"Hey you. Just read your little after-action of your most recent battle. Wow."
She smiled, shaking her red tresses out of her hair. Amber colored eyes took in the visage of Cayde-6, Vanguard leader of the Hunter Order.
As much as Hunters had an order.
"Cayde…I want to learn how to be a Nightstalker."
His optics blinked as he subtly shifted his posture. Since the Taken War there were more of his Hunters wanting to become part of the reclusive sect but...it wasn't easy. In fact it was quite dangerous. Thankfully a lot of the older surviving Nightstalkers were fine with taking on individual apprentices but…
This one was different. She was swift, she was quiet. Cute too, but that more an aside than anything.
She was a survivor. Stranded on Venus during the Red War, surviving in the depths of the planet's jungle amongst Vex, Taken and Fallen alike. Her and a small group of Guardians eked out a lifestyle for those few weeks without the Light.
She was definitely Nightstalker material.
She could become great. Greater than great. She had the potential to be one of the best Nightstalkers he'd met since that girl KT picked up Tevis' bow.
So if she was going to become Great…he had to make sure he gave her great.
"Alright listen. I know how everyone sees me." He said suddenly. "They arent entirely wrong. I've got a penchant for pushing my jobs off on other people. Eco-management, I call it. But I digress. I'm not the best person to teach you. I can do it. The bow thing, I mean. But its…instinct, at this point. I'm not eloquent enough, to explain it. I could teach you how to better aim, how to whip it out faster, how to pull some sick-nasty trick shots with it. But I can't teach you how to start. Go see Ikora. Tell her I sent you. There's…it's heavy stuff, kiddo. Not many can handle it for very long. But I think you can."
She was a little disappointed. But he'd acknowledged…well…the truth. He did tend to shove his duties off on others, especially recently now that it was reasoned that if he didn't get out of the city often enough he ended up doing stupid things like the whole Vex teleporter debacle.
"Go see Ikora. Got it."
"She'll understand. And Guardian."
She had turned to walk away, heading to the part of the new residency where Ikora tended to frequent.
"When you've got the hang of it, come on back. I'll show you some tricks."
"Guardian. How can I help you."
"Miss Rey."
"Ikora, please."
The redhead huntress nodded to the Warlock.
"Ikora, then. I…approached Cayde-6 about becoming a Nightstalker and he referred me to you."
"Did he now?"
"In his defense, he did say something about not being 'eloquent enough to explain' things."
"Indeed?" She gave a low chuckle. "Well it seems you can teach an old Exo new tricks. I suppose he's referring to the creation of the Nightstalker's shadowshot."
The huntress shrugged. "I've seen it done. Even gotten hit by the arrows a few times in the Crucible…but I…don't really know how it works."
"And yet you still wish to become one?"
"It was a Nightstalker…that helped me survive on Venus, without the Light."
Ikora nodded softly. "Yes I can see how that would intrigue others. Are you…certain you wish to follow this path? Not to discourage you but dealing in the Void is…well even for me its dangerous."
She nodded. "I had nothing. We, had nothing. And She had made a bow out of wood and arrows from scraps. It saved our lives."
"I see. However the Void is not something to casually toy with. If you follow this choice, you must see it to the end."
"I like to think I'm ready. Even if I'm probably not."
Again, Ikora nodded. "Yes I have no doubt of your conviction."
She paused blinking. Her head tilted to the left as she made a soft humming noise.
"Actually…"
A thought had struck her.
It wasn't like she was busy. And she always did have an enjoyment of instructing others. Well…now she did. But the Red War had taught her much about herself. Her failings and successes.
She was good. But she knew someone she considered better.
She was a legend in her own right…but she was…friends, with someone who was a true legend.
And she'd found him to be witty, good conversation, and highly intelligent.
'The best damn Voidwalker I've ever worked with'. She'd been told. And that was only a year after he'd started.
The one many others came to call 'Chaos'. The one who redefined what it meant to be 'zero'.
"I could teach you, what I know of the Void. But forgive me. If Cayde sent you to me, that means, despite his tendency to put off his duties; he sees something in you. Something worth cultivating. I have plenty of free time right now, but…I know of someone who is much more attuned to the Void, than even myself. If you don't mind, I'd like for him to teach you its meanings."
It was hard not to sigh. It kinda felt like she was being shunned, really.
"Now now, don't be upset. Trust me when I say this particular Guardian is very well versed in the nature of the Void. He manages to teach me things, and I've been a Guardian far longer."
The Huntress' eyebrows rose. Someone newer than Ikora who was even more educated than her?
"Sure." She said. If Ikora said this person was more knowledged, who was she to deny the woman?
At least maybe she'd finally be able to be taught…
"You needed me, Ikora?"
It was him.
The Kingslayer. The Young Wolf. The Shardseeker. The hero of the Red War.
Known only to most others as 'Zero', the self-proclaimed 'Chaos Lord'. A Warlock of only four years of experience, yet storied beyond belief. People spoke of his exploits with the same reverence as Saint-14, as Toland the Shattered, as Osiris the Excommunicated.
Some even spoke of him with the same fear as Dregden Yor.
This was who Ikora had called in, to teach her how to wield the Void.
She was…nervous. He was a living God. He'd apparently, allegedly, killed Gods. He was the only one stupid enough but also brave enough to seek out the broken shard of the Traveler in the EDZ. The first to reclaim his light. The only to do so for almost a month. The one to reunite the Vanguard.
He had no real plans for the day, it seemed.
"I was just going to head to Nessus. Clear up some Fallen around the Exodus Black, check in on Failsafe. Maybe clear out a Lost Sector or two. Keep the Vex and the Fallen from gathering too many resources. Nothing major."
He had been asked to teach her of the Void. He was surprised, but acquiesced quickly.
She'd never to have known that her world was about to be blown wide open.
Even if she did…?
She'd probably have gone through with it anyway.
"I'm going to start by saying something that I don't tell many people."
Unknown to him, Ikora had requested his Ghost to record the feed of his upcoming lesson with the Huntress. She'd sent word to Cayde and Zavala that their 'young wolf' was about to give a lesson in the Void that even she would pay good Glimmer to listen in on.
The best part is, she didn't have to pay a damn thing.
Zavala had gathered the Titans that had come for the day's crocheting course, and Cayde had taken over a nearby bar in the city, flooding it with Hunters and footing the bill for their drinks as long as they shut up and listened. Seeing Cayde be so serious about something was such an oddity that, for once, the free-spirited Guardians paid attention.
Shaxx had gotten word, and had his own screen up on the side while looking over field reports from areas near Crucible matches. Saladin, taking a day to visit the Farm and see Tyra Karn, had received a coded message that his young wolf was about to give a lesson. The two old friends sat together and pulled up a viewer.
On Mercury, Ikora had messaged Sagira to pull Osiris from whatever silly thing he was doing to listen in. Sagira, practically gushing over her new Guardian Friend, had happily continuously transmatted Osiris to her side until he stopped trying to do whatever he was doing and paid attention to her.
