed it to live, depleting her remaining arc power in the process.

Aya's consciousness came crashing back to her body and she fell to her knees, temporarily stunned by the sudden flood of sense input. Several dozen cabal lay dead around her, small sparks and bolts of energy intermittently dancing between their corpses. The sultry-sweet scent of singed flesh somehow made its way through her helmet's filters.

It almost smelled like regret.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The pure volatility of her feelings at the moment was making it difficult to keep her composure. Several moments passed as she calmed herself.

Aya reopened her eyes and attempted to stand before noticing the battered body of Hermes in front her. A massive scorch mark dominated his chest. His armor was melted around the area, giving an unpleasant view of the burned skin beneath. Remnants of her energy crackled around the fresh wound, but...

He was breathing.

A wave of relief washed over her. She unfastened his helmet, then her own, allowing both to fall to the ground beside her. She pulled the unconscious bladedancer into her lap and ran her hand through his dark brown hair affectionately.

On second thought, maybe it would be best if you didn't remember...