Once she told him what was going on, he shut up and sat down.
So effectively…the next hour, was going to be seen by far more than just Failsafe and this Huntress.
"What's that?"
"We needed, the Red War."
"…wait what?"
He shook his head. "It's messed up to hear, I know. But we needed that reality check. Before I was awoken, humanity as a whole, was on the brink of erasure. Fallen were beating at our gates, Hive invaded our planet and were burrowing under our feet. The Cabal were one jumped up leader away from launching an assault on Earth."
"…what about the Vex?"
"The Vex? The Vex were, are the least threatening out of all of them."
Ok that was the last thing anyone was expecting him to say.
"How do you-
"The Vex want to be Eternal. Recent studies, old data, and…a certain Book suggest that the Vex are extra-dimensional beings that simply want to survive. They want to lace themselves as a fundamental facet of reality. Light, Dark, Time, Space, Vex. As much life requires food to survive, the Vex want to be a universal constant."
"But they're trying to kill us."
"The same as any animal would try to attack something invading its space."
"What?!"
"It's hard to believe, but the Vex aren't concerned with us until we make them concerned with us. They want to be Eternal. They're looking for the way to get there. Right now, we, and the Hive, are their greatest obstacles to getting there. But when push came to shove, they reached out to us for help. Or rather, they allowed a temporary cessation to hostilities."
"What do you mean?"
"Around the time of the Taken War, the Vex, always looking to the future, got spooked. They saw their inevitable end at the hands of the Taken. Sure, there's Taken Vex, but the Taken Vex are no longer Vex. They saw their absolute termination. They opened the Vault to us. To me. Mostly cause I was closest I guess and Ikora asked me to look into it but still. There must have been at least ten, maybe twelve Goblins. All of them standing outside of combat routine. One of them scanned me, then the Vault opened up. First time I went in there we had to force it open while fighting them off. This time, they just open the damn doors."
She was shocked.
Hell a lot of the listeners were.
"Biggest thing? I swear they shifted to salute me as I entered. Nothing so obvious like ours, but their own, Vex method. It was friggin weird. But that, along with my time here on Nessus during the Red War, taught me something about the Vex. They dont give a shit about us. Osiris thinks they're the greatest threat we've got and if they wanted to be, they could be. But we're just annoyances to them. Right now, we're their enemies in the sense that we are one of their greatest obstacles to completing their goal. But ultimately, we don't matter. If there was a way for the Vex to become Universal Constant, that didn't involve the destruction of everything else? They'd probably take it if it was more viable."
"Ok what does that mean?"
"The Vex are following a very particular line of logic that sadly enough makes sense. It also follows a sect of Void logic."
"Which is…?"
"If nothing else but you exists, are you not Eternal?"
She blinked. That was…a bit of a stretch.
"Its loose logic, to our minds, because what is Eternity? But at the same time, it makes sense. If nothing else exists to kill you, you cannot die. The Vex are a shared hub of minds focused on their own survival. They don't seek to conquer worlds, the way the Cabal do. They don't seek to destroy everything not them, the way the Hive do. They are actually, much like the Fallen, in that they want to survive. And right now, the best way for that, is to destroy everything else."
"And how does that mean they aren't a threat?"
"They are, but they could have a chance to not be, if something came along and gave them a faster, more secure path to their goal than wiping out everything non-Vex. Then they'd fuck off and leave us alone because they became Eternal."
"Seriously?"
"Most likely anyway. Most of their weapons are re-purposed crafting tools. Their combat platforms are intended to be hubs for higher processing power. Sure we could use a Solar Grenade as an impromptu welding tool, or a blast of Arc as a quick recharge for a dying battery or generator, but that's an attack turned into a support. They made themselves as builders first, combatants second. Its why they prefer overwhelming their opponents with firepower than any real sorts of tactics."
He had a point. Her own experiences added to his statement, memories of skirmishes against Vex patrols, how they tended to swarm from afar, laying down distant fire with as many bodies as possible. They weren't combatants. They simply had tools that allowed them to fight, and a seemingly inexhaustible force.
"Ok that all makes sense. But how do you figure we needed the Red War to happen. That's kinda…really messed up to say."
He nodded. "It is. And in honor of the city's citizens we lost, I don't speak it often, nor lightly."
"Not the Guardians?"
"If it had been just me that had his connection to the Traveler restored? I'd be a little less callous. But there are lots of us I've never met. And we were brought back from the dead for the first time, once before. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the bodies I saw as I struggled to get away from the city, are right now getting shot in the face in the damn Crucible."
Her head tilted to the side.
"You think they came back?"
"Non-guardians? No. But the Guardians killed while we were disconnected? Yeah. I'd bet good Glimmer on them having gotten back up after the Traveler did her little pulse-wave thing."
"Right. So…why?"
"On my first day as Guardian, I killed an Archon Priest."
She gaped.
"What?!"
"With little more than a shitty little Auto Rifle, a vague knowledge of how to shape my Light into a Vortex Grenade, and the old adage tactic we from the Golden Age called 'spray and pray'."
She was floored. Actually a lot of the veterans were too. Archon Priests were no joke.
"Since that day? Anything I was a part of, ended up being successful, somehow. From opening the array and letting us get our feet safely back on other planets in the system, to freeing a shard of the Traveler that the Hive were using as part of some ritual, to killing a Vex Gate Lord on my own, breaking through the Cabal's Exclusion Zone on Mars and giving us a foothold there, to entering the distorted space we call the Black Garden and destroying the whatever the fuck that thing was at its core. That was all me. And that just kicked open the door for more successes."
So the rumors were true then. He was a legend like Osiris, like the heroes of Six Fronts, like the Iron Lords.
"You know I met the Speaker personally on my first week. And he didn't tell me jack shit."
She leaned back at the sound of pure irritation in his voice.
"A lot of what I know came from experimentation, and personal research. Not unexpected given I'm part of the Warlock Order but…for a literal kinderguardian, I was told the bare minimum. Just that humanity was at the brink of destruction, there were horrors out there knocking on our doorstep, and little to celebrate or give hope. Anything I learned about the Fallen, the Hive, the Vex, the Cabal, were all from personal experience and diving into the Archives. Other than my Ghost? I was alone."
He gave a heavy sigh.
"The Vanguard were all but useless. Good people, yes, but they could do nothing, tied up in Red Tape and stuck in the Tower. Information was all they were good for but half the time that information was limited, anecdotal. We were well and truly fucked. But I kept striking unknown, key blows against all of our enemies. Buying a little more time, a little more time, a little more time, each mission. Giving us chances to have more Guardians return, giving us time to get stronger, get our bearings. In less than a year, we went from absolutely screwed to winning. The Dark was punched in the nads and we were stomping the floor."
That confirmed a lot of what she'd heard, since her own reawakening.
"Then came Lady Eris and her warnings about Crota. We killed him too. Avenging the ones she lost in that failed attempt to end him, avenging the ones slaughtered by the Scourge of Luna himself. Another year, another threat, ended. We were on a roll. We'd already stomped the Vex in their Vault, we'd dealt a damning blow to the Cabal stranded on Mars, we'd taken out two Fallen Houses…we were hot shit."
She nodded, listening intently. Back on Earth, those listening were quiet, some reflecting, some hearing the tales for the first time, but all, wondering where he was going with this.
"Then the House of Wolves rebelled against Queen Mara, and we handled that one too. Captured and later killed Skolas myself. Another year, another threat, another victory in our name. Then came Oryx. The Taken were like nothing we'd ever faced. But we dealt with that too. It was close. Closer than close. But we did it. Then SIVA, but even a corrupted legacy from the Golden Age couldn't stand up to us. Lord Saladin was practically shitting bricks, but we did what we do best. We won. Because fuck losing."
Again, all true.
"And each and every time, each major event, guess who was at the front of it all?"
"You."
He nodded. "Me. And, and you know the irony of it all?"
"What?"
"I didn't give a flying fuck."
Dead silence.
"Fight for humanity? Pfft, bitch please. I was dead. I died. I woke up barely knowing who I was, with some freaking floating asterisk telling me it had just revived me from the dead, and that I was in a dangerous place. I spent weeks, going from place to place, mission to mission, barely being told anything, barely understanding anything, confused as shit, fighting for my life and a people I'd already been ostracized from, by nature of being a goddamn zombie. The Traveler? The Light? Who fucking cares? That's what I'd thought. I wanted answers. I wanted to know why what was supposed to be my eternal rest was disturbed and for what reason?"
There was…actual anger in his voice. Fury.
"All I got was the impression it was some kind of honor, some kind of glorious gift. But I remembered nothing. It wasn't a second chance at life for me. All I needed to know was I was dead. I was ended. The golden rule of all things is that all things come to an end and when they end that's it. That is the end of them. Nobody asked me if I wanted to take up arms and fight in humanity's name. Nobody asked how I felt about the situation. Nobody asked anything. They commanded. They assumed. And yes, I get it, humanity was desperate. Humanity needed us, needed me but it doesn't change that I was not given the chance to say 'no'."
She had leaned back. He was…shaking. Hands clenched, muscles clearly tensed. A soft wisp of violet was wafting off of him like a growing aura.
"All power comes at a price." He said, heavily.
"And all I knew was that I was given power I never asked for, at a price I was never told. Immortality? High-speed regeneration? The ability to bend the forces of Nature to my whim? COOL! But why?! And what would I have to give for it? I still have no answer."
The aura tapered off. He seemed to calm down.
"And yet I fought. Because I had nothing else. I fought, because I, to this day, hope to find an answer. Why do I say we needed the Red War? Because the Vanguard got complacent. Humanity got too full of themselves. We guardians took for granted the lives we should have been living under. A world where death is the goddamn end. We throw ourselves off of cliffs for shits and giggles. We have a damn series of tournaments where we gleefully kill each other at no consequence except at most temporarily excruciating pain. We'd forgotten what it meant, to be at risk."
"And…the Red Legion reminded us."
"YES! They came, they slaughtered us. They kicked our asses so hard we couldn't even remember what the fuck our legs were for! Everything we did they could counter with ease. They knew us, knew our tactics, knew our abilities, and shat in our collective faces. We were humbled. And how did they do it? Do you know?"
She shook her head. He'd…kind of become scary again.
"By keeping it simple. You know there was a time where I considered the Cabal the least threatening of all our opponents. The Red War changed that. The Cabal were our perfect enemy. No crazy Dark Powered space magic like the Hive. No temporal tomfoolery like the Vex. No faux-light savagery like the Fallen. Tactics. Pure skill. Dedication, determination, deliberation. Destruction with simple normal weaponry. Simple tactics. Nothing fancy, nothing crazy, just information, timing, control, and keeping it simple. The Fallen were beaten by their lack of cohesion. The Vex were beaten by turning their own weapons against them. The Hive were beaten by locking them into their own personal rules that give them their power. The Cabal? They turned our own victories, our own hubris against us. They devised a simple object that blocked whatever resonant frequency it is that the Traveler gives off that lets us have our powers."
The…passion in his voice terrified her, a little. He was talking about the deaths of thousands…with glee.
"We have killed Gods. I have killed Gods. But the Cabal? In one night, they forced us to face what it meant to be mortal."
He nodded to himself.
"And we needed that reminder. Look at the Vanguard now! Cayde is a little more cautious. Zavala is a little more open. Ikora a little more friendly. She jokes now! Sure it's dry humor but its fucking hilarious! She'd maybe say something witty once in a blue moon before. But now, now she smiles! Openly! Each one of them was reminded what it meant to be a guardian! And now, we're growing stronger than ever before, because the Vanguard, once seen as the Haughty Elite, have been made human again. They have been forced to face their flaws and grow stronger because of it! You can more easily catch Zavala cracking a grin at one of Cayde's jokes. You can actually see Cayde with a damn data pad in his hand and doing research. Ikora gets her hands dirty on the field every now and then now."
It was embarrassing to have it so…shockingly spoken. But each one of the Vanguard acknowledged, if silently, that he had a point.
They had forgotten why they fought for the last city. Why they took up arms in the name of Humanity. Hidden away on their Tower, it was only Cayde that had truly attempted to get back out into the field and do anything personally. He was right. It was a terrible thing to state…but the Red War was needed.
"And that."
He suddenly said.
"Is where we begin our lesson into the Void."
"…what?"
How does that make any sense?
"That makes no sense."
"It does. Because it's the lesson anyone planning on dabbling in the Great Nothing, needs to begin with."
"Ehh?"
He gave a loose chuckle.
"Know Thyself."
"To touch the Void, you must first realize that the Void is, the end, and beginning, of all things."
"Huh?"
"Before there was any kind of life, any kind of matter, there was Nothing. Then something changed. The Nothing became something. And from that something, came everything else. The Void was the beginning. When we're all gone? When everything dies and all matter collapses upon itself and existence as any can know it ceases to be? The nothing will return fully. Until then, it is in pieces. The space between atoms. The instant between moments. The distance between thoughts."
That was…interesting.
"The Void terrifies people because they only see it as the end. As death beyond death. Which it is. But it is also the precursor to life. This dichotomy is what makes the Void so dangerous, because it is a universal constant. It is, and you cannot unmake something that does not exist. Yet it exists, because of the law of opposites. The Void is Nothingness…but it is also everything."
"How…?"
"If all things come from the Void, and all things return to it when they end, then how is it not everything?"
"I…I don't know."
"Everything ends. Everything dies. All that exists will one day not. All that exists, at one point, did not. What makes the Void everything? Simple. It is the border of existence. The Void is the summation of your being. The totality of your existence given form, and returned to its original self."
"…what does that mean?"
"Everything that you are. All your experiences. Your thoughts, your feelings, your actions, memories, beliefs. Every word you've spoken, every shit you've taken. All of that, is part of who you are. Your past, your present, your unwritten futures. All of that, is part of the Void. Especially the things you haven't done yet."
"That doesn't…that makes no sense."
"Does it not? Think about it. When you die your final, true death, and no return is possible, you go back to the Nothing where you came from. But you arent the same nothing you came from. Your life, your existence has gained weight. It has gained meaning."
"And…that meaning remains?"
"Oh gods no. It gets consumed as well. But it takes longer. And is acknowledged. Everything you've ever done and ever will do, is consumed. But in order for it to be consumed, it has to be seen, it has to be. And that moment, when the Void is devouring you, is the pinnacle of your existence. Because the Origin of Origins, is looking at you. It is acknowledging you as an existence. It knows you."
"…when you look into the abyss too long…the abyss looks back…" she whispered.
He pointed to her and nodded. "Exactly. That's what it is to wield the Void. You are reaching into the abyss, and asking for a part of it. And in doing so, you must give a part of yourself up."
"What…what about the Light. How…how does that factor in?"
"Solar light…it is fire. Flame. Power. Passion. Heated drive. Burning will. Desire. Searing fury. The light of a thousand suns. It melts. It bores. It is the undying will of the need to evolve. To purify all evil, to burn all to ashes."
He had placed the Martyr's Make. Solar element. On the ground.
"Do you know why the Void is superior to that?"
She shook her head.
Everyone watching was silent, though many wished to grumble or retort.
"Because the Void is the origin of these things. Without cold, there is no need for heat. Without knowledge, instinct, of lack, there is no need for drive. Without fear, there is no need for courage. The Void embodies Nonexistence. The original state. A world with no heat, no hate, no need. An empty space of nothing."
"but that's…"
"No way to live. Exactly. The Void is not a place for life. It is a place beyond life, it is where life is defined. There is no life, there is no death there just is. And what is, is nothing. The Void can snuff the flames, douse the passion, halt the drive, drain the will, negate the fury. The Void engulfs the sun, halts evolution, seals evil, shatters the ash. If Solar is Fire and Fire is Passion and Passion is Power and Power is Life, then the Void is all that is before, and removes it. The Void swallows Reason. Fire needs fuel to burn. Solar Light needs Reason to be made manifest. Drive, Passion, Fury, Desire. Any of those things and more."
They were transfixed. Even hidden away on Mercury, Osiris himself was nodding along.
"We Warlocks used to have a skill. Not even a year ago. It was lost to us with the first Fracturing of the Light. If we were to fall in battle with a belly full of Solar Light, we could, with our lingering wills mixed with a bit of a push from our Ghosts; burn our way back to existence. We defied even our own death. To rise again, like a legendary Phoenix. That, is what it means to wield Solar Light. To burn even death."
It was true. Ikora found herself nodding as well. They had lost that ability when the imprint of the Dawnblade was gifted to them with the return of their connection to the Light.
It had made many of them haughty.
Yet at the same time, it had made even more of them, far too willing to sacrifice themselves in the name of victory.
"But the Void…there is nothing to burn. There is no fuel, no life, no death. Only Nothing. And while Nothing can burn you…you cannot burn nothing."
The Huntress simply listened. Drinking in his words. His passion.
"Arc Light. The spark of lightning. The hum of electricity. The power of a storm at your very fingertips. It moves, it jumps, it pierces, it connects. It too burns, but it burns through. It carves and severs. It rips and tears. It can pulverize even the strongest of stone, it can puncture the thickest of iron. Where Fire is energy, Arc is movement. It is freedom. A single burst of clarity to pierce the veil of confusion."
She sat up straighter. This was the element she had favored.
"Titans and Warlocks agree on one thing as a whole: 'aint nothing like a fist full of lightning.'"
The watching Titans grinned to themselves, while the warlocks gave humored scoffs.
"They're wrong."
Surprisingly, few were offended. Hearing his words about Solar, they had expected this.
Though that didn't stop eyebrows from raising.
"What makes the Void superior to Arc Light?"
"It's the origin?"
He nodded. "Simply put, but yes. Arc requires movement. It requires a target. It is freedom, but it is also a shackle of itself. Where Solar Flames burn slowly, they burn continuously, they are continued energy. Arc is that energy, but expended in a single moment. To harness that energy, is to not so much expand that moment into a longer state, but generate a source of continued individual moments in a chain that mimics continuity. Arc can be directed, needs to be directed or it goes nowhere. It just goes forward. To the closest thing."
Again, true. Many of the Warlocks listening had contemplative looks on their faces. They hadn't thought of it that way.
"The freedom is a lie. If you need somewhere to go in order to begin moving, are you truly free? You are bound to a single pathway, and should something strong stand before you, there is no changing course. If you cannot blow through the obstacle, then you are stuck, halted, until such a time as that moment returns, allowing you to then try a different path."
"and the Void…makes those obstructions?"
He shook his head. "Yes and no. Yes, in the sense that all things come from it, so in a very roundabout way, you would be correct. But no. The Void negates the origin."
"How so?"
"If there is no concept of forward, then how can one move? Where Fire requires fuel to burn, and the Void is the absence of that fuel, thus snuffing the flames, Arc needs to move. It needs an outlet, it needs a target, it needs somewhere to go. Much like the Flame, the Bolt requires reason."
"And the Void is the absence of that Reason…right?"
He nodded. "Yes. Without reason, there is no movement. Without a clear ending point, there is no beginning for the Arc. It just builds and builds until it burns itself out and collapses upon its own existence. No outlet, no target, no path."
She nodded slowly. "Like…when we used to Blade Dance…the Arc…it felt like a tingle down my spine. A…buzzing fuzziness along my legs. It made me faster...but less fluid."
"And now, the Staff, while much longer than the knife, gives you more control. A wider range, more fluidity."
She nodded rapidly. "Its so different now. But…similar enough not to be foreign? Does that make sense?"
"Oh plenty." He agreed. "It's much like how we forged the Dawnblade upon the return of the Light. Instinct, but something solid to hold. A totem, to channel our will through."
"…But we Hunters always have those. Our Golden Gun…before, it was our Knife for the Arc and now it's a spear. And…"
"The Bow."
"Yes."
The whole reason why she was here.
"The crux of the matter. I've explained already, how to touch the Void. And how we Guardians access an aspect of it."
"But I still don't…really get it. Why is it superior to anything else? You've said it's the Origin and the End. But how does that…make it better?"
"I'll admit, I'm a little biased. But…it is because it is nothing."
"That doesn't make sense."
"Of course it does. You just don't have the pieces to recognize it."
She was about to get indignant when his words sunk in.
"…but you said it was nothing."
"And all things come from that Nothing."
"But if that's the case…"
"You're beginning to get confused."
"Well no shit."
"No, that's good."
"What?"
What? How was that a good thing?
"You're questioning. That's the thing. That's what allows us to wield the Void. That is what makes it superior to everything else."
"The fact that it makes no sense?"
"Exactly."
"…alright you lost me."
And…practically everyone else. Even Ikora and Osiris were very confused.
"The Hive."
"…what about them?"
"Do you know their story?"
"…they have a story?"
"Many stories, actually. Before the Red Legion's attack I was in the group that took down their God-King, Oryx. Unfortunate creature he was. Once a female-presenting being called Auresh, a deal with powerful forces of the Dark that is Deep led to her evolving into a stronger but…well for lack of a better term, cursed form known as Auryx, who then after many battles and many deaths, evolved further to become what we thought was our greatest threat at the time, the Taken King, Oryx."
The Huntress sat, listening. She'd heard…whispers of the Hivebane, the Kingslayer, the Godbreaker. She knew it to be him but…
It was still hard to believe she was being lectured by a living Legend.
"The Hive believe in a dogmatic view called the Sword Logic. The gist of it, is that unlike a gun, which can kill impersonally from a distance, a Sword is a bridge between two lives. The killer and the killed. The moment the Sword bites flesh, their lives are connected. The future is determined in the next coming moment, but for a brief snippet of time, two completely different beings are now one. The Sword, upon slaying its foe, remembers. The taste of its blood, the shape of its body, the swing of its handle. Every chip, every stain, every injury the sword takes and imparts, is a tale. A tale of its wielder, a tale of its victims. The sword, remembers, and grows stronger, feeding that strength into its holder. In a roundabout meaning, they believe that the strongest will survive. And to become strong, one must become sharp. And to become sharp, one must destroy all that oppose you."
Beneath her helmet, she blinked rapidly. That was a bit…much.
"Reduce it all to nothing, so that you alone, are the survivor. If reality is what we make of it, then when you stand alone at the top, you can decree reality, correct?"
"Uhh…sure?"
He'd turned from her, before gesturing wildly.
"The Sword Logic…if you break it down, remove the whole 'kill everything not you' bit and instead focus on the 'draw strength from adversity' part…its rather beautiful. The logic of Warriors. The logic of Battle. The logic, of the Void."
"…what?"
"The Void is nothingness. Absolute, unflinching, unending nothingness. And yet, to stop that nothing, all you have to do, is place a something. It cannot be called nothing if there is something that exists there. No matter what that something is. That which has no end, is then ended. A contradiction. A fallacy in the Logic. A concept, that can break reality."
He turned around.
"You're likely wondering how all of that has anything to do with the Hive."
"Pretty much, yeah."
"The Hive Gods have the ability to carve holes in reality into extradimensional spaces where they can remove their concept of death from this plane of existence, allowing them faux immortality as long as they are not 'killed' within said spaces."
"Wait…what?"
"That's what we had to do, to kill Crota, Son of Oryx. That's how we killed Oryx, the Taken King himself. We went into their personal extradimensional spaces; their Throne Worlds, and slew them while they were both at the height of their powers, and also their most vulnerable. Much like how to permanently kill one of us, you either drain the light from our bodies, or destroy our Ghosts."
Again, unseen, her eyes widened behind her helmet. That, she didn't know.
"How this ties into the Void? Simple. The Void is the absence of all things. Even nothingness itself. For there to be nothing, there cannot be a single something. What makes Void Light superior to everything else? It is the physical manifestation of nothingness."
Her head tilted.
"Where the fuck do Sentinel's Shields come from? Nothing. Nowhere. Void Light takes the concept of 'there is nothing here' and twists it into the shape of a shield on a Titan's wrist. How does the shield defend if it doesn't exist? By imposing a field of absolute nothingness in the shape of a shield to block that which attempts to cross it. It is a border of non-existence. Its very nature is a contradiction of forces and yet it still holds shape. Void Light, allows us to shape the very concept of nothingness into what we desire."
"Ok…lets pretend that makes sense to me. What about your Nova Bombs?"
"Void Light shaped into a large sphere that gets thrown. The concept we shape the nothing to be, is that which says 'all that this light touches does not exist'."
"And what does that mean?"
"If the Void is the concept of Nothingness given form, Void Light is that which we use to shape that Nothing. And if Nothingness is the idea of non-existence, then anything that is touched by Nothing, becomes Nothing. It's not so much destruction or even annihilation. It's redefining existential concept in a localized space to be as if a mathematical equation that adds up to 0. Where 0 is the base state of existence, representing nothing. We return our targets to their base parameters, being the absolute nothingness they spawned from."
It was strange. Impossible to understand.
And yet…something in her head…snapped.
"…redefining existential concept…? Shaping…nothing…? …wait…like a shadow?"
He was beaming.
"Yesssssss."
"Void Light…"
"Is the shadow of existence."
"…what…?" Ikora muttered to herself. That…made a…strange kind of sense.
The Huntress gasped. Even as unseen, Cayde stood up straight.
"That's why it's called Shadowshot!"
"Pretty much my exact conclusion."
"Shadows…can't be touched but they can have effects. They exist but they don't but they do because of…"
Her head shot up, eyes locking behind their helmets.
"Because of Light, impacting standing objects."
"Wherever there is Light…there is Shadow…so where…where Arc and Solar are the Light…"
"Void Light, is a contradictory name. The Void casts no light. It devours light and darkness equally. Void Light, is taking that conceptual force, the idea of nonexistence, the very nature of contradiction, and making a shape out of it."
"Void Light…is…the shadow…cast by Arc and Solar energy…"
"You Hunters, upon the return of the Light, lost your ability to Blink. You learned how to Blink from us Warlocks. But only two of our order can 'blink'. Stormcallers, while in full Trance, through scattering particles of our Light in the direction we wish to move, and then engulfing ourselves in the Arc to shoot in that direction a short distance. And Voidwalkers, who reach into the space between spaces, to pull ourselves forward. Which is the superior movement technique?"
"Voidwalker's Blink."
"Why?"
"Because…you can do it…at effectively any time. You don't have to be in a trance or at the height of your powers. You don't have to channel anything other than your chosen aspect and…and can do it in even the slightest amounts…because…because…"
And then it hit her.
"…because you are become the shadow."
She was jolted from her own revelation by the sound of enthusiastic clapping.
"Well done! You do Cayde proud."
Unseen, she blushed. But she still bowed her head in embarassment.
"Yes…yes I'd say, from a Voidwalker's perspective, you're ready to start trying to harness the Void."
"Wait."
"Hmm?"
"I still have one…pretty big question."
"Fire away."
"…how does it work?"
"Shadowshot?"
"Yes. I've seen it. Hell I've had it used on me. I just…I don't understand it."
"And that's why I say you're ready."
She was confused. "Because I don't understand?"
"No, because you acknowledge you don't understand it. You're questioning it."
"…you said that before. What does that mean? What's the significance of questioning?"
"Remember how I said the Void consumes all?"
"Yes."
"The more you question, the faster it consumes you."
What?!
"But…but then why-
He held up a hand.
"The reason is because the Void does not actively do anything. It just is. But the less stable a concept is, the easier it is to be broken. The more you question, the less stable your hold on reality is. But that's the point. By questioning, you are attempting to understand. And the more you understand the more solid your grasp on reality is. The more definition you have."
"and…and the more definition I have…the…longer it takes for the Void to…devour me?"
"Precisely. The more you question now, before touching the Void, the stronger your concept will be when you do. And the stronger your concept, the less of a negative effect, communing with it, will have on you as a whole. The thing you must always remember when dealing with the Void is, the closer you are to absolute, the less of an effect it will have on you. Even if that absolution is little more than knowing you don't know something."
"Huh?"
"Is it the uneducated that is the idiot? Or is the idiot the one who refuses to acknowledge they don't know something?"
"…you're saying…knowing I don't know something…and acknowledging it as such…puts me closer to knowing it?"
"Yep! The more questions you ask, the more information you seek. The more information you gain, the stronger your hold on reality is. The stronger your concept of reality is, the harder it is to break. The most important thing above all else is to remember one, solid fact."
"What?"
"It doesn't have to make sense, for it to be real."
"…I think I get it. …just because I don't understand how something is the way it is, or why, doesn't mean its not still something that can affect me."
"Shadowshot works by rewriting local conceptual space upon impact of the arrow. The reclassification reads something along the lines of 'you were never not here.' Interaction with the Void in this manner, redefines the current reality to force anything that passes within range, to be bound to the anchor point of the distortion. The Void, effectively acts as a chain – in this situation – that tethers the affected to wherever the arrow landed, forcing them to constantly radiate their concept of reality against it, to attempt to escape. Being that this tether is made of Void, it is also applying a consistent erosion effect that weakens the physical and metaphysical concept of those bound by it, making them much more susceptible to outside interference, as well as applying a suppression field to any natural or supernatural abilities they may be capable of."
Her mouth dropped open.
"As well, depending on the Intent embedded within the arrow, afflicted targets can be imbued with a detonation clause that gets triggered upon the forced destruction of a tethered target, radiating their death-resonance through the anchor and into the other tethered victims, creating a chain reaction of Void-caused ripples, making them detonate as well. And on top of that, a further twist of thought can infuse a directive of double-logic that subverts reality for a time, generating a side-determination of 'you are diminished as we are made strong.' That effect is then applied to those on the same resonant frequency as the caster, increasing reaction and recovery times for a short while, until the normal state of Reality can re-impose itself."
"…fuck me…he actually logic'd it out…" Cayde muttered to himself.
Heard, by every goddamn hunter in the room.
"It…does all of that?!"
"There's a reason why the Nightstalker Order is so limited. It's not the fear of losing oneself to the Void. It takes a severe level of mental gymnastics to be able to Create something like that."
It seemed like a daunting task. She knew the Nightstalker Order was…beyond elite. How could she…what was she thinking? There was no way she could be able to do something like that.
"The first thing you must do, is acknowledge your fear."
Oh he was still talking.
"Wh-what?"
"The fear of the Void. Everyone who deals in the Void has that fear, even myself. Its supposed to be there. It's a primal, instinctive knowledge that you are tampering with a force that can erase you in a single moment. Completely, utterly. In such a way that not even your Ghost could bring you back."
She swallowed, heavily.
"Acknowledge, that fear. Embrace, that fear. To wield the Void is to give it a piece of yourself. To touch it is to dance with annihilation. Your Light is a guide, a shield but it is not perfect. All things eventually end. But the more you get used to touching the Void, the more you understand of it and yourself, the less its effect. The…less actively dangerous, it becomes."
She nodded.
"To break down the use of the Shadowshot, think of it as a pattern that should be followed. Power, Shape, Power, Shape."
Her head subconsciously tilted.
"Power, to coat yourself in Void Light, to encase your will. Shape, to craft the bow that is there-but-not-there. Power, to maintain its form without constant thought. The right to decree that it still exists even without your input. To determine its Purpose. You are giving Reason to something that should not have it. And then Shape again, to form the Void into the guise of an arrow. With all its functions and capabilities. Tell me, have you any practice in archery at all?"
She nodded.
"Yes. It's how I survived those weeks without the Light. I met another Hunter who had taught me how to make arrows from scraps of metal, bark and leaves."
"Great! That means you're one of the lucky ones."
"Uhh?"
"A fair few Hunters I met had a hard time grasping the power of the Void-Bow due to their lack of training in archery. Since you have at least some experience, it means you won't have to focus so hard on getting things to work the way they would with a physical bow and arrow."
"What do you mean?"
"Remember, these Shapes are made of Void Light. They're formed from your Imagination. They exist because you touch the Void and grasp the totality of the concept of Bow, and Arrow, respectively. The stronger your knowledge of those concepts, and how they interact, the more Real the effects. You are forcing Nothing to be in the shape of a Bow, and then making a second, separate Nothing, be in the shape of an Arrow. For them to work the way they should, most would have to add an extra step of understanding the thought of pushing both Nothings to interact, and then perform the functions of an actual bow."
"And…because I already know how its supposed to work…it will?"
"It should. That's what the training is for. Not just crafting your bow, and summoning your arrow. But in getting them to work. The final step is applying the tether."
"Yeah I don't…know how I'm going to pull that off."
"It won't be a problem once you get used to summoning the Bow and your Arrow. It's literally little more than one more step forward."
"How so?"
"Recite how to form the bow."
"Wrap myself in Light, touch the Void, grasp the Nothing, and shape it into the form of a bow."
"What you believe to be a bow, but yes. The arrow?"
"Same thing as before, only…uhh…what I believe to be an arrow."
He nodded. "Pay attention to this."
She blinked, nodding back.
"I Am the Bone of my Sword.
Steel is my Body, as Fire is my Blood.
I have Created, over a Thousand Blades.
Unknown to Death, Nor Known to Life.
Have withstood Pain, to make many Weapons.
Yet these Hands, cannot hold Anything.
So as I Pray.
Unlimited. Blade. Works."
It was strange. Not weeks after, while she was still training herself, she would speak with some of the others, fortunate enough to have been nearby when the individual members of the Vanguard had set down their tasks to listen to whom Ikora called – backed by Osiris himself, no less – the foremost knowledged of the Void. And they would agree with her.
They all, felt something, at those spoken words. A hint of power. Something old. Something ancient.
Something lonely.
"What…"
"That…particular poem, is what used to be known as an aria."
He remembered.
The Traveler killed him.
But he remembered now. His life before. During the Golden Age. Growing up.
There were no Risen. There were no Guardians.
But the idea of magic…
It was just a fantasy. But it was still a concept well known to humanity.
"An…aria is…?"
"Think of it as a spell. A recited poem or phrase or statement. The words themselves do not matter, only the intent. An Aria is a sort of self-hypnosis technique. Like how some people will whisper a single word upon exhaling before taking a critical sniper shot. Or others will scream a battle-cry while in mid-air and crashing down with their bodies crackling with thunder. You've likely heard things like that both on the battlefield and in the Crucible."
She…had. Actually. Many, many times. So she nodded.
"Most arias are single, one-line chants. Something to focus the mind on the task at hand. To bring about peak performance at a critical juncture. As I said, a self-hypnosis technique that helps align the mind and will to create an effect."
"So…what does that mean for me?"
"The Void being such a volatile thing, I find it best, when first learning how to shape it, is to come up with an Aria. Its not usually a Hunter's thing, but meditation is key when dealing with the Void. At least, at first. You must distance yourself from all things, swim, in the concept of nothingness. Give up, who you are, where you are, why you are. And yet…not. It's a series of contradictions, honestly. Detach, but not fully. Distance, but not fully. But at the same time, fully enough that you can touch the idea of non-existence."
"It…sounds very difficult."
"For many people it is. You have to both let go of yourself, while remaining absolutely certain of who you are."
"…wait…so that would be the purpose of the Aria?"
Again, unseen, he grinned. Oh he liked this one. She truly was ready to start touching the Void.
"Indeed. Shouted, whispered, spoken aloud, sometimes even just thought, the Aria is a tool that can be used to reinforce your will upon the world. Upon yourself. An Aria can change over time, if its born of the self and reflective of the self and only the self. Some Arias don't need to, as they're intended to enhance focus for a particular effect. Something like 'the Spark of Rage provokes an ever-burning Blaze' could be used by just about anyone seeking to create an effect form Solar Light, as long as they personally can associate Rage with Fire."
"So you're saying…I should make one?"
"It wouldn't hurt. It could be as simple as a single word, or as elaborate as the poem I spoke before. Something that anchors you to yourself, while letting you detach from reality enough to touch the Void. Not a barrier, or a border, but a link, that goes from the totality of the you as you are consumed by the Great Nothing, to the current you, long before that inevitable consumption."
A mental configuration that allows one to retain sense of self while diving in the cosmic force that represents the beginning and end of all existence. Something that would help her focus her Light to shape Nothingness in the form of not merely the Bow. Not merely the Arrow to be launched by the Bow. But the spatial distortion that reaches out and shackles that which she considers 'enemy' to wherever the arrow lands.
"What's yours?"
"Hmm?"
"Your Aria. What's yours?"
"That…is an extremely personal question on the level of asking someone what their sexual orientation is."
Oh.
That shut her down pretty hard.
She was going to apologize for being so invasive – even if she didn't know it at the time – when she was cut off by the roar of many engines overhead. A Fallen Ketch had passed through their airspace, leaving behind multiple skiffs…and a single giant Servitor.
"Failsafe?"
He spoke, as the Servitor made its strange crackling groan.
"Yes Captain?"
"Have you been recording this?"
"Yes Captain."
"…initiate Captain override. Authorization code 8223901. Split the recording starting from one second before that Ketch passed overhead. Save it to your public files. The second recording starting from this point, is to be classified to the highest degree possible."
"Uhh…Cap…? You mean you…actually looked that stuff up?"
"I am your Captain, Failsafe. For the Honor you've given me I can do no less."
"I…thank you Captain."
"Show it only to someone you trust implicitly."
"I understand. Beginning separate recording now."
"Uhh…what's…going on?"
"…you wanted to know my Aria, didn't you?"
She blinked.
They all blinked.
Hell Zavala was about to call him out for breaking protocol but then it hit him.
He didn't know they were watching.
…well now he just felt dirty.
"Failsafe. Are there any other Guardians in this area besides us?"
"No Captain. The closest Guardian signature I can detect is in the Tangle."
"Perfect. Blast shields to full power, please."
"May I ask why?"
"Trust me?"
"I mean I guess…"
"Thank you Failsafe."
Ok now she was getting worried. Why would he be asking Failsafe to activate her defenses?
"You see that Servitor over there?"
"Y-yeah…?"
"Like hell you do."
Wait what?
"This Silence is Mine."
It hit her like a tidal wave. Literally. An unseen force erupted from his body, slamming into her like the fist of a God. She fell to her back, almost pinned by the literal power rippling off of him. What the hell was this?! She'd been around Voidwalkers before, nothing like that had ever-
"In Madness Blooms a Blackened Flower."
A distortion of light appeared in his left hand. The air crackled and creaked, space sizzling as it folded in upon itself. And yet, in a small flare of violet-tinged light…
A bow had formed.
"Its Petals, Blades. Its Stem, Desire."
His right hand extended outward from his body. Its palm facing up, fingers arced and twitching as if a clenching claw.
"Descend to Ground, from Empty Sky."
The world's colors inverted for a brief moment. An apparition of a sphere of distorted light and sound condensed into the center of his struggling appendages, crackles of violet, grey, and twisted black energy coalescing into its core.
"As Silent Tears rend Worlds apart."
The spheroid pulsed once. Twice. Thrice. And then shuddered. It bubbled and frothed as a second coating of color surrounded it. A solid purple orb, capturing the writhing mass of energy.
"Its Seed finds Bed in Nothing Heart."
Dust and dirt had long since begun spiraling around his form. The coattails of his armored robe swaying in the flows of power wafting around him. The orb crackled and shook, becoming a solid sphere of colored light.
"Of Shattered Dreams and Anguished Plea."
The Bow in his left hand shuddered. It shivered, it vibrated, it twisted and contorted. And then it grew. Three times it grew, until it was as long as he was tall. The ground cracked beneath his feet as he placed it heavily before him.
"Its Roots wind Chains that pull us Free."
The hand containing the shuddering orb of light was placed next to the bow. Lashes of color ripped from the tips to the second hand. And slowly…he pulled back.
"This Promise will forever Be."
The orb became stretched. It pulled, it creaked, it morphed. The sphere became an oval became a line until it shuddered and became a lance. The tip of the arrow-lance grew an anti-clockwise spiraling distortion around it. Literal curved swirls of twisted space revolved in place around its head.
"The Garden of Forsaken Keys."
And then he let loose.
With a mighty PLUNK, the 'arrow' was set free. Launched at speeds where it was naught more than a glowing blur even played back frame by frame, it found purchase in the center of the core of the Servitor that had just registered the massive lack of energy above the plateau that was the Guardian's landing zone for the area just outside the Exodus black. The floating mechanical ether orb jerked backwards violently upon impact.
Just as a pair of Fallen Skiffs had dropped out of low orbit, to release their passenger guards for the Ether Resupply.
"Shinomori: Eien no Saku."
The world tilted.
The arrow detonated, tendrils of purple and black entwined energies lancing from the Servitor's eye to everything around it. Dregs, Vandals, Ether storage devices, even the Skiffs were ensnared. The tethers were huge. Far larger than anything anyone had seen before.
And yet suddenly…he turned away…with a swish of his robe. His right arm lanced out, fingers curling in, thumb pointed away.
"Saa…Jigoku no tanoshimina."
His thumb jerked down.
And with a second loud PLUNK, the tethers reversed. Dragging everything with them.
She, they all watched as suddenly everything those lines of color were touching, was violently yanked towards the Servitor. Even the Skiffs. A whining groan of metal filled the air as the engines could not counter the pull of the Void. Everything collapsed together in a massive heap of metal and flesh and blood and fluttering ether.
Before the world tilted again, and in a gigantic wave of tangible nothingness, the Void Anchor, left behind by the Arrow, exploded.
And so did everything else.
The Warlock Hall was silent.
The Titan Locker was humbled.
The Hunter Bar? Even the bartender had stopped moving.
Lord Shaxx, watching the feed while monitoring reports from the Crucible, just gave a low, dark chuckle.
There was a reason why he made that Guardian's sword, first.
On Mercury, Osiris was dead silent. Sagira had actually almost dropped out of the air in surprise.
"Holy crap I really need to team up with him again."
Her partner, her Guardian himself just nodded silently.
That was something even he couldn't see coming.
…but considering he couldn't see this particular Guardian being so damn good in the first place…
Well…we'll let this one slide.
She just stared. In awe.
In.
Awe.
"…can…I do that…?" she whispered. Shook.
"Gawd I hope not."
His very aggravated sounding response snapped her out of it.
"Wh-what?! Why not?!"
He just lifted his head and looked at her.
"Did you see that charge time? It's fuckin abysmal! You wouldn't be able to pull it off in the middle of a fight even with cover considering everyone within a five mile radius could see you building it up! It's EX ranked sure but it's a damn Anti-Army Noble Phantasm. Anti-Fortress if I'm being super generous or the place isn't built to the level of the damn Dreadnought."
"But…but…"
"Look, the actual Shadowshot is supposed to be quick, near silent, barely noticeable. Its for sneak attacks, ranged takedowns and distant trap creation. It's an assassin's tool. A support ability really. Trust me. What you will be able to do, is far superior to mine."
"Cap. You just…exploderated two Skiffs, a High Servitor, and a crapload of Fallen in one shot."
"Yes, Failsafe. I did. By overpowering a technique that's supposed to be for silent killing. Trust me. Awesome as that might have looked, that is not a true Shadowshot."
"But-
"Listen. Anyone Void inclined can do it. Shit I could teach Gabe how to do that. Its little more than power and shape. Actually, it's more like Power, Shape, Power, Power, Shape, Power, Power, Power. There's no finesse to it. No strategy. It's an overglorified Nova Bomb shaped like an arrow with the side effect of having a minor 'get the fuck back here' clause woven into it. Like I said. Anti-Army, maybe Anti-Fortress. But even then it wouldn't be entirely useful in a siege considering the lightshow alone would be like holding a neon sign shouting 'hey! Something fucking big is happening, nuke this place!' in front of the damn enemy."
"Then why…that? Why show me that?"
"So you know what it looks like when someone does it wrong."
"…full understanding…?"
He nodded, rotating his aching shoulder. Channeling that much power always hurt.
"But how did you do…that?"
He sighed.
"Before there were Guardians, we were called Risen."
She blinked behind her helmet. She was doing that a lot today.
"In the Dark Age, as the Risen first became commonplace amongst the surviving People, we had no class system. We had Warlocks, Titans, Hunters, but those were just personally attuned flavors. We had humans, awoken, exos channeling raw forms of power that today's Guardians tend not to be able to access. No. that's putting it wrong. They don't need to access it. The whole point of it being raw."
He shook his head.
"Before the Red Legion attacked, we'd recovered data storages from those times, about the Dark Age, the days of the Iron Lords, before the Last City was built. Risen could learn from each other the same way anyone can. But they actually bothered to utilize one another's techniques. I've read of Warlocks Blinking into melee range and slamming their armored knees into their opponent's faces like a Titan wielding the Shoulder Charge in Mid-air. I've read of Titans electrifying knives and tossing them like lightning bolts, of Hunters launching rapid fist combos engulfed in Empty. We've refined our techniques, refined our Light, but in exchange lost some of that feral, survival instinctive savagery. We've gained Control, at the cost of Power."
He sighed again.
"Thing is, that's a good thing. Refinement is always good, even if it means you arent as powerful. You can channel your power for longer, less waste. What I did just now was wasteful as fuck. Powerful, yes, but not very controlled."
"But how?!"
"…two reasons. One. I question everything. I could pull off a Ward of Dawn if I wanted to. I could mimic the effects of a Fist of Havoc. I could burn out a side arm or hand-cannon using the Golden Gun. Give me a dagger and I could even Blade Dance for you. Shit, make me a durable spear and I'll happily make an ass of myself trying to wield an Arc Staff. I can do it all, because I paid the hell attention, and I refused to accept limitations."
Again, silence. Now Shaxx was standing a little straighter.
"its easier for us to shape our Light in accordance to our Order. But that's mostly because we associate, subconsciously, ourselves with those like us. But I always remembered, I was dead. Most of us, are brought back from death. Simply because the Traveler willed it. Even our Ghosts don't know why She created them, why they can bring us back, just that they were driven to. We break the laws of causality just by existing. So why should we be held back by simple class titles? I woke as a Voidwalker because that was what I associated myself with the closest. I knew nothing. I understood nothing. But I accepted that. And in doing so, I swam in nothing."
"And…Nothing is where all things begin."
"Yeah."
"You said two reasons."
"…was really hoping to distract you from that…" He gave a third, heavier sigh.
"Look…remember how I said I was part of the group that put an end to Oryx?"
"Yes."
"…well…there was…kind of a side effect to that."
Now the Vanguard stood straighter.
He'd never mentioned anything like that in any of the reports from back then.
"A…side effect?"
"To even get to where Oryx was on our own plane of existence, we had to pass through a Hive Rupture. But the Ruptures can only be controlled by powerful Hive. My team…went to where we destroyed the jewel containing Crota's soul, and then invaded his throne world a second time, to bathe that jewel in his remaining active essence. Doing so, according to Eris, according to the notes from Toland the Shattered, would mark us as Ascendant, fooling the gate system into letting us pass through."
"Okay…"
"Well…see…I had the biggest chunk of crystal, but I don't know what happened to KT's and Cole's so maybe they're affected too, but…when we were fighting Oryx the second time, at his Throne…it kinda…shattered when I took a hard hit from one of his Knights."
"…and…?"
He rolled his head, showing his reluctance to continue. "Aaaaannnd…it kiiiinda…infected me."
"…what?"
"WHAT?!" Yelled all three of the Vanguard at the same time.
"Ok maybe 'infected' isn't the right word for it. But…I dunno how to explain it…"
He sighed one last time. And then stood straighter.
He took a deep breath, clenched his fists, and pushed.
And suddenly, She beheld him become bathed in a very familiar sickly emerald glow.
"I remember my first ever death." He spoke, voice level.
"I died from an engine malfunction during a trip back from Japan. My plane's engines exploded because of an unknown EMP pulse triggered by the sudden arrival of the Traveler, likely just before the beginning of the Collapse."
Behind her helmet her eyes widened.
"The Traveler killed me. But I remember everything. One of the few I've met who do. I remember what I was doing. What I was dreaming. What I had wanted to become."
The glow surrounded him like a flickering, fluttering flame.
"My name, is Selh'teus Rodin."
It flowed over him like a second skin. Bathing him in its glow. Streams of violet pulsed along its shaping aura like veins, as the emerald shine flickered in the shape of armor.
"And I am Ascendant."